The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s5.24

v3.c29.s5.24

Vīra Alakeçvara, probably called also Vijaya-Bāhu VI, having been defeated by his younger brother, Vīra-Bāhu II, fled into Southern India, but returned in about A.D. 1397 with a large army, and, having ousted his brother from Kōṭṭe, ascended the throne there, and reigned for twelve years, from A.D. 1397 to 1409. At this period the kings of Kōṭṭe, owing, probably, to the great military achievements of the late Prabhu-rāja, were recognised as paramount sovereigns of the Island, and it is possible that Vīra Alakeçvara, like many another Sinhalese sovereign, took the *biruda* Vīra-Vijaya-Bāhu, but the evidence at our disposal is insufficient to prove that he assumed this name, and neither the inscriptions nor the Sinhalese works of the period throw much light on the matter.