Stories of the Wind

“Prior to the arrival of Western powers in the 16th century, there were three kingdoms in the island of Ceylon, one of which in the North belonged to the Tamils. The Kandyan Kingdom in the central hills was the last to fall to the British in 1815. In 1833, the British unified the three kingdoms for administrative convenience and from then on Ceylon became one entity.”

For the full article: http://tnapolitics.org/?page_id=880&lang=en

I find the use of the word ‘prior’ a bit confusing. Does this mean it was so at the time (16th Century) of the arrival of the Portuguese? Or does this mean that it has been so since time-known? 

Perhaps this recent post on Groundviews could offer the reader some help: http://groundviews.org/2013/02/08/is-the-history-of-sri-lanka-a-tale-of-two-civilisations/ 

(Read Suren Raghavan’s comment)