The Sinhalese people trace their ancestry to the 2,500 year old agrarian and hydraulic civilization.
The Island of Sri Lanka was once governed by an advanced civilization. By utilizing the ecosystem around them, they managed to create a natural hydraulic system that would sustain their inhabitants for over 2,000 years.
Early migrants, who came from various parts of India, eventually settled, and later came to be known as the Sinhalese people. They went on to become a highly intellectual society, mastering the studies of sciences, mathematics, architecture, music, etc. Sri Lanka has two very distinct climates. The highlands of the central regions are characterized by their wet and tropical landscapes. The lowlands on the other hand, are dry and arid. The vegetation, and sometimes even the fauna, vary drastically between these two regions. Because of Sri Lanka's odd position right above the equator, and being surrounded by ocean, a combination of moisture and air flow fluctuates throughout the island from the sea and Himalayas. This has created unique and varied climatic conditions throughout the small country.
Oddly, the Sinhalese civilization thrived in the drier lowland regions. It was more spread out, less thick and easily accessible to construct settlements and cities. The kings relied on a naturally occurring system to hydrate their states. Because of the dense cloud forests and rainforests in Sri Lanka's highlands, which are typically covered by mist, a significant amount of water is absorbed. These forests were home to a unique array of life and ecological functioning, due to its distinct climate and isolation at high altitudes. On the contrary, the lower dry zone doesn't receive nearly as much water flow or rainfall as the mountains. It is unclear who exactly figured out this sustainable system, but it was at the time of the Anuradhapura Period. By keeping the up country rainforests and cloud forests intact, all of the water collected in those forests, naturally cascaded down through rivers and streams into the dry zone. As a result, the dry zone was nourished by this water flowing down from the mountains, and was able to stay lush and fertile throughout the year.
To maintain their growing population and the demanding rice harvests, successive dynasties built large resovoirs in the dry valleys to collect this incoming water from the central mountains. Through a natural drainage system, this kept the civilization stable, even throughout famines, invasions and droughts. The constructions of tanks flourished throughout the classical period, but declined after the Sinhalese kingdoms were forced to retreat to the central mountains due to incoming European colonial powers. After the British seized control of the entire island, and defeated the last of the Sinhalese nobility, in 1815, they began to exploit the region to build an economy.
The montane forests that once supported the inhabitants of the dry zone, were cut down in order to make way for tea plantations, that could only grow at high altitudes. These fragile and rare ecosystems, plentiful with endemic species, were almost decimated. Consequently, the dry zone of the lowlands, which once stayed lush and fertile throughout the year, returned to being the arid landscape it once was. Rivers and streams dried out because the forests, that previously acted as a water supply, were cut off, which made this region increasingly hot, and harder to grow crops.
Today, this legacy of deforestation continues in central Sri Lanka, with less than 5% of the original tropical montane forest biome remaining. This habitat, which was once cherished by its people, is still being neglected. Much of the unique flora and fauna once living here, has either gone extinct, or has rapidly diminished. If a collective effort to restore and protect what's left of these forests is advocated in Sri Lanka, it will correspondingly solve the chronic lack of water and food shortage that faces the people living in the dry lowlands. Instead of relying solely on evolvement, leaders should learn about the ancestors of the island, who truly knew this land, and left the cloud forests untouched to create a naturally cascading water system, to progressively solve issues in the future.
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