5: Mahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 179.
6: Mahawanso, ib. p. 180.
The abundance of precious stones naturally led to their being extensively mounted in jewelry, and in addition to those found in Ceylon, diamonds[1] and lapis lazuli [2] (which must have been brought thither from India and Persia) are classed with the sapphire and the topaz, which are natives of the island.
1: Rajaratnacari, p. 61.
2: Mahawanso, ch. xxx. p. 182.
The same passion existed then, as now, for covering the person with ornaments; gold, silver, and gems were fashioned into rings for the ears, the nose, the fingers, and toes, into plates for the forehead, and chains for the neck, into armlets, and bracelets, and anklets, and into decorations of every possible form, not only for the women, but for men, and, above all, for the children of both sexes. The poor, unable to indulge in the luxury of precious metals, found substitutes in shells and glass; and the extravagance of the taste was defended on the ground that their brilliancy served to avert the malignity of "the evil eye" from the wearer to the jewel.
Gilding.—Gilding was likewise understood by the Singhalese in all its departments, both as applied to the baser metals and to other substances—wood-work was gilded for preaching places[1] as was also copper for roofing, cement for decorating walls, and stone for statuary and carving.[2]
1: Rajaratnacari, p. 60.
2: Rock inscription at Pollanarrua, A.D. 187—196.
Coin.—Although the Singhalese through their sacred writings had a knowledge of coined money, and of its existence in India from a period little subsequent to the death of Gotama Buddha[1]; and although their annalists give the names of particular coins in circulation[2], at various times, no Singhalese money has yet been discovered of a date antecedent to the eleventh century. The Chinese in the fifteenth century spoke with admiration of the gold pieces struck by the kings of Ceylon, which they found in circulation on their frequent visits to the emporium at Galle[3]; but of these only a few very rare examples have been preserved, one of which bears the effigy and name of Lokaiswaira[4], who usurped the throne during a period of anarchy about A.D. 1070. Numbers of small copper coins of the eleventh and twelfth centuries have from time to time been dug up both in the interior and on the coast of the island[5]. A quantity of these which were found in 1848 by Lieutenant Evatt, when in command of a pioneer corps near the village of Ambogamoa, were submitted to Mr. Vaux of the British Museum, and prove to belong to the reign of Wijayo Bahu, A.D. 1071, Prakrama I., A.D. 1153, the Queen Lilawatte, A.D. 1197, King Sahasamallawa, A.D. 1200, Darmasoka, A.D. 1208, and Bhuwaneka Bahu, A.D. 1303. These coins have one and all the same device on the obverse,—a rude standing figure of the Raja holding the trisula in his left hand, and a flower in the right. His dress is a flowing robe, the folds of which are indicated rather than imitated by the artist; and on the reverse the same figure is seated, the name in Nagari characters being placed beside the face[6].