Sinhalese history traditionally starts in 543 BC at the arrival of Prince Vijaya, a semi-legendary king who was banished from the Indian subcontinent with his 700 followers and is recorded in the Mahavamsa chronicle.

[1] Before Parinirvana, the Buddha had asked the deities to protect the island because Buddhism will flourish and continue to exist in Sri Lanka.

He married a local Yakkhini named Kuveni, and their children gave rise to the Pulinda race (identified with the Vedda people).

The account of the Mahavamsa, a Pali text written largely from the Sinhalese perspective, has mythological beginnings but becomes historical from the third century BC, with the arrival of Buddhism under Devanampiya Tissa of Sri Lanka.

[6] According to Gavin Thomas, the narration of historical events in Mahavamsa and its continuation Culavamsa is "at best questionably-biased, and at worst totally imaginary", aimed at establishing the royal lineage of the Sinhalese and the Buddhist credentials of the island.

Codrington, Vijaya is probably a composite character, and the legend is aimed at connecting the early history of Sri Lanka with that of Buddha.