Ayubowan !

King Mahasen - From 276 AD - 303 AD

Prince Mahasen became the king after king Detutissa's death. Then the Mahayana monk Sangamithra came back and started to spread Mahayana Buddhism against Theravada. King Mahasen ordered to stop alms giving to Mahaviharaya which is a Theravada monastery and he sponsored to Abayagiriya. He constructed another monastery called "Jetavana" and offered it to Mahayana monks.


However he removed those restrictions on Mahaviharaya and constructed a huge number of reservoirs to make the country prosperous. The most famous reservoir is "Minneriya" which caused king Mahasen to be named as "Minneriya Dewiyo".

King Kithsirimewan - From 304 AD to 331 AD

Next king was the son of king Mahasen, king "Kithsirimewan" or "Keerthisri Meghawarna". This reign is very important to Sri Lanka and Buddhism because the arrival of "Dalada" (tooth relic of Lord Buddha)happened in this reign. This tooth relic was with the Kalinga king in India and it was sent to Sri Lanka for its protection from enemy attacks and therefore Kalinga kings daughter "Hemamala" and nephew "Dantha" came to Sri Lanka with the tooth relic.



The tooth relic was enshrined in Anuradhapura for centuries and it was moved from place to place with the Capital because it was believed whoever has the possession of the tooth relic will claim the throne in the kingdom.

Then his brother "jettatissa" (331 AD - 340 AD) became the king and then his son "Buddhadasa" (340 AD to 368 AD) who was a great patron of medicine, became the owner of the throne. Next king was his son "Upatissa" (368 AD - 410 AD) and he constructed "Thopa" water tank and "Palawatu" temple.

King Mahanama - From 410 AD to 432 AD

After king Upatissa, his brother "Mahanama" becomes the king and he rules the country for peaceful 22 years. He had a daughter called "Sanga". After the queens death he married another Tamil queen and from her he had a son called "Sotthisena". Tamil queen wanted her son to be the king but king Mahanama wished Sanga to be the queen after him. However king died suddenly and Tamil queen was able make her son Sotthisena (01 day) the king but he was poisoned by the ministers and Sanga's husband "Chatthagahaka" (432 AD)became the king.

Then a minister called "Mitsen" became the king in the same year and six Tamils named "Pandu" "Parinda" "Kudaparinda" "Tiritara" "Datiya" "Petiya" (432 AD - 459 AD)took the throne by defeating Mitsen.

King Dhatusena - From 459 AD to 477 AD

Then king "Dhatusena" from maurya monarchs was able to defeat Tamils and to get back the throne. He was a great king and very famous constructions of the king are "Kala" water tank and "Aukana" Buddha statue. Kala water tank is a huge reservoir and Aukana statue is established near the dam of Kala tank and the belief is that the statue was built to protect the tank.

              

King Dhatusena had two sons named "Mugalan" from his chief queen and "Kashyapa" from another queen. Therefore the heir of the crown was prince Mugalan. But prince Kashyapa got the crown by killing his father by putting inside a niche of Kala wewa dam and plastering over.

King Kashyapa - From 477 AD to 495 AD

After killing king Dhatusena, prince Kashyapa became the king and he constructed a fortress on a rock called Sigiriya. This was for his protection from his brother Mugalan.

The Sigiri fortress, which is considered as the 8th wonder of the world, is a wonderful creation of ancient Sri Lankans. It has many pathways, water gardens and sanitary systems too. It is amazing to think how they provided water supply to top of the rock.

              

You can see more information about Seegiriya here

However king Kashyapa was defeated by king Mugalan (495 AD - 512 AD). After king Mugalan his son "Kumaradasa" (512 AD - 520 AD) became the king and then the throne goes to his son "Keertisena" (520 AD - 521 AD). Then his uncle "Siva" (521 AD) killed him and took the throne.

Then king Mugalan's nephew "Upatissa" (521 AD - 522 AD) killed king Siva and took the throne. The next king was his nephew "Silakala" (522 AD - 535 AD) and then his son "Dhatapabhuti" (535 AD). Then his nephew "Chulamoggallana" (535 AD - 555 AD) killed him and took the throne and then his son "Kuda Kithwsirimewan" (555 AD - 573 AD) became the king.

Next king was "Mahanaga" (573 AD - 575 AD)from Maurya Vansa and then his nephew "Akbo" (575 AD - 608 AD) became the king. Then his nephew "Kuda Akbo" (608 AD - 618 AD) owned the throne and then the throne is passed to his brother "Sangatissa" (618 AD). Then the minister "Moggallana" (618 AD - 623 AD) killed king Sangatissa and became the king. Then prince "Silameghawanna" (623 AD - 632 AD) became the king after killing Moggallana.

Then Silameghawanna's son "Sirisangabo" (632 AD)became the king and king "Detutis" (632 AD - 633 AD) took the throne by force. king Sirisangabo got help from abroad and was be able to take the throne back (633 AD - 643 AD). Next king was a minister called "Datopatissa" (643 AD - 650 AD) and then king Sirisangabo's brother "Kassapa" (650 AD - 659 AD) became the king. Then a king called "Dappula" (659 AD) from Okkaka Vansa got the throne and then king Datopatissa's brother "Aggabodhi" (667 AD - 683 AD) became the king. Next two kings were king "Datta" (683 AD - 684 AD) from Okkaka Vansa and king "Hatthadasa" (684 AD).

After king Hatthadasa, king Kassapa's son "Manawamma" (684 AD - 718 AD) became the king. Next kings were his son "Akbo" (718 AD - 724 AD), his brother "Kasubu" (724 AD - 730 AD), his brother "Mahinda" (730 AD - 733 AD), king Kasubu's son "Akbo" (733 AD - 772 AD) and king Mahinda's son "Kuda Akbo" (772 AD - 777 AD). Then king Akbo's son "Mahinda" (777 AD - 797 AD) took the throne by force and then his son "Udaya" (797 AD - 801 AD) became the king. Next kings were his son "Mahinda" (801 AD - 804 AD), his brother "Akbo" (804 AD - 815 AD), his brother "Dappula" (815 AD - 831 AD), his son "Aggabodhi" (831 AD - 833 AD), his brother "Sena" (833 AD - 853 AD), his brother "Sena II" (853 AD - 887 AD), his brother "Udaya" (887 AD - 898 AD), his brother "Kassapa" (898 AD - 914 AD) and his son "Kassapa" (914 AD - 923 AD).

Then king Kassapa's son "Dappula" (923 AD - 924 AD) became the king. Next kings were his brother "Kuda Dappula" (924 AD - 935 AD), king Kassapa's brother "udaya" (935 AD - 938 AD), king "Sena" (938 AD - 946 AD), his brother "Udaya" (946 AD - 954 AD) and king Kassapa's son "Sena" (954 AD - 956 AD). Then his brother "Mahinda" (956 AD - 972 AD) became the king and he used to rule the country from Urathota with Tamils.

King Salamewan - From 972 AD to 982 AD

King Mahinda's son Salamewan became the king and he refused the alliance with Tamils and again the kingdom became a free kingdom. Then his brother "Mahinda" (993 AD - 1007 AD). After him, there was a Chola reign till 1019 AD and then king Mahinda's son "Vickramabahu" (1019 AD - 1031 AD) became the king by defeating all the Tamils.

Next kings were king "Mahalana Kitti" (1031 AD - 1034 AD), king "Vickrama Pandu" (1034 AD - 1035 AD), king "Jagatipala" (1035 AD - 1039 AD) and king Vickrama Pandu's son "Parackrama Pandu" (1039 AD). At this reign a Chola king called "Lokissara" (1039 AD - 1045 AD) again came to Sri Lanka and started to Vanish temples, cities and all other constructions of Sinhalese. The Chola reign lasted till 1055 AD.

King "Vijayabahu" is the one who defeated these Chola rulers and united the country again. Another important thing is he moved the capita from Anuradhapura to Polonnaruwa.

Therefore this is the end of Anuradhapura kingdom and you are invited to visit Polonnaruwa Kingdom"

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