HOW EKNELIGODA NILAME TORTURED THE KING
Posted on April 20th, 2016
By Dr. Tilak S. Fernando Courtesy Ceylon Today
According to ‘Ceylon’ history ancient kings had divided the country into three principalities namely, Ruhunu, Maya and Pihiti. The three kingdoms were known as ‘Tri Sinhale.‘
The last phase of the Tri Sinhale commenced after King Rajadhi Rajasinha’s death following a bitter struggle in August 1798. The main conspirator in the mêlée was the Chief Minister Pilima Talauve, the most powerful official at the royal court. He hatched a plot to depose of the King following a secret meeting with the British Governor Fredrick North in 1800 while pleading with the English to invade the Kingdom and place him on the throne. That marked the beginning of the end of the Kandyan Kingdom.
Shrouded period
After the king’s death followed a period shrouded in a cloud of traitorous, devious and treacherous plotting and planning by one the Kandyan nobles who turned against the king. The British commenced working on Ceylon by taking over the Trincomalee fortress in 1795 first, then they moved to Jaffna and Kalpitiya and Colombo fortresses, which finally became the property of the British India Company.
‘Ceylon’ has been ruled by 192 kings altogether. After the demise of King Kithsiri, his brother Sri Wickrama Rajasinha succeeded and ruled the country for 16 years. As an erudite king, though of Indian origin, he has gone on record for writing Buddhist Jathaka stories.
The British did not have to fight a single battle due to any resistance with the majority of the Kandyan aristocratic forces being persuaded by Ahalepola to join the British forces. On 14 February 1815 the king was taken by surprise at the unexpected behaviour of his aristocratic ministers. He decided and moved out with the family and his consorts to ‘Meda Maha Nuwara’ and stayed in the house of a Village Headman.
Sir Paul’s Account
Sir Paul E. Pieris has judiciously documented his cerebral evidence of the machinations and treacheries that led up to the final betrayal of King Sri Wickrama Rajasinha in 1815 in his book ‘Tri Sinhala – Last Phase 1796-1815′, published by Apothecaries in 1939 and dedicated to Justin Peiris Deraniyagla (Sir Paul E. Pieris). His references have been out of despatches, reports and personal diaries as well as by culling mostly from the archives of the Public Record Office in London.
Sir Paul Peiris was born in 1874 and he hailed from an illustrious Sinhala family of early ancestry. He had proven his mettle even as a student at S. Thomas’ College by winning almost every major school prize. He was the first Asian to enter Trinity College of Cambridge University in 1892.
In 1914 he made legal history with his bold decision in the Gampola Perahera case, which gave rise to widespread rejoicing among the Sinhalese. Subsequent British attempts to overturn it sparked off Sri Lanka’s first major riots. In 1917 he became the first Asian to receive the honour of a Doctorate of Letters to receive either from Oxford or Cambridge Universities in the UK.
Historical Records
According to Sir Paul Pieris’s historical records, King Sri Wickrama Rajasinha was hiding at Dumbara in Meda Maha Nuwara. British forces had arranged to cut off all chances of escape from there while Ahalepola was asked to carry out his ‘promise of raising the people’ of that district. He started with Doyly and a military force when the King’s hiding place was discovered at a house of an Arachchi at Galleyhe Vatta. An intense interpretation of what took place has been presented by D.V.A Dias, the ‘Simhalese’ (Sinhalese) who was attached to the British settlement as an interpreter to the English officers.
Eknaligoda’s Emergence
Two hundred years ago, at the middle of the night, Eknaligoda Mohottale arrived at the house where the king was hiding with a group of men. He broke open the house and took the King and his queens into custody. An Appuhamy who was guarding the King from outside his chambers (Sethapena Ge) with a spear in hand challenged Eknaligoda having recognized him as one of the Nilames. Appuhamy aimed the spear at Eknaligoda with such force that the weapon shattered into fragments after hitting a stone when Eknaligoda managed to avoid the blow.
Appuhamy was immediately apprehended and bundled away while Eknaligoda walked up to the King’s chambers. The King was in the company of two of his queens at the time when Eknaligoda demanded him to open the door. The King declined, but handed over three silver mounted guns and two daggers through a small opening. However, the King did not obey Eknaligoda’s demands to hand over the golden sword and the emblems of his kingship.
This made Eknaligoda knocking down the king’s chamber door and his men to rush in and to create a revolting scene and grab all gold ornaments and to tear off the clothes of the royal captives. To cover their nudity a piece of cloth of four cubic in length was tossed at the victims as their only covering.
D.V.A Dias had been shouting from outside the house for the queens to come out; he had spoken in Tamil addressing the queens by the respectful term Ammayarum (Mother). Dias described how the queens came out reeling pitifully from side to side “like fowls whose neck had been twisted” and clung to him on either side in agony and terror, crying out “Oh! Protect us.” Blood was steaming from their earlobes due to lacerations in tearing off their earrings. Dias managed to stem the bleeding by crushing some medicinal leaves and applying them on the wounds.
Insult and Injury
In the meanwhile Eknaligoda was insulting the king in the crudest manner and ordered his men to fetch some wild creepers and to fasten the king and drag him out like a pig. Dias could not restrain the indignation and severely protested saying, “Your people, up to this hour worshipped the King as father and god, but mine had long been under foreign government and are not expected to show him the same reverence. All that is needed is his safe custody; why then insult, injure and bind him?” Simultaneously Dias offered his own shawl to the King as he considered it was necessary to secure kings limbs.
Infuriated Eknaligoda retorted rejecting Dias’s advice and ordered that the King be bound tightly. The king was then dragged and pushed along and thrown on to the ground. Dias at that point, extricating his hands with difficulty from the grasp of the queens, took a pencil and paper from his pocket and made his companion’s back as a table and scribbled a hasty note to inform Doyly of what was taking place and entreated him to come at once with palanquins and clothes.
Within an hour some officers and soldiers galloped to the spot to see the King lying on the ground with a large, intensely black and piercing eye in physical pain yet still displaying his exceptionally handsome features though there was no expression of any fear. The officers dismounted from their horses and knelt before the King and unfastened him while the troops drove away the Sabaragamuwa men to a distance with their whips.
Palanquins then appeared with such clothes as could be hastily collected. The king before getting into the palanquin turned to Dias and said, “Son, the English will doubtless put me to death, but not the queens. I ask you to take charge of them and protect them.”
“Sins of the father will visit the son to the fourth generation.” – Biblical saying.
tilakfernando@gmail.com
April 20th, 2016 at 2:44 am
The last so called king is not ours and that is why Ekneligoda asked the then British land robbers and terrorists to take him away. This foreign intruder king also committed the most gruesome crime of the world murdering the Ehelepola family. Lot of written history or any written documents need deep scrutiny to reveal the truth.
April 20th, 2016 at 5:07 am
අනුර හරි .
ශ්රී වික්රම කල දුෂ්ටකම් රාශියකි අනෙක් වඩුග ර්රජවරුන්ට වඩා සිංහලයන්ට බොහෝ ද්රෝහී කම් කළේය වදුගයන් බුරුතු පිටින් ගෙන්නාගෙන අශ්ටවන්කවීදියේ පදින්චිකළේය උන්ට වෙනම ”මදුර මණ්ඩප ”’ මදුරවාහල් කඩ ආදීවශයෙන් විශේස පහසුකම් සලසමින් මේ රට වදුගරටක් කිරීමට තත් කළේය ””.වඩුග හටනේ ””’ විස්තර වලින් ජනතාවගේ අදහස් පෙනේ .සත් කෝරලේ සියගණනක් උලතබා මරවුයේ මේ රජුය .පරනතල හිමියෝ ඝාතනය කළේය කකුල් දීන් මිනිසුන් ගස්වල එල්ලා දෙකට ඉරා මරා දමන ලදී .මේවා ඉංග්රීසින්ගේ මෙන්ම සිංහලයන්ගේ ලිපි ලේඛන වලත් ඇත .වදුගයන් රටේ රජකරවීමට රජු උත්සාහකළේය සිහලුන්ට අවශ්ය වුයේ සිංහල බෞද්ධ වූ වදුගයෙක් මිස ගෙඩි පිටින් වදුගයෙක් නොවේ .
එනපොට හොඳ නැති බව වැටහුනා සිංහලයෝ වියරු වුහ ඒවාට හේතු ඇත හැබය් හිංසන ඕනාවට වැඩිය .දැන් පෙනෙන්නේ නැද්ද මහින්ද නොමරා මරන්න හදන හැටි .කොහොම වෙතත් ශ්රී වික්රම නෙරපීම නම් හොඳ වැඩක් .එදා ඉන්ගුරුදී මිරිස් නොගෙන බැරිවුනා කැ හිගෑ නි දී හොටු ගෑනි නොගෙන බැරිවුනා . සුද්දා එලෙව්වත් දෙමලු එදා රජවුනානම් රට අල්ලා ගත්තානම් අද එලවන්න පුලුවන්ද .. මේ ගැන ඇති සියලු ලේඛන හොඳින් අද්යයන කලයුතුය් සිංහලයන් එදා කල කීදේ ගැන තීරණ ගන්න නම්
April 20th, 2016 at 5:56 am
“…..handsome features though there was no expression of any fear.”
This is a joke. Fearless ? Why then he should hide ?
This Vaduga Raja is a heartless baby killer. He is not a Sinhalese. He was a mentally sick Tamil. Lucky English caught him, otherwise we have lost Sri Lanka to Tamils long time ago.
April 20th, 2016 at 8:56 am
This is what you call ” history repeats”. Kundasamy alias Sri Wickrema Rajasinha born again as Velupillai Prabakaran. Ekneligoda paid the price after born as Ekneligoda in the forth generation. Kandasamy was given a Sinhala name to become a Sinhala king. Prbakaran brought into the North thousands and thousands of Tamils from Tamil Nadoo to build up their numbesr. They are the Tamils who fled to India during the war and are returnig to claim their land in the North. Did any Sinhala or Muslim flee the country? Our free loaders at Battaramulla never wasted their time in arguing this fact? They are the real muttara ballos.
April 20th, 2016 at 9:41 am
Anura Severatne, I have ample proof that this Malabar man became a cannibal in the latter part of his life. He raped Ehalapola desawe’s wife at the Royal court in front of his inner circle of Desawes. Then he eat her alive. Even today people in remote Kandian villages talk about it, Stories passed by father to son etc. He eat all his children. What the author of the article is attempting to state that the Malabar man fought against the British and he was a true patriot. He never gives any details of Sir Paul Peiris studying at Oxford or Cambridge Universities. His reference books does not exists.
Stanley, your right on Kanda Swamy killed any one said any word against him that is how he ruled the mother Lanka for such a long time. History can be manipulated in every which way, if one can earn money by doing so. Reading the comments, I did not see any one took it seriously. .
April 20th, 2016 at 9:42 am
Dham
” ….. handsome feature though there was no expression of feat” – This is not my description I have just quoted Justin Peiris Deraniyagla (Sir Paul E. Pieris) from his historical records.
April 20th, 2016 at 1:50 pm
Kandasamy was a just ruler at the begining. Udarata nilames began a scheme to topple Kandasamy’s government like the present day power hungry Muttara Ballos and one carried tales against another. That is when Kandasamy bacame a cruel ruler. Ehelepola kicked the king aftyer he was captured. But British gave the King his due place and respected as a king. When he was brought to Colombo, people were waching the parade from the high up buildings and etc. King refused to go pass until the spectators decended from the high ups. King was deposed to Muritius. People in Muritius believed he was a Sinhala god. King succumbed to Samall pox and demised like Napoleon in exile. Napolean was poisoned.
April 20th, 2016 at 4:36 pm
Tilak,
I thought so too.
But do you believe biblical sayings or Dhamma Pada ?
There is no place one could escape paapakamma, according to Buddha.
න අන්තලික්ඛෙ න සමුද්දමජ්ඣෙ න පබ්බතානං විවරං පවිස්ස
න විජ්ජති සො ජගතිප්පදෙසො යත්ථට්ඨිතො මුඤ්චෙය්ය පාපකම්මා
Father’s Paapakamma will not be paid by the fourth generation son. He himself has to pay.
Whether Sinhala or Waduga , any Raja who has killed innocent babies of a man even if that man betrayed the country will have to pay.
What kind of Sinhala Buddhist are we to approve killing of completely innocent children ?
I had better be a Catholic of Jihadist then.
April 20th, 2016 at 4:58 pm
Tilak,
වජ්ජං ච වජ්ජතො ඤත්වා
අවජ්ජං ච අවජ්ජතො
සම්මාදිට්ඨි සමාදානා
සත්තා ගච්ඡන්ති සුග්ගතිං
ඇතැම් සත්ත්වයෝ වරද වරද වශයෙනුත් දකිමින් සම්යක් දෘෂ්ටි ගෙන (ඒ හේතුයෙන් නිවනට යති) සුගතියට යති..
අවජ්ජෙ වජ්ජමතිනො
වජ්ජෙ චාවජ්ජදස්සිනො
මිච්ඡාදිට්ඨි සමාදානා
සත්තා ගච්ඡන්ති දුග්ගති
ඇතැම් සත්ත්වයෝ නිවැරදි දෙය වැරදි යයි ද, වැරදි දෙය නිවැරදි යයි ද දකිමින් මිසදිටු ගෙන (ඒ හේතුයෙන් නිරයට යති) අපායට යති..
අභයෙ ච භයදස්සිනො
භයෙවා භය දිස්සිනො
මිච්ඡාදිට්ඨි සමාදානා
සත්තා ගච්ඡන්ති දුග්ගතිං
ඇතැම් සත්වයෝ බිය නොවිය යුත්තට බිය වී, බිය විය යුත්තට බිය නො වී මිසදිටු ගැනීමෙන් අපායට යත්..
අලජ්ජිතායෙ ලජ්ජන්ති
ලජ්ජිතායෙ න ලජ්ජරෙ
මිච්ඡාදිට්ඨි සමාදානා
සත්තා ගච්ඡන්ති දුග්ගතිං
ඇතැම් සත්වයෝ ලජ්ජා නොකට යුත්තෙහි ලජ්ජා කොට, ලජ්ජා කටයුත්තෙහි ලජ්ජා නො කොට මිසදිටු ගැනීමෙන් අපායට යත්..
නගරං යථා පච්චන්තං
ගුත්තං සන්තරබාහිරං
එවං ගොපෙථ අත්තානං
ඛණො වෙ මා උපච්චගා
ඛණාතීතා හි සොචන්ති
නිරයම්හි සමප්පිතා
ඇතුළතිනුත් පිටතිනුත් රැකවරණය කළ පිටිසර නුවරක් මෙන් තමා රැකගත යුතුය. තමා ලත් උතුම් මොහොත ඉක්මවන්නෝ අපායට වැටී ශෝක කරත්. ඒ නිසා ( බුදුන් උපන් කාලය නමැති උතුම් මොහොත ) ඔබ ඉක්ම නො යේ වා..
සෙය්යො අයොගුළො භුත්තො
තත්තො අග්ගිසිඛූපමො
යඤ් චෙ භුංජෙය්ය දුස්සීලො
රට්ඨපිණ්ඩං අසඤ්ඤතො
තැන්පත්කමක් නැති දුශ්ශීලයා රටවැසියා විසින් දෙන ආහාරය වලඳනවාට වඩා රත් වූ ගිනි සිලුවක් වැනි යකඩ ගුලියක් ගිලීම හොඳය..
කාසාවකණ්ඨා බහවො
පාපධම්මා අසඤ්ඤති
පාපා පාපෙහි කම්මෙහි
නිරයං තෙ උපපජ්ජරෙ
බෙල්ලෙහි කහ කඩ ඔතාගත් පාප ස්වභාව ඇති, සංයම නැති පුද්ගලයෝ බොහෝය. ඒ පාපීහු සිය පාප ක්රියා නිසා අපායෙහි (නිරයෙහි) උපදිති…
අභූතවාදී නිරයං උපෙති
යො චාපි කත්වා න කරොමීති චාහ,
උභොපි තෙ පෙච්ච සමා භවන්ති
නිහීනකම්මා මනුජා පරත්ථ
බොරු කියන පුද්ගලයා අපායට යයි. යම් පවක් කොට එය නො කළේ යැයි කියන්නාත් අපායට යයි. පහත් ක්රියා ඇති ඒ මිනිස්සු දෙදෙනා පරලොව දී ද ගති වශයෙන් සමාන වෙත්
April 20th, 2016 at 5:24 pm
According to P. Dolapihilla’s book ” Sri Wickrema Rajasingha – the Last King of Kandy”, the Mathaka Katha passed traditionally down the times records that King Rajasingha II (Dona Catharian’s son), used to visit a certain Tamil courtesan in the Peradeniya area, same as Chief Adigar Pilimathalawe. This Tamil courtesan had a young son who would call Pilimathalawe “Aththa’. When King Rajasingha II met an untimely death whilst riding his horse, CA Pilimathalawe brought forward this boy as the King’s offspring and put him on the Throne under his own supervision. The King had no heir from his Queen.
When the boy grew up, the other Adigars perhaps got to know the hidden side of the matter.
The British persisted in trying bring Kandy under their control. The British sent gifts of Whiskey to the Palace in Kandy, and soon the King acquired a taste for the liquor and in his drunken rages ordered horrendous acts against his Adigars whom by then he suspected of treachery. Adigar Ehelepola went to the British side, probably suspecting foul play on the part of Pilimathalawe. At that time, the King in a drunken rage ordered the killing of the entire Ehelepola family and even put to death his former ‘Aththa’, Pilimathalwe. Many attempts were made on the King’s life, but he escaped them all till he was caught by the Ekneligoda Mohotille’s group.
Moral of the story : Do not trust Enemies bearing gifts (whiskey in this case sent by the British !). Same quote may apply to INDIA ….
April 20th, 2016 at 6:19 pm
“Moral of the story : Do not trust Enemies bearing gifts (whiskey in this case sent by the British !). Same quote may apply to INDIA ….”
Wrong way of interpretation of Moral of the Story.
Determine who is the friend and who is the “enemy in disguise as a friend” – Use Singalovada Sutta.
Nothing wrong accepting the gift as a courtesy but burn it if it is Koran ( from Saudi) or Bible ( from the west) but use it if it is Dhammapada (from India) .
April 21st, 2016 at 4:32 am
Strange logic from some ….
Best thing is NOT to accept FALSE gifts from anyone !
“Burning Korans or Bibles” will only bring more misunderstanding and strife for the masses. The Adigars going with the British to remove Pilimathalawe (mainly, as the King did try to rule well – extension of the Temple of the Tooth with the Pathiruppuwa, keeping the British at bay, etc) brought even more deep trouble for the masses of Lanka, still paying dearly for it.
Be wise, friends.
April 21st, 2016 at 5:25 am
ඉංග්රීසින් ගෙන් ඉගෙන ගත්ඒ අනුවම සිතන අයගේ පොත් නොවෙය සිංහල විදිහට හිතු විමලානන්ද තෙන්නකෝන් ගේ පොත් කියවා ස්රිවික්රම කවුදය් තීරණය කිරීම හොඳය .වදුගයෝ නොඑලවා අද හිටියානම් වෙන්නේ මොකද ඉංග්රීසි කාරයා ගියාවගේ යයද . රජා හොඳින් හිටියත් එලවපු එක හොඳය dham are u the same ”’ independant”’
April 21st, 2016 at 7:28 am
The British gave a ‘gift’ of Whiskey to the King of Kandy, and the gift of OPIUM to China when China did not want to trade with Britain as the Chinese were self sufficient and did not want to trade. As we know, China suffered greatly during the Opium scourge.
Senevirath has raised a good point. Lanka leaders MUST be PATRIOTS – no doubt about that.
‘Raja hondin hitiyath elavapu eka hondai’ – Yes, true. It would have been even better if the Adigars CHOSE a King without the intrigue of Pilimathalawe which put a Pretender on the Throne of Kandy.
To that end, in a multi-cultural country such as Lanka, it is best that PATRIOTISM be taught in schools, and an OATH OF ALLEGIANCE to Lanka be taken by one and all, especially school children.
April 21st, 2016 at 12:23 pm
That Sri Wickrema Rajasingha was a cruel King is emphasised in this particular article from the Sri Lanka Guardian. Even the King’s so called good works have been seen in an uncomplimentary way.
So it may have been a good thing to have that King removed, but the people who took over from him, the British, were no better !
That PATRIOTISM is a must for Sri Lankans is increasingly evident.
———-
Sri Lanka Guardian
The Last King Of Kandy Was A Vindictive Despot
| by Dr. Sripali Vaiamon
( May 24, 2014, Ontario , Sri Lanka Guardian )
The Island carried on May 19th 2014,this timely remembrance, where it depicts, on 17th May 1814,200 years ago the king of Kandy, Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, had ordered the death by drowning of Ehelepola Kumarihamy and killing under the most inhumane condition her four children. which was revealed by an eye witness account of Major Devy. This incited me to excavate the dreary story of the most cruel despot who ruled Kandy as the last king of the country.
There was also a comprehensive description on the Bogambara prison and how that area was reclaimed after Ehelepola Kumarihamy was drowned in the lake. It was in the Lankadeepa, published on 10th of April 2014. where the Chief Superintendent of the Bogambara prison Mr.Tissa Jayasinghe explicitly described what a cruel king Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe had been. Let us be familiar with the region and cruel despot who was the last king in the country created a dissension in the entire island, on caste hierarchy and low country up country basis, which ultimately became an irreparable damage to Buddha Dhamma on creating a Nikaya disunity which was quite contrary to exhortation of Gauthama the Buddha. It was totally against the principles of veracity and fidelity of the Buddha Dhamma where Pharaad Sutta has clearly defined. This dissension on sectarianwise which has a vulnerable reflection over the uniformity and identity of the genuine Buddhism. Buddhism is an Anathma concept where there is no room for the intrusion of Brhaministic theories and rituals which are based intrinsically on Athma Vadaya.. The late Ven.Soma Thera made a valiant attempt to exonerate the position step by step but due to his untimely death it was not successful.
Kandy is the second largest city in the Island, situated topographically amidst the conglomeration of hills as such it earned the name KANDA or Kandy and Kandy became the Colonial term which we still adore with a pride. It has earned so many names from ancient time. Starting with Katu bulu Nuwara located near Watapoluwa , Kanda Uda Rata, Senkadagala pura, Maha Nuwara, Siri wardana pura, Sinhale, Thun Sinhale etc. It is a very congested city now but the present Govt. is planning to avoid that dense situation by building an under- ground road net work with shopping complexes and eating houses etc. Let us now consider what ultimately happened to Buddhism which was an irreparable damage caused by the South Indian kings who tried to make a vast gap between up country and low country and on caste hierarchy.
History of Kandy is starting with Wickrama Bahu 111 of Gampola(1473-1511) who ruled the city from Kotte as a semi-independent kingdom. Wickrama Bahu followed by his son Jayaweerea Astana, then Karaliyadda Bandara, Dona Catharina, Rajasinghe 1, Wimaladharmasuriya 1, Senarath, Rajasinghe 11 ,Wimaladharmasuriya 11, Veera Narendrasinghe, Sri Wijaya Rajasinghe, Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe, Sri Rajadhi Rajasinghe, and Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe, last four are South Indian kings and the last one who was up to cruelty and executed so many Sri Lankan without an iota of pity and mercy. He was finally grabbed by the British with the help of local leaders and deported to his mother country, after the Kandyan Convention, a treaty signed in 1815. Last Kandyan monarch ruled the kingdom amidst immense suppressions and interventions from Portuguese, Dutch, British and at the end by his own Adigars. Perhaps he became more aggressive, somewhat cruel in temperament and dispositions, mostly on suspicion. Still he executed some good works such as building up of Paththirippuwa and constructing of Kandy Lake, perhaps some may be with ulterior motives, so that he could hang on to Royal position for a longer period.
During the time of certain Kandy kings Buddhist monks were treated as Ganinnanse primarily because they have to engage in jobs to keep their both ends meet. People were so fed up with everything and did not provide Dane or other requirements to up keep the temples and monks. Upasampada was absent in the country. During the reign of Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe ,One Samanera monk, Welivitiye Saranankara discuss with the king and initiated action to invite fully ordained monks from Siam for which King gave permission and support. Rev.Upali from Siam came in 1753 with 25 other monks and set up a Seema at Malwaththa temple premises and conducted an Upasampada. First ordained Rev.Saranankara who was later made a Sangaraja. Buddhist Order had been extinct during previous 500 years.
During the reign of Narendra singhe he had to get military support from Tanjor and Madurai to oust Portuguese who created plenty of troubles in Jaffna. Consequently as a mark of gratitude he married a South Indian queen from Madurai. But he had no offspring, and no heir to the throne with royal blood. He was compelled to get his queen’s brother ascended to the throne.
Prior to that it was Konappu Bandara, baptized as Don joao da Austria in 1594 was known as Wimaladharma suriya 1, who did a yeoman service to Kandy. He brought the Tooth Relic from Delgamuwa Vihara of Sabaragomuwa Province where it was kept for the sake of security from foreign intruders. He built a separate construction of a two tier building near the Palace to place the Tooth Relic, with respect to sanctify his Capital. He repaired several temples which were in dilapidated condition and bestowed a Buddhist outlook to the region. It was during 1600.
Subsequently there were several kings who ruled Kandy but their contributions to the kingdom were nothing substantial. There was a plot during 1760 occurred during Kirthi Sri Rajasinghe and the above plot was to make one of the Siamese princes came earlier to make the king of Kandy but the plot was revealed and he was deported.
It was a very aggressive period with Portuguese and Dutch in the maritime provinces. With the assistance of Dutch, king was able to oust Portuguese. Then the British also entered the country. British was able to subdue Dutch in the maritime provinces in certain areas but not yet intensified on politics in Kandy. These foreign rulers while usurping the country had carried out some good works also. But always with ulterior motives. For an example, while there was no higher ordination in the country Buddhism was at low ebb. Dutch has freely agreed to relieve their ships to send deputations to Burma and Siam to get down ordained monks and reestablish Upasampada in the country.
In 1788, Sri Rajadhi Rajasinghe died without an heir to the throne. Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe who was a nephew of Sri Rajadhi Rajasinghe, just 18 and known as Kannasamy was suggested to the throne by Pilimatalawa Adigar. There was a rival claimant but he was ignored and the First Adigar promoted him with a deep seated motive to set up a Sinhala Dynasty. He gave his daughter in concubinage to the king with the intention that he would make her the queen, but the king married two other women of his own ethnicity from Gampola Nayakkar. This inverted enemy of 1st Adikaram. King had his coronation in 1798.Last four kings in Kandy including Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe were Telagu of Nayakkar Dynasty from South India. Also were known as Vaduga kings.
Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe desired to have only noble people around him. He hates low country people and low caste monks.
King ordered to select only the higher castes to the newly nominated Siymoupali Sect. Only Radala and Goigama. Thereby king created a dissension among the Buddhists in the island by originating this sectarian division. All the other caste monks were out of Kandy and mostly in maritime provinces. That is why he made this demarcation. To have only monks with higher castes in his regime. Other monks were mentally ousted who had to search other avenues to get the higher ordination. However he wanted to create two prelates at Malwattha and Asgiriya under the newly created Sect and all the monks in the country have to be under their jurisdiction. So the low country monks who are in other castes had to go to Burma and Thailand and got established Amarapura, Ramannge and their sub-divisions. This is absolutely against Buddha’s principle as stipulated in Pahradd Sutta. By doing this kings in Kandy created an irreparable damage to the principles of the Lord Buddha.
Why should Sri Lankan Govt. a fully independent administration with full sovereignty should follow the orders introduced and affected by kings who were confined to Kandyan region only.
Nikaya system originated in Kandy based on Brahmin’s caste hierarchy which Gauthama the Buddha did not recognize at all. This should not be followed against Buddha’s principles. It is high time to restructure it to suit the entire country in the present era. It is in the hands of the President of the country.
Appointments of Prelates should not be confined to Kandy region only. It should be opened to island wide, and should be selected or elected with the consent of Buddhists in the entire country.
Or should be structured something quite similar to appointment of Pope in Vatican.
Rev Sanghamitta introduced Meheni Sasna with which an enormous service rendered to the country. Our Bhikkunis went all the way to China and established Meheni Sasna in that vast country which is still in existence. But Sangha Prelates in Kandy do not allow reviving it and recognizing it although the Govt. have the full power to do it, as interpreted women’s authorities at the CHOGM Commenwealth people’s Forum held at the Chaya Tranza hotel at Hikkaduwa where Heads of Governments declared the goal of gender equality empowering women to activate their full potentials…which was approved and empowered the President ….on this now President has the power to recognize Meheni Sasna and approve it.
Sangha prelates now should be selected taking the country as a whole and the divisions in the Sangha community which is contrary to Buddha Dhamma should be done away with and have only one fraternity. Only Puttas of Sakya muni. Maha Sangha. Was it due to this type of internal dissensions last king had to face with numerous conspiracies to rule Kandy region which became a most turbulent period in the history of Sri Lankans history.
He imposed very cruel punishments particularly to those who are in low country and low caste people. He built Paththirippuwa to watch how his officers and executioners carry out cruel punishments to perpetrators by cutting limbs and impaling with sharp impales, trample their heads by elephants and drown women by tied heavy stones wrapped up and push to the lake that he built at the heart of the town. He was so blood thirsty due to his temperament.
Pilimatalawa gradually started covert operations with the British to provoke the king into acts of aggressions which would give the British an excuse and enter the politics in the kingdom. The Adigar manipulated the king into a military conflict with the British. These dissensions went on for sometimes and his atrocities to the subjects were so cruel and the responses from his own officers were intolerable and ultimately King fled. This is how he was caught according to D.K.William, an agricultural student who wrote a lengthy report. It is somewhat cruel but interesting. You could read it in the free internet, here I’ll extract a few paragraphs for the readers to get an idea.
British army advanced towards Kurunegala and then Matale.They met another army and with a Thambhi mudlyiar, Molligoda and Ehelepola Adikaram, Dias and Ekneligoda trudged a long way to a jungle area where the king supposed to have fled. Through the help of a boy they detected the house where he has hidden with two of his queens. Ekneligoda Mohottala went up to the door and ordered the king to open the door. No response. He broke the door. queens were frightened and hang on to Dias’s hands, Ekneligoda dragged the king out of house and shouted “Bring me a Kirindi rope to tie him like a pig and take him out” He was dragged out and entrusted to the army. On March 2nd 1815, king was handed over to British and they took over the ruling of the Island under Kandy Convention.
Dr.Mirando Obeysekara described Ehelepola in an article which I like to extract a few paragraphs with curtsey to him. He described Ehelepola Maha Adikaram as Ehlepola the great a leader of the successful coup against the despot king Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe and planned to overthrow because he ruled as a despot and he was a cruel tyrant.
People hate him as a king who committed numerous atrocities to innocent subjects by imposing cruel punishments.
Ehelepola the great was a very versatile person having a sound knowledge of English, Pali, Sanskrit and Tamil. Sri Wickrama Rajasinghe been a Vaduga king by birth always suspected the noble families and began to eliminate them either by killing or forcibly made them to leave from Kandyan kingdom. Up country and low country or rather high caste and low caste dissension was very prominent during his time in up country locality.
On the contrary The Great Ehelepola had helped people for an example, during this period the killing of excessive children especially female children was very concern in the Kandyan families. Ehelepola issued an order that no child should be killed on this account and that of any family felt that they could not bear the burden of these excess children that he would help.( p.217 Sinhala Social Organization.)
The king was not only a despot and cruel tyrant but was also a highly lecherous sex maniac No pretty woman was safe from his lecherous advances.
The king now had ordered to arrest Ehelepola Maha Adigar. He went from place to place incognito and friendly he sought refuge in the low country.
Gradually the British too came to know that the presence of Maha Adigar in their territory. To make things easy for him Maha Mudliar Adrien de Abrew Rajapaksha of Mahakappina Walawwa,Welitota, introduced him to the British(Old manuscript of Nilgalle Walawwa) When the ruling despot found that he could not be arrested, he arrested his wife and sister. He threatened the wife and sister that unless both of them agreed to have sex with him they would be killed or give over to Rodiyas.
To continue his atrocities, I ‘ll get an extract from another writer Amal Hewavisenthi with curtsey)
The brutal and indiscriminate killing of the wife and the children of Ehelepola Nilame is an indelible black mark against the otherwise resounding glory of Sri lankan history. It was a national tragedy which transformed the political cause of the country and spawned a moral upheaval for people to last for generations. Ehelepola Adikaram, the prominent Kandyan Chief always national minded and in the rule of the country was vehemently against the Kandyan ruler of Vaduga Dynasty.
His uncle Pilimatalawa Maha Adigar wanted to get the conspiratorial support from British to usher in an era where no king of Vaduga lineage of South India rule in Sri Lanka.
Ehelepola like his uncle was sharply governed by a wave of national view and intent to obliterate even the name of rules of Vaduga dynasty in the Kandyan Kingdom.
Ehelepola who is now strictly under British surreptitiously addressed the Sinhalese Kandyan chiefs by a letter where it says sinister moves of morally bankrupted have betrayed me though all Sri Lankans know how honest I am, the Vaduga king purposely wreck havoc my family …… It is the bounden duty of everybody to protect Sinhala nation and reestablish prosperity to our kingdom……King ordered to cut the necks of his children and put into a mortar and commanded their mother Ehelepola Kumarihamy to pound with a pastel…When she got fainted and fallen down a stone was tied to her body and pushed down to the lake, and mercilessly killed her.…
Sarath Samarakoon, another brilliant writer contributing an article to a paper had written to say, Pilimathalawa Maha Adikaram decided to get the secret and supposedly conspiring support from English to usher in an era where no king of Vaduga lineage rule in this Sinhala country.
King appointed Ehelepola Dissawa to the rank of Maha Adikaram following the official announcement of the death of his uncle (add: Pilimatallawa, for sake of clarity), who was beheaded by the cruel king. Ehelepola was sharply by a wave of nationalistic views and sentiments were intended on obliterating even the name of Vaduga dynasty from the kingdom of Kandy”.