Child King Nikapitiye Bandara [1593-1594 CE]

Predecessor		Successor
Rajasuriya [1592-1593 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-	Nikapitiye Bandara [1593-1594 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-	Fall of Sitawaka to Kotte Kingdom
COMPLETE LIST OF RULERS OF SRI LANKA

The history of the Sītāwaka Kingdom after the death of its legendary warrior-king, Rājasinha I, in 1593 is marked by rapid political disintegration, internal betrayal, and the emergence of puppet rulers. At the heart of this final phase stood Nikapitiyé Bandāra, a child monarch whose brief nominal reign between 1593 and 1594 formed a transitional link between the collapse of the Sītāwaka state and the eventual annexation of its territories by the Portuguese and the King of Kotte.

Lineage and Early Childhood

Nikapitiyé Bandāra was the grandson of Rājasinha I’s sister, who had resided at Mattamagoda during her brother’s reign.

The chronicles offer little information about his father but emphasize that Nikapitiyé spent his early years in relative seclusion with his mother at Mattamagoda. He was about five years old when the political vacuum created by his grandfather’s death placed him at the center of a violent succession crisis. Unlike Rājasinha’s sons, who had been deeply involved in military and political affairs, Nikapitiyé was still an infant when the Sītāwaka military structure began to collapse.

Rise to Power: The Midnight Coup

The elevation of Nikapitiyé Bandāra was not the result of royal intention but of military expediency and the ambitions of Manamperuma Mohotti (also known as Arittakīvendu Perumāl), a South Indian favorite of the late Rājasinha. After the king’s death, his eldest son, Rājasūriya, succeeded to the throne, but his position was soon undermined by accusations of witchcraft and scandalous behavior.

In a coordinated operation led by Manamperuma Mohotti and supported by disillusioned sections of the Sītāwaka populace, Rājasūriya was assassinated. To preserve a façade of dynastic continuity while securing effective control for himself, Manamperuma eliminated Rājasinha’s remaining sons and brought the five-year-old Nikapitiyé Bandāra from Mattamagoda to the palace. The child was formally proclaimed king around 1593, serving as a figurehead while Manamperuma exercised real authority as commander-in-chief.

Political Role and the Collapse of Sītāwaka

Nikapitiyé’s symbolic reign coincided with the complete fragmentation of the Sītāwaka political and military system. The installation of a child monarch and the dominance of Manamperuma Mohotti, a foreigner, alienated the traditional nobility. Leading chieftains such as Pannikki Mudali and Kuruppu Mudali, who had formed the backbone of Rājasinha’s army, refused to recognize the new regime.

Fearing Manamperuma’s growing power or repelled by the puppet monarchy, these leaders defected to the Portuguese in Colombo, taking with them around seven hundred seasoned followers. This mass desertion possibly fatally weakened Sītāwaka’s capacity to resist external aggression.

Portuguese Assault on Sītāwaka

Manamperuma, aspiring to even greater power and the hand of the young king’s sister, was rebuffed by the queen regent. In response, he too defected to the Portuguese in Colombo, offering to conquer the kingdom for King Dharmapāla in return for becoming its effective ruler. His rival, Pannikki Mudali, again switched allegiance and assumed command of the remaining Sītāwaka forces.

In August 1593, a Portuguese-backed army under the renamed Jayavīra Bandāra (Manamperuma) began subduing Sītāwaka territories, starting with the Alutkūru kōralē. By late 1593, the lower Kelani Valley had fallen, and the strategic stockades at Kaduwela and Malwāna were captured in early 1594.

In March 1594, Portuguese forces and Jayavīra Bandāra’s army, now numbering about 3,000 men, confronted the main Sītāwaka army at Hanwella. On the eve of battle, Pannikki Mudali once again defected to the Portuguese. Leaderless and demoralized, the Sītāwaka forces were routed after a six-hour engagement. By May 1594, Kaduwela, Malwāna, Gurubawila, and Sītāwaka itself had all fallen.

The Fate of Nikapitiyé Bandāra

With the fall of the capital, the royal household attempted to escape into the interior. The queen regent and young Nikapitiyé Bandāra were captured at Denawaka (Dinavaca) in the hills of Sabaragamuwa, along with the late king’s treasures.

Some accounts suggest that the queen regent died shortly after her capture. Portuguese sources imply that she may have died through an act of self-harm or from grief following humiliation by her captors.

Nikapitiyé Bandāra was taken into Portuguese custody and sent first to Goa and later to Lisbon in Portugal. In Europe, he converted to Christianity and adopted the baptismal name Dom Felipe. He spent the remainder of his life in Portugal and died in Lisbon in 1608.

The Uprising of the Pretender (1616–1617)

Although the child-king vanished from official records after the fall of Sītāwaka , his name resurfaced in 1616 with the appearance of a pretender claiming to be the exiled prince. This individual, whose true identity remains uncertain, exploited the memory of the Sītāwaka dynasty to ignite a major rebellion against Portuguese rule in Kotte.

The figure known as Nikapitiyé in 1617 proved far more formidable than the child monarch of 1593. He launched an uprising in the Seven Kōralēs, rapidly assembling a peasant army and winning the support of local leaders. His influence expanded so quickly that the Portuguese found themselves in serious difficulty.

To strengthen his legitimacy, he formed an alliance with King Senarath of the Kandyan Kingdom, who provided him with 2,000 trained soldiers. The partnership soon deteriorated, however. Emboldened by success, Nikapitiyé demanded marriage to one of Senarath’s queens, the daughter of Karaliyaddé Bandāra, in order to bolster his claim to the entire island. This demand created a rift between the two leaders and weakened the rebel cause.

The End of the Pretender

Despite early victories in the Four and Seven Kōralēs, the Portuguese mounted a determined counter-offensive. In July 1617, after a series of skirmishes that steadily reduced his strength, the pretender was confronted in a decisive battle.

Abandoned by his Kandyan allies and facing superior Portuguese firepower, his forces were crushed. The man claiming to be Nikapitiyé Bandāra was captured and beheaded. His execution brought to an end the last significant indigenous uprising in the lowlands conducted under the dynastic name of the Sītāwaka house.

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.
Codrington, H. W., & Hocart, A. M. (1926). A Short History of Ceylon. MacMillan and Co. Limited.
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.
De Silva, K. M. (Ed.). (1995). History of Sri Lanka (Vols. 2–3). The University of Peradeniya.
Fonseka, P. (2010). The ancient city of Kōṭṭe and its fortification. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka, 56, 57-117.
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.
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
Rajasuriya [1592-1593 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-	Nikapitiye Bandara [1593-1594 CE] -House of Siri Sangabo-	Fall of Sitawaka to Kotte Kingdom
COMPLETE LIST OF RULERS OF SRI LANKA