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in another cave there which now contains the principal temple, the Rājata Lena Wihāra,' the Silver Cave Wihāra,' in which a heap of silver is recorded in the Mahāvansa as having been found in the time of King Duṭṭha-Gāmiņi (161-137 B.C.). The same inscription is repeated in another part of the cave, the second word in it being written Abayi.

That this inscription gives the original name of this wihāra is confirmed by another in characters of about the first century A.D. on the top of the same rock.1 It runs :

(A)ba dagaya raṇ(e) biḍi Karațiradataha tube.

The Abhaya relic-house having been broken during war was (re-) established by Karaṭiradatta.

Another cave shelter under the same rock is inscribed in pre-Christian letters,

Bata puta Devaha leņe sagasa.

The cave of Dēva, son (of) Bhātiya; to the Com

munity.

There are also later inscriptions at this place, recording work done at the wihāra and grants made to it. One that was left by a person called Bujaka Utaya, ' the landed proprietor Uttiya,' is in letters of the second or third century A.D. Another is by Mekaha Aba,' in letters resembling those used by Jeṭṭha-Tissa, son of Mahā-Sēna; it may thus belong to Mēghavanṇa-Abhaya II (304-322 A.D.). It is clear that extensive improvements were carried out at that time; the inscription ends,

Laka (kaha)wana di (Aba) ka leņa maha pațima karawaya savasa taṇața lit(i).

Having given 100,000 kahāpanas he caused the great statue (of Buddha) at the Abhaya cave to be made. Written at the tom-tom beating place.

As the porch in which the panels were carved is an evident addition to the original cave temple at which it was erected (the Waraka, not the Abhaya, cave) the work at it may belong to the same period as this inscription.2

1 The facsimiles of this and the preceding inscriptions are to be seen in Fig. No. 153.

I may note that there is no reference in any of the inscriptions

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Some of the long straight swords carved in these panels follow the type of Indian weapons represented in the Amarăvati carvings (late second century A.D.), which, however, had no cross-hilts. The one in the illustration tapers from hilt to point, like a dagger; another has a blade with parallel sides and a short point.

In the older temple paintings straight swords are depicted with hilts of a shape not now seen. One which I sketched has a cross-hilt in the form of a crescent with the points turned forward; in another the crescent is reversed (Fig. 163). A straight sword without a cross-hilt or guard is represented in the Dambulla Cave temple; the painting was executed in the middle of the seventeenth century, and is supposed by the monks in charge of the temple to reproduce the former work done in the time of Niśśanka-Malla (1198–1207 A.D.).

Below an inscription of the ninth or tenth century, cut on the face of a pillar at Wilgama wihāra, near Bibile, in the Uva Province, a sword of a somewhat different type is carved (Fig. 162); it has a cross-hilt which ends in a curl on one side, and is a very long narrow straight weapon, twice as wide

to the legend regarding the discovery of silver in one of the caves. Some short badly-cut records of grants to the temple, belonging to about the fifth or sixth century A.D., appear to show that the modern name had not then been adopted. Three contain the name of a temple, apparently this one, which is variously spelt Havidavi, Havadava, and Hividivi, while in another it is Divegala. It may have been Havidiva Wihāra, 'the splendid wihāra on the hill.'

The following are specimens of these records :

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i. Nilapanatața ca Jalanalaṇa kita ca Havadava w(i)hara ca savisa taṇata liti.

Nilapāṇataṭa (now Nilantaṭṭuwa), and Jalanalaṇa field, with the Havadava wihāra; written at the tom-tom beating place (the flat rock on which the inscriptions are cut).

ii. Uḍabaganu Hividivi wihari ca savisa taṇața liti.

iii. Haga sala Divegala w(i)hara ca la sevasa taṇața liti.

A hall for the Community is placed with the Divegala wihāra, etc. The meaning of the formula seems to be that the names of the places are coupled with the wihāra as part of its property, which once covered a large tract around it. The old name of the adjoining district is said to be Entota Danawwa. A long covered shed was built for the tomtom beaters by King Kirti Sri (1747-1780 A.D.); it is termed the Hēvisi Mandapa.

towards the point as it is near the hilt. The blade is contracted sharply up to the point, which is extremely short.

In no case, so far as I am aware, is the small modern curved, one-edged Sabre, termed a Kastānē (Fig. 164), found in any Sinhalese carvings. In the temple paintings of the contest between Buddha and the demons, which, however, are all comparatively recent restorations, very rarely, in their present state, belonging to an earlier date than the seventeenth century, this is the favourite type of the artists, practically differing in no way from the Kandian ceremonial sabres worn by the chiefs of the present time. These have curved hilts made of buffalo horn, ending in a lion's head, and inlaid with brass, silver, or gold, with usually some work of the same kind fixed or inlaid on the lower part of the blade. All have guards, and there is a half cross-hilt on the opposite side.

I give also drawings of two swords in my possession, from villages in the interior of the North-western Province. The smaller one (Fig. 165) is two-edged, and without guard or cross-hilt; it appears to be a specimen of the short straight Indian type of early post-Christian times. The other (Fig. 166) which is one-edged except at the point, and is curved and has a guard, is a much longer weapon; most probably it is copied from European hangers, if it is not actually of European manufacture. Both these weapons have pommels. The only Scabbards that I have seen were made of two wooden plates held together by bands of silver or brass.1

I have seen no Daggers that appeared to be of an early type, but Mr. Bell has illustrated one carved in outline on a rock at Anuradhapura 2 (Fig. 181). One of peculiar shape in the British Museum is doubtless of late date (Fig. 179).

Although the Kandian Knife, Pihā-Kaetta, must always have been utilised as an ornamental appendage and as an instrument of daily use rather than as a warlike weapon, its employment in the latter capacity on suitable occasions

1 Captain Robert Knox says of those used by the better classes, 'The Scabbard most part covered with Silver, bravely ingraven.' • Archaeological Survey of Ceylon. Third Progress Report, Plate VIII.

cannot be doubted. When we read of murders committed by plunging a weapon' into the victims we may be certain that the Knife was resorted to in many a fight with the enemy. It does not appear in any carvings.

Its shape varies considerably. The largest type (Fig. No. 172) follows the curve of the short Southern Indian sword (see Fig. No. 158), and has a wide blade; others are much narrower and straighter. The better sorts of knives had carved ivory hafts inlaid with brass, silver, or gold; a thin narrow plate of the same material, with raised conventional decorations, which were usually meanders or simple four-pointed stars, was also attached to each side of the lower part of the blade, the surface of which was sunk at the spot to receive it. Some had carved handles of rock-crystal, a custom which appears to have been common in former times, since it has caused a general expression Stone-handled knife' (Gal-mita pihē) to be applied to all weapons of the same shape, whatever material be used in the haft. Common knives of course had wooden handles (Fig. No. 177). The usual forms are shown in the illustrations (Figs. 172-178). All appear to have had thin wooden sheaths formed of two hollowed strips tied or pegged together near the point, and bound by a thin plate of brass or silver at the mouth.

The Kris, Kriciya (c pronounced as ch), is shown by its name to be borrowed from Malaya. It is rarely seen, and does not often appear in the wihara paintings; but it is represented at the Dambulla wihāra, where it is held as a dagger. The fact that a broken blade which appeared to belong to this weapon, with at least three bends, was discovered in the Tissa excavations, in the lowest pottery stratum, proves that it had been introduced into the island in very early times. Unfortunately I preserved no drawing of the blade, which is now in the Colombo Museum.

The Itiya is the true Sinhalese form of a weapon of this type. It is a narrow-bladed short stabbing spear or assegai, but it is also held like a sword. It is described as having a thin blade eighteen inches long, with bends resembling those of the Kris, and two cutting edges. It is found in the Dēwālas,

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