Mahaweli Vansaya by Dr. B. D. Witharana
Excerpts from Chapter 3 A High-Tech Journey to the Sinhala
Past: the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project (AMDP) (1978-1985) by B. D.
Witharana from his Doctoral thesis titled: Negotiating power and constructing the nation: engineering in Sri Lanka Issue Date: 2018-09-27. University of Leiden
3.3.2 The Mahaweli Vansaya (The Chronicle of Mahaweli): Mahaweli Valley as a nostalgic site
Following the tradition of pre-modern kinship of documenting historically important events, objects and people in the form of chronicles such as the Dipavamsa, Mahavamsa, Thupavamsa, Boodhivamsa, Elu Aththanagalu Vamsa, Kesha Dathu Vamsa, Lalata Vamsa, etc., the decision to launch the Mahaweli Vansaya, a historical record of the River Mahaweli and the great civilisation that evolved around it, was taken in December 1981 at a meeting headed by the Minister of Lands, Land Development and Mahaweli Development (Ekanayake 1984; 1985). While Minister Dissanayake was the chair, W. J. M. Lokubandara, the Minister of Indigenous Medicine and a prominent member of the Hela Havula Movement, led the discussion.
The project of writing it was initiated with an inauguration ceremony held at the Ministry on the 15th of January 1982, and the two-volume Mahaweli Vansaya traces a lengthy time span, from pre-historic times to the commissioning of the AMDP. The team of authors included academics, civil servants, engineers, broadcasters, artists, ayurvedic doctors and scientists. Historians, archaeologists, experts in Sinhala and Pali languages and sociologistsplayed a prominent role in constructing the particularly Sinhala narrative of the Mahaweli Vansaya. Though written by a large team of authors, the Mahaweli Vansaya is fairly consistent in the message it communicates. By reminding the reader that the island belongs to the Sinhalese, a nation that is strongly influenced by Buddhism and which was instrumental in building a great hydraulic civilisation, the Mahaweli Vansaya constructs the narrative of the Mahaweli land as the heartland of Sinhala civilisation.
The Mahaweli Vansaya constructs a nostalgic view of the Sinhala past. All seems to be smooth on almost all fronts; the status of technology used, Sinhalese claims for the island, the relationship between the state, society and Buddhism and the nature of the peasant community.
The Mahaweli
Vansaya talks about the advanced status of technology in the Mahaweli Valley.
The Chapter on "River Network and Water Resources" introduces the
network of tributaries of the River Mahaweli and then moves on to explain
details of the advanced technical and management aspects of irrigation systems.
The system was designed to work well. However, as is the case with popular
narrative of Sri Lankan engineering discussed in Chapter 1, the entire credit
for this advanced status of affairs is casually given to Sinhalese without
taking on the burden of establishing the connection. The Sinhalese occupy a
special place in world history as a result of this achievement, says the
Mahaweli Vansaya, arguing the case of Sri Lankan tank-based irrigation network
as the only ancient technical invention in the world that is still functional
(Vitharana 1984, p.37-44).
The Mahaweli Vansaya constructs a case to justify the Sinhalese claim of the entire island. By taking an uncritical approach, it simply identifies the entire territory of the land of the island as the land of Sinhalese. While Mahaweli land is seen as the heartland of the Sinhalese, the entire island is viewed as "Three Sinhalaya" (three kingdoms of the Sinhalese), the land of the descendants of the Aryans.
The Chapter on "Mahaweli and the Heartland of the Sinhala Nation" introduces the concept of a heartland in relation to the land of the Sinhalese. Mahaweli land is said to have provided protection to the Sinhala nation till the very end, till the entire island came under British rule in 1815. The map of the heartland, illustrated in the chapter overlaps almost entirely with the map of the Mahaweli Valley and the map of land to be irrigated by the AMDP (Madduma Bandara 1984, pp.45, 47).
Referring to the fourteenth century Kadaim Potha, the Mahaweli Vansaya identifies the whole country to be divided into three Sinhala kingdoms, Maya (with twenty eight sub kingdoms), Pihiti (with forty four sub kingdoms) and Ruhunu (with forty eight sub kingdoms). The sub kingdoms under the rule of Tamils such as the sub kingdom of Jaffna, Maravvirata, etc. were also placed within the "Three Sinhalaya" (Abewardena 1985, pp. 335-336).
The Mahaweli Vansaya always classifies villages in the island as Sinhala villages, even when the names of the villages were in Pali or Tamil. This classification is based on the argument that the Pali and Tamil languages have influenced the names of Sinhala villages located on both sides of the Mahaweli river, indicating that the villages were originally Sinhala even though they have for example, Tamil names such as "malei" or "kulam" at the end, to sound Tamil (Dissanayake 1985a, p. 352).
All cities in the Mahaweli Valley are classified as Sinhala cities (Mudiyanse 1985, p.353).
The emergence of settlements and the formation and the expansion of the Lankan state are narrated as a chronologically ordered story of Sinhala kings (Hettiarachchi 1984, pp.65-69; Ranawella 1984, pp.69-83).
The Mahaweli Vansaya though defined as a chronicle on the Mahaweli Valley, a region within which the presence of Tamil speaking people was historically observed as in the case of narrative 4 above, takes the easy way out, avoids complications and allocates just one chapter of its twenty four chapters: “Special Ethnic Groups”, for a discussion on other ethnic communities. Under “Special Ethnic Groups” there are separate sections for the Veddas, Wanni Sinhalese, Kinnaras, Rodis and Ahikuntikas, the small ethnic groups that attracted the attention of anthropologists in the second half of the twentieth century.
A discussion on "Other Ethnic Groups" comes at the end of this single chapter, where brief references are made to Tamils and Muslims in a few paragraphs (Meegaskumbura 1985, pp. 623-625). “As this *chapter+ is on other nations, it suits that *we+ add a brief section on Tamils and Muslims. It also suits because there are those among Tamil castes and tribes who were mixed with Sinhalese” (Meegaskumbura 1985, p.624)
The Mahaweli Vansaya establishes a harmonious relationship between Buddhism and all kinds of human activity. The chapters on the "Arrival of Buddhism and its Spread" and "Buddhist Religion in Sri Lanka" describe in detail how Buddhism was brought to the island by Arhat Mahinda, how Buddhism was institutionalised as Mahavihara, Abhayagiri and Jethavana, etc., how Mahavihara became the mainstream Buddhist school and how Buddhist literature in the form of commentaries were translated from Pali to Sinhala.
The two chapters establish the link between the Lankan state and Buddhism since the time Buddhism first arrived in the island. Buddhism became the religion of the state, the King became the guardian of Buddhism, the Bikkus the care takers of Buddhism and the people became the main disciples of the temple (Vajiragnana 1984 and Dhammapala 1984, pp175-190).
The chapters on literature, education, architecture and arts and crafts were drafted with the objective of highlighting the central role Buddhism has played in the evolution of these fields. The signature of Buddhism is said to be present in all forms of literature - from folklore to Hela commentaries, chronicles, biographies, poetry and stories of history162 (Kulasooriya 1984, pp. 193-205).
The Mahaweli Vansaya describes Buddhist education provided at Mahavihara and Abhayagiri schools as the early forms of organised education. Mahavhara's superiority in the teaching of the Buddhist text and the code of conduct in Buddhist practice and the prestige of Abhayagiri in teaching the sciences, arts and crafts are especially highlighted163 (Herath 1984, pp. 205-217).
Describing the major works of Buddhist architecture such as pagodas, temples, vatadages (structures built around pagodas) and pilimages (the building that hosts Buddha statues), a relationship is built between Sinhala architecture and Buddhist architecture (Mudiyanse 1984a, pp. 217-220).
The nostalgic notion of the past that is said to continue undisturbed in the rural Mahaweli Valley, is however, best showcased in the descriptions of the lives of Sinhala peasants. They lead uncomplicated and simple lives. According to this romantic notion, as reflected in the section on “Paddy Cultivation”, the Mahaweli farmer is seen as a person who has inherited a set of ethics moulded by Buddhism (Dissanayake 1985b, p. 569).
Children, and girls in particular, are reared from childhood as devotees of the religion (Dhammaloka 1985, pp.388-394).
Love for humankind, an ability to co-exist, a desire for equality, thankfulness, respect and aesthetic sensitivity are seen as the main components of these ethics (Dissanayake 1985b, p. 569).
The section on the “Ways of Morality” extends this to the community of peasants, the village, and portrays an ideal notion of a typical Sinhala village in the Mahaweli region. It provides a detailed description of a religiously disciplined village where things happen according to a well-managed plan. Accordingly, people of the Mahaweli Valley live away from the bad influences of contemporary urban culture. The traditional village in the region is said to be a self-sufficient unit, to a great extent. Morality, according to this narrative plays an important role in the lives of Mahaweli peasants. The foundation of the morality of the family is seen as the special relationship between the father and the mother who have well defined positions in the family setup164 (Dhammaloka 1985, pp.388-394).
This uncomplicated nature is said to be reflected in peasant's dress as well. According to the Mahaweli Vansaya, the men’s attire is simple and convenient to perform work while the women’s attire is simple and attractive (Ibid).
The Mahaweli Vansaya uses a few strategies to construct this nostalgic narrative of the past and the rural lives of Sinhala peasants. It builds an uncritical relationship between the Mahaweli civilisation and the Sinhala nation. By leaving out the regional, ethnic and cultural diversity of the social fabric of the Mahaweli Valley, it constructs a romantic notion of a particular homogeneous peasant life that is portrayed as the uncomplicated life of a peasant in a self-sufficient Sinhala village. The near absence of certain groups in the narrative allows the Mahaweli Vansaya to achieve its goal of reclaiming the Sinhala heartland, without much difficulty. The invisibility of Tamil and Muslim communities prevents the complications they could have brought with them.
T. B. M. Abayasinghe (Professor of Modern History, University of Colombo),
Pandula Andagama (Head, Human Sciences, National Museum),
Sirima Kiribamune (Associate Professor, University of Peradeniya),
Ananda Kulasooriya (Professor of the Department of Sinhala and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, University of Peradeniya),
Sirisena Gamage (Assistant Lecturer, Dept. of Sociology, University of Peradeniya),
P. V. J. Jayasekara (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of History, University of Peradeniya),
J. B. Dissanayake (Professor of Sinhala, University of Colombo),
Shiran Deraniyagala (Deputy Director of Human Sciences),
Rev. Yatagama Dammapala (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Pali, University of Peradeniya),
Rev. Warakawe Dammaloka (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Sinhala, University of Peradeniya),
K. N. O. Dharmadasa (Associate Professor of Sinhala, University of Peradeniya),
Chandrasiri Palliaguru (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Sinhala, Vidyalankara University),
P. B. Meegaskumbura (Associate Professor of Sinhala, University of Peradeniya),
Nandasena Mudiyanse (Professor of Sinhala and the Dean of the Faculty of Arts, Vidyalankara University),
Sirimal Ranawella (Professor of History, University of Ruhuna),
R. M. B. S. Rajakaruna (Lecturer, Dept. of Sociology, University of Peradeniya),
Amaradasa Liyanagamage (Professor of History, Dean Faculty of Social Sciences, Vidyalankara University),
Rev. Horana Vajiragnana (Academic administrator, Dept. of Sinhala, Buddhist and Pali University),
Rev. Kamburupitiye Vanarathana (Former lecturer, Dept. of Archeology, Vidyodaya University),
Anura Wickremasinghe (Lecturer, Dept. of Sinhala, University of Colombo),
Vinie Vitharana (Professor of Sinhala, University of Ruhuna),
Rev. Deradeniye Wimalakerthi (Lecturer, Pali and Buddhist University),
S. G. Samarasinghe (Language Commissioner),
M. U. De Silva (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of History, University of Ruhuna),
K. M. De Silva (Professor of History, University of Peradeniya),
Rev Ellawala Medananda (Former Lecturer, Vidyodaya University and
Thilak Hettiarachchi (Senior Lecturer, Dept. of Sociology, University of
Colombo).
Mahaweli Vansaya Volume I, with a total of fourteen chapters, introduces in its first three chapters the geographical, geological and environmental features of the River Mahaweli.
The fourth chapter with the title "Mahaweli and the Heartland of the Sinhala Nation" describes the Mahaweli Valley as the birthplace and the main land of Sinhala civilisation.
With a description of pre-historical context as the backdrop in chapter five, chapter six traces the historical emergence and the decline of the Mahaweli region, probably as a preface to the renaissance introduced by the AMDP.
Chapters seven and eight deal with a discussion of the last Kingdom in Kandy and the subsequent rule by the colonials, especially the British.
The process of introducing Buddhism to the island and the religion's influence in social life are described from chapter nine to eleven.
Archaeological ruins in the Mahaweli Velley are introduced in the twelfth chapter and the thirteenth is a discussion of ancient Sri Lankan economy and trade.
The fourteenth is on
plantation agriculture introduced by the colonial powers.
Volume II of the Mahaweli Vansaya, with ten more chapters, is dedicated to demonstrating that the Mahaweli Valley is historically the land of Sinhalese by discussing the different aspect of the lives of Sinhalese in the Mahaweli land.
The first three chapters of Volume II (from chapter fifteen to chapter seventeen) illustrate the Sinhala village and its social organisation depicting the day-today lives of Sinhala peasants in the dry zone.
Chapters eighteen to twenty are reserved for a discussion on Sinhala language, folk literature, arts and crafts of the Mahaweli Valley.
In chapters twenty-one and two, one finds a sketch of the nature of industries and agricultural practices in ancient Sri Lanka.
Chapter twenty-three is a discussion on traditional knowledge.
A discussion on all other ethnic groups can be found in
the final, twenty fourth chapter (Ekanayake 1984; 1985).
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