Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c7.40

c7.40

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.‡