Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka. Modern state established on the island off the southern tip of India known in Pāli sources as Tambapaṇṇi-dīpa (copper leaf island). This was the first region outside of India to be converted to Buddhism. It was brought to the island around 240 bce by the monk Mahinda, son of Emperor Aśoka. A monastery known as the Mahāvihāra was built near the capital Anurādhapura, and from there Buddhism spread throughout the island. An order of nuns was established at the same time by Mahinda's sister, the nun Sanghamittā, who brought with her a cutting of the Bodhi Tree that was planted at the Mahāvihāra. The early political history of the island was turbulent, and punctuated by frequent invasions by the Damiḷas (Tamils) from India. Out of fear that the Buddha's teachings might be lost, the Pāli Canon was committed to writing during the reign of King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi (r. 29–17 bce). Around the same time, the king founded the Abhayagiri monastery, which became a rival to the Mahāvihāra. Around the 4th or 5th century the island became home to the great scholar and commentator Buddhaghoṣa, who composed many important works including the encyclopedic Path of Purification (Visuddhimagga), a compendium of Theravāda teachings structured according to the three divisions of the Eightfold Path, namely morality (śīla), meditation (samādhi), and insight (prajñā). Mahāyāna schools also enjoyed popularity at this time, but the Theravāda eventually reasserted itself as the dominant tradition. Due to a combination of political problems and doctrinal disputes, however, the Saṃgha fell into decline, and the ordination lineages of both monks and nuns died out. Monks were sent for from the Mon region of present-day Burma, and the male lineage was restored. There was further political turmoil in the early modern period when the island was ruled in turn by the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British. Once again the ordination lineage died out and monks had to be sent from Thailand to restart it. Sri Lanka gained independence from the British in 1948, but in modern times has continued to be plagued by political problems and intermittent civil war between the Sinhalese Buddhist majority (numbering over 70 per cent) and the minority Tamil population in the north. At times Buddhist monks have fanned the flames by likening the dispute to a holy war and campaigning for discriminatory constitutional reform. This reached an extreme in 1959 when the Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was assassinated by a Buddhist monk who felt his position towards the Tamils was too conciliatory. At the time of writing the political problems show no sign of early resolution.