336 



THE SINGHALESE CHRONICLES. 



[PART HI. 



B.C. divine mission to Ceylon, by intimating, that, according 



' to certain authorities, he was the son of a merchant 



(meaning a sea-faring trader), who, having appeased 



the enmity of the Yakkhos, succeeded by his discretion 



in eventually making himself their king. 1 



Whatever may have been his first intentions, his sub- 

 sequent policy was rather that of an agriculturist than 

 an apostle. Finding the country rich and fertile, he 

 invited merchants to bring their families, and take pos- 

 session of it. 2 He dispersed his followers to form 

 settlements over the island, and having given to the 

 kingdom his patrimonial name of Sihala 3 , he addressed 

 himself to render his dominions "habitable for men." 4 

 He treated the subjugated race of Yakkhos with a de- 

 spotic disdain, referable less to pride of caste than to 

 contempt for the rude habits of the native tribes. He 

 repudiated the Yakkho princess whom he had espoused, 

 because her unequal rank rendered her unfit to remain 

 the consort of a king 5 ; and though she had borne him 

 children, he drove her out before his second marriage 

 with the daughter of an Indian prince, on the 

 ground that the latter would be too timid to bear the 

 presence of a being so inferior. 6 



B.C. Leaving no issue to inherit the throne, he was suc- 

 50 ^ - ceeded by his nephew 7 , who selected a relation of Gotama 

 Buddha for his queen ; and her brothers having dispersed 

 themselves over the island, increased the number of petty 

 kingdoms, which they were permitted to form in vari- 

 ous districts 8 , a policy that was freely encouraged by 

 all the early kings, and which, though it served to 



1 " Suivant certains auteurs, Seng- 

 kia-lo (Wijayo) serait le nom du 

 fils d'un marchand, qui, par sa pru- 

 dence, ayant echappe a la fureur ho- 

 micide des Lo-tsa (demons) reussit 

 ensuite a se faire Hoi." HiotnEN 

 THSA^G, Voyages, $c. 1. iv. p. 198. 



* Hiorax THSAXG, ch. iv. 



3 "Whence Singhala (and Singha- 

 lese) Silan, Seylan, and Ceylon. 



4 Mahaicamo, ch. vii. p. 49. Ruja- 

 ratnacari, ch. i. 



5 Mahawanso, ch. vii. p. 51. 



6 Ibid., p. 52. 



7 B.C. 504. 



8 Mahawanso, ch. vii. p. 51, ix. p. 

 57; Rajavali, part i. p. 177, 186; 

 and TFRXOUB'S Epitome, p. 12, 14. 



