Sri Lanka

Through the ages

Rivals in history

The kingdoms, empires and states Sri Lanka fought or stood against, from the first to today.

1. 🇮🇳 Chola kingdom (Elara)205 BC to 161 BC

   According to the chronicles, Elara, a Tamil prince from the Chola country, rules Anuradhapura until Dutugemunu defeats him around 161 BC, a war later retold as a founding Sinhalese epic.

2. 🇮🇳 Pandya kingdom830 to 870

   In the ninth century a Pandya king from Madurai invades the island and sacks Anuradhapura. King Sena II strikes back later in the century, sending an army that sacks Madurai and puts a rival prince on the Pandya throne.

3. 🇮🇳 Chola Empire993 to 1070

   Rajaraja I takes the north of the island around 993, and his son Rajendra I captures King Mahinda V in 1017. The Cholas rule from Polonnaruwa until Vijayabahu I drives them out around 1070.

4. 🇨🇳 Ming China1410 to 1411

   The Ming admiral Zheng He clashes with Vira Alakeshvara, the most powerful Sinhalese ruler of the day. In 1411 Zheng He's troops capture him and take him to China, where the emperor later releases him.

5. Jaffna kingdom1450 to 1467

   Parakramabahu VI of Kotte, the last king to unite the whole island, sends his adopted son Sapumal Kumaraya to conquer the Tamil kingdom of Jaffna around 1450. Jaffna regains its independence after Parakramabahu's death in 1467.

6. 🇵🇹 Portuguese Empire1505 to 1658

   The Portuguese take over the coasts from 1505, annex Jaffna in 1619 and fight Kandy for decades, losing at Danture in 1594 and Randeniwela in 1630. The Dutch, allied with Kandy, drive them out by 1658.

7. 🇳🇱 Dutch East India Company1638 to 1796

   Kandy's ally against Portugal keeps the coasts for itself after 1658. Kandy and the Dutch fight a war in the 1760s that ends in 1766 with Kandy losing its last coastline. Britain takes the Dutch forts in 1796.

8. 🇬🇧 British Empire1796 to 1948

   Britain takes the Dutch coasts in 1796. Its first invasion of Kandy ends in disaster in 1803, but in 1815 it annexes the kingdom with the help of Kandyan nobles and crushes the Uva rebellion of 1817 to 1818. Ceylon stays a British colony until 1948.

9. Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam1983 to 2009

   The Tamil Tigers fight the government for an independent Tamil state in the north and east, at times running their own administration there. The war kills tens of thousands of people and ends with their defeat in May 2009.

Today

Sri Lanka now

, probably from northern India. C. D. D. 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a South Indian dynasty established a Tamil kingdom in northern Sri Lanka. The Portuguese controlled the coastal areas of the island in the 16th century, followed by the Dutch in the 17th century. The island was ceded to the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and was formally united under British rule by 1815.

Capital

Colombo

Government

presidential republic

Head of government

Harini Amarasuriya

Head of state

Anura Kurankan Dissanayake

Languages

Sinhala, Tamil

Area

65,610 km²

Through time

Then and now

• Population23.0 million2023 · 7.8 million in 1950
• Life expectancy77.5 years2023 · 53.2 years in 1950
• GDP per person$10,7052022 · $1,997 in 1950
• Living in cities20%2025 · 15% in 1950
• Literacy93%2024 · 63% in 1950
• Political regimeElectoral democracy2025 · Electoral democracy in 1950
• Military alliancesNone of these2024 · None of these in 1950
• Military spending1.3% of GDP2025
• War deathsNone2025

Population: HYDE 3.3, Gapminder and UN WPP. GDP per capita: Maddison Project Database 2023. Urban share: UN WPP. Life expectancy: Riley, HMD, UN WPP. Literacy: OWID historical estimates, World Bank, UNESCO. Military spending: SIPRI. War deaths: UCDP. Political regime: V-Dem, Regimes of the World. All via Our World in Data (CC BY 4.0). Alliances and organization memberships: compiled by Atlas. Satellites in orbit: CelesTrak SATCAT. Modern borders, backcast.

Relations

Close partners and tensions

Summarised from World Bank and Wikipedia data, updated 23 October 2026.