The Historical Inscriptions of Southern India (collected till 1923) and Outlines of Political History c8.244

c8.244

[King Sēna I, or Śilāmēgha Sēna, became king of Ceylon in this year. The *Mahāwamśa* (Ch. L. v, 19) tells us that in his reign the Pāṇḍya king, probably Śrīmāra, who boasts of having conquered Ceylon, attacked the island with an army. King Sēna was defeated and fled. The Pāṇḍya victor seized the city of Anurādhāpura, sacked it and destroyed the palaces and after ‘spreading destruction over the land’, returned to India. This may have taken place about A.D. 830. The larger Śinnamānūr grant (*V.R. ii*. Madura, 367; *C.P. 14 of 1907*) mentions the victories of Śrīmāra Pāṇḍya; saying that he defeated Māya Pāṇḍya, gained victories at Viḷiṇam (a Chēra town) and at Kunnūr in Ceylon; also that he fought a great battle at Kuḍamūkku (believed to be Kumbhakōṇam) against Gangas, Pallavas and Chōḷa chiefs. The Chōḷa family was, then, gaining a little influence at this time.]