After the middle of
the eleventh century A.
the eleventh century A.
Cambridge History of India - v1
N.
vi, 19 (22), from which it
would appear that some time before the first century A. D. , perhaps
in the age of Chandragupta the Maurya, they formed an independent
kingdom and they possessed 30 fortified towns and an army estimated at
100,000 infantry, 2000 horsemen, and 1000 elephants. Their earliest
capital, according to the current view, was Çri-kākulam (now probably
Sreewacolum on the Kistna some, nineteen miles west from Masulipatam).
Somewhat later we find them with a capital at Dhānya-kataka (Dharanikota
or Amarāvati on the Kistna, in the Guntūr District), and in the first
century A. D. again with the centre of their western provinces at Pratishthāna
(Paithan on the Godāvari, in North-western Hyderabad). How far their
territories in the earlier period stretched westward into Central India and
the Deccan is unknown : their extent probably varied from time to
time. Acoka mentions them in his catalogues of the foreign countries
which, according to him, had espoused his doctrine4; but there is nothing to
show that the Andhras were in any sense subject to him. Soon after his
death however their history entered upon a new phase, on which consider-
able light is thrown by coins, inscriptions, and literature.
1 The word Telugu, Telung', Tenning, is of uncertain derivation. Native scholars
derive it from the Sanskrit trailinga, «belonging to the Trilinga' or land of the Three
Phallic Emblems, a little semetimes given to the Telugu country, or from the Telugu
word tene 'honey. ' It seems more likely to be from ten, ‘south,' and to mean 'southern'
(probably from the standpoint of Kalinga).
2 It is found in the Aitareya Brāhmana (VII, 18) and the epics, and often later.
3 This is however denied by Mr. P. T. Srinivas Iyengar, Ind. Ant. 1913, pp. 276 ff.
4 G. XIII and K. XIII, ed. Senart.
## p. 543 (#581) ############################################
XXIV]
THE ANDHRAS
543
After the death of Açoka the Maurya empire rapidly decayed, and
neighbouring rulers were left free to indulge their ambitions and enlarge
their boundaries. Among these was a certain Simuka, who in the last
quarter of the third century B. C. established the powerful Sātavāhana or
Çātakarņi dynasty, which ruled the Telugu country for nearly five centuries'.
In his reign or in the reign of his immediate successor, his younger brother
Krishņa (vernacularly Kaṇha), the Andhra empire spread westward to at
least 74' long. , and possibly even to the Arabian Sea? . Under these
early Sātavāhana kings the boundaries of the Andhra dominions were
enlarged so as to include a great part, if not the whole, of Vidarbha (Berār,)
the Central Provinces, and Hyderābād. A conflict between this formidable
power and the declining Cunga empire of Magadha was inevitable ; and
about 170 B. C. war broke out between Agnimitra, ruling as viceroy of his
father Pushyamitra at Vidiçā (Bhilsa), and the king of Vidarbha, who at
this period must almost certainly have been a feudatory of the Andhras? .
The campaign against Vidarbha is the only event in the struggle which is
mentioned in literature ; and in this the Çungas were successful. There
can, however, be no doubt that the Andhras were ultimately victorious.
Although no detailed records have been preserved, coins seem to show
that the Andhras were in possession of Ujjain (W. Mālwā) in about the
middle of the second century B. C. , and the inscription bearing the name of
a king Çātakarņi proves that they superseded the Çungas in the kingdom
of Vidicā (E. Mālwā) about a hundred years later (v. sup. 478 ff. ).
But the Cungas and the Andhras were not the only powers which
at this period were contending for the mastery in the region now known as
1 The origin and the meaning of the name of this dynasty are obscure. Usually
the word Çālakarņi is regarded as a patronymic from an assumed Çata-karna,
*Hundred-Ears' which however is found nowhere ; more probably it is connected
with Sāta-rāhana, which means having for emblem the sāta'. One is tempted to
connect them with the Sātiya. putas mentioned by Açoka (inscr. II), the Setae to
whom Pliny alludes directly after his description of the Andhras, and the tribe of the
Sātakas (Epigr. Ind. vol. X, App. no. 1021) or Çātakas (Mārkandeya Purūņa, LVIII,
46). The inscriptions give the following forms of the name : Sātakaại, Satakani, Salakant
Sāta, Sada, and Sati. If the identification with the Sātiya-putas is right, it would
seem that the Çātakarnis were originally a tribe living outside the borders of the
Andhra country, perhaps on the west of it, who about a generation after Açoka made
themselves masters of the Andhradeça and played in a part like that of the Normans
in England. Mr. V. S. Sukthankar On the Home of the so-called Andhra Kings,
Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, I, i, pp. 21 ff. ) seeks with much probability to
locate their original home in the Bellary District.
2 This is indicated by the inscription at the Nāsik (no. 1144) and at Nānāghāt, 50
miles north-west of Poona (no. 1114).
3 The poet Kālidāsa in his play Mālavikāgnimitra writing some centuries later,
gives to this king of Vidharbha the name of Yajñasena ; he may be right.
## p. 544 (#582) ############################################
544
[ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF SOUTHERN INDIA
Central India. The Hāthigumpha inscription shows that, c. 150 B. C. ,
Khāravela, king of Kalinga, appeared in the field as a new combatant.
We find here mention of a Çātakarni, who is supposed to be the successor
of Kộishṇa and the third monarch of the Andhra dynasty; and, according
to the interpretation most commonly accepted of two passages in the
inscription, Khāravela in the second year of his reign sent a large army to
the West 'disregarding Çātakarņi,' and in his fourth year humbled the
Rashtrikas (of the Marāthā districts) and the Bhojakas (of Berar), who
were no doubt subjects of the Andhra suzerain (v. sup. pp. 477-78).
In his twelfth year Khāravela marched into Magadha, and there
seems to have forced its king to sue for peace. Whether that king was
still Pushyamitra, or indeed any member of the Çunga dynasty, is at
present uncertain (p. 484). In any case this humiliation of the once
powerful kingdom of Magadha was doubtless to the advantage of the
Andhras.
The Nānāghāt inscriptions of this period record the names of a king
Çātakarņi, who may be identified with the rival of Khāravela, of his
wife Nāganikå or Nāyaṇikā, and of their young sons Vedi-siri and
Sati Sirimanta ; but it is not clear whether either Vedi-siri or Sati
ever attained to manhood and a thronel. For many years after this
date Andhra history lies in darkness, faintly lighted only by the uncertain
records of the Purāņas. Trustworthy data fail us at this point, and
the Andhras disappear from sight until the period to which the second
volume of this History will be devoted.
IV. THE KALINGAS
The boundaries of Kalingas, the territory under the Eastern Ghāts
lying along the coast of the Bay of Bengal on the north of Telingāna,
seem to have been uncertain. On the north it may at one time have reach-
ed up to the delta of the Ganges, if reliance can be placed on the statements
of Pliny. H. N. VI, 17-18 (21-22), and thus included
included Odra-deça,
now Orissa ; but usually its northern limit was somewhat lower. South of
this it comprised Utkala (Ganjām) and the Northern Circārs down
1 The name Sati was taken by Bühler as equivalent to Sanskrit Cakti, and hence
Sati has been identified with Haku-siri (Ep. Ind. vol. x, App. no. 1117) and Mahābaku-
siri (ib. no. 1141). But there are serious phonetic difficulties. Possibly Sati is the same
person as the prince Sātavāhana of inscr, no. 1118. and the name of Haku-siri may
perhaps be connected with that of Saksena in the Kānheri inscription (Arch. Surrey of
W. India, v, p. 79; cf. Rapson, Andhra Coins, pp. xlvii, lxxv).
2 He speaks of Macocalingae or Mactocalingae as a subdivision of the Brach
manae, ‘of Calingae on coast, and of Modogalingae on an island in the Ganges.
## p. 545 (#583) ############################################
XXIV]
THE KALINGAS
545
9
a
to the basin of the Godāvari, or thereabouts'. Early literature however dis-
tinguishes the Kalingas from the Odras or natives of Orissa. A somewhat
unedifying epic legend (Mbh. I, 104) makes the races of Anga, Vanga,
Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma (v. sup. p. 283) to be descendants of the saint
Dirghatamas by Sudeshṇā, wife of king Bali; and similarly the grammar of
Pāṇini (iv, 1, 170; cf. if, 4, 62, schol. ) groups together Anga, Vanga,
Kalinga, Pundra, etc. The Odras also appear very early in Sanskrit litera-
ture (Taittiriya Aranyaka, 11. 1, ll, and the epics) ; and the law-book
of 'Manu' wrongly classes them, with the natives of Pundra and the
Dravidas, as degraded Kshatriyas (x, 44). How far Kalinga is to be regard-
ed as a Dravidian province is not clear. The name Pertalis, which is given
by Pliny, H. N. vi, 18 (22), as that of the capital of Kalinga, has a Dravidian
sound, and Dravidian etymologies for it readily suggest themselves. At the
present day the Circārs and southern Ganjām are mainly Telugu in
speech, and 'Dravidian' physical features are found in their population, as
well as in Orissa.
The only data of the early history of Kalinga, apart from unenlighten-
ing references in literature, are those that are supplied by the inscriptions of
Açoka and the Hāthigumphā cave in Orissa. The edicts of Açoka (XIII, eà.
Senart) tell us that early in his reign-about 262 s. c. - he conquered
Kalinga and ravaged it pitilessly. The sight of the horrors which he
had brought upon the wretched land caused a revulsion of feeling in
the king, and inclined him towards the Buddhist faith. When after
his death the Maurya empire began to decay, Kalinga asserted its indepen-
dence, and rose again to prosperity. The most important of the
.
Hāthigumphā inscriptions is the record of Khāravela or Bhikshurāja,
to whom reference has already been made (p. 544). . From this we
learn that Khāravela of the Cheta family succeeded to the throne in
the 24th year of his age. He claims to bave had a population of 350,000
men in his capital, and to have increased the power of Kalinga by triumphs
gained over his western and northern neighbours. He seems to have been
a magnificent ruler of liberal tendencies, and styles himself ‘a worshipper of
men of all sects. ' Other inscriptions record the names of the king Vakradeva,
probably his son, and of a prince Vadhukha. For the rest, all is dark.
1 Pliny (ut supra) mentions a cape Calingon, probably Point Godāvari, as being
625 miles from the mouth of the Ganges.
2 The first syllable is most probably per, peru, 'great'; the rest of the word may
be connected with tali, which in Kanarese means 'covert,' 'refuge,' and in Tamil
'temple,' or Tamil talai, 'office of a district official,' or talai, 'head. '
3 Epigr. Indica, vol. X, App, nos. 1347—8,
3
9
а
## p. 546 (#584) ############################################
546
(ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF SOUTHERN INDIA
V. MAHARASHTRA,
ETC.
On the western side of the peninsula, south of the Vindhya, and
forming approximately the southern half of what is now the Bombay
Presidency, lies a group of provinces, which in ancient times were inhabited
by a population of more or less Dravidian blood, upon which were super-
imposed successive strata of Āryan immigrants entering apparently
from Vidarbha (Berār). The term Dakshiņā-patha, ‘southern region,' whence
comes the modern Deccan, is often applied to the greater part of this
country, but not very accurately, for strictly it denotes only the region
around the upper waters of the Godāvari and the lands between it and the
Kistna, which were also known by the names of Daņdakāranya and
Mahārāshtra, and were the home of the race which in later times became
famous in history under the name of Māhārāshtra or Marāthās. With the
latter were probably connected the tribes of Rattas and Rashtrakūtas who
some centuries later played an important part in the history of the Deccan,
as well as the Rathikas whom Acoka mentions as having accepted his doc-
trine (K. v, Dh. v, ed. Senart). West of the Mahārāshțra lay the realm of
A parānta (the Northern Konkan), with a capital at Çūrpāraka (now
Sopāra), also included by Açoka in his list of believers (K. v, Kh. v, Dh. v,
ed. Senart). The Petenikas, mentioned by him in the same connexion (K.
III, V, XIII, Kh. XIII, G. XIII), have been plausibly identified with
the Paithānikas or natives of Paithan (above, p. 542). Another tribe
to whom he alludes is that of the Sātiya-putas (inscr. II). Possibly they may
represent the region around Mangalore ; but it is at least equally likely that
they were the forefathers of the Sātavāhana dynasty of the Andhra-
deça (above, p. 543). It is recorded in the Mahāvamsa (XII) and Dipavamsa
(vii) that Buddhist missions were sent by Moggali-putta Tissa to
Mahārāshtra, A parānta, Vanavāsa (Banavāsi, in the extreme south of North
Kanara), and Mahisa-maņdala (probably Mabishmant or the country
of the Mahishakas, who in the Purāņas are associated with the Mahārāshțras
and are said to have had a capital Māhishmati on the Narbadā), and
hence it would appear that these regions were fairly civilised ; but no trust-
worthy details of their history in this period have been preserved.
>
## p. 547 (#585) ############################################
CHAPTER XXV
THE EARLY HISTORY OF CEYLON
>
LEGEND and ethnographic observation are the only materials for
constructing the history of Ceylon in the early period previous to the
death of Gautama Buddha (probably B. C. 483). Events from that date
onward are recorded in the official chronicles kept by the Buddhist Church
after its introduction into Ceylon by Mahinda (Mahendra) in 246 B. C. ;
and these chronicles were incorporated in the aſthakathās or canonical
commentaries upon the Pāli Scriptures, and thence into the Pāli histories
known as Dipavamsa, the Chronicle of the Island,' and Mahāvamsa,
the 'Great Chronicie. ' These records, while mainly interested in the
relations of the kings of Ceylon to the Church, and often erring in
important details, are nevertheless on the whole valuable sources of
information, to which however the later histories or Rājāvaliyas, 'Lists of
Kings,' and the inscriptions form an indispensable supplement.
The oldest and purest race in Ceylon is that of the Vāddas, who
inhabit the larger part of the Eastern Province, a small region in
Tamankaduwa, and nearly one-fifth of Uva, but are known to have been
formerly spread over the whole of Uva and a large portion of the Central,
North Central, and North Western Provinces, and no doubt were at
first undisputed masters of the island. Their ethnical affnities are somewhat
uncertain : but there is good reason for classing them with the Kurumbas,
Irulas, and some of the wilder tribes of the main land as pre-Dravidian”.
A few of them still live under the most primitive conditions as homeless
1 In this chapter names and titles usually appear in their Pāli form, and the
following abbreviations are used: Mhv. =Mahāvamsa, Dip. =Dipavamsa, Msr. =Mahā.
sammata-rājāvaliya, R. =Rājāvaliya, Rvp. =Rājāvikrama-pravșițțiya, Vr. =Vijaya-
rājāvaliya, Vry. =Vijayarāja. vamsaya. Dates in these works are given in years of the
era of Buddha (A. B. ) which probably began originally in 483 B. C.
After the middle of
the eleventh century A. D. the era of Buddha was reckoned from 544 B. C.
2 Haddon, Races of Man, pp. 7, 13. Here and elsewhere the terms "Dravidian'
and “Āryan' are used with all due reserve.
547
## p. 548 (#586) ############################################
548
[Ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF CEYLON
hunters ; others are somewhat more civilised, and practise rude arts of
culture similar to those of the Sinhalese peasantry.
The population of Ceylon however is for the most part a mixed
race. Besides Vāddas, both Dravidians and Aryans bave contributed
to their blood; and in modern times Europeans, Portuguese, Dutch,
and British-and the usual cosmopolitan visitors to their ports have all
added something to the strain. The proportion of Vādda blood in the
stock is uncertain, but probably considerable. To judge from the legends
recorded in Mhv. and Dip. and from the vernacular ballads, it is not
unlikely that in pre-Buddhist times some of the Vāddas had reached a fair
degree of civilisation, mingling on terms of approximate equality with
the Āryan and Dravidian invaders, and by this combination producing
the main stock of the Sinbalese race. The relative proportion of Aryan
and Dravidian blood is likewise uncertain. The stream of immigration
from the Dravidian regions of India, especially the Tamil country, has
been constant since the dawn of history, sometimes proceeding in drops,
sometimes in great waves, and at the present day the northern part of
the island is mainly Tamil ; but the Sinhalese language, though marked
by traces of Dravidian influence, is Āryan, and is descended from a
Sanskritic tongue closely akin to the Vedict. This fact, and certain data
of legend to which we shall recur in the succeeding paragraph, suggest
that at some early date an invading band of Aryans, conquering part
or the whole of Ceylon, imposed its language and perhaps something
of its culture and institutions upon the mixed Vādda-Dravidian population
which it found there, and then gradually became fused in the racial
congeries of the island.
Sinhalese tradition also relates that the Nāgas, or semi-divine
snake-men of Hindu myth, once dwelt in Ceylon, and gives details of
their wars, which are said to have been settled by the intervention of
Gautama Buddha. These Nāgas belong to the realm of fiction ; but as
traditions record that they drove out the earlier inhabitants from the North
and West, and it is a fact that the name Nāgadipa, Nāgas' Island,' long
clung in early times to these regions down to the neighbourhood of Mada-
wachchiya, it is possible that in these legends there may lie some faint
shadows of historical reality.
The Mhv. (VI, VIII) and Dip. (1x), with which a number of late
histories and popular ballads agree more or less, tell a singular story.
According to them, a daughter of a King of Vanga (Bengal) and a princess of
Kalinga (Orissa) was carried away by a lion, who begot on her a son, Sihabahu
("Lion-Arm'), and a daughter, Sihasivali (in Sinh, ballads Simbavalli).
After slaying his father, Sihabāhu reigned at Sihapura, 'Lion's Town,'
1 Even the Vaddas now use a dialect of Sinhalese. Only the Tamils who have
settled in Ceylon in comparatively modern times speak Tamil.
## p. 549 (#587) ############################################
xxv]
VIJAYA AND HIS SUCCESSORS
549
in Lāļa (Lāta, i. e. , Gujarāt)'. His son Vijaya, banished for his lawlessness,
departed from Sihapura with a band of adventurers and sailed southward.
After stopping at Suppāraka (Çūrpāraka, the modern Sopāra, in the
Thāna District, Bombay Presidency), he continued his voyage to Ceylon,
where he arrived very shortly before the death of Gautama Buddba,
who in a prophetic vision learned of his coming and commended him
to the care of the god Sakka (Çakra, or Indra). He found the island
in the possession of yakkhas, or fairies. Having overcome the wiles of
the Yakkha princess Kuvaņņā (in Sinh. Kuveni), he took her to wife,
and drove away her kinsmen. When he had established himself, he
repudiated her and his children by her--who became the ancestors of
the Pulinda tribes of the interior-in order to marry a daughter of the
Pāņdyan king of Madura, and reigned for 38 years (C. 483-435 B. c. ) with
much righteousness in the town of Tambapaņņi, which he had founded.
Anurādha pura, Upatissagāma, Vijitagāma, Uruvelā, and Ujjeni were
founded by his followers.
This tale seems to contain the following nucleus of fact. There
were apparently two streams of immigration celebrated in the earliest
legends'. The first, which probably was mainly Dravidian, came from Orissa
and perhaps southern Bengal : the second, mainly Āryan, started from
Sihapura in Lāța (possibly the modern Sihor, in Kāthiāwar) and Sopāra.
The latter band belonged to the Simhalas (Sihalas) or 'Lion-tribe,' and
it was probably they who imposed their Āryan tongue on Ceylon (v. sup.
p. 548). At any rate, they gave to their new home the name of
Simhaladvīpa (in Pāli Sihaladipa), whence are derived its later titles, the
Arabic Sarandib, the Portuguese Ceilão, and our Ceylons. Popular imagina-
tion combined the two movements by giving the eponymous Sīhabāhu-
a home on both sides of India and so the legend shaped itself into its
classical form. The Lion Kuvaņņā, and the Yakkhas are pure fiction. ?
9
1 The Mhv. VI, 4 seems to locate Lāļa in Magadha ; this may be due to a crude
recollection of the extent of the early Gupta empire.
2 Buddhist legend relates that the Buddha thrice visited Ceylon, and that after ubis
death his collar bone was brought thither to be enshrined in the Mahiyang na
(Miyuguna) Thūpa ; see Mhv I.
3 The same conclusion is suggested by the legends of the coming of the gods-
e. g. of Oddisa from Orissa and the Devol Deviyo from Debal in Sind.
4 See the Indian Antiquary, vol. XVI. pp. 1 ff. and 49 ff.
5 From Simhala or Sihala is derived the term Heļu or Eļu, which is applied to
designate the pure classical dialect of ancient Sinhalese literature, in opposition to
Simhala, 'Sinhalese,' the Sanskritised and unclassical speech of modern times.
6 It is however noteworthy that there was also a Simhapura on the east, the capital
of the ancient kings of Kalinga (see Epigr. Zeylanica, vol. I, p. 124). This fact probably
contributed to the formation of the legend.
7 It is usually supposed that the Yakkhas in this legend represent the aboriginal
P. T. O.
:
## p. 550 (#588) ############################################
550
[Ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF CEYLON
Sinhalese chronology begins with the landing of Vijaya, which, as we
have seen, is made to coincide with the decease of Gautama Buddha in
483 B. C. The correctness of this synchronism may well be doubted ; but
probably the records on this and other points, if not absolutely reliable,
are not very far from the truth. It will therefore be most suitable to base
our account of subsequent events upon that of the Mhv. , premising that
our belief is subject to due reservations, and adding some of the more
important variants and supplementary data given in other works.
The death of Vijaya was followed by an interregnum of one year
(c. 445 414 B. C. ).
The Mhv. , a Rājāvaliya, and several other Sinhalese histories fill up this inter-
jegnum by stating that Tissa, a minister of Vijaya, who built Tissanuvara
а
or Upatissagāma north of Anuradhapura, near the Kolon Oya (now Malwatta Oya),
reigned for that time.
The next king was Pandu-Vāsudeva', the youngest son of Vijaya's
brother Sumitta. He married Bhaddakachchānā”, daughter of the Çakya
Paņdu, who bore to bim ten sons and a daughter, Chittā. After reigning
30 years (c. 444. 414 B. c. ) he died, and was succeeded by his son Abhaya,
who after ruling for 20 years (c. 414-394 B. c. ) in Upatissagāma was
deposed.
Th3 Msr. states that Pandu-Vāsudeva died A. B. 74, and assigns 16 years to the
reign of Abhya.
An interregnum of 17 years (c. 344-377 B. c. ) then followed, after which
Paņdukābhaya, an illegitimate son of Chittā by her cousin Digha-Gāmani,
established himself after a long struggle as king in Anurādhapura, and
reigned 70 years (c. 377-307 B. C. ) (Mhv. VIII-X). He was succeeded by his
son Muțasiva', who had a reign of 60 years (c. 307-247 B. C. ). The latter
was followed by his second son Devānampiya Tissa" (Mhv. XI).
Vāļļas, as apparently is the case in the history of Pandukābhaya (Mhv. X). But the
legend of Kuvannā is strictly myth, being remarkably like that of Circe ; and it seems
likely that the Yakkhas in it arose from the same source.
.
1 In Sinh. Panduras.
2 The Mhv. (IX) relates that her brothers Rāma, Ururela, Anurādha, Vijita,
Dighāyu, and Rohana founded Rāmagoņa and other towns bearing their names. As
regards the second, third, and fourth of these heroes the story is obviously a duplicate
of the legend mentioned in Mhv. VII (above, p. 548).
3 Moțasiva or in Moța Tissa, in some Sinhalese histories.
4 In Sinh. Devenipa Tisa.
## p. 551 (#589) ############################################
xxv]
SAVANNAPIŅDA TISSA
551
The Msr. states that Pandukābhaya, whom it calls the son of Abhaya, built
Anurādhapura and reigned 37 years, and that his son Mutasiva constructed the Mahā.
meghavana (see below) and died A. B. 187. The Rvp. allots a reign of 40 years to
Ganapa Tissa, a son of Pandukābhaya, whom it places after Muțasiva. A. R. agrees
in making Tissa the son of Panțukābhaya and giving him a reign of 40 years; but the
Vr. places him between Abhaya and Pandukābhaya.
In the month Jettha of the year of Devānampiya's coronation
(c. 246 B. c. ) the Buddhist apostle Mahinda', son of the Maurya King
Açoka (Dhammāsoka), miraculously travelled to Ceylon in company with
the four friars Itthiya, Uttiya, Sambala, and Bhaddasala and the novice.
Sumana, son of his sister Sanghamittā. He alighted at Mahindatala”,
where he met Devānampiya and converted him and his people (Mhv. XIII,
XIV). The Mahāmegha-vana, a park south of Anurādhapura, was assigned
to the service of the new Church, and the buildings erected in it were
known afterwards as the Mahāvihāra (Mhv. xv). On the spot where
Mahinda had alighted was built the Chetiyapabbata-vihāra (Mhv. XVI),
A thūpa (Skt. stūpa) and a monastery in connection with it, the Thūpā-
rāma, were constructed at the south of Anuradhapura to receive the
collar-bone of the Buddha (Mhv. xvii), and the southern branch of the
famous Bodi-tree of Gayā was brought and planted at Anurādhapura in
the eighteenth year of Açoka' reign (Mhv. xvII-xx).
After a pious reign of 40 years (c. 247-207 B. c. ) Devānampiya died,
and was succeeded by his brother Uttiya, who ruled for 10 years (c. 207.
197 B. c. ) (Mhv. xx).
According to the Msr. Uttiya died in A, B, 237.
Next reigned Uttiya's younger brother Mabāsiva for 10 years (c. 197-
187 B. c. ), and another brother, Sūra Tissa, previously known as Suvaņ.
napiņda Tissa, likewise for 10 years (c. 187-177 B. c. ). The latter was
conquered by two Tamils named Sena and Guttaka, sons of a horse-dealer
(assa nāvika), who reigned justly for 22 years (c. 177-155 B. C), and were
then overcome by Asela, the youngest of Mutasiva's nine sons. Asela
then reigned in Anurādhapura for 10 years (c. 155-145 B. c. ), and was
then ousted by Eļāra, a Tamil from the Chõļa country, who ruled for 44
years (c. 145-101 B. c. ), and was famous for his justice (Mhv. xxI).
A Rājāvaliya inserts after Sūra Tissa an Upatissa with a reign of 10 years, and
makes the two brothers Sena and Guttaka into one person, whom it describes as
In Sanskrit Mahindra Sinh. Mihindu.
2 Mihintale, about eight miles east of Anurādhapura.
1
## p. 552 (#590) ############################################
552
[Ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF CEYLON
3
aciçchāri (perhaps for açvāchari) devi kenek ; the printed R. describes them as 'two
brothers who were horsemen'. The Dip. (XVIII, 47) assigns to them only 12 years.
Asela is not said by the Vr, to be a son of Muțasiva. His successor's name is usually
given in Sinhalese as Elāla; the same R, calls him a Malala (Malahari) from Soli
(Choļa. deça), and says that he brought over 1,080,000 Tamil soldiers and behaved
with great impiety, desecrating the monasteries of Devenipā Tisa.
Devānampiya Tissa had a brother, Mahānāga, who resided in Mabā.
gāmal and governed the province of Rohaņa”. He was succeeded in
this office by his son Yatthālaya Tissa, the latter's son Abhaya or Gothā.
bbaya', and the lātter's son Kākavaņņa Tissa“. The last had two sons,
Gāmaņi-Abhaya, better known as Duțțha-Gāmaņi”, and Sadhā-Tissa.
The Vrv, states that Yațțhālaya Tissa reigned in Kālaniya and built there a
sanctuary; his son Golu Abhā ruled in Ruhuna, and vas followed by his son Kāran Tisa.
would appear that some time before the first century A. D. , perhaps
in the age of Chandragupta the Maurya, they formed an independent
kingdom and they possessed 30 fortified towns and an army estimated at
100,000 infantry, 2000 horsemen, and 1000 elephants. Their earliest
capital, according to the current view, was Çri-kākulam (now probably
Sreewacolum on the Kistna some, nineteen miles west from Masulipatam).
Somewhat later we find them with a capital at Dhānya-kataka (Dharanikota
or Amarāvati on the Kistna, in the Guntūr District), and in the first
century A. D. again with the centre of their western provinces at Pratishthāna
(Paithan on the Godāvari, in North-western Hyderabad). How far their
territories in the earlier period stretched westward into Central India and
the Deccan is unknown : their extent probably varied from time to
time. Acoka mentions them in his catalogues of the foreign countries
which, according to him, had espoused his doctrine4; but there is nothing to
show that the Andhras were in any sense subject to him. Soon after his
death however their history entered upon a new phase, on which consider-
able light is thrown by coins, inscriptions, and literature.
1 The word Telugu, Telung', Tenning, is of uncertain derivation. Native scholars
derive it from the Sanskrit trailinga, «belonging to the Trilinga' or land of the Three
Phallic Emblems, a little semetimes given to the Telugu country, or from the Telugu
word tene 'honey. ' It seems more likely to be from ten, ‘south,' and to mean 'southern'
(probably from the standpoint of Kalinga).
2 It is found in the Aitareya Brāhmana (VII, 18) and the epics, and often later.
3 This is however denied by Mr. P. T. Srinivas Iyengar, Ind. Ant. 1913, pp. 276 ff.
4 G. XIII and K. XIII, ed. Senart.
## p. 543 (#581) ############################################
XXIV]
THE ANDHRAS
543
After the death of Açoka the Maurya empire rapidly decayed, and
neighbouring rulers were left free to indulge their ambitions and enlarge
their boundaries. Among these was a certain Simuka, who in the last
quarter of the third century B. C. established the powerful Sātavāhana or
Çātakarņi dynasty, which ruled the Telugu country for nearly five centuries'.
In his reign or in the reign of his immediate successor, his younger brother
Krishņa (vernacularly Kaṇha), the Andhra empire spread westward to at
least 74' long. , and possibly even to the Arabian Sea? . Under these
early Sātavāhana kings the boundaries of the Andhra dominions were
enlarged so as to include a great part, if not the whole, of Vidarbha (Berār,)
the Central Provinces, and Hyderābād. A conflict between this formidable
power and the declining Cunga empire of Magadha was inevitable ; and
about 170 B. C. war broke out between Agnimitra, ruling as viceroy of his
father Pushyamitra at Vidiçā (Bhilsa), and the king of Vidarbha, who at
this period must almost certainly have been a feudatory of the Andhras? .
The campaign against Vidarbha is the only event in the struggle which is
mentioned in literature ; and in this the Çungas were successful. There
can, however, be no doubt that the Andhras were ultimately victorious.
Although no detailed records have been preserved, coins seem to show
that the Andhras were in possession of Ujjain (W. Mālwā) in about the
middle of the second century B. C. , and the inscription bearing the name of
a king Çātakarņi proves that they superseded the Çungas in the kingdom
of Vidicā (E. Mālwā) about a hundred years later (v. sup. 478 ff. ).
But the Cungas and the Andhras were not the only powers which
at this period were contending for the mastery in the region now known as
1 The origin and the meaning of the name of this dynasty are obscure. Usually
the word Çālakarņi is regarded as a patronymic from an assumed Çata-karna,
*Hundred-Ears' which however is found nowhere ; more probably it is connected
with Sāta-rāhana, which means having for emblem the sāta'. One is tempted to
connect them with the Sātiya. putas mentioned by Açoka (inscr. II), the Setae to
whom Pliny alludes directly after his description of the Andhras, and the tribe of the
Sātakas (Epigr. Ind. vol. X, App. no. 1021) or Çātakas (Mārkandeya Purūņa, LVIII,
46). The inscriptions give the following forms of the name : Sātakaại, Satakani, Salakant
Sāta, Sada, and Sati. If the identification with the Sātiya-putas is right, it would
seem that the Çātakarnis were originally a tribe living outside the borders of the
Andhra country, perhaps on the west of it, who about a generation after Açoka made
themselves masters of the Andhradeça and played in a part like that of the Normans
in England. Mr. V. S. Sukthankar On the Home of the so-called Andhra Kings,
Annals of the Bhandarkar Institute, I, i, pp. 21 ff. ) seeks with much probability to
locate their original home in the Bellary District.
2 This is indicated by the inscription at the Nāsik (no. 1144) and at Nānāghāt, 50
miles north-west of Poona (no. 1114).
3 The poet Kālidāsa in his play Mālavikāgnimitra writing some centuries later,
gives to this king of Vidharbha the name of Yajñasena ; he may be right.
## p. 544 (#582) ############################################
544
[ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF SOUTHERN INDIA
Central India. The Hāthigumpha inscription shows that, c. 150 B. C. ,
Khāravela, king of Kalinga, appeared in the field as a new combatant.
We find here mention of a Çātakarni, who is supposed to be the successor
of Kộishṇa and the third monarch of the Andhra dynasty; and, according
to the interpretation most commonly accepted of two passages in the
inscription, Khāravela in the second year of his reign sent a large army to
the West 'disregarding Çātakarņi,' and in his fourth year humbled the
Rashtrikas (of the Marāthā districts) and the Bhojakas (of Berar), who
were no doubt subjects of the Andhra suzerain (v. sup. pp. 477-78).
In his twelfth year Khāravela marched into Magadha, and there
seems to have forced its king to sue for peace. Whether that king was
still Pushyamitra, or indeed any member of the Çunga dynasty, is at
present uncertain (p. 484). In any case this humiliation of the once
powerful kingdom of Magadha was doubtless to the advantage of the
Andhras.
The Nānāghāt inscriptions of this period record the names of a king
Çātakarņi, who may be identified with the rival of Khāravela, of his
wife Nāganikå or Nāyaṇikā, and of their young sons Vedi-siri and
Sati Sirimanta ; but it is not clear whether either Vedi-siri or Sati
ever attained to manhood and a thronel. For many years after this
date Andhra history lies in darkness, faintly lighted only by the uncertain
records of the Purāņas. Trustworthy data fail us at this point, and
the Andhras disappear from sight until the period to which the second
volume of this History will be devoted.
IV. THE KALINGAS
The boundaries of Kalingas, the territory under the Eastern Ghāts
lying along the coast of the Bay of Bengal on the north of Telingāna,
seem to have been uncertain. On the north it may at one time have reach-
ed up to the delta of the Ganges, if reliance can be placed on the statements
of Pliny. H. N. VI, 17-18 (21-22), and thus included
included Odra-deça,
now Orissa ; but usually its northern limit was somewhat lower. South of
this it comprised Utkala (Ganjām) and the Northern Circārs down
1 The name Sati was taken by Bühler as equivalent to Sanskrit Cakti, and hence
Sati has been identified with Haku-siri (Ep. Ind. vol. x, App. no. 1117) and Mahābaku-
siri (ib. no. 1141). But there are serious phonetic difficulties. Possibly Sati is the same
person as the prince Sātavāhana of inscr, no. 1118. and the name of Haku-siri may
perhaps be connected with that of Saksena in the Kānheri inscription (Arch. Surrey of
W. India, v, p. 79; cf. Rapson, Andhra Coins, pp. xlvii, lxxv).
2 He speaks of Macocalingae or Mactocalingae as a subdivision of the Brach
manae, ‘of Calingae on coast, and of Modogalingae on an island in the Ganges.
## p. 545 (#583) ############################################
XXIV]
THE KALINGAS
545
9
a
to the basin of the Godāvari, or thereabouts'. Early literature however dis-
tinguishes the Kalingas from the Odras or natives of Orissa. A somewhat
unedifying epic legend (Mbh. I, 104) makes the races of Anga, Vanga,
Kalinga, Pundra and Suhma (v. sup. p. 283) to be descendants of the saint
Dirghatamas by Sudeshṇā, wife of king Bali; and similarly the grammar of
Pāṇini (iv, 1, 170; cf. if, 4, 62, schol. ) groups together Anga, Vanga,
Kalinga, Pundra, etc. The Odras also appear very early in Sanskrit litera-
ture (Taittiriya Aranyaka, 11. 1, ll, and the epics) ; and the law-book
of 'Manu' wrongly classes them, with the natives of Pundra and the
Dravidas, as degraded Kshatriyas (x, 44). How far Kalinga is to be regard-
ed as a Dravidian province is not clear. The name Pertalis, which is given
by Pliny, H. N. vi, 18 (22), as that of the capital of Kalinga, has a Dravidian
sound, and Dravidian etymologies for it readily suggest themselves. At the
present day the Circārs and southern Ganjām are mainly Telugu in
speech, and 'Dravidian' physical features are found in their population, as
well as in Orissa.
The only data of the early history of Kalinga, apart from unenlighten-
ing references in literature, are those that are supplied by the inscriptions of
Açoka and the Hāthigumphā cave in Orissa. The edicts of Açoka (XIII, eà.
Senart) tell us that early in his reign-about 262 s. c. - he conquered
Kalinga and ravaged it pitilessly. The sight of the horrors which he
had brought upon the wretched land caused a revulsion of feeling in
the king, and inclined him towards the Buddhist faith. When after
his death the Maurya empire began to decay, Kalinga asserted its indepen-
dence, and rose again to prosperity. The most important of the
.
Hāthigumphā inscriptions is the record of Khāravela or Bhikshurāja,
to whom reference has already been made (p. 544). . From this we
learn that Khāravela of the Cheta family succeeded to the throne in
the 24th year of his age. He claims to bave had a population of 350,000
men in his capital, and to have increased the power of Kalinga by triumphs
gained over his western and northern neighbours. He seems to have been
a magnificent ruler of liberal tendencies, and styles himself ‘a worshipper of
men of all sects. ' Other inscriptions record the names of the king Vakradeva,
probably his son, and of a prince Vadhukha. For the rest, all is dark.
1 Pliny (ut supra) mentions a cape Calingon, probably Point Godāvari, as being
625 miles from the mouth of the Ganges.
2 The first syllable is most probably per, peru, 'great'; the rest of the word may
be connected with tali, which in Kanarese means 'covert,' 'refuge,' and in Tamil
'temple,' or Tamil talai, 'office of a district official,' or talai, 'head. '
3 Epigr. Indica, vol. X, App, nos. 1347—8,
3
9
а
## p. 546 (#584) ############################################
546
(ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF SOUTHERN INDIA
V. MAHARASHTRA,
ETC.
On the western side of the peninsula, south of the Vindhya, and
forming approximately the southern half of what is now the Bombay
Presidency, lies a group of provinces, which in ancient times were inhabited
by a population of more or less Dravidian blood, upon which were super-
imposed successive strata of Āryan immigrants entering apparently
from Vidarbha (Berār). The term Dakshiņā-patha, ‘southern region,' whence
comes the modern Deccan, is often applied to the greater part of this
country, but not very accurately, for strictly it denotes only the region
around the upper waters of the Godāvari and the lands between it and the
Kistna, which were also known by the names of Daņdakāranya and
Mahārāshtra, and were the home of the race which in later times became
famous in history under the name of Māhārāshtra or Marāthās. With the
latter were probably connected the tribes of Rattas and Rashtrakūtas who
some centuries later played an important part in the history of the Deccan,
as well as the Rathikas whom Acoka mentions as having accepted his doc-
trine (K. v, Dh. v, ed. Senart). West of the Mahārāshțra lay the realm of
A parānta (the Northern Konkan), with a capital at Çūrpāraka (now
Sopāra), also included by Açoka in his list of believers (K. v, Kh. v, Dh. v,
ed. Senart). The Petenikas, mentioned by him in the same connexion (K.
III, V, XIII, Kh. XIII, G. XIII), have been plausibly identified with
the Paithānikas or natives of Paithan (above, p. 542). Another tribe
to whom he alludes is that of the Sātiya-putas (inscr. II). Possibly they may
represent the region around Mangalore ; but it is at least equally likely that
they were the forefathers of the Sātavāhana dynasty of the Andhra-
deça (above, p. 543). It is recorded in the Mahāvamsa (XII) and Dipavamsa
(vii) that Buddhist missions were sent by Moggali-putta Tissa to
Mahārāshtra, A parānta, Vanavāsa (Banavāsi, in the extreme south of North
Kanara), and Mahisa-maņdala (probably Mabishmant or the country
of the Mahishakas, who in the Purāņas are associated with the Mahārāshțras
and are said to have had a capital Māhishmati on the Narbadā), and
hence it would appear that these regions were fairly civilised ; but no trust-
worthy details of their history in this period have been preserved.
>
## p. 547 (#585) ############################################
CHAPTER XXV
THE EARLY HISTORY OF CEYLON
>
LEGEND and ethnographic observation are the only materials for
constructing the history of Ceylon in the early period previous to the
death of Gautama Buddha (probably B. C. 483). Events from that date
onward are recorded in the official chronicles kept by the Buddhist Church
after its introduction into Ceylon by Mahinda (Mahendra) in 246 B. C. ;
and these chronicles were incorporated in the aſthakathās or canonical
commentaries upon the Pāli Scriptures, and thence into the Pāli histories
known as Dipavamsa, the Chronicle of the Island,' and Mahāvamsa,
the 'Great Chronicie. ' These records, while mainly interested in the
relations of the kings of Ceylon to the Church, and often erring in
important details, are nevertheless on the whole valuable sources of
information, to which however the later histories or Rājāvaliyas, 'Lists of
Kings,' and the inscriptions form an indispensable supplement.
The oldest and purest race in Ceylon is that of the Vāddas, who
inhabit the larger part of the Eastern Province, a small region in
Tamankaduwa, and nearly one-fifth of Uva, but are known to have been
formerly spread over the whole of Uva and a large portion of the Central,
North Central, and North Western Provinces, and no doubt were at
first undisputed masters of the island. Their ethnical affnities are somewhat
uncertain : but there is good reason for classing them with the Kurumbas,
Irulas, and some of the wilder tribes of the main land as pre-Dravidian”.
A few of them still live under the most primitive conditions as homeless
1 In this chapter names and titles usually appear in their Pāli form, and the
following abbreviations are used: Mhv. =Mahāvamsa, Dip. =Dipavamsa, Msr. =Mahā.
sammata-rājāvaliya, R. =Rājāvaliya, Rvp. =Rājāvikrama-pravșițțiya, Vr. =Vijaya-
rājāvaliya, Vry. =Vijayarāja. vamsaya. Dates in these works are given in years of the
era of Buddha (A. B. ) which probably began originally in 483 B. C.
After the middle of
the eleventh century A. D. the era of Buddha was reckoned from 544 B. C.
2 Haddon, Races of Man, pp. 7, 13. Here and elsewhere the terms "Dravidian'
and “Āryan' are used with all due reserve.
547
## p. 548 (#586) ############################################
548
[Ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF CEYLON
hunters ; others are somewhat more civilised, and practise rude arts of
culture similar to those of the Sinhalese peasantry.
The population of Ceylon however is for the most part a mixed
race. Besides Vāddas, both Dravidians and Aryans bave contributed
to their blood; and in modern times Europeans, Portuguese, Dutch,
and British-and the usual cosmopolitan visitors to their ports have all
added something to the strain. The proportion of Vādda blood in the
stock is uncertain, but probably considerable. To judge from the legends
recorded in Mhv. and Dip. and from the vernacular ballads, it is not
unlikely that in pre-Buddhist times some of the Vāddas had reached a fair
degree of civilisation, mingling on terms of approximate equality with
the Āryan and Dravidian invaders, and by this combination producing
the main stock of the Sinbalese race. The relative proportion of Aryan
and Dravidian blood is likewise uncertain. The stream of immigration
from the Dravidian regions of India, especially the Tamil country, has
been constant since the dawn of history, sometimes proceeding in drops,
sometimes in great waves, and at the present day the northern part of
the island is mainly Tamil ; but the Sinhalese language, though marked
by traces of Dravidian influence, is Āryan, and is descended from a
Sanskritic tongue closely akin to the Vedict. This fact, and certain data
of legend to which we shall recur in the succeeding paragraph, suggest
that at some early date an invading band of Aryans, conquering part
or the whole of Ceylon, imposed its language and perhaps something
of its culture and institutions upon the mixed Vādda-Dravidian population
which it found there, and then gradually became fused in the racial
congeries of the island.
Sinhalese tradition also relates that the Nāgas, or semi-divine
snake-men of Hindu myth, once dwelt in Ceylon, and gives details of
their wars, which are said to have been settled by the intervention of
Gautama Buddha. These Nāgas belong to the realm of fiction ; but as
traditions record that they drove out the earlier inhabitants from the North
and West, and it is a fact that the name Nāgadipa, Nāgas' Island,' long
clung in early times to these regions down to the neighbourhood of Mada-
wachchiya, it is possible that in these legends there may lie some faint
shadows of historical reality.
The Mhv. (VI, VIII) and Dip. (1x), with which a number of late
histories and popular ballads agree more or less, tell a singular story.
According to them, a daughter of a King of Vanga (Bengal) and a princess of
Kalinga (Orissa) was carried away by a lion, who begot on her a son, Sihabahu
("Lion-Arm'), and a daughter, Sihasivali (in Sinh, ballads Simbavalli).
After slaying his father, Sihabāhu reigned at Sihapura, 'Lion's Town,'
1 Even the Vaddas now use a dialect of Sinhalese. Only the Tamils who have
settled in Ceylon in comparatively modern times speak Tamil.
## p. 549 (#587) ############################################
xxv]
VIJAYA AND HIS SUCCESSORS
549
in Lāļa (Lāta, i. e. , Gujarāt)'. His son Vijaya, banished for his lawlessness,
departed from Sihapura with a band of adventurers and sailed southward.
After stopping at Suppāraka (Çūrpāraka, the modern Sopāra, in the
Thāna District, Bombay Presidency), he continued his voyage to Ceylon,
where he arrived very shortly before the death of Gautama Buddba,
who in a prophetic vision learned of his coming and commended him
to the care of the god Sakka (Çakra, or Indra). He found the island
in the possession of yakkhas, or fairies. Having overcome the wiles of
the Yakkha princess Kuvaņņā (in Sinh. Kuveni), he took her to wife,
and drove away her kinsmen. When he had established himself, he
repudiated her and his children by her--who became the ancestors of
the Pulinda tribes of the interior-in order to marry a daughter of the
Pāņdyan king of Madura, and reigned for 38 years (C. 483-435 B. c. ) with
much righteousness in the town of Tambapaņņi, which he had founded.
Anurādha pura, Upatissagāma, Vijitagāma, Uruvelā, and Ujjeni were
founded by his followers.
This tale seems to contain the following nucleus of fact. There
were apparently two streams of immigration celebrated in the earliest
legends'. The first, which probably was mainly Dravidian, came from Orissa
and perhaps southern Bengal : the second, mainly Āryan, started from
Sihapura in Lāța (possibly the modern Sihor, in Kāthiāwar) and Sopāra.
The latter band belonged to the Simhalas (Sihalas) or 'Lion-tribe,' and
it was probably they who imposed their Āryan tongue on Ceylon (v. sup.
p. 548). At any rate, they gave to their new home the name of
Simhaladvīpa (in Pāli Sihaladipa), whence are derived its later titles, the
Arabic Sarandib, the Portuguese Ceilão, and our Ceylons. Popular imagina-
tion combined the two movements by giving the eponymous Sīhabāhu-
a home on both sides of India and so the legend shaped itself into its
classical form. The Lion Kuvaņņā, and the Yakkhas are pure fiction. ?
9
1 The Mhv. VI, 4 seems to locate Lāļa in Magadha ; this may be due to a crude
recollection of the extent of the early Gupta empire.
2 Buddhist legend relates that the Buddha thrice visited Ceylon, and that after ubis
death his collar bone was brought thither to be enshrined in the Mahiyang na
(Miyuguna) Thūpa ; see Mhv I.
3 The same conclusion is suggested by the legends of the coming of the gods-
e. g. of Oddisa from Orissa and the Devol Deviyo from Debal in Sind.
4 See the Indian Antiquary, vol. XVI. pp. 1 ff. and 49 ff.
5 From Simhala or Sihala is derived the term Heļu or Eļu, which is applied to
designate the pure classical dialect of ancient Sinhalese literature, in opposition to
Simhala, 'Sinhalese,' the Sanskritised and unclassical speech of modern times.
6 It is however noteworthy that there was also a Simhapura on the east, the capital
of the ancient kings of Kalinga (see Epigr. Zeylanica, vol. I, p. 124). This fact probably
contributed to the formation of the legend.
7 It is usually supposed that the Yakkhas in this legend represent the aboriginal
P. T. O.
:
## p. 550 (#588) ############################################
550
[Ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF CEYLON
Sinhalese chronology begins with the landing of Vijaya, which, as we
have seen, is made to coincide with the decease of Gautama Buddha in
483 B. C. The correctness of this synchronism may well be doubted ; but
probably the records on this and other points, if not absolutely reliable,
are not very far from the truth. It will therefore be most suitable to base
our account of subsequent events upon that of the Mhv. , premising that
our belief is subject to due reservations, and adding some of the more
important variants and supplementary data given in other works.
The death of Vijaya was followed by an interregnum of one year
(c. 445 414 B. C. ).
The Mhv. , a Rājāvaliya, and several other Sinhalese histories fill up this inter-
jegnum by stating that Tissa, a minister of Vijaya, who built Tissanuvara
а
or Upatissagāma north of Anuradhapura, near the Kolon Oya (now Malwatta Oya),
reigned for that time.
The next king was Pandu-Vāsudeva', the youngest son of Vijaya's
brother Sumitta. He married Bhaddakachchānā”, daughter of the Çakya
Paņdu, who bore to bim ten sons and a daughter, Chittā. After reigning
30 years (c. 444. 414 B. c. ) he died, and was succeeded by his son Abhaya,
who after ruling for 20 years (c. 414-394 B. c. ) in Upatissagāma was
deposed.
Th3 Msr. states that Pandu-Vāsudeva died A. B. 74, and assigns 16 years to the
reign of Abhya.
An interregnum of 17 years (c. 344-377 B. c. ) then followed, after which
Paņdukābhaya, an illegitimate son of Chittā by her cousin Digha-Gāmani,
established himself after a long struggle as king in Anurādhapura, and
reigned 70 years (c. 377-307 B. C. ) (Mhv. VIII-X). He was succeeded by his
son Muțasiva', who had a reign of 60 years (c. 307-247 B. C. ). The latter
was followed by his second son Devānampiya Tissa" (Mhv. XI).
Vāļļas, as apparently is the case in the history of Pandukābhaya (Mhv. X). But the
legend of Kuvannā is strictly myth, being remarkably like that of Circe ; and it seems
likely that the Yakkhas in it arose from the same source.
.
1 In Sinh. Panduras.
2 The Mhv. (IX) relates that her brothers Rāma, Ururela, Anurādha, Vijita,
Dighāyu, and Rohana founded Rāmagoņa and other towns bearing their names. As
regards the second, third, and fourth of these heroes the story is obviously a duplicate
of the legend mentioned in Mhv. VII (above, p. 548).
3 Moțasiva or in Moța Tissa, in some Sinhalese histories.
4 In Sinh. Devenipa Tisa.
## p. 551 (#589) ############################################
xxv]
SAVANNAPIŅDA TISSA
551
The Msr. states that Pandukābhaya, whom it calls the son of Abhaya, built
Anurādhapura and reigned 37 years, and that his son Mutasiva constructed the Mahā.
meghavana (see below) and died A. B. 187. The Rvp. allots a reign of 40 years to
Ganapa Tissa, a son of Pandukābhaya, whom it places after Muțasiva. A. R. agrees
in making Tissa the son of Panțukābhaya and giving him a reign of 40 years; but the
Vr. places him between Abhaya and Pandukābhaya.
In the month Jettha of the year of Devānampiya's coronation
(c. 246 B. c. ) the Buddhist apostle Mahinda', son of the Maurya King
Açoka (Dhammāsoka), miraculously travelled to Ceylon in company with
the four friars Itthiya, Uttiya, Sambala, and Bhaddasala and the novice.
Sumana, son of his sister Sanghamittā. He alighted at Mahindatala”,
where he met Devānampiya and converted him and his people (Mhv. XIII,
XIV). The Mahāmegha-vana, a park south of Anurādhapura, was assigned
to the service of the new Church, and the buildings erected in it were
known afterwards as the Mahāvihāra (Mhv. xv). On the spot where
Mahinda had alighted was built the Chetiyapabbata-vihāra (Mhv. XVI),
A thūpa (Skt. stūpa) and a monastery in connection with it, the Thūpā-
rāma, were constructed at the south of Anuradhapura to receive the
collar-bone of the Buddha (Mhv. xvii), and the southern branch of the
famous Bodi-tree of Gayā was brought and planted at Anurādhapura in
the eighteenth year of Açoka' reign (Mhv. xvII-xx).
After a pious reign of 40 years (c. 247-207 B. c. ) Devānampiya died,
and was succeeded by his brother Uttiya, who ruled for 10 years (c. 207.
197 B. c. ) (Mhv. xx).
According to the Msr. Uttiya died in A, B, 237.
Next reigned Uttiya's younger brother Mabāsiva for 10 years (c. 197-
187 B. c. ), and another brother, Sūra Tissa, previously known as Suvaņ.
napiņda Tissa, likewise for 10 years (c. 187-177 B. c. ). The latter was
conquered by two Tamils named Sena and Guttaka, sons of a horse-dealer
(assa nāvika), who reigned justly for 22 years (c. 177-155 B. C), and were
then overcome by Asela, the youngest of Mutasiva's nine sons. Asela
then reigned in Anurādhapura for 10 years (c. 155-145 B. c. ), and was
then ousted by Eļāra, a Tamil from the Chõļa country, who ruled for 44
years (c. 145-101 B. c. ), and was famous for his justice (Mhv. xxI).
A Rājāvaliya inserts after Sūra Tissa an Upatissa with a reign of 10 years, and
makes the two brothers Sena and Guttaka into one person, whom it describes as
In Sanskrit Mahindra Sinh. Mihindu.
2 Mihintale, about eight miles east of Anurādhapura.
1
## p. 552 (#590) ############################################
552
[Ch.
THE EARLY HISTORY OF CEYLON
3
aciçchāri (perhaps for açvāchari) devi kenek ; the printed R. describes them as 'two
brothers who were horsemen'. The Dip. (XVIII, 47) assigns to them only 12 years.
Asela is not said by the Vr, to be a son of Muțasiva. His successor's name is usually
given in Sinhalese as Elāla; the same R, calls him a Malala (Malahari) from Soli
(Choļa. deça), and says that he brought over 1,080,000 Tamil soldiers and behaved
with great impiety, desecrating the monasteries of Devenipā Tisa.
Devānampiya Tissa had a brother, Mahānāga, who resided in Mabā.
gāmal and governed the province of Rohaņa”. He was succeeded in
this office by his son Yatthālaya Tissa, the latter's son Abhaya or Gothā.
bbaya', and the lātter's son Kākavaņņa Tissa“. The last had two sons,
Gāmaņi-Abhaya, better known as Duțțha-Gāmaņi”, and Sadhā-Tissa.
The Vrv, states that Yațțhālaya Tissa reigned in Kālaniya and built there a
sanctuary; his son Golu Abhā ruled in Ruhuna, and vas followed by his son Kāran Tisa.
