Sena III

This fragmentary inscription is engraved on all four sides of the upper part of a stone pillar. The text originally continued on the lower part of the pillar, which is missing. Hence there are significant lacunae within the inscription. The surviving fragment of the pillar was first highlighted for scholarship in the Ceylon Journal of Science, Section G, vol. ii, p. 221. It is said to have been found in a land named Malhēna or Polgasyāya. In the 1930s, it was lying in the maṇḍapa of the modern dēvāle at Gonnǟva in the Dēvamädi Kōraḷē of the Kuruṇǟgala District (probably Gonnawa at 7.596588, 80.240385 or possibly Gonnawa at 7.518511, 80.107520), as Senarath Paranavitana recorded in the fourth volume of Epigraphia Zeylanica (p. 186). The inscription is dated in the eighth year of a king referred to by his throne name of Abhā Salamevan and contains a decree of the heir-apparent Udā (Udaya) granting immunities to a pamuṇu lank belong to a person named Agbo Mugayin Varadāṇa. The script used in the record belongs to the tenth century A.D. There are two Sinhalese kings of this period who, according to the order of succession, were entitled to the throne name (viruda) of Abhā Salamevan and who also had princes named Udaya as heirs-apparent. These were Dappula V (r. 940–952) and Sena III (r. 955–964), both of whom enjoyed reigns exceeding eight years in duration. It is not possible to say which of these two monarchs is the king mentioned in the present inscription. Since their reigns were only separated by three years, palaeography cannot be used to help settle the matter.

The inscription is engraved on all four faces of an irregularly shaped stone slab, which was discovered in April 1931 in a garden called Baṭatum̆bagahavatta in the village of Velmilla (Welmilla) in the Rayigam Kōraḷē of the Kalutara District. According to local tradition, the villagers long ago dug a large pit near the stone in the hope of finding buried treasure. Finding none, they buried the stone in the pit, where it remained until it was brought to the surface in the 1920s. The slab was broken in two before it was buried and it has since been further mutilated into four unequal parts, one of which is now missing. After visiting the village, Senarath Paranavitana felt that the inscription was of exceptional interest and had it removed to the Colombo Museum in order to preserve it from further damage.

The inscription is dated in the eighth year of king Mahasen Abhā (Mahāsena Abhaya) who, on palaeographic grounds, must be one of the three Senas who flourished in the tenth century. The regnal year precludes Sena IV, whose reign lasted for only three years, and the mention of the heir-apparent Udā (Udaya), son of Sirisaṅgboyi Kasub (Kassapa), rules out Sena V as, although named Udaya, the heir-apparent during his reign was a son of Mahinda IV. By process of elimination, the inscription may therefore by attributed to Sena III, whose reign according to the chronicles extended for nine years and whose mahapā (heir-apparent) was a prince named Udaya. The chronicles do not record this prince’s parentage but the present inscription suggests that his father was Kassapa IV, who was known by the title of Sirisaṅgbo and whose reign was close to that of Udaya III.

The purpose of the inscription was to grant the usual type of immunities to a pamuṇu land situated in Aruṅgam-peḷavaga and belonging to a person whose name is not completely preserved. It may of interest to note that there is a village called Aruggoḍa about four miles from the site where this inscription was found, which may be related to the place called Aruṅgam-peḷavaga in the record.