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| Friday, 22 October 2004 |
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Excellent Sri Lankan history book for Sinhala readers Reviewed by Professor K. W. Goonewardena Aditama Yugaye Sita 1505 dee Prutugeesinge Peminima Dakva, the Sinhala translation, edited by S. B. Hettiarachi, Nugegoda, April 2004 of A Concise History of Ceylon From the earliest Times to the Arrival of the Portuguese in 1505 By C. W. Nicholas and S. Paranavitana, Colombo, 1961 In January 1961 when Sir Nicholas Attygalle, the eminent gynaecologist and obstetrician and the then Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya and the Chairman of the Editorial Board of the University of Ceylon History of Ceylon, wrote his foreword to the original of A Concise History of Ceylon he stated that a Sinhala translation which was under preparation was expected to be published within one year. But as so often happens in human affairs and therefore, in history, it has taken much longer - in fact, it has taken over four decades for that expectation to be fulfilled. That too is being achieved due to the dedicated efforts of a band of scholars from the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Sri Jayawardenepura under the able co-ordination and editorship of Prof. S. B. Hettiarachi, who himself has translated two of the main chapters. In fact, the four decades of delay in publication may be said to have had, in some respects, a favourable impact because most of the scholars involved in this translation have had the advantage of that amount of additional experience and maturity. Moreover, as the original English text was published in 1961, most libraries in the country do not have it; hence, the additional value of this translation. To turn for a moment to the original 'Concise History' in English, I might mention incidentally, that at the time this volume was compiled and launched, I happened to be on the staff of the Department of History of the University of Peradeniya and had the good fortune to get to know Sir Nicholas Attygalle who was our Vice-Chancellor and also Prof. Senarat Paranavitana himself who had been assigned (as Professor of Archaeology) a room just opposite the main room that had been assigned to the Department of History. To indulge in another personal reminiscence, I should like to mention that I had been invited some years ago to make a referee's assessment of the research and publications submitted by Dr. Mendis Rohanadeera for promotion to a full Professorship. Having then made a categorical recommendation for the promotion, I think it is fitting that I should be doing this review for a volume that is carrying the name of the Mendis Rohanadeera Research Foundation at the University of Sri Jayewardenepura, Department of History and Archaeology. This volume also contains two chapters translated by Prof. Rohanadeera himself. Furthermore, I should like to mention that to Prof. (Mrs.) Malani Endagama, one of my valued past students and a colleague at Peradeniya, belongs credit for translating the largest number of chapters (5) in the present volume. It strikes me that of the eighteen chapters in the original 'Concise History', Prof. Paranavitana has contributed nine and Dr. Cyril Wace Nicholas an equal number (9). All these years I had been, unthinkingly, under the impression that Prof. Paranavitana had contributed most chapters to this book. However, even the preface to the volume is a joint contribution. All this indicates that Prof. Paranavitana, who had then, as later on, a greater reputation had realized and duly acknowledged the special value of Dr. Nichoals' contribution. This would have been some consolation to Dr. Nicholas who, seems to have missed out on due recognition of his abilities at crucial times. For instance, though he had been placed first in the Special Civil Service Examination for "war service" personnel, he had been denied a place as a Civil Servant on medical grounds. His war service had earned him the Military Cross for Bravery. But the grievous wounds he had suffered in the war had become a handicap for placement in the Civil Service. Similarly, his death was just a few days before the Royal Asiatic Society was on the point of awarding him its medal. The University of Peradeniya had to award its Honorary Doctorate to Mr. Nicholas posthumously. Taking such things into account, as well as, of course, his unique Contributions to Wild Life conservation, Epigraphy, Archaeology and History of the country I believe, that we should refer to him always as Dr. C. W. Nicholas although technically his was a posthumous honorary doctorate. The editor of this volume of translations, Prof. S. B. Hettiarachci, who himself has translated two of the main chapters, acknowledges that the original work needs some revision in the light of subsequent research findings, but very correctly notes that, by and large, most of this work could serve as a handbook for the Sinhala reader. This is particularly, important at a time when so many contradictory, and, I should add, unfounded views are being bandied about relating to the study of the history and culture of the country. Prof. Mangala Ilangasinghe in his lecture (on the 28th of July 2004) on the occasion of the launch of this volume had rightly pointed out that though neither Prof. Paranavitana nor Dr. Nicholas had received any formal university education in History or Archaeology their scholarly contribution to these fields was incomparable. Regarding the views that Prof. Paranavitana propounded in the latter part of the work (see from about p.211 onwards of the translated volume) relating to a connection between Sri Lanka and the Sri Vijaya Kingdom (in the present-day Malaysian-Indonesian region) particularly as regards the location of the Kalinga with which the Sinhala rulers established close links - apart from the Kalinga in India - there has been much controversy and criticism. The general tendency has been to consider these views to be too far-fetched. However, there has been historical evidence (including inscriptions) of relationships between the Sri Vijaya Empire and the South Asian region. Furthermore, Buddhism, of what may be called a Mahayana type, in addition to trading interests, provided a strong link between these countries. In fact, apart from inscriptional evidence, some of the architectural and sculptural remains, which show great affinity, point to the links. Some years ago, I discerned such a link between the Sri Vijaya Centre of Kutaraja and our Kustarajagala in Weligama. The legend of a king Kustaraja, who had a skin ailment, coming to be associated with the well-known rock sculpture on the coast at Weligama, was, I felt the result of a corruption of Kutaraja at a time when our links with Kutaraja and the Sri Vijaya Empire had been shrouded in the mists of time. The unique picturesque and meaningful outer cover ("book jacket") of this translated volume is derived from the decorations at Tivanka Image House at Polonnaruwa. This cover is not likely to survive much handling of this book. A bound volume with a hard cover would, of course, better preserve this picture of the volume. The photos and maps, which have been excellently reproduced and integrated with this volume, leave no room for criticism on the quality and completeness of the reproduction. ******************* Bitter reality and candid fantasy Collected Emotions Collected Emotions is the first compilation of poetry written by Thivanka Perera, an Advanced Level student of St. Joseph's College, Colombo. In the third year of his primary education he had the opportunity of attending `Holy Trinity College', London when his family temporarily lived in the UK. It was during this period that he developed his basic interest in English poetry and novels, as it was the most appealing study component of his school curriculum there. He continued at St. Joseph's College after his return and selected the science stream for his Advanced Level. But he continued his immense interest towards English poetry and novels with great enthusiasm. His poems have been published in several leading English newspapers in Sri Lanka. According to the author the content of the book does not directly reflect the emotions he had felt in particular situations. He has insinuated various emotions he had felt through some fabricated tales. The poems cover themes such as anger, vengeance, social inequity and war. The book consists of 70 poems written under different themes. The author brings us to the real world where bitter truths exist and the fictitious world where you can enjoy colourful dreams. But he has also tried to touch on significant world affairs like the 9/11 WTC attack. The author has successfully portrayed the suffering of some people when they face certain situations. In his poem `Abused' the author has drawn a clear picture of a child's mind who had been abused, tortured and kept isolated. The poem `Soldier' tells the tragic mental and physical pain of a dying soldier. The dying man thinks about his family while death comes to him. The poem `Lamentation' is about the suffering of a poor family. The last line of the poem, `Youngest child, Ranil, Playing with his Toys- Two blocks of cement' tells the whole story of the suffering family. This line reminds us of a child who plays with some cement blocks opposite his cadjan house. You can sail through some real and fantasy worlds while reading Thivanka's fantastic poetry book. Reading this book is better than watching a movie, as the frames unravel in your imaginative mind's eye. - Nadira Gunatilleke. ******************* Useful publication on accounting Sri Lanka Ginumkarana Pramitha Vigrahaya I have no doubt that students who commenced their studies in Accounting in May 2004 with the intention of sitting for the GCE (AL) examination in 2006 would have been eagerly awaiting the publication of a book of this nature. The new GCE (AL) stipulates eight Sri Lanka Accounting Standards. It is actually seven because S.L.A.S. 08 no longer exists. However, it is not realistic to expect students of this age to read all these Accounting Standards. Therefore, there was an urgent need for a school text book specifically addressed to the requirements of the AL students which will enable them to grasp the contents of these Accounting Standards and successfully face the AL Accounting paper in 2006. Mr. Dharmarajah has performed this task quite successfully. This is not a traditional text book on accounting. It discusses a specific area in accounting namely Accounting Standards. There are no accounts in this book. There is a separate chapter for each accounting standard which explains the content and application of the standard in detail. There are typical examination style revision questions at the end of each chapter. This text is a very comprehensive presentation intended for the AL students. It effectively covers the entire syllabus area on accounting standards. The book contains a whole chapter on Accounting Concepts which explains in simple langauge a difficult area in accounting theory. Accounting concepts are the basic requirements of all accountants today. The framework for the preparation and presentation of Financial statements issued by the ICASL has been very carefully analyzed by the author. The meaning of the terms used in accounting statements - Assets, Liability, Revenue, expense, Equity etc. are very clearly explained in simple language. The provisions of the Sri Lanka Accounting and Auditing Standards act No. 15 of 1995 which is the legal framework, have been dealt with in very simple language which is within the comprehension of the AL student. A special feature of this publication which deserves praise, is the inclusion of a glossary of English terms. Students who are studying Accounting in the English medium will find these English Accounting terms helpful in studying from this book. The author is well known in the field of Accounting education. He holds a B.Sc. (Mgt) Degree from the Vidyodaya University and an HNDA from the Technical college. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered accountants of Sri Lanka which is an index to his knowledge in accounting. He has over 20 years experience in teaching at Technical Colleges. - Hemantha Kulatunga. |
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