Mahānāma is described as residing in a monastery belonging to general Dighasanda and affiliated with the Mahavihara, but no other reliable biographical information is known.

An earlier document known as the Dipavamsa (4th century CE) 'Chronicles of the Island' is much simpler and contains less information than the Mahavamsa and was probably compiled using the Atthakatha on the Mahavamsa as well.Īuthorship of the Mahavamsa is attributed to an otherwise unknown monk called Mahānāma by the Mahavamsa-tika. It was written based on prior ancient compilations known as the Atthakatha (sometimes Sinhalaatthakatha), which were commentaries written in Sinhala. These annals were then combined and compiled into a single document in the 5th century while King Dhatusena was ruling the Anuradhapura Kingdom. The Buddhist monks of the Anuradhapura Maha Viharaya maintained chronicles of the island's history starting from the 3rd century BCE. This was then translated into English by Mabel Haynes Bode, and revised by Geiger. : 86 A German translation of Mahavamsa was completed by Wilhelm Geiger in 1912. : 86 The first printed edition and widely read English translation was published in 1837 by George Turnour, a historian and officer of the Ceylon Civil Service. : 86 Working from Johnston's manuscripts, Edward Upham published an English translation in 1833, but it was marked by several errors in translation and interpretation, among them suggesting that the Buddha was born in Sri Lanka and built a monastery atop Adam's Peak.

Eugène Burnouf produced a Romanized transliteration and translation into Latin in 1826, but these garnered relatively little attention. The Mahavamsa first came to the attention of Western researchers around 1809 CE, when Sir Alexander Johnston, Chief Justice of the British Ceylon, sent manuscripts of it and other Sri Lankan chronicles to Europe for translation and publication. It was first composed by a Buddhist monk at the Mahavihara temple in Anuradhapura in the 5th century CE. It relates the history of Sri Lanka from its legendary beginnings up to the reign of Mahasena of Anuradhapura covering the period between the arrival of Prince Vijaya from India in 543 BCE to his reign and later updated by different writers. It was written in the style of an epic poem written in the Pali language. Mahāvaṃsa (Sinhala: මහාවංශ (Mahāvansha), Pali: මහාවංස (Mahāvaṃsa) is the meticulously kept historical chronicle of Sri Lanka until the period of Mahasena of Anuradhapura.

Font to go with sinhala mn