6 
JOTTR-NAL, R.A.S. (OEYLON). [VOL. XXII. 
THE AGE OF SRI PARAKRAMA BAHU VI. 
(1412-1467.) 
By Edward W. Perera, 
Barrister-at-Law of the Middle Temple and Advocate of the 
Supreme Court of Ceylon. 
Introduction. 
The principal authorities for the period comprising the 
reign of Sri Parakrama Bahu VI. are Valentyn and De Couto's 
accounts of Sinhalese history and the Rdjdvaliya. In 
certain parts De Couto's version, compiled in 1550 from 
Sinhalese records, now destroyed, appears to be more reliable 
and complete than the Rdjdvaliya narrative. Valentyn, 
who also derived his information from Sinhalese sources, 
probably frorn a variant text of the Rdjdvaliya which is 
no longer in existence, supplements in certain particulars the 
facts noted in the Sinhalese chronicle. 
The Rdjdvaliya account dealing with the period under review 
appears to be a bare summary of events of reigns compiled 
from State records, and to have been put together about the 
later end of the sixteenth or the early half of the seventeenth 
century. Errors of scribes, omissions, and the disarrangement 
of the narrative prevent us from entirely trusting the record. 
However, a careful comparison of the Rdjdvaliya with the 
accounts of Valentyn and De Couto enable us to gain a correct 
knowledge of the principal events of the reign of Sri Parak- 
rama Bahu VI. and of the time shortly before and after. But 
for the details of the picture, for information regarding the 
state and character of the king, the condition of the country, 
the progress of education, the form of administration, the social 
habits, and the material advance of the people, one has to go 
to the literature of the period. It was an age of deep literary 
activity, and fortunately much of that literature has descended 
to us, giving us a glimpse of pure Sinhalese manners and culture 
shortly before they came under Portuguese influences. 
