Chap. IX.] KIXCS OF THE " LOWER DYNASTY." 



389 



wliicli the tooth was borne along the streets of Anaraja- 

 poora amidst the veneration of the multitude.^ 



One of tlie most striking events in this period of 

 Singiialese history was the murder of the Idng, Dhatu 

 Sena, a.d. 459, by his son, who seized the throne under 

 the title of Kasyapa I. The story of this outrage, 

 which is highly illustrative of the superstition and 

 cruelty of the age, is told with much feeling in the 

 Mahawanso ; the author of which, Mahanamo, was the 

 uncle of the outraged king, "Dhatu Sena was a 

 descendant of the royal hue, wdiose family were living 

 in retirement during the usurpation of the Malabars, 

 A.D. 434 to 459. As a youth he had embraced the 

 priesthood, and his future eminence was foretold by an 

 omen. " On a certain day, when chaunting at the foot 

 of a tree, when a shower of rain fell, a cobra de capello 

 encircled him with its folds and covered his book with 

 its hood." ^ He was educated by his uncle, Mahanamo, 

 and in process of time, surrounchng himself with ad- 

 herents, he successfully attacked the Malabars, defeated 

 two of their chiefs in succession, put three others to 

 death, recovered the native sovereignty of Ceylon, " and 

 the religion which had been set aside by the foreigners. 



A.D. 



459. 



' llahmvanso, ch. xxxvii. p. 241, 

 249. After the funeral rites of Go- 

 tama Buddha had been performed 

 at Kusinara, B.C. 543, his "left ca- 

 nine tooth" was carried to Danta- 

 pura, the capital of Kalinga, where 

 it was preserved for 800 years. The 

 King of Calinga, in the reign of 

 Maha-Sen, being on the point of en- 

 gaging in a doubtful conflict, directed, 

 in the event of defeat, that the sacred 

 relic should be conveyed to Ceylon, 

 whitlier it was accordingly taken as 

 described. (Rajavali, p. 240.) Be- 

 tween A.D. 1303 and 1315 the tooth 

 was carried back to Southern India 

 by the leader of an anny, who invaded 

 Ceyhm and sacked Yapalioo, which 

 was then the capital. The succeed- 

 ing monarch, Prakrama III., went 

 in person to Madura to negotiate its 



surrender, and brought it back to 

 I'ollanarrua. Its subsequent adven- 

 tures and its final destruction by tlie 

 Portuguese, as recorded by De Cottto 

 and others, will be foimd in a subse- 

 quentpassage, see Vol. II. P. vii. ch. v. 

 The Singhalese maintain that the 

 Dalada, still treasured in its strong 

 tower at Kandy, is the genuine relic, 

 which was preserved from the Portu- 

 guese spoilers by secreting it at Del- 

 gamoa in SafFragam. 



Tijenouk's Account of the Tooth 

 Relic of Ceylon ; Journal of the 

 Adatic Society of Bengal, 1837, vol. 

 vi. p. 2, p. 85G. 



^ This is a frequent traditionary 

 episode in connection with the heroes 

 of Hindu history .—ylsiVrf. Researches, 

 vol. XV. p. 275. 



c c 3 



