The Cambridge History of India, Vol. III: Turks and Afghans v3.c29.s5.25

v3.c29.s5.25

In A.D. 1405 the Chinese eunuch Tcheng Houo arrived in Ceylon, apparently for the purpose of carrying away the Tooth-relic, but his designs were frustrated and he was plundered by Alagakkōnāra, who may be identified with Vīra Alakeçvara. Four years later, in A.D. 1409, he came again, this time with an army, and succeeded in capturing the king, with his queen and family¹. He returned to China with his captives in A.D. 1411, and from 1409 to about 1414 Ceylon was without a king; but according to *Saddharma-ratnākara*, a grandson of Senālaṅkādhikāra Senevirad, Parakkama-Bāhu by name, who held the rank of Āpā, ruled the Island during the interregnum. If this was so Parakkama-Bāhu was a member of the Alakeçvara family, perhaps a son of the captive king, or of his brother, Vīra-Bāhu II. He may therefore be identified with the ruler appointed by the Chinese as their vassal, and also with the Alakeçvarayā of the *Rājāvaliya*, who made several attempts to kill the young Lambakaṇṇa prince, a grandson of Parakkama-Bāhu V, whom Visidāgama had arranged to place on the throne as Parakkama-Bāhu VI. Vīra Alakeçvara and the other captives were released about A.D. 1411–12 by the Chinese, but on the night after their return to Ceylon Vīra Alakeçvara is said to have been murdered in his capital².