Arya Chakaravarthi

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Arya Chakaravarthi is a name of a dynasty of Hindu Kings of the Jaffna Kingdom in Sri Lanka. This name is attested in India independently as that of a minister in the services of the Pandya kingdom. Thus the family must have originated in South India and came over to rule Jaffna and eventually established an independent kingdom.

Sathasiva Pandarathar records that the last of the Pandyan kings who ruled Tamil Nadu had two ports under control. One is Korkai and the other one is Rameshwaram. Arya Chakravartis controlled the Rameshwaram port as well.

With very few Vishnu temples in Tamil Nadu Rameshwaram became a focal point for all Vaishnavites in India. Like Vallipuram Vishnu Temple Rameshwaram also might be an ancient Buddhist temple which was later transformed into a Hindu temple by the wish of the local worshipers and King.

Very rarely Tamil kings have supported Vishnu temples. Great Vaishnavaite Ramanuja has to run away from Tamil Nadu to Karnataka to save his life from Kulothunga Chola I. As such Arya Chakravarthi is most probably a Telugu King who settled in Rameshvaram. Kandy King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha was referred to by Mahavamsa as a Vadugu king and of Nayakkar Dynasty. their origin is somewhere in Chithoor. He was a former owner of the Rameshvaram Temple.

Contents

[edit] Southern Campaign

The chief works of Bhuvanaika Bahu's reign are the Lankatilaka and Gadaladeniya Viharas, not far from Kandy. He ruled at least until 1353/4. Parakrama Bahu V. is said to have reigned in Gampola, but the Tisara Sandesaya or `Message of the Swan,' the earliest of this class of poem, is addressed to him at Dedigama in Kegalla District; he may have resided here while Bhuvanaika Bahu was at Gampola. His last known year is 1359. Joint king with him at least for a time was Vikrama Bahu III. (about 1357 to 1374 at least). It is in his reign that the great minister Alakesvara or Alagakkonara came into prominence. Finding it expedient that the enemies of his country and religion should be kept at a distance the minister built the fortress of New Jayavardhanapura or Kotte, not far from Colombo. Arya Chakravarthi, the king of Jaffna, attacked by sea and land, but was defeated Alagakkonara capturing his encampments at Colombo, Wattala, Negombo and Chilaw. This campaign can hardly be other than that assigned by the Rajavaliya which at this period is very confused, to the reign of Bhuvanaika Bahu V. According to this lath chronicle the war was brought about by Alagakkonara hanging Arya Chakravarti's tax collectors. It is unlikely that this is an invention. The very position of Kotte in the swamps near Colombo is a proof of the straits to which the Sinhala had been reduced, and there can be little doubt that the Jaffna kingdom was for a time paramount in the low country of Lanka; the Tamil inscription at Kotagama in Kegalla District, however, is almost its only surviving relic. [1]

[edit] Brahmin Origins

Arya Chakravartis are believed to have originated from city of Rameswaram of Ramanadapuram district of present Tamil Nadu state of India. Some historians quote that they were of Brahmin caste and were ministers in the Pandyan service. Arya Chakravarti is referred to in the Pandyan history by Sathasivam Pandarathar as one of the two princes in charge of Korkai and Rameshwaram. These were and are port cities and the income from the ports sustained the Pandyan government. These ports had a big Tamil Muslim population which helped to augment the international trade and communication.

[edit] Vellala origins

Interestingly, till sometime back, the head of Rameswaram Temple, called Pandaram, was from Saiva Vellala community, probably Gurukkal group, and he was the administrative and ritualistic head of Rameswaram Temple and the villages under it. They had long standing disputes with the Setuptis, ruler of Ramandapuram, about the jurisdiction of each other's powers.

They ultimately won the litigation during the British raj with freedom to nominate a heir who would manage the temple and villages under it. One should also keep in mind that the last name of a number of Arya Chakravartis was Pandaram and this clearly points to the origin.

Though this does not clearly specify why they called themselves as Arya Chakravartis, it at least points to a Tamil origin unlike Kalinga origin that some would like to believe. The kings also self styled themselves as Sethu Kavalar or protectors of the Rameswaram temple in coins minted in Jaffna.

[edit] Kalinga origin

The dynasty claimed origin from Kalinga Magha an invader from Kalinga kingdom in India. The change of power from the Javanese prince Chandrabhanu, to Kalinga Magha to Aryachakravarti created Jaffna as the capital of Jaffna Kingdom. When going throughthe family line of Arya Chakravarti one of the descendent has got married into the family King Senarath of Badulla. Senarath was the only Ceylonese king to defeat an European army in a war. (See Portuguese Ceylon). Some of the Sinhalese aristocracy were Tamils and have used Tamil as an official language when they signed the Kandyan Convention.

Kalinga (Kaligai) name is found near Thunnalai and Kalinga settlers might have settled there.

[edit] See also


[edit] References


    Pandyan History by Sathasiva Pandaram
    South Indian History by Nilakanda Shashtry

    Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../a/r/y/Arya_Chakaravarthi_68aa.html"