Dictionary of Pali Proper Names v2.c35.981

v2.c35.981

1. Vijaya.—The first Ariyan king of Ceylon. He was the eldest of the thirty-two sons of Sīhabāhu, king of Lāḷa, and of Sīhasīvalī. Because of his evil conduct he, with seven hundred others, was deported by the king, with their heads half shaved. Their wives and children were deported with them. The children landed at Naggadīpa and the women at Mahilādīpaka.¹ Vijaya and the other men landed at Suppāraka, but was obliged to leave owing to the violence of his supporters.² They reached Ceylon on the day of the Buddha’s death, received the protection of the deva Uppalavaṇṇa, and thus escaped destruction by the Yakkhas. The yakkhinī, Kuveṇī, fell in love with Vijaya, and he, with her assistance, killed the Yakkhas of Laṅkāpura and Sirīsavatthu, and founded the city of Tambapaṇṇi. Vijaya’s chief ministers, Anurādha, Upatissa, Ujjena, Uruvela and Vijita, founded separate colonies, named after themselves.