7: Ibid., ch. xxiii. p. 139.
8: Ibid., ch. xxviii. p. 170; ch. xxxix. p. 214.
The Lankawistariyaye, or "Ceylon Illustrated," a Singhalese work of the 7th century, gives a geographical summary of the three great divisions of the island, Rohuna, Maya, and Pihiti, and dwells with obvious satisfaction on the description of the capital of that period. The details correspond so exactly with another fragment of a native author, quoted by Colonel Forbes[1], that both seem to have been written at one and the same period; they each describe the "temples and palaces, whose golden pinnacles glitter in the sky, the streets spanned by arches bearing flags, the side ways strewn with black sand, and the middle sprinkled with white, and on either side vessels containing flowers, and niches with statues holding lamps. There are multitudes of men armed with swords, and bows and arrows. Elephants, horses, carts, and myriads of people pass and repass, jugglers, dancers, and musicians of all nations, with chank shells and other instruments ornamented with gold. The distance from the principal gate to the south gate, is four gows; and the same from the north to the south gate. The principal streets are Moon Street, Great King Street, Hinguruwak, and Mahawelli Streets,—the first containing eleven thousand houses, many of them two stories in height. The smaller streets are innumerable. The palace has large ranges of buildings, some of them two and three stories high, and its subterranean apartments are of great extent."
1: Eleven Years in Ceylon, vol. i. p. 235. But there is so close a resemblance in each author to the description of the ancient capital of the kings of Ayoudhya (Oude) that both seem to have been copied from that portion of the Ramayana. See the passage quoted in Mrs. Spier's Life in Ancient India, ch. iv. p. 99.
The native descriptions of Anarajapoora, in the 7th century, are corroborated by the testimony of the foreign travellers who visited it about the same period. Fa Hian says, "The city is the residence of many magistrates, grandees, and foreign merchants; the mansions beautiful, the public buildings richly adorned, the streets and highways straight and level, and houses for preaching built at every thoroughfare."[1] The Leang-shu, a Chinese history of the Leang Dynasty, written between A.D. 507-509, describing the cities of Ceylon at that period, says, "The houses had upper stories, the walls were built of brick, and secured by double gates."[2]
1: Foë-Kouë-kĭ, ch, xxxviii. p. 334.
2: Leang-shu, B, liv. p. 10.
Carriages and Horses.—Carriages[1] and chariots[2] are repeatedly mentioned as being driven through the principal cities, and carts and waggons were accustomed to traverse the interior of the country.[3] At the same time, the frequent allusions to the clearing of roads through the forests, on the approach of persons of distinction, serve to show that the passage of wheel carriages must have been effected with difficulty[4], along tracks prepared for the occasion, by freeing them of the jungle and brushwood. The horse is not a native of Ceylon, and those spoken of by the ancient writers must have been imported from India and Arabia. White horses were especially prized, and those mentioned with peculiar praises were of the "Sindhawo" breed, a term which may either imply the place whence they were brought, or the swiftness of their speed.[5] In battle the soldiers rode chargers[6], and a passage in the Mahawanso shows that they managed them by means of a rope passed through the nostril, which served as a bridle.[7] Cosmas Indicopleustes, who considered the number of horses in Ceylon in the 6th century to be a fact of sufficient importance to be recorded, adds that they were imported from Persia, and the merchants bringing them were treated with special favour and encouragement, their ships being exempted from all dues and charges. Marco Polo found the export of horses from Aden and Ormus to India going on with activity in the 13th century.[8]
1: B.C. 307, Mahawanso, ch. xiv. p. 80, 81; B.C. 204, Ib., ch. xxi. p. 128. A carriage drawn by four horses is mentioned, B.C. 161, Mahawanso, ch. xxxi. p. 186.
2: B.C. 307, Mahawanso, ch, xv. p. 84; ch xvi. p. 103.