No. 60. — 1908.] cotjto : history of ceylon. 



271 



the Ninth Decade 1 , considering himself greatly affronted by not 

 capturing that fortress, as he was of an arrogant and ambi- 

 tious disposition, determined to murder his father 2 and take 

 possession of that kingdom, in order as king, and with the 

 force that he could command, to return against that fortress 

 and rid himself of the affront : and not wishing to go to 

 a distance 3 on crossing the river Calane he began to found a 

 new city, two leagues and a half from our fortress, which he 

 finished in a short time, and gave it the name of Biagao 4 ; 

 and although, as captain-general of his father, he had full 

 command, without three legitimate brothers that he had, 

 and one of them the heir apparent 5 , interfering with him 

 in anything, nevertheless it was a great hindrance to his 

 tyranny to have his father living : wherefore he deter- 

 mined to murder him in order to usurp the kingdom and 

 get his brothers into his hands so as to make an end of 

 them all ; and concerting with some persons whom he 

 could trust in that place, and through whom that busi- 

 ness could be carried out, as they were in his father's house, 

 he got them to give him poison, of which in a few days he 



1 Couto here, it will be seen, reverts to the siege of 1579-80, to take 

 up the thread of his narrative from that point, ignoring the incidents 

 connected with Ceylon related by him in the first half of this Decade, 

 though they occurred subsequent to that date. It is strange that he 

 says nothing of Raja Siijha's conquest of Kandy in 1580 (see supra, 

 p. 258). 



2 The reasons here given for this determination seem very improb- 

 able, considering that for twenty years or more Raja Siijha had been 

 king de facto, if not de jure (see supra, p. 208, note 3 ). Cesare Federici 

 (see supra, p. 242, note 4 ) has it, that Raja Sinha had ousted his father 

 against his will. 



3 What is meant is that Raja Sinha wished to have a place nearer 

 to Columbo than Sitavaka for his base of operations. 



4 This is certainly Biyagama in Adikari pattu, Siyane kora]6 west, 

 north of the Kelani river and immediately opposite to Kaduvela. 

 It is now a village of some 1,400 inhabitants. The Rdjdvaliya is 

 strangely silent regarding the building of this " new city " by Raja 

 Sigiha. The distance from Columbo fort given by Couto (say ten miles) 

 is correct. 



5 This appears to be inaccurate. According to the Rdjdvaliya 

 (82), of Mayadunne's four children, the eldest, Rajjuru Bandara, 

 died at the age of twenty, the third was a daughter who married 

 Vidiye Raja, and the fourth was Raja Siuha himself : so that there 

 remained only the second, Timbiripola Adahasin, to dispute the 

 sovranty. 



