இலங்கைத் தமிழர் வரலாற்றிற்குப் புதிய செய்திகளைத் தரும் திருகோணமலைக் கல்வெட்டு
தேமொழி
தேமொழி
A Newly Discovered Inscription Relating to Magha’s Invasion
K. Indrapala
An important rock inscription in the jungles of Gomarankadawela, in the Trincomalee District, was recently brought to light by a team led by Prof. P.Pushparatnam (Jaffna University). Inscribed in Tamil, with some lines in Sanskrit, the record relates to some grants made to a temple in the area, the ruins of which are lying near this epigraph. The record was inscribed by a person named Sri Kulottunga Chola Kalingarayan. It is stated here that he conquered Ila-mandalam alias Mummudi-Chola-mandalam (a name given earlier by the Cholas for Sri Lanka) and conducted the consecration (virabhisheka) of Gangaraja Kalinga Vijayabahu Devar. It is this information that makes the record an important historical document.
Gangaraja
Who is Gangaraja Kalinga Vijayabahu Devar? Gangaraja is a name that was used by princes in various parts of India (and even Southeast Asia), claiming to belong to the Ganga-vamsa, from very early times. Early in the fifth century CE, the son of Bhadravarman I, king of Champa in Vietnam, had the name Gangaraja. In medieval times, princes and chiefs in Karnataka as well as Kalinga (Odisha) had this name (for example, a Hoysala king in the twelfth century and a Nayakkar chief of Ummathuru in the sixteenth century). Members of the Gangavamsa who ruled in eastern India (modern Odisha) are known as the Eastern Gangas. Many of the princes and princesses about whom we hear in the political history of Sri Lanka late in the twelfth century and early in the thirteenth century claimed to belong to the Gangavamsa (one of Nissanka Malla’s queens is referred to as Gangavamsa Kalyana Mahadevi in inscriptions). The name Gangaraja in the newly discovered inscription indicates that Kalinga Vijayabahu Devar who bears this title belonged to the Gangavamsa.
Kālinga Vijayabāhu
Who is Kalinga Vijayabahu Devar? The Kalinga princes who ruled from Polonnaruva after the death Parakramabahu I also adopted names ending in -bahu, like their Sinhalese predecessors. Nissanka Malla had the name Parakramabahu, and two of his successors had the names Virabahu and Vikramabahu. Nissanka Malla’s half-brother calls himself in his inscription as Siri Sangabo Kalinga Vijayabahu who had taken the epithet (virudu) Sahasa Malla. Is he the Kalinga Vijayabahu of the newly discovered inscription? The date of the inscription can help to answer this, but unfortunately the first line is not clear. But, with the evidence of Sahasa Malla’s inscription it is possible to rule out that the Vijayabahu of the new inscription is not Sahasa Malla. Sahasa Malla clearly states that he was invited to Sri Lanka by two ministers to be crowned as king. There is no reference to any assistance from the Chola kingdom, although he sojourned in a Chola port en route to Sri Lanka. The two Sinhalese ministers who invited him and helped him to ascend the throne were rewarded by Sahasa Malla. The newly discovered inscription refers to a Chola commander as the one who helped Kalinga Vijayabahu and crowned him. It is here that the Sinhala literary sources help us to identify this ruler. It is known from the Nikāyasangrahaya and the Saddharma-ratnākaraya that Kalinga Magha, who seized power in 1215, also had the name Kalinga Vijayabahu. Moreover, all the literary sources agree that Magha captured power with the help of south Indian forces. The new inscription says that a Chola commander helped Kalinga Vijayabahu to become king. This ruler can, therefore, be identified as none other than Magha.
Kulottunga’s invasions
It appears that Chola Kulottunga III (1178-1218) had a role in Magha’s invasion. The commander who helped Kalinga Vijayabahu bears the name of Kulottunga Chola. His name in the inscription, Kulottunga Chola Kalingarayan, is comparable with similar names conferred on Chola commanders, feudatories and other dignitaries (such as Kulottunga Chola Kadavarayan and Kulottunga Chola Kacciyarayan). One of the most successful commanders of Kulottunga I had the title of Kalingarayan. Considering these, it would appear that the Kalingarayan of the Gomarankadawela inscription was a Chola commander who was sent by Kulottunga III to sack Polonnaruva. It must be kept in mind that Kulottunga Chola had made several attempts to conquer the island from the time of Nissanka Malla. As early as 1187, Kulottunga claims victory over a Sinhalese army sent to assist the Pandyas in south India. The very next year, which was the first year of the reign of Nissanka Malla, he claims the conquest of Sri Lanka. Again, in 1194 the Chola ruler ordered his troops to invade the island. Kulottunga’s next claim of victory over Sri Lanka is made in 1199. A contemporary Sinhala poem, Sasadāvata, alludes to three invasions from the Chola kingdom. The final claim of conquest by Kulottunga is made in 1212. The Culavamsa and some Sinhala inscriptions (from Bopitiya and Minipe) also refer to invasions from south India in this period. It is, therefore, possible to suggest that the Kalingarayan of the Gomarankadawela inscription was the commander of a Chola army that assisted Magha.
Ganga origins of the Jaffna kingdom
The Kalinga princes who ruled from Polonnaruva belonged to the Kalinga Cakravartti lineage (paramparā) and often add this to their name in their records (as, for instance, Nissanka Malla Kalinga Cakravartti). Kalinga Vijayabahu of our inscription presumably belonged to the same lineage. He is associated with two major developments in the thirteenth century, namely the fall of Polonnaruva and the emergence of the medieval kingdom of Jaffna. Very few details are available about the latter. What little is known indicates that Kalinga Vijayabahu was forced to move from Polonnaruva and establish his seat of government in the extreme north. The late historical traditions of Jaffna preserve a corrupted form of his name, Vijaya(bahu) Kālinga Cakravartti becoming Vijaya Kūlangai Cakravartti. This view was expressed by the Jaffna philologist, Swami Gnanapragasar, nearly a hundred years ago. As a Gangaraja or member of the Gangavamsa, Kalinga Vijayabahu seems to have been responsible for the introduction of the Ganga elements that we see in the name of the capital of the new kingdom (Cinkainakar, the Tamil form of Simhanagar, another version of the Kalinga Simhapura from where the Kalinga princes hailed) and the nandi (vrshabha lānchana / couchant bull) emblem with the crescent moon. This insignia was used by the Eastern Gangas of Kalinga in the seal of their copper plates. The kings of Jaffna used this emblem on their flags and coins. In the Tamil literary works, the rulers of Jaffna are referred to as persons from the Ganga country (kanka-nādan) or simply as Aryas of Ganga (kankai-āriyar). Some of the noblemen serving under the first ruler (Vijaya Kalinga Cakravartti) are stated to have belonged to the Ganga-kula (kankā-kula).
Thus, in many ways, the newly discovered inscription, with its reference to Gangaraja Kalinga Vijayabahu and Kulottunga Chola Kalingarayan, is a significant addition to the historical documents we have for the thirteenth century history of Sri Lanka.
K S Ilamathi's Paranchudar Gnanam
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