Fig 3.2. This necklace which was discovered in the
Ibbankatuwa burial ground belonged to the period
between 700 and 450 B.C. This is a bead necklace and
some of the beads in this were imported ones. The luxury
of the growing rich Parumakas is reflected by this.
In this manner, the Prumakas who exercised
the provincial ruling in this country were so
powerful that sometimes they went to the extent
of introducing themselves in the term of ‘King’.
An ancient inscription in the area called Embul
Ambe in Matale district mentions a provincial
ruler called Pochani Raja which means 'the king
of the eastern region'. Pochani means ‘Pracheena
(oriental)’. There is another note about such
another provincial king named ‘Duhathara Raja’
in a cave in the ancient Buddhist temple called
Yatahalena in Kegalle.The word ‘king’ gives the meaning of ‘one who
makes others happy’. Therefore, the word ‘king’
is used to refer to ‘one who works for the people’s
welfare diligently and make them happy. As the
Parumakas acted in such a manner, later they
were named thus. The origin of a generation of
brave kings, who ruled Sri Lanka, occurred in
such a background.Growth of KingshipThe growth of kingship means centralizing the
power which was decentralized.Centralizing political power in a country means
a country being united. This means that power
comes under one person. When the power is
centralized, the concept of state is created. Its
ruling head is the king and he has a specific
territory under his ruling.According to historical sources, the first king
who ruled this country was King Pandukabhaya.
According to the description given in
Mahawamsa, king Pandukabhaya,- ascended to kingship by fighting several
provincial rulers (his uncles) and captured those
areas. - selected Anuradhapura as his ruling centre
and built up the city of Anuradhapura. - marked the rural borders during his tenth year
after the accession to kingship.
The need of centralizing the political power was
gradually emerging by the ruling period of king
Devanampiyatissa. One of the main reasons that
influenced this was the trade affairs growing in
the Indian Ocean. It was not only because of the
geographical location of Sri Lanka, which was