King Datopathissa II - House of Moriya | Anuradhapura - (659 - 667) - Sri Lankan History - Kings - Governors - Prisidents

King Datopathissa II

House of Moriya | Anuradhapura - (659 - 667)

The confusion and turmoil that arose after the reign of King Aggabodhi III began due to the royal ambitions of the princes. This situation intensified further after the death of the second King Kaśyapa. To gain the throne, the Tamil mercenary forces brought from India by each of these princes were placed in circumstances they could not manage. Prince Māṇa completed the final duties of his allies and consolidated control over the populace, but it seems that the Tamils in the city had created a disturbance. It appears from the Mahāvamsa that Prince Māṇa had to expel them. However, while he was absent from the city for some task, the Tamils captured the city. At the same time, another complication arose. During the period of conflict between Dāṭhōpatiśśa and King Kaśyapa, a nobleman named Hatthadāṭha, who was a servant of Dāṭhōpatiśśa, was in Dambadiva. After the Tamils captured the city, they sent a message to Hatthadāṭha to come and take over the kingship. Possibly, this confusion was caused by Hatthadāṭha himself. Meanwhile, Prince Māṇa, who had come from Ruhuna, had informed his father, Prince Dappula, to come to the city, and he arrived promptly. Prince Māṇa joined his father and, through a conspiracy, defeated the Tamils. An agreement was reached between both sides, and afterwards, Māṇa enthroned his father, Dappula, as king. This occurred before Hatthadāṭha arrived. In this way, the Dappula who took the throne appeared as the second of that name. Some historians, in royal chronicles, mention this king as the first Dappula. Professor Parana Vithana also states it this way. Although he well-provided for monks and the populace and won popular favor, he was strategic and careful. He anticipated future confusion and safeguarded the royal treasures by sending them to Ruhuna. As expected by Dappula, Hatthadāṭha arrived from Dambadiva with a Tamil army. The Tamils stationed there initially joined him. However, Dappula and Prince Māṇa were not in a favorable position to face a battle, as they had left the city. Dappula’s reign in Anuradhapura lasted only seven days. After this, Hatthadāṭha, supported by the Tamils, ascended the throne under the name Dāṭhōpatiśśa. He was thus the second to bear that name. The Pūjāvali refers to this king as Lamani Daluapathi, which clarifies that he belonged to the Lambakarn dynasty. Like the first Dāṭhōpatiśśa, he did not destroy the Vihāras. He entrusted the young king and southern provinces to a prince named Aggabodhi, who had been his servant, and he well-provided for all those who assisted him. He also commissioned many Vihāras and religious offerings, as recorded in the Mahāvamsa. King Dāṭhōpatiśśa attempted to construct a Vihāra called Tiputhulla within the Mahāvihāra precinct, which led to a conflict with the Mahāvihāra. Although the Theriyanika monks opposed the king’s actions, he enforced the construction by force, and the monks refused to accept his offerings, performing a form of rebuke known as Pattanikkujjana Karma, which means not accepting donations from him. Before this confusion was resolved, the king became seriously ill and suddenly died. His reign lasted nine years.