Royal Cremation Yard, Asgiri Maha Viharaya, Kandy, Sri Lanka
Spouse
Queen Consort of Madurai
House
Nayaks of Kandy
Father
Lord Pitti Nayakkar
Mother
Lady Abhirami Devi
Religion
Theravada Buddhism
Vijaya Rajasinha (Sinhala: ශ්රී විජය රාජසිංහ, Tamil: விஜய ராஜசின்ஹா; reigned 1739–1747) was a member of the Madurai Nayak Dynasty and succeeded his brother-in-law Vira Narendra Sinha as the King of Kandy. He was raised in Kandy and was familiar with the politics and culture of the court and society at large, including those of his Telugu kinfolk.
He contracted marriages with an influential royal family from Madurai, and his father-in-law Narenappa Nayaka later became one of the most powerful persons in the court. Sri Vijaya's queens soon became “good Buddhists”. According to the Culavamsa, “they gave up the false faiths to which they had long been attached and adopted in the best manner possible the true (Buddhist) faith’, worshipping the Tooth Relic day by day with many offerings.[3]
Exquisite Sinhalese bronze cannon with intricate silver and gold inlay, gifted to King Vijaya Rajasingha in 1745 by Lewuke, the Disawa or Lord of the four Korles district.[4]
Sri Vijaya Rajasimha attempted to reintroduce the upasampada ordination that King Narendra Sinha had neglected. While the king’s first attempt was to restore the ordination through Pegu in Burma, failure on this front forced him to contact Ayutthaya in Thailand with Dutch help. Although the death of King Sri Vijaya Rajasinha in 1747 resulted in the cancellation of this endeavor, the dynamic was not broken, and the ordination went ahead in the reign of Kirti Sri Rajasinha (r. 1747-82). On the other hand, and more disturbingly, he persecuted the Catholics. Sri Vijaya's persecution of the Portuguese and other Catholics may have had to do with his growing power and confidence as well as the Dutch factor.[3]
Oratorian priest Jacome Gonsalves tried to influence Sri Vijaya Rajasinha while he was still a "crown prince" (Prince Asthana), presenting him in 1737 a copy of the Budumula (The Root of Buddhism),[5] a refutation of Buddhism. However, Sri Vijaya remained a devout Buddhist under the influence of Saranankara Thero, even as he became the de facto ruler owing to the serious illness of King Naréndrasinha.[3]
In his reign, the ministers fulfilled the requests of the Dutch and acted according to their own desires. As a result, the dissava (Kandyan Chiefs) instructed their provinces where Christians resided to capture the missionaries and bring them to the capital. They were also ordered to confiscate any property belonging to the missionaries and destroy the churches. In one instance, an Adigar gave orders to surround the church of Candia and had Father Mathias Rodrigues captured. Additionally, all church property was confiscated on March 17, 1744.[3]
Sri Vijaya Rajasinghe's reign was complex, marked by his attempts to reintroduce the upasampada ordination while persecuting Catholics. His queens became good Buddhists. His reign also demonstrated the growing power and confidence of the Nayakas in Kandy and their sustained power struggle against established interests.
^"chapter 1, Kandyan kingdom, page 15".
^Obeyesekere, Gananath (2017). "Between the Portuguese and the Nāyakas". Sri Lanka at the Crossroads of History. Oxford University Press. p. 171. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1qnw8bs.13. ISBN 978-1-911307-84-6. JSTOR j.ctt1qnw8bs.13. This article incorporates text from this source, which is available under the CC BY 4.0 license.
^ abcdObeyesekere, Gananath (2017). "Between the Portuguese and the Nāyakas". Between the Portuguese and the Nāyakas: the many faces of the Kandyan Kingdom, 1591–1765. UCL Press. pp. 161–177. doi:10.2307/j.ctt1qnw8bs.13. ISBN 978-1-911307-84-6. JSTOR j.ctt1qnw8bs.13.
^"Kanon, anoniem, voor 1745". rijksmuseum.nl. Retrieved 20 April 2023.
VijayaRajasinha (Sinhala: ශ්රී විජය රාජසිංහ, Tamil: விஜய ராஜசின்ஹா; reigned 1739–1747) was a member of the Madurai Nayak Dynasty and succeeded his brother-in-law...
The Kingdom ofKandy was a monarchy on the island ofSri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th...
In total, four Nayak monarchs ruled in Kandy, the last of whom, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha, was deposed as a result of the Kandyan nobility's collusion with...
with Sri Vikrama RajasinhaofKandy after generations of European colonial influences and upheaval in the royal court. During the two millennia of Sinhalese...
Palace. After the death of the king in 1739, the throne was succeeded by his wife's brother, SriVijayaRajasinha, who was of Nayakkar nationality which...
1739 due to a lack of successors, ending the second phase of the kingdom. The Nayakkar Dynasty, which began with SriVijayaRajasinha, was seen as a great...
They describe the history ofSri Lanka since the arrival of Prince Vijaya who was from Northern India The earliest documents of settlement in the Island...
by a Sinhalese concubine. The new king was crowned SriVijayaRajasinha later that year. Kings of the Nayakkar dynasty launched several attacks on Dutch...
attitude of the new king would be in this matter. After the demise of King Vijaya Rajasinghe in 1747, Kirti SriRajasinha was appointed as the King of Kandyan...
the Madurai royal family and succeeded his brother, Kirti SriRajasinha as ofKandy in 1782. Sri Rajadhi Raja Sinha was fluent in many languages including...
higher ordination. The reigns of Kirti SriRajasinha (1747–1782) and Rajadhi Rajasinha (1782–1798) also saw the restoration of many Buddhist temples that...
next decade claimed the throne ofKandy in her name. Rajasinha's hold over the area was further disrupted by the rebellion of his viceroy Wirasundara Mudiyanse...
House of Siri Sanga Bo was a powerful dynasty which ruled parts ofSri Lanka from Vijayabahu III of Dambadeniya (1220–1224) until Rajasinha I of Sitawaka...
family tree of Sinhalese monarchs. The House ofVijaya claimed a close relationship to the Shakya dynasty, family of the Gautama Buddha. List ofSri Lankan...
control the Kingdom ofKandy located in the interior of the island. Dutch Ceylon existed from 1640 until 1796. In the early 17th century, Sri Lanka was partly...
during the reign of King Kirti SriRajasinha (r. 1747-1782), to protect it from wild elephants which might have damaged the tree. The height of the wall is...
situated in what is presently Sri Lanka. The monarchy ended with Sri Vikrama RajasinhaofKandy in 1815 after generations of European influences and upheaval...
(1981). A History ofSri Lanka. India: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-04320-0. C. Gaston Pereira, Kandy fights the Portuguese. Sri Lanka: Vijitha...
This is a timeline ofSri Lankan history, comprising important & territorial changes and political & economic events in Sri Lanka and its predecessor states...
king, Sri Vikrama Rajasinha was deposed and taken captive by the British. He was exiled to Vellore Fort from Kandy. Bangaru Tirumala was a member of royal...
minister in King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha's royal court Hemal Ranasinghe, model and actor Keppetipola Disawe, leader of the Great Rebellion of Uva in 1818 Kingsley...
Province Southern Province Uva Province Western Province Districts ofSri Lanka Kandy District Matale District Nuwara Eliya District Ampara District Batticaloa...
King ofKandy. King Narendra was married to a Tamil princess of Madurai (Tamil Nadu, India), and princess's brother-in-law, SriVijayaRajasinha who succeeded...
The Transitional period ofSri Lanka spans from the end of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa, in 1232, to the start of the Kandyan period in 1597. The period...
guardianship ofSri Lanka and Buddha Śāsana of the country. According to the Sri Lankan chronicles Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, north Indian prince Vijaya and his...
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