The Ancient Emporium of Kalah in the Empire of Zabedj.
Transcript of The Ancient Emporium of Kalah in the Empire of Zabedj.
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31{}YAT,,
AS{ATIC
SOCIETY.
CEYLON
BRANC}I.
Tl{E
A,A{CIEI\'T }X},{PORIUI\T
OF
I(AT,AII
IN
TIIE
E}'{PIRtr
OF
ZABNDJ,
.as
A clxYLoN
toRT,
aND THII EARLY
COLONIZATION
OI
THE
rsr,AND, SUBSIIQUENT
TO TIIE IVAR OF
Rri.MA
AND
n;ir'varyl;
wlrrd
${,}I[E
NOTES
01{
ITA
HIAN'S
ACCOUI{T
OF
CE}:LON,
Bv
II.
Nnvrr,r,,
Esq., C.C.S.
Iw
the
vcry
contplefe
compi'lation
of ancient
accounts
of
Ceylon,
wirich Sir
E.
Tennent
gives
in
the
first
Volume
of
his
rvork
on the
Island,
he
proceeds
(after
gil'ing
most
interesting
notices
of the
eurporiuur
in Taprobane,
or
Serendib,
through
vhich
the
luxuries
of
Dastern
Asia
were
gathererl
for the
marlrets
of
the
West)
to
acldrrce
reasons,
which
appeared
to
liim
plausible,
as
to
the
identification
of the
ancient
I{alah
with
the
motlern
Galle.
He
frrst clearly
shows
the errors
into
which
Bertolacci
and
other
authors
hacl
fallen, and
then
suggests
the
fresh
site, in
wirich,
as
I now hope to
prove,
he
was
deceivecl
by a
mere
similarity
of sound.
In
the
first
place,
rve at
once
fail to
trace
on
our
S.W.
coast
the
numerous Islancls
liniug
the
shore,
wiiich
forrn
so
strihing
a
portion of
tlic
ilescription
of
the
eilrlier writers"
I
["
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lr
I
ii
68
JouRliAT,
Ir.
a"
s.
(cuvr.ox).
ftr'oi.
YtrI",
Pl. ]
i.
Again,
thc
craurped
anrl lod;y
crecli
knor"."n
oo
Gal le
I[lir*
bour
cln
scarcely
be idcntificri
with
the
capnciorts
(
Iinzr:ri'
*t:'
lagoon,
and lranquil inlarrd
wilter,
rvhicli
is
oiierr
spoiren
of ir,r
conncction with
the
emporium
tif l(alali.
Furt'her, rve have
evcry
reas{)n
to regard
tlie
Gallc
neiq-L*
lioulli,rod
as of,
comparatively
reccnl
civilizir,tir:n;
r,tr.l
posse
s"ririg
lbrv lnr,ient historica,l trariitions, at.l(1
ilo ancient
iiistorical
rcmains.
Neitlier
iu the
extrerne cot:ner
of
the
liingtlttm
cvct:
gi,rarulccl ftrr its lcgitimate
Sovercigns
by
the
lo.val,
brave.
anttr
indel,.sndsr;
mouutaineers
of liuhuna, can
we trarcc the
hllf"
?*ruitr
riistrict
of
Kalah,
'which
o\vned
tire
srvay
of
tlie
Mahr'r-
rijirs
of
'labed1,
the Sultans
of the
Islcs, who,
as Cosrnas
in
A.
D" 550,
(strpporied
by
Abou Zel d iu A.
D.
9i)0,
)
fclls
us l'erc
'tylutrut
ritrLiltror"
(opliosed
to,
or indepentlcnt i;f,
each
cltlierr'
.vhcn
spol;s11
of
in corijunction
rvith the
l{ing rvho
had
t}re
l{yacinth.
-[t
may
be
r,ve]l
to
renrarh
ircle
tirai,
the
recntriiig exprc-tsion
{
the
Iiing
rvho
iras
tire
l{yacinth,'x
scarcely
ret.ers
i,o
the
gteat
gen
tliat was
mountetl
on
t,he
pinnacle
of
a
lofty
tltiyJobn',
artl
is
celcbra,tecl
Lry
the
ttavellels
to
tire
roral city
;
or
yct
to
the
blue
sta,Lrie
oli
Tluddha
tle.qclibecl by
lt'a L{ian, butrather
mcil,ns
'the
I(ing wlio
h.ad
ihe
couni,ry
lvhere the
Elyacinth
wa,s
firunrl,'
i,
a.
S*l-raragamuvra
arcl
the acljaccut
Flighlands,
ancientl;'
incl
utlctl
in
llulruiia.
FLu'ther',
a$
lve
&r'e
told
b;' Abou Ze;'d,
Lrei,ween
the
kingc'loln
rvith the enporinm and the
Il;'acinth
couutry lies
thc
pepper
country-n
remarli
posil,ively
not
aprrlf
ing
fo
Galle,
bui
at
once
undersl,oocl,
if
rve
ailn'rit, as
Ihope hereaftel
to ,qhciw
is
the
utse, tltut
l{alah
is
t/tr,, N.W,
coast
bttttreett, the
Arippu,
rit'cr
(
t,4,e utzcir:ttt
lia,da'nba.
)
o"ntl
the
Decluru-oya;
rvhen
the
expres-
sion
may
be
amirlifierl
irto,
bctweeu
Putt,alarn
l)istrict
an
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0
rouRNAL
R"
A. s.
(crvlox).
[Yol.
VII.,
1'L'
Itr"
are
naturally
left to believe that
once
there,
the
mariners
recognised
the country,
kne'w
their way
home,
and
ran
no
further
risk.
Also
had there
not
been
regular
intercourse
betweerr
that
port and
the
Red
Sea,
how
woulcl
the
Romans
have
found
their
way
home
? and
is
it
likely
an
embassy
would
liavc
been
sent
had
it
not
been
recogr:ised
that
there w&s
no
difficulty
in
the
relations
of
the two
countries
?
On
the contrary,
once
arrived,
having
recruited
their
strength,
the
saiiors
start
off
home
as
if
on
a
beaten
track,
and
without
cornment
on
their
safe
return,
bring
an
embassy
and
presents-
Furthet,
fl'om
I'Iiny's
sileuce,
there
can
be
no doubt the
embassy
wenb /tortte,
and
was
not condemned
to
a
perpetual
exile
at
Rome
;
and
in
consequence
doubtless
of
its saf'e
return
with
presents,
rve
find
another
arr:iving
in
Rome,
'wheu
.Tulian
was
Emperor'
Fifty
years later stiil,
in
A.
D. 110,
Ptolemy
gives
his
wonderful
map
taken
down
from
the
nalratives
of
sailcrs,
which
clearly
shows
how
weii
our
N.W.
coast was
linown
even'
in
its minuiest
details,
and
the
course
of
its
rivers
inland.
In
A.D. 41,0
Palladius
writes,
o;r
the
fhith of a
Theban mer-
chant,
that
in
the
rieighbourhood
are
a
thoustlncl
i*"landEr
one
group called
I'{aniotrte,
and
five large
rivers.
Now,
in the
bounclaries
assumed
for
Kalala
we
have
a
chain
of
islands
recently
joiued
and
forming
the
Akliara-pattu of
I(alpitiya,
the
long
islancl
of
Khrativu
(no cioubt
tJren a
group
of
detaolLed
islets),
aud
various
others
scattered from
Putta,lam
to Kutiraimalai,
while
on
the
l{orth are
Mapnirr,
Iiduesstllam,
and
the
adjacent
grollp,
parts of
which
are
now
connectecl
by
santlbanks,
and
form
Adam's
bridge
;
doubtless
tlie
IIa-
niolae.
Beyond
these
again
are
the
islands
of Jaffna,Delft
and
many
others.
By
this
hypothesis
the
untenable
supposition
of
Sir
E.
Ten-
nent and
1\{. landresse,
that the
far
distant
Mdldives
were
referred
to,
is
at
once avoideti"
No.
2.1.*188i.]
ANCTENT
KALArr,
Erc,
Ol
'Ihe
five rivers
accurately answer
to
tlie
Aril'1,u ot
Eatlaml'a
river,
the Kal6-oya,
the n{orachchikatti
liver
uear
Kutiraimalai,
the
Mf-oya and the Deduru-oya
In
A.
Il.
550 0osmas, writing
the
traveis
of
Sopater, tells
how on
thaf
trader's
arrival
at
the
emporium
he
learned
that
the
Hyacinth
was
founcl
boyond the pepper
country.
This,
1.he
ancient
}ftlvri-rata,
the
l {ahii,rva4sa
tells us
rirr}s
bounded
on the
Ncrth
antl.South respectiveiy
by the
Deduru-oya
and
the Kelani-
Bafga,
accurately elclosing
ancl dividing
the
(pepper'
from
the
(gem'
districts
and the
district
iu
.lr'hich
was
the ernporiurn"
A,gain,
he
says
around
it
are a
rnultitude
of
small
islands
containing
fresh
water and thickly
covered
with
palms
pro-
ducing
the
Indian
and the
aromatic
rruts.
In
the
islands
now
forming
the
Akkara-pattu
as far
as
I(alpiti;'a
are
abundant proofs
of
ancient
groyes
of cocoanut
and palmyra
palms,
an'l
the
latter
from
which
palm-sugar,
and
a
sweet paste
called pfi,natu, is
prepared,
was
perhaps
the
aronatic
nut,
ancl
not
the
areha, which is
a
hiii-growirg
species
and
not
likely
to
have
becn
valued
by the
lMestern
ttaders.
It
is
also of
course
possible
the
alomatic
nut
was not
grown
but
imported
for export,
and
Cosmas'
informers
mistaken
in
their statement.
l\'ith
regard
to
the
special notice
of
the
abundance
of
fresh
wa,teL
even
at this
day,
all
visitors
a,re
surprised
to
find
that
excellent
water
may be
got
in
ail
the
islands,
and
the
Akkara-
pattu, at
a
foot
ol
so
in
depth,
while
on
the mainland water
is
extreniely scarce, only
obtained
b;r
dssttt.lls
and
ancielt
tanlrs.
Sopater
was
presented to
the
King of
the district
in
which
was
the
empr-rrium,
who
was
independent
of, ol
opposed
to,
tire
Iiing
that had
the
Hyacinth.
Iu
A.
D.
850
Soleyman, a
trader
who
had
made
many
voyages, described
Aclam's
Peak
and
the
district
around
as
that
wliich
produced
the
gems,
thus
identifying
the
llyacinth
country
of Cosmas
with that
part
of Ruhuna.
f
\i
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62
rolrnNAr,
ll. A.
s,
(cnrlox).
[llol.
VlI.,
pf.
IL
The
Island
was
then
(A.
D.
8b0) still subject to
its
two
Kings,
he
tells
us.
Iflhen
in
his corrtinuation
of this
work
Abou Zeyd
describes
Ibn
Wahab's
yoyages
(Teunent's
Ccylon,
Vol. 1, p.
587;
the
still water
lagoons
in
wirich
he
so
delightecl,
and
where
he
spenf months
in
coasting
about,
coultl
only
have
been
one
c'f
the lagoons
either
of Jafi'ua,
Ka.lpitiya,
or Batti-
oa,loa,
((
and it is evident,
from
the
narratives
of
Soleyman
and
Ibn
Wahab, that ships
availing
themseivesff
the
monsoons
to ct:oss
the Indian
Ocean,
crept
along
the
slore
to
Cape
Comorin,
antt
pa,ssecl
close
by
Ada,m's
Bridge
to reach
their
ctestined ports.',
Aipage
591of the
same
work
it
is
said
:-.(
The
assertion
of
Abou
Zeyd
as
to
the
sovereignty
of the
}Vlaharaja
of
Zabedj
at
Kalah,
is
consistent
with
the
statement
of
Soleyman,
that
'
the
Island
was
in
subjection
to
two
nronarchs.",
In this
we
find
still another
strong
support
for
our argumcnt,
since
the
whole
N.W.
coast
and
Jaffna
has
from
the nnost
ancient tiares
been
peopled
by Tamils
anil
Moors,
thus
account-
ing
for the district
being
under
tlie
Llah6rd,jris
of
Zabetlj,
wiro
from
B.C'
100
to
A.
D.
700 extended
their
empire
and ruled
the
Malay
fslands, Kalah,
and
Travancore
;
and
it satisfactorily
accollnts
for
the
silence
preseryed
by
the
priestly
annalists
of
the
Kings
who
possessed
the
Hyacinth,
as
to the
commercial
wealth
of.
their
rivals
who governedthe
ter.ritory
in
which
was
the
great
emporium.
Sir
E.
Tennent also cluotes
lhe
((
Garsharqt-.Nonoalf'
of
about
the 10th
century,
in which the
Mnhdrdj6
having
requested
Persian
aid
against the
'(
Shah of
Serendib,"
one
Baku,
a fleet
is
sent,
which
lands at Kalah
and
obtrins
a
signal
victory
over
Baku
;
ancl this seems authentic,
as
the
empire
of
Zabedj
was
then
breaking
up,
and
the Kalah
Yiceroy
likely
to
seeh
aid
from
Persia,
whose
merchants profiierl
so
largely
by its
trade,
and
indirectly
proving the
old enroity
between
Rnhuna
and
Kalah,
a
feud
at once
understood
as
between
the Tamil
port
and
the
SiShalese
capital,
but not alplicable
to
Galle.
No.
24.-
1881.]
ANcrENr
r(Ar,aH,
.Erc,
63
This
llaku
may
have
been
only
a
General, ol
he may
hnve
treen
the
Far/llrrama
Pd,ndi
or Bhhu,
who
in l05g
rvas
lriceroy
of lluhuna
according
to
the
Mahdwapsa,
which also
refers
to
fhe
Solian conquest
and
frequent
irruption
of
foreigners
cluring
the end
of the
1Oth
century.
Ilaku in
either
case
is
no
doubt
a
coltupt
speliing
of Bri,hu.
Still
later
in
1347
Ibn
Batuta
visited
the
districb
'where
tlie
traders
weut
for
cinnamon,
and lancling
at a place
called
(Bat-
thla' (eithel
Puttalam
or
some port
nearer
the Battala-oya)
whence
he
crossed
a
river
(the
Dgcluru-oya)
and reached
the
port
of
'Salfr,wat,'
still
called
in
Si4halese
by
that
name,
a,
little
on
the
Battala
side of
which
the infitlel
King's
territory
ceased,
thence
turning inland
he
reached
(
I(anhdr, (?
Gangd,
sripura),
either
Gampola
or
one
of
the
Sabaragamuwa
towns
on
the
Kelani-Saf;Sar
and
ascending
Adam,s
peak
he descentled.
to
(
Dinaur'
(Detu-nuaara,
Deuundara),
or
Anglice
Dondra,
rvhence he
returned
by
(
Kdli'
and
.
I(olambfr,'
then
a
flourishing
port,
to
'Battir,la.'x
This
route
would have
been
from
Dondra,
by the
ancient
port
of
\Veligam
and
the
village
of
Hiniclum,
through
the
trYalalltiwiti-k6ral6
to
Kalutara,
and not
Galle
;
ancl
(
I(ili,'
doubtless
is
a comuption
of
the word
Kalu-gaqga-tara:Kalu-
Laru, i.
e.
the
ferry
over
the black
(hatu)
fiver.
I
would
here
invite
special
attention
to
the
expression
((
the
infidel
King"
used
by
Ibn
Batuta,
when
contrasting
the
King
of
the
district
in
which
was
the
port
with the
Buddhist
King
who
ruled
the
rest
of Ceylon.
Its
use
by the
Arabian
in
this
contect
shows
the
King
of
Kalah
was
not
a
Buddhist,
but
of a
religion
hostile
io
that
of
the priestly
annalists, who
drew up
the
chronicles
of the
Kings
of
Anurddhapura
ancl
Polonnaruwa, and
accounts
for
their
silence
uponthe
flourishing
port,
and
busy
commerce
settled
in the
maritime
state
of,
[."
il
ri
r
I
I
/[
il
il
t11
ilt
lil
{L
't
[,
lt
il
l,']t
*
tr,ee's
t'
Travels
of Ibn I3atuta,"
1829,
pp.
I83-lgl,
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8/12/2019 The Ancient Emporium of Kalah in the Empire of Zabedj.
5/15
J
A. s"
(tlf;Yi,0ll).
[Vol'
YII',
Pi'
II'
rs
it
were
of
tire
hated
Tn'ririls,
so
lilo.
24.-*1881"j ANClnNr
r{ALArr,
Drc.
we
are
told'that
onc
of
l,lieir towns
was called
Lafilir'ipura,
and
l'as
the
ca,pital
of tlie
lringrlom
;
hence
they
had
a King
ald
Chiefs
under
hiru, they
had gathered
into
torvns
and
were
rot
n)ere savo.qes
or
(as
one
popular
idea
supposes) the
same
as
the
ptesent
Rock Vgddas
;o-
also they
understood
jewellers'
claft,
since
a
1(tlrrone
of
gems" was an object
of
strife.
\\'hcre
Wijal
a first
lantled,
the Princess
whom
he
marrierl
lt'as mct
near
thc tank, though
this tanh
was doubtless
used
mcrely
as a
I'eselyoir
of water and
not
for
irrigation;
while
*most,
impoltant-here
the
Plincess ol
Ohieftain's
daughter
distributed
rice
to
his {bilowers,
wliicli. was
obtainecl
frorn lhe
shipr,vreclreri boats
of
rnariners.
l{ow,
had
there not
been
cousitlerable
commerce
on
the shore of
the
lagoon,
it
is
clear
rice
woultl
not
have
so
occurred,
not frour
one special
wreclr,
but
i'rom
the wrecked boats,
as
if such
were
of
freqrient
occrtr-
rence. This, too,
is
supported by
the tradition
extant
(Pien-i-
tien,Rool