76 
JOURNAL, H.A.S. (CEYLOn). [VoL. XXlI. 
At Tantri-malai, as in so many other places, the first settle- 
ment of which we have any definite record was a Buddhist 
monastery founded in the early centuries B.C. To support this 
view there are three inscriptions,* two of the second or first 
century B.C., and one perhaps a hundred years more modern. 
None of these have been published before, but the first was 
copied by Mr. Bell in 1896. It consists of eleven letters cut 
Ba ra ta pi da ha ti sa te ra ha 
in the rock just above one of the best of the natural cisterns, 
and reads Ba ra ta pi da ha ti sa te ra ha." As stated above, 
the letters are of early form, and may be as old as the second 
century b.c. " Baratapida " may be a name ; in which case 
the record would read " [that which] belongs to Baratapida 
and the monk Tissa " ; or " Barata " may be a name, and 
pida perhaps derived from pudanavd, to ofier. 
The next record, of about the same date, is cut in the rock 
by the side of a long cave about 60 yards to the east of the 
last inscription. It is low down at the east end of the cave. 
A ti a ji ri ya ha ti 
ya ma ta u pa si ka na ga 
ya 
It reads "A ti a ji ri ya ba ti ya ma ta u pa si ha na ga ya^ 
* See Appendix B.— B., Ed. Sec, 
