 to modern Anuradhapura – Kurunagala road. Ruins of certain monastery and ambalam from village names Ballala to Padeniya are remaining evidences of the existence of this road. So far no research has been done to examine whether royal patronage had been there to a systematic coordination in the construction of provincial road network in the country. Yet it could be inferred that the dams of major and minor irrigation canals and major tank bunds had a direct amalgamation with the major road network in the island. It has been revealed that within the ancient Chinese civilization banks of irrigation canals spread over the past agricultural landscape that had been in amalgamation with transport network from the second century AD onwards.
Construction, maintenance and the continuation of roads
In Kautliya’s Arthasastra written in the 4th century BC it is stated that the ruler of the country should card mate with national and provincial institutions to construct road according to necessity. Thus according to Arthasastra it is the duty and the responsibility of the king to construct and maintain roads within the capital, military headquarters, ports city, and road laying to transport vehicles carrying elephants and other animals commercial roads overland and over water ways. It is his duty to protect carts carrying commercial goods from way laying.
Priority had to be given to maintenance and administration of roads in the metropolis. Fa-yuan in his report has mentioned that the roads and streets within the inner city of Anuradhapura were flattened and maintained with very high standards in the 5th century AD. It is reported that there had been stupa and dharmasala constructed at the road junctions (Balagalle, 1999). Streets within the city limits were laden with stone slabs and steps were constructed at points where those streets were not even. Recent excavation have confirmed that these were walls by the side of streets at certain places Ruins of streets with side walls and paved stone slabs were among the recent findings within the capital city. Road were systematically done even outside the city limits and further away as Cave pointed out in 1887 (Cave,1887).
Ruins of systematically constructed pathway and by-lanes within the monasteries complexes are clear examples of the advanced technical knowledge of those who have constructed them. Expert technical knowledge has been applied to the maximum to build them by preserving the natural environment to maintain the longevity of their systems. Just as in Chinese and Roman civilizations, the construction maintenance and the control of major road network came under the king in India Mauryan empire. Apart from the information to say that the construction of roads in Sri Lanka had been based on town planning because archaeological and historical sources refer to instances about the king’s instructions to the construction of the road network in Sri Lanka. There is evidence to infrastructure that fixing of gavu pillars by the side of main roads, construction of bridges, construction of ambalamas at provincial and distant places, construction of danasala at crossings within the city limits for the benefit of Bikkkus arriving from all four directions, allocation of grants for those who constructed and maintained danasala in different places like Sri Pada to have come under the king supervision. Mahavamsa says that Vijayabahu 1 during his rule in planning the city constructed darmasala in the city of Polonnaruva for Bikkus reaching the city from all four directions. This information proves that the Indian system had been followed in Sri Lanka.
According to Arthasatra it was the duty of the king to contribute to maintain all national and provincial roads including water ways. Road network includes all types of major and minor roads and they had to be constructed to proper standards with standards width. It was the duty of the king to find security to carts carrying goods for trade on trade rout and assign an officer for such duties. To supply water to travellers it was the kindness of the k