About Atita

Atita is dedicated to the investigation of historical events in Sri Lanka. Taking its name from the Pali word for “past” (atīta), Atita serves to fill in gaps in English-language literature of Sri Lankan history.

All are welcome to read our work, but those already familiar with Sri Lankan history since 1948 will find it the most enriching. Our primary focus is on events from 1948 to 1972, when Sri Lanka was still called “Ceylon.”

Motivation

English-language scholarly work on Sri Lanka, particularly its communal conflicts following independence, tends to focus on very broad strokes of history. Thus, smaller, individual incidents tend to be neglected, and in-depth knowledge of events is lacking. While we appreciate the value of seeing the bigger picture, the lack of specialization has led to omissions and even downright factual errors in professional publications about Sri Lankan history.

Our aim is to break free of the shackles of convention by doing our own research to shed new light on old events in Sri Lankan history, both big and small. We wish to share our knowledge with all those interested in Sri Lankan history to give them an alternative perspective on what is a pressing topic for millions of people, both inside and outside Sri Lanka.

Our Philosophy

• Transparency: We believe in utmost transparency in historical information delivery. For this reason, we strive to cite all sources in our writing.
• Verifiability: We strive for perfect verifiability in our writing by using reliable sources for our work.
• Originality: We are primarily interested in stories with little to no coverage in mainstream, English-language literature about Sri Lanka. Alternatively, we may take something well-known and present new facts about it.
• First Principles: We engage in first-principles history through primary source research, rather than solely relying on secondary sources such as academic books.
• Perspectives: Bias is inevitable in writing, but we seek to minimize it by considering various, relevant perspectives where possible.