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TheCūḷavaṃsa orChulavamsa (Pāli: "LesserChronicle") is a historical record, written in thePali language, of the monarchs ofSri Lanka. It covers the period from the 4th century to 1815. TheCūḷavaṃsa was compiled over many years byBuddhistmonks, and displays a variety of epic styles.^[1] It is generally considered to be a sequel to theMahavamsa ("Great Chronicle") written in the 6th century by the monk Mahanama. The Mahavamsa and theCūḷavaṃsa are sometimes thought of as a single work (referred to as the "Mahavamsa") spanning over two millennia ofSri Lankan history.

TheCūḷavaṃsa is a continuation of theMahavamsa. But unlike the Mahavamsa it was written by different authors at different periods. TheCūḷavaṃsa is divided into two parts.

The first part, chapters thirty-seven to seventy-nine, begins with the 4th century arrival of atooth relic ofSiddhartha Gautama to Sri Lanka and continues to the reign ofParakramabahu the Great (1153–1186) in the 12th century, and was written in the 13th century. While the authorship of the first part is traditionally ascribed to the Buddhist monk TheraDhammakitti, many historians now believe it to be a collaborative effort, written by a number of monks.^[1]

The second part, whose author remains unknown, records Sri Lankan history from the 12th century, with the reign ofVijayabahu II and continues the history of theSinhalese monarchy to that ofParakramabahu IV (Chaps. 80-90). Within the second part the section of the chronicle which deals with the period from Parakramabahu IV to the death ofKirti Sri Rajasinha was compiled byTibbotuvāve Sumangala Thera, while the last chapter was continued to 1815 byHikkaduve Siri Sumangala. This portion of the chronicle has not been assigned a definite authorship and is generally considered inferior, both in style and in factual reliability, to Dhammakitti’s portion.^[2]

Tradition has it that the work was compiled by the monk Dhammakitti, whom Geiger regards as 'a man of literary culture ... acquainted with IndianNiti literature'.^[3] He regards 'the history of Parakkama [sic] as the real kernel, the main subject of the Culavamsa', much in the same way thatDutugemunu's life is the major part of theMahavamsa.

Geiger believes that it is not possible 'to form a harmonious and credible picture of the single acts attributed to the youthful Parakkama [sic]' simply from the information presented in the Lesser Chronicle. The explanation for this lies in the writer's approach to history:

The explanation lies in Dhammakitti's conception of the way in which his task was to be achieved. From literary sources, from what he had read he drew an ideal picture of an Indian king. The man whose glorification was his aim must correspond to this picture. He must have all the qualities belonging to an Indian king and employ all the methods of statecraft which political science prescribes or recommends. All these individual traits the compiler combines with the data furnished by tradition, without question as to probability or improbability of these.

— W. Geiger,The Culavamsa, 1930, Introduction

That there is a certain amount of truth contained in the text is corroborated by numerous carvings, edicts and monuments still extant in Sri Lanka today – e.g., Parakramabahu's wars withGajabahu II andManabharana are attested to by at least one rock-carving from this period. Furthermore Geiger also believes that the Culavamsa 'does not consciously relate ... false [information]'.^[4][5][6][7]

The primary source forParakramabahu's reign is theCūḷavaṃsa.

The foremost translation of this work was that ofWilhelm Geiger fromPali intoGerman, completed in 1930. This was subsequently translated into English byMabel Haynes Bode, and the English translation was revised by Geiger. In 1929 anEnglish edition was published byOxford University Press, translated byC. M. Rickmers.

The British colonial government commissioned a translation into English of theCūḷavaṃsa in 1871 and published it alongsideGeorge Turnour's translation of theMahavamsa.^[8]

In 1871, the British colonial government of Sri Lanka commissioned a 101st chapter of theCūḷavaṃsa, covering the period from 1815-1871.^[8]

In 1935,Yagirala Pannananda, aBuddhist monk, wroteMahavamsa Part III, a further extension of theCūḷavaṃsa, inSinhala. While not authorized by any government agency or religious organization, it was eventually accepted as part of the largerMahavamsa/Cūḷavaṃsa tradition.^[8]

In 1977, the government of Prime MinisterJR Jayawardene established a commission to extend the chronicle to cover the years 1935-1977.

• History of Sri Lanka
• Buddhist texts

• Anuradhapura period
• History of Buddhism in Sri Lanka
• Sri Lankan Buddhist texts
• Pali Buddhist texts
• Sri Lankan chronicles

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