Kingdom of Polonnaruwa

The Kingdom of Polonnaruwa was the Sinhalese kingdom that expanded across the island of Sri Lanka from 1070 until 1232, its capital the ancient city of Polonnaruwa on the Mahaweli — the state shown on the map. Vijayabahu I drove the Chola occupiers from the island and made Polonnaruwa his capital, and under Parakramabahu the Great the kingdom unified the island and started expanding its overseas influence: it intervened in a civil war in the Pandya country of southern India, and its fleets and embassies reached Burma and beyond, while its kings built the vast tanks and the monuments that still stand around the city. After Parakramabahu the succession fractured, and Magha's invasion from Kalinga broke the kingdom's heartland; resistant fortresses arose in the south, which would eventually give rise to Vijayabahu III, the ruler of the fortress of Dambadeniya, who centralized Maya Rata by subjugating rival lords and Magha's influence and established the Kingdom of Dambadeniya in 1232 — ending the Polonnaruwa kingdom's record.