Ancient Jaffna : Being a Research into the History of Jaffna from Very Early Times to the Portuguese Period/Mudaliyar C. Rasanayagam. Reprint. New Delhi, AES, 2003, lxxx, 390 p., ills., $39. ISBN 81-206-0210-2.

    Contents: Preface. Foreword. References. Introduction. 1. The Nagas. 2. The Kalingas. 3. Foreign trade and intercourse. 4. Ancient civilization. 5. Foreign trade and intercourse (contd.). 6. Sources and synchronisms. 7. Origin of the Kings of Jaffna. 8. The Arya Kings of Jaffna. Index. Errata et corrigenda.

    From the preface: "The book ought really to be dated 1923, for it was ready for the printers then. Illness and press of work that compelled me to put off the publication of it have also prevented me from consulting recent books and periodicals and trying to obtain further light on some of the obscure points. But I hope that other students, and particularly the young leisured members of our learned circles will take up these questions and go into them thoroughly.

   For it is to the younger men we must look for the best work in this field. The older generation of students in Ceylon to-day is mostly composed of mere "Pandits" with whom prejudices and pleasing theories pass for canons of criticism and tests of accuracy; and it must be regretfully admitted that racial and personal vanity are only too often permitted to warp the judgment of those who, as seekers of knowledge, should above all things be disinterested and sincere. It may be that in some cases these influences act only on the subconscious mind; but the point that matters is that in nearly all cases the effects are plainly to be seen where they should not be at all."

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