The Tāmraśāṭīya (Sanskrit: ताम्रशाटीय, Tāmraśāṭīya), also called Tāmraparṇīya (Sanskrit; Pali: Tambapaṇṇiya) or Theriya Nikāya (Pali),[1][2] was one of the early schools of Buddhism and a branch of the Vibhajyavāda school based in Sri Lanka.
[3][4] This contrasts with Sarvastivada or the 'Northern transmission', which was mostly written in Sanskrit and translated into Chinese and Tibetic languages.
[3] The Tamrashatiya tradition developed into Theravada Buddhism and spread into Myanmar, Thailand, and other parts of Southeast Asia.
[5] Tāmraparṇi was also an old name for Sri Lanka, and the origin of the Greek equivalent Taprobana, possibly referring to the monks who established Buddhism here.
[6] The Tāmraśāṭīya school was established in modern-day Sri Lanka in the city of Anuradhapura, but also remained active in Andhra and other parts of South India, such as Vanavasa in modern Karnataka, and later across South-East Asia.