Dambadeṇiya Dynasty

Sri Lankan dynasty

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Article History

Dambadeṇiya Dynasty, rulers of most of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from 1255 to about 1330 whose seat was at Dambadeṇiya. Arising in opposition to the Malay usurper Māgha, who seized power in northern Ceylon in 1215, the Dambadeṇiya dynasty is of uncertain origin.

Officially acceding to power in southern Ceylon in 1232, the kings of the Dambadeṇiya line had defeated Māgha by 1255, with the help of a South Indian ally. Other Malay invaders, however, attacked Ceylon again about 1260 and, for almost a century thereafter, continued to maintain a small kingdom in northern Ceylon. Although from about 1280 Dambadeṇiya ceased as the capital, the dynasty bearing the name lasted until the accession of the Gampola dynasty about 1340.