Ruhuna is the south-east of the island, the old refuge of the Sinhalese kings in the Chola age, with Magama (Tissamaharama) on the Tissa wewa, the road to Kataragama, the coast at Godavaya and Kirinda and the Yala country.
Parakramabahu I broke its autonomy in the 1160s. Under the weak queens it is again run by local chiefs who send little to Polonnaruwa and sell their own elephants and cinnamon. The south-west coast (Galle, Matara, Dondra with its great temple) is ruled the same way. When a prince or a general falls at Polonnaruwa, Ruhuna is where he runs.
Who he is
- Name
- not named in any source we reached
- Title
- Chiefs of Ruhuna (the old sub-kingdom) holding Magama, the Kataragama road and the south coast
- Since
- Ruhuna rebelled against Parakramabahu I in 1160 and was suppressed (English Wikipedia); the chiefs of 1200 are not named
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Local families of the old Ruhuna royal line; Queen Lilavati's father Sirivallabha is said by the Culavamsa to belong to it (a lead, unchecked).
- Confidence
- low
English Wikipedia on the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa: Ruhuna's rebellion in 1160 and Parakramabahu I's suppression of its autonomy. No chief of 1200 is named in any page we read.
Overlord
Queen Lilavati, loosely
What it holds
- Magama (Tissamaharama) with the Tissa wewa and the old sacred city
- The Kataragama road and shrine
- The south-east coast (Godavaya, Kirinda, Mahanagakula-Ambalantota)
- The south-west coast (Galle, Dondra, Matara) and the cinnamon country behind it, held by local chiefs
How it was acquired
By descent in the local families; Polonnaruwa claims the whole by Parakramabahu I's conquest.
Allies and rivals
Rivals of Polonnaruwa in practice; refuge for fallen princes. Allied with whoever pays the coast dues.
How things stand that morning
Quiet and semi-independent. No named rebellion in 1199-1200 in the pages we reached.
Wealth
Elephants, cinnamon, the coast trade at Galle and Dondra, tank-fed rice at Magama.
Military
Local levies; no number.
Threats
- A reprisal from Polonnaruwa
- Raids from the sea
What the year holds
What happened next, if nothing in play changes it. Each event carries what it depends on and what would stop it.
- From 23 August 1200A Kalinga coup at Polonnaruwa sends the losers' friends south.Depends on: The coup. Stopped by: Kitti's survival.
- 1215 (outside 1200)Magha's invasion drives the Sinhalese court into the south-west.Depends on: The fall of Polonnaruwa. Stopped by: A stronger defence.
Where the sources disagree
- The campaign board's tissa-wewa-ruhuna and tissamaharama-magama place Magama at the Tissa wewa; accepted. The gazetteer does not hold Tissamaharama, so coordinates are given.
- No chief of Ruhuna is named in the pages we read.
Evidence: Only the 1160 rebellion and its suppression are dated.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: Ruhuna is drawn as one province; the chiefs' separate tracts are not known.
Primary sources for Lanka (Polonnaruwa)
Chronicles, registers, sagas and inscriptions written in or near 1200 that cover this entry. Each has its own page with editions, translations and where to read it.
- The Lesser Chronicle (the continuation of the Mahavamsa), Dhammakitti and later monks of the Mahavihara tradition (the first continuation about the 13th century (chapters 37 to 79), carried on in stages to the 18th century). The only narrative source for Lanka in 1200. Read online
- Epigraphia Zeylanica: lithic and other inscriptions of Ceylon, Various (the Polonnaruwa kings' chanceries), edited by D. M. de Zilva Wickremasinghe, H. W. Codrington and S. Paranavitana (inscriptions of the 3rd century BC to the 18th century; the series ran from 1904). Prints with translation the stone records of the Polonnaruwa kings who held or lost the throne around 1200. Read online
- South Indian Inscriptions (Archaeological Survey of India), Various (Chola, Pandya and other chanceries and temple scribes), edited by E. Hultzsch, V. Venkayya, H. Krishna Sastri and successors (inscriptions of the 7th to 17th centuries; the series ran from 1890). The temple inscriptions printed here are the primary record of the Tamil country in 1200. Read online
- The Book of Roger (the Pleasure of Him who Longs to Cross the Horizons), Muhammad al-Idrisi (completed 1154 at Palermo). The nearest Arabic geography in time to 1200 for the Indian Ocean. Read online
- A Description of the Foreign Peoples (Records of Foreign Nations), Zhao Rukuo (Zhao Rugua) (1225 at Quanzhou). The best single text for the island world around 1200, written by the superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou from merchants' reports a generation after the date. Read online
- Description of the Foreign Peoples (Chau Ju-kua), Zhao Rukuo (趙汝适) (about 1225, while superintendent of maritime trade at Quanzhou). The Song customs officer's survey of the overseas world, compiled from merchants and from Zhou Qufei, a generation after 1200 but describing trade routes that were the same in 1200. Read online
Sources and studies
Last revised 4 November 2026. Published 4 November 2026. Suggest a correction on the OMNIA Discord.