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The Dīpavaṃsa (दीपवंस, , "Chronicle of the Island") is the oldest historical record of Sri Lanka. The chronicle is believed to be compiled from Atthakatha and other sources around the 3rd to 4th century CE. Together with the Mahāvaṃsa, it is the source of many accounts of the ancient history of Sri Lanka and India. Its importance resides not only as a source of history and legend but also as an important early work in Buddhist and Pali literature.

Key facts

Pali text.type
Post-canonical text; Vaṃsa
Pali text.composition
3rd-4th Century CE
Pali text.attribution
Anonymous
Pali text.abbrev
Dīp

via Wikipedia infobox

Wikidata facts

Show 2 more facts
language of work or name
Pali
Sources (1)

via Wikidata · CC0

~5 min read

Encyclopedic overview

7 sections
Contents
  • Contents
  • Depiction of Buddhist sects
  • Relationship to the ''Mahavamsa''
  • Editions, Translations and Studies
  • See also
  • References
  • External links

The Dīpavaṃsa (दीपवंस, , "Chronicle of the Island") is the oldest historical record of Sri Lanka. The chronicle is believed to be compiled from Atthakatha and other sources around the 3rd to 4th century CE. Together with the Mahāvaṃsa, it is the source of many accounts of the ancient history of Sri Lanka and India. Its importance resides not only as a source of history and legend but also as an important early work in Buddhist and Pali literature.

==Contents== It is probably authored by several Buddhist monks or nuns of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya in the 3rd-4th century. The Dipavamsa was likely the first completely new Pali text composed in Sri Lanka; it was also among the last texts to be composed anonymously.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Dipavamsa” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.