Some domestic industries of ancient and medieval Sri Lanka

Kamalika PIERIS

We have information on some of the domestic industries of ancient and medieval Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese made their own glass. There was evidence of glass smelting in the Kala Wewa area. They used imported Mediterranean and Indian glass. Huge blocks of blue, green and red glass ingots were found in Ratnapura.

There was a substantial textile industry throughout the ancient and medieval period. The evidence for this is found in the literary sources. Mahavamsa says that Kuveni was spinning cotton when Vijaya saw her and that the Mahathupa (Ruvanveliseya) was covered with cloth at one stage of its construction. The medieval literature contains many references in the medieval literature to the weaving and dyeing of cotton and silk cloth.

Cotton was grown extensively in ancient Sri Lanka. There are references in the ancient period to 'kapu hen', meaning chenas that grew cotton. Records indicate that women were spinning and weaving with cotton thread from 6th century BC to 14th century AD. Weaving was primarily a domestic industry, but Papancasudani (5th century) speaks of weavers working together in a 'sala' (factory).

Unearthed

Two fabric samples of cloth were found during the Anuradhapura citadel excavations. They were attached to human bones. They were assigned on radiocarbon dating to the period 400-250 BC. This shows that fabric made out of cotton flax were used in the early Anuradhapura period. Another piece of textile was found in the excavations at Jetavanarama. This was used to wrap coins and was dated to 3rd century AD. The fragment showed that some kind of tool had been used for spinning. The textile was hand-woven and dyed. It was made up of cotton fibre, 40 threads per inch to 32 threads. The fineness of the warp was 40 English counts. This could therefore be classified as a medium textile. These fragments show that textile manufacture in ancient Sri Lanka was very advanced.

Sri Lanka had also produced a very fine cloth which resembled silk. Fa Hsien (5th century) noted that the corpse of a monk was wrapped in 'clean white hair cloth, almost like silk'. Silk weaving is referred to in several tenth and thirteen centuries writings. Sri Lanka exported textiles. A Javanese inscription of late 9th century refers to 'Sinhala cloth'. King Silamaghavanna had sent the Chinese emperor a gift of 'very fine white cotton cloth'. The Rajatarangini records that in the reign of King Mihiranga (5th century), a variety of fine cloth resembling silk, was imported from Sri Lanka for the use of high born ladies in Kashmir.

There was domestic production of sugar. Sugar was not imported into the country until the 16 century. There are references in the ancient period to chenas that grew sugar cane, 'uk hen.' Sugar cane cultivation was so extensive that machinery was used to crush cane and extract the juice. The 'ucchu' mentioned in Pali commentaries refers to the sugar cane machines found in Sri Lanka. The machines were worked by labourers. King Mahaculi Mahatissa had worked as a labourer on a sugar cane crushing machine.

Exported

There was also a substantial Kitul industry. Kitul Pani (treacle) was exported to the Islamic states in the medieval period. The Muslim kings and nobles coveted this treacle. They called it 'dooshab'. Sri Lankan dooshab was considered to be superior to the treacle from Iran. Modern day observers have pointed out that the traditional method of tapping Kitul 'is considered a marvel of the ancient food technology.' The current technique has been described in the following manner.

"Once an inflorescence has been tapped the sap is obtained continually for a considerable period. In certain cases the sap had been obtained for 8-10 months from inflorescence with a yield of about 20-30 bottles per day per inflorescence. This tradition technique use by the villagers is unmatched to the best of our knowledge, it is not observed in any other country in the region, although this palm is available in the Asian tropics. Therefore this unique knowledge and unique product are truly Sri Lankan". I suggest that the method of tapping Kitul would have been the same then as it is today.

There was a thriving dairy industry in ancient Sri Lanka. Cows were bred solely for milk. Beef eating was forbidden, and considered abominable. Individuals, monasteries and the king all owned cattle. Some herds consisted of more than a thousand animals. Inscriptions of the 9th and 10th centuries refer to milk cows in small hamlets and villages. Cattle were branded with identification marks to indicate ownership. Cattle theft and the killing of cattle were treated as criminal offences. Theft of cattle was punished with branding under the armpit. If the stolen animal was slaughtered the punishment was death.

The Pali commentaries of the 5th century refer to techniques of cattle rearing. The cowherd was expected to know the exact number of cattle he was looking after. He was expected to take cattle to the same place only once in five or seven days, to allow new grass to grow in pasture lands. He was expected to look after the weaker animals and to also look after the leader of the herd. Cattle food included rice gruel and coconut mixed with sesame. Papancasudani, described the manner in which a cow should be milked to obtain the maximum amount of milk.

Cowherds

Cattle rearing was done on such a large scale that there were separate villages for cowherds. The literature speaks of herdsman going out early in the morning to look after cattle and coming back home in the evening. There were communal grasing grounds and indigenous veterinary medicine for the village cattle. Cattle hides were used for footwear, horns were used for making combs and ornamental items. This shows that further use was made of the animal, once it had died.

Sri Lanka had developed an admirable tradition of metal crafting. The stone inscriptions refer to coppersmiths, tinsmiths, ironsmiths and goldsmiths. Sri Lanka had made major advances in metal technology by 5th century AD if not earlier. Metal articles were manufactured for export as well as domestic use. The ancients were familiar with alloys and distinguished them from base metals.

The Buddhist commentary, Kankavitarani (5th century) refers to metal objects of iron, copper and alloys. It gives a list of the metal objects which monks should possess. This list runs to over fifty items. Some were for agriculture, some were household items, like plates, pots and vessels. Some were tools, implements and instruments including scissors and tweezers. There may have been specific implements for specialised crafts. There were metal smith instruments. Kudiramalai exploration revealed heaps of conch shell waste, dated to the early Iron Age, which seem to have been sliced with a wire saw.

Iron was manufactured all over the island. Iron slag mounds are found everywhere. Production is thought to have started in ninth century BC. The earliest known iron smelting works is at Aligala, Sigiriya, dated to 10th century BC. Large scale specialised iron working sites, dating from about first century BC were found at Sigiriya. The 35 production sites found there indicates industrial level production for use beyond the immediate area. The quantity of output 10,000 tons of iron form the Sigiriya site alone, suggests industrial level production. The technology and the high iron content of the ore meant that exceptionally high quality iron was produced.

Thriving

Sudharshan Seneviratne and Kapila Dahanayake have separately stated that there was a thriving gold industry in ancient Sri Lanka which included the creation of gold items. One location for this industry was Yudaganawa. The excavations of Anuradhapura citadel in 1984 exposed a brick built furnace for copper smelting. There was a steel industry, which catered to both local and export markets. Steel medical instruments were used in ancient Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka manufactured its own swords. Al Kindi, in his 9th century treatise 'Al Sayuf Walajnasuha' stated that swords were made in Sri Lanka. Parakramabahu I is said to have called for a Sinhala sword when engaged in war.

(The writings of M. Abeyratne, P. Cooray, K. Dahanayake, C. B. Dissanayake, A. S. Hettiarachchi, G. Julefff. P. V. B. Karunatilaka, Sunil C. Perera, Walpola Rahula, S. Seneviratne, W. I. Siriweera and R. Solangaarachchi were used for this essay).