The Sangha is a power of its own, with villages, tank shares and the anointing of kings.
Parakramabahu I united the three fraternities and purged the lax monks in 1165; since then there is one order under the Mahavihara line, with colleges (pirivena) in Polonnaruwa and the old foundations in Anuradhapura, Mihintale and the hills. The monks keep the chronicle (the Culavamsa is their work), teach law and letters, hold the Tooth Relic's rituals and decide whether a new king has the merit to be consecrated. A queen's coup or a prince's consecration needs their blessing or at least their silence.
Who he is
- Name
- not pinned for 1200 (Mahakassapa of Dimbulagala and Sariputta are the heads of the reform of 1165; whether either is alive and in office in January 1200 is not known)
- Title
- Head (sangharaja) of the united Sangha
- Since
- the reform of 1165 under Parakramabahu I
- Born
- not known
- Family
- Monastic; the heads are chosen by the king from the Mahavihara line.
- Confidence
- low
The three old fraternities (Mahavihara, Abhayagiri, Jetavana) were merged under the Mahavihara tradition by Parakramabahu I about 1165; the monasteries of Polonnaruwa (Alahana Parivena, Jetavana, Uttararama) and the old ones at Anuradhapura, Mihintale and Dimbulagala are the seats. The English Wikipedia on the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa says Theravada Buddhism was the main religion and that relics were essential to royal legitimacy; it names no head of 1200.
Overlord
the crown, which appoints the head and protects the order
What it holds
- Monastic estates and tank shares round the capital and the old foundations
- The colleges and libraries of Polonnaruwa (Alahana Parivena) and the old Anuradhapura houses
- Control of the rites of kingship and the Tooth Relic ritual
How it was acquired
By royal gifts since the Anuradhapura age; reunited by Parakramabahu I in 1165.
Allies and rivals
Allied to the crown that endows it. Wary of foreign soldiers and of Hindu rulers (Magha's persecution of Buddhists after 1215 is a later event, not carried back).
How things stand that morning
United and endowed. Whether the Sangha welcomes a Kalinga prince on 23 August 1200 depends on the prince; the pages we reached say nothing.
Wealth
Endowments, tank shares, village revenue, pious gifts.
Military
None; the monks are unarmed.
Threats
- A king who strips the endowments
- A Tamil or Hindu conqueror (Magha, 1215)
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.
- 23 August 1200The Sangha's acquiescence or refusal in the consecration of Sahassamalla.Depends on: The prince's gifts and standing. Stopped by: A hostile head of the order.
Places of note
- Alahana Parivena: Parakramabahu I's monastery college at Polonnaruwa.
- Dimbulagala: The hill monastery of Mahakassapa, the head chosen in 1165 (location approximate).
Where the sources disagree
- The assignment asks for heads and fraternities; no head of 1200 is named in the pages we reached, so none is invented.
- The campaign board's mahavihara-anuradhapura and abhayagiri-vihara notes treat them as living houses of 1200; Parakramabahu I's reform put one order under the Mahavihara line, and the Abhayagiri monks were absorbed; the physical sites remain.
Evidence: The reform of 1165 is well known; no individual head is named for 1200 in the pages we read.
"The campaign board" is OMNIA's working map. These notes record where its earlier claims were checked against the sources.
On the map: No land is drawn: the monasteries are in religious records.
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.