Chola conquest of Anuradhapura
Chola conquest of Anuradhapura | |||||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||||
Chola Empire |
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
(992–993 CE) Rajaraja Chola I (King)
Rajendra Chola I (prince)
(1017 CE) Rajendra Chola I (king)
Sanga varma chola (prince) (1042 CE) Sanga varma chola (Lanka chieftain) |
(992–993 CE) Mahinda V (POW )(1017 CE) (1042 CE) Kassapa VI †Disposed Pandyan Princes † | ||||||||
Units involved | |||||||||
Chola Navy Chola Army |
Anuradhapura Army Pandyan Auxiliaries[citation needed] | ||||||||
Strength | |||||||||
95,000[4] | Unknown | ||||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||||
Unknown | Many Soldiers and Large number of Sinhalese civilians died |
History of Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||
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The Chola conquest of Anuradhapura was a military invasion of the
History
Background
Military expeditions from South Indian forces into Anuradhapura had been brief ad hoc up until the mid-tenth century. These were designed to facilitate short-term gains with minimal involvement followed by a withdrawal to the mainland. However, with the ascension of more ambitious and aggressive imperial Chola kings, Rajaraja I (985–1014) and his son Rajendra I (1012–1044), a new strategy of ruthless plunder and destruction of major political and religious centers on the island occurred, followed by the establishment of semi-permanent and fortified encampments, from where wide-ranging raids could be carried out in other parts of the island.[10]
Fall of Anuradhapura
The tirumagal inscription of
"Rama built with the aid of monkeys, a causeway across the sea, and then with great difficulties defeated the king of Lanka by means of sharp edged arrows. But Rama was excelled by this king whose powerful army crossed the ocean by ships and burnt up the king of Lanka."
— Thiruvalangadu Copper Plates[13]
A partial consolidation of Chola power in
Resistance
In 1029, Eleven years after the Chola conquest of Rohana, Prince Kassapa, son of Mahinda, hid in Rohana, where Chola forces vainly searched for him. Soon after the death of his father Kassapa assumed the monarchy as Kassapa VI (also known as Vikramabahu) and "ruled" in Rohana for several years (c. 1029–1040) while attempting to organize a campaign of liberation and unification. He became the king of Rohana after 11 years of Chola rule in Rohana. But he died before he could consolidate his power, and a series of ephemeral aspirants to the throne subsequently appeared and disappeared in Rohana without dislodging the Cholas from the north.[18] Kassapa VI's mysterious death in 1040, however, brought an end to the war. His successor Mahalana-Kitti (1040–1042) tried to lead an unsuccessful revolt against the Cholas
Vijayabahu I (1039–1110), descended from or at least claimed to be descended from the Sinhalese royal house. He had defeated his most powerful rivals in Rohana and was anxious to take on the Cholas, by the age of seventeen.[18] The crisis in the country left a scattering of turbulent chiefs and intractable rebels whose allegiance, if any, was at best opportunistic which proved a problem to both sides in the conflict, frustrating both the Sinhalese kings and the Cholas. Vijayabahu, from his base in Rohana, faced a similar difficulty; he had to contend with the hostility of local chiefs who regarded him as a greater threat to their independence than the Cholas were.
For that reason, the Cholas occasionally succeeded in recruiting nominal support from rebel chiefs in Rohana, as a result, Vijayabahu had difficulty consolidating a firm territorial base from which to launch a decisive campaign against the Cholas. On the other hand, the Cholas were unable to eliminate similar opposition to themselves in the north. Gradually the wider conflict developed into a prolonged, back-and-forth struggle of raids and counter-raids, with the forces of Vijayabahu advancing upon Polonnaruva and then falling back to fortresses in Dakkhinadesa and Rohana to withstand retaliatory Chola attacks and sieges.[18]
With time on the side of the insurgent forces, The Chola's determination began to gradually falter. Vijayabahu possessed strategic advantages, even without a unified "national" force behind him. A prolonged war of attrition was of greater benefit to the Sinhalese than to the Cholas. After the accession of
Vijayabahu eventually launched a successful two-pronged attack upon Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva, when he could finally establish a firm base in southern Sri Lanka. Anuradhapura quickly fell and Polonnaruva was captured after a prolonged siege of the isolated Chola forces.[18] Virarajendra Chola was forced to dispatch an expedition from the mainland to recapture the settlements in the north and carry the attack back into Rohana, in order to stave off total defeat.
In the battles that ensued, two powerful Sinhalese chiefs, Ravideva and Cala, crossed over with their men from Vijayabahu's side to the Chola commander. One of Vijayabahu's Tamil commanders, Kurukulattaraiyan, a Tamil Karaiyar chieftain, fell in battle.[19] What had begun as a profitable incursion and occupation was now deteriorating into desperate attempts to retain a foothold in the north. After a further series of indecisive clashes, the occupation finally ended in the withdrawal of the Cholas.
End of occupation
In 1070, when Kulottunga I (1070–1122) came to the Chola throne, after a period of political crisis at the Chola court, he initially concentrated on consolidating his authority in India. His most pressing task was to defend the Chola territories against the inroads of the Western Chalukya Empire. All this meant that the defence of Sri Lanka was given a low priority.[19]
The conquest of the Sinhalese kingdom had been associated with his three immediate predecessors (Rajendra Chola I, Rajendra Chola II, and Virarajendra Chola, all sons of Rajaraja I), no longer seemed to be worthwhile. Kulottunga had less personal prestige involved in the conquest, so he simply terminated it with little attempt to recoup Chola losses.[20]
Vijayabahu attacked and captured Pulatthinagara and drove the Cholas out of the city. Kulottunga sent a large army that engaged Vijayabahu in a pitched battle near Anuradhapura. The Cholas initially succeeded in driving Vijayabahu to seek refuge in Vatagiri but Vijayabahu took Mahanagakula on the Walaweganga and conducted his resistance from there. Pulatthinagara and Anuradhapura fell to Vijayabahu and Mahatittha were soon occupied.Although it would be more dramatic to picture Vijayabahu finally driving the Cholas into the sea, the occupation actually ended in Chola withdrawal after a further series of indecisive clashes.[20] Having liberated the whole of Sri Lanka from Chola rule, Vijayabahu crowned himself king of Polonnaruwa in 1076–77.
Legacy
The Chola conquest had one permanent result, the kingdom of Anuradhapura, which lasted for over a millennium, was destroyed by the Cholas. Polonnaruwa, a military outpost of the Sinhalese kingdom,[note 1] was renamed Jananathamangalam, after a title assumed by Rajaraja I, and become the new center of administration for the Cholas. This was because earlier Tamil invaders had only aimed at overlordship of Rajarata in the north, but the Cholas were bent on control of the whole island. When Sinhalese sovereignty was restored under Vijayabahu I, he crowned himself at Anuradhapura but continued to have his capital at Polonnaruwa for it being more central and made the task of controlling the turbulent province of Rohana much easier.[6]
See also
- Sinhalese Revolt (1055 - 1070)
- 1215 invasion of Polonnaruwa
- Pandyan Civil War (1169–1177)
- Anuradhapura invasion of Pandya
Notes
- ^ as noted by its native name of Ballot Nuvara (the camp city)
References
Citations
- ^ Spencer 1976, p. 411
- ^ The Jungle Tide:“Collapse” in Early Mediaeval Sri Lanka STRICKLAND, KEIR ,MAGALIE (2011) The Jungle Tide: “Collapse” in Early Mediaeval Sri Lanka. Doctoral thesis, Durham University. P.331 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/893/
- ^ Sastri 2000, p. 199-200.
- ISBN 9781317321279.
- ^
- ^ a b c Sastri 2000, p. 172–173.
- ^ Chattopadhyaya 1994, p. 7–9.
- ^ Kulke, Kesavapany & Sakhuja 2009, p. 195–.
- ^ Gunawardena 2005, p. 71–.
- ^ a b Spencer 1976, p. 409.
- ^ Spencer 1976, p. 411.
- ^ Sastri 2000, p. 173.
- ^ a b Dehejia 1990, p. 51.
- ^ a b Spencer 1976, p. 416.
- ^ Spencer 1976, pp. 416–417: "Under Rajendra Chola 1, perhaps the most aggressive king of his line, Chola raids were launched southward from Rajarata to Rohana. By his fifth year, Rajendra claimed to have completely conquered Ceylon, a claim that has led some historians to assert that Rajendra" completed "the conquest Rajaraja had begun" "But the Cholas never really consolidated their control over southern Ceylon, which in any case lacked large and prosperous settlements to tempt long-term Chola occupation." "Kassapa assumed the title of VikkamabahuI and ruled" in Rohana for several years(c. I029-Io4I)."
- ^ a b Sastri 2000, p. 199–200.
- ^ Sastri 2000, p. 200.
- ^ a b c d e Spencer 1976, p. 417.
- ^ ISBN 0-646-42546-3. p. 249
- ^ a b Spencer 1976, p. 418.
Bibliography
- Codrington, H (1994). A short history of Ceylon. New Delhi, Madras, India: Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0946-8.
- De Silva, K. M. (2014). A history of Sri Lanka ([Revised.] ed.). Colombo: Vijitha Yapa Publications. ISBN 978-955-8095-92-8.
- Dehejia, Vidya (18 October 1990). Art of the Imperial Cholas. Columbia University Press. ISBN 978-0-231-51524-5.
- Kulke, Hermann; Kesavapany, K; Sakhuja, Vijay (2009). Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia. Singapore: Institute of Southeast Asian Studies. pp. 195–. ISBN 978-981-230-937-2.
- Chattopadhyaya, Haraprasad (1994). Ethnic Unrest in Modern Sri Lanka: An Account of Tamil-Sinhalese Race Relations. New Delhi: MD publications Pvt Limited.
- Gunawardena, Charles A. (2005). Encyclopedia of Sri Lanka. Sterling Publishers Pvt. Ltd. pp. 71–. ISBN 978-1-932705-48-5.
- Sastri, K. A (2000) [1935]. The CōĻas. Madras: University of Madras.
- Spencer, George W. (May 1976). "The Politics of Plunder: The Cholas in Eleventh-Century Ceylon". The Journal of Asian Studies. 35 (3): 405–419. S2CID 154741845.