King Vijaya - House of Moriya i | Thammanna Nuwara - (BC 543 - BC 505) - Sri Lankan History - Kings - Governors - Prisidents

King Vijaya

House of Moriya i | Thammanna Nuwara - (BC 543 - BC 505)

Source	King's Name	Period
MahÄwansaya	King Vijaya2	38-0-0

From ancient times, the royal name lists of kings who ruled this island record approximately one hundred and seventy-seven kings. The very first name mentioned in this chronicle is that of King Vijaya. The word Vijaya means “victory.” The story of Vijaya arriving in Lanka after achieving victories, forming a union with a woman of Lanka, and ascending to kingship here is a highly elaborate and vivid narrative. In India, in the country of Vanga, there lived a king named Vanga in the city of Vanga. He married Princess Mayavati, the daughter of the king of Kalinga. They had a daughter named Suppadevi. In her youth, Suppadevi fled from her parents and, while following a caravan of merchants, was captured by a lion and lived in its cave. As a result, she bore a son and a daughter, who were named Sihabahu and Sihasivali. Upon learning about his father’s nature, Sihabahu fled with his mother and sister. On the way, they met a general who was the son of Suppadevi’s maternal uncle. After learning the circumstances, the general married Suppadevi. Later, all of them returned to the country of Vanga. The lion came to the cave, and not finding his wife and children, began destroying villages belonging to the country of Vanga in search of them. The king ordered the beating of war drums to kill the lion. Prince Sihabahu undertook this task. When he killed his father and took the head to Vanga, the king had already died seven days earlier. As there were no heirs, Sihabahu was entitled to the throne, but instead he handed the kingship to the general who had married his mother. He then built a city named Sinhapura in the forest, took Sihasivali as his chief queen, and ruled there. They had thirty-two sons. Among them, the eldest was Vijaya, and the second was Sumitta. Because Vijaya became a source of disorder in his own country and disobeyed the advice given to him, the king was compelled to punish him by shaving half his head and setting him adrift at sea along with seven hundred companions. Their wives were sent away in a separate ship, and their children in yet another. The ship carrying the children drifted to Nagna-dvipa, while the ship carrying the wives drifted to Mahinda-dvipa. The ship carrying Vijaya and his companions drifted to the port of Supparaka, where they disembarked. Due to hostility from the local people, they re-embarked and eventually landed on the island called Tambapanni, known as Lanka. As they placed their hands on the sand of the shore and their hands turned copper-colored, the island came to be known as Tambapanni, and they settled there. This occurred on the full-moon day of Vesak, when the Buddha attained Parinibbāna. The Buddha addressed Sakka and instructed him to protect Vijaya and his companions, as the Buddha’s dispensation would be established in Lanka. Accepting this noble command, Sakka assigned the deity Uppalavanna to this task. He provided protection to Vijaya and his companions by giving them consecrated water and tying protective threads. At the time Vijaya landed, the island was inhabited by beings known as Yakkhas. Their dwellings were located inland from the landing port. One of Vijaya’s men followed a dog led by Kuveni, a Yakkhini who was spinning cotton near a pond, and was captured by her. When he failed to return, others went after him and also did not return. Armed, Prince Vijaya followed the same path. Upon seeing Kuveni, Vijaya frightened her, gained control over her and her possessions, and with her assistance ascended to kingship in Tambapanni. On a day when a Yakkha prince from Lankapura was to marry a Yakkha princess from Sirisavatthu, Vijaya acted on Kuveni’s advice, defeated and killed the Yakkhas, then expelled Kuveni and married a princess brought from the Pandya country. He was crowned at Tammannā. Kuveni, enraged, was later killed by a Yakkha, and her two frightened children fled to the Samanala forest. What has been briefly presented above is the account of Vijaya as described in the Mahāvamsa. Although not in such detail, this event is also found in the earlier Dīpavamsa, though with some variations in detail while the core narrative remains the same. The Mahāvamsa states that Vijaya embarked from the port of Supparaka, whereas the Dīpavamsa records that he stayed three months at the port of Bharukaccha before departing. Both ports were located in western India. Understanding these details, even broadly, is important in studying Sri Lankan history. Based on this narrative, its historical context must be examined. Ancient peoples used storytelling as a method of teaching. This made memorization easier and allowed events to be presented sequentially without monotony. The Vijaya narrative, which introduces our chronicles, represents the opening episode of a long historical tradition. The first point to understand here is that the terms “lion” and “Yakkha” in this story do not necessarily carry the meanings we assign to them today. It is not surprising that terms in a long-standing oral narrative became subject to misinterpretation. In the Mahāvamsa, the only indication that the lion was literally an animal is the statement that it arrived “wagging its tail.” Stories of unions between humans and animals are found in many cultures worldwide and were common in ancient times. An ancient Babylonian carving depicting intimacy between a lion and a woman may be cited as an example. However, their historical reality must be examined in relation to the surrounding events. Similarly, the term Yakkha was used to denote a human group. It is clear from textual sources that the term was even applied to the Buddha himself. Viewed in this light, the Vijaya narrative reveals a stage in the formation of settlements in Lanka. Suppadevi’s father, Vijaya’s maternal grandfather, ruled the country of Vanga, known today as Bengal. Vijaya’s father established a city in a region called Lāla, which resembles the ancient name Lāta for present-day Gujarat, though the two cannot be identical. Some scholars therefore identify the Lāla of the Mahāvamsa as a region near Bengal. The Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang, who visited India in the seventh century, stated that Sinhapura was located 117 miles (700 li) southeast of Taxila. The people of this island first came to be known as Sinhalese because Indo-Aryan settlers mixed with the indigenous population and formed a new community. Inscriptions found at a stupa in Taxila and at Loriyan Tangai mention names such as Sihila, Siharakshita, Sihilaka, and Sihamitra. Scholars who examined this evidence have concluded that Vijaya’s homeland lay in western India. Moreover, Supparaka, where Vijaya first landed, was also on the western Indian coast. If Lāta is identified with Gujarat, Sinhapura may correspond to the modern Sinhore region. If Singur in West Bengal is considered Sinhapura, identifying Vijaya’s homeland with Bengal raises the question of why his group landed at Supparaka in western India. Therefore, it can be inferred that the Vijaya narrative represents a merging of traditions relating to two migratory groups—one from eastern India and one from western India—combined into a single account in the Mahāvamsa. It has already been stated that Lanka was populated through the mixing of Indo-Aryan migrants from India with the indigenous inhabitants. Historical records show that this process began slightly before the sixth century BCE. At various times, groups migrated from Aryavarta toward eastern, western, and southern India, establishing settlements and gradually reaching distant regions. Due to population pressure, colonization, or commercial motives, these groups undertook sea voyages and reached this island. Groups traveling from the west likely sailed from ports such as Supparaka and Bharukaccha and landed on the western, southwestern, or southern coasts of Lanka before moving inland. The presence of merchant guilds such as the Kambojas recorded in inscriptions supports this view. By the third century BCE, the people of Lanka were familiar with western Indian geography, as evidenced by caves named Supparaka and Bharukaccha. These factors likely influenced the formation of settlements in Rohana, including Walawa, Kirinda, and Kumbukkan Oya. From coastal entry points, settlements spread inland along river valleys. Groups sailing from eastern Indian ports may have entered through ports such as Gonagamaya, Dambakola Patuna, and Mahatittha and established settlements inland. Jataka stories describe merchants arriving at ports on the northwestern and western coasts of Lanka. The Valahassa Jataka mentions Yakkhas inhabiting the coastal belt from Nagadipa to Kelaniya, awaiting such merchants. The chronicles state that Kuveni provided food to Vijaya’s group using goods seized from merchants. Brahmi cave inscriptions dating from the third century BCE mention merchant associations and traders, contributing to the idea that merchants played a role in settling the island. Even Vedic texts refer to a southern overland route known as the Dakshinapatha. Groups traveling along this route may have sailed from ports such as Kaveri and landed here. The spread of Aryan settlements along river valleys from Kelaniya to Gonagamaya thus becomes clear. In this way, various migration traditions were incorporated into the chronicles in narrative form. Later accounts such as those of Panduvasudeva and Bhaddakaccana also belong to this tradition, with the Vijaya story being the earliest narrative included in the chronicles. Furthermore, commercial links described in Jataka tales like the Valahassa Jataka and references to merchants in the Kuveni episode indicate that people came to this island for trade from early times. These groups could easily have merged with the local population. Accounts by travelers such as the monk Faxian in the fifth century also support this view. The Divyavadana’s portrayal of Vijaya as a merchant leader is likewise significant. According to the Mahāvamsa, Vijaya and his companions arrived at Tammannā, likely landing at the port known as Mahatittha. Mahatittha is also mentioned in accounts concerning journeys to India to find a successor to Vijaya and in the episode of obtaining the Madurai princess, suggesting that Vijaya’s landing occurred there. The establishment of settlements in the Kadamba river valley further supports this conclusion. After obtaining a suitable princess from Madurapura in the Pandya country, Vijaya was consecrated as king at Tambapanni, as stated in the Mahāvamsa. By this time, his ministers had established villages named after themselves: Anuradha founded Anuradhagama, Upatissa founded Upatissagama, and the ministers Ujjeni, Uruvela, and Vijita likewise established villages bearing their names. These settlements were located in the Gambhira and Kadamba river valleys. The Kadamba river is identified with the modern Malwatu Oya, while Gambhira appears to have been one of its tributaries. This account clearly reflects the pattern of early settlement. Adequate water resources from these rivers, combined with seasonal rainfall, enabled wet-rice cultivation in these fertile valleys. The chronicles state that, at Vijaya’s request, many women and young maidens accompanied the Pandya princess. Ninety-nine princesses arrived, along with a thousand artisans belonging to eighteen guilds. All arrived by sea and landed at a place named Mahatittha. The Mahāvamsa states that Sihabahu took the lion, and because of rice cultivation Vijaya became Sinhalese, and his followers likewise became Sinhalese. Some scholars have attempted to dismiss the entire narrative as fiction, suggesting that it was modeled on the Padakusala Manava Jataka or that the Kuveni story resembles the Valahassa Jataka. However, according to the accounts of the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang and the Divyavadana, the individual who assumed the role of Vijaya in the Mahāvamsa was a person known as Sinhala. From this it is inferred that the island came to be known as Sinhala because it was settled by a person named Sinhala. Some scholars believe that these narratives were edited and reshaped by the time the Mahāvamsa and Dīpavamsa were written. Nevertheless, by the first century BCE, this country had firmly established itself under the name Sinhala. Its Tamil designation was Eelam. In Sanskrit it was known as Sinhala, in Pali as Sihala, and in Greek as Sēlikē, becoming known under various names worldwide. According to the chronicles, Vijaya—protected by consecrated threads tied by the deity Uppalavanna on the day of the Buddha’s Parinibbāna—ruled Tammannā for thirty-eight years, appointing Upatissa Brahmin as his purohita. As our written history begins with this king, it is appropriate to mark the beginning of the Sinhala royal lineage here. Earlier proto-historical traditions enriched by figures such as Ravana need not be entered into at this point.