WHO AM I?

WHO ARE WE?

A LOOK AT OUR PAST
A RESULT OF reIationships
Formed and sustained
Broken and forgotten
Cver the |ast 2S centur|es?
O Ancieni cusioms, iiadiiions and conveniions
O And noi by a wiiiien law
O Alilougl we wioie down ile Buddla's law
O WE DID NOT FOLLOW IT
O We adapied ii io oui way of ilinling and living
O ama was exiended family
O Piinciple of oiganizaiion was self - lelp and
slaiing of iesouices and laboui
O Non - moneiaiy socieiy
O Inieinally siiong - could noi be exploiied
O Siiengil lay in voluniaiy naiuie of laboui
O Seivice io communiiy was exiended io
seivice io naiion
S 1he greuL comucL or consensus beLween Lhe
ruler und ruled.
S An eusLern conceL of democrucy Lhrough
oulur ussemblles sam|t| followed by Lhe
reubllcs of Sakyaos, l|cclav|s und Mallas
S bery reubllc druws lLs sLrengLh from Lhe
churucLer of Lhe clLlzen
S lghLs und freedoms held ln common were
Lhe consequence of u rlor orgunlc growLh of
Lhe communlLy. WlLhln Lhls growLh culLure
Lhe sole emhusls wus on duLles. POW wus
generuLed wlLhln before urL of lL wus besLed
ln Lhe Yamao| k|oY 1hus Lhe klng wus u resulL
of u sLrong und free communlLy
S 1he work of
S Pundukhubuyu
S LebunumlyuLlssu - z-z 8C
S LuLugemunu 6 , 8C
S ama self soff|c|eot v|llaYe
S SaoYla -
S Rajo as amao|
A lece of munower uLlllsuLlon wlLhln Lhe
self hel umblL of Lhe bllluge democrucy
1he LoLul nuLlonul urLlcluLlon ln lLs
consLrucLlon suncLlfled Lhe edlflce us u
rellglous und nuLlonul monumenL und Lhe
symbol of Yamao| klngshl
- P8 umbukwelle
Vi|aya to
Mahasena
qBC ~ z)q AO
gomoni Vi||age democracy
Mahasena to
Mahanama
z)q ~ q6 AO
bodhisotvo 5upra ~ human king
Mahanama to
Manavamma
q6 ~ 6q AO
seno sommoto Mi|itary force
Manavamma to
MahindaV
6q ~ z AO
seno king as warrior
Cho|a
manda|amto
Parakramabahu
z ~ AO
chokrovorti Emperor
1he Slnhulu SLuLe wus Lhe sum und resulL of
u slow buL sLeudy seLLlemenLs of Aryun
mlgrunLs blendlng Lhelr exerlences umong
Lhemselbes und Lhe eurller eoles, noL Lhe
messlunlc udbenLure of u mlghLy conqueror, u
luw glber, suermun or luln bundlL.
S lngshl emerged Lherefore us u seedllng
germlnuLed ln Lhe bosom of Lhe eole, lLs
uwurd LhrusL Lowurds ubsoluLe ower
ussocluLed wlLh klngshl, u long druwn ouL
rocess. AlmosL uL Lhe bery beglnnlngs Lhe
lnnuLe mysLlc urouslng uwe und obedlence Lo
klngshl wus dlluLed wlLh Lhe humunlLy of Lhe
8uddhlsL rellglon und bllluge democrucles
S - Rambokwelle
P In kingahip'a Iong journey towarda chakravart
ahaaena'a ruIe ia a miIeatone. He aucceeded
not mereIy in diveating the Sangha nexua from
atate power but in infuaing to kingahip the
sanghabodh myatic. Kithairimevan
conaoIidated for aII time what hia father had
achieved by poaaeaaing aa the paIIadium of
8inhaIa kingahip the 8acred Tooth ReIic. Thua
the Buddhiat identity of the monarchy waa
effectiveIy retained and the Sangha kept
manageabIy diatanced from buaineaa of atate
power.
P RambukweIIe
P In gaman aociety armiea were aimpIy popuIar moba.
Even the wara fought by the Iaat king of Kandy and
even the rebeIIiona of 1818 and 1848 foIIowed gueriIIa
atrategy
P or 260 yeara after ahanama the atage waa taken over
by aoIdiera pIaying poIitica
P anvamma 68418 AD epitomiaed the warrior king;
not mereIy the head of the army reIiant on sena
sammata but sena himaeIf, the puIae and eaaence of
power.
P The Lambakanna Dynaaty he reatored reigned
peacefuIIy for nearIy 400 yeara. 8ucceaaiona waa
orderIy with heira to the throne acrupuIouaIy taking
their due turn.
S Pullubus und Cholus herulded Lhe new uge of
Lrubel, exloruLlon und lunder
S lnLernuLlonul reluLlons wlLh SouLh und SouLh
usL Aslu becume more lmorLunL
S mergence of Lrude und flnunce whlch
ebenLuully dlsluced ugrlculLure us Lhe
domlnunL economlc ucLlblLy
S Closlng huse of Lhe lrrlguLlon clblllzuLlons ln
Lunku, NorLhern 1hullund und Cumbodlu
S Polonnurubu lngdom wus llblng on
borrowed Llme
Campaign of vijayabahu l
P Overshadowed by international factors
P A "soldiers' war unlike the campaign of
Dutugemunu
P Both ,2, ,3/8,3, had lost their fire
and dynamism, being distanced from the
centre of power and were of little utility
in the plans and strategies of Vijayabahu
values leave
without a word of goodbye
lorms remain
1o oarry on forever and ever
growing alienation within
P Between the elite and the common
people with the infiltration of Brahmin
and Hindu culture and sanskrit into the
Polonnaruva Court.
P Tripitaka originally codified in sinhala
was converted to Pali by Buddhagosa
Thero
P Beginnings of a culture of blind imitation
P The common man continued to use
prakrit hela
S 1he gruduul dlsLunclng of Lhe Lhree elemenLs,
numely Lhe monurchy, Lhe saoYla und Lhe
Yama consLlLuLlng Lhe Slnhulu sLuLehood
sreud ober cenLurles und enLered lLs crlLlcul
uogee ln Lhe Polonnurubu Perlod. 1he Lrend
wus Lowurds uccumuluLlon of ubsoluLe ower
ln Lhe lnsLlLuLlon of Lhe monurchy, reduclng,
noL ellmlnuLlng, Lhe oLher Lwo Lo derlbuLlbes
of Lhe former und beholden Lo lL for surblbul.
S 1he nobles from uhunu dld noL uLLend Lhe
consecruLlon of Purukrumubuhu
S 1hey rebolLed under Oueen Sugulu
S 1hey foughL for Lhe collecLlbe freedoms of
bllluge democrucles
S Purukrumubuhu's conquesL of uhunu wenL
Lhrough Lhree sLuges of debusLuLlng subugery
und lusLed u decude
S 1he conquesL of uhunu reresenLs u wuLershed ln
1hunSlnhule's long hlsLory. On Lhe one slde flowed
Lhe monurchy cenLred new economy Lowurds Lhe
dlsusLer LhuL followed Lhe deuLh of Purukrumubuhu,
und on Lhe oLher, Lhe unclenL currenL of collecLlblsL
llberLles lmmunenL ln Lhe bllluge democrucles und
Lhe saoYla Lowurds Lhe brlnk ullngu Mughu
broughL Lo boLh sldes.
S umbukwelle
S rom our bunLuge olnL ln z we hube seen Lhe
ruld dlssoluLlon of Lhe SLuLe lmmedluLely ufLer
Lhe work of Purukrumubuhu Lhe CreuL ln
Polonnurubu und Purukrumubuhuvl of oLLe Voe
to tle abseoce of sttooY soppott|oY
fooVameotals. 1he sume cun be suld of Lhe
resenL SLuLe ln LhuL Lhe 8rlLlsh lmosed u
unlfled udmlnlsLruLlon whlch hus slnce Lhen
sLruggled Lo uchlebe u degree of ollLlcul
coheslon, euce und sLublllLy.