10 
JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VoL. XXII. 
the internal economy of a great ecclesiastical establishraent 
of the period, with directions regarding the lodging and 
entertainment of wandering monks and scholars. Similarly, 
the Uggalboda Devale sannas furnish information regarding 
the public duties imposed on great chieftains and the character 
of the honours accorded to them by royal decree. 
Thus, the main sources for the history of the period in review 
are (1) the historical accounts of De Couto, Valentyn, and 
the Rdjdvaliya ; (2) passages in Sinhalese contemporary 
literature ; (3) Chinese annals relating to the fourteenth and 
fifteenth centuries ; (4) the testimony of royal grants and stone 
inscriptions. Besides these, much assistance might have been 
ordinarily derived from archaeology and tradition, those twin 
hand-maidens of historical investigation. But, as unfortunately 
the capital of the period and the adjoining districts had long 
been a pre^/ to Portuguese invasion and fanatical vandalism, 
scarce anything in the nature of ancient monuments has 
survived. Besides, the sea-board districts, both in ancient as 
in modern times, being the most subject to foreign influences, 
much of the ancient traditional lore has disappeared, though a 
few legends stiU linger in the remoter villages. 
It has been found to be convenient to arrange the subject 
in four divisions. In the first an attempt has been made 
to trace the political events of the reign, preserving as much 
as possible with the imperfect data available the chrono- 
logical sequence of events. In the second has been sketched 
the territorial and political divisions, the organization and 
administration of village communities, and of the provincial 
governments ; and the constitution of the realm in the fifteenth 
century has been outlined, so far as may be gathered from 
the meagre materials available. This chapter will be merely 
tentative, in view of the dearth of written information on the 
subject. The present, so far as the writer is aware, is the first 
attempt to collect that information into a connected shape. 
The third part has been devoted to the social condition of the 
country, the food, attire, mode of living of the people, games 
and festivals, instruments and tools, the disposition and 
appointments of the court, and their public and private build- 
ings, weapons and fortifications, and arts and handicrafts, so 
