{"id":100226,"date":"2020-03-21T16:46:26","date_gmt":"2020-03-21T23:46:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=100226"},"modified":"2020-03-21T16:46:26","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T23:46:26","slug":"what-happened-in-our-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/03\/21\/what-happened-in-our-history\/","title":{"rendered":"What happened in our history"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The pioneering Indo-Aryan settlers, who came\nto be known as Sinhalese later, never stopped making history from the time they\nstepped ashore. The mission of making history came naturally to them. It was\ntheir innate penchant for making history that gave birth to a new civilization\nwhich rose to the heights of any other civilisation of its time. Their\nachievements entitled them to the foremost place in the history they created\nand left behind. They sowed the land with their sweat, blood and tears and the\nhistory they made in the process belongs exclusively to them. They laboured in\nthe passage of time to enrich the land with their culture. It is a history that\nshines to this day with the grandeur of the distinguishing Sinhala-Buddhist\nculture. History belongs to those who made it and not to those who came as\ninvaders, or predators, or destroyers, or those who live off the fat of the\nland fertilized by the self-sacrificing ancestors.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their creative energy left behind a glorious\nlegacy for their descendants to inherit with pride and joy. Each step they took\nto explore and transform the land into fertile fields of agriculture and\nculture lifted the Sinhalese above the other migrants who arrived in time to\nreap the harvests of the foundational ground prepared by the pioneering\nforefathers. The Sinhalese not only made this new found land their home but\nalso opened it up for others to come in and make it their home as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

History was made by bonding with the land.\nThe Sinhalese took to the land like duck to water. They had no alternative\neither because they had taken the critical decision not to go back. They had\nsevered their umbilical cord with India \u2013 a momentous decision that made all\nthe difference to the creation of a new civilisation. They did not have one foot\nin their new land and another in old India like those who came from the\nDravidian culture. The essential difference between the two major and minor\nsettlers who came from India is that the Sinhalese set out creatively and\nenergetically to construct a unique civilisation of their own, with a brand-new\nidentity, while the descendants of the Dravidians stagnated as mere imitators\nrecycling mechanically the culture they brought with them from across the Palk\nStraits. They had nothing new to offer. They were quite content to bask in the\nglory of the S. Indian culture.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The role of the Sinhalese has been entirely\ndifferent. They were out to make a history of their own with a new identity.\nEach new step was a historical move to pave the way into the future \u2013 a future\nwhich opened up in all its glorious splendour. They made it their mission to\nexpand the horizons to its limits, always mindful of the good of all\u201d. (Mahavamsa<\/em><\/strong>\n– IV:7).<\/em><\/strong> What happened in Sri Lankan history in the initial\nstages was to create a unique identity resisting with all their might the alien\ninvasions, colonisations, migrations and even integrations with the Dravidians.\nOf course, the initial challenges they faced came mainly from the Dravidians.\nThe clash of cultures was inevitable considering the geographical proximity to\nS. India. Known records indicate that   geographical neighbours\nglobally turn into historical enemies. It was no different with the Dravidian\nneighbour. The indelible character that distinguished Sri Lankan history has\nbeen the triumph of the Sinhala settlers over the repeated incursions of the\nDravidian intruders \/ invaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The pro-Tamil school of historians, aiming to\ntailor facts, records and events to suit their separatist agenda, tend to\ndowngrade the monumental achievements of the Sinhala-Buddhists and exaggerate\ntheir role to make it appear as if they were the founders and makers of Sri\nLankan history from the dawn of history\u201d. (Vaddukoddai Resolution -May 14,\n1976). If this is true the history of Sri Lanka would have been written in\nTamil and the whole of Sri Lanka would have been an extension of Jaffna.\nSeparatists are desperately in need of a revised history to make them look\ngreat in the eyes of the world. The best they have achieved so far is to\ncompare a few potsherds found here and there with that of Jethawanaramaya, the\nsecond largest monument of the ancient world next to Pyramids of Giza. The\n33-year-old Vadukoddai War (from May 1976 to May 2009) is the last attempt to\nreverse and rewrite the history of the nation by the Northern invaders. As on\nthe previous occasions in history they failed at the end of a futile war. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is no doubt that the clash between\nthese two cultures went a long say to shape the history of the nation. It is\nthe resistance to the Dravidian culture in particular that gave the\nunmistakeable identity to the history made by the Sinhala-Buddhists. The\noverall history of the nation was defined by the struggles to save the\nSinhala-Buddhist identity from being destroyed by the alien forces.  It\nbegan with Sena and Guttika, the Dravidian horse traders, and ended with\nMahinda Rajapakse defeating Velupillai Prabhakaran.  Unforgiving history\nrepeats itself relentlessly, maintaining a determined course as it winds its\nway to its destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The collective task of contemporaries living\nin their inherited histories has been to renew and defend the legacies left\nbehind by their ancestors. Revisionists will, of course, rewrite history (as\nseen in the anti-Sinhala-Buddhist Vadukoddai Declaration of War in 1976) to\nsuit their immediate political agendas. But over and over again historical\nnecessities have forced the living generations of Sinhala-Buddhists to reignite\nand reinforce perpetually their faith in their past that leads them to their\nfuture. They rely on their heroic past because the new-fangled alternatives\nhave failed to deliver. They find security and hope only in the legacy left\nbehind by their committed ancestors. Going back to the past is also a dutiful\nacknowledgement of the validity and the legitimacy of the inherited vision,\nvalues and the legacies left behind by the ancestors. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Imbibing and sharing the legacy handed down\nfrom the past is the instinctive response of those living in the present. After\nall, our ancestors, we are told, laboured to create a place mindful of the\ngood of all\u201d while being lawful according to tradition\u201d. (MV \u2013 IV:54). With\neach step the pioneering Sinhalese settlers knew that they were defining and\nreinforcing their way forward to their destiny in their new land of hope. The\nbonding power of the history they made each day created a magnetic field to\nhold them together against all odds. Their collective genius gave them a sense\nof history that led them all the way to their tryst with destiny. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Their mission was to carve out new paths in\nan unknown territory with their own creative energies. They arrived on the\nshores with all the Indo-Aryan skills, tools and experiences to construct a new\nlife of their own. But the primary driving force that lifted them above the\nothers stemmed from the fact that they courageously broke away from their\nIndian past and set out on an innovative course to create a new civilisation,\nnew culture, new language that had stood the test of time. Naturally, their\ncommitment and affinity to the land grew exponentially with their successes.\nTheir daring endeavours to find their way in unchartered territories guided by\ntheir own instincts and ingenuity made them daring architects in the making of\ntheir own history. The enlightened vision of the founding fathers is enshrined\nin the legacy that speaks to the living from the depths of history. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The genius of the Sinhala people is in giving\nthe world a new history. The alternative was to merge with the rival Dravidian\nculture and disappear into the big belly of S. India. They either had to make\nthis virgin territory their glorious homeland or wither away into the margins\nof history like the very first settlers, the aboriginals, whom they encountered\non their arrival. They also knew that they had to do it themselves. There was\nno one else to do it for them or guide them. There was no compass to show\ndirections. Of course, like all great civilisations that flourished in the\npages of history, they borrowed from other cultures. But their achievement was\nin transforming and stamping the seal of their genius into the borrowings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For instance, the Sinhala language was\ncreated out of borrowings like English, French or any other great language. But\nit is the native input that made it the linguistic vehicle for the dissemination\nof the subtle profundities of Buddhism. The quintessential Sinhaleseness in the\nlanguage came out of the tongues and the minds of those creating a new culture\nand a new civilisation. The new civilisation needed a new language to\narticulate its birth, growth and inheritance. It needed new words to identify\nand consecrate its experiences, environment, ideologies and adventures,\nSinhalese came out of that necessity to describe the new world they were\ncreating. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The legacy they left behind reveals that they\nwere gifted with a colossal capacity to make history on a grand scale. With\ntheir creativity they advanced incrementally into one of the great\ncivilisations of the ancient world, defining on their way forward their\nidentity, dignity and destiny with unquestionable certainty. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

No other settlers \u2013 Tamils, Muslims, Burghers\n— had the commitment, the inclination, the necessity and the capacity to break\naway from their past and carve out a new world which they could call their own.\nThe creative contribution of the Sinhala-Buddhists to a new civilisation has\nnot been matched by the other settlers. Only the adventurous Sinhalese took on\nthe overwhelming challenges of their times and transformed the land, opening up\nevery inch of it, for all those who want to call it their home. Their\npioneering mission was to make the land blossom with a new culture and\ncivilisation and to preserve both in an open society for all settlers to share\nit as their homeland based on peaceful coexistence. Tolerant pluralism, embracing\ndiversity, was the secret of their success throughout their journey in history.\nThere were, of course, the inevitable aberrations which branched out briefly\ninto billabongs. But the general tendency was for most divergences to return\nand merge with the normal flow of the mainstream culture. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The minting of a brand new civilisation,\nculture and language that could stand shoulder to shoulder with the\nachievements of other comparable histories is what makes the Sinhalese a cut\nabove the rest. Filled with hope, determination and courage they explored the\nvirgin land and tamed wild nature to make it an island nation with a\nmany-splendored culture. The founding fathers left their footprints on every\nmicro-mini grain of sand in the land they occupied as they inched their way\ninto the unknown future. By the time the Dravidians, the Portuguese, Dutch,\nMuslims and the British worked their way into Sri Lanka they discovered a\nflourishing, advanced civilisation and culture well established to combat the\nchallenges that faced them. As expected, it was invariably the\nSinhala-Buddhists that led the way to face the challenges that confronted them\nfrom time to time, It was their leadership and sacrifices that saved the\nnation. It is this role that gives the foremost place in the history made by\nthem. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhala settlers had no reason to look\nback, either in despair or regret, because they fulfilled their role of making\na history second to none. They took to the land as if it had been a gift\npromised to them by the hidden forces of history to fulfil their destiny. As\nthey dug deep roots into the soil their ties to the land became inseparable and\nindivisible. Propelled by the fervour of pioneering forefathers the history\nthey made together carried them through tumultuous years. Several rivulets,\noriginating from diverse sources, did flow into the mainstream of history. But\nit is the power and the glory of the mainstream that that defined the course of\nhistory as it flowed down the ages <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The original decision of our founding fathers to\nsever the umbilical cord that tied us to India made all the difference to our\nhistory. The decision to go it alone was a courageous one. Eventually it landed\nas a chapter in Arnold Toynbee\u2019s monumental work which records the triumphant\nresponses of those who succeeded in overcoming the challenges faced by the\npioneers of the past. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After abandoning our original home in India,\ndigging new roots in a new land was not an easy task, as any migrant would\nknow. But that is what our ancestors, our founding fathers, had to do. Their\npioneering task was to make history and they did it their way in grand style.\nBut it was not without its share of hazards. The passage to the future had to\nbe fought every inch of the way. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The constant threat to the Sinhala settlers came from the overwhelming\nDravidian culture. That has been the central drama in their history. The soil\nwas fertilized by the blood shed to resist and rescue the identity of invading\nforces of the North. Sri Lanka is a nation built out of resistance to the\ninimical Dravidian forces. To a great extent the history of SL is the history\nof the power and the glory of the capacity of the Sinhala-Buddhists to defeat,\noverthrow and survive the massive thrusts of Dravidian incursions. The shadow\nof the Dravidian Big Brother loomed large over Sri Lanka throughout its\nhistory. Despite the overwhelming geographical proximity, military power,\ninvasions, migrations, infiltrations, collaborations with other inimical forces\nthe Sinhala-Buddhist forces triumphed in defeating and\/or expelling the alien\nforces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first battle against the Sinhala people was waged by the two\nbrothers, Sena Guttika, The last battle was fought by the two brothers Mahinda\nand Gota. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

History has recorded who had won in the beginning and in the end. All\nthis leads to one single conclusion: the Sinhala-Buddhist history has knocked\nMarxism, Leninism, Gramscicism, separatism etc., into a cocked hat. Gota\u2019s\nvictory on November 19 is the latest historical event that should convince the\ntheoreticians that despite aberrations history will return again and again to\nrescue and resuscitate the Sinhala-Buddhist roots from its enemies within and\nabroad.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And as they say, history will never cease to repeat itself.  <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala The pioneering Indo-Aryan settlers, who came to be known as Sinhalese later, never stopped making history from the time they stepped ashore. The mission of making history came naturally to them. It was their innate penchant for making history that gave birth to a new civilization which rose to the heights […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100226"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100226\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}