Contents: Preface. Foreword/Wilhelm Geiger. 1. The history of ancient and medieval Ceylon. 2. The beginnings. 3. The ancient period. 4. The early medieval period. 5. The Polonnaruva period. 6. The decline of the Sinhalese Kingdom. Epilogue. Appendix: 1. List of kings with dates. 2. Key to illustration: the development of the Sinhalese script. 3. Bibliography. Index.

    From the preface: "This book, therefore, does not pretend by any means to be exhaustive or correct in all its details. It will take a long time before it will be possible to write such a history, as the amount of research yet to be done is very great. Though the Mahavansa has been edited and translated with critical notes, most of the other literary works have not received sufficient attention at the hands of scholars. A large number of inscriptions have still to be edited and published, and therefore even this certain source of information cannot yet be fully exploited. The archaeological work, too, has not advanced very far, and has never been carried out with such thoroughness as in India. Even a greater part of Anuradhapura has yet to be excavated, and there are a number of other places, which, when explored and excavated, are bound to yield useful results."