1. Captain Lopo de Brito's attempt was successful. The enemy retreated. With an additional Malabar force they came to fight again. Brito was successful in crushing them, this time too. Even the retreating enemy was chased and attacked. The Portuguese who were victorious, then set fire to the city of Colombo. When all his attempts of defeating the foreign enemy failed, King Vijayabahu was quite depressed. Many were the losses that ensued.

2. He gave up fighting the Portuguese. The king got married to another princess, namely the Princess Keerawelle. She had been a widow with a child. That prince was Devaraja by name. The king was immensely fond of both Queen Keerawelle and Prince Devaraja. So much so, that he planned to give the kingship to this prince, at his demise.

3. The three sons by his first queen got to know this arrangement. They were stubborn and also they hated their father's second marriage. The king had endless problems because of these sons. So he decided to get them killed somehow. For this purpose, he employed the services of the two ministers Kandure Bandara and Ekanayake. The three princes were namely, Buwanekabahu, Madduma Bandara and Mayadunne.

4. Madduma Bandara was also known as Raigam Bandara. When they got to know of the scheme of the king their father, they ran away from the palace. The two elder princes fled to Negombo, while the youngest – Mayadunne – went to the King of Kandy. The King of Kandy at the time was King Jayaweera. He was married to a cousin of these princes.

5. After some time, the two elder princes too went to Kandy. King Jayaweera treated all of them very well. He even helped them in their fight against their father. As assistance, he gave them a battalion of soldiers. After a while, the three princes marched to Kotte, along with their army. The commanders of King Vijayabahu, did not like to go to war with the princes. This put the king into a difficult situation.

6. The people of Kotte too took the side of the princes. Then King Vijayabahu decided on peace negotiations with the princes. He sent a messenger indicating his wish and to this the princes too agreed. But they put forward one condition, if they were to come for peace talks. They wanted the two ministers Kandure Bandara and Ekanayake to be handed over to them.

7. Unwillingly though, the king acceded to this request. When this news leaked out, the minister Ekanayake fled and only Kandure Bandara got caught. The princes beat him until he died. King Vijayabahu was very angry over this action and wanted to take revenge on the princes. He had kept armed soldiers inside the palace. But this did not serve any purpose.

8. The princes got to know of this as well. They entered the capital city forcibly. They ransacked the palace and stole all the gold, silver, pearls and other valuables. The soldiers who stood in hiding were rendered helpless. After getting all the valuables from the palace, they planned to kill the king, their father.