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The following is a list of rulers of Ceylon since 505 BC. The main source for many of these monarchs are the chronicles of the island maintained by monks, known as the Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, and the Chulavamsa. This list should be used with the following factors kept in mind. Firstly the dates provided for the earliest monarchs are difficult to objectively verify; those which are particularly difficult to know have been denoted with a(?) mark. Secondly in terms of succession it is difficult to divide the monarchs into 'houses' or 'dynasties' as often the throne was passed around amongst related individuals within a particular clan; especially in medieval times there were no articulated rules of succession and whoever was in possession of the sacred Tooth Relic had a good claim to being called king. Lastly the geopolitics of Sri Lanka was more often than not consisted of two or more competing kingdoms. In such cases there was no 'king of Sri Lanka' per se, but rather a collection of monarchs, each ruling his own domain. from Tambapanni from Vijitapura (Upatissanuwara) from Anuradhapura The Two Sri Lanka Tamils (native)|Tamil Kings Anuradhapuran monarchs Chola invasion Ruhuna monarchs The Pancha Dravida (the Five Tamils) Anuradhapuran monarchs Lambakanna monarchs Shad Dravida (the Six Tamils) Maurya|Moriya monarchs Lambakanna monarchs (Pallava clients) Lambakanna monarchs Chola emperors titular kings of Rajarata Kings of Rajarata from Polonnaruwa Kalinga (India)|Kalinga monarchs Pandya monarchs Kalinga monarchs from Dambadeniya from Yapahuwa from Polonnaruwa from Kurunagala from Dedigama from Gampola Kings of Raigama Early rulers Arya Chakravarti kings Kotte kings Arya Chakravarti kings Kingdom of Kotte Kingdom of Sitawaka Kingdom of Kandy Madurai Nayak Dynasty Kings of Portugal and General Captains Dutch governors of Sri Lanka|Zeylan British governors of Ceylon Governors General Presidents of Sri Lanka See List of Presidents of Sri Lanka | |||||||
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