Aryacakravarti dynasty

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Arya Chakravarti
Jaffna Kingdom
TitlesCinkaiariyan, Cetukavalan, Kangkaiariyarkoon
Estate(s)Jaffna Kingdom
Dissolution1619
Cadet branchesNone

The Arya Chakravarti dynasty (

Ramanathapuram District of India.[1] They ruled the Jaffna kingdom from the 13th until the 17th century, when the last of the dynasty, Cankili II, was ousted by the Portuguese
.

Theories of origin

The origins of the Aryacakravarti are claimed in contemporary court chronicles; modern historians offer some competing theories.

Pandyan feudatory family

Pandyan tribute-paying territories circa 1250, include what eventually became the Jaffna kingdom in Sri Lanka

From the thirteenth-century inscriptions commemorating dignitaries calling themselves Aryacakravartis in present-day

Jaffna Kingdom claimed the title Sethukavalar meaning "the guardian of Cetu".[3]

Furthermore, the title Cakravarti seem to have been commonly used in the Pandyan kingdom as a

Maravarman Kulasekaran in Ramanthapuram.[3]

Some of the dignitaries noted in the inscriptions are one Devar Arayacakravarti, Alakan Arayacakravarti, Minatungan Arayacakravarti and Iraman Arayacakravarti of whom Devar Arayacakravarti has at least two known inscriptions of which one at Sovapuri in Ramanathapuram in 1272 is the earliest. He caused a second inscription (1305) in Tirupulani in Ramanathapuram to be engraved thus indicating he was a minister or a feudatory. Notably the inscriptions also had the epithet Sethumukam signifying "in the order of Sethu."[2]

According to a

Culavamsa, a warlord or minister named Aryacakravarti invaded the Sinhalese capital of Yapahuwa on behalf of the Pandyan king Maaravarman Kulasekaran between the years 1277–1283 and took the politically significant Buddha's tooth relic.[6][7]

Brahmins from Rameswaram

See also:
Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram
Pasupata sect from this temple[8]

The Cekaracecekaramalai written during the Aryacakravarti rule in Jaffna asserts that the direct ancestors of the Kings belonged to a group of 512 Ariyar (a

Hoysala and Karnataka.[9][10]

During

Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan's rule the Pandyas overwhelmed their Hoysala enemies and killed the Hoysala monarch Vira Someshwara in 1254.[11]

A study of their epithets, such as Teevaiyarkoon ("King of Teevai"), Kantamalayaariyarkoon ("Ariyan King of Kantamalai") and Ceetukaavalan ("Protector of Cetu") confirms their connections to Rameswaram Hindu temple, as Teevai,

Cetu and Kantamalai are all names for the same location: Rameswaram.[11]

Ganga dynasty

Main article:
Eastern Ganga Dynasty

In the opinion of Rasanayagam Mudaliar

Royal flag of the Jaffna kingdom is similar to the Royal insignia of the Eastern Gangas. Gangas themselves also claimed Brahmin origins. The Setu coins minted by the Aryacakravarti kings also have a similar symbol.[13]

Swami Gnanapragasar believes that the first Ariyacakravarti also called Cinkaiariyan (Ariyan from

Tamil lands after their defeat by the Chola Empire around the year 1000 and interpret them simply as reflecting a claim of origin from the Hindu holy city of Varanasi on the banks of the holiest river Ganges.[9][15]

Javaka-Kalinga invaders

Main article:
Indianized kingdom
Buddhist stupa Chedi Phrae Boromadhatu built by Chandrabhanu of the Padmavamsa lineage in Tambralinga (now Thailand
)

S. Paranavitana offered a novel surmise explaining the origins of the Ariyacakravarti. According to him the Aryacakravarti are descendants of

Javaka connection to the Aryacakravartis.[20][21]

Other sources

Contemporary chronicles

The earliest local Tamil chronicles on Jaffna Kingdom were composed in the Middle Ages. A prose work,Yalpana Vaipava Malai, compiled by poet Mayilvakana Pulavar in 1736, cites four earlier writings such as Kailaya Malai, Vaiya Padal, Pararasasekaran Ula and Rasamurai as its source. Of which Rasamurai (or list of kings) has not been found and all what we know about is through Yalpana Vaipava Malai. These, composed not earlier than the 14th century, contain folkloric legends mixed with historical anecdotes. But an astrological work, Cekarasacekara Malai, written during the rule of Cekarasacekaran V (1410–1440)[22] by Soma Sarman has verifiable historical information and has been used extensively by historians from Humphrey Coddrington to S. Pathmanathan to reconstruct the kingdom's early history.[23]

The Sinhalese chronicles, such as Culavamsa, Rajavaliya and a number of Sandesya chronicles, such as Kokila Sandesaya and Selalihini Sandesaya, have valuable information on the early and middle period of the kingdom, its activities and its eventual occupation by the rival

Pandyan Kingdom.[24]
The Rajavaliya a
Udarata and southern lowlands.[25]

The conquest by a certain

Nallur
("Beautiful City") in the North of Sri Lanka.

Beloved Kokila, wing the way to Yapa Patuna. Our Prince Sapumal has driven away from there King Arya Chakravarti, and has established himself in war-like might. To him, I offer this message. Arya Chakravarti beheld his glory, dazzling as the glory of the sun. He beheld his might which was poised throughout the eighteen ratas. Thereupon grief entered into his heart, he abandoned his realm and fled beyond the sea.[26]

Inscriptions

Lahugala

Parakramabahu V (1344–59) a king of Gampola who ruled from Dedigama retreated to the southeast of the island, to a place called Magul Maha Viharaya in the Ampara District after a confrontation with the Aryacakravarti. This is evident from inscriptions in a place called Lahugala.[27]

Medawela

The

bo-tree at Medawala in Harispattuva reveal that Martanda Cinkaiariyan appointed tax collectors to collect taxes from the villages belonging to the Gampola kingdom.[28]

Kotagama

The

paleographic analysis of the style of letters used. If this late date is to be accepted then this inscription stands in contrast to generally accepted theory based on Sinhalese literature that Alagakkonara the local chieftain who confronted the Aryacakravarti kings in 1391 was victorious in his effort.[29][31]

Rameswaram temple

Hindu temple Rameswaram about renovating its sanctum sanctorum. It indicated that the stones for the renovations were shipped from the city of Trincomalee in present-day eastern Sri Lanka. This inscription was destroyed in 1866.[32]

Tenkasi Ten

The Tenkasi Ten inscription of Arikesari Parakrama Pandya of

Cinkainakar being the capital of Arayacakravartis and Anurai the name for any Sinhalese capital; it is dated between 1449/50 and 1453/54.[33]

Travelogues

Singai Parasasekaran, his sons Pandaram, Paranirupsingan and Cankili I
Marco Polo

Franciscan missionary, traveller and statesman. He wrote in December 1291 (or 1292), the earliest noteworthy account of the Coromandel coast furnished by any Western European. According to him, he saw the wreckage of sixty seagoing vessels in the general area of Jaffna.[36]

Ibn Batuta

Palk Straights and had trading links with countries as far as Yemen. The monarch also spoke Persian and was located in the western coastal area of the island, in Puttalam region. He was also noted as receiving tribute of cinnamon from other southern rulers.[38]

Giovanni de Marignolli

Giovanni de' Marignolli, a notable traveller to the Far East in the 14th century, came to Sri Lanka sometimes between 1330 and 1350. He wrote in great detail about the country, its peoples and customs. According to him, the northern part of the island was ruled by a queen, with whom he had many audiences, who also lavished him with precious gifts. This queen is considered to be the mother of an Aryackaravarti and a regent who ruled on behalf of her young son. The so-called "Catalan Map" drawn in 1375 also indicates that northern Sri Lanka was ruled by a queen.[39] Before Marignolli, there was another traveler, Friar Ordrick, who landed in Jaffna in 1322; he also wrote about the prosperity of the kingdom. According him

"The gold, silver and pearls this king had in his possession cannot be found anywhere else in the world".[40]

Portuguese colonial documents

Jaffnapatae, and one of them married a daughter of the king; and finally her descendants became heirs to the Kingdom.[41]

This rendition is fraught with many errors but the basic story line seems to fit the modern consensus. Father Queroz's time line is also anachronistic. The Aryacakravarti dynasty came to power long before the ascendancy of the Madurai Nayaks as well as the Brahmins of Rameswaram had established a temple even longer before. Also the Gujarati origin of the Kings paternal line also in not in conformance with native claims of origin from the city of Varanasi which is in today's Uttar Pradesh not in the historical Gujarat.[42]

Current consensus

The current consensus held by historians such as S. Pathmanathan, Patrick Peebles and K.M. de Silva is that the Aryacakravartis were a Pandyan feudatory family that took power after the chaos created by the invasions of Kalinga Magha and Chandrabhanu. That the family was connected to the Ramanathapuram Hindu temple and was of Tamil Brahmin origin. It may have married into the family of Eastern Gangas or even for that matter the Chandrabanu's successors, but the direct undeniable evidence for it is lacking. The influence of Eastern gangas in its royal flag and the coins is indisputable. Kulingai Cakravarti mentioned by the Tamil chronicles of the Kingdom may have been Kalingha Magha.[43][44][45][46][47]

Notes

  1. ^ a b Pathamanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, p. 9
  2. ^ a b Pathmanathan, Subramanium (1978). The Kingdom of Jaffna (in Tamil). M. Rajendran. p. 11. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  3. ^
    ISBN 978-0822349822
    .
  4. ^ Pathmanathan, Subramanium (1978). The Kingdom of Jaffna (in Tamil). M. Rajendran. pp. 11–13. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 November 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2020.
  5. ^ "Salem District, Namakkal Taluk, Namakkal. Narasimha-Perumal Temple – In The Underground Cellar, Near The Entrance Into The Central Shrine (A.R. No. 11 of 1906)". South Indian Inscriptions. Retrieved 17 March 2008.
  6. ^ Kunarasa,The Jaffna Dynasty, p. 66
  7. ^ Gnanaprakasar, A Critical History of Jaffna, p. 83
  8. ^ Gnanaprakasar, S. A critical history of Jaffna, p. 84
  9. ^ a b c d Pathamanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, pp. 4–5
  10. ^ Kamath, A concise history of Karnataka : from pre-historic times to the present, p. 118
  11. ^ a b Pathamanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, p. 15
  12. ^ Rasanayagam, M., Ancient Jaffna, pp. 303–304
  13. ^ Perera, H., Ceylon & Indian History from Early Times to 1505 A.D., p. 353; Coddrington, H., Ceylon Coins and Currency, pp. 74–75
  14. ^ Spence, Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict, p. 116
  15. ^ Kamath, A concise history of Karnataka: from pre-historic times to the present, p. 118
  16. ^ Malays and all South East Asians are knows an Javakas or "Javanese" in Indic literature.
  17. ^ Paranavitana, Senarat. "The Aryan Kingdom in North Ceylon". Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. II: 174–224.
  18. ^ Sastry, K.A. Nilakanta. "Ceylon and Sri Vijaya". Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. VIII: 125–140.
  19. ^ Damais, Luis Charles. "transcription Chinoise- Ho -ling comme designation de Java". Bulletin de l'École Française d'Extrême-Orient. III: 93–141.
  20. ^ Pathamanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, pp. 5–8
  21. ^ Liyanage, The Decline of Polonnaruwa and the rise of Dambadeniya, p. 136; Recuil des Inscriptions du Siam II, 26, tr. 27.
  22. ^ The throne name of Gunaveera Cinkaiariyan.
  23. ^ Gnanaprakasar, A Critical History of Jaffna, p.#; Pathmanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, pp. 14–16
  24. ^ Pathmanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, p. 8
  25. ^ de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p. 136; "Looking anew at Kandyan combat strategies". Betty Weerakoon. Archived from the original on 5 June 2011. Retrieved 2 December 2008.
  26. ^ "Buddhist Jaffna". Archived from the original on 19 July 2011. Retrieved 4 January 2008.
  27. ^ Holt, Buddha in the Crown: Avalokitesvara in the Buddhist Traditions of Sri Lanka, p. 102
  28. ^ de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p. 136
  29. ^ a b Rasanayagm, Ancient Jaffna, p. 364
  30. ^ Coddrington, Short history of Ceylon, p. 89
  31. ^ Coddrington, K. Ceylon coins and currency, pp. 74–76; "From Devundera to Dedigama". S. Pathiravithana. Archived from the original on 6 November 2007. Retrieved 19 November 2007.
  32. ^ Gnanaprakasar, A Critical History of Jaffna, pp. 99–102; Kunarasa, The Jaffna Dynasty, pp. 67–68
  33. ^ "The Kotte Dynasty and its Portuguese allies". Humphry Coddrington. Archived from the original on 10 December 2007. Retrieved 3 January 2008.
  34. ^ Gnaprakasar, A critical history of Jaffna, p. 84
  35. ^ Nadarajan, History of Sri Lanka, p. 75
  36. ^ Natarajan, History of Ceylon Tamils, p. 76
  37. ISBN 0-520-24385-4
    .
  38. ^ Gnanaprakasar, A Critical history of Jaffna, pp. 85–88
  39. ^ Natarajan, History of Ceylon Tamils, pp. 78–79
  40. ^ Natarajan, History of Ceylon Tamils, p. 77
  41. ^ Fernao de Queyroz, The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon p. 48
  42. ^ Pathamanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, p. 10
  43. ^ Coddrington, Ceylon Coins and Currency, p. 74
  44. ^ Coddrington, Short history of Ceylon, pp. 91–92
  45. ^ Pathmanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna, pp. 1–13
  46. ^ de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p. 132
  47. ^ Peebles, The history of Sri Lanka, pp. 31–32

References

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