On the Chronicles of Ceylon

III. Historical Position – 81
the case of the Ceylon chronicles, is the year of the Buddha’s demise,
making the starting point of the Buddha Era (Buddhavassa).
A happy coincidence is imagined and availed of to build up a
systematic chronology of the kings of Ceylon, the coincidence of the
day of the Buddha’s demise with that of the landing of the exiled
prince Vijaya on the island of Laṅkā. 125 A prediction is put into the
mouth of the Buddha to raise the importance of his appearance on
the island as the founder of the first Aryan rule. An account is given
of the circumstances that led to the banishment of the prince which
proved to be a blessing in disguise for the future history of the island
as a whole.
The chroniclers who were mad with the idea of the Indo-Aryan rule
did not foresee the difficulties to be met by the modern historian.
The abruptness of the establishment of an Indian form of monarchy
goes against other historical traditions that sensibly represent it as
the final result of an earlier and long process of settlement and
colonization. They are silent altogether on the previous tradeconnection
of the island with the mainland of India. They are
unaware of the tradition narrating how a leader of sea-going Indian
merchants [48] figured ultimately as the first monarch of Ceylon and
the founder of the first ruling dynasty.
Neither the process of colonization nor that of linguistic
development could have taken place so soon. They would have us
believe that the conqueror of the island then under the sway of the
Yakkhas, and the founder of the first monarchy favourable to the
125 Dīpavaṁsa, IX, 21; Mahāvaṁsa, VII, 1-3.