Kalinga Magha

The exacts origin of Kalinga Magha is unknown, however due to his name, he is often referred to be from Kalinga, a historical place which corresponds mainly with present-day Odisha and northeastern Andhra.{{Cite news |title=Kalinga {{!}} ancient region, India |language=en |work=Encyclopedia Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Kalinga |access-date=2017-03-14}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nTewCQAAQBAJ&q=kalinga+magha+chola&pg=PA22|title=From Coffee to Tea Cultivation in Ceylon, 1880-1900: An Economic and Social History|last=Wenzlhuemer|first=Roland|date=2008-01-23|publisher=BRILL|isbn=9789047432173|language=en}} The most favoured theory states that Magha was a prince from the Eastern Ganga dynasty (Chodaganga) who ruled Kalinga.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LnoREHdzxt8C&q=Anantavarman+Chodaganga&pg=PA90|title=Antiquities of India: An Account of the History and Culture of Ancient Hindustan|last=Barnett|first=Lionel D.|date=1999-04-30|publisher=Atlantic Publishers & Dist|isbn=9788171564422|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwZDAAAAYAAJ&q=kalinga+magha+ramanathapuram|title=The Ceylon Journal of Historical and Social Studies|date=1972-01-01|publisher=Ceylon Historical and Social Studies Publications Board.|language=en}} They were descended from the Kalinga Chandravanshi lineage and also from the Tamil Chola dynasty from the maternal side.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gAg58GabWM4C&q=eastern+ganga+lunar&pg=PA72|title=Time and History: The Variety of Cultures|author=Jörn Rüsen|date=January 2008|publisher=Berghahn Books, 01-Jan-2008 - History - 262 pages|page=72|isbn=9780857450418}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hlocAAAAMAAJ&q=kalinga+magha+chola|title=The Tamils in Early Ceylon|last=Sivaratnam|first=C.|date=1968-01-01|publisher=Author|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pwZDAAAAYAAJ&q=kalinga+magha+ramanathapuram|title=The Ceylon Journal of Historical and Social Studies|date=1972-01-01|publisher=Ceylon Historical and Social Studies Publications Board.|language=en}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=90_qAeMT1bwC&q=Anantavarman+Chodaganga+Deva&pg=PA3|title=Palm Leaf Etchings of Orissa|last=Patnaik|first=Durga Prasad|date=1989-01-01|publisher=Abhinav Publications|isbn=9788170172482|language=en}} Magha also seems to be related to the Kalinga branch of the Sinhalese Kingdom, and Nissanka Malla Deva of Polonnaruwa.

A late theory identifies Magha as the founder of the Jaffna kingdom and the first king of the Aryacakravarti dynasty. Many later Tamil works of Jaffna, mistake Kalinga Magha with the Aryacakravarti kings of Jaffna, who actually belong to the Aryacakravarti lineage of the Pandya Kingdom. The Cūḷavaṃsa, a Pali account, makes a clear distinction between Kalinga Magha, whom it describes as "the plague from the Kalinga that came with an army of Kerala mercenaries" and Arya Chakrawartin whom it describes as a Pandyan general.{{Cite web|title=The Chulawamsa, p132 (description of Magha), p204 (description of Arya Chakrawarti)|url=https://noolaham.net/project/45/4474/4474.pdf}}

The invasion of Kalinga Magha happened in a period of intense rivalry between two branches of the Sinhala royal family for the succession to the throne of Rajarata: the Arya branch which descended from Mithra (sister of king Vijayabahu I) who married a Pandyan prince and the Kalinga branch, descended from Vijayabahu I.

File:Vijayabahu family.jpg

After the death of Parakramabahu I, who belonged to the Arya (or Pandya) branch, the country fall into the hands of foreign invaders both from Kalinga and Pandya dynasty. It is in this context of intense rivalry between Kalinga and Pandya dynasties, that Kalinga Magha, the "plague from Kalinga", (which was by then allied with the Chola dynasty) arrived in Lanka.

File:SL Anuradhapura asv2020-01 img24 Jetavanaramaya Stupa.jpg, one of the many massive stupas raided during Magha's reign.]]

Kalinga Magha landed in Karainagar in 1215 AD with a large army of 24,000T. Sabaratnam,Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle, A journalist who reported the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis for over 50 years , Chapter 4 Kerala and Tamil soldiers.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MgHIiEtdVFAC&q=kalinga+magha+culavamsa&pg=PA58|title=Crucible of Conflict: Tamil and Muslim Society on the East Coast of Sri Lanka|last=McGilvray|first=Dennis B.|date=2008-04-16|publisher=Duke University Press|isbn=978-0822389187|language=en}} He camped his soldiers in Karainagar and Vallipuram and brought the Jaffna principality under his control. Kalinga Magha then marched to Polonnaruwa, defeated Parakrama Pandyan II and ruled it for 21 years. He was expelled from Polonnaruwa in 1236 by a faction of Arya (Pandya) dynasty Sinhalese kings and withdrew to Jaffna with the Sinhalese throne which he ruled till 1255.T. Sabaratnam, Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle, A journalist who reported the Sri Lankan ethnic crisis for over 50 years , Chapter 4

The Culavamsa, describes him as 'an unjust king sprung from the Kalinga line'.Culavamsa, Chapter 80, lines 58-59 https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.277099/page/n173/mode/2up

It has been speculated that Magha may have had a claim through the Kalingan dynasty established by Nissanka Malla in 1187, who was the uncle of Chodaganga of Polonnaruwa.[http://lakdiva.org/codrington/chap04.html A Short History of Ceylon, H. W. Codrington, 1926, London, ch] Whatever his pretext however he swiftly lost any potential support amongst the populace by the sheer violence of his invasion.

Having executed Parakrama Pandya and ransacked the temples of Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, Magha was crowned king by his own soldiers from Kerala and settled in the capital of Pulatthinagara. The army have been described in the Culavamsa to be ruthless, and to have thoroughly destroyed the Buddhist religion, ransacking and destroying many Stupas.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eUF_rS8FEoIC&q=kalinga+magha&pg=PA39|title=Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon: Its History, People, Commerce, Industries, and Resources|last=Wright|first=Arnold|date=1907-01-01|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120613355|language=en}}

It was during this time that the centre of native power on Sri Lanka began to shift to the south. During Magha's reign the chief priests of Pulatthinagara took two of Rajarata's most sacred relics - the Buddha's alms bowl and the sacred Tooth Relic - and 'on Kothmalé in a safe region ... buried both the relics carefully in the earth and so preserved them'.[http://lakdiva.org/culavamsa/vol_1.html Culavamsa, LXXXI, 17-19] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927085703/http://lakdiva.org/culavamsa/vol_1.html |date=2006-09-27 }} This was not the first time this had happened; it was, however, to be the last, as neither was ever returned to the north.

Resistance to the invaders began to coalesce around a series of inaccessible towns and fortresses constructed in the mountainous interior of Sri Lanka. The fortress of Yapahuwa was one of the first of these, founded by the Senapathi (General) Subha;The Culavamsa, LXXXI, 2-3 another was Gangadoni, founded by the general Sankha, barely 15 miles ('two yojanas') from Magha's capital. From these places the various nobles 'gave as little heed to the infamous army of the Ruler Magha, though ... as to a blade of grass and protected without fear that district and the Order [of Buddhist monks]'.Culavamsa, LXXXI 9-11

The man who eventually emerged as the leader of the resistance was Vijayabahu III, who the chronicles identify as a descendant of Sirisamghabodhi (242-244 or 251–253),Culavamsa LXXXI 10 a king of Rajarata, though it is possible that the relationship was through marriage.Codrington, A Short History, ch.V He appears to have spent an extended period of time in 'inaccessible forest' avoiding the forces of Magha. Sometime in the 1220s however he drove the Tamil forces from Mayarata (Dhakkinadesa) and established his capital at Jambudhoni (Dambadeniya).Culavamsa LXXXI 15-16 Vijayabahu's most emphatic statement of authority however was the recovery of the two sacred relics (around 1222), which he paraded through the lands he controlled and invested in a freshly constructed temple.

Vijayabahu's reign was largely spent reconstructing the shattered Buddhist infrastructure of the Sinhalese in Mayarata, and indeed many of the religious traditions he established were to last into modern times.[http://lakdiva.org/culavamsa/vol_1.html Chapter] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060927085703/http://lakdiva.org/culavamsa/vol_1.html |date=2006-09-27 }}

Occasionally raids into Kalinga-controlled territory were mounted, but it was not until the reign of is son, Parakramabahu II(1234–1267) that a concerted effort was made to drive the invaders out from Polonnaruwa Kingdom.

Soon after his accession the Culavamsa describes how the King 'set about subjugating by the power of his majesty and

by the might of his loving spirit ... the forces of the foe in Lanka'.Culvamsa, LXXXIII, 8-11 It would appear however that Magha had retreated to the Jaffna Kingdom and ruled until the throne was secured by Chandrabhanu,{{Cite book |last=de Silva |first=K. M. |title=A History of Sri Lanka |page=67}} but the chronicles make no mention of him taking part in the wars between Parakramabahu and the Kalinga. Instead it names two Damila kings, Mahinda and Jayabahu, as having established fortifications in Polonnaruwa;Culavamsa LXXXIII 14 both in due course, defeated the resurgent forces of Dambadeniya. {{Cite web |title=Mahawamsa - King Parakramabahu ii |url=https://www.sundaytimes.lk/080427/FunDay/mahawamsa.html |access-date=2022-05-22 |website=www.sundaytimes.lk}} Magha does not re-appear in the historical record; his fate remains a mystery.

• List of Sri Lankan monarchs
• History of Sri Lanka

{{Reflist}}

• [http://lakdiva.org/] Resources on Sri Lankan history.
• [http://damindu.tripod.com/lanka/sl-11.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040812135245/http://damindu.tripod.com/lanka/sl-11.htm |date=12 August 2004 }} An account of the shift of Sinhalese power to the south of Sri Lanka.

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{{Succession box|title=Polonaruwa Kingdom|before=Parakrama Pandyan II|after=Parakramabahu II
(Kingdom of Dambadeniya)|years=1215–1236}}

{{Succession box|title=Jaffna Kingdom|before=new state formed|after=Chandrabhanu |years=1215–1255}}

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{{Monarchs of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa}}

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Category:Monarchs of Polonnaruwa

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