page_title: Parakramabahu I
section_title: Pandya War, 1167–1183
hierarchical_section_title: Parakramabahu I / Reign / Military campaigns / Pandya War, 1167–1183
caption_attribution_description: English: Singhales ride into Southern India. From Hutchinson's story of the nations, containing the Egyptians, the Chinese, India, the Babylonian nation, the Hittites, the Assyrians, the Phoenicians and the Carthaginians, the Phrygians, the Lydians, and other nations of Asia Minor.
context_page_description: Parākramabāhu I was king of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa from 1153-86. During his reign from the capital city of Polonnaruwa, he unified the three lesser kingdoms of the island, becoming one of the last monarchs in Sri Lankan history to do so. He oversaw the expansion and beautification of his capital, constructed extensive irrigation systems, reorganised the country's army, reformed Buddhist practices, encouraged the arts and undertook military campaigns in South India and Burma. The adage "not even a little water that comes from the rain must flow into the ocean without being made useful to man" is one of his most famous utterances.
  Parākramabāhu spent much of his youth in the courts of his uncles Kitti Sri Megha, Prince of Dakkinadesa, and Sri Vallabha, Prince of Ruhuna respectively, as well as in the court of the King of Rajarata, Gajabahu II. He succeeded his uncle Kitti as king of Dakkhinadesa around 1140 and over the next decade improved both Dakkhinadesa's infrastructure and military. Following a protracted civil war, he secured power over the entire island around 1153 and remained in this position until his death in 1186.
context_section_description: In 1167 the Pandyan king Parakrama appealed to his namesake in Lanka for assistance against an alliance of his rival Kulasekhara Pandya and the Cholas. Such an appeal was not unusual, as the Pandya had long found allies in the Sinhalese against the Cholas, and their nobility had spent some time in exile at the court of Mahinda IV (956–972) after the invasion of their land by Parantaka Chola II.
  On this occasion however the Sri Lankan help came too late. By the time Parākramabāhu's general Lankapura Dandanatha arrived in Pandya Nadu, Kulasekhara had captured the capital city of Madurai and killed Parakrama's wife and children. His son Prince Virapandu however had managed to escape. Rather than head for Madurai, Lankapura landed in the vicinity of Ramanathapuram and captured the city of Rameswaram, which remained in Sri Lankan hands for the next thirty years or so.  Here they built a fortress called Parakramapura. In this early phase of the war they fought Kulasekhara on several occasions, eventually laying siege to him in Madurai and seizing the city. Virapandu was restored to power, but apparently only as a puppet, as the they under Lankapura remained in Madurai and continued to engage the Chola across south India.
  The Culavamsa dedicates much of chapter LXXVII to a description of the ensuing war between Lankapura and Kulasekhara, who apparently fought on with assistance from the Cheras. The Lankan effort was so successful that Parākramabāhu appears to have established a near-permanent authority over Pandya Nadu (the chapter is entitled Conquest of the Pandya Kingdom), even establishing a city called Panduvijaya in commemoration of the conquest. However the account ends abruptly. No mention is made of Lankapura's return to Sri Lanka, nor of whether Virapandu III succeeded on hanging on to power.
  The remainder of the story can be gleaned from inscriptions in south India and by inference. The Sinhala army is known to have scored a number of victories over the Chola army. Lankapura is said to have returned to Sri Lanka as a war hero and rewarded for his valor in battle. Nevertheless the forces of Parākramabāhu appear to have remained in Pandya Nadu, scoring victories over Rajadhiraja II in 1176. It was not until 1181 when Virapandya III was defeated that the they withdrew from Pandya Nadu, retaining only the area around Rameswaram.
caption: Parakramabahu I invaded and overran Pandya Kingdom
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