According to the Mahāvaṃsa chronicle, Prince Vijaya (c. 543–505 BCE) was the first recorded King in Sri Lanka although there is no archaeological evidence proving this. Legends and records from both Indian and Sri Lanka sources say that he along with several hundred followers came to Sri Lanka after they were banished from Sinhapura.
In Sri Lanka, Vijaya and his settlers defeated a yaksha near "Thammena" (Tambapaṇṇī, believed to be in the central or western part of the island), eventually displacing the island's previous inhabitants from their city of Sirisavatthu. Vijaya's marriage to Kuveni, a daughter of a yaksha leader, may have cemented his ability to rule the kingdom of Tambapanni. However, Kuveni's renunciation of her people for love did not last long; Vijay betrayed her for a princess from India. Kuveni had two children by Vijaya, whose fates are unknown.
Sources and variations
Four versions of the legend explain the origin of the Sinhalese people. In all the versions, a prince comes to the island of Lanka and establishes a community which gives rise to the Sinhalese people. The Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa identify the prince as Vijaya, and the other two legends have different names for the prince.
Mahavamsa: In this version, Vijaya's grandmother is a princess whose ancestry traces to the Vanga and Kalinga kingdoms (present-day Bengal and Odisha). She bears two children with Sinha ("lion"), who keeps them in captivity in a forest. After the princess and her children escape their captivity, her son Sinhabahu kills Sinha. Prince Vijaya, the son of Sinhabahu, founds the kingdom of Sinhapura. He becomes the prince-regent of Sinhapura, but is exiled with 700 followers to Lanka because of his evil deeds. The Mahavamsa version has a contradiction; the Buddha expelled all the yakkhas to the island of Giridipa during an earlier visit to Lanka, but Vijaya later encounters yakkhas on Lanka and a yakkhini (a female yakkha) named Kuveni becomes his queen. Kuveni helps Vijaya destroy the yakkha city of Sirisavatthu, and has two children with him. However, Vijaya must marry a Kshatriya princess to be a legitimate ruler; he marries the daughter of a Pandu king, who sends other women as brides for Vijaya's followers. Kuveni and her two children leave for the yakkha city of Lankapura, where she is killed by the yakkhas for betraying them. Vijaya dies without an heir; Panduvasudeva, the son of his twin brother Sumitta, arrives from India and takes charge of Vijaya's kingdom. The community established by Vijaya gives rise to the Sinhalese people. Dipavamsa: This version predates the Mahavamsa. It is similar to the Mahavamsa version, but omits Kuveni (and other yakkhas) and the South Indian princess. Xuanzang's account: The princess, abducted by the Sinha (lion), comes from South India. There is no mention of Vanga, Kalinga or Lala. She and her two children escape from Sinha's captivity to their native kingdom in South India. Her son, Chih-sse-tseu ("lion-catcher", or Sinhabahu) later kills his father Sinha. Although he is receives a reward, he is exiled by ship for the act of parricide. Chih-sse-tseu lands on Ratnadeepa (Lanka, the "island of gems"), and settles there. He begins attacking naval merchants who come to the island looking for gems. Chih-sse-tseu captures the merchants' children and spares their lives, creating a community. He has children with an unnamed woman and his descendants divide people into classes, giving rise to the caste system; they also wage wars, expanding their territory. Chih-sse-tseu's community gives rise to the Sinhalese people, and yakkhas are not mentioned in this version. Valahassa Jataka version: This Jataka version is depicted in the Ajanta cave paintings of India (Simhala Avadana in Cave 17). The prince who comes to the island is a merchant named Sinhala, the son of Sinha. He and 500 followers sail for the island of Ratnadeepa, where they hope to find gems in the city of Sirisavatthu. They are shipwrecked and saved by the Yakkhinis, who prey on shipwrecked merchants. The Yakkhinis pretend to be the widows of merchants who earlier visited the island. Sinhala marries the chief Yakkhini, but then discovers their true identity. He and 250 of his men escape from the island on a flying horse named Valahassa. The chief Yakkhini follows them to his paternal kingdom and presents herself to his father, Simha, as wronged by the prince. Simha gives her shelter, but she devours him and the rest of his family except for the prince. She then returns to Ratnadeepa, where she devours the remaining 250 of Sinhala's followers. Sinhala succeeds his father as king, and leads a military expedition to Ratnadeepa. He defeats the Yakkhinis, and establishes the Sinhalese kingdom.