The month of August marks the 401st anniversary of the passing away of King Wimaladharmasuriya of Senkadagala who unified the entire country under one flag. His name will be remembered among the other great kings of Sinhale such as Dutugemunu, Parakkramabahu, Walagambahu, Gajabahu, Wijayabahu, Rajasingha etc. as long as the Sinahala race lives in this country. As history unfolds it will be seen that today there would not have been a Sinhalese race and Buddhist religion if the Portuguese succeeded in their attempts to subjugate the Sinhala nation. It was a "lemani" dynasty king of Dumbara, Wijayabahu III alias Bodhiraja of Galahitiyawa who chased away Maga whose atrocious rule lasted for twenty one years from 1215 to 1236. This dynasty ruled from Dambadeniya as the capital starting from 1232 to 1249 up to Jayabahu II of Kotte. About ten decades after this with the country again divided into the Kotte, Sitawaka and Senkadagala kingdoms it was another "Maurian" dynasty prince of Dumbara who unified the Three Sinhale under one flag. It was the grandson of king Thunayama (1497-1574) of Dumbara Pallepitiya, Keulgama second son of Wijayasundara alias Weerasundara known by the Portuguese as "Mahakalu Parakramabahu," the great king Wimaladharmasuriya (1592-1604) who was known as Konappu Bandara in his youth, alias Don Jhon of Austria as baptised by the Portuguese. Konappu Bandara’s only sister was married to Tammita Bandara of Hatkorale. By this marriage they had two daughters one of whom married the king of Pegu (now Myanmar) and settled down there (Gnartha Pradeepa, 05/12/1999). Tammita Suriya Bandara was baptized as Francisco Barrentu in 1555 and died on 18th February 1581 in a battle with Rajasingha of Sitawaka. Konappu Bandara born in Deegala, Udadumbara, in 1565 was crowned as King Wimaladharmasunya at the age 27 years.

Weerasurendra Bandara entrusted his son Konappu for his early education to the Rev. Labugama Vinedara of the Asgiriya temple where he learnt his three R’s and Pali and Sanskrit. He learnt horse riding, combat drill, wresting and "angam pora" or martial arts and all other necessary arts and crafts required of a royal prince from Illangai Rala of Ganepola who prepared the boy to take over the reign from his father at a suitable opportunity. This was about seventy five years after the arrival of the Portuguese, when they were a strong force to reckon with. Rajasingha of Sitawaka was constantly at war with the Portuguese and he waged random attacks on Senkadagala as well. Once he sent his military chief Wickrasingha to Senkadagala to accompany Weerasundara to Sitawaka with the promise of entrusting to him the Walagama and Wattarama areas. The plan was to put Weerasundara to a pit planted with sharp and poisoned spikes. Weerasundara walked in the centre besides Wikramasinghe and another without knowing the plan to put him in the pit and kill him. He fell into the pit and thus ended his life. Konappu who was a youth of about twenty years at that time escaped to Diyatilaka Korale in Hanguranketa for safety but he could not remain there for long as Rajasingha came to Hanguranketa and burnt the Buddhist temples that gave shelter to him and killed over hundred priests who protected Konappu. This incident is described in a poem titled "Parangihatana" thus.

rdcisxy ksrssoq /j`E0 fuf,i .shjr

,laosj biqre jev isgskd fldf<dusmqr

mD;=.d,a rcq fj; mvqre;a iu. lr

fldkmamq nKavdr yersfha Ndrlr

This is how Konappu Bandara fled to Colombo to safeguard his life. Konappu had one ambition when he went to Colombo that was under Portuguese rule. That was to take revenge from Rajasingha for killing his father and to ascend the Senkadagala throne.

The Portuguese Governor in Colombo Captain Major Joe Ao Britto Corea who had already heard about Konappu and his bravery received him with open arms and offered him a place as a lieutenant in the Portuguese army. Konappu made use of the opportunity to learn the handling of guns that were not in use at Senkadagala, and also to learn the art of manufacturing guns with the help of smithies of Malvana. He was able to upgrade his knowledge of and skills in battle with Portuguese help. He was one of the outstanding soldiers in the battlefield and won the love and admiration of his Portuguese colleagues. In a brawl with Salappu, Konappu killed Salappu for which act the Portuguese Governor banished Konappu to Goa. In Goa he was able to acquire further battlefield training from the Portuguese and won their confidence. It was here that he was baptized by the Bishop of Goa. Konappu by now was the most able and recognised wrestler in South Asia. E. V. A Naganathan in his letter to the Daily News of 07/09/1998 states thus "Whilest the Sinhala State under Wimala Dharma Suriya’s superior military leadership and skill and immense experience in battle both in Sri Lanka and India, in Portuguese service, he was reportedly one of the finest swordsmen and wrestlers in South Asia." There was at the time a captain known as Gajabahu to whose presence even the Viceroy of Goa could not go with the sword worn in his uniform. The viceroy challenged Don Jhon to go pass Gajaba wearing the sword in his uniform. He accepted this challenge and fixed a date to a duel with the Portuguese captain. Crowds gathered to witness this event which was a rare occasion in Goa. On the fixed date Don Jhon in his full military regalia appeared at the venue to meet his counterpart. Amidst thunderous applause the duel continued until finally Don Jhon jumped up in the air over his opponent and dealt a blow proving his military prowess, severing the head of Gajaba. Don Jhon received presents and warm greetings from the crowd. It was after this incident that the Portuguese further reinforced their dubious plans to capture Senkadagala kingdom using Don Jhon as a cat’s paw.

Don Jhon was sent back to Kandy with a battalion of Portuguese soldiers. But he was awaiting an opportunity to take revenge from Sitawaka Rajasingha for the murder of his father and to restore Buddhism and give Sinhale its due place free from Portuguese subversion. In the month of March 1592 Rajasingha advanced to Balana but was defeated in the battle. The lion king of Sitawaka retreated up to Pethangoda where a poisonous thorn pierced his foot and he succumbed to the injuries. In a battle with the Portuguese on 6th October 1594 at Danture Don Jhon was victorious having defeated Lopez de Souza who gave the custody of his young son to Don Jhon before his death. In this battle Portuguese leaders such as Diogo de Boju, Don Gasthan, Francisco Corea, Peduru Aponsu, Francisco Beethu, Siemon Pereira, were killed. In another battle with the Portuguese in Balana in 1602 Don Jhon retreated but with reinforcements once again the battle commenced in Balana towards January 1603. Don Jhon had an easy victory killing Captain General Jeronimo de Azavedo who led the battle. The other Portuguese Army chiefs who were killed in this battle were Diogo Ruberu and Don Francisco Peresbaranda. It was the first time in history that such a large European army was massacred on foreign soil. The Portuguese were trained professional soldiers whereas the Sinhalese were farmers, fighters only during periods of war. Don Jhon’s achievements were due to careful planning and war strategies adopted after studying the ground situations such as rainy seasons, etc.