The Anuradhapura Kingdom

The Anuradhapura Kingdom

An Outline of Political History from Saddhatissa to the Cola Conquest The political history of the long and eventful period of ten centuries (from Saddhatissa, the brother and successor of Dutthagamani, to the Coja conquest in the tenth century) reviewed in this part forms a backdrop to the development and expansion of an intricate irrigation system which was the key to the establishment, consolidation and maturation of the Sinhalese civilisation of the dry zone. This theme suffuses these centuries with a unity so powerful and pervasive that it justifies the analysis of its political history on the same extended chronological framework rather than the conventional periodization imposed by the fluctuating fortunes of the dynasties that vied for power in this period.

Dynastic conflict

At the heart of the political history of the Anuradhapura kingdom over its span of 1,500 years or more was a paradox: how enormous creativity in irrigation technology and the arts, with extraordinary agricultural progress, could have been sustained by a political structure so prone to instability. In no phase of its history was this political system more brittle than in what may be termed the early Anuradhapura period (from Saddhatissa, 137-119 BC, to the accession of Mana vamma, AD 684-718) and during that period productive effort in the economy, inventive genius in technology and inspiration in cultural activity were most memorable.

The first part of this chapter attempts a brief review of the politics of the early Anuradhapura period. It is an anatomy of a political structure at odds with itself, coping at best inadequately with the stresses set up by dynastic rivalries and succession disputes, and generally in the throes of political crises. These latter were in themselves a reflection of a crucial flaw administrative and political structures unable to keep pace with the productive energies of an expanding economy, or for that matter with the political ambitions of rulers who thought in terms of control over the whole island without the administrative machinery which alone could have converted this aspiration into a hard political reality.

The dynasty of Devanampiya Tissa became extinct in the first century AD. We do not know how this happened. One significant feature of the subsequent political history of Sri Lanka was that the right to the throne appeared to lie with one of two powerful clans, the Lambakannas and the Moriyas. By the beginning of the first century AD, the Lambakannas were established in power, enjoying by far the most prestige of all the clans. Their claims to this position of primacy did not go unchallenged. The opposition came mainly from the Moriyas, who became in time their chief rivals for power. Their periodic struggles for the throne are a conspicuous feature of the history of this period. The Lambakannas were more successful than their rivals, as the following brief summary of the dynastic history of this period would show.

The first Lambakanna dynasty 1 (established by Vasabha AD 67- 111) retained its hold on the throne at Anuradhapura till the death of Mahanama in AD 428, when the dynasty itself became extinct. In the confusion that followed his death, there was a South Indian invasion, and Sinhalese rule such as it was confined to Rohana. The Moriya Dhatusena led the struggle against the invader and for the restoration of Sinhalese power at Anuradhapura. His success brought the Moriyas to power but not to a pre-eminence such as that achieved by the Lambakannas in the past few centuries. Indeed Dhatusena (455-73) had hardly consolidated his position when he was murdered by his son Kassapa who usurped the throne at Anuradhapura at the expense of Moggallana I, Kassapa's brother, whom Dhatusena had been grooming as his legitimate successor. There was, for a brief period under Upatissa II (517-18) and his successors, a return of the Lambakannas to power, but Mahanaga (569-71) reestablished Moriya control. His immediate successors Aggabodhi I (571-604) and Aggabodhi II (604-14) managed to maintain the Moriya grip on the Anuradhapura throne but not to consolidate their position, for the Lambakannas were in fact always a formidable threat, and under Moggallana III (614-17) they overthrew Sarighatissa II (614), who proved to be the last of the Moriya kings.