The nature of opposition of the kings of Rohana to Gola rule in Rajarattha can be regarded as a good re
flection of the conditions that prevailed in Rohana during this time. Except for a few occasions, the greater parts of Rohada and Malaya had been outside the direct control of Anuradhapura. They had enjoyed a certain amount of in
dependence with regard to politics and the Cola occupation of Rajarattha seems to have brought no change in this
rulers were drawn from collateral branches of the
Anuradhapura line, and were often matrimonially connected, with the main royal family. It was when things were in this state that Mahinda V fled to Rohana, and it would Kave caused some political re-adjustment there. Owing to
his position as the king of Geylon he would have been acknowledged by the other petty rulers. Nevertheless, politically Rohana remained divided for over another half a century. As a result, the opposition in .Rohana to the Colas was not a united opposition, and failed to create any impression on the Colas. Owing to the same reason Cola attacks on Rohana failed to remove all opposition with one crushing blow. The Colas had to keep a sharp eye on the developments in Rohana, and at the eax^liest signs of any preparations for war by the Sinhalese, the Colas made swift raids and disrupted all their plans. The earliest improvement in this situation came with the emerg
ence of Vijayabahu who was able to unite the whole of Rohana and turn back the tide of Cola attacks on Rohana.
• * #
Coon after the death of Parakkama/an army leader
named Loka (Lokesvara-senevi) gathered, together the scattered remains of Sinhalese resistance. He is favourably considered
_ l
in the. Culavamsa. being called utrustworthy and determined, 1.
absence or icings in oeyion. Bee also H.lv. „p. . jLVII.l- •2. P£v. , (p. 105) adds. he/.
and capable of breaking the arrogance of the Colas *tf He had won over the people to his side and set up his capital at Kegaragama , and was probably making px^e-
parations to invade Rajarattha when his position was
1 . assailed by another Sinhalese. The assailant was ICitti, son of Moggallefna, and claimed to be a scion1 of the old Sinhalese x^oyal family. To start with, he had the support of an army commander named Buddharaja, and with his
assistance gradually bx^ought Malayade^a under his authox^ity.
Soon he found support in Rohana too, which made him a serious threat to Loka. Loka tried hard to contain Kitti but all his attempts to put down Kitti ended in failure, and he himself died broken-hearted in the sixth year of his rule at liajaragaxna in Rohana. But before Kitti could bring Rohana under his control, another chief named
(Kesadliatu-2
nayaka) Kassapa appeared on the scene, and stood solidly in the way of Kitti. In the meantime Kassapa had to face an attack by the Colas, which he weathered successfully, and having placed guards along the frontiers (i.e. Rakkha- pasana^kantha), he Returned triumphantly to his capital at iCajaragama.^ These developments would have disappointed Kitti, when he might have wished to see Kassapa defeated by 1. For more details on the genealogy of Kitti, see infra,
PP . loO« a .7*0 *
2. Ov.,LVII.65» Kesadtiatu-nayaka. see infra,p. Ido • 3-
Ov.,LVII.66-69-the Colas. Therefore, before the latter could take
full advantage of his enhanced prestige, Kitti Unleashed 1
an attack on him. According to the Culavamsa the people of Rohana do not seem to have shown any interest in the cause of Kassapa, and as a result he had to abandon Ka'jaragarioa and occupy another stronghold. If the Cfulavamsa
is correct, it is indeed surprising why the people in
Rohana were reluctant to back their hero, unless of course they also had- a premonition of the great destiny of young Kitti. A little latex* Kassapa made an attempt to re
capture KnJaragaxna, but was defeated and captux*ed by Kitti.
His rule. in Rohana had lasted only six months. Kitti, who was only seventeen years of age, then became the ruler of
_ 2
Rohana, known by the title of Yu vara ,ja, and also assumed the name of Vijayab’ahu.
This is the history of Ceylon - or rather of Rohana and Malayade^a as far as it can be reconstructed on the basis of the Ceylonese chronicles, particularly the Culavamsa. Between the death of Vikkamabahu and the
accession of VijayabsThu as Yuvai^aja of Rohana seven princes had ruled over the areas still free of the Colas. During this period four Cola attacks on Rohana are referred to.
. .
They took place during the reigns of Matialaiia Kitti, JagatTpala,
1. Cv. ,LVII.72-73.
2. Cv. .LVIII.I. see infra,pp. 130.
Parakkama and Kassapa. No Inscriptions attributable to any of these rulers have been found so far. The
Sinhalese sources which seem unanimous as far as the names of five of these kings are concerned are not as unanimous regarding the lengths of their reigns. To recapitulate the information available in the Ceylonese sources re
garding the names of kings and their regnal years we have
— 2
first of all the Culavamsa, which furnishes the followingh n r m M " ■ n r ■ n iim w i ■■ > p n n w i m »
inf.ormation; the successor of VikkamabeThu was Kitti (8 days) followed by Mahalana Kitti (died in the ‘l,third, year), Vikkamapandu (one year), JagatTpala (4 years), Parakkama
(2 years), Loka (6 years), and Kassapa (six months). These regnal years may add up to a total of about sixteen years, or a little more. The Pu.iavallya ? on the other hand,
does not refer to the first Kitti or Kassapa, but mentions the following: Mahal'ana Kitti (3 years), Vikkamapandu (3 years), Jagatpala (4 years), Parakkamapandi (1 year) and Lokesvara (6 years). The Rajavaliya^ also knows the same number of rulers as the Pujavaliya but refers only to the regnal years of Mahal’ana Kitti (3 years), Vikkamapandu
(3 years) Jagatpaila (1 year), and Parakkamapandu (6 years).
— 3
The R a ,j a ra t nakajay a refers only to. the six year reign of
Lokesvara,
The foregoing details reveal a significant lack of consistency between the different Ceylonese traditions.
It is therefore difficult to determine the accuracy of the regnal details in the Culavam s a ; and as a result, the
regnal years in the Gut lay aims a can only he accepted as a working hypothesis. Incidentally, the Pujavaliya is
the only Sinhalese work from which a total length of the period can be calculated. It furnishes a total of seven}
teen years, which comes very close to the total according to the Culavamsa,
The remaining source of information for this confused period, are the Gola epigraphs from the twenty-ninth year of R'ajaidhir'aja (c.1046) to the time of vTrarajendra (1063-9) •
These inscriptions proudly mention the kings of Ceylon who were defeated or killed by the Colas, By the twentyninth year of Rajadhiraja [c®1046] he claims to have dealt with four kings of Geylon, They were VikkramabeThu,
Vikkirima-pandiyan, VTra Salamegan and SrTvallavan-Madanarajan.'**
The first was the son of Mahinda V, and his history, as gleaned, from both the Sinhalese and the Cola sources, has
2
been already discussed. The next ruler can be easily
1 • Sljk ,111 ,Noo28• Manimangalam ins., 2, see supra, op, 1^2-7.*
_ 1
identified with Vikkamapandu in the Culavamsa * Accox^d- ing to the Cola inscriptions he had entered Ceylon after he had lost the whole of the southern 'Tamil country,, which had previously belonged to him. His crown of large jewels
2