Anuradhapura invasion of Pandya

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The siege of Madurai in 862 was a pivotal moment in the history of the Pandya Empire, with differing accounts regarding its outcome.This was a part of

As the 9th century progressed, Pandyas were drawn into war with the neighbouring

The Lankan sources and Pandyan sources vary each other. According to the K. A Nilakanta Sastry Pandyan sources are reliable. He mentions in his book named 'Pandyan Kingdom' that "The Pandyan side of the evidence makes the ruling king successful in repelling a Maya Pandya and thus keeping his throne to himself at the end of the struggle , the Ceylon account makes out a disaster of the first magnitude to the Pandyan kingdom from the story of the counter-invasion undertaken by Sena partly in support of the Pandya prince There is no possibility of reconciling these accounts , one of them must be rejected as untrustworthy Now, on the face of it, it seems impossible to suppose that such a serious disaster befell the Pandya power in the reign of Srimara and that the Sinnamanur plates suppressed the truth or deliberately gave a false account of the reign. On the other hand, the Mahavamsa is a highly embellished and poetic account of the history of Ceylon. And one cannot help feeling that in this chapter of the Mahavamsa some transactions belonging to a later age (twelfth century A D.) have been repeated perhaps to take off the edge from the story of the conquest of Ceylon by the Pandya king, narrated a little earlier. When we come to the Pandyan civil wars of the twelfth century in which Ceylonese kings often interfered, we shall see that the Mahavamsa persistently colours the account favourably to the Ceylonese kings and commanders Our conclusion, therefore, is that Srimara did carry out a successful raid against Ceylon and that he repulsed the attempt at retaliation.[1]

According to the Lankan Sources, By 862, Sena II had formed a powerful naval fleet and a grand coalition, which set upon the Pandyan lands by landing at their southern coasts while the Pandyans were concentrating in the north.

Varagunavarman II was crowned as king of Pandya by Kuttaka. After touring the Pandya country, Kuttaka returned to Anuradhapura with the treasure of Madurai.[4]