Vijaya of Sri Lanka

Vijaya
The consecration (coronation) of Prince Vijaya (Detail from the Ajanta Caves Mural of Cave No 17).
Reign	c. 543 – c. 505 BC
Successor	Upatissa
Born	Sinhapura
Died	505 BC Tambapanni, Sri Lanka
Spouse	Kuveni
Issue	Jivahata Disala
Dynasty	House of Vijaya
Father	Sinhabahu
Mother	Sinhasivali
Religion	Buddhism

Prince Vijaya (Sinhalese: විජය කුමරු) was a legendary king of Sri Lanka, mentioned in the Pali chronicles, including Mahavamsa. He is the first recorded King of Sri Lanka. His reign is traditionally dated to 543–505 BCE. According to the legends, he and several hundred of his followers came to Lanka after being expelled from an Indian kingdom. In Lanka, they displaced the island's original inhabitants (Yakkhas), established a kingdom and became ancestors of the modern Sinhalese people.

Broadly, there are four distinct versions of the legend that explains the origin of Sinhalese people. In all the versions, a prince comes to the island of Lanka, and establishes a community that gives rise to the Sinhalese race. The Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa name the prince as Vijaya, while the other two legends have different names for the prince.

The Mahavamsa version, the most detailed of the above-mentioned versions, is described below.

The king of Vanga (present-day Bengal) married a princess (named Mayavati in some versions) of the neighbouring Kalinga (present-day Odisha). The couple had a daughter named Suppadevi, who was prophesied to copulate with the king of beasts. As an adult, Princess Suppadevi left Vanga to seek an independent life. She joined a caravan headed for Magadha, but it was attacked by Sinha ("lion") in a forest of the Lala (or Lada) region. The Mahavamsa mentions the "Sinha" as an animal, but some modern interpreters state that Sinha was the name of a beastly outlaw man living in the jungle. Lala is variously identified as an area in the Vanga-Kalinga region, or as Lata (a part of the present-day Gujarat).

Suppadevi fled during the attack, but encountered Sinha again. Sinha was attracted to her, and she also caressed him, thinking of the prophecy. Sinha kept Suppadevi locked in a cave, and had two children with her: a son named Sinhabahu (or Sihabahu; "lion-armed") and a daughter named Sinhasivali (or Sihasivali). When the children grew up, Sinhabahu asked his mother why she and Sinha looked so different. After his mother told him about her royal ancestry, he decided to go to Vanga. One day, when Sinha had gone out, Sinhabahu escaped from the cave along with Suppadevi and Sinhasivali. The three reached a village, where they met a general of the Vanga Kingdom. The general happened to be a cousin of Suppadevi, and later married her. Meanwhile, Sinha started ravaging villages in an attempt to find his missing family. The King of Vanga announced a reward for anyone who could kill Sinha. Sinhabahu killed his own father to claim the reward. By the time Sinhabahu returned to the capital, the King of Vanga had died. Sinhabahu was made the new king, but he later handed over the kingship to his mother's husband, the general. He went back to his birthplace in Lala, and founded a city called Sinhapura (or Sihapura). He married his sister Sinhasivali, and the couple had 32 sons in form of 16 pairs of twins. Vijaya ("victor") was their eldest son, followed by his twin Sumitta.