CHAP. XII.] FATE OF THE SINGHALESE MONARCHY. 415 



followed in the rear of the retreating sovereign 1 , 

 surprised the new capital, and carried off the dalada 

 relic to the coast of India. After its recovery Ya- 

 pahu was deserted, A. p. 1319. Kornegalle or Kurunai- A - D - 

 galla, then called Hastisailapura, and Gampola 2 still 

 further to the south, and more deeply intrenched 

 amongst the Kandyan mountains, were successively 

 chosen for the royal residence, A.D. 1347. Thence the 

 uneasy seat of go~v$rnment was carried to Peradenia, close 

 by Kandy, and its latest migration, A.D. 1410, was to A - D - 

 Jaya-wardana-pura, the modern Cotta, a few miles east of 

 Colombo. 



Such frequent removals are evidences of the alarm and 

 despondency excited by the forays and encroachments of 

 the Malabars, who from their stronghold at Jaffna exercised 

 undisputed dominion over the northern coasts on both 

 sides of the island, and, secure in the possession of the 

 two ancient capitals, Anarajapoora and Pollanarrua, spread 

 over the rich and productive plains of the north. To 

 the present hour the population of the island retains the 

 permanent traces of this alien occupation of the ancient 

 kingdom of Pihiti. The" language of the north of the 

 island, from Chilaw on the west coast to Batticaloa on 

 the east, is chiefly, and in the majority of localities 

 exclusively, Tamil ; whilst to the south of the Dedera- 

 oya and the Mahawelli-ganga, in the ancient divisions 

 of Eohuna and Maya, the vernacular is uniformly Sin- 

 ghalese. 



Occasionally, after long periods of inaction, collisions 

 took place ; or the Singhalese kings equipped expeditions 

 against the north ; but the contest was unequal ; and in 

 spite of casual successes, " the king of the Ceylonese Ma- 

 labars," as he is styled in the Bajavali, held his court at 

 Jaffnapatam, and collected tribute from both the high and 



A.D. 1:303. 



2 Gampola or Gam-pala, Ganga- 

 siripura, "the beautiful city near 

 the river," is said in the Rajarat- 



have been built by one of 

 the brothers-in-law of Panduwasa, 

 B.C. 504. 



