MANTAI

THE GREAT EMPORIUM OF

Cosmas Indicopleustus

by

Dr. Roland Silva

President, National Trust -Sri Lanka

Chairman,
Distinguished Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are deeply privileged to be able to address this
learned audience on a subject which we are
presently investigating. We are most conscious of
the unknown rocks and whirlpools that we may
chance to encounter, as the audience to whom we
are addressing this paper can be specialists in this
discipline, and could well contest many of the
suggestions that we may present. However, the
progress of science demands revision, re-thought
and re-formulation of instincts, ideas and ideals.

Slide 1 - Sri Lanka through the eyes of Ptolemy First Century AD

Note the size of Sri Lanka in relation to India

Slide 2
Mannar Island
seen against the
Pearl Banks of Sri
Lanka, with the
International
Waterways
passing through
the larger Mannar
Channel, and the
smaller Pambem
Passage, which lay
between the two
Nations of India
and Sri Lanka

Pambem
Passage
Mannar
Channel

Slide 3 Map of the Mannar Channel and the Pambem Passage

Apart from Cosmas Indicopleustus of the 6 th

century, De Queyroz, the Portuguese writer
was also one of those who referred to
Mantota as an Emporium and how right they all were,
although in the latters own time the great channel of communication was already
silting. He was, indeed, aware that the Romans used this waterway to great benefit
for he records in his comments the many Roman artefacts that were discovered in the
erection of the Portuguese fortification on the west bank of the channel at Mantota.

The popularity and the usage of Mantota as

a major highway port is clear from the many
and continuous historical references to this
port in the different trade records and
chronicles. These names include Mahatitagama, Mahavoti, Mahavutu,
Mavatutota, Matottam, Mahatitiha and Modouttou (1).

Slide 4 Sri Lanka, a Continuous Navigational Hub in

relation to Europe and Asia

Considering the position of Sri Lanka in its global and navigational context
in the ancient world, Sri Lanka stood to much geographical advantage in three
ways,

southernmost point

(a)

It was the vital

mainland Asia;

of

(b)

It was almost on the Equator where

navigational winds and monsoon effects
changed directions;

(c)

It was the half

way point between the two

great empires of Rome and Peking.

Considering these geographical features,

Sri Lanka was a necessary port of call
for anchorage, awaiting for the right
winds for the onward journey, across
waters without land in sight, and for the
collection of food, water and other
supplies. Such physical necessities combined with the social obligations to
human endurance of being away from the homeland, no doubt, encouraged the navigators

to consider Sri Lanka as a port-of-return to

ships calling on the island either from the East
or the West.

As such, the natural course of trade and shipment found in Sri Lanka were utilized as

an ideal staging post for the transhipment

of goods and for the barter of such
products that were traded between the
distant Empires of Rome and Peking. The sporadic
studies on the ports and capitals of Sri Lanka and the many foreign artefacts found at these
sites are a clear indication to such close links. Hoards of Roman coins found in Jaffna,
Kataragama, Walave, Anuradhapura, Sigiriya and thirty other sites are vital pointers towards
this end (2). Roman coins are still available in the streets of Colombo for sale to numismatists
and antiquarians. The spread of Chinese coins and ceramics from Jaffna to Mantota,
Anuradhapura to Polonnaruva, Yapahuva to Dambadeniya, Sigiriya to Panduvasnuvara, Kandy
to Galle and Tissamaharama, all criss-crossed the length and breadth of this country to
eliminate any serious doubts of such close trade links with this great Empire. The question
raised is only about the exact position of such trade transactions. Here again the answers are as
extensive as the beaches of this country. Many ports, often at the mouths of the rivers, formed
the right haven for such trade transactions and our conjecture is that Mantota was the finest of
such ports in this country at least until the ships were too large and the waterway too shallow
for the convenience of the navigators.

Slide 5
The importance of
Sri Lanka is
emphasized in this,
Dark Ages map of
the world, where
the three known
continents in early
and medieval
times. namely,
Europe, Africa and
Asia are shown and
Sri Lanka (Ceylon)
is highlighted next
to Paradise.

There was consistent interest in

the affairs of the island by the numerous
reports documented throughout the ages
by officials, travellers and traders. The
map that follows from the First Century
AD records the Land-Link between the
West end of Europe with Thaprobane
(Sri Lanka), thus recording the historical
relevance of continued trade and other
contacts
Slide 6

DOVER
TOULOUSE

NIJMEGEN

LYON

KOBLENZE
MARSALE

MILANO
STRAATSBURG
VENTIMIGLIA
TIMGAD [AF]

CORSICA
MILAAN
SARDINIE

VERONA REGENSBURG
SALZBURG
SIENA

TEBESSA[AF] RAVENNA

TARQUINIA
CIVITAVECCHIA

ROMA
CARTHAGE [AF] OSTIA

SOUSSE[AF]

SALONA

NAPELS POMPEI
SKOPJE
SALERNO SABARATA
SORRENTO
TRIPOLI[AF]

LAEPTIS MAGNA[AF]
CORINTHE

OLYMPIA

SOFIA

SPARTA

SALONIKI
CYTHERA

PATRAS ATHENE

PHILIPPI

CONSTANTSA
BENGASI

CYRENE
de NIJL[AF]

ISTANBOEL
KRETA

TYRUS
EPHESUS
ANKARA
RHODOS
PERGAMON
NIJLDELTA[AF]
JERUSALEM JERICHO SIDON

DAMASCUS

ANTIOCHIE

ALEPPO
PALMIRA

ARABIA

MESAPOTAMIA
BABYLON

de TIGRIS

Ara ALEXANDRI

INDUS

ALEXANDRIA BUCEFALOS

TAPROBANE
(SRI LANKA)

de GANGES

There is hardly any reason to doubt these

facts of historical-geography when we know
that there was consistent interest in the
affairs of the island by the numerous reports
documented throughout the ages by officials,
travellers and traders. The sixty eight or
more names assigned to Sri Lanka in
historical times are in many ways a clear
testimony of the islands importance as a
port of call (3).

Slide 7 The Sixty Eight or more Names given to Sri Lanka

in the past indicate the many nations and People that
communicated with this Island State through the centuries.
Name

Century

Author or Text

Amradvipa

6th AD

Bodh Gaya- Inscription 6

Ceilan

17th

Mercators Atlas-1606 7

Ceilan

17th (circa) Dutch Map 8

Ceylan

17th

de Queyroz 9

Ceylao

17th

de Queyroz 10

Ceylon

17th

Robert Knox 11

Che-tseu-Kouo

5th

Fa-Hsien 12

Chinilao

17th

de Queyroz 13

Elankai
Hsi -lan

Tamil 14
6th
15th
Shih 15

Feng Che,ng-chu..ns
Ying-yai sheng-lan
Ma Huan and Ming

I l.am

11th

Tirumukku-d.al Inscription 16

Ilerane

17th

de Queyroz 17

Jazirat Al Ykt

9th

Arab Historian 18

Lam. ka-

4th-2nd BC Ra-ma-yan.a 19

Lam.ka-di-pa

4th AD

Di-pavam. sa 20

Lang-ya

6th

Ming Shib 21

Man.d.adipa

4th and 6th Di-pavam.sa and Maha-vam.sa 22

Ojadi-pa

4th and 6th Di-pavam.sa and Maha-vam.sa 23

Ophir

17th (circa) Dutch Map 24

Palaesimundu

1st AD

Periplus of the Erythraean Sea 25

Palaiogonoi

3rd BC

Megasthenes 26

Palasimudae

1st AD

Marcian of Heraclea 27

Pallessimonda

17th

de Queyroz 28

Pao-tchou

7th

Hsuen-Tsang 29

Parasamudra

4th BC

Kaut.ilya 30

Po-lo-men

8th

Tou Hoan 31

Rachius

1st AD

Sanchoniathou 32

Ratnadi-pa

6th

Manimekala-i 33

Salabham

14th (circa) Tamil 34

Salice

15th

Map Colombo Museum 35

Salikeib

2nd AD

Ptolemy 36

Sang-kia-lo

7th Hsuen-Tsang 37

Sarandib

2nd AD

Samaritan Pentateuch 38

Saylan

15th

Fra Mauros Map 39

Scrilanea

17th

de Queyroz 40

Seilan

15th

Martin.Behaims uremburg Globe41

Selendive

Arab author 42

Senda-n

8th

Arab author 43

Se-ng-ka-lo

7th

I-tsing 44

Serendivi

4th AD

Emperor Julian 45

Shi-tyi-kuo -

Chinese author 46

Sielediba

6th

Cosmas Indicopleustes 47

Sihadi-pa

5th

Tchou Tche 48

Si-lan

12th

ling wai tai ta 49

Silangiri

7th

Hsuen Tsang 50

Si-louen-tie Sim.hala

Chau Ju-kua 51
4th AD

Sim.haladvipa

Di-pavam.sa 52
Indian author 53

Simonda

17th

de Queyroz 54

Simondi

15th

Map - Colombo Museum 55

Simondou

2nd AD

Ptolemy 56

Si-nan

7th

Chau Ju-kua 57

Sin-tan

8th

Tou Hoau 58

Siyalan

Sri -Lan.ka
Sseu-li

Arab author 59
14th

Nika-yasam.graha 60

61

Sseu no-tlao

5th

Tcnou Icne 62

Sseu-tiao

3rd AD

Kang Tai 63

Suvarn.advi-pa

10th

Ati-sa 64

Tambapan.n.i

3rd BC

Bodh Gaya Railing Inscription also

Di-pavam.sa and Maha-vam.sa 65

Tapobra-na

17th

de Queyroz and Erastothenes 66

Taproba

14th

Catalan Map 67

Taprobana

2nd AD

Ptolemy Map and

13th

Hereford Map 68

Taprobane

4th BC

Onesioritus 69

Tenarezim

17th

de Queyroz 70

Tenasiria

17th

Pyrard de Laval 71

Ternasseri

17th

de Queyroz 72

Tranate

17th

de Queyroz 73

Triku-t.a

4th-2nd BC Ra-ma-yan.a 74

Varadipa

4th and 6th Di-pavam.sa and Maha-vam.sa 75

Zaylon

17th

de Queyroz 76

Zeilan

17th

Petrus Plancius 77

Recognizing the geographical and geological conditions of the island, many ancient records

The
Milindapanha of the first century AD, indicates
the lines of communication through the Mannar
straits linking China with the Red Sea:
Just, O King as a ship owner who has become
wealthy by constantly levying freight in some sea
port town, will be able to traverse the high seas,
and go to Vanga, or Takkola or China, or Sovira,
or Surat, or Alexandria or the Koramandal coast,
or further India or any other place where ships do
congregate(4).
list

the

navigational

routes

traversing

the

course

of

this

country.

An Egyptian scholar Huzayyin states in his

studies that,
However, the communication between the latter
two (Aden and the Malabar coast) was never
abandoned, as it received an impetus by the rise
of Ceylon, and, later on, by the development of
maritime relations between West and South-East
Asia first by way of the Bay of Bengal and
afterwards around the Malay Peninsula which
made the ports of South India suitable half-way
stations (5).

Slide 8 Early Routes between the West and Southeast Asia through
the North of Sri Lanka.

The Mannar Straits

The popularity of the sea route via the Mannar Straits

in ancient times, can be considered in relation to a
possible alternate route to the South of the island.
While Mannar Straits retained the hazards of
shallowness, which ultimately forced its abandonment,
the southern way was uninviting due to the hidden
rocks that lay to the South-East of the island. Thus the
alternate route proved to be a dangerous course to be
encountered at great risk and these misadventures are
firmly recorded in the many wrecks that are closely
guarded under the Antiquities Ordinance, as an
Archaeological Reserve of Sri Lanka under the sea.

Slide 9 Mediaeval Routes between the West and Southeast Asia

circumventing the Southern most landmass of Asia, namely, Sri
Lanka .

It was for the same reason that the British erected upon
these rocks the Great Basses and the Little Basses, two light
houses six miles away out at sea. It is, no doubt, for the
same reason that the Chinese named the Little Basses the
Stone Wall Rocks (Shih Cheng) and the Great Basses
the Iron Pincers Island (Tich Chen) (6). The Loadstone
theory of the Persians in the Arabian Knights is
popularly associated with these iron islands. The legend
states that:
. the mountain of Loadstone towards which the current
carried them with violence, and when the ships approach it,
they fell asunder, the nails and everything that were of iron
flew from them towards the Loadstone (7).
This is clear evidence that the sailors shunned the Southern route round Sri Lanka, specially
during the Southwest monsoon when the sails were raised in a northeasterly navigation.

Slide 10 The Lighthouses of the Great and Little Basses.

The final consensus of decision by the early sailors

was to traverse the first route via the Mannar
Straits and Adams Bridge, this journey is
described by Dionysisus Perigotes thus:
Turning aside from there before the southernmost
promontory you would straightaway come to the
great island of Colias, Taprobane, mother of Asian
born elephants; above which high up in the
heavenly zodiac turns The shinning Crab (8).

Slide 11 The Elephant Kraals at Matara in

1805 according to Percival.****

Slide 12 Noosing elephants at the Kraals in 1860

according to Tennent

Slide 13 The Log Draw-Bridge at Matara to Enable a load

of 14 Elephants in a Ponton boat to sail the animals for the
auctions in Jaffna and be sent overseas.

An Arab traveller Sulayman records his journey in 851 AD, from Airaf near Barah to Eusqut and along
a direct course to Quilon on the Malabar coast and from thereon round the Comorin and through the Palk
Strait to the Nicobar islands and the port of Kalah.(9). The journey in the opposite direction is recorded by
travellers like Fa Hien in the fifth century AD, in the year 411 AD, when the north-east winds sailed him to
Sri Lanka from Tamralipti near Calcutta thus:
. he embarked in a merchant vessel, and went floating over the sea to the south-west. It was the
beginning of winter and the wind was available; and after fourteen days, sailing day and night, they came to
the country of Sinhala (10).
The major break-away from this traditional sea route of traversing the Mannar Straits and Adams
Bridge seems to have been abandoned by the Eastern navigators in the fifteenth century when the ships were
much larger reaching weights of 400 to 500 tons when compared with the European counterparts of the same
period, which were between 250 and 300 tons.

For example, Cheng Ho in his first expedition to the

southern ports of India and Sri Lanka in 1405 to 1407 with
a fleet of 317 ships and 27,870 troupes arrived at Beruvala
(11). He repeated this exercise seven times and only on one
occasion did he not anchor in Sri Lanka. While on his third
voyage, he even considered it appropriate to carry away the
King of Raigama as a prisoner to China (12).

Slide 14 A
Sketch of Cheng
Hos Ships in the
15th Century

Slide 15 -Portuguese ships scribble in the Natha

Devale, Kandy in the 17th Century

Slide 16 - Early sailing ship from around

the 1st and 2nd Centuries AD in Sri Lanka
-Brahmi Inscription

Slide 17 Yatra doni from Medieval Sri Lanka

Slide 18 Details of a Sri Lankan Craft

Slide 19 Arrival of
the Bo-Tree from
Budh Gaya
represented in the
paintings of the 20th
Century, Kelaniya

Slide 20 - Samban crafts from Indunesia

8th Century, Borobudur

Sanchi 1st BC Bharut 2nd BC

Andhra 2nd AD
Aurangabad 5th AD Ajanta 5th AD
Borobudur 8th AD Dutch 1598 AD Rome 2nd AD

Chinese 7th AD Chinese 15th AD

Slide 21 - Ships
from various
places and
periods

However, the fourth of his expeditions clears the navigational trend of this period when a minor contingent
of his navy deviated north-west to the Bay of Bengal, and sailed through the Mannar channel (13). The fact that
this experiment discouraged the general of exploiting the Mannar Channel is clear when the subsequent voyages
avoided the northern route. Our view is that the turning point of major navigation through the Mannar Straits
terminates around this period although the Portuguese and the Dutch stubbornly continued to design new flat
bottom boats to traverse the shallow sands of the Mannar Straits.

There is yet another question that needs to be

cleared in terms of the Mannar Channel and that is
with reference to the two waterways that lay at either
end of Adams Bridge. Apart from the Mannar
Channel that we have discussed so far, there is also
the Pamben Passage at the Indian end of Adams
Bridge. This is referred to by De Queyroz thus:

. between them there are only two

channels, one, the broader between Mannar
and the point of Cardiva, capable of foists
only, the other near the island of the Pagodo of
Ramdecoir (14), of less depth, where it is
necessary to Tanear, that is to say, to
disburden the rowing ships of their cargo and
take them to the other side (15).

Slide 22 The Ramasvaram Kovil.

Baldaeus who was chaplain to the troops that captured

the Portuguese fort of Manner in 1658 describes the
channel thus:

We shall now speak of the island of Mannar

which was anciently attached to the continent, as
the shallow straits designated Adams Brugh but
too clear by indicates. Thereabouts lies the Island
Rammana Kojel, where there is a rich and famed
Pagodo under the tanver, who has also a defence
there, within sight and close to the mainland. In
good monsoons one can navigate with some light
crafts through these narrow channels of Adams Brugh, as I myself have once done (16).

The 1740 or 1719 Dutch Maps of the two Joannes, once again show the Mannar Channel (17). In the
instructions of the Governor-General of India to the Governor of Ceylon 1656-1685, it is clearly stated: That the
passage between the coast of Ceylon and the island of Mannar also yields a certain income, the collection of
which must be looked after. That there is westward of Mannar, a second strait, which separates this island from
the sandbanks of Adams Bridge. A constant watch should be kept there also (18). The Portuguese and the
Dutch constructed the Mannar Fort on the island and not on the mainland, in order to protect the channel.
On the north it (channel) is protected by the fort of Mannar, which although it has no outer moat, is quite
able, by means of its cannon, to dispute the passage of any smuggling vessels or European and other ships(19).
The tolls from anchorage and the ferry across the channel for 1696 are given as 530 1/3 Rix-dollars (20).
The dimensions of the channel are stated to be 1 1/3 miles long (21) and it had taken Governor Falck half
an hour to cross in 1767, but the return journey took one and a half hours on a high tide (22). The main problem
of the channel was its lack of depth and this can be observed from the following text where the Dutch had
designed a special ship to transport elephants from Matara to Jaffna through this waterway.
We have therefore been casting about in our mind for some other means of transport, but so far we could
think of nothing better than the construction of two large pontoons, a little larger than the pontoon De Hoop,
which is 64 feet long, 18 feet wide, and 3 feet deep carrying 40 lasts (23). It is a flat-bottomed vessel with a
round prow and keel, and carries a mast with misseon and foresail, so that it may go close by the wind; and
because of its floating capacity may easily pass over the shallows of the Mannar river (24).
Baldaeus confirms this when he states:
In front of the fort (Mannar) there runs a canal which admits the navigation of small light crafts drawing
3, 4 and 5 feet of water, these vessels sailing to Jaffnapatan (25).

In the same way Pamben, though a shallower waterway, was

also used by international ships after unloading their goods
before crossing. It was for this reason that the Dutch
encroached on this channel as well, and attempted to build a
fort as at Mannar (26). John Frasers map of 1862 also shows
the two waterways, whereon is described as the straits of
Mannar Channel, and the other called the Pamben Passage
(27). A Maldivian chart of the same year too, shows the two
waterways (28). However, the Transport Map of Ceylon of
1895 showing the steamer route round the Island indicates a
course via the Pamben Passage, and not the Mannar channel,
as by then the causeway between Mannar Island and the
mainland had been constructed (29). This, no doubt, marked
the end of this historic waterway.

Pamben waterway is mentioned to have been the result of a breach in 1480

during a storm and this being enlarged in 1549 by Joeo Fernandes Correa
(30). Its historical interest before that period is limited. It was the Mannar
Channel that was used throughout history by the Greeks and Romans, Arabs
and Persians, Indians and Burmese, Malayans, Indonesians and Chinese.
But, as we have noted, the Mannar Channel was neither a deep nor a wide
expanse of water that was suitable for navigation in all weather (31). Hence,
it was essential to have an anchoring point at either end of the waterway. The
ships from the west would, therefore, have anchored at the old port of
Kudiramalai to the southwest of the channel. It was at this port, known also
as Hippuros, that Annius Plocamus the Roman in command of a vessel, was
received by the kings representatives from Sri Lanka set sail as an embassy
to the court of Claudius Caesar (41-54 AD) in Rome from the same port. The
ships approaching the Mannar Channel from the east would have anchored at
the ancient port of Mahatittha, immediately northeast of the waterway. This
port was located at the southernmost point of the Bay of Bengal and de
Queyroz has called it the gullet of the great bay, through which ships were
guided by the land mass on either coast (32).

Slide 23 The Pambem Passage in relation to the

Mannar waterway

Distance and Time between Rome, Mantota and

Peking
We have adopted the time schedules of shipping as
recorded by Warmington to indicate the time and
distance between the port of Rome and that of
Mantota. As a second journey, we have attempted to
link the port of Peking with that of Mantota
developing from the records maintained by Ma Huan
who kept the records during the voyages of Cheng Ho.
These sailings have to be considered in the light of
Roman travel covering the turn of this era and with
reference to the Chinese journeys of Cheng Ho which
were basically a fourteenth century effort.

Slide 24 The Roman sea route from Ostia or the port

of Rome, to the Straits of Mannar

Slide 25 The Chinese sea routes from the straits of Mannar to Liuho, the Port
of Peking

Foreign contacts with Sri Lanka

A variety of foreign contacts with Sri Lanka is
contained in the records that can be summarized
under navigation, trading, religion, political and
documentary. Ships called at the ancient ports in order to collect such provisions as food and water that were
basic essentials in navigation (33). A pilgrim monk of the eighth century had seen thirty five Persian ships anchored at the port of
Mahatittha that were en route to China (34). Strabo in the first century AD, records that from the Egyptian port of Myos Hormos
alone one hundred and twenty ships sailed for the East each year (35). It is unlikely that all these ships had come to trade or
barter with Sri Lanka. Most probably some of these would have called for provisions before they sailed through the Bay of
Bengal to the Straits of Malacca, a journey that would have lasted about two to three weeks (36). Huzayyin mentions the
subsequent improvements to South Asian navigation thus:

And finally the development of navigations between West

and East Asia, undertaken by the advancing PersoAbrabians on the one hand and the Indo-Malaysians and
Chinese on the other, made it possible for mariners to take a
still more direct course from Ceylon to Malacca or Java and
so to the ports of Tong-king and South China (37).

It is also likely that the ships sailing east were awaiting favourable wind conditions to cross the
Bay of Bengal, as this is one of the few stretches of sea where land was out of sight for a number
of days (38). The ships sailing west from the port of Mahatittha could also have been held up
during the southwest monsoon, when not only was the Mannar Channel difficult to cross, but also
the Indian Ocean that was beyond. Competition in trade would have also compelled other nations
to traverse the more difficult and dangerous routes. The Sansanide did not permit the Ethiopians to
coast around the Persian Gulf, so that the only course available to them was to sail from Sri Lanka
to Aden. Huzayyin states:
th

From this we may perhaps infer that during the 6

century, the latter island (Sri Lanka) was in intimate
relations with Ethiopia, and noted as a half-way
station between South-East and South-West Asia.
The outward crossing of the Indian Ocean between
Ceylon and the Gulf of Aden was perhaps more
direct than that from the same island to the gulf of
Uman (Oman) (39).

Trade was part and parcel of the transactions that took place in the ancient ports and the Sri
Lanka harbours were no exception. Even the thirty five Persian ships cited previously that
were heading for Canton had found it convenient to barter some of their goods for precious
stones from Sri Lanka. A seventh

century AD, Chinese record in the

third year of Teung-Tehong (40), refers to Sri Lanka as
follows:
Ceylon is situated in the middle of the south-West seas.
Its length from North to South exceeds 2,000 li. It is there
that the mountain Lang-kia (Lanka) is found. It bounds in
treasures. The treasures the people of the country spread
out on the surface of the island (ground): the merchants
come in boats and, after paying directly the equivalent
sum, take them away (41).

De Bello Persico records that:

.. by purchasing silk from the Indians (i.e. the traders of the ports of India and Sri
Lanka) and selling it to the Romans, could themselves gain much money and cause
benefit to the Romans in this respect alone, that they (i.e. the Romans) would be no
longer compelled to pay their money to the enemy (i.e. the Ancient Persians) (42).
De Queyroz records about the Port of Matota:
And Joao de Melo de S. Paya, Captain of Mannar, in the year 1575, ordering the
destruction of some ancient buildings near that fortalice, there were found in their
foundation some coins of gold and copper with the letters C.L.R.M.N., which seem
to mean: Claidivs Romanorum (43).

Slide 26 Aerial Photograph of the Double Moated Port of Mantai

Slide 27 Plan of the Double Moated port of Mantai

The sixth century Greek writer Cosmas Indicopleustes writing

about trade in Sri Lanka, stresses the central and important
position that the island was held as an emporium.
There are two kings ruling at opposite ends of the island, one of
whom possesses the hyacinth, and the other the district, in which
are the port and emporium, for the emporium in that place is the
greatest in those parts .. As its position is central, the island is
the resort of ships from all parts of India, Persia and Ehiopia,
and, in like manner, many are dispatched from it. From the inner
countries; I mean China, and another emporium, it receives silk,
aloca, cloves, clove-wood, chandana, and whatever else they
produce. These, it again transmits to the outer ports, - I mean to
Male, whence the pepper comes; to Calliana, where there is brass
and sesamine-wood, and materials for dress (for it is also a place
of great trade), and to Sindon, where they get musk, castor, and
androstachum, to Persia, the Hemeritic coasts, and Adula.
Receiving in return the exports of these emporiums,

Taprobane exchanges them in the inner ports (to

the east of Cape Comorin) sending her own produce
along with them to each. Sielodiba, or Taprobane,
lies seaward about five days sail from the mainland.
Then further on the continent is Marallo, which
furnishes cochlea; then comes Kaber, which exports
alabandanum: and next is the clove country, then
China, which exports silk; beyond which there is no
other land, for the ocean encircles it on the east.
Sielendiba being thus placed in the middle as it were
of India, and possessing the hyacinth, receives goods
from all nations, and again distributes them, thus
becoming a great emporium. (44).

Slide 28 The
Foreign Artefacts
found in the Ports
and the capital cities
of Sri Lanka

Slide 29 The Foreign Artefacts found in the Ports and the

capital cities of Sri Lanka

Slide 30 The Foreign Artefacts found in the Ports and the

capital cities of Sri Lanka

Slide 31 The Foreign Artefacts found in the Ports and the

capital cities of Sri Lanka

Slide 32 The Foreign Artefacts found in the Ports and the

capital cities of Sri Lanka

Slide 33 The Foreign Artefacts found in the Ports and the

capital cities of Sri Lanka

Slide 34 The Foreign Artefacts found in the Ports and the

capital cities of Sri Lanka

Slide 35 The Different Local and Foreign Artifacts found in Sri

Lanka.

Slide 36 Silk from China as given in

the 6th Century Graffiti, Sigiriya

Slide 37
Foreign
and Local
coins used
in the
export
trade in
Sri Lanka

Despite these records Warmington is of the opinion that the South Indian traders controlled much of
the trade and that it was a standard practice to conceal the sources of products transacted.
Evidently gathering of all products was in the hands of the Indians themselves, even in the case of
boryls, in spite of the Roman coins from Coimbatore; no Roman coins have been found at the pearlcentre. Colchoi is near the pearl-harbours of Ceylon. The Indians kept their own sources secret,
while the Tamils kept secret the Ceylonese origin of a good deal of what they sold to Roman
subjects. (45).
Trade tension between Sri Lanka and the Sassanid Empire had obviously run very high in the sixth
century when Hamzah-al-isphihani records that the Emperor Cosroos Nounchirwan sent a fleet to
subdue the island of Sarendeeb (46). The efforts of Sri Lanka to trade with Egypt is recorded thus:
A dual effort made by the Prince of Ceylon and Qulawoon of Egypt, as early as the eighties of the
thirteenth century, to revive the trade of the Red Sea, does not seem to have much affected the
rapidly growing trade of Hurmuz. (47).

Warmington also mentions that the probable exports

from Sri Lanka were pearls (48), gems (49), chank
shells (50), tortoise shell (51), pepper (52), cinnamon
(53), cloves (54) and herbs (55). He moreover
suggested that war elephants (56) and even birds (57)
were exported while horses (58) were imported from
Persia.

Slide 38 The Pearl

Fisheries were a major
source of revenue both in
Ancient, Medieval and
Colonial times in
Sri Lanka The Fort at
the Perl Fisheries Arippu

Slide 39 Fort at Arippu

Slide 40 British Governor's Residence at Arippu

Religious interests stimulated foreign contact with Sri Lanka from the earliest phase of Buddhism. This
increased when the sacred texts were committed to writing at Aluvihara in the reign of Vattagamani
Abhaya, (89-77 BC). Fa Hien stayed two years (412-413 AD) at the Abhayagiri Vihara, Anuradhapura
to collect the recorded texts for their use in China.

Fa Hien sojourned two years in this kingdom. He then sought

for and obtained the volume which contained the precepts of
Nisham. He obtained the long A han and the miscellaneous A
han; at length he had a collection of the different Tsang, all of
them books which were wanting in the land of Han. When in
possession of these volumes in the fan language, he placed them
aboard a large trading vessel capable of accommodating more
than two hundred men. A stern was fastened to a small vessel to
provide against the dangers of a sea voyage, and injury to the
larger one. With a favourable wind they proceeded eastward for
two days, when they were overtaken by a hurricane (59).

We have evidence that the Buddha image became popular in China during the fifth century when a
Sri Lankan Sculptor called Nante came to the country with his products and remained there to teach
the craft (50). Sri Lanka was also responsible for introducing the first Buddhist nuns to China in the
fifth century AD (60). Of the Buddhist missions that came to Sri Lanka the most eminent were those
of Mahinda and Sanghamitta, the son and daughter of Emperor Asoka (61), who were known to have
established here the southern branch of the Tree-of-Wisdom (62). Later Simhala viharas were founded
in India at Nagarjunakonda in the second century AD (63) at Bodh Gaya in the fourth century (64)
and in Indonesia at Ratubaka in the eighth century (65) It is recorded that a Buddhist pilgrim from
Sri Lanka had assisted in constructing a railing at Bodh Gaya as early as in the third century BC (66).
The last repairs that were carried out at the Amaravati vihara are mentioned to have been effected by a
Simhala monk from Gadaladeni vihara (67). Sena Lamkadhikara, a minister in the fourteenth century
sent money and men to Kanch to establish a Buddhist Shrine (68). Pagan of Central Burma had
established contacts with Sri Lanka in the eleventh century (69). Evidence of Thai-Sri Lanka links can
be traceable to the eighth century apart from those of the fourteenth century (70). The king of
Kashmir retired to the Kapararama Mula at the Abhayagiri Vihara, Anuradhapura in the fifth century
AD (71).

Political ties with other countries were also

established and these were maintained through
embassies. Apart from India the strongest historical
alliances that Sri Lanka had maintained was with
China (72) to which country regular embassies were
sent from time to time. We knew of embassies sent to emperors such as Hiuo-ouit (373-396 AD) (73) I-hi (405-418) (74), those sent to Iuen-kia in the fifth, seventh and twelfth year
of his reign (488, 430 and 435) (75) and to Ta-oung in his first year (527) (76). Tsoung-tchang in
his third year(670) (77) King-iun in his second year (711) (78), tien-pao in his first, fifth and ninth
(742, 746 and 750) (79) and Pao-ing in the first year (762). Sri Lanka also sent embassies to Rome to
the court of Augustus (14 AD) or Claudius Caesar (41-54 AD) (80) and to the emperor Julias (361-14
AD) or Claudius Caesar (41-54 AD) (81) and to the emperor Julias (361 AD) (82). The
Vaamsatthappakasini records that Bhatika Abhaya (22 BC 7 AD) sent ambassadors to Romanukkha
and obtained coral with which he adorned the Mahathupa in the form of a setting (83). Similarly,
envoys of the Sri Lankan rulers arrived at the Court of the Nandas in Magadha (84).

Documentary information on Sri Lanka is

quite numerous and is found buried in demiofficial reports, trade news, travellers tales,
Cartographers notes, pilgrim talk, settlers
records and legends. Demi-official reports include such references to Sri
Lanka as in the diaries of Alexander the Great (85), or in those of Megasthenes the Greek
ambassador to the court of Chandragupta Maurya (86). Trade news cover data pertaining to tariffs,
taxes, tolls and costs of articles available for sale and those that were meant for barter (87).
The Chinese, Burmese, Indonesians, Egyptians and South Indian traders like the Pandiyans, are
known to have had such trade and sailing information (88). Travellers tales include those of Strabo,
(89) Onesicritus (90), Pliny the Elder (91), Cosmos Indicopleustes (92), Marco Polo (93), Ibn
Battuta (94), and others (95). The cartographers had extensive illustrations as a space filling device
and thereby, left valuable notes about Sri Lanka in their maps. The better known cartographers were
Ptolemy (96), Fra Mauro (97), Cyprian Sanohez (98), Idrisi (99) etc. Noteworthy pilgrims and
religious personnel who had visited the island and left their impressions of Sri Lanka include Fa
Hien. (100) Hsuan-Tsang (101), I-Tsing (102) and Vajrabodhi (103). Apart from the Simhalese and
Tamil inhabitants, Greeks, (104) Persians, (105) Arabs, (106) Jews, (107) Abysinians, (108) and
Indo-Chinese (109) too, had settled in towns as traders and merchants.

Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen, these notes covering three specific
aspects:
(a) the geographical location of Sri Lanka
(b) the direct relationships of the Mannar Channel in the
ancient and medieval navigation; and
(c) the historical foreign contacts with Sri Lanka;
all of which establish the seriousness with which we need to
approach the subject of Sri Lankas commitment to continued
foreign reliance not only in its trade links, but also in its
resourcefulness to enterprise.
We believe, that the levies on trade were direct revenue to
the crown and because the personal treasure of the monarch to
which the monastic authorities had no access. It is also for this
reason that the king had a yuvaraja stationed at Matota and
was in control of the northern province (110).

These comments need to be punctuated with an overwhelming thought which has not
been expressed in the past or at least has not been underlined adequately. Many of the
architectural monuments in Sri Lanka seem, to have drawn sufficiently from the
revenue of foreign resources than has been recorded in the literature of this country. So

far, the views expressed by many a historian are that Sri

Lanka which possesses the largest brick monuments of the
world, some of them reaching within 83 feet of the massive
stone pyramids of Egypt, were built by either slave labour in
the form of rajakariya or by voluntary shramadana. We
wish to express a view that may deviate to some extent from
this orthodox standpoint. If we are to look into the records of
the construction of the Mahathupa or the Ruvanveliseya at
Anuradhapura, we see that King Dutugemunu states very
clearly that he would not like to burden his people any more
after having much of their resources spent in a major war
(111).

480 ft.
400 ft.
372 ft.
300 ft.

Pyramid No. 1

Jetavana Stupa

Abhayagiri Stupa

Slide 41 The Three Major Stupas at Anuradhapura in relation to

the largest of the Three Pyramids of Egypt

Ruvanveli Stupa

As such his solution was that he would pay for all the labour that he would utilize for
constructing this religious monument and thereby, accrue the full merits of such construction to
himself (112). We also see in the same record how he practised this policy for when a Buddhist
monk had volunteered assistance to a mason by lifting the materials up the stupa to the place of
work, and when the guards informing the King of this voluntary act, the King arranged for these
watchers to pursue the path of the monk and offer him a set of robes as a gift for the work that he
had accomplished, thus assuring the full merits of the construction of the stupa to the King and
King alone. The

question we need to ask ourselves is, from where

did the King obtain his wealth to erect such an enormous
stupa in the second century BC ? Our own view is that the
kings treasury had sufficient resources which came in as
royal taxes from the many ships that transacted business in
the ports of this country. The reason for the absence of such
comments in the chronicles is simply that the chronicles were
diaries maintained in the monasteries and therefore, had no
access to royal transactions nor were they interested in
recording business deals which were the purview of the
Crown.

We do not wish to tax you further in this extended

lecture but hope that we have placed before you
sufficient digestive material that will rouse your interest
and your imagination in your pursuit in linking the
traditional routes of Silk and Spice from Peking to
Rome. May your own researches be fruitful, enjoyable
and inspiring
Thank you.
Endnotes
The Endnotes will follow in the final print out.