Asia Sri Lanka (Commonwealth Union) – Sri Lanka is set to celebrate its 75th anniversary on the 4th February. The country has been through many ups and downs primarily with the war that lasted for 3 decades to the Boxing Day tsunami and more recently with the pandemic. In spite these obstacles Sri Lankans have always showed resilience.
Prior to Sri Lankas colonial rule, Sri Lanka was ruled by native kingdoms, the most famous of which was the Kingdom of Kandy. In the 16th century, the Portuguese arrived and established a colony on the island, which was later taken over by the Dutch in the 17th century. In 1796, the British took control of Sri Lanka and ruled it as a crown colony until 1948.
The colonial era began following the arrival of Portuguese explorer Vasco Da Gama who was said to be in the seas just off Southern India seeking out Moor ships when a storm had erupted forcing his ship to land in Sri Lanka in 1505 and the King of Sri Lanka at the time was Vira Parakrama Bahu. The king was then told of the arrival of strangers to the port of Colombo.
During the British colonial period, many Sri Lankans waged a struggle for independence and freedom. In the early 20th century, some of the most prominent leaders involved in the independence movement were Anagarika Dharmapala, F.R. Senanayake, and A.E. Gunasinghe who became the faces of the independence movement. In 1931, a State Council was established, which marked the first time that Sri Lanka (known then as Ceylon) where its people were permitted to participate in the government of the country.
Eventually, on February 4, 1948, after years political maneuvering, together with a regional independence struggle, Sri Lanka was given independence from Britain. The nation became a republic with a parliamentary system of government, with D.S. Senanayake becoming the 1st Prime Minister where Queen Elizabeth II remained head of state. The country was declared a republic in 1972, where William Gopallawa became the 1st president of Sri Lanka.
