Turnour to the island. An
aristocrat, scholar, and pas-
sionate historian, Turnour
worked with a Buddhist
monk to translate an ancient
fifth-century chronicle, the
Mahavamsa, from the Sri
Lankan Pali language into
English. Based on this and
other texts, he identified two
ancient capitals: Anuradha-
pura and Polonnaruwa.
Turnour also studied a
later chronicle of Sri Lankan
history, the Culavam-
sa, which told the story of
King Kashyapa. In the late
fifth century, this Sinhalese
prince killed his father, King
Dhatusena, and seized the
throne, usurping his brother,
who fled to India. Fearing re-
prisals, he built the fortress
Sigiriya—but in vain: His
brother returned, defeating
Kashyapa, and Sigiriya lost
its brief status as capital.
In 1827 a Scottish offi-
cer, Jonathan Forbes, be-
came friends with Turnour,
and on hearing the story ofTHE MAHAVAMSA, a fifth-century Sri Lankan
epic, tells how the Indian prince Vijaya was
the grandson of a lion. He traveled to the is-
land of Sri Lanka and married Princess Kuveni.
From their union was born the Sinhalese race
(sinhala means “of lions”). In the Sinhalese
tradition, the lion is the mythical ancestor of
kings and a symbol of royal authority. The
photograph shows what remains of the mon-
umental Lion Paws Gate at Sigiriya.THE LION PEOPLE
SUPERSTOCK/AGE FOTOSTOCKNATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC HISTORY 91(continued on page 94)