The Polonnaruwa Kingdom - II

The Polonnaruwa Kingdom - II

Contiued with part one   here to go privious one

Parakramabahu had the distinct advantage of being closely related to the royal dynasty at Polonnaruva and was therefore in a position to stake a claim to the throne. Once he captured power, his legal status as sovereign was accepted, unlike the claims of his two predecessors at Polonnaruva, Vikramabahu II and Gajabahu II. Three distinct phases in Parakramabahu's rise to power can be demarcated. The first of these was the establishment of control over Dakkhinadesa and his consecration as Mahadipada, a tide usually adopted by the heir to the Polonnaruva throne. In the second phase, the tripartite struggle between him as ruler of Dakkhinadesa and the rulers of Polonnaruva and Rohana, Parakramabahu's aim was not so much to capture Polonnaruva as to secure his own recognition as heir to the Polonnaruva throne, and this he achieved. In the harsh conflict that ensued, Parakramabahu's victory was at first by no means certain, but it ended with him very much in control over the Rajarata and Dakkhinadesa, though not of Rohana which still maintained a defiant independence. The third and longest phase began after he took control of Polonnaruva and found his position threatened by the ruler of Rohana. For Parakramabahu, intent on establishing his control over the whole island, Rohana was the last and most formidable hurdle to clear. Its ruler was quite as determined as his predecessors in the days of the Anuradhapura kings to protect Rohana's particularist interests against the central authority in the Rajarata. One of the crucial factors in Parakramabahu's success in this struggle was his capture of the Tooth and Bowl relics of the Buddha which had by now become essential to the legitimacy of royal authority in Sri Lanka.

Once the political unification of the island had been reestablished, Parakramabahu followed Vijayabahu I in keeping a tight check on separatist tendencies in the island, especially in Rohana where particularism was a deeply ingrained political tradition. Rohana did not accept its loss of autonomy without a struggle, and Parakramabahu faced a formidable rebellion there in 1160 which he put down with great severity (there was a rebellion in the Rajarata as well in 1168 and this too was ruthlessly crushed). All vestiges of its former auto¬nomy were now purposefully eliminated, and as a result, there was, in the heyday of the Polonnaruva kingdom, much less tolerance of particularism than under the Anuradhapura kings. As we shall see, the country was to pay dearly for this over-centralization of authority in Polonnaruva.

Parakramabahu I was the last of the great rulers of ancient Sri Lanka. After him, the only Polonnaruva king to rule over the whole island was Nissanka Malla, the first of the Kalinga rulers, who gave the country a brief decade of order and stability before the speedy and catastrophic break up of the hydraulic civilizations of the dry zone. The achievements of the Polonnaruva kings Vijayabahu I, Parakramabahu I and Nissanka Malla, memorable and substantial though they were, had their darker side as well. The flaw had to do with a conspicuous lack of restraint, especially in the case of Parakramabahu I. In combination with his ambitious and venturesome foreign policy, the expensive diversion of state resources into irrigation projects and public works civil and religious sapped the strength of the country and thus contributed to the sudden and complete collapse which followed so soon after his death.

At the death of Parakramabahu I, the problem of succession to the throne arose once more and was complicated by the fact that he had no sons of his own. The inevitable confusion and intrigue were cut short by the success with which Nissarika Malla (who introduced him¬self as a prince of Kalinga, chosen and trained for the succession by Parakramabahu himself) established his claims, although it was conceded that Vijayabahu II had precedence over him by virtue of seniority if not for any other reason. As the scion of a foreign dynasty, Nissanka Malla was less secure on the throne than his two illustrious predecessors. If he was not overwhelmed by the problems inherent in maintaining intact the political structures fashioned by Vijayabahu I and Parakramabahu I, two of the most masterful rulers the island had seen, his successors clearly were. With his death after a rule of nine years (how he died is not known), there was a renewal of political dissension within the kingdom complicated now by dynastic disputes.

The Kalinga dynasty maintained itself in power with the support of an influential faction within the country. But their hold on the throne was inherently precarious, and their survival owed much to the inability of the factions opposing them to come up with an aspirant to the throne with a politically viable claim, or sufficient durability once installed in power, and in desperation they raised Lilavatl, a queen of Parakramabahu I, to the throne on three occasions. The ensuing political instability inevitably attracted the attention of Cola and Pandya adventurers bent on plunder. These South Indian incursions culminated in a devastating campaign of pillage under Magha of Kalinga, from which the Sinhalese kingdom of the Rajarata never recovered.