CHAP. I.] CASTE. 425 



in other countries, became sudden and utter desolation in 

 Ceylon. 



From such traces as are perceptible in the story of 

 the earliest immigrants, it is obvious that in their 

 domestic habits and civil life they brought with them 

 and preserved in Ceylon the traits and pursuits 

 which characterised the Aryan races that had colonised 

 the valley of the Ganges. The Singhalese Chronicles 

 abound, like the ancient Vedas, in allusions to agri- 

 culture and herds, to the breeding of cattle and the 

 culture of grain. They speak of village communities 

 and of their social organisation, as purely patriarchal. 

 Women were treated with respect and deference; 

 and as priestesses and queens they acquired a pro- 

 minent place in the national esteem. Eich furniture 

 was used in dwellings and costly textures for dress ; 

 but these were obtained from other nations, whose 

 ships resorted to the island, whilst its inhabitants, 

 averse to intercourse with foreigners, and ignorant of 

 navigation, held the pursuits of the merchant in no 

 esteem. 



Caste. Amongst the aboriginal inhabitants caste ap- 

 pears to have been unknown, although after the arrival 

 of Wijayo and his followers the system in all its minute 

 subdivisions, and slavery, both domestic and prasdial, 

 prevailed throughout the island. The Buddhists, as 

 dissenters, who revolted against the arrogant preten- 

 sions of the Brahmans, embodied in their doctrines a 

 protest against caste under any modification. But even 

 after the conversion of the Singhalese to Buddhism, and 

 their acceptance of the faith at the hands of Mahindo, 

 caste as a national institution was found too obstinately 

 established to be overthrown by the Buddhist priest- 

 hood; and reinforced, as its supporters were, by sub- 

 sequent intercourse with the Malabars, it has been 

 perpetuated to the present time, as a conventional and 

 social, though no longer as a sacred institution. Prac- 

 tically, the Singhalese ignore three of the great classes, 



