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{{Infobox pali text|type=Post-canonical text; [[Vaṃsa|Chronicle]]|composition=5th Century CE|attribution=Mahānāma|comment_by=Mahavamsa-tika|abbrev=Bv}}
{{History of Sri Lanka}}
'''''Mahāvaṃsa''''' (Sinhala: මහාවංශ (Mahāvansha), [[Pali]]: ''මහාවංස (Mahāvaṃsa)'' is the meticulously kept historical chronicle of [[Sri Lanka]] until the period of [[Chola conquest of Anuradhapura|Mahasena of Anuradhapura]]. It was written in the style of an epic poem written in the [[Pali]] language.<ref name="Sen1999">{{cite book|author=Sailendra Nath Sen|title=Ancient Indian History and Civilization|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Wk4_ICH_g1EC&pg=PA91|date=1 January 1999|publisher=New Age International|isbn=978-81-224-1198-0|page=91}}</ref> It relates the history of Sri Lanka from its legendary beginnings up to the reign of [[Mahasena of Anuradhapura]] covering the period between the arrival of [[Prince Vijaya]] from India in 543 BCE to his reign and later updated by different writers. It was first composed by a [[bhikkhu|Buddhist monk]] at the [[Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya|Mahavihara temple]] in Anuradhapura in the 5th or 6th century CE.<ref>Gananath Obeyesekere, “Buddhism, ethnicity and Identity: A problem of Buddhist History,” in “Journal of Buddhist Ethics”, 10, (2003): 46 https://blogs.dickinson.edu/buddhistethics/files/2010/04/Obeyesekere.pdf</ref>

The Mahavamsa first came to the attention of Western researchers around 1809 CE, when [[Alexander Johnston (1775–1849)|Sir Alexander Johnston]], Chief Justice of the [[British Ceylon]], sent manuscripts of it and other Sri Lankan chronicles to [[Europe]] for translation and publication.<ref name="Harris">{{cite book |last=Harris |first=Elizabeth |title=Theravada Buddhism and the British Encounter: Religious, Missionary and Colonial Experience in Nineteenth-Century Sri Lanka |date=2006 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=0415544424 |edition=1st |location=New York |pages=12 |language=en}}</ref> [[Eugène Burnouf]] produced a Romanized transliteration and translation into Latin in 1826, but these garnered relatively little attention.<ref name="Kemper" />{{rp|86}} Working from Johnston's manuscripts, [[Edward Upham]] published an English translation in 1833, but it was marked by several errors in translation and interpretation, among them suggesting that the Buddha was born in Sri Lanka and built a monastery atop [[Adam's Peak]].<ref name="Kemper" />{{rp|86}} The first printed edition and widely read English translation was published in 1837 by [[George Turnour]], a historian and officer of the [[Ceylon Civil Service]].<ref name="Kemper" />{{rp|86}} A [[German language|German]] translation of ''Mahavamsa'' was completed by [[Wilhelm Geiger]] in 1912. This was then translated into [[English language|English]] by Mabel Haynes Bode, and revised by Geiger.<ref>{{cite book |url=http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/ |title=''Mahavamsa'' |publisher=Ceylon Government |year=1912}}</ref>

In 2023, the Mahavamsa was listed an item of documentary heritage on the UNESCO’s [[Memory of the World Programme|Memory of the World]] International Register.<ref>{{cite web|title=Mahavamsa, the Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka (covering the period 6th century BCE to 1815 CE)|year=2023|publisher=UNESCO|url=https://www.unesco.org/en/memory-world/register2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=‘Mahavamsa’: Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka added to UNESCO Memory of the World Register|date=27 June 2023|publisher=[[TV Derana|Ada Derana]]|url=https://www.adaderana.lk/news/91530/mahavamsa-great-chronicle-of-sri-lanka-added-to-unesco-memory-of-the-world-register|access-date=3 July 2023}}</ref>

== Compilation ==
The Buddhist monks of the [[Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya]] maintained chronicles of the island's history starting from the 3rd century BCE.<ref>{{cite web|editor1-last=Manjula|editor1-first=H.A.K.L.|title=Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya|date=22 March 2022|publisher=Lankapradeepa|url=https://www.lankapradeepa.com/2022/03/anuradhapura-maha-viharaya.html|access-date=3 July 2023}}</ref> These annals were then combined and compiled into a single document in the 5th century while [[Dhatusena of Anuradhapura|King Dhatusena]] was ruling the [[Anuradhapura Kingdom]]. It was written based on prior ancient compilations known as the ''[[Atthakatha]]'' (sometimes ''Sinhalaatthakatha''), which were commentaries written in Sinhala.{{sfn|Oldenberg|1879|p=}}{{Page needed|date=February 2016}} An earlier document known as the ''[[Dipavamsa]]'' (4th century CE) "Chronicles of the Island" is much simpler and contains less information than the ''Mahavamsa'' and was probably compiled using the ''Atthakatha'' on the ''Mahavamsa'' as well.

Authorship of the ''Mahavamsa'' is attributed to an otherwise unknown monk called Mahānāma by the ''Mahavamsa-tika''. Mahānāma is described as residing in a monastery belonging to general [[Dighasanda]] and affiliated with the Mahavihara, but no other reliable biographical information is known.<ref name="Hinüber_Pali_handbook" /> Mahānāma introduces the ''Mahavamsa'' with a passage that claims that he intends to correct repetitions and shortcomings that afflicted the chronicle compiled by the ancients- this may refer either to the ''[[Dipavamsa]]'' or to the Sinhala Atthakatha.<ref name="Hinüber_Pali_handbook" />

== Contents ==
The contents of the ''Mahavamsa'' can be broadly divided into four categories:<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'/>

* '''The Buddha's Visits to Sri Lanka:''' This material recounts three legendary visits by the [[Buddha]] to the island of Sri Lanka. These stories describe the Buddha subduing or driving away the [[yakkha people|Yakkhas]] (Yakshas) and [[Naga people (Lanka)|Nagas]] that were inhabiting the island and delivering a prophecy that Sri Lanka will become an important Buddhist center. These visits are not mentioned in the [[Pali Canon]] or other early sources.
* ''' Chronicles of Kings of Sri Lanka:''' This material consists of genealogies and lineages of Sri Lankan kings, sometimes with stories about their succession or notable incidents in their reigns. This material may have been derived from earlier royal chronicles and king lists that were recorded orally in vernacular languages, and are a significant source of material about the history of Sri Lanka and nearby Indian kingdoms.
* ''' History of the Buddhist Sangha:''' This section of the Mahavamsa deals with the mission sent by Emperor [[Ashoka]] to Sri Lanka, the transplantation of the [[bodhi tree]], and the founding of the [[Mahavihara]]. It includes the names of prominent monks and nuns in the early Sri Lankan [[sangha]]. It also includes accounts of the early [[Buddhist councils]] and the first recording of the [[Pali canon]] in writing. This is a significant source of material about the development of the early Buddhist community and includes the names of missionaries dispatched to various regions of South and Southeast Asia, some of which have been confirmed by inscriptions and other archaeological evidence.
* '''Chronicles of Sri Lanka:''' This material begins with the immigration of [[Prince Vijaya]] from India with his retinue and continues until the reign of King [[Mahasena of Anuradhapura|Mahasena]], recounting wars, succession disputes, the building of stupas and reliquaries, and other notable incidents. An extensive chronicle of the war between the Sinhala King [[Dutthagamani]] and Tamil invader, and later king, [[Ellalan|Elara]] (861 verses in the ''Mahavamsa'' compared with 13 verses in the ''Dipavamsa'') may represent the incorporation of a popular epic from the vernacular tradition.<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'/>

While much of the contents of the ''Mahavamsa'' is derived from expansions of the material found in the ''Dipavamsa'', several passages specifically dealing with the [[Abhayagiri vihara]] are omitted, suggesting that the ''Mahavamsa'' was more specifically associated with the [[Mahavihara]].<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'/>

==Further compilations ==
A companion volume, the ''[[Culavamsa]]'' "Lesser Chronicle", compiled by [[Sinhalese people|Sinhala]] monks, covers the period from the 4th century to the [[British Empire|British]] [[Kandyan convention|takeover of Sri Lanka in 1815]]. The ''Culavamsa'' was compiled by several authors of different periods.

The combined work sometimes referred to collectively as the ''Mahavamsa'', provides a continuous historical record of over two millennia, and is considered one of the world's longest unbroken historical accounts.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Tripāṭhī|editor1-first=Śrīdhara|title=Encyclopaedia of Pali Literature: The Pali canon |volume=1 |date=2008|publisher=Anmol|isbn=9788126135608|page=117}}</ref> It is one of the few documents containing material relating to the [[Naga people (Lanka)|Nāga]] and [[Yaksha|Yakkha people]]s, indigenous inhabitants of [[Lanka]] before the legendary arrival of Prince Vijaya from Singha Pura of Kalinga. As it often refers to the royal [[dynasty|dynasties]] of [[India]], the ''Mahavamsa'' is also valuable for historians who wish to date and relate contemporary royal dynasties in the [[Indian subcontinent]]. It is very important in dating the [[consecration]] of the [[Maurya Empire|Maurya Emperor]] [[Ashoka]], which is related to the [[synchronicity]] with the [[Seleucid Empire]] and [[Alexander the Great]]. Indian excavations in [[Sanchi]] and other locations, confirm the ''Mahavamsa'' account of the empire of Ashoka. The accounts given in the ''Mahavamsa'' are also amply supported by the numerous stone inscriptions, mostly in Sinhala, found in Sri Lanka.<ref>[http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/ Geiger's discussion of the historicity of the ''Mahavamsa''];[[Paranavitana]] and Nicholas, ''A concise history of Ceylon'' (Ceylon University Press) 1961</ref> [[K. Indrapala]]<ref name="Indrapala">K. Indrapala, ''Evolution of an Ethnicity'', 2005</ref> has also upheld the historical value of the ''Mahavamsa''. If not for the ''Mahavamsa'', the story behind the large [[stupa]]s in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka, such as [[Ruwanwelisaya]], [[Jetavanaramaya]], [[Abhayagiri vihāra]] and other works of ancient engineering would never have been known.

== Historical and literary significance ==
Historiographical sources are rare in much of South Asia. As a result of the ''Mahavamsa'', comparatively more is known about the history of the island of Ceylon and neighboring regions than that of most of the subcontinent. Its contents have aided in the identification and corroboration of archaeological sites and inscriptions associated with early Buddhism, the empire of [[Ashoka]], and even the Tamil kingdoms of southern India.<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'/>

The ''Mahamvasa'' covers the early history of Buddhism in Sri Lanka, beginning with the time of [[Gautama Buddha|Siddhartha Gautama]], the founder of Buddhism. It also briefly recounts the history of [[Buddhism]] in [[India]], from the date of the Buddha's death to the [[Buddhist councils|3rd Buddhist council]] where the [[Dharma]] was reviewed. Every chapter of the ''Mahavamsa'' ends by stating that it is written for the "serene joy of the pious". From the emphasis of its point-of-view, and being compiled to record the good deeds of the kings who were patrons of the [[Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya]],<ref>In general, regarding the ''Mahavamsa's'' point-of-view, see {{Cite book |author=Bartholomeusz, Tessa J. |year=2002 |title=In Defense of Dharma: Just-war Ideology in Buddhist Sri Lanka |location=London |publisher=RoutledgeCurzon |isbn=978-0-7007-1681-4 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/indefenseofd_bart_2002_000_10434719 }}</ref> it has been said to support [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] nationalism.<ref>{{Cite news |author=Senewiratne, Brian |date=4 February 2012 |title=Independence Day: A Day For Action, Not Mourning |newspaper=Colombo Telegraph |url=https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/independence-day-a-day-for-action-not-mourning/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160712170427/https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/independence-day-a-day-for-action-not-mourning/ |archive-date=12 July 2016 |url-status=dead |access-date=12 July 2016 }}</ref><ref>E. F. C. Ludowyk's discussion of the connection between religion in the ''Mahavamsa'' and state-power is discussed in {{Cite book|author=Scott, David |chapter=Historicizing Tradition |year=1994 |title=Formations of Ritual: Colonial and Anthropological Discourses on the Sinhala Yaktovil |location=Minneapolis, Minnesota |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |pages=191–192 |isbn=978-0-8166-2255-9}}.</ref>

Besides being an important historical source, the ''Mahavamsa'' is the most important epic poem in the [[Pali]] language. Its stories of battles and invasions, court intrigue, and great constructions of stupas and water reservoirs, written in elegant verse suitable for memorization, caught the imagination of the Buddhist world of the time. Unlike many texts written in antiquity, it also discusses various aspects of the lives of ordinary people, and how they joined the King's army or farmed. Thus the ''Mahavamsa'' was taken along the [[Silk Road]] to many Buddhist lands.<ref name=SO2008>{{cite news|title=Mahavamsa, the great chronicle|url=http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2008/06/29/jun03.asp|access-date=5 November 2014|work=Sunday Observer|date=29 June 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160202022630/http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2008/06/29/jun03.asp|archive-date=2 February 2016|url-status=dead}}</ref> Parts of it were translated, retold, and absorbed into other languages. An extended version of the ''Mahavamsa'', which gives many more details, has also been found in Southeast Asia.<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'/><ref name="ReferenceA">Dr. Hema Goonatilake, ''Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka''. 2003</ref> The ''Mahavamsa'' gave rise to many other Pali chronicles, making Sri Lanka of that period probably the world's leading center in Pali literature.

==Political significance==
The ''Mahavamsa'' has, especially in modern Sri Lanka, acquired significance as a document with a political message.<ref>H. Bechert, "The beginnings of Buddhist Historiography in Ceylon, Mahawamsa and Political Thinking", ''Ceylon Studies Seminar'', Series 2, 1974</ref> The Sinhalese majority often use Mahavamsa as proof of their claim that Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese nation since historical time.

The British historian Jane Russell<ref name="Russell">Communal politics under the Donoughmore Constitution, 1931–1947, Tissara Publishers, Colombo 1982</ref> has recounted how a process of "''Mahavamsa'' bashing" began in the 1930s, from within the [[tamil nationalism|Tamil Nationalist]] movement. The ''Mahavamsa'', being a history of the Sinhala Buddhists, presented itself to the Tamil Nationalists and the Sinhala Nationalists as the hegemonic epic of the Sinhala people. This view was attacked by G. G. Ponnambalam, a representative of the Nationalist Tamils in the 1930s. He claimed that most of the Sinhala kings, including Vijaya, Kasyapa, and Parakramabahu, were Tamils. Ponnambalam's 1939 speech in Nawalapitiya, attacking the claim that Sri Lanka is a Sinhalese, Buddhist nation was seen as an act against the notion of creating a Sinhalese-Buddhist only nation. The Sinhala majority responded with a mob riot, which engulfed Nawalapitiya, Passara, Maskeliya, and even in Tamil [[Jaffna]].<ref name="Russell"/>{{rp|148}}<ref>'' Hindu Organ'', June 1, 1939 issue (Newspaper archived at the Jaffna University Library)</ref>

==Historical accuracy==
Early Western scholars like [[Otto Franke (sinologist)|Otto Franke]] dismissed the possibility that the ''Mahavamsa'' contained reliable historical content, but subsequent evidence from inscriptions and archaeological finds have confirmed that there is a factual basis for many of the stories recorded in the ''Mahavamsa'', including Ashoka's missionary work and the kings associated with founding various monasteries and stupas.<ref name="Kemper"/> The contents of the ''Mahavamsa'' beginning from the King [[Devanampiya Tissa of Anuradhapura|Devanampiyatissa]] is considered mostly historically, apart from some bias by the writers.<ref name="geig" />

[[Wilhelm Geiger]] was one of the first Western scholars to suggest that it was possible to separate useful historical information from the mythic and poetic elaborations of the chronicle. While other scholars had assumed that the ''Mahavamsa'' had been assembled from borrowed material from Indian Pali sources, Geiger hypothesized that the ''Mahavamsa'' had been based on earlier Sinhala sources that originated on the island of Ceylon. While Geiger did not believe that the details provided with every story and name were reliable, he broke from earlier scholars in believing that the ''Mahavamsa'' faithfully reflected an earlier tradition that had preserved the names and deeds of various royal and religious leaders, rather than being a pure work of heroic literary fiction. He regarded the early chapters of the ''[[Culavamsa]]'' as the most accurate, with the early chapters of the ''Mahavamsa'' being too remote historically and the later sections of the ''Culavamsa'' marked by excessive elaboration.<ref name="Kemper"/>{{rp|90–92}}

Geiger's Sinhala student G. C. Mendis was more openly skeptical about certain portions of the text, specifically citing the story of the Sinhala ancestor [[Prince Vijaya|Vijaya]] as being too remote historically from its source and too similar to an epic poem or other literary creation to be seriously regarded as history.<ref name="Kemper"/>{{rp|94}} The date of Vijaya's arrival is thought to have been artificially fixed to coincide with the date for the death of [[Gautama Buddha]] around 543 BCE. {{sfn|Murphey}}<ref>E.J. Thomas. (1913). BUDDHIST SCRIPTURES. Available: http://www.sacred-texts.com/bud/busc/busc03.htm. Last accessed 26 03 10.</ref> The Chinese pilgrims [[Fa Hsien]] and [[Hsuan Tsang]] both recorded myths of the origins of the Sinhala people in their travels that varied significantly from the versions recorded in the ''Mahavamsa''- in one version, the Sinhala are descended from [[Nāga|naga]] or nature spirits who traded with Indian merchants, and in another, the Sinhala progenitor is a prince exiled for patricide who then slays a wealthy merchant and adopts his 500 children.<ref name="Kemper"/>{{rp|58–9}}

The story of the Buddha's three visits to Sri Lanka is not recorded in any source outside of the ''Mahavamsa'' tradition.<ref name="Kemper"/>{{rp|48}} Moreover, the genealogy of the Buddha recorded in the ''Mahavamsa'' describes him as being the product of four [[Parallel and cross cousins|cross cousin]] marriages. Cross-cousin marriage is associated historically with the [[Dravidian peoples|Dravidian]] people of southern India- both Sri Lankan [[Tamil people|Tamil]]s and [[Sinhalese people|Sinhala]] practiced cross-cousin marriage historically- but the exogamous marriage was the norm in the regions of northern India associated with the life of the Buddha.<ref name=trautmann/> No mention of cross-cousin marriage is found in earlier Buddhist sources, and scholars suspect that this genealogy was created to fit the Buddha into conventional Sri Lankan social structures for noble families.<ref name="Kemper"/>{{rp|48–9}}<ref name=trautmann>Thomas R. Trautmann. “Consanguineous Marriage in Pali Literature.” Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 93, no. 2, 1973, pp. 158–180. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/598890. Accessed 14 May 2020.</ref>

The historical accuracy of Mahinda converting the Sri Lankan king to Buddhism is also debated. [[Hermann Oldenberg]], a German scholar of [[Indology]] who has published studies on the Buddha and translated many Pali texts, considers this story a "pure invention". V. A. Smith (Author of ''Ashoka'' and ''Early History of India'') also refers to this story as "a tissue of absurdities". V. A. Smith and Professor Hermann came to this conclusion due to Ashoka not mentioning the handing over of his son, Mahinda, to the temple to become a Buddhist missionary and Mahinda's role in converting the Sri Lankan king to Buddhism, in his 13th-year Rock Edicts, particularly Rock-Edict XIII.<ref name="geig">Wilhelm Geiger (1912). Mahavamsa: Great Chronicle of Ceylon. New Delhi: Asian Educational Services. 16-20.</ref> Sources outside of Sri Lanka and the Mahavamsa tradition do not mention Mahinda as Ashoka's son.<ref name="Kemper">{{cite book
| last = Kemper
| first = Steven
| author-link = Steven Kemper
| title = The Presence of the Past: Chronicles, Politics, and Culture in Sinhala Life
| publisher = Cornell University Press
| edition = 1st
| date = 1992
| location = Ithaca, NY
| pages = [https://archive.org/details/presenceofpastch00kemp/page/33 33]
| language = en
| isbn = 0801423953
| url-access = registration
| url = https://archive.org/details/presenceofpastch00kemp/page/33
}}</ref>

== Related works ==
The ''Mahavamsa'' is believed to have originated from an earlier chronicle known as the ''[[Dipavamsa]]'' (4th century CE; {{lit|Island Chronicles}}). The ''Dipavamsa'' is much simpler and contains less information than the ''Mahavamsa'' and probably served as the nucleus of an oral tradition that was eventually incorporated into the written ''Mahavamsa''. The ''Dipavamsa'' is believed to have been the first Pali text composed entirely in Ceylon.<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'>{{cite book
| last = Von Hinüber
| first = Oskar
| author-link = Oskar von Hinüber
| title = A Handbook of Pali Literature
| publisher = Munishiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
| edition= 1st Indian
| date = 1997
| location = New Delhi
| pages = 87–93
| language = en
| isbn = 81-215-0778-2
}}</ref>

A subsequent work sometimes known as ''[[Culavamsa]]'' extends the ''Mahavamsa'' to cover the period from the reign of [[Mahasena of Anuradhapura]] (277–304 CE) until 1815, when the entire island was surrendered to the British throne. The ''[[Culavamsa]]'' contains three sections composed by five different authors (one anonymous) belonging to successive historical periods.<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'/>

In 1935, Buddhist monk Yagirala Pannananda published ''[[Mahavamsa Part III]]'', a [[Sinhala language]] continuation of the ''Mahavamsa'' that covers the period from the end of the ''Culavamsa'' up until 1935.<ref name="Kemper"/>{{rp|95–104}} While not authorized or supported by any government or religious organization, this continuation of the ''Mahavamsa'' was later recognized by the government of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister [[J. R. Jayawardene]].

A commentary on the ''Mahavamsa'', known as the ''Mahavamsa-tika'', is believed to have been composed before the first additions composing the ''[[Culavamsa]]'' were written, likely sometime between 1000 CE and 1250 CE. This commentary provides explanations of ambiguous Pali terms used in the ''Mahvamasa'', and in some cases adds additional details or clarifies differences between different versions of the ''Mahavamsa''. Unlike the ''Mahavamsa'' itself, which is composed almost entirely of material associated with the [[Mahavihara]], the ''Mahavamsa-tika'' makes several references to commentaries and alternate versions of the chronicle associated with the [[Abhayagiri vihara]] tradition.<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'/>

===Extended===
In Southeast Asia, a Pali work referred to as the "Extended ''Mahavamsa''" includes not only the text of the Sri Lankan ''Mahavamsa'', but also elements of the ''[[Thupavamsa]]'', ''[[Buddhavamsa]]'', ''Mahavamsa'' commentaries, and quotations from various [[jataka]]s.<ref name='Hinüber_Pali_handbook'/><ref name="ReferenceA"/> It is sometimes referred to in academic literature as the ''Kampuchean Mahavamsa'' or ''Khmer Mahavamsa'' because it is distinguished by being recorded in the [[Khmer script]]. Its composition is attributed to an otherwise unknown monk called Moggallana and its exact period of composition and origin are unknown. The origin of this version is believed to be [[Burma]] or [[Thailand]].{{sfn|von Hinüber|1997}}

==See also==
* [[History of Sri Lanka]]
* [[Anuradhapura]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

===Bibliography===
* {{cite book|last=Tripathi|first=Sridhara|title=Encyclopaedia of Pali Literature|volume=1|year=2008}}
* {{cite book|last=Malalasekera|first=Gunapala Piyasena|author-link=Gunapala Piyasena Malalasekera|title=Dictionary of Pali Proper Names|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LEn9i9pnRHEC&pg=PR16|year=2003|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-1823-7}}
* {{cite book|last=Oldenberg|first=Hermann|title=Dipavamsa|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=K1lCQT_-k6MC&pg=PA8|year=1879|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=978-81-206-0217-5}}
*{{cite book|last= von Hinüber| first= Oskar|author-link=Oskar von Hinüber|title= A Handbook of Palic Literature|year= 1997|isbn= 81-215-0778-2|language= en|location= India}}
* {{cite journal |jstor=2941377 |title=The Ruin of Ancient Ceylon |last=Murphey |first=Rhodes |journal=The Journal of Asian Studies |volume=16 |issue=2 |date=February 1957 |publisher=Association for Asian Studies |pages=181–200 |doi=10.2307/2941377|s2cid=162729027 |doi-access=free }}
*{{cite journal|last=Kosuta|first=Matthews|author-link=Matthew Kosuta|title=King Naresuan's Victory in Elephant Duel|jstor=26798885|journal=Sojourn: Journal of Social Issues in Southeast Asia
|year=2019| volume=34 |issue= 3 | pages= 578–606 | publisher = ISEAS - Yusof Ishak Institute|doi=10.1355/sj34-3d| jstor-access = free}}
* {{cite journal|last=Matthews|first=Bruce|title=The Problem of Communalism in Contemporary Burma and Sri Lanka|year=1979}}
*{{cite journal|last=MacLaughlin|first=Raul|title=Ancient Contacts: The Roman Emperor and the Sinhalese King|journal=Classics Ireland}}
*{{cite journal|last= Shtrathern|first= Alan|title= Vijaya and Romulus: Interpreting the Origin myths of Sri Lanka and Rome|journal= Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society|year= 2014|volume= 24|issue= 1|pages= 51–73|jstor= 43307281|jstor-access= free}}
*{{cite journal|last=Blackburn|first=M.|title=Buddhist Connections in the Indian Ocean: Changes in Monastic Mobility, 1000-1500| journal= Journal of the Economic and Social History of the Orient |year=2015| volume= 58 | issue= 3 | pages= 237–266 |doi=10.1163/15685209-12341374}}

===Editions and translations===
* Geiger, Wilhelm; Bode, Mabel Haynes (transl.); Frowde, H. (ed.): [https://archive.org/stream/mahavamsagreatch00geigrich#page/n5/mode/2up The Mahavamsa or, the great chronicle of Ceylon], London: Pali Text Society 1912.
* [[Ananda W.P. Guruge|Guruge, Ananda W.P.]]: ''Mahavamsa.'' Calcutta: M. P. Birla Foundation 1990 (''Classics of the East'').
* Guruge, Ananda W. P. Mahavamsa: The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka, A New Annotated Translation with Prolegomena, ANCL Colombo 1989
* Ruwan Rajapakse, ''Concise Mahavamsa'', Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2001
* Sumangala, H.; Silva Batuwantudawa, Don Andris de: ''The Mahawansha from first to thirty-sixth Chapter. Revised and edited, under Orders of the Ceylon Government by H. Sumangala, High Priest of Adam's Peak, and Don Andris de Silva Batuwantudawa, Pandit.'' Colombo 1883.
* Turnour, George (C.C.S.): ''The Mahawanso in Roman Characters with the Translation Subjoined, and an Introductory Essay on Pali Buddhistical Literature. Vol. I containing the first thirty eight Chapters.'' Cotto 1837.

;Early translation of a Sinhalese version of the text:
* [[Edward Upham|Upham, Edward]] (ed.): ''The Mahavansi, the Raja-ratnacari, and the Raja-vali : forming the sacred and historical books of Ceylon; also, a collection of tracts illustrative of the doctrines and literature of Buddhism: translated from the Singhalese''. London : Parbury, Allen, and Co. 1833; [https://archive.org/details/mahvansirj01uphauoft vol. 1], [https://archive.org/details/mahvansirj02uphauoft vol. 2], [https://archive.org/details/mahvansirj03uphauoft vol. 3]

==External links==
{{NIE Poster|year=1905|Mahāvansa}}
* [http://lakdiva.org/mahavamsa/ Geiger/Bode Translation of the ''Mahavamsa'']
* [http://www.vipassana.com/resources/mahavamsa/index.php The ''Mahavamsa'': The Great Chronicle of Sri Lanka]
* [http://mahavamsa.org/mahavamsa/simplified-version/ "Concise ''Mahavamsa''"] on-line version of: Ruwan Rajapakse, P.E. (2003). ''Concise Mahavamsa: History of Buddhism in Sri Lanka''. Maplewood, NJ : Ruwan Rajapakse. {{ISBN|0-9728657-0-5}}.
* [http://mahavamsa.org/history-of-sri-lanka/ History of Sri Lanka]
* [http://www.tipitaka.org/deva/ Original Pali Text in Devanagari (अन्य > महावंस > पथमपरिच्छेद to तिसट्ठिम परिच्छेद )]

{{Sinhalese Monarchy}}
{{Sri Lankan chronicles}}
{{Buddhism topics}}
{{Sri Lanka topics}}
{{Anuradhapura period topics}}

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Mahavamsa - Revision history

CleanupBot at 05:32, 24 November 2023