The Polonnaruwa Kingdom - V

The Polonnaruwa Kingdom - V

Contiued with part four   here to go privious one

Economic and social structure

The economic and social structure of the Polonnaruva kingdom, like its art and architecture, was a natural development from, if not a continuation of, those of the Anuradhapura kingdom. It was a hydraulic civilization and a caste-oriented feudal polity. Its astonishing creativity in irrigation was all the more remarkable for the brief period of time over which it was achieved, and the massive efforts at restoration which preceded any attempts at expansion. Repair and restoration, by themselves, called for a prodigious expenditure of resources. Most of this work was concentrated in the reigns of three kings, Vijayabahu I, Parakramabahu I and Nissanka Malla, the outstanding contribution being that of Parakramabahu I whose reign marked the peak of Sinhalese achievement in hydraulic engineering.

The Polonnaruva kings were the heirs to several centuries of experience in irrigation technology. But they themselves and especially Parakramabahu I made a distinctive contribution of their own in honing these techniques to cope with the special requirements of the immense irrigation projects constructed at this time. There was, for instance, the colossal size of the Parakrama Samudra (the sea of Parakrama) which, with an embankment rising to an average height of 40 feet and stretching over its entire length of 8 J miles, was by far the largest irrigation tank constructed in ancient Sri Lanka. This stupendous project incorporated two earlier tanks, the Topavava and the Dimbutuluvava. Fed from the south by the A figamailla canal, it was linked on the north-west with the Giritale tank and through it with the Alahara system. The earthworks involved in this project were unprecedented in scale, and the stonemasonry of this and other irrigation works of this period involved the handling of stone blocks of up to 10i tons in weight.

Refinement of irrigation technology was demonstrated also in the three weirs built across the Daduru Oya, the only river in the western part of the dry zone to provide anything like a perennial supply of water. The second of these diverted water to the Mahagalla reservoir (which had been built by Mahasena) and was a masterly engineering feat whose special feature was the amazing precision with which the large stone blocks of its outer walls were fitted, their joints only J inch in width.8 The Culavarhsa's account of the reign of Parakramabahu I contains an extensive catalogue of irrigation works repaired, restored, expanded or constructed in his reign. The impression of tireless devotion to this crucial aspect of governmental enterprise in Sri Lanka's hydraulic society could hardly be described as inaccurate. But it is essential to remember that it was no truer than in the Anuradhapura era that every link and every unit in this intricate irrigation network was working pari passu for any great length of time. They could not have done so, and in fact, did not. If this perspective appears somewhat to limit the achievement of that era, one must remember that this was the last major phase in the development of irrigation in ancient Sri Lanka. Nothing on this scale was attempted, much less achieved, till the second quarter of the twentieth century. And so the chronicler’s account can be seen for what it was, evocative and even poignant, for he was lamenting, in a later and more cramped era, the passing of an age of creativity, when the island's irrigation tanks were no more than stupendous ruins, but yet the proudest monuments ... of the former greatness of their country when the opulence they engendered enabled the kings to lavish untold wealth upon edifices of religion, to subsidise mercenary armies and to fit out expeditions for foreign conquest.

We turn next, and briefly, to the caste structure of Sri Lanka society under the Polonnaruva kings. Two points are of special interest. There is, first, much stronger evidence of a hierarchical arrangement of castes, though it is difficult to determine the exact or even approximate place of each caste in that structure. The segmentation of Sinhalese society into some of the numerous castes which exist today began before this period, but the process appears to have been accelerated in it. Secondly, there was increasing rigidity in the observance of caste duties, obligations and rights on the basis of custom and usage. For instance, a Tamil inscription of 1122 reveals that washermen were required to perform their customary duties to members of certain other presumably 'higher' castes, and that there would be no remission of this obligation, while a rock inscription of Vijayabahu I at Ambagamuva shows that he had constructed a special platform on Adam's Peak(Sri Padaya) below the main terrace of the 'sacred' footprint for the use of persons of 'low' caste. More significantly, there are Nissanka Malla's repeated references to, and ridicule of, the aspirations of the govikula (the goyigama caste, then as now very probably the largest caste group among the Sinhalese, though possibly not at that time the most prestigious) to kingship in Sri Lanka.

Quite clearly this was regarded as a monopoly of the kratriyas. This hardening of caste attitudes is attributed to the burgeoning influence of Hinduism on religion and society in Sri Lanka. Land tenure in the Polonnaruva kingdom was as much a multi-centered system as it was earlier, and its pattern was just as complex.11 There was a wide variety both in the number of individuals and institutions sharing land and rights accruing from land as well in their tenurial obligations. The king had definite claims over most of the land in the kingdom, but these were no obstacle to private individuals in buying and alienating land. To a much greater extent than in the Anuradhapura kingdom, the 'immunities' various concessions and privileges in regard to land granted during this period strengthened the position of the hereditary nobility.

The conferment of these immunities which were very much in vogue in this period was a special privilege of the king or someone in a position of similar authority, such as heirs apparent or regional rulers with considerable power such as those of Rohana. In general, immunities guaranteed freedom from interference by royal officers, and ensured exemption from taxation. Pamunu (or paraveni as it was called after the fourteenth century) and divel holdings were now a conspicuous part of the tenurial system, unmistakable evidence of the growing strength of feudalism, and this in a period when, paradoxically, there was a positive efflorescence of royal authority, in terms of its grandeur and majesty. As in the late Anuradhapura period, however, the most salient manifestation of feudalism lay in the immunities granted to the monasteries. These now extended beyond the conventional rights to labour and the whole or part of the revenue of the block of land or village thus granted, to the transfer of fiscal as well as administrative and judicial authority over the lands thus held. As a result, the monasteries and their functionaries came to be entrusted with much of the local administrative duties traditionally performed by the king’s officials; it would appear that some new administrative structures were developed to cope with this significant enlargement of the role of the monasteries in the social system.