Ruhuna is rich in history and legend. The liberating hero of the ancient chronicles, King Dutugemunu, was said to have spent his youth here, and the region has a tradition of resistance against tyrant kings and foreign invaders. Once far more thickly populated than it is now, Ruhuna has yielded relics of ancient Sinhalese civilization ranging in age from five hundred to fifteen hundred years, and the now-unpeopled jungle is dotted with the remains of centuries-old irrigation works.
Early European explorers found the region sparsely inhabited except along the south-western coast, the population of the interior having dwindled through centuries of wars and epidemics. Much of the land had reverted to wilderness. Little changed during the colonial era, and even after independence Ruhuna remained thinly populated and backward, a source of economic migrants to Colombo and the Western Province. In recent years, however, a great deal of attention has been focused on development and economic revival in the region, particularly around the coastal town of Hambantota and the ancient port city of Galle. The latter was of great importance before the construction of a breakwater in 1885 created a sheltered anchorage in Colombo, and was well served by road, rail and telegraph, but grew quiet and sleepy during the twentieth century.
