ADAM'S PEAK. 31



for the (d^vatd) Wessawano, and A temple for the Wiy&dho-
ddvo." "He also constructed a dwelling for the varioua
classes of devotees," "The king built a temple for the
Nighantho Eumbhundo, which was called by his bame. . To

the westward of that temple he provided a residence for

500 persons of various foreign religious faiths. Above the
dwelling of Jotiyo [a Brahman — his chief engineer] and
below the Gamini tank, he built a residence for the Paribdjika
devotees. In the same quarter, but on separate sites, he
constructed a residence for the Ajiwako, a hall for the
worshippers of Brahma, (another for those) of Sivd, as
well as a hospital."

Th^se Brahmans seem to have continued to reside peace*
ably in Ceylon, until b. c. 246, when two Malabar adven-
turers, military chiefs in the pay of the monarch Suratisaa,
murdered the king and usurped the throne. Eldla, of Soli
(Tanjore) on the Coromandel coast soon after their dethrone-
ment by As^Ja, invaded the island, and defeating that king
possessed himself of the entire country, with the exception
of Buhuna. He retained his power till b, c. 164, when in
his turn he was overthrown and slain in battle by Dutthdga-
mine, and his followers driven out of the island. An army
of Malabars again invaded Ceylon in the reign of Walagam-
bdhu, and held possession until B. c. 88. They seem to
have remained quiet after their expulsion by Walagambdhu
until A. D. 106, when the prince of the Solians once more
ravaged the country with an army, and after plundering and
devastating it returned to his own land with immense booty



32 ADAM*S PEAK.
