South India and her Muhammadan Invaders c8.3

c8.3

*The Ceylonese Invasion.*—In A.D. 1170 or 1171 there were two rival claimants to the throne of Madura. One of them Parākrama Pāṇḍya was besieged in Madura by another named Kulaśēkhara. In this war Kulaśēkhara seems to have had the advantage to begin with, and Parākrama in distress appealed for assistance to Parākrama Bāhu of Ceylon who had just then emerged successfully out of a series of wars in his own country. During a period of sixteen years, according to the Mahāvamśa, he was engaged in constant wars against his rivals to bring all Ceylon under one ruler. If the statement of the Mahāvamśa is to be given full credit, he had succeeded in achieving this object of his ambition. On receiving the ambassadors from Parākrama Pāṇḍya, Parākrama Bāhu resolved to fit out and send a great army of invasion to place Parākrama Pāṇḍya on the throne. In the meanwhile Parākrama Pāṇḍya was captured and put to death with his wives and children, and Kulaśēkhara placed himself on the throne of Madura. The invasion started under the famous Ceylon general Laṅkāpura Daṇḍanātha as he is called. The army set out from the capital and reached Mahātittha (Manthot of the maps) in Ceylon. Information was by then received that Kulaśēkhara had taken possession of Madura and had put to death his rival and all his family. Parākrama Bāhu ordered the continuation of the march so that the kingdom might be [Figure: Gandamādavaparvata—Rāmēśvaram (by permission of the Madras Archæological Department)]