122 JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VoL. XXll. 
Proclamation dated the 31st day of May, 1816, and retaining all 
Our public acts and other orders in their full force, and calling the 
attention of the Board to all minutes and other documents of 
general instruction, and particularly to the matters of an address 
made by Us, the said Governor, to the assembled Chiefs at Kandy 
on the 20th day of May last. 
For all which purposes and such others as shall from time to 
time be signified by instruction from Us, the said Governor, or 
by Our order, We do hereby appoint you Commissioners and to 
form a Board as before mentioned. 
Colombo, the Thirtieth day of September, One thousand Eight 
hundred and Sixteen. 
By order of His Excellency the Governor, 
James Sutherland , 
Secretary, Kandyan Provinces. 
4. A discussion followed, in which Messrs. F. Lewis, R. C. 
Proctor, and the writer of the Paper took part. 
Mr. Proctor: Will the difficulty which is met in defining the 
limits of " Kandyan Provinces " under our law be lightened by 
a strict interpretation of the word " formerly " in the phrase " in 
the districts formerly comprised in the Kandyan Provinces" ? 
What limit of time was intended by our legislators to be fixed by 
the word "formerly" ? 
If the times when the Dutch ceded their territories to the 
British were intended, then the definition of Mr. Justice Dias 
may be accepted for practical purposes, i.e. , " so much of the Island 
as is not included in the Maritime Provinces." At the same time 
there were divisions that were neither under the Dutch nor imder 
the dominion of Kandy, e.g., the Wanni district. This was not 
subjugated by the Dutch, and often served as a buffer. Kandyan 
law did not apply to this division. 
Can the word " formerly " refer to times anterior to the occupa- 
tion of the Dutch ? 
The Portuguese documents extant are misleading and imreli- 
able in the matter of defining limits of what then comprised the 
Kandyan Provinces. The Kandyan King was often addressed 
by them as Lord of Jaffna, Batticaloa, and of the Pearl Fisheries, 
when in fact he was not. 
The political constitution of the Kandyan Provinces sliould 
throw some light on the subject. Even before the invasion of 
Ceylon by the European powers, the Kandyan Provinces did not 
represent a well-defined area. The village (Sin. gama ) was not only 
a geographical, but also a social, ecclesiastical, and political imit. 
An association of several villages formed a Korale, two or more 
K6rales formed a Hatpattuwa, an association of Hatpattu formed 
