ANCIENT KINGDOMS
In 377 BC the Sinhalese established Anuradhapura as the capital of their kingdom. In 250 BC Sinhalese king Devanampiya Tissa converted to Buddhism during a missionary visit by Mahinda, son of Indian emperor Ashoka. The Sinhalese monarch became a powerful patron of Buddhism, firmly establishing it as the official religion of his kingdom. The art and architecture of Anuradhapura flourished under Buddhist influence and state patronage.
The kingdom prospered under a system of settled agriculture. By the 1st century AD, the Sinhalese had built several large-scale irrigation works that included a complex system of dams, reservoirs, and canals. The irrigation works allowed them to cultivate rice and other crops on a grand scale in the dry north central plains, where Anuradhapura was centered.
Despite recurring invasions from south India, Sinhalese kings held sway over Anuradhapura for several centuries. In the late 900s, however, the Cholas (a Tamil-speaking people from south India) conquered the capital and annexed Rajarata, the agricultural center of the Sinhalese kingdom.
In 1070 Sinhalese king Vijayabahu I drove the Cholas out of Sri Lanka and established a new capital at Polonnaruwa, about 80 km (about 50 mi) southeast of Anuradhapura. The kingdom prospered until about 1200, when it entered a period of decline marked by dynastic succession disputes, social and economic instability, and repeated invasions from south India. When the kingdom finally collapsed in the late 1200s, the Sinhalese abandoned their settlements in the north central plains and migrated to the southwest. In the north, meanwhile, a Tamil kingdom centered at Nallur (near present-day Jaffna) in the Jaffna Peninsula expanded its influence during the 1200s and 1300s.