The oldest extant Páli Chronicle of Ceylon. Like the Mahávamsa, it was based on the Atthakathá handed down in the Mahávihára of Ceylon. It gives the impression not of an evenly worked out whole, but rather of a stringing together of fragments, a composition of whole lines, sometimes whole stanzas, borrowed from the Atthakathá. It is generally agreed that the Dípavamsa assumed its present form about the fourth century A.C. It is stated (Cv.xxxviii.59) that Dhátusena made endowments for the regular recital of the Dípavamsa.
The work was edited and published by Oldenberg in 1879. For details see Geiger: Dípavamsa and Mahávamsa.