List of wars involving Sri Lanka explained

This is a list of wars involving the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka and its predecessor states.

Legend

Anuradhapura Kingdom

Conflict	Sri Lanka and allies	Opponents	Results	Sri Lankan commanders		Sri Lankan losses
				King	General	SL forces	Civilians
Battle of Vijithapura (162/161 BCE)		Chola dynasty	Victory			Unknown	Unknown
Anuradhapura invasion of Chola (120)		Chola dynasty	Victory			Unknown	Unknown
Anuradhapura invasion of Pandya (862)		Pandya dynasty	Victory			Unknown	Unknown
Anuradhapura invasion of Pandya (917)		Pandya Dynasty				Unknown	Unknown
(946)						Unknown	Unknown
		Chola dynasty	Victory The whole Chola force with the generals retreated.			Unknown	Unknown
Invasion of Anuradhapura by Rastrakuta empire		Rashtrakuta dynasty	Victory Rashtrakuta forces were defeated in kayts General sena and Rashtrakutas have an alliance after the defeat			Unknown	Unknown
Chola conquest of Anuradhapura (992–1017)		Chola dynasty	Defeat Anuradhapura Kingdom destroyed by the Chola dynasty Rajarata annexed as a Chola province Polonnaruwa made as the administrative capital of the Chola in Sri Lanka			Unknown	Unknown

Polonnaruwa Kingdom

Conflict	Sri Lanka and allies	Opponents	Results	Sri Lankan commanders		Sri Lankan losses
				King	General	SL forces	Civilians
Polonnaruwa–Pagan War (1165–1181)	Polonnaruwa Kingdom Angkorian Empire		Victory Chola stronghold in Pegu lost to Polonnaruwa Pathein and Pegu occupied by the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa Angkorian Empire occupies certain parts of Pagan Kingdom Grant of land to Sinhalese commanders			Unknown	Unknown
Pandyan Civil War (1169–1177)			Victory Parakramabahu I and Vira Pandyan conquer the Pandya dynasty Rameshwaram occupied by Sinhalese and Pandyan forces			Unknown	Unknown
1173 Polonnaruwa invasion of Chola (1173)			Victory Pandyan empire conquered by Parakramabahu I and Vira Pandyan of the Pandya dynasty			Unknown	Unknown

Transitional period

Conflict	Sri Lanka and allies	Opponents	Results	Sri Lankan commanders		Sri Lankan losses
				King	General	SL forces	Civilians
Ming–Kotte War (1410 or 1411)	Ming Dynasty	Alagakkonara dynasty	Victory			Unknown	Unknown
Kotte conquest of the Jaffna kingdom (1449–1454)		Vanni chieftaincies----Supported by: Vijayanagar Empire	Victory Kotte captures the Jaffna kingdom Parakramabahu VI appoints Prince Sapumal as a representative of Kotte in Jaffna			Unknown	Unknown
Kotte invasion of Vijayanagar (1456)		Vijayanagar Empire	Victory			Unknown	Unknown
Sinhalese–Portuguese War (1518–1658)	Principality of Raigama	Lascarins	Victory End of the kingdoms of Kotte, Sitawaka, Jaffna and Raigama Establishment then destruction of Portuguese Ceylon Sinhalese and Dutch divide territories of the island Establishment of Dutch Ceylon			Unknown	Unknown
Portuguese conquest of the Jaffna kingdom (1560–1619)	----Supported by: Thanjavur Nayak kingdom		Defeat Cankili II imprisoned and executed by the Portuguese Fall of the Jaffna kingdom			Unknown	Unknown
Dutch–Portuguese War (1602–1663)	Johor Sultanate Kingdom of Kongo Kingdom of Ndongo Rio Grande Tupis Nhandui Tarairiu Tribe	Kingdom of Portugal ----Supported by: Kingdom of Cochin Potiguara Tupis	Treaty of Hague Formation of the Dutch Empire Portuguese Restoration War Portuguese victory in South America and Africa Dutch victory in the East			Unknown	Unknown
First Kandyan–Dutch War (1670–1675)			Defeat French expelled from all occupied territories Expansion of Dutch Ceylon, offensives of Rajasinha II repelled			Unknown	Unknown
Second Kandyan–Dutch War (1764–1766)			Defeat Treaty of Batticaloa Dutch occupation of Kandy until the Treaty of Batticaloa All coastal regions ceded to the Dutch			Unknown	Unknown
Vanniyar Rebellion (1782)	Vanni chieftaincies		Victory Vanni region liberated from Dutch rule			Unknown	Unknown
Kandyan Wars (1796–1818)	Vanni chieftaincies	Kandyan Opposition	Defeat Kandyan convention signed between the British and the Kandyan chiefs, abolishing the Kandyan monarchy Vanni region lost to the British End of 2357 years of Sinhalese independence

British Ceylon

Conflict	British Ceylon and allies	Opponents	Results	Governor(s)	British Ceylon losses
					British Ceylon forces	Civilians
Matale Rebellion (1848)		Kandyan rebels	Victory
Second Boer War (1899–1902)		----Foreign volunteers from: Netherlands Belgium France United States Italy Russian Poland Sweden Denmark	Victory Treaty of Vereeniging: All Boers to surrender arms and swear allegiance to the Crown Dutch language permitted in education Promise to grant Boer republics self-government £3,000,000 compensation "reconstruction aid" to Afrikaners
World War I (1914–1918)	The Allies Belgium France Portugal Japan United States	Central Powers and Allies German Empire	Victory Treaty of Versailles: German demobilization Treaties of Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Trianon: Demise of Austria-Hungary Russia pulls out in 1917 Russian Civil War Creation of the Soviet Union Joseph Stalin Rises to power Creation of League of Nations: Mesopotamia ceded from the Ottoman Empire Palestine and Jordan ceded from the Ottoman Empire Tanganyika ceded from Germany Part of Kamerun ceded from Germany Part of Togoland ceded from Germany German New Guinea ceded to Australia German Samoa ceded to New Zealand German South-West Africa ceded to South Africa
World War II (1931–1945)	The Allies France Poland Belgium Netherlands Luxembourg United States Brazil	Axis Powers Hungary Croatia Finland Thailand	Victory Fall of Nazi Germany, Fascist Italy and Imperial Japan Allied military occupations of Germany, Japan, Austria and foundation of the Italian Republic in place of the Kingdom of Italy Beginning of the Nuclear Age Dissolution of the League of Nations and creation of the United Nations
Easter Sunday Raid (1942)			Defeat
Cocos Islands mutiny (1942)		mutineers	Victory

Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka

Conflict	Sri Lanka and allies	Opponents	Results	Sri Lankan commanders		Sri Lankan losses
				Head(s) of Government	Defense Minister(s)	SL forces	Civilians
Sri Lankan Civil War (1983–2009)			Victory Decisive victory by the Sri Lankan government Rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam organisation is wiped out Sri Lankan government reestablishes control over entire island Tamil National Alliance drops the demand for a separate state			28,708	60,000–100,000
1987–1989 JVP insurrection (1987–1989)	Sri Lanka India----Pro-government paramilitaries:Eagles of the Central Hills Black Cats	JVP Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya IUSF	Victory Emergency conditions in South, Western and Central provinces lifted Insurgency fails following the fall of the Eastern bloc
Operation Prosperity Guardian (2023–present)	Sri Lanka United States United Kingdom Australia New Zealand Canada Denmark Greece Netherlands Norway Bahrain Singapore----Supported by: Seychelles	Supreme Political Council	Ongoing SLNS Gajabahu completes its maiden patrol of the Bab el-Mandeb Strait and is set to return to the island.^[1] ^[2] Government of Sri Lanka confirms that future patrols would take place.^[3]

Sri Lankan peacekeeping

Conflict	Sri Lanka and allies	Country	Results	Sri Lankan commanders		Sri Lankan losses
				Head(s) of Government	Defense Minister(s)
United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (1978–present)	Sri Lanka	Lebanon	Ongoing
United Nations Stabilisation Mission in Haiti (2004–present)	Sri Lanka	Haiti	Ongoing
United Nations Mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (2007–2010)	Sri Lanka	Central African Republic Chad	Ended
United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (2013–present)	Sri Lanka	Mali	Ongoing			3^[4] ^[5]

Notes and References

1. News: 24 February 2024 . Red Sea crisis: Navy OPV heads home after maiden patrol . 25 February 2024 . The Morning.
2. News: 28 February 2024 . SLNS Gajabahu returns from Red Sea . 5 March 2024 . Ceylon Today.
3. News: 3 March 2024 . Red Sea crisis: SLN prepped to continue patrols . 5 March 2024 . The Morning.
4. Web site: Three Sri Lankan soldiers die in Mali attack | Daily FT.
5. Web site: Sri Lanka’s first combat deaths since 2009: Families mourn fallen UN peacekeepers . 2019-02-03 . www.sundayobserver.lk.