Sudarshan Seneviratne

Sudarshan [or Sudharshan] Seneviratne (1949−2024) was a pioneer scholar in Sri Lankan history, archaeology, and heritage research.

After completing his education at Ananda College, Colombo, Seneviratne went on to Jawaharlal Nehru University (Delhi, India), obtaining his PhD with his doctoral thesis entitled ​“The Social Base of Early Buddhism in South-east India (Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu) and Sri Lanka, 3rd century B.C. to 3rd century A.C.” (1975), under the mentorship of the doyenne (and the most prominent woman) of Indian historians, Prof. Emerita Romila Thapar (b. 1932). 

Prof. Seneviratne taught history and archeology of Sri Lanka in various universities, in particular the Department of Archaeology at the University of Peradeniya [the largest higher-study center in Sri Lanka, est. in 1942 as the University of Ceylon]. His personal research topics included environmental sustainability and archaeology, heritage management and tourism in South Asia, nationalism-multiculturalism and the process of state formation in the region. 

He was the Director of the Kandy Archeological Project for many years, and in his later years also served as High Commissioner of Sri Lanka first to India, and then to Bangladesh. 

Praised for his intellectual curiosity and non-sectarian approach to cultural heritage in a country torn by some 30 years of civil war — he addressed the UN General Assembly on the subject of humanism and Buddhism in 2011 — , Prof. Seneviratne remarked in a 2005 interview:

We have to think not only in terms of the South Asian region but the Indian Ocean Rim. We have to look at the best of human aspirations, and intellectual and cultural elements, and how we can draw upon those human achievements, celebrating both diversity and humanity [Frontline-The Hindu, 22 Apr. 2005]. 

He contributed numerous books, articles and conference communications on the cultural history of Southeast India and Sri Lanka. Most of his published works in English have been translated into Sinhala and Tamil.

Select Publications

[based on Dulma Karunarathna​’s Bibliography of S. Seneviratne in Ancient Lanka Vol. 4 (2025): Sudharshan Seneviratne Commemoration Volume.]

• “The Maurya state”, in H. J. M. Classen & P. Skalnik (eds.), The Early State, The Hague: Mouton, 1978.
• “Kalinga and Andhra: The process of secondary state formation in southeast India”, in H. J. M. Classen & P. Skalnik (Eds.), The study of the state. The Hague: Mouton, 1981.
• “The curse of Kuveni: The indigenous Vedda and the antithesis of modernization”, Lanka Guardian, 1983.
• “Quarterly report of the acting director (Archaeology) Kandy Project”, The Cultural Quarterly 2(1), 1984: 10 – 20.
• “The archaeology of the Megalithic black and red ware complex in Sri Lanka”, Ancient Ceylon 5, 1984: 237 – 307. 
• “The Barata: A case of community integration in early historic Sri Lanka”, in A. R. B. Amarasinghe & S. J. Sumanasekera Banda (eds.), Festschrift: James Thevathasan Rutnam, Sri Lanka UNESCO National Commission, 1985: 49 – 56.
• “Iron technology in Sri Lanka, a preliminary study of resource use and production techniques during the early Iron Age”, The Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities 11, 1987: 121 – 132.
• [editor] Perspectives in archaeology: Leelananda Prematilleke Festschrift,  University of Peradeniya, Department of Archaeology, 1990.
• “A Life after death: Continuity and change in the religious symbolism of the early Iron Age”, in S. Seneviratne et al. (eds.), Perspectives in archaeology…, 1990: 145 – 152.
• “The locational significance of early Iron Age sites in intermediary transitional eco-systems: A preliminary investigation of the upper Kala Oya system”, in S. Bandaranayake, M. Mogren & S. Epitawatte (eds.), The settlement archaeology of the Sigiriya-Dambulla Region, Postgraduate Institute of Archaeology, 1990: 121 – 152.
• “Pre-state chieftains and servants of the state: A case study of Parumaka”, Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities 15(1 – 2), 1992: 99 – 131.
• Resource use in antiquity: The utilization of minerals, water flora and fauna in pre-modern Sri Lanka School Science program, Institute of Fundamental Studies, 1992.
• “Some sangam terms reflecting movement, interaction and sedentation during the early iron age of South India”, in P. Sorata & J. Danansuriya (eds.), Critical Essays on Language and Literature, Sarasvati Pirivena, 1993: 137 – 145.
• “Twilight of the perumakan: South Indian polity restructured and incorporated”, in M. Van Bakel et al. (eds.), Pivot Politics: changing cultural identities in early state formation process, Het Spinhuis, 1994: 161 – 179.
• “From kudi to nadu: A suggested framework for the study of pre-state political formations in early Iron Age South India”, Sri Lanka Journal of the Humanities 19(1 – 2), 1995: 57 – 77. 
• “State formation in peninsular India and Sri Lanka,” in UNESCO History of Humanity, (Vol. Paris/​New York, UNESCO, Vol. 3, 1995:  378 – 384.
• “Peripheral regions and marginal communities: Towards an alternative explanation in early iron age material and social formations”, in R. Champakalakshmi & S. Gopal (eds.), Tradition, Dissent and Ideology: Essays in honor of Romila Thapar, Oxford University Press, 1996: 264 – 312.
• “Chankam poetic works as a source for the archaeologist”, in V. Kanakaratnam (ed.), S. Thilayanathan Felicitation Volume, Kandy, 1997: 342 – 346.
• “Situating history and the historian’s craft”, ICES Ethnic Studies Report 19(1), 2001: 139 – 145.
• The philosophical and social role of early Buddhism in South India, Sri Lanka Deputy High Commission in South India, 2003.
• The Maurya Empire in South India, India-Sri Lanka Foundation, 2005.
• “Problems of Ceylon history and the fear of history”, in J. Clifford Holt & P. B. Meegaskumbura (eds.), Identity and difference: Essays on society and culture of Sri Lanka, ISLE Program USA, 2006:  27 – 48.
• “We have to think beyond political boundaries”, Interview with Frontline, 22 April 2006. 
• “People to people connectivity and peace interaction: Redefining heritage for conflct resolution”, Vesak Commemoration Oration, Kathmandu, Nepal, 2007.
• Heritage for coexistence: Situating Sri Lanka’s role in the SAARC region, Colombo, 2008.
• “Situating world heritage sites in a multi-cultural society: The ideology of presentation of the Sacred City of Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka”, in M. Liebmann & U. Z. Rizvi (eds.), Archaeology and the post-colonial critique  Alta Mira Press, 2008: 177 – 196.
• [editor] A visual narration of a unique heritage legacy: The Sigiriya Museum & Information Centre, Colombo, Central Cultural Fund, Ministry of Cultural Affairs, 2009.
• [editor] Jetavana Stupa Purana, Colombo, Central Cultural Fund, 2009.
• [with D. Karunarathna, K. Nanayakkara & S. Poornima] ​“Contradictions of development in the chasm of survival or obliteration: Saga of crafts communities in the Central Province of Sri Lanka”. FLICT & Deutsche Gesellschaft, Internationale Zusammenarbeit, 2010.
• “Opposing inclusion & unresolving conflict: Postcolonial subversion of knowledge in South Asia”, Lindersmith Lecture, Carleton College, Northfield, MN (USA), 2011.
• [editor] The Sigiriya Museum, Colombo, Central Cultural Fund Museum Series I, Central Cultural Fund, 2011.
• “Heritage odyssey: Unfolding the multi-faceted personality of an island civilization”, Swarthmore College, Swarthmore, PA (USA), 2011.
• “Center and periphery during the formative period of Sri Lanka: Redefining contested spaces in historiography”, Lecture, Department of South Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 2011.
• “Cultural implication based on pollen from the ancient mortuary complex in Sri Lanka”, Journal of Archaeological Science 53, 2014: 559 – 569. 
• [with R. Premathilake] ​“Cultural implication based on pollen from the ancient mortuary complex in Sri Lanka”, Journal of Archaeological Science 53, 2014: 559 – 569. 
• “Dialectics of change and reading alternative histories: Ideology, modes of production, and social formation in early South-Central Asia”, Social Affairs: A Journal for the Social Sciences 1(9), 2018: 14 – 26.
• “Understanding the burial Archaeological context in Sri Lanka” comm. at the Conference On Understanding The Values Embedded In Burial Archaeological Sites In Southernmost India, Colombo, 2018.
• “State after the empire: Hegemony, ideology and production in post-Maurya state. In K. Roy & N. Dayal (eds.), Questioning paradigms, constructing histories: A festschrift for Romila Thapar, Aleph Book Company, 2019: 32 – 50.
• “Platform Task Regaining the Next Generation of Archaeologists in Sri Lanka”, Ancient Lanka 2, 2023. 
• [with C.P. Attanayake & R.B. Mapa,] ​“Reconstructing past settlements through soil characterization: Vessagiriya, Sri Lanka”, Ancient Lanka 4, 2025.   
• “Historical materialism and modes of production in early South Asia”, Ancient Lanka 4., 2025. 

Commemoration Volume

Ancient Lanka Vol. 4 (2025): Sudharshan Seneviratne Commemoration Volume, eds: Samanti Kulatilake, Shavera Seneviratne, Dulma Karunarathna.  [Mount Royal University Library, Alberta, Canada]. ISSN 2816 – 9425.