[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924) › c35.s2.34 # The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s2.34 The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s2.34 - **Language:** English ### [c35.s2.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s2.34) Wars between the Pāṇḍya kings and the rulers of Ceylon frequently occurred. The most notable incident in this protracted conflict was the invasion of the Pāṇḍya territory, in or about A. D. 1166, by a powerful force under the command of two generals in the service of Parākrama-bāhu, the ambitious king of Ceylon. Two detailed accounts of this event, written from different points of view, are extant. The story, as told in the island chronicle, the \*Mahāvaṁśa\*, naturally represents the victorious career of the invaders as unbroken by defeat; but the rival account, preserved in a long Chola inscription at Arpakkam near Kāñchī, which is the more trustworthy record, proves that the invading army, having gained considerable success at first, ultimately was obliged to retire in consequence of the vigorous resistance of a coalition of the southern princes. The occasion of the Sinhalese intervention was a disputed succession to the Pāṇḍya throne of Madura, contested by claimants bearing the oft-recurring names of Vīra and Sundara.² This recurrence of names is one of the difficulties which hinder the reconstruction of the dynastic framework of Pāṇḍya history. - [Previous: c35.s2.33](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s2.33) - [Next: c35.s2.35](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s2.35) - [Up: c35.s2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s2) ## Linked texts (1) - [Mahāvaṃsa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.theravada_postcanon.vamsa.mahavamsa) — Pāli --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s2.34](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s2.34) · Pramāṇa