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Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c6: Chapter I. The Sinhalese People

Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c6

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Chapter I. The Sinhalese People

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*The Mahāvaṃsa, composed equally for the delight and amazement of good men.*

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THE Sinhalese people are inhabitants of Ceylon, but not all the people of Ceylon are Sinhalese. The etymologically identical word ‘Ceylonese,’ however, is used to describe all persons born in Ceylon, whether Sinhalese, Tamil, Eurasian or otherwise, except Europeans. The word Cingalese is an old-fashioned and less correct spelling of Sinhalese. Of the three and a half millions forming, in round numbers, the population of Ceylon, two and a third million are Sinhalese inhabiting the southern two-thirds of the island, and rather less than one million are Tamils, living mostly in the north, on the east coast, and in Colombo. The remaining population consists of Moormen (Muhammedans of Tamil extraction for the most part), Burghers (mixed descendants of Dutch settlers), Malays, Eurasians, Europeans and a few others. Of the influence exerted by these groups of people on Sinhalese art, we shall need to consider only the Tamil; for on the one hand Ceylon lies outside the range of the Muhammedan conquests and influence, and for the rest, we must carefully avoid the manifestations of European influence if we are to see Sinhalese art at its best and purest. Fortunately, in the 18th century this influence had scarcely at all affected the art of the Kandyan province, although well marked in the low-country. As an introduction to the study of Sinhalese art as it existed in the latter half of the 19th century, the present chapter provides a brief history of the Sinhalese people, especially in respect of the history of the arts and crafts amongst them.

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Almost the earliest Indian tradition of Ceylon is found in the Rāmāyaṇa, that beautiful and romantic love-story, which has for so long been to India all and more than was the tale of Troy to Greece, or Volsunga to the Scandinavians. It relates the capture of Sītā, a queen of Northern India, by Rāvaṇa the Lord of Laṅkā (Ceylon); and the invasion of Ceylon by Rāma, aided by his brother Lakshman and by Hanuman and his monkey army; the defeat and death of Rāvaṇa, and recovery of Sītā. Laṅkā is also mentioned in the Mahābhārata.

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Another reference to Laṅkā is found in the Skanda Purāṇa, the story of a malignant demon, for whose overthrow Skanda or Kārtikēya was incarnated as a god of war and wisdom. This Kārtikēya is still revered, particularly at his shrine at Kataragama in the feverish forests of the south-east of Ceylon, whence pilgrims resort from even the distant parts of India; Kataragam Dēviyō, as he is generally known, was the patron god of Elāḷa; and many dēvāles of his are found elsewhere, although the one just referred to is of peculiar sanctity.

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These two stories afford some evidence of the existence of more or less civilised peoples in Ceylon previous to the arrival of Vijaya and his companions. The details of the account of Vijaya’s reception and settlement afford later and further indications of the existence of an earlier civilisation in Ceylon; reference is found to cities, spinning, sumptuous beds, etc. In any case it is clear that, according to the legends, the Sinhalese cannot be of pure Aryan blood, as the first settlers married either the aborigines, or women from Southern India, and there has been a very large amount of Tamil blood introduced at many subsequent periods. Their civilisation and art are nevertheless distinctly Aryan and distinguished from, though closely resembling, that of Southern India.

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Professor Geiger says, “There is hardly a corner of the Indian continent of whose history we know so much as we do of that of the island of Ceylon.”* He here refers to the history recorded in two Pali chronicles, the Dipavamsa and Mahāvamsa, written in the 4th and 5th centuries A.D., respectively, and the latter from time to time added to, and continued up to the time of the British occupation of the Kandyan Provinces in 1815. There are also other verse chronicles and historical ballads of various dates.

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Vijaya The Mahāvamsa in Chapters VI.—VIII. records the landing† of the first Aryan settlers in Ceylon under the leadership of Vijaya. These were the founders of the Sinhalese race, so called because Vijaya’s father sprang from, and was the slayer of, a lion (simha). The story is briefly as follows :—The King of Vaṅga, a principality of Magadha, had a beautiful daughter, of whom it had been prophesied that a lion would be her mate. To avoid this she was carefully guarded, but of course in vain. She escaped, and while passing through a wilderness, was carried off by the ‘lion,’ probably a chieftain of the ‘Lion-race.’ They had a son (Simhabāhu) and a daughter. The son, when he grew up became ashamed of and finally slew his father ; and marrying his sister established himself as a king in Lāḷa raṭa. Their eldest son was Vijaya, who, being expelled from the kingdom on account of his lawless behaviour, took ship with 700 followers and ultimately reached Ceylon. Landing here his followers went in search of food, but were one by one imprisoned by a Yakkhinī named Kuvēṇi (just as was done by Kirkē to the followers of Odysseus). Vijaya himself, provided with a charmed thread, alone was able to withstand Kuvēṇi’s sorcery and compel her to restore his imprisoned companions ; she further provided them with rice and a vast variety of other articles which she had obtained from the ships of mariners who had fallen a prey to her. Kuvēṇi enabled Vijaya to destroy the Yakkhas and their city, and herself bore him three children. But when his followers had settled in the land and wished him to assume the sovereignty, he repudiated Kuvēṇi as beneath him in rank, and sent to Madura to the Pāṇḍiyan king to ask for a royal virgin to be his consort,—a custom followed by most Sinhalese kings thereafter. Kuvēṇi returned to the Yakkhas and was destroyed by them for her treachery. It is mentioned that 1000 artisans were sent over in the Pāṇḍiyan Princess’s retinue. According to tradition mentioned by Valentyn these were goldsmiths, blacksmiths, brass-founders, carpenters and stone-cutters (evidently the five sections of the Kammālar, see below, Chap. III).

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Buddhism introduced Vijaya and his successors were of the Brahman faith, and it was not till 307 B.C. that Buddhism was established in Ceylon as the result of the preaching of Aśoka’s son‡ Mahinda, and later, of his daughter, Saṅghamittā. The King at that time, Dēvānam Piyatissa, the most renowned of the Buddhist kings of Ceylon [307-267 B.C.] was Mahinda’s first convert. Far reaching and many sided were the results of this conversion. A period of immense religious fervour and artistic activity followed. In 288 B.C. Saṅghamittā landed in Ceylon with a branch of the sacred Bō tree beneath which the Buddha had attained enlightenment. We are told that she brought with her eighteen personages of the royal blood, eighteen members of noble families, eight of the Brahman and eight of the seṭṭhi (trading) caste; and eight each of the herdsman, goldsmith and ‘kāliṅga’ castes, as well as of weavers and potters. The branch was planted with great ceremony in the Mahāmēgha garden at

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The sacred Bō-tree planted at Anurādhapura Anurādhapura, where it still flourishes as the oldest historical tree in the world, commemorating the noble life and teaching of Gotama Buddha, who attained enlightenment beneath the parent tree. The religious enthusiasm of the royal adherents of the new faith, led to the erection at successive periods of the great series of buildings whose remains still cover many square miles of town and forest land. The oldest of these are found at Mihintalē, where a great stūpa was erected over Mahinda’s ashes.

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∗ ‘Dipavamsa and Mahāvamsa. . . .’ Leipzig, 1905, translated by E. M. Coomaraswamy, Colombo, 1907. † According to the usual tradition, in 543 B.C.; but probably later. ‡ According to Vincent Smith and others, more probably his younger brother, perhaps already a monk in Southern India (Vincent Smith, ‘Early History of India,’ 1904, p. 165).

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Wars with the Tamils began in 237 B.C., when the throne was seized by Tamil mercenaries. Twenty-two years later it was recovered by Asela, but retaken by the Tamils under Elāḷa in 205 B.C. Elāḷa was the greatest of the Tamil rulers. He “ruled the kingdom for forty-four years, administering justice with impartiality to friends and foes” (Mahāvaṃsa Ch. XXI).* The dethroned dynasty took refuge at Māgampattu on the south coast, the great tank and dāgaba remaining at Tissamahārāma still. At last one of the princes, named Duṭṭha Gāmaṇi (Gāmaṇi the disobedient—because he would not be held back from war at his father’s wish) engaged in a long and finally successful war, recovering Anurādhapura and killing Elāḷa in single combat, both being mounted upon elephants.† Elāḷa was buried with every honour. His tomb was so honoured that it was the custom for even kings, when nearing it, to silence all music and pass on foot; this homage was paid as late as A.D. 1818 when, on the suppression of the rebellion, the defeated aspirant to the throne approaching the place in his escape, “although weary and almost incapable of exertion, not knowing the exact spot,” dismounted and continued on foot till assured that he had passed far beyond the ancient memorial (Forbes I. 233).

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† A picture of this fight is amongst the wall paintings at the Dambulla Vihāra.

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Duṭṭha Gāmaṇi (161-137 B.C.) succeeded to the throne he had so hardly won, and proved no less great as a ruler than as a warrior. He was a great patron of the church and builder of dāgabas and temples.

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He erected the nine-storied brazen palace (Lohapāsāda) and built also the great Ruvanvẹli and Mirisavẹṭiya dāgabas. The Mahāvaṃsa accounts of the building operations and furniture of these are of the greatest interest, if only for comparison with the descriptions of buildings erected and offerings made by later kings, up to the beginning of the nineteenth century itself. “The monarch Duṭṭha Gāmaṇi . . . convening the priesthood, thus addressed them, ‘I will build for you a palace like unto that of the dēvas; send to the world of the dēvas, and procure for me a plan of their palace.’ Accordingly they dispatched thither eight priests. . . .” On their way to the Tāvatimsa heavens they saw a certain palace “having nine stories, provided with a thousand apartments and a thousand sleeping rooms. It had four faces, each having windows to the number of a thousand, like so many eyes; and the eaves of the roof were decorated with a fringe tinkling (with gems). . . . The aforesaid eight thēras, seeing this palace, immediately made a drawing of it on a cloth with vermilion; and returning thence, presented the drawing to the priests who sent it to the court of the king. The monarch on examining the same, and delighted therewith, repaired to the celebrated gardens (Mahāmēgha) and there built the glorious Lohapāsāda according to the plan of that renowned palace.”

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“The generous Rājā at the very beginning of the undertaking, laid down eight lacs at each of the four gates . . . and announced that on this occasion it was not fitting The Sinha- to exact unpaid labour; placing therefore (due) value on the work performed, he paid lese people with money. This quadrangular palace was 100 cubits long on each of its sides and the same in height. In this splendid palace there were nine stories and in each of them 100 rooms; all these rooms were finished with silver, and the cornices thereof were set with gems. The flower ornaments appertaining thereto were also set with gems, and the tinkling festoons were of silver. . . . Having heard of the beauty of the vehicle used by the women of the Dēva Vessavaṇa, he had made in the midst of the palace, a gilded hall in the shape thereof. The hall was supported on golden pillars, representing lions and other animals as well as the dēvatās. . . . In the very middle of this hall . . . there was a marvellously beautiful ivory throne. . . . On one side there was the emblem of the sun in gold, on another, the moon in silver, and the stars in pearls. On this most exquisite throne, covered with a cloth of inestimable value, was placed an extremely beautiful ivory fan. On the footstool there was a pair of slippers ornamented with beads, and above the throne glittered the white canopy or parasol of dominion, mounted with a silver handle. The eight maṅgalika* were made of the seven gems, and amidst the pearls and gems were rows of figures of the four-footed beasts; at the points of the canopy were hung rows of silver bells. The building, the canopy, the throne and the hall were all most superb. “The King had it suitably furnished with chairs of great value; and likewise with carpets of woollen fabric; even the bowl and the dipper were made of gold. Who shall describe the other articles used in that palace? . . . The building was covered with brazen tiles; hence it got the name of ‘Brazen Palace.’”†

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∗ The quotations in this chapter from the ‘Mahāvaṃsa,’ are taken from the translation by Turnour and Wijesinha, Colombo, 1889; slight changes in the wording have been made in a few cases.

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‡ Chapters XXVIII.—XXXII.

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Ruvanveli Regarding the Ruvanveli Dāgaba the following is given, after a description of the Dagaba elaborate foundation‡ :— “Revered Lords,” said the Rāja to the priesthood, “for the beginning of the building of the great cētiya, I shall to-morrow lay the festival-brick of the edifice : let all our priesthood assemble there.” Accordingly next day “the Rāja proceeded to the site and seeing the assembled priesthood, bowed down with profound veneration; then “making offerings of fragrant garlands, he stationed himself in the centre, on the spot where the puṇṇaghaṭa (filled vessel, an auspicious emblem) was deposited with all honours.” He then “caused a minister of noble descent, well attired, to hold the end of a fine rod of silver that was fitted into a gold pivot,§ and began to make him walk round therewith along the prepared ground, with the intent to describe a great circle to mark the base of the cētiya. Thereupon a great thēra, of great spiritual power, by name Siddhattha, who had an insight into the future, dissuaded the King, saying to himself ‘The King is about to build a great thūpa indeed; so great that while it is yet incomplete he would die; moreover if the thūpa be a very great one it would be exceedingly hard to repair.’ The Rājā although anxious to build it of that size, by the advice of the priesthood . . . adopting the proposal of the thēra, described . . . a circle of moderate dimensions. The unwearied monarch placed in the centre eight golden and eight silver vases, and surrounded them with 1008 fresh vases * and with cloth in quantities of 108 pieces. He then caused eight excellent bricks to be placed separately (one in each of the eight quarters), and causing a minister who was selected and arrayed in every manner for that purpose, to take up one that was marked with divers signs of prosperity, he laid the first auspicious stone in the fine fragrant cement on the eastern quarter; and lo! when jessamine flowers were offered thereto the earth quaked. The other seven bricks also he had laid by seven state ministers, and had auspicious ceremonies performed over them.” Subsequently “the Rājā caused to be made of precious things an exquisitely beautiful bō-tree; the stem was of pure silver; its leaves glittered with gems. The faded leaves were of gold; its fruit and tender leaves were of coral. . . On an invaluable golden throne, erected on the east side of the bo-tree, the King placed a resplendent golden image of Buddha. The features and members of that image were represented in their several appropriate colours, in exquisitely resplendent gems. There stood (also) Mahā Brahma bearing the silver parasol of dominion; Sakka, the inaugurator, with his *vijayuttara* chank; Pañcasikha with his harp in his hand; Kāḷanāga, together with his band of singers and dancers; the hundred armed Māra mounted on his elephant and surrounded by his host of attendants. . . The various acts performed at the of the places at which (Buddha had tarried) for the seven times seven days (‘*satsatiya*,’ see Index) he most fully represented, as well as Brahma in the act of supplicating Buddha to expound his doctrines . . . the advance of Bimbisāra . . . the acceptance of the Jētavana temple . . . the discourses delivered in the Tāvatiṃsa heavens . . . the discourses addressed to Āḷavaka . . . his *parinibbāna* . . . many of the jātakas which were the best calculated to turn the hearts of his people to conversion, were also represented. He caused Buddha’s acts during his existence as Vessantara Rāja to be depicted in detail; as well as from the period of his descent from Tusitapura to his attaining Buddhahood at the foot of the bō-tree.”

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∗ Eight auspicious objects, viz., lion, bull, elephant, water pot, fan, flag, trumpet or chank, and lamp; cf., Index under aṭamagala. † We are reminded of Henry III., whose “master passion was for building and for collecting works of art—images, pictures, jewels, relics, plate, and stuffs . . . On the Abbey church he continuously showered his gifts” (Lethaby, ‘Westminster Abbey and the King’s Craftsmen,’ 1906, p. 40). ‡ One layer consisted of a paste of orpiment (? possibly to prevent white ants from working up : vermilion is mentioned in the translation, but should have been orpiment) mixed with gingelly oil. To argue from this, as Tennent does (Vol. I. p. 490), that oil painting was then practised, is quite unwarranted. § Note the early use of compasses.

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Subsequently “when the construction of the spire and the plastering of the cetiya alone remained to be completed, the Rāja was afflicted with the disease that terminated his existence. Sending for his younger brother Tissa from Dīghavāpi, he said to him, ‘Perfect the work still left unfinished at the thūpa.’ As his brother (the King) was in the last stage of weakness, this prince caused a case made of white cloths, to be sewed by seamsters (*then as now, needlework was essentially a man’s craft*) and enveloped the cētiya therewith. He also employed painters to paint the panelled basement; and upon it (were represented) rows of filled vases, and ornaments radiating like the five fingers. He employed parasol-frame weavers to form the frame of a (temporary) spire made of bamboos; and in the same manner . . . he formed a parapet round the pinnacle, representing thereon the sun and moon; and having painted the same most beautifully with red stick lac and *kuṅkuma*, he announced to the King, ‘The work which was to be performed at the thūpa is completed.’ The ruler of the land repaired thither, carried extended on his palanquin; and having himself borne round the cētiya . . . he bowed down to it in worship, and extending himself on a carpet spread on the ground and turning on his left side, he fixed his eyes on the magnificent Lōhapāsāda; and finding himself at the same time encircled by the priesthood, he was filled with joy.” Receiving spiritual consolation, and giving directions for his cremation, and advice to his brother, *The Sinhalese people* he passed away “while yet gazing on the Mahāthūpa, stretched on his bed.” So died this great man; but his spirit lived on, and manifested itself continually in the religious and architectural activity of successive Kings to the very beginning of the nineteenth century. We cannot but be reminded of the death of another great builder king, the Shāh Jehān, who passed away gazing upon the Tāj Mahāl* as he lay upon his bed, a prisoner in Āgra fort. The present age, of lesser faith, will leave no such great memorials of its love and fear and hope.

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¹ *Cf. Index, under ‘kalasthāpanaya.’*

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*Gaja Bāhu* We have seen that wars with the Tamils began in 237 B.C., the Sinhalese throne being on several occasions thereafter occupied by Tamil usurpers. In A.D. 113 Gaja Bāhu turned the tables by invading southern India; he brought back 1200 Tamil captives (of whom some were no doubt craftsmen) and settled them in different parts of his kingdom. The annual perahera of the Mahā Dēvale in Kandy still commemorates his victory; it is said that the tooth-relic which now heads the procession was not connected with it before the time of Kirti Śri. At this festival a high place has always been held by the goddess Pattini. Gaja Bāhu had brought back from India her halamba or golden anklet and introduced her worship into Ceylon. Bronze copies of the anklets are kept in Pattini Dēvāles, and an oath taken on them is particularly binding. The national game of amkeliya established in her honour, is still resorted to in times of sickness.†

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*The Tooth-relic* In the ninth year of the reign of Śri Mēghavaṇṇa (i.e. A.D. 313) “a certain Brahman princess brought thither from Kāliṅga the Daṭhadhatu, or tooth-relic of Buddha, under circumstances set forth in the Daṭhadhatuvamsa.‡ The monarch taking charge of it himself and rendering the highest honours to it, in the most reverential manner deposited it in a casket . . . and placed it in the building called the Dhammacakka built by Dēvānam Piyatissa in the royal park.” This was at Anurādhapura. The relic was afterwards enshrined on Polonnaruva, which was made the capital in A.D. 769, when Anurādhapura was abandoned to the Tamils. Subsequently the tooth-relic was removed successively to Beligala (Vijaya Bāhu III., A.D. 1236), Dambadeniya (Parākrama Bāhu II., A.D. 1240), and again to Polonnaruva. In the time of Bhuvaneka Bāhu I. (A.D. 1277) Ceylon was invaded by Ārya Cakravarti and the tooth relic carried away to India. It was soon recovered by Parākrama III. (A.D. 1288) and brought back to Polonnaruwa. Thereafter it was hidden for safety in various places, until it passed into the hands of the Tamil Kings of Jaffna. It was taken from them by the Portuguese, who carried it to Goa and there reduced it to ashes. But this (it is said) was merely a counterfeit. The real tooth-relic was enshrined in Kandy by Vimala Dharma Sūriya II. (A.D. 1679), who built a temple for its reception; and his son Narēndra Simha, the last Sinhalese king, when this fell into disrepair, built the present Daḷada Māligāva. It is to be hoped that the late talk of completely remodelling this historic building so as to make it more commodious will be heard no more of.

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The relic is now preserved in a series of elaborate jewelled caskets (dedicated by successive kings) one within the other, fastened by three keys kept by the Diva Nilame, and the high priests of the Asgiriya and Malvatte. With the caskets is kept a quantity of beautiful jewellery which has been dedicated from time to time. The tooth is only exhibited upon rare occasions, perhaps once or twice a year, for some great personage, and at the same time is shown to crowds of pilgrims from different parts of the country.

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∗ The Tāj is not, of course a temple; but none the less is a witness to the faith of those that built it. † See C. J. R. Le Mesurier, J.C.B. R.A.S., Vol. VIII, No. 24, 1884. ‡ See Mutu Coomaraswamy, Daṭhavansa, London, 1874.

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The process of removing the tooth * from its various coverings is an impressive ceremony. There are present in the small upper room of the Māligāva the Diva Nilame in full dress, the two High Priests and some other priests. The modern and ugly iron-barred cage is unlocked, and the golden chains and jewels lifted off the outer casket; the caskets are removed one by one, three being unlocked by the aforesaid keys; finally the smallest casket containing the relic itself is reached; from this it is removed with trembling fingers and great reverence by one of the aged High Priests, and set in a silver holder under a glass case for exhibition to the people.

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But it is necessary to return to the history. In A.D. 332, Jeṭṭhatissa II. succeeded Śri Mēghavaṇṇa, who was king when the relic first came to Ceylon. Jeṭṭhatissa “was a skilful carver. This monarch, having carried out several arduous undertakings in painting and carving, himself taught the art to many of his subjects. He sculptured a beautiful image of the Bodhisatta, so perfect that it seemed as if it had been executed by supernatural power; and also a throne, a parasol, and a state room with some beautiful works in ivory made for it; and having administered the Government of Laṅkā for nine years, he also fulfilled the destiny due to him” (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. XXXVIII).

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His successor, Buddhadāsa (A.D. 339) was himself a great physician, and “out of benevolence towards the inhabitants of the island, the sovereign provided hospitals for all villages, and appointed physicians to them. The Rāja having composed the work Sāratthasaṅgaha, containing the substance of all medical science, ordained that there should be a physician for every twice five villages, and set apart one twentieth of the produce of fields for the maintenance of these physicians” (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. XXXVIII). Thus he followed in the footsteps of the great Duṭṭha Gāmaṇi, who on his death-bed was able to say, “I have daily maintained at eighteen different places, hospitals with suitable diet and medicines prepared by medical practitioners for the infirm” (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. XXXII). The great Parākrama Bāhu I. pursued the same policy eight hundred years later.

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Two distinguished foreigners visited Ceylon early in the fifth century. The first of these was the learned Brahman Buddhaghosa, who came to Ceylon from Northern India about A.D. 400, to consult and copy the commentaries on the Tripiṭaka or Buddhist canon. He further composed new commentaries, which are still regarded as authoritative. His influence led to what may be called a Buddhist revival.

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In A.D. 412 the Chinese monk Fa Hian landed in Ceylon and remained two years at Anurādhapura, copying the sacred books. He has left on record a detailed account of the glories of Anurādhapura and the prosperity of Buddhism.†

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The great Mahāvaṃsa chronicle was compiled in the reign of King Dhatusēna (A.D. 461-479). Both the Dīpavaṃsa and the Mahāvaṃsa are based on the historical material contained in the Sinhalese Aṭṭhakathās, no longer extant, and on legends and traditions amongst the people. It is really an epic work with Duṭṭha Gāmaṇi for its hero. It covers the period 543-301 B.C. Continuations were added at various times, a final supplement bringing the record up to the British occupation of Kandy in 1815.

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In A.D. 479 Kassapa, son of Dhātusēna by a concubine, seized the kingdom and put his father to death; he also attempted to murder his half-brother Mogallāna, rightful heir to the throne. Finding that he could not do so, “he feared danger and betook himself to the Sīhagiri rock, that was hard for men to climb. He cleared it round about and surrounded it with a rampart and built galleries in it with figures of

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* The Sinhalese people

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Jeṭṭhatissa

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Buddhadāsa

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Buddhaghosa

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Fa Hian

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Mahāvaṃ- sa compiled

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Sīgiri The Sinha- lions (rather, a lion); whereto it took its name of Sihagiri (lion rock). Having gathered lese people all his wealth he buried it there carefully. . . . he built there a beautiful palace glorious to behold, like unto a second Ālakamandā, and lived there like its Lord, Kuvēra. . . . But he repented him afterwards of what he had done” (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. XXXIX). The existing remains at Sīgiri are amongst the most interesting and remarkable in Ceylon. Especially noteworthy are the cave paintings, of which further mention is made in a later chapter.

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∗ It is much larger than, and quite unlike, a human tooth. † Beal, ‘Buddhist Records of the Western World,’ 2 vols., 1906.

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Polonna- In the eighth century the Sinhalese were forced by the Tamils to abandon Anurādharuva pura, and founded a new capital at Pulatthi (Polonnaruva). But even here they were not safe, although they were sometimes able to reoccupy even Anurādhapura temporarily. In the eleventh century, in the reign of the weak king Mahinda V., Laṅkā was altogether overrun by the Tamils who destroyed the country and occupied Polonnaruva. The warlike Vijaya Bāhu I. restored the Sinhalese rule, and it was at Polonnaruva that Parākrama Bāhu the Great reigned from A.D. 1164 to 1197. This great man was at once a warrior and statesman; he succeeded in bringing the whole country beneath his sway and in driving out the Tamils; after which he ruled so firmly and justly that, as the Dambulla inscription informs us, “even a woman might traverse the island with a precious jewel and not be asked what it was.” After peace was thus established, Parākrama Bāhu rebuilt and restored the harassed city of Polonnaruva, and also the buildings of Anurādhapura “which had been wholly destroyed by the hosts of the Coḷians (Tamils).” Thereafter “Parākrama Bāhu, the conqueror of kings, dwelt in the beautiful city of Pulatthi (Polonnaruva), far from the strife of foes. A faithful and wise man, blessed with the dawn of fortune, and a leader of those that love music and poetry, he passed his time in the enjoyment of quiet pleasures and enjoyments” (Mahāvaṃsa, Chapter LXXIV). He purged and purified the Buddhist church and erected noble buildings for the church and the priesthood; as “a round temple of the tooth-relic built wholly of stone and adorned with beautiful pillars, staircases, walls and such like, and ornamented with rows of figures of the lion, the kinnara and the hamsa,” and “a beautiful image house with five stories, that contained images of Gods and Brahmas and other beings, and workmanship of flowers and plants, and adorned with pinnacles and eaves and inner rooms, halls and chambers—an image house which bore worthily the name of Laṅkā Tilaka (‘Brow-gem of Ceylon’; but not the present temple in Uḍanuvara).” Like so many other kings before and after him, “this most excellent of men caused many tanks and channels to be built in divers places, so that he might put an end to the calamity of famine among men” (Mahāvaṃsa, Chap. LXXIX). Such was Parākrama Bāhu the Great; of English kings there is surely none but Alfred the Great with whom he may be justly compared.

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Tamil in- After his death there was much unpeace in the land. During the apparently beneficent vasions reign of a Tamil (Pāṇḍiyan) usurper named Parākrama, Ceylon was invaded by Tamils from Kaliṅga, led by Māgha. If the Pāṇḍiyan and Coḷian Tamils chastised the Sinhalese with whips, the men of Kaliṅga did so with scorpions. “They robbed the inhabitants of their garments and their jewels and everything that they had. . . . The rich men they tied up with cloths and tortured and took possession of all their wealth. . . They broke down the image houses and destroyed many cētiyas. They took up their dwelling in the vihāras. . . . Many books also of great excellence they loosed from the cords that bound them, and cast them away in divers places. . . . Alas, alas! even so did those Tamil giants, like the giants of Māra, destroy the kingdom and the religion of the land” (Mahāvaṃsa, Chap. LXXX). Troubled times continued, the capital being shifted from place to place, to Dambadeniya, Yapahuva (whence was brought the beautiful pierced stone window now in the Colombo Museum) Kurunēgala, Gampola, Koṭṭe, Sītāvaka and Kandy. Yet many brave and patriotic kings made strenuous efforts for their people's good. Of Vijaya Bāhu III. (A.D. 1236) it is said in the Rāja-ratnākara that he “established a school in every village and charged the priests who superintended the same to take nothing from the learners, promising that they should be rewarded for their trouble by himself. His son Parākrama Bāhu II. (A.D. 1240-1275) temporarily drove out the Tamils and brought the whole country under his rule. At this time it is said that there were nearly one and a half million villages in the three districts of Ceylon (Pihiṭi Raṭa, Ruhuṇu Raṭa, and Māyā Raṭa) corresponding at a very moderate estimate to a population of ten millions, about three times as great as the present. The distribution of the population, too, is now very different from what it was in the thirteenth century. At that time the population was densest in the eastern and north central districts, dense also in the north, but scanty on the western coast. In the eighteenth century the north central districts, including the ancient capitals of Anurādhapura and Polonnaruva had long been deserted, chiefly in consequence of the Tamil wars and the disorganisation of the great irrigation systems which alone enabled those dry regions to support a large population. Now, as Mr. Ārunāchalam points out* “The most striking change is the advance, by over 100 per cent. of the population of the western sea coast and its vicinity, and the decline by almost as much of the populations of the ancient kingdoms. . . . The change indicates clearly the difference caused in the condition of the island by the disorganisation of its great irrigation system, and the consequent decay of the great national industry, rice cultivation, and by the advent of Europeans. Population and wealth have faded away from their ancient seats and gathered towards the coast. The Island, no longer self-sufficient or self-centred, is dependent for its prosperity mainly on foreign enterprise, on the European capitalist and planter, and the South Indian labourer and tradesman.”

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Parākrama Bāhu II. undertook the restoration of Polonnaruva, being moved thereto by his own will and the following message from his son Vijaya Bāhu, then governor and afterwards king (A.D. 1275-1271): “There are now in the city of Pulatthi, palaces, image-houses, vihāras, pariveṇas, cētiyas, relic-houses, ramparts, towers, bird-shaped houses† mansions, open halls, preaching-halls, temples of the gods, and such like buildings; whereof some are yet standing, although the trees of the forest have grown over and covered them. Others thereof are fast falling, because the pillars thereof are rotten and cannot support them. Others, alas! are bent down with the weight of huge walls split from the top to the bottom, and are tumbling down, because that there is nothing to support them. Sad, indeed, is it also to see others, unable to stand by reason of decay and weakness, bending down to their fall day by day, like unto old men. Some there are with broken ridge-poles and damaged beam-ends, and some with roofs fallen down and the tiles thereof broken. In some the tiles have slipped through the breaches of the decayed roof, and in others only the walls and pillars remain. Some there are with fallen doors, and door-posts that have been displaced, and others with loose staircases and ruined galleries. Of some buildings there only remain the signs of their foundations, and in others even the sites cannot be distinguished. What need is there of further descrip- The Sinha- tion? This city, which is now so ugly and displeasing to the eye, we purpose to make lese people beautiful and pleasant. Let the king grant us leave thereto, and let the feast of coronation be held in this great city afterwards!" To this end, the chronicler informs us, "he gathered together smelters, turners, basket-makers, blacksmiths, potters, goldsmiths, painters, porters, labourers, slaves, outcasts, skilful bricklayers, masons, carpenters, and divers workers in stone. And again, he gathered together all sorts of blacksmiths' tools, such as bellows, sledges, pincers and anvils; and also numerous sharp saws, adzes, axes, wood-cleavers, stone-cutters' chisels, knives, hammers, spades, mats, baskets and such-like; all these . . . did he send unto his royal son" (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. LXXXVIII). When the work was completed, he himself went thither to hold a great coronation festival.

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∗ ‘Sketches of Ceylon History,’ Ceylon National Review, Jan. 1906. † Described as having the roof shaped like a bird’s wing. The Mahāvaṃsa, in Chapter LXXVIII., mentions a dwelling ‘shaped like an eagle’ built by Parākrama Bāhu for an ascetic named Kapila.

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Parākrama Bāhu IV. (A.D. 1295), whose capital was at Kurunēgala, himself composed a ritual of the tooth-relic; and had the great Jātaka book translated into Sinhalese and spread abroad throughout Laṅkā; and also erected many ecclesiastical buildings.

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Toṭagamu- Parākrama Bāhu VI. who ruled at Koṭṭe (A.D. 1410-1462) "was the Mæcenas of his age va and was himself a scholar and author. He established and endowed two great educational institutions, one at Toṭagamuva, the other at Keragala, the former presided over by Ceylon's greatest poet, Śrī Rāhula Sthavira, commonly called Toṭagamuva. The former institution was called the Vijayabahu Pariveṇa, and was established at Toṭagamuvē Vihāra, which stands between the 57th and 58th mile-posts on the road from Colombo to Galle. It was a University catholic in its aims, and provided instruction for Buddhists and Hindus, clerical and lay, in all the knowledge of the time. There were classes and lectures in (1) the Buddhist Canon in all its branches (for Buddhist monks), (2) the Sinhalese, Pali, Sanskrit and Tamil languages and literatures, (3) the Four Vēdas and the connected literature (for Brahman students), (4) Astronomy, . . .
(5) Medicine, (6) Prosody, (7) Dramaturgy, (8) Poetry, (Sanskrit, Pali, Sinhalese and Tamil)." *

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Arrival of In the beginning of the sixteenth century (A.D. 1506) the Portuguese first landed in the Portu- Ceylon; those who observed their arrival reported to the king, Parākrama Bāhu VIII., guese "there is in our harbour of Colombo a race of people fair of skin and comely withal. They don jackets of iron and hats of iron; they rest not a minute in one place; they walk here and there" (Rājāvaliya).† They obtained permission to erect a factory; and fortified their position. But the Portuguese proved unwelcome visitors; they were "cruel and hard of heart; they entered into fruitful provinces and laid waste fields and gardens, and burned houses and villages, and ravished women of rank, and so troubled the Sinhalese. They broke into towns and temples and image-houses, and destroyed bo-trees and images of Buddha and the like sacred objects. And they destroyed the country and the religion thereof, and built forts in divers places, and maintained continual warfare" until, indeed, their final expulsion by the Dutch in A.D. 1658. In 1587 they destroyed the magnificent Viṣṇu Dēvāle at Devundara. According to the Portuguese account ‡ "Thomé de Sousa gave it over to the soldiers to do their work. They then proceeded to destroy the idols, of which there were more than a thousand of diverse shapes, some of clay, some of wood, some of copper and several of them gilt. After this they proceeded to overthrow the whole of the infernal machinery of the Pagoda, pulling down their domes and cloisters and breaking everything to pieces. They then sacked the store-rooms, in which they found a large quantity of ivory, fine cloth, copper, pepper, sandalwood, jewels and precious stones, and the ornaments of the Pagoda; everyone took what he liked best and the rest was thrown into the fire.”

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∗ P. Arunachalam, 'Sketches of Ceylon History,' loc. cit. † A piece of keen observation,—the restless activity of Europeans contrasted with the leisure of Eastern peoples, who are never in a hurry. ‡ De Couto, Dec. 10, transl. by P. E. Pieris, 'Ceylon National Review,' Jan. 1906.

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From this period dated the division of what had been one people, into ‘Kandyan’ and ‘Low-country’ Sinhalese. The Sinhalese in the immediate vicinity of Colombo and along the coast were soon driven to make peace, and even allied themselves with the Portuguese, often turning nominal Christians and adopting Portuguese names to curry favour, or under compulsion. The same process was continued in the time of the Dutch successors of the Portuguese. But the greater part of the Sinhalese people, the hardy mountaineers of the interior, preserved their independence, keeping the foreigner at bay for more than 200 years after the first landing of the Portuguese. They have had their reward; for in spite of the progress of denationalisation even amongst these, there are still preserved amongst them sufficient traces of the old national life, sufficient remains of skilful craftsmen’s handiwork, to enable us to form an estimate of the Sinhalese as a live and individual people, with a national character and national art; an individuality and art which is it more difficult and often impossible to trace in the low-country districts long subjected to western influence.

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Mayadunnē and his son Rāja Simha I. waged continual, and on the whole successful, war against the Portuguese, from the Sinhalese capital at Sītavaka. Rāja Simha’s successor, Vimala Dharma Sūriya I. (A.D. 1592) established his capital once more in Kandy, which remained hereafter the seat of Government until the Kandyan provinces at last passed under foreign rule.

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In the long reign of Rāja Simha II. (A.D. 1633-1687) the Portuguese wars were continued; an alliance was made with the Dutch, and the Portuguese finally expelled in A.D. 1658, but the Dutch did not prove more faithful allies, although theirs was a policy more purely commercial; there is a Sinhalese proverb, spoken when a man makes a bad exchange and used in reference to the Dutch succeeding the Portuguese, “I have given pepper and got ginger.” Rāja Simha seems to have been a very cruel and capricious monarch. One Robert Knox was a prisoner at his court for twenty years, escaping then to write one of the most truthful, and at the same time fascinating books of travel ever set down. His “Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon” (A.D. 1681) is a compendium of invaluable information, written in spirited and idiomatic English; it is still the most interesting work on Ceylon and the Sinhalese, and is often quoted in the present volume. Ribeiro’s “Fatalidade Historica de Ceilao,” written a few years later, gives a valuable account of the low-country at the same period.

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In A.D. 1701 Śrī Vīra Parākrama Narēndra Simha became king in Kandy; he is chiefly remembered as the Kuṇḍasalē King,’ for he “formed a suburb named Kuṇḍasalē, nigh unto the chief city, in the large coconut grove . . . he performed daily meritorious works, such as almsgiving and the like, and caused books to be written also. And as he saw that the temple of the Tooth-relic that his father had built at the great city (Kandy) was decaying, he heart moved within him, and he caused a fair two-storied building (the present Daḷadā Māligāva, restored by Kīrti Śrī, Pl. VIII), to be built, the doors whereof were ornamented with exquisite workmanship of divers kinds, and the plaster work shone with exceeding brightness like a hill of silver; and the roof thereof was ornamented; and on the walls of its two enclosures he had painted with exquisite art the thirty-two jātakas, viz., the Vidura Jātaka, the Guttila and Ummaga Jātakas . . . and the Vessantara Jātaka.” No trace of these paintings survives. He also “raised for himself a monument of glory by building a wall enclosing the great bō-tree, the cētiya, and the Nāṭa dēvāle that stood in the middle of the city—a wall of stone, thick, high, and shining with plaster work, like unto a beautiful string of pearls adorning the neck of the city that was like a fair woman” * (Mahāvaṃsa, Chap. XCVII). This wall around the great maḷuva opposite the māligāva still remains, and is not less beautiful than described, though now unplastered and still worse, sadly cut into by the English church, the police courts, and a private house. One wonders by what right, if any, these were built on temple land. All of these buildings are painful eyesores (not least the church) and it would be a worthy deed for some rich Buddhist to buy out the intruders’ rights and restore the wall to its former beauty and perfection.

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The order of priests had become extinct in Narēndra Siṃha’s reign. His successor, Vijaya Rāja Siṃha (A.D. 1737-47) sent, by advice of one Veḷiviṭa Sāmaṇera, deputations to Siam to bring over learned priests to restore the order, but died before their arrival. When in Kirti Śrī’s reign the Siamese priests arrived (A.D. 1753) Veḷiviṭa was placed at the head of the order, with the title of Saṅgha Rāja.†

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The last great kings were Kirti Śrī Rāja Siṃha (A.D. 1747-1780) and his brother Śrī Rājadhi Rāja Siṃha (A.D. 1780-1798). Although of Tamil blood (Narēndra Siṃha was the last Sinhalese king; Kirti Śrī was his brother-in-law) they were worthy followers of the great men who had preceded them. Kirti Śrī was an eager patron of religion and art. At the beginning of his reign he found the priesthood decayed and religion neglected—“there was not even one priest in this beautiful island of Laṅkā.” When in response to a second mission, the Siamese king sent a chapter of ten priests with books and presents, he established them in a “beautiful monastery with a tiled roof . . . at Pupphārāma (Malvatte Paṇsala, most or all of the buildings of which date from Kirti Śrī; but Rājadhi Rāja Siṃha built the Pohoya-gē) . . . and from that time the king was wont to send for such of the novitiates and others as were skilled in the science of language and the knowledge of the law, and had ordination conferred on them.” Of these the greatest was Veḷiviṭa Saraṇaṅkara, who was made Saṅgha Rāja or head of the priesthood. The king also persuaded many persons of good family to enter the priesthood. Thus Rāja Siṃha restored the priesthood and encouraged learning.

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Kirti Śrī Rāja Siṃha He was no less active in the building and repair of Buddhist buildings throughout his kingdom; there is hardly a vihāra of any importance in the Kandy district which was not restored by him, or newly built; for example, on the east side of Kandy he built a vihāra called Gaṅgārāma; here he caused “a statue of the Conqueror (Buddha) nine cubits high to be hewn out by cunning workmen skilled in the art of cutting stone . . . and built a fine two-storied temple (still standing; Pl. VII., 5) delightful to behold . . . and to the workmen who executed the beautiful paintings he gave presents of cloth and jewels and other things as they liked best, and pleased them in various ways” (Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. C.).

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The list of Kirti Śrī’s buildings, restorations and dedications, could be indefinitely extended;‡ but I have not thought it necessary to detail them further, because many are referred to in other chapters, and still more, because the whole of this book, which deals with the Sinhalese art of his and his brother’s times, is really a monument to his greatness and better explains how much he did for Sinhalese art and religion than any further words could do. Kīrti Śrī lived in perfect harmony with his two brothers, who aided him in every way in his work for the people and for religion. Of himself it is said that he “meditated on the noble Law, and steadily practised the four kingly virtues, viz., giving of gifts, speaking kind words, seeking the good of others, and regarding their fellow creatures as they do themselves.” The princes, his brothers, “sought to do good in divers ways, and conducted themselves according to the king's wishes, and made themselves one with the religion and the people” (Mahāvamsa, Ch. XCIX).

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∗ A most beautiful description. Kandy is lovely still, but must have been much more so in the simhala raja kale, “in the days of the Sinhalese kings.” † Mahāvaṃsa, Ch. C., Lawrie’s Gazetteer, pp. 941, 963, and P. B. Pieris, J.C.B.R.A.S., Vol. XVIII., pp. 17-44, 1904. ‡ See ‘Mahāvaṃsa,’ Chaps. XIX., C., and Lawrie’s Gazetteer, passim.

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Rājadhi Rāja Simha succeeded his brother in 1780, and reigned for eighteen years; he carried on the traditions of the preceding reign. He rebuilt the Pohoya-gē at Malvatte, and ‘maintained all that his brother had done “for the advancement of the country and the religion thereof. He was also skilled in many languages, such as Pali, Sanskrit and the like, and given to charity, and was in form like unto the god of love. And as he was skilled in the science of words, he composed the Asadisa Jātaka in Sinhalese poetry and published it.” He was little troubled by wars or rebellions; but certain treasures of the Mahā Dēvāle are said to have been dedicated by him after a victory at Gurubēbilē in which he was engaged before he came to the throne. In A.D. 1795 Rājadhi Rāja Simha was at war with the Dutch and solicited English aid; the latter offered little resistance and by the next year ceded all places in their possession to the British.

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The last king of Kandy was the notorious Śrī Vikrama Rāja Simha (A.D. 1796-1815). Following at first in his predecessor's footsteps, he “afterwards joined himself to evil companions and changed his ways; and he caused great ministers and many other officers to be seized and put to death; and like unto Death himself, he showed no mercy, and caused many hundreds of people to be seized and brought from divers places and impaled; and like a robber who plundereth the country around him, he seized their vast possessions which they had inherited from generation to generation.” The Kandy lake and parapet* was constructed for Vikrama Simha, also the Audience hall, the Pattirippuva, or octagonal tower of the Daḷadā Māligāva, and other buildings. In 1801 the Alut (new) Vihāra at Asgiriya was built by Pilima Talava Adigār,† close to the Paraṇa (old) Vihāra which his father had built in 1766. A pathetic interest attaches to the ceremonies performed on the completion of this work, perhaps the last of the many occasions‡ recorded in Sinhalese history, when ruler and people met together, united by a common religion * and a common culture, in sympathy and with mutual respect. “When the image and building were completed the ceremony of painting the eyes of Buddha was performed one morning towards dawn. The king, accompanied by his mother and sister, came to the vihāra just after sunrise from a temporary pavilion erected for the occasion. With him were both his Adigārs, Pilima Talāva and Ehelepola, and a great crowd of priests and chiefs, of whom Nugavela Basnāyaka Nilame of the Mahā Dēvāle and Bovala Unnānse almost alone survived to tell the story in 1859. The king and Ehelepola died in exile, Pilima Talāva by an executioner, many others by the sword or the gallows, and not a few were put to death by the English Government in the cruel times of the rebellion of 1818. The king, then only twenty-one, in the days of his youth and popularity, worshipped Buddha with his mother and sister, and, after causing Ehelepola to read the contents of an ola dedicating Kahawatta and Uḍasgiriya to the new vihāra, he offered the writing by laying it on the table before the image. He said that Uḍasgiriya was his mother’s village, and she joined in the offering. Then the royal party walked round the vihāra, and the king seeing the bare surface of the rock which formed part of the back wall, ordered that the contents of the writing should be there inscribed. About two months afterwards the king, with his mother and sister, again visited the vihāra. Ehelepola Adigār read the ola writing, which was compared with the inscription by the king in presence of the chief priests, and praising the stone-cutters he ordered them to be paid from the treasury” (Lawrie’s Gazetteer, p. 74).

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