Wonderful, thank you for that, Robert. That is the 14th century text that H.R. Perera mentions above in Buddhism in Sri Lanka: A Short History, where he states:
"…Mahā Kassapa and a large congregation of monks who assembled at the Jetavana Vihāra at Polonnaruwa decided to compose exegetical commentaries since the existing sub-commentaries on the old Aṭṭhakathās were unintelligible. "
It’s wonderful that King Parākramabāhu the Great helped usher in such a period of literary activity. Without these reforms, not only would this period never have occurred, but we also might not have any Theravāda Buddhist lineage today. We know the Theravāda lineage was later reestablished in several Southeast Asian countries from the Sri Lankan lineage at various points in history. This occurred during periods when local monastic ordination lines had almost died out or become fragmented, and rulers sought to purify and revitalize the Saṅgha by importing ordination lineages from Sri Lanka, which was regarded as the authoritative source of Theravāda orthodoxy. History provides us with many examples.
And, of course, throughout history, the favor was also very much reciprocal.
I guess it all goes back to Contingency:
R