The period begins when Pandukabhaya, King of Upatissa Nuwara moved the administration to Anuradhapura, becoming the kingdom's first monarch.

Vasabha (67–111 CE) – Vallipuram gold plate; he fortified Anuradhapura and built eleven tanks; many edicts.

Pandu (429) – first of seven Pandiyan rulers, ending with Pithya, 455; Dhatusena (459–477), his uncle, Mahanama wrote the Mahavamsa, he built "Kalaweva".

Sangamitta's son Saamanera Sumana also accompanied them to spread Buddhism, following the Third Buddhist Council, upon the recommendation of Moggaliputta-Tissa (Ashoka's spiritual teacher).

[1] Potsherds with early Tamil writing from the 5th century BCE have been found from the north in Poonakari, Jaffna to the south in Tissamaharama.

They bore several inscriptions, including a clan name—vela, a name related to velir from ancient Tamil country.

[3] Epigraphic evidence shows people identifying themselves as Damelas or Damedas (the Indo-Aryan Prakrit word for Tamil people) in Anuradhapura, the capital city of Rajarata the middle kingdom, and other areas of Sri Lanka as early as the 2nd century BCE.

[4] Excavations in the area of Tissamaharama in southern Sri Lanka have unearthed locally issued coins, produced between the 2nd century BC and the 2nd century CE, some of which carry local Tamil personal names written in early Tamil characters,[5] which suggest that Tamils were present and actively involved in trade along the southern coast of Sri Lanka by the late classical period.

Mention is made in literary sources of Tamil rulers bringing horses to the island in water craft in the second century BCE, most likely arriving at Kudiramalai.

Historical records establish that Tamil kingdoms in modern India were closely involved in the island's affairs from about the 2nd century BCE.

In addition to underground canals, the Sinhalese were the first to build completely artificial reservoirs and dams to store water.