Talk:Kamboja colonists of Sri Lanka
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Before placing this nonsensical and irrelevant template here, come and discuss the information in this article from historical point of view. This is vandalusm
Sze cavalry01 18:53, 23 September 2006 (UTC)
I have replied here. - Ganeshk (talk) 07:18, 30 September 2006 (UTC)
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[edit] Kamboja Colonists in Sri-Lanka
[edit] -Ancient Inscriptions of Sinhala Refering to Kambojas
SOME ANCIENT INSCRIPTIONS REFERING TO KAMBOJAS IN ANCIENT SRI LANKA....THE MOST REFERENCED ETHNIC COMMUNITY IN THE ANCIENT SINHALESE INSCRIPTIONS BELONGING TO THIRD/SECOND CENTURY BCE.
[1] no. 622:
'Gamika-Kabojhaha lene'
The cave of the village-councillor Kamboja;
Paranavitana, 1970:
[2] no. 623:
'Gamika-Siaa-putra gamika-Kabojhaha lene'
The cave of the village-councillor Kamboja, son of the village-councillor Siva'
Paranavitana, 1970:
[3] (no. 625) (1)
'Cam ika-Siua-putra gamika-Kambojhaha jhitaya upasika-Sumanaya lene.'
The cave of the female laydevotee Sumana, daughter of the village-councillor Kamboja.
Dr. S. Paranavitana, 1970
[4](no 625) (2)
'gamika Kabojhaha ca sava-satasoyesamage pati'
The cave of the son of the village-councillor Siva. May there be the attainment of the Path of Beatitude for the village-councillor Kamboja and for all beings. 75 J. Bloch, 0950: 103, 130), ...
Dr. S. Paranavitana, 1970
[5](no. 553):
'Kabojhiya-mahapugiyana Manapadaiane agataanagat-catu-disa-agaia'
[The cave] Manapadassana of the members of the Great Corporations of Kambojiyas, [is dedicated] to the Saiügha of the four quarters, present and absent.
Dr. S. Paranavitana, 1970
[6] (no. 990):
'Gota-Kabojhi(ya]na parumaka-Gopalaha bariya upasika-Citaya lepe iagaio'
The cave of the female lay-devotee Citta, wife of Gopala, the chief of the incorporated Kambojiyas, [is dedicated] to the Saiügha.
Dr. S. Paranavitana, 1970
[7]
A Mediaeval era Inscription found from Polonnaruva in 1887 near Vishnu Temple relates to Maharaja Kalinglankeshwara Bahu Veer-raja Nissanka-Malla Aprati Malla Chakravarati who caused one Charity House to be constructed and named after him as Nissankamalla-Daan-Griha. The southern gate of this Charity House is named as Kamboja Vasala
Discovered in 1887 by S. M. Burros.
(Ref: Journal of Ceylone B Branch of Royal Asiatic Society., Vol X., X No 34, 1887, pp64-67).
[8]
Mediaval age inscription (1187-1193 AD), found from Ruvanveli Dagva, in Anaradhapura in Sri Lanka.
It refers to Kambojdin people, which is modified version of Kamboja.
(Ref: Don Martino de Zilva Wickeremsinghe, Epigraphicia Zeylanka, Vol II., Part I & II., p 70-83; Rhys David, Journal of Royal Asiatic Society Vol VII., p 187, p 353f; Muller. E. AIC., No 145; Journal of Royal Asiatic Society Vol XV., 1914, pp 170-71).
See below the wording of this inscription written in Sinhali belended with Sanskrit.
'Nuvarata hatapsin sat gavak pamanah tan haam satun no narye hakhye abhaya di ber lava dolos meh va tan masut abhaya de Kambojdin ran pili aadibhu kamati vastu de paksheen no badan niyayen samat kot abhaya dee'
(Epigraphia Zeylanka Vol II., p 80).
See original text in the reference quoted below or in Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, 1981, p 354, Dr J. L. Kamboj).
[edit] Some Opinions from Scholars
[edit] ALL GRATITUDE TO MYANMAR
“The ancient Pali literature reveals that people from different regions of India were engaged in the international trade. Merchants from Kamboja, Gandhara, Sovira, Sindha and Saurashtra in western India used to sail from ports on the country’s western coast. The main ports were Bharukaccha (present-day Bhadoch) and Supparaka Pattana (present-day Nalla-Sopara, near Mumbai). Huge trade ships sailed from there directly to south Myanmar. Merchants from south India embarked from the ports of Kanchipuram and Kaveripattana on the sea journey to south Myanmar. Many towns in the kingdoms of Kosala, Kasi, Magadha and Anga were also important centres of international trade. Merchants from these towns used to load their goods on bullock carts or in river boats for transport to the port of Tamralipti (south of Calcutta), at the mouth of the Ganges in eastern India. From there, the goods were transported in large ships to Myanmar and beyond. This trade had been going on for hundreds of years before the Buddha. Many Indian merchants had settled in Myanmar in the ports and towns located at the mouths of the Irawati (Irrawaddy), Citranga (Sittang) and Salavana (Salween) rivers. The merchants gave these settlements Indian names, many of which are still in use. Tapassu and Bhallika………………………….”
(S. N. Goenka)
http://www.vri.dhamma.org/newsletters/nl9712.html
[edit] The True History Of Sri Lanka
”Another title which is attached to the names of kings in these inscriptions is Gamini, which has the meaning of 'the leader of the community'. The title is not a royal one in ancient Indian literature, Brahmanical or Buddhist. It was often adopted by the chiefs or mercantile and other corporations. There is only one instance of the Sanskrit equivalent of Gamini, i.e. Gramaneya, being adopted by a ruler of a state; and that was by the leaders of an aristocratic republic which existed in ancient times on the banks of the Indus. The prevalence of the title among the early kings of Ceylon points to the north-west of the Indian sub-continent as the original home of the Sinhalese. One is led to the same conclusion by the occurrence of the name Kaboja (Kamboja) in some of the cave inscriptions. The Kambojas were a people who lived in the upper reaches of the Indus valley in the present western Pakistan, or Kashmir.”
“The ancient Sinhalese appear to have practiced seafaring which originally brought them to this Island, for there are a few inscriptions which record donations made by mariners. An important personage, who had relations with royalty, introduced as envoy-mariner. He appears to have been a ship-owner (or captain) who frequented as foreign shores; his services must have been utilised by the king for establishing friendly relations with the rulers of the lands he visited. Among the several personages referred as merchants, some at least must have had dealings with foreign lands.”
http://infctr.tripod.com/anuradhapura_period.htm
“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)”
(Kamalika Pieris)
http://www.lacnet.org/island/island/i990103/thu/islfetrs.htm
- Note: As we have seen above, the name Kaboj or it variation form occurs in at least SIX ancient and TWO meieaval era inscriptions.
[edit] THE PEOPLE OF THE LION ETHNIC IDENTITY
The use of the term "Sinhala" has been discussed at length by Gunawardana. Firstly, he refers to three words, Kaboja, Milaka and Dame da found in the earliest inscriptions in Sri Lanka, which seem to denote group-identities. He is keen to point out that "the term Sinhala is conspicuous by its absence" - inferring thereby that the Sinhala identity had not emerged by the time of these inscriptions, ie. circa 3rd cent. B.C. to 1st cent. A.C. He also points out that the earliest occurrence of the term Sinhala (Pali : Sinhala) is in the Dipavamsa (4th -5th cent. ) and that even in the Mahavamsa (assigned to the 6th cent, but, according to Gunawardana, possibly of a later date)it occurs only twice. With regard to the terms Kaboja and Milaka, he believes that they were possibly "tribal groups" and the term Dameda, according to him, means "Tamil" . He adds: "Whether the term was used in this period to denote a tribal linguistic or some of the group deserves careful investigation". We are not told why the same should not apply to the other two terms - Kaboja and Milaka. Indeed Paranavitana, who first drew our attention to these teams, listed three others, Muridi, Meraya and Jhavaka, and argued that they referred to "ethnic groups".( He gave reasons for thinking so. ( Gunawardana does not give us any reasons why Paranavitana's interpretation should be rejected.
http://www.infolanka.com/org/srilanka/hist/hist18.html
[edit] ARCHAEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE ON SHIPPING COMMUNITIES
page 108/109
" The second category of beads which deserves attention, is those made from lapis lazuli, becamee the only known source for this material in antiquity was Badakhshan (in northern Afghanwestan). The author of the Periplus mentions lapis lazuli among the products exported from Barbaricum.72 This precious material doubtless travelled along the sea route to reach the southern coast of Sri Lanka. Hema Ratnayake (1993: 8Q.) has also observed that on a painted slab belonging to one of the frontispieces of the Jetavana stupa, there are traces of lapis lazuli underneath the line of geese. He dates it to the third century AD, to the reign of king Mahasena, who built this feature of the stupa. The intaglio depicting a seated wild boar, unearthed along with carnelian seals and beads from Akurugoda (Tissamaharama) on the southern coast of the island, is important in this context. . This type of wild boar is known on Sasanian intaglios.73 The presence of lapis lazuli on the southern coast of Sri Lanka cannot be an isolated event, because epigraphical evidence bears witness to the fact that this area had close relationships with the regions of Afghanistan. 'Kaboja' occurs as a proper name in three inscriptions from Koravakgala (Situlpavua) in the Hambantota District, on the southeastern part of the island, in ancient Rohana.74 S. Paranavitana (1970: xc) believed that the Kabojha, Kabojhiya and Kabojhika are to be connected with the ethnic name Kamboja, which occurrs in Sanskrit and Pali literature as well as in the Vth and Xlllth inscriptions of Asoka, Kabojhiya being equivalent to the derivative term Kambojiya and Kabojika to Kambojika.75 The Brahmi inscription from Bovattegala on the southern border of the Ampari District, a few miles from the northeast limit of the Hambantota District, also in ancient Rohana, refers to 'Kabojhiya-mahapugyiana' i.e.'those who were members of the great corporation of the 'Kabojhivas'.76 The Brahmi inscription from Kaduruvava in the Kurunagala District, to the southwest of Anuradhapura, mentions a parumaka (Chief) of the Gota-Kabojikana, i.e. of the corporation of the Kabojikas.77 These inscriptions indicate that the Kambojas had organised themselves into a corporations and were certainly engaged in trade. The Sihalavatthu, a Pali text of about the fourth century (on page 109) attests that a group of people called the Kambojas were in Rohana. In the third story of this text, called Metteyya-vatthu, we are informed that the Elder named Maleyya was residing in Kamboja-gama, in the province (janapada) of Rohana on the Island of Tambapanni.78 The Kambojas are often mentioned together with Yonas (Yavanas), Gandharas and Sakas. The Kambojas were a native population of Arachosia in the extreme west of the Mauryan empire, speaking a language of Iranian origin.79 The finds on the southern coast of the island of lapis lazuli from northern Afghanistan and various coins of Soter Megas, Kanishka II, Vasudeva II and posthumous Hermaios, all from Bactria and Northwest India, and the references to the Kambojas of Arachosia, compel us to believe that there were close relationships between Sri Lanka and the communities of Central Asia and North-West India. S. Paranavitana (1970: xci) did not exclude the possibility of the presence of Sakas in the island. His starting point was the inscription in Brahmi script, known as Anuradhapura Rock Ridge West of Lainkarama,so which refers to 'The flight of steps of Uttara, the Murundiya (Muridi-Utaraha seni). Since the epithet 'Muridi' is prefixed to the name '-Utara' (Skt. Uttara), S. Paranavitana believed that Muridi is a derivative of Muruda, which is the same as Murunda in the compound Saka-Murunda that occurs in the Allahabad inscription of Samudragupta. S. Konow (1929: XX), referring to the same inscription argued,S. Konow (1929: XX), referring to the same inscription argued, that murunda is almost certainly a Saka word meaning 'master', 'lord', and he argued that the word murunda has become synonymome with Saka, when applied to royalty. Apart from the coins, beads and intaglios, the contacts between Sri Lanka and the Gandhara region are revealed by other pieces of archaeological evidence from recent excavations at various sites. A fragment of a Gandhara Buddha statute in schisst, still unpublished, was unearthed from the excavations at at Jetavanarama. Most of the identified 'Hellenistic' and Greek-influenced pottery from the citadel of Anuradhapura, and from our recent excavations at Kelaniya appears to be from the Greek East, in other words, somewhere in Northwest India or Bactria.8' ..." Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, 2002,
[David Parkin, and Ruth Barnes]
[edit] THE ARCHAEOLOGY OF SEAFARING IN ANCIENT SOUTH ASIA, 2003
[edit] THE MERCHANT LINEAGE AND THE GUILD
Page 194:
Sri Lanka also provides evidence for niyama or nigama. The Tonigala rock inscription from the Anuradhapura district dated to the third year of the King Srimeghavarna (303-27 CE) records the grant of grain to the Kalahumanakaniyamatana (nigama-sthana), with the stipulation that only the interest is to be used for the maintenance of the monks (Epigraphia Zeylanica III, 1933: 172-98). Another later Brahmi inscription from Labuatabandigala refers to money, i.e. 100 káhápanas being deposited with the Mahatabaka niyama (247-53). Other terms used for guilds are puka or púga and goti (Sanskrit gosthi), the former often being used in association with either a village (Paranavitana 1970, nos. 135, 138; Dias 1991: no. 5) or community, such as that of the Kambojas (Paranavitana 1970, no. 553). There are references to the chief (jete) and sub-chief (anu- jete) of Sidaviya-puka (no. 1198). Literary texts further corroborate these distinctions, for example those between a general trader (vanik) and the setthi, who was possibly a financier, as opposed to the sárthaváha or caravan leader who transported either his own goods or those of other merchants. The sep thi in the Játakas was a man of immense wealth and hence constantly in the retinue of the king. References to rice fields owned by setthis imply that they were both traders and landowners . . Panini refers to traders as vanik (Astádhyáyi, 111.3.52) and makes a distinction between the krayavikrayika (whose main occupation was buying and selling, IV.4.13), the vasnika (who invested his money in business, IV.4.13), the sarnsthanika (a member of a guild, IV.4.72) and the dravyaka (a trader on the outward journey carrying merchandise for sale, Agrawala 1953: 238). In the Amarakosa (11.6.42; 111.9.78), a sárthaváha is described as the leader of merchants who have invested an equal amount of capital and carried on trade with outside markets and are travelling in a caravan. There are several alternative arrangements described in the Játakas by which merchants could purchase or obtain goods. When a ship arrived in a port, merchants converged there to buy the goods and often had to pay money in advance to secure a share in the cargo (Book I: no. 4). Alternatively, a merchant could procure goods by mutual agreement with another living along the border . Once, the Boddhisattva was a wealthy merchant in Varanasi and had as a correspondent a border merchant whom he had never seen. There came a time when this merchant loaded 500 carts with local produce and gave orders to the men in charge to go to the Boddhisattva and barter the wares in his..
Page: 205/206.
[edit] FOREIGNERS AND TRADE NETWORKS
The complexity of economic transactions in the ancient period makes it difficult to determine ethnic identities of trading groups. Another problem is the ambiguity of the literary sources and their inability to distinguish between different ethnic identities, as in the case of allusions to Romans, Arabs, Indians and Ethiopians in Greek and Latin accounts. From the first century BCE to the second century CE, while many of the Arabs of the eastern Mediterranean regions were Roman subjects or Roman citizens, others lived beyond the frontiers of the empire and included groups such as Nabataeans, Palmyrenes, Sabaeans and so on. Early Brahmi inscriptions from Sri Lanka refer to two foreign groups involved in trading activity, i.e. the Damila (Sanskrit Dravida) and the Kabojha (Sanskrit Kamboja). The former figure in an important inscription engraved on the vertical rock face to the north-west of the Abhayagiri monastic complex at Anuradhapura. The inscription records that the terrace belonged to Tamil householders (gahapatikana). The floor of the terrace is on different levels, and the names of the owners are engraved on the rock face below their portion of it, e.g. dameda-samana, dameda-gahapati and navika or mariner. Two other inscriptions refer to a Tamil merchant named Visaka and a householder (Paranavitana 1970: nos. 94, 356, 357). These records are further corroborated by references in the Mahávarimsa, which term the damilas 'assandvikas' or those who brought horses in watercraft (chapter XXI, verses 10-12). It is significant that early Buddhist literary sources from north India refer to the northerners as being involved in trade in horses. The inscriptions referring to the Kabojha or Kambojas are found in ancient Rohana and associate the region with the gamika or village functionary (Paranavitana 1970: nos. 622, 623, 625), there are references to the guild of the Kabojhiyas and its chief (Kabojhiya-maha-pugiyana, no. 553; parumaka or chief of the gota (Sanskrit gostha) Kabojikana, no. 990). The Sihalavatthu, a Pali text of the fourth century, refers to a village of the Kambojas in Rohana. Wheeler identified so-called 'foreign pottery' during his excavations at the site of Arikamedu on the east coast of India (figure 8.5). He used these ceramic finds to endorse not only the nature of trade, i.e., ., Roman, but also the ethnicity of the users and hence suggested an Indo-Roman trading station at the site (Wheeler et al. 1946).
Himanshu Prabha Ray, Norman Yoffee, Susan Alcock, Tom Dillehay, Stephen Shennan, Carla Sinopoli
[The above references are quoted here with due gratitude to the authors and publishers].
Relevant references on The Kambojas in Sri Lanka are:
- A Concise History of Ceylon: From the Earliest Times to the Arrival of the....,1961, Cyril Wace Nicholas, Senarat Paranavitana - Sri Lanka,
- History of Ceylone Vol I, Part by Dr S Parnavitana.
- Sinhalayo, 1970, Senarat Paranavitana - Sri Lanka -
- Ancient Kamboja, People and the Country, (Chapter: Kambojas in Sri Lanka) Dr J. L. Kamboj.
- Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean, Ruth Barnes, David Parkin - History - 2002
- The Kambojas Through the Ages, 2005, K.Kirpal Singh
- Archaological Evidence of Shipping Communities in Sri Lanka, pp 92-124 (See: Chaper 4 in Ships and the Development of Maritime Technology on the Indian Ocean), Osmund Bopearachchi
- The Archaeology of Seafaring in Ancient South Asia, Himanshu Prabha Ray - Business & Economics - 2003
- Sinhalese and Other Island Languages in South Asia, M. W. Sugathapala De Silva - Sinhalese language - 1979
- History of the Evolution of the Sinhala Alphabet, Paul M. Jayarajan - Sinhalese language - 1976
- The Ceylon Journal of the Humanities, University of Ceylon, Peradeniya - Humanities
- History of Ceylon, Hem Chandra Ray, K. M. De Silva - Sri Lanka - 1973
- Heritage of Sri Lanka, 1984, p 14, Nandadeva Wijesekera - Sri Lanka —Preceding unsigned comment added by Satbir Singh (talk • contribs) 01:17, 16 January 2008 (UTC)
[edit] Relevance of Dr D. C. Sircar's Views
While referring to Simhala, which is referred to in the Saktisangama Tantra, Book III, Chapter VII, Dr D. C. Sircar, a front rankinng Indologist observes:
The great country called Simhala, the best of all countries, is placed to the east of Maru-desa abd to the south of the Kama-dra. This Simhala can not be identified with Ceylon. It is evidently in the Punjab... and reminds us of the kingdom of Sinhapura, mentioned by Hiuen Tsang. The capital of this kingdom has been identified with Khetas, or Katas in the Jhellum District (Saktisangama Tantra III. 83, 4 and 205) which is next to the Javalamukhi, the most frequented place of pilgrimage in the Punjab. Tantric literature locates Sambhala (=Simhala per Dr D. C. Sircar) and Lankapuri in the SWAT-Kashmir region (Ref: Studies in Tantras, pp 39-40, Dr P. C. Bagchi). Kama or Kama-giri is also referred to in the Saktisangama Tantra and is located to the north of Marudes and also to the north of Huna country (which being is in Punjab, called land of Heroes) See: Geography of Ancient India and Medieval India, 1971, pp 108, 110, Dr D. C. Sircar). Here Kama or Kama-giri obviously refers to Kama/Kamma valley/ region in the north-east Afghanistan
It is very interesting here that Saktisangama Tantra indeed attests one Simhala and also a Lankapuri, specifically in the Swat (north of Kabul, west of Indus i.e in the northern-eastern Afghanistan) which was precisely the land of the Ancient Kambojas. It is, therefore, really believable that the Aryan speaking Sinhalese immigrants to Ceylon, must have started/originated from this Simhala/Sinhapura in Swat/Kashmir region of north-west India.
Satbir Singh (talk) 00:57, 18 December 2007 (UTC)
