ABSTRACT
This chapter examines two themes within the British imaginary in nineteenth-century Sri Lanka that influenced British attitudes to Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva: the history and presence of Buddhism in Sri Lanka; Tamils as Malabar invaders and Sinhalas as Aryan. The first theme developed as British visitors to the ancient cities measured and labelled the ruins in the light of the vaṃsa tradition, knowledge of which was much older than George Turnour’s work. The second theme, Tamils as invaders, emerged out of both John D’Oyley’s manipulation of anti-Tamil sentiment in the British take-over of the Kandyan Kingdom and awareness of the vaṃsas. It gathered considerable emotive momentum in British writings, Tamils or Malabars being represented as ruthless and cruel destroyers of Buddhism. The Sinhala ‘race’ as an Aryan race captured the imagination of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society and influenced a generation of researchers into Sinhala history. The two themes developed into an orientalist discourse on race, nationality and origins, which Sri Lankans also entered, sometimes using this as a ‘counter-tool’ to create their own colonial and post-colonial identities. The chapter ends with this indigenous voice.
