Vijaya

Prince Vijaya (Sinhala:විජය) (c. 543–505 BCE) was a legendary king of Tambapanni, based in modern day Sri Lanka. His reign was first mentioned in Mahāvaṃsa. He is said to have came to Sri Lanka with seven hundred followers after being banished from Sinhapura. However, there is no archaeological evidence of this.

After arriving on the island, Vijaya and his settlers defeated a yaksha near "Thammena" (Tambapaṇṇī) displacing the inhabitants. Eventually Vijaya married Kuveni, a daughter of a yaksha leader legitimizing Vijaya’s rule over the region.

Sources and variations Four versions of the legend explain the origin of the Sinhalese people. In all the versions, a prince comes to the island of Lanka and establishes a community which gives rise to the Sinhalese people. The Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa identify the prince as Vijaya, and the other two legends have different names for the prince. Valahassa Jataka version: This Jataka version is depicted in the Ajanta cave paintings of India (Simhala Avadana in Cave 17). The prince who comes to the island is a merchant named Sinhala, the son of Sinha. He and 500 followers sail for the island of Ratnadeepa, where they hope to find gems in the city of Sirisavatthu. They are shipwrecked and saved by the Yakkhinis, who prey on shipwrecked merchants. The Yakkhinis pretend to be the widows of merchants who earlier visited the island. Sinhala marries the chief Yakkhini, but then discovers their true identity. He and 250 of his men escape from the island on a flying horse named Valahassa. The chief Yakkhini follows them to his paternal kingdom and presents herself to his father, Simha, as wronged by the prince. Simha gives her shelter, but she devours him and the rest of his family except for the prince. She then returns to Ratnadeepa, where she devours the remaining 250 of Sinhala's followers. Sinhala succeeds his father as king, and leads a military expedition to Ratnadeepa. He defeats the Yakkhinis, and establishes the Sinhalese kingdom.

Ancestry According to the Mahāvaṃsa, the king of Vanga (the historical Bengal region) married a princess named Mayavati of neighbouring Kalinga (present-day Odisha). The couple had a daughter, Suppadevi, who was prophesied to mate with the king of beasts. As an adult, Princess Suppadevi left Vanga to seek an independent life. She joined a caravan headed for Magadha, which was attacked by Sinha ("lion") in a forest in the Lala (or Lada) region. The Mahavamsa calls the Sinha a lion; according to some modern interpreters, however, Sinha was a beastly, outlaw human living in the jungle. Lala is identified as Bengal's Rarh region (part of the present-day Indian state of West Bengal) or Lata, part of present-day Gujarat.

Suppadevi fled from the attack, but encountered Sinha again. Sinha was attracted to her and she caressed him, mindful of the prophecy. He kept Suppadevi in captivity in a cave, and they had two children: a son named Sinhabahu (or Sihabahu, "lion-armed") and a daughter named Sinhasivali (or Sihasivali). When the children grew up, Sinhabahu asked his mother why she and Sinha looked so different. Upon learning about her royal ancestry, he decided to go to Vanga. While Sinha was away, Sinhabahu escaped from the cave with Suppadevi and Sinhasivali. They reached a village, where they met a general of the Vanga Kingdom—a cousin of Suppadevi—who later married her. Sinha began ravaging villages to find his missing family. The king of Vanga announced a reward to anyone who could kill Sinha, and Sinhabahu killed his father to claim the reward. By the time Sinhabahu returned to the capital, the king of Vanga was dead. Sinhabahu was crowned the new king, but later passed the kingship to his mother's husband (the general). Returning to his birthplace in Lala, he founded the city of Sinhapura (or Sihapura). Sinhabahu married his sister, Sinhasivali, and they had 32 sons (16 pairs of twins). Vijaya Singha ("the greatly victorious") was their eldest son, followed by his twin Sumitta.

The location of Sinhapura is uncertain. It has been identified with Singur, West Bengal (in the Rada, or Rarh, region) or Singhpur, near Jajpur (Sinhapura, Odisha). Another theory identifies it with the village of Singupuram, near Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. It has also been placed in present-day Thailand or on the Malay Peninsula.

Arrival in Sri Lanka

According to the Mahavamsa, Gautama Buddha asked the lord of gods (identified as Indra) before he attained Nirvana to protect Vijaya in Lanka so Buddhism could flourish there. Indra gave the guardianship of Lanka to the lotus-coloured god (Upulvan), who came to Lanka in the guise of an ascetic to protect Vijaya. Wilhelm Geiger identifies the lotus-coloured god as Vishnu; uppala is the blue lotus. Senarath Paranavithana identifies him with Varuna.

Vijaya tied a protective (paritta) thread on the hands of his followers. Later, a Yakkhini appeared before them in the form of a dog. One of the followers thought that a dog indicated habitation, and followed her. After some time, he saw a Yakkhini named Kuveni (or Kuvanna) who was spinning thread. Kuveni tried to devour him, but Vijaya's magical thread protected him. Unable to kill him, Kuveni hurled the follower into a chasm; she then did the same thing to all 700 followers. Vijaya went to Kuveni's place, looking for his men; he overpowered her, and forced her to free them. Kuveni asked Vijaya to spare her life, swearing loyalty to him. She brought food and goods from the ships of the traders she had devoured for Vijaya and his followers, and Vijaya took her as his consort.

Vijaya's ministers and other followers established several villages; Upatissa established Upatissagāma on the bank of the Gambhira river, north of Anuradhagama. Vijaya's followers decided to crown him king, but for this he needed a maiden of a noble house as queen. His ministers sent emissaries with gifts to the city of Madhura, which was ruled by a Pandya king (Madhura is identified with Madurai, a city in Tamil Nadu). The king agreed to send his daughter as Vijaya's bride, and asked other families to offer their daughters as brides for Vijaya's followers. Several families volunteered, and were rewarded by the king, who sent a hundred noble maidens, craftsmen, a thousand families from 18 guilds, elephants, horses, wagons and other gifts. The group landed in Lanka at a port known as Mahatittha.

Significance In Sri Lanka, the legend of Vijaya has often been employed as political rhetoric to explain the origins and ancestry of the Sinhalese, and it is frequently treated as a historical account. Sinhalese scholars including K. M. de Silva, have cited the legend to support the Indo-Aryan origins of the Sinhalese, distinguishing them from the Dravidian populations. Tamil authors such as Satchi Ponnambalam have dismissed the legend as fiction aimed at justifying Sinhalese territorial claims in Sri Lanka.