ItSINHALESE EMBASSIES TO ARAKAN.

I

I

\l

.l

:

*{i

,BY

Srn D. 13. Jayarrr,axe

(Presid,ent, Royal, Asiatta Society, Ceylon Branch,)

When Vimaladharrna_- I (1592_1604) had firmlvestablished himself .n the Thro'e of t<anav'att"" a"f""ii"iHajasinha of Sir,au.uha :rnd the p";"g;;-J i;;;;";.';?1i:territory, tre turnecl his attention to tle i"t"""ni ntnir.l]the kingdom. Confusion antl ai*rJ"" confronted. himeve-rywhere. Attacks from outside and internal aissensionsh?d utterlv disorgnnized the sociai llf" of the countrv-educatron h;rd been neglected, und religion had lost ii;hold upon the peopte. "The-

Sangha haj, "irt;;ilf-;;r*;;to exist, so much so that the rihole country could ;;;muster five ordainerl ]lhikkhus. Virnaladharma ""*olilito remedy this wretched state of affairs. In ".d;; ;;resuscitate the faith. of the pe-ogle, he turned fo. U"fp, *idid_ Vijayabahu I in the -12th

century, to Bu".rra' oryltfer_ to that part of Burma which was known to the( Srnhttlese rs Rakkhanga Desa and to the Burmese as$r,ak1n. - Ilthough the portuguese had bv that time estab-tlsned thernselves in the maritime districts, intercoursewith the outside world had not yet been closed to theSinhalese Government,. Vimalad"harma despatched ;;embassy to Rakkhanga Desa and got tfr" *i"g ;i tlr;country to send out a number of Jompetent frt itffr"r,headed by two eminent, Theras-Nandicakka and Candivi-sala-to re,estabiish Upasampada ordination in Ceylon. TheMahavansa (Chapter O4: tf-ZZ) gives a brief description oithis event. A full account oi ihis first embassy to'Arakanhas not yet been discovered. ft cannot possibly b" tt;t;;such account was written at, the time, and f.rt.,ru investi_gations may yet bring to light a detailed report 6f thismission.

The revival inaugurated by Vimaladharma I did notunfortunateiy last long. The King himself did not livelong enough to complete his labours. The whole of thereign of his successor, Senaratana, (1604-1692) and a

Jo(rnN,\r,, R.,\.s. (ctvi,ox) [\rol. XXXY No. 9jj-1i,101

1. Siraight length rlorsalllfrom crrrni:r1 brrmpsltr I'ool ol tril .

2. Height frorn sole to(:-l'u\\ n .

3. Girth of waist .

4, (,lirth of {orer iinrb5. I)epth of ear'6. 1',eugth of lrorh'

TIII] ASIA.I.J(J EL-!,PHANT

trappings, and at times a bell on each sic1e, jnclicated thatthey lvere either protohistoric or historic. 'I'he specimenti6lrrred (fig. 15 b) l:rcl<s these bel1s.

Although the Tabbov.i area is believecl to ]rave beenalrrrrrdorred betn'cen the 13th ancl 14th centuries A.C", thefacrt that these figures are tilted by earth movement sug-gests that they are probably lrror:e antique^ Supportingsuch a view is the discovery within a rnile od this placeof othcr pottery painted recl, \r'ith peculiar extcrnalcriss-cross, basket rvork riclges, inclentical with potteryfound n ith scconrl centlrr\ -statues at Ambalantota, in theSout,hern Province. In adclition to these potsherds r,r,as

founcl a Iloman copper coin also thougirt to be second cen-turv-l\.(1.

Protohisl,oric burirrl lrrns shapecl iike :rnimalsoccur in South lnclia, rrncl nonrlv lifc sized rnodclsof vrrrious species of rlrrirnals such as horses, ele-phants, etc., are knorvn frorn ruins connected rvjth thervorship cif the gorl Aiventrr. In Ccr,'lon, suclr tinds areunknovi'n, a fact which increnses the importrincs of the pre-sent discovery restrictetl as it is to a single species ofanimal. It is possiblo th:lt thcse elephants servecl the samepurpose ancl that further excavation rlight reveal otheranirnr:Lls, a.rrangecl jn sjniiar uroups in contrast to themiscellaneous inrrangement founrl in India, ancl that thevare connet:terl rtith thu rl.orship of l(iild Deviyri,T the Lorclof the forest. It is also pcssible th:rt they were eitherintendetl as a magic.il protection :lga;nst, the rvild elephantsu'hich still ribouncl in this rrrea, or \rrere ornaments in a,

paiace gard(]n, or tlrr:.v nrighi, be thc remains of the storeof a potter who specializccl in such u'or:li. Whatever thcexplanation, the completeneBs of the rorvs Buggests thehasty abandonrnent of t]le settlcmcnt.

The mcasurcnents cif thc tno sizes of elephants arers I'ollo$ s :-

TABLE n.Sm.aII

27ri

,l'grerter plrt of the rcign of t,he next l(ing, Il,ajasinha II,ftOaZ-tOS+) rrrls sTrent in contjnuous figirt,ing against theitortuguese.' Though this terrible struggle ceascd with theexpulsion of the Por:tug-rrese in 1656 and,llajrrsinha lived. Jor

rur.,r.e th,rn qtrilrtL-rr of :r r:elrturv trfter: that ervcnt, the ironof bittur clisappointtrent ai, the treratrnent he recejved frornhis.l)rrtch allies had entcredtris soul, nnd beyontl clefcndingthe integritv of his terrjtory, he dirl little to impror-e thecondition ol l'ris srrbjects. Once again religion gradualJy-tost its hold upon the pcople ancl religious observances andpractices fell into ilisuse. When \rirrralailharma II suc'ceerled his lather in 1684, the social and rnoral conditioilof the peopie hirtl becorne as hopeless as jt $'as a hunilredyerrs ,,ru'ii,,r rvlrcn h'is grancl-rrncle, Vimaladharma I,initi:rteil iris rcforrrs.

l[']re rrcrv King n rs of a peacefr.rl disposition. ]Iis rela-tions rvii.h thc I)ritch \{ere on the r.r'irole trienclly ancl henrled the corurtrv rl'ith justice rtritl rtrocleration. llis reig^n of22 rr,,:rrs u.its thtts free from trritrblc. lllhis respits from rvatanci strife tlre T(ing ttrrnecl into good accoLrnt for promotingthe rvelfare of thu cotrntrv. Naturrrll.v piorrs and clevoterlto his I,-rrittr, hc fourrd that the 'sangha hail becomethoroughlv cr:xrtrpt ;tnd unu'ortlrv to be the cusiotlians ofthat ir:riiir anrl- tcaohcrs of the people. Follorving theexample of his granrl-rrncle (\iinralrrtlharma I), he clecidedto ri,ppeal to r\r:rilran {or help in otrler to re-establish orilina-tion.

- t'or t'lris 1)llrpo,cc tu'o cnrbrsqjes I'ere sent, thc firstto obtrlin rnfor:rliation rs i,o the state of Buc]clhism in tbatcountrr, anrl ths secontl io bring oYcr A number of compet-ent Rhikl<hrts in order to perforrn the ordination ceremony'I have been fo:trlnate enor.rgh to sccure :1n ol:r, manuscriptrvhich gives a fairlv futrl accr.rtrnl; of thcse embassies u'ritten,as the context m,rkcs it clear:, b-v one of the Sinhaleseenvors, nrost probrrbl.y b.v Sivtgrtrita Pitndit'r I'hrcliyanse,who lvas a membet: of both thc llmbassies. It is a clocu-

ment rvhich, I think, is u'ell t'orth publishing I'vitli notesancl expl:rrrat'ions. Leaving that ta.sk for a frrtrrre occasion'I propose now to qivs :t, short sltmmarY of the content-q rrf

this rnanuscript.Tlro lirst crnbrssv t'lesp,rtchecl by Virnalaclhnrmn iI

was coruposerl of lhe follou'ing olficials:-J)oilanvrl:r Flcrrat I'Itrcli)-ilnsc!Jr, ii Lr r irr lr-atte 1)i sln iilin I{Lrrli I l'rnse, a nttr

Sit hgitttrrl l)andita \Ilrclili'rnstl.The retinuc of these glvir-:fs totrrllerl 20.

33'2 cur

il9'6 cm15 '2 c,nr

{l'7 c:rn

l0 '4 oir34'1 cn.r

Large

'? 42'5 cw".

? 57'Ct crn.? 26'1 cnr.

10'6 cne.12'9 crrr.43 'l cm.lt

irlt-n\1r,, n.:r.s. (cerr,ox) [Yor,. XXXV"

guns. If the Sinlialese envoys expected that all the obsta-cles in their way had been removed, they were soon disillu-sioned. The Commander od the Fort gave peremptory ordersthat no one on board should be allowed to land. In thispredicament the Ambassadors made use of the Interpreter(Tuppasi;'a) to make representations on their behalf to thehigher authorities, with the result that the Commander ofthe Fort came on board with six permits to three Sinhaleseand three Dutchmen.to land and obtain necessary suppliesof water ancl firewood. Tlrereafter the envoys ieceived avisit frcm the Chief of the. Port (styled ,Sahabandu) andthe Commander of the Fort who came to inquire whetherthe;, would ergree to harrd the Pali document rvhich they hadbrought with them on board the ship, or at i'ome \Iiharein the presence of the Sangha, or whether they sought anaudience of the King for the purpose. The Ambassadorsreplied'ihat they could present the document only to theKing in audience. Four days after, anotirer pair of offieialsappeared and questioned the envoys as to the object oftheir visit antl whether thev lvere really emissaries from theKing of Ceylon. Upon their repeating that assurance, theoflicials stated that they had received orders to remove tothe Court the Pali dotument and the two Bana bookswhich ths ambassadors had brought with them. Thesewere handed to the officials who escorteil them in proces-sion amidst the firing of guns. The suspicion rvhich theArakan Authorities had entertained having at last beenremoverl, the Sinhalese arnbassadors \\rere allowed to lanil.'Ihey were lodged in suitable quarters near the harbour,rvhere high ollicials of the Court visited them with thefollowing presents ;-

200 rupees.15 brrnches of coconuts.74 ,, ,, plantains.2 baskets of oranges.2 ,, mandarins.

nasnariin.iemons.guavas.liiitrimbilla

oc)

o

Such gifts were repeated on several occasions during the.stay of the envovs in Arakan. Some time after the Am-bassadors were requested to confer s'ith a high dignitaryof the Court (styled Sikh:) as regards their mission. After.several interviews and conferences rvith various officials,audience was granted to the envoys who were escorted to,

-i\o. 93-19.101 srrvrrAr.ESE IIMBASSTEs ro ARAKAN

tho palace in procession with elephants. The Kinegraciously received the Sinhalese Ambassadors and heardthe purpose of their visit to Arakan and promised his help.The Ambassadors returned to their loilgings and remain6d.there until the King's reply was prepared.. Then they,embnrked and arrived in Colombo on the 10th day of thebright half of the month of Durutu. On their way to Kandya number of Ministers, headed by the Adigar Yalagoda metthem at Kosgama and escorted them to the Capital, whichthey reached on the l1th clay of the bright half of themonth of Vesak (May-June) in the Saka year 1616 (1694A..C.)",that is nearly a year after their ileparture on theirmlssron.

The account of the second Embassy to Arakan givenin this manuscript is exceedingly brief. The mission leftKandy on Thursday, the 7th day of the bright half of themonth of Asala (July-August) in the Sakrr ye'iir 1618(1696 A.C.). The Embassy consisted of the following,officials:-

Dodrr,nvaLa Herat \{udi;ianse,Bdminivat'te Disdndka Mudiyanse,Garnpartra \/ijetunga Nludivanse,Sivagama Pandita Mudiyanse, anclGrrlagama \,[ohottlla.

It will be noted that three of these officials formeil the firstemb,rssv.

The envoys were entrusted with a, Royal letter andvaluable presents to the King of Arakan, and 550 sets of,ata pirikaras (eight requisities) anil other offerings to the'Sangha. They embarkecl at Colombo and. arriveil in due.course at the Capital of Arakan. The King received themin audience, and soon preparations were set on foot to,send out a number of ordained Bhikkhus to Ceylon.'Thirty-three Bhikkhus were selected for the purpose, underthe leadership of the great Theras, Santana and Loka-ragapudgala. The envoys having accomplished theirmission returned to Ceylon with the Bhikkhus and havinglanded at Colombo they immediately proceeded on theirway to Kandy. Court olficials sent by ihe King met themat different p"oints on the journey, until they reached A!ta-pitiva where a halt was" made to enable a deputationheacled by the Adigar, Yalegoda Nilarne, arriveil to-eseortthem to ihe Capitil in a riagnificent- procession' Vimala-dharma receivea the Arakanese Bhikkhus with greathonour ancl lodged them at Malvatte Yihare' On the 13tir.day of the bright half of the month ol Bah (April'May!

rolRNAr-, R.A.s. (cnrloN) [\ior,. XXXV.

in the Sakrr year 1619 (169? A.C')., in a special auili-qlcehall erecl,ecl

'in front uf the Dalada Maligawa the Kingreceived the envoys in audience v'hen the reply of theKing of Arakan was presentecl to llis Majesty.

Mr. rP,akelnan sa,id that t'he History Department of the'Unive'rsity of Il'a.ngoon mighi be able to give irrformation as tothe aut rorities consu,lted by "$[r. ]Hral'\'ey f ot' tlrrl ptrrpose ofgiving the dates, ''which ruight' throrv light otr t'he curious dis-crepancy referred to b5' the lecturer'.

Sir Ralon r:eplied tbnt Hnrl'e1' seems to have consulteil the"ll,.l"ttt".e a uthorities on this q.,'".tiott. Yet t'he iletails in hisIlistory and the ola' do nof corl'espond, especially jn

-the matterof the , dates. It is the date o'f the enrlbassy n'hich warrantlinve*tigrlllon "5 [reilrg verl itrtlrortattt.

Dn, P,tn.lxlvr".{}rA aslied tYho l\ra.s the rvr:iter of themanuscnipt,,Srn B,qnox: "Iterhaps it is one oI the am'bass:rdors who 'vyeni,'

on troth embassies. lt is written in the first, person zlnrdi rrray

have been written b-v Siva,gama llanclitn Mudiyanse."Srn B,r.nox Jev.rtrl.tna in I-eply to th.e criticisms olfered by

Dr. Pie,risr sai.d that he dic-l rlot mlrintain that the Sinhalese''w'ere deliberately i.na,ocura,te in their sta,tcrnerlts. He said thett}e Sinh,ll,ese amib.assaclors lvere \rery tliplorna tic in their'Anbrlers which rvere of tcn anttr.ittg.

For example, he saicl. 't'hat *-hen the Sinhalese I'ere asitetll.hat presents they brought for the .liing of Arahart the amhas-.sadors me',rely extollecl tho viltues of the l{ing orf Cq'1611.

One question askod 'lvas as follorvs : -

(reacl out from the

a. llas the King of Ceylon got no boatsdo 5ou travel in a Dntch boat?

A" The l(ing of l(andy irad all sorts ofNot thrat he ilid not, have boats. He

and lrhv

dreed got severailt lboats.

Sir Baron sa,id tha,b the a.nsrvers I'ere not strictlv accuratebut were very diplomatic. He said th'a;b details had been ii,ser-teil in tlie martuscript verl' rrarefull)' ,as for exrttlple even thenurniber of guns firecl on 'different oc,oa,sions is mosti c,alel'ul,lyrecorded.

NIn. Il. \\r. Pnnnn.q, asked ltow;Sir Bnron reptried that it rvas

from rvhom he secured it,.

The meeting a,djourned with a

Ja.1':rtilalia ploposed b1- i)I'. P:rrtl

thc ol:rfonn'd br

vote of thanlrs toPieris:

cliscovet'ed.Buddhist priest

Jlrron,

No. 93-19401 .I'TIE ASIA'T'IC EI,!:1'HA\'1'

SOME ASPECTS OF THE ASIATIC

ELEPHANT IN

ZOOLOGY AND ETHNOGRAPHY :

PART II.

BY

?. E. P. I)nnlNrvec,qlA, M.A. (Cantab'); a'u' (Ifarvard');

F.C.P.S' ; F.L.S. ; F''Z'S'

Divector,Colombo Musett'm &nd' Acting Ditector of F'isheries'

(With one plate and five toxt figures)

Zoology

T. The Suant,P EtePhant of CeYton'

The first article of this series drew attention t'o the

subclivision of the Asitrtic elephant into numerousi"o.i"=', r'vhich experiencecl Asiatic mahouts claim they can

accuratel-v deterrn-ine together rvith the .locality of capture

"i1fl" i".iitdual; if this'be so, scientific investigation light

reveal that sorne o{ these 'castes' are valiil races an'l that

Elephas maximtus l,inne. exists tts a 'foremenkreise' of

unusual interest.Thisvier'l.isSupported.b.rthefact.thattheAsiatic

elenhrrnt. unlilit' the'.\fri''rn " selclonr fornges over great

;l;i;;;;;' -'l-n ur.'.l., stress of great 'lea-rth

will it ieave

it- ifirltii to ivhich, hor'r'ever, it'returns directlv.lh?.t"t":commcnce. This homing tendency is easrly- verrnaDle uJ

investigating the ntovernents of "rogues" whrch are xepi'

,,".i"" lrUt".""ation {or obvious l'eason;' Generallr'- a rogue

"i.pi -"f it fortnd to ""*.n in its clistrict'' even if frequent-

lv 'u,oundeci, ancl is eveutualh kiiied in it'Thcre is ot*o ,"n.i"""1"t-;"fp"ti"g th-at t'he herds r'rf

n"y o".-Ji.toict consist of an assemll-age,of consangurneous

families. Shoutd trt"'-.rpplv "i ltaa* be limited 'lito"qh

plt'"""i"r, ii' tt""rd tJ''t'""t'tt"it localization' resulting in

greater in-breerling t."nL *n"ltt otherwise be the case'