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Rajarata (Raja = king, rata = country, or preferably land, thus the Land of Kings) is the name given to the region of Sri Lanka from which monarchs ruled the country from approximately the 5th Century BCE to the early 13th Century CE. It is centered around the ancient cities of Anuradhapura (5th Century BCE to the late 10th Century CE) and Polonnaruwa (11th Century CE to the early 13th Century CE) in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka.

History and Kingdoms[link]

First Kingdom in the Rajarata was established by Prince Vijaya 543 BC. Then later administration center was moved towards the country side which is more suited to agricultural work.

Administrating centers in Rajarata.

1. Tambapanni - Prince Vijaya - Founded in 543 BC
2. Upatissa Nuwara - Founded by King Upatissa in 505 BC ^[1]
3. Anuradhapura - Founded by King Pandukabhaya in 377 BC
4. Polonnaruwa - Founded by KingVijayabahu I

Settlements[link]

Prince Vijaya settled his administration center in Tambapanni , near the Malvatu oya delta. Mahavamsa reveals that successive settlements by varies groups came from India between period of price Vijaya to King Pandukabhaya, tend to settle along with Malvathu oya. In 377 BC King Pandukabhaya moved the administrative center to Anuradhapura. Most of the settlement were based on rivers to support agricultural lifestyle. Yodha wewa area in Mannar District by King Dhatusena ^[2], Eropathana in Vavuniya District , Padawiya area in Anuradhapura District and Mullaitivu District by King Moggallana II ^[3] proves that the this golden civilization of ancient Sri Lanka is spread to southern boundary of the Vanni forest. Heavy Vanni forest acted as a huge barrier to colonize above the southern border of the forest. Tank's build on Anuradhapura era (Giant's, Padaviya, Minneriya, Kantale, Mahavillachchiya,Thabbowa,Kala) shows the early settlements in Rajarata area.

Boundaries of Rajarata[link]

Boundaries of the three divisions (Rata) ^[4]

• Raja rata - Area between Deduru oya and Mahaweli river.
• Ruhunu rata -Area between Mahaweli river and Kalu gaga (Kaluthara District).
• Malaya rata - Area between Deduru oya and Kalu gaga (Kaluthara District).

Falling of Rajarata[link]

In 1215 Kalinga Magha invaded Rajarata with an army of 24,000. After the conquest of Rajarata, Magha established his capital in Pollonnaruwa. Then Kalinga forces extended power to the Malaya Rata. During the rise of Kingdom of Dambadeniya under the king Vijayabahu III (1220- 1224 AC), Magha lost the control in Malaya Rata. Resistance was extended from natives to the Magha's administration at Pollonnaruwa. Sinhalese gathered around a series of inaccessible towns, fortresses, mountainous like Yapahuwa and Gangadoni under army generals (Subha, Sankha etc). Due to rising threat, Pandyan troop established administration center in Jaffna Peninsula which was more secured by heavy Vanni forest. Later Rajarata was annexed by king Parakramabahu II(1236–70). His power extended over Rohana, the central hills , Rajarata and the Vanni ^[5] . But many battles placed in the country with the armies from south India under different invaders, administration center was moved away from Rajarata by Sinhalese. When the Pandyan Empire became weak due to Muslim invasions, successive Aryacakravarti rulers who appointed as minister, made the Jaffna administrative center independent from Pandyans and established Jaffna kingdom and Arya Chakrawarthi dynasty ^[6]. Which divided the ancient Rajarata (before 13th century) into three parts.

• Jaffna kingdom - Jaffna peninsula, Ruled by Arya Chakrawarthi dynasty
• Rajarata - Area bellow the Vanni. Ruled by Sinhalese kingdoms
• Vanni Area - Area which covers the Vanni forest. It would appear that by 13th century Tamils too withdraw from the Vanni ^[7] Later small groups of people settled in the area. But population was very low

See also[link]

• Provinces of Sri Lanka
• History of Sri Lanka
• Polonnaruwa Kingdom

References[link]

v t e Districts of Sri Lanka Central (Kandy • Matale • Nuwara Eliya) · Eastern (Ampara • Batticaloa • Trincomalee) · North Central (Anuradhapura • Polonnaruwa) · Northern (Jaffna • Kilinochchi • Mannar • Mullaitivu • Vavuniya) · North Western (Kurunegala • Puttalam) · Sabaragamuwa (Kegalle • Ratnapura) · Southern (Galle • Hambantota • Matara) · Uva (Badulla • Moneragala) · Western (Colombo • Gampaha • Kalutara)

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Roberto Vásquez
Statistics
Real name	Roberto Gaspar Vásquez Ramírez
Nickname(s)	La Araña (The Spider)
Rated at	Flyweight
Nationality	Panamanian
Born	(1983-05-26) May 26, 1983 (age 29) Panama City, Panama
Stance	Southpaw
Boxing record
Total fights	25
Wins	24
Wins by KO	17
Losses	1
Draws	0
No contests	0

Roberto Vásquez (born May 26, 1983 in Panama City, Panama) is a southpaw boxer. Fighting in the flyweight division, his record is 24-1 (17 KOs). He is currently the WBA world flyweight interim champion.

Vásquez lost in his professional boxing debut against Angelo Dottin on March 17, 2001. The four-round fight occurred in Dottin's hometown of Colón, Panama. Despite Vásquez's cutting Dottin's right cheek in the first round, all three judges scored the bout 39-38 for Dottin.^[1]

Since the debut loss, Vásquez has won 22 consecutive fights. His first minor championship was the WBO Latino light flyweight title, which he won from Carlos Caballero on October 31, 2002 by fourth-round TKO.^[1] In Vásquez's next fight—on February 15, 2003—he unified the WBO and WBC Latino light flyweight titles by knocking out Marlon Márquez in the tenth round.^[1] Vásquez added the WBA Fedelatin title to his collection when he defeated Luis Doria by seventh-round TKO on November 26, 2003.^[1] becoming the first Latin American boxer to hold these three titles simultaneously in any weight división.

After he made a few title defenses in 2003 and 2004, Vásquez earned the opportunity to fight against Beibis Mendoza for the vacant WBA world light flyweight title. On April 29, 2005, Vásquez knocked down Mendoza twice in the tenth round, and after the count of 10 the referee Luis Pabon ended the fight.^[1] Vásquez then successfully defended the Light Flyweight title three times, against José Antonio Aguirre from Mexico, Nerys Espinoza from Nicaragua and Nohel Arambulet from Venezuela. After the third defense, Vásquez vacated the title in order to challenge Lorenzo Parra for the WBA flyweight title.^[2] Nevertheless the fight programed for Oct 10, 2006 was cancelled due to an injury in Parra's right knee which had to be operated, giving the chance to Vasquez to fight for the interim title in Bercy, Paris, France against top challenger Takefumi Sakata from Japan.

See also[link]

• List of current world boxing champions

• List of Panamanians
• List of WBA world champions

Notes and references[link]

External links[link]

• Roberto Vásquez - Boxrec Boxing Encyclopedia