From Graph Paper to Global Operating Systems: The Untold Story of Sinhala Unicode

Official letter of appreciation from Mr Asmus Freytag, Vice President of the Unicode Consortium (dated 17 March 2000), acknowledging Sri Lanka's crucial contribution to the publication of The Unicode Standard, Version 3.0 and ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000.

Today, whether you are typing a message on a smartphone, reading the news online, or searching the web, your device comes pre-equipped with native Sinhala support. It is a seamless, everyday experience. Yet the road to securing digital sovereignty for our Sinhala script—a complex writing system with an extensive vowel set and intricate consonants—was incredibly long and arduous, and it began well before most can imagine.

Recently, I found myself looking back at a letter of appreciation I received from Asmus Freytag, Vice President of the Unicode Consortium, dated 17 March 2000—a recognition presented exclusively to me as Sri Lanka's national member—which accompanied a presentation copy of The Unicode Standard, Version 3.0. While that letter marks a defining milestone at the turn of the millennium, the true story began back in 1982, when 'Sinhala Language in Computing' did not even exist as a concept.

Building from Absolute Zero

When I began pioneering this work at the Institute of Computer Technology (ICT) at the University of Colombo in the mid-1980s, there was not a single digital Sinhala font in the world. I had to build every building block from absolute zero.

The process was painstakingly manual. It involved hand-drawing individual characters on standard graph sheets, designing precise symbols, converting them to hexadecimal, and writing low-level 8086 Assembly code. This exhausting groundwork continued for years, eventually culminating in the development of SBIOS (Sinhala BIOS) and TBIOS (Tamil BIOS). These were designed to handle scripts at the hardware interrupt level, functioning as 20KB of additional kernel programmes that stayed resident in memory and cleanly returned to the DOS prompt.

With the foundational architecture in place, I went on to develop pioneering application software systems: WadanTharuwa for word processing, Athwela for desktop publishing, and Sarasavi, a double-byte character code system tailored for multilingual environments.

Defending Our Digital Heritage

The journey to international standardisation was far from smooth. When third-party proposals in Unicode 1.0 introduced a flawed Sinhala code page that severely distorted our traditional alphabetical order and orthography, we needed to intervene immediately.

The late Professor V K Samaranayake, as Chairman of CINTEC, took swift action through the Sri Lanka Standards Institution (SLSI) to officially challenge and halt its adoption. What followed were years of rigorous committee work and technical submissions. As Sri Lanka's national delegate at ISO/IEC WG 2 international sessions in Singapore, Crete, Redmond, and London, I successfully defended our centuries-old traditional alphabetical order and character repertoire against the proposed distortions.

Mike Ksar (Hewlett-Packard, USA), Convener of ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2, captured during the international session in Crete. Mike served as Convener throughout the entire Sinhala Unicode standardisation process, contributing significantly to its successful international adoption.

It was a relentless, decades-long battle, but by 1 July 1997, we had succeeded in this local implementation story. We had decisively proven that a standardised, linguistically correct digital Sinhala script was not just a theoretical concept, but a working reality.

Global Integration and the Microsoft Era

After the international ratification of the Sinhala Unicode block (U+0D80–U+0DFF) in Unicode Version 3.0 and ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000, the next crucial step was integrating it into global operating systems.

With Dr V S Umamaheswaran (IBM Canada), Recording Secretary for ISO/IEC JTC 1/SC 2/WG 2. Long before digital voice recorders existed, Dr Umamaheswaran famously acted as a 'human voice recorder'—meticulously capturing every word spoken across a room of more than 25 international delegates and delivering precise, immediate meeting minutes after every session.

I spent approximately three months at Microsoft Headquarters in Seattle, Washington, working directly alongside Microsoft’s Language Development Group. During this intensive period, I helped engineer native Sinhala script rendering and complex typography support directly into the Windows operating system. This collaboration led to the creation and integration of Iskoola Pota—the default Sinhala Unicode font that began shipping worldwide with Windows.

With Bruce Paterson (UK), Independent Editor for ISO/IEC 10646, during the Crete meeting. Reviewing technical details directly with the project editor was essential to providing the necessary clarifications for our Sinhala Language Proposal before its formal inclusion.

Reflecting on this monumental effort, Asmus Freytag wrote in his 2000 letter to me:

"We do believe that your support was crucial in making the publication of The Unicode Standard, Version 3.0 and ISO/IEC 10646-1:2000 possible..."

With Irish delegate Michael Everson (Everson Gunn Teoranta) at the Crete ISO session. Though he had initially contributed to a competing proposal, extensive technical debates and linguistic evidence convinced him to set his submission aside and fully endorse Sri Lanka’s traditional character repertoire and alphabetical ordering.

Looking back, it is deeply fulfilling to have spearheaded this campaign from an absolute void in 1982, to have worked directly on its global OS integration, and to have ultimately secured digital sovereignty for our native script in the modern digital era.

After the meeting, Relaxation Tour Around

In Greek mythology and Cretan history, the worship of Zeus on Crete traces back to the Minoan-Mycenaean era (around 1400–1200 BCE), which is indeed over 3,000 to 3,500 years ago.

Furthermore, the archaeological sites in and around Heraklion (such as the Palace of Knossos seen in your photographs) date back even further to the Minoan civilisation (c. 1900–1400 BCE), making those physical structures around 3,500 to 4,000 years old.

Exploring Heraklion's ancient archaeological ruins, associated with the birthplace and realm of the Cretan Zeus, balancing technical debates on script standardisation with more than three millennia of Mediterranean history.

Taking a moment of reflection near the ancient archaeological sites of Heraklion (Iraklion), Crete—a region whose heritage and mythology surrounding God Zeus date back over 3,500 years to the Minoan era—during a break from the intensive ISO/IEC WG 2 international session.

Exploring Heraklion's ancient archaeological ruins, associated with the birthplace and realm of the Cretan Zeus, balancing technical debates on script standardisation with more than three millennia of Mediterranean history.

Inside the archaeological museum, posing beside a towering ancient terracotta storage jar (pithos) adorned with intricate raised rope-pattern carvings. You are wearing a checked long-sleeved shirt, tailored trousers, and glasses, holding a museum guide

Examining a monumental ancient Minoan terracotta storage jar (pithos) inside the Heraklion Archaeological Museum during a cultural excursion in Crete.

     

Back in Athens after wrapping up the ISO/IEC WG 2 international session in Crete—taking a quiet moment at the hotel to reflect on the meeting's success and plan which classic landmarks to visit next before returning home.

A roadside moment of reflection on the streets of Athens, soaking in the city's historic atmosphere and deciding on the next landmark to visit.

A clear, sunlit view of the ancient Parthenon standing atop the rocky marble plateau of the Acropolis under a cloudless blue sky. Visitors and families stroll around the base, rest on the ancient bedrock, and admire the monumental Doric columns, with conservation scaffolding inside the cella.

Walking around the summit of the Acropolis in Athens: visitors exploring the historic Parthenon on 8 July 1997, shortly after the conclusion of the ISO/IEC WG 2 international session in Crete.

A low-angle shot framed by ancient stone blocks in the foreground, looking up at the temple's grand side facade and columns. The original date stamp at the bottom right reads 8 7 '97 (8 July 1997), capturing tourists exploring the site in the summer heat.

View looking up towards the Parthenon's grand colonnade from the ancient stone retaining walls, capturing a quiet moment of sightseeing across the Acropolis grounds.

A wider angle highlighting the full length of the Parthenon’s perimeter columns and frieze. Visitors line the hilltop path on the right near a red flag, taking in sweeping views over Athens from the citadel's high vantage point.

A panoramic view across the Acropolis hill, showcasing the Parthenon's enduring classical architecture as delegates and travellers explore the ancient Greek landmark.

 A dramatic wide-angle shot looking up the grand marble staircase of the Propylaea—the monumental gateway to the Acropolis in Athens. You are pictured ascending the ancient stone steps among other visitors, flanked by massive classical walls and marble columns undergoing conservation and restoration.

Standing before the iconic Ionic colonnade of the Erechtheion on the Acropolis hill, taking in the historical monuments of ancient Greece.

Ascending the historic marble steps of the Propylaea, the ancient entrance to the Acropolis in Athens, during a sightseeing tour following the ISO/IEC WG 2 summit.

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Standing in the foreground at the famous flag-raising Belvedere point on the eastern edge of the Acropolis, directly beneath a tall flagpole flying the Greek national flag. The Parthenon columns are visible in the background, with the original camera date stamp marking 6 July 1997.

Posed beneath the towering Greek national flag at the Acropolis lookout in Athens on 6 July 1997, with the Parthenon framed in the background.

"Just before our departure back home, we attended a memorable farewell dinner party featuring traditional Greek music and dance performances. Watching the graceful performances, I was vividly reminded of an article written by Professor J B Disanayaka—who accompanied me as part of the Sri Lankan delegation at the ISO meeting—titled 'සුරඟනන් වැනි වරඟනන් සිටි දිවයිනක් ඇත ග්‍රීසියේ' ('There is an island in Greece where celestial-like maidens lived'). It was a fitting, enchantingly cultural finale to an intense and victorious technical summit.

A dancer captured during the farewell banquet in Greece—a moment that brought to mind Prof. J. B. Disanayaka's memorable article on the trip, 'සුරඟනන් වැනි වරඟනන් සිටි දිවයිනක් ඇත ග්‍රීසියේ'.

Delegates and guests enjoying traditional Greek rhythm and dance at the farewell dinner party celebrating the conclusion of the ISO summit

A close-up from the evening's cultural performance, capturing Greece's rich hospitality and artistic tradition.

"With our mission accomplished and a landmark agreement secured for Sinhala Unicode, it was time for the final lap of the journey. Our generous Greek hosts accompanied Professor J B Disanayaka and me all the way to Athens Airport to bid us a warm farewell—a touchingly hospitable end to an intense, historic, and ultimately triumphant trip."

A warm farewell at Athens Airport: our generous Greek hosts and colleagues seeing off Professor J B Disanayaka and me prior to our return flight to Sri Lanka, marking the successful conclusion of our ISO summit.

Article and Images (c) Turrance Nandasara