Search for a Tamil Homeland - Wg. Cdr. Mark Seneviratne Retd.

SEARCHFORA TAMILHOMELAND

Wg. Cdr. Mark SeneviratneRetd.

SWASTIKA(Pvt) LTD 329 Dam Street, Colombo12.

Sri Lanka 1995

PREFACE Theclaimfor a TamilHomeland in Sri Lankais onethathas beenvoicedin Sri Lankaas well as abroad,by Tamilsincluding politicians and revolutionaries. lt has,as wouldbe expected, been contestedby mainlySinhalese, in lettersto editors,newspaper featuresand in books.I haveseensomeol thosebooksand the arguments theycontainrefutingthe claimfor a Tamilhomeland.

In thosebookshowever, thereis onefactorwhichseemsto have beenoverlooked muchof the time. lt is the aspectof the military.Fromthe thirteenth century( the periodwhenthe Tamil homeland isclaimed to haveoriginated it had ) uptothe18thcentury, in fact beenmorethemilitary thanpolitics thathadoccupied centre stageintheaffairsof notonlySriLankaandIndia,butalsoof some countries in otherpartsof the world.As suchat times,whatwas a kingdomtodaybecamea vassalStatetomorrow.WeakerKingdoms,countries andterritories wereat timescapturedby stronger onesandusedverymuchlikebufferzones to protectthe flanksofthe stronger ones,similarto lsraelusingthe Gaza,the WestBankand the GolanHeights.

Sd Lankawhichmostof the timewas the weakerkingdom, whencompared withthe SouthIndiankingdoms of Pandya,Chola and Chera,was not only subjectto conquestbut alsoto military exploitation andmanipulation.

Because ol allthat,it is necessary to examinethe military conditions in Sri Lanka;its neighbouring kingdomsandin Indiaitselfduringthethirteenth centuryandafter,foran effective searchfora kingdom ofSriLankaTamilsonwhichtheclaim for a Tamilhomeland is based.

Thatis whatI haveendeavoured to do-andfortunately for me my militarybackground andknowledge hasbeenusefulin appreciatingandanalysing military conditions andthe militaryintentions of kingsof thosedays.

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.

: THE CALL OF LANKA

But mostshallhe singof Lanka In the bravenewdaysthatcome, Whenthe racesallhaveblended, Andthevoiceof strifeis dumb; Whenwe leapto a singlebugle, Marchto a singledrum;

by Rev.W.S.Senior

And the palacegleamsoncemore, Onemanfromshoreto shore, Thestrangerbecomea brother, The taskof tutoro' er; Whenthe ruin'dcityrises, Andthe palacegleamsoncemore.

Rev. W.S. Seniorcameto Sri Lankain 1909.He died in Englandin 1938,but according to his wishhis asheswereburied amidstthe Haputalemountains in Sri Lanka.

Rev Seniorwas Vice principalof TrinityCollegeKandy, _ Registrar.of the colomboUniversity and Vicaroi cnristbnurchat GalleFace,Colombo.

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THECLAIMFORA TAMILHOMELAND Sri Lanka On 22ndMay 1972,whenCeylonbecame a Republicher namewaschanged to SriLanka.Inancienttimeshowever SriLanka had beenknownby differentnamesat differenttimes.She was calledTaprobane by the ancientGreeksand Romans.

The reason for theircallingthe countryby that nameis howevernot definite.

Somehistorians are of the opinonthatTaprobane is derivedfrom Tambapani, whichwasthe namegivenby Vijayathe Indianprince whomadeSriLankahishomein 543B C. Professor HeinzBechert in hisbiography of WilhelmGeiger,theGermanwhotranslated and editedthe Sri Lankachronicles, the MAHAVAMSA and the CHULAVAMSA writes," Thefirstaccountsof the lslandof Ceylon reachedthe GreeksbeforeAlexander's Indiancampaign.Thby calledthe island,Taprobanewhich derivesfrom the Sanskrit Tamrapani."

PrinceVijayawasthe sonof kingSinhabahu of Sinhapura, andthencethe nameSinhalese.

In the 6th centuryBC,Sinhapura hadbeenlocatedin the presentIndianStateof Gujerat.

The Arabs,who in thoseancienttimesvisitedSri Lankafor' tradepurposes, referred to thecountryas Serendib.

TheSinhalese of thosedayscalledit Sinhaladipa meaingan - "Dipa"in Sinhalese island.Verymuchlater,inthe16thcentury, SriLankawascolonised by the Portugese.

The words Sinhalaor Sihalawould not .roll smoothly alongtheirtonguesandso the Portugese foundthename Ceilaoan easierone to pronounce.

The Dutchwho capturedthe countryfromthe Poftugese, calledher Ceilanor Ceylan.Towards the end of the 18thcentury,the Britishdefeatedthe Dutchin Sri Lankaandthereafter tocolonise continued thecountryfor150years.

It wastheywhonamedit Ceylon,theanglicised versionof Sinhala, or Ceilaoor Ceilan.

Reverend JamesCordiner, Chaplain to theBritishGarrison in Colombo, theSriLankancapitalcity,wrotein hisbookADESCRIPTION OF CEYLON," The islandwhichformsthe subjectof the present work,is theTaprobane of theGreeks....................

Thatof 03

zeilanor ceylonby whichit is know,is derivedmostprobablyfrom sinhalthe lion,the nameby whichthenativesof theislandarestill denominated as cingalesefromthe Indianwordsing,a Lion.From sinhalor sinhal-Dwipa, theLionisland,mayhavebeLnderivedthe sielendibaof cosmosIndopleutes, whowrotein the seventhcentury,andtheserendiboftheArabians, by whichnameit iscalledby all the nationswhichprofessthe religionof Mahomet". sir JamesEmmerson Tennentwhohadbeena Government Agentin the Britishadministration of sri Lankastatedin his book, cEYLON," Taprobane thenamebywhichtheislandwasfirstknown to the Macedonians, is derivable frompali"Tambapani', ............1n latertimes Taprobane wasexchanged forsimundu,palai-simundu, underwhich names it is describedby ptolemy,the authorof Periplus.......... andsarikeheregards merery asa ieaman,s corruptionof ' Sinhalaor Sihala' Sinhalawiththe suffix'diva,or 'Dwipa'and ' seren-diva', whencethe 'serendib,of the Arabian navigators andtheirromances; andthisinlatertimes wascontracted intoZeilanbythePortugese, ceyranbytheDutch,andceylonbythe English". .LiberationTigersOf TamitEetam( LTTE) Sri Lanka.a 25,000square-mile islandin the IndianOcean andlyinga meretwentymilessouth-east of rndia,is popurated by a majority of sinhaleseanda minority of ( around17y)Tamilpeople.

Todaythis littleislandremainsplaguedby a viciousirregular war wagedagainstthegovernment by a groupof terrorismproneTamil rebelswho callthemselves the Liberation Tigersof ramil Eelam, commonly referred to astheLTTE.Theyarebasedinthenorthofthe countrywhere themajorpopulation isTlmil.Fewernumbers ofthem arein eastwheretheTamilsarein minority to thesinhaleseandthe Muslimscombined, TheTigers,as the LTTEare nicknamed, claim as theirprimaryobjective, " theliberation of theNorthandEastfrom the restof thecountrybecausethosetwoareascompriseEelamor theTamilHomeland". lronically though,whiletheLTiE referonlyto the northandeastof sri Lankaas Eelam, theancientsouthlndian Tamilscalledthewholeof Sri Lankallam( nowspeltEelam ) 04

Eelam Dr.Kartigesu Indrapalan a TamilProfessor of Historyin the University of Jaffnain northern Sri Lanka,explained thewordllam (Eelam) ds,"..............presumab|y it restsonthefactthatllamis now usedonlyin Tamilas a namefor Ceylon.Buttheoriginof thename, far fromindicating thatthe islandwas occupiedby Tamilspeaking peopleinancienttimes,showthatthepeoplef rbmwhosenamellam is derivedwereSinhalese."

Similarly thateminent Tamilpolitiican andhistorian, C Suntheralingam wasof theopinion that Lankaand the Sinhalese havea commonorigin in the TamilnameEylom (Eelam).

Acording to theTamillexiconthewordllamis illustrated as :llam< Pali- Sihala> Sinhala whichmeansthatllamin Paliis equalto Sihalain Sinhalese.

Thuseventhoughthe LTTEstatethat Eelamrefersonlyto northandeastSriLanka,Eelamshouldevidently referto thewhole of Sri Lanka,and whichin fact shouldbe the homelandof the Sinhalese, Tamils,Muslims, Burghers andothersof thiscountry.

The ConceptOf A TamilHomeland According to the generally accepteddescription of a Homeland,it is a countrywherea groupof peoplehavebeenborn,lived andconducted theirownaffairsindependently, throughgenerations.

A homeland as we knowit, doesnot howevermeana merepartof a countrywherea groupwhoconstitute a majoritywithinthatpart only,havebeenbornandlivedthroughgenerations. lf it did,then Texaswouldbe the homeland of theTexansandthe hillcountryof.

SriLankawherethemajority areKandyans, wouldbethehomeland of the Kandyans.

That ofcourse,is not so. The homelandof the Texansis the UnitedStatesof Americawhilethe homeland of the Kandyans is Sri Lanka.

Similarlythe homeland oftheTamils ofSriLankawhetherthey liveinthenorth,eastor in anyotherpartof thecountryshouldbe Sri 05

Lankaitself.ButtheLTTEdo notagree.Theyinsteadinsistthatthe lorth and eastof Sri Lanka takentogether,had beena separate Tamilkingdom continuously, if notf romancienttimes,at leasisince the thirteenth century,andthat becauseof it, todaythe northand east constitutethe homelandof the Sri LankanTamils.What specifically is theclaimof the LTTE? The LTTEClaim The Liberation Tigersof TamilEelam,as well as thoseof similar thinking describe theirclaimfora TamilHomeland as," For overa thousandyearsas the resultof a strugglefor supremacy betweenthe Tamil kingsand the Sinhalese kings............... the entireislandwasundertheswayoftheTamilkingsat timesandthe sinhalesekingsat othertimes.Fromthisbackgrounci of alternating fortunesemergedat the beginingof the 13thcentury,a clearand stablepolitical fact.Atthistimetheterritory stretching inthewestern seaboard from chillawthroughPuttalam to Mannarand hence. to theNorthern regions thatextended southwards upto Kumana to the Northbankof the riverKumbukkan oya werefirmlyestablished as the exclusive homeland of the Tami|i...........

The portugese subduedthe Stateof TamilEelamand continuedto governit as a separateState.So did the Dutchwho capturedit from the Poftugese........... this'Tamil Statewascaptured f romtheDutchby the Britishwho continuedto retainits separatestatustill 1g33, when......,..... the Britishbroughttogether underoneauthority the Stateof Ee|am............... and the Kandyankingdom........... alo.ng withthe Sinhalese kingdomof Kotte".1 It couldbe takenfromthatclaimthat the firstconceptthe LTTEendeavourto projeitisthat,evenpriortothe13thcentury, the wholeof Sri Lankawas ruledmoreor lessalternatively,

by Tamil kingsand sinhalesekings.lt wouldperhapsbe bestthatthisand otherclaimsfora Tamilhomeland bytheLTTEandothersof similar thought,be confirmed, or in the alternative shownas baseless, by searching throughhistoryfor suchTamilkingdoms whichgaverise to TamilHomelands claimsof today.

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r SEARCH FORA TAMILKTNGDOM PRIOR TOTHE13THCENTURY ThreeSri LankanTeruitorialDivisions Inancienttimes SriLankahadbeendivided intothree Sinhalese areaswhichwerePihitirata, Mayarata, and Ruhunarata, whilethe sparselypopulated centralhill-country in the southcentreof the 1Pihitiratawasthe islandwascalledMalayarata. northern Sinhalese kingdom andcontained theareanorthof theMahawelli riverandthe DeduruOyariver.In it wasincluded theJaffnapeninsula, whichat timeswas referredto as Yapapatuna or Nagadipa.Apartfrom Jaffna,Pihitirata alsoencompassed the Eastof whichTrincomalee was part.

Mayarata hadtheriverDeduruOyaas itsnorthern boundary, theriverKaluganga as itssouthern borderandtheseaas itswestern limit.The centralhillsformedits easternborder.Ruhunarata consistedofthelandbetween theriverMahawelli andtheriverKaluganga, whilethe centralhillsformedits leftborderandthe eastcoast,its rightborder.Batticaloa andAmparawerepartof Ruhunarata.

All threeareaswereruledby Sinhalese kingsand princes, sometimes of thesameroyalfamily, Theywereoftenreferred to, in the Sri Lankan chronicles, as well as in otherhistorybooksas Kingdoms, whichevidently hadbeena casualdescription by historians,evenin latertimesthanthe chronicles, SirEmmerson Tennentwrotein hisbookCEYLON, " Leaving no issueto inheritthethrone,( princeVijaya)wassucceeded by his nephew( in 504BC),whoselected a relation of GotamaBuddhafor hisqueen lt wasat that periodthatCeylonwasresolved intothreegeographicaldivisions, whichdownto a verylateperiod, are habitually referred to by the nativehistorians.

Allto the northof the Mahawelliganga wascomprised of thedenomination Pihitirata, or the Raja-rata, from its containing the ancientcapitaland the residence of royalty;south ofthiswasRohanoorRuhunu.. a portionof thisdivisionnearTangallestillretainsthe nameRoona.

ThethirdwasMaya.-rata whichlay ............. andKalu-ganga as its southern limit".

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Pihitirataherdprecedenceoverthe othertwo divisionsbecausethekngof sri Lankaruledfromthere.Normallytheeldestboy gf ,. sinhaleseroyarfamirywas crownedking,wnirenis young",, brothdr,or at timeshis eldestson,becameheirto the throne.The crownPrincewasreferredto as Adipadaor as yuvarajaandhewas generallygrantedruleoverRuhunarata or Mayarata.

SinhaleseCrownprinceas Governorof Jaffna Wheneverroyal or other importantactivitytook place in l"llne' the crownprincewourdbe assignedby tne kingto jou"rn Jaffna.Yapapatuna whichwas theTamitnamefor Jaffriawis said to havemeant," townof the crown prince".Thefirstkingto appoint thecrownprinceto Jaffnawas kingDevanampiyatissa ti zoz ie+z BC)duringwhosereignBuddhismwasintroduced to sri Lankafrom India.At that time all movements to and from lndia,relatedto tnut event, had b e e n t h ro u g h J a f fn a . F o r in s t a n c e , K in g Devanampiyatissa's Embassyto thecourtof the MauryanEmperor Asokain lndia,leftfromJaffna.

Devanampiyatissa's Embassywas despatched to seekEmperorAsoka'assistance to introduce anddisseminate Buddhism in sri Lanka,Asokadid indeedsend his own son Mahindafor the ' purpose.

A shortwhilelater,EmperorAsoka alsosentsaplings from theBodhitree underwhich theBuddhahadattained Nirvana]These he.sent throughhisdaughter sanghamitta.

Devanampiyatissa rrimselfwentto Jaffnato receivethe saplings.

The port in Jaffnathroughwhichail thosemovementstook placewas namedJambukora, whichis a typicailysinharese name and was so namedbecausethe popuration in Jaifnain thosedays was largelysinhalese.Devanampiyatissa plantedoneof the Bodhi saplings at Jambukota andatsohadaBuddirist Vihara( temple)built there in commemoration of that event.The temple'wasnamed Jambukola Viharaya.

KingDevanampiyatissa was the grandsonof the sinharese warrior-king,Pandukabhaya who tounOeOthe capital city of Anuradhapura'pandukabhaya himserfwas the iranoson ot Panduwasdeva, the nephewof Vijayathe Indianpriricewho had madesriLankahishomein 543BC,andafterwhomthesinhalese gottheirname.

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DuringDevanampiyatissa's reign,Jaffnawas very mucha partof hiskingdom, busyand important due,mainlyto theintroductionof Buddhism f romlndia.lt wasforthatreasonthat to thecountry governor the CrownPrinceUttiyawasappointed of Jaffna.

EvenafterkingDevanampiyatissa's reign,Jaffnacontinued to remainunderthe Sinhalese Pihitirata kingdom irrespective ofwhether the kingreignedfromAnuradhapura, Polonnaruwa or elsewhbre.

That the viharayawhichwas builtby king Devanampiyatissa at Jambukola was renovated by kingKanithatissa in the secondcenturyAC,andlaterby kingVoharikatissa intheearly3rd century, and laterinthe 11thcentury by kingVijayabahu l, allof themSinhalese kings,is an exampleof it.

RoyalCourt Ministersas Administrators Whennotgoverned by a prince,Jaffnaor forthatmatterany otherpartof SriLankawasadministered by a Minister of the Royal Court.According totheSriLankaUniversity's historical record,THE CONCISEHISTORYOF CEYLON," Courtierswere in general knownas Amatyas.

Theywereentrusted withimportant responsibilitieslikethe administration of provinces.

Nagadipain the north andRuhunain thesouth,whichat timeswereruledby members of the Royalfamily,wâ&#x201A;Ź;â&#x201A;Źdt othertimesadministered

by Amatyas".l Recently a goldplateofa previous era,wasfoundatVallipuram in Jaffna.The inscription on it statesthat Piyaguka Tissabuiltthe (theapcientS.inhalesd Viharaya at Badakara namefortoday's Tamil name of V allipuram) du rin gt h e re ig n ' o f K in g V a s a b h aa t (thethencapitalof Pihitirata Anuradhapura ) f rom67to 111 AC,and ( a Sinhalese) whilehisMinister lsgiraya wasGovernor of Jaffna.

Referringto the sovereignity of the kingswho reignedin Pihitirata, theCONCISEHISTORYOF CEYLONstatesthat," The earlyinscriptions as wellas the literarysourcesindicate that,from ( a 1stcenturyBC Sinhalese the timeof Dutthaganfani king),the suzerainty of the kingof Anuradhapura was acknowledged by all localrulers...........u (1)

Evei today governmentMinistersare known in Sinhaleseas " Amatya" ll

TamilInvasionsInto Sri Lanka In the periodbetweenVijaya'sadventto sri rankain 543BC andthediaspora bothnorthandsouthfromlowerpihitirata whenit was abandoned in the 13thcentury,therewereover1g00years.

Duringthoselongyearssri Lankahadbeeninvaded bysouthinoian Tamilsonlyoccasionaily andnotregurarry.

Therewai in factonce, an intervalof two hundredyearswithoutanyinvasions, andsubsequentlyanotherof fo.urhundredyears.ouiingthoserongperiods sinhalesekingsruledcontinuosly withoutinteriuption or oisiuftion.

In allthose1800yearstheinvaders hadremained inoccupationonlyforanaggregate of around200years.Moreover theynever occupied thewholeof sri Lanka,butpihitirata.

Ruhunurata wasan areawhereno invadercourdcompletely subdueandoccupy.lt was in fact the regionwhich,duringan occupationof pihitirataby invaders, produced kingswhoeventuaily defeated andpushedback thoseinvaders.

Invadersinto sri Lankahad in the mainbeenchorasand Pandyans of south India.Infrequenily cherasand Karingas ( with their Malayaleetroops) arsofrom India,invadedthiJ country.

Javakas fromsouth-East Asiaperpetrated twoinvasions.

Theseare all recorded in the Sri Lankanchronicles.

Historytherefore showsthatmostof the timesri Lankahad remained undertheruleof sinhalesekingsandas suchit is difficult to reconcile thisfactwiththeLTTEclaimthat,',..................the entire islandwasundertheswayof ramil kingsat timesandthesinharese kings at other times. From this backgroundof arternating fortunes....;.... . . . . . . . . " was sri Lankaa TamirKingdomprior io the 13thcentury ?

Eventhoughoneof thosesouthtnoianinvaders continued to remainin thecountrytor77 years,the invaders did notconvertthe country,or evenPihitirata whichtheyreallyoccupied, intoa Tamil kingdom.They were insteadessentiaily occupationforceswho madethebestmaterial useoftheirstayuntilltheywere defeated and sentbackto theirowncountries.

Thatthoseinvaders neverconsideredsri Lankaas theirkingdom wasobserved by the Britishauthor 12

HarryWilliams,who whilecommenting in his book,CEYLON,THE PEARLOF THE EASTaboutthe natureof those invasionswrote," It is curiousthat neitherthe Cholas nor the Pandyansseemed to have wished to investthe islandaltogether.Time and again they raidedthe richplainsand monasteriesof the relativelydefenceless northernkingdom,takingthe proceedsof the marvellousagriculture, strippingtemples,loadingthemselveswith jewels and provisions beforereturningto theirpoorlyorganisedcountries;butof a creative and imaginative desireto ruleCeylon,thereis no sign".

The bookCEYLON AND INDIANHlSTORYwhich is authoreo by a Tamil,M Ratnasabapathy and a SinhaleseH. perera,observes that, " Tamil kings ruledover an essentiallySinhalesekingdom.

They usuallyfollowedthe customsand traditions of the peopleand whentheirrulecameto an endthe island'shistorvcontinuedon the lineson whichit had beendeveloping".

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T A TAMILKINGDOM AFTERTHE13THCENTURY Our searchhasso far revealed thatthe wholeof Sri Lanka couldnothavebeena Tamilkingdom.

We nowhaveto searchfor aTamilkingdom intheNorthandEastof Sri Lankawhichasclaimed bytheLTTEandthoseofsimilarthinking, wasestablished inthe13th centuryandcontinued until1833whentheBritishmergedit withthe restof thecountry.

Theregionof thenorthandeastof SriLankawhichtheLTTE callstheir homelandconsiststodayof part of the north-western province, province theentirenorthern andtheeasternprovince.

The northernprovincecomprisesof the Jaffnadistrict,the Mullaitivu district, theVavuniya district andtheMannar district.

Today,s Mullaitivu district, Vavuniya districtandMannardistrict together withpartofthe Jaffnadistrictconstituted in those days,the Wanniwhichalso encompassed theTrincomalee district.

The easternprovincetoday consistsof the districtsoJ Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara.In thosedaysthe districtof Amparaincludedthe Panamadivisionand part of the Bintenne division.

The EasternProvinceAs A Tamil Kingdom Inoursearchfora Tamilkingdom afterthe13thcentury, letus considerthe east,the northand the Wanniseparately so thatwe couldeffecta moredetailedsearch.Wewouldtherefore beginwith the historyof Sri Lanka'seasternprovince.lf the LTTE,sclaimis correct, whenthePortugese colonised SriLankainthe16th century, Trincomalee, Batticaloaand Amparadistrictswould have been subjectto a Tamilking,perhapsresidingin Jaffna. priestandhistorian, ThePortugese Reverend FatherFernao de Queyrozin his bookTHETEMPORAL ANDSPIR|TUAL CONQUESTOF CEYLONwrote,"Aslongas Rajapure (Anuradhapura) wasthecapitalof Ceylon,thewholeislandwassubjectto oneking; but after.............the city of Cota(Kotte)becamethe metropolis, therewereintheisland15Kinglets, subjectto thekingof Cota,who thereforewas considered to be Emperor,and the sametiile is in thesedaysclaimedby the kingof Candea(Kandy).

Thesekinglets t4

were he of Dinavaca,Uva, Valave, Putelao (Puttalam).Mantota (Mannar). Tannagama, Muliauali (Mullaitivu). Triquimale (Trincomalee).Cuttiar (Kottiar).Battecalou(Batticaloa).Paneva (Panama).

Vintena(Bintenne).

Orupola,Mature,Candeaandof the point of the north,Jaffnapatoa(Jaffna),1 which togetherwith the kingdomof Kottemakes16............ and all endedin the courseof time,leavingonlythe kingdomof Candeawhich,evergavetrouble to the Portugese".

In describingthe kingdomof Kandy FatherQueyrozwrote," The kingdomof eandea consistedbesides its own lands, the Prinicipalities of Uva, Gampola,BattecalouPanama,and Cuttiar (partof the Trincomaleedistrict).Tothe PortugeseTrincomaleeas suchwas the areaconfinedto the harbourand the fortressthat they built overlookingthe harbourand which today is known as Fort Frederick.The harbourand the fortresswere of militaryimportance to them and that was the area out of the whole of the Trincomalee district which the Portugeseheld. The area surroundingthe Trincomaleeharbourand extendingsouthwardswas referredto as Cuttiar or Kottiar, which together with the adjacent area of Tampalagamaformed part of the Kandyankingdom.

Father Queyroz'descriptionof Trincomaleereads, " lt remains to give a descriptionof Trincomalee,which means the 'mountainof the threePagodas(Stupas)'.....

Overthat large harbourtherejuts out.............. a rockon whichthe kingof Ceylon erectedthreePagodas,two at the extremetiesand one in the middle and highestpoint,whichwas the prinicipalone and the one most veneratedin India".The mountainof the threePagodasis the rock on whichthey builttheirfortressand which is now knownas Fort Frederick.

WritingaboutKottiarFatherQueyrozstates," .............these are the lands,Dissaves,Vidanasand Principalities of the Kingdom of Candea..............u.

Writingmoreaboutthe Portugesefortressat Trincomalee,Father Queyroz describeshow, when the Danes sailedinto Trincomaleeharbourand beganto constructa fortress there,the PortugeseGovernorConstantinede Saa hastenedthere to get ridof the Danes.He wrote,"lf they(Danes)shouldsucceedin (1)

Emphasisis because they are part of the Region claimedas a TamilHomeland 15

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erectingthat fortalice,the dangershouldbe irreparable,and if he of candea shouldleaguewiththem,it wouldgivethem greateraudacity."writing furtheraboutthe Trincomaleefortresseueyroz states, " The king of Candeaseeing that we took his ports,was deeking occasionto break out in a fresh war,',and also, "..........as he of CandeawasLordof the portof Cuttiar,panaua(panama),Batecalou and othersof lesserimportance........,....', Itcouldbe seenf romFathereueyroz'writingthatTrincomalee, Batticaloaand Amparawhich constitutethe Easternprovince,had been part of the sinhalesekingdomof Kotte when the portugese arrivedin sri Lanka,and that subsequenilythey becamepar:tof the Kandyankingdom,and also that only the portsat Trincomaleeand Batticaloawere controlledby the portugese.Accordingto Father Queyroz,Jaffna and Puttalamhad also been part of the king of Kotte'semoire.

In 1659 a BritishNaval Captainnamed Knox and his son Robert,whilesailingoff the coastof rrincomaleelandedat Kottiarto effectrepairsto their ship. In his book THE HISTORICALRELATIONSoF THE ISLANDoF cEyLoN, RobertKnoxdescribestheir arrivalat Kottiaras, " By thistime the kingof the countryhad noticed our beingthereand,as I suppose,grewsuspicious of us, nothaving all the while,by any message,madehim acquainted withour intent and purposein coming.Thereuponhe despatched downa Dissauva or General,withhisarmyto us,who immediately senta messenger on board,to acquaintthe Captainwith his coming,and desiredhim to comeashoreto him,pretending a lettertohimf romthe king.,, Later in the book,RobertKnoxdescribeshis audiencewith that king,at Kandy.lt wouldbe observedf rom Knox'snarrativethat Kottiarin the Trincomaleedistrictwas part of the Kandyankingdom. ln 1762 when the Dutch were in occupationof Sri Lanka, though not in the east of the country,John pybus a Britisherin Madras,was assignedby his government the missionof discussing an alliancewiththe Kandyanking.He arrivedin Trincomaleeon 5th May.The diarykept by Pybusand pubtishedsubsequenily,reads,,' May Sth - left the ships in TrincomaleeHarbourat 3 a Clock in the morningand landedabout 1/4 past 5 at a villagecalledMoodoore (Mutur)abouta mileup the mouthof Cottiar river,which is the name of thisdistrict.lt has 64 villagesbelongingto it. lt has 3 HeadMen, who have the managementfor the Generalwhose Governmentit l6

belongs,who residesin Candia(Kandy).............These Head Men assemblethe peoplefromdifferentvillagesto assistin any business of the King's..........." lt couldbe seenf rom pybus,diarythatCottiar in the districtof Trincomaleehad been partof the Kandyankingdom even as recentlyas 1762, during the Dutch occupationof the country.

ReverendPhillipBaldeus,the DutchMilitaryChaplainin Sri LankaduringDutchoccupation, wrotein his bookA DESCRIpTION OF THE GREATISLANDOF CEYLONabouta seriousiilnessthat the king in Kandyhad suffered.He recordedthat,',OnAugust18, 1613 the EmperorSeneratassembledhis Councillorsat a small town called DileEeto which he had been removedon accountof illness".Furtheron in his book,Baldeusdescribesthe proclamation of Senerat,King of Kandyissuedto that assemblyas, ,,Cenuviraed (Senerat)by the Graceof God, Emperorof Ceylon,King of Kande (Kandy), Setevaca,Trinquemale(Trincomalee).Jaffnapattam (Jaffna),Settecories, Manaer(Mannar).Chilaon(Chillaw).panua.

(Panama). peace Batecalo(Batticaloa).1 PalugamandJae|e............ to all it mayconcern.............in the moreextremecaseof deathof all theseheirs,I entrustand confinetheseour realmto your handsto choose for a successora personwho shall be my nearestblood connection.............."

Batticaloa Just as much as in Trincomaleeat Batticaiocatoo, the Portugesehad only a fortressat the mouthof the lagoon.Therest of the Batticaloadistrictevidentlyremainedunderthe kingof Kandy.

Whiledescribingthe Portugesefortificationin Batticaloade eueyroz writes,"............for it is surethatthe Candiot(kingof Kandy)would break out in war, when he saw Batticaloaforlified',.Furtheron, Queyrozgoes on to statethat, " The Candiotsalliedout with all his forcesto imoedethis'.

S.O.Canagaratnam, a Tamilofficial in the Britishadministration in Sri Lanka,and based in the Easternprovince,produceda MONOGRAPH OF THE BATTICALOA D|STRtCTin whichhe stated that, " the wholedistrictformedpart of the Kandyanprovincewhen (1)

Emphasisis because theyare part of the Region ctaimed as a Tamil Homeland 11

the.sinharese kingsherdswayand Batticaroa was thenknownas Puliyanduwa".

Historicar descriptions ofthearrivar ofthefirstDutchman inSri Lankaarsoiilustrate.that Batticaroa was partof the Kandyankingdomevenat thebeginning of the 17thcentury.

ThatfirstDutchman wasAdmiralJoris vanSpilbergen.

R L Brohier,in his booksRr LANKAANDTHE NETHERLANDSdescribes spirbergen's visitas, " on the sro Juneiibozl Spilbergen proceeded to,Matecalou' (Batticaloa)...............He was receivedwith ostentatious cordiarity

by DissawaMohotoilawho stoodwithunsheated swordat theheadof a guardof morethansix hundred menwithnakedweapons intheirhands...........,..Spilberge and his retinuewere thereafterconductedfor tne nigirt 'tne 10 Nilame's house...........The subsequent behaviour of theilrohotoila, or the ' kingof Matecarou' as he is cailedin spirbergen'.

Jorinar, roused theAdmiral's suspicions ofhisbonafides andvJr,".lty._-.......

The positionwas crariffed when the Admirarrearntthat he was dealingwith a regionaroveriordunderthe Kingand Empeior of ceylonwhosecourtwasat Kandy,andthattheMohotolla couldnot providethemwiththe cargoot renderany assistance withoutthe ordersof hissov e re ig n . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ' , In his bookHrsroRy oF cEyLoN wiiliamKnightonwrites that," Accordingly intheyear1601,Admiral Spilbergei...,....--.,". despatched withthreevessersto opena communication withthe natives. on 2gthMay1602,heanchored inthemouthofa riveralitfle to the southof Batticaroa, and immediatery commenced a correspondencewith a nativegovernorof thai town,who, ,ru"f, endeavoured to makehimserf "s appearan independ"nt'rou"r"[n.

Aftersomeunimportant altercation withtheprince,tn" o"t"'r., noriralfoundoutthetruth,andon 15thJunedespatched a messenger to Candy(Kandy). Don John ( the Kingoi t<anOy at tnai timel received himwithcordiality............, our searchthroughthosehistoriarrecordsrevearthat sri Lanka'seasternprovince courdnothavebeena Tamirkingdomby itselfor evena partof one,andthatinsteadit hadbeenpJrt Kotte kingdomwhen the portugesecolonisedthe country, "iin" anO subsequenily rormedpartof the Kandyankingoomwhenit became thecentreof Sri Lanka,skingship. t8

Theeasthadin factremained partof the Kandyankingdom untilin 1766,whenthe Dutchaftertheirinvasion of Kindy uni tn" subs.equent Treatywiththe kingof Kandy,beganto aoministei tne maritimeareasin the east.i Eventhen thebintenne oiviion or Amparacontinued ro remainpart fortheKandyan kingo;.prior to '1766therefore theDutchandbeforethem,theFortugeie, controtteo nottheeastbutonlytheharbours andfortresses atrrincomalee and at Batticaloa.

Memorandum Of DutchGovernor Thattheeasternrandsof sri Lankaberonged to theKandyan kingdom, andarsothatthekinginKandyexerted i strongdomination over the Sri Lankanpeoplewhereverthey may n""u" n""n, i. describedin a Memorandum of a retiringDutchGovernorin sri Lankato hissuccessor.

ThatMemorandum of Governor schreuder Ggvelor designateLubbertJan BaronVan Eck, i9 datedlZth March1762,inctuded thefoltowing :_ '...........we haveacquired our territory notfromthe Kingof Kul.dv. but direcilyfromthe portugese*ho'porr"rs"o'ifru*iurry, partlyby treaty,parilyb.yte_stamentary desposition, and parilyby forceof arms,at of whichwit beforthwith demonstrated.........For it is my objectto pointoutherethatwhatever fortifications, harbours and stationswe nowpossessroundthe lsland,there are however placesenoughoutsideour possessions where*" poar".. no territoryand wherethe enemymayeasliycome withoutexposing himselfto anygreatdanger,such'asthe south-east sideof the Dissavony of Mature(Matara) upto Batticaloa, thestretchf romthere to Trincomaree andfurtheron in the direction ot.rarnapatt", againfromCalpentyn (Kalpitiya) "no to Negombo,,.

Writingaboutthe stronginfluence that the kingof Kandy exertedoverthe Sri LankanpeopleSchreuder stated: "..........the progressof the Company,s (DutchEast IndiaCompany) serviceandin factalmosieverything thatdependson thefavourablqconditions of thesam6 asa naturalresultthereoffortheprofitoftheCompany, (1)

See map "C" on page 20 19

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29

FI

is entirelycontingentupon the dispositionof the Coutt of Kandy,whichso oftenas it pleasesis ablewithoutthe slightesttroubleto createa diversionin all our activities, to opposethe Company'sinterests,and to place us at as soon as we declineto, everyturn in embarrassment danceto the King'spiping,and thattoo throughthe help of our own subjectswhom he keepsin checkto such a degree and subservientto his will that not only many who are furthest awayfrom here and are nearerto his but even the othersthroughfear of frontiers........... punishmentshow themselvesready at the slightest wish of the King to rebelagainstthe Companyand to a short time spread swell the crowd which.........in throughoutthe wholecountry,placeseveythingin confusionand cannotbe stampedout withoutthe greatest For our inhabitantshave troubleand circumspection. long since being brought to that frame of mind imaginethatthey are not the Company's ..............and but the King'ssubjects,and that they can serve the so that HonourableCompanyonly by his permission, the mere mentionof the King's name is sufficientto to theirlawfulmasseducethemfrom theirallegiance ters withoutthe leastreasonwhatsoeverand as it were in spiteof themselves".

The Journalof the RoyalAsiaticSociety(CeylonBranch)in its Volume XVI (1899) states, " That the easternarea of Ceylon remainedpartof the KandyanKingdomevenin the middleof the '18th century is confirmedby the fact that in 1766 King Kirthi Sri Rajasinghawas obligedby treatywith the Dutchto relinquishhis sovereignity,inter alia over Trikunamala (Trincomalee),and land the placesappertaining (Batticaloa) theretoand Puliyanduwa a belt along the sea coast up to a distance of one Sinhalese Gawwa".2

(1)

(2)

Emphasisis becausethey are part of the Region claimedas a TamilHomeland Approximatelyfour miles 21

l--

East- Not a TamilHomeland It couldbe seentherefore thatthe eastcouldnothavebeen a Tamilkingdom, orevena partofonewhich,according to theLTTE, the Portugese andafterthemthe Dutch,subduedandcontinued to governasa separate State.History showsthatinstead, theeasthad been partof the Kandyankingdomuntil1766whenthe Dutchby treaty,acquiiedit andthattoo,onlya coastalstripof land,at places not morethanaboutten mileswide.

TheLTTEclaimthat".............emerged fromthebeginning of the13thcentury, a clearandstablepolitical fact............... (that)the regionsthatextended southwards upto Kumanato the northbank oftheriverKumbukkan oya werefirmlyestablished astheexclusive homelands of theTamils", failstherefore to standup to thetestof history.

22

tti,,til,

SEARCHFORA TAMILHOMELAND IN JAFFNA lnoursearchthroughhistory, we haveseensofarthatneither Sri Lankapriorto the 13thcentury,nor the Eastof Sri Lankaafter the 13thcentury,hadbeenTamilkingdonr's, andthuscouldnotbe calledTamilHomelands of today.Fromtherewe movenow, in searchof a Tamilkingdomin the north.Perhapswe shouldbegin withtheJaffnapeninsula wherewewouldseaichthroughthepages of historyfor a Tamilkingdom, in andafterthe 13thcentury.

Jaffna In EarlyTimes Beforewe commence to examinethe 13thcenturyandafterin the contextof the Jaffnapeninsula, it maybe usefulto studyJaffna,s earlyhistory.

Wehadseenearlier, howkingDevanampiyatissa used the Jambukola portof Jaffna.In additionto that port,the ancient Sinhalese kingshad alsousedthe sea portat Kaytswhichis an islandoffJaffnapeninsula andconsidered as.partof Jaffna.Even as lateas the 12thcentirryKaytsporthad biienpreparedforthe launching of an expeditionary military forceintoSouthIndia.Chola inscriptions describehow the Sinhaleseking parakramabahu I (1153to 1186)hadmadepreparations to launcha secondinvasion intosouthIndiaf romKaytsportaswellasf romotherportsinJaffna.

Therecanbe nodoubtthatTamilshadbeenlivinginJaffnain ancienttimesandconsisting mainlyofthosewhohadmigrated f rom SouthIndia.Yethowever population theSinhalese hadbeenlarger andhadpredominated.

Thisis evidentin theJaffnaplacenamesof thoseancienttimes,whichin the mainwereSinhalese ones.For instancetoday'sValikamam in the Jaffnapeninsula was in those daysknownby the Sinhalese nameWaligama.

Theeminent Tamilhistorian MudaliyarRasanayagam states in his book,ANCIENTJAFFNA," thatJaffnawas occupiedby the Sinhalese earlierthanby the Tamilscouldbe seennotonlyin the placenamesof Jaffnabutalsoin someof thehabitsandcustomsof thepeople.

Thesystemof branding cattlewiththecommunalbrand bywhichnotonlythecastebutalsotheposition andthefamilyof the ownercouldbe traced,was peculiarly Sinhalese,,.

23

JaffnaAfter The lQth Century lfJatfnahadoriginatybeen inhabited . byamajorityof sinharese, how.didthe Tamilsbecomethe majority-subsequenttyf nlooO numberof thoseTamirshad beenmercernaries in the sinharese armieswhireothershadbeensordiers of invadingforcesor *no nao chosento remainin.thiscountry.As wd hadseen ot thoseinvadingforcesweref rom-southIndia.To ""rti"r, 'noat Jaffna arso'*"nt ff," Javakasof south-east Asia;Mukkuvers fromthe Malabarcoastof lndia;lndianpallavas; Arab and Mohamedan traderswho had marriedramirs or who decidedto make J"ff* th;i; nor", m" Madapallis of Kalinga;Kurukullams; Thimilarfrom the sind and othersof rndianorigin.Amongthe mercernaries in the sinharese andamongtheremnanisof invasions from'south 1fr'."r rndiawere ' C.holas,Pandyans, Cheras, Kalingas, naif uts,andotherVellaikaras.

ThelastnamedmeansinTamir."-servicemen pay,,. on Theinvaders fromsouth-EastAsiaweretheJavakaswhowere rr,r"ruv. "inni."rrv Themercernaries initiaily pihitirata. rivedinsouth Theirmigrationfirstbeganwhenrandto riv;-inoeganto become scarceinsouth Pihitirata. so theymovedto nonhpihiiirata.

Butasthewanniwhich wasin theirimmediate north,courdofferonry,theharshanddifficurt conditions of jungrerand,manyof themmovedfurthernorth to the Jaffnapeninsula.

Thetoughamongtnemoio howeversetilein the wanniandofcourse benefilted byhivingrargerareaforthemserves. some of them did not go nort-hwaro iut to the south,eitherto Mayaratato Ruhunurata, and subsequenry manyof tiremwere absorbedintosinharese society.nn exoJusot ramirsto tn" .ortn fromlowerPihitirataoccr.r.rred ol a very rargescareconsequent - to the decayanddeclineof lowerpihitiraiainin" tgtn ."ntury.

TamilMercernaries But why were thereso many mercernaries in sri Lanka?

Because mostof the time the armils of ancientsinharese kings consistedmainryof mercernaries fromvarioussouth Indianiingdoms.Manyofthemwereoframilorigin.Thesinhalese toodidform anelement oftheancientsri Lankamiiitary, butinthemainth"/*"r" involvedin agricurture and rerigion. euite ottenwhen sinharese foughtin batiles,theydid so as-militia.

Sir EmmersonTennent,in his book CEYLONrefersto the employment of mercernaries in Sinhalesearmies,evenas far back asthe3rdcenturyBC.Hewrotâ&#x201A;Ź,"...........dnd hencewhilethepeople werezealouslydevotedto the serviceof religion,the sovereignat Anuradhapura wascompelled, througha combination of causesto take into his pay a body of Malabars(South Indians)for the protectionof boththe coastandthe interior".

Throughoutthe centuriesthose Tamil mercernaries in the Sinhalesearmies,settledin Pihitirata.

Someof themhadevenbeen giftedwith land.Butas we havealreadyseen,whentherewere no moresuitablelandto settlein, the mercernaries beganmigrating particularlyto northward, theJatfnapeninsulain uppeipihitirata.

All the emigrdeto Jaffnawere howevernot Tamils.Therewerealso Sinhileseseekingnewpasturesor movingwiththeTamilsbecause of marriageties.

The toughand the hardy,as well as thoseexperiencedin farmingunderdifficultconditions,choseto settleamidstthe thick forestsof northPihitirata andlyingbetweenVavuniyaarfdtheJaffna lagoon.That areawas referredto as the Wanni.BothTamilsand Sinhalesesettledin theWanni.Howeverbecauseof the harshand uncertain conditions in thejunglesof theWanni,thepeopletended to settleincliqueswhichoftenconsistedofthoseof similaroriginsor nationalities.

Very muchlaterthoseseparatecliqueswere transformedinto typicalWannitribeslike the tribeswhichhad already been in the Wanniwhen the mass emlgrationinto it from lower Pihitirata, began. trrespective of wheretheysettled,mostof the mercernaries continued to remainsoldiersof the Sinhalese king'sarmies.Those who settled in the Wanni howeverbecametypicallytribal and isolatedthemselves fronithe restof the country.

As we sawearlier,alltheTamilmel:cernaries didnotmoveto the north.Therewerealso thosewhomovedto the south.Manyof themmarriedSinhaleseand eventuallybecameabsorbedintothe Sinhalesecommunity.

Dr.C. Sivaratnam a Tamilhistorian,referred inhisbookTHETAMTLS to thosemercernaries lN EARLYCEYLON. He wrote," Tamilmercern'aries who with the consentof the host countryoperated througha millenium, adventurous anddaring,and whopenetrated intoSinhalese villagesandsocialstructure, making marriage alliances, losttheiridentityandare Sinhalese now."

25

JohnStill,theBritishauthorofthebookTHEVTLLAGE tNTHE JUNGLEhadhis ownobservations whichhe expressed as, " The Sinhalese nationisof mixedbloodinwhichis incorporated remnants of the originalinhabitants and a strongstrainof Tamil.Tamil contributions beforeCholainvasions is dueto the subllenatureof Tamilinfluence".

Allthatmixingandmeigingof Sinhalese andTamilsthroughouthistory,couldwellinfluence andimpartial observer to conclude thattheclaimfora Tamilhomeland is meaningless.

Yethowever, as the LTTEinsiststhatthereshouldbe a separateTamilhomeland basedon a Tamilkingdom thathadexistedsincethe l gthcentury, we mustcontinue oursearchforthatkingdom, throughthepagesof history.

DecadenceOf The PihitirataKingdom Duringoursearchsofara Tamilkingdom inSriLanka,wesaw thattherehadbeena declineanddecayof thepihitirata kingdom, in the 13thcentury.But howdid sucha decadence ol the Sinhalese Royalkingdomof Pihitirata occur?

Throughout the centuriesSinhalese kingshad usedhighly efficient andbroad-based Administrative andBureaucratic systems to rulethe country,so muchso thatevenwhilethe kingsconcentratedon constructing massiveinlandwaterreservoirs, commonly referredto as 'tanks', or in constructing Dagobasandestablishing monasteries for the betterment of Buddhism, the kingdomandthe countryprogressed effectively and well in all spheres,including economic, agricultural, finance,education, healthetc,Thezenithof efficientadministration and goodgovernment was achievedin the 12thcenturyduringthereignof kingParakramabahu | (1153to 1186) Abouta centurybeforeParakramabahu however,the seeds ol decadence hadalreadybegunto be inadvertently sown.Those seedswereoneofthemajorfactors whichbrought aboutthedecline.

Theperiodwasthe11th centurywhenPihitirata wasoccupied bythe of SouthIndia,who remainedin occupationtor around77 r,.Chofas years.At thattimeRuhunurata whichwasalsowithouta king,was beseton theonehandby the lackof soundandcentraladministration,andon theotherhandby conspirdcies andintrigues, so much 26

so that it producedseveralwarLords,eachrulinghis ownterritory at war Theywere,as wouldbe expected,frequently in Ruhunurata. that all from Lanka, sri for though with one another.Fortunately Vijayabahu king miraculously, arosealmost anddivision, dissension underhis rule,butalsowentonto I whonotonlyunitedRuhunarata andthento unitethe wholecountry defeatthe Cirolasin Pihitirata, underhiskingshiP Ye thowever'ashefoughtthe p o we rf u |Ch o |a s in P ih it ira t a .

Vijayabahucontinuedto be plaguedby incessantrebellionsand He had no optionbut to themselves. iniriguesfromthe Sinhalese fighttheCholasas well.asthe rebelswithinhisown simriltaneously himself.Therewereno alliesto assisthim.Yet he by all kingdom, whena Pandyankinghadfaceda similarsitilation how recall cou-ld fromsri Lanka!Hehimself bya militaryforce supported been he had predicament all by himselt.So he own his face io had however, beganto searchfor a reasonfor it. lt was lrue thatat that moment, butyettheywereonly wereunderchola domination, the-Pandyans a stone'sthrowfromsri Lankaand couldhavesentsomekindof if theywereso inclined.what thenwas neededto reinforcements, in troubledtimes? secureassistance ViiayabahulrecalledhowinSouthlndia,kings"rushedto.the includof otherkingsbecauseof personalrelationships, assistante chalukyas the instance for were There marriage. ingthosethrough ties. of marriage tneHoysalis,whohelpedtheCholasbecause an-O establish to it was best that, that all from concluded Vijayabahu so thatthere withroyaltyof othercountries, personat relationships of adversity. times in Lanka sri assist to couldbe a royalobligation princeand Pandyan a to marriage in gave sister his He accordingiy princess Kalinga. of a Tilakosundari, married irimself ne moreover, Suchpracticewas adoptedby otherkingstoo, mainlyin the howhopeof securingassistanceduringinvasions.Unfortunately and Lanka protecting sri ever those mairiageties, insteadof within chaos and conflict created sinhalesekingship, safeguarding wherequeensof produced situations marriages thec-ountry.lhose contrived origins, Chola,Cheraor other Srivijaya, Pandya,Kalinga, rightful the of instead totheThrone, to havetheirownsonssucceed heirs.

27

All that naturailyredto a seriesof intrigues,assassinations, coup, rebellionsand such like, with the resultthat the hitherto efficientand broadbased administration in pihitiratadeteriorated intochaosand confusion,whicheventuailyrackedthe capaciiyto preventthe riseof the.miritary.

Generars becamekingand qr""n makers,so muchsothateueenLeerawatie wasputonthethroneby herGenerals onthreesbparate occasions, whensheruredforthree years,for an year,and four monthsrespectively and controrinvariabry af.The lack of properadministration fectedthe management of the kingdom's finances, whichat times causedtheTamilmercernaries aswellassinhalese soldiers to have to be withouttheirsalaries.At such tirnesthe soldiersano ine ,mercernaries revoltedand went on the rampage,lootingand pillaging.The decadencewhichhad set in aftei Vilayabahu-l was stemmed duringthereignof kingparakramabanu t,butit continued even more rapidryafter that king's death. The decadenceof -ot Pihitiratais well illustratedin one sri Lanka,schronicles,the RAJAWALIYA whichin translation means,,,Ahistoricalnarrativeof Sinhalese kingship".

TheRAJAWALTYA recordsthatbecauseparakramabahu did 40thaveanychildren, hewassucceeded byhisnephewwhowasthe son of his sister,marrie{to a SouthIndianXatingaprince.The nephewwas crownedas Vijayabahu il. The RAJAwRttyRt"n goeson: " HisnephewVijayabahu succeeded him.

Kilinkesdacausedhim to be murderedby the instru_ mentality of thedaugther of a shepherd, andreigned5 days.

KirtiNissanka, whocamefromKalinga countrywhence theToothRetichadbeenbroulht,titt6O frim;............and he reignedfor 9 years.

Hissuccessor, kingVirabahu havingbeenputto death by the commanderof the army, king Vjkramabahu reigned 3 nronths.

Afterhimthecornmaiderof thearmy putChodaganga to death,andcausedthe kingdomto be administeredfor 3 years by the principalqueen (Lilawatie)of (the tate) king parakramabahu.

After-

wards,a king(Shasamalla) descended fromtheOKKA race,reigned9 years.

1

Thereafter,ElaluAbo Senevirajadethronedthe king and carriedon the government throughthe principal queen(Kalyanawatie) of kingNissankafor 6 years. .Afterwards he placedon the thronean infantprinceof five monthsold, Dharmasoka by nameand administeredthe kingdomfor 6 years.

AfterhimEniyangacamefromDamba_diva witha powerful army, landedin the islandof Lanka,took Polonnaruwa, killedkingDharmasoka and ElaluAbo, theChiefCommanderof thearmy,andhimselfreigned 15 days.

Thereafter Manakam Senevikilledhimandcausedthe kingdom to beadministered forI yearbyqueenLilawatiej, who hadruledon a formeroccasion.

ThenLokeswerabroughta Tamilarmyfroma foreign country,erectedfortifications and reigned5 months.

AfterhimqueenLilawatie reigned4 months.

Havingbroughtan armyfromthe pandyancountryand dethronedthe said queen,king parakramapandi reigned3 years.

I n

..........The kingofKalinga landed ontheisland of Lanka withan armyof 20,000able-bodied men,fortifiedhimself, took the city of Polonnaruwa, seizedthe king ParakramaPandi,pluckedout hiseyes,destroyedthe religionandthe peopleand brokeintoRuwanveli and other dagabas.He causedthe Tamils to take and destroythe shrines...........the pinnacleswhichwere like their crowns............and the re|ics...............He wroughtconfusionin castesby reducing{o servitudB peopleof highbirthin Lanka,raisingpeopleof lowbirth andholding theminhighesteem.Hereducedto pove(y peopleof rank;causedthe peopleof Lankatoembrace a false faith; seized those who were observantof morals,andmutilated them...........turned Lankaintog

house on fire; settled Tamils in every village; and of deedsof violence'" reigned19 yearsin commission

Flight To the South His That invaderfrom Kalingawas Magha,a ruthlessdespot' the only not destroyed He was a reign of terror and deitruction' in system irrigation vast the Buddhistshrinesand edifices,but also as well as sinhalese, sent pihitirata.All that terrorand destruction Tamilsand others,fleeing to the Northand South'The Sinhalese far away king movedhis capitalcity south-westto Dambadeniya' The kingdom' Pihitirata gripped the f roir tfreterriblechaosthat had new capitalwas in MaYarata.

Amongthilsewhoremainedin|owerPhitiratawereTami| were all on mercernarieiand remnantsof previousinvasionswho troops the rampage,lootingand pillaging,and of course Magha's werealsothere'A|sostayingbackatPihitiratawereSinha|esewho w1hothers refusedto abandontheit iands,or who had marriageties there' who choseto remain,or had other reasonsto remain lower The exodusof a greaterpart of the populationout of Pihitiratacausedthea|readydamagedirrigationsystemto.become because totallyneglected.This naturallyled to a shortageof food water' of lack the to due continued be agricuttur;couldnot

Flight Northward king By the time Kalinga Magha was defeated by other the as ll, the capitil city Polonnaruwa'as well Parakramabahu in lower Pihitirata,had become unsuitedfor villages cities and humanhabitation.Moreover,seeming|yonthehee|softhedestructionofthe|owerPihitiratainigationsystem,thedreadeddisease the Malaria raised its head, The lack of water for agriculture; ominous shortage of food; the emergence of malaria and the of the jungle into abandonedvillagesand cities' 'encroalhment remaining-inlower Pih.itiratato move out' That ptoOO"Othose move southmigrationwas in the mairi,northward,while some did wards.

30

The migrationnorthhadbeenprimarilyto Jaffnabecausethe wanni which lay in betweenconsisted,to a largeextentof thick jungleandalsocouldofferonlyveryharshanddifficultconditions. northweremainlyTamilswhilethere Amongthosewho rnigrated of thoseTamilswere amongthem.A majority wereifew Sinhalese while the others India, south from comprisedof mercernaries India, andtroopsof f rom South of remnantsof invasiohs consisted preferredto naturally Tamils the defeatedKalingaMagha.Those placesof nearer their it was because moveintotheJaffnapeninsula Arabs, as races such were or:igin.Also amongthose migrants or of trade, because mainly andMalays,who movednorth tvtustims ties. marriage together northandsouthof lowerPihitirata, Allthatmigration, with the spreadol the junglethroughout the area in between, frqmthose thepeopleintheJatfnapeninsula isolated automatically andvice-versa. in thesouthernareasof MayarataandRuhunurata,

\rl

describes theMAHAVAMSA chronicle, Sri Lanka'shistorical just years defeatof the after 35 the desolationof Polonnaruwa lV king Vijayabahu between conversation a KalingaMagha,through city.. capital fomer visited that they while virabahu, andhiskinsman thekingstates," lnthistowncalledPulatthinagara lnthatconversation are now Pasadas,lmagehouse$,Viharas, there (Polonnaruwa) housesof and Cetiyas Relictemples,walls,gate-towers, Parivenas, halls, Sermon kind, Mandapas, Hammiya the of and Addhayoga stand of these some buildings. other and dieties, templesio the erect,coveredwithgrass,treesandwhateverelsehasgrownupon withoutsupportas the wholeof their them.othershavecollapsed othersagainalas,willfall,bendingundertheweight pillarsperished; of wallscrackedfromtopto foot,becauseothersupportis wanting. and Someof these,throughdecayandoldageare likegreybeardq, day' to from day rnore bowed become they erect, stand unableto with destroyed, with manythejoistsarebrokenandtheirpinnacles othprs ln broken. are bricks and the decayed have roofs othersthe thebricksof the roofhave bythe breakageof thedamagedr:ooftree, othersagainthe gates pillars remain.ln and walls fallenand only in others gate posts destroyed; the of hinges the havefallen-inand fallenhave railings the and loosened become againthestepshave of together parts hanging still are seen be can ini Of many,allthat place tlney where the not even many of wall; the originaifoundation oncestoodis nowto be seen".

31

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South Indian Kingdoms Did the Tamilsamohgwhomwerethe Cholas,pandyans, Kalingas,Cheras,and others,togetherwith the Sinhaleseand Tamilswhohadarready beenintheJaffnapeninsura, theArabs,the Muslimsand thoseof othernationarities, estabrishan arternate kingodmin Jaffna,to the sinharesekingdom. in the south?The searchforsucha kingdom wouldadditionally necessitate theexaminationof the historyof southlndiankingdoms too,becausemany peoprein thepeninsura werefromsouthrndia,andJaffnabeinga mere'stone's throw'from southIndiawascloseenoughto influence or be.influenced by thbsekingdoms.

Moreover sri Llnka'shistory hadthroughthecenturiesbeencloselyintenryoven withthoseof the southIndiankingdomswhichthemserves to a rargeexent,conductedwarswitheachother,inwhichsometimes sri ianka itserfhad beeninvolved.

The wars,the ethnicconflicts,the risein supremacyof one overanother, didindeedhavetheiretfectson loyth lndiankingdom sd Lanka.Eventsin sri Lankahadarwaysbeenmonitoreooy south Indiankingdoms, so muchso thattheyinvadedthiscountrywnen theyfounda weakmonarch, oranarchy andconfubion in it.Eventhe decadence of Pihitirata andtheresultant developments weremonitoredbythesouthlndiansparticularry thecholasandthepandyans who were also historicaily, enemiesof eachother.Eachof them knewwellthe capacityof sri Lankato bouncebackfromadvbrsity.

Also,eachof thosetwo kingdomsharboured a suspicion tnaisri Lankawouldsupportthe other.Thusthe suddeninfruxinto the peninsula byso manysouthindians didcauseconcern to thechoias and the Pandyans,particularly the latterwho had by then barety gainqdsupremacy overthe chorasaftercenturies oi beingdominatedby them. what werethe south rndianKingdoms whichinfruenced or affectedsri Lanka? chora, pandyaand chera were thosemost involvedwith sri Lankaeitheras invaders,or as the areasfrom where sri Lankankingsgot their mercernary sordiersfor their armies,Eirigraphic evioenieof thoserinjooms werefoundin the R.ockEdictsof EmperorAsoka,andwhich-described the empero/s diplomaticrelationswith those kingdoms.The ancientsAi{GAM woRKS of south Indiareferto theihree kingdomsand evenexalt theirkings,particularly Karikalaof chola and-seguilavan of chera 32

the centuIn thoseIndianlands,therehadbeenthroughout ries,a kindof struggle forsupremacy amongthosekingdoms.

Such a strugglewas most pronouncedbetweenthe Cholasand the however,becauseof the proximityof Sri Pandyans.Unfortunately Lankato bothkingdoms,the fluctuationin powerbetweenthe two had its impacton thiscountry.Sri Lanka'soccasionalinvasioninto Southlndiahelpedto rnakemattersevenworse.Therewasconstant thatSri Lankawassupportive in thosetwo kingdoms of suspicion theiradversary.

CholasAnd Pandyans of the Cholasandthe Pandyan's havenot Theearlyhistories been recordedin detailas has beenthe historiesof their latter periods.Onlynipsof informalion aboutthemin ancienttimesare Megasthenereferlikefor instance the Greekhistorian available, ring,in the 4th centuryBC, to the greatwealthof Pandya.The MAHAVAMSArecordsthat PrinceVijayaof Indiawho made Sri Lankahis homein 543 BC,marrieda princessfromPandya.Thele intheearlySANGAMWORKS tothosekingdoms arealsoreferences of poetsheldin Courtsof Indian arisinglromtheliteraryassemblies kings,who werepatronsof literature.

Howeveralthoughtheyare cultural aspects, informative inthecontextofsocialand theSANGAM WORKSsay littleaboutthe politicalhistoryot thosetimes. referring The VENNIKKUYATTIYAR, to the Cholavictoryat of Karikala, conveysa conceptalthough Venniundertheleadership lt states," Karikala, rough,oftheCholacharacteristic.

Solakingwho aredescended fromthe powefulmonarchwho ruledthewindand drovethe shipson the wasteof water,the sea,and who own very you marched strongelephants, .him. againstthe enemyand exhibited your mightby defeating The foe committedsucideon the he wasashamedof thewoundon the battlefield of Venni...........for backanddesiredto obtainfamein theworld;buthe is notsuperior to you".

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PandyanSupremacy Theearliestrecorded historyof pandyansupremacy overthe Cholascommences withthe reignof kingKADUGON (590to 620 AC)andendswiththereignof kingMARAVARMAN RAJASTMHA tl whoserulewascut shortwhenhe wasdefeatedby the Cholaking PARANTAKA I atthebattleof Vellore, intheearlytenthcentury.

The Pandyakingfledto Sri Lanka,takingwith him his Headgearand Regalia.

CholaPower Theemergence of theCholasasa strongpower,reallybegan aroundtheendof the ninthcenturywithkingVIJALAYA. tt was he whofristembarked uponthecampaign to firstsubduethe pallavas andthuslaythefoundation fortheascendancy ofthecholasoverthe Pandyans.

Vijalaya's sonADITIYA, endedpallavadomination with his victoryover the Pallavaking ApARAJITA,after which he annexedTondaimandalam.

Heextended Cholaterritorynorthward, as far as the frontiersof the Rashtrakutas, the Gangasand the Congucountry.

Towardsthelatterpartof hisreign,ADlTlyAbegan a warof supremacy overtheirtraditional enemy,the pandyans.

ADITIYA's strategy offirstbringing theareasinhisnorthunder Cholacontrolbeforetakingon thepandyans, wasusedby boththe Cholaand the Pandyans.

One objectiveof that strategywas to preventassistance to the enemy,and anotherwas to avoidthe possibilityof being distractedfrom their main war effort,by harrassments on otherfronts,in all probability promptedby their enemy.

ADITIYAhowever couldnotsubduetheentirepandyanKingdombeforehisdeath,ltwasleftto hissonPARANTAKA | (907to 953 AC) to completethe task by defeatingthe pandyan king MARAVARMAN RAJASIMHA II. Cholapowercotinued witheverincreasing strength, untilthe Pandyans onceagainroseto ascendancy overthe Cholasin the pANDyA(1216TO reignof theirking.MARAVARMAN SUNDARA 1239)in theearlythirteenth century.

Almostthreehundredyear.s of strorigandruthlessCholadomination hadmadedeepimpressions 34

on the Pandyapsyche,so muchso thatevenwhentheyeventually. gainedsupremacy overtheCholas, theycontinued to remainapprehensiveaboutlosingthejrpoweroncemore.

One majorfactorwhich causedthe pandyansto be so apprehensive was the strongCholaresilience.

For instance,the CholaKingPARANTAKA whohadconquered the pandyansin the early10th century, wasdefeaiedby the Rastrakuta kingKRISHNA lll at Takkolam.

Hopesurgedin the Pandyanbreast.Buttheylost whatever hopetheyhadwhentheCholakingRAJARAJA theGreat (985to 1016)madePandyaa partof the Cholaempireand even calledit RajarajaPandinadu.

Healsodefeated thecherafleetoffthe Malabarcoastandwenton to subduethe Cherastoo.

Evidentlynot satisfiedwith all that, RAJARAJA the Great defeated the Gangasof Mysoreas wellas the EasternChalukyas, occupiedVpngiand capturedKoorg.RAJARAJA the Greatthen movedon tb WesternChalukyaand alsoconquered Kalinga.All thoseconquests produced eventually a Cholaempirecoveringthe vastareafromThungabadra inthewestandMahandi intheeast,to thesouthern endof India.To cap it all,towardstheendof the 1Oth pihitirata centuryhe invadedSri Lankaand Conquered duringthe reginof the SinhalesekingMAHINDAV, who was subsequenily takencaptiveto Chola,by RAJARAJA's son and successor, king RAJENDRAl. The Chotasremainedat pihitiratafor well over seventyyears,untiltheyweredefeatedandexpelledbytheSinhalese king VIJAYABAHU l. Underthe kingshipof RAJARAJA, Chola domination Wasextended to theMaldiveandtheLaccadive islands.

RAJARAJA's son RAJENDRAI (1016to 1044),in typical Cholacharacterwas not contentwith the vast kingdomthat he inherited, So he attackedthe Chalukyas, conquerred Orissa,enteredBengaland reachedas far as the banksof the Ganges.To celebrate allthosevictories, kingRAJENDRA I assumed thetiileof Gangaikonda andbuilthimselfa newcapitalwhich inobviousvanity he named,Gangaikonda - Gholapuram.

Eventhoughsignsof theweakeing of Cholapowersurfaced aroundmid 11thcentury,when Pandya,Sri Lankaand Western Chalukyabeganto revoltand also, in certainpartsof the greafly expandedkingdom,whereCholapowerbecamesubjectto challenge,the resilience of theCholaswassuchthattheycontinued to holdtheirposition poweruntilthe13thcentury.Inthe as a dominant 35

I

latterhalf of the 11thcentury,the Sinhaleseking VIJAYABAHU for defeatedand expelledthe Cholaswho hadoccupiedPihitirata around77 years.Some historiansattribute that defeatto the weakenedstateof the Cholasat thattime,butthatcouldnotbe the l, recaptured true picturebecausethe CholakingKULOTTUNGA rebelsuppressed andbroughtVengibackintotheCholakingdom, lionsin PandyaandChera,and alsooverranKalingaduring that period.

Evenat the endof 12thcenturyCholapowerwaxedstrong. to Sri WhenPARAKRAMA the Pandyaruler of Maduraappealed in his war l, for militaryassistance Lanka'sPARAKRAMABAHU the Chola the Pandyanrulerof Tinnevely, againstKULASEKERA king RAJADHIRAJA ll who supportedKULASEKERA,defeated whenSri Lanka boththe Pandyanand Sri Lankaforces.Similarly VIRAPANDYAin his war againsthis fellowPandyan, reinforced lllwho WICKREME PANDYA it wastheCholakingKULOTTUNGA helpedWICKREME PANDYAto defeathisfoes.

All those Chola successesand resiliencepromptedthe Theybeganto Pandyans to feelthatthe Cholaswereindomitable. of the comparatively havesomehopeonlywith the ascendance The Pandyan throne. lll to the weakCholamonarch,RAJARAJA ( 1216 to 1239AC) PANDYA SUNDARA king MARAVARMAN andcaused Tanjore and Uraiyar lll, captured attackedRAJARAJA oncemore hopes were Yet however Pandyan theCholakingto flee. to ll intervened when Hoysala king NARASIMHA the shortlived lll to Chola throne. restoreBAJARAJA PandyanApprehensions f romotherkingdoms thattheCholasreceived Theassistance of Chola apprehensive remained wasonereasonwhythePandyans beinghelpedbackto power,evenif subduedby Pandya.Eventhe presenceof so many Cholasin Sri Lankawas viewedby the because thoughtheymaynothavebeen withsuspicion, Pandyans stronQenoughto attackPandya,theycouldcreatethe necessary theCholas. concentration onfighting diversions to distractPandyan ApartlromtheCholasin SriLankabeinga threat,SriLankan resilience anevenmoreremarkable kingsthemselves haddisplayed 36

thanthe Cholasin theirabilityto rid themselves of invaders.

The Pandyanswere consciousof this,as well as of the potentialof Sinhalese kingsthemselves to poseathreat,orevena distraction on hersouthflank.

WhileSUNDARAPANDYAwho ruledPandyain the earty 13thcentury,concentrated on conquering the Cholakingdom,Sri Lankawis invadedby a ruthlessdespotfromKalinga,knownas MAGHA.At thattimehoweverit didnotposea seriousthreatto the PandyansbecauseMAGHAhad to first establishhimselfin Sri Lanka.Yet the Pandyanmonarchwas awarethatat sometimeor otherhewouldhavetotacklethatthreat.Infactit tookthepandyans overtwodecades to beableto doso because of theirwarto subdue theCholas.

*

Whenthe Pandyans wereableto turntheirattentionto Sri Lanka,they saw that the Sri Lankanking PARAKRAMABAHU tl lackeda strongenoughforceto defeatMAGHA.ThePandyanking therefore decided to assistSriLankato getridoftheinvaderMAGHA beforehecouldbeginto posea threaton theirsouthflank.Accordinglya Pandyanforce landedin Sri Lankaand beganto exert pressure fromthe East,on MAGHAwhowas in Polonnardwa.

The planof actionwasto pushMAGHAwestward, intoa traplaidfor him by the Sri Lankanforces,waitingat Kalawewa.

MAGHAfellfor the ruseandwasroutedat Kalawewa.

Thedefeatof MAGHAeasedthe mindsof the Pandyans becausehetoo heldthepotentialto distract themsufficiently, to weakentheirmilitarycampaigns in theirnorth.

MAGHAdidnotdie in thatbattlebutinsteadfledto Jaffna.ln the meanwhile however,the popluation in Jaffnahad swelledbecauseoftheinfluxfromlowerPihitirata afterit hadbeenabandoned.

ThePandyans wereevidently notallthatpleasedat theprospectof havingso manyCholasvirtuallyat theirsoutherndoorstep.They therefore beganto monitor eventsinJaffna,justasmuchastheyhad doneon developments elsewhere in Sri Lanka,so thattheycould ensurethattheirsouthflankwouldnotbe seriously threatened.

MAGHA,perhapsbecauseof his domineering personality andstrong characteristics, evidently assumedleadership overJaffna.

The Pandyans knewhimto be power-mad andas suchfearedthe possibility of himbeingmanipulated by theCholasin SouthIndiato harrassthePandyans on theirsouthflank.To theirreliefhowever a complete transformation seemedto havecomeoverMAGHA.forhe

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took to fosteringagricultureand religionamongthe people.For the time being therefore,thePandyansdid not have to worry unduly aboutMAGHA. Major Threats FaeinEPandya Sri Lankaby itselfcouldnotof course,posea seriousor direct threatto Pandya.What disturbedthe Pandyanswas that whilethey tackledtheirmajorchallenges, particularly externalones,Sri Lanka coulddistractor be usedas a distractionto weakentheirconcentration and effort.What were those major challengesor threatsthat troubledthe Pandyans?

Onethreatwasf romthe Cholasthemselves who becauseof their organisation, determination, supportfrom otherkingdomsand greatresilience, couldbe expected,although subdued,to rise-upagain.The Pandyanswerealsoverymuchalive to the vastconquests, domination and strenghof the Cholas,during the previousthreecenturies.

Apart from the Cholas,there were the Turko-Mohamedans who had already conquered parts o( nor(hern fndra. l-frose forces underthe leadershipof MUHAMEDGUHRI had overruna large portionof northIndiaincludingthe Punjab,whileundereUTB-UDDIN-AIBAKthey had establishedthe Delhi-suttanate.Those Mohamedanforceshad begunto movesouth.

In additionto the threatfrom the Mohamedanforcesin the north,therewasalsotheex plosiveemergenceof the Mongolians as a forcefulpower,whichwithina comparatively shortperiodof time, had conqueredthe vast countryof China,penetratedintothe heart of Bussia,and had goneon to extendtheirdomination to polandin thewestandJapanin theeast.lt wouldhavebeennotallthatdifficult for Mongolleaderslike GenghisKhan and KublaiKhan,who had turned CentralAsia into a powerfulempire,to overrunIndiatoo.

Theydid in factinvadeIndia,manya time in the 13thand early14th centuries, andtheyevencapturedLahore,in 1241AC.Thepandyans heard much about the conquestsof the Mongolianslrom various travellers,includingMarco Polo,who on his returnfrom a visitto KublaiKhan'spalace,came throughIndia and Sri Lanka.They learntabout the powerfulmilitarypontentialof the Mongolswhich surpassedeven that of the Mohamedanswho were occupyinga good part of northIndia.They were also told about how the mere narneGenghisKhan instilledfear in the heartsof nations.

38

: The Sri Lanka Factor With such potentthreatshanging.overher, pandya was -_. naturally anxiousto have no threatJwhatsoever,'"no nf*"u", minor,on her southfrank.one reasonfor suchpandyan aon""rn was that unrikethemserves who had beenkeptrroor"JLv f,e cholas for centuries,sri Lankahad ail ttre'wnle ow#o remarkabre abirityto bouncebackformadversity*itNn u-Joilp"r"_ " tivelyshortwhile,and to thenturntableson hir -sri Pandyanscourd not forget now tne "onqr"rorrifn.

Lankas even after an ot 77 yearsby the Cholas,foughtanOuanquiJ"O gccupation tn" invaders, andunitedthewhoreof sri Lankaunderonenov"ig"nn"r. pandyanswerealsoaware thatSri Lankahadon occa_ . . The siondespatched miritary forcesto southIndia,at timesto assistthe Pandyans themserves. on one occasionhoweverthe kingsENA t hadevensenta strongforceto pandya sri Lankan to aueng!tne invasion of sri Lankaby a pandyan-king, a shortwhireearrier. such was the resilienceof Sri Lanka Duringthe 13thcenturyandaftenruards, pandyankingshad . alsobeenquiteconscious of thechorafactor.Thechorafactorwas that, aftereach chora invasionhundredsof chorasoridiersre_ mainedinthecountryandbecameentrenched inftresoliatlaoricor Pihitirata.

Aftertheabandonment of rowerpinitirata, a taig; nu;n". of chorasmovednorthward, whireotherscontinued asmercernaries in theSinhalese armies pandyans^accordingry The fearedthatthe chorasin south rndiawourdusethe chorasin sri tanka to create a threaton their southfrank.Thatis notailthatsurprising because eventoday,rndian MajorGenerar AfsirKarim,in hisoootr"nnrusNATroNAL TERRoh_ rsM - THE DANGER. rN THE SOUTHwritesof the threatthat the LTTE( who craimto be descended from the choras) oin", traditionar enemies of.rndia arequ.ite "no rikery to poseto rndia,s stabirity and integrity by openinga ,,SouthernFront,,.

Itwastherefore pandyankingsof the yylaJ,to1t]re 13thcentury andthereafter; to ensurethatsri Lankadoesnotrisein power as it haddonemanya time,pleviousry. rtdidnoiatat suitpandyanporicy to havea strongandunited.sri.Linka,particurarry inui"* oitni"ig" number

ofchoras intheisrand.

Totheeanoyins ii *J. f;;Hil, r"

promotea rivalforceto the sinhaleseking'spower,andto contrive to haveeach powerdependent on pandyansupport.

Theisolation oftheJaffnapeninsula fromtherestof sri Lanka afterPihitirata wasabandoned, as wellas its proximity to pandya, prompted the Pandyankingsto considercreatingin Jatfna,a force forthepurposeof keepingthe restof sri Lankain check.However astherewasnoimmediate threatnorurgencyto cre'ate sucha force, at thattime,the Pandyans optedto closelymonitoreventsbothin southsri Lanka,aswellasintheJaffnapeninsula. lt wasaroundthat timethatthe Pandyansfound Maghainvolved inpromoting agricullture and religion JavakaChandrabanu In the secondhalfof the 13thcentury,a Sriviajyan (Javaka) princenamedchandrabanu invadedsri Lankafor a secondtime, leadinga Malayaleeforce reinforcedby south Indiansoldiers, including cholas.Atthattimethesri Lankancapitalhadbeenmoved to Yapahuwa. chandrabanu enteredsri Lankaat Mannarbut didnot advanceuponthecapitalcity.

Heinsteadmovednorthto Jaffnaand remained therefor sometime.

By thattimeMaghawaseitherdead or disinterested in powerpolitics, withthe resultthatchandrabanu consolidated hispositionin Jaffnaandbecameits leader.Hismen mergedwithJaffnasocietyandtherebybegantheJavakainfluence in the peninsula. chandrabanu's activities werealsocloselymonitoredby the Pandyans.

Chandrabanu whoevidenily hadtheSriLankan'Crown,as his mainobjective, contrivedto first possessthe ToothRelicof the Buddha,whichhe knewwasthe palladium of Sri Lankankingship.

He calculated thatwiththe relicsin his possession, kingshipwas almostassured.He accordingly mustereda strongmilitaryforce, advanceduponYapahuwa and laidsiegeto it. The pandyanking JATAVARMAN SUNDARA PANDyAil (1253to127O)viewed those developments in sri Lankawithincreasing concern.He calculated thatif thesrivijayan princechandrabanu succeeded in wearingthe sri Lankancrown,hecouldturnoutto bequitea forceto reckonwith, particularlyas hecouldsecuresupportfrom srivijayaitself.suchan eventuality was not at all to his liking.He thereforedespatched a 40

Pandyanforceto rerieveyapahuwaof chandrabanu,s siege.when that.wasaccomplished, the sri LankanrulerVIJAyABAHU lV and his kinsmanVirabahu,brokeout of theirfortress in iapanr*", attackedchandrabanuand vanquished him.chandr"o"nuno*l everescapedto Jaffna. rtwasnotrongbeforeit becameevidentto thepandyans that a strongleadership hadeimerged in Jaffna.Eventhoughiristoricat recordsare notcrearas to whothatreaderwas,in ail firobabirity it was chandrabanu himserf.JATAVARMAN suNDAnn Fnr.rovil was notoneto takechances.He despatched a highryefficientan capablePandyanGenerartoJaffna.ThatGeneratitew tn" Jurtnu leaderandsubduedhisforce.

CheckOn SouthSri Lanka

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Meanwhire is southsri Lanka,vTJAYABAHU rVwasconsoridatinghisposition.

Thepandyans whohadmonitored hisbatflewith chandrabanu, had observedhim to have exceptionar batflefierd strategyand tactics.After defeatingchandrabanuVIJAYABAHU beganto iestorethe ancientcapit; city Anuradhapura.

He.arso restoredPoronnaruw-a sufficienilyto cere-brate the coronation of his agedfather,pARAKRAMABAHU il in tharformerRinitir"tu because. theold kingcouldnothavehimselfcrownedthere""litut, eaitier, dueto Magha'spresence at polonnaruwa.

ThePandyans whopreferred to see severarkingdoms in sri Lanka,with eachkingconfined to andjearousry guardininisparticular kindom,becameconcerned anouivt.lnyngnHu ri,. *ioening control, andaccordingrydecided to staunchit.However, Lltor" they couldcarry-outwhateverplansthey had,VijayaOanu,s "u"n own commander-in-chief, the GenerarMithra,assassinated him. Ar_ thoughtherehadbeensomedifferences betweenthe kingandhis commander -in-chief, therehadnotbeenanyseriousanim-osity for one by the other.As such,the assassinati-on shocked particuhrry VTJAYABAH u's mercernary "u"rytn", troops.one schoor ofthougnt

however considers thatrheking,s deaihh";6;;;il;;;iilih"

Pandyans"whose Generarand officershad estabrished a crose relationship withGenerar M.ithra whentheyassisted vrJAyABAHu, in hiswaragainstChandrabanu.

4l

Whateverit was, that assassination failedto alleviatethe 'because Pandyanfears, an even strongerthreatarosefrom a quarter.GeneralMithrawas in turn decapitated by unexpected Thakuraka, leaderof VIJAYABAHU's The the Rajputmercernaries.

Rajputand the Sinhalesesoldiersthen got together to instal VIJAYABAHU's brother,BUWANIKABAHU I on the throne.

KingBUWANIKABAHU himself wasof sturdystock.Ina short whilebe beganto displaysignsof possessing muchof thepromise two and resilience of somepreviousSinhalese kings.He repelled attempted invasions byKalinga andCholaGenerals.

Healsobrought thefierceWannichiefs underhiscontrol.

TheSriLankan chronicle, MAHAVAMSA's narrative on BUWANIKABAHU reads," fromthat timeonwardsthe kingmadethe wholedoublearmy(Rajputsand . Sinhalese) obedientto hiswill by assigning themsalariesandthe like, drove ba c k t h e Da mila(T a mils )f o e lik e K a lin g a ra y a , Cholangadeva andtherestwholandedf romtheopposite coast,and APANA, alsosubduedthe Vannikingsin Sinhala,KADALIVATA, TIPA,HIMIYANAKA andso on,andfreedLankafromthe briersof thefoe."

All thosedevelopments in Sri Lankaweremonitored by'the KULASEKERA. Pandyan kingwhoatthattimewasMARAVAHMAN He considered the optionsavailableto him,and decidedagainst I becausehe sendinga strongforceagainstBUWANIKABAHU neededallthementhathecouldmuster,in Pandyaitself. Moreover, even if he had despatcheda militaryforce and killed king BUWANIKABAHU, therewas no guarantee againstanotherable kingemerging.

Whathe neededwasa morepermanent Sinhalese wherehe wouldkeepthe Sinhalese solution,perhapssomething He kingalivebutat the sametimereducehis powerand authority. beliefs, reflected to Sinhalese andieligious thataccording traditions flowedf romthepalladium ofSinhalese theking'spowerandauthority kingship, whichwasthe ToothRelicof the Buddha.Thuswithhis the Regulartroops neededto counterthe everincreasing threatfrom Mohamedans inparticular, MARAVARMAN KULASEKERA optedto despatch a smallsub-force of a commando type,chargedwiththe taskof bringingbacktheToothRelic.

Thesub{orcethathe sentwasthatof theAryaChakrawarty, forthe whichwasmoreor lessa feudalforceusedbythe Pandyans accombordersecurityof the southcoast.The AryaChakrawarty +z

prishedhismissionsuccessfufiy andgavetheToothRericto hisking. withoutthe ToothReric,the p'o*", ino autnorityor ne ling ot sri Lankawas nominal,so muchso tfraiitre nextking, BAHU persona'y visited pandya,-ptedged 'ARAKRAMA ;i;il;;;'io tne Pandyan 't kingandbroughtbacktheiooth Retic.

The PandyanFrontiertn Jaffna Eve.nthoughkingpARAKRAMABAHU . ilt hadptedgedallegianceto thepandvanking,theratter coutonotbeassuredthatother sinharese kingswourdnonourlnui;i"d; Thepandyans krrewwerl the sri Lankanpsycheand wereaccoriingry notpreparedto take any,ch.ances.

They were howeveryet facectwith the problem of deploying theirforces in sriLankabetausetheMohamedans under the teadership of MALrKKAFURnal-moveosouth and had even attackedMadura,inthe.heartof pandya.Thus insteaooi.o,iri ti"g their regurarforcesto keepttre sinn'ause kingsundercheck,the Pandyanking decjdeO, to positionpart of the pandyanArya chakrawarty'sforceswhichwere in Ramesweram, in the Jaffna peninsura.

His intentionwas to kiiltwo biidswitnon" ,tonq i,itn"t on theonehandth:-AryaChakrawarty wouldkeeptheCholasanct othersin Jaffnaundercontror, whireai thesametimeensuring that thepowerof thesinharese kingsw"r" r,"ptin check.Thepan-dyan Aryachakrawarty forceswourdhavesuiiedthatrequirement wer, and moreoverif the necessityarose,those troopscourdbe reinforced.

Arya Chakarawarty Who were thoseArya Chakrawarties?

Evidenilyalthough they were residentis Ramesweram, tnef were not peopreof that area,norevenof pandyaitself. to Dr.C Sivaratnam, inhisbookTAM|LS lN EARLY ^-. .. l-.ording AryaChakrawarties were " chiefswho rurgda districtin 'EYLON, Ramesweram underpandyankings..a;;" historians suchas the tsritisherH.W.Codrington were ol tne opinionm"t tf,uiin;;" chakrawarties wereof mixedoescent,ariJ craimingto be fromthe Gangaarea'someotherstracetneorigin oitheAryachakrawarties 43

to Gujeratand the Rajputs.Whatevertheir origins,the Arya chiefwere,as statedby Dr.sivaratnam,essentially chakrawarties tainsand notkings.

B eca u s e o f t h e irwa r|ik e c a p a c it y |o rmi|it a ry |e a d e r s h i p a usedtheArya of theirtroops,thePandyans efficiency theferocious and subseRamesweram, at force frontier the as chakrawarties theirmissonwas'togovern quenflyatJaffna.IntheJaffnapeninsula kingsfromrising thepebplethere,as wellas to keeptheSinhalese south Pandyan the to a threat constitute would power they where to even and just time of the most that did Chakrawadies Arya flank.The power in in rose Empire Vijayanagar the when do so to continued hadfallentotheMohamedans. kingdom Pandyan southIndiaafterthe by toowereharrassed the Vijayanagars Likethe Pandyans, Arya the whenever Jaffna. was intheirsouthflank,which uprisings ifratrawartyin Jaffnafailedto controla rebelliontheVijayanagars For instance to the Jaffnapeninsula. reinforcements despatched Virapaksha 1377, in Vijayanagars whenJaffha rebelledagainstthe early.lSth the in Again rebels.

Udayarwas sentto subduethe Jaffnato to sent be had to cavalry centiryanotherforce,including putdownanuprising.ThiswasdoneandVijayanagarauthorityw restoredin the JafJnapeninsula.Towardsthe end of the 15th in the Jaffnalrontierof the century,therewasyetanotherrebellion whohadto besent Nayakka was General it and Empire, Vijayanagar quellthat revolt. to EmPire Viaiayanagar the Arya deploying continued themselves The Vijayanagars their until Jalfna at frontier extended their chakrawarty-forces-in in forces own their also had They Mohamedans. to the fell empire the Jaffn a f ro n t ie r a n d t h is wa s e v id e n c e dwh e n P rin c e Vl to whowas sentby kingPARAKRAMABAHU Sapumalkumara, troops manningthe forward captureJaffna,found Vijayanagar Paranthan. at and Pooneryn defencesat Empirewashowevernot of theVijayanagar Themainenemy -been but the of the enemy the Pandyans, the Cholaswho had Mohamedans.

44

when theportugese beganto colonise Indiaaftertheirarrival at Goa,south rndiawas underthe rureof the viiavanagars. rnat empirewas essentiaily a Hinduone,and whichhad beenestab_ lishedbytwobrothers, HARr-HARA andBUKKA,ontn"6"nr..ottn" Tungabhadra river.rt was estabrisheJ to counterthe Bahmani kingdom oftheMohamedans whoatthattime,poseda serious threat to south India.At the time of the portugese arrivarat Goa, the Vijayanagar kingwabKRT'HNADEVA RA'A, whowasoneof their greatestkings.The Vijayanagar Empirecotapsedatt"iiney *ere defeatedby theMohamedans at ttrebatileof rarikota,in thesecond halfof the 16thcentury.

The deep rooted hostilityof the portugese towards Arabs,Mohamedans.and M9ors,promptedthemto nitrr" cio.e friendlyrerations withthe vilayanagairing.. As'ti,'n"'*"rr'[v, "nA tn", friendship becamefirmryconsoridat6o, .o muchsothateventhougn thePortugese coronised muchof themaritime districts ot sri L"nr", thosecrosetiesstrongry infruenced themto deraytheircotonising ot theJaffnadistrict,becauseit wasunderVijayanagar rure.

Jaffna was capturedby the portugeseonryafter the fa, 5t vu"v"n^ugu, Empire. '.rr CommerceBetweenSouth India And Jaffna As the Jaffnapeninsulahad been a frontier of first the Pandyans, and laterthe Vijayanag"rr, ih"r" wouldnaturally have beena freefrowof commerceandtradebetween Jaffnaand south Indiaafterthe 13thcentury.rt wourdin facthave beena matterof routine forbusinessemen andtradersof Jaffnato sairtosoutniniia, transactbusiness andreturnwithoutanycustomsor other checks.

Thatpracticewourdhavebeenso ingraineoin the peofr" oi i"irn" that evenin the earrylgth century,-tne aritistrerJamescordiner foundJaffnastillatit.

Reverend Jamescordiner,chaprainof theBritishGarrison in colombo,hadarrivedinsri Lankain t z'ge.Rttne uegining;iir," I $n centuryhe hadtraveiledthroughoutthe mar:itime iroui"n"", of tn"

g?!lly'-Tloseexperiences wererecorded inhisbook, n oescnipTIONOFcEyLoN, which waspubtish"i inraoz.tnhisJ;;;ipi;n ofJaffna, cordiner writes, "Thecountry iirirrrr, J"lr5ij" "ru,.'ol, " 45

I

I

bustlepervadesthe daily markets;and a regulartrade with the oppositeeoastof Indiaaffordsmanyopportunities of improvinga smallfortune".

Evenupto veryrecenttimeswhenthe PalkStraitwhichis the sea betweenJaffnaand SouthIndia,beganto be patrolledby the naviesof Sri Lankaand India,the peoplein Jaffnawouldnothave giveri.a secondthroughtaboutgoingto SouthIndiafor tradd, commerce or merelyto seea popularfilm.

JaffnaNot A TamilHomeland Inthelightofthepoliticat andmititary historyof bothSriLanka andSouthIndia,it wouldbeseenthatJaffnacouldnothavebeena Tamilkingdomafterthe 13thcentury.The peninsula had instead beenafrontierof thePandyans, and afterthefallofpandyanpower, a frontierprovinceof the Vijayanagar Empire.Boththe pandyans andthe Vijayanagars usedJaffnato protecttheirsouthflank.They controlled Jaffnawiththeirowntroopsandalsousedthoseforcesto checkthe riseof the Sinhalese kings.

The apprehensions of the both the pandyansand the Vijayanagars aboutSri Lankawerevindicated when,evenafterthe longperiodthat the Sinhalesehad beenkept undercheck,king PARAKRAMABAHU Vl rosenotonlyto captureJaffnabutto even despatch an invasion forceintothe Vijayanagar portof Adriampet.

Mannarlsland As movement betweenJaffnaandSouthIndiahadquiteoften beenthroughthe Mannarinsland,the Pandyansas well as the Vijayanagars, included the islandin theirfrontierprovince.

Mannar islandwas also usedfor movement betweenJaffnaandsouthSri Lanka.

Theislandof Mannartoo waspopulated by mercernaries and remnants of invasions fromsouthIndia,by otherTamils,Muslims, Sinhalese,Arabs,and otherswho had migratedthereafterlower Pihitirata wasabandoned.

Theoldestinhabitants hadhoweverbeen the descendats of the Sinhalese, Arabs,SouthIndianand other 46

traderswho had beenpart _ofthe vast MannarEmporium,and the PearlFisheriesduringpre_Christian ti;;;.

The islandof Mannartoo was garrisoned with pandya_Arya chakrawartytroops, r"t"i *iti"v,yilv"n"g"r forces, ,ano but not as strongtyas rheydid the JaffnaprrirrlTj. Oursearchfora Tamilhomeland throughthepagesof history, has so far revealedtnatnot inJ;;J:';;r, the Jaffna peninsuta togetherwiththejsland.ot frrf"nnailortj'nave beenSri Lankan Tamirkingdomsin or aftertn" igil ;;;ilry As suchthose cannotpossibry areas be considereo nor"r"ids of sri LankanTamirs.

Thatleavesus withthe re.quiremenfto ". seaichthroughhistory,for a Tamirhomerandin the wanniilil;;"rms part of the reoion theLrrE uno

;ffi*jl

otn"r.-il,,i,,"r'thinkins, asa.rimil

47

j I

. ttt'

I I

THE WANNI In theirdescriptionsof the originof the nameWANNI,most historiansseem to have thought that it had been based on the extensivejungle which characterisedits territory.One or two of them, had even been of the opiniorfthat it could have got its name from the intenseheat that pervadesits entirearea.

Accordingto the Tamil scholar M.D. Raghavan,who was once Head of the Departmentof Anthropologyat the Universityof Madras,in SouthIndia,and latertheEnthnologistin the Department of NationalMuseums,the nameWannimay havebeenderivedfrom the forestwhichlargelycoversits territroy,or it may havemeantthe 1 H. Parker,the BritishEngineer, landof theWanniyas. writingabout the Wanniyasin his book ANCIENTCEYLONstates," Their own name for themselvesis Wanniya,'personof the Wanni', as the forestand jungleof NorthernCeylonto the southof Elephantpass is called".

Whatareadid Wanniencompass?

J.P.Lewisin the paperhe presentedto the Royal AsiaticSocietyon 31st July 1894,titled ARCHAELOGY OF THEWANNYstated" TheWannvwasthe name givento that parl of northernCeylonwhichis boundedin the north by the Jaffnalake,on the southby the Aruvi riverand the Districtof Nuwarakalawiya, which now forms part of the North CentralProvince,on the eastby the Districtof Trincomalee, and on the west by the Districtof Mannar..............The Districtof Mullaitivuforms its Northernhalf and that of Vavuniyaits Southern" TheTHIRUKETHEESWARAM PAPERSeditedbySirKanthiah Vaithianathan, an eminentTamilerudite,containsone paperwhich carriesextractsfrom C.S.Navaratnam's VANNIANDTHEVANNIAS. Accordingto that paper the, "Vanniwas the name given to the northern country between the Jaffna peninsula and the Nuwarakalawiya district.................. lt stretchedf rom Trincomalee on the east coast to Mannar on the west and consisted of Tennamaravadi,Mulliyavalai,Karunaval Pattu, Panakamam, PerumkalaiPattu and Musali Pattu which includedlands as far Kudiramalai and a portionof Chedikulam".

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Ceylon by M.D. Raghavan 48

' Accordingto those descriptions, we who have alreadyex aminedthe historyof the east,andof the Jaffnapeninsulatogether withthe Mannarisland,in our searchfor a Tamilhomeland in sri Lanka,are nowleftwithonlythe historyof theWanni,for study.

As we had seenearlierin our search,afterthe declineand decadence of Polonnaruwa andlowerpihitirata in the 13thcentury, manypeoplefromthoseareas,particularly thestongandthesturdy settledamidsttheharshanddifficult conditions thatprevaited inthe wanni.Theareaofthewannihadhowever, notalwaysbeendifficult to livein.Fromprechristian timestheareathatwaslatercalledthe Wanni,had its own townsand villagesand as such it had been coveredby less expansivejunglethan it had been in the 13th century.

InfactwhenBuddhism wasintroduced intosri Lanka,itwas throughthat territorythat king Devanampiyatissa travelledto Jambukola, in theJaffnaBeninsula.

Thepre-Christain andotherancient tanksaswellasarchaeo_ logicalfindswhichhavebeendiscovered duringand afterBritish colonialtimes,beartestimony to the existenceof towns,villages and a civilization withinthat territory,centuriesbeforeit became know as the Wanni.The BritisherJ.p. Lewis,in that paperhe presentedto the Royal Asiaticsociety in 1gg4 statedthat, "Mahakachchatkodi in Kilakkumulai South,which is one of the earliestsettlements in the Wanni,also probablydatesfrom pre christiantimes- itssinhalesenameis Tittavali". ln thatsamepaper Lewiswrote," The hill at Kuruntankulam or piyangalais identified............. asthespotvisited bytheBuddha journey onhissecond to ceylonandthetankwouldtherefore datefromat leastthemiddle of thethirdcentury8.C.".

AlsoabouttheKuruntankulam tank,J.p.Lewiswrote, " Butthe mostextensive ruinsin the province arethoseat Kurunturmalai or Piyanagala (southwestof Mullaitivu)...........at thesouthendof the e m b a n kmehtof the K urunlurkulam t a n k . . . . . . . . . . . . . . a b ohuatlf way.........is thesiteof an ancient temple, withthestoneimageof a five-headed corba..........Behind thebundaretheremains of it least thr e e temp1es..............at Madukan d a Ma , h a k a c h c h a t k o d i, l r atpe r iyakulam...............one of the t wo Ma k a ra T h o ra n a stones..........at Madukanda is lyingonthesurface...........ln another placeis a roughly executed figureof a bull............There arealsoa largeheapof bricks,apparenily the remainsof a dagaba..............u 49

- ,l j

Stillfurtheron in his paper,J.P.Lewiswrote,,,lnthe eltremenorth of Kurunavalpattu at Putumuripukulam (about8 to 10milessouthof ElephantPass).............the remains of a Buddhist monastery areto be seenin thetractbelowthetank".

H.ParkerinhisbookANCIENT CEYLON writes,,'Vavunikulam a reservoirin the northernProvince( Wanni)shouldprobablybe assigned to n e a rly ih e s a me p e rio d (mid t h ird c e n t u ry B.C.)..............There wouldhavebeena vastpopulation in thearea inthe3rd century-mainlyricefarmers - possibly bothSinhalese and Tamils". lf therehadbeentowns,villagesandtanksin thatareafrom pre-Christian times, there would also have been roads.King Devanampiyatissa andhisentourage wouldsurelyhavetravelled to Jaffnaf romAnuradhapura, alonga broadandwellmaintainbd road.

TheTHIRUKETHEESWERAM PAPERS ontheWannistates that, "Tracesof ancientroadsfromAnuradhapura to Mantotaand Jaffnacan be noticedin Killakkamulai South.Thereis an ancient bridgeat Olukkulam".

J.P. Lewispaperon THEARCHAEOLOGY OFTHEWANNIelaborates on itfurtherwith," Theremains of a very ancientstone bridgeare to be seen in the jungle behindthe Olukkulam village...........lt was200to 300ft andwas raisedupon piersof substantial stoneposts............The roadwhichpassesover it still goesby the nameof the Mawata(highroad).............

The. peoplesaythatthiswasa mainroadfromAnuradhapura to Jaffna, possiblyby wayof Upatissanuwara".

Thoseandotherancientroads,eventhoughtheywouldhave beenin a stateof disrepair in andafterthe 13thcentury, wouldin all probability have been used by the Wannitribesfor commuting betweentheirvillagesand northor southof theWanni.

In ancienttimeshowever,thatareawasnotreferredto as the Wanni.Thefirstreference to it astheWannibyhistorians, including the authorsof the Sri LankanChronicles MAHAVAMSA, were in relationto the 13thcentury.At thattimemostof the Wanniterriory wascoveredwithjungle.

The BritishhistorianH.W.Codrington in his SHORTHtSTORY OF C E Y L O N wro t e , " T h e re p u t a t io ne n jo y e d b y Parakramabahu ll (1236to 1271 AC)is due to the religiousand 50

literary activities ofhisreign...........11is atthisperiod thatwehearof theVanniyans towhomtn'esatetyoilnuraonapura was entrusted.

Thesechiefsin rateroaysoccuiieo-ne frontiercountrybetween Jaffnaandthesinharese't<ingoom-,;1n inesri Lankan chronicres, the wanniis mentioned for the-firsttime'inconnection with the 13th centurv kinsVTJAyA?1HU

X.(12s2

to regonc.irn""c6'ricrse 'HrsroRy oF cEyLOwcomments tnlt tn" ,,territoriar maqnates catedVann i chiefscameintop.rin"n." L tn"lnii"ilrii'i3n,u rv, therewereeighteenof them;J";.;;i themrureda districtin rhe region lying betwe:n .orntry-Jii"cily administeredbv J tne Sinhalesekingand thell" Northernptt"nt"t".,,

Theareawhichcameto be referredto asthewanniinthe 13th century, hadinancient timesbeensimiraitootherareasof pihitirata, manyviilageswith.rarge pop;i"til"r. rtwasabandoned Iravi.Lo when irrisation sy.t"r.',iit|,in it were lLllp_:r:tainins J".ii"v"o ov rnvasionsand its associatedbat'es. waturat;;;;;.,;JIn storrnsand cycroneswhichare known'to ". areasseverartimes,contributedin resser have occuredin those extent towards that de_ structionof the irrigationsystem, tn"r". rn fact one particurarfy viciousstormis recordedto have;il;;; as rateas.l802,whenthe BritishgovernedSri Lanka. unrikethetanksin rowerpihitirata whichenjoyeda perennial inflowof watersfrom riverswhich n"J in"i, .ources amonqthe centrathi's, the tanksin theWanni*"L,"tr';;;;;';";,yo'zone riverswhichcaniedritaeor no *"i", cruringthe dry season. commentingonthewanniriversc.s-.ru"]r"r"tnum wrote,,,There are no mountains in the Vannidistrictto enslre a perennial supplyof watdrforthecultivation of crops..........Th;;" aremanyrain fedrivers in theVanniwhich oodryOri,lgtn" OrV'."".on...........,,The Wanni did notget much,af,I ine tgt"h after.

The MONTHL' LTTERARY "enirry-"nO REGTsTER pubrished Jrri"!jn" administration in sri ranka,in its issueof MarchrggiltateoBrirish,'The that, Vanniis situatedin thedryzoneof ceylon,tn" rainfall at vavuniya beingabout55 inchei in ayZarunJ"t'[rrr"ittivu "u"r"g" somes inches less"""""'the aveaqenumberof rainy days in the year is 75 at u( 's"'t -' vavuniyaands6 at iltulaittivui' Accordingry, bothrnpreandpostchristiantimes, whentanks in that dry zoneweredamageo,tn;ie was lit'e or no waterto feed them,evenif the tanks*"rj r"piir"J. ii n"o to awaitthe adventof 5l

rain'Thuswhenthosetanksbecamebadrydamagedin batfles or evenotherwise, specificaily duringthatrongchora Jccupation inthe 11thcentury,it becameimpossibie for the inhabitants to contiueto livethere,and so they migratedto moresuitabreareas.consequenflywith the abandonment of thosetownsand viilages,the jungle,the erephant andotheranimarsof thewirdsmovedln.'

Amongthepre-christian tanksin thewanniweretheGiants tank,Vavunikuram tank,pavatkuram tankandthe Kuruntankuram tank,whilethetanksat periyankuram, orumadu, Kanakarayankutam and Pandarakuram wereprobabry of earrychristaintimei.rnaddition thereweretanksat Tannimurippu, Mamadu,Chennamadu, p u t t u mu rip ' p u k u la m, Mataruva it t a a k u la m, lra t p e riy a k u la m , Kannukkerni, Madukanda, MahaRambaikuram andKachc-hiramadu, almostallbuiltlongbeforethe13thcentury, whenthemigration into theWannifromlowerpihitirata tookplace.

TheWannibeingcloselycoveredwithjungle,wasnothighty populatedin the years prior to the migrationthere from lower.

Pihitirata.lt hed in fact been popurat6ooy tribeswhichwere scattered nearwatersourcessuchas rivers,pondsformedoutof ' naturalsprings, andtankswhichyetcontained somewater.someof themigrants tothewanniinthe1'3th centurysetileddownindependentlywhile othermoved-inwith residenttribes.The ratterwere gradually absorbed intothosetribes.Thosewhosetiledseparatery tendedto do so according to theircrass,casteor nationaritiy.

There werehoweveralsopeopleof differentbackgrounds who choseto settledowntogether Eventuaily ail thosesetflements, beingisoratedfrom each . otherlivedtheirseparate kindsof livesanddeveloped intodifferent wannitribes, witheachhavingitsownchieftainorbhieftainess who wereknownaswaniyasorwannichchees.

Femaleleaders werenot uncommon amongthewannitribes. lt wasinfactwanichbhee Maria sembattewhoharrassed theDutchmorethananyothertribal leader of theWanni.

ThoseWannitribesbecameisolatednot onlyfromone an_ otherbutalsofromthedeveloping civirization bothnorthandsouth of the wanni.Eventuaily, after.generations of themhad beenwerl immersedin wanni rifesilye of huntingand agricurture, thosedescendantsof the migrantsfrom rowerpihitiratabecametypical wannipeoplewhocoirldno longerbe identified as eithersinhalese or Tamil.

52

Thererigions oftheorginar migrants didgodownf romgenerayet however,to their usualdieties tion to generation. *eri added newgodssuchas Aiyanar, theforestgod.Thatcouldofcourse have beenexpectedbecauseof the isoration, theconsfantdangersinthe jungle,thehardlife,theuncertainity andsuchlike,whichw-ould have createdtheneedfora godof theirnewenvironment, whichwasthe jungle.Accordingto the.THIRUKETHEESWERAM pApERS," throughtheinteriorof ceylon,Aiyanar(Tamil)orAiyana(sinhalese) i s con sidereda forest god who g u a rd s t riv e ile rs in t h e fgrest'..'..........Tempres dedicated to thisdietyarein manypartsot theVanni".

H. Parkerin his book ANOTENT cEyLoN describesthe religiousceremonyperformedby wanni huntingpartiesbeforethey lefttheirvillage.

Thedietythattheyimploreo wai invariably Aiyanar.

According to parker," Theyrighta smailrampat the trontbt tne offering.............before the rightexpiresthey performobeisance towardsthe offering,and utteraroudthe foiiowirigprayerfor the favourand protection of the ForestDieties,wnic-n'must also be repeated everymorning duringtheexpedition, aftertheir millet-cake, gini-puwa hadbeeneaten,beforestartingfor theday ,s huntin!.:_ .. ^ "W9"re goingto yourjungle;we do notwantto meetwiththe Tallone (Erephant), theJungrewatcher(Bear),theanimai*iir,il.," headcausingfear(snake),the Leopard.you mustbruntthethorns. we mustmeetwiththe Hornbearer(sambarDeer) the Deer,the , one full'of oir (pig),the noosedone (rguana), the store-House (Beehive).

We mustmeetwithaboutthreepingoloadsof noney,Ay the favourof the Gods.we ask onryfor the sake of our n'ooity livelihood". .. That the migrantsfrom rowerpihitiratacontinuedwith the religionsof theirbirth,evenwhilethey remained tribarised in the warrni,was evidencedby the Buddhlstand Hindutempres, ihe dagabas,statuesetc,whichweresubsequenily discovered among wanni ruins.Buddhistediticesand statueswerefoundin certeiii wannitribalvillages, whileHindustructures andstatueswerefound amongthe ruinsof otherwanni villages.Among somewanni villageshowever, theruinsofbothBuddhis and HinJushrines, edifices etc,werefoundin the sameprace.TheTHTRUKETHEESWERAM PAPERS quoting c.s. Navaratnam describes itas,,'TheVanniisthe randof spectacular runisof hugetanksandbreached bunds.Ruihs

of Hindutemplesstandsideby sidewithdilapidated dagobas(Bud dhistStupas)......,.........occasionally amongsuchsurroundings would standthe ruinsof the proudresidences of the Vanniya chiefs narrating yearsof independence". theirthrilling storyof a thousand TheBritisher, H Nevillwhowroteabouthisfindsin theWanni duringthe Britishadministration of Sri Lankastated," Thereis a ruinedtemplewiiha largestoneBuddha8 ft high.............near him is a Vishnu...........two flagstalfsocketsor oil motarsovera small ruineddagoba............a largetemplewithitspostsall upset,andits SaiviteLingambroken............"

The Wanniwas far fromthe composite entitythata kingom wouldbe whetherTamilor Sinhalese.

EachWannichieftanandhis jealously guarded tribewasindependent oftheothers.Moreoverthey theirtribalterritoryagainstintrusionby othertribesin the Wanni.

ApartfromeachWannitribebeingindependent of the others,the entireWanniremained independent of the Pandyanfrontierin the Jalfnapeninsula andthe Sinhalese kingdoms in thesouth,for most of the time.Sometimeshowever,if it was advantageous to them, Wannichiefspaidtribute,quiteoftena tokentribute,to the northor south,whichever wasstronger, or strongenoughto benefitthem.

M.D.Ragahavan writingabouttheWanniinhisbookCEYLON states,"Theseatof the Sinhalesekingschangingfrom placeto place,theVanniyar chiefswerelargelyleftto themselves, enjoying full sovereignity, independent of eitherthe Sinhalese kingsor the Tamilkingsin the North".

Dr.C.Sivaratnam inhisbookTHE TAMILS OFEARLYCEYLON writesthat,"theVanniars wereindependent rulerswhopaid tribute to eitherKotteor Jaffna,accordingto who was morepowerfulat a particular time". .

Sir Emmerson Tennentin his bookCEYLONdescribed the organisation of theWanniat thetimeof thearrivalof the Portugese as," thepolitical condition of Ceylonatthattimewasdeplorable.The seaportson all partsof the coastwerevirtuallyin the handsof the Moors;the northwas in the possession of the Malabars(South government Indians) wheretheseatof wasatJaffna-pattam; andthe greatcentralregion(sinceknownas theWanny)and Neurakalawa, wereformedintopettyfiefs,eachgovernedby a Wanniya,calling himselfvassal,butvirtuallyuncontrolled by anyparamount authority". s4

AnotherBritishhistorianH.W, Codringtonin his book A sHoRT HlsroRY oF cEyLoN confirms the independence of the wannichiefswhenhe writesthat," it is at thisper'iod thatwe hear of the Vanniyars............These cheifsin raterdaysoccupiedthe f rontiercountrybetween Jaffnaandthesinhalese tiingoom, andwas subjectto one or the otherof thesestates,or affeited complete independence according to thestrenghof theirneighbours,,.

The wannicheifsandtribescontinued in theirparticular life styleuntilthe colonization of sri Lanka by the Dutchand subsepoftugese,becauseof the ferocious quentlyby the British.The aggressiveness of thewannias,preferred to leavethemalone.sir Emmerson Tennentcommenting on it wrote," Theportugese were onlynominalsovereigns of the Vannyand theirdominaiion never extendedbeyondthe seacoast..........and theyexerciedno actual controloverthe restlesschieftains andtheirfollowers,,.

The DutchandtheBritishafterthem,werehoweverintenton dominating thewanni.one majorreasonforthatwastheelephants of the wanni which enjoyeda high marketvarue.The wanni chieftainshowever,were intolerantof any intrusionsinto their territory.Theythereforefoughtbackeventhoughthe oddswere againstthem, especiailyin the case of their iimpte and basic weapons asagainstthe morepowerfuland sophisticated onesofthe Dutchand British.

It was howevernotail smoothsairingfor the Dutchandthe Britishin theirattemptsto controlthe wanni.The Dutchcaughta tigressby itstailwhentheytriedto subduethewannichchee fiaria sembatte,whiletheBritishthemselves hadtheirshareof problems panderamWannia. withthe Wannichieftain, Becausethe Wanniwas not a kingdomof the Tamils,or sinhalese,it lackedcentralorganisation and control.The wanni insteadcomprised essentially of differentwanni tribeswhichbecauseof concerted offensives againstthemby first'theDutch,and thenthe British,beganto disinte!rate. consequentry manyoiini, movedfromthe interiorto the wanni coastswherethey?eltmore secure.A few of them formedinto small banditgroupswhicn plundered villagesandhamletsbordering the Wanni.

Finallywhenthewannitribarareaswereabandoned, it once morebecamethedomainof theforest,theelephant andof thewlld.

55

We havenow seenwhatthe Wannihad beenthroughthe yearsrightup to the periodsof the Dutchandthe British,and it is difficultindeed,howevermuchwe maytry,to find in the romantic historyof theWanni,a Tamilkingdom, or evena partof one.

It has beenevidentin our searchthroughthe historyof the WannithattheWanniaswereessentially tribesmen anda lawunto themselves, and alsothattheywereindependent of the pandyan frontierpeninuslain Jaffnaand of the Sinhalese kingdoms in the south,otherthanoccasionally whentheypaidtributeto thenorthor to the southif it wasadvantageous for themto do so.

End of Search We havenowcometo theendof oursearchthroughhistory, for a Tamilkingdomin Sri Lanka,whichif one existedcouldhave formedthe basefor a claimfor a Tamilhomeland.

Unfo.rtunately though,as historyfailsto revealtheexistence of a Tamilkin$dom in the wholeof Sri Lanka;in the northand east only;from preChristian times;orafterthe13thcentury, theredoesnotexista basis for a claimfor a TamilHomeland in Sri Lanka.

Inoursearchthroughhistorywe alsocameacrosswhatcould be described as a curiosity.

Althoughthe LTTEclaimfor a Tamil homeland statesthatthenorthandeastconstituted a separate Tamil kingdom afterthe13century, andthattheyweretogethertreated as a separateStateby the Portugese, the Dutchandthe Britishuntil 1833whenthatTamilkingom,the Kandyankingdomandthe Kotte kingdom werecombined by theBritishto formonesovereign State, Leonard WoolftheBritishadministrator whoservedin SriLankaas a Government Agentin the Provinces, seemsto thinkdifferenily.

In hisDIARIESlN CEYLONLeonardWoolfrecordsthat," In 1833consequent to the Colebrookerecommendations the two administrative systemsfortheMaritime Provinces andtheKandyan provinces wereunitedanda newsystemintroduced."

Wecouldsee that,thatthereis nomention of a Tamilkingdom or province, oreven of a Kottekingdomor a Kotteprovince!

Aboutthe Kottekingdomas such,LeonardWoolfalsonoted in his DIARIESlN CEYLONthattheKandyankingdombecamethe onlyindegenous kingdomwhenking RAJASINGHE I of Sitawaka 56

diedin 1593andpartof hiskingdom wasannexedbythePortugese in thenameof DONJUANDHARMAPALA, thepuppetkingof Kotte, and the balanceabsorbedby the Kandyankingdomunderking VIMALADHARAMASURIYA l. In 1597,inat puppetkingof Kotte died,withtheresultthatKottewasabsorbed intoPortugese territory, andtherebyceasedto exist.

Accordingly in 1833whichwasovertwohundreds later,there couldnothavebeena Kottekingdom fortheBritishto unitewiththe Kandyankingdom anda Tamilkingdom, as is claimedby the LTTE andthoseof similar thinking.

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The claimfor a TamilHomelandmadeby Sri LankanTamils who are a minorityethnic group in the countryis basicallythe expressionof a strongdesireto live separatelyfrom the majority Sinhalesewho the Tamils accuseof oppressingthem. The LioerationTigersof Tamil Eelamwho have been wiging a liberation war againstthe Sri Lankangovernment for severalyears,withthe aim of establishing a separateStatewhichthey call TamilEelam, have declaredthat, " by liberation we mean total liberation of cur homelandand the winningof politicalindependence for our oppressedpeopleand the establishment of an Independent sovereign socialist state of Tamil Eelam".

The Claimfor a Tamilhomelandwhichis of recentoriginis however based on an event seven hundredyears ago, when Tamilsand Sinhalesewho had livedpeacefullyand harmoniously with each otherfor centurieswere separatedby a singularlyviolent and destructiveinvasionfrom the South lndian kingdomof Kalinga.Sri LankanTamilsassertthroughthat Claimthat thereafterthey had their own Tamil kingdomin the northand east of the countryuntil Sri Lankawas colonisedby Europeannations, and that thereforeit makesthat area a Tamil homeland.

This bosk searchesthrough the pagesof historyfor such a Sri LankanTamil kingdom.Becausethe Sinhaleserefutethe claimfor a Tamil homeland,the searchfor it has as far as Dossible,avoidedreferringto Sinhalesehistoriansand has instead reliedmainlyon independent foreignauthorsand on Tamil historiansas well.

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