Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c10.s3.1

c10.s3.1

The system of land tenure, by which certain services were to be rendered in return for land held from the king, a religious foundation, or a chieftain, has been explained above (p. 25), and the general character of the craftsmen’s services indicated. Some examples of the holdings of artificers are here quoted in greater detail, from Lawrie’s Gazetteer. The Daḷadā Māligāva had a Baḍal Paṅguva at Embulpure, Hārispattuva; tenant, Vijēndragē Puñci Nayide, holding 1½ acre fields and 1½ acre garden. Services, commutable for Rs. 1·50: to go to the Māligāva and polish the gold and silver vessels and implements of the temple during six days in a year; to give either an arecanut-cutter or two rings of silver wire to the Diva Nilame after the New Year. When on duty at the Māligāva, the tenant received gruel in the morning, curry and rice in the afternoon, and a huṇḍuva of raw rice in the evening.