Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c22.157

c22.157

The king was in the habit of making presents to the chiefs of jewellery, swords, etc., from Royal the royal workshops as rewards for service. Thus, we find it stated in the Palingupāna presents sannasa, that Palingupāna Mudaliyār was sent to attack the Dutch at Mātara, where they had distressed the inhabitants. When he returned victorious the king was highly pleased, and “bestowed on him an eṭā (tusked elephant), an aliya (a female elephant), a cutlass inlaid with gold, a knife and a gold chain and many other honourable rewards,” as well as valuable landed property (Lawrie’s Gazetteer, p. 684). It is recorded also that Rāja Simha II., when one of the Dutch ambassadors entered his service for love of a Sinhalese woman, “sent to both of them rich Apparel, and to her many Jewels and Bracelets of Gold and Silver” (Knox, p. 181).