Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c31.2

c31.2

Accepting the general outline of the history given in Chapter I., it is clear that we have to consider the following elements which have, or may have, gone to the building up of the traditions of Sinhalese arts and crafts as they existed in late mediæval times:—the art of indigenous peoples, pre-Vijayan ‘Yakkhas’; the art brought by the Vijayan immigrants; the art brought with Buddhism and the Aśokan culture from N. India; the influence of Dravidian art in early times, and at subsequent periods; the influence of Muhammadan art; of Chinese and Malayan; and finally of Portuguese, Dutch, and English.