24 
JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VoL. XXlI. 
city (Canara). Fair with jewelled ornaments the delightful king 
Parakrama of golden hue, extirpated the race of the hostile 
Mukara^ king who offered him battle and slew his queen.^ 
There was tranquillity in the realm and predominance abroad 
when provincial independence rose again at the call of the 
Kandyans. The kingdom of the " five highland districts," 
Kandauda Pas-rata,^ or the Kandyan kingdom, was at this 
period ruled by an under-king called Jotiya Situ Raja.* Pro- 
bably an able adventurer, not of princely rank, as his name 
implies, had vaulted to the Kandyan throne and had up to 
the present acknowledged the over -lordship of Kotte by an 
annual payment of tribute. Ambitious to reign as an in- 
dependent prince , he ceased to furnish the annual contingent 
of labourers for the customary service to the emperor, and 
declined to forward to the capital the share of the revenue due 
to the imperial treasury.^ He sought to win over his subjects 
by a magnificent display of imperial power. He summoned 
the people of the five districts to assemble for his public 
assumption of supreme authority, and he bid for the support 
of his chieftains by lavish grants of villages and great titles 
of honour, which were more prized by the Kandyan nobles 
we are told even at that period than endowments of land.® 
When intelligence of the revolt of king Jotiya Situ readied the 
court, the emperor summoned the army, gave the chief 
command to JayaviraKuda Kumar ay a, who was stationed at 
Ambulugala, and entrusted him with the task of reducing the 
highlands {circa 1468-1467).^ The untrained mountaineers 
1 Mukkaras, an Indian tribe. 
2 I.e., by killing the queen he destroyed the chance of king Mukara 
obtaining an heir, and thus destroyed his race. 
3 UdunuVara, Yatinuvara, Harispattuva, Hevaheta, Dumbara. 
^ As his name signifies, Jotiya Situ Raja probably did not belong to 
any of the recognized Kshatriya ruling houses, but was a member of the 
Vaisya caste (Velanda) to which the Setti or Situ (Sk. srestha, " nobles ") 
belonged. Accessions to the noble orders by Setti were frequently 
made from the ranks of the common people, the qualification being the 
possession of a certain stated amount of wealth. The title thus con- 
ferred became hereditary. 
^ Rdjavaliya, p. 69. 
^ Valentyn's " Account of Sinhalese History." (Appendix B.) 
