3rd century BC
Anuradhapura Kingship
Devanampiya Tissa belongs to the early history of the Anuradhapura kingdom. The exact chronology is difficult because much of his story comes through later Sri Lankan Buddhist chronicles, but his remembered role is clear: he stands at the point where royal power, island society and Buddhist mission tradition meet. Anuradhapura was not only a court. In later memory it became a sacred and political landscape where kingship and Buddhism could reinforce one another.
