Badu Number Kandy Link

This paper asks: What was the Badu number? How was it computed and applied? And why did it persist until the early 19th century? We argue that the Badu number was a dual-purpose construct: it quantified material obligations (tax, rent, tribute) to the Kandyan king or the Temple of the Tooth ( Sri Dalada Maligawa ), and simultaneously aligned those quantities with astrological cycles to determine propitious collection dates.

| Badu Number (base-multiplier product) | Frequency | Typical use | |---------------------------------------|-----------|--------------| | 12 | 23 | Paddy tax from mid-elevation villages | | 7 | 18 | Oil for temple lamps (lowest multiplier) | | 35 | 14 | Cinnamon in highlands during Ketti season | | 0 | 11 | Debt moratorium (ritual cancellation) | Badu Number Kandy

Badu number, Kandy, Kandyan Kingdom, Sinhalese numerology, palm-leaf manuscripts, royal accounting, Nakath 1. Introduction The hill capital of Kandy, Sri Lanka, preserved a sophisticated scribal culture long after the coastal regions fell under Portuguese, Dutch, and British control. Among the many enigmatic terms found in Kandyan ola manuscripts is the phrase Badu angka (බඩු අංකය), literally “goods number” or “value numeral.” Colonial translators often rendered it simply as “inventory figure,” but indigenous veda mahattayas (astrologer-physicians) and arachi (village headmen) used it with more nuance. This paper asks: What was the Badu number