By Santhush Fernando
His Royal Highness, Prince Remigius Kanagarajah claims to be the Head of Royal House of Jaffna and is a descendent of the Araya Chackravarti Dynasty which ruled over the Kingdom of Jaffna for four hundred years until its members were massacred by the Portuguese.
In an exclusive interview with The Nation, ‘Prince’ Kanagarajah, now domiciled in the Netherlands, said that even as the youngest of five children, he was brought up with strict rules and regulations because of his royal descent.
Prince Kanagarajah was the born to an aristocratic family on October 1, 1964, as the youngest son of Thambirajah Mervin Anthony Kanagarajah and Maheswary Marina Antoinette Kanagarajah. His ancestors hailed from Malaysia, India and Jaffna.
“By the time I was a teenager, my parents made sure that I had a busy schedule.”
Even as a young man, his association with politicians and dignitaries gave him many insights into the ways and means of coping with problems of the common folk.
He is a descendant of a royal family of Jaffna and the origin of his family’s royal abode is to be traced to “Sangili Thoppu” in modern day Nallur (close to Jaffna town)– the last dwelling place of the Jaffna ‘royal family.’
He is also a member of the International Monarchist League in London as well as the Southeast Asia Imperial and Royal League, which promotes friendship between royal families of Southeast Asia, Prince Remigius Kanagarajah said.
The Prince married Miss Aishwary Rajnandhini Lusijah Rajaratnam at The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London in 2002 and the Blessing of Marriage by the Church took place on October 2, 2004 at the Balfour Castle, Shapinsay in Orkney, Scotland.
She is also a descendant of Mudaliyar of Jaffna Dewan Bahadur Rajasinghe, whose origins are traced back to the days of Nayak rule in Thanjavur, India and will acquire the Title Ilavarasi consequent her marriage to the ‘prince.’
Prince Remigius Kanagarajah although baptised a Catholic, takes part in many Hindu religious observances following the traditions and customs of his ancestors.
Prince Remigius Kanagarajah has been a member of the Regional and International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) for the past 16 years. He is also a qualified paramedic and he has served on Board the Cruise Ship J. Henry Dunant in the Netherlands, named after the founder of Red Cross. The ‘prince’ has also served as a member of Amnesty International.
In his day to day life Prince Remigius enjoys travelling, reading and takes part in sporting and social activities. He also indulges in social and charitable work and is a collector of antiques and other rare objects of art.
“The reason I am coming forward now to claim this succession is grounded in the need to prove to the younger generation and to the world that there was once a strong Kingdom in Jaffna” says the prince adding “My only wish now is to bring peace to the dispersed Tamil people of Sri Lanka and to unite them as one nation. I hope and pray that peace may prevail over all people of Sri Lanka.”

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Tracing descent

Prince Remigius’s maternal great, great grand father, Vedanayagam Thambiah Mudali is to have come to own so much land in Punduloya as his ascendant Veera Bahu claimed to be a descendant of the Royal Family of Jaffna lived in Punduloya because he was in hiding from the Portuguese.
Prince Remigius’s maternal great grand parents were born and brought up in “Sangili Thoppu”. His Great Grand Father Thambiah Cadiravel Mudali wed Ilavarasi Annapoorani Nagamuttu Thambithurai Daughter of Mudaliyar Thambithurai, to keep royalty within the family.
Mudaliyar Thambithurai father of Ilavarasi Nagamuttu Cadiravel handed over the palace to the famous Nallur Kandasamy Temple in Jaffna. After the handing over Thambiah Cadiravel Mudali and Ilavarasi Nagamuttu spent the rest of their life in a mansion named as “Pavala Vaasal” in Nallur, Jaffna.
Late Parliamentarian Dr. Elangai Murugesu Vijayaretnam Naganathan (1906-1971) who was residing at his ancestral home in “Sangili Thoppu” and Former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar are nephews of Ilavarasi Nagamuttu.

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The Royal Flag

After the 12th century Arya Chakravarti, Kings of Jaffna used the bull flag. The symbols on the Royal Flag are the recumbent seated bull, with a sliver crescent moon, enclosing the golden sun. One white single conch shell which spirals open to the right, and in the centre above the seated bull is a white parasol with golden tassels and white pearls. The colour of the Royal Flag is golden saffron, with a white border, both believed to be auspicious colours.

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Arya Chakrawarthi Kingdom

Geographically, the peninsula of Jaffna, together with its seven little islands crowning the island of Sri Lanka Jaffna is known as “Yaalpaanam.”
Known as Lanka and Ilankai in Tamil, parts of the island came under the sway of the Dravidian dynasties, Kerala (Chera), Chola, Pallava and Pandyan, which collectively spanned the entire region of South India.
The origin of the Arya Chakravati Kings in Jaffna is traced back to Rameswaram, the southernmost Indian city which in the old days is said to have belonged to the Ganga Dynasty. It also seems possible that the first Arya King of Jaffna belonged to the Eastern Ganga Dynasty of Kalinga, believed to be the coastal area encompassing parts of the provinces of present day Orissa and Andhra Pradesh.
Through their matrimonial alliances with the Cholas of Thanjavur, it appears the Chakravartis settled down in Rameswaram. However they assumed the title “Arya” as a distinctive honorific entered into due to matrimonial alliances with Brahmins.
Singai Aryan (Sinha Aryan) also known as Vijaya Kulankai Arya Chakravarti, the founder of the royal line of Arya Chakravarti in Sri Lanka resided at Nallur. He built his palace, Kailasa Nathar and Kandaswamy Temples during his reign. Vijaya Kulankai Arya Chakravarti was the first King to assume the title of Chakravarti (Sinhala- Sakvithi / English- Emperor or Monarch).
The Jaffna Kingdom under Arya Chakravarti remained a semi-autonomous monarchy with its capital in Nallur, where the 14th century built Royal Temple still stands.

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An expert view

Prof. S. Pathmanathan of the University of Peradeniya, Prof. S. Sathiyaseelan and Prof. Chithambalam, formerly of the University of Jaffna were of the view that as far as the documents of Jaffna are concerned, the claim made by Prince Remigius Kanagarajah appears to be authentic.
However Puravidya Chackravarthi Ven. Ellawala Medhananda Thera was of the opinion that, “There had never been an independent Tamil kingdom. Further more ‘Arya Chackravarthi Dynasty’ is of Aryan origin as the name itself says and not of Dravidian origin.”

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The Royal Family of Jaffna

The first 12 monarchs are believed to be independent monarchs of the Kingdom of Jaffna. The rest of them ruled under the suzerainty of the Portuguese. The Jaffna throne was usurped twice by relatives of the king. During the Portuguese era, some of the kings are said to be installed by them.
King Singai Arya Chakravarti Periya Pillai Ethirmanasingham Pararajasekaran reigned from (1591–1615) he had a son Prince Dom Constantino, who had not yet reached the age of three. His son remained heir to the throne, while his uncle Prince Arasakesari Pandaram who was nominated as the Regent Prince of Jaffna reigned from (1615–1616) on behalf of the three-year-old child.
But this arrangement was short lived as Prince Sangili II, a nephew of the late King, did not favour the arrangement and in 1616 an assassination took place in the palace. Prince Sangili II ordered his accomplices to enter the palace at siesta hour and to kill the Governor, Regent Prince and those who were with him.
After the Regent Prince was killed, Prince Sangili II Segarajasekaran usurped the throne of Jaffna as King Singai Arya Chakravarti Sangili Segarajasekaran reigned from 1616–1619 who as the last King of Jaffna.
However in 1619, King Sangili Segarajasekaran was captured by the Portuguese and the Jaffna was brought under direct Portuguese rule.
On February 11, 1621, the children of King Ethirmanasingham Pararajasekaran, the Crown Prince Dom Constantino, Princess Dona Izabel, and Princess Dona Maria were forced abdicate the Throne of Jaffna by signing the Royal Instrument of Transfer of their rights to rule the Kingdom of Jaffna to the King of Portugal.
This act effectively ended the Sovereignty of the Arya Chakravarti Dynasty and the three members remaining were later sent to Goa.
After a long interlude, action was taken in 2003 by Prince Remigius Kanagarajah to revive and restore the traditions of the Arya Chakravarti Dynasty with the explicit approval of the family. On June 15 last year, Prince Remigius Kanagarajah took over the responsibility as Head of the Royal House of Jaffna by the majority acclaim of representative members of the Royal Family of Jaffna.
Prince Remigius Kanagarajah is descended from the Royal Family of Jaffna through his great grandfather and great grandmother.