Senarath Adahasin was king of the
Kingdom of Kandy
The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, 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 ...
from 1604 to 1635. He is said to be the successor to king
Wimaladharmasuriya I of
Kandy. However first hand accounts are not available concerning what happened after the death of Vimaladharmasuriya I. He is said to be a cousin or brother of Vimaladharmasuriya according to most sources. He was not a legitimate ruler hence he married not only the deceased king’s widow
Dona Katherina but also her two daughters, in order to legitimize his claim to the throne.
He did not possess the qualities of a king and during his time Portuguese forces laid waste to Kandyan territory in frequent invasions, which he could not effectively repulse. During his reign several rebellions rose up against him and to quell those he aligned with the Portuguese.
[Kandy Fights the Portuguese, C.Gaston Perera, Vijithayapa Publications,2007] Many of his military campaigns ended in failure with the exception of the
Battle of Randenivela
A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and forc ...
, the success of which was however largely due to Prince Kumarasinghe, his son.
When the time came for him to divide his kingdom between his two stepsons & his own son, he tricked the other two & made
Rajasinghe II (his own son) inherit the main part of his kingdom including Kandy. His two stepsons died shortly afterwards - some say Senerath was responsible for this elimination of potential heirs. Rajasinghe II thus became the sole heir to his kingdom.
See also
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Mahavamsa
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List of monarchs of Sri Lanka
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History of Sri Lanka
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Kingdom of Kandy
The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the Sri Lanka, 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 ...
References
Sources
Kings & Rulers of Sri Lanka
Sinhalese kings
1635 deaths
Sri Lankan Buddhists
Monarchs of Kandy
Year of birth unknown
House of Dinajara
17th-century Sinhalese monarchs
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