Reference

Glossary

The Sinhala and Pali terms used across this archive, with their script forms and meanings.

G

Ge name ගෙදර නම gedara nama: The hereditary house-name prefixed to a personal name, indicating family, place of origin and often traditional occupation or service obligation. Still carried in many Sinhala names today.
Govigama ගොවිගම goviγama: The largest Sinhalese community, associated with cultivation and landholding. From govi (cultivator) and gama (village). First attested in inscriptions of the twelfth century.

H

Hela හෙළ heḷa: An older name for the Sinhala language and people. Adopted by Munidasa Kumaratunga's Hela Havula movement, which sought to recover a Sinhala purified of Sanskrit and Pali borrowing.

K

Kshatriya ක්ෂත්‍රිය kṣatriya: The warrior and ruling varna of classical Indian social theory. Several Sri Lankan communities, notably the Karava, assert Kshatriya descent as part of a contested account of their own origins.

R

Radala රදළ raḍaḷa: The service nobility of the Kandyan kingdom, from whom the senior offices of state were filled. Radala families maintained strict endogamy and held land on aristocratic tenure.

W

Walauwa වලව්ව valavva: The manor house of a landholding or office-holding family, and by extension the household and estate attached to it.