Periodization in Sri Lankan History

Some Reflections with Special Emphasis on the Development of the State

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Some Reflections with Special Emphasis on the Development of the State

R.A.L.H. Gunawardana graduated from the University of Ceylon with First Class Honours in History. After winning the Government University Research Scholarship, he proceeded to the School of Oriental and African Studies of the University of London where he obtained his PhD in History. Subsequently, Gunawardana was Commonwealth Fellow affiliated to Gonville and Caius College of the University of Cambridge, and was elected a member of that college. He was also Visiting Fellow at Corpus Christi College of Oxford University, Visiting Scholar at Kyoto University, Directeur Associé de Recherche at Centre National de Recherche Scientifique, Paris, and Rockefeller Fellow at the Institute on Culture and Consciousness in South Asia, Chicago. He was appointed to a Personal Chair of History at the University of Peradeniya, and was dean of the Faculty of Arts and later the Vice-Chancellor of that university when he was elected Chairman of the Association of Commonwealth Universities, London. Gunawardana has held appointments as Visiting Numata Professor at the University of Chicago, Visiting Professor at the University of Virginia, and as Visiting Professor successively at BowdoIN College, Maine, and Carleton College, Minnesota. During a spell in national politics he was Cabinet Minister of Science and Technology. He is at present Emeritus Professor of History at the University of Peradeniya where he has worked for four decades. Information on his writings may be obtained from his Website: http://www.lesliegunawardana.org