Operationalizing Buddhism for political ends in a martial context in Lanka: The case of Simhalatva

In Lanka, there is not only the PƗli canon as a source of inspiration for thinking, speaking and acting in private and public life. A second inspiring source for Buddhists is the

or Chronical tradition formed in Lanka during part of the colonial period. A third source is foreign traditions representing religions, political ideologies, evaluations of life and worldviews. Among these, we find racial, racist/racialist ideas which were applied to and internalized by Tamils and from the late nineteenth century onwards.