Kingdom of Polonnaruwa

Kingdom of Polonnaruwa පොළොන්නරුව රාජධානිය Polonnaruwa Rājādhaniya
1055–1232
Kingdom of Polonnaruwa before 1153   Principality of Maya Rata   Principality of Ruhuna
Capital	Vijayarajapura
Common languages	Sinhala
Religion	Theravada Buddhism
Demonym(s)	Sinhala: පොළොන්නරු, romanized: Polańaru
Government	Monarchy
Monarch
• 1055-1111	Vijayabahu I
• 1153-1186	Parakramabahu I
• 1187-1196	Nissanka Malla
• 1215-1232	Kalinga Magha
Historical era	Polonnaruwa period
• Established	1055
• Disestablished	1232
Currency	Coins
Preceded by Succeeded by Chola Empire Principality of Ruhuna Kingdom of Dambadeniya Jaffna Kingdom
Today part of	Sri Lanka India

Part of a series on the
Historical states of Sri Lanka
Sinhala Kingdom Kingdom of Tambapanni 543–437 BCE Anuradhapura Kingdom 437 BCE–1017 CE Anuradhapura from Rohana 1017–1055 Kingdom of Polonnaruwa 1055–1232 Kingdom of Dambadeniya 1232–1341 Kingdom of Gampola 1341–1371 Kingdom of Kotte 1371–1597
Transitional period Jaffna Kingdom 1232–1620 Kingdom of Sitawaka 1521–1594
Kandyan period Kingdom of Kandy 1469–1815 Portuguese Ceylon 1597–1658 Dutch Ceylon 1658–1796
British Ceylon period British Ceylon 1815–1948
Sri Lanka since 1948 Dominion of Ceylon 1948–1972 Republic of Sri Lanka 1972–present
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The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa^{[note 1]} (Sinhala: පොළොන්නරුව රාජධානිය, romanized: Polonnaruwa Rājādhaniya) was the Sinhalese kingdom that expanded across the island of Sri Lanka and several overseas territories, from 1070 until 1232. The kingdom started expanding its overseas authority during the reign of Parakramabahu the Great.^[1]

It had a stronghold in South India since its involvement in a civil war in the Pandya country. During this war, Pandya Nadu was seized as a province administered by the military of Polonnaruwa and Vira Pandyan of Pandya Dynasty. The tributaries of the Chola empire, Tondi and Pasi, also came under its and Vira Pandya military rule.^[2] Rameshwaram was under Sinhalese and Vira Pandyan Alliance rule until 1182.^[3] Its currency Kahapana was struck in these provinces. During the occupation of South India, construction works were undertaken.

Despite the prosperity endured under kings such as Parakramabahu, territorial and political instability would repeatedly occur, as the royal court was embroiled with factionalism chiefly between the Pandya and Kalinga bloodlines of the Polonnaruwa kings. This gave the royal military the opportunity to back their own preferred claimants to power, and generals like Ayasmanta and Lokissara would repeatedly seize the throne and install puppet rulers. Queen Lilavati's tumultuous reigns are a notable example for this, having come to power thrice under various generals. This escalating power struggle put the kingdom under decline, as evident from repeated intervention and raids by the Pandyans and Cholas to the North.

In 1212, the capital was seized by Parakrama Pandyan, a rival claimant who took power via Pandyan assistance. Only three years later, Kalinga Magha, whose title evidently traces his bloodline to that of the Eastern Ganga dynasty of Odisha, invaded the kingdom with a force of 24,000 men, capturing the previous ruler. As described in the Mahavamsa, Polonnaruwa was sacked and its population massacred, and the widespread devastation the region fell under prompted a massive migration into the South, ending the 1500-year long civilization of the Rajarata basin.

Following the capture of the royal capital by Magha, opposition coalesced around various warlords and nobles of the previous kingdom, who established fortresses in numerous locations to fight back enemies from the North. This would eventually give rise to Vijayabahu III, the ruler of the fortress of Dambadeniya, who eventually centralized Maya Rata by subjugating the power of rival lords and Magha's influence and established the kingdom of Dambadeniya in 1232, marking the beginning of the Transitional period in Sri Lankan history.

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