raveninthesky
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I can only laugh by seeing illogical comments by some Indians here. after all not amazed by any of it for those illogical
While considerable evidence points to western India as the home of the first immigrants, it seems probable that a subsequent wave arrived from the vicinity of Bengal and Orissa in the northeast. One band of settlers landed in Sri Lanka at the east-coast port of Gokanna, a natural port of disembarkation for vessels arriving from the Bay of Bengal. The traditional accounts of the arrival of Panduvasudeva may portray a second wave of migration following the first mentioned in the Vijaya legend. Linguistic affinities between the early Sinhalese- and Prakrit-speaking peoples of eastern India strengthen the hypothesis of a migration from this area.
The tradition speaks primarily of settlement by conquest, and tribes of conquerors led by a warrior nobility would certainly have propelled the Indo-Aryan migration southward. Also important, however, was the pursuit of trade (as opposed to military conquest). Indo-Aryan merchants probably reached Sri Lanka while sailing down the Indian coast, and some of these merchants, motivated by a lucrative trade in Sri Lanka’s natural products, may have founded settlements.
The view that Indo-Aryan migrants laid the foundations of Sinhalese civilization increasingly has come into question since the late 20th century. Archaeological evidence has indicated that settled agriculture, tank irrigation, use of iron, and pottery were features present before the Indo-Aryan migrations. During the early phases of these migrations, a synthesis seems to have taken place between Indo-Aryan, pre-Indo-Aryan, and possibly Dravidian elements to create the early Sinhalese culture of the Anuradhapura period, which spanned the 3rd century bce to the 10th century ce. The chronicled account of Vijaya’s confrontation with the yakshas and the search for consorts in the Pandu kingdom of Madurai (if this may be presumed to be the Pandya Tamil kingdom of southern India) point to such integration.
In any case, Indo-Aryan settlements grew in different parts of the island from about the 5th century bce. The settlers came in numerous clans or tribes; the most powerful were the Sinhalese, who eventually gave their name to the descendants of the various groups. The earliest settlers were those on the west-central coast, who pushed inland along the Malwatu River and founded a number of riverbank villages. Their seat of government was Upatissagama.
Tradition attributes the founding of the kingdom of Anuradhapura to Anuradhapura and the nearby settlements flourished. Kings built up the city and developed it for urban life as they extended royal control over villages and outlying settlements. With the establishment of strong government, the population grew and the kingdom expanded into the north-central region
While considerable evidence points to western India as the home of the first immigrants, it seems probable that a subsequent wave arrived from the vicinity of Bengal and Orissa in the northeast. One band of settlers landed in Sri Lanka at the east-coast port of Gokanna, a natural port of disembarkation for vessels arriving from the Bay of Bengal. The traditional accounts of the arrival of Panduvasudeva may portray a second wave of migration following the first mentioned in the Vijaya legend. Linguistic affinities between the early Sinhalese- and Prakrit-speaking peoples of eastern India strengthen the hypothesis of a migration from this area.
The tradition speaks primarily of settlement by conquest, and tribes of conquerors led by a warrior nobility would certainly have propelled the Indo-Aryan migration southward. Also important, however, was the pursuit of trade (as opposed to military conquest). Indo-Aryan merchants probably reached Sri Lanka while sailing down the Indian coast, and some of these merchants, motivated by a lucrative trade in Sri Lanka’s natural products, may have founded settlements.
The view that Indo-Aryan migrants laid the foundations of Sinhalese civilization increasingly has come into question since the late 20th century. Archaeological evidence has indicated that settled agriculture, tank irrigation, use of iron, and pottery were features present before the Indo-Aryan migrations. During the early phases of these migrations, a synthesis seems to have taken place between Indo-Aryan, pre-Indo-Aryan, and possibly Dravidian elements to create the early Sinhalese culture of the Anuradhapura period, which spanned the 3rd century bce to the 10th century ce. The chronicled account of Vijaya’s confrontation with the yakshas and the search for consorts in the Pandu kingdom of Madurai (if this may be presumed to be the Pandya Tamil kingdom of southern India) point to such integration.
In any case, Indo-Aryan settlements grew in different parts of the island from about the 5th century bce. The settlers came in numerous clans or tribes; the most powerful were the Sinhalese, who eventually gave their name to the descendants of the various groups. The earliest settlers were those on the west-central coast, who pushed inland along the Malwatu River and founded a number of riverbank villages. Their seat of government was Upatissagama.
Tradition attributes the founding of the kingdom of Anuradhapura to Anuradhapura and the nearby settlements flourished. Kings built up the city and developed it for urban life as they extended royal control over villages and outlying settlements. With the establishment of strong government, the population grew and the kingdom expanded into the north-central region