Figure 1.--This sculpture relief comes from Anuradhapura. It shows a Sri Lankan king with his family. The Anuradhapura Kingdom dominated Sri Lanka for a millenium and a half (4th century BC -11th century AD). Archeologists can not yet identify the king, but they date the frieze between (6th and 8th century AD). The Kingdom at the time wa under cont presure from Tamil invaders from southern India. We can see that the king and the queen and three children. All the family is shirtless, but the freeze is not detailed enough to tll much about clothing. Thy are also barefoot which probably reflects how they dressed in palaces.

Sri Lanka is an island nation off the southen coast of the Indian subcontinent. As such, .the ountry's history and ruling families are part of the fabric of Indin history. The Sinalese themselves originated in norther Indi.Thre have been a series of invasions from Tamil kingdoms in southrn India. The single most important Sri Lanka state was the Anuradhapura Kingdom which dominated the iland for a mienium and a half. The Kingdom ws rled by seberal different dynasties. After the fall of Anuradhapura, sevral smller kingdoms vied for control of the island, each with its own ruling dynasties. We are just beginning to develop some basic information on the various dynasties. Tamils originated mainly from different parts of southern India were an important part of Sri Lankan royalty. In ancient times the entire island (Ilankai or Lanka) appeas to hve been dominated by the principal Dravidian dynasties, known as Chera, Chola, Pandya, Pallava and later by Vijayanagara. All these Kingdoms had, at their prevailing times, collectively spanned the Gulf of Mannar/Pamban Straits and dominated southern India.

Created: 1:55 PM 3/20/2013
Last updated: 1:55 PM 3/20/2013