The manner in which Prince Pandukabhaya was born amid various obstacles has been explained earlier. His upbringing, education, and acquisition of the kingdom are recorded in the sources in a way that can be heard with great curiosity. These events remain vivid in the memory of both beginners and experienced students of history because of the narrative appeal they contain. It may be for this reason that ancient historical chronicles incorporated facts in the form of stories. Like other such accounts, the story of Pandukabhaya too has been presented in an engaging manner.

The slave woman who had been entrusted with Prince Pandukabhaya by Ummada Chitra set out for Doramadala village, carrying the basket in which the child was hidden. On the way, the uncles who had gone hunting noticed this journey, became suspicious, and prepared to examine the basket. At this moment, through the stratagem of Chittaraja and Kalavela, the slave woman was able to protect the prince. By this time, those two had died and had been reborn as yakkhas. As the princes were about to examine the basket, their attention was drawn to Chittaraja, who appeared in the guise of an ascetic. At that very moment, the slave woman seized the basket and fled, gaining refuge in the house of a village headman.

When the prince reached the age of seven, the uncles came to know that he was still alive. Learning that the prince went to a pond to play in the water with cowherd boys, they sent spies to kill the cowherd children. Because the prince had the habit of hiding in the hollow of a tree by the water, he once again concealed himself there and escaped death.

However, five years later, upon learning again that the prince was alive, the uncles lay in wait to kill him. When the prince went with the cowherd boys to a grassland, he came carrying fire for their needs, but when the fire was handed to the child of the village headman, he escaped death for the fourth time. The prince reached the age of sixteen. Thereafter, for the purpose of learning arts and sciences, he was sent south to Pandulagama to a Brahmin renowned by that very name, who had reached the pinnacle of learning in medicine and scholarship. Knowing that the prince would become king in the future, the Brahmin Pandula taught him all the necessary arts and sciences. During this period, the prince received all the wealth he needed from his mother.

After completing his education, the Brahmin Pandula handed over to him his own son, Prince Chanda, together with the necessary wealth, gave him instructions on organizing an army, and sent him forth for conquest. Having declared who he was, the prince went with about five hundred followers and established a camp at a city called Pana near Kasagala. This later became the final camping ground used by King Dutugemunu when he came with his army to liberate Anuradhapura. From the account of Pandukabhaya, it is evident that even before King Dutugemunu, the Kasagala region was a victorious battlefield and a settlement not lacking in heroic men.

After obtaining a further seven hundred followers and the necessary provisions, the prince set out for a region called Girikandaparvata. The Brahmin Pandula had earlier instructed him that when he received the royal consecration, he should make as his chief queen any woman who plucked leaves that turned golden, and that he should appoint his son Chanda as his chief priest.

At that time, the Girikanda region was ruled by one of Pandukabhaya’s uncles named Siva, also known as Girikandasiva. His daughter Pali met Prince Pandukabhaya on the way as she was carrying rice to her father who was engaged in farming. Pali served food to the prince from a golden bowl and, to serve the rest of the group, plucked some leaves from a nearby banyan tree. Those leaves turned golden. Remembering the words of the Brahmin Pandula, the prince placed her on his chariot and fled.

When her father Girikandasiva learned of this, he became enraged and pursued the prince with his men to capture him. Fighting near a place called Kalahagala, the prince routed them. He then defeated the five brothers of the princess who had come to fight him at Lohitavahakhandaya, crossed the Mahaveli River, and went to Dolaparvata, where he resided for four years.

There, the uncles assembled and came to battle, setting up camp near Dhumarakkhapabbata. After Pandukabhaya drove them back across the river, the king Abhaya intended to hand over the territory beyond the river to the prince and sent him a letter to that effect. As mentioned earlier, when the other brothers learned of this, they prepared to kill King Abhaya, and thus he renounced the throne. The uncles entrusted the kingdom to Prince Tissa and continued their efforts to destroy Prince Pandukabhaya.

Learning that a yakkhini named Chetiya, disguised as a mare, was roaming near Dhumarakkhapabbata, Pandukabhaya pursued her and captured her at Kachchakatittha. Terrified by fear of death, the mare-yakkhini begged for mercy and promised to grant him the kingship.

After residing for four years at Dhumarakkhapabbata, the prince went to Aritthapabbata and lived there for seven years. Once again, the uncles came and surrounded the mountain. The cunning prince feigned a desire for peace and suddenly attacked, killing all his enemies. Because a large number of severed heads lay there looking like a heap of pumpkins, the place came to be called Labujagama.

Having won all battles, Prince Pandukabhaya did not go to Upatissagama but entered Anuradhagrama, where his grandfather had lived. He built the city and crowned himself there. He appointed Prince Chanda, the Brahmin, as chief priest, granted his uncle Abhaya the office of night king, and gave appropriate positions to all other supporters. He also built four city gates and a reservoir, thereby expanding the city.

He showed equal honor to the yakkha generals Chittaraja and Kalavela, who had aided him from birth. He built shrines for them, and installed Chetiya, who had taken the form of a mare, within the royal pleasure garden. He offered annual sacrifices to them. He also established the cemetery, the execution ground, the western queen’s shrine, the Vessamuni banyan trees, the Vedidevitala shrine, the Yonasabha ground, the sacrificial hall, Sedol village, Joti hill, and hermitages for the Nigantha ascetics called Kumbhanda. He built the Sotthisala and the Sivikasala as well.

One very important event during the reign of King Pandukabhaya was the demarcation of village boundaries throughout the island in the tenth year after his consecration. Pandukabhaya ascended the throne after the country had been without a ruler for seventeen years. During this period, a king named Ganatissa is said in the Rajaratnakara to have reigned. He appears to have been Tissa, who was appointed after Prince Abhaya, the second son of King Panduvasudeva, renounced kingship.

The Dipavamsa also records this account very briefly but adds two additional details: the list of the uncles’ names and the description of the prince as a bandit during the time of fighting. In the Dipavamsa, the prince’s name is also given as Pakundaka.

The chronicles written after the Mahavamsa relied on these lineage histories as their sources, and therefore show little variation in their accounts. Some scholars like to compare this story with the marvelous tales found in works such as the Jataka Atthakatha, the Mahabharata, and the Harivamsa. Certain events in these works closely correspond to events in the story of Pandukabhaya.

As an example, in the Ghata Jataka, soothsayers foretold that the sons of Princess Devagha would kill her brothers Kamsa and Upakamsa. Therefore, she was confined to an upper chamber and guarded by maidservants. However, a prince named Upasagara from Uttara Madhura secretly associated with her, and she became pregnant. She bore one daughter and nine sons. Fearing that her sons would be killed, she brought in girls from outside and secretly sent away her nine sons. This story closely resembles the Ummada Chitra narrative.

Nevertheless, scholars accept that such stories are invariably based on genuine historical events. King Pandukabhaya was undoubtedly a historical person. He was born in this very land to native parents. Belonging to the Sakya lineage on both sides, he was the first king to be consecrated with the consent and support of the indigenous people. Moreover, he respected and supported the religious beliefs and aspirations of the local population.

Among the places associated with his campaigns—Kalahanagara, Labujagama, Kasapabbata, Dhumarakkhapabbata, and Aritthapabbata—several later became connected with other historical events. Kalahana and Labujagama are identified in a fourth-century inscription found near Ritigala as Labunakaraka. Kasapabbata is also noted as a strategic center in the campaigns of King Dutugemunu.

The Mahavamsa states that Pandukabhaya granted the Girikanda region to his uncle Siva, who resided there. By that time, the only uncles who remained alive were Giribandasiva, the father of Princess Pali, and King Abhaya, who consistently supported the prince. No further information is provided in the chronicles about his father Prince Dighabhaya or his mother Princess Ummada Chitra.

Although the exact location ruled by Girikandasiva is not certain, later evidence suggests it may have been the Girihadu region or the Tiriyaya area in the present-day Trincomalee district. It may be inferred that his paddy fields were located in the Yan Oya basin.

Anuradhagrama was made the capital of Lanka by King Pandukabhaya. Prior to this, it had been founded by Anuradha, a minister of King Vijaya. It is more appropriate to consider that Pandukabhaya expanded and developed the settlement created by Vijaya’s minister Anuradha, rather than founding a new city. When Pandukabhaya entered Anuradhapura after his victories, his grandfather Anuradha was residing there.

The Mahavamsa Tika explains that the city received the name Anuradha for three reasons: because two persons named Anuradha lived there, because it was built under the constellation Anura, and because of its auspicious nature. Situated at the center of the Malwathu Oya basin, this city remained the capital of the country for many centuries. City cleaners, refuse collectors, corpse removers, city guards, and other officials were appointed, ensuring orderly administration.

It is said that the city planner of the king was a Nigantha Brahmin’s son named Joti. The authority of King Pandukabhaya likely extended beyond the Mahaveli River to the region later known as Rohana, where several of his battles took place in the northern part. There is no doubt that he inherited the territory of his father, Dighagamini.

As stated earlier, one of the most significant events of Pandukabhaya’s reign was the demarcation of village boundaries throughout Lanka. This marked the beginning of an organized administrative system following the establishment of settlements and is of great historical importance. A systematic method of village administration would also have emerged. By appointing his maternal uncle Abhaya as night king, it is evident that provisions were made for proper nighttime governance of the city.

The origins of offices such as city guardian and cetiya guardian, mentioned in later Brahmi inscriptions, are also clarified by this. By enlarging a pond, he constructed the Abhaya Reservoir (Basawakkulama) near the city. King Pandukabhaya is honored as the first king to build a reservoir in Sri Lanka.

It is reasonable to say that the organization of a formal system of state administration, the establishment of health services and religious institutions, and the laying of the foundation of the irrigation system that enabled future development were achievements of King Pandukabhaya. The first Mauryan royal dynasty that began with him continued to rule Sri Lanka uninterruptedly for several centuries until King Yasalalaka Tissa.

Ascending the throne at the age of thirty-seven, King Pandukabhaya reigned at Anuradhapura for a remarkably long period of about seventy years.