Page 61 - Vimarsha Volume 2

the people in that period. Firstly he tended to describe the physical appearance of
Sinhalese people. “The women are not so tall in proportion as the men; they are much

fairer, and approach to a yellow or mulatto color. They continually anoint their bodies
with cocoa-nut oil, and in particular always keep their hair moist with it. Both sexes
are remarkably clean and neat both in their persons and houses” (Percival, 1975:123-

124) According to Percival, Sinhalese people are courteous and polite in their
demeanour and they do not have qualities such as stealing and lying such as Indians.

Furthermore, he mentioned that Sinhalese society consisted of the highly hierarchical
caste system and it can be seen even from their houses. And he described that there
was a clear distinction between the upcountry and low country people’s houses.

However, “caste” is a specific theme to study in Anthropology and therefore
Percival’s ideas of “caste” help to comprehend the existed caste system in that era.
“There is no nation among whom the distinction of ranks is kept up with such

scrupulous exactness as among the Ceylonese: even in the dimensions and
appearance of their houses they seem restricted, and a born in a certain rank. This

strong trait of barbarism is of course more glaring among the inhabitants of the
interior, than among those who have been civilized by an intercourse with Europeans.
The Candians are not allowed to whiten their houses, nor to cover them with tiles,

that being a royal privilege, and reserved solely for the great king. Even among the
Cinghlese there is still something more than the difference of riches which affects

their domestic economy” (Percival, 1975:125)

In addition, he says that how the caste system took part importantly in the society, for
an example he explains how a low caste man should respect when he met a high caste

man. “In their salutations, they are particularly punctilious: the form which they use
is that common to all Indians, of bringing the palms of the hands to the forehead, and
then making a Salem, low bow. It is here that the distinctions of rank are peculiarly

observable: a person of a lower class, on meeting his name and quality fifty different
ways; while the superior, stalking past with the most unbending gravity of features,
scarcely designs the slightest nod in return” (Percival, 1975:127) He also describes

the Sinhalese marriage system and the relationship between husband and wife. The

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