by D. G. B. de Silva(May 04, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Udugan-ella, located a short distance away from the historic Rajamaha Viharaya at Attanagalla, is now under a coconut cultivation. Though much neglected presently, the cultivation appears to have seen better days. The scars caused by the land reform are clearly visible. Even more so are those inflicted by the conversion of the land to a Janawasa, as it is claimed, one of the Utopian enterprises which failed miserably.
That organization was run by a new bureaucracy of young people who enjoyed newly acquired power as well as the plums of the soil. I know this because my family was a victim of that new exploitation in the name of socialism and had the shocking experience of a Director suggesting that I apply for a few acres from the Paradise Estate, Ratnapura instead of chasing after the family land, part for himself and part for me, to do gemming! Such were the "dedicated new bureaucrats who ruined the economy!
All that exists of that failed scheme at Udugan Ella are a few dwellings on the periphery of the coconut land now marked as state land. I thought this property should, nevertheless, remain state property because it hides, under its love-grass covered terrain, far better treasures than the few poor-yielding coconut trees. Its importance is such that it deserves to be preserved and marked with clear identification symbols not to highlight the follies of 1970s but on account of the greater secret of the first betrayal of the nation to the European powers, it hides in its bosom. That was the conspiracy that Mananapperuma (Perumal later Jayaweera) Mohottiyar, or Kokkanpayya, or ‘Kokupayya’ hatched with the Portuguese to abandon the cause of Sitawaka and join hands with the Portuguese. The place of the conspiracy was none other than Udugan-ella at Attanagalla, a thick grove of Hora trees, a Horagolla, as it would have been called in the olden days.).
That is my story for the day. On the last day of April, despite the road to Kandy being crowded with protesters, who were on a massive vehicle procession to Kandy, over the sacking of the Principal of Ananda College a few us, self-appointed researchers, (no harm these days!) took off to the cool of Siyane Korale on a fact finding mission to study evidence of Portuguese interaction there.
Our visit took us to Udugan-ella, after directions given by local informers that we could find some useful evidence there. After crossing the Attanagalu Oya with its sparkling clear water, which did not show any effects of the dry weather around the country- but the narrow spillway certainly indicated it was capable of transmitting a great sheet of water so as to provide a natural obstacle to anyone trying to cross it,- we reached our destination in that neglected coconut property. There was hardly anything left there to compliment the Janawasa which is said to have once stood there, but to our delight, there was far more interesting evidence of a bygone Sinhalese era which brought mixed feelings As we reached the top of the high ground, which stood commandingly above the rest of the undulating land, we were surprised by a villager who appeared from the bush surrounding the place, who volunteered to explain what he knew of the place.
Obviously, like the guerilla warrior of Rajasimha, he had seen us arriving and chose the paths under the bush to reach us before we got there. Looking around, we saw two other bare bodied men totally unannounced sitting behind us on the ground on the slope exposing their long limbs. The scenario taught us a little lesson about the way the nimble footed hewayas of the ancient Sinhalese armies may have pierced through thick forests to meet the enemy. One of them, who, as he stood up, measured well over six feet was a reminder of a specimen of the Sitawaka army! Their presence added to the excitement of what we were going to discover.
The promontory had a commanding view of the terrain and bore all the marks of a strategic location. The tall Hora trees in the thickets outside the planted area which, judging from their girt and height, could count a hundred years, reminded us that they were even better informers about the ancient scenario which we were trying to figure out. Besides giving us a clue as to how the name Horagolla, given to a place in the neighbourhood was derived, these majestic trees, the pride of our wet zone jungles once, were almost whispering to us of the role they or their earlier generation played during the days of Rajasimha and thereafter. Their canopy in the dizzy heights would have been the ideal look-out points of the ancient Sinhalese guerillas from where alarms were sounded on the approach of enemies.
The men who accosted us pointed to the boulders strewn around in disarray as the sentinels bearing evidence of a fortress having existed there A better informed person then came to guide us and showed the lines of workable-sized rocks which were methodically buried in straight lines and measuring about a metre or so in width which distinctly pointed to the ramparts of the fort or the stockade which had once stood there. The more exiting finds were yet to come. They were two gate ways of the fortress, one of which is still clearly marked by steps, and balustrades crudely executed pointing to the temporary nature of the construction or the hurry in which work had been executed. They were not the work of master craftsmen which one noticed at the Attanagalla Raja Maha Viharaya but the result of ordinary labour. The other gate was more disturbed but there was no difficulty in identifying it. Another villager who appeared on the scene then directed us to another interesting remain, the tracing of a moat In all it was a matching complementary village team that we met there each furnishing us with little more information than the other could.
With this information in hand and convinced that the place has been a significant strategic location where a fortress or a wooden stockade raised over a stone foundation dating back to a few centuries had once stood, we began to compare the evidence with what we learned from the research in historical records. That we did over a meal provided with true Sinhalese hospitality at the home of one of our team mates at Bopitiya.
There it was in black and white- the story of the great betrayal at Attanagalla related by the renowned Portuguese chronicler, Fernao Queyroz. More interestingly, Queyroz had recorded that Mannapperuma or Perumal Mohottiyar, the Badaga, or Vaduga (Wadakkar) had defeated the Portuguese army which tried to proceed to Alutkuruva following Rajasimha’s death in order to bring that area under their control The Sitawaka army met the Portuguese at Orutota, a narrow low lying pass near Gampaha but retreated on the arrival of Samarakone (D. Fernando), the much feared Sinhalese Captain of the lascarin army whereupon the Queen Regent (Maha Biso Bandara), wife of the indefatigable warrior Vidiye Bandara, undaunted, sent Manammperuma Mohottiyar with his Wadakkara army of expert bowmen to support the Sitawaka army. Mannapperuma’s decisive victory in which the Portuguese Commander, Francisco da Siluva was wounded and Wikremasinghe de Silva Mudaliyar Muslim brought up by the Portuguese) was killed, encouraged the Mohottiyar to aspire for higher stakes, namely, to seek the hand of the sister of the heir to the throne, Nikapitiye Bandara, Rajasimha’s grandson on behalf of whom the Queen-regent carried out the war. The Mohottiyar carried de Silva’s head to demonstrate his victory. That ambitious request marked the undoing of Mannamperuma at the Sitwaka Court as well as the beginning of the end of Sitawaka regency. Factions which were opposed to the rise of the Badaga adventurer now made use of the opportunity to defame him on the ground that he sought the hand of the royal princess in order to claim the throne for himself.
That was enough to poison the minds of tile Mattamgoda royal family group against Mannapperuma. Using typical Sinhalese humour and pun the old Vaduka mendicant turned warrior, was ridiculed as "Kokkanpayya’ not only as a cradle-snatcher but for being so conceited as to seek the hand of a young princess who could have well been his grand-daughter. That was a reminder of the bag (payya) he carried in his mendicant days. Mannapperuma’s life itself was in danger and he fled to Menkkadawara with his family and part of the army.
It was while staying here that he sent word through two Portuguese prisoners captured by him asking that a Portuguese might be sent to him from Colombo to ‘treat with a matter of interest.’ To avoid suspicion the envoy was to arrive as if he was going a hunting and would be taken prisoner at Attanagalla. Francisco de Siluva who formerly commanded the Portuguese troops at the Orutota battle and was wounded Mannappe-ruma’s men, was chosen for the purpose and was taken prisoner by Mannapperuma’s men at Attanagalla.
It was then here at Udugan-ella that the plan for Mannapperuma’s change of sides was finally decided. The deal was Mannapperuma to subjugate the whole of Kotte and Sitwaka in return for which the Portugese were to turn out to him the kingdom of Sitawaka while retaining the kingdom of Kotte to the King of Portugal. That was the first great betrayal of the Sinhalese which led to the fall of Sitawaka into Portuguese hands and changed the course of history of the island The deal was accepted, says, Queyroz.
Queyroz himself could not find a better word to describe Mannappe-ruma who by now assumed the new name, Jayaweera Bandara, except to call him "the upstart.’ Jayaweera did not dare to meet the Sinhalese army which was mustered by Illagakone but escaped to Colombo on September 1st 1594 with 200 lascarins and 11 war elephants. Keeping his word, Jayweera, returned fifteen days later with a force of 1,200 lascarins and 400 Portuguese under the command of Diogo Goncaluez and five other Captains. They faced the Sitwaka forces who attacked them twice and routed the enemy later. From there onwards, several other battles were fought by the Portuguese at Kaduwela, Malwana, where the Sinhalese, as Queyroz says, were "cruelly slaughtered’. The result was the recovery of the whole kingdom of Kotte including Sitawaka by the Portuguese. They were ready with a Kabaya’ with royal marking to be worn by Jayaweera.
Perhaps, like Ehelepola who was made the Prince of Mauritius with his "royal’ escort, Jayaweera wore his ‘Kabaya’ and pretended to be a king while the Portuguese took over all the land. The two situations are not very different.
So, the delivering of Kandy to the British was not the first betrayal of the nation Attangalla preceded it and entered the annals of history in 1594 as the first historic betrayal of the nation by the ‘upstart’ Kokupayya.
 Udugan-ella, located a short distance away from the historic Rajamaha Viharaya a...){kind=link}
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