150 



JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [YOL. XIII. 



But it did not necessarily follow that ChilappatiMram was written in 

 the time of Gaja Bahu I. He could conceive of a learned society 

 discussing in 3000 a.d. the age of Tennyson's Idylls of the King, and 

 arguing that Tennyson was a contemporary of King Arthur. If 

 earlier specimens of English literature did not exist for purposes of 

 comparison, Tennyson's work might be ante-dated by a thousand years. 

 It would be well, therefore, to prove the age of Chilappatikaram by 

 the internal evidence of the style, language, &c, and he hoped that 

 this aspect of the question would receive the attention of Tamil 

 scholars. 



Mr. Coomaraswamy said that the author of the ChilappatiMram 

 was the brother of King Senkuttuvan, whom Gaja Bahu I. visited, 

 whereas Tennyson could not be cited as King Arthur's brother. 



Mr. Harward said that it was not unusual in some countries and 

 some ages for poets to write under the name of persons who had 

 flourished at an earlier date. 



Mr. P. Ramanathan said that the internal evidence of the style and 

 language of Chilappatikaram proved its age, and he trusted that Mr. 

 Coomaraswamy would collect all such evidence and make it part of 

 his next Paper. 



The Chairman stated that it was interesting to find that the tradi- 

 tions of both sides of the Gulf of Mannar concurred in alleging that 

 it was Gaja Bahu I. who visited India and introduced the worship 

 of Pattini into Ceylon, and the point might be considered as established. 

 In addition to the authorities quoted he referred to that of Yalentyn, 

 who seemed to have drawn some of the materials for his ancient 

 history from Sinhalese works not now extant in Ceylon. Yalentyn 

 (vol. Y., p. 67) stated that Wankamasika Raja (who reigned three 

 years) was succeeded by his son Beeja Raja, who reigned twelve years, 

 during which an expedition arrived from India, which took 12,000 

 captives. Yalentyn's narrative went on to relate the reign of Gaja 

 Bahu I., describing his visit to India, and giving many details of his 

 reputed exploits. He would take this opportunity to point out that 

 the title of Mr. Ranasinha's Paper, " Which Gaja Bahu visited India ?" 

 suggested that only one Gaja Bahu visited India. We had no materials 

 before us to determine the question whether or not Gaja Bahu II. also 

 visited India. He felt sure the Society was very grateful to Mr. 

 Ranasinha for his interesting Paper. 



A vote of thanks to Mr. Ranasinha for his Paper was accorded on 

 a motion proposed by the Chairman. 



5. Mr. Harward read the following Paper : — 



