Mahāvaṃsa, (Pāli: “Great Chronicle”), historical chronology of Ceylon (modern Sri Lanka), written in the 5th or 6th century, probably by the Buddhist monk Mahānāma. It deals more with the history of Buddhism and with dynastic succession in Ceylon than with the island’s political or social history and covers the period from about the 6th century bc to the early 4th century ad.
The text—written in Pāli, the sacred language of Buddhism—is generally considered to be based on two main sources: a similar but cruder 4th-century chronicle, the Dīpavaṃsa, and oral tradition handed down by Buddhist monks. Because of the inclusion in the Mahāvaṃsa of much from these sources that is mythical or supernatural, large portions of the text are of dubious historicity. A sequel to the Mahāvaṃsa, known as the Cūlavaṃsa, continues the history of Ceylon to the 16th century.