The ban imposed by burma

By Halaliye Karunathilake
Edited and translated by Niluka De Silva
Illustrated by Saman Kalubowila

1. Sri Lanka and Burma are Buddhist countries. There continued a long-standing friendship between these two countries. The kings of both countries often exchanged gifts. This practice continued for a number of years. By 1164 AD, the king of Burma was Alausithee. Just as his predecessors did, he too, continued to be friendly with the king of Sri Lanka at the time, King Parakramabahu. The Burmese king had a hot temper that was easily provoked.

2. Some thought it was due to his old age. At this time, he was worried over the bad conduct of his sons. His sons were engaged in corrupt practices.
This upset the king very much and he became mentally weak. He couldn't decide on what action to be followed. So this led to him making wrong decisions.

3. During this period, Sri Lanka was carrying on a lucrative trade with Burma. As such, merchant ships sailed to Burma, very often. These traders were in the habit of giving gifts to the king. The custom was for the Burmese king to gift an elephant in return. At this time, Sri Lanka was also engaged in the trade of elephants. These animals of Sri Lanka were very intelligent and well-tamed and as a result, they were highly priced.

4. Yet, Sri Lanka had a dearth of elephants with long tusks. Because of this, Sri Lanka had imported from Burma, elephants with tusks. They too belonged to the Asian species and there was no marked difference from the Sri Lankan ones. In Burma too there were traders who traded in elephants. King Alausithee suddenly made the elephant trade a state monopoly and doubled the price of an elephant.

5. He immediately stopped the practice of gifting an elephant to the traders who sailed to Burma, carrying gifts to the king. He even stopped the practice of giving these traders a warm welcome and treating them lavishly. On the other hand,
Sri Lanka entertained those who came from Burma. They were well entertained at the king's council.
Quite in contrast, King Alausithee began to punish the Sinhala envoys, who went to Burma, citing all kinds of reasons. He had even confiscated the money of the Sri Lankan team of merchants.

6. The elephants bought by our traders were taken by force and even their ships were forcibly taken. They were thrown into a fortress in the mountainous region. There, they were tortured. Blocks of wood were tied to their feet and they were employed in the task of drawing water. After a few days they were brought before the king. Gradually, Burma was a banned country for the merchants of Sri Lanka.

7. Furthermore, he made these Sinhala envoys sign a declaration to the effect that in case Sinhala messengers were to land there and if they happened to be slain, no blame should be attached to the king or to Burma. Later on, these Sinhala envoys were put in a leaky vessel and made to sail to Sri Lanka. Unfair acts of this nature were repeatedly carried out by King Alausithee. The worst was when he seized a Sinhala princess, who was sent to Kamboja through Burma.

8. The army of the King of Burma stopped this voyage. She was taken to the palace. This aggravated the anger of King Parakramabahu. He decided to punish Burma. He saw no alternative than declaring war on Burma. He was ready to invade.