AN essay on the origin of the 1 



Sinhalese adopted the same usage ' (p. 75); it may still be affirmed 

 that there is nothing in this circumstance which miltiates against 

 our position. 



Historically Professor Lassen himself furnishes us with an item 

 of proof which I shall here notice. He says i whenever an ori-^ 

 ginal language has been retained, as among the Gondas, the Kan- 

 das and the Padarias, there is nothing of the civilization of the 

 Aryas, or merely a sprinkling of it; but wherever, on ' the other 

 hand, Arya civilization has penetrated and prevailed, as among the 

 Kolas of Guzerat and others, the language of the Arya has also 

 come into use.' Applying this test to Ceylon and its language^ 

 I perceive the result to be in direct opposition to the opinion of 

 Mr, Lassen to which I first attracted attention. For, to suppose 

 that Ceylon retained its aboriginal language even after the Vijayan 

 conquest is to affirm that the Sinhalese received not even a 

 "sprinkling" of the Arya civilization; which is not the case, the 

 fact being, that far from its being ' a mere sprinkling ' Ceylon 

 has enjoyed from the very settlement of Vijaya a greater share of 

 civilization than any other Country in the Dekkan, or in the 

 fastnesses of the Vindhya. 



Nor is Sir Emerson Tennent of a different opinion, for he dis- 

 tinctly says " To the great dynasty (of Vijaya) and more espe- 

 cially to its earliest members the inhabitants of Ceylon were 

 indebted for the first rudiments of civilization, for the arts of agri- 

 cultural life, for an organized Government, and for a system of 

 national worship." (Vol. 1 p. 360.) 



This being established, the converse of the proposition laid down 

 by Professor Lassen holds good, viz — that ' with the civilization 

 of the Arya invaders the aborigines adopted their dialect.' 



History also shows that the new colonists retained a distinct and 

 separate character; and that although intermarriages might have 

 taken place between the Yakkhas and the new settlers;* yet that the 



* The only mention however of this in the Mahawansa has reference to 

 Vijaya ; and the facts there stated clearly show that he was not "married" to 

 Kuveni as supposed by Mr. Caldwell p. 81, but that haying been captivated by 



