Parakramabahu I

Who is Parakramabahu I?

Parakramabahu I, later honored as Parakramabahu the Great, was king of Polonnaruwa from 1153 to 1186, one of the last monarchs to rule a united Sri Lanka before the island fragmented into competing kingdoms. Born around 1123 in Punkhagama, he came to the throne after years of internal conflict among rival princes and spent much of his reign consolidating the separate kingdoms of Rajarata, Ruhuna, and Dakkhinadesa under a single administration governed through provincial governors, generals, and merchant councils. He is best remembered for an extraordinary program of hydraulic engineering, restoring and building more than a hundred reservoirs, canals, and dams across the island's dry zone, culminating in the vast reservoir known as the Parakrama Samudra, which still irrigates farmland in Polonnaruwa today. He is traditionally credited with declaring that not even a drop of rainwater should be allowed to reach the sea without first being put to use for people, a saying still cited in Sri Lankan discussions of water management. Parakramabahu also reformed the Buddhist monastic order, expelled monks he judged to have fallen from discipline, sponsored temple construction, and sent military and diplomatic missions to southern India and Burma. His reign is widely regarded as the last golden age of ancient Sri Lankan civilization.

Sources: Britannica, "Parakramabahu I" biography entry · Ceylon History, "King Parakramabahu I (1153-1186 CE)" · PeoplePill, "Parakramabahu I: Sri Lankan King" biography