Ilanaga, also known as Elunna, was King of
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...
in the 1st century, whose reign lasted from 38 to 44. He overthrew and succeeded his aunt
Sivali as
King of Anuradhapura and was succeeded by his son
Chandamukha.
Conflicts with the Lambakarnas
Shortly after Ilanaga's coronation, he and his entourage went to Lake
Tissa to bathe. The king's servants, who belonged to the
Lambakarna dynasty (an ancient clan of Sri Lanka), were very arrogant. They waited until the king went down into the water, and then left the king alone. The king was very angry and tried to break their pride. The
Mahavamsa states that he built a
dagoba near the Tissa Lake and used Lambakarnas to dig stones and tread clay for it, and deployed
Chandalas as their acting officers. Infuriated by this, the Lambakannas revolted against the king and captured him.
The chronicle states that when the queen of King Ilanaga heard of this, she placed her son, prince Chandmukha near the elephant, and said to the king's inaugural elephant in his arms:
"This infant prince is the son of your great king. This prince deserves to die at the hands of you, the king's friend, rather than at the hands of the king's enemies. So trample this prince to death."
Realizing all this, the inaugural elephant immediately entered the palace, broke through the prison where the king had been imprisoned, took the king on his back and ran towards the shore with great speed. After greeting farewell to the elephant, the ships set sail for the
Chola country. The Mahavamsa states that the grieving elephant went to the upcountry forest in the middle of the country. King Ilanaga went to the
Chola kingdom
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE ...
and stayed there for three years.
Later, King Ilanaga brought an army from the Chola kingdom, landed near Hambantota and gathered an army from
Ruhuna
The Principality of Ruhuna, also referred to as the Kingdom of Ruhuna, is a region of present-day Southern and Eastern Sri Lanka. It was the center of a flourishing civilisation and the cultural and economic centres of ancient Sri Lanka. Magama, T ...
. He then invaded
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...
, fought against the treacherous
Lambakarna dynasty, defeated them and regained the
kingship.
The
Mahavamsa states that King Ilanaga brutally avenged his treacherous Lambakarnas and killed them. It is said that he could have killed all the Lambakarna dynasty had it not been for the intervention of King Ilanaga's mother. But they were severely punished and king Ilanaga shattered their dignity.
But nevertheless, the power of the Lambakannas would continue to grow, and prince Vasabha, a member of this clan would eventually end the House of Vijaya in 65 A.D.
See also
*
List of Sri Lankan monarchs
The Sinhalese monarch -- anachronistically referred to as the Kings of Sri Lanka—featured the heads of state of the Sinhala Kingdoms, in what is today Sri Lanka.
The Sinhalese monarchy originates in the settlement of North Indian Indo ...
*
History of Sri Lanka
The history of Sri Lanka is intertwined with the history of the broader Indian subcontinent and the surrounding regions, comprising the areas of South Asia, Southeast Asia and Indian Ocean.
The early human remains found on the island of Sri ...
References
External links
Kings & Rulers of Sri LankaCodrington's Short History of Ceylon
Monarchs of Anuradhapura
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