[Footnote 1: Over the country generally are scattered species of Gasteracantha, remarkable for their firm shell-covered bodies, with projecting knobs arranged in pairs. In habit these anomalous-looking Epeiridae appear to differ in no respect from the rest of the family, waylaying their prey in similar situations and in the same manner.

Another very singular subgenus, met with in Ceylon, is distinguished by the abdomen being dilated behind, and armed with two long spines, arching obliquely backwards. These abnormal kinds are not so handsomely coloured as the smaller species of typical form.]

Separated by marked peculiarities of structure, as well as of instinct, from the spiders which live in the open air, and busy themselves in providing food during the day, the Mygale fasciata is not only sluggish in its habits, but disgusting in its form and dimensions. Its colour is a gloomy brown, interrupted by irregular blotches and faint bands (whence its trivial name); it is sparingly sprinkled with hairs, and its limbs, when expanded, stretch over an area of six to eight inches in diameter. It is familiar to Europeans in Ceylon, who have given it the name, and ascribed to it the fabulous propensities, of the Tarentula.[1]

[Footnote 1: Species of the true Tarentulae are not uncommon in Ceylon; they are all of very small size, and perfectly harmless.]

By day it remains concealed in its den, whence it issues at night to feed on larvae and worms, devouring cockroaches[1] and their pupae, and attacking the millepeds, gryllotalpae, and other fleshy insects. The Mygale is found abundantly in the northern and eastern parts of the island, and occasionally in dark unfrequented apartments in the western province; but its inclinations are solitary, and it shuns the busy traffic of towns.

[Footnote 1: Mr. EDGAR L. LAYARD has described the encounter between a Mygale and a cockroach, which he witnessed in the madua of a temple at Alittane, between Anarajapoora and Dambool. When about a yard apart, each discerned the other and stood still, the spider with his legs slightly bent and his body raised, the cockroach confronting him and directing his antennae with a restless undulation towards his enemy. The spider, by stealthy movements, approached to within a few inches and paused, both parties eyeing each other intently: then suddenly a rush, a scuffle, and both fell to the ground, when the blatta's wings closed, the spider seized it under the throat with his claws, and dragging it into a corner, the action of his jaws was distinctly audible. Next morning Mr. Layard found the soft parts of the body had been eaten, nothing but the head, thorax, and elytra remaining.—Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. May, 1853.]

Ticks.—Ticks are to be classed among the intolerable nuisances to the Ceylon traveller. They live in immense numbers in the jungle[1], and attaching themselves to the plants by the two forelegs, lie in wait to catch at unwary animals as they pass. A shower of these diminutive vermin will sometimes drop from a branch, if unluckily shaken, and disperse themselves over the body, each fastening on the neck, the ears, and eyelids, and inserting a barbed proboscis. They burrow, with their heads pressed as far as practicable under the skin, causing a sensation of smarting, as if particles of red hot sand had been scattered over the flesh. If torn from their hold, the suckers remain behind and form an ulcer. The only safe expedient is to tolerate the agony of their penetration till a drop of coco-nut oil or the juice of a lime can be applied, when these little furies drop off without further ill consequences. One very large species, dappled with grey, attaches itself to the buffaloes.

[Footnote 1: Dr. HOOKER, in his Himalayan Journal, vol. 1. p. 279, in speaking of the multitude of these creatures in the mountains of Nepal, wonders what they find to feed on, as in these humid forests in which they literally swarmed, there was neither pathway nor animal life. In Ceylon they abound everywhere in the plains on the low brushwood; and in the very driest seasons they are quite as numerous as at other times. In the mountain zone, which is more humid, they are less prevalent. Dogs are tormented by them; and they display something closely allied to cunning in always fastening on an animal in those parts where they cannot be torn off by his paws; on his eyebrows, the tips of his ears, and the back of his neck. With a corresponding instinct I have always observed in the gambols of the Pariah dogs, that they invariably commence their attentions by mutually gnawing each other's ears and necks, as if in pursuit of ticks from places from which each is unable to expel them for himself. Horses have a similar instinct; and when they meet, they apply their teeth to the roots of the ears of their companions, to the neck and the crown of the head. The buffaloes and oxen are relieved of ticks by the crows which rest on their backs as they browse, and free them from these pests. In the low country the same acceptable office is performed by the "cattle-keeper heron" (Ardea bubuleus), which is "sure to be found in attendance on them while grazing; and the animals seem to know their benefactors, and stand quietly, while the birds peck their tormentors from their flanks."—Mag. Nat. Hist. p. 111, 1844.]

Mites.—The Trombidium tinctorum of Hermann is found about Aripo, and generally over the northern provinces,—where after a shower of rain or heavy night's dew, they appear in countless myriads. It is about half an inch long, like a tuft of crimson velvet, and imparts its colouring matter readily to any fluid in which it may be immersed. It feeds on vegetable juices, and is perfectly innocuous. Its European representative, similarly tinted, and found in garden mould, is commonly called the "Little red pillion."

MYRIAPODS.—The certainty with which an accidental pressure or unguarded touch is resented and retorted by a bite, makes the centipede, when it has taken up its temporary abode within a sleeve or the fold of a dress, by far the most unwelcome of all the Singhalese assailants. The great size, too (little short of a foot in length), to which it sometimes attains, renders it formidable; and, apart from the apprehension of unpleasant consequences from a wound, one shudders at the bare idea of such hideous creatures crawling over the skin, beneath the innermost folds of one's garments.

At the head of the Myriapods, and pre-eminent from a superiorly-developed organisation, stands the genus Cermatia: singular-looking objects; mounted upon slender legs, of gradually increasing length from front to rear, the hind ones in some species being amazingly prolonged, and all handsomely marked with brown annuli in concentric arches. These myriapods are harmless, excepting to woodlice, spiders, and young cockroaches, which form their ordinary prey. They are rarely to be seen; but occasionally at daybreak, after a more than usually abundant repast, they may be observed motionless, and resting with their regularly extended limbs nearly flat against the walls. On being disturbed they dart away with a surprising velocity, to conceal themselves in chinks until the return of night.



But the species to be really dreaded are the true Scolopendrae, which are active and carnivorous, living in holes in old walls and other gloomy dens. One species[1] attains to nearly the length of a foot, with corresponding breadth; it is of a dark purple colour, approaching black, with yellowish legs and antennae, and its whole aspect repulsive and frightful. It is strong and active, and evinces an eager disposition to fight when molested. The Scolopendrae are gifted by nature with a rigid coriaceous armour, which does not yield to common pressure, or even to a moderate blow; so that they often escape the most well-deserved and well-directed attempts to destroy them, seeking refuge in retreats which effectually conceal them from sight.

[Footnote 1: Scolopendra crassa, Temp.]

There is a smaller one[1], which frequents dwelling-houses, about one quarter the size of the preceding, of a dirty olive colour, with pale ferruginous legs. It is this species which generally inflicts the wound, when persons complain of being bitten by a scorpion; and it has a mischievous propensity for insinuating itself into the folds of dress. The bite at first does not occasion more suffering than would arise from the penetration of two coarsely-pointed needles; but after a little time the wound swells, becomes acutely painful, and if it be over a bone or any other resisting part, the sensation is so intolerable as to produce fever. The agony subsides after a few hours' duration. In some cases the bite is unattended by any particular degree of annoyance, and in these instances it is to be supposed that the contents of the poison gland had become exhausted by previous efforts, since, if much tasked, the organ requires rest to enable it to resume its accustomed functions and to secrete a supply of venom.

[Footnote 1: Scolopendra pullipes.]

Millipeds.—In the hot dry season, and in the northern portions of the island more especially, the eye is attracted along the edges of the sandy roads by fragments of the dislocated rings of a huge species of millipede,[1] lying in short, curved tubes, the cavity admitting the tip of the little finger. When perfect the creature is two-thirds of a foot long, of a brilliant jet black, and with above a hundred yellow legs, which, when moving onward, present the appearance of a series of undulations from rear to front, bearing the animal gently forwards. This julus is harmless, and may be handled with perfect impunity. Its food consists chiefly of fruits and the roots and stems of succulent vegetables, its jaws not being framed for any more formidable purpose. Another and a very pretty species,[2] quite as black, but with a bright crimson band down the back, and the legs similarly tinted, is common in the gardens about Colombo and throughout the western province.

[Footnote 1: Julus ater, Temp.]

[Footnote 2: Julus carnifex, Fab.]

CRUSTACEA.—The seas around Ceylon abound with marine articulata; but a knowledge of the crustacea of the island is at present a desideratum; and with the exception of the few commoner species which frequent the shores, or are offered in the markets, we are literally without information, excepting the little that can be gleaned from already published systematic works.

In the bazaars several species of edible crabs are exposed for sale; and amongst the delicacies at the tables of Europeans, curries made from prawns and lobsters are the triumphs of the Ceylon cuisine. Of these latter the fishermen sometimes exhibit specimens[1] of extraordinary dimensions, and of a beautiful purple hue, variegated with white. Along the level shore north and south of Colombo, and in no less profusion elsewhere, the nimble little Calling Crabs[2] scamper over the moist sands, carrying aloft the enormous hand (sometimes larger than the rest of the body), which is their peculiar characteristic, and which, from its beckoning gesture, has suggested their popular name. They hurry to conceal themselves in the deep retreats which they hollow out in the banks that border the sea.

[Footnote 1: Palinurus ornatus, Fab.]

[Footnote 2: Gelasimus tatragonon? Edw.; G. annulipes? Edw.; G. Dussumieri? Edw.]



Sand Crabs.—In the same localities, or a little farther inland, the ocypode[1] burrows in the dry soil, making deep excavations, bringing up literally armfuls of sand; which with a spring in the air, and employing its other limbs, it jerks far from its burrows, distributing it in radii to the distance of several feet.[2] So inconvenient are the operations of these industrious pests that men are kept regularly employed at Colombo in filling up the holes formed by them on the surface of the Galle face, which is the only equestrian promenade of the capital; but so infested by these active little creatures that accidents often occur by horses stumbling in their troublesome excavations.

[Footnote 1: Ocypode ceratophthalmus, Pall.]

[Footnote 2: Ann. Nat. Hist. April, 1852. Paper by Mr. EDGAR L. LAYARD.]

Painted Crabs.—On the reefs which lie to the south of the harbour at Colombo, the beautiful little painted crabs,[1] distinguished by dark red markings on a yellow ground, may be seen all day long running nimbly in the spray, and ascending and descending in security the almost perpendicular sides of the rocks which are washed by the waves. Paddling Crabs,[2] with the hind pair of legs terminated by flattened plates to assist them in swimming, are brought up in the fishermen's nets. Hermit Crabs take possession of the deserted shells of the univalves, and crawl in pursuit of garbage along the moist beach. Prawns and shrimps furnish delicacies for the breakfast table; and the delicate little pea crab, Pontonia inflata,[3] recalls its Mediterranean congener,[4] which attracted the attention of Aristotle, from taking up its habitation in the shell of the living pinna.

[Footnote 1: Grapsus strigosus, Herbst.]

[Footnote 2: Neptunus pelagicus, Linn,; N. sanguinolentus, Herbst, &c. &c.]

[Footnote 3: MILNE EDW. Hist. Nat. Crust. vol. ii. p. 360.]

[Footnote 4: Pinnotheres veterum.]

ANNELIDAE.—The marine Annelides of the island have not as yet been investigated; a cursory glance, however, amongst the stones on the beach at Trincomalie and in the pools, which afford convenient basins for examining them, would lead to the belief that the marine species are not numerous; tubicole genera, as well as some nereids, are found, but there seems to be little diversity; though it is not impossible that a closer scrutiny might be repaid by the discovery of some interesting forms.

Leeches.—Of all the plagues which beset the traveller in the rising grounds of Ceylon, the most detested are the land leeches.[1] They are not frequent in the plains, which are too hot and dry for them; but amongst the rank vegetation in the lower ranges of the hill country, which is kept damp by frequent showers, they are found in tormenting profusion. They are terrestrial, never visiting ponds or streams. In size they are about an inch in length, and as fine as a common knitting needle; but capable of distension till they equal a quill in thickness, and attain a length of nearly two inches. Their structure is so flexible that they can insinuate themselves through the meshes of the finest stocking, not only seizing on the feet and ankles, but ascending to the back and throat and fastening on the tenderest parts of the body. The coffee planters, who live amongst these pests, are obliged, in order to exclude them, to envelope their legs in "leech gaiters" made of closely woven cloth. The natives smear their bodies with oil, tobacco ashes, or lemon juice;[2] the latter serving not only to stop the flow of blood, but to expedite the healing of the wounds. In moving, the land leeches have the power of planting one extremity on the earth and raising the other perpendicularly to watch for their victim. Such is their vigilance and instinct, that on the approach of a passer-by to a spot which they infest, they may be seen amongst the grass and fallen leaves on the edge of a native path, poised erect, and preparing for their attack on man and horse. On descrying their prey they advance rapidly by semicircular strides, fixing one end firmly and arching the other forwards, till by successive advances they can lay hold of the traveller's foot, when they disengage themselves from the ground and ascend his dress in search of an aperture to enter. In these encounters the individuals in the rear of a party of travellers in the jungle invariably fare worst, as the leeches, once warned of their approach, congregate with singular celerity. Their size is so insignificant, and the wound they make is so skilfully punctured, that both are generally imperceptible, and the first intimation of their onslaught is the trickling of the blood or a chill feeling of the leech when it begins to hang heavily on the skin from being distended by its repast. Horses are driven wild by them, and stamp the ground in fury to shake them from their fetlocks, to which they hang in bloody tassels. The bare legs of the palankin bearers and coolies are a favourite resort; and, their hands being too much engaged to be spared to pull them off, the leeches hang like bunches of grapes round their ankles; and I have seen the blood literally flowing over the edge of a European's shoe from their innumerable bites. In healthy constitutions the wounds, if not irritated, generally heal, occasioning no other inconvenience than a slight inflammation and itching; but in those with a bad state of body, the punctures, if rubbed, are liable to degenerate into ulcers, which may lead to the loss of limb or of life. Both Marshall and Davy mention, that during the marches of troops in the mountains, when the Kandyans were in rebellion, in 1818, the soldiers, and especially the Madras sepoys, with the pioneers and coolies, suffered so severely from this cause that numbers of them perished.[3]

[Footnote 1:



Haemadipsa Ceylanica, Bosc. Blainv. These pests are not, however; confined to Ceylon; they infest the lower ranges of the Himalaya. —HOOKER, vol. i. p. 107; vol. ii. p. 54. THUNBEBG, who records (Travels, vol. iv. p. 232) having seen them in Ceylon, likewise met with them in the forests and slopes of Batavia. MARSDEN (Hist. p. 311) complains of them dropping on travellers in Sumatra. KNORR, found them at Japan; and it is affirmed that they abound in islands farther to the eastward. M. GAY encountered them, in Chili.—MOQUIN-TANDON, (Hirudinees, p. 211, 346.) It is very doubtful, however, whether all these are to be referred to one species. M. DE BLAINVILLE, under H. Ceylanica, in the Diet, de Scien. Nat. vol. xlvii. p. 271, quotes M. BOSC as authority for the kind which that naturalist describes being "rouges et tachetees;" which is scarcely applicable to the Singhalese species. It is more than probable therefore, considering the period at which M. BOSC wrote, that he obtained his information from travellers to the further east, and has connected with the habitat universally ascribed to them from old KNOX'S work (Part I. chap, vi.) a meagre description, more properly belonging to the land leech of Batavia or Japan, In all likelihood, therefore, there may be a H. Boscii, distinct from the H. Ceylanica. That which is found in Ceylon is round, a little flattened on the inferior surface, largest at the extremity, thence graclimlly tapering forward, and with the anal sucker composed of four rings, and wider in proportion than in other species. It is of a clear brown colour, with a yellow stripe the entire length of each side, and a greenish dorsal one. The body is formed of 100 rings; the eyes, of which there are five pairs, are placed in an arch on the dorsal surface; the first four pairs occupying contiguous rings (thus differing from the water-leeches, which have an unoccupied ring betwixt the third and fourth); the fifth pair are located on the seventh ring, two vacant rings intervening. To Dr. Thwaites, Director of the Botanic Garden at Peradenia, who at my request examined their structure minutely, I am indebted for the following most interesting particulars respecting them. "I have been giving a little time to the examination of the land leech. I find it to have five pairs of ocelli, the first four seated on corresponding segments, and the posterior pair on the seventh segment or ring, the fifth and sixth rings being eyeless (fig. A). The mouth is very retractile, and the aperture is shaped as in ordinary leeches. The serratures of the teeth, or rather the teeth themselves, are very beautiful. Each of the three 'teeth,' or cutting instruments, is principally muscular, the muscular body being very clearly seen. The rounded edge in which the teeth are set appears to be cartilaginous in structure; the teeth are very numerous, (fig. B); but some near the base have a curious appendage, apparently (I have not yet made this out quite satisfactorily) set upon one side. I have not yet been able to detect the anal or sexual pores. The anal sucker seems to be formed of four rings, and on each side above is a sort of crenated flesh-like appendage. The tint of the common species is yellowish-brown or snuff-coloured, streaked with black, with a yellow-greenish dorsal, and another lateral line along its whole length. There is a larger species to be found in this garden with a broad green dorsal fascia; but I have not been able to procure one although I have offered a small reward to any coolie who will bring me one." In a subsequent communication Mr. Thwaites remarks "that the dorsal longitudinal fascia is of the same width as the lateral ones, and differs only in being perhaps slightly more green; the colour of the three fasciae varies from brownish-yellow to bright green." He likewise states "that the rings which compose the body are just 100, and the teeth 70 to 80 in each set, in a single row, except to one end, where they are in a double row."]

[Footnote 2: The Minorite friar, ODORIC of Portenau, writing in A.D. 1320, says that the gem-finders who sought the jewels around Adam's Peak, "take lemons which they peel, anointing themselves with the juice thereof, so that the leeches may not be able to hurt them."—HAKLUYT, Voy. vol. ii. p. 58.]

[Footnote 3: DAVY'S Ceylon, p. 104; MARSHALL'S Ceylon, p. 15.]



One circumstance regarding these land leeches is remarkable and unexplained; they are helpless without moisture, and in the hills where they abound at all other times, they entirely disappear during long droughts;—yet re-appear instantaneously on the very first fall of rain; and in spots previously parched, where not one was visible an hour before; a single shower is sufficient to reproduce them in thousands, lurking beneath the decaying leaves, or striding with rapid movements across the gravel. Whence do they re-appear? Do they, too, take a "summer sleep," like the reptiles, molluscs, and tank fishes, or may they be, like the Rotifera, dried up and preserved for an indefinite period, resuming their vital activity on the mere recurrence of moisture?

Besides the medicinal leech, a species of which[1] is found in Ceylon, nearly double the size of the European one, and with a prodigious faculty of engorging blood, there is another pest in the low country, which is a source of considerable annoyance, and often of loss, to the husbandman. This is the cattle leech[2], which infests the stagnant pools, chiefly in the alluvial lands around the base of the mountain zone, to which the cattle resort by day, and the wild animals by night, to quench their thirst and to bathe. Lurking amongst the rank vegetation which fringes these deep pools, and hid by the broad leaves, or concealed among the stems and roots covered by the water, there are quantities of these pests in wait to attack the animals that approach them. Their natural food consists of the juices of lumbrici and other invertebrata; but they generally avail themselves of the opportunity afforded by the dipping of the muzzles of the animals into the water to fasten on their nostrils, and by degrees to make their way to the deeper recesses of the nasal passages, and the mucous membranes of the throat and gullet. As many as a dozen have been found attached to the epiglottis and pharynx of a bullock, producing such irritation and submucous effusion that death has eventually ensued; and so tenacious are the leeches that even after death they retain their hold for some hours.[3]

[Footnote 1: Hirudo sanguisorba. The paddifield leech of Ceylon, used for surgical purposes, has the dorsal surface of blackish olive, with several longitudinal striae, more or less defined; the crenated margin yellow. The ventral surface is fulvous, bordered laterally with olive; the extreme margin yellow. The eyes are ranged as in the common medicinal leech of Europe; the four anterior ones rather larger than the others. The teeth are 140 in each series, appearing as a single row; in size diminishing gradually from one end, very close set, and about half the width of a tooth apart. When of full size, these leeches are about two inches long, but reaching to six inches when extended. Mr. Thwaites, to whom I am indebted for these particulars, adds that he saw in a tank at Colonna Corle leeches which appeared to him flatter and of a darker colour than those described above, but that he had not an opportunity of examining them particularly.



Mr. Thwaites states that there is a smaller tank leech of an olive-green colour, with some indistinct longitudinal striae on the upper surface; the crenated margin of a pale yellowish-green; ocelli as in the paddi-field leech. Length, one inch at rest, three inches when extended.

Mr. E. LAYARD informs us, Mag. Nat. Hist. p. 225, 1853, that a bubbling spring at the village of Tonniotoo, three miles S.W. of Moeletivoe, supplies most of the leeches used in the island. Those in use at Colombo are obtained in the immediate vicinity.]

[Footnote 2: Haemopsis paludum. In size the cattle leech of Ceylon is somewhat larger than the medicinal leech of Europe; in colour it is of a uniform brown without bands, unless a rufous margin may be so considered. It has dark striae. The body is somewhat rounded, flat when swimming, and composed of rather more than ninety rings. The greatest dimension is a little in advance of the anal sucker; the body thence tapers to the other extremity, which ends in an upper lip projecting considerably beyond the mouth. The eyes, ten in number, are disposed as in the common leech. The mouth is oval, the biting apparatus with difficulty seen, and the teeth not very numerous. The bite is so little acute that the moment of attachment and of division of the membrane is scarcely perceived by the sufferer from its attack.]

[Footnote 3: Even men are not safe, when stooping to drink at a pool, from the assault of the cattle leeches. They cannot penetrate the human skin, but the delicate membrane of the mucous passages is easily ruptured by their serrated jaws. Instances have come to my knowledge of Europeans into whose nostrils they have gained admission and caused serious disturbance.]

ARTICULATA.



APTERA.

Thysanura.

Podura albicollis. atricollis. viduata. pilosa. Achoreutes coccinea. Lepisma nigrofasciata, Temp. nigra.

Arachnida.

Buthus afer, Linn. Ceylonicus, Koch. Scorpio linearis. Chelifer librorum. oblongus. Obisium crassifemur. Phrynus lunatus, Pall. Thelyphonus caudatus, Linn. Phalangium bisignatum. Mygale fasciata, Walck. Olios taprobanius, Walck. Nephila...? Trombidium tinctorum, Herm. Oribata...? Ixodes...?

Myriapoda.

Cermatia dispar. Lithobius umbratilis. Scolopendra crassa. spinosa, Newp. pallipes. Grayii? Newp. tuberculidens, Newp. Ceylonensis, Newp. flava, Newp. olivacea. abdominalis. Cryptops sordidus. assimilis. Geophilus tegularius. speciosus. Julus ater. carnifex, Fabr. pallipes. flaviceps. pallidus. Craspedosoma juloides. praeusta. Polydesmus granulatus. Cambala catenulata. Zephronia conspicua.

CRUSTACEA.

Decapoda brachyura.

Polybius. Neptunus pelagicus, Linn. sanguinolentus, Herbst. Thalamita...? Thelphusa Indica, Latr. Cardisoma...? Ocypoda ceratophthalmus, Pall. macrocera, Edw. Gelasimus tetragonon, Edw. annulipes, Edw. Macrophthalmus carinimanus, Latr. Grapsus messor, Forsk. strigosus, Herbst. Plagusia depressa, Fabr. Calappa philargus, Linn. tuberculata, Fabr. Matuta victor, Fabr. Leucosia fugax, Fabr Dorippe.

Decapoda anomura.

Dromia...? Hippa Asiatica, Edw. Paguras affinis, Edw. punctulatus, Oliv. Porcellana...? Decapoda Macrura. Scyllarus orientalis, Fab.. Palinurus ornatus, Fab.. affinis, N.S. Crangon...? Alpheus...? Pontonia inflata, Edw. Palaemon carcinus, Fabr. Stenopus...? Peneus...?

Stomatopoda. Squilla...? Gonodactylus chiragra, Fabr.

CIRRHIPEDIA.

Lepas. Balanus.

ANNELIDA.

Tubicolae. Dorsibranchiata. Abranchia. Hirudo sanguisorba. Thwaitesii. Haemopsis paludum. Haemadipsa Ceylana. Blainv. Lumbricus...?

PART III.

* * * * *

THE SINGHALESE CHRONICLES.



CHAPTER I.

SOURCES OF SINGHALESE HISTORY.—THE MAHAWANSO AND OTHER NATIVE ANNALS.

It was long affirmed by Europeans that the Singhalese annals, like those of the Hindus, were devoid of interest or value as historical material; that, as religious disquisitions, they were the ravings of fanaticism, and that myths and romances had been reduced to the semblance of national chronicles. Such was the opinion of the Portuguese writers DE BARROS and DE COUTO; and VALENTYN, who, about the year 1725, published his great work on the Dutch possessions in India, states his conviction that no reliance can be placed on such of the Singhalese books as profess to record the ancient condition of the country. These he held to be even of less authority than the traditions of the same events which had descended from father to son. On the information of learned Singhalese, drawn apparently from the Rajavali, he inserted an account of the native sovereigns, from the earliest times to the arrival of the Portuguese; but, wearied by the monotonous inanity of the story, he omitted every reign between the fifth and fifteenth centuries of the Christian era.[1]

[Footnote 1: VALENTYN, Oud en Nieuw Oost-Indien, &c., Landbeschryving van t' Eyland Ceylon, ch iv. p. 60.]

A writer, who, under the signature of PHILALETHES, published, in 1816, A History of Ceylon from the earliest period, adopted the dictum of Valentyn, and contented himself with still further condensing the "account," which the latter had given "of the ancient Emperors and Kings" of the island. Dr. DAVY compiled that portion of his excellent narrative which has reference to the early history of Kandy, chiefly from the recitals of the most intelligent natives, borrowed, as in the case of the informants of Valentyn, from the perusal of the popular legends; and he and every other author unacquainted with the native language, who wrote on Ceylon previous to 1833, assumed without inquiry the nonexistence of historic data.[1]

[Footnote 1: DAVY's Ceylon, ch. x. p. 293. See also PERCIVAL'S Ceylon, p. 4.]

It was not till about the year 1826 that the discovery was made and communicated to Europe, that whilst the history of India was only to be conjectured from myths and elaborated from the dates on copper grants, or fading inscriptions on rocks and columns[1], Ceylon was in possession of continuous written chronicles, rich in authentic facts, and not only presenting a connected history of the island itself, but also yielding valuable materials for elucidating that of India. At the moment when Prinsep was deciphering the mysterious Buddhist inscriptions, which are scattered over Hindustan and Western India, and when Csoma de Koeroes was unrolling the Buddhist records of Thibet, and Hodgson those of Nepaul, a fellow labourer of kindred genius was successfully exploring the Pali manuscripts of Ceylon, and developing results not less remarkable nor less conducive to the illustration of the early history of Southern Asia. Mr. Turnour, a civil officer of the Ceylon service[2], was then administering the government of the district of Saffragam, and being resident at Ratnapoora near the foot of Adam's Peak, he was enabled to pursue his studies under the guidance of Galle, a learned priest, through whose instrumentality he obtained from the Wihara, at Mulgiri-galla, near Tangalle (a temple founded about 130 years before the Christian era), some rare and important manuscripts, the perusal of which gave an impulse and direction to the investigations which occupied the rest of his life.

[Footnote 1: REINAUD, Memoire sur l' Inde, p. 3.]

[Footnote 2: GEORGE TURNOUR was the eldest son of the Hon. George Turnour, son of the first Earl of Winterton; his mother being Emilie, niece to the Cardinal Due de Beausset. He was born in Ceylon in 1799 and having been educated in England under the guardianship of the Right Hon. Sir Thomas Maitland, then governor of the island, he entered the Civil Service in 1818, in which he rose to the highest rank. He was distinguished equally by his abilities and his modest display of them. Interpreting in its largest sense the duty enjoined on him, as a public officer, of acquiring a knowledge of the native languages, he extended his studies, from the vernacular and written Singhalese to Pali, the great root and original of both, known only to the Buddhist priesthood, and imperfectly and even rarely amongst them. No dictionaries then existed to assist in defining the meaning of Pali terms which no teacher could be found capable of rendering into English, so that Mr. Turnour was entirely dependent on his knowledge of Singhalese as a medium for translating them. To an ordinary mind such obstructions would have proved insurmountable, aggravated as they were by discouragements arising from the assumed barrenness of the field, and the absence of all sympathy with his pursuits, on the part of those around him, who reserved their applause and encouragement till success had rendered him indifferent to either. To this apathy of the government officers, Major Forbes, who was then the resident at Matelle, formed an honourable exception; and his narrative of Eleven Years in Ceylon shows with what ardour and success he shared the tastes and cultivated the studies to which he had been directed by the genius and example of Turnour. So zealous and unobtrusive were the pursuits of the latter, that even his immediate connexions and relatives were unaware of the value and extent of his acquirements till apprised of their importance and profundity by the acclamation with which his discoveries and translations from the Pali were received by the savans of Europe. Major Forbes, in a private letter, which I have been permitted to see, speaking of the difficulty of doing justice to the literary character of Turnour, and the ability, energy, and perseverance which he exhibited in his historical investigations, says, "his Epitome of the History of Ceylon was from the first correct; I saw it seven years before it was published, and it scarcely required an alteration afterwards." Whilst engaged in his translation of the Mahawanso, TURNOUR, amongst other able papers on Buddist History and Indian Chronology in the Journal of the Bengal Asiatic Society, v. 521, vi. 299, 790, 1049, contributed a series of essays on the Pali-Buddhistical Annals, which were published in 1836, 1837, 1838.—Journ. Asiatic Soc. Bengal, vi. 501, 714, vii. 686, 789, 919. At various times he published in the same journal an account of the Tooth Relic of Ceylon, Ib. vi. 856, and notes on the inscriptions on the columns of Delhi, Allahabad, and Betiah, &c. &c.; and frequent notices of Ceylon coins and inscriptions. He had likewise planned another undertaking of signal importance, the translation into English of a Pali version of the Buddhist scriptures, an ancient copy of which he had discovered, unencumbered by the ignorant commentaries of later writers, and the fables with which they have defaced the plain and simple doctrines of the early faith. He announced his intention in the Introduction to the Mahawanso to expedite the publication, as "the least tardy means of effecting a comparison of the Pali with the Sanskrit version" (p. cx.). His correspondence with Prinsep, which I have been permitted by his family to inspect, abounds with the evidence of inchoate inquiries in which their congenial spirits had a common interest, but which were abruptly ended by the premature decease of both. Turnour, with shattered health, returned to Europe in 1842, and died at Naples on the 10th of April in the following year, The first volume of his translation of the Mahawanso, which contains thirty-eight chapters out of the hundred which form the original work, was published at Colombo in 1837; and apprehensive that scepticism might assail the authenticity of a discovery so important, he accompanied his English version with a reprint of the original Pali in Roman characters with diacritical points.

He did not live to conclude the task he had so nobly begun; he died while engaged on the second volume of his translation, and only a few chapters, executed with his characteristic accuracy, remain in manuscript in the possession of his surviving relatives. It diminishes, though in a slight degree, our regret for the interruption of his literary labours to know that the section of the Mahawanso which he left unfinished is inferior both in authority and value to the earlier portion of the work, and that being composed at a period when literature was at its lowest ebb in Ceylon, it differs little if at all from other chronicles written during the decline of the native dynasty.]

It is necessary to premise, that the most renowned of the Singhalese books is the Mahawanso, a metrical chronicle, containing a dynastic history of the island for twenty-three centuries from B.C. 543 to A.D. 1758. But being written in Pali verse its existence in modern times was only known to the priests, and owing to the obscurity of its diction it had ceased to be studied by even the learned amongst them.

To relieve the obscurity of their writings, and supply the omissions, occasioned by the fetters of rhythm and the necessity of permutations and elisions, required to accommodate their phraseology to the obligations of verse; the Pali authors of antiquity were accustomed to accompany their metrical compositions with a tika or running commentary, which contained a literal version of the mystical text, and supplied illustrations of its more abstruse passages. Such a tika on the Mahawanso was generally known to have been written; but so utter was the neglect into which both it and the original text had been permitted to fall, that Turnour till 1826 had never met with an individual who had critically read the one, or more than casually heard of the existence of the other.[1] At length, amongst the books which, were procured for him by the high, priest of Saffragam, was one which proved to be this neglected commentary on the mystic and otherwise unintelligible Mahawanso; and by the assistance of this precious document he undertook, with confidence, a translation into English of the long lost chronicle, and thus vindicated the claim of Ceylon to the possession of an authentic and unrivalled record of its national history.

[Footnote 1: TURNOUR's Mahawanso, introduction, vol. i. p. ii.]

The title "Mahawanso," which means literally the "Genealogy of the Great," properly belongs only to the first section of the work, extending from B.C. 543 to A.D. 301,[1] and containing the history of the early kings, from Wijayo to Maha Sen, with whom the Singhalese consider the "Great Dynasty" to end. The author of this portion was Mahanamo, uncle of the king Dhatu Sena, in whose reign it was compiled, between the years A.D. 459 and 477, from annals in the vernacular language then existing at Anarajapoora.[2]

[Footnote 1: Although the Mahawanso must be regarded as containing the earliest historical notices of Ceylon, the island, under its Sanskrit name of Lanka, occupies a prominent place in the mythical poems of the Hindus, and its conquest by Rama is the theme of the Ramayana, one of the oldest epics in existence. In the Raja-Tarangini also, an historical chronicle which may be regarded as the Mahawanso of Kashmir, very early accounts of Ceylon are contained, and the historian records that the King Megavahana, who, according to the chronology of Troyer, reigned A.D. 24, made an expedition to Ceylon for the purpose of extending Buddhism, and visited Adam's Peak, where he had an interview with the native sovereign.—Raja-Tarangini, Book iii. sl. 71-79. Ib. vol. ii. p. 364.]

[Footnote 2: Mahawanso, ch. i. The Arabian travellers in Ceylon mention the official historiographers employed by order of the kings. See Vol. I Pt. III. ch. viii. p. 387, note.]

The sovereigns who succeeded Maha Sen are distinguished as the "Sulu-wanse," the "lower race," and the story of their line occupies the continuation of this extraordinary chronicle, the second portion of which was written by order of the illustrious king Prakrama Bahu, about the year A.D. 1266, and the narrative was carried on, under subsequent sovereigns, down to the year A.D. 1758, the latest chapters having been compiled by command of the King of Kandy, Kirti-Sri, partly from Singhalese works brought back to the island from Siam (whither they had been carried at former periods by priests dispatched upon missions), and partly from native histories, which had escaped the general destruction of such records in the reign of Raja Singha I., an apostate from Buddhism, who, about the year A.D. 1590, during the period when the Portuguese were in occupation of the low country, exterminated the priests of Buddha, and transferred the care of the shrine on Adam's Peak to Hindu Fakirs.

But the Mahawanso, although the most authentic, and probably the most ancient, is by no means the only existing Singhalese chronicle. Between the 14th and 18th centuries several historians recorded passing events; and as these corroborate and supplement the narrative of the greater work, they present an uninterrupted Historical Record of the highest authenticity, comprising the events of nearly twenty-four centuries.[1]

[Footnote 1: In 1833 Upham published, under the title of The Sacred and Historical Books of Ceylon, translations of what professed to be authentic copies of the Mahawanso, the Rajaratnacari, and Rajavali; prepared for the use of Sir Alexander Johnston when Chief-Justice of the island. But Turnour, in the introduction to his masterly translation of the Mahawanso; has shown that Sir Alexander had been imposed upon, and that the alleged transcripts supplied to him are imperfect as regards the original text and unfaithful as translations. Of the Mahawanso in particular, Mr. Turnour says, in a private letter which I have seen, that the early part of Upham's volume "is not a translation but a compendium of several works, and the subsequent portions a mutilated abridgment." The Rajavali, which is the most valuable of these volumes, was translated for Sir Alexander Johnston by Mr. Dionysius Lambertus Pereira, who was then Interpreter-Moodliar to the Cutchery at Matura. These English versions, though discredited as independent authorities, are not without value in so far as they afford corroborative support to the genuine text of the Mahawanso, and on this account I have occasionally cited them.]

From the data furnished by these, and from corroborative sources,[1] Turnour, in addition to many elaborate contributions drawn from the recesses of Pali learning in elucidation of the chronology of India, was enabled to prepare an Epitome of the History of Ceylon, in which he has exhibited the succession and genealogy of one hundred and sixty-five kings, who filled the throne during 2341 years, extending from the invasion of the island from Bengal, by Wijayo, in the year B.C. 543 to its conquest by the British in 1798. In this work, after infinite labour, he has succeeded in condensing the events of each reign, commemorating the founders of the chief cities, and noting the erection of the great temples and Buddhist monuments, and the construction of some of those gigantic reservoirs and works for irrigation, which, though in ruins, arrest the traveller in astonishment at their stupendous dimensions. He thus effectually demonstrated the misconceptions of those who previously believed the literature of Ceylon to be destitute of historic materials.[2]

[Footnote 1: Besides the Mahawanso, Rajaratnacari, and Rajavali, the other native chronicles relied on by Turnour in compiling his epitome were the Pujavali, composed in the thirteenth century, the Neekaasangraha, written A.D. 1347, and the Account of the Embassy to Siam in the reign of Raja Singha II., A.D. 1739-47, by WILBAAGEDERE MUDIANSE.]

[Footnote 2: By the help of TURNOUR'S translation of the Mahawanso and the versions of the Rajaratnacari and Rajavali, published by Upham, two authors have since expanded the Epitome of the former into something like a connected narrative, and those who wish to pursue the investigation of the early story of the island, will find facilities in the History of Ceylon, published by KNIGHTON in 1845, and in the first volume of Ceylon and its Dependencies, by PRIDHAM, London, 1849. To facilitate reference I have appended a Chronological List of Singhalese Sovereigns, compiled from the historical epitome of Turnour. See Note B. at the end of this chapter.]

Besides evidence of a less definite character, there is one remarkable coincidence which affords grounds for confidence in the faithfulness of the purely historic portion of the Singhalese chronicles; due allowance being made for that exaggeration of style which is apparently inseparable from oriental recital. The circumstance alluded to is the mention in the Mahawanso of the Chandragupta[1], so often alluded to by the Sanskrit writers, who, as Sir William Jones was the first to discover, is identical with Sandracottus or Sandracoptus, the King of the Prasii, to whose court, on the banks of the Ganges, Megasthenes was accredited as an ambassador from Seleucus Nicator, about 323 years before Christ. Along with a multitude of facts relating to Ceylon, the Mahawanso contains a chronologically connected history of Buddhism in India from B.C. 590 to B.C. 307, a period signalized in classical story by the Indian expedition of Alexander the Great, and by the Embassy of Megasthenes to Palibothra,—events which in their results form the great link connecting the histories of the West and East, but which have been omitted or perverted in the scanty and perplexed annals of the Hindus, because they tended to the exaltation of Buddhism, a religion loathed by the Brahmans.

[Footnote 1: The era and identity of Sandracottus and Chandragupta have been accurately traced in MAX MUELLER'S History of Sanskrit Literature, p. 298, &c.]

The Prasii, or people of Megadha, occupy a prominent place in the history of Ceylon, inasmuch as Gotama Buddha, the great founder of the faith of its people, was a prince of that country, and Mahindo, who finally established the Buddhist religion amongst them, was the great-grandson of Chandagutto, a prince whose name thus recorded in the Mahawanso[1] (notwithstanding a chronological discrepancy of about sixty years), may with little difficulty be identified with the "Chandragupta" of the Hindu Purana, and the "Sandracottus" of Megasthenes.

[Footnote 1: Mahawanso, ch. v. p. 21. See also WILSON'S Notes to the Vishnu Purana, p. 468.]

This is one out of the many coincidences which demonstrate the authenticity of the ancient annals of Ceylon; and from sources so venerable, and materials so abundant, I propose to select a few of the leading events, sufficient to illustrate the origin, and explain the influence of institutions and customs which exist at the present day in Ceylon, and which, from time immemorial, have characterised the inhabitants of the island.



NOTE (A.)

ANCIENT MAP OF CEYLON.

So far as I am aware, no map has ever been produced, exhibiting the comparative geography of Ceylon, and placing its modern names in juxtaposition with their Sanskrit and Pali.



NOTE (B.)

NATIVE SOVEREIGNS OF CEYLON.

N.B. The names of subordinate or cotemporary Princes are printed in Italics.

Names and Relationship of each succeeding Sovereign. Capital. Accession

B.C 1. Wejaya, founder of the Wejayan dynasty Tamananeuera 543 2. Upatissa 1st, minister—regent Upatissaneuera 505 3. Panduwasa, paternal nephew of Wejaya ditto 504 Rama Ramagona Rohuna Rohuna Diggaina Diggamadulla Urawelli Mahawelligama Anuradha Anuradhapoora Wijitta Wijittapoora [these six are brothers-in-law] 4. Abhaya, son of Paduwasa, dethroned Upatissaneuera 474 Interregnum 454 5. Pandukabhaya, maternal grandson of Panduwasa Anuradhapoora 437 6. Mutasiwa, paternal grandson ditto 367 7. Devenipiatissa, second son ditto 307 Mahanaga, brother Magama Yatalatissa, son Kellania Gotabhaya, son Magama Kellani-tissa, not specified Kellania Kawan-tissa, son of Gotabhaya Magama 8. Uttiya, fourth son of Mutasiwa Anuradhapoora 267 9. Mahasiwa, fifth do. ditto 257 10. Suratissa, sixth do. put to death ditto 247 11. Sena and Guttika, foreign usurpers—put to death ditto 237 12. Asela, ninth son of Mutasiwa—deposed ditto 215 13. Elala, foreign usurper—killed in battle ditto 205 14. Dutugaimunu, son of Kawantissa ditto 161 15. Saidaitissa, brother ditto 137 16. Tuhl or Thullathanaka, younger son—deposed ditto 119 17. Laiminitissa 1st or Lajjitissa, elder brother ditto 119 18. Kalunna or Khallatanaga, brother—put to death ditto 109 19. Walagambahu 1st or Wattagamini, brother—deposed ditto 104 20. [Five foreign usurpers—successively deposed and put to death] Pulahattha ditto 103 Bayiha ditto 100 Panayamara ditto 98 Peliyamara ditto 91 Dathiya ditto 90 21. Walagambahu 1st, reconquered the kingdom ditto 88 22. Mahadailitissa or Mahachula, son ditto 76 23. Chora Naga, son—put to death ditto 62 24. Kuda Tissa, son—poisoned by his wife ditto 50 25. Anula, widow ditto 47 26. Makalantissa or Kallakanni Tissa, second son of Kudatissa ditto 41 27. Batiyatissa 1st or Batikabhaya, son ditto 19

Names and Relationship of Capital. Accession. each succeeding Sovereign. A.D. 28. Maha Dailiya Mana or Dathika, brother Anuradhapoora 9 29. Addagaimunu or Amanda Gamini, son—put to death ditto 21 30. Kinibirridaila or Kanijani Tissa, brother ditto 30 31. Kuda Abha or Chulabhaya, son ditto 33 32. Singhawalli or Siwalli, sister—put to death ditto 34 Interregnum 35 33. Elluna or Ha Naga, maternal nephew of Addagaimunu ditto 38 34. Sanda Muhuna or Chanda Mukha Siwa, son ditto 44 35. Yasa Silo or Yatalakatissa, brother—put to death ditto 52 36. Subha, usurper—put to death ditto 60 37. Wahapp or Wasahba, descendant of Laiminitissa ditto 66 38. Waknais or Wanka Nasica, son ditto 110 39. Gajabahu 1st or Gamini, son ditto 113 40. Mahalumana or Mallaka Naga, maternal cousin ditto 125 41. Batiya Tissa 2nd or Bhatika Tissa, son ditto 131 42. Chula Tissa or Kanittbatissa, brother ditto 155 43. Kuhuna or Chudda Naga, son—murdered ditto 173 44. Kudanama or Kuda Naga, nephew—deposed ditto 183 45. Kuda Sirina or Siri Naga 1st, brother-in-law ditto 184 46. Waiwahairatissa or Wairatissa, son—murdered ditto 209 47. Abha Sen or Abha Tissa, brother ditto 231 48. Siri Naga 2nd, son ditto 239 49. Weja Indu or Wejaya 2nd, son—put to death ditto 241 50. Sangatissa 1st, descendant of Laiminitissa—poisoned ditto 242 51. Dahama Sirisanga Bo or Sirisanga Bodhi 1st, do do.—deposed ditto 245 52. Golu Abha, Gothabhaya or Megha warna Abhay, do. do. ditto 248 53. Makalan Detu Tissa 1st, son ditto 261 54. Maha Sen, brother ditto 275 55. Kitsiri Maiwan 1st or Kirtisri Megha warna, son ditto 302 56. Detu Tissa 2nd, brother ditto 330 57. Bujas or Budha Dasa, son ditto 339 58. Upatissa 2nd, son ditto 368 59. Maha Nama, brother ditto 410 60. Senghot or Sotthi Sena, son—poisoned ditto 432 61. Laimini Tissa 2nd or Chatagahaka, descendant of Laiminitissa ditto 432 62. Mitta Sena or Karalsora, not specified—put to death ditto 433 63. Pandu 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 434 Parinda Kuda 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 439 Khudda Parinda 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 455 Datthiya 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 455 Pitthiya 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 458 64. Dasenkelleya or Dhatu Sena, descendant of the original royal family—put to death ditto 459 65. Sigiri Kasumbu or Kasyapa 1st, son—committed suicide Sigiri Galla Neuera 477

Names and Relationship of each succeeding Sovereign. Capital. Accession. A.D.

66. Mugallana 1st, brother Anuradhapoora 495 67. Kumara Das or Kumara Dhatu Sena, son-immolated himself ditto 513 68. Kirti Sena, son-murdered ditto 522 69. Maidi Siwu or Siwaka, maternal uncle-murdered ditto 531 70. Laimini Upatissa 3rd, brother-in-law ditto 531 71. Ambaherra Salamaiwan or Silakala, son-in-law ditto 534 72. Dapulu 1st or Datthapa Bhodhi, second son—committed suicide ditto 547 73. Dalamagalan or Mugallana 2nd, elder brother ditto 547 74. Kuda Kitsiri Maiwan 1st or Kirtisri Meg-hawarna, son-put to death ditto 567 75. Senewi or Maha Naga, descendant of the Okaka branch ditto 586 76. Aggrabodhi 1st or Akbo, maternal nephew ditto 589 77. Aggrabodhi 2nd or Sula Akbo, son-in-law ditto 623 78. Sanghatissa, brother-decapitated ditto 633 79. Buna Mugalan or Laimini Bunaya, usurper-put to death ditto 633 80. Abhasiggahaka or Asiggahaka, maternal grandson ditto 639 81. Siri Sangabo 2nd, son-deposed ditto 648 82. Kaluna Detutissa or Laimina Katuriya, descendant of Laiminitissa-committed Dewuneura suicide or Dondera 648 Siri Sangabo 2nd, restored, and again deposed Anuradhapoora 649 83. Dalupiatissa 1st or Dhatthopatissa, Laimini branch-killed in battle ditto 665 84. Paisulu Kasumbu or Kasyapa 2nd, brother of Sirisangabo ditto 677 85. Dapulu 2nd, Okaka branch-deposed ditto 686 86. Dalupiatissa 2nd or Hattha-Datthopatissa, son of Dalupiatissa 1st ditto 693 87. Paisulu Siri Sanga Bo 3rd or Aggrabodhi, brother ditto 702 88. Walpitti Wasidata or Dantanama, Okaka branch ditto 718 89. Hununaru Riandalu or Hatthadatha, original royal family-decapitated ditto 720 90. Mahalaipanu or Manawamma, do. do. ditto 720 91. Kasiyappa 3rd o Kasumbu, son ditto 726 92. Aggrabodhi 3rd or Akbo, nephew Pollonnarrua 729 93. Aggrabodhi 4th or Kuda Akbo, son ditto 769 94. Mahindu 1st or Salamaiwan, original royal family ditto 775 95. Dappula 2nd, son ditto 795 96. Mahindu 2nd or Dharmika-Silamaiga, son ditto 800 97. Aggrabodhi 5th or Akbo, brother ditto 804 98. Dappula 3rd or Kuda Dappula, son ditto 815 99. Aggrabodhi 6th, cousin ditto 831 100. Mitwella Sen or Silamaiga, son ditto 838 101. Kasiyappa 4th or Maganyin Sena or Mihindu, grandson ditto 858 102. Udaya 1st, brother ditto 891

Names and Relationship of Capital. Accession. each succeeding Sovereign. A.D. 103. Udaya 2nd, son Pollonnarrua 926 104. Kasiyappa 5th, nephew and son-in-law ditto 937 105. Kasiyappa 6th, son-in-law ditto 954 106. Dappula 4th, son ditto 964 107, Dappula 5th, not specified ditto 964 108. Udaya 3rd, brother ditto 974 109. Sena 2nd, not specified ditto 977 110. Udaya 4th, do. do. ditto 986 111. Sena 3rd, do. do. ditto 994 112. Mihindu 3rd, do. do ditto 997 113. Sena 4th, son—minor ditto 1013 114. Mihindu 4th, brother—carried captive to Anuradhapoora 1023 India during the Sollean conquest Interregnum Sollean viceroyalty Pollonnarrua 1059 _Maha Lai or Maha_ } { _Lala Kirti_ } { _Rohuna_ _Wikrama Pandi_ } _Subordinate_ { _Kalutotta_ _Jagat Pandi or Jagati_ } _native kings_ { _Pala_ } _during the_ { _Rohuna_ _Prakrama Pandi or_ } _Sollean_ { _Prakhrama Bahu_ } _vice-royalty._ { _ditto_ _Lokaiswara_ } { _Kacharagama_ 115. Wejayabahu 1st or Sirisangabo 4th, grandson of Mihindu 4th Pollonnarrua 1071 116. Jayabahu 1st, brother ditto 1126 117. Wikramabahu 1st } ditto } _ _Manabarana_ } A disputed _Rohuna_ } 118. Gajabahu 2nd } succession Pollonnarrua } 1127 _Siriwallaba or_} } _Kitsiri Maiwan_} _Rohuna_ } 119. Prakrama Bahu 1st, son of Manabarana Pollonuarrua 1153 120. Wejayabahu 2nd, nephew—murdered ditto 1186 121. Mihindu 5th or Kitsen Kisdas, usurper—put to death ditto 1187 122. Kirti Nissanga, a prince of Kalinga ditto 1187 Wirabahu, son—put to death ditto 1196 123. Wikramabahu 2nd, brother of Kirti Nissanga—put to death ditto 1196 124. Chondakanga, nephew—deposed ditto 1196 125. Lalawati, widow of Prakramabahu—deposed ditto 1197 126. Sahasamallawa, Okaka branch—deposed ditto 1200 127. Kalyanawati, sister of Kirti Nissanga ditto 1202 128. Dharmasoka, not specified—a minor ditto 1208 129. Nayaanga or Nikanga, minister—put to death ditto 1209 Lilawati, restored, and again deposed ditto 1209 130. Lokaiswera 1st, usurper—deposed ditto 1210 Lilawati, again restored, and deposed a third time ditto 1211 131. Pandi Prakrama Bahu 2nd, usurper—deposed ditto 1211 132. Magha, foreign usurper ditto 1214 133. Wejayabahu 3rd, descendant of Sirisangabo 1st Dambadenia 1235 134. Kalikala Sahitya Sargwajnya or Pandita Prakrama Bahu 3rd, son ditto 1266 135. Bosat Wejaya Bahu 4th, son Pollonnarrua 1301

Names and Relationship of each succeeding Sovereign. Capital. Accession. A.D. Bhuwaneka Bahu Yapahu or Subbapabatto 136. Bhuwaneka Bahu 1st, brother ditto 1303 137. Prakrama Bahu 3rd, son of Bosat Wejayabahu Pollonnarrua 1314 138. Bhuwaneka Bahu 2nd, son of Bhuwaneka Kurunaigalla or 1319 Bahu Hastisailapoora 139. Pandita Prakrama Bahu 4th, not specified ditto 140. Wanny Bhuwaneka Bahu 3rd, do. ditto 141. Wejaya Bahu 5th, do. ditto 142. Bhuwaneka Bahu 4th, do. Gampola or Gangasiripoora 1347 143. Prakrama Bahu 5th, do. ditto 1361 144. Wikram Bahu 3rd, cousin Partly at Kandy or Sengadagalla Neuera 1371 145. Bhuwaneka Bahu 5th, not specified Gampola or Gangasiripoora 1378 146. Wejaya Bahu 5th, or Wira Bahu, do ditto 1398 147. Sri Prakrama Bahu 6th, do. Kotta or Jayawardanapoora 1410 148. Jayabahu 2nd, maternal grandson—put to death ditto 1462 149. Bhuwaneka Bahu 6th, not specified ditto 1464 150. Pandita Prakrama Bahu 7th, adopted son ditto 1471 151. Wira Prakrama Bahu 8th, brother of Bhuwaneka Bahu 6th ditto 1485 152. Dharma Prakrama Bahu 9th, son ditto 1505 153. Wejaya Bahu 7th, brother—murdered ditto 1527 Jayawira Bandara Gampola 154. Bhuwaneka Bahu 7th, son Kotta 1534 Mayadunnai Setawacca Raygam Bandara Raygam Jayawira Bandara Kandy 155. Don Juan Dharmapala Kotta 1542 A Malabar Yapahu Portuguese Colombo Widiye Raja Pailainda Neuera Raja Singha Aiwissawelle Idirimane Suriya Seven Korles Wikrama Bahu descendant of Sirisangabo 1st Kandy 156. Raja Singha 1st, son of Mayadunnai Setawacca 1581 Jaya Suriya Setawacca Widiye Raja's queen ditto 157. Wimala Dharma, original royal family Khandy 1592 158. Senaraana or Senarat, brother ditto 1604 159. Raja-singha 2nd, son ditto 1637 Kumara-singa, brother Ouvah Wejaya Pala, brother Matelle 160. Wimala Dharma Suriya 2nd, son of Rajasingha Khandy 1687 161. Sriwira Prakrama Narendrasingha or Kundasala ditto 1707 162. Sriwejaya Raja Singha or Hanguranketta, brother-in-law ditto 1739 163. Kirtisri Raja Singha, brother-in-law ditto 1747 164. Rajadhi Raja Singha, brother ditto 1781 165. Sri Wikrema Raja Singha, son of the late king's wife's sister, deposed by the English in 1815, and died in captivity in 1832 ditto 1798

NOTE.—The Singhalese vowels a, e, i, o, u are to be pronounced as in French or Italian.



CHAP. II.

THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF CEYLON.

Divested of the insipid details which overlay them, the annals of Ceylon present comparatively few stirring incidents, and still fewer events of historic importance to repay the toil of their perusal. They profess to record no occurrence anterior to the advent of the last Buddha, the great founder of the national faith, who was born on the borders of Nepaul in the seventh century before Christ.

In the theoretic doctrines of Buddhism "Buddhas"[1] are beings who appear after intervals of inconceivable extent; they undergo transmigrations extending over vast spaces of time, accumulating in each stage of existence an increased degree of merit, till, in their last incarnation as men, they attain to a degree of purity so immaculate as to entitle them to the final exaltation of "Buddha-hood," a state approaching to incarnate divinity, in which they are endowed with wisdom so supreme as to be competent to teach mankind the path to ultimate bliss.

[Footnote 1: A sketch of the Buddhist religion may be seen in Sir J. EMERSON TENNENT'S History of Christianity in Ceylon, ch. v. London, 1850. But the most profound and learned dissertations on Buddhism as it exists in Ceylon, will be found in the works of the Rev. R. SPENCE HARDY, Eastern Monachism, Lond. 1850, and A Manual of Buddhism, Lond. 1853.]

Their precepts, preserved orally or committed to writing, are cherished as bana or the "word;" their doctrines are incorporated in the system of dharma or "truth;" and, at their death, instead of entering on a new form of being, either corporeal or spiritual, they are absorbed into Nirwana, that state of blissful unconsciousness akin to annihilation which is regarded by Buddhists as the consummation of eternal felicity.

Gotama, who is represented as the last of the series of Buddhas[1], promulgated a religious system in India which has exercised a wider influence over the Eastern world than the doctrines of any other uninspired teacher in any age or country.[2] He was born B.C. 624 at Kapila-Vastu (a city which has no place in the geography of the Hindus, but which appears to have been on the borders of Nepaul); he attained his superior Buddha-hood B.C. 588, under a bo-tree[3] in the forest of Urawela, the site of the present Buddha Gaya in Bahar; and, at the age of eighty, he died at Kusinara, a doubtful locality, which it has been sought to identify with the widely separated positions of Delhi, Assam, and Cochin China.[4]

[Footnote 1: There were twenty-four Buddhas previous to the advent of Gotama, who is the fourth in the present Kalpa or chronological period. His system of doctrine is to endure for 5000 years, when it will be superseded by the appearance and preaching of his successor.—Rajaratnacari, ch. i. p. 42.]

[Footnote 2: HARDY'S Eastern Monachism, ch. i. p. 1. There is evidence of the widely-spread worship of Buddha in the remotely separated individuals with whom it has been sought at various times to identify him. "Thus it has been attempted to show that Buddha was the same as Thoth of the Egyptians, and Turm of the Etruscans, that he was Mercury, Zoroaster, Pythagoras, the Woden of the Scandinavians, the Manes of the Manichaeans, the prophet Daniel, and even the divine author of Christianity." (PROFESSOR WILSON, Journ. Asiat. Soc., vol. xvi. p. 233.) Another curious illustration of the prevalence of his doctrines may be discovered in the endless variations of his name in the numerous countries over which his influence has extended: Buddha, Budda, Bud, Bot, Baoth, Buto, Budsdo, Bdho, Pout, Pote, Fo, Fod, Fohi, Fuh, Pet, Pta, Poot, Phthi, Phut, Pht, &c.—POCOCKE'S India in Greece, appendix, 397. HARDY'S Buddhism, ch. vii. p. 355. HARDY in his Eastern Monachism says, "There is no country in either Europe or Asia, except those that are Buddhist, in which the same religion is now professed that was there existent at the time of the Redeemer's death," ch. xxii. p. 327.]

[Footnote 3: The Pippul, Ficus religiosa.]

[Footnote 4: Professor H.H. WILSON has identified Kusinara or Kusinagara with Kusia in Gorakhpur, Journ. Roy. Asiat. Soc., vol xvi. p. 246.]

In the course of his ministrations Gotarna is said to have thrice landed in Ceylon. Prior to his first coming amongst them, the inhabitants of the island appear to have been living in the simplest and most primitive manner, supported on the almost spontaneous products of the soil. Gotama in person undertook their conversion, and alighted on the first occasion at Bintenne, where there exists to the present day the remains of a monument erected two thousand years ago[1] to commemorate his arrival. His second visit was to Nagadipo in the north of the island, at a place whose position yet remains to be determined; and the "sacred foot-print" on Adam's Peak is still worshipped by his devotees as the miraculous evidence of his third and last farewell.

[Footnote 1: By Dutugaimunu, B.C. 164. For an account of the present condition of this Dagoba at Bintenne, see Vol. II. Pt. IX. ch. ii.]

To the question as to what particular race the inhabitants of Ceylon at that time belonged, and whence or at what period the island was originally peopled, the Buddhist chronicles furnish no reply. And no memorials of the aborigines themselves, no monuments or inscriptions, now remain to afford ground for speculation. Conjectures have been hazarded, based on no sufficient data, that the Malayan type, which extends from Polynesia to Madagascar, and from Chin-India to Taheite, may still be traced in the configuration, and in some of the immemorial customs, of the people of Ceylon.[1]

[Footnote 1: Amongst the incidents ingeniously pressed into the support of this conjecture is the use by the natives of Ceylon of those double canoes and boats with outriggers, which are never used on the Arabian side of India, but which are peculiar to the Malayan race in almost every country to which they have migrated; Madagascar and the Comoro islands, Sooloo, Luzon, the Society Islands, and Tonga. PRITCHARD'S Races of Man, ch. iv. p. 17. For a sketch of this peculiar canoe, see Vol. II. Pt. VII. ch. i.

There is a dim tradition that the first settlers in Ceylon arrived from the coasts of China. It is stated in the introduction to RIBEYRO'S History of Ceylon, but rejected by VALENTYN, ch, iv. p. 61.

The legend prefixed to RIBEYRO is as follows. "Si nous en croyons les historiens Portugais, les Chinois out ete les premiers qui ont habite cette isle, et cela arriva de cette maniere. Ces peuples etoient les maitres du commerce de tout l'orient; quelques unes de leurs vaisseaux furent portez sur les basses qui sont pres du lieu, que depuis on appelle Chilao par corruption au lieu de Cinilao. Les equipages se sauverent a terre, et trouvant le pais bon et fertile ils s'y etablirent: bientot apres ils s'allierent avec les Malabares, et les Malabares y envoyoient ceux qu'ils exiloient et qu'ils nominoient Galas. Ces exiles s'etant confondus avec les Chinois, de deux noms n'en out fait qu'un, et se sont appelles Chin-galas et ensuite Chingalais."—RIBEYRO, Hist. de Ceylan, pref. du trad.

It is only necessary to observe in reference to this hypothesis that it is at variance with the structure of the Singhalese alphabet, in which n and g form but one letter. DE BARROS and DE COUTO likewise adhere to the theory of a mixed race, originating in the settlement of Chinese in the south of Ceylon, but they refer the event to a period subsequent to the seizure of the Singhalese king and his deportation to China in the fifteenth century. DE BARROS, Dec. iii. ch. i.; DE COUTO, Dec. v. ch. 5.]

But the greater probability is, that a branch of the same stock which originally colonised the Dekkan extended its migrations to Ceylon. All the records and traditions of the peninsula point to a time when its nations were not Hindu; and in numerous localities[1], in the forests and mountains of the peninsula, there are still to be found the remnants of tribes who undoubtedly represent the aboriginal race.

[Footnote 1: LASSEN, Indische Alterthumskunde, vol. i. p. 199, 362.]

The early inhabitants of India before their comparative civilisation under the influence of the Aryan invaders, like the aborigines of Ceylon before the arrival of their Bengal conquerors, are described as mountaineers and foresters who were "rakshas" or demon worshippers; a religion, the traces of which are to be found to the present day amongst the hill tribes in the Concan and Canara, as well as in Guzerat and Cutch. In addition to other evidences of the community of origin of these continental tribes and the first inhabitants of Ceylon, there is a manifest identity, not alone in their popular superstitions at a very early period, but in the structure of the national dialects, which are still prevalent both in Ceylon and Southern India. Singhalese, as it is spoken at the present day, and, still more strikingly, as it exists as a written language in the literature of the island, presents unequivocal proofs of an affinity with the group of languages still in use in the Dekkan; Tamil, Telingu, and Malayalim. But with these its identification is dependent on analogy rather than on structure, and all existing evidence goes to show that the period at which a vernacular dialect could have been common to the two countries must have been extremely remote.[1]

[Footnote 1: The Mahawanso (ch. xiv.) attests that at the period of Wijayo's conquest of Ceylon, B.C. 543, the language of the natives was different from that spoken by himself and his companions, which, as they came from Bengal, was in all probability Pali. Several centuries afterwards, A.D. 339, the dialect of the two races was still different; and some of the sacred writings were obliged to be translated from Pali into the Sihala language.—Mahawanso, ch. xxxvii. xxxviii. p. 247. At a still later period, A.D. 410; a learned priest from Magadha translated the Attah-Katha from Singhalese into Pali.—Ib. p. 253. See also DE ALWIS, Sidath-Sangara, p. 19.]

Though not based directly on either Sanskrit or Pali, Singhalese at various times has been greatly enriched from both sources, and especially from the former; and it is corroborative of the inference that the admixture was comparatively recent; and chiefly due to association with domiciliated strangers, that the further we go back in point of time the proportion of amalgamation diminishes, and the dialect is found to be purer and less alloyed. Singhalese seems to bear towards Sanskrit and Pali a relation similar to that which the English of the present day bears to the combination of Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman French, which serves to form the basis of the language. As in our own tongue the words applicable to objects connected with rural life are Anglo-Saxon, whilst those indicative of domestic refinement belong to the French, and those pertaining to religion and science are borrowed from Latin[1]; so, in the language of Ceylon, the terms applicable to the national religion are taken from Pali, those of science and art from Sanskrit, whilst to pure Singhalese belong whatever expressions were required to denote the ordinary wants of mankind before society had attained organisation.[2]

[Footnote 1: See TRENCH on the Study of Words.]

[Footnote 2: See DE ALWIS, Sidath-Sangara, p. xlviii.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 543.]

Whatever momentary success may have attended the preaching of Buddha, no traces of his pious labours long survived him in Ceylon. The mass of its inhabitants were still aliens to his religion, when, on the day of his decease, B.C. 543, Wijayo[1], the discarded son of one of the petty sovereigns in the valley of the Ganges[2] effected a landing with a handful of followers in the vicinity of the modern Putlam.[3] Here he married the daughter of one of the native chiefs, and having speedily made himself master of the island by her influence, he established his capital at Tamana Neuera[4], and founded a dynasty, which, for nearly eight centuries, retained supreme authority in Ceylon.

[Footnote 1: Sometimes spelled Wejaya. TURNOUR has demonstrated that the alleged concurrence of the death of Buddha and the landing of Wijayo is a device of the sacred annalists, in order to give a pious interest to the latter event, which took place about sixty years later.—Introd Mahawanso, p. liii.]

[Footnote 2: To facilitate reference to the ancient divisions of India, a small map is subjoined, chiefly taken from Lassen's Indische Alterthumskunde.

]

[Footnote 3: BURNOUF conjectures that the point from which Wijayo set sail for Ceylon was the Godavery, where the name of Bandar-maha-lanka (the Port of the Great Lanka), still commemorates the event.—Journ. Asiat. vol. xviii. p. 134. DE COUTO, recording the Singhalese tradition as collected by the Portuguese, he landed at Preature (Pereatorre), between Trincomalie and Jaffna-patam, and that the first city founded by him was Mantotte.—Decade v. l. 1. c. 5.]

[Footnote 4: See a note at the end of this chapter, on the landing of Wijayo in Ceylon, as described in the Mahawanso.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 543.]

The people whom he mastered with so much facility are described in the sacred books as Yakkhos or "demons,"[1] and Nagas[2], or "snakes;" designations which the Buddhist historians are supposed to have employed in order to mark their contempt for the uncivilised aborigines[3], in the same manner that the aborigines in the Dekkan were denominated goblins and demons by the Hindus[4], from the fact that, like the Yakkhos of Ceylon, they too were demon worshippers. The Nagas, another section of the same superstition, worshipped the cobra de capello as an emblem of the destroying power. These appear to have chiefly inhabited the northern and western coasts of Ceylon, and the Yakkhos the interior[5]; and, notwithstanding their alleged barbarism, both had organised some form of government, however rude.[6] The Yakkhos had a capital which they called Lankapura, and the Nagas a king, the possession of whose "throne of gems"[7] was disputed by the rival sovereign of a neighbouring kingdom. So numerous were the followers of this gloomy idolatry of that time in Ceylon, that they gave the name of Nagadipo[8], the Island of Serpents, to the portion of the country which they held, in the same manner that Rhodes and Cyprus severally acquired the ancient designation of Ophiusa, from the fact of their being the residence of the Ophites, who introduced serpent-worship into Greece.[9]

[Footnote 1: Mahawanso, ch. vii.; FA HIAN, Foĕ-kouĕ-ki, ch. xxxvii.]

[Footnote 2: Rajavali, p. 169.]

[Footnote 3: REINAUD, Introd. to Abouldfeda, vol. i. sec. iii. p. ccxvi. See also CLOUGH'S Singhalese Dictionary, vol. ii. p. 2.]

[Footnote 4: MOUNTSTUART ELPHINSTONE'S, History of India, b. iv. ch. xi. p. 216.]

[Footnote 5: The first descent of Gotama Buddha in Ceylon was amongst the Yakkhos at Bintenne; in his second visit he converted the "Naga King of Kalany," near Colombo, Mahawanso, ch. i. p. 5.]

[Footnote 6: FABER, Origin of Idolatry, b. ii ch. vii. p. 440.]

[Footnote 7: Mahawanso, ch. i.]

[Footnote 8: TURNOUR was unable to determine the position on the modern map of the ancient territory of Nagadipo.—Introd. p. xxxiv. CASIE CHITTY, in a paper in the Journal of the Ceylon Asiatic Society, 1848, p. 71, endeavours to identify it with Jaffna, The Rajaratnacari places it at the present Kalany, on the river of that name near Colombo (vol. ii. p. 22). The Mahawanso in many passages alludes to the existence of Naga kingdoms on the continent of India, showing that at that time serpent-worship had not been entirely extinguished by Brahmanism in the Dekkan, and affording an additional ground for conjecture that the first inhabitants of Ceylon were a colony from the opposite coast of Calinga.]

[Footnote 9: BRYANT'S Analysis of Mythology, chapter on Ophiolatria, vol. i p. 480, "Euboea means Oub-aia, and signifies the serpent island." (Ib.)

But STRABO affords us a still more striking illustration of the Mahawanso, in calling the serpent worshippers of Ceylon "Serpents," since he states that in Phrygia and on the Hellespont the people who were styled [Greek: ophiogeneis], or the Serpent races, actually retained a physical affinity with the snakes with whom they were popularly identified, [Greek: "entautha mytheuousi tous Ophiogeneis syngenneian tina echein pros tous oseis."]—STRABO, lib. xiii. c. 588.

PLINY alludes to the same fable (lib. vii.). And OVID, from the incident of Cadmus' having sown the dragon's teeth (that is, implanted Ophiolatria in Greece), calls the Athenians Serpentigenae.]

But whatever were the peculiarities of religion which distinguished the aborigines from their conquerors, the attention of Wijayo was not diverted from his projects of colonisation by any anxiety to make converts to his own religious belief. The earliest cares of himself and his followers were directed to implant civilisation, and two centuries were permitted to elapse before the first effort was made to supersede the popular worship by the inculcation of a more intellectual faith.

* * * * *

NOTE.

DESCRIPTION IN THE MAHAWANSO OF THE LANDING OF WIJAYO.

The landing of Wijayo in Ceylon is related in the 7th chapter of the Mahawanso, and Mr. TURNOUR has noticed the strong similarity between this story and Homer's account of the landing of Ulysses in the island of Circe. The resemblance is so striking that it is difficult to conceive that the Singhalese historian of the 5th century was entirely ignorant of the works of the Father of Poetry. Wijayo and his followers, having made good their landing, are met by a "devo" (a divine spirit), who blesses them and ties a sacred thread as a charm on the arm of each. One of the band presently discovers the princess in the person of a devotee, seated near a tank, and she being a magician (Yakkhini) imprisons him and eventually the rest of his companions in a cave. The Mahawanso then proceeds: "all these persons not returning, Wijayo, becoming alarmed, equipping himself with the five weapons of war, proceeded after them, and examined the delightful pond: he could perceive no footsteps but those leading down into it, and there he saw the princess. It occurred to him his retinue must surely have been seized by her, and he exclaimed, 'Pray, why dost not thou produce my attendants?' 'Prince,' she replied, 'from attendants what pleasure canst thou derive? drink and bathe ere thou departest.' Seizing her by the hair with his left hand, whilst with his right he raised his sword, he exclaimed, 'Slave, deliver my followers or die.' The Yakkhini terrified, implored for her life; 'Spare me, prince, and on thee will I bestow sovereignty, my love, and my service.' In order that he might not again be involved in difficulty he forced her to swear[1], and when he again demanded the liberation of his attendants she brought them forth, and declaring 'these men must be famishing,' she distributed to them rice and other articles procured from the wrecked ships of mariners, who had fallen a prey to her. A feast follows, and Wijayo and the princess retire to pass the night in an apartment which she causes to spring up at the foot of a tree, curtained as with a wall and fragrant with incense." It is impossible not to be struck with a curious resemblance between this description and that in the 10th book of the Odyssey, where Eurylochus, after landing, returns to Ulysses to recount the fate of his companions, who, having wandered towards the palace of Circe, had been imprisoned after undergoing transformation into swine. Ulysses hastens to their relief, and having been provided by Mercury with antidotes, which enabled him to resist the poisons of the sorceress, whom he discovers in her retreat, the story proceeds:—

[Greek:

Os phat ego d aor oxu eryssamenos para merou Kirkeepeixa hoste ktameuai meneainon. k. t. l.]

[Footnote 1: [Greek:

Ei me moi tlaies ge, thea, megan horkon homossai Meti moi autps pema kakon bouleusemen allo.]—Odys. x. l. 343.]

"She spake, I, drawing from beside my thigh The faulchion keen, with death denouncing looks, Rush'd on her,—she, with a shrill scream of fear, Ran under my raised arm, seized fast my knees, And in winged accents plaintive thus began:— 'Who, whence thy city, and thy birth declare,— Amazed I see thee with that potion drenched, Yet unenchanted: never man before Once passed it through his lips and lived the same. * * * * Sheath again Thy sword, and let us on my bed recline, Mutual embrace, that we may trust henceforth Each other without jealousy or fear.' The goddess spake, to whom I thus replied: 'Oh Circe, canst thou bid me meek become, And gentle, who beneath thy roof detain'st My fellow-voyagers. * * * No, trust me, never will I share thy bed, Till first, oh goddess, thou consent to swear That dread, all-binding oath, that other harm Against myself, thou wilt imagine none.' I spake, she, swearing as I bade, renounced All evil purpose, and her solemn oath Concluded, I ascended next her bed."[1]

[Footnote 1: COWPER's Odyssey, B. x, p. 392.]

The story of Wijayo's interview with Kuweni is told in nearly the same terms as it appeared in the Mahawanso in the Rajavali, p. 172.

Another classical coincidence is curious: we are strongly reminded of Homer's description of the Syrens by the following passage, relative to the female Rakshasis, or demons, by whom Ceylon was originally inhabited, which is given in the memoirs of HIOUEN-THSANG, the Chinese traveller in the 7th century, as extracted by him from the Buddhist Chronicles. "Elles epiaient constamment les marchands qui abordaient dans l'isle, et se changeant en femmes d'une grande beaute elles venaient au-devant d'eux avec des fleurs odorantes et au son des instruments de musique, leur adressaient des paroles bienveillantes et les attiraient dans la ville de fer. Alors elles leur offraient un joyeux festin et se livraient au plaisir avec eux: puis elles les enfermaient dans un prison de fer et les mangeaient l'un apres l'autre."[1]

[Footnote 1: HIOUEN-THSANG, Mem. des Peler. Boudd. 1. xi. p. 131.]



CHAP. III

THE CONQUEST OF CEYLON BY WIJAYO, B.C. 543, AND THE ESTABLISHMENT OF BUDDHISM, B.C. 307.

[Sidenote: B.C. 543.]

The sacred historians of Ceylon affect to believe in the assertion of some mysterious connection between the landing of Wijayo, and the conversion of Ceylon to Buddhism, one hundred and fifty years afterwards; and imply that the first event was but a pre-ordained precursor of the second.[1] The Singhalese narrative, however, admits that Wijayo was but a "lawless adventurer," who being expelled from his own country, was refused a settlement on the coast of India before he attempted Ceylon, which had previously attracted the attention of other adventurers. This story is in no way inconsistent with that told by the Chinese Buddhists, who visited the island in the fifth and seventh centuries. FA HIAN states, that even before the advent of Buddha, Ceylon was the resort of merchants, who repaired there to exchange their commodities for gems, which the "demons" and "serpents," who never appeared in person, deposited on the shore, with a specified value attached to each, and in lieu of them the strangers substituted certain indicated articles, and took their departure.[2]

[Footnote 1: Mahawanso, ch. vii.]

[Footnote 2: FA HIAN, Foĕ-Kouĕ-ki, ch. xxxviii. See a notice of this story of FA HIAN, as it applies to the still existing habits of the Veddahs, Vol. I. Pt III. ch. vii.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 543.]

HIOUEN-THSANG, at a later period, disposes of the fables of Wijayo's descent from a lion[1], and of his divine mission to Ceylon, by intimating, that, according to certain authorities, he was the son of a merchant (meaning a sea-faring trader), who, having appeased the enmity of the Yakkhos, succeeded by his discretion in eventually making himself their king.[2]

[Footnote 1: The legend of Wijayo's descent from a lion, probably originated from his father being the son of an outlaw named "Singha."]

[Footnote 2: "Suivant certains auteurs, Sengkia-lo (Wijayo) serait le nom du fils d'un marchand, qui, par sa prudence, ayant echappe a la fureur homicide des Lo-tsa" (demons) "reussit ensuite a se faire Roi."—HIOUEN THSANG, Voyages &c. l. iv. p. 198.]

Whatever may have been his first intentions, his subsequent policy was rather that of an agriculturist than an apostle. Finding the country rich and fertile, he invited merchants to bring their families, and take possession of it.[1] He dispersed his followers to form settlements over the island, and having given to his kingdom his patrimonial name of Sihala[2], he addressed himself to render his dominions "habitable for men."[3] He treated the subjugated race of Yakkhos with a despotic disdain, referable less to pride of caste than to contempt for the rude habits of the native tribes. He repudiated the Yakkho princess whom he had married, because her unequal rank rendered her unfit to remain the consort of a king[4]; and though she had borne him children, he drove her out before his second marriage with the daughter of an Indian sovereign, on the ground that the latter would be too timid to bear the presence of a being so inferior.[5]

[Footnote 1: HIOUEN THSANG, ch iv.]

[Footnote 2: Whence Singhala (and Singhalese) Silan, Seylan, and Ceylon.]

[Footnote 3: Mahawanso, ch. vii p. 49. Rajaratnacari, ch. i.]

[Footnote 4: Mahawanso, ch. vii. p. 51.]

[Footnote 5: Ibid., p. 52.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 504.]

Leaving no issue to inherit the throne, he was succeeded by his nephew[1], who selected a relation of Gotama Buddha for his queen; and her brothers having dispersed themselves over the island, increased the number of petty kingdoms, which they were permitted to form in various districts[2], a policy which was freely encouraged by all the early kings, and which, though it served to accelerate colonisation and to extend the knowledge of agriculture, led in after years to dissensions, civil war, and disaster. It was at this period that Ceylon was resolved into the three geographical divisions, which, down to a very late period, are habitually referred to by the native historians. All to the north of the Mahawelli-ganga was comprised in the denomination Pihiti, or the Raja-ratta, from its containing the ancient capital and the residence of royalty; south of this was Rohano or Rahuna, bounded on the east and south by the sea, and by the Mahawelli-ganga and Kalu-ganga, on the north and west; a portion of this division near Tangalle still retains the name of Roona.[3] The third was the Maya-ratta, which lay between the mountains, the two great rivers and the sea, having the Dedera-oya to the north, and the Kalu-ganga as its southern limit.