Anuradhapura Kingdom

The Kingdom of Anuradhapura, named after its capital in the dry plains of north-central Sri Lanka, was the island's second Sinhalese kingdom and lasted from the fourth century BC until the Chola conquest of 1017. The Mahavamsa credits its foundation to Pandukabhaya, who made Anuradhapura his capital in 377 BC; from the reign of Devanampiya Tissa in the third century BC, Buddhism became the foundation of royal legitimacy and culture. The arrival of the Buddha's tooth relic in the fourth century made the monarchy its guardian, and the kings built the great stupas of Ruwanwelisaya and Jetavana, the Lohamahapaya and later the rock palace of Sigiriya. Agriculture depended on an elaborate irrigation system of tanks and canals, extended by successive rulers, whose works supported a largely self-sufficient rice economy. South Indian invasions repeatedly interrupted Sinhalese rule, and kings such as Dutthagamani and Valagamba won fame by expelling them and reunifying the island; in the ninth and tenth centuries the kingdom faced growing Pandyan and Chola pressure. Internal rebellion and the weakness of Mahinda V allowed Rajaraja I and then Rajendra I to conquer Rajarata, and in 1017 the Cholas captured the king and incorporated the kingdom into their empire. Anuradhapura remained a sacred and archaeological centre, but political power moved to Polonnaruwa.