Vimaladharmasurya II (ruled 1687–1707) was a king of

Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...

who succeeded his father,

Rajasinghe II King Rajasinghe II, also known as Rajasingha II (pre coronation, Prince Deva Astana), was a Sinhalese King, reigned 1629 – 6 December 1687; third king of the Kingdom of Kandy in Sri Lanka. Rajasingha requested Dutch aid to help expel the Portu ...

. He allowed

Joseph Vaz Joseph Vaz ( Konkani: ''San Zuze Vaza''; pt, São José Vaz; kn, ಪವಿತ್ರಾ ಯೋಸೆಫ್ ವಾಸ್ ಸಂತರು ''Pavitra Yoseph Vaz Santaru''; ta, புனித யோசேப் வாஸ் முனிவர் ...

to settle in his kingdom and allowed him to preach the Christian faith.

Childhood

During his childhood Lord Ambanwela Rala, who was a member of the royal court from a noble Kandyan family led a rebellion against Rajasinghe II. Rebels tried to use Crown Prince Vimaladharmasuriya against his father. But his paternal half-aunt Sama Devi, who held the position of "Mother Queen" at that time was rescued him from rebels and taken to the king. Rajasinghe II hide him to save from the rebels. So Vimaladharmasuriya was brought up by a bhikku for a long period in his childhood. King Vimaladharmasurya II was naturally of peaceful temperament. During his childhood though, a sufficient number of Buddhist priests were not able to conduct the higher ordination (

Upasampadā Upasampadā (Pali) literally denotes "approaching or nearing the ascetic tradition." In more common parlance it specifically refers to the rite and ritual of ascetic vetting (ordination) by which a candidate, if deemed acceptable, enters the co ...

) ceremony.

Marriages

Following his father's tradition, he also brought brides from

Madurai Madurai ( , also , ) is a major city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District. As of the 2011 census, it was the third largest Urban agglomeration in ...

Nayak royal clan. Not only his Queen Consort but also he had several Royal Concubines from Nayakkar clan. But none of those consorts were able to produce an heir to the throne. So he married a princess from a local noble family who lived in the Muthukude Walawwa at Wattegama. This Royal Concubine was called as Muthukude Devi. She could able to give birth to a son, who later became king's successor Vira Narendra Sinha And also according to historical sources he had a concubine from Kirawelle royal clan, who was the mother of king's another son Pattiya Bandara.

Contributions to Buddhism in Sri Lanka

He invited 33 priests from Burma and established the higher ordination that helped protect Buddhism.

The Dutch

During the reign of King Vimaladharmasurya II, many attempts made by the Dutch to capture the Kandyan Kingdom had failed. However the Dutch gained control of the Kandyan Kingdom's foreign trade.

Relations with Daud Khan Panni

In the year 1703, the Mughal commander at

Coromandel Coromandel may refer to: Places India *Coromandel Coast, India **Presidency of Coromandel and Bengal Settlements ** Dutch Coromandel *Coromandel, KGF, Karnataka, India New Zealand *Coromandel, New Zealand, a town on the Coromandel Peninsula *Coro ...

Daud Khan Panni Daud Khan Panni (? – 6 September 1715) or simply as Daud Khan was a Mughal commander, Nawab of the Carnatic and later Nawab of Kurnool. He was an ethnic Afghan from the Panni tribe and was from Bijapur, Karnataka. Life In 1703, Daud Kha ...

spent 10,500 coins to purchase 30 to 50

War elephant A war elephant was an elephant that was trained and guided by humans for combat. The war elephant's main use was to charge the enemy, break their ranks and instill terror and fear. Elephantry is a term for specific military units using elepha ...

s from Ceylon. These purchases were acknowledged by Vimaladharmasurya II of Kandy.

References

Sources

Kings & Rulers of Sri Lanka
V 1707 deaths Monarchs of Kandy Year of birth unknown V V V {{SriLanka-hist-stub