Mahaya - The Chief Guardian -Final part:

Dr. H.S.S.Nissanka

However, the people of the nine villages referred to earlier, mention that they are direct descendants of Prince Bodhigupta. They advanced three arguments in support of their claim. These are as follows:

(1) From time immemorial it was one of their members who held the position of Mahaya. Traditionally only a member of their clan could hold this position.

(2) It was the people of the nine villages who, from the time of King Devanampiya Tissa, gave protection to the Bodhi Tree in Anuradhapura. The protection of the Bodhi Tree was a duty assigned to Prince Bodhigupta by King Devanampiya Tissa. By tradition, no other clan can climb the Bodhi Tree even for the purpose of taking care of it.

(3) The land of the area covered by the nine villages was gifted to Prince Bodhigupta by King Devanampiya Tissa. The people who protect the Bodhi Tree in Anuradhapura (the Bodhiguptikas), are the only people who could settle down, cultivate and enjoy the produce of the lands of the nine villages given to Prince Bodhigupta. Besides, tradition has it that these people could never be taxed. They enjoy this privilege even today.

The above three arguments are genuine and weighty although there is no archaeological or written evidence in the form of sannasa (royal deed) to support their claims. This is an area which needs further research.

Attended duties

Even the members of the Board of Management of Atamasthana have never disputed the fact that the Mahaya and his people protected the Maha Bodhi Tree and attended to duties assigned to them down the ages, through the long desolate centuries since the fall of Anuradhapura to the present day. Their hereditary right to protect the Maha Bodhi Tree has been upheld by a Judicial Court decision too. As the time passed after the planting of the Bo-sapling at Anuradhapura, forty seedlings taken from this historical and sacred tree were planted at forty places in different parts of the island as stated in Bodhivamsa.

Rock inscription

In very many places where those Bo-saplings were planted, the people of the Mahaya's clan have settled down within the close prominity of those Bodhi-trees. This is a fact. Yet, one has to find out as to how the clansmen of the Mahayas are found in large numbers even today in Dumbara and Harispattuwa in the district of Kandy. The Bodhivamsa states that one of the eight princes that accompanied the Bo-sapling from Gaya to Anuradhapura - Prince Devagupta - was given the royal title of Lakmahareti together with the area of land known as caturassiya bumi. The scholar monk, Rev. M. Chandajoti, in his book Mahabo Viththi, identifies caturassiya bumi as the present Harispattuwa, in the district of Kandy. In support of this view, Rev. Chandajothi, refers to the famous Dulwala rock inscription belonging to the early Anuradhapura period. This is one of the three rock inscriptions in Sri Lanka where the name Asoka is written. The following is the text of the Dulwala rock inscription:

Parumuka Sumana puta Asokahalene

Translation:

"The cave of Asoka, the son of Chieftain Sumana".

Prince Devagupta, a brother-in-law of Emperor Asoka could have given the name Asoka to his son without any fear as his son ought to be treated as a nephew of Emperor Asoka. The Dulwala rock inscription gives a historical perspective to the claim that the fellow clansmen of the Mahaya have settled down in Harispattuwa.

R. L. Brohier and many other scholars and writers believe that the Maha Bodhi Tree in Anuradhapura is the oldest historical tree in the world. Brohier makes this observation in 1973:

Oldest tree

The historic tree at Anuradhapura so far as is known is the oldest tree in the world, about 2170 years old. It is a matter for reflection that throughout the troublous times in the early history of the city, the tree should have been invariably untouched.

For the very existence of the Bodhi Tree, for its survival, credit should go largely to the people of Mahaya's clan who never left it during the course of 2300 years.

Historical fact

If the Maha Bodhi Tree is accepted as the oldest historical tree in the world, the clan of Mahaya too should be accepted as the oldest historical clan in the world. Even for this claim to be accepted as a historical fact further research needs to be undertaken by historians. Another dimension of the institution of Mahaya is that it, along-with the Maha Bodhi Tree, provides a living link to Indo-Lankan relations (so vitally important to Sri Lanka today) to which a sound foundation was laid by none other than Emperor Asoka of India (264-227 BC) and King Devanampiya Tissa of Sri Lanka (247-207 BC).

Concluded