300 
JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XYIII. 
Mehenewara family, attained to the dignity of king." This enables 
us to fix the date of the Tamil invasion as 1391, when Bhnvaneka 
Bdhu Y. fled the capital and his Epa Yira Bahu occupied the Gampola 
throne after defeating the invaders. Although Yira Bahu is recorded 
to have " attained to the dignity of king," he is throughout referred 
to in the Nihaya Sangraha as Epa,'"^ and that so late as 1396 (p. 30). 
This proves that he had not as yet assumed a royal title or was 
crowned, for the anointed Sovereign Bhuvaneka Bahu still lived at 
Kotte, as we find from the Mahdwama and his sannas referred to in 
Mr. Bell's Kegalla Report. Though the Rdjdvaliya^ p . 67, says that 
the monarch returned to Gampola after the defeat of the Tamils, it 
will be noted that Yalentyn distinctly mentions that the Kandyans 
refused to have a coward for their king, when Bhuvaneka Bahu Y. 
would appear to have gone to Kotte as he had previously betaken 
himself to Rayigama. Considerable difficulty has been experienced in 
fixing the date and identity of the monarch who succeeded Bhuvaneka 
Bahu Y., chiefly due to the confusion created by the different titles he 
bore. Yira Alakeswara, Dambadeni Bandara (vide Appendix F), and 
Wijaya Bahu YI. would appear to be all names for the monarch of the 
Chinese captivity. He was nephew of Alakeswara, brother-in-law 
(suhuru-hadu) of Bhuvaneka Bahu Y., and a member of the Mehene- 
waraf branch of the Suriyawansa (vide Appendix B). Yira Alakeswara 
is stated in the contemporary SaddharmaratnaJcara (vide Appendix A) 
to have succeeded Bhuvaneka Bahu Y., to have reigned for twelve years. 
* Si]j. Epa is derived from the Sk. Adhi (chief) and pada (an honorific), 
hence chief officer or official. The title corresponds to Archduke, and was 
in ancient times conferred on the heir-apparent. During the 14th and 
15th centuries it was borne by other princes of the blood as well, the heir 
apparent being the Epa par excellence, Mapa, Sk. Malta (great) and pada 
(honorific), lit. great official, Grand Duke, ranked next (vide Sevul Sandesa 
Rdjaratnakara, p. 47). Epa was superseded in the 15th century by the less 
august Bandar (Sk. hhandara^ treasury; handdr^ one maintained out of the 
treasury) as the title of the king's sons. The Bandar or Bandara lost the 
character of a distinctive rank of royalty about the 16th and 17th centuries 
when, after the Portuguese fashion, Maha Astana (" His Highness ") was 
adopted as the title for the royal princes. Bandar came then to be con- 
ferred on the natural children of the king and the greater chiefs, as the 
highest rank of nobility, until the title became very common during the 
last days of the Kandyan Kingdom. The word is not to be confounded 
with the post of Pandaram^Tsim. non-brahminical temple attendant (Guna- 
sekara's Glossary^ p. 13), which was essentially Tamil, and the holders of 
which were Coast Tamils. During the later days of the Sinhalese monarchy, 
on account of the Hindu religious influence of the Court, many of these 
had settled in the country and obtained grants of land on service tenure to 
the dewalas : members of some of these ^^^a^i -sacerdotal families came 
into prominence during the Dutch rule. 
t For origin of the name (^;i<?e i2a;^?m^wflj^«m, printed edition, pp.55, 56). 
