Publisher's Synopsis
Ceylon is a paradise for scientific study. Why we do not study them in detail is a question one must ask oneself. So, I will start with a historical perspective. The kings have moved their kingdoms to Anuradhapura, to Polonnarwa, to Mahiyanganya, to Minipe, to Dambadeniya to Gampola to Kandy. One explanation was that Tamil invasion in the North and Western invasion in the coastal regions. But my explanation is that we moved from North to South due to malaria and ancient civilization did not have a scientific explanation for this deadly disease. They did not have an inbuilt immunity, too. I also believe we got Malaria from India even though there is no historical records. My bone of contention is that with so many tanks and frequent dry spells and droughts malaria became endemic long time ago. Sinhalse moved down to places where anopheles mosquitoes (it does not get established over 4500 feet) were not breeding by chance and the Tamil kingdoms did not prosper due to mass movement of local population. Even in the ancient times sustaining a army of their own or hired was resisted by the subjects. Once the wealth is plundered there was no incentive for soldiers to die of malaria. The second reason was floods and maintaining of the big tanks were not cost effective and needed heavy labour. The third reason was the droughts and famines. Apart from elements even the wild animals including elephants would disregard the population when they were in numbers not containable by force. There could have been over 100,000 elephants in this country including in the high hills. The beasts were having claims of their own. Take the name Pollonnaruwa, the name comes from deadly viper. So life in ancient times was not rosy as stated or depicted in our illustrious history books with exaggerations. In any case history books and their contents were biased towards the glory of the kings but nothing was written about the plight of the civilians. What ever literature was written by Buddhist monks and taken as sacred without critical analysis. The monks also did not live in deserted villages but close to the places where there was plenty and or near the royal palace. I am not going to thrash those historical ideas, it is not the intention of this book but try to imagine the state of the mind of the ordinary civilians who lived in relation to something precious for them. That was precious drinking water and the source for paddy and garden cultivation. They were linked to the source of perennial water resources, whether it was a spring, a riverine, a waterfall or ground water in plenty. That was their live currency and livelihood. Let me take few notable landmarks in ancient kingdoms. In Anurahdapura, there is Bulankulama tank, Basawakkulama tank, Tisawewa tank, Nuwerawewa tank and Nochchiyaduwa tank. The river Malwathyoya supply both Nochiyagama and Nuwerawewa tanks. There is a waterway that link Eruwewa tank to Nochiyaduwa and the Malwatuoya proper is named after the Nochchiyaduwaa tank. In the west there are Rajanganaya tank and Angamuwa tank. There are many more little tanks all over Anuradhapura district including Balaluwewa and Kalawewa tank. Now take Pollonruruwa there is Minneria tank, Giritale tank, Bandiwewa tank and the collosal Parackrama Samudraya. There are no big rivers in Pollonnaruwa but in the Eatern border there is Mahaweli river and its branch Amban Ganga and the Wasgamuwa National Park. Manampitia Bridge where the Mahaweli river joined by its branch Amban ganga is a notable landmark (Floods and connecting to Trincomalai district). From this downwards all the ancient irrigation work is along the Mahaweli river up to Minipe and including Mahiyanganaya. The stretch from Mahiyanganaya to Polgolla dam is very interesting. This passes through the Madamahanuwara where the last king was captured by the British. This is the agricultural basin of Kandy kingdom even though the king remained in Kandy.
