Culavamsa Being The More Recent Part Of The Mahavamsa

The author is especially known for this brilliant work on the Sri Lankan chronicles that list the kings and their rule Mahavamsa and Culavamsa in these two volumes of work. Ceylon itself there are traces of an era starting from 483 B.C. whereas later, almost certainly in the 7th century, 544/3 B.C. was adopted as the year of the Nirvana. In the face of all this uncertainty it is advisable in our chronological investigations to rely chiefly on foreign testimony regarding the history of Ceylon. There are above all the synchronisms afforded by Chinese annals and South Indian inscriptions. Then we have the confirmatory evidence of Sinhalese inscriptions, especially those of the mediaeval and modern times. If we go back for the change of the era to Sirimeghavaijija and his immediate successors there is an inherent probability in this. It coincides with the transition from the Mahavamsa to the Culavamsa. That we have here a significant breach in the history of Ceylon, a powerful reaction in favour of the Theravada after a period of decline can scarcely be disputed. So, this book is an indispensable one in the context of Sri Lankan history.