98 JounNAT,, R.A.s. (cEyLoN) [Vor,. XXIX.

In the ternple of great size, rvhich is visible to persous

sailing from Point cle Gaile to the harbour of Batecolum,there is a lofty statue of sulpassing height, holding a

drawn sword in its hand.Of this statue the Cingalese relate a miracle-name v,

that rvhen King Johri of Ausiria, rvho ahvays mocked atthis statue, once entered the temple, tlre image bran-

,

dished the su'ordl in its hand anil nroved it as thoughthreatening to strike him so that the king lras struckwith terror.

If this is tlue, we must ascribe it to the rvork of thedevil r'vho rvished in this rvay to esta,biisJr tlris idolatrousworship.

tr*o. 75.,-19?21 DxcERt,T.\ MAr,Drvr.ANA 99

IEXCERPTA MALDIVItrNA.

Rv H. C. p. Bnr,r,.

No. 1. UJtaivian Govsrnment pormit.Tho original ilfd.ldivian document, reproduced to two thirds

size on Plab f, was givon to tho no.itu, (thon attechod toH. M. Customs, Galle) by tho Mdlim, or Mastor, of aMSldivo Odi, which had boen driven into Weligama Bayby stress of rveather in Septembor lgg6, noarly fortyyoa,rs ago.

ft came to light somewhat recently, whon a miscollanoouso,ssort'mont of M6ldivian papers was being overhaulod.

Tho document is a form of ,,pormit,, issued bv tho Mr4,l_divian Governmont (at that, time under tho seal of the Sul!6,n,bub now-a-days stamped with that oL +,he Bodtt. Badi,rigC, orI(achcheri) to lhe Atoluueri, or Revonue Officer, of Haddum-mati Atol, on bohalf of an islandor namod Ku{a Irutu ofMun{ri, for the consbruction of a ,,nured,da Oitri,,,or vegsolintended for n'oreign Trade, et Dadbittfi, another fsland inthe same Atol.

Givon below aro:-(a) Lino-for-line Transoript of the Tdnawriting;* with (b) Word-for_worcl meanings in Englishundornoatht ; (c) lrTotes ; and (d) a running Translation.

I Like Arobic. read from rjght to left. Tho two particula,r ?dnolettora au,,ien,i a;nd..'1.aoie1ri. employed ;ii;'r";;;;;, (i) duplicarion ofeonsonants and 1ii1 siiont termi;ratiorr of *"ra., uppu." rospectivolytranscribed in brnckets thus :_ (rr\ , tli. " -

t Valuoblo aid towerds e bettor unclerstencling of the dooumonthas been kindlv rendored byny friend- L;11*;ildi, Kud,a Dorimin(tKitaselcin,r arid I. ,Abclri .ua-.ia Dtrti Efi;;;i:Mildivian GovornmonrIiepresontat,ive af Colombo, Uotl-, "o"."'.i*i.'il"ef,f* Didi, Bodttf)oritndnri Iiilageldnu, the present, a.ged prime Minietor at r\I616"

fVor. XXIX.100 J0URNAT,, .R.A.s.

(cnvt,or'r)

Transoriptl

HUWA'L GHANI

Ho (God) is richest in bountY.

ilro. 75.-1 9221 ExcERprA MAr,DrvrANA. l0l(10) -r oinaNf xonrr AN DUvaHU ,Ant

and givo (of) formor days u"oordirrg toMAGUN rrNI.tho custom (throughout) the (/it. your)

opr rnwouua(B)(of an) O{i for tho construction

(l l) Arol,u Aror/uAtols

KURA-done(I) AS-suLrAN

The Sult6,nISKAND,4iR!Iskandar.

MAHA.MMAD 'IMAD.UD-DtNMril.'ammad 'Imrl,cl-ud-din3

KULA SUNDUB,A r<a(.t)rrnr BOVANA

of puro race a Kshatriya of the WorldMAHA RIDUN5Groat King

ue(a,)ouwrre:rf o vl'nA HAvALA'{ftof Haddummati (Atol) tho rovonuo in charge of

rruBr ALAK.{.r na(ry)re-(who) is to tho sorvant and to tho inhabit-

-Tu EN1\[E IAQIR| er,uNe(ry) vrn.{r,.uont,s all poor sorvants (this is) the oxpressod

FA.TE8 FURA BA.Ordor (Paper). Tho Ancient

-ND.fRAe KTBATN MUNPf r o KUDA FUTU

Government from of Mun{ri Ku{a SutuET,A HAVALA-

sorvant authorisod-vE runa(ry)on oprvn(n)'t nnnouue(B)is (for) Foreign (trado) an O{i for the building

AN DUVA. .

(of) former days

-HU 'ln.lrx rune(ry) lneccording to the (usual practico) (for) X'oroign (trado)

OPI BANNiN IIA.an O{i to build-RIloE AT/d MAGUN

a shed of putting up in the (usual) m&nner

DABTDf-GAu HeRUGn AlLr Diat Dahbidri a shed (you should)eroct (ond) give.

nu(ry) xlPA MAGUNI'Coconut troos of cutting in tho (customary) mannorserfxl FANS.{s RU(B) xlP,4.-

100 50 ooconut troos (vou) must got cut

(12) -Nr vEGENvA trNME xer.rre(n) Mrin the usual way all *o"k '' lofinisoDr RENDU-

Odi (for) the building(13) -MA(&) no(B)ninaNi Konur 4 IZ}Tt s Banat.

(you must) got done LZ\T (Hijra) year.

Notes

n,... 1. Transcript;-Words or parts of words in Mdldivian'l an& , ato prrnted in small capitals ; words or parts in Arabic ,in italic larger_capitals; the w:ord for *ora -u"rrings and therunning tranelation in orclinary type, with li"iirr*rf,il"necoss&ry.

2. Sulttin,s Beal;_Sult6ne. Seale (voriouslv shanedr1pp9g at the top of rhe Annual Missivos d;l;'i";;h:,;;En,glish Governmonts in Co_ylon;

", *uh as on Mduldivianlatkolu, or grants, etc., issuod fy ihe Sotiarr, dir;J;;;;J"

3. Sultd,n Mil.hammail ,Imdd,_ud,-d6n IV. (A. C. lgli-188b:--Great srand.son, il_;il;- illu, 'tt,rorgh Sulf6nsHasan \Iirr-ud-d"in (A. C: lz78)

"na liui"nlmad Mrl,in_ud-gilJ. rt c.-rzee_), r-- Soria" n;;; Ailid_din (A. c. rzbe_1767), tho foundor of the Muli Dynasty.

His long reign of 4Z years was polit-ically uneventful, withono _i_mp_ortant excoption_the British Adiriraltv S;;;;; ^;;

li': -Yfl\d' :: _l::ltfJee " (carriod ""1

;"-ir,"-"".iiej;;1, ;inrs rule), an undortaking of International moment., Ilo was succeedod by his gecond son, S. ,Ibrr4,him

Nrir_ud-din-the older son_being ineligibl" ;;ilg to btindnoss_whoso oldesr son S. Muhalmmud St "*._uf-ai"

"iii'irit".gome. revolutionary vicissitudos, terminating with thb de-position of his couAin S. Muhammad ,im?d_ua-ain riirascendod tho throne. for rhe second tir"r;l;;. C.'isbiiSeo Sessional Papor, XV., lg2l , pp.20_ii.-

4. Iskanilar..._,,Tho Md,ldive Sult6ne havo agsumedthe .fulsomo cognomen Iskanilar-appii.J Uv A"r;-;;;Porsian writors t6 Alexancler tho Great' i il n"a", _ri' R;"d':

(2)

(3)

(-l )

(5)

(6)

(?)

(8)

(e)

loz JouRNAr,, R.a's. (cnYLoN) [Yor'. XXIX'

oerhaos bv r, irt,us of supposod dosoont from tho wide-ruling'Irkonilor' Dltti'll:artteitt' (' the two-horneil'). a traditionalFursian King of the n'irst R,aco, conlempo-ra-1y q!-Ab-ry|lp,and tenth iescendant from Noah ". (Bell : The Mdld'i'ae

Islanil,s. 1882, P. 76).

i;. Biruclas:-Honorific Sanskrit'ic-sir"rhelese epithots,sometimes lengthy, wero nttached to each Sul!6n, 9r Sglfrina'i"o* thu nrrT Sui1a" Muhammad-ul-Adit (A.C' 1153-4).

Variants occur in extant, Anriual Missivos of bhe l8th Century'Thesabirudas have beon curtailed since the l9th Century tothe stereotyped phraseology 'l Kula Sunduro Kcr'ttiri Booana

Mahd, Rad,ii,." 6n thoir coit s M6ldit'o Rulers have long styledthemselves in Arabic As-Sultd,n ul' bar ua'l bafur " Sul!5rn of

Land and Sea, f .e., Worl<l "' Loc. cit. p. 63'

6. Had,d,ummu'tt AtoI :"' Shapeit like a ham from N.E' t'oS.W. Lies between 73o.14' and 73'.36', longitude ;2o'7' and

i'.45' North latitudo, it stretchos approximately I7j miles

both from North to South and from East to West at broadest'seoarated" frorir Huvadri Atol on tho south blt the ono and 'fijii nuete" Charnel, ancl on the North from Kolumad.ulu'Atol by Ihe Vcimandri l(adu Chn.nnol.

The inhabited islands (13 in all) lie along tho Easternroof, ancl round that' to South ag far as M6'varu on theSouth-West.

A ver;r thriving Atol' Historigallv, -too, much in ovi-dence ; 'itt'tir alia, itJlargest Island, Isdri, having added one,

if short-liveil (A. C. l?all-1704), ch'nastY, to th-oso of -more

lhan eighty M6,ldive Suit6,ns I and anothor Island, Gan,,being

tUo Uirin-ptaee of two of tho compilors -of

the Td'rikh, or

Chronicle of tttu Mntaivo Sulf'6ns, viz : the Kdzis, Hlji,Hasaniai-oA-ai" and his grandson Haji ibr6him Shir6'j-uil'din'

Buddhist Ruins, reported to exist' on Gan and Mun{riIslands, were oxplored by tho v'riter in March, 1922'

7. Fac16r :-" Foor "; usod in tho sonse- of " helploss"'" commisori.to{.", tho Sult6,n standing to hls " poor sub-jocts " in loco Ytorentis,

8. Fate :-Orders, grants, otc., under Sulf6ns' seals-are

styled lal (pronounced iai)Jcol'u (royal *yF")' - laie:Si$-halese pota. V idd'lu f ate:uadd'la 'panata of Sigrholoso Sonnas '

9. nura BanQdra .'-*The regular term in documents fortho M6,ldivian Govornment. Iura -' " Ancient" (Sir1: purdna) ,

or " preominent " (Si4: para). Banddra " Used of the

" Sultbn " as woll a* in" ', Govornmont " (Si4 : Ba\t(dro).

No. 75.-1922] EXcnRl",\ MAtDrvrANA. f 03

l0 Llundti:--T\e fifth istand with inhabitants on theEastern reef of lfaddummati Atol, t u"i"g UaiUriat, fl"ii_yandri, Dailbidli, and fschi in succession to north of it.A dr4,gaba mound (ltug ago exploited bv the Muslimislanders to build their Mos[ue]and'""* ir, .,i^pf"t"l"i"j,

and other traces of Bucldhist-occupation w-ero examined here9.rr

M3l.h 2g _th-21sr, I eJJ. Trte mound (sranding ;it;;;ii;;the right of houses) in plate fl t is the iuinerl a?g;Ir". *-- ""

11. Iuredda Ad6 :_M6ldi'ia* vessels are usually classod,T.{".!9y* :- (t) Fired.tta_o{i (l*sth i;;;b ft.); (nf ii"iiQ8;. tz.z .t282 f! ) ; (t1i) ,Da,turi O{t 1ra to r s ft.)';' &l-aiOdi; (v) Mas D67t,i (boilr l"{ to zo fi.;..__, T.orttrgrly Fured,da Octi-faharu tradecl as far as Adon(west,) and Achin_1East). Nou adays l{o. (i) trade to Calcuttawrn _c_oconuLs; No. 1ii) t,o Cochin anrl Colornbo with drvtish (M. kuntmala ,na, .: SirS. untbtrla krd"; ;hi;i", X". ,lilia,re used for coastwise irade u.ithin the Atols; (iv1'anJ irl'rr!fishing boats.

Seo Plato IL B, for a Daturu Od,i enLoting M6.16 Harbour.1-2. Dabid,& lpronounced Ltailbidil,l.._l mmecliatelv to

south_of lsdri, at N E. eqd of rhe _reef ; and iro* uu.iy-ifuv*ono of the chief islands of the Atol. The present active oldAtoluue.ri (Headnan), Hd,ji'Ali Fulu Koyd,.'resides here. Thisrstand rs except,ronal in possessing a Turedd,a Odi.

13. Ru(r) kada ltlagutL;-Wjll also bear, the moanins ,, inthe Uoconut-cut,ting-Streot,,. Tirore are said to be"sueh" streets " for this purpose in some islands.

, 14. Ko(r)d,i,fatt6, koru :-Archaic expression found indocuments : the modern equivalent is koli1d,tyati.

15. A. II . 1297:A. C. Docombor 1bth, l87g-Decombor4th, 1880.

Translation

The Order vouohsafod b5' (His llighnoss) Sulfdr,n Mut,am-mad 'Imr{,d-ud-din Iskandar, a Kshatriya of puro race, GroatMonarch of the World, to tho person in chargo of Rovonue(Collection) at Haddummati (A.6ol), and to all (Our) poorsubjects.

(Our) servant Kuda tr'utu of Mundri (island) is (horeby)authorised by the Mri,ldivian Govornmont to build a,

Iureilda Odi.

r04 JouRNAr,, R.A.s. (cEYr'oN) [Yoi" XXIX'

(You should, thorofore,) havo a shed put up' acoording to

the usual practice at Dairbidir (island); and, (further) ' have

one hundrecl and fifty coconut trees cut down following the

customary mothod'.*(You rnust forthwith) get evorything donot for the

construction of this vossel in accord&nce rvith tho usage

obsorvod throughout the'i Atols for the building of such

vossels.

(Gra,nted, Ann'o l.I'iirae) 1297 yoar.

* Or' ,,from the Coconlb-crrbting Street".- 4t tlle present da-r

p.obatriy fr"t'f"* l.tir"ds cnul.l opaie s.c1t a drain orr theri. trces'

t Pois aqrrillo. (trlc os Reis ji tt'lIr -rnand:rdo'Ndo po'dc ,"i'pot oirtlem delogado (Carlluulls, viii' 82)"

I Literally " your" (fibri).

MAI,DIVIAN GOVERNMENT PERMIT:A. H.. 1297 (A. c. 1879-80).

PLATI! J.

PI,ATE IT.

IHADDUMMATI ATOLI MUNDU ISLAND,

No. 75.-19221 JorrrNGs FRoLr EURor'lrAN ttusn{rMs l0E

JOTTING$ FROM EUROPET,N MUSE{,MS"While the Sun and the lIoon shall endure.,, That

is a' manner of expression naturar to me' of arr races anirclimes, andl lvords to that effect were frequently employedby Sinhalese kings to signify the perpeluity of a-grantmade by them. Moreover, in order to emphasi "u th.

,, same idea, it was usual to engrave figures of the Sun andMoon on the document itself, rvheilier it was on stone oron metal. This practice was b-v no means peculiar to theSinhalese; in the Assyrian Gallery at the Louvre there isa boundary pillar of King Melichikare, v,ho reignerJ1144-1130 8.C., of black rnarble, containing the Lmosymbols p aced in the same nlanner as on the familiarstone Sannasa. The Sun is showrr as a circle, withinwhich appea,r eight ra_vs; ,the Moon is a crescent ; and inaddition there is also a sta,r. fn Siniralese documentsthe figure of a dog or snake is sometimes shor.n, indica_ting the destiny in a future birth of *hoever transsressedthe grant; it is therefore interesting. to see u .Jorp ooadded in another similar pillar of King Nazi Maraddlch,1350 B.C.

fn a,ncient Sinhalese images the el.es were cut out of'white crystal with a hollon, in the under surface, inwhich was set the pupil, consisting of a disc of blueglass. The whole was fixed in a metal frame and thus.attached to the statue, and an e1'e of the same shape asthat usedl in Ceylou has been discovered at the palale ofSar:gon in Korsabad. It is made o,f ivory. and ihe pupilseems to be of black glass. The shape is quite ditrere,ntfrom tha,t of the usual round eye of agate. At thispalace there have also been found pelforated discs ofstone which recall the familiar elay cliscs obtained atvarious ancient centr€s in Ceylon, fron Tissamaharamato Kantarodai.

The Sinhalese,. ivory comb, with its trvo rows ofteeth, and pa,nel of pierced ornament in the centre, isrvell known. The Paris Museums show ihat theAssyrians were familiar with such ccmbs in ivory andhorn, the usual design on the panel being the figirre of

MAI,DIVIAN DATURU ODI