Social Sciences
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Item Measures taken by ancient kings to protect animals(University of Kelaniya, 2013) Jayathilaka, W.A.H.Here, protection means securing life safety of human being or animals. It is essential principle of the world we are living. Animals render a great help to human life. The state of the animals in a particular society depends on the attitudes and norms of the said society. When examining the human history it is evident that humans were successful in domesticating the animals such as goats, sheep, cows, elephants, and horses. These animals were connected with the social economical and cultural life of the ancient societies. The basic necessities of the human beings were fulfilled by animals. Hence, there was a well established correlation between humans and animals. However, destroying animal life is also done by human activities. Therefore, protection of animals was a necessity even in the past. Because of this, a policy for protection of animals was a true challenge. Ancient rulers of Sri Lanka were successful in facing this challenge by implementing effective strategies to protect animals. The object of this research is to examine the animal protection policy of ancient kings from the Anuradhapura kingdom. The question raised by this research is that, what was the nature of the contribution made by the ancient kings in this regard. Primary and secondary sources were used for this research. It is clear that disturbing animals or the unkindness towards birds, fish, cows and other animals were not only prevented but also protected eagerly by the kings. For an example, King Buddhadasa had treated a cobra and removed a boil in its body with surgery and later the cobra had presented a gem as a sign of gratitude to the king. Hence we can conclude that the Kings had done a great service towards protecting animals during the Anuradhapura Period.Item A review of giving of tulābāra dāna by kings of ancient Lanka(Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Kelaniya, 2013) Jayathilaka, W.A.H.The means of the donation of equivalent fraction (tulābāra dāna) is, to donate wealth to the people to match the weight of a person. In brief, it is a donation of wealth, equal to one's weight measured by a weighing scale. The kings became popular owing to this practice. The donations were done in various ways. Among them the tulābāra dāna was a special kind of giving. The objective of this research is to evaluate the donations made by the rulers who lived in Anurādhapura and Polonnaruwa kingdoms. (6 B. C.-1215 A. C.) In India too, records show the showering of wealth according to weight of a person. This is evident from the Jātaka stories. It is mentioned that they have donated wealth, equal to the weight of their animals, too. Furthermore in this research I expect to identify the items which were given as tulābāra dāna. Even though it was done by the King personally, later it facilitated welfare for the people. As the methodology of this research I have studied part II of Mahāwaṃsa and Epigraphy as primary sources. The method of donation was changed after the kingdom of Anurādhapura. King Nissankamalla was a great practitioner of this art of giving. The existence of the above practice cannot be seen after the Polonnaruwa Period. The tulābāra dāna was practiced in a ceremonial way, according to ancient rituals.