this era was translating the Jataka story book,
which was in Pali language until then, into
Sinhala. The texts like Dalada Siritha, Sinhala
Bodhiwamsa, Anagatha Wamsaya, and Dalada
Poojavaliya were written during this period. It
is mentioned that after king Parakramabahu IV,
the two kings named Buvanekabahu III or Vanni
Buvanekabahu and Vijayabahu V or Savulu
Vijayabahu ruled Kurunegala respectively. Much
information has not been disclosed about the
activities of these kings. However, folklores
mention that king Buvanekabahu III constructed
the Kurunegala tank.
Gampola Kingdom
The Gampola kingdom was established by king
Buvanekabahu IV in 1341. He is believed to be
a son of King Savulu Vijayabahu, who was the
last ruler of the Kurunegala kingdom. King
Buvanekabahu IV had another brother and he
maintained his ruling by building a kingdom
in Dedigama at the same time period as
Parakramabahu V. When the Gampola kingdom
started, there were two other kingdoms except
for Dedigama. There was a kingdom in Jaffna
under Aryachakravarthi dynasty and another
one in Rayigama under Alakeshwara lineage.
Therefore, the Gampola kingdom had to face
many challenges.
There were several special characteristics of
the Gampola ruling period. There were two
respectable–families having connections with
the Royal family, which was one characteristic.
Senadhilankara Senevirath family in Gampola
was one. Senadhilankara Senevi Dedigama had
married a sister of King Parakramabahu III and
the one who became the king in Gampola in the
name of Vikramabahu was a son of them. The
second respectable family was the Alakeshwara
family in Rayigama. The prominent figure in this
family was Nissanka Alakeshwara.
In the Gampola period, kingship did not pass to
son from father or from brother to brother. It was
the old system. The system which was practised
in Gampola period was passing kingship from
uncle to nephew or to a son of a sister of the ex-
king. This was a mother-central system (matriachy)
more than a father-central system (patriachy).One significant fact was that one Arab traveller
named Iban Batuta came to Sri Lanka during
the Gampola period and he recorded what he
witnessed and heard. Iban Batuta, who came to
Jaffna in 1344, had journeyed to Adam’s Peak
(Sri Pada) by gaining assistance from the Jaffna
ruler, Arya Chakravarthi. Batuta mentions a
ruler named Alakonar who possessed a white
elephant (tusker). That Alakonar was a one of the
Alagakkonara lineage.It is mentioned by the ruling period of Gampola
Vikramabahu III the officers of Aryachakravarthi
in the North had come to Gampola and collected
taxes from some areas. This was a blow not only
to the independence of the Gampola kingdom
but also to its economy. Therefore, the chief
minister of the King, Nissanka Alakeshvara,
built a fortress in Kotte and had punished the
tax officers of the King Aryachakravarthi. When
Aryachakravarthi, who was angry with this
treatment, invaded Gampola kingdom, his army
was defeated by the Alakeshwara’s army. Though
the actions followed by Nissanka Alakeshvara
made the Gampola kingdom strong, it seems
with time there were disputes among the
Alakeshwara family itself.In the last period of the Gampola kingdom, there
was a Chinese invasion in Sri Lanka. An army
general named Chen Ho sent by the Chinese
emperor called Yung Lo landed in this country
in the years of 1405, 1409, and 1411. When he
came to this country in 1409, the then Rayigama
ruler Veera Alakeshvara had not welcomed
Chen Ho properly. Therefore, he had offered
the offerings he had brought to the Devundara
Devala and left after making an inscription
written in Chinese, Persian and Tamil languages.
That inscription is known as the Trilingual letter
in Galle. Afterwards general Chen Ho, who came
to this country back in 1411 with a large army