Moggallana’s return and the death of Kassapa

01The battle

The Culavamsa says Moggallana returned from Jambudvipa with twelve companions of rank and an army, and camped in the north. Kassapa did not wait behind his walls. He led his army out, and as the two sides met his elephant turned to go round a stretch of marshy ground. His men took it for flight and broke. Seeing himself abandoned, Kassapa cut his throat with his dagger, raised the blade high and sheathed it. Moggallana honoured his brother with funeral rites.

02After the victory

Moggallana I moved the capital back to Anuradhapura and gave Sigiriya to the monks. The chronicle says he punished Kassapa’s supporters harshly, putting many ministers to death. He reigned about eighteen years. He also organised a coastal guard against raids from the mainland, a sign of how exposed the island had become since the days of Pandu. The rock palace at Sigiriya was never again a royal seat; monks lived on and around it for centuries afterwards.

Dynasty · 437 BCE–1017 CE (traditional founding)Kingdom of AnuradhapuraThe first great kingdom of Lanka, ruled from Anuradhapura for some fourteen centuries. Its kings received the Dharma from Ashoka’s son Mahinda and built the great stupas, while the island’s Shaiva shrines stood on its coasts.Read →