Kirti Sri Rajasinha ( Sinhala: කීර්ති ශ්‍රී රාජසිංහ,

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

: கீர்த்தி ஸ்ரீ ராஜசிங்கம்; 11 August 1747 – 2 January 1782) was the second Nayaka king of

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

. He was a prince from the Madurai Nayak Dynasty and the brother-in-law of Sri Vijaya Raja Singha. He succeeded his brother-in-law to the throne in 1751. The king is credited for the revival of Buddhism and literature in Sri Lanka. Under the guidance and influence of Weliwita Sri Saranankara Thero, with

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

assistance, king Kirti Sri Raja Singha successfully invited

Bhikku A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist c ...

s from

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

(

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

) to revive the higher ordination of Buddhist monks in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He also built the existing inner temple of the

Sacred Tooth Relic The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya relic of Lord Buddha, who is the founder of Buddhism, the fourth largest religion worldwide. History The relic in India According to Sri Lanka ...

and Raja Maha Vihara (Gangarama) in

. During his reign the Mahavamsa

chronicle A chronicle ( la, chronica, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and ...

was continued from the time of Parakramabahu IV of Dambadeniya. He also rebuilt the

Munneswaram temple Munneswaram temple ( ta, முன்னேசுவரம் கோயில், si, මුන්නේශ්වරම් කෝවිල) is an important regional Hindu temple complex in Sri Lanka. It has been in existence at least since 1000 ...

close to

Chilaw Chilaw ( si, හලාවත, translit=Halāvata, ta, சிலாபம், translit=Cilāpam) is a large town in Puttalam District, North Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is governed by an urban council. The town is located 80 kilometres away f ...

Attack on Dutch Forts

In 1761 King Kirti Sri Rajasinha attacked the

garrisons and

forts A fortification is a military construction or building designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is also used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ''fortis'' ("strong") and ''facere'' ...

at Matara, Katuwana,

Tangalle Tangalle ( Sinhala තංගල්ල , ta, தங்கல்லை) (also known as Tangalla) is a large town in Hambantota District, Southern Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council. It is one of the largest towns in southern provinc ...

, Marakade and Urubokke, completely destroying them, and killing Dutch while some surrendered and ended up as prisoners. In order to revenge the humiliation, the new Dutch governor Van Eck had immediate plans to attack

, but the weakness in fortification and garrison forbade the Dutch. Later they did attack in 1764 and in 1765. Hence, in the early part of 1763 the Dutch were only consolidating their positions and gradually expelling Kandyans from the territories taken over from Dutch. Throughout 1763 the King continually sought peace and sent his envoys to discuss terms. The Governor wished the King to cede the three four and seven Korales and Puttlam and hand over the entire coastline of island to the Dutch. The king was not agreeable to any demand that diminished his sovereignty and was deliberately delaying a settlement hoping for help from the

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

after his discussion and negotiations with John Pybus 1762.

Meeting with the British

The King in mid-1762 sought help from the Governor of

Fort St George Fort St. George (or historically, White Town) is a fortress in the coastal city of Chennai, India. Founded in 1639, it was the first English (later British) fortress in India. The construction of the fort provided the impetus for further ...

for assistance. The British eager to obtain the monopoly of trading in cinnamon, pepper, betel nut (puwak) from the Kandyan Kings also wanted to expel the Dutch from the coasts. A reason to call on the British for assistance by the Kandyan King in 1762 was that after the treaty of

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

, the Dutch poured troops into

. They were bent on capturing

from six directions (1764). Anticipating such a scenario the King sent an envoy to the English

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

to assist him in expelling the Dutch. This envoy, a junior Kandyan Official in the military made a clandestine trip to Madras Fort, and the English responded by sending their councilor Mr Pybus. John Pybus, a writer of the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and South ...

, sailed to Kandy with a backup of five ships and about 200 armed men. A British vessel brought Pybus to

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

on 5 May 1762. The

knew of the arrival of Pybus through their spies and they were kept informed of his movements. Pybus took an exhausting covert trip to meet the King on 24 May 1762. After several talks without any conclusive decisions Pybus left after a month. The King gave him a ring,

sword A sword is an edged, bladed weapon intended for manual cutting or thrusting. Its blade, longer than a knife or dagger, is attached to a hilt and can be straight or curved. A thrusting sword tends to have a straighter blade with a pointed ti ...

, a

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

chain with breast jewels and left the country crossing the river at Puttalam pass while the Dissawa who accompanied Pybus presented the ships commander Samuel Cornish a

chain and a ring in the name of King ''"Keerthi Sri Rajasinha ".'' John Pybus in his notes described the King as a man of tolerable stature, reddish in complexion and very brisk in his movements. Pybus was amazed as to how the Kandyans had managed to fight a war with Dutch and had captured Matara Dutch Fort. He wrote that "They had put every European to the sword except two officers who are now prisoners of the country." The Dutch attacked

once again in 1765 and in this occasion, both parties suffered severe casualties. The king went to

Hanguranketha Hanguranketha ( si, හඟුරන්කෙත, translit=Han̆guranketa; ta, அங்குரன்கெதை, translit=Aṅkuraṉketai) is a town in the Nuwara Eliya District, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It is approximately southea ...

and hid there for safety. Battles continued for months and the king wanted peace with the Dutch due to the widening of internal issues of the

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom of the Ki ...

. Taking advantage of this opportunity the Dutch forwarded a treaty biased towards the themselves. The king, having no other option signed the treaty in 1766. The Kingdom of Kandy lost its access to the ocean by this treaty.

Marriage

He married the daughter of one Nadukattu Sami Nayakkar in 1749. He further married three more Nayakkar queens from

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration i ...

, but had no children. He also married two daughters of Vijaya Manna Naicker who was the grandson of Vijaya Raghava Nayak.University of Ceylon. (1956). ''University of Ceylon review'', Volumes 14-16, p.129 states: ''Kirti Sri in turn married two daughters of Vijaya Manan Naicker, the grandson of a former king of Tanjore named Raja Vijaya Ragheva Naicker '

/ref> He had six daughters and two sons by his favorite Sinhala lady (Yakada Doli), daughter of the late

Dissava The Mahâ Dissâvas was a Great Officer in the Amātya Mandalaya, or Sinhalese Council of State, in the Sinhalese Kingdoms of monarchical Sri Lanka. Like many of the existing high offices at the time it had combined legislative and judicial ...

(Headman) of Bintenna, granddaughter of the blind and aged Mampitiya Dissave. Both his sons survived the king and his daughters married Nayakkar relatives of the king. Mampitiya’s sons claim for the throne was overlooked and the choice fell on the king’s brother who was living in court. The king died on January 2, 1782, of the injuries caused two months before by a fall from his

horse The horse (''Equus ferus caballus'') is a domesticated, one-toed, hoofed mammal. It belongs to the taxonomic family Equidae and is one of two extant subspecies of ''Equus ferus''. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million yea ...

after a reign of 35 years which the people saw as a great religious revival, and had a sentimental attachment to the King.

Statues

There are very many life-size portraits of King Kirti Sri Raja Singha in all the temples he renovated and built. But the most famous are the four life sized wooden statues of the king today, two of them can be seen at Dambulla temple and at

Malwatta temple Malwathu Maha Viharaya (also called Malwatta temple) is a Buddhist monastery located in Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is the headquarters of the Malwatta chapter of Siyam Nikaya and one of the two Buddhist monasteries that holds the custodianship of sacr ...

Sources

Kings and Rulers of Sri Lanka

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lanka, Kirti Sri Rajasinha Of Sri 1782 deaths Deaths by horse-riding accident Monarchs of Kandy 1734 births Rajasinha Rajasinha K Buddhist revivalists