The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s5.12

v3.c29.s5.12

He succeeded his father on the throne at Dambadeṇiya as Parakkama-Bāhu II, probably in A.D. 1231, while the usurpers Māgha and Jaya-Bāhu were ruling over Pihiṭi-raṭa at Poḷonnaruva. As soon as he ascended the throne he set himself to restore order in the kingdom. He appointed his younger brother, Bhuvaneka-Bāhu, to the office of sub-king, and held a great festival in honour of the Tooth-relic. He then led a large army against the strongholds of the invaders and in the course of about three years succeeded in expelling them from Ceylon. With his nephew, Vīra-Bāhu, he repulsed a raid led by Chandrabhānu, a Jāvaka, or Malay chieftain, and, as soon as peace and order were restored to the land, turned his attention to the purification of the Buddhist church. He held a convocation of elders, and the canon was rehearsed, sinful priests were excommunicated, and a new rescript or *Katikāvata* was issued for the use of the clergy. He gave every encouragement to art and learning, and it appears from the glowing accounts of him in the *Dambadeṇi-asna* and the *Rājaratnākara* that his own accomplishments were many. His *Visuddhi-magga-sannaya* and *Vinaya-vinichchhaya-sannaya* (Sinh. *Vanavinisa-sanne*) which he entitled *Nissandeha* are remarkable for their comprehensiveness, and his *Kavsiḷumiṇa* is a masterpiece of Sinhalese poetry, which has furnished the author of the Sinhalese grammar, *Sidatsaṅgarā*, with an example establishing the existence in the Sinhalese language of the semi-nasal *saññaka*. His just rule and the facilities for study afforded by him, by Devapratirāja, his chief minister, and by his other ministers, resulted in the production of many important works. Dhammakitti Thera continued the compilation of the *Mahāvaṁsa*, under the title *Chūlavaṁsa*, from the date on which Mahānāma had relinquished it to the end of the reign of Parakkama-Bāhu I (A.D. 1153–86), and was probably prevented only by death, or by political disorders, from continuing the chronicle to his own times (A.D. 1235–65). Among other contemporary writers may be mentioned Mayūrapāda Thera, the author of the well-known *Pūjāvaliya*, and of a medical work named *Yogārṇava*, both in Sinhalese prose.