Age of the Nandas and Mauryas c11.s38.58

c11.s38.58

According to the *Mahāvamsa*, the period covered by this volume comprised in the history of Ceylon the reigns of Paṇḍukābhaya (B.C. 377-307), Muṭasiva (307-247), Devānampiya Tissa (247-207) and Uttiya (207-197). The chronology of the first two reigns is suspect, as there is good reason to believe that their duration has been unduly lengthened in order to make Vijaya and the Buddha contemporaries¹. The account of Paṇḍukābhaya’s reign in the *Mahāvamsa*² is much of it palpable legend; but from it we may conclude generally that the king had to fight some of his collateral relations ruling in different parts of the island to impose his authority on those areas, that he made Anurādhapura the capital of the newly united kingdom, and that his reign witnessed decided advancement in the evolution of Sinhalese culture by the blending of the indigenous Vaeda (Yakkha) elements with the Indo-Aryan elements which had entered the island with Vijaya and his followers. The capital city was well laid out with tanks, parks, and separate quarters for the different elements in the population including yōnas, and among the recipients of the king’s benefactions were Nirgranthas, Ājīvakas and Brāhmaṇas, besides various other heretical sects. Of the reign of Muṭasiva the chronicle has nothing to say except that he laid out the beautiful garden called mahāmegha-vana and that he ruled the fair land of Laṅkā from the splendid city of Anurādhapura. He had ten sons ‘each thoughtful of the others’ welfare’