MANUFACTURES.
The silk alluded to in the last chapter must have been brought from China for re-exportation to the West. Silk is frequently mentioned in the Mahawanso[1] but never with any suggestion of its being a native product of Ceylon.
1: Silk is mentioned 20 B.C. Rajaratnacari, p. 49. Mahawanso, ch. xxiii. p. 139.
Coir and Cordage.—EDRISI speaks of cordage made from the fibre of the coco-nut, to prepare which, the natives of Oman and Yemen resorted to Ceylon[1]; so that the Singhalese would appear to have been instructed by the Arabs in the treatment of coir, and its formation into ropes; an occupation which, at the present day, affords extensive employment to the inhabitants of the south and south-western coasts. Ibn Batuta describes the use of coir, for sewing together the planking of boats, as it was practised at Zafar in the fourteenth century[2]; and the word itself bespeaks its Arabian origin, as ALBYROUNI, who divides the Maldives and Laccadives into two classes, calls the one group the Dyvah-kouzah, or islands that produce cowries; and the other the Dyvah-kanbar, or islands that produce coir.[3]
1: EDRISI, t. i. p. 74.
2: Voyages, &c., vol. ii. p. 207. Paris, 1854.
3: ALBYROUNI, in REYNAUD, Fragm. Arabes, &c., pp, 93, 124 The Portuguese adopted the word from the Hindus, and CASTANEDA, in Hist. of the Discovery of India, describes the Moors of Sofalah sewing their boats with "cayro" ch. v, 14, xxx. 75.
Dress.—The dress of the people was of the simplest kind, and similar to that which is worn at the present day. The bulk of the population wore scanty cloths, without shape or seam, folded closely round the body and the portion of the limbs which it is customary to cover; and the Chinese, who visited the island in the seventh century, described the people as clothed in the loose robe, still known as a "comboy," a word probably derived from the Chinese koo-pei, which signifies cotton.[1]
1: See [Part v. ch. iii.] on the Knowledge of Ceylon possessed by the Chinese.
The wealthier classes indulged in flowing robes, and Bujas Dasa the king, who in the fourth century devoted himself to the study of medicine and the cure of the sick, was accustomed, when seeking objects for his compassion, to appear as a common person, simply "disguising himself by gathering his cloth up between his legs."[1] Robes with flowers[2], and a turban of silk, constituted the dress of state bestowed on men whom the king delighted to honour.[3] Cloth of gold is spoken of in the fifth century, but the allusion is probably made to the kinbaub of India.[4]
1: Mahawanso, ch. xxxvii. p.245.
2: By the ordinances of Buddhism it was forbidden to the priesthood "to adorn the body with flowers," thus showing it to have been a practice of the laity. HARDY'S Eastern Monachism, ch. iv. p.24; ch. xiii p.128.
3: Mahawanso, ch. xxiii. p.139.
4: Ibid., ch. xxxviii. p.258.
MANUAL AND MECHANICAL ARTS. Weaving.—The aborigines practised the art of weaving before the arrival of Wijayo. Kuweni, when the adventurer approached her, was "seated at the foot of a tree, spinning thread;"[1] cotton was the ordinary material, but "linen cloth" is mentioned in the second century before Christ.[2] White cloths are spoken of as having been employed, in the earliest times, in every ceremony for covering chairs on which persons of rank were expected to be seated; whole "webs of cloth" were used to wrap the carandua in which the sacred relics were enclosed[3], and one of the kings, on the occasion of consecrating a dagoba at Mihintala, covered with "white cloth" the road taken by the procession between the mountain and capital, a distance of more than seven miles.[4]
1: Mahawanso, ch. vii. p.48; Rajavali, p.173.
2: Mahawanso, ch, xxv. p.152.
3: Rajaratnacari, p.72.
4: A.D. 8. Rajavali, p. 227; Mahawanso, ch. xxxiv. p. 213.
In later times a curious practice prevailed, which exists to the present day;—on occasions when it is intended to make offerings of yellow robes to the priesthood, the cotton was plucked from the tree at daybreak, and "cleaned, spun, woven, dyed, and made into garments" before the setting of the sun. This custom, called Catina Dhawna, is first referred to in the Rajaratnacari in the reign of Prakrarna I.[1], A.D. 1153.
1: See ante, [Vol. II p. 35.] Rajaratnacari, pp. 104, 109, 112, 135; Rajavali, p. 261; HARDY'S Eastern Monachism, ch. xii. pp. 114, 121.
The expression "made into garments" alludes to the custom enjoined on the priests of having the value of the material destroyed, before consenting to accept it as a gift, thus carrying out their vow of poverty. The robe of Gotama Buddha was cut into thirty pieces, these were again united, so that they "resembled the patches of ground in a rice field;" and hence he enjoined on his followers the observance of the same practice.[1]
1: HARDY'S Eastern Monachism, ch. xii. p. 117. See ante, [Vol. I. Pt. III. ch. iv. p. 351.]
The arts of bleaching and dyeing were understood as well as that of weaving, and the Mahawanso, in describing the building of the Ruanwellé dagoba, at Anarajapoora, B.C. 161, tells of a canopy formed of "eight thousand pieces of cloth of every hue."[1]
1: Mahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 179, See also ch. xxxviii. p. 258.
Earliest Artisans.—VALENTYN, writing on the traditional information acquired from the Singhalese themselves, records the belief of the latter, that in the suite of the Pandyan princess, who arrived to marry Wijayo, were artificers from Madura, who were the first to introduce the knowledge and practice of handicrafts amongst the native population. According to the story, these were goldsmiths, blacksmiths, brass-founders, carpenters, and stone-cutters.[1]
1: VALENTYN, Oud en Niew Oost-Indien, chap. iv. p. 267.
The legend is given with more particularity in an historical notice of the Chalia caste, written by Adrian Rajapaxa, one of their chiefs, who describes these immigrants as Peskare Brahmans, who were at first employed in weaving gold tissues for the queen, but who afterwards abandoned that art for agriculture. A fresh company were said to have been invited in the reign of Devenipiatissa, and were the progenitors of "Saleas, at present called Chalias," who inhabit the country between Galle and Colombo, and who, along with their ostensible occupation as peelers of cinnamon, still employ themselves in the labours of the loom.[1] All handicrafts are conventionally regarded by the Singhalese as the occupations of an inferior class; and a man of high caste would submit to any privation rather than stoop to an occupation dependent on manual skill.
1: A History of the Chalias, by ADRIAN RAJAPAXA. Asiatic Res. vol. vii. p. 440. Ib., vol. x. p. 82.
Pottery.—One of the most ancient arts, the making of earthenware vessels, exists at the present day in all its pristine simplicity, and the "potter's wheel," which is kept in motion by an attendant, whilst the hands of the master are engaged in shaping the clay as it revolves, is the primitive device which served a similar purpose amongst the Egyptians and Hebrews.[1]
1: Pottery is mentioned in the Mahawanso, B.C. 161, ch. xxix. p. 173: the allusion is to "new earthen vases," and shows that the people at that time, like the Hindus of today, avoided where possible the repeated use of the same vessel.
A "potter" is enumerated in the list of servants and tradesmen attached to the temple on the Rock of Mihintala, A.D. 262, along with a sandal-maker, blacksmiths, carpenters, stone-cutters, goldsmiths, and "makers of strainers" through which the water for the priests was filtered, to avoid taking away the life of animalculæ. The other artisans on the establishment were chiefly those in charge of the buildings, lime-burners, plasterers, white-washers, painters, and a chief builder.
Glass.—Glass, the knowledge of which existed in Egypt and in India[1], was introduced into Ceylon at an early period; and in the Dipawanso, a work older than the Mahawanso by a century and a half, it is stated that Saidaitissa, the brother of Dutugaimunu, when completing the Ruanwellé dagoba, which his predecessor had commenced, surmounted it with a "glass pinnacle." This was towards the end of the second century before Christ. Glass is frequently mentioned at later periods; and a "glass mirror" is spoken of[2] in the third century before Christ, but how made, whether by an amalgam of quicksilver or by colouring the under surface, is not recorded.
1: Dr. ROYLE'S Lectures on the Arts and Manufactures of India, 1852, p. 221. PLINY says the glass of India being made of pounded crystal, none other can compare with it. (Lib. xxxvi, c. 66.)
2: Mahawanso, ch. xv. p. 99, ch. xxx. p. 182.
Leather.—The tanning of leather from the hide of the buffalo was understood so far back as the second century before Christ, and "coverings both for the back and the feet of elephants" were then formed of it.[1]
1: Ibid., ch. xxv. p. 152, ch. xxix. p. 169.
Wood-carving.—Carving in sandal-wood and inlaying with ivory, of which latter material "state fans and thrones" were constructed for the Brazen Palace[1], are amongst the mechanical arts often alluded to; and during the period of prosperity which signalised the era of the "Great Dynasty," there can be little doubt that skilled artificers were brought from India to adorn the cities and palaces of Ceylon.
1: Ibid., ch. xxvii. p. 163, 164.
Chemical Arts.—A rude knowledge of chemical manipulation was required for the extraction of camphor[1] and the preparation of numerous articles specified amongst the productions of the island, aromatic oils[2], perfumes[3], and vegetable dyes.
1: Rajaratnacari, p. 133. Dr. ROYLE doubts whether camphor was known to the Hindus at this early period, but "camphor oil" is repeatedly mentioned in the Singhalese chronicles amongst the articles provided for the temples.—ROYLE'S Essay on Hindoo Medicine, p. 140; Rajaculi, p. 190.
2: Mahawanso, ch. xxv. p. 157.
3: B.C. 161. Mahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 180.
Sugar.—Sugar was obtained not only from the Palmyra and Kittool palms[1], but also from the cane; which, besides being a native of India, was also indigenous in Ceylon.[2] A "sugar mill" for expressing its juice existed in the first century before Christ in the district of the "Seven Corles,"[3] where fifteen hundred years afterwards a Dutch governor of the island made an attempt to restore the cultivation of sugar.
1: "Palm sugar," as distinguished from "cane sugar," is spoken of in the Mahawanso in the second century B.C. ch. xxvii. p. 163.
2: "Cane sugar" is referred to in the Mahawanso B.C. 161, ch. xxvii. p. 162, ch. xxxi. p. 192.
3: A.D. 77. Mahawanso, ch. xxxiv. p. 208.
Mineral Paints.—Mineral preparations were made with success. Red lead, orpiment, and vermilions are mentioned as pigments; but as it is doubtful whether Ceylon produces quicksilver, the latter was probably imported from. China[1] or India, where the method of preparing it has long been known.
1: See ante, [Vol. I. Part I. ch. i. p. 29. n.] Both quicksilver and vermilion are mentioned in the Rajaratnacari, p. 51, as being in use in the year 20 B.C. Vermilion is also spoken of B.C. 307 in the Mahawanso, ch. xxvii. p. 162, c. The two passages in which vermilion is spoken of in the Old Testament, Jerem. xxii. 14, and Ezek. xxiii. 14, both refer to the painting of walls and woodwork, a purpose to which it would be scarcely suitable, were not the article alluded to the opaque bisulphuret of mercury; and the same remark applies to the vermilion used by the Singhalese. The bright red obtained from the insect coccus (the vermiculus, whence the original term "vermilion" is said to be derived) would be too transparent to be so applied.
There is likewise sufficient evidence in these and a number of other preparations, as well in the notices of perfumes, camphor, and essential oils, to show that the Singhalese, like the Hindus, had a very early acquaintance with chemical processes and with the practice of distillation, which they retain to the present day.[1] The knowledge of the latter they probably acquired from the Arabs or Chinese.
1: "I was frequently visited by one old man, a priest, who had travelled through Bengal, Burmah, Siam, and many other countries, and who prided himself on being able to make calomel much better than the European doctors, as his preparation did not cause the falling out of the teeth, soreness of the mouth, or salivation. He learnt the secret from an ancient sage whom he met with in a forest on the continent of India; and often when listening to him I was reminded of the mysteries and crudities of the alchemists."—HARDY'S Eastern Monachism, Lond. 1850, ch. xxiii. p. 312.