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WAS
ONE OF THE MAGI, A KING
FROM LANKA? By
K.T.Rajasingham A
page in history reveals that the Tamil king of Yalapanam (Jaffna), was
one amongst those wise-men - Magi, who went to Bethlehem, to worship the
new born baby Jesus. This happened, according to the prophecy in the
Bible. “Kings along the Mediterranean coast- the kings of Tarshish and
the Islands- and those from Sheba and from Seba- all will bring their
gifts.” Psalms 72-10. Joao
de Barros, the Portuguese historian, in his book, “ Asia de Joao
Barros, dos fectos que od Portuguese fizeram no
descobrimento & conquista dos mares & teras do Oriente,”
published after 1563, relates, “a king of the island of Ceilam, called
Primal, went in a ship to the coast of Mascate, to join other kings, who
were going to adore the Lord, at Bethlehem, and that he was the
third.” According
to de Barros, the Tamil king Primal ( Perumal) was one of the Magi, who
went to Bethlehem, to worship the new born baby infant Jesus. Before
delving further, let us take a look at the birth of Jesus. The evidence
of the birth, life and death of Jesus, recorded in Gospels, were
complied after his death. Gospels
were written to demonstrate the supernatural authority of Jesus and the
confirmation of the events of his life, and of the prophecies, which had
long been announced of the coming of the Messiah. Similar to Buddhist
chronicles, Gospels are not by themselves satisfactory evidence,
however, many of them are inherent with plausibility for historians to
take positive considerations. The
birth of Jesus Christ is in a direct fulfillment of many Bible
prophecies such as, Isaiah 7:14, of the virgin’s birth; Gen 3:15, that
he was born of the seed of woman, Isaiah 11:1, that he would descend
from the line of Jesse ( king David); Micah 5:2, that he would be born
in Bethlehem; Jeremiah 21:15, that Herod would slaughter all the
children in an attempt to kill the infant Jesus. These
prophecies were made, at least 500 years before the birth of Jesus. They
stand as an irrefutable monument to the Bible and prove that, God
revealed himself through his Messiah, Jesus of Nazareth. According
to some Biblical scientists, it was on 2 BCE ( Before Christ Era ), the
Kind of the Jews, infant Jesus was born. According to them, the exact
date was 16 June 02 BCE
(Julian Day Number 1,720,850.5). But, many Biblical scientists have come
out with numerous different dates, ranging from 06 to 02 BCE. Date of Birth The
exact date of Jesus’ birth is a mystery. About the best we can do is
to narrow it down to seasons. The Bible does give us one clue. The
shepherds were in the fields with their flocks at night, when Jesus was
born. This clearly indicates that Jesus was born in the summer season. During
the coldest months like December or January, the shepherds did not sleep
in the fields but would bring their flocks into corals. There is a
virtual agreement among scholars that, December 25 is not the birth
date, not even the month that Jesus was born. The
Bible is absolutely silent about the celebration of Christ’s birthday.
Any encyclopedia will give the basic details of where and how the
celebration of Christmas developed. What
is important is that Jesus Christ’s birth did fulfill many important
prophecies. The event brought about great joy to the world, when
mankind’s King and Savior, “God with us”, was born into the world.
This led to the spread of Christianity all over the world. Catholics
celebrate on January 6, the 12th after Christmas, as the “
Feast of Epiphany,” (manifestation) commonly called ”Little
Christmas”, to the miracles at Can and the visit of the wise-men (
Magi). Some
astrologers (wise-men/ Magi, however they were called denotes the same)
from the eastern lands, arrived in Jerusalem asking,
“Where is the newborn King of Jews? For we have seen his star in far
of Eastern lands and have come to worship him.”- Matthew 2-2. “After
this interview, the astrologers started out again. And look! The star
appeared to them again, standing over Bethlehem. The
joy knew no bounds. Entering the house, where the baby and Mary his
mother were, they threw themselves down before him, worshipping. Then
they opened their presents and gave him gold, frankincense and
myrrh.”- Matthew 2-9-11. Following
of the star, has no acceptable natural celestial explanation and it is
clearly a special miracle, to attract the Magi. When
Joseph and Mary returned home from their journey, an
unknown number of wise-men, visited Jesus, at his house to pay their
respect to him and give presents. (Matthews2;1-12).
The angel warns Joseph to flee to Egypt, because of the impending
slaughter if all the male children under the age of two.( Matthew
2:13-15). King Herod kills all the male children out of fear, that Jesus
would supplant him as king. ( Matthew 2:16-18) After the death of King
Herod, Joseph returns to Nazareth with Mary and Jesus. ( Luke 2:39 &
Matthew 2:19-23) Jesus grows up in Nazareth. Mercury According
to the Biblical historians, these Astrologers, or Wise-men, or Magi,
followed the movement of the star, probably the movement of Mercury. When
the planet Mercury had come in conjunction with the Sun, a move of ½ of
2.7 degrees, in 2.7 degrees moves, more from the west to east, they
confirmed among themselves, that the king of Jews, Jesus was born. The
word “ Magi” is the plural form of the word “ Magus” and the
word according to some researchers, is from the old Persian word
“Magu,” which
designates a member of an ancient near-eastern priestly caste. Magi were
specialists in interpreting the signs in the heaven. According
to Dialogue “Alcibiades” ascribed to Plato, the Persians practiced a
form of spiritual mysticism, which was their religion. According
to “Ancient Universal History”, “In the reign of, king of Persia,
flourished a celebrated astrologer, whose name was Gjamasp, surnamed
Al-Hakim or the Wise. He was the brother of the king Gushtasp and his
confidante and his chief minister. He is said to have predicted the
coming of the Messiah.” Gjamasp is the author of a treatise entitled
“Judicia Gjamaspis,” which
contained his judgment on the planetary conjunctions. Therein he gave
notice that, Christ should appear. Herodotus,
considered, “the Father of the historians”, writes about the Persian
Magi as “a peculiar caste, quite different from Egyptian priests and
indeed from any other sort of persons,” in his “The Histories.” According to Herodotus, Magi is a caste in the old
Persia and not the word specially to denote astrologers. When
we analyze the etymology of the word “Magum” or “Magi,” it
becomes erroneous to adduce it with the Persian origin. We could safely
conclude that, the word is the corruption of the Tamil word,
“Magiban” or “Magipathy,” the two Tamil words means king. Also,
“Maagi” in Tamil means, earthly. ‘Magipathy’ Those
who translated the Bible from Hebrew to Greek to Latin and from Latin to
English, might have pronounced the word Magipan and Magipathy, according
to the proclivity of their tongues and as years passed, the word
remained as Magi. According
to Bible, kings were those who went to worship Jesus. “Kings along the
Mediterranean coast- the kings of Tarshis and the Islands- and those
from Sheba and from Seba- all will bring their gifts.” Mudaliyar
C.Rasanayagam, in his “Ancient Jaffna,” make reference from
“Cathay and the Way Thither,” written by Col. H. Yule, in 1348 or
1349 AD, John de Marignolli, the papal delegate to the Court of the
Great Khan, on his return from China, landed at Columbam. He
remained with the Christians there for one year and four months, after
erecting a stone memorial,“ in the corner of the world over againt
Paradise,” ( supposed to be at Cape Comarin) he went to see the famous
Queen of Saba, by whom he “was honorably treated” and them “
proceeded to Seyllan ( Ceylon). His
reference of Saba and its Queen was widely dispersed throughout his
writings and his repeated mention of her, whenever opportunity offered,
testified to the great respect in which he had her. According to him
“Saba was the finest Island in the world,” in it, there was lofty
mountains called Gyheit or the “Blessed” with which legends of Elias
and Magi were connected and at the foot of which there was a spring, the
holy water of which he tasted. The
lofty mountain of Gyheit referred to as “Blessed” with which
Marignolli, connected the legends of Elias and the Magi, was evidently
the unpretentious hill Keerimalai, sacred to Hindus and supposed to be
the residence of holy ascetics, in the ancient times. The
spring at the foot of the hill, the water of which Marignolli professed
to have tasted, was no doubt the sacred tirta of Keerimalai, which was
and still is in attraction to thousands of pilgrims. Marignolli
who wrote “Yalapanam” as the Island of Saba, thought that, one of
the Magi who went to Bethlehem to adore the child Christ, was from
“Yalapanam” (Jaffna). Yogis and ascetics haunting Keerimalai, which
Marignolli calls Gyheit, must have lent additional confirmation to his
theory. This
account was perhaps the original of the later garbled version of the
Portuguese historian de Barros. Father
Fernao De Queyroz, who wrote “The Temporal and Spiritual Conquest of
Ceylon,” strongly refutes the story put forward by Jao De Barros, but
up to date, no historians has come forward to refute the historical
facts, put forward by John De Marignolli, that Yalapanam was the famous
Saba and the “Magi”-pathi, the king of Yalapanam (Jaffna), was one
of those men who went to adore the infant Jesus. Furthermore,
there are several inherent lapses detected in the story narration of the
birth of Jesus, that many believe to be true. First, no one has any idea
regarding how many wise-men visited Jesus. Whether
those visited were either wise-men or kings, or astrologers and the
number could be 3 or even 25. The Bible says that the wise-men brought
three gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. It
is more likely that, since these were common items of value, that each
wise-man, regardless of the
actual number, brought a little of all those three valuable items. Another
glaring lapse inherent in the nativity scene is that, the wise-men were
certainly not at the manager of the inn, the night Jesus was born. It
says that the wise-men came to Jesus’ house. It
seems clear that, the wise-men came just prior to the time Herod issued
his decree to slaughter all the children under two years. The star first
appeared to the wise-men when Jesus was born, but it led the wise-men
to Jesus Christ’s house. The
Bible does not say whether the Star shone over the manger. This
was a sign , only the wise-men could discern, but to an average person,
it could not be easily discernible. The star appeared for the purpose of
leading the wise-men to Jesus home. The
wise-men started their journey, when the star first appeared. Being from
the “East,” most likely, Yalapanam (Jaffna) ( which at that time,
must have been an Island and not a peninsula) India, Persian or
Mesopotamia ( Iraq), all in the eastern direction to Bethlehem, and the
wise-men who started their journey in search of Jesus from any of these
countries, might have covered the journey of at least 500 to 1500 miles. How
they traveled and from where they traveled, - these details are not
available in the Bible. One can get a general idea, as to how old Jesus
was when the wise-men visited by approximating the time it would take to
make such a trip. According
to Bible, when Jesus was eight days old, they have him circumcised, as
God’s Law to Moses command. Again on the fortieth day of his birth,
according to God’s Law to Moses, Jesus’
parents took him to the temple in Jerusalem to present
purification offerings at the temple. Therefore,
it would have taken to the astrologers 40 days or more, to arrive to the
house of Jesus to pay their respect. Sea
trade routes with the West,
during historical times, have been greatly facilitated by references in
the remarkable anonymous, ‘Periplus of the Erythraen Sea,’ published
around AD 89. By this, we can discern about the availability of sea
journey facilities in those early days. Lanka When
describing about Lanka,
“About the following region, the course trending toward the east,
lying out at sea toward the west is the island Palaesimundu,
(Palaya+Seela+Mandalam-the old virtuous region) called by ancients -
Taproabane. The
northern part is a days journey distant, and the southern part trend
gradually toward the west and almost touches the opposite shore of
Azania, (in Africa coast) The author’s idea of the world is similar to
those of Pomponious Mela, with whom he was nearly contemporary, whose
map retains the idea of balancing southern” continent of the
Autochthones,” with eastern end of which he identifies, Taproabane. Several
places, cities and ports are recorded in Tamil, in the Periplus. “A
number of South Dravidian words, almost all of them geographic and
dynasties names, occur in
such Greco-Roman sources as, Periplus maris Erythrael (Circumnavigation
of the Erythraen sea) of AD 89, and in the “Geographicus,” the writing of Ptolemaeus of Naukratis of the 2nd
century AD; it is probable that, western language terms
for rice (compare Italian riso, Latin oryza, Greek oryza) and ginger (compare
Italian zenzero, German Ingwer, Greek Zingiberis) are cultural loans
from Old Tamil, in which they are arici and inciver respectively.”
Encyclopedia) Christianity
visited Sri Lanka, long before the arrival of Portuguese colonists in
1504. Cosmas Indicopleustes (Christian Topography, book XI) tells of
Ceylon and its trade in the 6th century AD, as follows:
“This is the great island of the ocean, situated in the Indian sea,
which is called by the Indians- Sielediba, by the Greeks - Taprobane,
where the haycinthus stone is found; and it is beyond the pepper country
(mainland).- “
In that island is established the Church of Christ, of the sect of
Persians, and there is a presbyter sent from Persia, and a deacon, and
the whole service of the church. “But
the natives and the kings, are of the other faith.” Even
though, the natives and the kings did not follow the religion at that
period, Christianity had already set foot in the country in the very
days, between AD 100 to AD 500. In
“A Short History of Ceylon,” the author H.W. Codrington writes,
“About AD 500, we read of Persian Christian colony, a Nestorian Cross
undoubtedly belonging to this community is to be seen in the
Anuradhapura museum.” The said Nestor Cross could be dated, belonging
to somewhere between AD 100 to AD 400, was found in the inner city
somewhere between Anuradhapura and Mantai, in the North-west. During
this period, Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa, the two Buddhist Pali language
chronicles were no complied. Presently,
no historical records are available about the propagation of
Christianity in Lanka,
since AD 100, until the arrival of the Portuguese. But in India, specially in the neighboring land, just across the Mannar sea in the coastal region of the sate of Kerala, St.Thomas, one of the disciple of Jesus, is said to have arrived in AD 52. After establishing a number of Syrian churches along this coast, he traveled to Chennai (Madras) and began to preach. But
the preaching of Christianity was opposed and he was killed in AD 68, at
Mylapore, Madras. Anyhow, the Syrian church survives in strength in
Kerala, may well have been founded in the first century AD. Considering
the frequent communications between the Mediterranean world and Mantai,
the international emporium and the entrée port in Sri Lanka,
pre-historic period, it is
not beyond belief that, one of the disciples of Christ, came to India
and Sri Lanka to preach Christianity. Even
though, due to lack of archeological development reports, except for the
finding of the Nestor Cross, and the mention of the Babylonian name
Seruma or Soruma in the Sussondi Jataka III, a corruption of Sumer, as a name of a country denoting, it as an
Island in North Ceylon, we are not in a position to make an
informed judgment. Anyhow,
when we take into consideration the spread of Christianity in the
coastal region of Kerala, and the existence of an ancient Syrian Church
even today, it is very difficult to dismiss the fact that, an early king
of Jaffna was one of those
who paid his adoration to the infant Jesus, also Christianity was in
existence in Lanka, since
from the very beginning of the Christian era.
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