104 
jOUtlNAL, R.A.S. (OEYLON). [VOL. XXII. 
A distinction is thus created between lands situated in the 
districts formerly comprised in the Kandyan Provinces, and 
lands situated elsewhere. A special mode of proof is prescribed 
in order to rebut the presumption in favour of the Crown in 
the former case. But the expression " the districts formerly 
comprised in the Kandyan Provinces " has not been explained 
in the Ordinance. What is the precise meaning of the expres- 
sion is not clear, and has not been authoritatively decided. 
Owing to the lapse of time and the research now necessary 
among ancient documents, the question is a difficult and 
complicated one. It raises points of historical and political 
as well as legal interest as to the constitution of the ancient 
Kandyan Kingdom, the changes introduced therein from 
time to time under British rule, and the territorial limits 
within which the system of law called the Kandyan Law 
prevails. 
II. 
In Robertson's Case, 1886, 8 S. C. C. 36, and in WijesinJia 
V. Wijesinha, 1891, 9 S. C. C. 199, the Supreme Court referred 
to the Proclamation of February 11, 1815, which was issued 
upon the annexation of the Kandyan Provinces, in illustration 
of the expression. In Robertson'' s Case , Burnside , C.J. , said : — 
" The Kandyan Provinces, denominated in the Proclamation 
of February 11, 1815, ' The Four Korales,' 'The Saftragam 
Korale,' and ' The Three Korales,' were by that Proclama- 
tion declared to be integral parts of the British possessions in 
the Island of Ceylon, and from thenceforth were received under 
the sovereignty and protection of His Majesty the King of 
Great Britain ; since which time they have continued to be 
and form a part of, and have been absorbed into, this Colony 
of Ceylon. * * * Moreover, the old divisions which 
defined the original Kandyan Provinces, at the time of the 
cession, and separated them from the other Provinces, have 
long since disappeared, and the Kandyan Provinces, as 
Provinces apart from others, jno longer exist, and it would not, 
I take it, at the present day, be possible to define any particular 
area of this Colony as the Kandyan Provinces. True it is, 
that there may be found throughout the Ordinances, refer- 
ences to the ' Kandyan Provinces ' eo nomine, but this is 
