1882.] IBNBATUTA IN THE MALDIVES AND CEYLON. 



43 



of the principal Sovereign' of the 'Island; It is built in a gully, be- 

 tween two mountains, near a great vale, called ' the vale of 

 precious stones,'* because gems a^e found in it. Outside this 

 town is seen the Mosque of the Sfiaikh 'Othmdn of Shiraz, 

 surnamed Chdouch ( the usher). The King and inhabitants of the 

 place visit him r and treat him with- high; consideration. He used 



Tumour ; but there are two grounds to doubt this identification. In the first 

 place Tumour admitted an anachronism about A.D. 1347, the date assumed for 

 the accession of Bhuwaneka Bahu; IV, because the terms of three reigns 

 immediately preceding this Sovereign are not given. Secondly, the capital of 

 Kindr or Kondr is described as situate in a valley between two hills in a 1 vale 

 (or according to Lee ' bay') in which gems were found. The term Conacar, 

 sounds like an Arabattempt to reproduce the name Kurunegala. Ibn Batuta 

 wrote in A.D. 1344 ; according to Tumour, Gampola did not become the capital 

 till after A.D. 1347. We are thus thrown back to a period before the accession 

 of Bhuvaneka Bahu IV. There is an old native route between Puttalam and 

 Kurunegala. The route from Puttalam to Gampola direct has not been 

 known." The correspondent already quoted notes: — "In tracing the traveller 

 beyond Chilaw reference is necessary to Ceylon history. Incomparably the 

 best authority for this period is the Nikdya Sangraha, which was composed about 

 1396 A.D. (Turnour states 1357 A.D., but that is manifestly wrong, as the 

 author describes all the Kings up to Bhuvanaika Bahu V., who came to the 

 throne 1914 A.B., showing Tumour's date to be wrong by 7 years) : the 

 corresponding portion of the Mahdwanso was written in 1758 A.D., and is 

 not of anything like the same authority. 



" The King of Sinhalese Ceylon in 1344 A.D. was Bhuvanaika Bahu IV. 

 He ascended the throne 1342 A.D., and did not move the seat of Government 

 to Gampola from Kurunegala until 1346 A.D. Consequently Condcar must be 

 (as indeed one would expect from the sound) Ibn Batuta' s way of rendering 

 Kurunegala. It lies ' between two mountains,' the Handrukkanda range and 

 the Yakdessa range." — B ~] 



* " The valley of the Maha-oya which is within 10 miles of Kurunegala. 

 The word l Manikamt used by the traveller (Lee's version) occurs in two villages 

 in this valley Menik-dwela and Menih-kadawara. The valley was celebrated 

 for precious stones (see Kadaim pota), and the latter was a place of some 

 notoriety in the 16th century, and figures in Tennent's Portuguese map as 

 Manicdvare: it is near Polgahawela. 11 — B. 



