Beminitiya Seya

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Also known as the Great Famine, Beminitiya Seya was a period of over a decade in which ancient Ceylon's irrigation systems failed as a result of neglect. To expand agricultural production, the ancient Singhalese deforested many surrounding areas. This led to increased erosion and drought in many of the "tanks," or man-made lakes that were used as reservoirs. The result was a time of hardship, compounded by foreign invasion, making this a grey region of Sri Lanka's history.