It is folklore that one of the most colourful and illustrious kings of Sri Lanka Rajasinghe I a.k.a. 'Tikiri Kumaru' of Seethawaka was killed off Pethangoda by a poisonous bamboo thorn. I was browsing around the famous forest reserve in the heart of Kandy, Udawattekele when I heard that this particular bamboo must have weathered the years and could be seen even today.
The story caught my fancy, I reached Warawela through Angala Kadigamuwa late in the night. After a walk of some 10 miles we reached one border of Pethangoda namely, Gurugoda Oya.
The incessant rain on 25.09.2017 throughout the country had swelled the waters of the rivulets and we had to command the services of a boat-man to cross the waters. Across the river and through the marsh we trudged on till we reached flatland.
The shrub jungle covered with 'Kela' and 'Kahata' trees thinned out exposing the palace which sheltered King Sitkwaka Rajasinghe fleeing from the disastrous battle of Kandy. Behind us was the shrub jungle covered with indigenous plants and in the fore ground was the famous bamboo grove.
This particular grove stands out from the rest of the jungle due to its peculiar thorn formation. The poisonous thorn which grows out of the main stem has a bunch of thorns on it formed like nodules. The grove has spread onto three separate groves now.
Just below the bamboo grove is a mile long trench which stretches up to Gurugoda Oya. This trench had been dug to prevent wild elephants from entering the 400 - acre king's Pleasure garden.
Though it was a land with a flourishing coconut plantation in the days of king Rajasinghe it is today neglected land bereft of a systematic plantation or human beings.
One and a half miles away from the royal palace is the royal kitchen. A large mortar and winnower are marked on a large stone said to be used in the royal kitchen.
Today water flows over this stone and it is with difficulty that one can even get a glimpse of this. The stone is slippery and my guide stepped gingerly up to the mortar.
The Atalawa and Puhulwella waterways meet here and the villagers use a local boat to cross the water during the rainy season.
An elder of the area showed us another vast crop of granite which he claimed was the royal pestle. He explained that the stone has 'grown' with time. The villages believe that the royal pleasure gardens conceal a number of hidden treasures. (Nidhana).
There is a similar kitchen implement, a grain-grinder (‘Kurahan Gala’) in the Delgamuwa Temple. The base is 9 ft. in circumference and the upper stone is 14 ft. in circumference. The diameter of this stone is about 2 ft. it's about 4 ins. in depth and a square has been dug in the centre.
A photograph of this ‘Kurahan Gala’ taken in 1942 is found in the Department of Archives among the Old Writings of Saparagamuwe Purana Liyawili. Thus, one cannot dismiss this story of the Pethangodamotarpestle as mere fancy.
Prince Tikiri who was a reputed warrior at the age of 12 died not in battle but poisoned by a deadly thorn.
To the latter part of the 16th century after the conquest of the Kandyan Kingdom Rajasinghe had only to chase away the Portuguese to be the one and only ruler of Sri Lanka.
He raised an army of 50,000 soldiers to attack the Portuguese. He destroyed all those who opposed his views and actions. Anyone whose motives he doubted was destroyed.
To become master of Kotte be had only to capture Colombo, and this Rajasinghe soon set himself to accomplish it. Mastering a large and powerful army of men recruited from the states that submitted to him, and fully equipped with homemade artillery, he set out to attack Colombo
Manuel de Zoysa Coutinho had just arrived, as captain of Colombo, and the city was quite ill prepared for a siege. The wall: were low and weak fortifications crumbling from neglect, and the city unprovided with war materials. The force defending it consisted of about 300 Portuguese and double that number of Lascarins, including Chetties and Muslims. The Sitawaka Army crossed the Kelani by two improvised bridges. Encamped at Boralugoda (now Wolfendhal) it fortified itself strongly to batter the bastion of St. Thomas which faced that quarter. The attack was gallantly repulsed. One of the chief defences of Colombo was the artificial lake which was strewn with islands, Rajasinghe was determined to drain the lake, but was unsuccessful in the attempt. He continued to assault the bastion of St. Thomas and captured the little island lying in the lake in that direction, but was again repulsed by the Portuguese.
The besieged also made sudden sallies and attacked the encampments on the South of Colombo and returned with spoils.
Rajasinghe made a determined effort to drain the lake into the marshes on the east of the city by cutting a deep ditch across the elevated land that separated the lake from the marshes. This he finally accomplished, stranding the vessels in the lake.
He delivered several attacks on the city with all his forces, but the defenders succeeded in repelling them. A mine was dug from the Sinhalese lines to the bastion of St. Sebastian, but the besieged countermined it; and this led to constant and almost daily encounters in which however, the Portuguese always managed to thwart the plans of the besiegers.
The city being cut off from provisions, the people were faced with famine, but the authorities in India dispatched supplies which helped the city to hold out expeditions were also sent out from Colombo to ravage the towns on the coast and bring provisions. When the siege had thus lasted a year and ten months and both the besieged and besiegers were worn out by the constant warfare. Mathias de Albuquerque arrived in Colombo with a force of 300 Portuguese determined to dislodge the enemy.
Rajasinghe now turned his attention to the Udarata. Its king, Karaliyadde Bandara had obtained a small Portuguese force for his protection, but one of his chiefs. Weerasundara of Peradeniya, assisted Rajasinghe, who, thereupon, marched with a large army and routed the Udarata army at Balana.
The King and his court fled with the Portuguese escort and were conducted to Trincomalee where the refugees were joined by another Portuguese company. The Udarata submitted to Rajasinghe, who thus became sovereign of a larger tract of territory than any other Sinhalese king of the century.
Having annexed the Udarata, Rajasinghe was, intent on capturing Colombo and devoted heart and soul to the preparation and equipment of a besieging army, consisting of the fighting forces of the many states now subject to him.
For this purpose he first reduced the status to his will by mercilessly putting to death all those whom he suspected of any disaffection to him, including the greater part of his kinsmen.
Subjects embittered
Rajasinghe sent embassies to foreign princes hostile to the Portuguese to solicit their Cooperation-and ask for arms and ammunitions.
The Malabar pirates were persuaded to intercept reliefs from Goa, while the country around Colombo was carefully guarded so that no provisions might reach the city. Foraging parties scoured the environs of the city, to sack and plunder the villages friendly to Don Juan and Portuguese.
But the rigorous and despotic exactions and executions, of Rajasinghe embittered his subjects to such an extent that they attempted to destroy him by poison. He promptly executed a1i suspected of complicity, without sparing even the Buddhist monks. Finally, after offering many sacrifices, even of human, lives, as was believed, for the success of his venture, he had a large and fully-armed force from Sitawaka in several division, and arriving before the walls of the city, encamped at Boralugoda and on the elevated portions of the marshes of Dematagoda which in consequence are still known as Maligawatte and Maligakanda respectively.
Joao Correa de Brito who had succeeded to the captaincy of Colombo viewed this advance with great trepidation. The city had been cut off from all traffic in merchandise from which its scanty revenues were drawn. Provisions were obtained with great trouble and in quantities scarcely sufficient for the 60,000 souls within the walls.
The fighting force consisted of only 350 Portuguese, counting the old and the weak, assisted by some lascarins; and the fortress was insufficiently-stocked with ammunition and artillery. The captain therefore, sent urgent messages to Goa and began to fortify the city as well as his resources permitted. The first fortifications built in 1505 withstood the previous assaults, but had suffered much from hostile attacks and from the monsoon rains.
Brito therefore made haste to repair the landward, bastions of St. John, St. Thomas and St. Stephen. The bastion of St. John, which was the principal one most exposed to attack, as it guarded the bay on one side and commanded the plain on the other, was repaired and raised in height and secured by a ditch ending in the sea, and in this ditch-were placed 'pada' boats to serve as parapets for the defenders.
The level plain, 125 paces long from the bastion to the sea, was walled in and raised five fathoms high with battlements, spikes and good artillery. The bastion of St. Thomas was strengthened with thick walls, so that under cover of St. John's it might defend the seashore. The bastion of Stephen which commanded the plain of St. Thomas (Jinthupitiya), and Galpotha and flanked two bastions on one side and four on the other, was strongly fortified with watch-towers and gun platforms. Portuguese and Sinhala officers of Don Juan, including Konappu Bandara, the son of Weerasundara of Peradeniya who had become a Christian under the name of Don Juan of Austria, vied with one another in erecting fortifications and defending the posts.
Rajasinghe now resumed the work of draining the lake which he soon accomplished by reopening his former ditch and cutting another. Having drained the lake dry, he brought the approaches within four paces of the city walls and entrenched himself with stakes, revetments, fortlets, and trenches, while his artillery kept up a continuous fire on the city. To direct him a naval expedition set out from Colombo and devastated the coast towns.
Four general assaults were made on the city with great daring and impetuosity and an array of elephants of war, under the personal direction of Rajasinghe, but they were all successfully repelled by the Portuguese.
Rajasinghe, therefore, attempted to attack the city by sea, but of the four galleys commanded by foreign mercenaries and carrying Sinhalese troops that set out from Mutuwal, two were sunk and the rest forced to flee. The siege, however, continued without interruption, reducing the city to great straits by famine and disease. The three bastions on the landside were repeatedly and desperately attacked and even mined but were gallantly and successfully defended.
The Portuguese, who had received some scanty reinforcements, ravaged the sea coast towns in search of provisions, plundering and destroying temples. In the course of one of these marauding expeditions, the famous Vishnu Dewalaya of Dondra was destroyed and sacked by Thome de Souza.
Became tyrannical
He then despatched an army to chastise Sethupala, but it was defeated at Thalampitiya. He therefore marched in person, destroyed the villages and beheaded those who had supported the revolt of the prince, while the latter fled to the Portuguese.
In the Udarata likewise the standard of revolt wasrasied by Mudaliyar Don Francisco, a Christian grand-son Gampola Devi. The people who groaned under Rajasinghe, flocked to the standard of Don Francisco, who expelled the agents of Sitawaka and sent a message to Yamasinghe the nominated heir of the last legitimate King of tire Udarata, to return to the possession of the throne of his fathers.
Yamasinghe, it will be remembered had been en-trusted to the Portuguese by Karaliyadda when he was fleeing before Rajasinghe. The Portuguese took the prince to Goa, where he became a Christian under the name of Don Phillip and received a pension from the King of Portugal. He was at this time at Mannar, entreating the Portuguese to place him on the throne.
Mistrust of Portuguese
The authorities at Goa however, were not satisfied with his proceedings, but the Franciscan friars espoused his cause and were eager to see him placed on the throne.
Thus, when Don Francisco invited the prince to take possession of the throne the friars exerted themselves on his behalf and persuaded the viceroy to enthrone him. An expedition to the Udarata had already been decided upon at the suggestion of Konnappu Bandara alias Don Juan of Austria, who had been sent to Goa in punishment for some misdeed and had earned a name for prowess.
The defeat of Rajasinghe's forces gave security to Don Philip, but it also stirred the ambition of Don Juan of Austria. The Franciscans who had come with the new king rebuilt the church of Senkadagala and began to engage themselves actively in evangelization. This was naturally displeasing to the people and gave Don Juan an opportunity of instilling into the people a mistrust of the Portuguese the document which Don Philip and his son had signed could also be adduced against them.
Don Juan of Austria was found to be winning supporters, when Don Philip suddenly fell ill and died under very suspicious circumstances. The Portuguese garrison then claimed his son, Don Joao, as king but Don Juan of Austria aided by the party he had been secretly forming, seized the government of the country and besieged Gannoruwa, forcing the Portuguese to retreat to Manna.
The captain of Mannar, who was unable to intervene, managed to rescue the newly acclaimed king, the ladies of his household and the Franciscans against whom the usurper was most wrathful.
The ex-king who was a boy of twelve was sent to the college of the Kings at Goa for his education. After-wards he went to Portugal, took holy orders as a Catholic priest, renounced his claims to the Udarata in favour of the King of Portugal, and received a princely allowance on which he lived at Telheiras, a suburb of Lisbon, a life of luxury and ostentation, unworthy of his profession. He died there in 1642 aged 64.
The erstwhile Don Juan of Austrian formerly Konnapu Bandara, proclaimed himself king. Rajasinghe thereupon sent a large force against the usurper, but the latter successfully held the pass of ‘Balana’ against the invaders. The reinforcements sent by Rajasinghe were repelled with loss. Rajasinghe took the defeat of his forces very much to heart and retreated in chagrin.
On the way a bamboo splinter pierced his foot, refusing to let his wound be treated he entered the royal barge to go to Ruwanwella and died on the way.
It was indeed a sad death for one of the most warlike kings that ever ruled in Ceylon. His ceaseless campaigns had entailed great hardship on his subjects, but his character could not brook opposition. He is said to have killed all those who dared to oppose him in any particular.
The failure of his many sieges was most bitter to him; and now the loss of the frontier forts and the return of Don Philip and Don Juan of Austria to Kandy broke his heart and he profited by the accident to end his disappointed life; though some local chronicles would have it that he was so detested by his own people that under the pretence of curing his wound they poisoned him.
Whatever may be the manner of his death, his personality looms large in the history of Ceylon both for weal and woe. He was even a far more implacable foe of the Portuguese than his father and the wars which he waged against them echoed his fame beyond the limits of this island.
The Portuguese describe him as a mighty general, endowed with a military genius akin to that of Hannibal, Alexander and Caesar. As this was an indirect compliment to themselves in that they won the credits of holding out against such a warrior, it is doubtless an exaggeration. But there can be no doubt about his military skill and enterprise and resourcefulness. Had he been wiser in his government and devoted some time to the consolidation of his conquests, and had he been less jealous of rivals, he might have achieved the glory of uniting the whole under his sway. But his despotism made his vassals and lieges revolt against him.