385 



CHAP. IX. 



KINGS OF THE " LOWER DYNASTY." 



The story of the kings of Ceylon of the Sulu-umnse a.d. 

 or " lower hne," is but a narrative of the decline of the ^^'^" 

 power and prosperity which had been matured under 

 the Bengal conquerors and of the rise of the Malabar 

 marauders, whose ceaseless forays and incursions even- 

 tually reduced authority to feebleness and the island to 

 desolation. The vapid biography of the royal imbeciles 

 who filled the throne from the third to the thirteenth 

 centiuy scarcely embodies an incident of sufficient in- 

 terest to diversify the monotonous repetition of temples 

 founded and dagobas repau-ed, of tanks constructed 

 and priests endowed with lands reclaimed and fertilised 

 by the "forced labour" of the subjugated races. Civil 

 dissensions, religious schisms,- royal intrigues and assas- 

 sinations contributed equally with foreign invasions to 

 diminish the influence of the monarchy and exhaust the 

 strength of the kingdom. 



Of sixty-two sovereigns who reigned from the death 

 of Maha-Sen, a.d. 301, to the accession of Prakrama 

 Bahu, A.D. 1153, nine met a violent death at the hands 

 of their relatives or subjects, two ended their days in 

 exile, one was slain by the Malabars, and four com- 

 mitted suicide. Of the hves of the larger number the 

 Buddhist historians fail to furnish any important inci- 

 dents ; they relate merely the merit which each acquired 

 by his hberahty to the national rehgion or the more 

 substantial benefits conferred on the people by the for- 

 mation of lakes for irrigation. 



VOL. I, c c 



