they did carry out occasional raids into Ruhuna. Around the same time in south India, resistance to the Chola was increasing in the conquered kingdoms of Pandya and Kerala. It is possible that the 3 conquered kingdoms, Sri Lanka, Pandya and Kerala were in contact with each other. Vikramabahu's preparations for battle were protracted, and it wasn’t until at least eight years later that he was ready for battle. However before he could launch an assault on the Chola, he fell ill and died while he was at Devundara. The year of his death has been placed between 1037 and 1041 by historians. Successors Vikramabahu had no direct heirs to the throne, and ten years of internal disorganization and disunity followed his death. The Chola empire took advantage of the situation, putting three of the next five princes who assumed the throne to death. Immediately after Vikramabahu's death, his Senapathi Kitti assumed power. Kitti was deposed after eight days by Mahalanakitti, who bore the title "Chief Secretary" to Vikramabahu, but of whom little is known. He ruled for a further three years but fell in battle with the Chola. He was succeeded by a number of Indian princes as the Sinhalese were willing to follow anyone who would lead them to freedom from the Chola empire. However successive rulers left Ruhuna much worse off than before. Eventually in 1055, Vijayabahu I was proclaimed king, and following a seventeen-year-long campaign he successfully drove the Chola out of Sri Lanka, reuniting the country for the first time in over a century. See also Mahavamsa List of monarchs of Sri Lanka History of Sri Lanka Polonnaruwa Kingdom External links Kings & Rulers of Sri Lanka Codrington's Short History of Ceylon References 1017 births 1041 deaths 11th-century Sinhalese monarchs House of Lambakanna II People of the Kingdom of Anuradhapura Sinhalese kings