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Thisaru Tharuka · CC BY-SA 4.0
Landmark South Asia archaeological

Anuradhapura

500 BCE – 1017 CE · 1,517 years

Ancient capital of Sri Lanka for over 1,400 years, with massive brick dagobas, sacred Bo tree cuttings, and elaborate irrigation reservoirs

See it on the timeline

Wikipedia

The opening of the article, and a way into the rest of it without leaving the site.

Anuradhapura on Wikipedia.

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Who held this ground

Borders from dated snapshots, up to a century apart; precision varies.

Reconstruction

  1. Before it was built (3000 BCE–700 BCE)
  2. Simhala (500 BCE–700 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  3. Sinhalese kingdoms (800 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  4. Lambakannas (900 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  5. Chola state (1000 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  6. Cholas (1100 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  7. Chola state (1200 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  8. Sinhalese kingdom (1279 CE–1400 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  9. Sinhalese kingdoms (1492 CE–1500 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  10. Saylan (1530 CE–1600 CE) Border precision: Approximate
  11. Kandy (1650 CE–1800 CE) Border precision: Defined
  12. Ceylon (1815 CE–1960 CE) Border precision: Defined
  13. Sri Lanka (1994 CE–2026 CE) Border precision: Defined
Border precision
  • Defined
  • Approximate

Elsewhere in South Asia at the time

Records whose own span overlaps this one, found by the same test the canvas draws with. The bar under each card is where it sits inside this one.

See the whole view

Landmark · South Asia

Taxila

600 BCE – 500 CE

Polity · South Asia

Tibet

Attested 1000 CE – 1960 CE

Conflict · South Asia

Hephthalite Wars

420 CE – 560 CE

Trade route · South Asia

Grand Trunk Road

300 BCE

Landmark · South Asia

Ajanta Caves

200 BCE – still standing

Polity · South Asia

Simhala

Attested 500 BCE – 700 CE

Conflict · South Asia

Ghaznavid Conquests of India

1001 CE – 1030 CE

Landmark · South Asia

Ellora Caves

600 CE – still standing

Dated moments inside this span

Events the timeline places between 500 BCE and 1017 CE.

305 BCE Seleucid–Maurya War 300 BCE Sanchi Stupa 300 BCE Sanchi Stupas 300 BCE Ai-Khanoum 300 BCE Somnath Temple

And in the rest of the world

Records running through the same years, on the other side of the map.

Petra Landmark · Middle East 300 BCE – still standing Meroe Polity · Middle East 500 BCE – 400 CE Nile River Trade Trade route · Middle East 3000 BCE – 30 BCE Greco-Persian Wars Conflict · Europe 499 BCE – 449 BCE Buddha Figure · Northern India / Nepal 563 BCE – 483 BCE Colosseum Landmark · Europe 80 CE – still standing
Image credits 6 pictures from Wikimedia Commons