National Geographic History - 09.10 201

DISCOVERIES

P

erched on a slab of

rock that juts dra-

matically over the

forests of central

Sri Lanka, Sigiriya is

as imposing a sight now as it

must have been when it was

first built by a fierce king in

the fifth century A.D. Mean-

ing “lion’s rock,” Sigiriya

(designated a UNESCO

World Heritage site in 1982)

is accessed by way of pas-

sageways cut into the rock

face between a monumental

pair of lion paws.

The fortress was later

swallowed by the forest,

and only familiar to lo-

cal villagers. Outsiders

used knowledge of

its past, preserved

in Buddhist texts,

to search for the

ancient site.

British histo-

rians redis-

covered its

astonishing

buildings and frescoes in the

19th century.

Kingdom to Colony

Sigiriya was built by the

fifth-century king Kashy-

apa I, who ruled the native

Sinhalese dynasty, the Mori-

ya. The imposing fortress

was the capital of the Sinha-

lese kingdom until Kashyapa

was defeated in A.D. 495.

After Kashyapa, dynasties

rose and fell, their fortunes

shaped by internal power

struggles and conflicts be-

tween native Sinhalese and

outside invaders from India.

Various cities held the

status of capital after Sigiri-

ya, such as Polonnaruwa. By

the 12th century, however,

overall control of Sri Lan-

ka progressively weakened.

Sinhalese power retreated to

the southwest of the island,

abandoning the Rajarata

region, and the former ad-

ministrative centers, includ-

ing Sigiriya, started to fall

into disuse.

Sri Lanka’s position in the

Indian Ocean made it vul-

nerable to Europeans look-

ing to expand their control

in the region. By the mid-

1500s the Portuguese had

thoroughly exploited dy-

nastic tensions in Sri Lanka’s

ruling elite and controlled

much of the island.

A century later the Dutch

had replaced the Portuguese

as colonial masters, and they

were in turn displaced by the

British in the late 1700s. By

1815 the Kingdom of Kandy,

the last independent, native

state on the island, became

part of the British Empire.

Knowledge is Power

British imperial rule

brought civil servant George

Sigiriya: A Palace

Fit for a Lion King

Built in the fifth century, Sri Lanka’s Sigiriya fortress attracted

the attention of British archaeologists in the 1800s, who were

amazed by its leonine rock art and beautiful frescoes.

JUNGLE swathes the

eastern face of the

Sigiriya rock, topped

with the citadel built by

King Kashyapa I in the

late fifth century A.D. in

central Sri Lanka.

THE 40-FOOT-HIGH AVUKANA BUDDHA IN SRI LANKA WAS CARVED IN THE

FIFTH CENTURY, THE SAME PERIOD IN WHICH NEARBY SIGIRIYA WAS BUILT.

1820s

Colonization of Ceylon

prompts British interest in

its ancient sites. George

Turnour translates

the Mahavamsa.

1831

Inspired by references to

Sigiriya in the Culavamsa,

Maj. Jonathan Forbes

is the first European to

visit Sigiriya.

The first comprehensive

survey of Sigiriya is

undertaken by Harry

Bell on behalf of the

British authorities.

13th century 1890s

A Buddhist monk writes

the Culavamsa chronicle

describing the building

of Sigiriya by the fifth-

century king Kashyapa I.

HERITAGE/SCALA, FLORENCE

INDIA

SRI LANKA

Sigiriya

COLOMBO

PHILIPPE MICHEL/AGE FOTOSTOCK