The history of Sri Lanka has several periods, which are globally noted below:
Ancient history
The written history of Sri Lanka begins with the 'Mahavamsa', a manuscript written in the Pali language related to Sanskrit. This manuscript tells the story of the island from the fifth century B.C. to 400 A.D. In 543 B.C. the Indian Prince Vijaya and his followers came from the northwest of India to Sri Lanka. He occupied the island and set up the first Sinhalese dynasty. The first capital of the island in 380 B.C. was Anuradhapura and it remained so until the mid 9th century. In that period Buddhism was introduced on the island. After which the island was flooded with Tamils, a Dravidian people of southern India. Especially the fertile ground on the island and the presence of very precious stones attracted the Tamils. Tamils quickly took over the throne of the rulers of Anuradhapura, without much bloodshed.
In the 2nd century B.C. the situation changed. Gamani, reigning over a small Sinhalese kingdom in the southeast corner of Sri Lanka, took up arms and he began a battle with a huge army against the Tamil king Elara. Elara was killed and Gamani ascended the throne of Anuradhapura. He was called Duttha Gamani, 'The disobedient' (161-137 B.C.). After of Gamani's death new Tamils managed to settle in Sinhalese territory again.
Medieval
From 477 to 495 A.D. King Kasyapa ruled from the new capital with great force. He was beaten by his brother, with an army formed in India. In the 9th century, Anuradhapura lost its status as the capital of the island again, and the new capital Polonnaruwa suffered this fate by the continuing attacks by Tamils in India and Chola's. The capital was increasingly shifted to the south, until the whole island was annexed to the South Indian Kingdom in 1001. In 1294 Sri Lanka was visited by the explorer Marco Polo. In the 13th and 14th centuries parts of Sri Lanka fell into the hands of invaders from South India, Burma (now Myanmar), China, Egypt and Malaysia.
Portuguese period
In 1505 the first Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka. Soon they had seized the coastal areas and founded several settlements. They benefited considerably from the break of the original population in seven kingdoms. In 1517 they built a fort in Colombo and there were frantic attempts to convert the original residents of the island to Catholicism. They used a lot of violence and many temples were destroyed during that period. Kandy was captured in 1587 and in 1593 the new capital Jaffna was taken. The Portuguese fought in that time not only with the Sinhalese kings but also with the Dutch, who had great interest in Ceylon. The Dutch landed in Ceylon in 1602, lead by Joris van Spilbergen. In 1638 the Dutch occupied the ports of Ceylon and with some help from the King of Kandy, Colombo was conquered and the Portugese were expelled from the island. In 1658 the last Portuguese left Ceylon. From this period many Portuguese forts and churches still remain on the island.
 Flag of the V.O.C.
Dutch domination
The reign of the Dutch on Ceylon lasted 140 years, but had great influence on the island. Ceylon was one of the main offices of the VOC in Asia. The Dutch built several forts and various Protestant churches. The Dutch brought lots of Tamils from India to the island to work in the rice fields and on the roads and canals. In 1734 the Dutch came in trouble when an uprising on the cinnamon plantations took place. In 1741 many Buddhist monks came from Burma to Ceylon to reform the island to Buddhism. The Dutch rules did not care too much for this action. Therefore the Buddhism in Ceylon flurished in that period.
During the second half of the 18th century the situation on the island became increasingly agitated. Several clashes with the dissatisfied population occured. In 1766 the Dutch achieved a great victory over the King of Kandy, who in secret, through the British governor of South India, was in contact with England.
 Flag of Ceylon during the British domination.
British domination
In 1782, during the fourth Anglo-Dutch War, British troops landed at the port of Trincomalee, which was captured. Together with the French, the arch enemy of England, the Dutch managed to recapture the port again. Shortly thereafter, in 1796 the English captured a number of port cities and the Dutch were forced to withdraw from the island completely. The Peace of Amiens in 1802 brought a definitive end to the domination of the Dutch in Ceylon, which then became a British crown colony. In 1815 the King of Kandy, Sri Vikrama Rajasingha, was imprisoned and later exiled to India. That meant the end of the 2300-year era of the Sinhala kings. Under the reign of the British, railways and roads were built, agriculture was strengthened, diseases were cured and lots of plantations were created. In 1870 tea was introduced to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka became the second largest tea exporter in the world. The Sinhalese were not so willing to work in the plantations, therefore the English were forced to introduce Tamils from southern India to work on the tea plantations.
Independent Ceylon
In 1917 the Ceylon Reform League was formed, which openly aspired to independence of the island. In 1924 there was some self-government granted by England, but in 1928 it decided Ceylon was not ready for an independent status. In 1945 England denied the demanded independence. Three years later, on February 4, 1948 Ceylon became independent but remained a member of the British Commonwealth. Nearly 10 years after the declaration of independence, English still remained as the national language. The country was ruled by an English speaking Christian elite. Eventually Sinhalese became the national language, but again, Tamil was 'forgotten'. Since then the violence began. In economically bad periods, the Tamils were the first victims, with serious consequences. On top of that the Hindi are caught between the large majority of the Buddhists and the Christian community on the island.
 In 1972 this flag was introduced as the flag of Sri Lanka. Nowadays it still is.
Republic of Sri Lanka
On May 22 1972 Ceylon was named the independent parliamentary republic of Sri Lanka.
Eighties and nineties
In 1980, a state of emergency was declared due to a general strike and very violent confrontations between Tamils and Sinhalese. The 80s and 90s were especially marked by the civil war with the Tamil Tigers. It lasted until February 2002 when in Oslo an agreement was made between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil Tigers (LTTE).
Especially the United States pressured both parties to agree. February 23 marked as an official end to the bloody military operations. In Oslo in the first days of December 2002 the government and the LTTE reached an agreement for the formation of a federal state .
Tsunami
On Boxing Day in 2004, many countries in southern Asia, including Sri Lanka, were hit by a massive natural disaster. An earthquake in sea, with a force of 9.0 on the Richter scale occured. The epicenter of the quake was on the west coast of Sumatra, near the province of Atjeh. The quake caused a wall of water on the coast of Sri Lanka and many other countries in the area. The waves of this so called Tsunami, reached hights of almost ten meters.
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