The author reveals that the object of this little book is to tell in simple language the story of Ceylon —of its fame in early times, and of the people who, so far as we know, then lived in it; of its conquest by the Sinhalese, the Portuguese, and the Dutch, in turn; and of how it came to be, as it is now, under British rule. It is necessary that we should have some knowledge of these matters, for Ceylon is the land in which we live, and to nearly all of us it is our native country. No one can be a lover of his country who does not know something of its peoples, and how they came into it. But even apart from this, the history of Ceylon is full of interest. No island in the world has been so long famous, and famous among so many different nations. It is the sacred land of three religions. The Hindus revere it as the place where Rama, once honoured as one of their princes, and then worshipped as one of their gods, fought to get back his bride who had been cruelly carried away from her home in India. The Muhammadans declare that when Adam and Eve were driven out of Paradise, Ceylon was given to them to console them for their loss. The Buddhists regard it as the centre of their faith, the land which the Buddha loved, which he is said to have thrice visited. This book has 53 short chapters that notice, among other events and personalities, Vijaya the conqueror; the first Tamil invasion; progress in art and literature; Vajaya BahuI; arrival of the Portuguese; the Kandian kingdom; Robert Knox in Ceylon; the end of Dutch rule; the Ehelapola tragedy, etc. The last 4 chapters offer a chronological account of the history from 1837 to 1931. There are five tables that decline the list of the kings of the Mahavamsa; the Portuguese, the Dutch, and the British governors. A general map of the countries surrounding Ceylon accompanies the text. This book is a reprint of the 1933 edition.
Louis Edmund Blaze, JP, OBE, BA was a Sri Lankan educationist and the founder and principal of Kingswood College, Kandy. He was one of the first group of students to study at Trinity College, Kandy (then known as the Trinity College and Collegiate School), at the time of the founding of the school by Rev. Richard Collins for the Church Mission Society in 1872. Whilst at Trinity he produced a school magazine, which appeared in manuscript form, on 15th May 1876, and later issued fortnightly as The Gleaner. In 1880 at age nineteen he passed the first examination in Arts at the University of Calcutta, following which he took up an appointment as the headmaster of the lower school at Trinity College.After that he served as a second master and as acting headmaster at the Boys High School in Lahore. In these years, he read numerous works and found inspiration in the life and works of Dr. Thomas Arnold (1795–1842) the headmaster of Rugby School. In this respect he wrote, "Anecdotes of Eaton, Harrow and Winchester which I eagerly read and remembered revealed much and their school songs stirred me deeply, as indeed they stir all youthful souls".
