Sri Lanka Through History: Who Ruled Its Lands

The land of today's Sri Lanka appears on 39 historical border maps from 500 BC to today. Over that time it was held, in whole or in part, by 11 different states, among them Simhala, Ceylon, Sri Lanka, Sinhalese kingdoms, Chola Empire.

Sri Lanka

Explore the history of Sri Lanka in the interactive map

Compare 1000 with today

Who ruled the land of Sri Lanka, map by map

Share of sample points inside today's borders held by each state on each map. Areas with no organised state on the map are left out.

Questions

Which empires and states ruled the territory of Sri Lanka?

On the border maps from 500 BC to today, the largest shares of the territory of modern Sri Lanka belonged to Simhala, Ceylon, Sri Lanka, Sinhalese kingdoms, Chola Empire, Sinhalese kingdom, along with 5 other states.

What was Sri Lanka part of in 1000?

On the border map for 1000, most of the territory of today's Sri Lanka lay within Chola Empire.

What was Sri Lanka part of in 1500?

On the border map for 1500, most of the territory of today's Sri Lanka lay within Sinhalese kingdoms.

What was Sri Lanka part of in 1900?

On the border map for 1900, most of the territory of today's Sri Lanka lay within Ceylon.

Further reading

• History of Sri Lanka in Encyclopaedia Britannica
• History of Sri Lanka on Wikipedia

Last updated 9 November 2026. Sources: border data from historical-basemaps, land and rivers from Natural Earth; texts written for Chronica Maps from standard reference works. How we make the maps.