Anuradhapura: Sri Lanka's Magnificent Hydraulic Civilisation
2022 ж. 3 Қар.
34 929 Рет қаралды
1000 years ago, an empire of technocrats emerged on the island of Ceylon. They transformed Sri Lanka's environment and human geography, and then faded away into the jungle.
Sources:
-A History of Sri Lanka, K. M. de Silva
-Elephant Complex; Travels in Sri Lanka, John Gimlette
-The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers, Gordon Weiss
-The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History, Sanjeev Sanyal
-This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War, Samanth Subramanian
+ Various news sources, especially The Economist
00:00 Intro
00:35 Early History
02:32 Anuradhapura
08:05 Buddha's Bodhi Tree
09:28 Colombo
12:00 Pettah
13:48 Temple Trees
16:04 Galle Face
18:10 Conclusion
Given the production value, this video should have way more than 1000 views and this channel deserves way more than 2000 subscribers. I'm hooked. Keep up the good work
That's very kind, thank you for the comment!
👍
@@nihalepa400 8
It is evident that you have put in a lot of work to this piece & wow I'm blown away. Great work sir. This genuinely feels like a big scale production with an entire team working on research, cinematography, scripting & videography. Sri Lankans, lets show some love. Share this as much as possible.
Thank you so much for the comment! Unfortunately it's just me from start to finish, hence why it takes a while for me to get each video out. More to come soon though
Awesome work.
Genuinely, this has to be one of the best, if not greatest videos I have seen on Sri Lankan history in youtube. Sinhalese civilization and its kingdoms are rarely talked about and are quite underrated. Super excited to see the rest of the series!
Oh thank you so much! That really means a lot. I'm putting in a lot of work into these videos and I'm genuinely flattered that you've taken the time to comment
True
Always proud to be a Sinhalese Buddhist
Great production. As a Singhalese, I would like to clarify that, 'Singhalese' is a nation/culture formed within Sri Lanka, by the mix of ancient north Indian migrants & local tribes/communities who originally lived in Sri Lanka. Since 'Singhalese' is a cultural identity that was formed within Sri Lanka, It's technically incorrect to say the 'Singhalese' migrated from India to Sri Lanka. Singhalese are also native to Sri Lanka as much as 'Veddah' community is.
You're definitely right! This video was initially part of the first of the series, where I make that clearer, so 'came from northern India' is a shorthand that is a bit confusing. I think it is much more clear in the first vid!
Hey, you might not remember me but you taught me a few years ago at wanganui high school. My name is Kristian...I was the student who did absolutely nothing. You were one of my favorite teachers. Just came across this randomly and wanted to say the channel your building here is really awesome. Keep up the good work!
Haha that’s great! Thanks for the comment and for watching. Was this in 2018 when I was a relief teacher? What year were you in?
@@AlexRothman Yeah It was in 2018. I was year 12. I remember having you for relief quite a lot. You always come to mind when i think about the best teachers i had
@@kpsosohipik1278 That’s very kind of you to say! That’s definitely rolling a few years back. I first left and went to Mexico, then Brazil, now Central Asia. I’ve only been back to Whanganui once in that time. What are you doing now?
@@AlexRothman Im a manager at a great restaurant in Wanganui called Maria Lane. I think i've ended up doing pretty well for someone who didnt do any work during my last 3 years at high school lol. You should stop by next time you're in wangas.
@@kpsosohipik1278 Cool man, I think my mum told me about that restaurant. Next time I'm home I'll stop by!
"2500 years of proud history..." The reason for the fall of Sri Lanka in 2022. Great Documentary.. well researched! and presented 😍
Thanks for watching!
Not quite really. They did their duty for the country back then very well, so; lazy, blind and ignorant people like most of us are also kept alive after all these millennia!
@@dilipaweeratunga they did 4 sure! but did WE? "2500 years of proud history..." we were just being proud and that's it
@@OfficialSANO that's also what I meant!
Thank you for putting these facts together in this video.
Thanks for watching!
In a recent book titled "Hela Havula and Early History of Heladiva," it is argued the real strength of Hela people (ancient Sri Lankans) was in their iron and steel skills. It argues that making the water control mechanism of big reservoirs, big projects like maintaining the causeway between Sri Lanka and India, and Sigiriya would not be possible but for the tools and techniques based on steel. Archaeological evidence supports this. It says that Rajatarangini (a Chronicle from North India) states that Hela engineers went to Kashmir to help them with their agricultural irrigation system in the 9th-10th centuries CE.
Man this channel is underrated and underappreciated!
Glad you think so, thanks for watching!
Very nice video, there is a lot yet to learn about the past in SL, understanding of it is still somewhat fluid. It is truly interesting that you have described the amazing culture that existed in Anuradhapura, and it’s irrigation system, which was one of the wonders of the ancient world few people are aware of. My grandfather was Government Agent there in the 1930’s so it is very interesting to me. I had not known just how many tanks there had been though I knew about the irrigation channels that connected them. An amazing undertaking and as you mention a civilisation that lasted quite a long time. I first visited it in the 1960’s, and was lucky enough to see it again a few years ago. I agree about the scale of the dagobas it is hard to understand from video, they always seem smaller than they actually are. If there is someone standing by the wall around one of them it gives a sense of scale.
Thanks for the comment, I would love to be able to go back in time to SL in the 1960s!
This is an amazing video Alex! You’re awesome ❤
Thank you!
Wow. I'm amazed by the artistic quality of the video. Being a Sri Lankan, I also can vouch for the accuracy of the facts (well... most of those. ;-)) as well.
Thanks for watching and for the comment, I would be super curious to hear about anything I missed in there? (people have already mentioned that the Sinhalese didn't 'come' from northern India, which I should have made clearer)
This was a beautiful video! I just found your channel and will watch the other videos as well
I really appreciate how you went through multiple sources to give a clear picture of the history and the current situation in the country. Brilliant documentary.
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
Great vid. Some other related points. 1. There's more wildlife, especially elephants per sq km than other Asian elephants in Sri Lanka due to the water reservoirs that were created and then abandoned over the centuries. 2. The new Maduru Oya tank bund is in the wrong place technically as when the modern engineers located the best place to place it, they found an ancient one and so they had to build the new one in a not as good spot. 3. Pollonaruwa reservoir is smaller than it originally was due to the British rebuild as they wanted to minimise the technical abilities of the uncivilized culture (this is what I heard).
Excellent supplementary info, thanks!
This is amazing. You have done such an amazing job putting all the key information together about Sri Lanka.
Thanks a lot for watching!
Thank you so much 😍 Love and respect from sri lanka 🇱🇰
Thanks for watching!
@@AlexRothman Who did this ? 🤔 kzhead.info/sun/pa-oocuZh6OoeI0/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/dqtvg7Z6kXeQeoE/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/gdKmaamAoqigoZE/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/gbmSe9FspKmre4E/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/damTka2kjJ16n5E/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/m7p6qa2XoouvpIk/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/aZx6c5ytiXVsd3k/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/haexgLRrsYuGlqM/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/aJSIqtaPsIxrh4E/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/pNWdh5aZrISiomw/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/p6twj66xqWRjnKs/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/lZeelcxuoJlrZIE/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/ddyHn9mfgnieeoU/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/jKhxkrWyjH2arZs/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/htqvgp2OmIh-a40/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/q8ykZNOunpx6emg/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/ldp_j9Non5xroIU/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/ZqirdLOLa36PdWw/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/dMeJj9eHa3OYYGg/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/gt5uociOh5GPpYE/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/h9CtkZV5hX5mq40/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/n5ipYa1vrGueh30/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/hqlpeMugbl-dqmg/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/g6qJY6-tZ3xvqmg/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/ddWvlbmSn4yNq4U/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/ar2Rhc-qi5eDhoU/bejne.html kzhead.info/sun/opSNZZ2skWqsrIk/bejne.html
Great content. Capturing the essence of Sri Lanka. Keep up the good work. ♥
Thanks for watching!
This was beautiful! Thank you for the insightful video!
Thank you!
Excellent Video. Loved the in-depth analysis, and I appreciate all the research and countless hours of editing that has gone into this video. Keep it Up!
Much appreciated!
@@AlexRothman Are you hoping to visit again?
@@Akarshaw Probably not anytime soon, but maybe some time in the future
The British Empire destroyed so much of History of Sri Lanka but escaped accountability. Not a single Englishman has been tried and convicted for War Crimes by a Military Tribunal.
Loved this! You managed the catch the exact vibe of Sri Lanka on video!
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
It's truly amazing how you have connected all these history segments.
Thanks for watching!
Also fun fact as a Sri Lankan we used the term 'Vanni' "Vanniya" all the time but never knew it was a real place. haha man this is so good. Thanks!
Thanks for watching!
Bruh why did you think vanniya wasn't a real place? Did you think people were just talkign abouts lme imaginary place? Lmao, unless you were a zoomer, you would have known the word and the place the word refers jsut because of war broadcasts.
Woah, I think I just discovered a really great channel! Keep up the great content! You're very underrated and I'm sure this channel is gonna get bigger and bigger! God bless!
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
It is evident that you have put in a lot of work into this. Excellent documentary!
Thanks for watching!
Sri lanka is vivid and beautiful.lot of things are there to see and explore.
You have done a good lot of research! Excellent stuff on Sri Lanka's history. There is another important religious place in Sri Lanka apart from the Sri Maha Bodhi and Temple of the tooth relic. It is known as Sri Pada (Sacred foot print). You must climb this mountain. Also Sigiriya (The lion rock) is another fascinating location to explore.
Oh man, if only I had time! I didn’t get to Adam’s peak (wrong season) either. Sigiriya I didn’t go up, but went up the one opposite, with the good view of Sigiriya
@@AlexRothman Marco polo, ibn bathutha, zeng he.... all these legendary people climbed sri pada when they came here... u should too..... lol.
@@AlexRothman Lord Sive lights or power of his foot print calls in sinhalam Sri Patha .Hindusiam wider Spread all over South and south east Asia it is older religion in the world and Tamil is older language . Can't denied. indigenous people practiced and believed of their life with nature 🙏
@@rathy_v I can say it is my grandfather's foot print too. Do you beleave ? Similarly you should have historical and archeological evidence to prove some thing. Reality is no one kept a foot print there. This foot print was carved by buddhists and started to worship . To understand this , go to any hill in this balangoda , Sabaragamuwa area, you will find many siripathul gal on hill tops. For sri pada, buddhist have mamy historical records stating the historical background of it. In which hindu text mentioned about this mountain ?
@@rathy_v Sri Pada is first mentioned (as Samanthakuta) in the Deepawamsa, the earliest Pali chronicle, (4th century), and also in the 5th century chronicle Mahawamsa, where it is stated that the Buddha visited the mountain peak. The chronicle Rajavaliya states that the King Valagamba (1st century BCE) had taken refuge in the forests of Adam's Peak against invaders from India, and later returned to Anuradhapura. The Mahawamsa again mentions the visit of King Vijayabahu I (1058-1114) to the mountain. The famous Chinese pilgrim and Buddhist traveler Fa Hien stayed in Sri Lanka in 411-12 CE and mentions Sri Pada although it is not made clear whether he actually visited it.
This is a pure classy channel, thanks Alex
Glad you enjoy it!
Thank you for sharing this story in such an enriching way!
Glad you enjoyed it!
This is so informative, those camera angles are next level.
The production value is so great. You did exactly what you say in your about section. 'videos about the intersection between travel, politics and history.'
Thanks for watching and commenting!
Well researched and well presented! Thanks.
Thanks for watching and commenting!
cinematography is awesome. loved seeing colombo as well.
Thanks a lot for watching and for the comments!
Nice content, videography and production. Enjoyed it. Hope you have more content.
Thanks for watching! Will hopefully get out some more videos soon
Thank you for awesome video!
Glad you liked it!
Awesome!! Such a great job!
Thanks Bev!
This is a great piece of documentary .enjoyed every second of it .Hats off
That's very kind of you to say, thanks for watching!
This video is absolutely amazing.😊 Punching above the weight by this little KZhead channel💪. Keep up the good work 👍
Excellent research and explanation!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing such a authentic content about Sri Lanka ..
Thanks for the comment!
Alex, you deserve a gold medal for this! BRAVO!!!
Very nice documentary with, Brilliant explanation. Thank you for making such a nice content.
Thanks for watching, more to come soon hopefully!
A brilliant short documentary
Thanks a lot for watching!
Thank you so much buddy Love from Sri Lanka
Thanks for watching
Simply, Brilliant. Keep it up.
Thanks for watching!
Incredible that they were able to turn dry land into fertile soil thousands of years ago. We have never been able to replicate that since.
Incredible details mate!
Thanks, found very informative
Thanks for watching!
You have done a Excellent job for Sri Lanka's history. Thanks lot "Alex"
Thank you!
Been living in Sri Lanka for some time and I'm in Jaffna at the moment. Really enjoying this video, one of the best I've seen. Thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for your video. Also in *Polonnaruwa City..*
Wonderful !! keep up the good work.
Thank you! Will do!
Nice explanation and great research
Thanks a lot
Bro, this video is up in ranks of History,Discovery,NatGeo Channels, Just came across your Channel,Thanks Blessings from The West Indies.
Awesome, thank you!
I like ur narrating style,keep up the good work !
Glad you enjoy it!
Wow! nice to learn about these after learning them ages ago back in High school in Sri Lanka. But I'd admit, this is way more entertaining than history books we had back then.
I'm glad you enjoyed it, more videos to follow soon!
Thank you.!
Perfect output with a better effort.Good luck
Thanks a lot
Your channel is so underrated
also actually, king dutugemunu and many other kings did manage to rule over the entire island from anuradhapura
@@buschangne9840 Thanks for watching and for the comment! I read a few different things about the political consolidation of the island. A couple of different books said different things. My impression is that any control was super short. Have I got that wrong?
Gorgeous camera footage.
Production quality 💯🙌
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
Awesome Content..!!! 🇱🇰
Thanks for watching, trying to get some more parts of the series out soon
Like your style of video documentary ! 👍
Glad you enjoyed it!
Amazing video!
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
Very clear explanation 🙏🙏🙏
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
Nice video machan thanks for vist srilanka
Thanks for watching!
THANKS BRO
Thanks for watching
This is my country. The description you provided is correct. thank you.
Thanks for watching!
Nice documentary ❤️🇱🇰
Great work 👌
Thanks!
Such an amazing video
Glad you think so!
Interesting..
This is just great
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
Here before a million subs
I can only dream of a million subs, thanks for watching!
Great production
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
man thank you
Very Interesting documentary. Good luck 🙏🇱🇰 There are also very interesting strories behind the Sigiriya Rock Fort. How 'King Kashyapa' build his great Rock Fort with rich architects and engineering, War planing, after war tranformations etc..
I read some of that stuff, but I'm sure there's a ton I didn't learn about. Thanks for the comment!
very informative
Glad you think so!
Thanks for visiting Anuradhapura, the first capital of modern Sri Lanka. The irrigation system indeed is unique, and it referred to as ""Ellanga system". The tanks are intricately interconnected such that a serially as well as parallelly connection makes the system of tanks not only to preserve the precious water during the dry season but, also to protect the very system from damaging by heavy rains.
Interesting, that I didn't know about. Thanks for sharing!
The word ellanga is a tamil. Tamil calls sri lanka ellanka. Many tamil old manuscripts and artifacts dated 2000 years have been found in the north east archeological sites. But currently been occupied by sri lankan military and have been eradicate it completely. the genocide process still continues in the tamil dominant north east. The tamils have close connection with sri lanka many millennials ago. The sinhala was only under 1000 years old. Many of whom arrived from north india by prince Vijeya.
@@KethTamilTubing Tell me who ended anuradhapura civilization ? It is your Tamil king Raja Raja chola . He destroyed entire city to ground , so Anuradhapura was abandoned by later kings. Kalinga magha is the person who ended polonnaruwa era. The destruction done by south indian invaders is huge.
@@kalanaviraj7540 Ellalan, a tamil king of anuradhapura who is still being celebrated and praised by the sinhalese. The Chola invaders built magnificent monuments in polanaruwa which has been abandoned and destroyed by the sinhalese king. It happens when people invades and conquer
@@KethTamilTubing lol. There are shiva kovils built by south indian chola invader, Raja raja in polonnaruwa . You can see them still today without any damage . 😂😂😂 Many sinhalese kings ruled polonnaruwa after invader raja raja was defeated . Sinhalese kings never destroyed those shiva kovils. Do you know the image of cow was removed from doorstep moonstone in polonnaruwa period as a respect for hindu beleafs. That is how Sinhalese kings respected others relegion . They never destroyed any hindu kovils. That is why you can see those kovils in polonnaruwa even today. Next time make a better fairytale .😂😂
You earned my subscription where you said '' the man showed me a tree with bats and asked me for money '' waiting to see the next johny haris brother keep it up
Thanks mate!
Good documentary dude
Thanks mate, appreciate the comment!
Blown away with your research as most outside SL are unaware of this topic! Learning about hydro civilization and sophisticated tank system is not even properly tought in sri lankan curriculum nowadays.
Thanks for watching!
Great video Alex! How long were you in Sri Lanka for?
Hi Alex, really enjoyed your video. Just wanted to ask what camera did you used for filming?
I use the Panasonic G9. 90% of the time I'm using the Leica 12-60mm, but occasionally also the Leica 8-18mm
how giant has fall thanks to our polititions,proud srilankan who living from less than 200usd for month,great video nicely done
Excellent demonstration of colombo
Sri Lankans began building hydroelectric power stations during the Raj. The British discouraged this, as the Raj was fundamentally extractive in nature. In an attempt to get the British onside, the first power stations were called Aberdeen, Blackpool and Castlereigh (sic).
Wow, this is a well-researched video essay. The usual stuff about Sri Lanka on the internet are either too shallow or bloated with alt-history.
Definitely doing my best to do proper research. Thanks for watching!
Even today there is no Sinhalese race or language in India.. so it would be wrong to say they arrived from somewhere. Sinhalese are native to Sri Lanka and the language is only spoken here. However Sinhalese language was influenced by ancient Sanskrit,Pali and Dravidian languages.
I made that a little bit clearer in video 1, that the Sinhalese emerged from people from north India who came to the island and mixed with the people already here. I skimmed over it a bit in this one, though you are right, I should have made that clearer
@@AlexRothman The history your spoken of in this video is little bit redundant now. Hope you will explore more of Sinhalese people, their language and more importantly Gothama Buddha who is one of them before you do another video. The lives of Sinhalese people, their language their irrigation systm, agriculture, medicines and everything revolved around the buddhist teachings. There are lot of new findings by Sri Lankan archaeologists in recent years to say otherwise of what you say in this video. So I hope you will give attention to exploring more of Sri Lankan history. Thank you 😀
@@AlexRothman Sorry Alex. We are not mixed with North Indian people as told in the 'Mahawansa' written by Mahanama thero who is an Indian. In his Mahawansa he clearly say that he wrote the Mahawansa book to his liking including certain stories that he think that will be preferred by the readers and excluding certain incidents/ happenings which occured actually in history and excluding most of the names of kings ruled the country. He has import certain incidents/ people into the book just to pretend that we are ascending from India. The original book is currently kept in the London museum if you can refer. Thank you for doing this video anyway. 😀No offence to my neighbours.🤣
waiting for your next video😇
Thanks for the comment and for watching!
The Anuradhapura part is better than the Colombo part in the video. Thank you.
Thank you, still trying to work on the balance in my videos. For non-Sri Lankans, I hope the Colombo stuff is interesting to them
@@AlexRothman, It is fine. I was thinking that you could make two videos because you have provided a lot of information.
This is amazing. My father was a Catholic school tacher in Colombo, Ceylon from 1930 to 1948. I think it was De La Salle school Brothers, he never talked a lot about that time. I have to visit the school may be there is some trace of my father there. I live in the US now.
Very interesting!
@@AlexRothman Your work is absolutely amazing. Thank you. My father was very lucky surviving Second world war in Colombo. He mentioned Japanese bombed Colombo. But Japanese never got further than Burma and though Ceylon was strategically important, it was never occupied. My father's catholic teacher brothers in Singapore fared much worse.
Sri Lankan here. Oh my. When so concisely told like this, I feel ashamed that I only knew those facts (school curriculum) and not this story behind them.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment and for watching! More videos soon
You knew who Laxman Kadiragamar was, weren't you? So nice of you to show him at last.
Thanks for visiting our mother land and doing the documentary . But according to the Mahawansa some informations are wrong.
Indeed, the Mahavamsa says a lot of things
❤❤❤
Thanks for your work. Would like to know what you do for a living? The Source of information seems to be not enough/biased to make some assumptions that you made.
I keep my job private, but I work full time. Which assumptions are those? I spent a lot of time talking with people about these things when I was in Sri Lanka, so I feel it's pretty well calibrated
underrated