Prince Vijaya
Prince Vijaya was a legendary king of Tambapanni, based in modern day Sri Lanka. His reign was first mentioned in Mahāvaṃsa. He is said to have came to Sri Lanka with seven hundred followers after being banished from Sinhapura. However, there is no archaeological evidence of this.
After arriving on the island, Vijaya and his settlers defeated a yaksha near "Thammena" displacing the inhabitants. Eventually Vijaya married Kuveni, a daughter of a yaksha leader legitimizing Vijaya’s rule over the region.
Ancestry
According to the Mahāvaṃsa, the king of Vanga married a princess named Mayavati of neighbouring Kalinga. The couple had a daughter, Suppadevi, who was prophesied to mate with the king of beasts. As an adult, Princess Suppadevi left Vanga to seek an independent life. She joined a caravan headed for Magadha, which was attacked by Sinha in a forest in the Lala region. The Mahavamsa calls the Sinha a lion; according to some modern interpreters, however, Sinha was a beastly, outlaw human living in the jungle. Lala is identified as Bengal's Rarh region or Lata, part of present-day Gujarat.Suppadevi fled from the attack, but encountered Sinha again. Sinha was attracted to her and she caressed him, mindful of the prophecy. He kept Suppadevi in captivity in a cave, and they had two children: a son named Sinhabahu and a daughter named Sinhasivali. When the children grew up, Sinhabahu asked his mother why she and Sinha looked so different. Upon learning about her royal ancestry, he decided to go to Vanga. While Sinha was away, Sinhabahu escaped from the cave with Suppadevi and Sinhasivali. They reached a village, where they met a general of the Vanga Kingdom—a cousin of Suppadevi—who later married her. Sinha began ravaging villages to find his missing family. The king of Vanga announced a reward to anyone who could kill Sinha, and Sinhabahu killed his father to claim the reward. By the time Sinhabahu returned to the capital, the king of Vanga was dead. Sinhabahu was crowned the new king, but later passed the kingship to his mother's husband. Returning to his birthplace in Lala, he founded the city of Sinhapura. Sinhabahu married his sister, Sinhasivali, and they had 32 sons. Vijaya Singha was their eldest son, followed by his twin Sumitta.
The location of Sinhapura is uncertain. It has been identified with Singur, West Bengal or Singhpur, near Jajpur. Those who identify the Lala kingdom with present-day Gujarat place it in present-day Sihor. Another theory identifies it with the village of Singupuram, near Srikakulam in Andhra Pradesh. It has also been placed in present-day Thailand or on the Malay Peninsula.
Arrival in Sri Lanka
Vijaya was made the prince regent by his father, but he and his band of followers became notorious for their violent deeds. After their repeated complaints failed to stop him, prominent citizens demanded that Vijaya be put to death. King Sinhabahu then expelled Vijaya and his 700 followers from the kingdom. The men's heads were half-shaved, and they were put on a ship that set out to sea. The wives and children of the 700 men were sent on separate ships. Vijaya and his followers landed at a place called Supparaka; the women landed at a place called Mahiladipaka, and the children landed at a place called Naggadipa. Vijaya's ship later reached Lanka, in the area known as Tambapanni, on the day that Gautama Buddha died in northern India. Those who think that Vijaya set out from the west coast of India identify present-day Sopara as the location of Supparaka. Those who think that Sinhapura was in the Vanga-Kalinga region identify it with locations off the east coast of India; S. Krishnaswami Aiyangar speculates that Supparaka might have been Sumatra.According to the Mahavamsa, Gautama Buddha asked the lord of gods before he attained Nirvana to protect Vijaya in Lanka so Buddhism could flourish there. Indra gave the guardianship of Lanka to the lotus-coloured god, who came to Lanka in the guise of an ascetic to protect Vijaya. Wilhelm Geiger identifies the lotus-coloured god as Vishnu; uppala is the blue lotus. Senarath Paranavithana identifies him with Varuna.
Vijaya tied a protective thread on the hands of his followers. Later, a Yakkhini appeared before them in the form of a dog. One of the followers thought that a dog indicated habitation, and followed her. After some time, he saw a Yakkhini named Kuveni who was spinning thread. Kuveni tried to devour him, but Vijaya's magical thread protected him. Unable to kill him, Kuveni hurled the follower into a chasm; she then did the same thing to all 700 followers. Vijaya went to Kuveni's place, looking for his men; he overpowered her, and forced her to free them. Kuveni asked Vijaya to spare her life, swearing loyalty to him. She brought food and goods from the ships of the traders she had devoured for Vijaya and his followers, and Vijaya took her as his consort.
Kingdom of Tambapanni
Vijaya woke up to the sounds of music and singing. Kuveni told him that the island was home to Yakkhas, who would kill her for sheltering Vijaya's men, and the sound was from wedding festivities in the Yakkha city of Sirisavatthu. With Kuveni's help, Vijaya defeated the Yakkhas. Vijaya and Kuveni had two children - Jivahatta and Disala. Vijaya established a kingdom which was named Tambapanni, because the men's hands were coloured by the area's red soil. Members of Vijaya's community were called Sinhala, after Sinhabahu.Vijaya's ministers and other followers established several villages; Upatissa established Upatissagāma on the bank of the Gambhira river, north of Anuradhagama. Vijaya's followers decided to crown him king, but for this he needed a maiden of a noble house as queen. His ministers sent emissaries with gifts to the city of Madhura, which was ruled by a Pandya king. The king agreed to send his daughter as Vijaya's bride, and asked other families to offer their daughters as brides for Vijaya's followers. Several families volunteered, and were rewarded by the king, who sent a hundred noble maidens, craftsmen, a thousand families from 18 guilds, elephants, horses, wagons and other gifts. The group landed in Lanka at a port known as Mahatittha.
Vijaya then asked Kuveni, his Yakkhini consort, to leave the community because his citizens feared supernatural beings like her. He offered her money, asking her to leave their two children behind, but Kuveni brought the children along to the Yakkha city of Lankapura. She asked her children to remain behind as she entered the city, where other Yakkhas saw her as a traitor; suspected of spying, she was killed by a Yakkha. On the advice of her maternal uncle, the children fled to Sumanakuta. In the Malaya region of Lanka, they married and began the Pulinda race.
Vijaya was crowned king. The Pandya king's daughter became his queen, and other women were married to his followers according to their rank. Vijaya bestowed gifts on his ministers and his father-in-law; he abandoned his evil ways, and ruled Lanka in peace and justice.