The oldest extant Pāli Chronicle of Ceylon. Like the Mahāvamsa, it was based on the Atthakathā handed down in the Mahāvihāra 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 Atthakathā. It is generally agreed that the Dīpavamsa assumed its present form about the fourth century A.C. It is stated (Cv.xxxviii.59) that Dhātusena made endowments for the regular recital of the Dīpavamsa.
The work was edited and published by Oldenberg in 1879. For details see Geiger: Dīpavamsa and Mahāvamsa.