Part 83 (1/2)

implies that at that period (B.C. 165) roads and other facilities for wheel carriages must have existed, enabling them to traverse forests and cross the rivers.[2]

[Footnote 1: In the reign of Elala, B.C. 204, the son of ”an eminent caravan chief” was despatched to a Brahman, who resided near the Chetiyo mountain (Mihintala), in whose possession there were rich articles, frankincense, sandal-wood, &c., imported from beyond the ocean.--_Mahawanso_ ch. xxiii. p. 138.]

[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_ ch. xxviii. p, 167.]

_Early Exports of Ceylon._--The native historians give an account of the exports of Ceylon, which corresponds in all particulars with the records left by the early travellers and merchants, Greek, Roman, Arabian, Indian, and Chinese. They consisted entirely of natural productions, aromatic drugs, gems, pearls, and sh.e.l.ls; and it is a strong evidence of the more advanced state of civilisation in India at the same period that, whilst the presents sent from the kings of Ceylon to the native princes of Hindustan and the Dekkan were always of this precious but primitive character, the articles received in return were less remarkable for the intrinsic value of the material, than for the workmans.h.i.+p bestowed upon them. Devenipiatissa sent by his amba.s.sadors to Asoca, B.C. 306, the eight varieties of pearls, viz., _haya_ (the horse), _gaja_ (the elephant), _ratha_ (the chariot wheel), _maalaka_ (the nelli fruit), _valaya_ (the bracelet), _anguliwelahka_ (the ring), _kakudaphala_ (the kabook fruit), and _pakatika_, the ordinary description. He sent sapphires, lapis lazuli[1], and rubies, a right hand chank[2], and three bamboos for chariot poles, remarkable because their natural marking resembled the carvings of flowers and animals.

[Footnote 1: Lapis lazuli is not found in Ceylon, and must have been brought by the caravans from Budakshan. It is more than once mentioned in the _Mahawanso_, ch. xi. p. 69; ch. x.x.x. p. 185.]

[Footnote 2: A variety of the _Turbinella rapa_ with the whorls reversed, to which the natives attach a superst.i.tions value; professing that a sh.e.l.l so formed is worth its weight in gold.]

The gifts sent by the king of Magadha in return, indicate the advanced state of the arts in Bengal, even at that early period: they were ”a chowrie (the royal fly flapper), a diadem, a sword of state, a royal parasol, golden slippers, a crown, an anointing vase, asbestos towels, to be cleansed by being pa.s.sed through the fire, a costly howdah, and sundry vessels of gold.” Along with these was sacred water from the Anotatto lake and from the Ganges, aromatic and medicinal drugs, hill paddi and sandal-wood; and amongst the other items ”a virgin of royal birth and of great personal beauty.”[1]

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_ ch, xi. pp. 69, 70.]

_Early Imports_.--Down to a very late period, gems, pearls, and chank sh.e.l.ls continued to be the only products taken away from Ceylon, and cinnamon is nowhere mentioned in the Sacred Books as amongst the exports of the island.[1] In return for these exports, slaves, chariots, and horses were frequently transmitted from India. The riding horses and chargers, so often spoken of[2], must necessarily have been introduced from thence, and were probably of Arab blood; but I have not succeeded in discovering to what particular race the ”Sindhawa” horses belonged, of which four purely white were harnessed to the state carriage of Dutugaimunu.[3] Gold cloth[4], frankincense, and sandal-wood were brought from India[5], as was also a species of ”clay” and of ”cloud-coloured stone,” which appear to have been used in the construction of dagobas.[6] Silk[7] and vermilion[8] indicate the activity of trade with China; and woollen cloth[9] and carpets[10] with Persia and Kashmir.

[Footnote 1: For an account of the earliest trade in cinnamon, see _post_ Part v. ch. ii. on the Knowledge of Ceylon possessed by the Arabians.]

[Footnote 2: _Mahawanso_, ch. xxii. p. 134, &c. &c.]

[Footnote 3: _Ibid_., ch. xxiii. p. 142; ch. x.x.xi. p. 186.]

[Footnote 4: A.D.459. _Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.xviii. p. 258.]

[Footnote 5: _Ibid_, ch. xxiii. p. 138.]

[Footnote 6: _Ibid_, ch. xxix. p. 169; ch. x.x.x. p. 179.]

[Footnote 7: _Ibid_., ch. xxiii. p. 139; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 49.]

[Footnote 8: _Ibid_, ch. xxix. p. 169; _Rajaratnacari_ p. 51.]

[Footnote 9: _Mahawanso_, ch. x.x.x. p. 177; _Rajavali_, p. 269. Woollen cloth is described as ”most valuable”--an epithet which indicates its rarity, and probably foreign origin.]

[Footnote 10: _Mahawanso_, ch. xiv. p. 82; ch. xv. p. 87; ch. xxv. p.

151; carpets of wool, _ib_. ch. xxvii. p. 164.]

_Intercourse with Kashmir._--Possibly the woollen cloths referred to may have been shawls, and there is evidence in the _Rajatarangini_[1], that at a very early period the possession of a common religion led to an intercourse between Ceylon and Kashmir, originating in the sympathies of Buddhism, but perpetuated by the Kashmirians for the pursuit of commerce. In the fabulous period of the narrative, a king of Kashmir is said to have sent to Ceylon for a delicately fine cloth, embroidered with golden footsteps.[2] In the eighth century of the Christian era, Singhalese engineers were sent for to construct works in Kashmir[3]; and Kashmir, according to Troyer, took part in the trade between Ceylon and the West.[4]

[Footnote 1: The _Rajatarangini_ resembles the _Mahawanso_, in being a metrical chronicle of Kashmir written at various times by a series of authors, the earliest of whom lived in the 12th century. It has been translated into French by M. Troyer, Paris, 1840.]

[Footnote 2: _Rajatarangini_, b. i. sl. 294.]

[Footnote 3: _Rajatarangini_, b. iv. sl. 502, &c.]

[Footnote 4: ”La communication entre Kachmir et Ceylan n'a pas eu lieu seulement par les entreprises guerrieres que je viens de rappeler, mais aussi par un commerce paisible; c'est du cette ile que venaient des artistes qu'on appelait Rakchasas a cause du merveilleux de leur art; et qui executaient des ouvrages pour l'utilite et pour l'ornement d'un pays montagneux et sujet aux inondations. Ceci confirme ce que nous apprennent les geographes Grecs, que Ceylan, avant et apres le commencement de notre ere, etait un grand point de reunion pour le commerce de l'Orient et de l'Occident.”--_Rajatarangini_, vol. ii. p.

434.]