Kitti Sri Megha, Prince of Dakkinadesa
Kitti Sri Megha (died 1140), also referred to as Kittisrimegha, was a medieval king of the principality of
In his later years he adopted and borough up his nephew, the future king of Sri Lanka,
Background
Following the death of King
Realizing Vickramabahu posed a threat to them, Manabharana and Jayabahu set out to kill Vickramabahu. Kitti Sri Megha, Mahabharana's brother joined them in the battle against Vickramabahu, who was at the time ruler of the principality of
Accession to the throne
Defeated, Mahabharana and his brothers shared the rest of the country amongst themselves. Mahabharana became king of the Dakkhinadesa principality, while Kitti Sri Megha became king of Dolosdahasrata, which consisted of parts of the southern principality of Ruhuna west of the
A year later the three brothers attempted to launch an invasion of Rajarata and depose Vickramabahu. On hearing their plans, Vickramabahu marched into Dakkhinadesa and achieved a sweeping victory, after which the brothers ceased organising hostilities against Vickramabahu.
Later years
Soon after the birth of his son Parakramabahu, Manabharana died around 1025 CE. After his death Kitti Sri Megha took over Dakkinadesa, while Siri Vallabha assumed control over the whole of Ruhuha. Vickramabahu died in 1131, and was succeeded by his son Gajabahu II. Eager to take advantage of the inexperienced of the new king of Rajarata, the two brothers attacked Gajabahu immediately after his accession to the throne. They were however defeated, and neither of them would try to conquer Rajarata again.
Kitti Sri Megha had no sons of his own, so he essentially adopted his nephew Parakramabahu. There was however a dispute between the two when Parakramabahu, aged fifteen at the time, traveled to the court of Gajabahu in Polonnaruwa against the wishes of his uncle. He did return to Dakkinadesa, shortly before the death of Kitti Sri Megha. Parakramabahu succeeded him as ruler of Dakkanadesa.
Rulers of Sri Lanka from 1090-1185 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Kingdom | Monarch | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1090 | 1100 | 1110 | 1120 | 1130 | 1140 | 1150 | 1160 | 1170 | 1180 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rajarata | Vikramabâhu I | Gajabâhu II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dakkinadesa | Vijayabâhu I | Manabharana | Kitti Sri Megha | Parâkramabâhu I | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Ruhuna | Sri Vallabha & Kitti Sri Megha | Sri Vallabha | Manabharana |
See also
- History of Sri Lanka
- Polonnaruwa Kingdom
References
- Paranavitana, Senarat; Nicholas, Cyril Wace (1961). A Concise History of Ceylon. Colombo: Ceylon University Press. OCLC 465385.
- JSTOR 2053272.