Buddhism in Sri Lanka: A Short History

The book is organized into forty-eight short chapters, moving chronologically from the state of Sri Lanka before Buddhism to the modern period. The opening chapters discuss early traditions, Prince Vijaya, political organization, pre-Buddhist religion, Aśoka, Mahinda’s mission, the arrival of Saṅghamittā and the Sacred Bodhi Tree, and the firm establishment of the Sāsana. The middle chapters cover the development of monastic institutions, social and cultural changes, Vattagāmani Abhaya, the first schism, the writing of the sacred books, dissentient schools, the Sacred Tooth Relic, Buddhaghosa and the Pāli commentaries, the Pāli chronicles, political decline, and successive Buddhist revivals under major Sinhalese kings. The later chapters treat Portuguese persecution, Dutch and British rule, Christian missionary activities, Burmese ordination missions, the restoration efforts of Vimaladharmasuriya, Kirti Sri Rājasinha, Velivita Sri Saranankara, Mohottivatte Gunananda, Colonel Olcott, Anagārika Dharmapāla, the Buddhist renaissance, and Buddhism in Sri Lanka during the first half of the twentieth century and after the Buddha Jayanti.