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Men and Matters No, it is not another Indo-Lanka "peace accord" Its the economy, stupid. Business is business. Forget the "isms". Ideology is bunk. There are exceptions of course. Capitalism for example though we "socialists" choose to introduce as private enterprises. And so Mr. Patrick Amerasinghe, President of the Federation of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry would like to have a word with us. Indo-Lanka Trade Treaty Baffles Business Leaders Patrick Slams The Pact "Patrick" of course is the president of the Federation of Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Mr. Private Enterprise so to say. The Federation was quite concerned and quite troubled about a news item put out by the respected A.F.P. The story which would surely be picked up by big business companies and federations of investors interested in opportunities in Sri Lanka. Many of the bigger companies have representatives permanently stationed in Colombo. And they in turn have local partners or agents. And they in turn keep an eye on attractive investment possibilities... many are off-spring of the J.R. revolution. Market economics is how it was introduced since a vigorous Marxist movement had turned "capitalism" to a four-letter word. End of social welfarism. And it is that tussle, social welfarism (British Labour) and full-blooded capitalism which complicates life today for the Kumaratunga administration, Comrade Chandrika, an aristocrat by birth but comrade at heart. That and the Eelam Liberation struggle of commandant Prabhakaran... watch the defence vote. Fastest Lip The ‘Hindu’ turns a bit nasty too. ‘Say something that irritates Mr. Aiyar and the failed diplomat of AICC headquarters on Ashoka road will respond undiplomatically. Evidently it was such a flop that the Hindi wallahs put down their pens and even the English language reporters called it a day! And that surprised this columnist because he had quite a reputation in Colombo’s cocktail set as a DPL with a gift for picturesque patter. No, he was evidently in pretty poor form on this occasion. But he has not lost his prestigious post as Congress spokesman. When Sonia Gandhi writes the next chapter in Indian parliamentary history in a fine Italian hand our buddy will probably be the Minister of Information. Italian Job "How can you have a Frank Sinatra conference without booze? Good question. And it was raised by the comedian Alan King, comedian and lecturer. Lecturer? Yes. This was a serious academic occasion — a conference on entertainment, but that was not how it was advertised. It was a serious academic occasion dedicated to "the present personality of popular culture of the 20th century". Bet you neither Colombo nor Peradeniya would make ‘pop’ the occasion for academic discussion, though I know a fair number of dons and deans love to blow their trumpets. But give me Satchmo, any time... take it away, Satch. Between the lines Official business in Parliament is punctuated every Friday, after Question Hour, with private business. On that day, the members, selected through a ballot, either pilot a bill or a resolution they fancy. When placed before the House, the bill or the resolution is either accepted or rejected, depending generally on the attitude of the ruling party or the majority. In the last session of the Rajya Sabha, was one of the four members who won at the ballot. Unfortunately, my resolution did not come up for discussion since the House after completing its winter stint rose till the next session. I believe that the resolution lapses at the end of every session. Therefore, I shall never to go over the exercise once again. However, what has surprised me is that the text of the resolution I had filed was reproduced in the list of business without the opening para. I checked and found that there was no printing error. I was informed by the Secretary General that Chairman Krishan Kant, also the Vice President, had deleted the first para. He himself confirmed that when I met him to plead for restoration of the para. Let me first reproduce the resolution, which is as follows: "This House regrets Operation Blue Star at the Golden Temple in Amritsar in 1984 and offers apology to the Punjabis, especially the Sikhs for the hurt caused to them. The House also urges upon government to take necessary steps so that those who were involved in killings of the 1984 riots are punished without further delay. The House requests government to give speedy relief and rehabilitation to the riot victims, who are still awaiting help even after 14 years." I reached for the rules book, something which I seldom do. There is no doubt that Rule 158 of the Rajya Sabha manual gives power to the Chairman to disallow ‘a resolution or a part of it’. But Rule 158 is restricted by Rule 157, which lists the conditions of admissibility. It means that the Chairman has to ensure that none of the five conditions listed in Rule 157 is violated by the member introducing a bill or a resolution. The five conditions are: one, the language should be clear and precise; two, the resolution must deal with substantially one definite issue; three, it should not contain arguments, inferences, ironical expressions, imputations or defamatory statements; four, it should not refer to the conduct or character of persons except in their official capacity, and five, the matter should not be sub judice. The resolution I filed was clear and precise. It dealt with one issue and did not refer to the conduct of any person. Nor was the matter sub judice because no case was pending in any court on Operation Blue Star. Still the Chairman in his own wisdom disallowed the first part of the resolution. I am sure there must be weighty reasons for that. Whatever I have been able to make out is that the resolution’s first para may have been considered violating the third condition, relating to "arguments, inferences, ironical expressions, imputations or defamatory statements". Somewhere I went wrong but where. I have been seeking an answer. The resolution I proposed is not argumentative. Nor does it contain "inferences, ironical expressions or defamatory statements." Therefore, the only point left is one of ‘imputations’, that is, a charge or hint of wrong doing. Nowhere have I put the blame on government, any of its organisation or an individual. It was something unfortunate. Everyone wishes it had not happened. But my resolution did not go into the operation as such. The words I used in the resolution were ‘regret’ and ‘apology’. The ‘regret’ was the expression I thought the House, could use if it agreed with me. It could reject it in the case of disagreement. As for the ‘apology’, it was sought from the Punjabis, particularly the Sikhs. None else except the House came into the picture. Again it was upto it to concur with me to what I had proposed. I had no intention to impute motives or to run down any government or person. Mine was a simple, straight statement, without malice. In fact, if one were to look back, much more was said or done by government after Operation Blue Star. President Zail Singh and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi went to the Golden Temple soon after the operation to make amends through their visit. From the accounts of people who accompanied Mrs. Indira Gandhi, she was appalled at the sight. Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s daughter-in-law, Sonia Gandhi, admitted recently that it was a mistake. In face of this and several other steps the then government took to mollify the Sikhs, no word in my resolution could be interpreted as suggesting "imputations." In fact, mine is a larger question. This is to know whether the fundamental right of free speech can be restricted by the Rajya Sabha’s rules. I wonder whether the conditions listed in Rule 157 do not come into conflict with the provision of free speech in the Indian Constitution. Article 19 says: "All citizens shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression..." Can such rules be framed by a House as abridge the fundamental right of members? This needs to be debated all over the country. Again, the rules are a creature of the House, not the other way round. One more look on them may not be out of order. If the House is the master, it should have the authority to accept or reject a resolution. At least, it should have the right to know the contents of the resolution in toto. Presently, the information of members is confined to what appears under the head of the list of business. The original form of resolution does not come to their knowledge. The Chairman has the authority to withhold a resolution or part of it. But the House should have the freedom to know what it is, without going into the reasons for withholding the consent. One of the difficulties in seeking and offering answers to the such questions is that the debate about them is conducted in a public vacuum. The great answers can be intelligently sought by the Parliament members, and those offered can be intelligently weighed, only if they in general come to know much more than they now do about the simplest aspect of their House. The unpalatable truth is that Parliament for some years has been falling into a swamp of slushy uncertainty. No body has had time to look into larger questions which affect the very functioning of Parliament. Talking about Operation Blue Star, I personally think that a way, other than the army equipped with tanks, armoured personnel carriers and mountain guns should have been found to flush out militants from the Golden Temple. There is no doubt that they tried to create a state within the state at the connivance of some leading members of the Shiromani Gurudwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC). No sovereign government could tolerate it. Still the first requisite of a good leader is the ability to forestall events and not let events overtake him. The second is to be able to foresee the consequences of a course of action and only resort to it if no other options are available. On both these counts neither the Akali leaders nor Mrs. Gandhi and her advisers came up to the mark. After my recent visit to Canada and the US I am convinced more than ever before that the 14-year-old operation still rankles in the minds of Sikhs. Something different, something dramatic should be done to retrieve the community. My resolution could have been a healing touch and would have probably closed the unfortunate chapter once and for all. Some day I want to bring a similar resolution on the demolition of the Babri Masjid. Unlike Operation Blue Star, which was the result of government’s overaction, the demolition was because of government’s inaction. Some BJP leaders have rightly expressed their regret over the demolition and have felt pain over the disrespect shown even to the Supreme Court, which had ordered for the maintenance of the status quo. But such expressions, however laudable, are not enough. They have to be backed by steps to mollify the Muslims, who feel helpless and let down. If parliament were to express regret and seek apology from the community, the wounds might heal. In fact, whenever I have visited Pakistan or Bangladesh, the Babri Masjid’s demolition has cropped up in the discussion, in one form or the other. It is evident that people in those countries harbour grief. The sooner we make amends, the better it will be for the redress of the hurt caused to Muslims. It will also help remove the stigma on the face of our secular polity. Politicization beyond point of no return A Citizens Consultation Committee has prepared Report on "Free and Fair Elections and on the De-politicization of Key Institutions. The main proposal with regard to the de-politicization of the public service is the setting up of an Independent Public Service Commission. The politicization of the public service and the police service has gone too far. Ministers are promoting officials on the basis of their party affiliation or what Minister guess are officials private beliefs. The recent transfers of high ranking police officers from the North Western Province seems to indicate that the politicization has now gone beyond the point of no return. A statutory Code of Ethics An appellate authority for
victimized public servants Several countries on the continent of Europe and Canada have enacted such a law .It is absolutely essential for Parliamentary control of the Executive. If Parliament and the general public including the press do not have access to information there is no way Executive actions can be questioned. In such an environment corruption flourishes. It was the philosopher Kant who emphasized the deep connection between morality and publicity, first enunciated in the Bible .The quality of public debate in Parliament and the press and thus policy itself would be greatly improved if there is more openness in government. Freedom of Information laws exist in America, Canada, Australia, France, Sweden etc. Governments have realized that more disclosure brings more open-minded policy formulation .Nor are such Acts expensive to comply with. The Official Secrets Act must be amended. There should be an independent appeal authority, perhaps an Ombudsman or even a tribunal for the highest ranking public servants who feel they have been called upon to take unfair, irregular or questionable decisions to report them to an appellate authority. If they have been victimized by their Ministers for standing up to them, they should be allowed to report to the appellate authority in confidence. The appellate authority should have the power to give a ruling and be required to publish the findings. Appointment of Secretaries. In Sri Lanka the private sector has very few large organisations unlike USA. Where high quality personnel could move easily from large business organisations like General Motors, AT&T or IBM to posts in the government. What has happened here has been a few men who are specialists in their fields but lacking any substantial administrative skill being appointed as Secretaries flopping on this job in the face hostility of the senior public officials like the Heads of Departments they are expected to supervise. Such outsiders are not aware of the culture in the public service. This is not to say that such culture is all to the good. But change is not easy without the co-operation of those involved. The earlier selection of permanent secretaries was from those who had experience as Chief Executives in large departments in the related field. But there is a strong case for experts to be brought in. In Britain each Minister is allowed to appoint one such political adviser. Ministers should be allowed to recruit outside experts who may or may not be so expert but who command the support of the Minister concerned. But their functions should be clearly separated from those of mainstream public servants. Presently too few bureaucrats can divorce themselves from day to day demands of Ministers. Most of the time top officials have to dance attendance on their Ministers and have no time to analyse policy options for the long term national interest. So it is better to allow Ministers to choose adviser to do political jobs and push policy initiatives. The rest of the public service should get on with their jobs instead of protecting Ministerial backs. Make "Misuse of Public
Office a Statutory Offence Another useful change would be to enable the Auditor General to apply to Courts for a recovery order where a politician or public officer causes a loss to public funds. Presently the Auditor General surcharges local authority councillors who don’t seem to pay up. Perhaps as suggested by the Nolan Committee the Auditor General should apply to the Courts for a ruling where a Minister or politician is involved in causing loss to the public exchequer. The article, ‘A high hilltop in history’ in ‘The Island’ on this page last Saturday had been co-authored by Dayan Jayatilleke and Tisaranee Gunasekera. It carried only Mr.Jayatilleke’s byline. Poly-Ethnic Sri Lanka and
Tamil Separatism The Tamil separatist movement keeps bleating that Sri Lanka is a multi-ethnic, multi-religious plural society. This is nothing new. Sri Lanka has been exposed to numerous cultures and ethnic groups for many centuries, and has known how to cope. It has been engaging in a continuous poly-ethnic experience, culminating in 450 years of foreign rule. Sri Lanka was known to the major civilizations of ancient times. It was known to Greeks, Romans, Persians, Arabs and Chinese. The Greeks described Sri Lanka under the name 'Taprobane'. Onescritus, Megasthenes and Eratosthenes are three Greek writers who mentioned Taprobane. They referred to Sri Lanka's elephants, gold and pearls, that it was divided by a river and populated by 'men of ancient birth' and that it had no cities, only 700 villages... (D. P. M. Weerakkody. Sri Lanka and the Roman Empire. Modern Sri Lanka Studies Vol. 11 (1 & 2) 1987 p 21). The Romans also knew of Sri Lanka. The first recorded encounter was during the time of Emperor Claudius, (41-54 AD) when Pliny wrote of his travels to India. According to the Mahavamsa, King Bhathika Abhaya sent an embassy to Rome, and also got down a consignment of coral for the Mahathupa in Anuradhapura. Thereafter, we have the well known account of Ptolemy, 2 century AD, who prepared an extremely good map of Sri Lanka. It has been suggested that diplomatic relations between Sri Lanka and China were established around 1 century AD. Thereafter, many kings, both in Sri Lanka and in China sent gifts and embassies to each other. Missions were sent during reign of King Aggabodhi IV (667-683 AD), four missions went across during the time of Aggabodhi VI (733-772 AD) five missions were dispatched by Parakrama Bahu VI. (Bandaranayake p223, 224, 226) Sri Lanka was also instrumental in propagating Buddhism in China. In 429 AD Sri Lanka Bhikkunis were sent to China to establish a Bhikkuni Sasana there. Another batch went across in 433 AD. They may have come from the nunnery affiliated to the Abhayagiri Vihara. The Chinese monk Fa Hsien stayed for two years in Abhayagiri monastery. The Indian monk Gunavarman resided at Abhayagiri and thereafter left for China. Another Sri Lankan monk went to China in 412 AD and translated the Vinaya into Chinese. (Bandaranaike p 222, 223). Islam began in the 7th century and spread swiftly to neighbouring countries. From 7th to 9th century, the whole Islamic World, from Spain to A Sind was theoretically united under the Umayyad and the Abbasid Caliphs. There is evidence that there were Muslim merchant settlements in Sri Lanka early in the 7th century. This is indicated in the 9th century writings of Al Balazuri. The Iranian navigator, Ibn Shahryer has stated in his 10th century writings that the king of Sri Lanka sent a good will mission to Prophet Mohammad at Medina, but the Prophet had died by the time the mission got there. On the way back the king's messenger also died and it was left to the servant to convey information to the king. This would have been in the time of King Aggabodhi III. The Arab and Persian world knew Sri Lanka as 'Sarandib'. "Sarandib" was also known as 'Saheelan', S. A. Iman concludes that this was a Persianised form of 'Sinhala'. (Bandaranayake p 173-174) Iranian records speak of a delegation from the Sri Lankan king to Iranian emperor Anusharwan. The Sri Lankan king had sent him ten elephants, two hundred thousand pieces of teakwood, and also seven pearl divers. (Bandaranayake p 173). Sri Lanka has had a long naval history, some degree of sea power and a considerable history of trade. C. W. Nicholas published a paper on 'Sinhalese naval power' in the University of Ceylon Review Vol. 16 (3-4) 1958. This was subsequently included in the book 'Sri Lanka and the silk road of the sea' published by the Sri Lanka National Commission for Unesco and the Central Cultural Fund, Colombo, 1990. It was edited by Senake Bandaranayake, Lorna Dewaraja, Rolands Silva, and K. D. G. Wimalaratne. It will be referred to here after under "Bandaranayake". Nichoals suggests that upto 3 century BC Sri Lanka showed expert skill and a great tradition of seafaring. Many voyages were made to and from the deltas of the Indus and the ganges. As sailors, the Sinhalese were supreme in the South Indian seas. From 2 century BC to about 125 AD, there was a struggle between the Tamils and the Sinhalese for mastery of the South Indian seas in order to gain control of Ceylon's rich export trade. In this struggle the Sinhalese were vanquished. Thereafter the products of Ceylon were transported to and sold in Tamil ports by Tamil intermediaries, to western merchants. Chinese ships, however had regular dealings in a small way with the Sinhalese. (Bandaranayake p285) The Pandyan conquest of the 5th century emphasised the need for a revival of Sinhalese naval power and the first steps were taken by Moggallana I. In the 7th and 8th centuries, the revival of Sinhalese seapower made further progress under Pallava guidance. In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Sinhalese naval build up was greatly expedited after the Pandyan invasion during the time of Sena I. In 862 AD and 915 AD the Sinhalese navy was capable of transporting Sinhalese armies of invasion to Pandya and maintaining those armies in the invaded territory. Nicholas remarks that Sinhalese sea power was not seriously incapacitated during the Chola conquest and recovered rapidly after the expulsion of Cholas. And in the 12 century, Sinhalese naval power reached its peak. It was able to keep the Chola navy in check. Parakrama Bahu I was able to carry out an invasion of Burma and send a succession of armies to South India. Nicholas says 13 century saw the destruction of the naval and military power of Sinhalese. (Bandaranayake p 286) C. W. Nicholas says that the historical chronicles of the time say little or nothing about naval strategies and tactics. Neither the name nor the title of a Sinhalese naval commander is mentioned. This is probably due to the fact that chronicles like the Mahavamsa were primary religious chronicles, and therefore not interested in trade or naval history. Nicholas suggests that the Sri Lanka navy was probably used mainly for trade, and not war. Many of them were privately owned. In every Sinhalese expedition overseas, the overall commander of the ships and the troops was always the commander of the land forces, but in no instance is the king or prince mentioned as having left Ceylon in command of an expeditionary force. Sinhalese kings and princes commanded troops in the field within their own kingdom, but not abroad. (Bandaranayake p286). We could substitute the words "Sri Lankan" for Sinhalese in the above text. And also substitute 'South Indian' for Tamil'. It is also possible that Sri Lanka was at one time the leader in Asian shipbuilding. By the end of the 8 century AD, the largest ships in the Indian Ocean were those built in Asia itself. (R. A. L. H. Gunawardena says that) According to Chinese sources, of the many foreign ships arriving in China, those from the "Lion Kingdom" of Sri Lanka were the largest. Sri Lankan ships were about 200 feet long and were able to carry seven to eight hundred men. (Bandaranayake p 30-31, 127). From the 1 century AD there was an interest world wide in sea voyages and merchant shipping. Initially, the ships were not capable of covering the full distance from the west to the east in a single run. There were three trade route segments. The western segment included the east coast of Africa and the Persian Gulf. The central segment was from Persia to the west coast of India. The last segment was from India to Indonesia and China. Up to the 4th century AD the Roman Empire, then at the height of its power dominated the trade route to India. Thereafter, the Persians and Ethiopians took over the central route. From 4th to 7th century AD the Persian and Ethiopians operated from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf respectively. Their route ended at India. The focus of trade thereafter gradually shifted from the Malabar coast of India (south western coast) to the Coromandel coast (southeast coast of India). And by the 6th century AD, the main port for east-west trade was Mantai, near Mannar in Sri Lanka. Thus Sri Lanka became the main centre for trade in the Indian Ocean by 6th century AD. It functioned as the centre for the exchange of goods from west to east and vice versa. This was due to its central position in the Indian Ocean. It was an obvious location for utilising the two monsoons for sailing purposes. Mantai was a major port from about 2 century BC to 11 century Ad. Mantai in Sri Lanka and Bambhore in Pakistan were the main south Asian emporia participating in the chain of trading ports of the medieval period. The Egyptian sailor Cosmas Indicopleustus, writing in the 6th century described the port of Mantai (Mahatiththa). He said that from all India, Persia and Ethiopia many ships came to Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka also received the products from eastern regions like China, and these were passed on through Mantai to Persia, Yemen, and Ethiopia. Sri Lanka, he said, also sent out many ships of its own. 'Occupying as it does, a kind of central position'. The 8th century pilgrim Vajrabodhi found 35 Persian ships at Mantai, at one time, waiting to sail to China. Sinhalese merchants also were visiting China to bring back goods up to the 8th century. The evidence from the records of the 3rd to 8th centuries is that there was a single run from Mantai in Sri Lanka to Kunlun in Malaysia. A longer run all the way to China and the ports in between were also carried out occasionally. (Moira Tampoe. The Spice island route. Sesquicentennial Commemorative Volume of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka 1845-1995 p 162. Sri Lanka's status in the Indian Ocean had grown to such a large proportion by the 6th century that Cosmas considered it the most important entrepot in the region. However Sri Lanka was important for trade even before that. From as early as the 2 century AD, western writers such as Ptolemy regarded Sri Lanka as a country which occupied an important position in the trade circuit. One of the first ethnic groups to arrive in the Sri Lanka at this time were the Persians. Sri Lanka had been the chief trade entrepot of the Sassanian Persians. There were frequent Sassanian Persian trading settlements in the entrepots of India and Sri Lanka, where they had cornered the market. They together with other key traders from elsewhere in the world congregated in Mantai. Sri Lanka it is reported had a church for Persian Christians who had settled there, and a Presbyter who was appointed from Persia. In addition, a stone carved with the Nestorian cross now at Anuradhapura, another Nestorian cross, and an old Persianic inscription, as well as three seal impressions, confirm Persian presence in Sri Lanka at the time. (Tampoe. P162, 169) However after the 7th century, there were certain changes in the sea routes. Islam had appeared in the west and the countries of Arabia took over the eastern trade from the Persians and the Ethiopians. There was by now a better knowledge of monsoons and tides, better navigational techniques, and better ships. Ships found a way of going round Sri Lanka and up into the bay of Bengal. Arab trade thus spanned the ocean routes right up to the ports of China. This reached a peak in the 9th century. However, after a dispute with China, Arab ships stopped at the Indian and Southeast Asian ports, making the Bay of Bengal a very lucrative trading area. In the 9th and 10th centuries, an assortment of Persians, Arabs, Abyssinians, all Muslim, speaking Arabic and therefore conveniently called Arabs, dominated the overseas trade from Baghdad to China. There is evidence that there were Muslim merchant settlements in Sri Lanka as early as the 7th century. M. A. M. Shukri has used the Arabic (Kufi) inscriptions in Sri Lanka to throw light on the origins of Sri Lanka's Muslims. He says that the Sri Lankan Moors, originally came from Aleppo, a city in Syria. Thereafter, Bengali and Gujerati merchants also embraced Islam in the 12th century, and by the 14th and 15th centuries they were to be found on the Malabar and Coromandel coasts of South India. The 'Coast Moors' of Sri Lanka, it is felt were drawn from these North Indian Muslims. (Bandaranayake p 181, 203). In Trincomalee too In 940AD the Caliph of Baghdad despatched a religious teacher of great eminence named Khalid Ibn al Bakaya to Sri Lanka, at the request of the Muslims of Sri Lanka. He died 17 years later and was buried at Colombo. (p 204) The Muslim merchants had also obtained from the Sinhala rulers a very important privilege, to be tried by their own laws. If in any port where they were engaged in trade a dispute arose in which a Muslim has involved, it had to be settled without delay or expense by a tribunal consisting of Muslim priests, merchants and mariners. (p 195) The Tamil separatist movement had argued that the dominant influence in ancient Sri Lanka was the South Indian Tamil influence, and no other. In trade and commerce they emphasise the South Indian mercantile communities which came up around the 10th century. The rise of these trading houses parallels the rise of the Chola empire in South India and Sri Lanka. These trading houses were not able to overtake the Arab traders, but nevertheless, they were a significant force in the east. They were able to conduct trade in about six Asian countries, India, Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Indonesia and China. These trading houses also took over trade in Sri Lanka during the time the Cholas ruled in the country. The language used, in their trading ventures, all over East Asia, was Tamil. However, it is necessary to point out that Sri Lanka has always had considerable contact with the rest of India too. It is likely that during the time of Parakrama Bahu V, there were Gujerati merchants in Sri Lanka. (Kiribamune p 40). Before that, in the 6th century or so, Sri Lanka's entrepot trade included Carnelian from Gujerat, Basalt from the Deccan and Amaravati marble from South India. There has been a considerable link between the western coast of India and Sri Lanka. That is because the western trade route included west Indian ports, from which the ships came into Mantai. Because of this, there is a great similarity in the sailing craft used in Sri Lanka. The outrigger canoe, which is found in the south and southwestern part of Sri Lanka, is also found in the African coast, the western coast of India, the eastern part of the Indian Ocean, and in the South Pacific with its Polynesian peoples. The catamaran was restricted to Tamilnadu and the extreme north of Sri Lanka, near the Jaffna peninsula. There are links between Sri Lanka, Madagascar and Sumatra in the shape of the sailing vessel. That is because Sri Lanka was central to the sea route from Indonesia to Africa. Initially travellers to and from North India, took a land route after crossing the Palk Strait, but the Maligatanna inscription, given in very early Brahmi script, indicates that Sri Lanka's mariners engaged in voyages to western parts of India. (Bandaranayake. p 26,29) There were religious links with North India as well. During the time of the famous Gupta emperor Samudragupta (350-376 AD) there was a special monastery at Buddhagaya for Sri Lankan Buddhist monks. This was apparently built by the Sri Lankan king. About the 5th century AD, the sea route from Sri Lanka along the eastern coast of India, between Tamralipti and Mantai seems to have commenced. From then onwards, sea-travel between Sri Lanka and eastern India became quite frequent. (Bandaranayake p 142-144) Osmund Bopearachchi points out that here is epigraphical evidence to indicate that Sri Lanka had a closer relationship with the regions of Afghanistan. The word 'kaboja' occurs in three inscriptions from Koravakgala (Situlpauva) in the Hambantota district, which was a part of the ancient Rohana. The Kambojas were a native population in the west of the Mauryan empire, speaking a language of Iranian origin. In addition this site also produced coins from Bactria and North west India. There were also finds of lapis lazuli which were probably from Afghanistan. These indicate a close relationship between Sri Lanka and the communities of Central Asia and Northwest India. For this reason it is believed that the Gandhara region was closely connected with Sri Lanka as early as the first centuries of our era. (Observations made at the International seminar on early Buddhist art of Central Asia, Gandhara, India and Sri Lanka, Colombo, 1998). Let us now look at the trade activity within Sri Lanka. Mantai was located at the mouth of the Malwatu river, linking the port to the island's capital, Anuradhapura, this indicating the supply route to the capital. It is now argued that the prosperity of the Anuradhapura Kingdom from 6BC was due to two factors. The irrigation based agricultural economy, and the entrepot trade via Mantai. Tampoe points out that while Mantai is situated in an arid stretch of coast, it is backed by a considerable agricultural hinterland, with Giants Tank covering an area of 7.5 sq. kilometres situated nearby. (Tampoe p 170) R. A. L. H. Gunawardene has pointed out that the most prolific activity in building irrigation tanks and canals was in the 3-9AD. This coincided with a flourishing period of trade. Gunawardene points out that after Mantai trade fell in 7 AD, only one new major irrigation project was undertaken from 7-9 century AD. He argues that the funds for building came from trade. (Sirima Kiribamune). Trade patterns in the Indian Ocean and their impact on the politics of Medieval Sri Lanka. (Modern Sri Lanka Studies. 2 Vol 11 (1&2) 1987 p 67.) During this period, it appears that Sri Lanka exported to India as well. South Indian inscriptions refer to Sri Lanka merchants who had camped in a place called Sri Lanka Asittapatti in South India. (W. I. Siriweera. In Bandaranayake p 125) (Continued tomorrow) |
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