Ceylon; an Account of the Island Physical, Historical, and Topographical with Notices of Its Natural History Part 66

NATIVE SOVEREIGNS OF CEYLON.

N.B. The names of subordinate or cotemporary Princes are printed in _Italics_.

Names and Relations.h.i.+p of each succeeding Sovereign. Capital. Accession

B.C 1. Wejaya, founder of the Wejayan dynasty Tamananeuera 543 2. Upatissa 1st, minister--regent Upatissaneuera 505 3. Panduwasa, paternal nephew of Wejaya ditto 504 _Rama_ _Ramagona_ _Rohuna_ _Rohuna_ _Diggaina_ _Diggamadulla_ _Urawelli_ _Mahawelligama_ _Anuradha_ _Anuradhapoora_ _Wijitta_ _Wijittapoora_ [these six are brothers-in-law]

4. Abhaya, son of Paduwasa, dethroned Upatissaneuera 474 Interregnum 454 5. Pandukabhaya, maternal grandson of Panduwasa Anuradhapoora 437 6. Mutasiwa, paternal grandson ditto 367 7. Devenipiatissa, second son ditto 307 _Mahanaga, brother_ _Magama_ _Yatalatissa, son_ _Kellania_ _Gotabhaya, son_ _Magama_ _Kellani-tissa, not specified_ _Kellania_ _Kawan-tissa, son of Gotabhaya_ _Magama_ 8. Uttiya, fourth son of Mutasiwa Anuradhapoora 267 9. Mahasiwa, fifth do. ditto 257 10. Suratissa, sixth do. put to death ditto 247 11. Sena and Guttika, foreign usurpers--put to death ditto 237 12. Asela, ninth son of Mutasiwa--deposed ditto 215 13. Elala, foreign usurper--killed in battle ditto 205 14. Dutugaimunu, son of _Kawantissa_ ditto 161 15. Saidaitissa, brother ditto 137 16. Tuhl or Thullathanaka, younger son--deposed ditto 119 17. Laiminitissa 1st or Lajjitissa, elder brother ditto 119 18. Kalunna or Khallatanaga, brother--put to death ditto 109 19. Walagambahu 1st or Wattagamini, brother--deposed ditto 104 20. [Five foreign usurpers--successively deposed and put to death]

Pulahattha ditto 103 Bayiha ditto 100 Panayamara ditto 98 Peliyamara ditto 91 Dathiya ditto 90 21. Walagambahu 1st, reconquered the kingdom ditto 88 22. Mahadailitissa or Mahachula, son ditto 76 23. Chora Naga, son--put to death ditto 62 24. Kuda Tissa, son--poisoned by his wife ditto 50 25. Anula, widow ditto 47 26. Makalantissa or Kallakanni Tissa, second son of Kudatissa ditto 41 27. Batiyatissa 1st or Batikabhaya, son ditto 19

Names and Relations.h.i.+p of Capital. Accession.

each succeeding Sovereign.

A.D.

28. Maha Dailiya Mana or Dathika, brother Anuradhapoora 9 29. Addagaimunu or Amanda Gamini, son--put to death ditto 21 30. Kinibirridaila or Kanijani Tissa, brother ditto 30 31. Kuda Abha or Chulabhaya, son ditto 33 32. Singhawalli or Siwalli, sister--put to death ditto 34 Interregnum 35 33. Elluna or Ha Naga, maternal nephew of Addagaimunu ditto 38 34. Sanda Muhuna or Chanda Mukha Siwa, son ditto 44 35. Yasa Silo or Yatalakatissa, brother--put to death ditto 52 36. Subha, usurper--put to death ditto 60 37. Wahapp or Wasahba, descendant of Laiminitissa ditto 66 38. Waknais or w.a.n.ka Nasica, son ditto 110 39. Gajabahu 1st or Gamini, son ditto 113 40. Mahalumana or Mallaka Naga, maternal cousin ditto 125 41. Batiya Tissa 2nd or Bhatika Tissa, son ditto 131 42. Chula Tissa or Kanittbatissa, brother ditto 155 43. Kuhuna or Chudda Naga, son--murdered ditto 173 44. Kudanama or Kuda Naga, nephew--deposed ditto 183 45. Kuda Sirina or Siri Naga 1st, brother-in-law ditto 184 46. Waiwahairatissa or Wairatissa, son--murdered ditto 209 47. Abha Sen or Abha Tissa, brother ditto 231 48. Siri Naga 2nd, son ditto 239 49. Weja Indu or Wejaya 2nd, son--put to death ditto 241 50. Sangatissa 1st, descendant of Laiminitissa--poisoned ditto 242 51. Dahama Sirisanga Bo or Sirisanga Bodhi 1st, do do.--deposed ditto 245 52. Golu Abha, Gothabhaya or Megha warna Abhay, do. do. ditto 248 53. Makalan Detu Tissa 1st, son ditto 261 54. Maha Sen, brother ditto 275 55. Kitsiri Maiwan 1st or Kirtisri Megha warna, son ditto 302 56. Detu Tissa 2nd, brother ditto 330 57. Bujas or Budha Dasa, son ditto 339 58. Upatissa 2nd, son ditto 368 59. Maha Nama, brother ditto 410 60. Senghot or Sotthi Sena, son--poisoned ditto 432 61. Laimini Tissa 2nd or Chatagahaka, descendant of Laiminitissa ditto 432 62. Mitta Sena or Karalsora, not specified--put to death ditto 433 63. Pandu 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 434 Parinda Kuda 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 439 Khudda Parinda 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 455 Datthiya 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 455 Pitthiya 24.9. Foreign usurpers ditto 458 64. Dasenkelleya or Dhatu Sena, descendant of the original royal family--put to death ditto 459 65. Sigiri Kasumbu or Kasyapa 1st, son--committed suicide Sigiri Galla Neuera 477

Names and Relations.h.i.+p of each succeeding Sovereign. Capital. Accession.

A.D.

66. Mugallana 1st, brother Anuradhapoora 495 67. k.u.mara Das or k.u.mara Dhatu Sena, son-immolated himself ditto 513 68. Kirti Sena, son-murdered ditto 522 69. Maidi Siwu or Siwaka, maternal uncle-murdered ditto 531 70. Laimini Upatissa 3rd, brother-in-law ditto 531 71. Ambaherra Salamaiwan or Silakala, son-in-law ditto 534 72. Dapulu 1st or Datthapa Bhodhi, second son--committed suicide ditto 547 73. Dalamagalan or Mugallana 2nd, elder brother ditto 547 74. Kuda Kitsiri Maiwan 1st or Kirtisri Meg-hawarna, son-put to death ditto 567 75. Senewi or Maha Naga, descendant of the Okaka branch ditto 586 76. Aggrabodhi 1st or Akbo, maternal nephew ditto 589 77. Aggrabodhi 2nd or Sula Akbo, son-in-law ditto 623 78. Sanghatissa, brother-decapitated ditto 633 79. Buna Mugalan or Laimini Bunaya, usurper-put to death ditto 633 80. Abhasiggahaka or Asiggahaka, maternal grandson ditto 639 81. Siri Sangabo 2nd, son-deposed ditto 648 82. Kaluna Detutissa or Laimina Katuriya, descendant of Laiminitissa-committed Dewuneura suicide or Dondera 648 Siri Sangabo 2nd, restored, and again deposed Anuradhapoora 649 83. Dalupiatissa 1st or Dhatthopatissa, Laimini branch-killed in battle ditto 665 84. Paisulu Kasumbu or Kasyapa 2nd, brother of Sirisangabo ditto 677 85. Dapulu 2nd, Okaka branch-deposed ditto 686 86. Dalupiatissa 2nd or Hattha-Datthopatissa, son of Dalupiatissa 1st ditto 693 87. Paisulu Siri Sanga Bo 3rd or Aggrabodhi, brother ditto 702 88. Walpitti Wasidata or Dantanama, Okaka branch ditto 718 89. Hununaru Riandalu or Hatthadatha, original royal family-decapitated ditto 720 90. Mahalaipanu or Manawamma, do. do. ditto 720 91. Kasiyappa 3rd o Kasumbu, son ditto 726 92. Aggrabodhi 3rd or Akbo, nephew Pollonnarrua 729 93. Aggrabodhi 4th or Kuda Akbo, son ditto 769 94. Mahindu 1st or Salamaiwan, original royal family ditto 775 95. Dappula 2nd, son ditto 795 96. Mahindu 2nd or Dharmika-Silamaiga, son ditto 800 97. Aggrabodhi 5th or Akbo, brother ditto 804 98. Dappula 3rd or Kuda Dappula, son ditto 815 99. Aggrabodhi 6th, cousin ditto 831 100. Mitwella Sen or Silamaiga, son ditto 838 101. Kasiyappa 4th or Maganyin Sena or Mihindu, grandson ditto 858 102. Udaya 1st, brother ditto 891

Names and Relations.h.i.+p of Capital. Accession.

each succeeding Sovereign.

A.D.

103. Udaya 2nd, son Pollonnarrua 926 104. Kasiyappa 5th, nephew and son-in-law ditto 937 105. Kasiyappa 6th, son-in-law ditto 954 106. Dappula 4th, son ditto 964 107, Dappula 5th, not specified ditto 964 108. Udaya 3rd, brother ditto 974 109. Sena 2nd, not specified ditto 977 110. Udaya 4th, do. do. ditto 986 111. Sena 3rd, do. do. ditto 994 112. Mihindu 3rd, do. do ditto 997 113. Sena 4th, son--minor ditto 1013 114. Mihindu 4th, brother--carried captive to Anuradhapoora 1023 India during the Sollean conquest Interregnum Sollean viceroyalty Pollonnarrua 1059 _Maha Lai or Maha_ } { _Lala Kirti_ } { _Rohuna_ _Wikrama Pandi_ } _Subordinate_ { _Kalutotta_ _Jagat Pandi or Jagati_ } _native kings_ { _Pala_ } _during the_ { _Rohuna_ _Prakrama Pandi or_ } _Sollean_ { _Prakhrama Bahu_ } _vice-royalty._ { _ditto_ _Lokaiswara_ } { _Kacharagama_ 115. Wejayabahu 1st or Sirisangabo 4th, grandson of Mihindu 4th Pollonnarrua 1071 116. Jayabahu 1st, brother ditto 1126 117. Wikramabahu 1st } ditto } _ _Manabarana_ } A disputed _Rohuna_ } 118. Gajabahu 2nd } succession Pollonnarrua } 1127 _Siriwallaba or_} } _Kitsiri Maiwan_} _Rohuna_ } 119. Prakrama Bahu 1st, son of Manabarana Pollonuarrua 1153 120. Wejayabahu 2nd, nephew--murdered ditto 1186 121. Mihindu 5th or Kitsen Kisdas, usurper--put to death ditto 1187 122. Kirti Nissanga, a prince of Kalinga ditto 1187 Wirabahu, son--put to death ditto 1196 123. Wikramabahu 2nd, brother of Kirti Nissanga--put to death ditto 1196 124. Chondakanga, nephew--deposed ditto 1196 125. Lalawati, widow of Prakramabahu--deposed ditto 1197 126. Sahasamallawa, Okaka branch--deposed ditto 1200 127. Kalyanawati, sister of Kirti Nissanga ditto 1202 128. Dharmasoka, not specified--a minor ditto 1208 129. Nayaanga or Nikanga, minister--put to death ditto 1209 Lilawati, restored, and again deposed ditto 1209 130. Lokaiswera 1st, usurper--deposed ditto 1210 Lilawati, again restored, and deposed a third time ditto 1211 131. Pandi Prakrama Bahu 2nd, usurper--deposed ditto 1211 132. Magha, foreign usurper ditto 1214 133. Wejayabahu 3rd, descendant of Sirisangabo 1st Dambadenia 1235 134. Kalikala Sahitya Sargwajnya or Pandita Prakrama Bahu 3rd, son ditto 1266 135. Bosat Wejaya Bahu 4th, son Pollonnarrua 1301

Names and Relations.h.i.+p of each succeeding Sovereign. Capital. Accession.

A.D.

_Bhuwaneka Bahu_ _Yapahu or Subbapabatto_ 136. Bhuwaneka Bahu 1st, brother ditto 1303 137. Prakrama Bahu 3rd, son of Bosat Wejayabahu Pollonnarrua 1314 138. Bhuwaneka Bahu 2nd, son of Bhuwaneka Kurunaigalla or 1319 Bahu Hastisailapoora 139. Pandita Prakrama Bahu 4th, not specified ditto 140. Wanny Bhuwaneka Bahu 3rd, do. ditto 141. Wejaya Bahu 5th, do. ditto 142. Bhuwaneka Bahu 4th, do. Gampola or Gangasiripoora 1347 143. Prakrama Bahu 5th, do. ditto 1361 144. Wikram Bahu 3rd, cousin Partly at Kandy or Sengadagalla Neuera 1371 145. Bhuwaneka Bahu 5th, not specified Gampola or Gangasiripoora 1378 146. Wejaya Bahu 5th, or Wira Bahu, do ditto 1398 147. Sri Prakrama Bahu 6th, do. Kotta or Jayawardanapoora 1410 148. Jayabahu 2nd, maternal grandson--put to death ditto 1462 149. Bhuwaneka Bahu 6th, not specified ditto 1464 150. Pandita Prakrama Bahu 7th, adopted son ditto 1471 151. Wira Prakrama Bahu 8th, brother of Bhuwaneka Bahu 6th ditto 1485 152. Dharma Prakrama Bahu 9th, son ditto 1505 153. Wejaya Bahu 7th, brother--murdered ditto 1527 _Jayawira Bandara_ _Gampola_ 154. Bhuwaneka Bahu 7th, son Kotta 1534 _Mayadunnai_ _Setawacca_ _Raygam Bandara_ _Raygam_ _Jayawira Bandara_ _Kandy_ 155. Don Juan Dharmapala Kotta 1542 _A Malabar_ _Yapahu_ _Portuguese_ _Colombo_ _Widiye Raja_ _Pailainda Neuera_ _Raja Singha_ _Aiwissawelle_ _Idirimane Suriya_ _Seven Korles_ _Wikrama Bahu descendant of_ Sirisangabo 1st _Kandy_ 156. Raja Singha 1st, son of _Mayadunnai_ Setawacca 1581 _Jaya Suriya_ _Setawacca_ _Widiye Raja's queen_ _ditto_ 157. Wimala Dharma, original royal family Khandy 1592 158. Senaraana or Senarat, brother ditto 1604 159. Raja-singha 2nd, son ditto 1637 _k.u.mara-singa, brother_ _Ouvah_ _Wejaya Pala, brother_ _Matelle_ 160. Wimala Dharma Suriya 2nd, son of Rajasingha Khandy 1687 161. Sriwira Prakrama Narendrasingha or Kundasala ditto 1707 162. Sriwejaya Raja Singha or Hanguranketta, brother-in-law ditto 1739 163. Kirtisri Raja Singha, brother-in-law ditto 1747 164. Rajadhi Raja Singha, brother ditto 1781 165. Sri Wikrema Raja Singha, son of the late king's wife's sister, deposed by the English in 1815, and died in captivity in 1832 ditto 1798

NOTE.--The Singhalese vowels _a_, _e_, _i_, _o_, _u_ are to be p.r.o.nounced as in French or Italian.

CHAP. II.

THE ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS OF CEYLON.

Divested of the insipid details which overlay them, the annals of Ceylon present comparatively few stirring incidents, and still fewer events of historic importance to repay the toil of their perusal. They profess to record no occurrence anterior to the advent of the last Buddha, the great founder of the national faith, who was born on the borders of Nepaul in the _seventh_ century before Christ.

In the theoretic doctrines of Buddhism "_Buddhas_"[1] are beings who appear after intervals of inconceivable extent; they undergo transmigrations extending over vast s.p.a.ces of time, acc.u.mulating in each stage of existence an increased degree of merit, till, in their last incarnation as men, they attain to a degree of purity so immaculate as to ent.i.tle them to the final exaltation of "Buddha-hood," a state approaching to incarnate divinity, in which they are endowed with wisdom so supreme as to be competent to teach mankind the path to ultimate bliss.

[Footnote 1: A sketch of the Buddhist religion may be seen in Sir J.

EMERSON TENNENT'S _History of Christianity in Ceylon_, ch. v. London, 1850. But the most profound and learned dissertations on Buddhism as it exists in Ceylon, will be found in the works of the Rev. R. SPENCE HARDY, _Eastern Monachism_, Lond. 1850, and _A Manual of Buddhism_, Lond. 1853.]

Their precepts, preserved orally or committed to writing, are cherished as _bana_ or the "_word_;" their doctrines are incorporated in the system of _dharma_ or "_truth_;" and, at their death, instead of entering on a new form of being, either corporeal or spiritual, they are absorbed into _Nirwana_, that state of blissful unconsciousness akin to annihilation which is regarded by Buddhists as the consummation of eternal felicity.

Gotama, who is represented as the last of the series of Buddhas[1], promulgated a religious system in India which has exercised a wider influence over the Eastern world than the doctrines of any other uninspired teacher in any age or country.[2] He was born B.C. 624 at Kapila-Vastu (a city which has no place in the geography of the Hindus, but which appears to have been on the borders of Nepaul); he attained his superior Buddha-hood B.C. 588, under a bo-tree[3] in the forest of Urawela, the site of the present Buddha Gaya in Bahar; and, at the age of eighty, he died at Kusinara, a doubtful locality, which it has been sought to identify with the widely separated positions of Delhi, a.s.sam, and Cochin China.[4]

[Footnote 1: There were twenty-four Buddhas previous to the advent of Gotama, who is the fourth in the present Kalpa or chronological period.

His system of doctrine is to endure for 5000 years, when it will be superseded by the appearance and preaching of his successor.--_Rajaratnacari_, ch. i. p. 42.]

[Footnote 2: HARDY'S _Eastern Monachism_, ch. i. p. 1. There is evidence of the widely-spread wors.h.i.+p of Buddha in the remotely separated individuals with whom it has been sought at various times to identify him. "Thus it has been attempted to show that Buddha was the same as Thoth of the Egyptians, and Turm of the Etruscans, that he was Mercury, Zoroaster, Pythagoras, the Woden of the Scandinavians, the Manes of the Manichaeans, the prophet Daniel, and even the divine author of Christianity." (PROFESSOR WILSON, _Journ. Asiat. Soc._, vol. xvi. p.

233.) Another curious ill.u.s.tration of the prevalence of his doctrines may be discovered in the endless variations of his name in the numerous countries over which his influence has extended: Buddha, Budda, Bud, Bot, Baoth, Buto, Budsdo, Bdho, Pout, Pote, Fo, Fod, Fohi, Fuh, Pet, Pta, Poot, Phthi, Phut, Pht, &c.--POc.o.c.kE'S _India in Greece_, appendix, 397. HARDY'S _Buddhism_, ch. vii. p. 355. HARDY in his _Eastern Monachism_ says, "There is no country in either Europe or Asia, _except those that are Buddhist_, in which the same religion is now professed that was there existent at the time of the Redeemer's death," ch. xxii.

p. 327.]

[Footnote 3: The Pippul, _Ficus religiosa_.]

[Footnote 4: Professor H.H. WILSON has identified Kusinara or Kusinagara with _Kusia_ in Gorakhpur, _Journ. Roy. Asiat. Soc._, vol xvi. p. 246.]

In the course of his ministrations Gotarna is said to have thrice landed in Ceylon. Prior to his first coming amongst them, the inhabitants of the island appear to have been living in the simplest and most primitive manner, supported on the almost spontaneous products of the soil. Gotama in person undertook their conversion, and alighted on the first occasion at Bintenne, where there exists to the present day the remains of a monument erected two thousand years ago[1] to commemorate his arrival.

His second visit was to Nagadipo in the north of the island, at a place whose position yet remains to be determined; and the "sacred foot-print"

on Adam's Peak is still wors.h.i.+pped by his devotees as the miraculous evidence of his third and last farewell.

[Footnote 1: By Dutugaimunu, B.C. 164. For an account of the present condition of this Dagoba at Bintenne, see Vol. II. Pt. IX. ch. ii.]

To the question as to what particular race the inhabitants of Ceylon at that time belonged, and whence or at what period the island was originally peopled, the Buddhist chronicles furnish no reply. And no memorials of the aborigines themselves, no monuments or inscriptions, now remain to afford ground for speculation. Conjectures have been hazarded, based on no sufficient data, that the Malayan type, which extends from Polynesia to Madagascar, and from Chin-India to Taheite, may still be traced in the configuration, and in some of the immemorial customs, of the people of Ceylon.[1]

[Footnote 1: Amongst the incidents ingeniously pressed into the support of this conjecture is the use by the natives of Ceylon of those _double canoes_ and _boats with outriggers_, which are never used on the Arabian side of India, but which are peculiar to the Malayan race in almost every country to which they have migrated; Madagascar and the Comoro islands, Sooloo, Luzon, the Society Islands, and Tonga. PRITCHARD'S _Races of Man_, ch. iv. p. 17. For a sketch of this peculiar canoe, see Vol. II. Pt. VII. ch. i.

There is a dim tradition that the first settlers in Ceylon arrived from the coasts of China. It is stated in the introduction to RIBEYRO'S _History of Ceylon_, but rejected by VALENTYN, ch, iv. p. 61.

The legend prefixed to RIBEYRO is as follows. "Si nous en croyons les historiens Portugais, les Chinois out ete les premiers qui ont habite cette isle, et cela arriva de cette maniere. Ces peuples etoient les maitres du commerce de tout l'orient; quelques unes de leurs vaisseaux furent portez sur les ba.s.ses qui sont pres du lieu, que depuis on appelle Chilao par corruption au lieu de Cinilao. Les equipages se sauverent a terre, et trouvant le pais bon et fertile ils s'y etablirent: bientot apres ils s'allierent avec les Malabares, et les Malabares y envoyoient ceux qu'ils exiloient et qu'ils nominoient _Galas_. Ces exiles s'etant confondus avec les Chinois, de deux noms n'en out fait qu'un, et se sont appelles _Chin-galas_ et ensuite Chingalais."--RIBEYRO, _Hist. de Ceylan_, pref. du trad.

It is only necessary to observe in reference to this hypothesis that it is at variance with the structure of the Singhalese alphabet, in which _n_ and _g_ form but one letter. DE BARROS and DE COUTO likewise adhere to the theory of a mixed race, originating in the settlement of Chinese in the south of Ceylon, but they refer the event to a period subsequent to the seizure of the Singhalese king and his deportation to China in the fifteenth century. DE BARROS, Dec. iii. ch. i.; DE COUTO, Dec. v.

ch. 5.]

But the greater probability is, that a branch of the same stock which originally colonised the Dekkan extended its migrations to Ceylon. All the records and traditions of the peninsula point to a time when its nations were not Hindu; and in numerous localities[1], in the forests and mountains of the peninsula, there are still to be found the remnants of tribes who undoubtedly represent the aboriginal race.

[Footnote 1: La.s.sEN, _Indische Alterthumskunde_, vol. i. p. 199, 362.]

The early inhabitants of India before their comparative civilisation under the influence of the Aryan invaders, like the aborigines of Ceylon before the arrival of their Bengal conquerors, are described as mountaineers and foresters who were "rakshas" or demon wors.h.i.+ppers; a religion, the traces of which are to be found to the present day amongst the hill tribes in the Concan and Canara, as well as in Guzerat and Cutch. In addition to other evidences of the community of origin of these continental tribes and the first inhabitants of Ceylon, there is a manifest ident.i.ty, not alone in their popular superst.i.tions at a very early period, but in the structure of the national dialects, which are still prevalent both in Ceylon and Southern India. Singhalese, as it is spoken at the present day, and, still more strikingly, as it exists as a written language in the literature of the island, presents unequivocal proofs of an affinity with the group of languages still in use in the Dekkan; Tamil, Telingu, and Malayalim. But with these its identification is dependent on a.n.a.logy rather than on structure, and all existing evidence goes to show that the period at which a vernacular dialect could have been common to the two countries must have been extremely remote.[1]

[Footnote 1: The _Mahawanso_ (ch. xiv.) attests that at the period of Wijayo's conquest of Ceylon, B.C. 543, the language of the natives was different from that spoken by himself and his companions, which, as they came from Bengal, was in all probability Pali. Several centuries afterwards, A.D. 339, the dialect of the two races was still different; and some of the sacred writings were obliged to be translated from Pali into the Sihala language.--_Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.xvii. x.x.xviii. p. 247. At a still later period, A.D. 410; a learned priest from Magadha translated the Attah-Katha from Singhalese into Pali.--_Ib_. p. 253. See also DE ALWIS, _Sidath-Sangara_, p. 19.]

Though not based directly on either Sanskrit or Pali, Singhalese at various times has been greatly enriched from both sources, and especially from the former; and it is corroborative of the inference that the admixture was comparatively recent; and chiefly due to a.s.sociation with domiciliated strangers, that the further we go back in point of time the proportion of amalgamation diminishes, and the dialect is found to be purer and less alloyed. Singhalese seems to bear towards Sanskrit and Pali a relation similar to that which the English of the present day bears to the combination of Latin, Anglo-Saxon, and Norman French, which serves to form the basis of the language. As in our own tongue the words applicable to objects connected with rural life are Anglo-Saxon, whilst those indicative of domestic refinement belong to the French, and those pertaining to religion and science are borrowed from Latin[1]; so, in the language of Ceylon, the terms applicable to the national religion are taken from Pali, those of science and art from Sanskrit, whilst to pure Singhalese belong whatever expressions were required to denote the ordinary wants of mankind before society had attained organisation.[2]

[Footnote 1: See TRENCH on the _Study of Words_.]

[Footnote 2: See DE ALWIS, _Sidath-Sangara_, p. xlviii.]

[Sidenote: B.C. 543.]

Whatever momentary success may have attended the preaching of Buddha, no traces of his pious labours long survived him in Ceylon. The ma.s.s of its inhabitants were still aliens to his religion, when, on the day of his decease, B.C. 543, Wijayo[1], the discarded son of one of the petty sovereigns in the valley of the Ganges[2] effected a landing with a handful of followers in the vicinity of the modern Putlam.[3] Here he married the daughter of one of the native chiefs, and having speedily made himself master of the island by her influence, he established his capital at Tamana Neuera[4], and founded a dynasty, which, for nearly eight centuries, retained supreme authority in Ceylon.

[Footnote 1: Sometimes spelled _Wejaya_. TURNOUR has demonstrated that the alleged concurrence of the death of Buddha and the landing of Wijayo is a device of the sacred annalists, in order to give a pious interest to the latter event, which took place about sixty years later.--Introd _Mahawanso_, p. liii.]

[Footnote 2: To facilitate reference to the ancient divisions of India, a small map is subjoined, chiefly taken from La.s.sen's _Indische Alterthumskunde_.