Archaeologist  and scholar Raja de Silva (who never flaunts his many qualifications) once  again takes up his pen and spade  to fight a worthwhile battle to  restore the reputation of King Nissamka Malla of Polonnaruwa – sadly  denigrated by many prejudiced scholars over the last century. With the same  masterly skill he brought to prove, [...]

The Sunday Times Sri Lanka

Restoring a much-maligned King to the greatness he deserves

View(s):

Archaeologist  and scholar Raja de Silva (who never flaunts his many qualifications) once  again takes up his pen and spade  to fight a worthwhile battle to  restore the reputation of King Nissamka Malla of Polonnaruwa – sadly  denigrated by many prejudiced scholars over the last century. With the same  masterly skill he brought to prove, beyond all doubt, that Sigiriya was a  monastic complex and not a palace in the sky or a last redoubt, Raja analyses  Nissamka Malla’s (NM) fascinating origins  in the Eastern Indian kingdom  of Kalinga, with whose ruling class Sri Lanka’s royalty  shared  matrimonial alliances fostered by   flourishing maritime links.

Nissamka’s youth was spent in Kalinga learning the princely skills of warfare and  ‘Arthasastra’ – essential for a prince-in-waiting. When the call came from  his uncle the great Parakramabahu, he sailed to his promised land and  prepared himself to be king. Although the Mahavansa does not devote many  verses to him he is referred to in complimentary terms.

Many centuries later,  Archaeological Commissioner Bell called NM “an unconscionable braggart”  on the basis of the many  laudatory inscriptions NM left throughout the length and breadth of the  country, (I wonder what a future Bell will have to say about the many hundred  foundation stones now littering the countryside). Sadly, almost all later  historians unquestioningly accepted Bell’s unscholarly and simplistic  evaluation.

NM  had the great good fortune to rule a country over which the great  Parakramabahu had established peace and prosperity. As Raja says, this gave  him the peace  to travel the length and breadth of the country, even  braving the Peak wilderness to pay homage to the Sri Pada. He marked his many  ‘circuits’ with inscriptions ‘in situ’. Amazingly, he even forestalled  Napoleon by installing ‘Nissanka gavuta’ marking accurately measured  distances on his roads.

His  knowledge of the Buddha Dhamma is demonstrated by the measures he took to  cleanse the Sangha – which seems to have deteriorated in spite of  Parakramabahu’s purification. NM exemplified  the Roman practice of  ‘bread and circuses’, a centuries old strategy of kingship, by his regular  participation in the popular water festivals ‘diya keli’. I hope that a future  student will attempt to describe the various  many watery ‘fun and  games’ our ancestors enjoyed.

An  interesting aspect of NM’s inscriptions is his denigration of the ‘govi kula’  as unfit for kingship. To me, the explanation is simple. There has always  been a subterranean power struggle between the native-born aristocrats and  the foreign-rooted royal family. Centuries later in 1815 this very struggle  brought about the end of the millennia old Kingdom of Tri Sinhale.

Nissamka’s  greatest achievement is the construction of the architectural wonder of  his capital Royal  Polonnaruwa. Raja does a wonderful job  of illustrating and describing its many gems (one of which has been  brashly emulated as a theatre in Colombo).

Raja’s  typically bold venture into the wilderness of imprecise, and unquestioning,  “scholarship” exhibits the hallmark of a meticulous and unprejudiced scholar.  The shade of Nissamka Malla, in his celestial abode, will cast a symbolic  laurel wreath on this scholar who restored him to the greatness that he  richly deserved – but eluded him for the last  century.

Advertising Rates

Please contact the advertising office on 011 - 2479521 for the advertising rates.