King Upathissa

Upatissagāma was the second capital of the Kingdom of Tambapanni, during the Pre Anuradhapura period of Sri Lanka. It was seven or eight miles further north of the previous capital Tambapaṇṇī, which was in present-day Puttalam. The city was established by Upatissa, a follower and senior minister of Vijaya. 

During the end of his reign Vijaya, who was having trouble choosing a successor, so sent a letter to the city of his ancestors at Sinhapura, in order to invite his brother Sumitta to take over the throne. However Vijaya had died before the letter had reached its destination so the monarchy was succeeded by his chief minister Upatissa who acted as king for a year.

Upatissa was purohita to and a Chief government minister under King Vijaya of Sri Lanka. He built a city Upatissa Nuwara named after himself, which became the second Sinhalese kingdom in Sri Lanka.
He became the King of Upatissa Nuwara for a short period of time after the death of Prince Vijaya until the arrival of the heir to the throne, King Panduvasdeva from North India.
Upatissa is a Saaligrama Brahamin (belonging to Salaagama Caste) according to the publication “King Vijaya and his Successors” which is based on A short history of Lanka by Humphry William Codrington.

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