No. 2 7. — 1884.] TISSAMAII ARAMA ARCHAEOLOGY. 9 



of the winter season, under the most auspicious Nakkhatta 

 of Asalha, Dewanampiya Tissa was installed in the kingdom 

 of TambapanmV Asoka appears to have ascended the throne 

 in 263 B.C. (Duncker's History of Antiquity, Vol. IV., p. 

 525, f.n.), and this will bring the date of Dewanampiya 

 Tissa' s accession to 245 B.C. According to this chronology, 

 Mutasiwa died at the age of 79, which is quite in accordance 

 with the statement that he attained a great age (MaL, p. 

 76). This nearly agrees, also, with the chronology in the 

 Dipavamsa that places Mutasiwa's death at 74 years after 

 Chandragupta's accession, which Professor Duncker fixes 

 at 315 B.O., by means of Greek chronology (loc. cit, 

 pp. 442-443.) 



Assuming Mutasiwa to have been 45 years old, as above, 

 when his youngest son was born, it is not likely that he 

 would be less than 28 at the birth of his third son, Maha- 

 naga ; that is, Mahanaga was born somewhere about 296 

 B.C. This prince was thus about 51 years old when 

 Dewanampiya Tissa became king in 245 B.C. Very shortly 

 after this he came to Magama, say in 243 B.C. ; and if so, 

 we must assign the construction of the Tissa tank and 

 great dagaba to about 230 or 240 B.C. 



It will be found that this leaves very little time for the 

 princes of the Southern Kingdom between Mahanaga and 

 Dutthagatnini,and that if the above dates are to be depended 

 on as being even an approximation to the truth, it is quite 

 incorrect to state (as Tumour has done, on the authority of 

 the Ttkd, I presume), that Yatthalaka Tissa was born during 

 the flight of his parents to Magama. Most probably both he 

 and his son, Gothabhaya, were born before their father finally 

 left Anuradhapura, and there is nothing to show that this is 

 not the meaning of the words of Mahinda's prophecy to Dewa- 

 nampiya Tissa (Mak., p. 97). It is much more likely that 

 Yatthalaka Tissa built the dagaba which bears his name, 

 than that he was born at the spot. If his birth occurred 

 there while his parents were coming to Magama, the date 

 cannot possibly have been much earlier than 243 B.C., yet 

 his grandson, K&kawannatissa, lived 64 years, and died in 

 161 B.C. In other words, according to this statement, 

 Yatthalaka Tissa was born only 18 years before his own 

 grandson. 



