Sri Lanka Kandyan Sinhalese Fami

Sri Lanka Kandyan Sinhalese Family Genealogy

Pilimatalavuva - Family # 3146

(extracted from Ananda Pilimatalavuva’s book ‘The Pilimatalavuvas in the last days of the Kandyan Kingdom’)

Pandara Chakravarthi King Of Pandya Madura/Tanjore

1 Prince Sumedha (Kumaraya) alias Madurava Bandara aka Pilamatalawwe Maha Adikaram, + Anuhashamy d. of Dulleve,

Maha Vasala Lekam

Maha Gabada Nilame 1723-1732

[1. sister Kaushalya married Tikiri Bandara of Nuvaraveva]

[1. sister Supana married Mampitiya Bandara]

2 Pilimatalavuva Arava Tikiribandara alias Pilinatalavuva Vijesundara Rajakaruna, Prime Minister of the Royal Kandy Court 1742-1761

+ Mayadunne Kumarihamy

Maha Adikaram I

Disava Sath Korale 1766; Disava Sathara Korale 1765-1767

Udugampahe Maha Adikaram (Twice) 1738-1762

Pallegampahe Maha Adikaram Twice) 1765-1773

Built Asigiri Parana Vihare 1766

Died around 1783

[2. sister married Levuke]

[2. sister married Urulevatte]

[2. sister married Kempitiya]

[2. sister married Unambuva]

[2. sister married Ratvatta]

[2. sister married Kappitipola]

3 Pilimatalavuva Manike + Gola Hela alias Kappitipola Diyawadana Nilame (Gola Hela alias Keppetipola Diyawadana Nilame, Trustee Temple of the Sacred

Tooth of the Buddha, son of Kapitipola alias Monaravila Disava (Government Agent) of Uva. He was executed in 1818 + Monaravila Manike ……….. daughter

Delvala Kumarihamy. She was the 2^nd wife of EHELAPOLA Adikaram)

4 Kapitipola Menike alias Dodantale Mahatmayo (executed in 1814) + Ehelapola Adikaram (first Marriage)

3 Pilimatalavuva Vijesundara Mudiyanse

Maha Adikaram II

Disava Sathara Korale 1767-1768

Disava Thun Korale 1768

Disava Sath Korale 1769 – 1778-84

Udugampahe Maha Adikaram 1773-1778

Pallegampahe Maha Adikaram 1778-1789

3 Pilimatalavuva Vijesundara Rajakaruna Seneviratne Abhayakoon Panditha Mudiyanse alias Urulevatta Agra Senadhipathi alias Arave, executed in 1811

+ Dodanwela

Maha Adikaram III

Basanayaka Nilame-Maha Devale &alavatugoda Devale

Disava (many areas eg. Matale, Puttalam. Etc.)

Maha Disava- Sath Korale

(need to add lots of info here) Executed 1811

Wives: 1. Maralanda Kumarihamy

**2. Dodanvala Kumarihamy daughter of Junior Adikaram

Children : 4 Pilimatalavuva Loku Manike

Husbands: (i). Meegastenne alias Dumbara died 1808 Minister of the Royal Kandyan Court

(ii). Ehelapola Adikaram died 1829. Minister of the Royal Kandyan Court

4 Pilimatalavuva Manike + Ratvatta Devamedde Nilame, Executed in 1811

(Exec 1811).

4 Pilimatalavuva Vijesumdara Rajapakse Bandaranayaka Mudiyanse (Junior) +

Disava Udunuvara 1804

(need to add lots of info here) Signed Convention 1815

Diyawadana Nilame 1810-1818

Government Agent & Trustee of the Temple of the Sacred Tooth of the Buddha

Banished to Mauritius by the British Government in 1820

Returned and died 1833

Wives: 1. Molligoda Loku Kumarihamy Sister of Molligoda Adikaram

2. Maralanda Tikiri Kumarihamy

3 Pilimatalavuva Vijesumdara Rajapakse Panditha Vasala Mudiyanse-Disava + Kotuvagedara Loku Kumarihamy

Alias Kapuvatta Disava

Disava Thun Korale 1758-1761

Disava Matale 1762-1764

Disava Saparagamuva 1760-1766

Disava Gilmale Bambarabotuva, Patharata Bulathgama Panama

Nilame-Maha Aramudale & Haluvadana; Mohandiram-Maha Setapanage & Ranavuda Maduva; Diyadana Nilame – Sri Dalada Maligava;

Banished by the British Government to Batavia 1767. Died 1768 on return voyage.

4 Pilimatalavuva Aramudale + ??

Vannaku Dissave

5 Son (left Village)

5 Son (alias Diyakelinavela Nilame, alias Pilimatalavuva Madurava, Loku Banda of Medapalata Yatinuvara)

Married 1. Kahavatta Kumarihamy

6 Kahavatta Banda + Urulavatta Kumarihamy

6 Son

Married 2.) Urulavatta Kumarihamy

6 Pilimatalavuva Dingiri Kumarihamy + Mahakadavara Punchirala alias Duggannarallage.

7 Kiribanda

[2.) Urulavatta Kumarihamy 2^nd husband Vendarave Nekatkiyana Nilame

1. Loku Banda BN + Abayakoon Kumarihamy

2. Madurava Lekam + ??

3. MaduravaTikiri Banda BN

1. Maduma Banda

1. A Priest

1. Vedakankarana Nilame + ???

2. Giragama Tikiri Heeralu Banda (Giragama DN?)

4 Pilimatalavuva Vijesumdara Rajakaruna Navaratna Attanayake Bandaranayaka Mudiyanse Ralahamy alias Kapuvatta Wijesundera

Udugampahe Maha Adikaram

Saluvadana Nilame

Rajakaruna Navaratne Athanayaka Bandaranayake Mudiyanse 1799 - 1817

Disava Matale 1799-1810 Disava Vellassa 1810

Maha Disava Saparagamuva 1814-1817

2nd Adigar Disava & Diyavadana Nilame Sri Dalada Maligava

Deputy Prime Minister Royal Kandyan Court, Government Agent & Trustee Temple of the Sacred Tooth of the Buddha

Maha Gabada Nilame 1820-1824

Udugampahe Maha Adikaram 1805-1814, 1815-1818

Signed Convention 1815

His wives: (i). Udanvita Kumarihamy

5 Pilimatalavuva Tikiri Kumarihamy alias Kapuvatta Kumarihamy Younger (died aprox. 1884)

Her husbands 1. Mampitiya Disava

2. Angammana Basnayaka Nilame

3. Keppetipola Disava (adopted Angammana Kumarihamy)

His wives: (ii). Kapuvatta Kumarihamy?

(iii).Kapuvatta Kumarihamy daughter of Kapuvatte Diyawadana Nilame

(don’t know which one of the above… #2 or #3… is the mother of the following:)

5 Pilimatalavuva Vijesumdara Rajakaruna Navarathna Bandaranayaka Vassala Muditanse Ralahamy of Boange Palle Valauva

+ Kapuvatta Kuda Kumarihamy (She married 1.Mampitiye, 2.Angamanna Basnayake Nilame - Temple Trustee, & 3.Keppetipola. Keppetipola's

daughter was Angamanna Kumarihamy who married Godagamuwe alias Kosenne alias Ehelepola Nilame. Their children were Kobbewala Tikiri

Bandara - son, Urapola Tkiri Kumarihamy - daughter, Pilimatalawwe Tikiri Kumarihamy - daughter, Kapuwatte Tikiri Bandara -son who married

Keppetipola Loku Kumarihamy, and Angamanna Tikiri Bandara who married Galagoda Kumarihamy)

Disava of Saparagamuva

6 Boange Banda + Ambanwela Kumarihamy

7 Son

7 Kuda Kumarihamy + ???

8 Boange Palle Valavuve Banda

5 Pilimatalavuva Vijesumdara Rajakaruna Navarathna Bandaranayaka Vassala Mudiyanse Ralahamy + Daulagala Kumarihamy

Boange Uda Valauva

Mahalekam Mahathmaya

6 Boange Nilame + Moladande Kumarihamy

7 Pilimatalavuva Vijesumdara Rajakaruna Navaratna Bandaranayaka Mudiyanse Ralahamilage Boange Valauva Madduma Banda

+ Rambukwelle Kumarihamy

Peace Officer and Police Headman 1896-1901

Korala and Police Headman 1901-1903

8 Sara Mary Anne + Ellepola

8 Sudharma + Kadigamuva

8 Madduma Banda +Maralanda Kumarihamy

8 Prabavathy + Yatavara

8 Tikiri Banda + Rambukwella Kumarihamy

(where does this fit? Pilimatalavuva Nilame + Diyakelinavela Kumarihamy

- son Diyakelinavela RM (died in confinement 1818) + ???

- Giragama Basanayaka Nilame

- (nephew) Giragama Diva Nilame (Yatinuvara RM) + Wives :(i). Dehigama Kumarihamy

(ii). Pilimatalavuva Loku Kumarihamy

7 Boange Valauva Pilimatalavuva Vijesumdara Rajakaruna Navaratna Bandaranayaka Muditanse Ralahamilage Loku Banda alias

Pilimatalavuva Boange Uda Valavuve Loku Banda + Vattegama Gama Valauva Tikiri Kumarihamy

Lekam Mahathmaya of Embilmeegama (Registrar)

(Much to be added here……………….the descendants of last #7)

Another Branch: Dodanvala

….(also in The Four Kandyan families by Sunil J. Madugalle P.60/61 it says that this relative is a Descendant of Bhuwanayaka Bahu Panditha Mudiyanse ( who is a descendant/relative of King Bhuvanakabahu VI (or VII?) (info in Ehelapola Sanasa of 1745; Palkumbura Sanasa. A.C.Lawrie A Gazetteer of the Central Province of Ceylon. 1896 Pg. 200; pg.688)

1. Dodanvala Appuhamy + ??

2. Dodanvala Muhandiram Nilame alias Haluvadana Ralahamy + Imbulmalgama Kumarihamy

* 3. Dodanvala Vickremasinha Chandrasekera Karunatilaka Seneviratna Panditha Mudiyanse Ralahamy + Maralanda Kumarihamy

2^nd Adikaram 1741

Ratemahathmaya-Yatinuvara, Tambalagomuwa & Kottiar

Chief of Maha Madige & Palle….

Madige & of the nine Baddes

Disava – Matale & Tamankaduva – 1762

Maha Adikaram

4 Dodanwala Adikaram Junior + Urulevatta Kumarihamy *

Disava Saparagamuva

Ratemahathmaya Yatinuvara

Udugampah Adikaram

* 5 Pilimatalavuva Disava +

Haluvadana Nilame

Wives: 1. Hulangamuva Kumarihamy

2. Ehelapola Kumarihamy

5 Kora Banda +

Wives: 1. Dulleve Kumarihamy

2. Illavane Kumarihamy + (husband 2)

Nugavala Disava

**5 Dodanvala Kumarihamy + Pilimatalavuva Maha Adikaram (2^nd marriage) (he was executed 1811)

4 Dodanwela Saparagamuva Disava 1781 + ??

Ambassador to Batavia

5 Son Doluve RM

5 Daughter + Veragoda Nilame

5 Daughter + Iriyagama Nilame

Pilimatalavuva Maha Adikaram

http://www.lankalibrary.com/cul/pilima.htm

Chieftains of the Kandyan Kingdom "Although Kanda Uda Pas Rata or the city of Senkadagalapura was founded by Senasammata Vickramabahu (1469-1511) in the later phase of the fifteenth century, the real story of the Kandyan Kingdom opens with the absorption of the Kingdoms of Kotte and Sitavaka by the Portugese and the ascendancy of Vimala Dharma Suriya (1591-1604) in Kandy in about 1592.

After King Vimala Dharmasuiriya I (1591-1604), Senarath (1604-1635), Rajasimha II (1635-1687) and Vimala Dharmasuriya II (1687-1707), we come to Narendrasimha (1707-1739) popularly known as Kundasale Deviyo and fondly remembered as Sellan Nirindhu, the playful King. Keeping with immediate past practice he too married from South India and died without a royal heir. He had left a son Unambuva Bandara by a Kandyan concubine but jealousy and disunity among the ruling families prevented him from succeeding the throne. Narendrasimha anticipating such an eventuality, before his death nominated his brother-in-law a South Indian Vaduga of Nayakkar extraction to succeed him at the instance of his Mahesi Rammaloka the Adigar and Saranankara who had been his teacher and saw an ideal opportunity to promote Buddhism through him, even though it was something unprecedented in Simhale. Thus ended the long line of Sinhala Kings; and the later Kandyan story really begins with the advent of this Telugu Vaduga Nayakkar. Their dominance saw a regular influx of their relations into the court as aspirants to trusted office, inter marrying with the leading Kandyan (Radala) families and being absorbed by them and accepted by the people. "

" Next to the King, the last two Pillimatalavuvas, were the most dazzling personalities during the final years of the kindgdom. As 'King Maker' Pilimatalavuva Maha Adikaram III raised Kannasamy, an uneducated youth of about eighteen years to the Sinhalese Throne of Kandy in 1798, under the sonorous Sinhala name of 'Sri Wickrama Rajasimha', in the process over looking the more patent chance of Muttusamy, whom he imprisoned. But by Sinhala stand point both really had no such claim. Little did Pilimatalavuva suspect or realise at the time that this nominee whom he elevated to supreme power as King would very soon use that very power to have him beheaded.

Though the chieftains and the people did not approve of this awkward and unprecedented selection, none could exercise any retraint over this all powerful autocrat nor understand or appreciate his albeit noble objective underlying beneath this whole programme.

Outwardly, his act appeared treacherous, but just as all the citizens and Kandyan Courtiers lamented the tragedy of transferring the ancient Sinhalese Throne to the South Indian Vadugas, Pilimatamavuva too did not fail to realise this recurring tragedy. Therefore he intended quite manifestly to make a puppet of this youth on the Throne and to overthrow him at the earliest opportunity and rescue the Throne from an alien power, precisely as the historian Dr Covin R de Silva points out that "he aimed at the Throne himself intending thereby to expel the Nayakkaras and to re-establish a Sinhala Dynasty". "

Pilimatalavuva Maha Adikaram was the third son of a family of Kandyan Chieftain who descended from an old established family which served the Sinhalese Kings from ancient times on one side and revived and restored by the assimilation with Royal South Indian nobility who arrived in the Kandyan Kingdom during the reign of Sri Vira Parkrama Narendrasinha of Kundasale. His full name was Pilimatalavuva Vijesundera Rajakaruna Senaviratne Abhayakoon Panditha Mudiyanse alias Urulevatta Agra Senadhipathi alias Arave Pallegampaha Maha Adikaram III. His father and elder brother also served as Maha Adikaram before him.

He assumed office as second Adigar in 1787 and was elevated to the post of First Adigar of Pallegampaha Maha Adikaram in 1790 by King Rajadhi Rajasimha. On the death of this King he used his power and position to enthrone Sri Wickrema Rajasimha as King even though he was not in the line of succession with the patriotic motive of re-establishing a Sinhala dynasty later.

During the time of King Kirthi Sri Rajasimha he built the inner sanctuary of the Sri Dalada Maligawa which an invader had left in ashes, and then in 1801 built the Asgiri Aluth Vihare also known as Vijesunderamaya after him, close to the Parana Vihare (Meda Pansala) built by his father. He has been described as 'portly and well looking man of great power and intrigue by Robert Percival and by Tennent as 'One of the most illustrious nobles boasting their descent from the Royal line of Ceylon'.

Pilimatalavuva Maha Adikaram's commendable trait was his love for his country and his wish to have a Sinhala to rule over Sinhala. Although there were many of the Bandara Valiya suitable to occupy the throne, they all shared a failing in that no one would allow another to rise higher than himself.

This inherent jealousy among the aristocracy, and the fact that the Nayakkara dynasty under Kings Kirthi Sri Rjasimha and Rajadhi Rajasimha had identified themselves closely with Kandyan national interest and religion, skilfully blending the Nayakkar dynasty from the Kandyan background, had convinced him that no Kandyan Sinhala Radala could ascend the throne without outside assistance. Hence he adopted the next best strategy of placing his own man on the throne to await favourable circumstances to restore a Sinhala line. The thought was noble.

Pilimatalavuva the great Adigar was King Sri Wickrema's benefactor. The King in gratitude allowed him to exercise all powers of the throne for some time, while he retained only the pomp of regal office. In 1806 the Maha Adikaram successfully quelled an uprising over the payment of additional taxes.

The King was quite pleased over this situation. But this changed with the stories of the Adigars intrigues with the English Governor and his negotiations to dethrone him coming to his ears. Besides there were serious differences of opinion between them over Rajakariya labour and governance.

The King wanted to beautify the city with a lake and Pattirippuwa (Octagon) to be built by 'forced labour' while the Adigar and his Council saw no need for another lake unless it could be used to asweddumize more land for the people as they already had two lakes - the Bora Wewa and the Bogambara Wewa.

The King also entertained thought of shifting the Asgiriya and Malvatta monasteries from Kandy to Peradeniya on the outskirts of the city. The four Devales were also earmarked to be moved out of the city to enable him to transform the temple square into a palace yard and he was suspected of wanting to convert the government into a Hindu Saivite one based on the Laws of Manu in place of the Dasa Raja Dharma which Sinhala Buddhist Kings pledged to observe.

In addition to these, there were many more differences which grew wider between the King and the Adigar. These being the bringing in of Malabars at an average of about 70 per month from South India on the sly as immigrants to be trained as soldiers and the establishment of a harem with young girls also from South India who had not even attained age along with some girls drawn even form the Radala.

The King also adopted the strategy to weaken the authority of the Chieftains - a policy of divide and rule by splitting and dividing the Disavanies and appointing members of new families to these offices and transferring the old frequently from district to district to undermine their power. He also objected to the proposed marriage of the Adigar's son to Mampitiya Wahala Bandara's daughter as Wahala Bandara was an illegitimate son of the late King Kirthi Sri Rajasimha.

Besides these indignations, King Sri Wickrema unlike his tow predecessors who were respected for their beneficent rule and support of the indigenous religion openly encouraged Saivaite Hindu Customs and the slaughter of goats near the precincts of the Dalada Maligawa for the consumption of the Royal household and their relatives. This provoked disgust of the Sinhala Buddhists and their Sangha and set in motion the process of alienating both the chiefs and common people from the King.

Even though the English adventure of 1803 to Kandy was a set back to the Adigar, he continued with his negotiations with them. In this background the Adigar engaged himself in regular negotiations with Mr. Boyd - the Secretary and Frederick North the English Governor at Avissawella about a possible embassy to Kandy to sign a suitable treaty. Although Governor North had nothing in particular to offer, the Adigar intended to use their assistance to depose the King and rule Sinhale in his place with absolute authority to the Dasa Raja Dharma.

But the King was now wiser and strong enough to act against him. Therefore he deprived the Adigar of all his offices and deposed him of his powers sometime after mid 1803.

The estranged Adigar sojourned in Saparagamuva for two years and as luck would have it hastened back to Kandy when he heard Sri Vickrama Rajasimha was seized with smallpox and reestablished his power and confidence.

The Adigar had not suffered his disgrace in silence, but continued to plan the King's removal. Hence when he found the British had different ideas and would not fall in line with his, he decided to act alone by bringing the Javanese mercenary guards to assassinate the King and revolt before inviting the English to enter Sinhale and establish a Sinhala dynasty with Mampitiya Bandara the son of King Kirthi Sri Rajasimha and his Yakadadoli Mampitiye Dugganna Unanse as King.

The plot failed as the King was found to be awake when he was expected to be asleep and Yatinuvara and Udunuvara rose prematurely. The charge against Adigar this time therefore was a very serious one.

The Trial

" King Sri Wickrama Rajasimgha craftily arranged a trial before a court of chieftains. The court sat for three days with the king as judge and the chiefs as jurors at the great Audience Hall or Magul Maduva ironically in proximity to the Dalada shrine and the deities of Nata, Maha Vishnu and Pattini. As the charges were clear the chiefs forced the King to pronounce his own judgement. The King was ready to forgive the Adigar, but the Adigar, responded "My Lord my hands are full of corns as a result of bearing you in them" "It is true" replied the King "but is it not worse to kill the infant that you have so long nursed with such watchful care"

His Patriotism And Execution

Sri Wickrama was still willing to pardon the Adigar, once more, provided he took an oath never to act against his government. To every one's surprise the chieftain brimming with patriotism responded by refusing to take the oath and saying he did not plan to hurt the King but only to rescue the country from mismanagement.

It was obvious that his resolve to free the Country of King Sri Wickrama's misrule and the entrenched Vaduga dynasty was so overpowering and indomitable that he preferred death at the hands of the executioner rather than taking an oath not to work against him and be pardoned. "

Immediately in anger the King ordered his execution and he was taken to the Kumara Hapuwa where members of the nobility were executed at the foot of Bahiravakanda, for execution.

After testing the sword himself, the great chieftain is supposed to have told the executioner "I possess the will to make such use of this blade, that in a few minutes the King's officers shall all be prostrate on the ground, but I know to respect law and order".

He was executed in May/June of 1811 and his remains cremated at the family cremation grounds at Alakolange now Pilimatalava. Thus passed away the once powerful chieftain who stood for the protection of the people and was looked upon as the only man who could have brought King Sri vickrama Rajasimha to his senses.

On a sober assessment of the Chieftain at this distance in time it is clear Pilimatalavuva undoubtedly was a patriot and the shrewdest and ablest of the Sinhala leaders with unsurpassed negotiating skills which he used in good measure to out manoeuvre Governor North and the English at every turn.

Governor North and the British losers never forgave him for preventing them from capturing Kandy and therefore described him as 'treacherous, perfidious' and 'unprincipled'. He was ready to betray the king but never the Sinhala kingdom.

@ The Island - 1st March 1993

"Pilimatalawa undoubtedly one of the ablest and shrewdest leaders with unsurpassed negotiating skills, in the country's history, out witted and out manoeuvered North at every turn"

"North and British writers never forgave Pilimatalawa for preventing them from capturing Kandy and therefore described him in opprobrious terms such as 'teacherous, perfidious, profligate and unprincipled.' True, he was ready to betray his King, but not the Kingdom".

"When Pilimattalawa saw that the British had different designs and would not fall in with his, he decided to act alone - bribing the mercenary soldiers to assassinate the King. His resolve to free the country of Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe's misrule was so indomitable that he preferred execution rather than taking an oath not to work against the King again and be pardoned" "

SRI RAJADHI RAJA SINGHA 1782-1798 AD – Brother of Kirthi Sri Raja Singha – Ascended the throne as Sri Rajadhi Raja Singha having come from South India while still a child. He was raised as a Kandyan and a Sinhala and was a brilliant pupil of the chief prelate of the Malwatte Temple at that time. He was a very cultured person and learned many languages amongst which were Pali and Sanskrit. A great lover of poetry he himself was a poet. A lavish patron of Buddhism he died childless in 1798 without nominating a successor. The burden fell on Pilimatalava, the first Adigar (Prime Minister), who was an able, ambitious and intriguing chief, to select a successor to the vacant throne. Monarchs of Sri Lanka by H M Mervyn Herath)

SRI VIKRAMA RAJA SINGHA 1798-1815 AD – Son of a sister of King Rajadhi Raja Singha’s Queen Upendramma - (beginning of British Colonial era). Sri Vickrama Raja Singha, who ascended the throne was known as Prince Kannasamy, whose father was Venkata Perumal who died before the child was born. The widow, Subhamma, and her son, Kannasamy, came to Lanka on the invitation of her sister, Queen Upendramma, Queen of King Rajadhi Rajasinghe. Their was a rival claimant to succeed King Rajadhi Raja Singha, the brother of Queen Upendramma, who had a stronger claim. However, Pilimatalava, the first Adigar (Prime Minister) saw to it that the South Indian Prince, who was barely 18 years old, was placed on the Kandyan Throne, because he had a deep seated plan to oust him and become king himself and set up a new dynasty of his own. Sri Vikrama Raja Singha did not have the advantage, either of the family background or the preliminary training which the preceeding three kings before him had. He came to the throne “like a flame of fire in darkness” and proceeded to rule “radiating great merit, splendor, authority and prowess and delighted the people with the fourfold virtues, charity, affability, service and impartiality.

Up to the time of Sri Vikrama Raja Singha, the British who had succeeded the Dutch in the maritimeprovinces, had not interfered in the politics of the Sinhala Kingdom of the hill country. Pilimatalava, the first Adigar of the king had secret talks with the British in order to dishonor the king in Sinhala eyes, and also to urge him to an act of aggression which could give the British an excuse to seize the Kandyan Kingdom.

These intrigues were eminently successful. The King, exasperated by the alternate threats, committed the “desired act of aggression”. War was at once declared. The king had fled and the king’s cabinet had also evacuated the city. The British reached Kandy on March 22, 1803 and found the capital deserted.

On June 24, 1803, the Adigar massacred the British troops stationed in kandy and restored Sri Vikra Raja Singha to the throne. The Adigar, Pilimatalava, instead of seizing the crown, conspired to kill the King and seize the crown. His evil plot was discovered and he was pardoned on two occasions. However, when he was accused for the third time the king ordered his execution.

Pilimatalava was succeeded by his nephew, Ehelepola, and as he too began to plot against the king, Sri Vikrama Raja Singha could not tolerate his evil anymore through constant fear of assassination.

When, in 1818, a rebellion broke out in Sabaragamuwa and Ehelepola was implicated in it, the king ordered the Adigar to return to the Capital. However, Ehelepola knew the fate that awaited him and fled to the British in Colombo. The king dismissed him from his high office, confiscated his lands, and cast his wife and children in prison. They were, then, executed. The eldest boy, who was eleven years old, clung to his mother terrified and crying; her second son, nine years old, with all the inspiration of martyrdom, heroically stepped forward and bade his brother not to be afraid – as he would show him the way to die. By one blow of a sword his head was severed and thrown into a rice pounding mortar where the pestle was put into the mothers hand and she was ordered to pound it. One by one, the heads of all the children were cut off and, one by one, the mother had to pound them in the mortar. The mother was later drowned in the King’s ornamental Bogambara Lake.

The whole of Kandy wept and sobbed unable to suppress their feelings of grief and horror.

The British started to make extensive preparations for the invasion of the King’s dominion with the assistance of Ehelepola. The principal reasons stated for the invasion were the alleged tyranny of the king and his unwillingness to enter into any terms with the British.

The king, finding the situation hopeless, abandoned the capital and fled to Medamaha-Nuwara, where he took refuge in a house of a peasant. King Sri Vikrama Raja Singha was captured and taken prisoner with his Queen Venkata Angammal.

On Mar 2, 1815, Lanka was ceded to the British under a treaty called the Kandyan Convention. With Sri Vikrama Raja Singha ended, not only the last vestige of national freedom but also a civilization based on an entire and unique ethno-religious social philosophy, which our forefathers, with their toil, sweat, blood, and tears, had protected for 2,358 years. The downfall of the Sinhala Kingdom was mainly caused by the disunity of the people themselves. The Lion Flag which King Vijaya had planted in 544 BC was finally handed down.

The King was taken to Colombo on Mar 6, 1815, where he remained until Jan 24, 1816, when he and all his relatives, dependents, and adherents, amounting about 100 individuals, were transferred to India. They were first sent to Madras and finally to the fort of Vellore, where Sri Vikrama Raja Sinha died of dropsy on Jan 30, 1832, aged 52 years. The ex-king’s body was cremated and ashes were floated down the river. The king had ruled for seventeen years. (Monarchs of Sri Lanka by H M Mervyn Herath)