Title: Sri Lanka and the Cholas
Author: W.M.K. Wijetunga
Publisher: Sarvodaya Vishva Lekha
‘Sri Lanka and the Cholas’ was the research submitted by the author W.M.K. Wijetunga for the award of his Doctorate in Philosophy from the School of Asian and African Studies, University of London. It covers a very important period in the history of Sri Lanka.
The author has taught history for nearly 30 years at the Universities of Peradeniya and Sri Jayewardenepura. He also served as the Dean of the Faculty of Arts and President of the Vidyodaya Campus of the University of Sri Lanka. He is the author of several other books including Delhi Sultan Rajyaya, Mughal Indiyava and ‘Sri Lanka in Transition.’ He was the co-translator of A.L. Basham’s ‘Wonder that was India,’ a classic among Indian historical writings.
In this regard, the contributions by Nilakanta Sastri and Sandasiva Pandarathar on the study of the vast Chola history are noteworthy. The former’s article on Viayabahu I was the first serious attempt to unravel the period without making it an insignificant part of the Chola history. The chapters in ‘The History of Ceylon’ published by the University of Ceylon mark another important stage in the critical examination of the history of this period.
The Chola occupation of Sri Lanka was an episode in the long history of the island. This period has not received the attention it deserves. Therefore, the author’s new book is a welcome addition. The past memories of the Chola occupation of Sri Lanka have often been invoked even in the present times as a period of foreign interference. Parakramabahu I and Parakramabahu II often revive memories of the times when the island was rescued from the invaders or when Sri Lankan kings themselves invaded the mainland to attack the Cholas in support of the Pandiyas in South India. These factors have assumed such proportions that they have almost clouded the other side of the picture. There were close cultural and matrimonial relations between the royal families of Sri Lanka and those of South India. The author says, “It may, therefore, be interesting to find how and why this strong distrust of or antipathy against the Cholas who were Tamil kings arose in Sri Lanka. The period of Chola occupation of Rajarata and the influence the subsequent relations between the two major communities in the island show that many Sinhala kings used Tamil armies in their wars. Sometimes, Sinhala kings had trusted Tamil bodyguards. Even Vijayabahu who waged a successful war against the Cholas had Tamil soldiers in his army.
Historians
According to some historians, Viayabahu’s mother was a South Indian princess. The Chola king Rajarajan I came to the island looking for his rival Pandiyan king’s crown and sceptre. The Pandiyan king fled Madurai and reached Sri Lanka when his kingdom came under attack by the Cholas. He had kept his crown and scepter in the custody of a Sri Lankan king. During the Chola invasion, Mahinda V moved out of Rajarata and took shelter in Ruhuna to safeguard Pandiyan’s honour. Whenever Sri Lankan kings sided with the Pandiyans, the Cholas turned their ire against local kings. It was purely a geopolitical conflict which prompted the Chola invasion of Sri Lanka. There was no ethnic rivalry involved in it. A historian should write a book on Sri Lanka and the Pandiyans to clear the misconceptions.
According to the author, the geopolitical position of the island has made it inevitable that it should get drawn into South Indian politics. Geographically Sri Lanka was considered a part of India. The island is separated from the mainland by a 22-kilometre Palk Straits. The Adam’s Bridge was in existence in ancient times. According to inscriptions found in Ramanathapuram in South India, the bridge was mentioned in the Ramayana epic. The Palk Straits provided the island with a certain amount of isolation from as well as a nearness to India. Sri Lankans themselves, irrespective of their ethnicity, may have originally come from India.
For a long period, the Sinhalese were in control of the whole island. They maintained friendly relations with South India.
However, with the rise of powerful states in South India, Sri Lanka was gradually drawn into South Indian politics. As a result, Sri Lankans had to suffer serious consequences.
Apart from geopolitics, trade also played an important role in the Chola’s interest in Sri Lanka. Throughout history, Indian rulers, with the exception of the Chola kingdom in the South, had no proper understanding or appreciation of sea power. K.M. Pannikar and Kenneth McPherson have stated that the history of the Cholas illustrated the importance of maritime trade.
“McPherson sums up the naval activity of the Cholasas as follows: “Even more spectacularly the Cholas launched an attack on Srivijaya (Malaysia) in retaliation for Malay attempts to restrict passage through the Straits of Malacca.”
Oceanic policy
The Chola rulers of the 11th and 12th centuries followed a definite oceanic policy in the extension of their reach to South East Asia. They consciously followed a policy of establishing naval bases such as in the Andaman Islands. They virtually controlled the Bay of Bengal and the exits into South East Asia. As a result of this policy, they often clashed with the Sailendra rulers of the Malay Peninsula. It is, therefore, not surprising that the Cholas followed an imperial overseas policy which saw them dominate Sri Lanka and the Malay Peninsula. The domination by the Cholas ended in the 13th century and no other Indian dynasty followed their naval policy of projecting power via an oceanic policy.
At one point, the Bay of Bengal was a Chola Lake controlled by their Navy. The geographical position of Sri Lanka in relation to the Chola country played a decisive role in the relations between the Sinhala kings and the Cholas. It was often assumed that the Chola presence in Sri Lanka was the result of their desire to convert the Bay of Bengal into a virtual Chola Lake. The strategic position of Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean would have increased the importance of the island as a centre of maritime trade. A deliberate attempt to control the maritime trade was taken by the European invaders in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The influence of the Cholas on Sri Lanka has passed through many vicissitudes. The recent release of the blockbuster film ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ has evoked much interest in the viewers. ‘Sri Lanka and Cholas’ will give them a clear view of the Cholas and their achievements. The book is a welcome addition to those who have a soft corner for history.
The reviewer is a freelance journalist and an Indologist based in Hyderabad, India.