Indo-Aryan emigration from India in the 5th century B.C.formed the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka today,the Sinhalese. Tamils the second-largest ethnic group on the island were originally from the Tamil region of India and emigrated between the 3rd century B.C.and 1200 A.D.Until colonial powers controlled Ceylon (the country’s name until 1972),Sinhalese and Tamil rulers fought for dominance over the island.The Tamils primarily Hindus claimed the northern section of the island and the Sinhalese who are predominantly Buddhist controlled the south.In 1505 the Portuguese took possession of Ceylon until the Dutch India Company usurped control (1658-1796).The British took over in 1796 and Ceylon became an English Crown colony in 1802.
The British developed coffee, tea, and rubber plantations. On Feb. 4, 1948 after pressure from Ceylonese nationalist leaders (which briefly unified the Tamil and Sinhalese),Ceylon became a self-governing dominion of the Commonwealth of Nations