KING MOGGALLANA THE 2nd – MOGGALLANA THE MAGNIFICIENT –
BY Bernard VanCuylenburg
PROLOGUE
The recorded history of ancient Lanka begins with the arrival of Prince Vijaya from South India in the year 483 BC and ends with the conquest of the Kandyan Kingdom by the British in 1815 AD and the defeat of King Sri Wickremasinghe Rajasinghe, the last king of Kandy.
Thus ended the monarchy of Ceylon which spanned a period of over 2000 years. In the hands of any good Hollywood writer or producer, the melting pot of history during this period has all the ingredients for a box office winner – Lust, greed, passion, hate, romance, murder, patricide, nymphomania (as has been recorded during the reign of one female queen) – in short the seven deadly sins multiplied many times over ! King Moggallana the 2nd is one of the relative “unknowns”. This is his story………
Before dealing with the reign of King Moggallana the 2nd, mention must be made of the king before him who ruled for six months in the year 537 AD. King Silakala had three sons. They were Prince Moggallana the eldest, the second son Prince Dhathapabhuti and the youngest Prince Upatissa. Prince Moggallana was entrusted with administering the Eastern province and was sent to live in the region. According to the Culavamsa, Prince Dhathapabuthi was given charge of the “sea coast”, but there is no detail as to where this exactly was. His favourite son Prince Upatissa, was kept in the capital Anuradhapura, with positions of less responsibility. He intended that the young Upatissa succeed him as King, contrary to the established order of succession when the eldest son succeeds his father. And once again jealousy reared its ugly head. Prince Dhathapabhuti bided his time and finally had Prince Upatissa murdered. This in turn enraged Prince Moggallana who on hearing of his brother’s murder is reported to have said – according to the Culavamsa – “He has usurped the government though he has no right to it. Without cause he has slain my younger brother….” sarcastically adding “I will see that he has a merry reign !”
I crave the reader’s indulgence if I digress here, but the lessons of history it seems are never learned. There are numerous instances where the ruling monarch incurred the wrath of a son who was next in line to rule, because he had a favourite – usually the younger son – who was the apple of his eye, and was being groomed for succession after him, resulting in the legal successor (the eldest son) being cast aside. I could draw a classic parallel to King Silakala’s show of favouritism where he allowed his heart to rule his head. Exactly one thousand, one hundred and twenty one years later, in the year 1658 the Moghul Emperor Shah Jehan who gave the world The Taj Mahal , followed King Silakala’s rash example to the letter. His three legal son’s were Prince Aurangzeb, Prince Murad Baksh and Prince Dara Sukoh. Prince Aurangzeb was next in the line of succession, but the Emperor favoured his youngest son Dara Shukoh. He sent Aurangzeb to keep order in the Deccan – as far away from Delhi as possible. Murad Baksh was sent to another far flung district, but his favourite Dara Shukoh was comfortably ensconsced in Delhi and groomed to take over as Emperor. In a rage, Prince Aurangzeb usurped the throne in a coup and imprisoned the Emperor who died a broken man. He paid a heavy price for his favouritism.
One of ancient Lanka’s beloved sons King Duttu Gemunu, liberated the island from Tamil rule in the year 101 BC. when he defeated the ruling King Elara in a duel of honour fought on the back of elephants. King Kasyappa of Sigiriya fame committed suicide on the back of the royal elephant confronting the army of his step brother Prince Moggallana the 1st in 496 AD. Twenty eight years later, Prince Kasyappa, the eldest son of King Upatissa the second also committed suicide on the back of the royal tusker in 524 AD in battle with Silakala who had rebelled against the king. Once again, the stage was set for a clash between two brothers for kingship. The gallant Prince Moggallana sent out a challenge to his brother Prince Dhathapabhuti which was accepted. The Culavamsa quotes him as saying “We two alone will fight a combat on elephants…..” Armed with the five weapons, the sword, battle-axe, spear, bow and shield, the protaganists faced each other on their elephants. The chronicler is very graphic in his description of what followed. He wrote ” The huge elephants rammed each other and a crash was heard at their onslaught like the roar of thunder. Sparks flew at the striking of their tusks…..” King Dhathapabhuti’s elephant however was badly wounded and began to yield. The King on sensing this decided to commit suicide, rather than being taken prisoner, and “made as if to cut his throat…” (Culavamsa). How many times has one heard the old saying “Blood is thicker than water?” Prince Moggallana on observing this greeted his brother with reverence and cried out to him “Forbear to do that
that!” What followed was gruesome in the extreme. Despite his brother’s plea, King Dhathapabhuti in full view of his nemesis and the onlookers, proceeded to cut his neck until he eventually bled to death. A bloody end to a reign of six months and six days.
In the year 537 AD Prince Moggallana ascended the throne and immediately found favour with the public and clergy alike because the chronicler writing in the Culavamsa uses every superlative possible to sing his praises. King Moggallana had a way with words and was a talented poet whose reputation spread through the length and breadth of the land. Sadly, none of his literary works has come down to posterity. Being a poet, learned monks and other poets were singled out by him for special merit and reward. His poetic talent was without equal, and his generosity, philanthrophy, largesse and kindness endeared him to his subjects with each passing day. He won the clergy over by alms giving, gifts of medicines and garments and the founding of Viharas. He is referred to as “an abode of virtue” and “a shining light of the good doctrine”. But this is not all for which he is famous. His literary talents were equalled by his achievements in the field of irrigation and hydrology.
To him goes the credit for having constructed the largest tank in ancient Lanka still in use today. This is the ‘Padavapi’ tank, today known as ‘Padaviya”. Another giant tank constructed by him was the ‘Pattapasanavapi’ or ‘Patpahanvewa’ known today as the Naccaduva tank. Both these projects are a glowing testimony once again to the engineering skill and brilliance of those ancient engineers. The Naccaduva tank was the main reservoir for the irrigation projects under the Malvatu-Oya, the river which flows on the east side of Anuradhapura. Second only to King Mahasena and King Dhatusena as a tank builder, King Moggallana the second was one of the most distinguished and greatest kings of ancient Ceylon. He died in the year 556 AD after a glorious reign of twenty years, a paragon of virtue, a beacon of light, a son of Lanka beloved by his subjects who died in the words of the chronicler “full of pity for the world”.
Bernard VanCuylenburg.
