The Journal of the Siam Society Vol. LXIV, Part 1-2, 1976 - Khamkoo

REVIEW ARTICLES
BACKGROUND TO THE SRI VIJAYA STORY-PART IV,
Senarat Paranavitana, Ceylon and Malaysia, (Lake House, 1966), and
other sources of interlinear writing (see list in section 21)
16. VIJAYABAHU I, PARAKRAMABAHU I
AND NISSAMKAMALLA
This part, in fifty pages, deals with the history of Ceylon from the
Accession of Vijayabahu the Great in 1073 to the coming of the Portuguese
in 1505, a period of over four centuries. Nobody can accuse me of not
bringing down the cost of 1i ving. But the aim is not to tell the history
of Ceylon as such, but to give that history within the pattern of a history
of Sri Vijaya. The story is based on the accepted sources with the
addition of two Ceylonese inscriptions recently published; while Paranavitana's
sources of interlinear writing will only be used sparingly as
connecting links in the overall story. The two 'new inscriptions' are
the Panusvasnuvara Pillar Inscription of the 9th century where the toponym
Yavaju-Kalingubimhi appears; and the Madirigiri Slab Inscription
of the 11th century with the name Samara Vijayottunga. These
inscriptions comprise two of four irrefutable pieces of evidence, three of
which have already been mentioned in the third part of this paper,
while the fourth will be submitted in Section 17 below. With all this
new evidence. the story of this four hundred years' period produced by
historians of Sri Lanka must be looked at again from an entirely new
angle. Irrespective of whether the Kalinga in the story was in Orissa­
India, as the Simhalese historians have thought, or it was in Southeast
Asia, as the evidence now shows, it seems curious that these historians
have never asked themselves the reasons why the Kalinga princes who
became kings of Ceylon, such as Nissamkamalla and Magba, ever invaded
the island in the first place. It is difficult to see Ceylon as a worthwhile
prize considering the enormous risks involved in the whole enterprise
of an oversea invasion across such vast distances. I hope it is still
not too late to ask this question though my study can only be superficial
for lack of space and knowledge of the subject. But the main object is
to extract a little history of Sri Vijaya from the confusion.