Culavamsa

The Culavamsa, also Chulavamsa, (Pāli: "lesser chronicle") is a historical record, written in the Pāli language, of the kings of Sri Lanka. It covers the period from the 4th century to 1815.

The Culavamsa was compiled over many years by Sinhala Buddhist monks. It is generally considered to be a sequel to the Mahavamsa ("great chronicle") written in the 6th century by the monk Mahanama. The Mahavamsa and the Culavamsa are sometimes thought of as a single work (referred to as the "Mahavamsa") spanning over two millennia of Sri Lankan history.

The Culavamsa is divided into two parts. The first part begins with the 4th century arrival in Sri Lanka of a relic, said to be a tooth of Siddhartha Gautama (founder of Buddhism) and continues to the reign of King Parakramabahu the Great (1153 – 1186). While the authorship of the first part is traditionally ascribed to the monk Dhammakitti, many historians now believe it to be a collaborative effort, written by a number of monks. The second part, written over many years, continues the history of the Sri Lankan monarchy until its end in 1815, when Sri Lanka was conquered by the British Empire.

A German translation of the Culavamsa was completed by Wilhelm Geiger in 1930. This was subsequently translated into English by Mabel Haynes Bode, and the English translation was revised by Geiger.

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