E-Paper
Timeline
1505 - Portuguese arrive in Colombo. 1815 - British become first European power to win control over whole island, known as Ceylon. Start bringing in Tamil labourers from southern India to work tea, coffee and coconut plantations. 1833 - English made official language. 1948 - Ceylon gains full independence. 1949 - Indian Tamil plantation workers disenfranchised. 1956 - Solomon Bandaranaike elected on wave of Sinhalese nationalism. Sinhala made sole official language and other measures introduced to bolster Sinhalese and Buddhist feeling.
A chronology of key events:
1505 - Portuguese arrive in Colombo.
1815 - British become first European power to win control over whole island, known as Ceylon. Start bringing in Tamil labourers from southern India to work tea, coffee and coconut plantations.
1833 - English made official language.
1948 - Ceylon gains full independence.
1949 - Indian Tamil plantation workers disenfranchised.
1956 - Solomon Bandaranaike elected on wave of Sinhalese nationalism. Sinhala made sole official language and other measures introduced to bolster Sinhalese and Buddhist feeling.
1959 - Bandaranaike assassinated by Buddhist monk. Succeeded by widow, Srimavo, who continues nationalisation programme.
1965 - Opposition United National Party wins elections and attempts to reverse nationalisation measures.
1970 - Srimavo Bandaranaike returns to power and extends nationalisation programme.
1971 - Sinhalese Marxist uprising led by students and activists.
1972 - Ceylon changes its name to Sri Lanka and Buddhism given primary place as country's religion, further antagonising Tamil minority.
1976 - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) formed as tensions increase in Tamil-dominated areas of north and east.
1977 - Separatist Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) party wins all seats in Tamil areas.
1985 - First attempt at peace talks between government and LTTE fails.
1987 - Government forces push LTTE back into northern city of Jaffna. Government signs accords creating new councils for Tamil areas in north and east and reaches agreement with India on deployment of Indian peace-keeping force.
1990 - Indian troops leave after getting bogged down in fighting in north. Violence between Sri Lankan Army and separatists escalates.
1991 - LTTE implicated in assassination of Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi in southern India.
1993 - President Premadasa killed in LTTE bomb attack.
1994 - President Kumaratunga comes to power pledging to end war. Peace talks opened with LTTE.
1996 - State of emergency extended across the country after LTTE bombs capital, Colombo.
1998 - Tigers bomb Sri Lanka's holiest Buddhist site. Tigers capture key northern town after intensive fighting.
1999 - President Kumaratunga is wounded in a bomb attack at an election rally. She is re-elected president.
February 2000 - Norway says it will act as intermediary in peace push.
April 2000 - LTTE captures strategic Elephant Pass in north of island.
October 2000 - President Kumaratunga's People's Alliance wins general elections.
July 2001 - President Kumaratunga suspends Parliament for two months to save her minority government from defeat in a no-confidence vote.
July 2001 - Suicide attack by Tamil Tigers on the international airport kills 14.
October 2001 - Kumaratunga dissolves Parliament. Polls set for December 5.
December 2001 - New cabinet, led by Ranil Wickramasinghe, is sworn in after the opposition United National Party narrowly won the parliamentary election.
February 2002 - Government and Tamil Tiger rebels sign a permanent ceasefire agreement.
September 2002 - Government lifts ban on Tamil Tigers.
December 2002 - At peace talks in Norway the government and rebels agree to share power. Under the deal, minority Tamils would have autonomy in the mainly Tamil-speaking north and east.
May 2003 - Country's worst-ever floods leave more than 200 people dead and drive some 4,000 people from their homes.
March 2004 - Renegade Tamil Tiger commander, known as Karuna, leads split in rebel movement and goes underground with his supporters.
April 2004 - Early general elections held amid political power struggle. Party of President Kumaratunga wins 105 of 225 parliamentary seats, falling short of overall majority. Mahinda Rajapakse sworn in as prime minister.
July 2004 - Suicide bomb blast in Colombo - the first such incident since 2001 - raises fears for the fragile peace process.
December 2004 - More than 30,000 people are killed when massive waves, generated by a powerful undersea earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, devastate coastal communities. Hundreds of thousands are forced from their homes. The government declares a national disaster.
June 2005 - Deal reached with Tamil Tiger rebels to share nearly $3bn in tsunami aid among Sinhalas, Tamils and Muslims. Sinhala nationalist JVP party pulls out of coalition in protest.
August 2005 - State of emergency declared after Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar is assassinated.
November 2005 - Mahinda Rajapakse, prime minister at the time, wins presidential elections. Many Tamils boycott the poll.
December 2005 - Upsurge in deadly violence is blamed by the government on Tamil Tiger rebels. Thirty-nine soldiers are killed in a series of attacks.
January 2006 - Series of landmine, grenade blasts by suspected rebels kills at least 24 navymen in North East regions.
February 2006 - Government and LTTE agree for talks in Geneva to discuss 2002 ceasefire.
April 2006 - Sri Lankan Army Chief Sarath Fonseka survives attack by suspected LTTE suicide bomber.
May 2006 - EU lists LTTE as a terrorist organisation.
June 2006 - 64 passengers killed in claymore attack on bus in Anuradhapura. Govt and LTTE blame each other for attack.
Deputy Chief of Sri Lanka Army Parami Lulatunga killed by suspected LTTE suicide bomber on the outskirts of Colombo.
October 2006 - Suicide bomber attacks a military convoy, killing as more than 90 sailors. Violent clashes between LTTE and Lankan forces despite a ceasefire in place.
Peace talks resume in Geneva but fail over the rebels' demand that the government reopen the key A9 highway to Tamil-dominated Jaffna peninsula.
