Espectro electr´ onico: C´ alculo de excitaciones verticales y procesos de isomerizaci´ ony procesos de isomerizaci´on

The flight of Rajasimha,- which is rather peremptorily

referred to in the Co!}.a inscriptions, is more sympathetically described in the Culavamsa.^ It is said that the PapgLya king had left his country through fear of the Cojas, and taking ship came to Mahatittha in Ceylon* Dappula sent for him, and having received him in a fitting manner, settled him in a mansion outside the city. Dappula, however, was not content with only providing shelter to his royal guest, but wished to recover his throne fx^om the Co^-as. Therefore he made

preparations for war. In his bold resolve not only to recover the Pa$<Jya throne, but also to dislodge the CoJ.a monarch, he had failed to take counsel with his ministers. They were apparently not in the least enthusiastic to resume the. war against the Co^as, probably realising the inherent danger in such a policy, now made even more hazardous by the clear supre­

macy of Parantaka. Their opposition did not stop with words, but took a violent turn* The king himself, probably realising

the grave implications, did not press the matter further, and thus ended his lofty project to restore the balance of power in South India.^

1. Cv., LIII.5-10.

2. Cv., adds (lolii.10-11) that as this strife ended and Raja­

simha left for Kerala, Dappula presented the Maha-Bodhi Temple with a village, perhaps as an expiation of a vow.

When Rajasimha realised that it was futile to entertain hopes of further Sinhalese aid* he did not wish to slay any

longer as an inconvenient guest in Ceylon. To spare his friend of any more embarrassment * he entrusted his royal treasures to Dappula and departed for the Kerala country* 1 Although Rajasimha failed in his attempt to drag Ceylon into

a war with the Colas* yet by this action he paved the way for the events that were to take place under his successors.

Rajasimha!s voluntary separationdhom his crown Jewels clearly suggests his own predicament. It must have been a very pain­

ful decision for him to leave for the Kerala court in his

condition* with neither a kingdom nor the golden aura of royalty*

nor any safe refuge* The attitude of the Kerala court had

greatly changed since the time when his own father had married . a,Kerala princess.\ Kerala* which was much weaker than some 2 of her neighbours, had to be cautious in the choice of her allies. Therefore, when the Colas rose, to power they sought

3 - ^'

a matrimonial alliance with the Cola dynasty as well* T h u s -when Rajasimha decided to go to Kerala* he probably did not

expect a very friendly welcome there. After his departure nothing more is heard about him* and all the sources seem to

have -lost interest in him, He may have been persuaded to abandon all h op e s ,of recovering his lost patrimony, -which, by that time had passed into the hands of the Colas, His regalia, on the other hand, remained in Ceylon,, and became a bone of contention between the Colas and the Sinhalese, till; the time of Rajendra I.

The important role played by the Pap<Jya regalia in the relations between the Sinhalese and the Colas during this time deserves some attention. One of the driving motives behind the invasions of Ceylon by the Colas was their desire

to possess these royal treasures. As the Culavamsa rightly states when the Coja king wished to achieve consecration as the king of Paptjya, he sent for these symbolic insignia

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of PapgLya royalty. The importance of the regalia

(ra.iakakudhabhandani) for the ceremony of royal consecration

2 ^'

-itself needs no emphasis.. The Papglya royal treasures, however, were not captured till the time of Rajendra I,

but by that time a certain transformation seems to have come over Cola policy with regard to Ceylon, and the invasions were not motivated by this desire alone. This however did not lessen, the significance of the PapgLya regalia, as it is

implied by the proud claims of Rajendra in making detailed records of the royal booty captured in Ceylon by his forces.1

In the meantime some very important changes had taken place in the Ra^lrakula. kingdom, lying to the north-west

of the Gola empire. These developments did not portend well. ■ ’ for the dominant Colas. In the beginning the relations between;

the Colas and the Ra^trakulas were friendly but seem to have deteriorated with the accession of Parantaka. The accession of the ambitious III to the Ra^tnakuta throne about

939 A.C. brought the two powers to the brink of armed con­

flict. Parantaka1s concern in the developments in the Ra$tra- kuta kingdom is seen in some of thV defensive measures which he

took along his north-west frontier. The rumblings of danger seem to have moved even closer with the debacle which over­

took the Cola protdgd in the GangavacU* which lay between the Cola and Ra§lrakuta territories. Here, in G-angavadi, Ppthvipati . II, the faithful feudatory of the Colas had died about 939,A.C.

and-in the ensuing scramble for the throne, Butuga II (Bhuv§- ;

1. See infraspp. 134--5 ; S I . , IX, p.230; A R E . 1907> PP° 73~4;

2. ARE., 1921, p t . II, para. 25, pp. 94"5* The Colas , pp.

125-129, 136-7 nn- 22-41;*. E l . , VII, pp.

194-5-vallabha), the nominee and hr other*1 in-law of had

1 .... t

emerged victorious. This was a serious set-back for

Parantaka, hut he does not appear to have attempted to undo the damage, probably fearing a ‘ worsening of the situation.

Instead he turned his attention to Ceylon, to obtain the

possession of the Pa$<Jya regalia, still in the hands of the -Sinhalese ruler.

By this time, Dappula (IV), to whom Rajasimha had entrusted his valuable possessions, was no more, and the Sinhalese throne was now. occupied by Udaya IV (946-95^) * According to the Culavamsa, he was slothful, and 11 a friend of spiritous drinks” . The reign of Udaya once agfin saw

the resumption of the long smouldering.CoJa-Sinhalese conflict.

Parantaka who had been waiting to obtain the Pa^dya regalia, would have found the accession of Udaya an opportune moment . for action. Pirst.he resorted to diplomacy, sending envoys to Udaya, requesting him to hand over the treasures. 3 It is doubtful whether Parantaka seriously believed that Udaya

%ould accede to his reguest* The envoys received a cold re­

fusal. Parantaka then decided to resume hostilities, and sent

a strong force to Ceylon. _

-1. A.S. Altekar, The R asfrakulas and Their Times, pp.H2-lllj.*

The Early History of the Deccan (Bd.C.Yazdani), pts. I-UjfVl. . pp.292-3. The Colas, p.. 128; B I ., III. p.183; VI. pp.95-7;

VII, p.195; B . C. , XI, Chit., 76.

2. Cv. , “LIII• 40.

3. Cv., LIII. 14-1-2,

The date of this invasion can he fixed on th^/basis of the information-in the Culavamsa, and the indirect information in the Coja and Sinhalese inscriptions. T h e .background of contemporary South Indian history is another useful guide .for the dating of these events. The Culavamsa places the

invasion in the reign, of Udaya IV. He is reckoned tp

have ascended the throne in 946 A.C. One of his inscriptions,'1' dated two years later, is found at Mahiyangapa, between

Rohapa and Rajarattha. It is assumed that this was recorded probably while he was returning to his capital from Rohapn, after the Cojas had departed. 2 The sudden withdrawal of the Co}.as was probably due to the invasion of the Cola empire by Ky§pa about 948-9 A.C. We can therefore assign this Coja .invasion of Ceylon to a date between

947

949

conclusion finds support in the inscription belonging to the 40th year of Parantaka (c.947-8) which positively refers to a Co^a invasion of Ceylon. 3

There is no dearth of information i*egarding the course of this .invasion with the Culavamsa^ and the Tamil inscriptions confirming each other. The Kanyakumari inscription^ of

1. H Z ., III, pp.71-100;. See HC., I pt.I p.338 for the identifi­

cation of the the ruler there.

2. HO. I, p.338.

3. A.R.E.» 1900, H o .34; see Supra, p.

66

5. El., XVIII,

p.53-Virarafendra "briefly states that Par ant alia caused his army

t *

to cross the sea and defeat the king of SimhaJ-a, who was waiting on the shore to give "battle, and thereby he received

the true title u3imhalantakau . The Tiruvalaftgadu plates of Rigendra,'*' on the other hand, transform the account into

one of magnified glory, where it is claimed that the fire of Parantaka*s anger, after "burning his enemies was not quenched even in the waters of the pea, hut subsided only by the tears of the wives of the Sinhalese king, who was cut to pieces and killed. This description reminds one more of his own achievements, than those of Parantaka* Parantaka

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himself seems to have made no such claim in his inscriptions.

The very fact that till the time of Ra^endra the.Pa$glya

regalia were not recovered reveals the eulogistic and patently great exaggeration of this claim. The Culavamsa, however, does not deny the defeat of the Sinhalese ruler, but goes on to say how the invaders fared thereafter, and had to go back without the coveted prise*

— - *5

According to the Culavamsa. at the first signs of the impending invasion, Udaya had sent for his commander, who was