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A/L Biology Syllabus
What is 4K Resolution
What is 4K?
The headline fact is simple and dramatic: 4K Ultra HD TVs (also known as UHD TVs) deliver four times as much detail as 1080p Full HD, that's eight million pixels compared to two million pixels.
What that means in terms of potential image clarity is more fine detail, greater texture and an almost photographic emulsion of smoothness.
But this is just for starters. Prior to a roll-out of TV services, broadcasters are working out what else they can upgrade under the 4K banner. In the UK, a working group chaired by the BBC and BSkyB are mulling over every possible tweak, from higher frame rates to greater contrast and a wider colour spectrum. Some of the biggest names in the video industry including Samsung, LG and Sony have split-off to form another group called the UHD Alliance, which will work to set standards for the new format.
But talk to the engineers steering this 4K broadcast bandwagon and they'll tell you everything spec-wise is up for grabs. If this indicates to you that the 4K standard is anything but set in stone, you'd be correct.
Ultra HD is going to be a work in progress for years to come, but that doesn't mean you should wait for the dust to settle before improving your image.
- What's new with 4K TVs? The IHS predicts there will be almost 1 million 8K televisions sold by 2019.
Difference between Ultra HD and 4K
Technically, "Ultra High Definition" is actually a derivation of the 4K digital cinema standard. However while your local multiplex shows images in native 4096 x 2160 4K resolution, the new Ultra HD consumer format has a slightly lower resolution of 3840 X 2160.
This is one reason why some brands prefer not to use the 4K label at all, sticking with Ultra HD or UHD instead. However, the numerical shorthand looks likely to stick. As a broad brush label it's so much snappier!
Why should I care about 4K Ultra HD?
There are many reasons why 4K should make you rethink your next TV purchase (actually, there are eleven and you can read about them here), not all of them immediately obvious.
Photographers who routinely view their work on an HD TV are seeing but a fraction of the detail inherent in their pictures when they view them at 2160p.
A 4K display reveals so much more nuance and detail – the difference can be astonishing. While 3D has proved to be a faddish diversion, 4K comes without caveats. Its higher resolution images are simply better.
The higher pixel density of a 4K panel also enable you get much closer without the grid-like structure of the image itself becoming visible –this means you can comfortably watch a much larger screen from the same seating position as your current Full HD panel. Currently all available 4K Ultra HD TVs are in excess of 50-inches.
Projectors
While 4K UHD TVs are on the fast track, the same can't be said for video projectors. Only Sony offers 4K models, the high-end quasi pro VPL-VW1100ES and the home cinema friendly VPL-VW500ES.
Currently there's no consumer 4K solution for LCD, D-ILA or DLP projectors, although that's likely to change in 2015, when Texas Instruments is expected to begin shipping its first 4K DLP chipset for home hardware.
How expensive is an Ultra HD TV?
The first wave of 4K TVs were large, really large. Both Sony and LG launched with 84-inch panels, the KD-84X9005 and 84LM960V respectively.
Consequently, they were saddled with price tags in excess of £20,000/$30,000. Not to be outdone, Samsung weighed in with the 85-inch S9 at £35,000/$55,000, clearly aimed at footballers and oligarchs!
However, prices have fallen dramatically as screen sizes have shrunk and brands have predictably embarked on a tit for tat price war. You'll now find 4K TVs for less than $1000, though we'd encourage you to be careful when choosing one - a 4K resolution won't necessarily give you a better picture if the processing electronics behind the panel are bad.
Generally speaking, a market-leading 65-inch 4K TV like the Sony KD-65X9005B will set you back a little over $3,500/£3,000... and they're getting cheaper.
So how small will 4K Ultra HD screens get?
In the short term, screen sizes are likely to stabilise at 55-inches and upwards. That's because as the screen size shrinks the advantage of having such a pixel dense display starts to diminish. There's also an irrefutable relationship between screen resolution and viewing distances.
While seating will vary from home to home, generally speaking a large 4K TV will provide an upgrade for a smaller 1080p screen. However, the 4K resolution will ultimately be about more than just definition.
High frame rate UHD broadcasting could have an even greater impact than resolution when services begin – and the benefits of HFR are not restricted to larger screen sizes. When this second generation 4K UHD breaks cover, expect high-frame rate 4K TVs to drop further down the size scale.
How far should I sit from a 4K TV for the best picture?
4K Ultra HD is a much more intimate viewing experience than Full HD. In many respects, the best way to view 4K is analogous to the way we view films in a cinema. Old style cinemas were shoe-box shaped and most patrons sat typically 3-5 screen heights away, because that was the most comfortable viewing distance.
Contemporary cinemas are wider, and now the optimum viewing distance is 1.5 screen heights back. From this vantage point you can take in all the visual information that's available and comfortably fill your field of vision. Translated to the home, that makes the most comfortable distance to view a 65-inch 4K screen approx. 1.5m. Of course, in many homes that simply isn't practical. Consequently, a large 4K screen is probably best viewed at a distance of between 2-3m; time to rearrange your furniture?
Is 4K OLED even better?
OLED - organic light emitting diodes - have been around for some time, but producing big screens using this technology has proven to be prohibitively expensive in the past, something which has blighted the chances of OLED televisions becoming mainstream.
That said, LG is doing its best to change this, with the Korean company leading the charge for OLED televisions – which is great, because OLED technology is stunning, with vibrant colours, deep blacks and bright whites.
And that perseverance has paid off with LG launching its first 4K OLED televisionthis year. It's still expensive, but as Mr K I Kwon, president of LG Electronics UK,told TechRadar recently, "I believe the price and yield rate will be higher immediately and the price will be down."
So, although LG's 4K OLED television is probably too expensive for mass market right now, we shouldn't rule out OLED as a big player in the next generation of our televisions just yet.
4K TV channels
There are currently no 4K TV channels being broadcast. But in July 2014 the DVB Steering Board approved the DVB-UHDTV Phase 1 specification, allowing for over-the-air transmission of 3840x2160 resolution pictures at 60Hz and promising much improved colour depth with 10 bits per pixel rather than 8.
The standard is expected to be ratified by the ETSI shortly, which is likely to open the floodgates for broadcasters to start launching Ultra HD TV channels.
The main problem with this new standard is that current TVs and set-top boxes will be incompatible, so you'll need to buy new gear to make use of it. You can read more on this in our news story.
What 4K content is available for me to watch?
As of April 2014, Netflix became the first big name to deliver 4K content to the home. When you open the Netflix app on a 4K TV, 4K content will stream automatically where it's available. From the start, that's just House of Cards Season 2, but don't worry - there's LOTS more 4K content ready to be piped into your home.
YouTube offers a nascent 4K channel, but you'll require a powerful PC with a 4K capable graphics card, of which there are few that make economic sense.
But the lack of native 4K isn't quite the big deal you might at first imagine. The truth is today's Ultra HD screens do such a remarkable job with 1080p content that you almost certainly won't feel shortchanged. Rather than just linearly scale, big brand sets utilize all manner of database interpolation to upscale images, and the results are spectacular.
To take advantage of this, Sony has released a selection of Mastered in 4K branded Blu-rays. These are in fact standard 1080p Blu-ray discs, albeit ones based on the best available transfers which take full advantage of available disc capacity. They have also been mastered with a wider colour range than standard Blu-ray platters.
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What is 4G ,In Sinhala
දුරකතන සංනිවේදන තාක්ෂණය දියුණුවෙන්න පටන් ගත්තෙ 1980 දී. 1981 දී හඳුන්වා දීපු ප්රතිසම තාක්ෂණය (Analog Cellular Network) 1G වේ (මෙහි G අකුරින් පරම්පරාව හෙවත් genaration යන්න දැක්වේ).දෙවන පරම්පරාව (2G) 1992 හඳුන්වාදුන් සංඛ්යාංක/ ඩිජිටල් (Digital Network) තාක්ෂණයයි. අදටත් ජනප්රිය 3G තාක්ෂණය හඳුන්වාදුන්නේ 2001 දීයි. IP තාක්ෂණය (IP Data Network) එහිදී භාවිතා කෙරේ. දැන් ඉදිරිපත් කර ඇති නවතම තාක්ෂණය 4G හෙවත් All IP Data Network තාක්ෂණයයි. HSPA+, වයි මැක්ස් හා LTE යනු මෙම 4G තාක්ෂණය භාවිතා කරන ඒවාය. LTE (Long-Term Evolution) යනු එහි ප්රමුඛතම තාක්ෂණයයි. මෙසේ තාක්ෂණය දියුණු කරන්නේ පැරණි තාක්ෂණික උපාංඟ වලටද ගැලපෙන පරිදිය. එනම් අලුත් තාක්ෂණයක් ආවා කියා පැරණි උපාංඟ වලට බාධාවක් ඇති නොවේ.
3G හා 4G වෙනස
3G තාක්ෂණයේදී ඉන්ටනෙට් ප්රොටොකෝලය (IP) භාවිත කලද එහි කටහඬ හුවමාරු කරන ලද්දේ පැරණි ප්රතිසම හෙවත් Analog ක්රමයටය. 4G තාක්ෂණයේදී කටහඬද IP තාක්ෂණය භාවිත කොට සන්නිවේදනය කල හැකිය. එනම් 4G මගින් 4G දුරකතන වලට ඉන්ටනෙට් ඇමතුම් ලබාගත හැකිය. All IP Data Network කියන්නේ එනිසාය.
4G Magic
4G තාක්ෂණය මවිත කරවන තාක්ෂණික පිම්මකි මේ නිසාම මෙය "මැජික් (Magic) වැඩක්" යනුවෙන් හඳුන්වයි. නමුත් සැබැවින්ම MAGIC යන වචනයේ අකුරු 5ට තේරුමක් තිබේ. එය මෙසේය...
*M - Mobile multimedia : කිසිඳු බාධාවකින් තොරව යන එන ගමන් වුවත් වීඩියෝ, ඔන්ලයින් ගෙම්, ගීත ඇසීම වැනි මල්ටිමීඩියා කටයුතු කිරීමට හැකිවීම.
*A - Anytime anywhere : ගොඩනැගිලි පිටත, ඇතුලත, කඳු, ගංගා ,ගමන් කරන වෙගය 4G තාක්ෂණයට බාධාවන් නොවේ.
*G - Global mobility support : තමන් ඉන්නා රට 4G තාක්ෂණයට බාධාවක් නොවේ.
*I - Intergrated wireless solution : රැහැන් රහිත හා රැහැන් සහිත සියලු දුරකතන සේවා පහසුකම් මෙහිදී ලබා ගත හැක.
*C - Customized personal service : අවශ්ය දෙට විතරක් ගෙවීම කල යුතු වීම.
වේගය
කලින් තිබූ 3G තාක්ෂණයේදී ලබා ගත හැකි වේගය 1.5 - 3 Mbps අතර පැවතුණි. නව 4G LTE තාක්ෂණයේදී මෙම වේගය 10- 20 Mbps අතර පවතී.
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Intel Skylake processor
පරිගණක මධ්ය සැකසුම් ඒකක හෙවත් CPU සෑදීම අතින් ඉහලම කීර්තියක් දිනා සිටින ඉන්ටෙල් සමාගම සිය 6 වන පරම්පරාවට (6th Gen) අයත් නවතම ප්රොසෙසරය මේ වසරේ අග භාගයේ දී නිකුත් කරන බව නිවේදනය කලේය. “Skylake” නම් කේත නාමයෙන් මෙය හඳුන්වා දෙනු ඇත. මීට පෙර නිකුත් කල සංස්කරණය (5th Gen) හැඳින්වූ කේත නාමය වූයේ “Broadwell” නමිනි. ඉන්ටෙල් සමාගම මේ නව ප්රොසෙසරය ගැන සඳහන් කර ඇත්තේ 5th Gen ප්රොසෙසර් කාණ්ඩය වන Broadwell ගැන සඳහන් කල සුළු කාලයකට පසුවයි. එහි තෙරුම 5 වන පරම්පරාව යනු තවමත් අලුත් ය යන්නයි. 6 වන පරම්පරාවේ ප්රොසෙසරයක් ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නේ අධි ධාරිතාවක් අවශ්ය කටයුතු සිදු කරන අය සඳහාය.
නව තාක්ෂණික මෙවලම් ලොවට ඉදිරිපත් කෙරෙන කොම්පියුටෙක්ස් (Computex) උළෙලේදී ඉන්ටෙල් සමාගම මෙය ප්රකාශ කලේය. කෙසේ වෙතත් මේ නව ප්රොසෙසරයේ මාදිලි අංකය, ඝටිකා වේගය (Clock Speed) හෝ කුමන මාදිලියට අයත් ප්රොසෙසරය මුලින් නිකුත් කරනවාදැයි ප්රකාශ කර නැත.
මෙම නව ප්රොසෙසරය ඉදිරිපත් කරන්නේ IRIS Pro 6200 ග්රැෆික්ස් සමගය. nvidia, ATI හෝ AMD වැනි ගරැෆික් කාඩ් පතක් නොමැතිව අති ප්රබල බලයකින් යුතු ග්රැෆික් හැකියාවක් ලබා ගැනීමට මෙමගින් හැකිවනු ඇති. ඒ අනුව බලන කල මෙය අධි ධාරිතාවක් අවශ්ය වන වීඩියෝ සංස්කරණය, පරිගණක ක්රීඩා සඳහා ඉතාමත් යෝග්ය වේ. ඉන්ටෙල් සමාගම පවසන ආකාරයට කුඩා LGA චිප් සහිත පරිගණක වලට වේගවත් මීඩියා එන්කෝඩින් හැකියාවක් , වඩා හොඳ 4K තිර සහය දැක් වීමක් මෙම නව ප්රොසෙසරය මගින් ලැබෙනු ඇත. Continue Read »
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History of Sri lanka
A teardrop-shaped island cast adrift in the Indian Ocean, Sri lanka is filled with cultural and natural treasures. Indians, Portuguese, Dutch and British have all left their marks here, making for a delightful mix of ancient cities, monuments and grand colonial architecture.
At the same time, palm-fringed beaches are never far away and lush mountainous greenery beckons further inland. It’s clear why Marco Polo proclaimed Sri Lanka as one of the best islands in the world.
Sri Lanka is one of those places where history seems to fade into the realm of legend. Sri Lanka’s second highest mountain, Adam’s Peak is said to be the very place where Adam set foot on earth, having been banished from heaven. Meanwhile buddhists claim it is Lord Buddha’s footprint itself on Sri Pada which was placed in his final visit to the island. And isn’t Adam’s Bridge (the chain of islands linking Sri Lanka to India) the very series of stepping stones laid by the monkey god Hanuman in his mission to rescue Sita from the clutches of Rawana, the demon King of Lanka, in the epic Ramayana?
The first entries in the Mahavamsa or Great History date back to 543BC, which coincides with the arrival of Prince Vijaya in Sri Lanka. Some 300 years later, commenced the early Anuradhapura Period, with King Devanampiya Tissa as the first ruler.
The late Anuradhapura Period, which began in the year 459, saw the tyrannical reign of King Kasyapa, and the construction of Sigiriya. The Polonnaruwa period, witnessed the transfer of the capital from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa and, in 1505, the Portuguese landed, and occupied the island’s coastal regions
Introduction To Historical Records
Sri Lanka is a country with a unique and a proud historical record of a great civilization, a culture of achievements, spanning over a period of several centu-ries before and after the birth of Christ, which by comparison cannot be second to any contemporary civilization that existed in the world.
For the purpose of this publication, the History of Sri Lanka, spanning a period of over twenty five centuries, is divided into the following periods
Different Periods Of The History Of Sri Lanka
The Pre-Historic Period Beyond 1000 Bc
Pre Anuradhapura Period
Period of Rule from Vijaya 483 BC to Tissa 377 BC (Second son of Panduvasdeva)
Anuradhapura Period
Period of Rule from King Pandukhabaya 337 BC to King Kassapa VII 1055 AD
Polonnaruwa Period
Period of rule from Vijayabahu 1-1055 AD to MaghaKalinga A Prince of Kalinga 1232 AD
Dambadeniya Period
Period of rule from King Vijayabahu III 1232 AD to Parakrambahu III 1293 AD
Kurunegala Period
Period of rule from Buvanekabahu II 1293 AD to Vijayabahu V 1341 AD
Gampola Period
Period of rule from BuvanekaBahu IV 1341 AD to BuvanekaBahu V 1408 AD
Kotte Period
Period of Rule from Vijayabahu 1408 AD to Don Juan Dharmapala 1597 AD
Kandy Period
Period of Rule from Senasammatha Viraparakramabahu 1469 AD to Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe 1815 AD
The Colonial Period
1506 to 1658 AD -The period during which the Portuguese ruled the maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka, except the Kandyan Provinces
1658 to 1796 AD – The period during which the Dutch ruled the maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka, except the Kandyan Provinces
1796 to 1815 AD -The period during which the British ruled the maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka except the Kandyan Provinces
1815 to 4th February 1948 – AD The period during which the British ruled the whole of Sri Lanka after capturing the Kandyan Provinces in 1815
The Sources Of Sri Lankan History
Until recent times very little information was available regarding Sri Lanka’s Prehistoric period. It is due to the excavations, research and studies undertaken by Wilhelm G Solheim II, S. Deraniyagala and several other archaeologists from about the early 1970s that new information is being published. .
The Sources Of The Period Since 500 Bc
The most important sources of the period since 500 BC are the literary sources such as the great chronicle Mahavamsa together with its commentary Vamsatthappakasini, and its continuation the Chulavamsa. It is said that Sri Lanka is unique in the possession of a historical record so ancient, continuous and trustworthy, beginning with the occupation of the island by civilized men in the 5th century B.C. and continuing the story, under each successive King, for twenty two centuries. The Mahavamsa is primarily a dynamic and religious history as well, but it describes the main political events, such as invasions, conquests, civil wars and succession, disputes, and it throws light on social history as well. It is a poem written in elegant PALI Language and it was compiled initially in the sixth century AD by two learned Buddhist monks named Mahanama and Dhammakitti.
Other Historical Sources
In addition to the Mahawamsa there are a large number of inscriptions in Sri Lanka; the total number already discovered exceeds 2500. It is believed that many more lithic records would be found in the country.
The earliest inscriptions are contemporary with the introduction of Buddhism in the 3rd century B.C. Well over 1000 epigraphs, mostly inscribed on caves, belong to the third, second and first centuries B.C. and they exist in every part of the dry zone, as well as in the old cave temples of the Colombo, Kegalla and Kandy districts.
The Prehistoric Period
It is intended to provide a detailed account of the prehistoric period of Sri Lanka as the historical information basedon archaeological research and studies in respect of this period were not available. Hence not much publicity was given to this Historical period.However, consequent to the excavations and the research studies undertaken by Dr. S.U. Deraniyagala, he was able to reveal valuable information in respect of this period.
According to pioneer archaeological investigations of Wilhelm G Solheim II that commenced in the nineteen seventies and several other archaeologists, much information is being dug out from South-East Asian countries that shows strong evidence of Pre-historic cultures that influenced the east as well as the west. Sri Lanka was on the ancient sea route from east to the west and as such became a subject of serious investigations by those experts for connections to South East Asian pre historical cultures.
According to Dr. Deraniyagala’s findings, thirty feet below the ground in the an¬cient city of Anuradhapura lie the remnants of Sri Lanka’s ancient civilization dating back to 900-800 B.C.
Deraniyagala also discovered several specimens of writing dating back at least to the 6th and 5th centuries before Christ(BC). These writings are in the form of early Brahmi script.
According to Deraniyagala, Stone Age researches cover the period from 700,000 BC to 1000 BC and he has observed the interaction of man and environment during that period.
Sri Lanka’s past climatic fluctuations for about 500,000 years have been delineated on the basis of those investigations and co-related with the evolution of Sri Lanka’s Stone Age. In his research, cultures have been studied in terms of stone tool technology, subsistence practices, settlement patterns, burial practices and physical anthropology. These studies have pioneered climatologist studies in South Asia and in the Tropics in general. It seems that for the first time it is securely established that humans of the old Stone Age have inhabited Sri Lanka as early as 125,000 years ago and possibly 500,000 or more.
Sri Lanka’s past climatic fluctuations for about 500,000 years have been delineated on the basis of those investigations and co-related with the evolution of Sri Lanka’s Stone Age. In his research, cultures have been studied in terms of stone tool technology, subsistence practices, settlement patterns, burial practices and physical anthropology. These studies have pioneered climatologist studies in South Asia and in the Tropics in general. It seems that for the first time it is securely established that humans of the old Stone Age have inhabited Sri Lanka as early as 125,000 years ago and possibly 500,000 or more.
Much of the details in Deraniyagala’s findings commence from the excavations in several caves in the Sabaragamuwa Province which have exhibited stone tools displaying a high degree of sophistication in their design, which first came into prominence in Sri Lanka as early as 30,000 years ago. They preceded their first appearance in Europe by some 20,000 years.
Physical anthropology of Sri Lankan humans from 29,000 BC onwards has been studied in detail in collaboration with specialists from the Cornel University U.S.A. Based on these results Deraniyagala has expressed the view that one group of findings represent the earliest evidence of anatomically modern man to be discovered in South Asia so far. Moreover, it has been observed that there has been an unbroken line of descent from humans found at
around 14,000 BC right down to the descendants of the Sri Lankan aborigines – the Veddhas.
Several assemblages of human remains from 14,000 BC down to the recent times have been studied in detail leading up to those conclusions. The methods and technology used for the researches are considered to be very up to date and in many ways have been applied for the first time in Asia.
Chronological Table Of The Monarchs Of Sri Lanka
Compiling an accurate chronological table of the monorchs of Sri Lanka spanning a period of approximately 2500 years, has been a perennial problem that scholars of Sri Lankan History have faced. The periods that troubled the scholars most were the Pre Anuradhapura period and the latter part of Kurunegala, Yapahuwa Gampola period and Kotte periods. After consulting many authoritative sources the author preferred to adopt the Chronology given in Walpola Rahula’s Book “History of Buddhism in Sri Lanka”, which is based on Geiger’s List of Kings up to Kassapa V (913-923 AD). From Dappula 111 (923 – 924 AD) the Chronological dates are based on that provided in Vol. I Pa/rt 11 “University of Ceylon History of Ceylon “, Book pp 843 – 847. The dates up to Sena 1(833 – 853 AD) are only approximate.
The Traditional history of Sri Lanka begins about the 5th century B.C. with the first settlement in this land of a people named Simhala an Indo Aryan group who came from North India. About 70% of the people still inhabiting the island are known by that name. After considering all historical as well as traditional sources available several renowned- scholars have come to the conclusion that ancestors of the Sinhalese migrated to Sri Lanka first from the Indus river region in North India, where a group of people called KAMBOJAS also lived, in close proximity to them. It is also accepted by historians that there was a later immigration by Indo-Aryans in the Bengal Orissa region of the North East of India.
Mahavamsa the chronicle of the Sinhalese is considered to be one of the oldest in the world where a continuing history of the nation is being recorded from about the 550 B C. The original authorships are ascribed to Thera Mahanama (First Part) who was resident at Dighasandasenapti Pirivena (A Buddhist seat of learning for lay persons and the clergy) at Anuradhapura and Dharmakitti Thera (Second Part) in Polonnaruwa.
Period of rule of Vijaya 483 – 445 BC
The chronicle Mahavamsa has recorded that Vijaya arrived in Sri Lanka by ship with 700 turbulent followers who were banished by the King of Vanga in India. They grasped the soil on the land with their hands which became copper coloured. Thereupon they named the place Thambapanni (which later became Taprobane to the Greeks)
Vijaya is said to have landed in Sri Lanka on the very day of Buddha’s Parinirvana (Passing away). He and his followers learnt that the place at which they have arrived was called SIRISAVATTHU inhabited by Yaksas (A tribe of local inhabitants said to have been of a ferocious nature). Later Vijaya and his men came into the power of Kuveni the daughter of the Yaksa King. At that stage Kuveni offered her hand to Vijaya and he accepted her as his consort
On Kuveni’s advice Vijaya rid the island of Yaksas and built the THAMBAPANNI NAGARA at the place of his landing.
Having established themselves firmly in a new land Vjaya’s followers wished to consecrate their leader as King, but Vijaya declined to do so until he had a bride from the Ksatriya clan to be his queen.
Envoys were sent to the Pandu King of Madura in India, requesting the hand of his daughter,to which proposal the Pandu King agreed and sent not only his daughter but seven hundred maids as well, as brides for his followers.
Thereupon Vijaya forced Kuveni to leave him with her two children by him. Kuveni went to her people and they slew her probably for bringing shame to the clan by co-habiting with a man of a foreign country. But the two children were spared.
They grew up and said to have become the ancestors of the Pulindas – the Veddas, descendants of the ancient inhabitants of today, as the story goes.
Vijaya and the Pandu Princess were married and duly consecrated as the first King and Queen of Sri Lanka.
Vijaya did not have a son and he died without an heir.
He was said to have reigned with perfect justice for thirty eight years.
Upatissa 445 To 444 BC
He was the Chief Minister of Vijaya and succeeded the latter as regent as Vijaya died without an heir. He governed for one year until the arrival of Panduvasdeva the younger son of Vijaya’s brother Sumitta.
Panduvasdeva 444 – 414 BC
Prince Panduvasdeva arrived with 32 noble men. Bhadda Kacchana, daughter of King of Pandu, also arrived with 32 female attendants. Panduvasadeva and Bhadda Kacchana were married and duly consecrated as the second King and Queen of Sri Lanka.
The King had 10 sons and one daughter Unmada Chitta. It was predicted that the son to be born to Unmada Citta would destroy his uncles and under the King’s orders she was kept in solitary confinement.
She later married Dighamini and gave birth to a baby boy. The boy was brought up in hiding and was named Pandukabhaya.
King died after a peaceful reign of 30 years. His seat of reign was Vijithapura. The reservoir Abeya-wewa was built during his reign. This is considered to be the world’s first man made reservoir. ABHAYA 414 – 394 BC
Tissa 394 – 377 BC
ABHAYA the eldest son of King Panduvasdeva succeeded. He was deposed and Tissa was appointed regent. Tissa was slain in battle by Pandukhabaya who ascended the throne.
The Portuguese Period
In 1505 the Portuguese, under Lorennco de Almeida established friendly relations with the king of Kotte and gained, for Portugal, a monopoly in the spice and cinnamon trade, which soon became of enormous importance in Europe. Attempts by Kotte to utilize the strength and protection of the Portuguese only resulted in Portugal taking over and ruling not only their regions, but the rest of the islandas well, apart form the central highlands around Kandy.
Because the highlands were remote and inaccessible, the kings of Kandy were always able to defeat the attempts by the Portuguese to annex them, and on a number of occasions drove the Portuguese right back down to the coast.
The Dutch Period
Attempts by Kandy to enlist Dutch help in expelling the Portuguese only resulted in the substitution of one European power for another. By 1658, 153 years after the first Portuguese contact, the Dutch took control over the costal areas of the Island.
During their 140-year-rule the Dutch, like Portuguese, were involved in repeated unsuccessful attempts to bring Kandy under their control. The Dutch were much more interested in trade and profits than the Portuguese, who spent a lot of efforts spreading their religion and extending their physical control.
The British Period
The French revolution resulted in a major shake-up among the European powers and in 1796 the Dutch were easily supplanted by the British, who in 1815 also won the control of the kingdom of Kandy, becoming the first European power to rule the whole island. But in 1802, Sri Lanka became a Crown Colony and in 1818 a unified administration for the island was set up.
Soon the country was dotted with coffee, cinnamon and coconut plantations and a network of roads and Railways were built to handle this new economic activity. English became the official language, and is still widely spoken.
Coffee was the main crop and the backbone of the colonial economy, but the occurence of a leaf blight virtually wiped it out in the 1870s and the plantations quickly switched over to tea or rubber.
Today Sri Lanka is the world’s second largest tea exporter. The British were unable to persuade the Sinhalese to work cheaply and willingly on the plantations, so they imported large number of South Indian labourers from South India. Sinhalese peasants in the hill country lost land to the estates.
Independence
Between WW I and WW II, political stirrings started to push Sri Lanka towards eventual independence from Britain but in a considerably more peaceful and low-key manner than in India. At the end of WW II it was evident that independence would come very soon, in the wake of independence for Sri Lanka’s neighbour. In February 1948 Sri Lanka, or Ceylon as it was still known, became an independent member of the British Commonwealth.
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