The island nation of Ceylon (now called Sri Lanka), formally a part of South Asia, has been little noticed by the subcontinent, apart from the fact that according to an uncertain tradition it is celebrated in the Rāmāyaṇa as the island called Laṅǐā. Buddhist sway was introduced there early, during the reign of Aśoka Maurya (c. 269–232 bc); and, while on the subcontinent Buddhism prospered, declined, and finally disappeared, in Ceylon it has continued until today. Although there are obvious borrowings in Ceylon from subcontinental literature, notably Sanskrit, and there was rather precarious communication with India through the island’s Hindu community of Tamils, Ceylon never became culturally continuous with the mainland. The language itself, although of Indo-Aryan stock, is strongly mixed with a substratum of Dravidian. Also, it was Ceylon’s fate early to fall victim to European colonialism, first to the Portuguese, then to the Dutch, and finally to the British, before it regained nationhood in 1948.

While there are inscriptions that antedate the Christian Era, no texts appear to survive from before the 10th century ad. The first texts that emerged were aids in Sinhalese—glossaries, paraphrases, and the like—to the study of the Pāli texts of Buddhism. More interesting are Sinhalese renderings of the life and virtues of the Buddha. Important in this genre, hagiographic rather than literary, is the Amāvatura (“Flood of the Ambrosia”), by Guruḷugōmī, which in 18 chapters purports to narrate the life of the Buddha, with specific emphasis on one of his nine virtues—his capacity to tame recalcitrant people or forces. In a similar vein is the literature of devotion and counsel, in which Buddhist virtues are celebrated.

Exceptional in the context of the South Asian subcontinent is the early and persistent interest in historical records. Such interest had begun in Pāli with the Dīpavaṃsa (“Chronicle of the Island”) and had continued with the Mahāvaṃsa (“Great Chronicle”) and Cūlavaṃsa (“Lesser Chronicle”), but it had a life of its own in Sinhalese. The most important, and possibly the oldest, of such chronicles is the Thūpavaṃsaya (“Chronicle of the Great Stupa”), by Pārakrama Paṇḍita. Subsequent chronicles, or genealogies of places, comprise the history of all of the major Buddhist monuments. Several chronicles were also inspired by the Tooth Relic, received from Kaliṅga in the 4th century by King Kīrtiśrīmēghavarṇa. Such chronicling included that of the kings who protected the relic.

All of this literature was mostly in prose, but poetry as a literary form no doubt antedated it, as evidenced by early inscriptions. Much poetry was occasioned by Pāli Jātakas (stories of the Buddha’s previous births) and other Buddhist stories, though Hindu stories were not lacking; for example, a version of the Sanskrit Mahābhārata (received through a Tamil source) was cast in the style of a Jātaka in the Mahāpadaraṅga-Jatakaya.

Likewise of Hindu Indian origin was a genre that took off from the Sanskrit poet Kālidāsa’s “Meghadūta” (see above Classical Sanskrit kāvya [200–1200]), in which an exiled lover sends a message to his beloved by way of a monsoon cloud, thus giving the poet the opportunity to dwell on the description of landmarks in a poetic travelogue. This genre, so-called saṃdeśa literature, by no means unknown on the mainland, proliferated widely on Ceylon.

Of a different style are panegyrics and war poems, the earliest of which is the Parakumbasirita (“History of Parakramabahu VI,” king in Jayavardhanapura from 1410 to 1468). Again reminiscent of the mainland and the religious tradition are the plentiful eulogies of the Buddha. Popular, too, was didactic verse, among the most notable of which is the Kusajātaka, 687 stanzas of epigrams and exempla by the 17th-century poet Alagiyavanna Mohoṭṭāla.

Modern period: 19th and 20th centuries

The modern period was ushered in by the arrival of the British, the influence of Western models becoming discernible in the early 19th century. Reform-minded Hindus, led by Ram Mohun Roy, took a positive attitude to Western literature and urged on their countrymen a Western type of education. Newly formed literary clubs spread the influence of predominantly British works, thereby opening the Indian educated elite to Western culture and literature in general. After a period of translation, authors sought to imitate Western models and eventually to be independently creative in the new styles.

The most striking result of Westernization was the introduction of prose on a major scale. Vernacular prose, rarely looked upon previously as a medium for art, was now used as a literary vehicle, and such hitherto unknown forms as the novel, novella, and short story began to emerge. In poetry the thrall of tradition was stronger, and verse in the older forms continued to be written. With modernity, realism appeared, as well as symbolism in some quarters, and there was new psychological and social interest.

From Bengal spread a new sense of national purpose, which became the principal motivation for much English as well as vernacular literature. Three trends can be distinguished in the products of this increasing literary activity. The old traditionalism was transformed into romanticism, which looked to the past, to Indian history, for inspiration and sought to preserve what was considered valuable in the past; a tendency to mysticism went hand in hand with the romantic mood (a mood that was also widespread in 19th-century Europe). Greater social awareness in European literature was reflected in the literature of Indian progressives, in whose works a somewhat romantic Marxism prevailed. Finally, there was a humanistic trend. The teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, combining social concerns with traditional ethics, later exerted a very great influence on literature.

In the years preceding and following India’s independence (1947) and control of the princely states, the fervour of writers sometimes turned to an increasingly articulate progressivism of various Marxist schools, sometimes to disappointment and bitterness, and most recently, it appears, to a mood of introspection. These developments, which occurred with a different pace in different regions, are described briefly below. A complete coverage of the most modern literature has not been attempted, but an endeavour has been made to mention persons who are considered to be representative.