Arya Chakaravarthi
Encyclopedia
The Aryacakravarti dynasty were kings of the Jaffna Kingdom
in Sri Lanka
. The earliest Sri Lankan sources, between 1277 and 1283, mention a military leader of this name as a minister in the services of the Pandyan Empire; he raided the western Sri Lankan coast and took the politically significant relic
of the Buddha
’s tooth
from the Sinhalese
capital city of Yapahuwa
. Political and military leaders of the same family name left a number of inscriptions in the modern-day Tamil Nadu
state, with dates ranging from 1272 to 1305, during the late Pandyan Empire. According to contemporary native literature, the family also claimed lineage from the Tamil Brahmins
of the prominent Hindu
pilgrimage
temple
of Rameswaram
in the modern Ramanathapuram District
of India
. They ruled the Jaffna kingdom from the 13th until the 17th century, when the last of the dynasty, Cankili II
, was ousted by the Portuguese
.
From the thirteenth-century inscriptions commemorating dignitaries calling themselves Aryacakravartis in present day Tamil Nadu
we can deduce that they hailed from the coastal region of present day Ramanathapuram District
, which they called Cevvirukkai Nadu. They administered land and held important military ranks. It is believed that most of them belonged to one family of Tamil Brahmins
in the modern Ramanathapuram District who had become prominent during the days of the Pandyan king Maravarman Kulasekaran
.
Furthermore, the title Cakravarti seem to have been commonly used in the Pandyan kingdom as a caste
or job title. Compound titles exist, such as Maravacakravarti that belonged to a Maravar
chief as well as Malavacakravarti that belonged to a Malava chief. Ariyar in Tamil
could denote a noble or a learned person, a Brahmin
or alternatively a person from Aryavarta
. Thus the title Arayacakravarti seems to fit the structure of similarly used titles across the Pandyan kingdom.
Some of the dignitaries noted in the inscriptions are one Devar Arayacakravarti, Alakan Arayacakravarti, Minatungan Arayacakravarti and Iraman Arayacakravarti of whom Devar Arayacakravarti has at least two known inscriptions of which one at Sovapuri in Ramanathapuram in 1272 is the earliest. He caused a second inscription (1305) in Tirupulani in Ramanathapuram to be engraved thus indicating he was a minister or a feudatory. Notably the inscriptions also had the epithet Cetumukam signifying "in the order of Cetu."
According to a Sinhalese
primary source
Culavamsa
, a warlord
or minister named Aryacakravarti invaded the Sinhalese capital of Yapahuwa
on behalf of the Pandyan king Maaravarman Kulasekaran between the years 1277–1283 and took the politically significant Buddha’s tooth
relic
.
The Cekaracecekaramalai written during the Aryacakravarti rule in Jaffna asserts that the direct ancestors of the Kings belonged to a group of 512 Ariyar (a Brahmin
priestly caste
) of the Pasupata sect of the Rameswaram Hindu temple. The source also claims that two out of the 512 were selected as Kings of Ariyars. It also explains that a direct ancestor of the kings was a scribe in the Pandyan kingdom and was called during a war with other kingdoms to assist the king, and that the ancestors of the kings fought in wars against kings in the Hoysala and Karnataka
.
During Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
's rule the Pandyas overwhelmed their Hoysala enemies and killed the Hoysala monarch Vira Someshwara
in 1254.
A study of their epithets, such as Teevaiyarkoon ("King of Teevai"), Kantamalayaariyarkoon ("Ariyan King of Kantamalai") and Ceetukaavalan ("Protector of Cetu") confirms their connections to Rameswaram Hindu temple, as Teevai, Cetu and Kantamalai are all names for the same location: Rameswaram.
In the opinion of Rasanayagam Mudaliar and Swami Gnanapragasar the Aryacakravarti dynasty was connected to the Eastern Ganga Dynasty
. Rasanayagam believes that a Brahmin from the town of Rameswaram married into the surviving family members of the Kalinga Magha
, an invader claiming to be from Kalinga
kingdom in India. Magha apparently belonged to the Eastern Ganga Dynasty
. The Royal flag of the Jaffna kingdom
is similar to the Royal insignia of the Eastern Gangas. Gangas themselves also claimed Brahmin origins. The Setu coins
minted by the Aryacakravarti kings also have a similar symbol.
Swami Gnanapragasar believes that the first Ariyacakravarti also called Cinkaiariyan (Ariyan from Cinkainakar
) was Kalinga Magha himself. Three main arguments are adduced to support the claim that these kings were of Eastern Ganga descent. The first is the similar device on their coins; the bull couchant and the crescent surmounting it were struck on coins issued by the Eastern Gangas and Ariyacakravartis. The second is the traditions of their origins are almost identical. The last is the assumption of titles Kangkainaadan (From the country of Ganges) and Kangkaiariyan (Ariyan from Ganges country or Ganga dynasty). According to S. Pathmanathan's history of the Jaffna kingdom, these only establish similarity, but not any conclusive direct connections. Pathmanathan believes that we cannot categorically link the Arycakravarti dynasty with Eastern Gangas and can explain most of the similarities based on influence, even Western Ganga Dynasty descendants who had moved into Tamil
lands after their defeat by the Chola Empire around the year 1000 and interpret them simply as reflecting a claim of origin from the Hindu holy city of Varanasi
on the banks of the holiest river Ganges.
S. Paranavitana offered a novel surmise explaining the origins of the Ariyacakravarti. According to him the Aryacakravarti are descendants of Chandrabhanu
a Malay chieftain, who invaded the island from Tambralinga
in 1247. According to him refugees and immigrants from the Indian kingdom of Kalinga
founded similarly named Kingdoms in South East Asia, and some of them came due to various reasons to north Sri Lanka and founded the Jaffna Kingdom
. This view has been refuted by noted Indian historian K.A. Nilakanta Sastry as having no credible evidence, and other historians such as Louis Charles Damais (1911–66), an expert on Indonesia
n studies, Yutaka Iwamoto (1910–88), a Buddhist scholar, and S. Pathmanathan. They assert that there were no kingdoms in South East Asia called Kalinga and such assertions are based on erroneous readings of the Chinese
name for a locality called Ho-ling which actually stood for Walain not Kalinga. Further S. Pathmanathan asserts that Chandrabhanu had categorically claimed Padmavamsa lineage whereas S. Paranavitana had adduced a Gangavamsa lineage to the Aryacakravarti. Further he notes that the inscriptions that S. Paranavitana used to make his theory have not been deciphered by any other scholar to imply a Javaka
connection to the Aryacakravartis.
, compiled by poet Mayilvakana Pulavar in 1736, cites four earlier writings such as Kailaya Malai, Vaiya Padal, Pararasasekaran Ula and Rasamurai as its source. Of which Rasamurai (or list of Kings) has not been found and all what we know about is through Yalpana Vaipava Malai. These, composed not earlier than the 14th century, contain folkloric legends mixed with historical anecdotes. But an astrological work, Cekarasacekara Malai, written during the rule of Cekarasacekaran V (1410–1440) by Soma Sarman has verifiable historical information and has been used extensively by historians from Humphrey Coddrington to S. Pathmanathan to reconstruct the kingdom's early history.
The Sinhalese chronicles, such as Culavamsa, Rajavaliya and a number of Sandesya chronicles, such as Kokila Sandesaya and Selalihini Sandesaya, have valuable information on the early and middle period of the kingdom, its activities and its eventual occupation by the rival Kotte Kingdom in 1450–1467. Culavamsa mentions in detail the arrival and the conquest of the Sinhalese capital Yapahuwa by a minister named Aryacakravarti during the period 1277 to 1283. It also mentions that the minister carried away the Budha’s relic from the capital to Pandyan Kingdom
.
The Rajavaliya a primary source
written during the 17th century refers to the fact that the Aryacakravartis collected taxes from Udarata and southern lowlands.
The conquest by a certain Sapumal Kumaraya
, a military leader sent by the Kotte king, seemed to have left an indelible impression on the Sinhalese
literati. The victory of Sapumal Kumaraya is sung in the Kokila Sandesaya ("Message carried by Kokila bird") written in the 15th century by the principal monk of the Irugalkula Tilaka Pirivena in Mulgirigala. The book contains a contemporary description of the country traversed on the road by the cookoo bird from Devi Nuwara ("City of Gods") in the south to Nallur
("Beautiful City") in the North.
Parakramabahu V (1344 – 59) a king of Gampola who ruled from Dedigama retreated to the southeast of the island, to a place called Magul Maha Viharaya in the Ampara District
after a confrontation with the Aryacakravarti. This is evident from inscriptions in a place called Lahugala.
Medawela
The Medawala inscriptions dated 1359 found near a bo-tree
at Medawala in Harispattuva reveal that Martanda Cinkaiariyan
appointed tax collectors to collect taxes from the villages belonging to the Gampola kingdom
.
Kotagama
The Kotagama inscriptions
found in Kegalle District
are a record of victory left by the Aryacakravarti kings of the Jaffna Kingdom
in western Sri Lanka. The inscription was assigned to the 15th century by H.C.P. Bell, an archeologist, and Mudaliar Rasanayagam, based on paleographic analysis of the style of letters used. If this late date is to be accepted then this inscription stands in contrast to generally accepted theory based on Sinhalese literature that Alagakkonara
the local chieftain who confronted the Aryacakravarti kings in 1391 was victorious in his effort.
Rameswaram temple
Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan
or his successor is credited with an inscription dated 1414 in the South India
n Hindu
temple Rameswaram about renovating its sanctum sanctorum
. It indicated that the stones for the renovations were shipped from the city of Trincomalee
in present day eastern Sri Lanka. This inscription was destroyed in 1866.
Tenkasi Ten
The Tenkasi Ten inscription of Arikesari Parakrama Pandya of Tinnevelly
who saw the backs of kings at Singai, Anurai,' and else where, may refer to kings of Singai. Singai or Cinkainakar being the capital of Arayacakravartis and Anurai the name for any Sinhalese capital; it is dated between 1449/50 and 1453/4.
Marco Polo
Marco Polo
was a Venetian
trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione ("The Million" or The Travels of Marco Polo
). He reached a port in the northern part of present day Sri Lanka between 1292-94. According to him the local king was an independent ruler who did not pay tribute to any other monarchs. He named the king as Cantheman, which is considered to be a corruption of Cinkaiariyan. Polo's was followed by a visit by John of Montecorvino
, who was a Franciscan
missionary, traveller and statesman. He wrote in December 1291 (or 1292), the earliest noteworthy account of the Coromandel coast
furnished by any Western European. According to him, he saw the wreckage of sixty seagoing vessels in the general area of Jaffna.
Ibn Batuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan
Berber
scholar and jurisprudent
from the Maliki
Islamic law, and at times a Qadi
or judge. He is best known as a traveler and explorer. He spent a few days as a guest of an Aryacakravarti in 1344 and wrote a detailed account of his encounter. According to him, the king controlled the economically important pearlfishing trade
in the Palk Straights and had trading links with countries as far as Yemen
. The monarch also spoke Persian
and was located in the western coastal area of the island, in Puttalam
region. He was also noted as receiving tribute of cinnamon
from other southern rulers.
Giovanni de Marignolli
Giovanni de' Marignolli
, a notable traveller to the Far East in the 14th century, camt to Sri Lanka sometimes between 1330 and 1350. He wrote in great detail about the country, its peoples and customs. According to him, the northern part of the island was ruled by a queen, with whom he had many audiences, who also lavished him with precious gifts. This queen is considered to be the mother of an Aryackaravarti and a regent
who ruled on behalf of her young son. The so-called "Catalan Map" drawn in 1375 also indicates that northern Sri Lanka was ruled by a queen. Before Marignolli, there was another traveler, Friar Ordrick, who landed in Jaffna in 1322; he also wrote about the prosperity of the kingdom. According him
In his Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon, Father Queroz records a tradition as
This rendition is fraught with many errors but the basic story line seems to fit the modern consensus. Father Queroz’s time line is also anachronistic. The Aryacakravarti dynasty came to power long before the ascendancy of the Madurai Nayaks as well as the Brahmins of Rameswaram had established a temple even longer before. Also the Gujarati origin of the Kings paternal line also in not in conformance with native claims of origin from the city of Varanasi which is in today's Uttar Pradesh
not in the historical Gujarat.
origin. It may have married into the family of eastern gangas
or even for that matter the Chandrabanu’s successors, but the direct undeniable evidence for it is lacking. The influence of Eastern gangas in its royal flag and the coins is indisputable. Kulingai Cakravarti mentioned by the Tamil chronicles of the Kingdom may have been Kalingha Magha.
Jaffna Kingdom
The Jaffna kingdom , also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, of modern northern Sri Lanka was a historic monarchy that came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula after the invasion of Magha, who is said to have been from Kalinga, in India...
in Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. The earliest Sri Lankan sources, between 1277 and 1283, mention a military leader of this name as a minister in the services of the Pandyan Empire; he raided the western Sri Lankan coast and took the politically significant relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
of the Buddha
Gautama Buddha
Siddhārtha Gautama was a spiritual teacher from the Indian subcontinent, on whose teachings Buddhism was founded. In most Buddhist traditions, he is regarded as the Supreme Buddha Siddhārtha Gautama (Sanskrit: सिद्धार्थ गौतम; Pali: Siddhattha Gotama) was a spiritual teacher from the Indian...
’s tooth
Tooth
Teeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...
from the Sinhalese
History of Sri Lanka
The History of Sri Lanka begins around 30,000 years ago when the island was first inhabited. Chronicles, including the Mahawansa, the Dipavamsa, the Culavamsa and the Rajaveliya, record events from the beginnings of the Sinhalese monarchy in the 6th century BC; through the arrival of European...
capital city of Yapahuwa
Yapahuwa
Yapahuwa was one of the ephemeral capitals of medieval Sri Lanka. The citadel of Yapahuwa lying midway between Kurunagala and Anuradhapura was built around a huge granite rock rising abruptly almost a hundred meters above the surrounding lowlands....
. Political and military leaders of the same family name left a number of inscriptions in the modern-day Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
state, with dates ranging from 1272 to 1305, during the late Pandyan Empire. According to contemporary native literature, the family also claimed lineage from the Tamil Brahmins
Iyer
Iyer is the title given to the caste of Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil origin. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara...
of the prominent Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
pilgrimage
Pilgrimage
A pilgrimage is a journey or search of great moral or spiritual significance. Typically, it is a journey to a shrine or other location of importance to a person's beliefs and faith...
temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
of Rameswaram
Ramanathaswamy Temple, Rameswaram
- External links :* *...
in the modern Ramanathapuram District
Ramanathapuram District
Ramanathapuram District is an administrative district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Ramanathapuram is the district headquarters. Ramanthapuram District has an area of 4123 km²...
of India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
. They ruled the Jaffna kingdom from the 13th until the 17th century, when the last of the dynasty, Cankili II
Cankili II
Cankili II was the self-proclaimed last king of the Jaffna kingdom and was a usurper who came to throne with a palace massacre of the royal princess and the regent Arasakesari in 1617. His regency was rejected by the Portuguese colonials in Colombo, Sri Lanka...
, was ousted by the Portuguese
Portuguese Empire
The Portuguese Empire , also known as the Portuguese Overseas Empire or the Portuguese Colonial Empire , was the first global empire in history...
.
Origin theories
The origins of the Aryacakravarti are claimed in contemporary court chronicles; modern historians offer some competing theories.Pandyan feudatory family
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the union territory of Pondicherry, and the states of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh...
we can deduce that they hailed from the coastal region of present day Ramanathapuram District
Ramanathapuram District
Ramanathapuram District is an administrative district of Tamil Nadu state in southern India. The city of Ramanathapuram is the district headquarters. Ramanthapuram District has an area of 4123 km²...
, which they called Cevvirukkai Nadu. They administered land and held important military ranks. It is believed that most of them belonged to one family of Tamil Brahmins
Iyer
Iyer is the title given to the caste of Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil origin. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara...
in the modern Ramanathapuram District who had become prominent during the days of the Pandyan king Maravarman Kulasekaran
Maaravaramban Kulasekara Pandyan I
Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan I was a Pandyan king, who ruled regions of South India between 1268–1308 CE. His death lead to the Pandyan Civil war of 1308-1323 CE.-Accession and shared rule:...
.
Furthermore, the title Cakravarti seem to have been commonly used in the Pandyan kingdom as a caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
or job title. Compound titles exist, such as Maravacakravarti that belonged to a Maravar
Maravar
Maravar are a Tamil community of the state of Tamil Nadu, southern India, and are one of the three branches of the Mukkulathor confederacy.Maravars are found predominantly in the Southern districts of Tamilnadu viz., Madurai, Theni, Sivagangai, Ramanathapuram, Dindigul, Virudhunagar, Thirunelveli,...
chief as well as Malavacakravarti that belonged to a Malava chief. Ariyar in Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
could denote a noble or a learned person, a Brahmin
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
or alternatively a person from Aryavarta
Aryavarta
Āryāvarta is a name for Northern India in classical Sanskrit literature. The Manu Smriti gives the name to "the tract between the Himalaya and the Vindhya ranges, from the eastern to the Western Sea"....
. Thus the title Arayacakravarti seems to fit the structure of similarly used titles across the Pandyan kingdom.
Some of the dignitaries noted in the inscriptions are one Devar Arayacakravarti, Alakan Arayacakravarti, Minatungan Arayacakravarti and Iraman Arayacakravarti of whom Devar Arayacakravarti has at least two known inscriptions of which one at Sovapuri in Ramanathapuram in 1272 is the earliest. He caused a second inscription (1305) in Tirupulani in Ramanathapuram to be engraved thus indicating he was a minister or a feudatory. Notably the inscriptions also had the epithet Cetumukam signifying "in the order of Cetu."
According to a Sinhalese
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
primary source
Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
Culavamsa
Culavamsa
The Cūḷavaṃsa, also Chulavamsa, is a historical record, written in the Pāli language, of the kings of Sri Lanka. It covers the period from the 4th century to 1815....
, a warlord
Warlord
A warlord is a person with power who has both military and civil control over a subnational area due to armed forces loyal to the warlord and not to a central authority. The term can also mean one who espouses the ideal that war is necessary, and has the means and authority to engage in war...
or minister named Aryacakravarti invaded the Sinhalese capital of Yapahuwa
Yapahuwa
Yapahuwa was one of the ephemeral capitals of medieval Sri Lanka. The citadel of Yapahuwa lying midway between Kurunagala and Anuradhapura was built around a huge granite rock rising abruptly almost a hundred meters above the surrounding lowlands....
on behalf of the Pandyan king Maaravarman Kulasekaran between the years 1277–1283 and took the politically significant Buddha’s tooth
Tooth
Teeth are small, calcified, whitish structures found in the jaws of many vertebrates that are used to break down food. Some animals, particularly carnivores, also use teeth for hunting or for defensive purposes. The roots of teeth are embedded in the Mandible bone or the Maxillary bone and are...
relic
Relic
In religion, a relic is a part of the body of a saint or a venerated person, or else another type of ancient religious object, carefully preserved for purposes of veneration or as a tangible memorial...
.
Brahmins from Rameswaram
Brahmin
Brahmin Brahman, Brahma and Brahmin.Brahman, Brahmin and Brahma have different meanings. Brahman refers to the Supreme Self...
priestly caste
Caste
Caste is an elaborate and complex social system that combines elements of endogamy, occupation, culture, social class, tribal affiliation and political power. It should not be confused with race or social class, e.g. members of different castes in one society may belong to the same race, as in India...
) of the Pasupata sect of the Rameswaram Hindu temple. The source also claims that two out of the 512 were selected as Kings of Ariyars. It also explains that a direct ancestor of the kings was a scribe in the Pandyan kingdom and was called during a war with other kingdoms to assist the king, and that the ancestors of the kings fought in wars against kings in the Hoysala and Karnataka
Karnataka
Karnataka , the land of the Kannadigas, is a state in South West India. It was created on 1 November 1956, with the passing of the States Reorganisation Act and this day is annually celebrated as Karnataka Rajyotsava...
.
During Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan
Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan dynasty, ruling regions of Tamilakkam Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I was king and Lord Emperor of the Pandyan...
's rule the Pandyas overwhelmed their Hoysala enemies and killed the Hoysala monarch Vira Someshwara
Vira Someshwara
Vira Someshwara was a king of the Hoysala Empire. The preoccupation of Vira Narasimha II in the affairs of Tamil country resulted in neglect of northern territories and Vira Someshwara had to face Seuna incursion south of the Tungabhadra river....
in 1254.
A study of their epithets, such as Teevaiyarkoon ("King of Teevai"), Kantamalayaariyarkoon ("Ariyan King of Kantamalai") and Ceetukaavalan ("Protector of Cetu") confirms their connections to Rameswaram Hindu temple, as Teevai, Cetu and Kantamalai are all names for the same location: Rameswaram.
Ganga dynasty
Eastern Ganga dynasty
The Eastern Ganga dynasty reigned from Kalinga and their rule consisted of the whole of the modern day Indian state of Orissa as well as parts of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh from the 11th century to the early 15th century. Their capital was known by the name Kalinganagar, which is...
. Rasanayagam believes that a Brahmin from the town of Rameswaram married into the surviving family members of the Kalinga Magha
Kalinga Magha
Magha , also known as Kalinga Magha and Magha the Tyrant, is a medieval king of Sri Lanka who is remembered primarily for his tyrannical and oppressive rule. Magha invaded the country from Kalinga in eastern India, usurping the throne from Parakrama Pandya, in 1215...
, an invader claiming to be from Kalinga
Kalinga (India)
Kalinga was an early state in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Orissa/Utkal , as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to...
kingdom in India. Magha apparently belonged to the Eastern Ganga Dynasty
Eastern Ganga dynasty
The Eastern Ganga dynasty reigned from Kalinga and their rule consisted of the whole of the modern day Indian state of Orissa as well as parts of West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh from the 11th century to the early 15th century. Their capital was known by the name Kalinganagar, which is...
. The Royal flag of the Jaffna kingdom
Royal flag of the Jaffna Kingdom
The Flag of the Jaffna Kingdom of the Aryacakravarti line of kings of Jaffna kingdom in northern Sri Lanka consisted of the couchant bull , the silver crescent moon with a golden sun. The single sacred conch shell, which spiral open to the right, and in the centre above the sacred bull, is a white...
is similar to the Royal insignia of the Eastern Gangas. Gangas themselves also claimed Brahmin origins. The Setu coins
Setu coins
Setu coins or Setu bull coins are found in large quantities in the northern part of Sri Lanka and in Southern India. Codrington in his book Ceylon Coins and Currency published in 1924 and Mitchiner in his book Oriental Coins published in 1978 have clearly pointed out that the traditional design of...
minted by the Aryacakravarti kings also have a similar symbol.
Swami Gnanapragasar believes that the first Ariyacakravarti also called Cinkaiariyan (Ariyan from Cinkainakar
Nallur (Jaffna)
Nallur , , is a small holy town within the present day city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It is located 3 km away from the colour and bustle of Jaffna Town. Originally known by its Royal term "Singai Nagar", Nallur formerly functioned as the capital of the ancient Jaffna kingdom for many years during...
) was Kalinga Magha himself. Three main arguments are adduced to support the claim that these kings were of Eastern Ganga descent. The first is the similar device on their coins; the bull couchant and the crescent surmounting it were struck on coins issued by the Eastern Gangas and Ariyacakravartis. The second is the traditions of their origins are almost identical. The last is the assumption of titles Kangkainaadan (From the country of Ganges) and Kangkaiariyan (Ariyan from Ganges country or Ganga dynasty). According to S. Pathmanathan's history of the Jaffna kingdom, these only establish similarity, but not any conclusive direct connections. Pathmanathan believes that we cannot categorically link the Arycakravarti dynasty with Eastern Gangas and can explain most of the similarities based on influence, even Western Ganga Dynasty descendants who had moved into Tamil
Tamil people
Tamil people , also called Tamils or Tamilians, are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, India and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. Historic and post 15th century emigrant communities are also found across the world, notably Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, South Africa, Australia, Canada,...
lands after their defeat by the Chola Empire around the year 1000 and interpret them simply as reflecting a claim of origin from the Hindu holy city of Varanasi
Varanasi
-Etymology:The name Varanasi has its origin possibly from the names of the two rivers Varuna and Assi, for the old city lies in the north shores of the Ganga bounded by its two tributaries, the Varuna and the Asi, with the Ganges being to its south...
on the banks of the holiest river Ganges.
Javaka-Kalinga invaders
Chandrabhanu
Chandrabhanu or Chandrabhanu Sridhamaraja was the King of the Malay state of Tambralinga in present day Thailand. A Savakan, he was known to have ruled from during the period of 1230 until 1263. He was also known for building a well-known Buddhist stupa in southern Thailand. He spent more than 30...
a Malay chieftain, who invaded the island from Tambralinga
Tambralinga
Tambralinga was an ancient kingdom located on the Malay Peninsula that at one time came under the influence of Srivijaya. The name had been forgotten until scholars recognized Tambralinga as Nagara Sri Dharmaraja. Early records are scarce while estimations range from the seventh to fourteenth...
in 1247. According to him refugees and immigrants from the Indian kingdom of Kalinga
Kalinga (India)
Kalinga was an early state in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Orissa/Utkal , as well as the Andhra region of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh. It was a rich and fertile land that extended from the river Damodar/Ganges to Godavari and from Bay of Bengal to...
founded similarly named Kingdoms in South East Asia, and some of them came due to various reasons to north Sri Lanka and founded the Jaffna Kingdom
Jaffna Kingdom
The Jaffna kingdom , also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, of modern northern Sri Lanka was a historic monarchy that came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula after the invasion of Magha, who is said to have been from Kalinga, in India...
. This view has been refuted by noted Indian historian K.A. Nilakanta Sastry as having no credible evidence, and other historians such as Louis Charles Damais (1911–66), an expert on Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
n studies, Yutaka Iwamoto (1910–88), a Buddhist scholar, and S. Pathmanathan. They assert that there were no kingdoms in South East Asia called Kalinga and such assertions are based on erroneous readings of the Chinese
Chinese language
The Chinese language is a language or language family consisting of varieties which are mutually intelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the branches of Sino-Tibetan family of languages...
name for a locality called Ho-ling which actually stood for Walain not Kalinga. Further S. Pathmanathan asserts that Chandrabhanu had categorically claimed Padmavamsa lineage whereas S. Paranavitana had adduced a Gangavamsa lineage to the Aryacakravarti. Further he notes that the inscriptions that S. Paranavitana used to make his theory have not been deciphered by any other scholar to imply a Javaka
Javaka
Reference to the Sri Lankan materials, king Chandrabhanu Sridhamaraja is one of Javakan kings from Tambralinga kingdom, one the kingdoms in the prehistory period of Nusantara, who had invaded Sri Lankan in 1247. However the Javaka has not occurred here for the first time...
connection to the Aryacakravartis.
Contemporary chronicles
The earliest local Tamil chronicles on Jaffna Kingdom were composed in the Middle Ages. A prose work,Yalpana Vaipava MalaiYalpana Vaipava Malai
Yalpana Vaipava Malai is a book written by a Tamil poet called Mayilvagana Pulavar 1736 AD. This book contains historical facts of the early Tamil city of Jaffna. The book which may have been written around 1736 during the Governorship of Jan Maccara, the then Dutch Governor of Jaffna. It was...
, compiled by poet Mayilvakana Pulavar in 1736, cites four earlier writings such as Kailaya Malai, Vaiya Padal, Pararasasekaran Ula and Rasamurai as its source. Of which Rasamurai (or list of Kings) has not been found and all what we know about is through Yalpana Vaipava Malai. These, composed not earlier than the 14th century, contain folkloric legends mixed with historical anecdotes. But an astrological work, Cekarasacekara Malai, written during the rule of Cekarasacekaran V (1410–1440) by Soma Sarman has verifiable historical information and has been used extensively by historians from Humphrey Coddrington to S. Pathmanathan to reconstruct the kingdom's early history.
The Sinhalese chronicles, such as Culavamsa, Rajavaliya and a number of Sandesya chronicles, such as Kokila Sandesaya and Selalihini Sandesaya, have valuable information on the early and middle period of the kingdom, its activities and its eventual occupation by the rival Kotte Kingdom in 1450–1467. Culavamsa mentions in detail the arrival and the conquest of the Sinhalese capital Yapahuwa by a minister named Aryacakravarti during the period 1277 to 1283. It also mentions that the minister carried away the Budha’s relic from the capital to Pandyan Kingdom
Pandyan Kingdom
The Pandyan dynasty was an ancient Tamil dynasty. The Pandyas were one of the four Tamil dynasties , which ruled South India until the 15th century CE. They initially ruled their country Pandya Nadu from Korkai, a seaport on the Southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, and in later times moved...
.
The Rajavaliya a primary source
Primary source
Primary source is a term used in a number of disciplines to describe source material that is closest to the person, information, period, or idea being studied....
written during the 17th century refers to the fact that the Aryacakravartis collected taxes from Udarata and southern lowlands.
The conquest by a certain Sapumal Kumaraya
Sapumal Kumaraya
Bhuvanekabahu VI or Chempaha Perumal or Sapumal Kumaraya was by self admission an adopted son of Parakramabâhu VI whose principal achievement was the conquest of Jaffna Kingdom in the year 1447 or 1450. He ruled the Kingdom for 17 years when he was apparently summoned to the south after the demise...
, a military leader sent by the Kotte king, seemed to have left an indelible impression on the Sinhalese
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
literati. The victory of Sapumal Kumaraya is sung in the Kokila Sandesaya ("Message carried by Kokila bird") written in the 15th century by the principal monk of the Irugalkula Tilaka Pirivena in Mulgirigala. The book contains a contemporary description of the country traversed on the road by the cookoo bird from Devi Nuwara ("City of Gods") in the south to Nallur
Nallur (Jaffna)
Nallur , , is a small holy town within the present day city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It is located 3 km away from the colour and bustle of Jaffna Town. Originally known by its Royal term "Singai Nagar", Nallur formerly functioned as the capital of the ancient Jaffna kingdom for many years during...
("Beautiful City") in the North.
Inscriptions
LahugalaParakramabahu V (1344 – 59) a king of Gampola who ruled from Dedigama retreated to the southeast of the island, to a place called Magul Maha Viharaya in the Ampara District
Ampara District
Ampara district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Ampara town...
after a confrontation with the Aryacakravarti. This is evident from inscriptions in a place called Lahugala.
Medawela
The Medawala inscriptions dated 1359 found near a bo-tree
Sacred Fig
The Sacred Fig, Ficus religiosa, or Bo-Tree , Peepal is a species of banyan fig native to India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, southwest China and Indochina...
at Medawala in Harispattuva reveal that Martanda Cinkaiariyan
Martanda Cinkaiariyan
Martanda Cinkaiariyan ascended the throne of Jaffna Kingdom under the throne name Pararasasekaram III. He is one of the early Aryacakravarti kings about whom historical and epigraphical evidence is available...
appointed tax collectors to collect taxes from the villages belonging to the Gampola kingdom
Gampola
Gampola is a town located near Kandy in the Central Province of Sri Lanka. Gampola was made the capital city of the island by King Buwanekabahu IV, who ruled for four years in the mid fourteenth century. The last king of Gampola was King Buwanekabahu V. He ruled the island for 29 years. A separate...
.
Kotagama
The Kotagama inscriptions
Kotagama inscriptions
The Kotagama inscriptions found in Kegalle District in Sri Lanka is a record of victory left by the Aryacakravarti kings of the Jaffna Kingdom in western Sri Lanka.The inscription reads;...
found in Kegalle District
Kegalle District
Kegalle is a district in Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka. Its area is 1,663 km². It was a former Dissavani of Sri Lanka. Has a population of 785,524 according to census 2001.-Physical Information:...
are a record of victory left by the Aryacakravarti kings of the Jaffna Kingdom
Jaffna Kingdom
The Jaffna kingdom , also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, of modern northern Sri Lanka was a historic monarchy that came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula after the invasion of Magha, who is said to have been from Kalinga, in India...
in western Sri Lanka. The inscription was assigned to the 15th century by H.C.P. Bell, an archeologist, and Mudaliar Rasanayagam, based on paleographic analysis of the style of letters used. If this late date is to be accepted then this inscription stands in contrast to generally accepted theory based on Sinhalese literature that Alagakkonara
Alagakkonara
Alagakkonara or Allegakoen or Alakeshwara is a name of a prominent feudal family that provided powerful ministers and military rulers during the medieval period in Sri Lanka. Although some historian say that the family was of Malayalee origin others say it originated in Kanchipuram in Tamil Nadu,...
the local chieftain who confronted the Aryacakravarti kings in 1391 was victorious in his effort.
Rameswaram temple
Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan
Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan
Jeyaveera Cinkaiariyan was the Aryacakravarti king of the Jaffna Kingdom in modern day northern Sri Lanka, who had a military confrontation with a southern chief known as Alagakkonara. According to traditional sources, Alagkkonara defeated Jeyaveera's naval and land forces and assumed royal power...
or his successor is credited with an inscription dated 1414 in the South India
South India
South India is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of India's area...
n Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
temple Rameswaram about renovating its sanctum sanctorum
Sanctum sanctorum
The Latin phrase sanctum sanctorum is a Latin translation of the biblical term: "Holy of Holies" which generally refers in Latin texts to the Holiest place of the Tabernacle of Ancient Israel and later the Temples in Jerusalem, but also has some derivative use in application to imitations of the...
. It indicated that the stones for the renovations were shipped from the city of Trincomalee
Trincomalee
Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...
in present day eastern Sri Lanka. This inscription was destroyed in 1866.
Tenkasi Ten
The Tenkasi Ten inscription of Arikesari Parakrama Pandya of Tinnevelly
Tirunelveli
Tirunelveli , also known as Nellai , and historically as Tinnevelly, is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the headquarters of the Tirunelveli District and the sixth biggest city in Tamil Nadu...
who saw the backs of kings at Singai, Anurai,' and else where, may refer to kings of Singai. Singai or Cinkainakar being the capital of Arayacakravartis and Anurai the name for any Sinhalese capital; it is dated between 1449/50 and 1453/4.
Travelogues
Marco Polo
Marco Polo
Marco Polo was a Venetian merchant traveler from the Venetian Republic whose travels are recorded in Il Milione, a book which did much to introduce Europeans to Central Asia and China. He learned about trading whilst his father and uncle, Niccolò and Maffeo, travelled through Asia and apparently...
was a Venetian
Republic of Venice
The Republic of Venice or Venetian Republic was a state originating from the city of Venice in Northeastern Italy. It existed for over a millennium, from the late 7th century until 1797. It was formally known as the Most Serene Republic of Venice and is often referred to as La Serenissima, in...
trader and explorer who gained fame for his worldwide travels, recorded in the book Il Milione ("The Million" or The Travels of Marco Polo
The Travels of Marco Polo
Books of the Marvels of the World or Description of the World , also nicknamed Il Milione or Oriente Poliano and commonly called The Travels of Marco Polo, is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from stories told by Marco Polo, describing the...
). He reached a port in the northern part of present day Sri Lanka between 1292-94. According to him the local king was an independent ruler who did not pay tribute to any other monarchs. He named the king as Cantheman, which is considered to be a corruption of Cinkaiariyan. Polo's was followed by a visit by John of Montecorvino
John of Montecorvino
John of Montecorvino or Giovanni da Montecorvino in Italian was an Italian Franciscan missionary, traveler and statesman, founder of the earliest Roman Catholic missions in India and China, and archbishop of Peking, and Latin Patriarch of the Orient.-Biography:John was born at Montecorvino...
, who was a Franciscan
Franciscan
Most Franciscans are members of Roman Catholic religious orders founded by Saint Francis of Assisi. Besides Roman Catholic communities, there are also Old Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, ecumenical and Non-denominational Franciscan communities....
missionary, traveller and statesman. He wrote in December 1291 (or 1292), the earliest noteworthy account of the Coromandel coast
Coromandel Coast
The Coromandel Coast is the name given to the southeastern coast of the Indian Subcontinent between Cape Comorin and False Divi Point...
furnished by any Western European. According to him, he saw the wreckage of sixty seagoing vessels in the general area of Jaffna.
Ibn Batuta
Abu Abdullah Muhammad Ibn Battuta was a Moroccan
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
Berber
Berber people
Berbers are the indigenous peoples of North Africa west of the Nile Valley. They are continuously distributed from the Atlantic to the Siwa oasis, in Egypt, and from the Mediterranean to the Niger River. Historically they spoke the Berber language or varieties of it, which together form a branch...
scholar and jurisprudent
Jurisprudence
Jurisprudence is the theory and philosophy of law. Scholars of jurisprudence, or legal theorists , hope to obtain a deeper understanding of the nature of law, of legal reasoning, legal systems and of legal institutions...
from the Maliki
Maliki
The ' madhhab is one of the schools of Fiqh or religious law within Sunni Islam. It is the second-largest of the four schools, followed by approximately 25% of Muslims, mostly in North Africa, West Africa, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and in some parts of Saudi Arabia...
Islamic law, and at times a Qadi
Qadi
Qadi is a judge ruling in accordance with Islamic religious law appointed by the ruler of a Muslim country. Because Islam makes no distinction between religious and secular domains, qadis traditionally have jurisdiction over all legal matters involving Muslims...
or judge. He is best known as a traveler and explorer. He spent a few days as a guest of an Aryacakravarti in 1344 and wrote a detailed account of his encounter. According to him, the king controlled the economically important pearlfishing trade
Pearl hunting
Pearl hunting or pearl diving refers to a largely obsolete method of retrieving pearls from pearl oysters, freshwater pearl mussels and, on rare occasions, other nacre-producing molluscs, such as abalone.-History:...
in the Palk Straights and had trading links with countries as far as Yemen
Yemen
The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....
. The monarch also spoke Persian
Persian language
Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is primarily spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan and countries which historically came under Persian influence...
and was located in the western coastal area of the island, in Puttalam
Puttalam
Puttalam is the capital city of the Puttalam District in North Western Province, Sri Lanka.-History:The history of this dry zone dates back to the arrival of Prince Vijaya, nearly 2500 years ago, when his vessel washed ashore. The name "Puttalam" may be a modification of the Tamil word Uppuththalam...
region. He was also noted as receiving tribute of cinnamon
Cinnamon
Cinnamon is a spice obtained from the inner bark of several trees from the genus Cinnamomum that is used in both sweet and savoury foods...
from other southern rulers.
Giovanni de Marignolli
Giovanni de' Marignolli
Giovanni de' Marignolli
Giovanni de' Marignolli , a notable traveller to the Far East in the fourteenth century , born probably before 1290, and sprung from a noble family in Florence....
, a notable traveller to the Far East in the 14th century, camt to Sri Lanka sometimes between 1330 and 1350. He wrote in great detail about the country, its peoples and customs. According to him, the northern part of the island was ruled by a queen, with whom he had many audiences, who also lavished him with precious gifts. This queen is considered to be the mother of an Aryackaravarti and a regent
Regent
A regent, from the Latin regens "one who reigns", is a person selected to act as head of state because the ruler is a minor, not present, or debilitated. Currently there are only two ruling Regencies in the world, sovereign Liechtenstein and the Malaysian constitutive state of Terengganu...
who ruled on behalf of her young son. The so-called "Catalan Map" drawn in 1375 also indicates that northern Sri Lanka was ruled by a queen. Before Marignolli, there was another traveler, Friar Ordrick, who landed in Jaffna in 1322; he also wrote about the prosperity of the kingdom. According him
Portuguese colonial documents
This rendition is fraught with many errors but the basic story line seems to fit the modern consensus. Father Queroz’s time line is also anachronistic. The Aryacakravarti dynasty came to power long before the ascendancy of the Madurai Nayaks as well as the Brahmins of Rameswaram had established a temple even longer before. Also the Gujarati origin of the Kings paternal line also in not in conformance with native claims of origin from the city of Varanasi which is in today's Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh
Uttar Pradesh abbreviation U.P. , is a state located in the northern part of India. With a population of over 200 million people, it is India's most populous state, as well as the world's most populous sub-national entity...
not in the historical Gujarat.
Current consensus
The current consensus held by historians such as S. Pathmanathan, Patrick Peebles and K.M de Silva is that the Aryacakravartis were a Pandyan feudatory family that took power after the chaos created by the invasions of Kalinga Magha and Chandrabhanu. That the family was connected to the Ramanathapuram Hindu temple and was of Tamil BrahminIyer
Iyer is the title given to the caste of Hindu Brahmin communities of Tamil origin. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara...
origin. It may have married into the family of eastern gangas
Gangas
The Western Ganga Dynasty was an important ruling dynasty of ancient Karnataka in India. They are known as Western Gangas to distinguish them from the Eastern Gangas who in later centuries ruled over modern Orissa...
or even for that matter the Chandrabanu’s successors, but the direct undeniable evidence for it is lacking. The influence of Eastern gangas in its royal flag and the coins is indisputable. Kulingai Cakravarti mentioned by the Tamil chronicles of the Kingdom may have been Kalingha Magha.