Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c22.160

c22.160

Metal and other objects were sometimes given by the king or by private persons as a sort of token or sannasa. Thus, in a transfer deed, dated Ovisa, Śaka 1728 (A.D. 1806), the wife of ‘Adikārigē Mudiyānse’ states: “I have thus confirmed this transfer by giving to Siyatu the paṭa-tahaḍuva (forehead-plate) which the Mudiyānse had received from the king, and a tooth of his mouth as a keta sakshiya for these lands.” Again, one Dingirāla of Meḍamahā-nuvara, having been sent away on king’s service to Tamankaḍuva, died before his return; before his death he sent home his arecanut slicer and a lime box and a silvermounted gun “in token of bequest of land” (Lawrie’s Gazetteer, pp. 670, 574).