Draft:Sinhalese Revolt (1055–1070)

• Comment: Is this copied from somewhere else? There's no full source for Spencer or Sastri 2000. asilvering (talk) 23:36, 27 August 2023 (UTC)

---

Sinhalese Revolt (1055 - 1070)
Vijayabahu I sent three armies to attack Polonnaruwa. One was sent along the western shore to Mahatittha and Polonnaruwa, another from the east across Magama, and the third and main force across Mahiyanga.
Date 1055 AD–1070 AD Location Sri Lanka Result First Phase (1055): Chola Victory rebels suppressed Polonnaruwa retained under Chola control. Second Phase (1070): Polonnaruwa Victory Vijayabahu I officially recognized as the king of Polonnaruwa Mummudicholamandalam declared independent of Chola Occupation.
Belligerents
Chola Dynasty Mummudicholamandalam	Polonnaruwa Sinhalese Rebels Velakkaras
Commanders and leaders
Rajendra II Virarajendra Kulottunga I Vikrama Chola Utthama Lankeshwaran Karunakara Tondaiman	Vijayabahu I Ravideva Cala Kurukulattaraiyan †
Units involved
Chola Navy Chola Army
Casualties and losses
Large number of civilians killed or enslaved

The Sinhalese Revolts were a series of conflicts between the Chola Empire and the Sinhalese rebels based in Ruhuna to liberate the province of Mummudicholamandalam (modern-day Sri Lanka) from the Chola occupation. These conflicts lasted between 1055 and 1070. Initially, the revolts were suppressed by the Chola military, however in 1070 under Vijayabahu I, the Sinhalese successfully liberated Sri Lanka from Chola rule, establishing the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa.

Chola Invasions

Military expeditions from South Indian forces into Anuradhapura had been minimal until the mid-tenth century. These were designed to facilitate short-term gains with minimal involvement followed by a withdrawal to the mainland. However, with the ascension of more ambitious and aggressive imperial Chola kings, Rajaraja I (985–1014) and his son Rajendra I (1012–1044), a new strategy of ruthless plunder and destruction of major political and religious centers on the island occurred, followed by the establishment of semi-permanent and fortified encampments, from where wide-ranging raids could be carried out in other parts of the island. Rajendra invaded the Kingdom of Anuradhapura and sacked the city. He then sacked the city of Polonnaruwa which was then renamed "Jananathamangalam" The Chola official Tali Kumaran erected a Shiva temple called Rajarajeshvara ("Lord of Rajaraja") in the town of Mahatirtha (modern Mantota, Mannar), which was renamed Rajarajapura. The province Known as Mummudicholamandalam was encoprated into the Chola Empire.

Early Resistance

In 1029, eleven years after the Chola conquest of Rohona, Prince Kassapa, son of Mahinda, hid in Rohana, where Chola forces vainly searched for him. Soon after the death of his father Kassapa assumed the monarchy as Kassapa VI (also known as Vikramabahu) and "ruled" in Rohana for several years (c. 1029–1040) while attempting to organise a campaign of liberation and unification. He abandoned the palace at Polonnaruwa and fled to Ruhuna. He became the king of Ruhuna in 993, after 11 years of Chola rule in Rohona. Taking advantage of uprisings in the Pandya kingdom and Chera kingdoms, Kassapa VI massacred the Chola garrisons in Rajarata and drove the 95,000-strong Chola army to Pulatthinagara. But he died before he could consolidate his power, and a series of ephemeral aspirants to the throne subsequently appeared and disappeared in Rohana without dislodging the Cholas from the north. Kassapa VI's mysterious death in 1040, however, brought an end to the war. His successor Mahalana-Kitti (1040–1042) tried to lead an unsuccessful revolt against the Cholas.

Revolts under Vijayabahu

Vijayabahu I (1039–1110), descended from or at least claimed to be descended from the Sinhalese royal house. He had defeated his most powerful rivals in Rohana and was anxious to take on the Cholas, by the age of seventeen. The crisis in the country left a scattering of turbulent chiefs and intractable rebels whose allegiance, if any, was at best opportunistic which proved a problem to both sides in the conflict, frustrating both the Sinhalese kings and the Cholas.

Vijayabahu eventually launched a successful two-pronged attack upon Anuradhapura and Polonnaruva, when he could finally establish a firm base in southern Sri Lanka. Anuradhapura quickly fell and Polonnaruva was captured after a prolonged siege of the isolated Chola forces. Virarajendra Chola was forced to dispatch an expedition from the mainland to recapture the settlements in the north and carry the attack back into Rohana, in order to stave off total defeat.

With time on the side of the insurgent forces, The Chola's determination began to gradually falter. Vijayabahu possessed strategic advantages, even without a unified "national" force behind him. A prolonged war of attrition was of greater benefit to the Sinhalese than to the Cholas. After the accession of Emperor Virarajendra to the Chola throne in 1063, the Cholas were increasingly on the defensive, not only in Sri Lanka but also in peninsular India, where they were hard-pressed by the attacks of the Chalukyas from the Deccan.

First Battle of Polonnaruwa

In 1066, he launched the first attack on Polonnaruwa from his base in Rohana. His forces initially captured the city. Gradually the wider conflict developed into a prolonged, back-and-forth struggle of raids and counter-raids, with the forces of Vijayabahu advancing upon Polonnaruva and then falling back to fortresses in Dakkhinadesa and Rohana to withstand retaliatory Chola attacks and sieges. Eventually Choua forces under Emperor Virarajendra arrived, forcing Vijayabahu to flee.

Vijayabahu contend with the hostility of local chiefs who regarded him as a greater threat to their independence than the Cholas were. For that reason, the Cholas occasionally succeeded in recruiting nominal support from rebel chiefs in Rohana, as a result, Vijayabahu had difficulty consolidating a firm territorial base from which to launch a decisive campaign against the Cholas.

Conflicts in Southern India

With time on the side of the insurgent forces, The Chola's determination began to gradually falter. Vijayabahu possessed strategic advantages, even without a unified "national" force behind him. A prolonged war of attrition was of greater benefit to the Sinhalese than to the Cholas. After the accession of Emperor Virarajendra to the Chola throne in 1063, the Cholas were increasingly on the defensive, not only in Sri Lanka but also in peninsular India, where they were hard-pressed by the attacks of the Chalukyas from the Deccan.