70 



Forms of Salutation and Address 



wahansa* many temples to Budha have been erected by thee, and 

 the cost of them exceeds computation, Sfc. 



And the name of another king is placed in the centre of 

 grandiloquence — 



§ ©s3 § 6o& 80*0 ©ocr> do®dl&.{Si%xioen&$ 8t»<s?s^e5 

 Sree mat sree raja singha maha rajotta mayanan wahanse 

 His prosperous highness the prosperous king Singha, worthy, 

 great, right regal! 



We find also in the extract from an old inscription, ap. 

 Sidath Sangarawa, p. cxcix., the affix icahanse is given 

 to a deceased lady, the queen-mother as she is called. — 



Swarga stawu mawu-bisawun wahanseta 



and Clough gives ©wgeo^o^^d {bisawunnanse), as one of 

 the renderings for Queen. The same affix is given to His 

 Excellency the Governor, who is styled G 5 * 5 ©caoen^Sov^J 

 OeJ (uttamaydnan wahanse) or G^Sbers^ea^^eJ ( utumdnan 

 icahanse J, which latter is the title given by the translators on 

 one occasion to the governor of Judsea.f The terms are 

 derived from words signifying chief, excellent, or high ; and 

 Clough supposes that the term ©cd<55©c3o ( mahatmayd ) which 

 is now in its customary use equivalent only to our Mr., had 

 the same common origin, being composed of the words ©eo 

 ( maha ) great and ( uttama) excellence : so that the 



same term is in fact applied to the two extremes of the social 

 scale; they are both excellent in their place. 



As a formal title of office, Mahatmeya denotes a principal 

 Headman ; and a Ratte mahatmeya, from ratte 6 9 {rata) 

 country, in the sense of a large district of country, is the 

 principal headman of the district. The only higher territo- 

 rial officer was the Dissave, whose dissavony, from ^es (disa) 

 or ^eso€) (disaawa) a part or portion, was in the nature of a 



* The same term ^9 ©sS^CCfK^ es (Dewiyan wahansa) is employed by 

 Mr. Alwisinhis Singhalese version of the Hitopadesa as the corresponding phrase 

 for Please your Majesty ! Sidath' Sangarawa, p. 206. 



f Matin, xxvii, 2, He is afterwards called ^fcOSJ 63032 (adhipatiya), 



