No, 56. — 1905.] TWO old Sinhalese swords. 
389 
No. ir 
Text 
esQteeB g gS)<5 §d5d0aeD d(s^^<s^6 §dcQ05d (S^€3(5^eD§ 
Translation. 
Hail ! At the palace of the Viceroy the Mighty, Victorious Lord of 
the Earth, Vijaya Raja. In the year of Buddha 1917 Kouravara 
Aditya Arasa Nilayitta He Naga, having been appointed General 
of the Viceroy, received this sword on Tuesday, the 15th day of the 
increasing moon of the month of Vesak, at the Palace of the Viceroy 
at Jayawardhanapura. 
The date as read on the sword — 1917 of the Buddhist era — 
corresponds to A.D. 1374. At that time Bhuwaneka Bahu Y. 
was reigning at Gampola. Vijaya Bahu, his step-brother, was 
Viceroy at Kotte. He is called Vira Bahu in the Mahd- 
wansa^ and Vijaya Bahu in the Rdjd waliya. From about 
A.D. 1399 he appears to have reigned in Kotte as an indepen- 
dent sovereign, until, on the invasion of the city by the 
Chinese in A.D. 1411, he was captured and taken away to 
China. On being released, he returned to Ceylon in A.D. 1412, 
and crushed by defeat and misfortune sought a hermit's cell 
on Adam's Peak, where tradition says he died a mendicant. 
No. 2,^ 
Text. 
c8©^<5ga^(5^«^ (5>9s3©38(5 qB^^s^ ^esi §^ S69a)^ 93S3(3§cs. 
Translation. 
In the year of Buddha 1959, at Jayawardhanapura, the Lord of 
Lanka, Sri Sangabodi Sri Parakrama Bahu Maha Raja, decreed and 
granted to Kouravara Aditya Kuravira Arasa Nilayitta Maha Naga 
the office of general and this sword, on Tuesday the 10th day of the 
increasing moon in the month of Vesak, at the auspicious Palace. 
* Length of blade, 2 ft. 7f in. ; breadth, 1 J in. : hilt, 4 in. ; black ivory, 
t Length of blade, 2 ft. lOf in. ; breadth, 1 J- in. ; hilt, 5 in. ; ornamental 
ivory. 
