The foundational Sinhalese origin myth derives ancestry from a divinely exiled prince named Vijaya

Evidence

According to the Mahavamsa, Prince Vijaya and 700 followers landed on the island after the depraved prince was forced into exile from his father’s kingdom in the land of the Vangas. Sinhalese believe the land of the Vangas was located somewhere in today’s West Bengal and Bangladesh and claim Vijaya as their progenitor. — Neil DeVotta, Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalist Ideology, 69