Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7: Chapter II. Social Economy of the Kandyan Sinhalese in the Eighteenth Century
Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7
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Chapter II. Social Economy of the Kandyan Sinhalese in the Eighteenth Century
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“*Riches are not here valued, nor make any the more Honourable*” (KNOX).
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THE first chapter of this book is intended to provide an historical background for the mental picture of the Sinhalese people which will be formed in the reader’s mind. In the present chapter will be found a more detailed account of the constitution of the Kandyan kingdom, and of the social economy of the Kandyans in the 18th century. Sinhalese craftsmanship flourished exceedingly in the Kandyan districts up to the very end of that century and even later, and almost the whole extent of its decline coincides with the succeeding period of foreign rule and resulting decay of the social organism; hence the importance of considering the social conditions of the 18th century, if we are rightly to understand the craftsman and his art. If the present chapter should appear at all superfluous, it should be remembered that the object of this book is not merely to figure specimens of the work of Sinhalese craftsmen, but to provide, if it be possible, some faint picture of a land and a time of which, even as of Mediæval Europe, it could be said ‘that in those times there was no such thing as a piece of handicraft being ugly’; and this faint picture would be fainter still if we should speak only of the craftsman’s handiwork and forget the man himself and his outlook upon life.
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At the close of the eighteenth century, the Kandyan kingdom consisted of ten *disāvana* or districts, each in charge of a *Disāva* (earl), and nine other districts (*raṭa*) each in charge of a chief usually known as the *Raṭēmahatmaya*. All these districts together correspond more or less with the area occupied by the present Central, Sabaragamuwa, Uva, North Central, North Western (part), and Eastern (part) provinces, *i.e.*, the whole of the mountainous districts and some part of the low-country commanded by the mountains, or which the Kandyan kings were otherwise able to protect.
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The King ruled as an absolute monarch; his ministers could advise, but not control his actions; with him rested all decisions as to peace and war; he also promulgated edicts. But the acts of his Government were presumed to be guided by the institutions of his kingdom. Before innovations of importance were carried into effect, it was usual to consult the principal chiefs and often also the principal priests, and such persons were usually called to councils when important matters were afoot. The King’s authority was exercised through certain officers of state, of whom the two Adigārs (‘Viziers’), the Disāvas, and the Raṭēmahātmayās were chief: the officers attached to the King’s household (keepers of the robes, treasurer, armourer, etc.), the chiefs of departments employed in his personal service (such as the *Koṭṭalbadde Nilame* mentioned below) and the principals of important temples (the *Diva Nilama* of vihāras and the *Basnāyaka Nilama* of dēvāles) attended also on many public occasions.
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The two Adigārs possessed a general jurisdiction over the whole of the Kandyan provinces; by them the King’s orders were communicated to the public and to the chief residents in Kandy. The King’s orders to the chiefs resident in the provinces were conveyed by *olas* (palm leaf mss.) written in the name of the first Adigār, or in his absence from Kandy, in the name of the second. The Adigārs were charged with the conduct of public festivals, the repair of temples on behalf of the King, and the catching of elephants in Kandy, and were expected to personally superintend all public works; they had charge also of the repair of the streets and of every work contributing to the beauty and cleanliness of the capital. They had many other duties, as well as various privileges and honours. Their staff of office consisted of a lac-painted cane (*vevela*) curved at the top, which was delivered into their hands upon their appointment; in former times the cane had merely a silver head and ferrule, but a cane cased entirely in silver was introduced by the last king. For the better support of their dignity, a *disavanaya* was usually conferred upon each Adigār, in addition to his own duties and offices. Under the Disāvas and Raṭēmahātmayās were various minor officers, such as Korālas, Vidānes, Araccis, etc. Independent of them were the officers of public departments, and the principals of large temples.
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*Justice* The dispensation of justice was organized in a way that would not have been unsatisfactory, had it been always purely administered; every person was at liberty to seek redress, first by application to the headman of the village, next to the chief of the province, to the Adigār, the ‘Great Court’ and finally to the King. But as (1) bribes were often resorted to by both parties in a dispute, (2) fines levied belonged to the chiefs who levied them, and these chiefs received no salary for their services, (3) the chiefs were occasionally required by the King to make extraordinary contributions, necessarily exacted from the people, and (4) the chief, as is the case in the Indian Civil Service to-day, combined judicial and executive functions, it will be seen that opportunities for the miscarriage of justice were not lacking. But the villager is scarcely less at the mercy of the headman now than he was then. Nevertheless in many cases there can be no doubt that substantial justice was obtained; it is said that there were some Kandyan chiefs reputed no less for their ability in the investigation of suits than their integrity in the decision of them. The customary laws regarding marriage, inheritance, crime, slaves, and the like are detailed in the *Nitinighaṇḍuva* (translation, Colombo, 1888), a work of fascinating interest for the study of Sinhalese society.
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The law’s delays were as proverbial as in England. One who appealed to the great court or to the King might get immediate redress or might have to remain in Kandy for months or years. Recourse was often had to swearing by ordeal of hot oil or red-hot iron.* Litigation is now a much greater burden on the people than it was then, when touting proctors had not been invented. It must be taken into consideration that the people were naturally honest and law-abiding, and that even to-day the crime so prevalent in the low-country districts long subjected to European influence is much less in the interior; a more honest and trustworthy man than the unspoilt Kandyan villager it would be hard to find. In illustration of his character I quote from a Government Agent’s report of 1870, the following:
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*Character* “There is annually a gathering from all parts of the Island at Anurādhapura to visit what are called sacred places. I suppose about 20,000 people come here, remain for a few days, and then leave. There are no houses for their reception, but under the grand umbrageous trees of our park-like environs they erect their little booths and picnic in the open air. As the height of the festival approaches, the place becomes instinct with life; and when there is no room left to camp in, the later comers unceremoniously take possession of the verandahs of the public buildings. So orderly is their conduct, however, that one thinks of disturbing them. The old Kacceri stands, a detached building not far from the bazaar, and about one-eighth of a mile from the Assistant Agent’s house, Till lately the treasure used to be lodged in a little iron box that a few men could easily run away with, guarded by three native treasury watchers. There lay this sum of money, year after year, at the mercy of any six men who chose to run with it into the neighbouring jungle—once in, detection was almost impossible—and yet no one ever supposed the attempt would be made. These 20,000 people from all parts of the country come and go annually without a single policeman being here; and, as the Magistrate of the district, I can only say that anything to surpass their decorum and sobriety of conduct it is impossible to conceive. Such a thing as a row is unheard of. That does not look like a people among whom crime of a heinous nature was indigenous! In what part of Christendom would the money-box be safe?"
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∗ For an instance, see *Lawrie’s Gazetteer*, p. 943.
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Mention must be made of *Caste*, especially as the caste system of Ceylon is similar to the Dravidian in South India and differs from the well-known four-fold caste division of the Hindus generally. Vijaya himself could hardly have found a place in the Brahmanical caste system. The Sinhalese people from an early date had constant and intimate relations with the Tamils in Southern India. So it is that we find the Dravidian and not the Aryan caste system amongst the Sinhalese. In this system the cultivator ranked highest. With the spread of Aryan civilization came the Brahmanical system, which was superimposed upon the Dravidian, so that the Brahman and Kshattriya ranked above the cultivator. Hence the order of castes in Ceylon came to be—1. *Bamuṇu* (Brahmans); 2. *Raja* (the ruling caste); 3. *Govi* (cultivators); subsequently the *Velenda* or merchant was added. But as there was no place for Brahmans in a Buddhist country, and the royal family formed a caste by itself, and merchants were few or none, the *goviyo* have remained to this day of chief importance from the caste point of view. That is, the *goviya*, or *veḷḷāla* as he is often called, is the man of high caste. The *goviyo* included three ranks, the chiefs (*radala* or *mudali pēruva*), the nobles or titled men (*siṭanō*), and the rest of the *goviyō*; and these together formed as we have seen over ninety per cent. of the community.
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Authorities differ somewhat as to the order of precedence of the remaining classes. They are given in the following order by the *Janavaṃsa*, a most interesting Sinhalese poem of the fifteenth century, often regarded as an authoritative work, especially by the artificers, but according to others it has been adapted in their interests. The *Janavaṃsa*, by one Simha of Kessellena, purports to be founded on a Pali original.* It gives interesting but mainly fanciful accounts of the origin of the different castes and endeavours to show that all men are really of one race though occupied in different ways; stress being laid upon the well-known saying of Buddha, "Not by birth does one become a Vasala (outcaste), not by birth does he become a Brahman. By deed does one become a Vasala, by deed does he become a Brahman." In spite of the recognition of such teaching as truly Buddhist, the strength of caste feeling is but little less than in India; nor is it otherwise even amongst the converts to Christianity.
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I now give a table of castes according to the *Janavaṃsa*.
1. *Goviyō* (*handuruvō* ['hondrews' of Knox], *veḷḷalas*, cultivators).
2. *Pesakārayō* (*salāgamayō*, 'chalia' weavers).
3. *Kamburu* (*navandannō*, *galladdō*, artificers).
4. *Vaḍuvō*, (carpenters, blacksmiths, etc.)
5. *Hannali* (tailors and embroiderers).
6. *Radav* (dhobies, washermen). } (*acāriyō*)
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∗ Printed edition, Colombo, 1864; summary and partial translation by H. Nevill, *Taprobanian*, Vol. I., parts 3 and 4, 1886.
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7. Embeṭṭayō (barbers).
8. Sommārayō (leather workers, shoemakers).*
9. Durāvō (toddy drawers).
10. Kumbakārayō (baḍahēlayō, potters).
11. Karavō (fishers).
12. Veḍḍō (hunters).
13. Beravāyō (musicians and weavers, and often astrologers).
14. Hakuruvō (jaggery makers).
15. Hunnō (lime burners).
16. Paṇṇayō (grass cutters).
17. Yamaṇṇō (iron smelters).
18. Veḷ-vaḍuvō (rattan workers).
19. Gahalayō (menial servants).
20. Paduvō (servile or inferior cultivators and palanquin-bearers).
21. Malakārayō (inferior florists and gardeners).
22. Kinnarayō (mat weavers).
23. Roḍiyō (makers of ropes, tanners, etc.)
24. Oliyō (dancers).
25. Indrajālikayō (conjurors).
26. Caṇḍalayō (eaters of unclean food, scavengers).
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Of all these, only Nos. 1, 3, 4, 6, 9, 10, 13, 20, are really important elements in the Kandyan population to-day. Nos. 22 and 23 are clearly defined but very small communities. The bulk of the population belong to the cultivators' caste (No. 1).
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There were also a certain number of slaves (vallu) but not very many, being persons born so or who had become so in various ways, as by inability to pay a debt, by being sold as children, or cast into slavery by the king. Slavery was an economic institution and did not interfere with caste distinctions. A man could not possess slaves of higher caste than his own. Slaves could be freed or become free in various ways. Praedial and domestic slavery of a mild form seems to have been an institution in most parts of India from very remote times, although Megasthenes affirmed it "a great thing that no Indian slave existed."
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Knox gives a shorter list in much the same order; so also the Nitinighaṇḍuva, where the goviyō are also further divided into different ranks. Nowadays the fishers and other castes, especially in the low-country, contest the precedence of the conservative veḷḷala; we find in a list given by Casie Chitty in his Gazetteer (1834), that the fishers ranked second and the toddy drawers third, the others very much as above. Bitter controversies still take place regarding the relative rank of different castes; neither Buddhism nor Christianity have greatly weakened the power of caste.
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Land and its tenure form, as might be expected, the key to the social economy of the Kandyans. The possession of land was the foundation of the King's right to the services and contributions of the people, and vice-versa.* All absolute property in land (except *praveni* lands, *i.e.* nindagam definitively granted as private property) was vested in the King. In general, persons not owning land were liable to no regular service or duties, though in some cases to light and occasional service. Lands which properly subjected the possessor to regular public duties and contributions were low paddy lands which could be cultivated every year (*i.e.*, ordinary rice fields, *kumburu*) but not, as a rule, gardens (*vatu*) or high grounds (*hen*, ‘chenas’). The land and the service were inseparably associated, one result of which was that wealthy persons would not care to buy up lands held by men of low caste performing menial services; the accumulation of lands by a few wealthy persons was thus desirably checked. No land was sold.† The lands with their service usually descended regularly from father to son, independent of the fact that the services might be regranted to others or dedicated to temples.‡
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∗ The five castes numbered 4-8 are associated together as the five classes necessary to perform personal service; "both for the weddings and funerals of Raja, Bamuṇu, Grahapati, Veḷanda, Sudra and all men, the carpenter giving bedsteads, chairs, pavilions and the like; the tailor sewing and giving jackets and hats; the washer spreading awnings and bringing clean clothes; the barber cutting the hair and beard, trimming the face and adorning it; the leather-worker stitching leather for the feet; thus these five are needed for the wedding and for the funeral" (Janavaṃsa). These are often spoken of as 'the five servants.'
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This is looking at the matter from the Western point of view. As a matter of fact, the idea is one rather of overlordship or dominion, than ownership of land as understood in the modern west. It is probable that Sinhalese society “developed itself, clearing by clearing, in separate village communities, isolated from each other, and scattered over the land very much as they even now still are in the existing condition of the North Central Province. . . The aggregation of a plurality of villages together under a common head . . . very soon followed” (Phear). Thus arose the petty chieftain, who developed by a process of consolidation into a regulus or kinglet, becoming finally the king of the whole land. The original chieftain did not own land; what he possessed was the right to cultivate his own share of village land, and also a right to certain contributions and services due to him from the other shareholders. The King’s right arose by the gradual consolidation of such rights into the hands of a central authority, and is therefore rather one of dominion than of ownership. The point does not much affect the present issues, but reference in the text to ownership of land should be taken as subject to this qualification of the implied idea. Even *praveni* lands dedicated to temples, were not absolute freeholds which the trustees could dispose of as they liked; the land was still the King’s, and through him the people’s; the services only were dedicated for ever to the temple.
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The personal services (except those of the tenants in royal villages and those of persons belonging to the fourteen departments of public works), theoretically due to the King, became as a rule the perquisite of the local chief (Disāva or Raṭēmahātmaya); the chief being held responsible for any works required of him, the King had no need to insist upon the rendering of particular services direct to himself. In the same way lands which were abandoned by the tenants—as sometimes happened in the last King’s reign on account of the severity of the duty§—reverted to the chief, who could appropriate *Social economy* the crop or regrant the land to other tenants on payment of a suitable fee. The personal services were often commuted for a money payment which was considered the chief's legal perquisite.
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∗ All service lands might descend to, or be acquired by women, who either paid a money commutation, or provided a substitute to perform personal service. A woman might also hold Pattini devāle lands on condition of personally performing the duties of Pattini Ammā or priestess. † Except very rarely; see Knox, p. 143, also Lawrie’s Gazetteer, p. 736. ‡ Which could only be done by the King, or by others with his express warrant, or at any rate the Disāva’s; as otherwise the King or Disāva would have lost the benefit of services due to them, without being willing to do so. § Knox remarks ‘in my judgement they live far more at ease after they have relinquished the King’s land, than when they had it.’ But of holders of temple lands, per contra, he quotes the Sinhalese saying to the effect that ‘they will surely be punished in the next world for living so easy in this.’ For the last King’s over-exaction of rājakāriya, see the report of the Temple Lands Commissioners 1857-1858, p. 21.
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The great majority of persons living in these different sorts of villages were tenants, owing service to a proprietor or Lord of the Manor, who might be the King, a temple, or a chief. Included in the services due to the King, are those to be rendered to officials on duty. The organization of society is best explained by a relation of the various tenancies, according to caste and occupation; a village usually contained tenants of several classes. A list of the principal tenancies or fiefs follows:
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*Messengers and guards* Atapattu vasama. Tenants of the first rank, messengers and guards. They had to mount guard in Kandy in turns of one month in three, but some paid a commutation instead. They had to attend the Disāva on journeys, and convey his orders, carrying the great banner (dhaja pataka), swords of office, state umbrellas (mutu kuḍaya, vaḍana talatta, sēsat, etc.). In Kandy they kept guard in a guard-house called atapattu maḍuva, where they had charge of the great banner, the lēkam-miṭiya or record, the mura āvuda (arms) and any prisoners there might be. They were not liable to the payment of duties in kind. If tenants of a temple, or ninda village, they owed corresponding services to the temple or proprietor, such as keeping guard at the vallava (manor house), watching the threshing floors, or walking in processions and going messages. The holding of atapattu lands was a dignified position; the Atapattu and Ganvasam people formed as it were the lesser county families, while the Lord of the Manor represented the titled aristocracy.
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*Husbandmen* Ganvasama. These tenants had no turn of duty as guards. They had to deliver into the royal store duties in kind (rice and coconuts) or to pay a commutation; to supply the Disāva with similar provisions, especially when travelling on duty in the district; with corresponding duties if the proprietor was a temple or chief. The Ganvasam people were often of the same social standing as the proprietor, and sometimes related to him. They were generally the wealthiest in a village and held the most fertile lands. Consequently they had to make contributions in the shape of aḍukku and pehindum (provisions) to the proprietor and his retinue on his periodical visits, to his officers coming on duty, and to his messengers despatched with orders to tenants. They had also to give the maha-kat monthly, the penum-kat at festivals, and dan-kat during Vas, and to feed the workmen in the muṭṭeṭṭuva or homefield, and the officers superintending the work. It should be explained that the muṭṭeṭṭuva just referred to is the field belonging to the proprietor, whether a chief or temple, and cultivated on his account jointly by tenants of every description. The proprietor usually found the seed rice, and bore all cost of agricultural implements, and sometimes gave the buffaloes. The service of the tenants was reckoned not by days, but by the number of the different agricultural operations to which they had to contribute labour. All the tenants took part in the cultivation, and were generally fed by the proprietor or by the Ganvasam tenants on his behalf. The services of the different classes of the tenantry on an estate were centred in its muṭṭeṭṭu field. Hence the passing of the muṭṭeṭṭuva from the family of the landlord into the hands of strangers is invariably followed by the tenants resisting their customary services in respect of the muṭṭeṭṭu. A peṇuma or dēkuma is a customary gift made by the tenant to the proprietor, annually or often. The peṇuma of the Ganvasam people consists of sweetmeats, provisions, etc. A peṇum-kaḍa (pl.-kat) is a yoke-load consisting of such gifts. The maha-kaḍa is a yoke-load of provisions given once a month. A dan-kaḍa is a yoke-load of provisions given to a priest. Vas is the rainy season when priests are the guests of the villagers, and their wants regularly provided for without need for seeking daily alms. The Ganvasama had to provide all that was required for strangers visiting the village, and generally to discharge those duties of hospitality for which the Kandyan villages are celebrated. This entailed upon the *Ganvasam* the necessity of setting apart a place called the *iḍange* for lodging strangers. The whole charge of the *muṭṭeṭṭu* work devolved on the *Ganvasam*, which also had to superintend and assist in building work at the proprietor’s house, attend at his house on festive and other occasions, in times of sickness, and at funerals, bringing *peṇum-kat* and provisions. A *Ganvasam* tenant had to accompany the proprietor on his journeys on public occasions, and to guard his house in his absence. A woman of the *paṅguva* (holding) likewise had to wait on the lady of the house, and to accompany her on journeys. The *Ganvasam* took the lead in the annual presentation of the tenants before the proprietor. In temple villages, in addition to the above services performed to a lay chief, the *Ganvasam* had to superintend, and take part in the preparations for, and celebration of, the festivals.
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*Heva vasama*. The military class. Their services were similar to those of the *Atapaṭṭu vasama*, in addition to felling, dragging and guarding timber. In Kandy they kept guard at the *daṇḍu maḍuva*, or palace timber shed. These were also called *dunu-kāra vasama*, lit. archers. Bravery in battle was rewarded by titles and grants of land.
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*Baḍal paṅguva*. The holding held by smiths, called likewise *Navan-paṅguva*. Under the general term are included blacksmiths (*Acari*), braziers (*Lokuruvō*) and silver and goldsmiths (*Baḍalla*). The blacksmith supplied nails for roofing houses, hinges, locks, and keys for doors, all kitchen utensils, agricultural implements, and tools for felling and converting timber. His *peṇuma* consisted of areca-nut cutters, chunam boxes, ear and tooth-picks. At the forge he was given the assistance of a tenant to blow the bellows, and when employed out of his house he was given his food. The *Lokuruva* mended all brass and copper vessels of a temple, and generally took part in the service of the other smiths. The silver and goldsmiths worked for the proprietor in their special craft when wanted, and in temples mended and polished all the sacred vessels, did engraving and carving work, decorated the *ratē* (car of the god) and remained on guard there during the *perahera*, supplied the silver rim for the *eḷala-gaha* (*perahera* festival tree), and attended at the *kaphiṭavima* (erection of the festival tree). The goldsmiths presented *peṇum* of silver rings, chased betel boxes, ornamental arrow-heads, &c. The smith tenant also attended and assisted at the smelting of iron. In consideration of the value of the service of a smith, he generally held a large extent of fertile land.
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*Baḍahäla paṅguva*. The tenement of land held by a potter (*baḍahälayā* or *kumbalā*). His service consisted of supplying a proprietor with all the requisite earthenware for his house and bath, and his lodgings on journeys, for his *muṭṭeṭṭuva*, for cooking, and for soaking seed paddy, for festivals, *yak* and *bali* ceremonies, weddings, &c.; also the supplying of tiles and bricks, and keeping the roofs of tiled buildings waterproof, giving *peṇum-valan* (earthern vessels) to tenants for the *peṇum-kat*, and making clay lamps, and *kalas* (vases) for temples. The potter also made a present of chatties as his *peṇum* to proprietor and petty officers. When the quantity of bricks and tiles to be supplied was large, the proprietor found the kiln, shed, clay, and firewood.
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*Davul paṅguva*. The tenement held by tenants of the tom-tom beater caste (*Beravayō*). In temples their service came under the kind called the *piṭa-kaṭṭale* (out-door service). At the daily *tēvava* (musical service), at festivals, at *pinkam*, and on journeys of the incumbent, they beat the *hēvisi* (tom-toms). On their turn of duty in a temple, they had to watch the temple and its property, to sweep and clean the premises, to gather flowers for offering, and to fetch *bolpen* (water for temple use). The services of the musician (*hēvisi-karayā*) were required by lay proprietors only occasionally, for weddings, funerals, *yak* and *bali* ceremonies, and on state occasions. This class of persons was *Social economy* employed in weaving cloth, and their *penuma* consisted of a *taḍuppu*-cloth or a kerchief. The performance of *bali* ceremonies was one of the principal services of the tenants of the tom-tom beater caste. The daily temple music of *hēvisi* consisted of five *vajjan*. The five *vajjan* of which a regular *hēvisi* is made up are: 1, the *davula* (the common drum); 2, the *temmeṭṭama* (kettle-drum); 3, the *beraya* (a drum longer than a *davula*); 4, the *taliya* (cymbals); and 5, the *horanǣva* (oboe).
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A *gikiyana* was the tenancy of another class of musicians whose service consisted in singing at *dēvāles* on *Kenmura* days (Wednesday and Saturday services) and on festivals, and in the performance of the *digge-neṭima*, which latter was a service performed by women. The songs generally related to the exploits of the god. The men sang and played on cymbals, drums, &c., and the women danced. The ordinary tom-tom beater was not allowed to play for dancers of this class, which is supposed to be of Tamil origin.
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*Washermen* *Rada vasama* (washermen). The royal tenants performed three months a year service in Kandy, in turn with other relays. The service of a washerman consisted in washing weekly or monthly the soiled cloths of a family; the robes, curtains, flags, and vestments of a temple; decorating temples with *viyan* (awnings) for festivals and *pinkam*, and private houses on occasions of weddings, *yak* or *bali* ceremonies and arrival of distinguished visitors; the supplying on such occasions of *piruvaṭa*-cloths for wearing, *eṭirili* or covers for seats, tables, &c., *piyavili* or carpets, and *diya-reḍi* or bathing-cloths; the making of *pandam* (torches) and *parveṭi* (wicks), and the supplying of *dambu* (tow). The washerman had also to attend his master on journeys, carrying his bundle of clothes and bathing requisites. He supplied the Kapurāla (incumbent of a *dēvāle*) and Yakdessa with *piruvaṭa*, the former weekly when on duty at a *dēvāle*, and the latter for dancing at festivals. He gave *piruvaṭa* for the *muṭṭeṭṭu* for serving out the food, for *peṇum-kat* and *tel-kat* as covers, and for the state elephant during festivals. The *peṇuma* he gave consisted generally of a piece of wearing apparel or of a *suḍu-toppiya* (Kandyan hat), or in some cases of *pana-leli* (horns for combs). His perquisites vary according to the occasion calling forth his services. Thus at the Sinhalese new year, besides the quota of sweetmeats and rice given on such an occasion, every member of the family tied up a coin in the cloth he delivered to him for washing. At *koṭahalu* festivities (occasion of a girl attaining puberty), the washerman was entitled to the cloth worn by the girl and to her head ornaments, and at a funeral to all the cloths not allowed to be burnt on the pyre.
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*Servants* *Nila vasama* or *aliyam vasama*. Their services embraced all domestic and outdoor work of various and arduous kinds, some of which were the supplying of fuel and water to the kitchen and bath, the pounding of rice, the extracting of oil, the mudding of walls and floors, the dragging of timber and other building materials, the preparation of clay and the supplying of firewood for the brick and tile kiln, blowing the bellows for the smith, and supplying him with charcoal for the forge, the breaking of limestone, the cutting of banks and ditches, putting up fences, clearing gardens, sweeping out courtyards and compounds, joining in all agricultural operations on gardens, fields, and *hēn*, removing the crops, tying straw and assisting in thatching, the carrying of palanquins and baggage on journeys, conveying to the proprietor the *peṇum-kat*, *aḍukku-kat*, *pehindum-kat*, *maha-kat*, *vas-ḍan-kat*, &c., supplied by the other tenants, joining in the preparations for festivals, carrying *pandam* in processions, and serving at the proprietor's on occasions of importance such as weddings, funerals, arrival of distinguished visitors, and at *yak* and *bali* ceremonies. *Nilavasam* tenants, for the most part, are of a low caste, or belong to the lower classes of the *Veḷḷala* caste. Hence their yearly *peṇuma* to the proprietor, instead of being a *kaḍa* of sweetmeats, consisted of vegetables, and their contributions of raw or uncooked articles of food. Besides service Social as above, rendered to the proprietor, the *Nilavasam* tenants worked for the proprietor's economy Vidāne, and for the *Ganvasama*, a few days in fields and *hen*, and carried their baggage on journeys.
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*Yamannu*. Their service consisted of giving a certain number of lumps of iron yearly, the Iron-burning of charcoal for the forge, carrying baggage, assisting in field work and at *yak* or *bali* smelters ceremonies. They put up the *talimana* (pair of bellows) for the smith, and smelt iron.
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*Roḍiyō*. The *Roḍī* tenants were very few in number, and found in but very few villages. Outcastes They supplied prepared leather for drums, and ropes of hide, halters, thongs, and cords for cattle, and bury carcasses of dead animals.
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The kinds of villages were as follows:
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1. *Gabaḍagam*, or royal villages; these usually contained lands which were cultivated Royal entirely for the benefit of the crown, supplying all the requirements of the palace; and manors other lands which the tenants cultivated entirely for themselves; or the crown land was cultivated on the *ande* (half share) system. Crown villages much resembled early English royal manors; they included original crown lands, and lands which had fallen in to the crown by failure of the tenant to perform his service or by the death of a grantee.
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2. *Viharegam*, or villages belonging to a temple of Buddha. The tenants owed personal Religious service to the temple or made payment in kind to the incumbent priests.* manors
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3. *Devalegam*, or villages belonging to the temple of some deity.†
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† See P. E. Pieris, ‘*Ribeiro's History of Ceilao*,’ Galle, 1906, for an account of *Niviṭigala Nindagama*, granted in 1820 “as a mark of Royal Favour and Munificence” to one *Doloswela Kottalawela Wijeysundara Wickremesinha Tennekoon Mudianse*; interesting particulars of the service tenures are given.
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4. *Nindagam*, or villages which for the time being were the entire property of the grantee Private or temporary chief; if definitely granted by the King with a *sannasa* it became heredit- manors able personal property and was called *pravēṇi*. The inhabitants in consideration for their lands cultivated gratuitously for the benefit of the grantee and owed other services. A *nindagama* was to the proprietor what a *gabaḍagama* was to the king. *Nindagam* were naturally highly prized by the grantees; they were usually bestowed as a reward for eminent public services or bravery in battle, a policy followed by even the English as late as 1820.‡ *Nindagam* granted upon a *sannasa* are now the hereditary property of the descendants of the original grantees.‡
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‡ The annual value of all the *nindagam* was estimated by the Service Tenures Commission in 1872 as Rs. 44,588·85 (about £3000).
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5. *Vidanegam*, villages under the orders of a Vidāne, and containing usually people of low caste liable to public service.
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It will be clear from the account of the land system just given that both husbandmen and craftsmen of all sorts worked either for the King, a religious foundation, or a chieftain, as well as for themselves or their neighbours. Most of these services were themselves a payment for lands held by the family, and so were not otherwise remunerated; and even when work was done to order for a consideration, payment was made in kind, usually shares of paddy from the threshing floor. It will be seen that there was very little use of money, it was indeed so scarce that it could hardly be said to be in circulation;
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∗ The value of the annual revenue of a few principal temples was estimated as follows: *Daḷadā Maligāva*, Rs. 5693; *Kandy Maha Devale*, Rs. 5677; *Riḍī Vihāra*, Rs. 624; *Saman Devale*, Rs. 4415; *Dambulu Vihāra*, Rs.
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⁸⁷³ The annual value of all temple villages together amounted to Rs. 115,567·40 (about £7900).
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even now it is not very much sought after in the remoter districts, the villager, much to the disgust of planters, preferring to cultivate his own land, or to be lazy when occasion offers, above work on an estate for wages. Craftsmen were usually fed and housed while away from home working for the King, temple or chieftain; meanwhile the family lived upon the lands. It can only be when the craftsman is in some such way relieved of anxiety about the future, that his work can bear the impress of that leisure and contentment of which are born the inventiveness and feeling for quiet beauty that mark alike the Eastern craftsman and the mediæval European.
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No man was independent of another. Take the case of a nindagama; the villagers held lands of the proprietor for their own use, on condition of cultivating the mutteṭṭuva, or proprietor's special field; for this, one tenant, in respect of his paṅguva or share, had to supply cattle for ploughing and threshing, or perhaps one gave cattle for ploughing and another for threshing; there might be others to attend to the irrigation; others for ploughing, sowing and watching; others for threshing-floor service; and others for storing the crop; and so in every case, there was a remarkable inter-relation of parts of the social organism. The Sinhalese are now supposed to be incapable of concerted action and unfitted for self-government; and perhaps the ‘educated’ (which usually means denationalised) classes are so; but it may well be doubted whether the men who were capable of working together successfully so complex an arrangement, and indeed, ordering all the details of their cultivation by mutual arrangement, and who have possessed their Parish Councils from a time antedating the witanagemots of England, are not as capable of self-government as are a people whose Parish Councils are but a thing of yesterday and who seem to have lost the sense of communal interests and capacity for concerted action in small matters. The capacity has now been half destroyed, with the destruction of the society through which it was expressed; but surely it is there still. Observe how remarkably the different parts of the social organism were fitted and dovetailed together; there was a place for every man, and no man could be spared; class distinctions were not invidious, nor emphasized by difference of culture. “Their ordinary Plowmen and Husbandmen do speak elegantly, and are full of complement. And there is no difference between the ability and speech of a Country-man and a Courtier.” A Sinhalese proverb runs, ‘Take a Ploughman from the Plough and wash off his dirt, and he is fit to rule a kingdom.’ “This was spoken,” says Knox, “of the People of Cande Uda . . . because of the Civility, Understanding and Gravity of the poorest men among them.” This, in the words of Okakura,[*] is the “spiritual feudalism whereby caste makes a peasant in all his poverty one of the aristocrats of humanity.” Honour, pride, *noblesse oblige*, are of the caste idea. But Buddha saw all men as one and proclaimed the equality and brotherhood of all. Christ's position in the West was similar. In neither place has the teaching been accepted. The Western forms of caste are less rigid but more sordid than the Eastern; that is all that can be said.
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Such an organization of society seems strange already, even in the East, so rapid has been the ‘progress’ of the nineteenth century. There was no trade in land, nor did agricultural labourers work for hire. Craftsmen made no goods for sale and kept no shops.[†] “Riches were little valued nor made any the more honourable.” Yet there flourished a prosperous agricultural community, a pure and intellectual religion, and a highly skilled and intelligent race of craftsmen. It is probable that in respect of most real advantages, the Kandyan villager was better off in the eighteenth century than he is now.
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∗ “Ideals of the East,” 2nd ed., 1904, p. 67.
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† “There are no Markets in the Island. Some few shops they have in the Cities, which sell Cloth, Rice, Salt, Tobacco, Limes, Druggs, Fruits, Swords, Steel, Brass, Copper, Etc.” (KNOX.)
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The villages were to a great degree isolated and self-contained, dependent on the outside world for little but salt. A small external trade in Indian cloth and such things may have been carried on by the Muhammedan ‘tavalam merchants’ who carried goods on pack bulls along the steep and narrow jungle paths that led from village to village. No doubt Hindu and Muhammedan traders resided in Kandy. South Indian printed cottons and gold woven cloths and brocades were purchased by the well-to-do for use as ladies’ robes and for jackets for the chiefs; good specimens of such Indian textiles are even now to be found in the possession of old families. For the dēvāle, printed ceiling cloths with scenes from the purāṇas were needed; these must have come from S. India, or at least from Jaffna, which has still a small trade in printed cotton with the Sinhalese provinces. Trade with the Dutch was a Royal monopoly. Cinnamon, elephants, areca nut, other spices and arrack were the chief items of the trade; money, metals (copper, lead, brass, iron and steel), Indian piece goods, china-ware (sent as presents to the King and his officers of distinction) were the corresponding imports.
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Reference must be made to the Muhammedan element in the population. Before the fifteenth century the trade of the island had passed almost entirely into the hands of Arabs who traded on the Indian seas. The trade included pearls, gems, spices, and elephants. Later, there was much rivalry between these people and the Dutch. Arab adventurers settled on the Indian and Ceylon coasts, intermarried with the inhabitants and became important elements in the population. They were reinforced by coast Moormen from Southern India, most of whom were actually converts; at present a majority of Ceylon Moormen are certainly of Tamil extraction.* A few of the Muhammedan communities were settled in the interior, and owed services to the King, chieftains, or even to Buddhist temples, chiefly the conveyance of grain on pack bulls.
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It cannot be too well realised that the Sinhalese society was a community based on rice. Land was not the luxury of a few, but the daily occupation and livelihood of the majority; not to own land is still felt to be scarcely respectable. Every man from the King down had an immediate interest in the cultivation of the land; almost every man cultivated the soil with his own hands. How markedly the same conditions still persist is shown by the census of 1901; out of a thousand persons in the Central Province nine hundred and six subsist by agriculture, thirty-two by the preparation and supply of material substances, eighteen by personal service, ten by some profession, and nine by trade; in this tale craftsmen are included partly in the thirty-two who live by the supply of material substances and partly in the ten professional, forming thus less than the 4·2 per cent. of the whole people which these two classes represent; the proportion was probably higher in the eighteenth century when artistic and literary production was more appreciated.
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“Husbandry,” says Knox, “is the great employment of the country. . . . In this the best men labour. Nor is it held any disgrace for Men of the greatest Quality to do any work either at home or in the Field, if it be for themselves; but to work for hire with them is reckoned for a great shame : and very few are here to be found that will work so.” Great chiefs were not ashamed to hold the plough in their own hands, and it was thought becoming for the young men to reap at least a part of the harvest every year; for which damascened and ivory-handled sickles were sometimes used. The great majority of men, and amongst the village folk, of women also, were continually brought into close touch with the soil and with each other by working together in the fields; even the craftsmen did not as a body rely upon their craft as a direct means of livelihood, and used *Social economy* themselves to lay aside their tools to do a share of field work when need was, as at sowing or harvest time. The structure of the regular Indian village community is everywhere apparent, more or less veiled or modified by later developments; the scattered villages of the North Central Province show it best. It is true that the rice lands were held individually and not as common property, but this did not remove the need for communal action in cultivation, each shareholder or tenant or land-owner, as one may prefer to call him, doing an amount of work proportional to the extent of his holding. In such matters as fencing, water-supply and night-watching it would have been absurd to deal with each field separately, and no-one ever thought of doing so. The cultivators decided together in any year whether conditions allowed of the cultivation of the whole or only a part of the fields, the water supply being thus treated as common property due to each in the proportion of his holding. “At reaping they are excellent good,” says Knox, “just after the English manner. The whole Town, as I said before, as they joyn together in Tilling, so in their Harvest also; For all fall in together in reaping one man’s Field, and so to the next, till every man’s Corn be down. And the Custome is, that every man, during the reaping of his Corn, finds all the rest with Victuals.” How strongly we are reminded of mediæval England, and Langland’s “faire field ful of folke . . . of alle maner of men, the mene and the riche.” A great part of the cultivation was looked after by women, the custom varying in different districts. But the presence of women at certain times and places was strictly taboo. The ceremonial purity of the threshing floor was guarded with special care. A special euphemistic vocabulary is made use of while threshing is going on; women are prohibited from entering, as are persons who have attended a funeral, or come from an ‘unclean’ house* (unless after bathing and putting on clean clothes), or have eaten unclean food.
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∗ P. Ramanathan, *J.C.B.R.A.S.*, Vol. X., 1888, pp. 234-262.
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*Manorial organization* An official named *Gamerāla* (like the bailiff of an English manor) was concerned with the administrative organization needed to secure to the head of the village the rents and services due to him; the office was usually hereditary in one of the wealthier families. But there was also much matter for internal administration in the village, in the interests of the landholders themselves, they elected a *Vel-vidāne* (like the præpositus of an English manor) to control and carry out the system of fencing, ploughing, sowing, etc.
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*Village court* The village court, or *gansabhava*, consisted of the principal and experienced men of the village who met at an *ambalam* or shady tree or other central place and gave doom on civil and criminal disputes relating to boundaries, debts, thefts, and quarrels; they were wont to aim at an amicable settlement, and directed their endeavours rather to compromising a case than to the infliction of punishment. It will be seen that, as in India, beneath the outward form of a despotic rule lay the democratic and communistic organization of the villages.
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*Concerted action* The capacity for communal action is shown in the frequent cases of combination amongst villagers, to erect and endow *vihāras*. This proof of the possibility of united action even apart from Royal or viceregal patronage, is of particular promise for the future. Thus, in Tumpane, the western division of the Central province, there were but few *vihāras* before the British accession, and the majority now existing have been built by villagers since 1815, and endowed by them with small parcels of land. The villagers in such cases had the right of selecting the incumbent on a vacancy, and also of ousting one who failed to perform his duties. Thus, to take a special case, Yātivavala *vihāra* in Hārispattuva, was built in Kīrti Śrī’s reign by the villagers, who dedicated small pieces of land consisting of nine fields and four gardens. The King is said to have given an ivory image of Buddha and a *karaṇḍuva* to the vihāra on its completion. The incumbency did not descend in pupillary succession, as in the case of other foundations, but was in the gift of the villagers. After the rejection of an undesirable incumbent, rules were framed for the priest and for the thirteen chief men of the village, defining the duties and rights of each (Lawrie's Gazetteer, p. 973).
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∗ *Where, for example, a death has recently occurred.*
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There is great charm as one walks along the narrow village paths, in coming suddenly upon some hillside clearing where twenty or thirty men are at work, singing in chorus with an old man leading them; or a party of women weeding and singing as they work across a field with stooping backs in the hot sun. They say that the singing makes the labour less arduous and irksome; no doubt it does. There is a verse in the Makhā Dēva Jātaka, a Sinhalese poem of the thirteenth century, referring to such scenes— "Hundreds of girls he saw, tending the earladen fields of hill-rice, singing sweet songs without fault, wherein his own life was praised." Of agricultural songs I give a few specimens. "In Rayigam Kōrale renowned there grew a famous *tala*-palm, fairer than speech can tell, with various beauty crowned, from village unto village known; fair of hue this palm flower bloomed, as it were lotus petals expanded on the tree." This is part of a reaping song in praise of a *tala* tree (talipot, *Corypha umbraculifera*), a tall and beautiful flowering palm. A sowing song begins as follows: "When the fields are well prepared, which lie round Balagala hill, right quickly then the seed is sown by the four Regents of the Earth." A threshing song contains the following verses: "O bull-king leader of the team, O Vēriya going next him, and Kalāta the bull-calf, make haste to get the threshing ended; I will get your twin horns gilt, deck your pair of ears with pearls, your dew-claws likewise; thus I shall adorn you. Ye bulls that wander by the hillside, yoked together by a woodbine, wearing pearls and coral beads, and eating tender leaves, draw the grain into this threshing floor"; and in another version, "This is not our threshing floor, 'tis the Moon-god's threshing floor; this is not our threshing floor, 'tis the Sun-god's threshing floor . . . etc." The semi-religious character of many of the agricultural songs is very noteworthy. Some, like the last quoted, are associated with elaborate and often beautiful ceremonies, intended to avert disaster, and to secure the growth and successful ingathering of the crop, others belong to that 'pagan' conception of all life as a sacrament, which gives so much beauty and dignity to common things.
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The great simplicity of ordinary life must always be kept in mind. The house was a one-storied timber and mud wall building with thatched roof, and if belonging to a man of some importance consisted of a number of rooms arranged about an inner square verandah (the floors being daubed with cow-dung to keep them clean and smooth), within which, again, was a square yard (*hatares-midula*) open to the sky, where sometimes a few potherbs might be grown. The rooms were rather dark, having unglazed windows on the inside only, for the sake of privacy. The poorest house, however, had but one room, few more than two or three, except the *valavva* or 'manor house' of a great man. Ordinary houses were not often made by the craftsmen, but each man put up his own, the *kapurala* performing the necessary ceremonies. A verse from a Cambridgeshire traditional song, 'Ground for the Floor,' exactly describes the situation within:
First 61 of 143 passages. Read on
Linked texts (4)
- Jātaka — Pāli
- Dhammikasutta — Pāli
- Mahāvaṃsa — Pāli
- Visuddhimagga — Buddhaghosa, Pāli