The monarchs of Sri Lanka, also referred to as the Sinhalese monarchy, were the
heads of state
A head of state is the public persona of a sovereign state.#Foakes, Foakes, pp. 110–11 "he head of state
He or HE may refer to:
Language
* He (letter), the fifth letter of the Semitic abjads
* He (pronoun), a pronoun in Modern English
* He (kana), one of the Japanese kana (へ in hiragana and ヘ in katakana)
* Ge (Cyrillic), a Cyrillic letter cal ...
being an embodiment of the State itself or representative of its international persona." The name given to the office of head of sta ...
and rulers of the
Sinhala Kingdom
The Sinhala kingdom or Sinhalese kingdom refers to the successive Sinhalese kingdoms that existed in what is today Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese kingdoms are kingdoms known by the city at which its administrative centre was located. These are in chron ...
s located in present-day
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
, from 543 BCE (according to chronicles) until its abolition in 1815 CE.
The
Sinhalese monarchy
The Sinhalese monarchy ( Sinhala සිංහල රාජාණ්ඩුව) has its origins in the settlement of North Indian Indo-Aryan immigrants to the island of Sri Lanka. The Landing of Vijay as described in the traditional chronicles o ...
began with the settlement of
North Indian
North India is a geographical region, loosely defined as a cultural region comprising the northern part of India (or historically, the Indian subcontinent) wherein Indo-Aryans (speaking Indo-Aryan languages) form the prominent majority populati ...
Indo-Aryan speaking immigrants to the island of
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
. The Landing of Vijaya (as described in the traditional early
chronicle
A chronicle (, 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 local events ...
s of the island, the
Dipavamsa and
Mahavamsa) recounts the date of the establishment of the first Sinhalese Kingdom in 543 BCE when Indian prince
Prince Vijaya
Prince Vijaya (c. 543–505 BCE) was a legendary king of Kingdom of Tambapanni, Tambapanni, based in modern day Sri Lanka. His reign was first mentioned in ''Mahāvaṃsa.'' He is said to have came to Sri Lanka with seven hundred followers afte ...
(543–505 BCE) and 700 of his followers arrived in Sri Lanka, establishing the
Kingdom of Tambapanni
The Kingdom of Tambapaṇṇī () was the first Sinhalese kingdom in Sri Lanka. Its administrative centre was based at Tambapaṇṇī. It existed between 543 BC and 437 BC. According to the Mahavamsa, the Kingdom was founded by Prince Vijay ...
.
[Mittal (2006) p 405] In Sinhalese mythology, Prince Vijaya and followers are told to be the progenitors of the
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese people (), also known as the Sinhalese or Sinhala people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They are the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, constituting about 75% of ...
. However, according to the story in the
Divyavadana
The ''Divyāvadāna'' or Divine narratives is a Sanskrit anthology of Buddhist avadana tales, many originating in Mūlasarvāstivādin vinaya texts. It may be dated to 2nd century CE. The stories themselves are therefore quite ancient and may be a ...
, the immigrants were probably not led by a scion of a royal house in India, as told in the romantic legend, but rather may have been groups of adventurous and pioneering merchants exploring new lands.
[Paranavithana (1936) p 459] On the other hand, other historians such as G.C. Mendis have suggested that the Vijaya story is a myth and has no historical basis.
The Sinhala Kingdoms comprised the political states of the
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese people (), also known as the Sinhalese or Sinhala people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They are the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, constituting about 75% of ...
and their ancestors; it existed as a series of successive kingdoms known by the city in which the administrative centre of the kingdom was located. These are, in chronological order: the kingdoms of
Tambapanni,
Upatissa Nuwara
Upatissa is a Pali and Sinhala name. It may refer to:
* An alternate name for Sariputta, one of the chief male disciples of Gautama Buddha
**Upatissagāma, his birthplace, near Rajgriha, in Magadha, India
* Upatissa (regent), chief minister and ...
,
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...
,
Polonnaruwa
Poḷonnaruwa, (; ) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in History of Sri Lanka, ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, ...
,
Dambadeniya
Dambadeniya ''(DMBD)'' is a ruined ancient city situated in the North Western Province (Wayamba), Sri Lanka on the Kurunegala–Negombo main road. It served as the capital of Sri Lanka in the mid 13th century. Much of Dambadeniya still lies buried ...
,
Gampola
Gampola (, ) is a town located in Kandy District, in Sri Lanka's Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province. The town is governed by an Urban Council. Gampola was made the capital of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four year ...
,
Kotte
Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte (), also known as Jayapura or Kotte, is Capital of Sri Lanka, the legislative capital of Sri Lanka. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is located adjacent to the urban area of Sri Lanka's de facto economic, executive, and judi ...
,
Sitawaka
Avissawella (, ) is a township in Sri Lanka, governed by an Urban Council, situated on the A4 route from Colombo to Ratnapura, Colombo District, Western Province, Sri Lanka, approximately 40 km air distance and 48.1 km road distance from ...
and
Kandy
Kandy (, ; , ) is a major city located in the Central Province, Sri Lanka, Central Province of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the Sinhalese monarchy from 1469 to 1818, under the Kingdom of Kandy. The city is situated in the midst of ...
.
The last Sinhala Kingdom came to an end in 1815 with
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Kandy
Sri Vikrama Rajasinha ( Sinhala:ශ්රී වික්රම රාජසිංහ, Tamil:ஸ்ரீ விக்கிரம ராஜசிங்கன் Telugu:శ్రీ విక్రమ రాజసింహ; 1780 – 30 J ...
after generations of
European colonial
The phenomenon of colonization is one that stretches around the globe and across time. Ancient and medieval colonialism was practiced by various civilizations such as the Phoenicians, Babylonians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Han Chinese, and ...
influences and upheaval in the royal court.
During the two millennia of Sinhalese kingdoms, other political entities also existed on the island, including the
Jaffna Kingdom
The Jaffna kingdom (, ; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally t ...
,
the
Vanni chieftaincies
The Vanni chieftaincies or Vanni tribes was a region between Anuradhapura and Jaffna, but also extending to along the eastern coast to Panama and Yala, during the Transitional and Kandyan periods of Sri Lanka. The heavily forested land was a co ...
and the
Portuguese and
Dutch colonies.
These political entities are considered separate from the Sinhala Kingdoms. A
separate page lists the monarchs of the Jaffna Kingdom.
During the reign of
Devanampiya Tissa
Tissa, later Devanampiya Tissa (, ), also known as Devanape Tis (, ), was one of the earliest kings of Sri Lanka based at the ancient capital of Anuradhapura. According to the traditional chronology, he ruled from 307 BC to 267 BC, bu ...
(307–267 BCE),
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
was introduced to the island by
Ashoka
Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
of India. By the time of
Kithsirimevan (304–332 CE), Sudatta, the subking of
Kalinga and Hemamala brought the
Tooth Relic of the Buddha
The relic of the tooth of Buddha (Pali ''danta dhātuya'') is venerated in Sri Lanka as a sacred cetiya Śarīra, relic of the Lord Buddha, Buddha and primarily refers to the purported tooth at the Temple of the Tooth, but can also refer to the o ...
to Sri Lanka due to unrest in the country. Kithsirimevan carried it in procession and placed the relic in a mansion named ''Datadhatughara''. He ordered this procession to be held annually, and this is still done as a tradition in the country to this day. The Tooth Relic of the Buddha soon became one of the most sacred objects in the country and a symbol of kingship. The person who was in possession of the Tooth Relic would thereafter be considered the rightful ruler of the country.
The role of the monarch was
absolute
Absolute may refer to:
Companies
* Absolute Entertainment, a video game publisher
* Absolute Radio, (formerly Virgin Radio), independent national radio station in the UK
* Absolute Software Corporation, specializes in security and data risk ma ...
. The monarch was head of state but would be aided with high level officials and a board of ministers. The monarch was later seen as the supreme ruler throughout the island, even at times when they did not have absolute control over it. However, the earliest inscriptions dating from the 3rd to 2nd century BCE suggest that the island was divided into several regional principalities and chieftaincies until the first war of unification fought by King
Dutugamunu
Dutugamunu (, ), also known as Duṭṭhagāmaṇī Abhaya, was a king of the Anuradhapura Kingdom who reigned from 161 BC to 137 BC. He is renowned for first uniting the whole island of Sri Lanka by defeating and overthrowing Elara, a Tamil kin ...
. These early kings sought to establish control over the whole island, though in reality this was more of an aspiration. However periods of effective control over the whole island did exist from time to time.
[De Silva (1981), p. 21] The monarch also held judicial power and influence. Judicial customs, traditions and moral principles based on
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
were used as the bases of law. The laws and legal measures were proclaimed by the monarch, and were to be followed by the justice administration.
[Rambukwelle (1993), p. 38] However the monarch was the final judge in legal disputes, and all cases against members of the royal family and high dignitaries of the state were judged by them, although this power was to be exercised with care and after consulting with their advisers.
This article is a list of monarchs that have reigned over the nine successive kingdoms of the Sinhalese monarchy. It is based on the traditional list of monarchs as recorded in the
chronicle
A chronicle (, 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 local events ...
s of the island, in particular the
Mahavamsa and
Rajavaliya
Rajavaliya (line of kings) is an ancient chronicle of Sri Lanka. It contains the history of King Vijaya to King Vimaladharmasuriya ΙΙ. It is the only chronicle which contains continuous history of Sri Lanka written in Sinhalese language.
Raja ...
. It is not a list of ethnically Sinhalese monarchs as it contains all rulers of the Sinhalese kingdoms, both Sinhalese and foreign. Each monarch belongs to one of nine royal houses (
Vijaya
Vijaya may refer to:
Places
* Vijaya (Champa), a city-state and former capital of the historic Champa in what is now Vietnam
* Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India
People
* Prince Vijaya of Sri Lanka (fl. 543–505 BC), earliest recorde ...
,
Lambakanna I,
Moriya,
Lambakanna II,
Vijayabahu
Vijayabahu the Great (born ''Prince Keerthi'') () (ruled 1055–1110), also known as Vijayabahu I, was a medieval king of Sri Lanka. Born to a royal bloodline, Vijayabahu grew up under Chola occupation. He assumed rulership of the Ruhuna principa ...
,
Kalinga,
Siri Sanga Bo,
Dinajara and
Nayaks), and follows a tradition of regnal names that span the entirety of the monarchy. For example, Vijayabahu was used 7 times over multiple kingdoms and multiple royal houses over a period of 500 years and there is no overlap of names,
Vijayabahu I
Vijayabahu the Great (born ''Prince Keerthi'') () (ruled 1055–1110), also known as Vijayabahu I, was a medieval king of Sri Lanka. Born to a royal bloodline, Vijayabahu grew up under Chola occupation. He assumed rulership of the Ruhuna principa ...
,
II,
III,
IV,
V,
VI,
VII. The same is true for Aggabodhi, Bhuvanaikabahu, Kassapa, Mahinda, Parakramabahu and others.
Notes
This list should be used with the following factors kept in mind. Firstly, the dates provided for the earliest monarchs are difficult to objectively verify; those particularly difficult to know have been denoted with a (?) mark. The date August 20, 1200 is the earliest known fixed date in Sri Lankan history, which was for the coronation of
Sahassa Malla.
Another thing to be noted is that several monarchs had usurped the throne of Lanka including Sinhalese monarchs such as
Anikanga,
Chodaganga,
Sri Vallabha of Polonnaruwa and
Mahinda VI. The usurpers may have received support from rival kingdoms such as the
Cholas
The Chola dynasty () was a Tamil dynasty originating from Southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd cen ...
.
Note on chronology
It should be borne in mind that there is controversy about the base date of the
Buddhist Era
The Buddhist calendar is a set of lunisolar calendars primarily used in Tibet, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Bangladesh, India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Vietnam as well as in Malaysia and Singapore and by Chinese populations for religious or officia ...
, with dates between the 6th century BCE and 4th century BCE being advanced as the date of the ''parinibbana'' of the
Buddha
Siddhartha Gautama, most commonly referred to as the Buddha (),*
*
*
was a wandering ascetic and religious teacher who lived in South Asia during the 6th or 5th century BCE and founded Buddhism. According to Buddhist legends, he was ...
. As
Wilhelm Geiger
Wilhelm Ludwig Geiger (; ; 21 July 1856 – 2 September 1943) was a German Orientalist in the fields of Indo-Iranian languages and the history of Iran and Sri Lanka. He was known as a specialist in Pali, Sinhala language and the Dhivehi language ...
pointed out, the ''Dipawamsa'' and ''Mahawansa'' are the primary sources for ancient
South Asia
South Asia is the southern Subregion#Asia, subregion of Asia that is defined in both geographical and Ethnicity, ethnic-Culture, cultural terms. South Asia, with a population of 2.04 billion, contains a quarter (25%) of the world's populatio ...
n
chronology
Chronology (from Latin , from Ancient Greek , , ; and , ''wikt:-logia, -logia'') is the science of arranging events in their order of occurrence in time. Consider, for example, the use of a timeline or sequence of events. It is also "the deter ...
; they date the
consecration
Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects ( ...
(''abhisheka'') of
Ashoka
Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
(268 BCE according to modern scholarship) to 218 years after the ''parinibbana''.
ascended the throne 56 years prior to this, or 162 years after the ''parinibbana''. The approximate date of Chandragupta's ascension is within two years of 321 BCE (from
Megasthenes
Megasthenes ( ; , died 290 BCE) was an ancient Greek historian, indologist, diplomat, ethnographer and explorer in the Hellenistic period. He described India in his book '' Indica'', which is now lost, but has been partially reconstructe ...
). Hence the approximate date according to the Mahavamsa of the ''parinibbana'' is between 485 and 481 BCE.
According to Geiger, the difference between the two reckonings seems to have occurred at sometime between the reigns of Udaya III (946–954 or 1007–1015) and Pârakkama Pandya (c. 1046–1048), when there was considerable unrest in the country.
However, mention is made of an embassy sent to China by ''Cha-cha Mo-ho-nan'' in 428. The name may correspond to 'Raja (King) Mahanama', who (by the traditional chronology) reigned about this time.
Furthermore, the traveller-monk
Xuanzang
Xuanzang (; ; 6 April 6025 February 664), born Chen Hui or Chen Yi (), also known by his Sanskrit Dharma name Mokṣadeva, was a 7th-century Chinese Bhikkhu, Buddhist monk, scholar, traveller, and translator. He is known for the epoch-making ...
, who attempted to visit Sri Lanka about 642, was told by Sri Lankan monks (possibly at
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...
) that there was trouble in the kingdom, so he desisted; this accords with the period of struggle for the throne between Aggabodhi III Sirisanghabo, Jettha Tissa III and Dathopa Tissa I Hatthadpath in 632–643.
Recent
indological research has indicated that the Parinibbana of the Buddha may be even later than previously supposed. A majority of the scholars at a symposium held in 1988 in
Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
regarding the problem were inclined towards a date of 440–360 BCE. However, the Theravada Buddhist canon was first put into writing in Sri Lanka, and the chronology of the following list is based on the traditional Therevada/Sri Lankan system, which is based on a parinibbana date of 543 BCE, sixty years earlier than the Mahayana calendar. Dates after c. 1048 are synchronous.
The
Mahavamsa was complied nearly a millennium after the purported date of
Vijaya's arrival, and the traditional chronology and relationships of the earliest kings have been called into question by some scholars.
[W. D. J. Benilie Priyanka Emmanuel, ''Civilization in its Own Words: Inscriptions and Archaeology in Ancient Sri Lanka'', University of California, PhD, 2000 p.42] Referring to the period following
Devanampiya Tissa
Tissa, later Devanampiya Tissa (, ), also known as Devanape Tis (, ), was one of the earliest kings of Sri Lanka based at the ancient capital of Anuradhapura. According to the traditional chronology, he ruled from 307 BC to 267 BC, bu ...
's rule, archaeologist W. D. J. Benilie Priyanka Emmanuel states:
Kingdom of Tambapanni (543–437 BCE)
House of Vijaya (543–437 BCE)
Anuradhapura Kingdom (437 BCE–1017 CE)
House of Vijaya (437–237 BCE)
Sena and Guttika (237–215 BCE)
House of Vijaya (215–205 BCE)
Elara (205–161 BCE)
House of Vijaya (161–103 BCE)
The Five Dravidans (103–89 BCE)
House of Vijaya (89 BCE – 67 CE)
House of Lambakanna I (67–429)
The Six Dravidians (429–455)
House of Moriya (455–691)
House of Lambakanna II (691–1017)
Chola-occupied Anuradhapura (1017–1055)
Kingdom of Polonnaruwa (1055–1236)
House of Vijayabahu (1055–1187)
House of Kalinga (1187–1197)
House of Vijayabahu, restored (1197–1200)
House of Kalinga, restored (1200–1209)
House of Vijayabahu, restored (1209–1210)
Lokissara (1210–1211)
House of Vijayabahu, restored (1211–1212)
Pandyan dynasty (1212–1215)
Eastern Ganga dynasty (1215–1236)
After Kalinga Magha invaded, with the intent of ruling the whole island, the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa was sacked. This caused massive Sinhalese migration to the south and west of the island. Unable to capture the whole island Kalinga Magha establishes the
Jaffna kingdom
The Jaffna kingdom (, ; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally t ...
becoming its first
monarch
A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. Life tenure, for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest ...
. The
Jaffna kingdom
The Jaffna kingdom (, ; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally t ...
is situated in modern northern Sri Lanka while the
Kingdom of Dambadeniya
The Kingdom of Dambadeniya was a medieval kingdom in what is present-day Sri Lanka. The kingdom's rulers reigned from 1220–1345.
States and territories disestablished in 1345
History Founding
The first king to choose Dambadeniya as his ca ...
was established by
Vijayabahu III
Vijayabahu III was the first King of Dambadeniya, who ruled from 1232- 1236. He was a member of the Sinhala Royal Family who began the Siri Sanga Bo dynasty, he was succeeded by his son Parakkamabahu II. Before he became the king of Dambadeniya, ...
on the rest of the island in around 1220.
Kingdom of Dambadeniya (1220–1345)
House of Siri Sanga Bo (1220–1345)
Kingdom of Gampola (1345–1412)
House of Siri Sanga Bo (1345–1412)
Kingdom of Kotte (1412–1597)
House of Siri Sanga Bo (1412–1597)
Kingdom of Sitawaka (1521–1594)
House of Siri Sanga Bo (1521–1594)
Kingdom of Kandy (1469–1815)
House of Siri Sanga Bo (1469–1592)
House of Dinajara (1591–1739)
Nayaks of Kandy (1739–1815)
Timeline
Notes
References
Further reading
Primary sources
*
*
*
*
*
Secondary sources
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Lakdiva, List of sovereigns of LankaThe Mahavamsa History of Sri Lanka
{{Sri Lanka topics
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
Monarchs
A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority an ...
Monarchs
A monarch () is a head of stateWebster's II New College Dictionary. "Monarch". Houghton Mifflin. Boston. 2001. p. 707. for life or until abdication, and therefore the head of state of a monarchy. A monarch may exercise the highest authority an ...