Sri Lanka

Island nation off the southeastern coast
of India, formerly known as Ceylon.
Local tradition claims that Sri Lanka was
the place at which the biblical Adam
alighted from paradise. Yet despite the
island’s idyllic natural beauty, its human
geography has been far more troubled.
Since 1981 the nation has been in the
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Sopashraya
throes of civil war between the Sinhalese
and the Tamils, the island’s two major
ethnic groups. The Sinhalese comprise
about 70 percent of the population, are
largely Buddhist, live mainly in southern, western, and central Sri Lanka, and
consider themselves the island’s traditional inhabitants. The Tamils comprise
little more than 20 percent of the population, are both Hindu and Christian,
and are concentrated in the north and
east. The Tamils came to Sri Lanka in
two different ways—about half are
descended from medieval invaders, who
established Tamil kingdoms in northern
Sri Lanka after crossing the straits from
southern India, others were brought to
Sri Lanka in the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries, to serve as laborers
on tea plantations.
Since independence in 1948, the
Tamils have been at a distinct disadvantage vis-à-vis the Sinhalese, whose
majority has allowed them to control
virtually all aspects of national life. This
precarious position was often further
undermined by anti-Tamil riots, particularly in Colombo, the nation’s capital.
In 1981 Tamil groups began a struggle
for an independent nation in the Tamilmajority areas. The Sinhalese majority
was deathly opposed to this notion, and
since then Sri Lanka has been marked by
periods of vicious civil war. Given their
slimmer resources, the Tamils have
tended to wage guerrilla warfare. Their
soldiers are famous for wearing a
cyanide capsule around their necks with
which to commit suicide if captured.
These soldiers are also notorious for
their willingness to serve as human
bombs, striking against civilian populations in urban areas. In 1991 one such
human bomb was responsible for the
assassination of former Indian Prime
Minister Rajiv Gandhi in revenge for
Gandhi’s perceived treachery in cooperating with the Sri Lankan government.
Although the Tamil regions have been
offered limited autonomy by Chandrika
Kumaratunga, Sri Lanka’s present prime
minister, the conflict has been so bitter
that it is not likely to be easily resolved.
Sri Lanka has traditionally been part
of the Indian cultural orbit and has a
long history of cultural exchanges with
India. According to local tradition,
Buddhism was brought to Sri Lanka
from India in the third century B.C.E. by
Mahinda, who was the son of the
Mauryan emperor Ashoka. Another sign
of this connection is that Sri Lanka contains an important Hindu pilgrimage
place (tirtha), Kataragama, located
near the island’s southern coast.
Kataragama’s perceived power draws
Hindus from abroad as well as Sri
Lankans from all religious communities.
Although Kataragama is Sri Lanka’s
only major Hindu site, the northern
regions strongly reflect the Tamil culture
of the region’s population, which stems
from their geographic roots. See also
Tamil Nadu.