Gems
are a very important mineral
resource in Sri Lanka. According
to the chronicles, Sri Lankan
gem industry has a very long
history and dates back even
before the 5th century BCE.
It is one of the oldest industries
of Sri Lanka, which still plays
a major contribution to Sri
Lankan economy. In ancient times
Sri Lanka was known as the "Ratnadeepa"
(the island of gems) by foreigners.
There is much evi¬dence
available on the ancient Sri
Lankan gem industry and they
are found in the chronicles
and records of monks, tourists.
explorers, his¬torians and
others.
The
first record on Sri Lankan gem
industry is found in Mahawansa
(Chapter 1:46). According to
that in the 6th century BCE
Lord Bud¬dha (625:545 BCE)
arrived in Sri Lanka to settle
a battle between two Naga Kings,
Chilodara and Mahodara for a
gem-studded throne. Also in
the 6th century BCE King Vijaya,
the first king of Sri Lanka
annually sent pearls worth of
two hundred thousand to his
second marriage wife's father,
Southern Madura king (Mahawansa
Chapter 7:73). King Devanampiyatissa
who ruled Sri Lanka in the 250
BCE era sent three types of
beautiful gems and eight types
of pearls to King Asoka of India
as a gift (Mahawansa Chapter
11:32). King Parakramabahu 1
who ruled in 1153-1186 A.D.
sent gems and pearls to foreign
countries by ships for trade
purposes (Mahawansa Chap 69:3).
Apart
from Mahawansa there are many
records on Sri Lankan gem industry
found in olher chronicles too.
King "Vibeeshana"
of Sri Lanka sent gems and pearls
as a gift to king "Yudeeshdeera"
of the Kuru kingdom of north
India and it is recorded in
Mahabarata (Ekanayake (ed)1984:292).
In
the book “Periplus of
the Erythrean Sea." the
author mentioned that merchants
came to the West coast on India
to buy gems and pearls from
Sri Lanka (Vincent 1998:507).
“Pliny” the Roman
historian in the first century
AD recorded in his book about
gems and pearls of Sri Lanka
(Bandaranayake, Devaraja (ed)
1991). Ptolemy (140 AD) the
Greek historian also mentioned
about the Sri Lankan gems (Vincent
1998: 511 ). Chinese monk. "Fahiyan"
also mentioned that gems and
pearls were sold by Sri Lanka
for goods (Balagalla 1999: 92).
The missionaries who went to
China in 742 A.D. took gifts
that included gems and peals
(Ekanayake 1984:292). An Egyptian
trader “Cos¬mos”
(399-444 AD) also mentioned
about Sri Lanka and its gems.
According to “The Voyage
of the two Mahometans"
there were sev¬eral precious
gems in Sri Lanka. the geographist
in the 9th century "Abozeyd"
mentioned about gem localities
of Sri Lanka (Punchiappuhamy
1985:24). The Arabian reporter
"AI idusi” (1099
-1151 AD) mentioned that gems
were exported from "Serendib"
(An Arabic name to Sri Lanka)
to foreign countries. “Marcopolo”
(1256 - 1320 AD) who came to
Sri Lanka in the late 13th century
and “Ibn batuta”
who came in the 14th century
describes the locations and
varieties of gems found in Sri
Lanka and how people wore them
(Punchiappuhamy 1985:24). “Peisin”
who came in the early 15th century
also mentioned about Sri Lankan
gems (Ekanayake 1984:296). Robert
Knox who wrote the book "An
historical relation of the island
of Ceylon" also mentioned
about gems in Sri Lanka (Karunaratne
1998:262)
The
gem industry of Sri Lanka has
a very long history and is more
than 2500 years old. Un like
most other industries of ancient
Sri Lanka, royal patronage and
government involvement were
directly focused on the gem
Industry. Like today even at
that time, gems were a major
export product of the country
and Sri Lanka was well known
among foreigners for Beautiful
gems.
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