King Khallata Naga - House of Moriya i | Anuradhapura - (BC 109 - BC 104) - Sri Lankan History - Kings - Governors - Prisidents

King Khallata Naga

House of Moriya i | Anuradhapura - (BC 109 - BC 104)

After King Lajjitissa (also known as Lanjakatissa) passed away, the throne was succeeded by his brother, Prince Bhallatanāga, another son of King Saddhātissa. The humorous epithet “Khallāṭa” (meaning bald or shaven-headed) attached to his name has an uncertain origin. It is unlikely that it was used during his lifetime. In the Nikāya Saṅgrahaya, this name appears as Kalunā, while in the Pūjāvaliya and Rājaratnākāraya, it is written as Kalunnā. It is possible that a name originally existing in Prakrit Sinhala was mistakenly converted into Pali form. In the Divyāvadāna, it is mentioned that Bindusāra, the second emperor of the Mauryan dynasty, had a chief minister named Bhallāṭaka. According to the scholar Monier Williams, this name has a specific meaning, suggesting a possible linguistic connection. The author of the Rājāvaliya appears to have omitted references to this king. According to the Mahāvaṃsa, King Bhallatanāga built thirty-two splendid mansions at the Lova Mahāpāya and also constructed an enclosing wall around the Mahāthūpa. Another of his constructions, the Kurundavāsoka Vihāra, may have been the site where the Kurundī Aṭṭhakathā (Commentary) was written. This location is believed to correspond to the sacred site now known as Kurundammalai, north of the Tannimurippu Tank in the Mullaitivu District. As observed earlier, internal strife within the royal family, though temporarily subdued, appears to have been steadily increasing. During King Bhallatanāga’s reign, this unrest came to the surface. His commander-in-chief, named Mahārattaka, captured the king at Anuradhapura and seized the throne for himself. The Mahāvaṃsa Ṭīkā (Commentary) indicates that this event was merely the decisive stage of a longer process that had begun earlier. This commentary provides additional information not included in the Mahāvaṃsa itself, making it a valuable historical source. King Saddhātissa had a daughter named Sumanādevī, born to another consort. She had three sons — Tissa, Abhaya, and Uttara. They, along with their maternal uncle King Bhallatanāga, conspired in Anuradhapura. When the plot was exposed, fearing for their lives, they took refuge in the hermitage of a Nigaṇṭha (Jain ascetic) — the site later known as Abhayagiri — and set themselves on fire. Their relatives subsequently built a shrine there named Aggipavesaka in their memory. This account from the Mahāvaṃsa Ṭīkā sheds light on the internal conditions of the royal household during this period. It notes that King Saddhātissa had four legitimate sons by his chief queen, as well as the three mentioned above by Sumanādevī, who are described as valiant, powerful, and full of energy — thus, a formidable group. However, since these details are not found in other historical sources, they should be treated as speculative. Some scholars suggest that these princes belonged to the Lambakanna lineage — if so, that lineage must have been from their father’s side. Their mother, Sumanā, was clearly of Mauryan descent, being the daughter of King Saddhātissa. The chronicles do not specify who her husband was, but it is possible he was a prince of the Lambakanna clan. Moreover, their seeking refuge in a Nigaṇṭha hermitage suggests they may have been followers of Jainism. Since the time of King Devanampiyatissa, Sri Lankan monarchs had been devoted patrons of Buddhism. Thus, the small yet influential groups of Nigaṇṭhas (Jains) and Brāhmaṇas who still held royal patronage likely felt alienated from the state’s growing Buddhist establishment. Though they did not appear openly, their latent influence might have persisted underground — as seen in the conspiracies recorded in India by the Jain community. In the end, though King Bhallatanāga escaped the earlier plot, he could not survive a later one orchestrated by his commander Mahārattaka during the sixth year of his reign. This incident, recorded in the Mahāvaṃsa, also appears in the Dīpavaṃsa. In some manuscripts of the Dīpavaṃsa, the commander’s name is given as Mahāraṭṭhaka, where “Mahā” simply means “great,” and Raṭṭhaka derives from Raṭṭhika (a provincial governor or ruler). The same term reappears later, about a century after the Rājavaṃsa Pūjāvaliya, during the time of King Valagamba, whose protectors were also Raṭṭhikas. Thus, Raṭṭhika seems to have denoted a royal or military title. Therefore, Mahārattaka was likely a commander from the Bharata region (India). His conspiracy seems to have occurred shortly after the princes’ rebellion — or perhaps as a continuation of it. King Bhallatanāga’s reign lasted six years.