7

Kingdoms in South West 7. Decline of Ancient Cities in the Dry Zone and Origin of New

Origin of New Kingdoms in South West

Introduction

The city of Anuradhapura which had belonged

to the North Central dry zone and the city of

Magama which had belonged to the Southern

dry zone continued to be wonderful cities for a

long time. The historical sources have described

the background of the origin of those cities.

For example Mahawamsa mentions that the

place which was called Anuradhagrama was

transformed as the city of Anuradhapura by

King Pandukabhaya. Historical sources provide

an accurate description of the development of

a previous village as a city. Certainly, a rural

settlement develops as a city.

The transformation of a rural settlement to an

urban settlement is a very long and a gradual

process. Certainly, what happens there is the

life style of the people transforms from a rural

form to an urban form. It happens as a result

of a long process. On one hand, the internal

economic development of the country affects

that process directly. On the other hand, trade

relations with foreign countries too affect that

process decisively. This lesson will describe the

origin of ancient cities and the decline of them.

7.1 Background of the Urban Life

The first urbanization in Sri Lanka is reflected
by Anuradhapura which belongs to the North
Central dry zone and ancient Magama city
which had belonged to Southern and South–
eastern part of Sri Lanka. There were basic signs
of development in these two cities by about 450

B.C. That does not mean by then the things such

as walls, moats, and streets, which were essen-

tials for a city, had been constructed. A popula-

tion with a life condition which is needed for a

city could be seen.

You learnt in the second lesson that there is

evidence, which goes back to 2400 B.C., that

reflects that the proto-historical community who

lived in this country abandoned their nomadic

hunting life style and got used to an agricultural

life style. The major change that occurred as they

got used to agriculture was that they started to

stay in one place for a long time. This was the

basic reason for the origin of the most ancient

villages in this country.

Those who lived in these basic villages were

engaged in agriculture and animal husbandry as

their livelihood. They engaged in hunting too.

Due to agriculture and animal husbandry their

food safety was ensured. Unless those people,

who were engaged in those two occupations,

had not been affected by natural disasters such

as droughts, floods, and epidemics among ani-

mals, their life could have been more peaceful

and co-existent.

There were signs of making a clear change among

those who lived then due to their engagement

in agriculture for a long time. It depended on a

number of facts such as the nature of agricultural

land and the skill each individual showed in

managing the agricultural activities.

The farmers who cultivated lands where the soil

was fertile and water was easily available had a

good harvest and those who cultivated in infertile