The Drift of Ancient Kingdoms in the Post-Polonnaruwa Period: A Critical View of the Causes of Decline of Sinhala Kingdom

Abstract

The Sinhalese monarchy has its origins in the settlement of North-Indian Aryan immigrants to the island of Sri Lanka. According to historical records, the first Sinhalese kingdom was established by King Vijaya in the valley of Malwathu-Mahaweli river in 6th Century B.C. It was subsequently unified as a state during the reign of King Duttagamini and thus, the Rajarata kingdoms became a power center of administration and continued for nearly fifteen decades. However, one can notice a gradual decline of the Sinhala Kingdom after the latter part of the thirteenth century, and the geographic drift of the center of power had also taken place over time. This study was aimed at analyzing the causes of the drift of the medieval ancient kingdoms, especially in the post-Polonnaruwa period. The researches argue that the rationality of the views produced by different authors on various causes could be questioned. The causes, found in various sources, such as climatic change, collapse of the old order, exhaustion and infertility of soil, the spread of malaria, foreign invasions, the collapse of the irrigation system, and the attractions offered by the Wet Zone as against the Dry Zones are examined in detail by the researchers to gauge what has happened in the past.