Serving as the last sovereign of the Jaffna Tamil Kingdom

Serving as the last sovereign of the Jaffna Tamil Kingdom from AD 1617 to 1619, he led a valiant resistance against Portuguese colonization forces. The rule in Jaffna encompassed twenty-nine Vanni princes, against whom the Portuguese waged two invasions, incited by King Caṅkili Kumāraṉ’s refusal to adequately pay tributes to the occupying Portuguese forces. In the struggle for their independence, Caṅkili Kumāraṉ led the Tamil army against the combined might of Portuguese invaders and Sinhalese mercenaries, under the leadership of General Philip da Olivaera, but they were ultimately defeated.

The long-standing Jaffna Tamil government, sovereign for 400 years, was finally subdued by the occupying Portuguese, who enlisted the help of Sinhalese mercenaries to secure their conquest. The fate of King Caṅkili Kumāraṉ was sealed when he was apprehended by the occupying Portuguese, transported to Goa, and subsequently executed by beheading in 1621.