The 13 O/L History Paper I papers we have contain 42 questions on the Anuradhapura era (අනුරාධපුර යුගය), more than on any other topic. It was asked in 12 of the 13 sittings, every one except 2016. The 2019 and 2025 papers had the most, 7 each.
Anuradhapura-era questions, year by year
The table lists the year, how many questions on this topic that paper asked, and how many questions the paper had in total. Each year opens that sitting's page.
| Year | Anuradhapura era | Questions on the paper |
|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 2 | 40 |
| 2013 | 1 | 40 |
| 2015 | 4 | 40 |
| 2016 | 0 | 40 |
| 2017 | 1 | 40 |
| 2018 | 4 | 38 |
| 2019 | 7 | 39 |
| 2020 | 2 | 38 |
| 2021(2022) | 2 | 40 |
| 2022(2023) | 2 | 40 |
| 2023(2024) | 6 | 39 |
| 2024(2025) | 4 | 40 |
| 2025 | 7 | 39 |
The 2016 row is 0. That paper did not ask this topic.
The 2014 paper is not on this site. We have not finished checking it against its marking scheme.
The three newest papers contain 17 of the 42 questions. That count is not a prediction for 2026.
What these questions ask
Of these 42 questions, 4 are column matching. 2 ask for the order of events. 4 give several statements and ask which are right. The other 32 ask a single fact.
4 of the column-matching questions pair a king with a deed.
2 statement questions are about King Vasabha (වසභ).
9 stems name a tank (වැව).
The single-fact questions come back to a few themes: irrigation and village tanks, offices and village administration, trade, ports and relations with India, and art, inscriptions and buildings.
The short note for this topic is in the Anuradhapura-era section of the short notes.
How it compares with other topics
Ranked by questions, not by sittings.
| Topic | Questions | Sittings |
|---|---|---|
| අනුරාධපුර යුගය | 42 | 12 of 13 |
| බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය පාලන සමය | 32 | 12 of 13 |
| උඩරට රාජ්‍ය සමය | 25 | 13 of 13 |
| නිදහසින් පසු ශ්‍රී ලංකාව | 24 | 11 of 13 |
| නිදහස් සටන සහ ව්‍යවස්ථාමය ප්‍රගමනය | 23 | 11 of 13 |
අනුරාධපුර යුගය has the most questions, 42.
උඩරට රාජ්‍ය සමය is the topic asked in every sitting. It has 25 questions. Sittings and questions are not the same claim.
The hard ones
16 of the 42 questions are marked hard by our curators. The detail is in the hardest History MCQ topics.
One worked question
This question is on the 2022(2023) O/L History paper page. That page shows 5 questions from the sitting, with the answer and the reason. The question asks which ruler the Mahavamsa describes.
ආක්‍රමණිකයකු වුවද, සාධාරණ හා නීතිගරුක පාලනයක් ගෙන ගිය බව මහාවංසයේ සඳහන් වන පාලකයා මින් කවරෙක් ද?
- Aඑළාර
- Bරාජරාජ
- Cශ්‍රී මාර ශ්‍රී වල්ලභ
- Dරාජේන්ද්‍ර චෝල
How to revise it before 10 December
Learn each king together with his deed. The column-matching questions ask for that pair. Practise the order of events as well.
Practise in the app's History journey. The journey starts at the beginning. You cannot practise one topic on its own. Every sitting is on the O/L History past papers page. The weeks are in the 8-week plan.
The 2026 History paper is on Thursday, 10 December 2026. Paper II, 08:30 – 11:40. Paper I (MCQ), 13:00 – 14:00. The day is set out in the paper-day guide.
What this page is not
This page is not a full set of notes. It is not a list of kings.
It is not a prediction of the 2026 paper.
There is no PDF. You cannot practise one topic on its own, and you cannot practise one year on its own.
This page is about Paper I only. Paper II is not included. English medium is not here.
Wizder is not affiliated with the Department of Examinations.
One more, to try yourself
එක්සත් ජාතීන්ගේ සංවිධානයේ මහලේකම්වරයා පත් කරනු ලබන්නේ,
- Aආරක්ෂක මණ්ඩල නිර්දේශය මත මහා මණ්ඩලය විසිනි.
- Bජාත්‍යන්තර අධිකරණය විසිනි.
- Cආර්ථික හා සමාජ මණ්ඩලය විසිනි.
- Dනිෂේධ බලය හිමි නිත්‍ය සාමාජිකයන් විසිනි.
Common questions
How often is the Anuradhapura era asked in O/L History?
In 12 of the 13 sittings we have, with 42 questions in total, more than any other topic. Only the 2016 paper had none.
Will the Anuradhapura era be on the 2026 paper?
Nobody can say. The 2025 paper had 7 questions on it, but that is no guarantee for 2026.
Where can I practise Anuradhapura-era past paper questions with answers?
The year pages from 2019 to 2025, except 2020, each show one question from this topic, with the answer and the reason. All 42 are in the Wizder app's History journey, free.
Is there a PDF of Anuradhapura-era kings or notes?
No. Wizder has no PDFs and this page is not a list of kings. The short-notes post has one section on the Anuradhapura era, built from these past-paper questions.
Can I practise only Anuradhapura-era questions?
No. The History journey starts at the beginning. The app covers 13 papers from 2012 to 2025. The 2014 paper is not on the site. Topic-only practice is not possible.