{"id":96016,"date":"2022-07-22T16:54:48","date_gmt":"2022-07-22T16:54:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?p=96016"},"modified":"2022-07-22T16:54:48","modified_gmt":"2022-07-22T16:54:48","slug":"was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/","title":{"rendered":"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by  Michael Roberts"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1 style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"font-size: 24px; color: #000000;\">Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-<span style=\"color: #800080;\">by Michael Roberts<\/span><\/span><\/h1>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-88737\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/Michael-Roberts-eLanka.jpg\" alt=\"Michael Roberts\" width=\"160\" height=\"184\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #800080;\">Source:<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 16px;\" href=\"https:\/\/thuppahis.com\/2022\/07\/21\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultura-nation-in-ancient-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thuppahis<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-96021\" src=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"490\" height=\"245\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #800080;\">Source:<\/span><\/strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000; font-size: 16px;\" href=\"https:\/\/thuppahis.com\/2022\/07\/21\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultura-nation-in-ancient-times\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Thuppahis<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Vinod Moonesinghe,\u00a0in an original essay\u00a0<\/strong><strong>bearing the title\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgricultural nation, a myth?\u201d \u2026<\/strong>\u2026\u2026\u00a0<strong>\u2026 now reproduced with a different title and with highlIghting imposed by The Editor, ThuppaHI<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ajR\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" data-tooltip=\"Show trimmed content\" aria-label=\"Show trimmed content\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">\u201c<em>The past is a foreign country<\/em>; they do things differently there.\u201d \u2014 L.P. Hartley,\u00a0<em>The go-between<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Recent shortages of milk powder, wheat flour and even rice have brought into perspective Sri Lanka\u2019s lack of food security. The situation has been exacerbated by growing dependence on imports of wheat \u2013 which rose from half a million tonnes in 1980 to nearly 1.5 million tonnes in 2020.\u00a0<strong>This lack of food security has re-kindled an argument about the role of agriculture in Sri Lanka\u2019s economy, which has extended into the realms of historiograph<\/strong>y.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<div class=\"ajR\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" data-tooltip=\"Show trimmed content\" aria-label=\"Show trimmed content\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">When former secretary general of UNCTAD Gamini Corea\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ips.lk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/01\/04_Irrigration-and-Agriculture-in-sri-lanka-ips.pdf\">wrote<\/a>\u00a0\u201cSri Lanka has always been predominantly an agricultural economy since ancient times,\u201d he reflected historical orthodoxy. However, a revisionist historical school has emerged, holding that this view of Sri Lanka, as an agricultural country, the granary of the East, reflects a myth. For example, Former Central Bank deputy governor\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.lk\/columns\/SL-s-future-depends-not-on-outdated-feudalistic-system-but-on-becoming-partner-of-a-digital-economy\/4-681935\">WA Wijewardena says<\/a>\u00a0that\u00a0<em>\u201cA widely-held view by many Sri Lankans is that Sri Lanka was an agriculture-based economy in the past and it should be so even in the future. The first part of this argument is only half-true.\u201dHe thinks that in the ancient past, Sri Lanka had an \u201copen economy\u201d, in which trade occupied as important a place as agriculture.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/water-10-01746-g001-550.webp?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-63955 jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/water-10-01746-g001-550.webp?resize=384%2C550&amp;ssl=1\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 384px) 100vw, 384px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/water-10-01746-g001-550.webp?w=384&amp;ssl=1 384w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/water-10-01746-g001-550.webp?resize=209%2C300&amp;ssl=1 209w\" alt=\"\" width=\"384\" height=\"550\" data-attachment-id=\"63955\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/thuppahis.com\/2022\/07\/21\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultura-nation-in-ancient-times\/water-10-01746-g001-550\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/water-10-01746-g001-550.webp?fit=384%2C550&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"384,550\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"water-10-01746-g001-550\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/water-10-01746-g001-550.webp?fit=209%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/water-10-01746-g001-550.webp?fit=384%2C550&amp;ssl=1\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-lazy-loaded=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"ajR\" style=\"text-align: justify;\" tabindex=\"0\" role=\"button\" data-tooltip=\"Show trimmed content\" aria-label=\"Show trimmed content\" aria-expanded=\"false\">\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Science Fiction writer Yudhanjaya Wijeratne,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/longform.watchdog.team\/observations\/the-myth-of-the-agricultural-nation\">similarly, concludes<\/a>\u00a0that \u201cthe evidence for this conversation is thin to non-existent.\u201d He argues that accounts in medieval chronicles, of the size of the army of Parakramabahu I, and hence of the then population, are highly exaggerated.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">These arguments appear to boil down to three main points:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The system of agriculture was backward in comparison to today\u2019s<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Sri Lanka didn\u2019t have a large population, especially compared to contemporary civilisations and<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Trade was as important as agriculture, if not more so.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Interestingly, the revisionists\u2019 main pivot is against self-reliance in production in the contemporary economy, by denying the idea of self-reliance in the past.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Backward agriculture?<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Modern capitalist agriculture has many advantages over ancient methods. Hybrid seeds yield far higher than traditional varieties. Weedicides eliminated female labour in the paddy field. Pesticides eliminated many insect enemies of crops.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">But this does not tell the whole story. Ancient Sri Lankans\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencedirect.com\/science\/article\/pii\/S2212682113000322\">built 30,000 irrigation tanks, of which fewer than 8,000 remain in operation today<\/a>, \u00a0part of a sophisticated pattern of tank cascade systems \u2013 each tank being part of a complex ecosystem, minimising bird and insect damage to crops, and ensuring renewal of soil nutrients and leeching out of salts. Farmers used the fresh soil of beds of silted-up tanks for paddy, constructing replacement tanks upstream.\u00a0<strong>Traditional paddy varieties required less nutrition than modern hybrids, and were sturdier and more resistant to weeds, insects, and disease<\/strong>\u2013 so they required no weedicides or pesticides. With such a sophisticated irrigation system, farmers must also have known complex methods of cultivation. For example, traditionally they sowed\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/core.ac.uk\/download\/pdf\/231758001.pdf\">three seasons annually<\/a>, compared to two today.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/mdpi-res.com\/d_attachment\/sustainability\/sustainability-11-00910\/article_deploy\/sustainability-11-00910.pdf\">Apart from irrigated paddy fields<\/a>,<strong>forests comprised an important agricultural sector<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 villagers used them as watersheds, [a source of] forest products (herbs, roots, spices, fruits) and for eco-friendly, rain-fed\u00a0<em>chena\u00a0<\/em>(swidden) vegetable cultivation for the market. They also grew vegetables in home gardens, using ground moisture.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The diet was completely different.\u00a0<strong>We had no papaw, tomato, chilli, potato, or manioc, which all came from the Americas.<\/strong>\u00a0People flavoured their food with forest products, such as pepper (the original\u00a0<em>miris<\/em>), cinnamon, and\u00a0<em>karapincha<\/em>\u00a0\u2013 so they did not need to grow it separately. The Portuguese soldier\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/noolaham.net\/project\/38\/3702\/3702.pdf\">Jo\u00e3o Ribeiro reported<\/a>\u00a0that the villagers did not need to pluck pepper, just waiting for it to fall \u2013 making it of the highest quality \u2013 as it was so abundant.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Although the European invaders destroyed this system of agriculture, some of it remained extant in the Kandyan kingdom until the 1800s, when British colonial treasurer\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.lk\/books?id=9M0NAAAAQAAJ&amp;printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&amp;q&amp;f=false\">Anthony Bertolacci reported<\/a>\u00a0that the kingdom of Kandy exported rice.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Population<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">The area under cultivation during the Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa periods dwarfed what is available today. Centuries of destruction turned millions of acres back to jungle \u2013 the Vanni alone contains 650,000 hectares, of which a substantial amount must have been cultivated. To this must be added enormous tracts of land, now under tea and rubber, which once comprised paddy or forest land, taken from the community and granted to planters.\u00a0Such a large extent could have supported a sizeable population, while leaving a considerable exportable surplus. Parakramabahu I must have required a significant surplus to enable his invasions of Myanmar and South India, and to hold onto Rameswaram for decades against the onslaughts of the mighty Chola empire.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Each of the 30,000 ancient tanks must have been associated with a village, each with an average population of about 300, giving about 9 million for the rural population. With the population of Anuradhapura and other cities, one might get a total of ten million.\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/papers.ssrn.com\/sol3\/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3809076\">UNK Rathnayake concludes cautiously<\/a>, from literary sources (which, he holds, reflect contemporary official statistics), that the population in the Polonnaruwa era may have been greater than today (the\u00a0<em>Pujavaliya<\/em>\u00a0giving 21 million and Rathnayake calculating 50 million from the\u00a0<em>Damabadeni Asna<\/em>). Of course, these figures should be treated with care.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Wijeratne says that if this were the case, Sri Lanka would have a comparable population to the Roman Empire (about 60 million).\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/ancientromelive.org\/the-roman-metropolis\/\">The Ancient city of Rome had a population<\/a>\u00a0of a million in 12 km.<sup>2<\/sup>\u00a0We do not know the population of ancient<strong>Anuradhapura<\/strong>,\u00a0but we do know it\u00a0<strong>had an area of 40 km<sup>2<\/sup><\/strong>,\u00a0<strong>slightly larger than modern Colombo, and dwarfing ancient Rome.<\/strong>\u00a0Also, Rome depended on highly inefficient slave labour, requiring a much larger population for the same surplus \u2013 it survived by importing Egyptian grain, paid for by plunder from foreign expeditions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Wijeratne suggests that to get to the 1871 census figure of 2.4 million, from 21 million in the reign of Parakramabahu I (1123-1186 CE), would require a ten-fold reduction in population, \u201ca 500-year extinction that should have gone noticed.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">But did it go unnoticed?\u00a0<strong>We know there was a collapse of the Anuradhapura kingdom around 1000 CE, and that following this there was a gradual decline up to 1400<\/strong>.\u00a0In this period, the centre of population shifted from the Dry Zone to the Wet Zone, with a corresponding shrinkage in population. The 13th century saw the depopulation of the dry zone, as Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa fell into disrepair.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Scourges<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">This slow, 400-year collapse was accompanied by a drastic loss of technology.\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"http:\/\/wilpattuhouse.com\/MiscStuff\/juleff-monsoon-steel.html\">Jill Juleff discovered<\/a>\u00a0many wind-blown blast furnaces dating from the 7<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0to 11<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0centuries, producing high-quality iron and steel. This technology appears subsequently to have been lost, and Ananda Coomaraswamy noted\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hmsjournal.org\/index.php\/home\/article\/view\/303\">regressive methods of steel making<\/a>\u00a0in his report on Sabaragamuwa.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Sri Lanka also accepted large immigrant numbers in this period. Entire castes appeared from South India, brought with them various skills, apparently those lost in the local population. For instance, the Salagamas came over from Kerala as weavers. The influence of South Indian masons on the architecture can be seen in temples such as the\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.tourslanka.com\/excursions\/gadaladeniya-temple-srilanka\/\">monastery at Gadaladeniya<\/a>, near Kandy.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">In ancient times, drastic population reduction took place regularly.\u00a0 Even with an abundance of food, there could be crop failures.\u00a0According to WI Siriweera, in his\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/books.google.lk\/books\/about\/History_of_Sri_Lanka.html?id=fWhuAAAAMAAJ&amp;redir_esc=y\"><em>History of Sri Lanka:\u00a0From Earliest Times Up to the Sixteenth Century<\/em><\/a>, famines occurred at 100-200 year intervals, but the only \u00a0major one in the 12<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0century reign of Parakramabahu II of Dambadeniya, caused by drought; followed closely by another in the time of Bhuvenakabahu I.\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/ucr.cmb.ac.lk\/the-history-of-smallpox-epidemics-in-sri-lanka-humanitys-triumph-over-a-global-scourge\/\">Smallpox ravaged the land<\/a>\u00a0at the time of Sirisangabo (reputedly killing half the population) and may have destroyed the army of Prince Sakka in the Pandya country in the 10<sup>th<\/sup>\u00a0century \u2013 enabling the victory of Paranataka I Chola.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Thus, population loss, especially a gradual one, may have been unremarkable.\u00a0<strong>Any long-term population decline must have taken place for more than one reason<\/strong>. It has been attributed to a variety of causes, including war, famine, epidemics, malaria and even water salination. The Portuguese chronicler de Queyroz claimed that the abandonment of Anuradhapura took place due to war, smallpox, famine, and the plague.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong>Monasteries<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">With a large, exportable food surplus, it seems unlikely that ancient Sri Lanka would not have traded in these commodities. Sri Lanka definitely exported cinnamon and areca nuts. Add gems (especially garnets), pearls, steel, and elephants, and it becomes clear that trade must have been important. However, the question is whether it was as important as made out by the revisionists.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">A measure of the importance of trade may be the substantial grants made to Buddhist monasteries.\u00a0<strong>Most monarchs made presents of land, sometimes whole villages to the viharas<\/strong>.\u00a0For example,\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/mahavamsa.org\/mahavamsa\/original-version\/35-twelve-kings\/\">according to the\u00a0<\/a><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/mahavamsa.org\/mahavamsa\/original-version\/35-twelve-kings\/\"><em>Mahavamsa<\/em><\/a>, Vasabha granted 1008\u00a0<em>karisa<\/em>\u00a0(3000 ha) of land to the Anurarama Vihara, near Mahagama. These reports in the chronicles are generally replicated in the epigraphic records.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">On the other hand, the evidence for trade-related grants is very sketchy. One example stands out: the port of Godavaya was an entrepot between Far East and Middle East, as well as the outlet for exports coming down the Walawe River. The\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/mahavamsa.org\/mahavamsa\/original-version\/35-twelve-kings\/\">Mahavamsa states<\/a>\u00a0that Mahallaka Naga built a monastery there.\u00a0<a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.archaeology.lk\/godawaya-an-ancient-port-city-2nd-century-ce-and-the-recent-discovery-of-the-unknown-wooden-wreck\/\">Three inscriptions have been found there<\/a>, one of which says that \u201cGamini Abhaya\u201d (Gajaba I) granted the customs duties of the port to the vihara. Another inscription states that Gajaba\u2019s queen, Ahalaya Bathikamithaya, granted six\u00a0<em>karisa<\/em>\u00a0(18 ha) of land to the vihara.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">This suggests that the total customs revenues from this important port were equivalent to the production of the land given to a single monastery, the Anurarama Vihara, one of several thousand around the country, which received land grants. It puts the relative importance of overseas trade in context.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">Of course, the foregoing does not prove the revisionists wrong, but places their arguments in the perspective of those times, exposing several anachronistic flaws in their assumptions. Further research may be warranted, to explore the extent of trade and estimate the actual population during that epoch.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\">***********<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/VINOD-Moonesinghe-1.jpg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-63958 jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/VINOD-Moonesinghe-1.jpg?resize=184%2C275&amp;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"184\" height=\"275\" data-attachment-id=\"63958\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/thuppahis.com\/2022\/07\/21\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultura-nation-in-ancient-times\/vinod-moonesinghe-1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/VINOD-Moonesinghe-1.jpg?fit=184%2C275&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"184,275\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"VINOD Moonesinghe 1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/VINOD-Moonesinghe-1.jpg?fit=184%2C275&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/VINOD-Moonesinghe-1.jpg?fit=184%2C275&amp;ssl=1\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-lazy-loaded=\"1\" \/><\/a>\u00a0Vinod Moonesinghe \u2026 now<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong>\u2026. and \u2026 as a reminder of his and our past\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><a style=\"color: #000000;\" href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/download-59.jpg?ssl=1\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft wp-image-63973 jetpack-lazy-image jetpack-lazy-image--handled\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/download-59-150x150.jpg?resize=201%2C201&amp;ssl=1\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 201px) 100vw, 201px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/download-59.jpg?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/download-59.jpg?w=200&amp;ssl=1 200w\" alt=\"\" width=\"201\" height=\"201\" data-attachment-id=\"63973\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/thuppahis.com\/2022\/07\/21\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultura-nation-in-ancient-times\/download-59\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/download-59.jpg?fit=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"200,200\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"download (59)\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/download-59.jpg?fit=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/thuppahis.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/download-59.jpg?fit=200%2C200&amp;ssl=1\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" data-lazy-loaded=\"1\" \/><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: justify;\"><span style=\"font-size: 16px; color: #000000;\"><strong>.. . with his approval of Darwin\u2019s contribution to knowledge<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts Source:Thuppahis Source:Thuppahis Vinod Moonesinghe,\u00a0in an original essay\u00a0bearing the title\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgricultural nation, a myth?\u201d \u2026\u2026\u2026\u00a0\u2026 now reproduced with a different title and with highlIghting imposed by The Editor, ThuppaHI \u201cThe past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.\u201d \u2014 L.P. Hartley,\u00a0The go-between Recent shortages [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":96021,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,42710],"tags":[45904,29309,45903],"class_list":{"0":"post-96016","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-aside","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-articles","8":"category-michael-roberts","9":"tag-gamini-abhaya","10":"tag-vinod-moonesinghe","11":"tag-wa-wijewardena","12":"post_format-post-format-aside"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.7.1 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Vinod Moonesinghe,\u00a0in an original essay\u00a0bearing the title\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgricultural nation, a myth?\u201d \u2026\u2026\u2026\u00a0\u2026 now reproduced with a different title\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Vinod Moonesinghe,\u00a0in an original essay\u00a0bearing the title\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgricultural nation, a myth?\u201d \u2026\u2026\u2026\u00a0\u2026 now reproduced with a different title\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"eLanka\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-07-22T16:54:48+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"490\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"245\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"eLanka admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"9 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\"},\"headline\":\"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-22T16:54:48+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/\"},\"wordCount\":1712,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Gamini Abhaya\",\"Vinod Moonesinghe\",\"WA Wijewardena\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Articles\",\"Michael Roberts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/\",\"name\":\"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-07-22T16:54:48+00:00\",\"description\":\"Vinod Moonesinghe,\u00a0in an original essay\u00a0bearing the title\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgricultural nation, a myth?\u201d \u2026\u2026\u2026\u00a0\u2026 now reproduced with a different title\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg\",\"width\":490,\"height\":245,\"caption\":\"Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Articles\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/category\/articles\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\",\"name\":\"eLanka\",\"description\":\"eLanka - Sri lanka events in Australia\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization\",\"name\":\"eLanka\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg\",\"width\":192,\"height\":82,\"caption\":\"eLanka\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/\",\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elanka\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SriLankanDownUnder\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd\",\"name\":\"eLanka admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"eLanka admin\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/author\/elanka\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts","description":"Vinod Moonesinghe,\u00a0in an original essay\u00a0bearing the title\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgricultural nation, a myth?\u201d \u2026\u2026\u2026\u00a0\u2026 now reproduced with a different title","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts","og_description":"Vinod Moonesinghe,\u00a0in an original essay\u00a0bearing the title\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgricultural nation, a myth?\u201d \u2026\u2026\u2026\u00a0\u2026 now reproduced with a different title","og_url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/","og_site_name":"eLanka","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/","article_published_time":"2022-07-22T16:54:48+00:00","og_image":[{"width":490,"height":245,"url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"eLanka admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"eLanka admin","Est. reading time":"9 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/"},"author":{"name":"eLanka admin","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd"},"headline":"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts","datePublished":"2022-07-22T16:54:48+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/"},"wordCount":1712,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg","keywords":["Gamini Abhaya","Vinod Moonesinghe","WA Wijewardena"],"articleSection":["Articles","Michael Roberts"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/","name":"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg","datePublished":"2022-07-22T16:54:48+00:00","description":"Vinod Moonesinghe,\u00a0in an original essay\u00a0bearing the title\u00a0\u00a0\u201cAgricultural nation, a myth?\u201d \u2026\u2026\u2026\u00a0\u2026 now reproduced with a different title","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/07\/Sri-Lanka-an-Agricultural-Nation.jpg","width":490,"height":245,"caption":"Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/was-sri-lanka-an-agricultural-nation-in-ancient-times-by-michael-roberts\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Articles","item":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/category\/articles\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Was Sri Lanka an Agricultural Nation in Ancient Times?-by Michael Roberts"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#website","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/","name":"eLanka","description":"eLanka - Sri lanka events in Australia","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#organization","name":"eLanka","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/elanka-logo.jpg","width":192,"height":82,"caption":"eLanka"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/eLanka.com.au\/","https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/elanka\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/SriLankanDownUnder"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/f6e635b74ab35ef88a68a9973cacc5bd","name":"eLanka admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2e0d346a7f97b80e861cdeafe7b7de523b59f5060666f1a5da8369457bf9b6c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"eLanka admin"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew"],"url":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/author\/elanka\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96016","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=96016"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96016\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":96022,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/96016\/revisions\/96022"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96021"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=96016"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=96016"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/websitedesigns.com.au\/elankanew\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=96016"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}