The Colas c17.16

c17.16

This naval expedition of Rājarāja against Ceylon must have taken place in the reign of Mahinda V who came to the throne a.d. 981 and was still ruling Ceylon at the time when the island was invaded by Rājarāja's son and successor Rājēndra I. But the *Mahāvaṁsa* makes no mention of Rājarāja's invasion, apparently because the annals of Mahinda's reign became confused after the tenth year (a.d. 991) on account of the military revolution which led to the ascendancy of Kēraḷa and Kaṇṇāṭa mercenaries in a large part of his kingdom.²⁹ As a result of the military rising, Mahinda had to take refuge in the inaccessible hill country in the south-east of Ceylon called Rōhaṇa. Rājarāja then found his opportunity and made himself master of Northern Ceylon which became a province (*maṇḍalam*) under the name of Mummuḍi-śōḻa-maṇḍalam.³⁰