King Sitawaka Mayadunne [1521-1581 CE]

Predecessor		Successor
Pararajasinha [1521-1538 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-	Mayadunne [1521-1581 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-	Rajasinghe I [1581-1592 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-
COMPLETE LIST OF RULERS OF SRI LANKA

The political landscape of sixteenth-century Sri Lanka was largely shaped by the career of King Māyādunnē (r. 1521–1581), the founder of the Sītāvaka kingdom. A descendant of the Savuḷu dynasty, Māyādunnē emerged as the most determined opponent of the Portuguese and the principal rival to the weakening authority of the Kotte monarchy. His reign, spanning half a century, unfolded as a continuous cycle of warfare, negotiation, and dynastic ambition, driven by the goal of unifying the island under a single sovereign authority and expelling the expanding European presence.

Royal Lineage and Early Life

Māyādunnē was the youngest of four sons of King Vijayabāhu VI and a princess of the Kirivälle royal house. His surviving elder brothers were Bhuvanekabāhu (later Bhuvanekabāhu VII) and Pararājasinha, more widely known as Rayigam Bandāra. An eldest brother, Mahā Rayigam, died in childhood.

His formative years were influenced by a distinctive system of cohabitation practiced by his father and uncle, Śrī Rājasinha, who shared the same queen. Although this arrangement was initially stable, it collapsed when Vijayabāhu VI took a second wife from the Kirivälle family and attempted to secure the throne for her young son, Devarājasinha, Māyādunnē’s half-brother. During his youth, Māyādunnē spent considerable time at Udugampola under the guardianship of his uncle Sakalakalā Vallabha, alongside other royal children, including a princess (daughter of Kirawelle Ralahami) who would later marry the King Jayaweera Astana (1511-1551) of Kandy. These early connections later proved politically valuable.

The Rise to Power: The Vijayabā Kollaya

The pivotal event in Māyādunnē’s rise was the palace coup of 1521, remembered as the Vijayabā Kollaya (the overthrow of Vijayabāhu). When the three elder princes discovered their father’s intention to have them eliminated in favor of Devarājasinha, they fled the capital. While Bhuvanekabāhu and Pararājasinha sought refuge in Yapapatuna (Jaffna), Māyādunnē travelled to the Kandyan kingdom to seek the support of King Jayavīra.

With the backing of a large Kandyan force, the brothers returned to Kotte. The royal army, already alienated by Vijayabāhu’s failed campaigns against the Portuguese, refused to defend the king. Since Sinhalese soldiers would not kill their ruler, the princes employed a foreigner named Salmā to assassinate Vijayabāhu VI. After the regicide, the kingdom was divided: Bhuvanekabāhu VII became Emperor of Kotte; Pararājasinha received Rayigama; and Māyādunnē established his capital at Sītāvaka. This settlement gave Māyādunnē control of strategically vital inland territories, including the Four Kōralēs and Sabaragamuwa.

The Sītāvaka Kingdom and Anti-Portuguese Politics

Māyādunnē’s political identity was defined by his opposition to Bhuvanekabāhu VII’s alliance with the Portuguese. He regarded this relationship as a betrayal of the island’s interests and portrayed himself as the defender of the Sinhalese people and of Buddhism.

To counter Portuguese military superiority, Māyādunnē formed an alliance with the Samorin of Calicut, who supplied naval assistance and Muslim mercenary forces led by commanders such as Paichi Marcar. This partnership enabled Māyādunnē to maintain sustained pressure on Kotte. In 1538, after the death of Pararājasinha, he rapidly annexed Rayigama, significantly strengthening his position.

Tensions intensified in 1540 when Bhuvanekabāhu VII sent an embassy to Lisbon so that a golden image of his grandson Dharmapāla could be crowned by King João III. Māyādunnē used this act to inflame public opinion, presenting Kotte as a puppet state of the Portuguese.

Military Conflicts and the Kelaniya Tragedy

The struggle between Sītāvaka and the Kotte–Portuguese alliance alternated between brutal warfare and fragile truces. One major episode was the siege of Kotte in 1539, after which Māyādunnē was forced to seek peace and, under Portuguese pressure, execute his Malabar allies.

Despite setbacks, Māyādunnē displayed exceptional political resilience. When Bhuvanekabāhu VII died in 1551 after being shot by a Portuguese soldier at Kelaniya, Māyādunnē immediately claimed the throne of Kotte. His renewed offensive was halted by the regent Vidiya Bandāra. The following years witnessed shifting alliances: Māyādunnē temporarily allied with Vidiya Bandāra against the Portuguese, only to later join the Portuguese in 1555 to defeat Vidiyē Bandāra at Pelēnda, when the latter became too independent.

The Zenith of Power and the End of the Reign

The decisive moment in Sītāvaka’s rise came at the Battle of Mullēriyāva in 1561 or 1562, where Māyādunnē’s youngest son Tikiri Bandāra (later Rājasinha I) destroyed a Portuguese army with a trained war-elephant force. This victory shattered the prestige of Kotte. By 1565, the Portuguese abandoned Kotte and transferred Dharmapāla to the safety of Colombo. Māyādunnē thus became the dominant ruler of the lowlands, controlling Kotte, Rayigama, and the Four and Seven Kōralēs.

On May 15, 1578, acknowledging his age, Māyādunnē formally abdicated in favor of Rājasinha I. He died in 1581, aged approximately eighty to eighty-five. Although some Portuguese and Buddhist sources claim he was murdered by his son, most modern historians agree that he died naturally. Māyādunnē stands as one of the most significant figures in Sri Lankan history: the chief architect of Kotte’s downfall and the last major Sinhalese ruler who came close to eliminating the Portuguese from the island.

Ancient Manuscripts Detailing the Sovereigns of Sri Lanka

Sovereigns of Sri Lanka are chronicled in several ancient manuscripts. These texts not only record the lineages of kings but also the significant events and developments of their reigns. Some of the most significant ancient sources are:

Dipavamsa: compiled between the 3rd and 4th centuries CE, and the earliest known historical chronicle
Mahavamsa: Initially compiled by Mahanama Thero in the 5th or 6th century CE, this chronicle was later expanded upon by other authors who added additional chapters. Covers events up until the reign of King Mahasena of Anuradhapura
Culavamsa: Starts where the Mahavamsa stops and records the history of Sri Lankan rulers from the 4th century to 1815. Mahavamsa and Culavamsa are often seen as one extended chronicle, commonly referred to simply as the Mahavamsa.
Pujavaliya: Written by a monk in or around 1266 during the reign of King Panditha Parakrama Bahu of Dambadeniya Kingdom
Rajavaliya: A 17th-century historical chronicle of Sri Lanka, covering the history of the island from its beginnings up to the accession of King Vimaladharmasurya II in 1687.

References

Abeyasinghe, T. B. H. (1995). Portuguese rule in Kōṭṭe 1594-1638. In K. M. de Silva (Ed.), History of Ceylon: Volume II (pp. 123-143). University of Peradeniya.
De Queyroz, F. (1930). The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Account of Ceylon (S. G. Perera, Trans.; Vols. 3–3). (Original work published 1687)
De Silva, C. R. (1977). The rise and fall of the Kingdom of Sitawaka. The Ceylon Journal of Historical and Social Studies, 7(1), 1-43.
Ferguson, D. (Trans. & Ed.). (1909). The history of Ceylon from the earliest times to 1600 A.D. as related by João de Barros and Diogo do Couto. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch), 20(60), 1-445.
Geiger, W., & Rickmers, C. M. (1929). Culavamsa: Being The More Recent Part Of The Mahavamsa: Vol. Part II–II. Pali Text Society. (Original work published 1815)
Gunasekara, B. (1900). The Rajavaliya, a Historical Narrative of Sinhalese Kings Vijaya to Vimala Dharma Suriya II. George J. A. Skeen.
Ilangasinha, H. B. M. (1992). Buddhism in medieval Sri Lanka. Sri Satguru Publications.
Mendis, O. (1998). The story of the Sri Lankans. Sridevi Publication.
Somaratna, G. P. V. (1969). Political history of the Kingdom of Kötte (c. A.D. 1400-1521) [Unpublished doctoral dissertation]. University of London.
Valentijn, F. (1978). François Valentijn’s Description of Ceylon (S. Arasaratnam, Trans.). Hakluyt Society. (Original work published 1724)

Predecessor		Successor
Pararajasinha [1521-1538 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-	Mayadunne [1521-1581 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-	Rajasinghe I [1581-1592 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-
COMPLETE LIST OF RULERS OF SRI LANKA