The Polonnaruwa Kingdom

The Polonnaruwa Kingdom - I

Indian Summer of Sinhalese Power

The two centuries surveyed in this chapter presents every element of high drama. There was, first of all, the expulsion of the invading Colas from the Rajarata after a long war of liberation, and the restoration of a Sinhalese dynasty on the throne of Sri Lanka under Vijayabahu I. This restoration had hardly been consolidated when there was a relapse into civil war and turmoil, but before anarchy had become all but irreversible, a return to order and authority took place under Parakramabahu I. Into his reign (153 - 86) and that of Nissarika Malla (1187 - 96) was crammed a record of activity and constructive achievement in administration, economic rehabilitation, religion and culture which could have been stretched comfortably over a much longer period and still deserved to be called splendid and awe inspiring. But in retrospect, the activity appears to have been too frenetic, with an overextension of the island's economic resources in the restoration of its irrigation network and the architectural splendors of the city of Polonnaruwa, and its political power in overseas adventures.

The political history of the Polonnaruva kingdom

In his campaign against the Colas the odds against Vijayabahu had been little short of overwhelming till he established a secure base in Rohana. The improvement in his strategic position vis a vis the Cojas in Sri Lanka coincided with a weakening of Coja power in peninsular India during the reign of Virarajendra I (1063 - 9). Confronted by a vigorous Calukya challenge from the Deccan, the Colas were increasingly on the defensive on the mainland, and this certainly affected their response to the attacks which Vijayabahu now launched on their colony in the Rajarata. What had been for long a war of attrition now entered a new phase with an energetic two-pronged attack on the Cola occupied Rajarata, with Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva as the major targets. Anuradhapura was captured quickly but special number on the Polonnaruva period.

Polonnaruva, the Cola capital, only fell after a prolonged siege of the now isolated Coja forces there. But faced with total defeat Virarajendra was obliged to despatch a relief expedition from the mainland to recapture the Rajarata and if possible to carry the attack back into Rohana. Nevertheless, the respite which the Colas in Sri Lanka gained by this was brief, for the will to struggle on in the face of determined opposition was eroded even further with the death of Virarajendra. His successor Kulotunga I, a Calukya prince, came to the throne after a period of acute crisis in the Cola court, and his attitude to the Cola adventure in Sri Lanka was totally different from that of his immediate predecessors Rajadhiraja, Rajendra II and Virarajendra all sons of Rajendra for whom it had been a major interest and commitment. Unlike them, his personal prestige was not involved in the fate of the Cola colony in Sri Lanka, and he could and did quite dispassionately end the attempt to recoup Cola losses there. What mattered to him above all else was the security of Cola power on the mainland. Thus by 1070 Vijayabahu had triumphed and the restoration of Sinhalese power was complete.

Vijayabahu's role in the prolonged resistance to Cola rule which culminated eventually in their expulsion from the island would by itself have ensured his position as one of the greatest figures in the island's history, but his achievements in the more humdrum fields of administration and economic regeneration were no less substantial. Infusing fresh energy into the machinery of administration, he established firm control over the whole island and presided over both a rehabilitation of the island's irrigation network and the resuscitation of Buddhism. The established religion had suffered a severe setback during the rule of the Colas who, naturally enough, had given precedence to Saivite Hinduism.

At his death that hardy perennial of Sri Lanka's history, a disputed succession, jeopardized the remarkable recovery from the ravages of Cola rule which he had achieved in his reign of forty years. His immediate successors proved incapable of consolidating the political unity of the island which had been one of his greatest achievements, and the country broke up once more into a congeries of warring petty kingdoms and principalities. There was an extended period of civil war from which, in time, the remarkable figure of Parakramabahu I emerged.