Kusumasena Devi (1581-1613) survived during one of the worst periods in Sri Lankan history. It was a period of perilous wars, political mayhem, inordinate evil ambitions, conspiracy and strategic negotiations. During this period Sri Lanka was a triumvirate (ruled by three): Kotte, Sitawaka and Senkadagala. Jaffna remained independent. Kotte was under the grips of the Portuguese and the ruler of Kotte, Dharmapala (1551-1597) was a puppet king under them.
Dharmapala became a Roman Catholic. In 1557, by a gift deed, he handed over his kingdom to the Portuguese King Don John. Sitawaka Rajasingha (1580-1592) defeated the Portuguese army in the terrible battle in Mulleriya. He was on the warpath to oust the Portuguese and subjugate the Senkadagala Kingdom. His ambition was to make Sri Lanka a strong unitary state. However, Mahavamsa accuses Rajasinghe of patricide, murdering the Buddhist clergy, destroying Buddhist religious institutions with literary works and constructing Hindu Kovils.
The Buddhist clergy moved the Buddha’s Tooth Relic from Sitawaka to Delgomuva Vihara for safety. In Dharmapala’s time, the Roman Catholic faith began to take root; in Rajasinghe’s time, Hinduism flourished.
Kusumasana Devi, since childhood nursed as a princess, was aware of her right to inherit her father’s throne. Her mother raised Kusumasana Devi to boost her individual identity. She was the daughter of Karaliyadda Bandara, the ruler of Senkadagala who too was a Catholic. He established good relationships with the Portuguese and King Dharmapala. Rajasinghe, with support from a Buddhist called Weerasundara Bandara and the Buddhist clergy, attacked Karaliyadda Bandara. He fled to Trincomalee Fort with the royal family under the protection of the Portuguese. Karaliyada Bandara’s ambition has been to recapture Senkadagala with the military aid of the Portuguese and give Kusumasena Devi in marriage to his nephew, Yamasinghe Bandara who was with him in Trincomalee. The queen wanted to flee to Gampola with Kusumasana Devi to ensure their safety.
But these ambitions were abruptly nullified.
At Trincomalee, Karaliyadde Bandara and his queen succumbed to smallpox to be survived by his three-year-old daughter Kusumasena Devi under the care of the Portuguese. The Portuguese escorted her to Mannar, nursed her and baptised her as Dona Katarina. The Portuguese were aware that Dona Katarina was the only royal heir to the Senkadagala throne and they devised plans to make use of her to seize Senkadagala and give her in marriage to a Portuguese prince. While these plans were devised, Rajasingha invaded Senkadagala and managed to kill Weerasundara Bandara who was attempting to free Senkadagala from the grips of Rajasinghe. Konappu Bandara was his son who fled to the Portuguese. The Portuguese sent Konappu Bandara to Goa and trained him in warfare. Upon return, he was a Catholic, baptised as Don Juan of Austria.
Portuguese and Rajasingha influences
In 1951, the army under the Portuguese General Lopez de Suaza, supported by Yamasingha Bandara and Konappu Bandara, conquered Senkadagala and declared Yamasinghe Bandara as the king of Senkadagala. But it was for a short period, as Konappu Bandara now a turncoat defeated Yamasinghe Bandara, and the Portuguese army by an uprising and seized Dona Katarina. He married Dona Katarina by force, enthroned in Senkadagala as Wimaladharmasuriya and became a Buddhist. Thus Dona Katarina was deprived of her crown. Wimaladharmasuriya was already married to Tammita Kumari. He wanted to make Senkadagala a separate kingdom independent of the Portuguese and Rajasingha influences. He could beat Rajasinghe in Balana. Rajasinghe had a humble death in his retreat at Petangoda Garden, Ruvanwella, following an accidental contaminated foot injury.
After Rajasinghe’s death, Sitawaka kingdom declined in strength as there was no powerful successor to him. Sitawaka too came under the Portuguese. Wimaladharmasuriya, a hero like Rajasinghe, united the Kingdom and worked relentlessly to strengthen religious and social harmony. The Portuguese made three military attacks against Wimaladharmasuriya in vain. With the coronation of Wimaladharmasuriya, the Kandyan kingdom inherited a new royal dynasty and a new era dawned. He brought the Buddha’s Tooth Relic to Senkadagala from Delgomuva temple. However, Dona Katarina was unhappy and remorseful and tried to escape to the Portuguese. But she failed. She delivered three children: Prince Mahastana and two daughters, Suriya Devi and Sama Devi.
Wimaladharmasuriya died of febrile illness in 1604 leaving the throne to Dona Katarina to a short period. By this time, conspiracy mounted between Wimaladharmasuriya’s stepfather’s son Senarat, who has been a Buddhist priest earlier, and Wimaladharmasuriya’s brother Denawaka Mayadunne, the nominated sub-king (Yuvaraja) to the throne. Senarat was successful in eliminating Mayadunne by murdering him. Senarat disrobed, married Dona Katarina against her will, and became the king. Thus, Dona Katarina was deprived of her royal status for the second time. She continued to live as his consort despite her unsuccessful attempts to flee to the Portuguese. She delivered three sons because of this marriage. Senarat was eager to leave the kingdom to his first son out of the three delivered by Dona Katarina although the real sub-king was Dona Katarina’s son Mahastana from Wimaladharmasuriya. In this dilemma, Senarat conspired; named Mahastana as the sub-king and sent him to Sabaragamuva for training in good governance. At Sabragamuve, Senarat conspired to drown the child and caused his untimely tragic death.
Dona Katarina continued to live with Senart disheartened, emotionally depressed and sick. She unwillingly adapted and tolerated to exist in a hostile social environment. She suffered immensely and bore burdens of repeated pregnancies and deliveries. She produced six children within a short period of ten years while tolerating her husbands who enjoyed polygamy. She could have perceived her life as an absurd existence. She passed away on July 20, 1613, at Welimannatota at the young age of 33 with sorrow, anguish, hatred, grievance, imposed adaptation and emaciation. Even after her death, the chapter of error and terror did not terminate. Senarat married the 14-year-old Suriya Devi, the first daughter of Dona Katarina by Wimaladharmasuriya.
The Portuguese were depressed after losing many battles with the Senkadagala kings. For instance, Wimaladharmasuriya defeated them in 1594 at the Danture battle, Senart defeated them in 1630 at the Randenigala battle and Rajasinghe II defeated them in 1438 at the Gannoruva battle.
The historians have not accorded much importance to Dona Katarina. Wimaladharmasuriya (1591-1604), Senarat (1604-1635) and Rajasinghe II (1635-1687) appear as prominent kings who ruled over Senkadagala during the Portuguese Period and Kusumasena Devi’s name is not mentioned at all. Rajasinghe II was Senarat’s son from Dona Katarina, a hero like Sitawaka Rajasinghe who terminated the Portuguese intervention in Sri Lanka with the aid from the Dutch.
The story of Dona Katarina
History is a social science, an account of change, and causes of change, a story of cause and effect. It is different from literature. In literature, there is creation and imagination. The writer records an imaginary account of what could have happened in history. It often gives expression to certain emotions. It is mainly an account of individuals and individual characters and deals with the causes of individual actions.
The ambitions of Karaliyada Bandara, Rajasinghe and Wimaladharmasuriya have been nullified abruptly by unexpected premature deaths. These too influenced the shaping of history. In such a situation the centre of vision of the play inclined to shift towards fatalism, absurdism and nihilism.
Introspection, authority, conspiracy and convention have been used as planning devises for achieving ruling power during the Portuguese Period (1505-1658) and Dona Katarina happened to be a major innocent victim of suffering during this turbulent period. The story of Dona Katarina is an allegory of the tragedy of Sri Lanka. If the Portuguese did not seize the opportunity of coming here or if Dona Katarina died of Small Pox infection, or if Konappu Bandara did not become the king of Senkadagala, then the history could have taken another turn.
Wimaladharmasuriya and Senarat chose to marry Dona Katarina not because of love but because of their ambitions to capture royal power. They declared that a female could not govern. The people did not accept a queen’s rule. She was not a Buddhist. The people feared that she would hand over the kingdom to the Portuguese. These perspectives were projected to foreground the fact that the people did not accept her social identity. They were determined to safeguard the nation, religion and culture.
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