No. 43. — 1892.] WEIGHTS AND measures. 



187 



The eras made use of by the Sinhalese are: — 



(1) The Kdliyuga, which commenced 1631 years before 

 the death of Gautama Buddha, is 21 74 B.C. 



(2) The era of the death of Gautama Buddha, 543 B.C., is 

 generally used in Pali and also in Sinhalese historical works.* 

 The period of his becoming Buddha, viz., 588 B.C., is 

 occasionally employed as an era. 



(3) The era of the establishment of the Buddhist religion 

 is 237 B.C., and marks the time when Mahindo renovated the 

 Buddhist religion and brought many valuable relics of 

 Gautama to Ceylon. 



(4) The era of Saka, although seldom used in books, is 

 generally employed in deeds and grants of land as well as 

 every other secular document, and in calculating horoscopes. 

 .It is said to date from the time of King Saka, and is the same 

 as that of King Salivahana, so well known on the continent 

 of India, whose era as fixed by the Sinhalese corres- 

 ponds to 78 A.D.t Hence 1532 would correspond, says Steele 

 in his translation of Kasa JdtaTcaya, with 1610 A.D., which is 

 accordingly the date of the poem. Forbes gives the follow- 

 ing legend respecting the establishment of this era : — 



During a grievous famine a Buddhist priest arrived at the house 

 of Saka, a man of the Goiya (cultivator) caste, at the time when he 

 had only one meal of rice left to support himself and his family ; this 

 he ordered to be prepared, and without hesitation offered it to the holy 

 man. To reward this sacrifice to hospitality, and obedience to the 

 injunctions of Buddha, the handful of rice became inexhaustive, and 

 during the continuance of the famine supplied Saka, his family, and 

 neighbours. The conduct of Saka being thus manifestly approved by 

 the gods, the people raised him to the throne of the kingdom.^ 



Sinhalese Horology. 

 Robert Knox wrote in 1681, and his words hold true even 

 at the present day, that the " Sinhalese have no clocks, 

 hour-glasses, or sun-dials, but the king has a kind of instru- 



* Steele's Knsa Jdtahaya, p. 230, in notes. 



f This theory is exploded. See Fleet, Corpus Imariptisnum Indica- 

 rum. The epoch is A.D. 77-8. — B., Hon. See. 

 X Eleven Tears in Ceylon, vol. II., pp. 216, 247. 



