Mediaeval Sinhalese Art c9.32

c9.32

*The* *indigenous* *tradition* The indigenous craftsmen, it will be perceived, represented both the original Sinhalese stock, and the later immigrant craftsmen incorporated from time to time into their community. It would be difficult to say how far an original Sinhalese element is represented in the body of superior craftsmen; for we do not know much of the state of the arts in very early times, and we have the record of the introduction of Indian craftsmen with Buddhist missionaries from the North (p. 2), and again at the time of Gaja Bāhu’s invasion of Southern India (p. 6). The inferior craftsmen, potters, weavers (except salāgamayō), mat makers, etc., on the other hand no doubt represent an integral part of the Sinhalese population, perhaps even carrying on the remote traditions of the pre-Sinhalese inhabitants, who may have been by no means uncivilised.