598 



MEDIAEVAL HISTORY. 



[PAKT V. 



first visit the natives who received him were Malabars, 

 one of whom had learned Arabic, and they were engaged 

 in irrigating their rice lands from a tank. Such incidents 

 are characteristic of the north-western coast of Ceylon 

 at the present day ; and the commerce, for which the 

 island was remarkable in the ninth and tenth centuries is 

 implied by the expression of Sindbad, that on the occasion 

 of his next voyage, when bearing presents and a letter 

 from the Khahf to the King of Serendib, he embarked 

 at Bassora in a ship, and with him " were many merchants." 



Of the Arabian authors of the middle ages the one 

 who dwells most largely on Ceylon is EDRISI, born of a 

 family who ruled over Malaga after the fall of the 

 Khalifs of Cordova. He was a protege of the Sicilian 

 king, Eoger the Norman, at whose desire he compiled his 

 Geography, A.D. 1154. But with regard to Ceylon, his 

 pages contain only the oft-repeated details of the 

 height of the holy mountain, the gems found in its 

 ravines, the musk, the perfumes, and odoriferous woods 

 which abound there. 1 He particularises twelve cities, 

 but their names are scarcely identifiable with any now 

 known. 2 The sovereign, who was celebrated for the 

 mildness of his rule, was assisted by a council of sixteen, 

 of w T hom four were of the national religion, four Chris- 

 tians, four Mussulmans, and four Jews ; and one of the 

 chief cares of the government was given to keeping up 

 the historical records of the reigns of their kings, the 

 lives of their prophets, and the sacred books of their law. 



Ships from China and other distant countries resorted 

 to the island, and hither " came the wines of Irak, and 

 Pars, which are purchased by the king, and sold again 

 to his subjects; for, unlike the princes of India, who 

 encourage debauchery but strictly forbid wine, the 



1 EDRISI mentions, that at that 

 period the sugar-cane was cultivated 

 in Ceylon. 



2 Marnaba, (Manaar ?) Aghna 

 Pereseouri, (Periatorret} Aide, Ma- 

 houlouu, (Putlam?) Hamri, Telmadi, 



(TaJmanaar?) Lendouma, Sedi, Hes- 

 H, Beresli and Medouna (Matnra '?). 

 "Aghna" or "Ana," as Edrisi makes 

 it the residence of the king, must be 

 Amirajapoora. 



