Ten Giant Warriors

Much is written of the great war of 205 BC to 161 BC between Sinhala King Dutugemunu and an Indian Tamil invader Elara for the City of Anuradhapura, and the central role played by Dutugemunu’s Ten Giant Warriors (දසමහා යෝධයෝ) or the great warriors (dasa maha yodhayo in sinhalese) – the dasa maha yodha. According to the chronicle Mahavamsa the men were drafted into Royal service during the reign of Dutugemunu’s father King Kavantissa, and levied to serve the young prince in due course.

The Rajavaliya claims that the ten champions had remained impartial throughout Dutugemunu’s battles with his younger brother [Saddha Tissa of Anuradhapura|[Tissa]], as they had promised King Kavantissa that they would remain impartial in the event of a dispute between the two brothers.

At the decisive battle between the two kings at Vijithapura, Nandhimitra and Nirmalaya (Suranimala) are said to have fought to secure the south gate to the city. Mahasona (sena), Gothaimbara and Theraputtabhya are said to have secured the east gate, while the remaining champions fought for the north and west gates (Rajavaliya p39).

Nandhimitra was perhaps the best known and strongest of the ten giant warriors. He was the nephew of Mitta, a well known strong great general in King Dutugemunu’s army, and was named after him. It is said that he had the strength of ten elephants and that he was the most skilled mahout of the war elephants in King Dutugemunu's army. As a young child, Mitta's mother tied him to a millstone to stop him from wandering off, but his great strength enabled the young boy to drag the heavy stone behind him, thus earning the name Nandhimitra. Then his mother tied him to a larger mortar, but he was able to drag that one too and continue following his mother. Then his mother tied him to a large bamboo tree, but that he uprooted and again followed his mother. When King Kavantissa heard about this, he took him to train.

The Mahãvamsa narrative suggests that Nandhimitra subsequently travelled to Rohana to serve a king who worshipped the noble triple gem (Mahãvamsa, chapter 23, verse 4-15) – a supposition that has been questioned by scholars, who argued that Elera himself, despite his Tamil heritage, had been a patron of the Buddhist temples (De Silva, 2005).

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