Kingdom of Polonnaruwa

Kingdom of Polonnaruwa
පොළොන්නරුව රාජධානිය
*Polonnaruwa Rājādhaniya*
Kingdom of Polonnaruwa පොළොන්නරුව රාජධානිය; Polonnaruwa Rājādhaniya
1055–1232
	Kingdom of Polonnaruwa before 1153 Principality of Maya Rata Principality of Ruhuna
Capital	Vijayarajapura
Common languages	Sinhala
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Demonym(s)	Sinhala: පොළොන්නරු, romanized: Poḷonnaru
Government	Monarchy
King
• 1055-1111	Vijayabahu I
• 1153-1186	Parakramabahu I
• 1187-1196	Nissanka Malla
• 1215-1232	Kalinga Magha
Historical era	Polonnaruwa period
• Established	1055
• Disestablished	1232
Currency	Coins
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Chola Empire
	Principality of Ruhuna
Kingdom of Dambadeniya
Jaffna Kingdom
Vanni chieftaincies
Today part of	Sri Lanka; India

This article contains Indic text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks or boxes, misplaced vowels or missing conjuncts instead of Indic text.

The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa^{[note 1]} (Sinhala: පොළොන්නරුව රාජධානිය, romanized: Polonnaruwa Rājādhaniya) was the Sinhalese kingdom that expanded across the island of Sri Lanka and several overseas territories, from 1070 until 1232. The kingdom started expanding its overseas authority during the reign of Parakramabahu the Great.^[1]

It had a stronghold in South India since its involvement in a civil war in the Pandya country. During this war, Pandya Nadu was seized as a province administered by the military of Polonnaruwa and Vira Pandyan of Pandya Dynasty. The tributaries of the Chola empire, Tondi and Pasi, also came under its and Vira Pandya military rule.^[2] Rameshwaram was under Sinhalese and Vira Pandyan Alliance rule until 1182.^[3] Its currency Kahapana was struck in these provinces. During the occupation of South India, construction works were undertaken.

Despite the prosperity endured under kings such as Parakramabahu, territorial and political instability would repeatedly occur, as the royal court was embroiled with factionalism chiefly between the Pandya and Kalinga bloodlines of the Polonnaruwa kings. This gave the royal military the opportunity to back their own preferred claimants to power, and generals like Ayasmanta and Lokissara would repeatedly seize the throne and install puppet rulers. Queen Lilavati's tumultuous reigns are a notable example for this, having come to power thrice under various generals. This escalating power struggle put the kingdom under decline, as evident from repeated intervention and raids by the Pandyans and Cholas to the North.

In 1212, the capital was seized by Parakrama Pandyan, a rival claimant who took power via Pandyan assistance. Only three years later, Kalinga Magha, whose title evidently traces his bloodline to that of the Eastern Ganga dynasty of Odisha, invaded the kingdom with a force of 24,000 men, capturing the previous ruler. As described in the Mahavamsa, Polonnaruwa was sacked and its population massacred, and the widespread devastation the region fell under prompted a massive migration into the South, ending the 1500-year long civilization of the Rajarata basin.

Following the capture of the royal capital by Magha, opposition coalesced around various warlords and nobles of the previous kingdom, who established fortresses in numerous locations to fight back enemies from the North. This would eventually give rise to Vijayabahu III, the ruler of the fortress of Dambadeniya, who eventually centralized Maya Rata by subjugating the power of rival lords and Magha's influence and established the kingdom of Dambadeniya in 1232, marking the beginning of the Transitional period in Sri Lankan history.

Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).

^ Wright 1999, p. 37.
^ Balasubrahmanyam 1971, p. 255.
^ Sri Lanka in Early Indian Inscriptions. p. 5

[FOOTNOTEWright199937-2] Wright 1999, p. 37.

[FOOTNOTEBalasubrahmanyam1971255-3] Balasubrahmanyam 1971, p. 255.

[4] Sri Lanka in Early Indian Inscriptions. p. 5

[note 1]

[1]

[2]

[3]