338 



THE SINGHALESE CHRONICLES. 



[Part III. 



B.C. 



504. 



B.C. 



504. 



portion derived by him as tlie cultivator's share," to be- 

 stow an offering on a " thero." ^ 



From the necessity of providing food for their fol- 

 lowers, the earliest attention of the Bengal conquerors 

 was directed to the introduction and extension of agri- 

 culture. A passage in the Mahawanso would seem to 

 imply, that previous to the landing of Wijayo, rice was 

 imported for consumption^, and upwards of two cen- 

 turies later the same authority specifies "one hundred 

 and sixty loads of hill-paddi," ^ among the presents which 

 were sent to the island from Benoal. 



In a low and level country like the north of Ceylon, 

 where the chief subsistence of the people is rice, a 

 grain which can only be successfully cultivated under 

 water, the first requisites of society are reservoirs and 

 canals. The Buddhist historians extol the father of 

 Wijayo for his judgment and skill "in forming villages 

 in situations favourable for irrigation ; "^ his own attention 

 was fully engrossed with the cares attendant on the 

 consolidation of his newly acquired power ; but the 

 earliest pubhc work undertaken by his successor Pan- 

 duwasa, B.C. 504, was a tank, which he caused to be 

 formed in the vicinity of his new capital Anarajapoora, 

 the Anurograriimum of Ptolemy, originally a village 

 founded by one of the followers of Wijayo.^ 



' The king was Maliacliiila, 77 B.C. 

 —Mahaivanso, ch. xxxiv. 



"^ Kuweni distributed to the com- 

 panions of Wijaj^o, " rice and other 

 articles, procured from the wrecked 

 ships of mariners.''^ (llahmvanso, 

 ch. vii. p. 4U.) A tank is mentioned 

 as then existing- near the residence of 

 Kuweni ; but it was only to be used 

 as a bath. (Ih. c. vii. p. 48.) The 

 Rajaratnaccvri also mentions tliat, in 

 the fabulous age of the second IJud- 

 dha, of the present Kalpa, there was a 

 famine in Ceylon, wliich dried up the 

 cisterns and fountains of tlie island. 

 But there is no evidence of the ex- 



istence of systematic tillage anterior 

 to the reign of Wijayo. 



^ 3Iahawanso, ch. xi. p. 70. Paddi 

 is rice before it has been freed from 

 the husk. 



* 3Icthmixtnso, ch. vi. p. 46. 



'' The first tank recorded in Ceylon 

 is the Abayaweva, made by Pandu- 

 'wasa, B.C. 505 (31ahcnvanso, ch. ix. 

 p. 57). The second was the Jaya- 

 weva, formed by Pandukabhaya, B.C. 

 4.37. (U>. ch. x. p. 65.) The third, 

 the Gamini tank, made hj the same 

 king at the same place, Anarajapoora. 

 —lb. ch. X. p. 66. 



