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Jan 1, 1505
First European Contact, Portuguese Ceylon Established
The first Europeans to visit Ceylon were the Portuguese and started European interest in Ceylon. Dom Lourenco de Almeida was the first Portuguese to visit Sri Lanka. He arrived there by accident when a storm blew him there. After this expedition, Portuguese took interest in Sri Lanka, and this started European interest in Sri Lanka. The Portuguese Ceylon was established. -
Period: Jan 1, 1505 to
Portuguese Era
The time inwhich the Portuguese took control of Ceylon. War wages on with the Sinhalese. -
Jan 1, 1517
Portuguese Settlements
After Dom Lourenco de Almeida's expedition, Portuguese took interest in Sri Lanka, and this started European interest in Sri Lanka. The Portuguese Ceylon was established. The Portuguese established settlements in Ceylon as well as a fort in the port city of Colombo, increaseing Portuguese Influence onto neighboring cities. -
Kandy Becomes the capital
The Sinhalese moved their capital to the inland city of Kandy, a location more secure against attack from invaders. -
Dutch Landing
The Dutch Captain Joris van Spilbergen arrives on Sri Lanka with his fleet and finds that the king of Kandy is in distress. -
Dutch-Kandy Treaty
Rajasinghe II, the king of Kandy, made a treaty with the Dutch in 1638 to get rid of the Portuguese who ruled most of the coastal area of the island. The main conditions of the treaty were that the Dutch would handover the coastal areas they capture to the Kandyan king and the king will grant the Dutch a monopoly over trade on the entire island. -
Period: to
Dutch Era
The timespan in which the Dutch was in control of Ceylon. The Dutch persecuted the Catholics and the remaining Portuguese settlers, they left the Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims alone. The Dutch has also taxed the people far more heavily than the Portuguese had done. -
Dutch rule over Ceylon
By 1660, the Dutch controlled the whole island except the kingdom of Kandy -
Treaty of Amiens
the Treaty of Amiens formally ceded the Dutch part of the island to Britain and it became a crown colony. -
Period: to
British Era
The time in which the British Ruled over Ceylon. -
The First Kandyan War
In 1803 the British invaded the Kingdom of Kandy in the first Kandyan war, but the invasion was unsuccessful. -
Second Kandyan War
In 1815, Kandy was occupied by the British and ending the independance of Ceylon. -
Growth of Tea, Coffee and Rubber Industry
The British imported large numbers of Tamil workers as indentured labourers from south India to work and produce Tea, Coffee and Rubber. -
Period: to
World War II
Ceylon became the front-line British base used against the Japanese. -
Independence of Ceylon
The constitutionalists led by D. S. Senanayake succeeded in winning independence. -
Solomon Bandaranaike elected as Sinhalese President.
Sinhala was made as the official language and other measures introduced to bolster Sinhalese and Buddhist feelings. More than 100 Tamils killed in widespread violence after Tamil parliamentarians protest at the new laws. -
Solomen Bandaranaike assassinated by a Buddhist monk.
Solomen Bandaranike was assasisinated by a Buddhist monk, after his death his wife, Srimavo, takes on the nationalisation programme. She becomes the first female prime minister in the world. -
Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka
Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka. as well as promoting Buddhism as the country's primary religion, and further denouncing the Tamil People -
the establishment of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) formed as tension increase in Tamil-dominated areas (north and east). -
13 Soldiers ambushed by LTTE
13 soldiers killed in LTTE ambush, Beginning "The First Eelam War", also starting anti-Tamil riots and causing death of hundres of Tamils -
Period: to
Civil War
The war between the Government and LTTE wages on for 26 years and finally ends with the victory of the Sri Lankan government in 2009 -
Government takes military measures
The government pushes the LTTE back into northern city of Jaffna. -
Second Eelam War
"Second Eelam War" begins and thousands of Muslims were discharged from northern areas controlled by the LTTE. -
The Third Eelam War
"Third Eelam War" breaks out when the rebels sink a naval ship -
Period: to
Third Eelam War
War rages in north and east, The LTTE bombs Sri Lanka's major Buddhist site and President Kumaratunga was also wounded in a bomb attack. -
Rebal Attack on Airport
LTTE plans a suicide attack on the international airport, destroying half the Sri Lankan Airlines fleet. -
Government and Tamil Tiger Tebels sign the Norwegian-mediated ceasefire Agreement.
De-commissioning of weapons begins; the road linking the Jaffna peninsula with the rest of Sri Lanka reopens after 12 years; passenger flights to Jaffna resume. Government lifts ban on Tamil Tigers. Rebels drop demand for separate state. -
LTTE commander and rebals goes into hiding
Renegade Tamil Tiger commander, known as Karuna, split the rebel movements and goes underground with his supporters while the other half of the Tiger regains control of the east. -
LTTE admit defeat to Sri Lankan Government
The LTTE Commanded was killed and the rebals surrendered.
