The progressive era of Udarata

Main characteristics of the epoch.

Konappu Bandara’s (also known as Wijesundara Bandara) triumph over Udarata in 1592, immediately following the death of Yamasinghe Bandara who had received the kingdom under the patronage and the aid of the Portuguese was an event which marked a new era both in the history of the kingdom and the history of Sri Lanka as a whole. Only when the way in which history evolved is closely examined in later times, it became clear that it was the ascendency of Konappu Bandara who claimed kingship by the name Wimaladarmasuriya I (1592-1604) that marked a climax point in the history of the island.

From the year 1592 to 1687 several characteristics were significant of the Udarata kingdom, first of which was both Konappu Bandara’s and his successor Senarath’s affirmation of their claim to the Udarata throne. This royal ancestry had borne the crown of Udarata until the year 1739. It was not because the Udarata people lose the interest in the old royal line that even in this year a king outside to the established royal pedigree advanced to the Udarata throne. (It was because Sri Weeraparakrama Narendrasinghe, the last king of that ancestry was unable to provide a son needed for the persistent continuity of his own royal line.)

Within the 17^th century, the Udarata kingdom was spread at a considerable rate. It shows that the two kings, Wimaladarmasuriya and Senarath were successful in drawing the eastern coastal territory of the island under the domain of the Udarata kingdom. King Rajasinghe II who succeeded Senarath to the Udarata throne (1629-1687) further extended the Udarata territory by drawing a part of the western coastal territory which was formerly at the disposal of the Portuguese. Thus, the borders of the kingdom that expanded under these two kings remained unchanged until the Udarata – Dutch treaty in 1766. This is why 17^th century can be considered as an important era especially because the territory was broadened.

As the Udarata kingdom was enriched with territorial resources, the kings ruling elsewhere such as Dambadeniya and Kotte acknowledged the superiority of the Udarata as the glory of the Sinhala kingdom and at the same time their duty to cherish the prevalent tradition was understood. As a result, the kingdom was exalted in character. Even the low country Sinhalese who didn’t form a part of the Udarata natives came to acknowledge Udarata as their kingdom while accepting its king as their own king. In addition, at least to some extent the economic activities caught their attention.

The establishment of a new royal ancestry.

In spite of Rajawaliya’s account which has that Weerasundara Bandara, the father of Konappu Bandara was a descendant of the Peradeniya royal line, not a single mention about such a royal lineage is found among other sources. Though he was mentioned as one who belonged to the Gampola royal ancestry in a book called Shiyamopasampadawatha, even that is hard to admit due to the unavailability of a proper account explaining the exact kinship. An ancient source named Rajasinghe Siritha contains an account which identifies king Rajasinghe as a grandson of Senasammatha Wickramabahu who was the founder of the Senkadagala kingdom. But when the royal kinship is taken as coming from maternal side, i.e Kusumasana Deviya’s side, (Dona Kathirina), it is not possible to confirm a so-called royal descent on the part of Weerasundara Bandara.

It is fairer to consider Weerasundara Bandara as one who belonged to the Bandara line who, as provincial leaders had possessed substantial powers with them around the 15^th century. But it is clear from Aluthnuwara and Gadaladeniya epigraphs that in 15^th-century powers of the Bandara family were increased in their role as provincial governors and military leaders. Despite the emergence of an independent kingdom in Udarata, following the demise of king Parakramabahu vi, from the beginning itself provincial rulers remained powerful. It can be speculated that Weerasundara Bandara may have belonged to a family whose power increased as such. It is no doubt that by around 1580 he became a recognized leader in Udarata. This is clear by Sithawaka Rajasinghe’s act of expelling the Udarata king Karalliyadde Bandara with the help of Weerasundara Bandara.

According to an account found in Rajawaliya, at the time of king Rajasinghe when an instable atmosphere ruled Udarata, the king suspected Weerasundara to have something to do with the instability prevailed in the kingdom. Through this also, it becomes evident that Weerasundara was a person who held an important position in Udarata. When examined in such a way, Wimaladarmasuriya was a son of a provincial leader whose family gradually rose to importance. However, it alone was not suffice to bear the Udarata crown.

Therefore, the foremost problem encountered by king Wimaladarmasuriya I was to find a way in which he could receive licit ownership to his kingdom. He was fortunate enough to be able to make up for that shortcoming by getting himself married to Kusumasana Deviya (Dona Kathirina), the daughter of Karalliyadde Bandara who was formerly thrown out of power by Sithawaka Rajasinghe in 1582. It was due to the failure of one of the measures what the Portuguese had taken concerning the Udarata kingdom, that Kusumasana Devi, who was in the custody of the Portuguese ended up becoming the consort of king Wimaladarmasuriya I. Even before two years passed from the death of Sithawaka Rajasinghe, Portuguese managed to take the low country territory under their rule. Udarata too was expected to be won over as easily as the low country. For that purpose, in the later stage of 1594 a massive army was sent under the command of general Peru Lopes De Susa. As they thought that Udarata people would be unwilling to directly submit to their rule, the Portuguese arranged this military engagement under the pretext of obtaining the Udarta kingdom for Kusumasana Deviya who from 1582 was in their care and had also embraced the Catholic religion. The Portuguese’ attempt here was to make it seem like an effort to establish the rightful heir to the Udarata kingdom. Though the Portuguese were successful in seizing Udarata kingdom and announcing Kusumasana Deviya the queen of Udarata, due to Konappu Bandara’s timely combat that took place in 1594 at Danthure field, the Portuguese army was assassinated and also Kusumasana Deviya was taken hold of by Wimaladarmasuriya, who was afterwards made his queen.

There is substantial information to stress the fact that it was by means of Kusumasana Devi’s claim that both Wimaladarmasuriya I and Senarath held the Udarata crown. A Dutch citizen who once came to Sri Lanka in 1602 stated that he was told by Wimaladarmasuriya himself that Kusumasana Deviya was the rightful claimer to the Udarata kingdom. It could have been with the desire of obtaining the royal right what was in her possession that Senerath, who was succeeded to the throne by Wimaladarmasuriya married the dead king’s widow but not because of any shortage of elite and beautiful women in Udarata. It is evident through the treaties made between Portuguese and Udarata kingdom in the years 1617 and 1633/34 that the ownership of the three princesses, Kumarasinghe, Wijayapala and Rajasinghe who advanced to power following king Senarath alone depended on their mother Kusumasana Deviya’s legacy.

The statement found in certain sources that Konappu Bandara was from an ancient royal descent becomes invalid in the light of the measures taken by both Wimaladarmasuriya and Senarath. Neither Wimaladarmasuriya nor Senarath was in a need to fabricate kinship connections to show their ancestors were from a royal pedigree since they had Kusumasana Deviya as their queen. This was same with the other 3 princesses who came to power afterwards as Kusumsana Deviya was their mother queen. Only the authors who regarded such an absence of kinship with an old royal pedigree to be an underestimation done on these kings, attempted to give rise to such connections. It may have been the reason for them to invent a Peradeniya royal pedigree which is otherwise not heard about throughout the Sri Lankan history.

References

[i] Tikiri Abayasinghe, Srimathi Devaraja, G.P.V. Somarathna, Udarata Rajadhaniya - 1470-1818, Lakehouse Publication, 1977