Know the Etymology: 401
Place Name of the Day: Tuesday, 05 May 2015

Bath-gam-pattuwa

ப₃த்க₃ம் பத்துவ
Batgam Pattuwa

Bath+gam+pattuwa

The division of the rice-producing village or endowment village

Bathgam	Bath+gam: rice producing village or village granted (usually on condition of supplying paddy to a stipulated cause); “Bath upadanaa gama, Ninda gama” (Sinhala, Sorata)
Bath	boiled or cooked rice, food (Sinhala); Batha: boiled or cooked rice, daily hire or ration of a soldier or worker (Sinhala); Bhaththa: boiled rice (Sinhala); meal, food (Pali, CDIAL 9331); food, rice (Prakrit, CDIAL 9331); Bhakta: meal, food, boiled rice (Sanskrit, later literature, CDIAL 9331); Bath, Bai: rice, meal (Dhivehi/ Maldivian); Patham: cooked rice, required degree of hardness or softness, proper point of boiling or cooking (Tamil, DED 3907); food (Tamil Ku'runthokai, 83: 1); cooked rice (Tamil, Pathittuppaththu, 66: 7-9); various cooked items (Tamil, Paddinappaalai, 203); toddy (Tamil, Porunaraattuppadai, 111); water, moisture (Tamil, DED 3906); Pata: (verb) to become soft (Tamil, DED 3905); (verb) to become moist, marshy (Tamil, DED 3906)
Pattuwa	Paththuwa: division of a Korale or feudal district (Sinhala); Pa'r'ru, Paththu: ownership of land (Tamil, inscription, 989 CE, IPS, 123); land or surroundings under the jurisdiction of a village etc. (Tamil, inscription, 1157 CE, IPS, 134); administrative division (Tamil, inscription, 1278 CE); from Pa'r'ru: (verb) to grasp, seize, hold, receive, adhere to (Tamil, DED 4034)

Bath-gam in Sinhala means a rice-producing village.

It also means a Ninda-gama (Sorata), i.e., an endowment village or a village granted with certain stipulations or conditions (Nibandha > Ninda; Nivantham in Tamil inscriptions. See column on Ninthavoor).

In the case of Bath-gam, the stipulation was probably to supply cooked rice or paddy for food to assigned people or institution.

The phrase Bath-gam has two components, Bath and Gam. See earlier columns on the etymology of Gam meaning a village.

Bath means cooked rice or food in Sinhala. The etymology could be traced to both Indo-Aryan and Dravidian, as Bhakta in Sankrit means food or boiled rice (CDIAL 9331) and Patham in Tamil meaning cooked rice and proper cooking is taken as Dravidian (DED 3907). See box for the verb forms and related shades of meanings for Patham in Tamil/ Dravidian.

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Patham meaning food made of cooked rice:

“Perugn choa'r'ru miku patham varaiyaathu koduththoay” (Pu'ra:naanoo'ru, 2: 16)

“பெருஞ் சோற்று மிகு பதம் வரையாது கொடுத்தோய்” (புறநானூறு, 2: 16)

Without limitation you gave the great food of cooked rice in abundance


Patham meaning cooked rice:

“Nellin ampa'na a'lavai virinthu u'rai poakiya aar patham nalkum enpa” (Pathittuppaththu, 66: 7-9)

“நெல்லின் அம்பண அளவை விரிந்து உறை போகிய ஆர் பதம் நல்கும் என்ப” (பதிற்றுப்பத்து, 66: 7-9)

The extensive measures of paddy (given) will become immeasurable amount of cooked rice to eat

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Pattuwa (Paththuwa) in Sinhala meaning a feudal administrative division is a cognate of Pa'r'ru or Paththu meaning the same in Tamil. The etymology is traced to Pa'r'ru, as verb and noun, meaning jurisdiction coming by hold, grasp, adherence etc. (DED 4034). See column on Koa'ra'laip-pattu.

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Bath-gam-pattuwa is a place in Hingurakgoda division of Polonnaruwa district

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Some related place names:

Bath-gam-pala: The place of the rice-producing or endowment village; Weligamuwa division, Matale district

Bath-goda: The rice-producing village or probably an endowment village like Bath-gam; Yatinuwara division, Gampaha district

Kiri-bath-goda: Probably, the village that was granted for the supply of cooked milk rice to the assigned; Kelaniya division, Gampaha district

Kiri-bath-kumbura: Probably, the paddy field that was granted for the supply of cooked milk rice to the assigned; Yatinuwara division, Kandy district

Kiri-bath-galla: Probably, the rocky-hill (village) that was granted for the supply of cooked milk rice to the assigned; Rideegama division, Kurunegala district

Kiri-bath-gala: Probably, the rocky-hill (village) that was granted for the supply of cooked milk rice to the assigned; Nivithigala division, Ratnapura district

First published: Tuesday, 05 May 2015, 23:27