| Chola conquest of Anuradhapura | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Belligerents | |||||||||
| Chola Empire | |||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
|
(992–993 CE) Rajaraja Chola I (King) Rajendra Chola I(prince) (1017 CE) Rajendra Chola I(king) Sanga varma chola (prince) (1042 CE) Sanga varma chola (Lanka chieftain) |
(992–993 CE) (1017 CE) (1042 CE) Kassapa VI †Disposed Pandyan Princes † | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
|
Chola Navy Chola Army |
Anuradhapura Army Pandyan Auxiliaries[citation needed] | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 95,000[4] | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
| Unknown | Many Soldiers and Large number of Sinhalese civilians died | ||||||||
| History of Sri Lanka | ||||||||||||||||
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_-_Geographicus_-_Taprobane-mallet-1686.jpg) | ||||||||||||||||
| Chronicles | ||||||||||||||||
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The Chola conquest of Anuradhapura was a military invasion of the Kingdom of Anuradhapura by the Chola Empire. It can be seen as an ensuing conflict between Chola and Sinhalese kings after the initial conflict between Chola and the Pandya-Sinhalese alliance during conquest of the Pandya Kingdom by Chola king Parantaka I.[5] After the defeat, Pandya king Rajasimha took his crown and the other regalia and sought refuge in Anuradhapura.[5] The Paranthka made several futile attempts to regain regalia, including invasion of Sri Lanka on a date between 947 and 949 CE during the reign of Sinhalese king Udaya IV (946–954 CE).[5] Therefore, one of the driving motives behind the invasions of Anuradhapura by the Cholas' was their desire to possess these royal treasures.[5] The conquest started with the invasion of the Anuradhapura Kingdom in 993 CE by Rajaraja I when he sent a large Chola army to conquer the kingdom and absorb it into the Chola Empire.[6] Most of the island was subsequently conquered by 1017 CE and incorporated as a province of the vast Chola empire during the reign of his son Rajendra Chola I.[7][8][9] The Chola occupation would be overthrown in 1070 CE through a campaign of Sinhalese Resistance led by Prince Kitti, a Sinhalese royal. The Cholas fought many subsequent wars and attempted to reconquer the Sinhalese kingdom as the Sinhalese were allies of their arch-enemies, the Pandyas. The period of Chola entrenchment in northern Sri Lanka lasted in total about three-quarters of a century, from roughly 993 CE (the date of Rajaraja's first invasion) to 1070 CE, when Vijayabahu I recaptured the north and expelled the Chola forces restoring Sinhalese sovereignty.[10]
- ^ Spencer 1976, p. 411
- ^ The Jungle Tide:“Collapse” in Early Mediaeval Sri Lanka STRICKLAND, KEIR ,MAGALIE (2011) The Jungle Tide: “Collapse” in Early Mediaeval Sri Lanka. Doctoral thesis, Durham University. P.331 http://etheses.dur.ac.uk/893/
- ^ Sastri 2000, p. 199-200.
- ^ Roy, Kaushik (6 October 2015). Military Manpower, Armies and Warfare in South Asia. Routledge. ISBN 9781317321279.
- ^ a b c d Wijetunga, Wijetunga Mudalige Karunaratna (1962), "First Phase: Relations between the Sinhalese and the Cholas up to the time of Rajaraja I", The rise and decline of Chola power in Ceylon, pp. 75–107, doi:10.25501/SOAS.00029338
- ^ Sastri 2000, p. 172–173.
- ^ Chattopadhyaya 1994, p. 7–9.
- ^ Kulke, Kesavapany & Sakhuja 2009, p. 195–.
- ^ Gunawardena 2005, p. 71–.
- ^ Spencer 1976, p. 409.
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