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Page 1: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

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Page 2: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

1

DRAVID IAN ZETTLENEITS IN CETI)N

AND

TEE BEGI1NI1GS OF THE KIIDOM OF JAFFNA

by

Karthigesu Indrapala

Thesis subziitted for the Degree of

Doctor of Philosophy

University of London

1965

Page 3: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

2ABSTRACT

This thesis is a study of the settlements founded

by Dravidian-speakers from South India, chiefly the Tamile,

in Ceylon before the end of the thirteenth century. Although

any notable Dravidian settlement was not established in the

island until after the conquest of the Caa at the turn of

the tenth century, we have included in this study the sporadic

and scattered settlements of earlier times as well. The first

chapter deals with these earliest settlements and analyses

some of the theories put forward by earlier writers on the

subject. The main section of the thesis, comprising the second,

third, fourth and fifth capters, deals with the settlements

established in the northern and north-eastern parts of Ceylon

in the period between the beginning of the eleventh and the

end of the thirteenth century.

This study ends with an examination of the

circumstances under which an independent kingdom, controlled by

Dravidians, emerged in northern Ceylon. The sixth chapter deals

with the events of the first half of the thirteenth century

which directly led to the foundation of the kingdom, while the

last chapter is concerned with the establishment of the dynaety

of Iryacakravartins, from South In ia, ho consolidated the

position of the new kingdo

Page 4: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

3

ACKNOWLEDGENENS

I wish to express my sincere gratitude to Dr.J.G.de

Cas aris, Reader in the History of South an South-east Asia

at the School of Oriental and African Studies, who has su ervised

the whole of this work and given me invaluable advice and

guidance.

I am thankful to Nr.W.J.F.LaBrooy, Reader in History,

University of Ceylon, for his as i tance in choosin the subject

and in obtaining budy leave from the University of Ceylon,

which enabled me to undertake this work.

I owe a particular debt to Nrs.Indranee Kan iah

for her help in re aring the p.

My thanks are also due to Mr.H.Somadasa, Librarian,

University of Ceylon Library, Mr.Lyn de Fonseka, Librari n,

National Mu eum Library, do bo and Nr.S.Tha biaii, Librarian,

Jaffna College Library, V ddukoddai (Ceylon) as well as the

staffs of the S. .A. . Library, ritish Museum Library and

enate ou e Library for th ir help in connection with this

work.

Page 5: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

4

COTES

Page

2

3

5

6

25

Abstract . .

Acknowledgements .

Abbreviations . . .

Introduction . .

Chapter I The Beginnings of Dravidian Settlements

Chapter II Settlements in the Period of Ca

Occupation .

Chapter III Settlements in the Late Eleventh and

the Twelfth Century

Chapter IV Settlements in the Thirteenth Century

I - The Jaffna District •

Chapter V Settlements in the Thirteenth Century

II - Vanni Districts .

Chapter TI The Beginnings of the Kingdom of

Jaffna-I

Chapter VII The Beginnings of the Kingdom of

8k

133

26

306

399

Jaffna-'II • Lf77

Conclusion • • • • • . • 542

A Select Bibliography • . • • • 549

Map . . • • endpocket.

Page 6: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

5

ABBREVLMIONS

A.B.I.A. - Annual Bibliography of Indian Archaeology, Leyden.A.I. - Ancient India (Bulletin of the Arch. Survey of India).A.S.C.A.R. - Anchaeological Survey of Ceylon Annual Report.C.A.L.R. - Ceylon Antiquary an Literary Register, Colombo.C.J.Sc. (G) - Ceylon Journal of Science, Section G, Colombo.Cc in. - Cekarca-ckara-mlaiC.H.J. - Cey1n Historical Journal, Colombo.Cv. - CilavasaDv. - DTpavasaB.C. - Epigraphia Carnatica

- Epigraphia IndicaElu-ay . - ju-attanagalvai

- Epigr p ia ZeyalanicaGk. - GreekHvv. - Hatthavanagalla-vi .ra-vasal.A. - In ian AntiquaryJ.A.S. - Journ 1 of ian tudiesJ.R.A.S.(C.B.)Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch)

N.S. - New SeriesBk. - car-kalveçuKm. - KaiIyamlaiL. - LatinM.E.R. - Madras Epi raphical Reports (Annual Report on epigraphy

Southern Circle,adras Government.Mm. - M4akk4appu-zn iyam

- NahvaN.I.A. - New In ian Antiquaryks. - Nikya-saipgrahaya

Port. - PortuguesePy . - PjvalipaRv. - Rjvaliya5.1.1. South In ian InscriptionsSixth. - SinhaleseSkt. - SanskritT.A.S. - Trava core Arc ae logical Series

- ak*ia- i1ca-purain_. - Tirikcala-purrnU.C. .C. • University of Ceylon History of CeylonU.C.R. - University of Ceylon Review

- Vaiyp1

VT. - versesTYrn. - ia-V ipava-nlai

Page 7: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

6

INIRODUCT ION

In this work we have attempted a study of the early

settlements established by the Dravidians, notably the Tamila,

in Ceylon and of the beginnings of the Tamil kingdom in the

northern part of the island. This aspect of the history of

Ceylon has been neglected for a long time. The seriousness of

this gap could be appreciated by anyone who reads the comprehensive

history of the island recently published by the University of

Ceylon Our subject has not been dealt with at all in this

authoritative work. The chapter on the northern kingdom begins

abruptly with the rule of the Xryacakravartins and nothing is

stated about the beginnings of this kingdom.

Until about the thirteenth century A.D., the history

of Ceylon was the history of the Sinhalese people. But from

about the middle of the thirteenth century, it has been the

history of the SinhaleBe and Tamil people in the island. From

that time for over three centuries, the majority of the Tamils

were concentrated in a kingdom of their own in the northern

part of the island. In 1620, the last of the Taml-1 rulers was

executed by the Portuguese conquerors who brought the Tamil areas

1. University of Ceylon History of Ceylon, editor-in-chief R.C.Ray,

I , pt.l (1959), pt.2 (1960), Colombo.

Page 8: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

7

under their direct rule. Like the Sinhalese in the maritime

provinces of southern Ceylon, the Tamils passed through a

period of colonial rule, first under the Portuguese and then

under the Dutch. Under these two European powers the Tamil

areas of northern Ceylon were administered separately from

the other areas. In the nineteenth century, after the British

took over from the Dutch, the whole country was politically

unified and the administration was centralised. This enabled

the Tainils and Sinhalese to work together in the national

politica and government. During the period of British rule

a further wave of Tamil immigrants went to the island as workers

in the newly-opened plantations. The descendants of these

recent immigrants, whose numbers exceed that of the descendants

of earlier Tamil settlers, play a vita], role in the economy of

modern Ceylon. These Tmils are officially designated Indian

Tamils while the descendants of earlier settlers are called

Ceylon Tainils. The Tamils, who comprise nearly twenty-five

per cent of the island's population, are now concentrated

mainly in the Northern, Eastern and Central Provinces.

The chronology and early history of the T-m-i1s of

Ceylon have not yet been systematically and scientifically

studied, A few works have been written, mainly in Tamil, on

the history of the Taniil kingdom u.t many of these could hardly

be described as scientific histories. Among the earliest writings

Page 9: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

8

on this subject is Simon Casie Chetty's paper' 'On the History

of Jaffna, from the Earliest Period to the Dutch conquest',

read at a meeting of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic

Society in 18k7 and published in the journal of that society

In this short paper, the author has based his account of the

early history of Jaffna on the references to gas in the Mahvasa

and on the Tenr(1 chronicles, Kailyaxnlai and a-vaipava-

mlai. It is by no means a critical work. This was foUowed by

a few Tamil works, almost entirely based on the T-mi1 chronicles

and floating traditions. The earliest of these is S.Jobn's

pa-carittiram (History of Jaffna), published in l879

In 188k, V.V.Cataciva Pillai published his a-vaipavam

( A Narrative of Events in Jaffna) It was followed by A.Muttu-

tampi-pillai's pa-carittiram (History of Jaffna), which

was published in 19l2 These, too, are uncritical narratives

embodying almost the entire contents of the Tamil chronicles,

with all their mythical and legendary elements. The sections

dealing with the period of British rule are useful as source

materials for that period since these are contemporary and near-

1. J.R.A.S. (C.B.), I, No.3, l8k7-k8, pp . 69-79.2. American Ceylon Mission Press, Jafmna 1879. Second edition 1882.

Revised edition 1929.

3. Madras, 188k.

4. Jaffna, 1912.

Page 10: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

9

contemporary accounts. In this respect, K.Veluppillai's compilation,

p$a_vaipavakaunniti, is a valuable work Its sections on

the administration of Jaffna by British Government agents and

on the leading families of Jaffna in the nineteenth century are

useful sources for the modern period of the history of Jafmna,

Equally important is the section on the place-names of Jaffna,

in which the Sithalese origins of over a tbouáand names are dealt

with This section, despite the fact that it is not&scientifiC

study of the place-names, is a useful contribution to the topographic

study of Jaffna, which is of utmost value for a work like ours.

Almost all the works mentioned above are concerned with the history

of Jaffna after the establishment of the Tamil kingdom and do not

deal with the history of the Tmila who were settled outside the

Jaffna kingdom or with the early Tamil settlements. This is

chiefly due to the fact that they are narratives based on the

Jaffna chronicles, which deal with the history of the Tamil kingdom

only.

Nudaliyar C . Rasanayagani' a Ancient Jaffna, published

in 1926, marks the first attempt at a critical history of Jafmna.

1. Vasvir, Jaffna 1918. Two sections of this work have been

written by S,Kumaracuvami and S .Katiraverpillai.

2. S.Kamaracuvami, 'Taa-nikatt$a Cila Ia Peyark4i Varalu'.

Page 11: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

10

Unlike the earlier works, Ancient Jaffna is the result of an

attempt to trace the history of the Tmi1 of Ceylon from the

earliest times to the sixteenth century. It has been based on

a wider variety of sources and much effort has gone into it.

For the first time the Sixthalese sources as well as the South

Indian inscriptions were consulted. It marks a leap forward in

the research into the history of the Tamils of Ceylon. But

despite its distinct merits,Rasahayagam's work suffers front

several serious defects. The work has been marred by an earnest

attempt to prove the thesis that the Tamils were settled in

Ceylon from pre-Christian times and that there was an independent1ç

in northern Ceylon which existed front about the fifteenth century B.C.

to the seventeenth century A.D. In his attempt to prove this

thesis, Rasanayagam has used methods which are questionable

and materials that are totally unrelated to the history of the

Tamils in Ceylon. These have been briefly pointed put in our

work.

A more critical and, in many respects, a better

work on the history of Jaffna is Fr.Gnanapragasar's 1a-

Yaipava-viinarca (A Critical History of Jaffna), published in

l928 It stands in great contrast to the disappointing articles

of the same author published posthumously in the Tarnil Culture,

1. Accuvli, Jaffna 1928.

Page 12: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

11

in l952 It may be reckoned as the most valuable study of the

early history of Jaffna in Tmil. Besides the South Indian

inscriptions and the Sinhalese sources Ganapragasar has made

use of place-name materials also for his study. The same author's

Kings of Jaffna, published after the Taml-1 work, deals exclusively

with the history of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

Among the other works published around the same

time and a little later are K.Matiyaparanazn's a-p1rv!ka

vaipavam2and Civanantan's __am These two &lso

fall under the category of the earlier uncritical works.

Two other works of recent years, which also fall under the

same category, are K. Kanapathi Pillai' s Ilakai-v-Tami

Vara] and C.S.Navaratnani's Tamils and Ceylon

The University of Ceylon History of Ceylon has &

chapter on the kingdom og Jaffna, entitled 'The Northern

Kingdom', by S.Natesan As mentioned earlier, this section

1. 'Ceylon Originally a Land of Dravidians', T.C., I, No.1, Feb.1952;

'The Taniils turn Sinhalese', T.C., I, No.2, June 1952;

'Beginnings of Tamil Rule in Ceylon', T.C., I, No.3, Sept. 1952.

2. K.Matiyaparanam, pp;a-prvjka-vaipavam, Jaffna 1927.

3. Kuala Lumpur, 1933.

k. Peradeniya, 1956.

5. Jaffna 1958.

6. U.C.H.CI, I, pt. 2, pp. 691-702.

Page 13: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

12

begins abruptly with the reign of the iryacakravartins. It is

stated that the earlier part of the chapter was deleted by the

editor. As a result, this chapter falls outside the period and

subject matter dealt with in our work.

The latest and among the most critical of the

contributions to the history of the Jaffna kingdom is the article

by S.Paranavitana in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society,

(Ceylon Branch), l96l in which the theories put forward by

Rasan&yagam and other writers are analysed. In this penetrating

an@ysis th. author has made use of new evidence as well. But

some of his arguments have been marred by his attempt to give

a Jvaka origin to the founders of the Jaffna kingdom. We have

discussed these arguments in our work.

Only the history of the Jaffna kingdom forms the

subject of almost all the works mentioned above. These do not

deal with the history of the Tamil settlements that preceded

the foundation of the kingdom. This reason, above all others,

has recommended itself to us for undertaking a study of this

nature. The major part of our work, five out of the seven chapters,

is exclusively devoted to a study of the Dravidian settlements

that were founded in Ceylon between about the ninth and the end

of the thirteenth century. This section serves as a background

1. J.R.A.S. (C.B.), N.S., VII, pt. 2, 1961, pp. 17k-22k.

Page 14: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

13

to the rise of the Tamil kingdom of Jaffna, in northern Ceylon,

which forms the subject of the last two chapters.

The term Dravidian is used in this work to mean the

different communities of South India speaking the Draviian

family of languages, chiefly Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Nalayalam.

Although the only Dravidian-speakixig community to be found in

the island now are the Tamils, there were settlers from the

Kannada, Kerala and Telugu countries, who were ultimately

assimilated into the major Dravidian group or into the Sinhalese

population. The kingdom of Jaffna in this work refers to the

Tamil kingdom of northern Ceylon which was founded in the

middle of the thirteenth century and ceased to exist in 1620.

A historical study of the early Dravidian settlements

in Ceylon, like that of early settlements in any country,

presents a number of problems that cannot be s4ved pirely

with the help of such materials as chronicles and inscriptions.

Other branches of studies such as archaeology, physical

anthropology, historical geography and historical linguistics

have an impoitant part to play in the solution of these problems.

These problems would include among others the determining of

the original home of the settlers, the causes of their migration,

the routes of migration, the areas of settlement and the extent

Page 15: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

14

of the survival of earlier inhabitants. The evidence of archaeology

is very helpful in tracing the routes of migration and locating

the areas of settlement. The historical linguist has an

important contribution to make by his analysis of the place-name

evidence, which helpd a good deal in the understanding of the

social conditions under which the settlements took place and

the institutional ties which first bound the settlers together

as well as in the location of early habitation sites Place-names

also help to an extent in the inquiry into the survival of

earlier inhabitants. The historical geographer could help in

the understanding of the influence of such factors as physique

and defence on the location, and sometimes on the form, of the

settlements. Sometimes the contribution of physical anthropologists

is also valuable. In Britain attempts have been made, though

not with much success, to use the evidence derived from cephalic

indices and tables of nigrescence in the study of the Anglo-Saxon

settlements.

In this study of the Dravidian settlements, the use

of evidence from sources other than inscriptions and literary

1. In this respect the place-name evidence in Britain has been

of immense help to the historians of(Anglo-Saxon settlement.

See A.wer and F.M.Stenton, An Introduction to the Study of

English Place-names, pt.l, (Camb. Englaiid), 1929.

Page 16: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

15

works has been rendered difficult. Even the inscriptions aiid

literary works that we have used have proved to be inadequate

in the reconstruction of a satisfactory history of the settle-

merits and in the solution of many iiiportant problems. 1hile

the Pli and Sinhalese chronicles of the island provide very

reliable, fairly adequate and surprisingly continuous information

regarding the political, and to an extent the religious, history

of Ceylon, their contribution to our inquiry is very little.

The activities of the Dravidians in Ceylon find mention in

the chronicles only when these affected the political and

religious affairs of the country. No evidence relating to the

Dravidian settlements is available in these sources. We have

made use of these sources mainly in the discussion of the

circumstances under which the settlements were established

arid the northern kingdom emerged into existence.

On the Tamil side, the chronicles that are extant

are those written nea1ly three centuries after the foundation

of the Tamil kingdom. These are the ICailyamlai, Vaiypal,

Vaiy, a-vaipava-mlai and the Maakk4appu-mmiyam.

The chronicle Ircamura, mentioned in the Ciappuppyiraiu

(preface) of the pa-vaipava-mlai, is not extant now.

With the possible exception of the

the other works cannot be dated exactly. But, as we shall see

presently, certain references in these works make it clear that

Page 17: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

16

these were all writtem after the fifteenth century.

The Vaiypal is probably the earliest of these

chronicles The mention of Parafiki (Portu uese) as well as the

occurrence of certain Portuguese words in this work suggest

that it was composed after the arrival of the Portuguese in

the island (A.D. i5O5) Only one clumsy manuscript of this

work, full of orthographic mistakes, has survived. 1n its present

state, it is very confused and at times unintelligible.

Fortunately, an old prose rendering of this chronicle has

survived and it is with the help of this work that we are in

a position to understand the Vaiyal. This paraphrase is

known as Vaiy The early part of this chronicle is based on

the Pxnyaa, the popular versions of the Viaya legend and

on the popular etymology of some of the place-names of Jaffna.

The sections dealing with the Dravidian settlements of the

thirteenth century and later appear to have been based on

certain genuine traditions which were current in a confuaed

1. Vaiypuri £iyar, Vaiypal, ed. J.W.Arutpirakacaia, Jaffna 1921.

2. Parafdd. 1= L. Franci) is the Timi1 name for the Portuguese.

The occurrence of the names Parafiki (v.3k) and Piippa (Philip

v.58) and such words as ayutanti (Port. adjutante) and

puravar3taiyar (Port. provedor) may not all be due to

interpolations.

3. Vaiy, ed. Z.Gnanapragasar, Jaffna 1921.

Page 18: Dravidian Settlements in Ceylon and the Beginnings of the Kingdom of Jaffna By Karthigesu Indrapala (Complete Phd Thesis University of London 1965)

1?

form when this work was written. According to tradition, Vaiypuri

Aiyar, the author of this chronicle, was the court poet of one

of the kings of Jaffna who bore the consecration name Cekarca-

ck.ara As Gnanapragasar is inclined to believe, 'it would

seem that the Vaiy was composed during the times of the last

Jaffna kings' The contents of this work have been critically

analysed and used with caution in our work.

The Kailyamlai, a chronicle of the Kailyantar

temple in Jaffua, contains an eulogistic account of the kings

o Jaffna and. appears to have been composed at the beginning

of the seventeenth century. It mentions the letupatis of 1?Rmnad,

the first of whom began his rule around l6O1 ^ Some sections of

this work have been based on the Vaiypal. Perhaps the most

useful section is that dealing with the settlement in Jaffna

of certain families from the Tamil country.

The Y pa-vaipava-mlai is a prose chronicle of

the Jaffna kingdom and was written, as stated in its preface,

when the Dutch Conimsindant Ian Maccara (Mkka.1a) was administering

Jaffna (A.D. 1736). As admitted in the preface, the author has

1. title page.

2. 'Sources for the Study of the History of Jaffna', T.C., II,

Nos. 3&k, p. 3]Lf, fn.18.t1f%mts I93i

3. Mutturca Kavircar, Kailyamlai, ed, C.V. Jampulinkazu Pillai,,.<

C.Rasanaagam'a ForewGrd, ibid., p. lf ; J. .A.S. (C.B.), N.S.,

VII, pt. 2, p. 176.

S •

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18

based his work on the Vaiypal, Kailyamlai and the two

non-extant works Ircamur and Pararca-ckaraul The

sections dealing with the period beore the Portuguese rule

reproduce almost entirely the contents pf the Kailyam1ai

and the Vaiypal.

The 4akaappu-mmiyam is a chronicle of the

Batticaloa district of the Eastern Province of Ceylon Its

existence is not known to many writers on Ceylon history. This

prose chronicle, in its present form, appears to have been

written in the eighteenth century, for, it deals with the

Dutch rule in Ceylon. Though a late work, it embodies many

genuine traditions of earlier times which are remarkably

corroborated by the P].i and Sizihalese sources. It is the only

Tamil chronicle that preserves any memory of the very early

times. It is also the only Tamil chronicle that mentions Ngha

by name and des with his activities in Ceylo4. We have

discussed these merits in our work. It main use for our work

has been in the reconstruction of the history of Dravidian

settlements in the Eastern Province and the rise of Vanni

chieftaincies there. The traditional historical poems relating

to Batticaloa, appended to the Mafakk4appu-mmiyam, have

P1o.yslv.iQbed. LCapanatan, Colombo 1953 ;

Eng. tr. C,Brito, Colombo 1879.

2. Maaidc4appu_mniyam, ed. F.X.CNataraca, Coloinbo 1962.

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19

also been useful in this respect.

Besides these chronicles, a few other Tamil works

of Ceylon containing valuable historical information have also

remained extant. Among these, the

T ir-kc ala-puram Kc ar-kalve Cekarc a-cëkar a-nilai1

and the Cekarca-ckaram have been of some use in rour work.

The first three are chronicles of the temple of E5ttvaram, in

Trincomalee. The exact date of these works cannot be erxnined.

The Takiia-kailca-puram, written in the reign of a king of

Jaffna who bore the consecration name Cekarca-ckata is

probably a work of the fifteenth or sixteenth century. The

Kcar-kalvetu and the Tiri-kcala-purtam are later works.

The Cekarca-ckara-mlai is an astrological work composed in

the time of an Iryacakravartin named Vartaya who had the

consecration name Cekarca-ckara According to the ia-

vaipava-mlai, this ruler was the father of ?rttaa whom

Paranavitana has identified with ?rttam Peruxn jun of the

1. Ed. P.P.Vayittilinka Tecikar, Point Pedro, Jaffua, 1916.

2. Ed. A.Canmukarattina Aiyar, Jaffna 1909.

4. Ed. I.S.Irakunata Aiyar, Kokkuvil, Jaffna 1942.

3. Appended to Takia-kailca-puriam.

. , 7:116.

6. Ccm., v.158.

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20

Ndav4a inscription, dated in the third year of VikramabThu III

(l36o) If the identification is correct and if the statement

of the is to be accepted, the Cekarca-

ckara-nilai may be dated to the first half of the fourteenth

century. Some are inclined to date this to the fifteenth century

The Cekarca-ckaram is a medical work, the date of which cannot

be determined easily The historical information, relevant to

our studs, contained in all these works is incidental and very

meagre. None of the Tamil works mentioned above contains any

reliable information concerning the Dravidian settlernena in

Ceylon prior to the thirteenth century. These have not been,

therefore, made use of in the major part ofour work. Even for

the period after the thirteenth century, these sources are

full of legendary material that it has b L been difficult

to make much use of their evidence.

For the major part of our work, we have depended

mainly on epigraphic and archaeological materials. Though the

evidence of these materials has been far more encouraging than

that of the literary sources, it has been by no means adequate.

1. Yvm., p. 37 ; S .Paranavitana, 'The rya Kingdom in North Ceylon',

J.P.A.S. (C.B.), N.S., VII, pt. 2, p. 197.

2. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. 691 ; C.A.L.R., V, p. 175 ;

J. .A.S. (c. .), N.S., VIII, pt.2, p. 372.

3. The verses of this work used here are those quoted in the

introduction to the Ccm.

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21

Excavation work is still an undeveloped branch of archaeological

research in Ceylon. As long as excavation work remains undone,

much that is relevant to our study will be wanting. For the

period prior to about the third century A.D., we may reasonably

expect a few sepulchral and other remains, which are invaluable

for a study of settlements, to be brought to light. The only

burials relating to Dravidian settlements in the island, namely

those of Pomparippu, were discovered by chance and today, nearly

forty years after the discovery, the sire still awaits a proper

scientific excavation. For the period after the third century,

it is aiva and Vaiava temples and icons as well as Tanill

inscriptions that will help us in our inquiry. Here, too, owing

to the lack of excavation work, we have to depend solely on

surface finds. Archaeologists have not helped us so far to know

something of the earliest aiva temples, such as the Tiru-ktTvaram

temple at Mahtittha, referred to in the literary sources. No

surface remains of these exist now and only an excavation of

the sites is likely to yield something of value. The fer ancient

temples so far unearthed have been èf immense value in locating

and dating some of the earliest settlements of the Dravidians.

Of greater value for our work are the Tamul inscriptions.

More than a hundred of them have been discovered in the island

and nearly half of them are unpublished. These epigraphic records1

most of them belonging to the eleventh and twelfth centuries,

have helped us a good deal in the location, dating and the

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22

determination of the nature of some of the settlements. The

material for the first three chapters is mainly derived from

these inscriptions.

We have not been able to make use of the evidence

of physical anthropology, historical geography and place-name

studies for the simple reason that no work has been done in

these fields so as to be of any help to us. A preliminary survey

of the place-name material shows that much valuable information

could be gleaned from it for our study. For instance, the

earlier Sinhalese occupation of the Jaffna peninsula, the long

survival of the Sinhalese there and the Taniil occupation of the

North-central Province before the Sinhalese resettled there are

unmistakably indicated by the place-names. The collection and

analysis of these toponyms require a proper linguistic training

Besides, the establishment of sound-pecligrees with the help of

earlier forms and the analysis of sound and word substitution

and Sinhalese-Tamil compounds are beyond the scope of our work.

But wherever possible, place-name material has also been used

though never as an independent evidence.

Some attemptá have been made by certain physical

anthropologists to analyse the physical characteristics of the

people of Ceylon. Their surveys are neither exhaustive nor

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23

complete and the results are not of any help to us Perhaps not

much could be expected from physical anthropologists even in

the future owing to the complex nature of the problem. It ma

be difficult to contend that differences between human communities

are easily recognizable in differences of physical structure.

Distinctions based on physical characteristics may be unreliable

in the present state of knowledge. Even if these were reliable

neither the Sinhalese nor the Tamils of Ceylon can be regarded,

in view of their previous history, as a sufficiently homogeneous

group to enable any superficial distinctions to be used with

confidence in their difUrentiation.

In view of these limitations and difficulties, while

we may claim to have added something to our knowledge of the

history of the Tanmils of Ceylon, the account presented here

is inevitably incomplete and not always definite. We have often

been led to state our conclusions in hypothetical terms. As one

Indologist has remarked, 'they are better than no conclusions

at all or than categorical assertions based on inadequate evidence'.

1. N.D.Wijesekera, People of Ceylon, Colombo 1951.

P.I.Chanmugamn, 'Anthropometry of Sinhalese and Ceylon T(1s',

C.J.Sc. (G), IV, pp. 1-18 ; Marret and Wijesekera conducted

an ethnological survey of Ceylon, the materials of which are

in the National Museum, Colombo and at the University of Harvard.

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24This is especially so regarding the beginnings of the kingdom

of Jaffna, where the gains from this research, valuable though

they are, have not increased our knowledge of the origins of

the kingdom. With the progress of archaeological research and

place-name studies, we hope these limitations could be overcome

to a great extent.

As we have stated earlier, the materia]. used in the

first part of our study dealing with the Dravidian settlements

is mainly derived from sources hitherto untapped. These include

nearly a hundred Tamil inscriptions, about half of which are

unpublished, and the Tamil chronicles. Most of the Tamil

inscriptions and. the Tainil chronicle Maak4appu-mmiyam

have been used here for the first time. In this sense, a substantial

section of the first five chapters forms an original contribution

to our subject.

In the transliteration of Tamil names and. words

we have adopted the system used in the Madras Tamil Lexicon.

However, in the case of more familiar names, we have used the

transcription that is familiar to all Indologists (j., agam

for Cafikani and P4ya for Piya). We have usually broken up

the longer compounds with hyphens and simplified the junction

of words ao as to facilitate the understanding of their meaning.

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25

CHAPTER I

TEE BEG INNIS OF DRAVIDIAN SETTLEIEIITS

Front the earliest times to the end of the tenth century A.D.

No appreciable light is thrown by either tradition

or archaeology on the darkness in which the history of the earliest

Dravidian settlements in Ceylon is shrouded. The archaeological

finds so far have not been very encouraging and few definite

conclusions can be drawn from the little that has been discovered.

The Pli and Sinhalese chronicles furnish some evidence regarding

the political relations between the Dravidian kingdoms and Ceylon,

but contain little information on Dravidian settlements in the

island. The late Tamil chronicles of Ceylon, on the other hand,

hardly preserve any memory of the very early times. Under these

circumstances, one has to piece together the hopelessly meagre

evidence in the above sources to determine the chronology and

nature of the early Dravidian settlements in Ceylon.

It has been claimed by certain writers on the history

of Jaffna that the people of northern Ceylon at the time of the

earliest Indo-Aryan settlements, called gas in the chronicles,

were T,n11s Some others have claimed that these gas were Tantil

1. S. Gnanapragasar, 'Ceylon originally a land of Dravidiana',

LQ . I, No.1, pp.27 If.

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26

in culture and language, although ethnically they were not

Dravidian These conclusions, as we shall see presently, are

based on the legendary accounts of the gas in the P1i chronicles

and the Tamil Buddhist epic Maini!kalai as well as on the erroneous

identification of some of the place-names mentioned in early

Tami]. literature. Gaaaapragasar, a leading proponent of the

theory that the Ngas of the Pli chronicles were TRndls, has

put forward four n'xi{n arguments in support of it In the first

place, he baa argued that the island of Ceylon as well as the

language spoken there were known in ancient times as 1ain and

that the name of the language was later corrupted to Eu. These

factors, in his opinion, 'should lead one to conclude prima facie

that, at the earliest times, am was occupied, at least in the

main, by a Tamil-apeaking people' This argument is far from

logical. Presumably it rests on the fact that am is now used

only in Tamil as a name for Ceylon. But the origin of this name,

far from indicating that the island was occupied by Taniil-speaking

people in ancient times, shows that the people from whose name

ain is derived were Sinhalese. The earliest occurrence of this

name is in the Brhxri! inscriptions of South India. In these

1. C.Rasanayagarn, Ancient Jaffna, pp. 13 if.

2. S.Gnanapragasar,'ceylon originally a land of Dravidians', pp.27 ff

3. Ibid., p. 30.

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27

inscriptions, from Tirupparafkuam and Sittaaval, occurs

the Prit form of this name, namely Evidently it is from

this Prkrit form that the Tamil Tam is derived. It could be

shown that a is derived from Si*h4a through the Pli STh4a,

or more probably through another Prkrit form Sihi.a. The name

Siñh4a has two elements, s14 a and a. The Sanskrit siria

becomes sha in Pli STha becomes sihi and a! (the consonant

Ii is dropped when its position is between two similar vowels

and the two vowels coalesce) in Sinhalese Si*h4a could, therefore,

have become Sihija and later SIa in early Sirthalese, aJr4.

probably even in other Prakritic languages, although no record

of such a form has survived in Sinhalese It is not difficult

1. C.Narayana Rao,'The BrThini Inscriptions of South India',

N.I.A., I, pp. 367, 368, 375.

2. ., 6:10.

3. S.Paranavitana, Sigiri Graffiti, I, p.xci. Siiha- in

becomes Si-gin in Sinhaleae.

I. Cf., Sihila (Sih4a) and Sihilaka (Si*h4aka) in a aroh

inscription from Loriyn Tangai, in Wsat Pakistan, belonging

to about the second century LD. S.Konow, Kharoth! Inscriptions,

p. 110; U.C.H.C, I, pt.l, p. 90.

j., also Sielediba in The Christian Topography of Cosmas

Indicopleustes, ed. F.O.Winstedt, p. 250.

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28

to derive the forms Tja and Iam from Sja. In the early period,

when Sanskrit and Prkrit words were borrowed into Tamil, those

with the initial letter a often dropped that consonant The

name Sja, when used in the Tamil country, would, therefore,

have become a, as indeed it occurs in the pre-Christian

Brhm* inscriptions there Since the a in Prkrit and the a

in Tamil are interchangeable a would become a and the final

form am is derived front this by the addition of the consonant

in, which too is in keeping with the rules governing the form of

borrowed Sanskrit and Prkrit words ending with the vowel a,14.

especially the neuter nouns or those designating inanimate objects.

Thus, am could be derived from the name Sih4a and would,

therefore, mean the land of the Sinhalese rather than indicate

that Ceylon was originally settled by Tamils. Guanapragasar's

arguments, on this score, will become groundless. The derivation

l.., Pkt. sipp (Skt. sukti)> Tiinil ippi ippi in Maimkalai,

XXVII, 1.6k; Cittnta-cikmaçi, 23:5 ; Madras Tamil Lexicon,I,p.297;

cf. also Pkt. slsa>Tamil jyant ; Skt. san hi> Tamil anti.

•This probably occurred in the Prakritic languages,too. Cf. Skt.

Sih4a> Sinh. He or Heja > E.n and Skt. Si* 4a seems to

have become Ia in Ia-nga (My . ,35:l5).

2. C.NarayanaRao, . p. 375.

3. ., Damia> Tamiar ; Co'a > C1ar.

i. Skt. mafig4a ) mafik4am ; Skt. si*ha , cifikam

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29

of !2am from Siñhaa is accepted by leading Tamil scholars

Secondly, Gnanapragaar has argued that the original

inhabitants of Ceylon came from South India and that these

pre-Aryaii aborigines were Dravidians who seem to have spoken

a Tamil dialect He bases this on the assumption that the pre-

Aryan inhabitants of India represeit an earlier wave of immigrants

from the Mediterranean area and that no trace og any langtage

other than Tamil is found in India till the arrival of the

Indo-Aryans. Although the pre-historic relations between India

and Ceylon are undeniable the rest of his arguments are based

on mere assumptions. It is not true to say that all the non-Aryan

inhabitants of India were necessarily Dravidian. There were

others as well, chief among whom were the Mu-speaking people

The chronology of the Dravidian migration to India is itself

an unsettled question There is no evidence to suggest that

Tamil was the only language spoken in India in pre-Aryan times.

1. S.Vaiyapuri Pillai, Madras Tamil Lexic n, I, p. 382;

S.Krishnaswaniy Aiyangat in the Preface to S.Rasanayagam's

Ancient Jaffna, p. v.

2. S.Gnanapragasar,'Ceylon originallyland of Dravidians', p.30.

3. U.C.H. ., I, pt. 1, pp. 75, 79.

If. K.A.Nilknta Sastri, History of South In ia, p . 59.

5. Cf., C.von FUhrer Haimendorf,'New Aspects of the Dravidian

Problem', T.C., II, No.2, p .131. The author dates the Dravidian

migration to the first millenium B.C.

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30

His third argument is that 'hundreds of Taniil place-

names in Ceylon are pre-Sinhalese' He has given a few examples

of ele ents of present-day Sinhalese place-names and what have

been considered by him to be their Tamil origins. It is clear

that this argument is based on superficial similarities and not

on any historical study of the development or evolution of these

names. This could be seen in the two sets of elements as well

as from their phonological development. He has clai ed, for

instance, that the Sinhalese element dea, meaning 'low-lying

land or valley', is derived from Tamil ti, meaning corn

But dea and its more common variant de are derived from

Sans1rit droi (=valley), through the Phi doi and medieval

Sinhalese doa and

The fourth argument that Sinhalese is based on Tamil

and that, therefore, 'the original inhabitants of Ceylon' spoke

Tamil is unconvincing Gnaaapragasar arrives at this conclusion

by adopting unscientific methods in his linguistic research. One

can only quote the views of Wilhelm Geiger on this matter:-

Gnanapragasar's methods are not at all Indian; they aresimply a relapse into the old practice of comparing twoor more words of the most distant languages merely onthe basis of similar sounds without any consideration for

1. S.Gnanapragaaar,'Ceylon originally a land of Dravidians', p.31.

2. Ibid.

3. Skt. Jambu-droi ) Phi Jambu-doi ) Sixth. Daba-dei

and Daba-deiya. Cv., 81:15; Pv., p . 119; ., p. k5.Also, ip c nsciipven s u.c.riJ

If. S.Gnanapragasar,'Ceylon originally a land of Dravidians', p.31 ff.

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31chronology, for phonological principles, or for thehistorical development of words and. forms. 1

Similarly the attempts of Raaanayagam to show that

the Ngas of Ceylon referred to in the Pli chronicles were

Tamil in culture and language are based on the erroneous

identification of some place-names in the Tamil Safigam texts,

without any consideration for chr.ogy or for known historical

facts An analysis of these early Tamil poems shows that the

geography of their accountá is mainly confined to the Tam.tl

country of their time, which was bounded in the north by the

Vñkaam (Vgaam) hills, in the south by Kuzriari (Cape Comorin)

and on the west and east by the seai There is no indication in

any of the poems that chieftains and rulers from outside these

limits were eulogised by the Tamil poets. A notable exception

is the Arya king Pirakatta, (Brasta) who is mentioned in the

colophon of Kapilar's ifici-pu Despite this factor,

Rasanaya,gam has tried to identify -ilaAk8i, }ntai and ICutirai

of the aigam poems with Ceylon, Mahtittha (in Ceylon) and

Kutirai-malai (in Ceylon) respectively The )-ilMciii of

1. W.Geiger, A Grammar of the Sinhalese Language, p. vii.

2. C.Rasanaragaii, . cit., pp. 13_h14.

3. Tolkppiyam, Pyiram, 11. 1-2 ; Cilappatikram, VIII, U. 1-2.

k. ifici-pu, Pattu-pu , ed. U.V.Cuvmfnata Ayyar, p. 380.

5. C.Rasanaagam, . cit., pp. 19-26.

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32the Tamil poems cannot be identified as Ceylon. It was a

chieftaincy in the Tamil country when these poems were composed

and has been identified as a region in the North Arcot district

It is held to be the same as the Uttara-lk! of the Ca

inscriptions There were also other places in the Tamil country

with ilaikai as the chief element of their names which find

mention in the agam poems. We hear of To-n-ilaikai, KI-

m-ila.fLkai and Nau-n fl-ni-ilai3.kai Of , To-m-ileAki

is considered by some to represent Cey1on This may or mar not

be correet, for there is no evidence in the Tamil poems to

identify it properly. However, Ceylon was not the only place

known to the Tamils as I].añkai. In the earliest literature and

inscriptions of the Tamils Ceylon is referred to as a or

In later times, the names Ci.kajam and Ilafikai were also used.

But when Ilañkai was uáed to denote Ceylon, it was usual to

qualify it with some epithet so as to distinguish it from the

1. K.A.Nilakiinta Sastri, The Cas, pp. k35, kk2 fn. 83

V.Kanakasabhai, Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, pp. 27, 29 ;

J.R.Narr identifies it as a place near Dharmapuri, The Eight

Tarnil Anthologies with special reference to and

Patiuppattn, thesis submitted to the University of London, 1958.

2. See infra, p.

3. u-p uppaai, 11. 119-120.

V.Kanakasabhai, . cit., p.27 ; J.R.Narr, . cit.

5. C.Narayana Rao, op. p.375 ; applai, 1. 191.

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33other I1a..kais. The Cilappatikram refers to Ceylon as 'kaa1

Ilaiikai' (Iiakai surrounded by the sea) 1 while the Main1kalai

cãUs it Ila3kti:pam (Skt. Laik-dvIpa) The most common epithet

was tea, meaning south, thereby denoting that it was the Lk

in the south (Te-i1kii) By about the Ca period when Ceylon

became the La.k par excellence such epithets bece.xne unnecessary.

The place named ?ntai in the early Tami]. poems is

also different from }Iahtittha, which is now known as }ntai.

Intai is a recent name for the ancient port of Mahtittba. The

name does not occur in any of the early works. In the Sixihalese

inscriptions arid literature, Nahtittha is referred to as Ntoa,

Mahavoi, Mahapuu, Mahavun, havautoa and Mhapaana ' In

the Tami]. poems of about the seventh, eighth and. ninth centuries

and in the Ca inscriptions of the eleventh century, the

Tamilised form tam has been used By about the seventeenth

century, the variant jam was in use In Ptolemy's map this

1. Ci1appatikram, p.636.

2. M4inka1ai, XXVIII, 1. 107.

3. See infra, p . ++&.

k. C.W.Nicholas, 'Historical Topography of Ancient and Medieval

Ceylon', J.R.A.S. (C.B.), N.S., VI, 1959, pp. 75-81.r

Tvra Tiruppatikafik4, Tirumuai, 2, Patikam 2k3 and Tirumutai 3,Pabi1t&-381, pp. 518, &; S. 1.1., IV, Nos. ].k12, ]I].k.

6. Cf., Mantotte in Memoirs of Rijckloff van Goens 1665, Tr. S.Pieters

p . 106.

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34

port is named }Iodouttou The present name of 1ntai is evidently

an abbreviation of I.ntam There is no evidence whatsoever

to identify Jntai of the aâgam poems with Nahtittha.

Similarly, the identification of Kutirai and Nutirarn

with Kutiraimalai in Ceylon is untenable. Not only was there a

place by the name of Kutirai in the Tinii1 country there is also

no reason to suppose that the name Kutirainialai for the place

on the north-western coast of Ceylon was in use at the time of

the añgam poems. It is clear from the references in the Tm(1

poems that Kutirai and !4utiram were chieftaincies in the Cra

kingdom The argument that Ptolemy's Hipporos (Gk. hippos = horse,

oros = mountain) is identifiable as Kutiraimalai (Tamil kntirai

= horse, malal = mountain) and that since Hipporos is a direct

translation of Kutiraimalai, the Tami]. name was in uBe in Ptolemy's

time, is also not convincing. It is possible that the present-

day Tamil name is itself a translation of an earlier Sinhalese

name. We find that there is still a place called Avagiri

(Skt. ava = horse, girl = mountain) very close to utiraimalai.

Possibly Avagiri was the earlier name, covering a larger area,

1. C.W.Nicbolas, . p. 75; U.C.H.C., I, pt. 1, map facing p.8.

2. Cf., Taflcavr > Taflcai.

3. V.Kanakasabhai, . cit., pp. 113, 118.

I. v.168 . J.R.Marr, in the work mentioned above,

locates Mutiram near Udamalpet.

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35

and Kutiraimalai may be a Tamil rendering of later times However,

the identification of Hipporos with Kutiraimalai is itself in

doubt.

It is admitted by critical scholars that the legendary

accounts in the Pli chronicles about the Igaa are quite

unreliable Even if there were a people called 1gas, there is

no evidence to suggest that they were Tamfl- in language and

culture. There were persons with the name Nga all over India.

Even to this day we find a people called Ngas living in North-

east India. The Ngas of the chronicles, like those of many

Pli and Sanskrit works, seem to be superhiinn beings Rasanayagam' s

arguments for the existence of Taniil settlements in Ceylon in

pre-Christian times, therefore, are wholly unacceptable1

Ceylon's geographical proximity to and close contacts

with the Tami]. country and. early conquests by TRnr1 adventurers

have been often used as the basis for the assumption that Tamils

were settled in the island in the early centuries of its history.

1. There are other place-names on the north-western coast of 6eylon

which are Tamil renderings of Binhalese names. Cf., Si13.h. J4agul-

t o a-mune >Tamil Kaliy;a-tuai-mukam.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The irya Kingdom in North Ceylon', pp. 180-183;

U.C. •C., I, pt.l, p. 95.

3. See infra, p. 11oIt.

k. See infra, pp.

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36Our sources undoubtedly indicate that Tamils had established

contacts with Ceylon by about the second century B.C., if not

earlier. There is reliable data in our sources relating to the

commercial, cultural, political and religious connections between

South India and Ceylon in the early centuries of the island's

history. One of the earliest references to such contacts occurs

in the Akitti taka This taka story alludes to the intercourse

between Kvripattinam, in the C1a country,and K.radipa, near

NgadIpa. Ngadipa is identifiable with the Jaffna district

which was known by that name in the pre-Christian and early Christian

centuries Kradipa appears to be the island of Kraitivu, about

two miles west of the Jaffna peninsula The Dlpavai1lsa and the

Mahvaisa refer to the two Tamil usurpers, Sena and. Gutta.ka, who

ruled from Anurdhapura in the second century B.0 They appear to

have been connected with the horse-trade in the island. According

to the I4ahvasa, their father was an a sa-nvika or ship's captain

dealing with horses Sena and Guttaka were followed by the Tamil poli.

tical adventurers, Era, Pulahattha, BAhiya, Panay nira, Piaymra

1. The Jtaka, IV, ed. E.B.Cowell, tr. W.K.D.Rouse, p. 150.

2. G.P.Malalaaekera, Dictionary of Phi Proper N nies II, p.k2.

3. C.W.Nicbolas, . cit., p. 8k ; Malalasekera has i entified

it as 'an island in the Dami4a country', . cit., I, p. 570.

k. Dv., l8:k7 ; Mv., 21:10.

5. Mv., 21:10.

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37

and Dhika, who ruled at ânurdhapura for short periods in the

second and first centuries B.0 Among the paramours of Queen

Anul were two Tamils, who also rpled. at Anurdhapura for some

time in the first century B.0 In the first century A.D., 4anga

(33_li 3) went over to South India and took mercenaries to win

back his throne These merceflarie8 were probably supplied by

some chief or ruler, apparently not unconditionally. For, we

find that his son, Candukhasiva, was married to a Tamil lady

who came to be known as Dami-dev Paranavitana is of the

opinion that 'this alliance of his son with a TRmil princess

was, perhaps, a part of the price which Ianga had to pay when

he obtained military aid. from South India against his adversaries'

But it is also possible that it was the result of a friendly

alliance between a Tamil chief or ruler and Ianga. Thus, the

1. Mv., 21:13 ft., 33:39 ft. ; Dv., 18:k9, 20:16-18. The relations

between South India and Ceylon during this period have been

dealt with in great detail by W.M.K.Wijetunge in his thesis,

The Rise and Decline of Ca Power in Ceylon, submitted to

the University of London in 1962.

2. Nv., 31f:l9, 26 ; Dv., 20:27, 29.

3. ., 35:26, 27.

11. Ibid., 35:k8.

5. U.C.H.C., I, pt.]., p. 176.

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38

evidence of the Pli chronicles shows that from about the

second century B.C. the Tamils of South India had established

contacts with the island. The earliest literature of the Tamils,

belonging to about the second and thud centuries A.D., does

not contain information on this point. But there is a solitary

reference in one work, the Pa applai, to trade relations

with Ceylon. It mentions the vessels laden with food-stuffs

from 1am (Ceylon) among those that called at the port of

K'vri-pat'iam, in the Ca country In the aâgam anthology,

there are some poems attributed to Pta-tvar, a Temil poet

from Ceylon But it is from the seventh century that we get any

direct reference to Ceylon in the literature of the Tsmils.

The evidence of the literary sources is confirmed

by a few inscriptions as well. There are three pre-Christian

Brhm inscriptions in Ceylon which attest to the presence of

Ts,w1R in Ceylon. One of these, from Axiurdhapuraz popularly

known as the Tamil Householders' Terrace inscription, records

the building of a prsda (terrace), probably used as an assembly

hail, by some Tami1s On one of the sides of the terrace are

found inscribed the following names: Kubira, Tia, Kubira ujata,

aga, Naata and Krava the navika (ship's captain). The last-

3. S.Paranayitana, 'Tsmi1 Householders' Terrace - Anurdhapura',

A.B.I.A., XIII, pp. 13-1k.

1. Paplai, 1. 191.

2 • _________ ; Kuuntokai, v 3L-3 ; Nariai, . fo

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39

mentioned person seems to have occupied. the highest position

among them, judging fro; the height of the terrace he occupied.

As Paranavitana has pointed out, it is interesting to note that

the person who occupied the highest seat was a ship's captain.

This may mean that the community of Tmfls who insed this terrace

was a mercantile community, possibly organized into a guild.

The two other Brhmi inscriptions, from Periya-pi4iyan.k4am in

the Vavuniy district, mention a Tm11 trader Lamed Vikha,

who owned a cave in that place In South India, at Tirupparañkuam

and Sittanaval, there are at least three Brhmi inscriptions

of about the second century B.C. mentioning householders from

Ceylon (a) The establishment of religious contacts with the

Andiira country as early as the second century A.D. is attested

to by inscriptions at Ngrjuikoa, which refer to the

foundation of a monastery called the Sh4a-vihra by monks

from Ceylon Probably Telugus from the ndhra country were in

Ceylon, too t at this time. The Mahvaipsa mentions a 'Dam.13a'

named Vauka, 'a city-carpenter in the capital', among the

paramours of Queen Anul to be raised to the throne in the

1. V, pt.2, p. 2k2.

2. C.Narayana Rao, . pp. 367, 368, 3755.

3. J.Ph.Vogel, 'Ngrjuikoa Inscriptions', E.I., XX, pp. 22, 23.

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40first century B.0 Although the Mahvai1sa and the Dipavaipsa

refer to him as a Daini4a, his name suggests that he was a

Telugu, for Vauka is a term that was applied to the Telugus

by the Tamila. Probably Vauka was an artisan from ndhra-dega.

The archaeological sources provide valuable data

regarding the cultural relations between ndhradea and Ceylon

in the early centuries of the Christian era. It baa been

pointed out by Paranavitana that the majority of the early

sculptures of Ceylon bear a striking similarity to those of the

ndiira school A number of portable marble reliefs and statues,

which by their material and style belong to the ndhra school,

have been discovered in the northern parts of Ceylon, in places

like Z4aha-illuppallama, Sjgiriya, Hingurakgama, Naradnki dawe la,

Pemadu and Kuccaveli Commenting on these finds, Paranavitana

says:'

The evidence of the influence of Indhra art on that ofearly Ceylon is so overwhelming that it may be suggestedthat a branch of that school was established in Ceylonand that the sculpture on the frontispieces of the ancient______ are the work of sculptors from the Kiatna valleyor local artists trained by them. k

1. Mv., 3k:20.

2. S.Para.navitana,'Examplea of ndhra art recently found in Ceylon',

A.B.I.A., XI, pp. 15-18.

3. A.S.C.A.R. for 1952, p.2k ; A.S.C.A.R for 195k, P.5: A.S.C.A.R.

for 1956, p. 11; A.S.C.A. • for 1957, p . 2k; A.S.C.A.R. for 1955,

pp. 10,11,29

i. 'Evidence of earliest £ihhalese art', c'lon Observer, k.2.195o,p.6,

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41

It is clear from the evidence that has been briefly

adduced above that before the third century A.D. close contacts

had been established between Ceylon and the Ta.xnil and Telugu

countries. But this evidence does not necessarily suggest that

there were settlements of Dravidians in the island at this time.

The question to which we have to seek an answer is whether these

early contacts between South India and Ceylon led to the rise

of permanent and widespread settlements of the Dravidiama in

the idland.

The evidence outlined above reveals that commercial

interests, political adventure and the prospect of military

employment had led Tamils and possibly some Telugus to go to

Ceylon in the early centuries of the island's history. Tamil

traders possibly established temporary settlements in the ports

and main towns. But there is no reliable evidence in our literary

or epigraphic sources to c&nclude that there were notable settle-

ments of Dravidians in the island before the third century A.D.

The Maivaisa and the late chronicle Rjvaliya contain some

references to the migration of people from the Tmi1 country

to Ceylon before the third century A.D. In the account of Vijaya,

the )ahvasa refers to the arrival of a princess, seven hundred

maidens and 'craftsmen and a thousand families' from the Pya

country This statement does not inspire any confidence in us.

1. ;55 ff.

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42It is as unreliable as the many other elements that have grown,

in the course of the centuries, around the traditiofl of the

original Indo-Aryan settlements in Ceylon. It is significant

to note that the earlier chronicle, Djpavaisa, has no semblance

of this tale in its account of Vijaya. It seems to have been

included later in order to enhance the prestige of the founders

of the Sinhalese kingdom.

The Pjvaliya would have us believe that GajabThu I

(U.k-136) settled twelve thousand Tamil prisoners in the districts

of Alutktruva, Srasiyapattuva, Yainuvara, Uunu'vara, Tumpan ,

v5ha, Pansiyapattuva, Egoatiha and Megoatiha in the central

highlands The cycle of Gajabhu legends in the literature and

tradition of the Sinhalese has been discussed by scholars in

some detail and it is now agreed that, although there seems to

be some kernel of truth in the accounts regarding GajabThu's

visit to South India, many of the details are highly incredible

and improbable That GajabThu visited South India is confirmed

by the Cilappatikrani Around the tradition connected with this

event, several legends seem to have grown in the course of the

centuries. The account of the Tami]. settlements in the valiya

1. ., p. 35.

2. LC.H.C., I, pt.]., pp. 182-185 ; W.N.K.Wijetunge, . cit.

3. Cilappatikram, pp. 18, 636.

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43

may form part of the later details added to the original tradition.

It is also possible that it is based on some minor Tamil settle-

ments that were established in the island in the second centuryy

or later. The second century A.D. appears to have been a period

of expansion for the Ca country. The several accounts of KariklaCa's activities reveal that Tarnil settlements were established

in the newly-cleared territories north of the Ca country,

namely in Toaimaalam It is possible that the expanding

population of the Ca country went in search of new lands and

some of them settled in the western regions of Ceylon, where

even now the few Tamil-speaking Sinhalese claim descent from

those who are supposed to have been settled by Gajabhu. These

events, or more probably later Tamil settlements, may have

given rise to the legend of the twelve thousand prisoners in

later times. With the evidence that we have now, it is not possible

to verify the account in the RLTvaliya. As it stands, however,

it is difficult to accept it as reliable.

Although the literary and epigraphic sources are

not helpful in our inquiry regarding the Dravidian settlements

of the earliest period, the evidence of archaeology has been of

much value. The earliest and perhaps the most defiaite evidence

1. V.Kankabhai, . cit., pp. 27-29 ; Pafapplai, 11. 280-28k.

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44concerning any Dravidian settlement in the island prior to the

third century A.D.is provided by the megalithic urn burials

from Pontparippu, on the north-western coast of Ceylon. Partial

excavations at this site at different times during the last four

decades have uncovered several urn-burials, which have rightly

been related to the megalithic culture-complex of southern India

The niegaliths of the peninsular Inìdian region have generally

been associated with the Dravidian-speakers, who are believed

to have occupied the area in the course of the first millenium B.C.

This theory is held by most modern scholars, though there are

several points of controversy which have not been satisfactorily

solved Although the urn-burials at Pomparippu have been associated

with the South Indian complex, they have not yet been systematically

excavated, and it will be difficult to express anything conclusive

till such ah excavation is completed and the finds thoroughly

eximined.

It was in 1925 that one of the pots from the burial

site was exnii,ed for the first time by the Archaeological

Department But it was not until 1956 that a systematic, though

1. C.J.Sc. (G), I, pt. 2, pp. 51-52 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 1957, pp. 11-17,

30-31.

2. K.R.Srinivas..and N.R.Banerjee, 'Survey of South Indian Nega].itbs',

Ancient India, 9, pp. 113-114.

3. C.J.Sc. (G), I, pt. 2, p. 51.

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45

by no means extensive, excavation was carried out there. In 1956

more than a dozen jars were discovered and in and around these

were smRller pots which contained skulls and other hnm,4n bones,

some of which were post-cremation remaine In the next year, nearly

fourteen urns were unearthed and these, too, contained human

bones, skulls, food and personal belongings These burials were

either fractional or secondary. Of the metal artefacts, four

are of bronze and one of iron. Some of these artefatta are ainrilar

to those discovered at the megalithic sites at Brahmagiri, in

the Kannada areas of South India Deraniyagala, who was in

charge of the 1956 excavations, has compared these with the

finds of the fourth quarter phase of the Bronze Age in the Deccan,

datable to about the third century B.C1

An examination of the material from Pomparippu

shows that it is not to the material from Brahmagiri and Chandravalli

that the Ceylonese artefacts bear the closest affinity, but to

those from the sites in the Tamil country, such as 4dichchanalltlr.

The Pomparippu site differs in one important respect from those

of Mysore and Ker4a, in that its interments belong to a class

called urn-burials and have no litbic appendage either in the

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1956 , p.i

2. A.S.C.A.R. for 1957, pp. 11-17, 30-31.

3. Ibid., pp. 16-17.

k. Ibid., p. 17.

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46form of a bounding circle or dolmens and cists. Even the absence

of sarcophagi is conspicuous. Such burials have been found. in

large numbers at icIichchanal].r, in the Tinnevelly district and

are peculiar to the extreme south of the peninsula The Pomparippu

site lies closer to dichchanallr in respect of the large contents

of bronze ware, than to the sites of Mysore. But it has all the

common features that makes it representative of the megalithic

culture, namely iron implements, the wheel-turned Black-and-Red

ware and the post-excarnation fragmentary and collective burials

The large and. pyriform urns are similar to those from Adichchanallr

and Brahmagiri. Probably the people responsible for these burials

were Tamils from the neighbouring Tinnevelly district, the area

which is closest to Poniparippu. The common prevalence of such

urn-burials among the Tamils of early times is evidenced by the

aam literature as well In the light of this evidence, the

Poniparippu region could be taken as one of the earliest settlement

sites of the Dravidians, probably Tamils, in Ceylon.

The problem lies not so much in the identification

of the authors of these burials as in the determination of their

date. The South Indian sites have been dated variously from

1. K,R,Sriniyasan and N.R.Banerjee, . p. 110 ;

A.Raa, Catalogue of Prehistoric Antiquities from Adichchanallur

and Perumbair.

2. K.R.Srjnjyasan and N.R.Banerjee, p. 115.

3. K.R.Srinivaaan,'The Megalithic Burials and Urn-fields of South

India in the light of Trnnil literature and tradition', icient Thdiat.L,.. bp . q.

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47the seventh century B.C. to the first and second centuries AD.

From the evidence of the añgam literature we find that such

urn-burials were in vogue in the Tamil country as late as the

second and. third centuries A.D By a closer comparison of our

artefacts with their opposite numbers in the South Indian sites

as well as on the basis of stratigraphy it is possible to arrive

at a specific date for the Pomparippu burials. But unfortunately,

the excavations at Pomparippu have not been systematically completed

nor has a comparative study been undtaken. Till these things

are done it is impossible for a non-archaeologist to pronounce

a judgment on this vital question. The Adichchanallr and Perumbair

sites in the Tinnevelly district can be dated to about the third

century E.0 Considering the fact that our artefacts bear the

closest similarity to those of the latter sites, it may not be

wrong to assign them to about the same period. Al]. that could

be said for the present is that the Poinparippu site is earlier

than the third century L.D. and. is one of the earliest settlement

sites of the Dravidiana in Ceylon. Tpking into consideration

the location of the site, near the mouth of the Kafl Oya, close

to the pearl bnkR and only a few miles south of the ancient,

1. K.R.Sriuivasan, . cit., pp. 9 U.

2. K.R.Srinivasan and N.R.Banerjee, . ., p. 113.

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48

though lesser known, ports of Kutirimlai and Pa].lugatuai,

where ancient ruins are still to be seen, it is possible that

this originated as a settlement of traders as well as pearl-divers

and fishermen from the opposite coast. It is diZficult to say

whether these Dravidians continued to survive as a distinct

group till later times when Pomparippu definitely becomes k.nown

to us as a Tstmil area, or whether they were assimilated to the

local Sinhalese population before long. The proximity to as well

as the continuous relations with South India may have helped

them to maintain their ethnic identity for a long time. But

these are matters of speculation.

Another possible megalithic site is to be found

in Katiraveji, on the north-eastern coast of the island. Some

years back, Paranavitana discovered here several rude slabs

of stone, cut to some size aDid shape, scattered. about the place,

but not without some order. These stones 'lie in groups of

four or five; and there are nnm1takable signs tbat some of

them may have been set up on the ground. There is one group

which still shows the original structure' Paranavitana also

found 'other relics of hunmn occupation' On the basis of the

description of such a structure in the Paramatta-jotik, be

1. C.J.Sc.(, II, pp. 91_95.

2. Ibid., p. 95.

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49

surmised that these could be 'connected with a akha

If these structures served the purpose of warship, as Paranavitana

is inclined to believe, it is unlikely that several of them were

erected in one particular site. It seems more probable that

these were sepulchral structures, similar to those found in

several parts of South India. Among the many different types

of megaliths found in that peninsula, dolmenoid cista form one

claas These are either made of dressed slabs of stone and coed

by a capstone or are constructed with rough unhewn boulders.

Such cists are found in places like Tiruvlag4u in Andhra

Pradesh and Ariyr in Nadras But almost all these have port-

holes, whereas the dolmenoid cists in Cochin do not have this

features It is possible that the cists at Katirav4i belong to

the latter class. In fact, Paranavitana states that according

to his guide there was at least one structure which had four

side-slabs and another slab at the top, only a few years before

he visited the site. Two of the side-slabs bad fallen down and

the top slab had been removed for building a temple in the

1. C.J..Sc. (G), II, p. 95.

2. K.R.Srinivasan and N.R.Banerjee, p. 105.

3. Ibid., p. 106.

if. Ibid., p. 106.

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50

vicinity This means that all the other groups of stones at this

site may have originally stood in the form of dolmenoid cists.

Further, the name given to this site by the villagers, who are

Tami].s, is Kura u-paai-eutta-vnrpu ( (The region of) the

margosa tree under which the monkeys mustered). This name seems

to connect these structures with the South Indian do].menoid

date. For, in the Tamil country,the megalithic structures are

known by a remarkably similar name, Kuraiku-paaai, a corruption

of the name Kurakkuppaai, meaning 'a sepulchre or tomb lowered

into the earth' The villagers of Katirav4i, like those of

South India, believe that these stone structures mark the site

where the monkeys of Rma's army encamped before the battle with

Rvaa This is a case of popular etymàlogy based on the element

kuraiku (=monkey), the corruption of kurakku • It is possible

that the later Tamil settlers in the Katirav4i region, having

seen the remarkable similarity between the megaliths of their

South Indian homeland and these structures, used the name Kurakku-patai

or Kuraku-pataai which later became Kuraz5.ku-paai. As no

excavation was carried out at this site, it is not known whether

burials exist here, and, therefore, it is not possible to say

1. C.J.Sc. (a), II, p. 95.

2. K.LSrinivaaan, . cit., p. 9.

3. Ibid.; C.J.Sc. (G), 11, p. 95.

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51

anything definite on this matter. Since the sire is on the coastal

area not far from the ancient port of Gokya, it is not impossible

that the people who erected these were traders from the Cochin

area, the dolmenoid cists of which place bear the closest similarity

to our cists. Perhaps the Katirav4i area bad a small settlement

of Dravidians some time between the third century B.C. and the

first century A.D., the period normally assigned to most of the

South Indian megaliths. It is not impossible, however, that these

structures are independent of the South Indian complex. But this

is unlikely on account of their isolated character, which goes

agint their association with some other culture—complex.

Until the ninth century, with the exception of the

megalithic remains of Pomparippu and the possible exception

of those of Katirav4i, there is no definite evidence regarding

any Dravidian settlement in the island. The P].i chronicles,

South Indian literary works, and Cey].onese and South Indian

inscriptions attest to the continuous relations between Ceylon

and South India. Between the third and the ninth century, there

were two South Indian invasions of Ceylon. The first was in A.D.529

which resulted in the rule of six Tamils at Anurdhapura for

twenty-six years The second took place in the reigm of Sena I

(833-853). On this occasion, the Pya ruler ri Na Vallabha

1. Cv., 38:11 ff. ; W.M.LWijetunge, . cit.

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52

defeated the Sinhalese ruler and returned with a large booty

In the same period, at least on nine occasions, Sinhalese aspirants

to the throne went over to South India and took mercenaries to

achieve their enda

There were also close relig&àus relations between

the two regions. The Pli chronicles refer to Buddhist monks

from South India going to Ceylon and vice versa. Scholars like

Buddhadatta and Mahynists like Sagharnitta went from the Ca

country. Monks from CLAn went to the ndhra country and from

there helped to spread Buddbism In the time of the aiva revival

in the Tamil country (sixth to the ninth century), monks from

Ceylon are said to have gone there and participated in public

disputations An interesting information regarding South Indian

Buddhists in Ceylon is found in some late Telugu Jam works as

well as in two Kannada inscriptions of about the twelfth century.

The Telugu works, such as the RLj vali-kathe, Akalñka-carita

and the âkalfika-stotra, refer to an eighth-century Jam teacher,

Aka1ñka by name, from ravaa Belgola in !rsore, as having disputed

with the Buddhists of 1flci and defeated them These Buddhists,

1. 50:12 ft. ; W.M.K.Wijetunge, . cit.

2. Mv., 36: 115, 119; Iv,, p. 1f9 ; Cv., 11.Lf:?l,1.0S, 125, 152; k5:18;

117:33 ft., k6 ft. ; W.M.K.Wijetunge, . cit. ; U.C.H.C., I, pp.3O95J

3. J.Ph.Vogel, .2, cit., pp. 22, 23.lf• .-iru viai a1-pnam, pp.. W .Taylov, 1L

5. H.R.Wilson, Mackenzie Collection, I, p..Lv ; ., II, pp.k5, k6,a

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53

we are told, were in consequence banished to Ceylon. The substance

of these accounts seems true, for, two Kannada inscriptions

of earlier dates also refer to the same incident. Au inscription

from Tirumak4lu-NarasIpr t1k, of A.D. 1183, alludes to1 SAkal.ka's defeat of the Buddhists, while another from Sravaa

Belgola celebrates Aka1fika or his victory at flci over the

2Buddhists who were in consequence banished to the island of Ceylon'.

Since more than one literary work and two Lt1Gr&pions record

this traditionand since the details of the account are not

intrinsically impossible, it may be allowed qualified credence.

In the cultural sphere, too, there is evidence of

close relations between South India and Ceylon in this period.sew'w.f

The influence of Pallava art and architecture onhe buildings

and sculptures of the island between the sixth and the ninth

century bears testimony to this. The land'ä Geig stands out

as a unique monument of Pallava architecture in Ceylon The well-

known Man-and-Horse's-Head and the bas-relief from Isurumuniya

as well as the dvrap1a statues at Tiriyy and the bodhisattva

figtthes from Situlpavva and Kurukk4-maam exhibit unmistakable

1. E.C., III, Inscr. No.105 from 1iruniaklu-Naras!ptr t].nk '-tl.

2. E.C., II, Inscr. No.5k from ravaa Belgola, p. k.

3. A.S.C.A.R. for 1910/11, pp. 112-50.

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54influence of the Pallava school of scu1pture The use of the

Grantha script of the Pallavas in the Sanskrit inscriptions at

Tiriyy and the influence of this script on the Sinhalese script

in the seventh and eighth centuries bear further testimony to

the expansion of South Indian influence into Ceylon in the later

Anurdhapura per iod

In the context of all these relations between

Ceylon and South India a certain amount of two-way traffic in

population may be expected, too. According to some traditions in

Kerala, there was a migration from Ceylon to that part of the

subcontinent in early times and the descendants of these Sinhalese

are said to be the caste of people still known as 1avar (Sin.halese

or Ceylonese) Probably there were some settlers from Ceylon in

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1936, pp. 16-19 ; Artibus Asiae, XIX, pp. 165ff.,

335 ff. ; Indian Arts and Letters, XI, p. 28 ; U.C.H.C.,I, pt.2,

p. 403.

2. A.S.C.A.R. for 1953, pp. 21, 26 ; P.E.E.Fernando, 'Palaeographical

development of the Brhm! script in Ceylon', U.C.R., VII,pp.300-301.

3. V.Nagam Aiya, Travancore State Manual, II, pp. 398-402;

T.K.Veluppillai, Travancore State Manual, II, (19 40), pp. 14-15;

C.A.)4enon, Cochin State Manual, pp. 33, 203.

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55South India in early times. In Ceylon, South Indian traders

probably established temporary settlements in the ports. The fact

that the two earliest and most renowned iva temples of Ceylon

are to be found in the ancient ports of Mahtittha and Gokaa

may point to the establishment of South Indian settlements in

these ports at an early date. The antiquity of these shrines can

be traced to about the third century A.D. The aiva Tmi-1 works

of later times, prominent among these being the Takçia-kailca-

puram and the T a-vaipava-rlai, trace their origin to

pre-Christian times Much of the material in these works, relating

to the early period, falls outside the realm of historical

probability and one has to turn to other sources for reliable

information concerning this quwation. The iva temple at Nahtittha

namely Tiru-kttvaram, appears to have been notige1 in the

Dhvaisa. According to this work, there was a temple of god at

the port of Mahtittha in the ninth year of Kitti Sin Megha (A.D.3lO)

The existence of a iva temple at Goka4a in the time of }1ahaena

(27k-301) is vouched for by the Naiivasa, which mentions the

construction by Mahsena of a vihra at Goka after the destruction

of a temple of god there The Laattha pp inI, the commentary

1. ., Tirnmalai Carukkam ; Yvm., p. 6.

2. Dahavatsa, ed. and tr. B.C.Law, p. k2.

3. ., 37:kl.

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56

on the 1fahvasa, states that this temple of god was a ivaliga

teniple Probably it was the predecessor of the Kvaram temple,

about which we bear from the seventh century onwards. It i8 first

mentioned in the hymns of Taa-campantar, the aiva hymnodist of

the seventh century A.D He has also sung a hymn on Tiru-ktivarazn,

the diva temple of Mahtittba These iva temples of the island,

situated at the major ports of the Anurdhapura period, were

presumably built by South Indian aiva traders. Probably there

were temporary settlements of South Indian mercantile communities

at these places from the early centuries of the Christian era.

But it is not tin the ninth century that we get any definite

evidence of any Dravidian settlement in the island.

Considering the number of occasions when South Indian

mercenaries were enlisted, it appears bhat before the ninth century

more South Indians went to Ceylon as hired soldiers than as

traders. Most of the mercenaries went to the island in the seventh

century, when Sinhalese aspirants to the throne enlisted them

on no less than seven occasions. There is no positive evidence to

suggest that these South Indians remained behind in the island

1. Laatthana1sin!, II, (P.T,S.), p. 685.

2. Tiru-fia-canipantar Tvra Tiruppatikak4, pp. 810-812.

3. Ibid., pp. 518-520.

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57

and established permanent settlements. Probably they, or most

of them, stayed behind permanently. The situation created by the

increasing numbers of Ker4a and Taniil mercenaries in the seventh

century and later is comparable with that caused by the Teutonic

federates in Britain and on the Rhine and the Danube frontiers

of the Roman empire in the fifth century A.D. The British

parallel is striking in this respect. We find that a British

king employed Saxon mercenaries from the mainland to repel the

invasions of his ememies and granted land in the eastern parts

of his kingdom for their settlement. Eventually the federates

created trouble over payment, plundered the country and asserted

their power Although the situation in Ceylon was not similar

in magnitude, it is in a similar ninner that the South Indian

mercenaries appear to have behaved on several occasions between

the seventh and the tenth century. The Cflavasa refers to

instances when the mercenaries showed no desire of returning to

their homelands, resisted to being expelled by the Simhalese

rulers, created trouble over payments, plundered the country

and at times took over power at the capital. For instance,

immediately after the death of Kassapa II (650-659), his nephew

].. R.G.Collingwood and JN.L.Myres, Roman Britain and the English

Settlements, pp. 358-359.

2. Ibid., p. 359.

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58

1na 'had the Damias expel1ed' But they resisted this and

1banded themselves with the resolve: we will drive him out'

With that resolve 'they seiied the town' and it was only by

making a mock treaty with them that ?.na was able to regain

power This uneasy truce did not last long. Soon after this

a Sinhalese aspirant to the throne, Hatthadha, returned to

the island with a Tamil force and the Tamile who were already

in the island 'arose and joined him on the way as he approached'

'Hattbadha who had won over the party of the Dain4as for

himself, occupied the royal city' and ruled for some time

On an earlier occasion, T'mi-1 mercenaries of Dhopatissa I

(639-650) resorted to plunder and destruction. 'The canoes

in the Mahpli Hall he left to the Damias; (and)they burned

down the royal palace together with the Relic Teniple' In the

reign of Sena V (972-982), the Tamil mercenaries were again

in power. 'The Dam4as now plundered the whole country like

devils and pillaging, seized the property of its inhabitants'?

1. 45:11.

2. Ibid., 45:12.

3. Ibid., 45:13-16.

4. Ibid., 45:19.

5. Ibid., 45:21.

6. Ibid., 44:134.

7. Ibid., 54:5-6.

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59

Not long after this, in the tenth year of Mahinda V (992),

'the Ker4as who got no pay planted themselves one with another

at the door of the royal palace, determined on force, bow in

hand, armed with swords and (other) weapons, (with the cry)

"So long as there is no pay he shall not eat" When the king fled

to Iohaa, 'Ker4as, SIh4as and K$aa carried on the government

as they pleased' Just as the Saxon mercenaries founded Teutonic

settlements in places like Kent, it appears that the Dravidian

mercenaries, namely the DamIas, Ker4as and Kaaae, founded

small settlements in Rjaraha which formed the nuclei of later

settlements. As we shall see in the sequel, the Sinhalese rulers

seem to have granted lands for the settlementsof mercenaries.

The inscriptions of the tenth century refer to Tamil allotments

and lands, which, according to Paranavitana, seem 'to have been

set apart for the maintenance of the Tamil soldiers in the king's

service' But it appears that there were Tamil allotments, lands

and villages which were not necessarily set apart for the maintenance

of TamiJ. soldiers but were places where Tamila were living

There is also some indirect evidence in the Clavasa which points

1. , 55:5-6.

2. Ibid., 55:12.

3. L . , III, p. 273.

k. Se infra, p. 71.

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to the existence of minor Tamil settlements in Rjaraha in

the seventh and ninth centuries That Tamils were living scattered

here and there is hinted at in a reference in the account of

Eatthadha (68k). It is stated that when Ratthadha went to

Ceylon with an army of mercenriea from South India and marched

towards Anurdhapura, presumably from Mahtittha, 'all the Damias

who dwelt here arose and joined him on the way as he approacbed'

Evidently this is a reference to the Tamils who lived in the areas

between the port and the capital. Another reference is found

in the account of the Piya invasion during the reign of Sena I

(833-853). When the Pya ruler ri a r1 Vallabba invaded

the island and encamped at Mahtlitagma, ' many Dam4as who

/ . 2dwelt scatteredi here and there, went over to his side'. Probably

there were minor settlements of mercenary and other Dravidians

in some parts of Rjaraha from about the seventh century. A

reference in the ClaTaWsa seems to imply that many of the Tamils

in the island in the eighth century were soldiers. While recounting

the meritorious deeds of Nahinda II (777-797), the chronicle

states that he gave horses to the Dami.as 'as they would not take

cattle' This probably refers to the Tamils in the capital city,

1. k5:19.

2. Ibid,, 5O:lE.

3. Ibid., 48:lk5.

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61

for, it is unlikely that Nahinda II distributed horses to the

Taxnils living in all parts of the kingdom. That these Tamils

refused cattle and acdepted horses may mean that they were not

a settled peasantry but mercenaries who had more use for horses

than for cattle. But this, however, is a flimsy evidence and

the Tamils who received horses were probably a few mercenary

leaders.

It is in the thIih and tenth centuries that we again

get any definite epigraphic and archaeological evidence, though

meagre, pointing to Dravidia.n settlemOnts. For the first time

in these centuries, Tamil inscriptions come to light and Sinhalese

inscriptions refer to Tamil lands and villages. The earliest of

the ruins of iva temples are also datable to the same period.

Several Saiva ruins, aptly termed the Tamil Ruins,

have been discovered in a section of the norbhern quarter of

Anurdhapura These ruins consist of temples and residences for

priests, with some lesser buildings scattered here and there.

Some of these are ivali.ga temples while some others are dedicated

to the mother goddess. Several stone lifigas, too, have

been unearthed in this area. Al]. the shrines are of ome design,

which is simple and reminiscent of the style of early Dravidian

temples. These have a vestibule (antaria), a middle—room (ardha-

ma4) and a sanctum (garbha-gha), and were all built of brick

1. £S.C.A.R. for 1892, p. 5 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 1893, p. 5.

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62basentents These aiva ruins of Anurdhapura, according to

ParaxLavitana, belong to the 'latest period of that city's history'

The style of these temples, which is in marked contrast to the

embellished granite temples of the Ca and later ?eriods, is

undoubtedly pre-Ca and, therefore, belongs to about the ninth

century, if not earlier. This date for these ruins, or at least

for most of them, has also been cnfirmed by the Tamil inscriptions

found among them, these being the earliest known Tamil records

in the island. Two of them are dated in regna]. years of Ciii-

cañka-pti rya (Skt. Sri Sagbabodhi Mhrja) who has been

identified as Aggabodhi III (629-639) by Krishna Sastri This

identification rests on the consecration name, Sababodhi,

and on the script of the inscriptions. He seems ts have been

guided mainly by the consecration name or 'throne name', judging

from his statement: 'The writing employed in the records is

sufficiently archaic to be referred to the time of Aggabodhi III,

who according to the Ceylonese chronicle Mahvasa, was surnamed

Sin Sahabodhi' Apparently, Sastri was not aware of the fact

1. A.S.C.A.R.for 1893, p. 5.

2. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 1, p. 386.

3, S.I.I., IV, Nos, 1k03, lkOk.

li. M.E.R. for 1913, p. 103.

5. Ibid.

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63

that Sin S4ghabodhi and Sil.megha were borne alternately by

Sinhalese kings as consecration names in much the same way as

Rjakari and Parakari were used by the Ca rulers. The

name rI Saghabodhi was used by several rulers from the time

of Aggabodhi II and it is not easy to identify the ruler of

our inscriptioriswith any one of them. But it is possible to

date the inscriptions on other grounds. The occurrence of the

terms kumrakaam and akkcu in these inscriptions is of some

help in this respect. The term kuxnrakaiam, referring to a group

or a corporation in the position of a board of managers or

trustees of single shnines does not occur in axy of the Tmi1

inscriptions of South India before the ninth century It appears

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 1, p. 365.

2. See _____

3. K.Kanapathi Pjllaj, A Study of the Language of the Tamil

Inscriptions of the Seventh and Eighth Centuries A.D., thesis

submitted to the University of London, 1936. Even the two early

as of South India, namely the u1ka4am and the amtagaa

find mention in the inscriptions only from te time of

Nandivarman III (8kk-866) and Aparjita (879-897) respectively,

C.Minaksbi, Administration and Social Life under the Pallavas,

pp. 130, 132.

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64to have been an institution of the early Ca period. The term

(Ceylon money), referring to a particular type of cèin

of Ceylon, occurs for the first time in the inscriptions of

Parntaka I (907-955) and not earlier It is unlikely that this

term had come into use in the time of Aggabodhi III, nearly

three centuries earlier. The king mentioned in our inscriptions

is also given the title of rya (Mahrja). This is an attribute

given to Mahinda IV,(956-97a), along with the name Sri Sagbabodhi,

in the Vessagiri inscription But since the use of the title

}rya may have been indiscriminate, it is not possible to date

these inscriptions to the reign of Nahinda IV on this evidence

alone. Besides, this date may be somewhat late considering the

script of the records. Probably these belong to the ninth century.

The aiva ruins amidst which these epigrapha were found may also

be dated to the same time.

These Tamil inscriptions from Anurdhapura clearly

attest to the existence of corporate organizations among the

Tamila of Anurdhapura around the ninth century. One of the records,

dated in the fifth year of Cii-cafika-pti }Trya,, registers

1. A.Velup:pillai, A Study of the Language of the Tamil Inscriptions

of the Ninth arid Tenth Centuries, thesis submitted to the

University of Oxford, 196k.

2. I, p. 3.

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65

the grant of money, amounting to thirty akkcus, for the daily

offerings and the burning of the perpetual lamp, evidently to

one of the Siva temples in the area, by the members of a kumrakaam

(kunrakaattu prrm), from the money loaned by Cki1 Cei

Caâka The other inscription, dated in the seventh year of the

same king, records the gift of the same amount of money, for the

identical purpose, by the same group, from the money given by

Ckki Ceai The phrase kumrakaattu prrm was misunderstood

by Krishna Sastri when he rendered it as 'residents of Kumrakaattta-

Pr1r' Kurakaattu-prir is certainly not the name of a village.

Prrm literally means 'we the residents of the big village' and

stands for the members of the village assemblies or corporations

in the same way as (residents of the district) and

nakarattr (residents of the town) means members of the district

assemblies and mercantile guilds of the towns respectively

Kumrakaam is a term which occurs in contemporary South Indian

inscriptions and stands for a group or corporation holding trusteeship

of single shrines refers to those villagers

1. S.1.I., IV, No. 1k03

2. Ibid., No.lkOk.

3. M.E.R. for 1913, p. 103.

k C.Minakshi, .2g. cit., p. 122.

5. K.A.Ni].knta Sastri, The cZ±, p.

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66

or citizens who were members of the kunrakaam. Since these

groups were not mercantile guilds, it cannot be said that they

bad extra-territorial interests. This would mean that the I€un1rakaam

of our inscriptions was a local body without any kind of relationship

with a South Indian body. The important fact to be noticed Ia

that the Tamils settled in Anurdhapura in this time bad organizations

and institutions similar to those of their kinsmen on the mainland

and used Tamil, presumably for the first time in Ceylon, in their

donative records.

A third Tami]. inscription from the same ruins throws

further interesting light on the Tamils who lived in that area

This long but badly weathered epigraph records the building of

a Buddhist vihra by the Nñku Nu Tamia± ('The Tamils of the

Four Countries'). It is dated in the reign of Seavarma. Since

palaeographically the epigraph may be said to belong to the ninth

century, this Seavarma could be either Sena I or II (833-853

and 853-887). The 11ku Iu Tamiar of this inscription also

refer to themselves as Nku (We of the Four Countries).

It appears that they were a single body rather than a group of

Tamils from four different countries. The evidence of some of

the Kannada inscriptions shows that it is so. These inscriptions

are those left by the mercantileAcalled the AiMMTuvar and their

1. S.I.I., IV, No. 1k05.

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67

associates and belong to about the twelfth and thirteenth centuries

In these inscriptions, we find references to a community called

the lku }u (Four Countries), who were among the associates

of the Aififlh1uvar. They were probably a trading community like

the lu Nakarattr (Those of the Four Cities) bit there is no

evidence on this point. The ku Nu Tamiar o Tm11- of the

Nku Nu, mentioned in our inscription from Anurdhapura, seenito have been members of the same community as the lku I4u ofthe Kannada inscriptions. It is interesting to note that this

community of Tamila erected a Buddhist temple at Anurdhapura

some time in the ninth century and named it )kktai-pai.

}kktai is an epithet that refers to the Cra or Keraja king

The fact that the Buddhist or vihra built by the TamilsWLS

of the Nku I tu, suests that they may have hailed from Kerala.

On the basis of the mounds of tile fragments and

potsherds met with all over the area of the Tamil Ruins, H.C.P.Bei].

has surmised that the TRmII community relegated to this quarter

would appear to be the caste of the potters Tt would, however,

seem rather difficult to ascertain the profession of the community

1. ., VIII, p . 89 of the text ; see infra p.-o

2. M.LR. for 1916, No.130 of 1916.

3. T.A.S., V, p. 100 fa.

4. A.S.C.A.R. for 1893, p. 5.

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68

that lived in this quarter on the basie of these mounds. It is

somewhat far-fetched to suppose that the Tamils at Anurdhapura

were assigned different quarters of the city on the basis of

their castes. Further, the evidence of the above inscriptions,

revealing the presence of the ku Iu who were possibly traders,

goes against this conclusion. This area, where the ruins are all

of a religious nature, appears to have had aiva as well as

Buddhist temples which were common places of worship for the

Draidians who lived in and near the city. Although the Tami].

Ruins are concentrated in the area between the path from Jetavaxirnia

to Vijayrina and the path to Pa.k4iya from Kuctam PokuQa

scattered remains of aiva monuments have been discovered here

and there even outside these limits, but almost all in the northern

part of the city. For instance, in the area north of the Basavak4ant

tank some stone liñgas were dizcovered Near the sluice of the

same tank was discovered a stone-based Piaiyr teniple Ih the

Citadel area, the figure of a small na.ndi and the argha of a

_____ were unearthed A quarter of a mile north of the Thprma

1. LS.C.A.R. for 1892, p . 5.2. A.S.C.A.R. for 1890, p. 2.

3. Ibid., p. 3

k. A.S.C.A.R. for 1898, p. 3.

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69a small Hindu temple similar to those in the Tamil Ruins was

also excavated In Vihra No.1 at Pañki4iya, there are three

inscriptions in Tamil and Grantha scripts Some of these remains

may belong to later times but generally several of them seem

to belong to the period before the Ca occupation. The consensus

of evidence from all these finds should lead us to conclude

that there was a Dravidian settlement in the northern part of

Anurdhapura.

By the time of Kassapa IV (898-91k) we get in the

Sirihalese inscriptions definite references to Tamil villages

and lands. There are three significant terms which occur in this

connection in these inscriptions. They are Dem4-kblla,

Dem4at-vlademin and Dem4-am-bim, which have been translated

as 'Tamil allotment' ,'Tamil lands' and 'Tamil villages and lands'

respectively As pointed out earlier, Paranavitana has interpreted

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1898, p. 5.

2. A.S.C.A.R. for 1892, p. k ; 5.1.1., IV, Nos. 1399, lkOO.

3. D.Lde Z.Wickramasinghe, 'Anurdhapura Slab Inscription of

Naheridra IV', E.Z., I, p. 117 ; S.Paranavitana, 'Colonibo iseum

Pillar Inscription of Kassapa IV', E.Z., III, pp. 272, 273;

'Polonxiaruya Council Chamber Inscription of Abhaya Sa1mevan',

IV, p. 36 ; 'Girital Pillar Inscription of Udaya III',

III, p. 1k3.

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70

the term Dem4-kblla to mean 'an allotment of land in a village,

set apart for the Tamils'. In his o4nion, they seem 'to have

been set apart for the maintenance of Tamil soldiers in the

king's service and must have been administered by royal officers'

On an examination of the different occurrences of this term in

the published inscriptions, it appears that the abpve interpretation

does not always yield a satisfactory meaning. It is difficult

to arrive at the exact meaning of this term; it appears to be

an allotment of land enjoying privileges different from those

of lands classified as paniunu But certainly it is not always

an allotment from the royal household. For instance, in the

Polonnaruva Council Chamber inscription, a Tamil allotment occurs

as the private property of an individual In this record the

allotment was granted immunities as a pamunu on condition of

paying annual'y oie pla of dried ginger to a hospital. There

is no reference in this record, or for that matter in any of the

records where the term Dem4-kbfla occurs, to any share of the

revenue being allocated for the maintenance of the Tamil soldiers.

., III, p. 273.

2. A pamunu was 'an estate possessed in perpetuity by a family

in hereditary succession, or by an institution like a monastery

pr a hospital', U.C.H.C.., I, pt. 1, p. 375.

3. ., IV, p. 36.

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71

It is, therefore, clear that a Dernej-kbUa did not always

denote an allotment from the royal household nor was it necessarily

set apart for the maintenance of Tamil soldiers. It could only

mean an allotment in a village where Tamils lived, presumably

separated from the others. Some other references in the inscriptions

seem to lend support to this interpretation. In the Rjarnigva

inscription of }lahinda IV (956-972) it is recorded that certain

immunities were granted to the village of Kiigama The piralkkam,

who appear to have been a class of officials, were granted

certain privileges in Dem4-kiigam but not in Kiigarna. It is

clear from the context that Dem4-kiigam was not far away

from Kiigama. Deme.-kiigam (Tamil Kiigam) appears to have

been a Tmil sector which was originally part of the village of

Kiigama. This probably is an example of a Deme-kb].la. The

Colombo Museum Pillar inscription refers to an officier called

Deme-adhikra, who was presumably in charge of matters concerning

Tamils, or more probably Tamil mercenaries, for, as Paranavitana

has remarked, it is. when the edicts are concerned with the Tamil

allotments that this official takes a part in the promulgation

of edicts It is unlikely that it is one of the titles that were

1. II, I,56.

2. E.Z., III, pp. 272, 27k ; U.C.H.C., I, pt. 1, p. 372.

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72conferred on certain officiala of the kingdom. In the time of

ParkraniabJiu I (1153-1186) we come across at least two officials

who were known as Damiadhikrins. The ciava4sa refers to Dmf-.

dhikrin Rakkha who was a comm8nder in ParkramabThu's army

The Galapta-vihra rock inscription, which is sometimes held

to be of the time of Parkramabhu II but appears to belong to

the reign of Parramabhu I, mentions Dem4a-adhikra Kahaibalk4u

J4indaln, held to be probably identical. with Nagaragiri or Nagaraga.11a

Nahinda of the Clavasa, who was one of the military comm'nders

o Parkramabhu I From the last two occurrences of this title

or designation, Dem4a-adhikra or Damidhikrin seems to have

been a term applied to a military officer. Probably be was in

charge of the Tamil mercenary forces and was, therefore, known

as Dem4a-adhikra (Tamil official or authority). Probably the

Dem4a-adhikra mentioned in the tenth century Colombo Museum

Pillar inscription was also an official commanding the Tamil

mercenary forces. His participation in the promulgation of edicts

concerning Tamil allotments was probably due to the reason that

these Tamil allotments were places where Tamil mercenaries had

settled down. The presence of Tamil settlers in some of the villages

of Rjaraha in the ninth and tenth centuries is also evidenced

by the term Dem4e-kuli which occurs in some of the Sinhalese

1. 2. 75:20, 69, 74.

2. LZ., IV, p. 208 ; tJ.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. 488.

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73

inscriptions of that time. This term occurs always with the

term B4e-ki4i. Wickrainasinghe translated the terms as 'Tamil

coolies' and 'Sinhalese coolies' respectively but Paranavitana

has rightly rendered them as two types of imposts levied from

Tamils and Sinhalese respectively It seems clear from the context

that these refer to some kind of tax and not to people. It is

a very probable conjecture that the foreign settlers had to pay

imposts different from those paid by the Sinhalese. It is not

always that these two terms occur when a reference is made to

imposta. For example, in the case of the immunities granted in

respect of the village of Kiigaina, mentioned earlier, the term

k$i (impost) occurs without the epithet Dem4e (Tamil) or

H4e (Sinhalese) We have seen earlier that there was another

village called Dem4-kiigam, which was probably a Tarnil allotment

in Kiigama Since Dem4-ld4igazn was treated as a separate

village, there was apparently no need to qualify the term ku

with Dem4e and Here in respect of the immunities granted to

KiQigama. This may suggest that the two distinct types of k4!

were mentioned in the immunity grants only in regard to villages

where both Tanhils and Sinhalese were living. On the basis of this

1. . ,I, pp. 170, 175.

2.LZ., IV, p. 511,fn. 6.3. !'' II, p. 6.

k. See supr,p.'I.

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.74body of indirect evidence, it may not be wrong to conclude that

in the ninth and tenth centuries there were Tamils living in

separate allotments in some Sinhalese villages and that such

an allotment was known as a Deme-kbtlla. There seems t-e- he

to have been such allotments in royal as well as pmivate villages.

Similarly, the term Demea-v!lademin (lands enjoyed

by Tm11s) 1also appears to refer to the lands that were owned

by Tm11s This phrase occurs in the Giritale Pillar inscription

of Udaya III (935-936). The Anurdhapura Slab inscription of

Mahinda IV (956-972) lays down that '(the produce) of trees and

shrubs which exist ...... in the Tamil villages and lands

(Dem4 gam-bim) (situated) in the four directions shall be appropriated

in accordance with former custom' Bere the phrase 'Tamil villages

and lands' evidently refers to the villages and lands where

Tamils had settled. As mentioned before, the Clava111sa also

refers to Tanii].s living here and there in Rjaraffha The place-

name evidence relating to Dravidian settlements in this period

is negligible. Besides Dem4-ki4igam, there is another place-name

with the element Deme occurring in the Ayitigvva inscription

1. I am indebted to R.A.L.H.Gunawardena for explaining this term to me.

2. E.Z., III, pp. 139, lk3.

3. LZ. , I, p. 117.

k. See supra, p. co•

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75

of Kassapa IV (898-9lk) The Ku ur_,1'an-d m ina Pillar inscription

of the same monarch refers to a place called Kera].gama which

may have been a place where Ker4a settlers were found

The foregoing evidence of the Sinhalese inscriptions

and the Clavasa is far too scant; and vague that it is difficult

to arrive at definite conclusions regarding Dravidian settlements

outside Anurdhapura in the ninth and. tenth centuries. These

evidences certainly point to the presence of some Tamil settlers

in the villages not far from Anurdhapura. It is interesting to

note that Tamil inscriptions of the eleventh century have been

discovered within a few miles of the Dem4-kbllas and Deme-gam-bim

mentioned in the Sinhalese inscriptions This fact may not be

purely coincidental but may be a pointer in the same direction,

namely that these allotments and lands had settlements of Tamils.

These settlements were probably sm'11 and embryonic.

To sum up the evidence so far discussed, we have

in the first place references in the chronicles to the presence

of Tamil traders, invaders and mercenaries in the island from

abont the second century B.C. There is no evidence, however, to

].. E.Z., II, p, 38. IL S )te t.. !j.. fiti..y.'•

2. Ibid., pp. 22-23. The reading of this name is tentative for

the inscription is damaged at this point.

3. See map at the end of the thesis.

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suggest that there were Dravidian settlements either in the

pre-Christian period or in the early centuries of the Christian

era, On the contrary, the general impression given by the Pli

chronicles is that the Tamils were foreign to Ceylon. Their

usurpations and unpleasant intrusions are not always dealt with

favourably. We have the evidence of three Brhm! cave inscriptions,

datable to the second or first century B.C., for the presence of

Tamils, presumably traders, in the island. But here, too, the

impression given by the inscriptions is that these Tamils were

foreigners. Although the inscriptions were set up by Taniils, whose

names are mentioned in them, the language of these records is

Proto-Sinhalese as in the case of all the other inscriptions

of the island at this time. But more important than this is that

the recorders have described themselves as Tamils, which would

indicate that they considered themselves to be distinct from, if

not alien to, the general population, just as much as the Sixihalese

donors in the pre-Christian cave inscriptions of the Tami]. country

made known the fact that they were Sinhalese householders

kuunipikan = Skt. Sifih4a kuumbikrini) In later times, too,

we get instances of Tamils, who made grants to temples outside

the Tamil country, recording them in the language of the arbut

1. Mu., 25:110; Cv., 38:35-37.

2. C.Narayana Rao, . cit., pp. 367, 368, 375.

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77

niking mention of the fact that they were Tamils There is,

therefore, no epigraphic evidence suggesting the existence

of Tainil or other Dravidian settlements in Ceylon in the period

before the ninth century. It is only the archaeological evidence

that points to the existence of a Dravidian settlement at Pomparippu

and possibly another at Katirav4i, between about the second

century B.C. and the third century A.D.After this there is a

long gap till we reach the seventh century, when we get some

flimsy evidence that points to possible Tamil settlements in

the island. According to the Pli chronicle, bands of Tamil

mercenaries were taken to the island at least on seven occasions

in the seventh century. It also contains vague references to

Taniils living in some parts of Rja.taha. Certain prominent

Tamils, in possession of villages and tnk, also find meution

In the contemporary Tamil works of South India, there are references

to iva temples at the ports of Gokaa and Mahtittha which

were venerated by Taniils. However, it could not be claimed that

there is any definite evidence relating to Tamil settlements in

the seventh century. It is only in the ninth and tenth centuries

that we get such evidence in the Sinhalese and Tainil inscriptions

in the archaeological sources and to an extent in the Pli

1. E. g,, LE.P. for 189k, No. 18k of 1893.

2. Cv., 146:l92k.

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7r

chronicle. That by the tenth century permanent Dravidian settle ents

had begun in the island is fairly clearly borne out by these

SOurces. On the basis of this meagre evidence that is available,

we have to conclude that there were no notable Dravidian settlements

of a widespread nature before the ninth century. The settlement

at Pomparippu and the possible settle ent at Katirav4i have to

be treated as isolated earlier settlements. These are comparable

to the earliest Saxon settlements in Britain, at places like

Dorchester, where the Teutonic artefacts are so early that they

are not sometimes considered to belong to the period of Saxon

settlement at all The burials at Pomparippu apart, the evidence

as a whole does not warrant the assumption of a date earlier

than the ninth century for the beginning of permanent and distinct

Dravidian settlements in Ceylon. Before that century, there was

intercourse between South India and Ceylon in the commercial,

political, cultural and religious spheres in the wake of which

some Dravidians went over to the island and possibly settled

down there. Probably there were some mercenary settlers, too,

from about the seventh century. Many of them may have been assimilated

to the Sinhalese population before long.

Besides the absence of positive evidence, there are

also other considerations which lead us to think that Dravidian

settlements worthy of the name were not founded before the ninth

1. R.G.Co].lingwood and J.N.L.Myres, . cit., p. 39k.

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79

century. As we shall see later, the evidence of the literary

and epigraphic sèurces indicates that the present-day Tamil

areas were then settled by Sinhalese people. The evidence of

place-names, too, supportithis conclusion. A number of Simhalese

inscriptions of this period have been discovered in the Maar,

Vavuniy, Trimoomalee and Batticaloa districts, where Dravidian

settlements were found in the thirteenth century. Some of these

inscriptions provide us with the earlier Sinhalese names of villages

and tanks which now bear Taniil names. For instance, the Mar

Kaccri Pillar inscription of about the ninth century mentions

the villages of 'Pepodatua, Kumbalhala,and Tumpokon, situated

in the Kuakadavuk division of the Northern Coast', presumably

close to Kahtittha, where the record was found The Sinhalese

name of Alaricca for the raperiyak4am tank occurs in an

inscription of GajabThu I (1l11._136), from the same place The

Sinhalese name for Kurunta-k$am, in the Northern Province, a

appears as Kuruñgama in an inscription of l4ahinda III (801-80k)

from that vi1lage In this last name, the derivation of the Tm11

form from the Sinhalese is clearly evident. Besides,these

considerations, it is also worth noting that the Tamils of South

1. ., III, p. 105. $e1?'

2. A.S.C.A.R. for 1905, p. k3.

3. Ibid.

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80

India did not consider Ceylon as a Ta.mil-speaking region till

very late times. In their early demarcation of the 'good Tamil-

speaking world' (Tamiu-nal-ulakam), the omission of Ceylon

is conspicuous We may, therefore, conclude that evidence for

extensive or permanent Dravidi-an settlements bearing the signs

of a date earlier than the ninth century is definitely absent.

Permanent settlements of the Dravidians probably

began by about the ninth century. Before the eleventh century

these were by no means extensive. There were Tamils and possibly

Ker4as and Karas settled in the northern quarter of Anurdh

pure. after the ninth century. Outside the capital city Tmi1,

and probably other Dravidian, settlers were found scattered

in some of the villages of Rjaraha. It is not possible to

locate all these villages with the evidence at our disposal.

The Dem4-k1b11a referred to in the Colombo Museum Pillar inscrip-

tion is stated in that record to have been situated in 'Gaagami,

a revenue(village) of Valvii in the Northern Province'

Unfortunately, neither Gaagami nor Valvii admits of any

identification.Since the provenance of the record is also unknown,

not even a rough location is possible. Since the village was in

the Northern Province of the kingdom, it is to be located somewhere

north of Anurdhapura. The Deme-k lla mentioned in the Polonnaruva

1. See supra,

2. ., III, p. 276.

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81

Council Chamber inscription is identifiable. This al].Qn1ent,

according to the inscription, was in the village of Kogm,

in the district adjoining Mahara, in the province of Gin-

vaiunn-danaviya Nicholas has identified this village with

the present Kogan-vela, in }tal Eaet In the Giritale Pillar

inscription of Udaya III some Tamil lands are stated to have

been situated in the Panisk4iya district of the Eastern

Province This Parisk$iya district, according to the identifi-

cation of Nicholas, extended over the Giritale areas Dem4in-

heihaya of the Ayitigvva inscription has been identified by

Nicholas with the present Ayit1gv!va, in the flurulu division

of the Anurdhapura distnict It has not been possible to identify

Dem4-ki4igam mentioned in the R jmigva inscription of

Nahinda IV. According to the inscription, this place was in the

Eastern Province Probably it was situated somewhere in the

region east of Anurdhapura. There is a KiLigama to the south-

east of Anurdhapura but it is rather difficult to identify this

1. E.Z., IV, p. 36.

2. C.W.Nicholas, . cit., p. 3k.

3. E.Z., III, p . 139.

1, C.W.Nicholas, p. 18k.

5. E.Z., II, p. 38 ; C..Nicholas, p. 168.

6. E.Z., Ii i p. 56.

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82

b4 with the Xi4igani of the above inscription, for, the mo&ern

Kiigama seems to fail outside the limits of the ancient Eastern

Province. The village named Kerellgama in the Kuurumahan-dmna

Pillar inscription was in the district of Valapu, in the Western

Province of the Anurdhapura 1cingdoni It baa not been possible

to identify this village exactly. Since the provenance of the

inscription is 14al1iinau, in the Vilpattu National Park, which

lies in the area of the ancient Western Province, we have to seek

the ancient Kerelgama soniewere in that region. The ripixuiiyva

and RabUva inscriptions of the time of Sena II (853-887) refer

to the impost, Dem4e-ku2, in connection with the villages of

Posonavull and Gliduru-gomaala, which have been identified

as !ripinniyva and RaMblva respectively The Vihrgama Pillar

inscription of Kassapa IV also refers to Deme in connegtion

with another village, the name of which is not preserved Another

inscription of Kassapa IV, mentioning Dem4e-kulI comes from

Sgiriya

The nature of these possible Tamil settlements and

the strength of the Tamil population in the island caxu.ot be

determined with the help of the meagre evidence available to us.

1. E.Z., II , pp. 22-23.

2. E.Z., 1 pp. 167, 175 ; C.W.Nicholas, p. 169.

3. E.Z, IV, p. 52.

k. A.S.C.A.R. for 1911/12, p. 108.

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83

It appears that the Tainil settlers were found scattered in

different villages and probably there was no single area which

was peopled entirely by Dravidians. Many of the settlers may

have been mercenaries who were taken to the island froa time

to time by Sinha].eae princes. All that could be said with some

amount of certainty is that the ninth and tenth centuries saw

the beginnings of the Dravidian settlements which covered several

parts of the northern half of the island in the eleventh, twelfth

and thirteenth centuries.

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84CHAPTER II

SL'rTLENTS IN THE PERIOD OF CLL CCC TJPAT ION (c • 993-1070)

The period of some two centuries that lies between

the fall of Anurdhapura and the collapse of Polonnaruva has

long been recognized as one of very close political, cultural

and social intercourse between South India and Ceylon. The events

of this period, it may not be wrong to claim, led to some of

the far-reaching changes that took place in the history of the

island in the thirtbenth century. These changes determined the

course of the future history of the island in many ways. But the

two main results were undoubtedly the drift of Sinhalese political

power from Rjara to the south-west and the rise of Tm{1

power in the northernmost regions of the country. The events

leading to these dramatic changes may be said to begin at the

turn of the tenth century with the Ca occupation For the

first time a large part of Ceylon became a province of a TRm41

empire, and this naturally drew the island into the arena of

South Indian politics and opened the way to the influence of

South India and the influx of the Dravidian people into Ceylon.

1. See W.LK.Wijetunge, The Rise and Decline of Ca Power in Ceylon,

thesis submitted to the University of London, 1962.

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85

The history of the Ca occupation of Ceylon has

been critically examined by W.X.K.Wijetunge in a thesis submitted

to the University of London in 1962. It is, therefore, not our

intention to deal here with the Ca conquest which was begun by

Rjarja I in c.992/993 and completed by Rjndra I in 1017. In

this chapter, we shall confine ourselves to a discussion of the

Dravidian settlements that were established in the period of

the CN1a occupation.

Although it is possible to argue that the transformation

of northern and a part of eastern Ceylon into Tamil-speRking

areas must have been well under way by the time of the foundation

of the independent Tamil kingdom of Jaffna in the thirteenth

century and that this process must have begun at least a century

or two before the latter event, it is not so easy to trace the

course of the Dravidian occupation of these areas. The settlements

of the Dravidians in the eleventh and twelfth centuries cannot

be told as a na*rative with the materials at our disposal. We

can only attempt to seek an answer to some of the important

questions concerning their migration and settlement. Was there

any large-scale migration of Dravidians in the period of Ca

rule 2 What was the nature and extent of some of the settlements

indicated by the inscriptional and archaeological materials 9

It may not be possible to set out on our inquiry with the hope

of arriving at the whole truth, but at least we may be able to

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86

arrive at more than what has been known so far.

The first problem that confronts us in examining

the course of the Dravidian settlements in this period is the

question of whether there was a migration of South Indians into

the island in the wake of the C 1a conquest. Of the different

kinds of evidence that lie before us, that of the literary

sources is not of much help to opr inquiry. The only literary

works that contain any notable references to the Ca conquest

are the PV.i ClavaU1sa and the Sinha.lese Pjvaliya and RLvaliya.

No notice of the occupation of the island is found in any of

the contenrporary Tamil works of South India, apart from the

incidental allusions to the conquest in such works as the

Kaliñkattu-parai The Tami]. chronicles of Ceylon, written in

much later times, strangely enough do not preserve even the

memory of the Ca conquest of the eleventh century. The names

of such C 1a conquerors as Rjarja and Rljndra are not even

mentioned in these sources. Such works have little claim on

our confidence for the history of Tam11 settlements in the eleventh

or earlier centuries.

The account of the C!lavqsa is by far the most

important literary source for the history of the period of CN1a

1. Xaliñkattu-parai, v. 6k.

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87

rule. Four of its chapters have been devoted to the events of

this period and these have been written not very long after

the time of the foreign occupation But despite this distinct

value, it is of little use in our inquiry. The author of this

section of the Pli chronicle, while relating the untold dpmages

wrought by the C]as and denouncing their wickedness, does not

interest himself in the affairs of the Ca administration or

in those of the Tamils and Sinhalese in the Ca domains. The

subject of his history is the resistance organized by some

Rohaa princes. Of these princes, VijayabThu, the final liberator

of the country from the C 1a yoke, is chosen as the hero of this

section of the chronicle. The conquest of the island and the

desecration of the monasteries by the invaders are dismissed

in a dozen verses in the chapter entitled 'The Pillage of _____

After these, any reference to the Caa is made only in connection

with the resistance that was carried on against them. Repeated

references are made to the hordes of Taini]. invaders who were

taken to the island to suppress rebeliions In short, it is an

account of the miseries wrought by the Cas and of the bitter

1. Cv., 55-58.

2. Ibid., 55:13-25.

3. Ibid., 55:25 ; 58:1k ; 58:25.

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88

struggle that went on between the patriotic Sinhalese rebels and

the ruthless £oeign invaders. The traditions concerning the

areas uhder foreign rule may have been considered irrelevant

to the purpose of the author. But it is more likely that the

author was depending on records which were preserved in the

south of the island and which, therefore, did not contain any

information regarding the goings-on in the districts contrèlled

by the Cas. All that we can positively gather from the P12i

chronicle is that Tamil armies were sent to Ceylon at frequent

intervals and that they were stationed in different parts of

Ceylon. Whether there were Dravidians, other than these soldiers,

who went over to the island at this time is a question that

cannot be answered with the the help of the Ctflavqisa.

In the Clavaisa account of the final campaign of

Vijayabhu against the Caa, some of their strongholds in

D2kkhiadesa and in the eastern part of the island are named.

It was after the subjugation of these places that the Sinhalese

commanders sent word to VijayabThu to join them at Poloxuiaruva

The strongholds in D2kk(iadesa are given as Muhunnaru (Ruvar2k1),

Badalatthala (Batalagola), Vpinagara (VEziaru), Tilagulla (Talagall-

.1a), Nalilgalla (Ngalla or Nikavrai), NaagaUa (Mahamaagalla)

1. .2z. 58:k6.

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89

and Buddhag.ma (I nikdea) Of thãse in the east only Chagrna

(Sikãxnain) is mentioned by name It is not known from the

Clavasa whether there were any Tamil settlements in these

Ca strongholds. Evidently there were many Ca troops stationedat these places and possibly some of them settled down there.

Although the evidence of the C1tTlavasa is rather flimsy for

such a speculation, there are other considerations which support

it. The discovery of Tamil inscriptions of the twelfth century

and the occurrence of place-names denoting Taniil settlements

in or not far from most of the C]a strongholds mentioned above

suggest that there may have been Tamil settlers in and around

the Ca strongholds in the eleventh century

The Cflavaisa claims that 'all the warlike, valiant

Co.as who were to be found here and there, gathered together

in Pulatthinagara' on the óe èf the final debacle, and that

the army of Vijayabhu, when it triumpahntly entered the city,

'at once exterminated a].]. the Damias root and branch' The

statement that all the Temils who lived in Polonnaruva during

the C]a rule were annihilated is obviously an exaggeration.

1. 58:k2-k5.

2. Ibid., .$.C.

3.See infra,

'I. 58:51, 56.

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90

That Vijayablhu did not have any animosity against the Tamils

but was only fighting the C 1as is borne out by ample evidence.

The employment of the Vaikkras, some of whom. may have been

1 2erstwhile mercenaries of the Cas, his patronage of Saiva temples,

and his political and matrimonial alliance witb the PIyas3

show that Vijayabhu did not harbour any grievances against the

Tamils. The evidence of the Abagamuva inscription that he

'drove away the whole darkness of the Dam4a forces' appears to

be closer to the truth than the Clavasa statements The PfliC.PiCtPVi

chronicle has, therefore, no valuable inforniation,<Tam.il settlers

in the island during the Ca occupation.

The and the fljvaliya, while mentioning

the Ca occupation, give no details regarding the period of foreign

rule. They continue the chronicle of the Sinhalese kings

withoub a break by filling in the period of Ca rule with the

account of the Rohaa rulers. They repEat with greater brevity

the story of the destruction wrought by the foreigners The

Nikya-sagrahaya and. the Saddharma-ratnkaraya also contain

].. See infra, ; U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, pp. k33-kkk.

2, See infra, p. r$

; U.C.E.C., I, pt. 2 , p. 563.

3, U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. k29.

k. D.Lde Z.Wickramasinghe, 'Abagamuva Inscription of VijayabThu I',

II, p. 216.

5. Pv., p. 10k; ., p. k2.

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91

notices of this period. The former refers to the presence of

'the great multitude of Tamils in the villages, market towns and

all over the kingdom' ( gam niyafigam rjadini pur un Dem4a maha

senaga) 1 but it goes a step further than the Clavasa by stating

that all these Tamils were destroyed by Vijayablhu. The reference

to the presence of Tamils in the market towns is notable, for

we learn from the Tamil inscriptions of the period that there

were is (money-lenders) and traders of Tamil origin in some

of the places, presumably market towns, outside Polonnaruva

The surprising brevity with which the Sinhalese chronicles deal

with the C]a rule may be partly due to the paucity of records

relating to that period.

The above isolated and vague statements in the

literary sources provide no sure guidance to the nature and

extent of the migration and settlements of South Indians in the

island. These sources have omitted much that is wanting and,

in the absehce of any valuable guidance from them, we are

thrown back upon the evidence of other sources. The Tmi1-

inscriptions and the aiva and Vaiçava archaeelogical remains

provide better and more reliable information, though it is by

no means adequate for our purpose. For the first time an unusually

1, p. 20.

2. See infra, p.1oc

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92

large number of Tamil inscriptions, more than three dozen

compared with only three for the period before the tenth century,

were set up in different parts of northern Ceylon during the

Ca rule. Their sudden appearance could be explained easily

if they are official records. But the interesting fact is that

not a single one Is official, although several of them appear

to have been set up by Ca officials in their private capacity.

The sudden appearance of so many Tamil epigraphs presupposes

the presence of more Tamils in Rjaraha than before. Such an

impression seems to be confirmed by the internal evidence of

the inscriptions as well. Unfortunately these epigraphe, almost

all of which register private grants to temples, do not, by

their very nature, contribute very much to our inquiry. Some

are extremely brief while some others are badly damaged.

However, they indicate the probable areas of settlement and,

in some cases, the nature of the settlement. They range from

the time of Rjarja I (985_bill.) to that of Adhirjndra I

(1067/68-1070) and, therefore, cover the whole period of Ca

rule.

Tearly a third of these inscriptions comes from

Pobonnaruva, which was renamed JaanItha-maág4am by the Cas

1. It is not possible to give the exact figure of the inscriptions

as the find spots of a number of these in the museums of CoLombo

and Anurdhapura are not known, although, judging from the

contents, some of them appear to have come from Pobonnaruwa.

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Most of these are from the Siva Dvles Nos.II and V and from

the VaadEge. Of these, at least two belong to the reign of

RJndra I, but unfortunately only a portion of the historical

introduction (praasti) has survived in these Two inscriptions

of the time of AdhrJndra I, beginning with the familiar

historical introduction of Tik4r malarutu, are in a better

state of preservation. They are both inscribed on the walls of

iva Dvile No.11. One of these, dated in the third year of

the king (1070), is a long record registering the grant of a

perpetual lamp and some money for its maintenance by ......

Cra Ti...ya alias Eta.....koa Cappa1lavaraiya, a

Ve 4a of Mank4appi in Vir.pectu-nu, in the kfam (district)

of Tak....... in c mçaiani The title Eta......koa (Victor

of Eta......) and the name Cappallavaraiya suggest that the

donor was an official in the Ca administration who had dis-

tinguished himself in battle by taking (koa) some place. The

grant was made to the temple of VIava-w1tvi-jharam, the

present Siva Dvle No.11. The names of nearly twelve temple

officials, including those of the officiating Brhmaa, are

given in the inscription. These officials and their successors

1. S.I.I., IV, Nos. 1389 and 139k

2. Ibid., No. 1388.

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as well as the pariyclrakar, the supervisors of the parnayvarar,

the nr and the tvar4iyr are held reBpOflsible for the

maintenance of this gift. The terms pariycrakar and yvarar

refer to the temple attendants and the company of aiva devotees

respectively is a term used in the South Indian inscriptions

of this period to refer to the members of the district assembly

(nu). Its occurrence here seems to reveal the organization

of the local assemblies on the lines of the South Indian

institutions. The term tvaraçiyr also occurs in the contemporary

South Indian inscriptions as well as in another Tamil inscription

in Ceylon and refers to temple dancers, commonly known as

dvadsis The institution of the temple dancers appears to have

been introduced into the island by the The evidence of

the Tami1 inscriptions from Polonnaruva, therefore, shows that

at least some of the aiva temples in Ceylon were organized in

much the same way as the temples of South India during the

period of Ca occupation.

The other inscription of the time of MhirIjndra,

from Polonnaruva, contains the whole of a praasti and registers

the grant of a lamp, ULt the donor's npme and the regnal year of

1. Both occur in contemporary Ca e igraphs of South India.

2. E.Z., IV, p. 195.

3. Cf., U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. klk.

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95

the king are missing All the other inscriptions from Polonnaruva

are undated and have to be assigned to the Ca period purely

on palaeographical grounds. Two of these, which are fragmentary,

refer to the gods and Aakiya

Maav1ar (Viu) Four others inscribed on the pillars of

iva Dv1e No.V contain the following names: (a) Tiruppvaa-

Uaiy of Zkair, (b) Tillaikkaracu Tiyka-cintznai

vnta-vi, (c) Karpakam, daughter of Mukari-ntv and

(d) Paflca-neti-va, Uaiy of Nallr These persons seem

to have been responsible in some way for the building of the

temple now known as iva Dvle No.V. Such titles as }vnta-v,

vä and TJtaiy, borne by some of these persons, occur in

the South Indian inscriptions as the titles of C 1a officials

This indicates that all the persons mentioned aboveç except the

woman Karpakam, were officials. It is not certain whether the

village kar and Naillir, which were assigned to two of them,

were in Ceylon or in South India. Since the officials were

serving in Ceylon, these may have been Ceylonese villages. Na11r

is a common village name in the Tamil country. There are at

least four places in Ceylon with that name. One is in the Jaffna

1. S.I.I., IV, No.1392.

2. Ibid., Nos. 1390 and 1391.

3. Ibid., No. 1393.

k. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, p. k6k.

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96

peninsula and three are in the Kurungala district Pafica-neti-.

mwntioned in the above inscription, may have been the

uaiyg of any one of these places, probably one of the villages

in the Kurungala district, for, according to the C'flavqmsa, the

Cas had several strongholds in that district

Of the other C,a inscriptions from Polonnaruva,

there are two gragmentary inscriptions which record the gift

of a large number of cows. One is from Siva Dvle No.11. It

records the gift o one hundred and fourteen cows to the temple

of the 'Lord of Jaanitha-puram alias Pulainari' (Vava-mtvi-

ivaram) The other is found engraved on the flight of steps

at the Vaadge. It registers the gift of a certain measure of

ghee and thirty cows Unfortunately the names of the donors are

not preserved in these two epigrapbs. An interesting aspect of

the iva Dvfle inscription is the occurrence of the toponymn

Pula.jnarj. This shows that the Tamilised form of the Sinhalese

Polonnaru was used side by side with the new C3a name of

Jaantha-puram or Jaantha-mañg4am, as in the case of other

like Nahtittha and Velgama where Tamils were living

1. There was also a place called Vikrama-p.iya Nal].r, see infra,p.2,,

2. See supra, p. gf.

3. A.S.C.A.R. for 1909, P . 27.

14 S•I••, IV, No. 1395.

5. See infra, p.

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97

A few other short epigraphe of little or no value

also come from the city and the vicinity of Polonnaruva. One

such inscription is engraved on a bell found in Siva DvIle No.VI

and has the name of SrT 4piai Perum alias Ton ......, the

donor. Palaeographically, it has been assigned to the Ca

period Another, registering the grant of Adhikaraia Craa,,

a 'Vaikkra of the )u-kai division, comes from Ga]. Oya,

near Polonnaruva The title Adhikaraa may suggest that the

donor was an administrative officer among the Vaikkras.

An analysis of these inscriptions from Polonnaruva

and its surroundings reveals that almost all those in which the

donors' names are preserved are grants by persons who may have

been C,a officials. This perhaps explains the occurrence of

many Tam!]. inscriptions in this region. Since Polonnaruva was

the capital of the island under the Cas, several officilas

from the C]a country were presumably stationed there. The

occurrence of several Tam!]. inscriptions here may not necessarily

indicate the presence of many Tamil settlers. The absence of

grants by traders is rather surprising, for one would normally

expect them to figure prominently among the donors of grants to

temples. There is no evidence in our inscriptions of the existence

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1908, p. 15.

2. S.I.I,, IV, No. 1398.

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98

of a 6trong civilian population of South Indian extraction in

and around Polonnaruva. Nevertheless, the organization of some

of the Ca temples at Polonnaruva on the lines of those of

South India suggests that these temples catered for the interests

of more than a handful of Ca officials and some troops. There

may have been peaceful Tamil settlers, too, in the city during

the Ca occupation.

Outside Polonnaruva, Periyak4am in the Trincomalee

district has yielded the largest nuber of C1a inscriptions.

More than a dozen Tamil inscriptions of this period have been

found at the site of the well-known Rjarija-perum-p4i or

Velgzn-vehera at Periyak4am. The Rjarja-perum-p4.i is an

interesting example, and perhaps the only one, of a Sinhalese

Buddhist vihra being converted into a Tamil Buddhist

after the C 1a conquest. The existence of a Buddhist vihra

at this site as early as the second century A.D. is known from

an inscription of the time of Bhika Tissa in one of the caves

near the present The old Sinhalese name of this pflwas Velgain-vehera, which is also given in the Tami]. inscriptions

along with the Tamil na*e of Rjarja-perum-pai.

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 195k, p. 1k; the occurrence of a brick with

BrhmT letters at this site seems to place the origina.].

foundation of the stipa here in the pre-Christian times (ibid., p.13:

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99

The fragmentary nature of moat of the inscriptions

from this site deprives them of much value. The little that is

recoverable front them, however, seems to indicate the presence

of Tamil settlers of Buddhist faith in the Periyak4am region.

The conversion of the old vihra into a Tamil pfli apparentlytook place in the reign of Rjarja I (985-101k) or immediately

after that, for the has been named after this monarch.

The Zinhalese origin of the vihra is clearly indicated by the

use of the Sinhalese name along with the Tamil name in the

inscriptions. The absence of Tamil inscriptions of a date prior

to the eleventh century and the occurrence of Sinhalese inscriptions

oZ the tenth century at this site strehgthen the argument that

the conversion of the vihra into a took place early in

the period of Ca ru1e Almost all the Tamil epigrapha from

this place belong to the Ca period. But there is a slab

inscription buried in the foundation of one of the image-houses

which contains the name of Jayab-tva,, inscribed in the T2mil

2scrpt of about the twelfth century. This Jayaba-tevaa is

presumably JayabThu I (1110-1111). This may mean that Tamil

patronage of this continued even after the C2a period,

which is to be expected if there were Tamil Buddhists living

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1953, p. 9.

2. Unpublished.

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100

at Periyak4am. With this possible exception, no Tinil inscription

of the period after the eleventh century is known to have been

discovered at this site. But the shrine continued to be venerated

by Sizthalese pilgrims down to modern times The absence of Tamil

inscriptions after the eleventh century may be due to the

possible conversion of the Tamils of this region to Saivism.

The inscriptions are a].]. donative records and

register the gift of cows , buffaloes and perpetual lamps. Most

of the records are damaged and are only partly decipherable. At

least three of them are dated in regna]. years of Räjndra I

(1012-lO'44) One at least of the donors appears to have been

a C]a official. This person, 4titta-pr-araiya of Pa1ava-

putu-kui, gifted thirty-five cows and a perpetual lamp The

element pr-araiya (the great chief) and the gift of a large

number of cows suggest that he was an important personality1

Another person who gifted forty heads of cattle may also have

been an official Most of the other donors appear to have been

humble peasants or traders whose grants were lamps or small

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1953, p. 27 ; E.Z., II, p. 178 ; Nanrpota, p.6.

2. Unpublished - Nos.I 776 A, 776 B and 775 B of the epigraphical

list in the Archaeological Dept., Ceylon.

3. No. I 776 B of the above list.

k. Pr-araiya is a common element in the names of Ca officials.

5. Unpublished - No. I 775 A.

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101

amounts of money

The occurrence of these Taniil inscriptions at

Periyak4ant clearly suggests the presence of Tanii]. settlers in

that area in the Ca period. It is not possible to say whether

there were any Tamil settlers in this region before the Ca

period. Presumably the Tamil settlement of Periyakuain

originated during the period of Ca rule.

Four Ca inscriptions have been found on the

north-western littoral. Three of them are from Nahtittha (ntai).

One is a fragmentary record and only the praasti of 2jndra I

is preserved in it The second inscription is the longest of

those belonging to this period, running into more than ninety-

four short lines with the first and the last few lines missing

It is a grant by one Ti Kumara, the headmen of

Citu-1ra-nall1!r in Vr -ntu, in the K atr iya4 i chmai-v4anu

of Ca-maalam. The grant was made to the temple of Rja-

rãvaram at ttam alias RjarIjapurain (Mahltittba), which

was built by the donor himself. Certain provisions made by him

for the seven-day celebration of the festival of Vickam (Vi]tha)

as well as the grant of a plot of tax-free land. and the assignment

1. Unpublished - Nos. 775 B, 776 B, 357 etc.

2. S.I.I., IV, lklk A.

3. Ibid., No, 1k12.

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102of certain taxes for the coat of the daily offerings are recorded

in this inscription. Though a headman of a village in South

India, Ti Kumara appears to have held an important post in

the island, as is suggested by the powers he had of assigning

portions of the public revenue for the upkeep of a temple built

by him. The epigraph provides some useful information about the

revenue system and the temple rituals in the Ca period. The

name of RjarIja looms large in the local nomenclature. Not only

was the temple of }tam named after him (Rjarjvaram), but

the town itself and a. main street (perun-teru) were named

Rjarjapuram and Rjarja-perun-teru respectively. Besides this

information, the inscription does not give any details about

the Tamils settled in Mahtittha. Only one Tamil settler, Kua,

Ema, who was a citizen (kui) of ZtVtam owning a mansion

(ikai), a house (v!u) and a garden (tam), is referred

to in the record.

The third inscription from Mahtittha records the

arrangement made for the buraing of a street lamp outside the

Tiru-irmivaram temple at }ttam, by ..... Tva, the utaiy

of Ciu-k4att'ttr and an official of the Peruntaam of Rjendra

Ca It is not possible to say whether Ciu-k$attr was a place

in Ceylon or South India. Probably it was in South India, for

1. S.I.I., IV, No. lklkB ; see infra, p. rj,.

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a place of that name ia mentioned in some South Indian epigraphs

It is stated in our inscription that the money for the purpose

of burning a street lamp was deposited with the cakara-piy'r,

the ri1ai-viyar and the aikkf-viyar, all of )ttam.

Cakara-ptiyr is a term that occurs in the contemporary South

Indian inscriptions as well An examination of these occurrences

shows that the cafkara-p tiy r were a group of people who had

'duties connected with the maintenance of lamps and in prticular

the supply of oil' in a temple Two records imply, moreover,

that they were a corporation of oil-niongers! It appears that

sometimes families of cakara-piyir were settled in special

quarters close to the temples in order to maintain the burning

of the temple lamps. For instance, an inacriptio4 of the second

year of Ku]Zttuiiga I (1071) from Tiruvlafigu, refers to the

settlement of twenty-five families of cañkara-piyr on land

belonging to the TiruvIlagu temple The settlement was named

1. LE.R. for 1912, Nos. 160 and 236 of 1912. The South Indian

village was in Poyyi-kLam, in Te-karai-nu in Camaalam.

2. M.E.R. for 1897, No.80 of 1897 ; M.E.R. for 1898, No.78 of 1898;

)LE.L for 1921/22, No. 5k7 of 1920; M.E.R. for 1925, No. 395 of

1925 ; K.LNilakanta Lastri, The pp. k89, 516.

3. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, p. 516, tn. 12.

4. Ibid.

5. S.I.I., III, p. 136.

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104ndra-ca-pi and the cakra-ptyr were asked to supply

the oil required for fifteen perpetual lamps and to be in charge

of lighting them in the temple of I4ahãdeva at TiruvIañgu

It seems clear, therefäre, that the cafkara-piyr of )t?am,

referred to in our inscription, were there to perform a similar

function in respect of the temple of Tiru-irmvaram and were

probably settled there by the temple trustees. The i-

viyar were a community of people who sold betel leaves, as

their name implies. The term ilai-viiyar (leaf-sellers), a

variant form of ilai-viyar, occurs commonly in South Indian

inscriptions, especially of the Vijayanagara period. The

1ikky-viiyar, as their name implies, were sellers of

plantains (bananas). Probably these two communities were expected

to supply the betel leaves and the plantains required for the

daily offerings in the temple. It is not possible to say whether

they, like the cazkara-piyr, were settled near temples for

this purpose. Probably they set up their business on their own

accord near temples. The fact that the money for the maintenance

of the street lamp at Nahtittha was deposited with these

communities shows that they were organized as guilds or corporations

rather than as loose groups.

1. S.I.I., III, p. 136.

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105

The above Ca inscriptions of Mahtittha, therefore,

provide us with some information about that port in the time of

the Ca occupation. We find that it was renamed by the Cas

as Rjarjapurarn. There were at least two Saiva temples, one

of which was built L tb period and named RIjarijvaram, after

Rjarja Ca. There were at least a few Tamil trading communities

who were associated with the temples. Probably there were also

other Tamil settlers at Mahtittha during the Ca period.

Tanii]. inscriptions of the Ca period have also

been discovered in the Hurulu and Nuvaragam divisions of the

Tamankauva district in the North-central Province, Most of

these are too brief or badly weathered to be of any use to us.

In the Hurulu division, the inscriptions are mainly concentrated

in Padaviya. Some of them date back to the time of Rjarja I.

There are more than rn, half a dozen of these. Most of these have

been found among the ruins of Siva temples. One of them, dated

in the twenty-seventh year of Rjarja I (loll), appears to be

a record of a mercantile community for it contains the names

of a number of cet'is (money-lenders or traders) Another, also

dated in the reign of Rjarja I, registers a number of gifts

to a temple which appears to have been named after Rjarãja.

1. Unpublished - No. I 3k0 of the epigraphica]. list in the

Archaeological Dept., Ceylon ; A.S.C.A. . for 1891, p. 64.

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106

The gifts were made by several individuals who may have been members

of some mercantile or other body since they have all recorded

their gifts in one inecription Padaviya seems to have been a

coznmercia]. centre in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, for,

Tamil inscriptions of the twelfth century also attest to the

presence of Southnlndian traders, especially the well-known

VIra-valafijiyar, at this place The Tamil 8ettlement here in

the Ca period may have been mainly mercantile in character.

A Tamil inscription assignable to this period, from MahI-kachcha-.

koi, nearly fifteen miles west of Padaviya, also mentions a

number of ceffis Probably it was also set up by a mercantile

community from the Tamil country.

In the Nuvaragam division, Anurdhapurai Saftgili-

kanadarva and Atkaa have yielded a few inscriptions of this

period, which are, however, disappointingly short and of little

value to us. Of the inscriptions at the Pañk$iya-vihra at

Anurdhapura, one records the gift of a certain Kcari Araci

while the other two mention two persons, who probably had

donated something to that establishments They were apparently

Buddhists. A short inscription on a pillar within the precincts

1. Unpublished - No. I 34.

2. Unpublished - see infra, p.

3. Unpublished ; A.S.C.L.. for 1905, pp. 36, 50.k. 3.1.1., IV, Nos. 1399, 114.00, 114.01.

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107

of the RuvanvJ.isya gives the name Jaatppa-kaa Perum-p44

(the Great Temple of the Victor of Jagat3ppa), evidently referring

to the same stpa The surprisingly few and unimportant Ca

inscriptions from Anurdhapura shows that the former capital

city did not remain an important centre under the There

are no Ca inscriptions indicating the presence of South Indian

officials in that city. Even the aiva temples there apparently

did not enjoy the patronage of the Ca ruling class in the

island, But Anurdhapura seems to have attracted the attention

of a few Tamil Buddhists who presumably lived there or weht

there on pilgrimage.

The inscription from Safxgili-kanadarva registers

the grant of land and the deposit of some money on interest

by the army chief Jayamui-n apparently to a temple,

the name of which is not preserved The title Spatik4 as

well as the eI.ement in his name suggest that he was

a military official in charge of some Ca troops in the

Nuvaragam region The inscription is dated in the reign of

Rjndra I. The epigraph of Atkaa, which is dated in the

twenty-eighth year of a ruler whose name is not given, records

1. S.I.I., IV, No. lkO2.

2. Ibid., No. lko8.

3. See supra, p.qc

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108

the gift a 1_' by a certain Araka Irina of land in

Kallaiyil-teliyal-peu, twenty beads of cattle and fifty

coconuts to the Uttama-ca-ivaram teniple The identity of

Kallaiyil-teliyal-peu is not known. Probably this place and

the temple of Uttama-ca-ivarani were both in the region of

Saxgili-kanadarva. Uttama Ca was not only the name of the

immediate predecessor of Rjarja I on the C 1a throne, but was

also used as a title by members of the Ca royal family in

the time Rjndra II (lO5k-lO63) It is not likely that the

temple referred to in our inscription was named after King

Uttama Ca, for Ceylon was not under the Cas in his time.

It is possible that it was named after a member of the Ca

royal family, with the title Uttama Ca, in the reign of

Rjndra ii.

Only one Ca inscription has been discovered in

the North-western Province. This record comes from Attaragalla

in the Puttalam district and is dated in the ninth year of

Rjndra Ca, who may be the second of that name. It is badly

damaged and seems to record the building of an ambalam (iim)

The Central Province has also yielded one Ca inscription.

1. 3.1.1., IV, No. 11111.

2. Y.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, P. 261.

3. S.I.I., IV, No. 1k15.

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109

This inscription found in Diyavinna is written in Tami]. and

Grantha characters and 'states that a person called Virabhavaaa

DahaIbbha ?1al1ai arrived at this place' This is rather

interesting, for it is the only Tamil inscription of this period

which has beeh discovered so far south, outside the limits of

the area which was under the actual control of the Cas. The

personality referred to here rna..y have been one of the Ca

soldiers or army chiefs who were operating against the Rohaa

princes in the central highlands. The names VIrabhavaa and

Malla suggest that he was a warrior, but it is not possible

to draw any conclusions on the basis of this stray epigraph,

which may have been set up by an adventurous personality totally

unconnected with the C 1a wars. The occurrence of this single

inscription cannot be taken to indicate any Tamil settlement in

that area in the C1a period.

The contemporary Tamil inscriptions of South India,

while referring to the frequent battles fought in the island,

have little information about axy South Indian migration or about

the Tami].s of Ceylon. They confirm the statement of the Clavaisa

regarding the large armies sent by the Caa to suppress

2uprisings in Ceylon. One of these inscriptions from Tirumukk1Ial,

1. Unpublished - No. 580 ; S.Paranavitana, 'Epigraphical Summary',

C.J.Sc. (G), II, p. 191.

2. UVC.H.CI,, I, PT. 2, p. k25.

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110

of the year 1067, mentions a personality named Kuriakulattaraiya

as one of the commanders who fought on the side of the Sinhalese

prince VijayabThu His name suggests that be was a Tamil. Tamil

inscriptions of the Pya country, belonging to the thirteenth

century, refer to a high official called Kurukulattaraiya It

is not known whether the Kurukulattaraiyars belonged to a noble

family. The first element of the name, kurukula (Skt. gurukula),"S

reminds,(of the Kurukula caste, who are of South Indian origin,

living in the western districts of Ceylon. The large majority

of them speak Tami]. as their mother tongue. Kuruku1attaraiya

(Chief of the Kurukula) is referred to in our inscription as a

feudatory 'who wore a golden enk1et' It has been claimed that

he was a chief of the Kurukula community in the is1and If it

is true, it would mean that as early as the eleventh century

the Kurukula community was in Ceylon and that its chieftain paid

allegiance to the Sinhalese ruler. But the evidence of one name

is far too flimsy to be the basis for such a conclusion. In this

period, officials in outhnIndia often adopted names ending in

1. LV.Subrmiinya Ayyar, 'The Tirumukka]. Inscription of

Virarjndra', E.I., XXI, p. 2k3.

2. M.E.R. for 1923, No. 5kk of 192 ; 5.1.1., VIII, p. 212 ;

K.A.NilkRnta Sastri, The Pyan Kingdom, pp. 13k-.155.

3. J . , XXI, p. 2k3.

k. M.D.Raghavan, The Karva of Ceylon, p. 5 ff.

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111

-araiya, as, for instance, Pallavaraiya (Chief of the Pallavas)

and Kalifdcattaraiya (Chief of the Kliñgas). Kurukulattaraiya,

may also have been just a title of a mercenary leader in the

army of VijayabThu. He may have been mistaken by the Cas for

a feudatory chief.

An inscription of Rjarja I from Tanjore registers

the grant of land in five villages of Ceylon to the temple of

Tanjore. These villages are said to have been located in }ppicuzxzpu

Koiyram alias Rjarja-v4anu and in Kaakka Koiyram

alias Vikkirama-c5a-v4anu Koiyrazn is a territorial

division in the Trincomalee district, still known by that name,

which is a Tamilieed form of the SirLhalese Kotasara (Pii Kohaera).

Although several Ca inscriptions have been discovered in the

Trincomalee district, none comes from Koftiyram. Since the

above grant was made by a Ca ruler and not by the citizens of

the five villages, it is not possible to aay whether there were

Tamils living in Koiyram in this period. But there are at

least two other South Indian epigra hs which record the grants

of some Ceylonese citizens to South In ian temples. One of them

is in Kuttflam, in the Tinnevelly district and registers 'the

grant of land by residents of Viandai alias Vikrama-pya-

nalltr, a village in KUr-nAu, which was a sub-division of

1. S.I.I., II, p. k26.

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112a-ma4alam, to the temple of KuttLam' There are several

interesting points to be noted in this record. Who were thesc.

residents of Viandai 7 Evidently they were Saivas. Though

generally at this time the aivas who were in the island were

Tamils or Ker4as, there may have been some aivas originating

from other parts of India or even from among the Sinhalese, .

It seems, however, unlikely that a group of Sinhalese or other

non-Tamil Saivas from a particular village in Ceylon evinced

an interest in the affairs of a temple in a South Indian

village, unless they were in some way connected with that villge.

It seems more likely that they were Tamil settlers frok the

Kuttlam area who still showed an interest in the affairs of

their former village and temples. Such an interest can be seen

even now among Saiva settlers from India and Ceylon in places

like Malaya, who send gifts to the temples formerly frequented

by them. Moreover, the name of the Ceylonese village was changed

from Viandai to Vikrama-pya-nallr and. the district, too,

was given the Tamil name of tr-nu. As pointed out earlier,in Tamil

many Sinhalese villages were arbitrarily renamed/by the C]as

and the occurrence of a Tam.il toponym does not necessarily point

to Tmi1 occupation of the area designated by it. But such names

1. LE.R. for 1917/18, No. k5k of 1917.

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1131were always derived from the names ofroya1ties. Viandai is

the only place in the island known to have been named after

a Pp4ya prince. Probably some settlers from the Pya country

were responsible for this change of name. Kuttlam was in the

Pp4ya country and the residents of Viandai who made the above

grant may have hailed from Kutt1ani or from some other place

near this village. Perhaps Viandai was renamed after Vikrama

Pya who took refuge in Ceylon after his defeat at the hands

of the Cas It has not been possible to identify this place.

The above account practically completes the total

of our epigraphical knowledge as far as the period of Ca rule

is concerned. As we have seen, almost all the inscriptions are

donative records and Lea]. with matters that are of little help

to our inquiry. They help us to trace the areas of Tamil settlement,

but they are not alw&ys a sure guide in this respect. The records

1. Rjarja-puram for Nahtittha, Jaantha-niañg4ain for

Polonnaruva, jarja-vaanu for a division in Kotasara,

Vii ama-ca-v4anu for another division in Koasara

as well as Nikarili-c1a-v4an u, Rjndr a-c inka-v4antu

and }Aummuli C malam are from the names and titles of

Rjarja I and Rjndra I.

2. K.A.Nilajcanta Sastri, The Caa, pp. 250-251.

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114set up by officials do not necessarily indicate the presence of

Taxnil settlers in their areas. But the place-name material and

the evidence regarding the existence of aiva and Vaiava

temples found in these inscriptions are often useful in finding

an anawerØ to our questions. This evidence has to be compared

with that of other aources before it is used to draw conclusions.

Now we have to turn to the archaeological material

that is available for this period. Unfortunately there is no

positive material which could help us to trace the settlements

of the Dravidians in Ceylon, similar, for instance, to the

Saxon cemeteries of England which have greatly helped to map

çu4 the earliest English settlements. The only archaeological

remains of considerable importance that have been left behind

by the Dravidians are their religious monuments and sculptures.

As the Hindu temples of this period were normally erected in

areas where there were aiva and Vaiava Tamils, the remains

of these structures could indicate in some way the regions of

Tami]. settlement. It could be argued that there may have been

aivas and Vaiavas among the Sinhalese and, therefore, the

presence of aiva-Vaiava remains may not be a sure guide to

the location of the Dravidian settlements. The presence of aivas

and Vaiavas among the Sinhalese is only a theoretical possibility.

There is no evidence to suggest that there were Sinhalese who

were aivas or Vaiavas in the island during this period.

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115

Moreover, it is not difficult to identify the monuments of the

Taniils in this period. The architectural style, the style of

the sculptural finds and the occurrence of Tamil inscriptions

are factors which help to reveal the identity of the temples

built by Tamila. As the archaeological exploration and discoveries

in the northern and eastern parts of the islan&, which are the

traditional Tamil areas in Ceylon, are by no means complete,

the material available to us is inevitably limited. To makeS

this position worse, the Saiva and Vaiava remains so far

unearthed have not been properly dated. But many of these can,

however, be dated on the basis of their architectural style

and the inscriptions found among their ruins. The ruins of no

less than thirty aiva-Vaiava temples, belonging to the period

between the beginning of the eleventh and the end of the thirteenth

century, have been discovered in the island and. all these are

in the northern and eastern parts. In the case of the well-preserved

temples, the architectural style serves as a guide to the dating.

The occurrence of inscriptions in some other foundations helps

to determine their age. A few are not sufficiently well preserved

or they yield no inscriptions and. cannot, therefore, be dated

with any certainty, although some of the remaining architectural

members provide a rough guide to their age.

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116

About ten Siva Dv1es, five Viu temples and one

KI temple have come to light in Polonnaruva Of these, ivaDvles Nos. II and V, and probably No. V1 belong to the period

of C]a rule. iva Dvle No.11 is the only aiva temple of this

period which has been completely preserved. It is considered

to be an outstanding exampi. of the C 1a style of Dravidian

architecture All the three iva temples yield inscriptions of

this period. iva Dvle No.1 is in the Pçya style of architecture

and belongd to either the twelfth or the thirteenth century'

Almost all the other temples at Polonnaruva appear to belong to

the thirteenth century Of the Ca temples at Polonnaruva, the

name of iva Dvle No.11 alone is known from the inscriptions.

It was called Vava-mtvi-Dvaram, after the chief queen of

Rjarja I. A nu*ber of bronze images, representing aiva saints

and deities, were discovered in these temples. Some of them

have been acclaimed as masterpieces of Hindu sculpture

1. A. .C.A.L for 1902, pp.7-8 ;A$'C14ror 1908, pp. 3-10 ;

A.S.C.A.R. for 1909, p. 17; A. .C.A.R. for 193k, pp. 16-17.

2. A.S.C.A. . for 1911-12, p. Uk.

3. S.Paranavitana, Art and Architecture of Ceylon - Polonnaruva

Period, p. 31.

k. Ibid.

5. See infra, L1.j•

6. A.LCoomaraswamy, Bronzes from Ceylon, p. 9.

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117Some remains of Ca temples have been discovered

outside Polonnaruva, too. At Norago1a, near Padaviya, were

unearthed the remains of three temples Tamil inscriptions,

some dating to the time of Rjarja I, have been found in these

ruins. The occurrence of nandi, lii!iga and yoni figures shows

that these structures belonged to aivism The names of these

temples are not known, but one of them appears to have been

named after Rjarja Besides these Structures, three other

aiva temples of the C3,a period are known from contemporary

inscriptions, but their remains have not been unearthed so far.

These are the Tirn-irnff gvaram and Rjarja-ivaram temples of

Mahtittha and the Uttama-ca-varam of Xtkaa Among the

ruins at Nahtittha (!ntai), remains of some buildings of the

eleventh century as weLLas a nandi, a lifga and a Gaa image

were found Some of these may be the ruins of C1a temples.

Saiva temples of the Polonnaruva period have also been discovered

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1891, p. 10; A.S.C.A.R. for 1961/62, p. 67.

2. Ibid,

3. See supra, p. oc

k. See supra, 1'

5. A.S.C.A.R. for 1908, pp. 28, 30; K.Vaithianathan, Thirpketheesvaran

Papepe, p. 13.

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118at Nalla-t ai-iakkam, Buddhannehe la, Maha-kanadarva, Ptak.0

and P4amai Some of them may date back to the period of Ca

occupation. But there is no evidence with which we can date

these to the Ca period with certainty.

The remains of only one Ca Buddhist temple }Jave

been found in the island, viz., at Periyak4am, in the Trincomalee

district. As we have mentioned earlier, the temple was originally

a Sinhalese Buddhist institution by the name of Velgam-vehera

It was rebuilt in the eleventh century in the style of a Tamil

4i and was renamed Rjarja-perum-p4ji. The architectural

style of the temple 'differs from that of the Anurdhapura Buddhist

shrines and is akin to the Tamil Hindu shrines at Polonnaruva'

The discovery of bronze and stone sculptures in

South Indian style and of temples built in Ca style seems to

indicate the presence of sculptors and stone-masons from South

India. The style of & building is not always a sure guide to

the racial or communal origins of the masons and architects

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1907, p. 27 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 1891, pp. II, 30;

A.S.C.A.R. for 1961162 , P . 59 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 1933, p. 18;

cJ.Sc. (G), II, pp. 156-157.

2. See supra, p. c1g

3. S.Paranavitana in the Encyclopaedia of Buddhis - Volume of

ecimen Articles, p. 83.

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119responsible for its erection. It is always possible for the

artisans of one country to learn the architecture of another

neighbouring country. It would be of interest, therefore, to

find, out whether Dravidian craftsmen were employed to execute

the Saiva and Vaiava monuments at Polonnaruva and elsewhere.

The opinio4 of archaeologists is divided on thia matter.

Godakumbure points out that the Sinhalese people were 'experts

in architecture, sculpture and painting' and claims that 'the

Cholas who brought the Sinhalese under subjection at the end

of the tenth century employed these Sinhalese craftsmen to

build temples for their gods, and make sculptures of thent'

On the other hand, Paranavitana's opinion is that the 'Sinhalese

sculptors and painters had no opportunity to practise their

arts, for their patrons - royalty, nobility and the Buddhist

Church - had ceased to exist under the Cho].a rule' If we turn

to see the monuments in the C1a style in the island, we find

that only the Aaiva-Vaiçava temples at Polonnaruva and Noragoa

and the Buddhist Rjarja-perum-p4i at Periyak4am, all of

which enjoyed the patronage of Tamils as revealed by their

inscriptions, fall under this category. No Sinhalese monument

1. C.E.Godakumbure, 'Bronzes from Polonnarnva, JR.A.S. (.B.),

N.S. , VII, pt.2, p. 2k).

2. S.Paranavitana, Art and Architecture in Ceylon - Polonnarua

Period, p. 22.

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120of the tenth century was built in the Ca style. The Sinhalese

raftsnien would have been unfamiliar with the Ca style of archi-

tecture and, therefore, would not have been in a position to

execute at the very beginning of (Zla rule such an outstanding

example of Ca architecture as the iva Dvle No.11. Only

artisans skilled in the architecture of the South Indian temples

could have accomplished this task. There is some evidence to

show that there were Tamil masons in Ceylon in the Polonnaruva

period who were employed by Sinhalese monarchs to build Buddhist

monuments. Tami]. letters have been used as mason's marks in

certain constructions dating from the time of ParkramabThu I

at Polonnaruva and Padaviya One of the Tamil inscriptions from

Budumuttva attests to the presence of a community of blacksmiths,

identifiable as Tamils, in the KurunRgala area in the regin of

Vijayabhu I These considerations lead us to think that the

Ca authorities, who introduced from South India such communities

as the cafikara-p tiy r for the maintenance of aiva temples

would ha'e invited craftsmen from the mainland to build temples

in the style of the South Indian examples. Further, from the

1. See infra, p . irl

2. , III, P. 305.

3. See supra, p.D3•

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121practice of later times we see that Tamil or South Indian artisans

were engaged for the building of Dravidian-style structures in

the island. Inscriptions of the reign èf Bhuvanekabhu IV (l3kl-].351)

declare that the Lktilaka and Gaa]1dei shrines near Gampola,

the two well-known Dravidian-style temples of the fourteenth

century, were the creations of Sthapatiryara and Gaevarcrya

respectively The names of these architects clearly suggest that

they were of South Indian origin. It is, therefore, probable

that South Indian craftsnien were invited to Ceylon to build the

Zaiva-Vaiava temples of the Ca period, although it is not

impossible that local cra!tsmen were also engaged to do this

work.

There is also a controversy regarding the sculptors

who were responsible for casting the many Saiva and Vaiaa

bronzes that have been discovered in the C 1a temples at Polonnaruva.

Godakunibure claims that these bronzes have certain 'distinctive

features' which mark them as products of Sinhalese sculptors,

but fails to explain what these distinctive features are Bell's

opinion is that they were 'doubtless cast in India' Paranavitana

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. 782 ; U.C.R., XVIII, Nos.l&2, p . 11.

2. C.E.Godakumbure, 2• cit., pp. 2k3 ft.

3. A.S.C.A.R. for , p.

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122supports him by stating that 'these bronzes have certainly been

imported from South India and belong to the history of art of

that region. ' 10n the other hand, Basham feels that an 'important

school of bronze-casting existed in Ceylon, and produced works

similar in style to those of South India' It is difficult to

determine who cast these bronzes purely on the basis of their

style. In the first place, there is so much in common between

the plastic arts of Ceylon and Soi.thh India in this period that

slight variations in form do not always indicate a difference in

origin. Secondly, it is difficult to make a comparison between

the styles of the two regions. Iconography in Ceylon was mainly

represented by Buddhist images while in South India it was generally

represented by Saiva and Vaiava images. In the absence of a

tradition of casting aia and Vaiava icons, the Sinhalese

craftsmen, when employed to cast such images, would have evidently

turned to South India for the style. l4oulds may have been brought

from the mainland and the bronzes cast in the island. Since there

would have been little difficulty in transporting bronzes across

the narrow straits, some may have been im orted from South India.

It is, therefore, not possible to determine who cast these bronzes.

All that we can say is that they belong to the South Indian school

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p. 6 9.

2. A.L.Basham, he onder that wa India, p. 376.

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123of sculpture. In the case of the aiva temples, however, it is

possible to conjecture that they are the work of South In ian

stone-masons who had gone to the island. Some of the Tamil masons

employed in the time of Parkramabhu I fôr the building of

Buddhist structures may have been descendants of the C 1a masons

The evidence of place-names for the period prior

to the thirteenth century is almost negligible. Only a few

recorded forms of Tamil toponyms which show some Dravidian association

are available for the Ca period. Even these forms have to be

used with extreme caution owing to several reasons. Under normal

circumstances the occurrence of Tamil or Tamilised toponyma

would indicate the presence of Tamil settlers in the places

represented by them. But the Tamil and. Tamilised place-names of

the Ca empire outside the Tamil country do not necessarily

indicate Tamil settlement. Tamil names were often arbitrarily

given to places by the Ca administrators. Nost of these were

frequently altered to commemorate personalities and events. As

Nilakanta Sastri puts it, 'the subordinate divisions evidently

underwent numerous reshufflings, and their names were changed

so often as to justify the complaint that 'Ca geo raphy came

to suffer as much from the plague of homonyms as the kings

themselves' ' The following Tnmil names of places in Ceylon

1. See infra, p. IS'f

2. I.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, p. k65.

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124are known from the Ca inscriptions: Jaantha-mañg4ani

Rj ar ja-pur a4 R jar ja-perunt-t eru R j ar j a-v4anu' Vikrama-.

cia-v$antu Arumoi-tva-v4anu Parakc ari-v4anu'

Nikarili-ca-v4an Rjndra-c inka-v4a.nt ?

and Vikrama-p tiya-nallTh? All these, except t1r-nu, are

names derived from those of roya1tiea All of them, with the

possible exception of the last, have evidently been given by the

Ca administrators. Such names, therefore, do not always reflect

the existence of Tainil settlements in those places. There are

a few other Tamil toponyms occurring in the CVa epigraphs of

the island, such as Zkar, Nallr, kari-nund Palava-

1. 6.1.1., IV, No. 1388.

2. Ibid., No. 1k12.

3. Ibid.

4. 6.1.1., II, p. k26.

5. Ibid.

6. 6.1.1., IV, No. lkl2.

7. Unpublished - No. I 775.

8. A.S.C.A.L for 1909, p. 27.

9. Unpublished - No. I 357.

10. M.E.R. for 1917/18, p. 1k3.

11. Ibid.

12. See supra, p.gj2,.

13.S.I.I., IV, No. 1393.

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125putu-ci$i But it is not possible to determine whether these are

place-names of Ceylon or South India. Some of these appear as

•1!vita villages held by CVa officials while some others occur

as the places of origin of certain donors. As villages in South

India were sometimes assigned to officials serving in Ceylon,

as in the case of Ti Kumara, who was assigned the village of

Ciu-ka-nallr in Cnmsalam although he was serving at

Mahtittba and as many of the donors mentioned in the inscriptions

may have come from South India, we cannot be certain that these

villages were in Ceylon. Moreover, some of these names occur

both in the Tamil country and. in Ceylon, so that it is difficult

to identify them in any particular region. NaUUr, for instance,

is a very common name in South India. In Ceylon, too, there at

least four places of that name Putu-kui also occurs in both

regions It seems probable that most of these places mentioned

in our inscriptions were in South India.

There are a few Tamilised forms of Sinhalese place-

names which occur in the contemporary inscriptions, namely

Ntffam5(Sinh. ?toa, Pli Mahtittha), Pulainari 6 (Sinii. Polonnaru,

1. Unpublished - No. I 776.

2. See suDra, p. iO

3. See p. qrr.

k. Pudukkuiya in Anurdhapura district and Putukki4i in

Mafig4anu in South India, M.E. • for 1917/1 , p. 89.

5. S.I.I., IV, No.l 1fl ; see supra, p.1o1.

6. A.S.C.A.R. for 1909, p. 27.

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126Pli Pulattbinagara), Koiy'rain1 (Sixth. ICoasara, P].i ICoffhasra)

and. Velakmam (Sixth. Velagama, Phi Velag.nia). The occurrence

of Tamilised forms of toponyms in the Ca inscriptions may

not always suggest Tamil occupation of the areas denoted by them.

The context in which they occur is equally important. The long

list of South-east Asian place-names in the inscriptions of

RjThdra I, for instance, are Tamilise d forms of Malay and

other names They may have been Tamilised earlier by the Tainil

traders who frequented these places. But what is important is

that they occur here as places invaded by the Ca navy, and when

their names came to be recorded in Tamil the original forms

could not inevitably be retained. The mere fact that the kames

of these places are Tamilised may point to Tamil association

with those areas but does not necessarily indicate T mil settlement

there. The situation is different in the case of the above plpce-

names in Ceylon. They were probably Tamilised as a result of

Tamils living in those areas. lttam is a name that occurs in

Tanzil literature as early as the seventh entury There is some

evidence for the presence of Tamils in this pI&ce in the Anurdhapura

period Tamil inscriptions of the Ca period have been found here

1. S.I.I., II, p. 1426 ; see supra, p .'(. • la. Unpublished - No.1 357.

2. LA.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, pp. 215-218.

3. See supra, p.33

14. See supra,

5. See supra, p. Iol•

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121The present name of this lace is a variant of this Taniil form.

It still continues to be part of the Tamil areas of Ceylon. These

considerations would lead uá to infer that the Tamilisatiozi

of this place-name was the result of Tamil settle ent in the

area. Similarly, Kotiyram is a place-name still in use. The

area which it denotes is settled by Tamils. Velskmm and

Pulainari are not in use today. But Taniil inscriptions as well

as Dravidian ruins of the C1a period have been found in the

places denoted by them It is, therefore, very probable that

these Tamilised forms of Sinhalese place-names are the result

of Tamil settlement. Thus, the evidence of toponyms have to be

used with caution. By itself, it cannot form the basis of any

important conclusion, It could, however, be used to strengthen

arguments based on other more reliable evidence.

The evidence of the four different types of sources

that we have just analysed generally corroborate and supplement

each other. While some of them provide more information than

the others, the general conclusions that ,could be drawn from

them remain basically the same. In the first place, while these

sources reflect the presence of a larger number of Tamila than

before, they do not at the same time point to any great Dravidian

migration having taken place in the wake of the Ca conquest.

1. See supra,

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128They reveal the presence of Tamils in certain regions but no

particular area o considerable size seems to have been completely

settled by them. This becomes clear if we try to trace the places

where evidence of their settlement is available. According to

the literary sources, Tamils were found scattered in the villages

and market towns, all over the kingdom. There were C1a strongholds

in the Kurungala district, the northern region of the ?tale

district and in some parts of the Batticaloa district. The evidence

of the other sources confirm this.

The find spots of the inscriptions show that the

Tamils were living scattered in the northern parts of the island.

With the exception of the inscriptions from Attaragalla and

Diyavinna, all the other inscriptions could be grouped under

five regions, namely the Burulu and Nuvaragain divisions of the

Nuvarakalviya district (North-central Province), the Siih4a

Pattu division of the Tamanic.açIuva district (North-central Province),

)ntai in the Nanr district (Northern Province) and Periyakuam

in the Trincomalee distriet (Eastern Province). The inscription

from Nahkachchatkoi could be grouped with those of the Hurulu

division, for its provenace lies only about three miles outside

this divisiox Dravidian archaeological remains have been

1. a) Rurulu - inscriptions from FAoragoa, Padaviya, Paragiyaviya;

b) Nuvaragam - Anurdhapura, Sañgili-kanadarv , Atkaa;

c) Siñh4a Pattu - Polonnaruva, Giritale, Gal Oya.

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1).1.

discovered. in the Eurulu division, Siñh4a Pattu division and

Periyak4am. Tamilised forms of Sinhalese place-names occur in

Nntai, the Trincomalee district and the Siih4a Pattu division.

There is no archaeological, inscriptional or place-name evidence

of the Ca period in the Kurungala district, ?tale and Batticaloa

where, according to the Clavawa, Ca strongholds had been

established. But there is evidence of this type, belonging to

the twelfth century, which indicate the presence of Tarnil aettlers

in those areas during that century Possibly these settlements

of the twelfth century, or at least some of them, had their

origins in the Ca period.

Thus, there is a general agreement between the

different types of evidence relating to the settlements of the

period of C 1a rule. We may not be wrong, therefore, in concluding

that there were Tamil settlements in this period in ntai and.

in some parts of the Nuvaragam, Hurulu and Si4a Pattu divisions

and in Periyak$am. This conclusion is further strengthened by

the fact that these are the very areas where tie presence of

Tamil settlers is indicated by the sources of the Anurdhapuraperiod Although each of the arguments to assume Taniil settlements

in these areas in the Ca period may not be very strong, they

have a certain cumulative strength which is enough to justify us

1. See infra, p. I&.

2. See supra, p4.1.

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130

in provisionally marking those areas as occupied by Tamil

settlers.

There is, however, no sufficient evidente to

warrant the conclusion that there was a large-scale migration

of Dravidians into the island in this perio&. The available

evidence shows a strengthening of the earlier settlements,

which appears to have been mainly due to the arrival of more

traders, mercenaries artisans and officials, The history of

the subsequent period clearly shows that the Sinhalese were

in control of the northern and eastern parts of Ceylon, which

were to fall later into the hands of Tamils and Ker4as, for

the next century and a half. The Sinhalese chroniclers, who

refer to the abandonment of the northern regions by the Sinhalese

and their occupation by the foreigners, give no such comment

for the C]a period

Furthermore, there seems to have been no reason

for a. mass exodus from South India in this period. The Cas

provided political security for that region and tke general

impression given by the inscriptions is one of prosperity

everywhere. These sources, of course, do not reflect the true

economic condition of the common people. However, only four

instances of famine in the Tamil country are known from the

1. 2z 80: 63-78, 81:1-10.

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1311inscriptions. All these famines occurred after the eleventh

century and were confined to small areas There was, of course,

the need for new land, as appears from the numemous references

to the reclamation of forest and waste land and to the efforts

'to increase the area under the ploh and the inducements offered

to encourage such efforts on the part of the people' There

' t5 I14t.VtY , no evi ence of any migration to foreign lands

due to political or economic reasons other than perhaps commercial

motives. In this period, colonisation did not follow imperial

expansion, as in modern times, and there is no evidence

that any policy of establi hing settlements was followed by

the C1a rulers. But there is, however, some evidence regarding

the settlement of certain castes or communities, for the performance

of particular duties, in different parts of the Iamil country

by rulers and local assemblies. The Brhamaas formed one such

community. Nany BrThmaa villages, called agrahras, mag4ms

or catur-vdi-mafig4anis, were created by royal grants and 'new

colonies of pious and learned Brahmins were settled in the different

parts of the couhtry' Another community, which was áettled close

1. .P. for 1 99, No.33; LE.R. for 1911, No.29;

M.E. • for 191k, No.17 ; N.E.R. for 1935, No.1k.

2. See infra, p. jqo

3. M.E.R. for 1902, Nos. 485, 506 ; Y.E.R. for 19 3, No.385 ;

N.E.R. for 1911, No.2 7, etc. ; K.A.Nilakanta Sastri,

The C j,.as, pp. 584-5 5.

4. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, pp.k92-493.

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132

to temples for the performance of services to them, was that

of the ckara-piyr Some records of the thirteenth century

attest to the creation of mercantile settlements by chiefs and

local assembliea in South India It is not known whether such

a practice existed in the eleventh century. The Brhmaaa of

Polonnaruva and the cañkra-piyr of Mahtittha may have

been settled in those places by Ca authorities. The catur-

vdi-maxg4am,at Kanta, of which we know from an inscription

of the time of VijayabThu I ( L055-l].l0 ) may have similarly

originated in the Ca period. But these instances are different

from a policy of settling people in conquered lands. In a Tamil

epigraph of Ku]Zttuga I (1070-1120) from Mulbagal, in }&ysore,

there occurs the phrase i tou nilaik4 iar4i ' It has been

rendered aa:'who was pleased to establish settlements of people

on all sides (in the conquered country)' The implication is

that Ku1ttuiga opened up settlements, presumably of people from

his e pire, in newly conquered territories. But the translation

is not accurate, for nilaik :j. doe8 not mean settlements of people

but stations and what was mean evidently were military posts

rather than settlements.

1. Lee supra, p. 103.

2. M.E.R. for 1935/3 , Nos. 150, 196.

3. E.Z., IV, pp. 19k-195.

i. E.C., X, No. k2b.

5. Ibid., p. 81.

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133

CHAPTER Ill

STLE1'TS IN THE LATE ELEVENTH AND THE TWELFTH CE!TURY

The slow migration and settlement of the Dravidiansttss4' Mt

in the island seem to have continued,Awith greater vigour,in the

period after the Ca rule. A number of Tami-1 inscriptions

belonging to the late eleventh and the twelfth century have

been found in the northern and eastern areas of the island.

The evidence of the literary sources, too, suggests a growth

in the strength and influence of the South Indian element in

the country in the period between the end of Ca rule and the

invasion of Zgha (lO7O-l25). In this period, the reign of

Parkramabhu I (1153-1186) may be said to mark the heyday of

Sinhalese power and glory. This monarch, while he succeeded in

controlling the growing influence of the South Indians in the

island and in preventing any inroad from the mainland, 'left

the country in a state of exhaustion at the end of his rule'

The political confusion that ensued the reign of Parkramabhu I

greatly helped the increase of Kalifiga and Dravidian influence

on an unprecedented scale and, in some ways, prepared the

ground for the rise of an independent Tamil kingdom in northern

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, pp. 5k7, 716.

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134

Ceylon This period, therefore, sees the culmination of that had

begun to influence the course of the island's history towards

the end of the &nuridhapura period. From about the middle of thethe SwaLi.ec VitLf

thirteenth century&had to contend with a permanent enemy in

the northern regions of the island, instead of the traditional

enemy from the mainland.

The period under review was conspicuously free

from foreign inroads. On the contrary, there were Sinhalese

invasions of South India, and the island was involved in South

Indian politics to a greater extent than ever before. The very

close relations between South India and Ceylon in the political,

cultural and economic spheres brought into the island more and

more mercantile communities 1 mercenaries, artisans and BrThmas

from the Dravidian kingdoms. The invitation of foreign mercenaries

by aspirants to the Sithaleae throne, a common feature in the

Anurdhapura period, was absent in this period. But there were

strong and influential bodies of foreign mercenaries in the

island in this period, many of whom, as we shal]. see later,

seem to have gone there along with some of the mercantile

communities.

1. The political confusion that followed the reign of Parlkrama-

bThu I and the rise of Kaliga influence have been dealt with

by A.Liyanagamage in his thesis, The Decline of Polonnaruva

and the Rise of DaMbade, University of London, 1963.

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135

The most important feature of tbi8 period, in

regard to Dravidian settlements in the island, is the presenceof a number of mercenaries, traders, artisans and Brhmas from

a].]. parts of South India. The most important among these

Dravidian communities were the mercantile bodies known as the

Aififi1!ruvar, Valafljiyar and the Nnidis as well as the mercenary

forces called the V aikk!ras. An analysis of the activities of

the mercantile communities reveals that they may have been

responsible for the migration of several traders, artisans and

mercenaries into the island in the eleventh and twelfth centuries.

More than seventy inscriptions, in Tamil, Telugu,

Knnada and Malayalam, which refer to the activities of the

mercantile communities mentioned above, have been discovered in

South India. These range between the eighth and the seventeenth

century. Outside the South Indian peninsula, there are seven

in Ceylon one in Sumatra2and another in Burma which refer

1. i) S.I.i., IV, No. 11+05, from Anuridhapura; ii) E.Z., I,

p. 181, from P4iyafiku!ama ('I) ; iii) E.Z., II, p. 236 , from

naulundiva; iv) El., XVIII, pp. 330-338, from Polonnaruva;

v) Unpublished - from Vhlkaa; vi) Unpublished - from

Padaviya; vii) Unpublished - from VihrThTnna.

2. M.E.R. for 1891-1892, p. 11.

3. E.I., VII, p. 197.

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136

to them or to their associate bodies. These range between the

nita.nd the twelfth century. The widespread activities of these

mercantile communities have long been recognized by South Indian

historians. They have often been referred to as mercantile

gu.ilds and autonèmous corporations a! merchants But the actual

nature and organization of these 'guild as well as the

relationship between them and the large number of professional

bodies often associated with them have not been fully analysed.

There has been considerable confusion in the names used to

describe these 'guilds'. In Ceylon, writers on the history of

this period have made passing remarks on these communities

and have collectively referred té them as Valafljiyar Some

of these, like the Nakarattr, have sometimes been mistaken for

divisions of the VaikkIrae To understand the presence and

the activities of these communities in Ceylon, it is necessary

to nlyse briefly their organization and activities in South

India.

The Ai1iuvar, NLidis, Va1ajiyar and the

Nakarattir appear together in the majority of their inscriptions

1. K.A.Rilkanta Sastri, The p. 595 ;

T.V.I4ahalingam, South Indian Polity, pp. 389 If.

2. U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p. 550.

3. 5 • Paranavitana, 'The Polonnaruva Ins cript ion ol Vi jayabThu I',

E.I.., XVIII, 1926, pp. 33k, 335.

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137

in South India. The moat prominent among these were the Aifruvar,

who were also known as the Ayylv4e, Vra Balafijiyar and Banaflju

Dharmaara as well as by numerous other variants of these names

Most of their records are preambled by a long eulogy or praasti,

giving an account of their origin and achievements. By far the

largest number of these, nearly forty, are in Kairnada while there

are about a dozen each in Tamil and Telugu and a handful in

Malayalam. The earliest of these goes back to the eighth century

The latest is dated aka 1602 (A.D. i68o) At present, therefore,

the origin of this community can be traced back only to the

eighth century.

The earliest inscription of the AifitTuvar is

found at Aihoe, the ancient Ayvoe, which they claim as their

seat of power. Since the earliest available of their records

comes from Aihoe, it is possible that it belongs to the early

years of their history. The origin of this community, may,

1. M.E.R. for 1916, No.97 of 1915 - Ayyappoa1 ;

., VIII, p. 89 of the text - Ayyvajeya Aynrvva SvImig4u ;

i.E.R. for 1918, No. 18 of 1917-18 A - Samayins of Ayyav4i;

XI, p. 181 of the text - Aiv4e )thzkhyarada

2. JT.Fleet, 'Sanskrit and Canarese Inscriptions', l.A., VI, Nay 1877,

p . 138.

3. ?,E.R. for 1918, No. 18 of 1917-18 in Appendix A.

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138

therefore, date back to about the eighth century. There is little

doubt that Ayyvoe was the place of their origin, for not only

did they call themselves the yIvoe or the Five Hundred of

Ayyvoe but they also named many of the places where they

had established themselvea in later times as Southern Ayyvoes

(Teftka Ayvoe) In most of their inscriptions of the twelfth

and thirteenth centuries, the members of this community claim

to have come from Ahichchatra in North India It is not possible

to say how far this claim is true. But it is not impossible

that some of the wandering traders from North India were responsible

for the founding of a mercantile body which later grew into

this powerful community.

The name of this community has been the subject

of various interpretations by different scholars. In most of

the Kannada inscriptions, it appears as the Five Hundred Svznina

of Ayyv4e (Ayyv4eya Ayn!rvva Svmig4u) Several variants

of this name occur in the Tamil epigraphe, such as tci-

ticai-1yirattu-airruvar (live Hundred of the Thousand Directions

of the Several Countriea)

1. V, p. 325 of the text.

2. .E.R. for 1906, No. 180 of 1905.

3. VIII, p. 89 of the text.$A-NiL..tc..Ii4* S.c4ri, '4 Ptvo%. G1'J.

k.,(Tiidschrift Voor Indische Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde, LXXII,

1932, p. 318.

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139

(Five Hundred of the Thousand Directions of the Four (quarters)

Ticai-yirattu-aififiuvar (Five Hundred of the Thousand Directions)2

and Aififih1uvar (Five Kundred) Sometimes they are just referred

to as Aiv4e, Ayyav4e or Ayyappoal. The use of the name

Aiflffiiuvar has led R.C.Majumdar to think that this 'organization'

consisted of five hundred members T.V.!.halingam, on the other

hand, feels that 'their extra-territorial organization was

managed by an executive committee of five hundred members'

A,Appadorai, too, holds a similar view when he states that the

'most important personages were constituted into a board called

the Five Hundred Svmis of Ayyvoe'? L.D.Barnett's opinion is

that this 'corporation' had their central body at AyyIvoe,

which .as the seat of their Board of Directors, consisting of

a council of five hundred members All these opinions are based

1. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, A T; \ ir

± ±.'

2. Ibid.

3. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The C5as, p. 596.

k. M.E.R. for 1919, No.223 of 1918; E.C., II, (Revised ed.),

p. 78 of the text; M.E.R. for 1916, No. 97 of 1915.

5. R.C.}lajumdar, Corporate Life in Ancient India, P. 88.

6. T .V. Mahalingam, . cit., P . 392.

7. A.Appadorai, Economic Conditions in Southern India, II, p. 39k.

8. L.D.Barnett, The Ancient Tamil Township and Village, Unpublished,

quoted in B.A.Saletore's Social and Political Life in theViiayanaara Empire, LI, p.'I8 j.i.

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140on the interpretations of the term AiZfiuvar and deserve

closer exeini-nation. Majumdar's view that the organization consisted

of five hundred members is not tenable. The activities of this

body was never limited to any one area or century. On the

contrary, its records have been found in several districts

of South India and. in Ceylon and. Sumatra. These range over a

period of nearly ten centuries. It is, therefore, improbable

that the organization had a constant number of members

throughout this period and ail over the vast area covered by t

their activities. The meaning of the term Aiuvar has to

be expiLined differently. The opinions of Appadorai, Barnett

and Nahalingam are based on the assumption that the Aifflh1uvar

were a single unified body with their headquarters at Ayivo.e

and that all the members mentioned in their inscriptions

all over South India owed allegiance to a central body. It

seems rather too much to expect the Aiflfluvar to have been

such a unified body with a continuous history of nearly ten

centuries and with branches all over South India and even

overseas. Such an organization is too modern a concept and may

not be applicable to this period of South Indian history.

A careful analysis of the inscriptions reveals that there is

no justification for the view that the AiZffI1ruvar represented

a central body of the corporation or for the theory that they

had their headquarters at Ayyv4e. In the first place, it is

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141not necessary to assume that the membership of the corporation

or its central body, if ever there was one, was limited to five

hundred. In this instance, the number five hundred has to be

taken as a conventional number from which this mercantile

community baa derived its name. This may be explained in

several ways. The number five hundred may preserve the memory

of the number of people who banded themselves together and

originated this mercantile community. This number may have

been a figure close to five hundred and may have been rounded

off to five buntred. Naming guilds and other bodies after what

may have been considered their numerical strngth is not

something unusual in Indian history. In the Jtakaa we get

references to carpenters and robbers organized in guilda of

five hundred Certain other guilds had a thousand men in each

of theme Even in later times there were such bodies in South

India. An inscription from Travancore refers to a body of six

hundred while another from Bijpur refers to a body of BI'Ihniaas

called the Five Hundred 14ahjanas (}lahljanañg4 Aynflrvvara)

1. The Jtakas, IV, ed. E.B.Cowell, Tr. W.H.D.Rouse, (1901),

p. 268 - Sattigumba Jtaka.

2. Ibid., p. 99 - Samudda-vIija Jtaka.

3. E.I., V, p. 47.

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142There was also a community of BrIbmas in Cidambaram (Tillai)

who were known as the Three Thousand of Tillai (Tillai NvIyiravar)

In modern times we get the example of the Syrian Christians of

Ker4a being divided into the Seven Hundred (Eunhrukar) and

the Five Hundred (LfiffUrukar) Th. name Five Hundred is, therefore,

no indication of the numerical strngth of the AififT!nvar in

the later centuries of their history. There is also another

possibility of explaining this name. The AiZfit!ruvar claim in

their inscriptions that they migrated from Ahichchatra. This

may mean that the community originated in South India with the

arrival of some wandering traders from North India who already

belonged to a mercantile corporation known as the Five Hundred,

for it is quite possible that such corporations continued to

exist in North India from the time of the JItzka.

It is equally untenable to claim that the Aififlh1ruvar

had their headquarters at Aihoe or Ayylvoje. The fact that

only one, and that the earliest, of their records has been

discovered at Aiho.e is not without any significance. If the

Aiflffuvar had their headquarters in this town, it is strange

1. M.E.R. for 1922/23, No. 395 of 1922. V v7t+•

2. T.A.S., II, p. 75.

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143that out of over seventy records left by them not a single one

belonging to the period after the eighth century has been

found at Aihoó. The fact that they continued to call themselves

the Aififfaruvar of Ayyv4e or Ayyvoe does not necessarily

mean that they had their headquarters in that town. There is

no etidence to suggest that they had any connection with

Ayyvoe alter the eighth century. As we have pointed out earlier,

.Ayylv4e appears to have been the town where this mercantile

community had its origins. It seems possible, therefore, that

the Aifi!flTuvar were originally known as the Aiffuvar of

AyyIvoe. Nembers of their community seem to have used this

name in the later centuries, too, when they had established

themselves in other parts of South India. The occurrence of

Ayyvo.e in their name seems , therefre, to be a reminder of

their place of origin rather than a reference to their

headquarters. Their practice of calling many of the new places

where they established themselves as Southern Ayyvoes

(TerTh or Dakia Ayylv4e) also shows that they considered

Ayyvoe to be their original home Further there is no evidence

1. Cf., The Ki BrI1' maas and the Tillai BrThmaas called

themselves so even when they were settled in places other

than Ki and Tillai respectively.

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144to suggest that there was any kind of communication between

AyyIvoe and the other places where the Aififf1ruvar were found.

Ayylv4e seems té have declined as a centre of their activity

before the tenth century, when we begin to get their records

in other places.

There is also no evidence to support the hypothesis

that the AiIflUruvar were a single unified corporation of

merchants. The application to the Aiflflh!uvar of the terms

'corporation' and 'guild' appears to be rather UfljflBtified.

It seems more appropriate to cal]. them a community of merchants

with common origin, interests and beliefs. They were all bound

together by the Banafiju Dharma3 which they claimed to follow

There is no evidence of any other fora of bond, administrative

or otherwise, between them. There is little evidence regarding

any definite organization in their community. An official called

Paaa-svimi is met with in most of their inscriptions. But

be appears as the head of a mercantile town who took part in

the meetings of the Aiflffruvar as well as of other mercantile

bodies It is, therefore, difficult to decide whther he was an

official of the Aiflfi71uvar or the head of a town acknowledged

I. EC., VIII, p. 89 of the text.

2. E.C., VII, Inscription No. 9k from Shikarpur TV.uq.

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145by all the professional bodies in the town. The term ffaa

-svmi (lord of the town) itself suggests that he was the general

head of a town rather than an official of any particular body.

The only other official term that occurs in the records of the

Aiflfl!ruvar is igeya, which is of doubtful meaning' Some have

suggested that it could mean a passport department But it is

difficult to determine the real meaning of the term. The

Aiflflh!uvar may have been a loosely organized body because of

their community of interests but sufficient evidence is lacking

to call them a corporation or a trading guild. The fact that

some of their associate bodies like the Valafijiyar and the

Nakarattlr, who are conunonly referred to as mercantile corporations

and guilds have survived to this da as mercantile castes

in South IndiaL4 should serve as a corrective to the impression

that the Lifluvar and other trading communities of this

period were organized as corporations

L. II, (Revised ed.), p. 90 of the Kannada text.

2. Ibid., p. 78 of the translation.

3. A.Appadorai, . ., p. 378.

4, Iperia1 Gazetteer of India, XVIII, pp. 188-189.

5. Even in modern times the business community of Ceis havetheir own fiscal year, stick to their own system of book-keeping

and follow their own type of business practices and customs.

But they could hardly be called a corporation on these grounds.

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146The AifffhIruvar were primarily traders in various

types of merchandise as they themselves claim in their inscriptionai

They call themselves wandering traders and claim to have

visited a large number of countries, many of which were in

North India and some outside the subcontinent But none of their

inscriptions has been found in any part of North India and

this claim may not be altogether true. But the fact that their

records have been left in Ceylon and in Sumatra shows that

they were an adventurous community whose members went to

far off lands in pursuit of their profession.

Apart from their fundtion as traders, they seem

to have occupied a leading position among a larger number of

occupational groups in the towns, exercising much power and

influence over tbem In many of their inscriptions, we get as

1. E.G., VII, p. 159 of the text.

2. E.C., VII, No. 118 from Shikarpur T.1uq - The following

countries are mentioned:- 'Chra, Cba, PIya, Nagadha,

Kausala, SaurItra, Dhanustra, Kurumbha, Imbboja, Gaufla,

La, Barvvara, Praaa, Npja, kapda, Lambakara,

StrT-rljya, Ghola-mukha emba nIndafigaum'.

3. Ibid., Noe. 118 and 119 from Shiknipur T.luq, pp. 158-163 of

the text.

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147many as forty-six such bodies associated with the Aififih1uvar

and their Banaflju Dharma3 These include the NLdie, Baajigas

or Valafljiyar and. the Naaratt1r. The exact relationship

between the AififUruvar and these bodies is not easy to

determine. Nany of the inscriptions give us , however, some

idea of the nature of this relationship. Certain writers have

expressed the view that the Aif1Zuvar were a federation of

all these bodies and not a community by themselves T.V.Mahalingam

considers th associate bodies to be sub-divisions of the

Ain1mznvar But these views are again based on the assumption

1. E.C., VII, pp. 158-159 of the text ; M.E.R. for 1918 , p. 17k.

The following communities are mentioned:-

Gavaras, Gatrigas, Seis, Seiguttas, Mtgakras, Settiputras,

Bra-vaigaa, NnIdis, IIu, Nagara, Baafijigas, Etivraa,

Nuai-vras, I flcika-vTraa, Koñga-vas, Kaalis, Bhadrakae,

Gav$aevmis, iñgam, iu-puli, Valattnkk.i, Variyas,

Paradis, Svadis, Va1afLgai-taiyar, Niyyattir, BTras,

Ga4igae, GavuQ4ae, Murnmuri-da4as, 4vaQa-klras, V!rakoi,

Vyavahri1cas, Pa.flchflaa, KumbhalflcaR, Tantuvayins, Vastrabhedakae,

Tila Ghak, Kurantak s, Vastra-rakk, Dvagas, Parikeliti,

G-rakçakas, Kfras, Rjk and Zauras.

2.. S.Cbandrasekhara Sastri,'Economic Conditions under the Hoysalas',

Half-Yearly Journal of the Mysore Univeristy, II, 2, July,( p.223.

3 • TV. Mahalingam, . cit., p • 390.

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145that all these bodies were organized trade guilda. There is

no doubt that the Aiflruvar were a community d.etinct from

*1]. others mentioned with them. They are referred to as such

in their records, where the Aiflffaruvar, NnIdie, the

NrattIr, the eighteen samayas and other communities are

distinctly listed as different bodiee But in all these

instances, the leading position of the AiflfiIruvar over all

the others is clearly brought out. There are many instances to

show that the Aifiruvar presided over several meetings

where affairs of the other communities were aettled The

prahsti appearing in many of their records is called the

AynUrvvara praheti and is clearly in praise of the

This community seems, therefore, to have enjoyed considerable

power and influence over the many pafeboiona-]. groups in the

towns and trading centres of South India. They, as well as

the other major mercantile communities like the Valajiyar and

the Nakarattr, were conceded a share of the administrative

duties of the state. We find in the inscriptions that they had

1. LE.R. for 1925/26, No. 131 of 1926 ; M.E.R. for 1919,

No. 216 of 1918.

2. E.G., VII, p. 159 of the text.

3. Ibid.

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149a share in the collection of tolls, taxes and rates 1 and had

the power of declaring certain towns as i-v!ra-paa4as

and Southern Aryv4es They also reserved for themselves the

power to grant trading privileges in certain articles to

individual tradera They were great benefactors of temples to

which they granted part of the tolls and rates collected by theme

The communities associated with the Aiflflh1ruvar

were not all mercantile in character. Many were other occupational

groups which later evolved into castes. Examples of such comnn(ities

are the Paflc3las (the five classes of smiths), K.unibhallkzae

(potters) and the Kauras (barbers) who were among the

eighteen samayas. Even the Valafijiyar and the Nakarattr later

evolved into castes There were also some communities which

were given to martial pursuits, such as the Ei-vras, Muai-vTras,

Ificii'lkz-vTraa, Koñga-vI.as and the Mummuri-daQ4as? Their names

1. E.G., VII, p. 159 of the text; M.E.R. for 1919, No. 9 of

1918-19, Appendix A , No. 216 of 1918 ; M.E.R. for 1912,

No. 377 of 1911.

2. M.E.R. for 1913, No. 3k2 of 1912; E.C., VIII, p. 89 of the text.

3. LE.P. for 1919, Nos. 10 and 11 of 1918-19 Appendix A.

k. M.E.R. for 1912, No. 377 of 1911.

5. The Imperial Gazt.teer of India, XVIII, p. 198.

6. Ibid.

7. See infra,

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150

suggest the nature of the work they were doing.

As mentioned earlier, there are seven inscriptions

in Ceylon which attest to the presence of the AiZ.ffuvar and.

their associates in the island although Ceylon has been omitted

in the list of countries covered by their activities, furnished

in their inscriptions The earliest of these inscriptions comes

from Anurdhapura and its contents have already been discussed

The inscription is datable to the ninth century. The Nku-nItu

(Four Countries), a community identifiable with the Nlku-nu

of the Kannada inscriptions, was responsible for setting up

this record. The Nilku-n4u of the Kannada inscriptions are

found associated with the Aiflffruvar and were probably a

trading community like the ].u-nakarattr (Those of the Four

Towns) This may mean that some associates of the Ai1Iflh1uvar,

and probably the lattei too, were in the island in the ninth

century.

There is definite evidence regarding the presence

of the Valafliyar and the Nakarattr in Ceylon in the twelfth

1. See eupra, p.

2. See supra, p.

3. E.C., VII, p. 310 of the text ; E.C., VIII, p. 89 of the text;

LE.R. for 1917, No. 130 of 1916.

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151

century. The source of our information is the fla l]drTra inscription

from Polonnaruva, which appears to have been set up not long

after the death of Vij&yabThu I (iUO) The Valafijiyar and the

Nakarattr are referred to here as those closely associated

with the Vjikkaa. The exact relationship is couched in the

following lines of the inscription:-

)-tantirattm ki ekajukku nittaikai uaValaflceyaraiyuni eau kt!i varum Nakarattiruiraiyum_ki ..... 2

Paranavitana has rendered it in English as follows:-

We of the I4ahtantra, having called together theValafijiyar who are our leaders, and the Naka.rattr andothers, who always accompany us... 3

The Valaceyar of our inscription,were, of course, the

Valafijiyar who are sometimes referred to as Baafijigas in the

Kannada inscriptions. In the first place, these lines inform

us that the Vala.jiyar and the Nakarattr were in Ceylon along

with the VjaikkIras in the twelfth century and possib].y in the

eleventh, too, for there is evidence for the presence of the

Vaikkras in the eleventh century But more important than

this is the light thrown on the nature of the relationship

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Polonnaruva Inscription of VijayabThu I',

2 • £i• ' pp. 330-338.

2. Ibid., p. 337.

3. Ibid., p. 338.

k. See supra, p.c7.

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152between the Valafljiyar and the Vaikkras.Commenting on this

Paranavitana writes that 'it seems from our inscription as if

the three divisions or 'hands' to which the V.ai-kkras were

divided consisted of the Mahitantra, the Va1ajiyar and the

Nagarattr', and adds that 'as the Valafijiyars are said to have

been the leaders (nfddai) of the V i-1ckra troops, it might

be conjectured that the latter migrated to Ceylon with the

Valafjiyar whom they served' But, as Ni].knta Sastri has pointed

out, there is no reason to assume that the Valafljiyar and the

Nakarattr formed two of the three divisions of the aikkras

The lines quoted above refer to the Valafijiyar as the nt!tãtaik4

of the tjaikk ras. Paranavitana has translated the word nttitaikaj

as leaders. Nilakanta Sastri has the following comment to make

on this translation:-

The translation of n!tdaig4 into 'leaders' is not quiteaccurate; the word literally means 'grandfathers', andwhat is meant cannot be physical descent when it is onecorporation claiming this relation to another, and mustimply some kind of spiritual, or constitutional. relation. 3

Although nfjtaik4 means 'grandfathers' or 'ancestors', it

could also be taken to mean elders In this context, it is not

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Polonnaruva Inscription of VijayabThn I', p.335

2. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, 'VijayabThu, Th. Liberator of Ceylon',

J.LA.S. (c.B.), N.S., IV, 195k, p. 70.

3. Ibid.

k. E.Z., II, p. 25k. D.}Lde Z.Wickrn2Ringhe has given this

translation.

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153

possible to take the first two meanings, for the Valafijiyar being

a mercantile community and the V t1dc!pa being a mercenary

body we cannot say that one is descended from the other. The

meaning 'elders' seems to be more appropriate. But here, too,

the Valafijiyar cannot be taken to be the elders in the physical

sense. They appear to have been regarded as the leaders of the

T!af1dc!ras, as Paranavitana. baa rendered, and seem to have

been elders in the social sense. This relationship becomes clear

if we look at the social structure in South India in this period.

In the eleventh and the twelfth century, and in fact till

recent times, the various castes of the Dravidian areas were

divided into two major sections called the Iei (Left Rand)

and the Valañkai (night Hand) The Vjatkk!ra inscription

under discussion attests to the presence of the members of these

two sections in Ceylon in the twelfth century Certain mercantile

communities were considered to be the heads or leaders of

these sections. In the case of the Valki1 the N.udia and

the Valafijiyar were among the leaders while the Iikai had

1. B.A.Saletore, Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagara

Empire, II, p. 68 ff.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The Polonnaruva Inscription of VijayabThu I',

p. 337.

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the 1a1r,rattir as one of their leaders The V1?ri- were often

considered to be of a higher social atatus than the IaI%kRi

Although the ffaikk ra forces in Ceylon were drawn from both

sections, as they admit in our inscription, the Nabltantra

division, who alone call the Valafijiyar their m±taik4,

appears to have been drawn from the Valkii. This assumption

is further strengthened by the fact that the 'Nakaratt.r 4ir'are referred to as those who accompany the atantra The

phrase Nakarattr baa been translated by Paranavitana

as the 'Nakarattir and others'f' But literally uiffr means

'those included', from uflitu meaning 'include'. The phrase

would, therefore, mean 'those included (in a group) with the

Nakarattir'. This seems to be a reference to the Iafi1tai leaders.

The reason why this group is mentioned as those who accompany

the Z4ahitantra must be the subordinate position held by them

in the presence of the ValAksi. The leaders of both sections

were invited for the meeting of the aik1ra.g obviously

because the latter were drawn from both seetions of the Dravidians.

1. E.G., XI, p. 61 of the text ; The Imperial Gazetteer of India,

XVIII, pp. 198-199.

2. B.A.Saletore, 2• cit., p. 68 ff.

3. See supra, p. 151

k. See supra, p. s5S

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155

It seems, therefore, reasonable to assume that the mercenary

forces called the Vfl.aikkrae went to the island along with

the mercantile communities who, as we have seen earlier, had

a number of martial communities associated with them in South

India. Some of the Vjaikkras, however, may have gone there

independently and later acknowledged the leadership of the

mercantile communities.

The Valafijiyar, Nakarattr and some of the mercenary

bodies were only a few of the associates of the Aififfauvar who

were in Ceylon in the twelfth century. There are at least

three Tamil inscriptions in the island which refer to several

others. These records, which are unpublished, are found at

Vihalkaa, Vihrh!nna and Padaviya and contain the praasti

of the Aififii1ruvar at the beginning Unfortunately all are

badly damaged and the actual purport of the inscriptions cannot

be ascertained. These could be assigned to the twelfth century

on pa].aeographica]. grounds. The script of these inscriptions

is very similar to that of the Tamil inscriptions of the time

of GajabThu II ( 1132-1153). Apart from these Tamil epigraphe,

there is another record of the Aifffih1ruvar in the Sinhalese script

of the twelfth or the thirteenth century. Unfortunately only

1. See supra, p.i3n'

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153

three lines of this inscription, containin( part of the paasti,

have been preserved Since the praasti is in Sanskrit, it is

not known whether the rest of the inscription was in Sinhalese

or not.

The pragasti in the Tamil inscriptions is a shorter

version of that appearing in the Kannada records and begins with

the words Samaatha bhuvanraya pafica ata v!ra sisana. As in

the Kolar inscription of ii8O the AiflfiUuvar describe themselves

here as the 'children of the Goddess of the City of Ayyappoil'

(&,yappo]4pura Paramvarikku makkaj). The praasti is followed

by a list of members of the different communities who were

associated with the Aiflflttuvar in the island. The number of

communities is not as large as in the South Indian inscriptions.

Among those mentioned in the preserved portions of the inscriptions

are the Ceis, Ceiputras, Nndis, Valafijiyar, V!rakkoti,

Valaf&kai, A2gIckiras, Xvaa1dc ras, Iaflc I A1m and the Koñga-vias.

The Cettis were traders as well as money lenders

or bankers In our inscriptions they are sometimes referred to

as the 'Ceis of the countries of the eighteen worlds' ( patifl!.

-pThni nu ceftik4). Several meznbezs of this community are

1. D.Lde Z.Wickramasinghe, 'Polonnaruva: Anaulundva Slab-Inscription'

E.Z., II, p. 236.

2. E.G., X, No.170 from Kolar -' Ayyv4epura Paramevariya makk4'.

3. A.Appadorai, . cit., pp. 379-380.

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151

named in the8e inscriptions. In the VThalka4a inscription,

these Ceis and the V!rakkoiyar are recorded to have done

something in order that a certain town may not be destroyed.

It is not clear what the nature of their work was and which

town was protected in that manner. There are some place names

in the North-central and North-western ProviAces with cei

fleir first element. These may date from the twelfth and

thirteenth centuries and may indicate the presence of Cefti

settlers in those places

The Ceiputrae may also have been traders, bat

we have no information regarding the nature of their activities.

The ndia, as we have already noted, were a community of

traders like the Valafijiyar. In many of the Kannada inscriptions

they are referred to as the Ubhaya Indis (both ndis)

It is not known who these two classes of Nndis were. In

an inscription from Bangalore, there occurs the phrase

svad!a t'arada nindam (local and foreign Nnida It

may be that this mercantile community was divided into a

.. •c,,i,,,, I? 1 ?) 1 , c-

2. E.G., IX, p. 83 of the text ; E.I., XIX, p. 25.

3. E.G., IX, p. 1 of the text.

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158

local and a foreign group. But this phrase could also mean

'those of the svad&a, parad!a and nThda (communities),'

for we come across a body known as the Paradis in another

inacription It is difficult to settle this question without

ez.im-i-ning some of the unpublished inscriptions which remain

inaccessible at the moment. It is also not known whether the

Nndis were actually a community of merchants from different

countries, as the name implies, or whether they were so called

because they were descended from foreign merchants who had

established their business in the Kannada country, where the

community seems to have originated. Whatever their origin ma

have been, they were among those who travelled to distant lands

in pursuit of their trade, possibly with the AiZflturuvar. Their

presence in Pagan, Burma, is known from the Teinil inscription

found there In Ceylon, apart from the evidence of the Tamil

inscriptions, there is also a Sinhalese epigraph of the time of

queen Lt]1vat (1197-1200, 1209-1210, 1211-1212) which mentions

- them. According to this record, in the reign of LT]1vat the

lndia (Nnd!i vyp rayan) had an alms house at Anurdhapura

1. M.E.R. for 1932/33, No. 173 of 1932/33.

2. ., VII, p. 198. -

3. D.M.de Z.Wickramasinghe, 'The Slab-Inscription Marked of

queen LT]ivat!', E.Z., I, p. 179.

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159

As in South India, these mercantile co n"'fl'nitiea wereengaged

in providing charitable services and in patronising religious

institutions.

The VT.rakkoi or Vrakkofiyar were another

mercantile community found in Ceylon in about the twelfth

century. They are recorded in the VIha 1kaa inscription to

have associated themselves with the Cetis in tkirg certain

steps to protect a town They are mentioned in a few South

Indian inscriptions, too, but do not seem to have been a

prominent trading comnnznity

The Akkkras and the va zkk ras appear to have

been two of the non-mercantile Dravidian communities that were

in the island in this period. The 1Akak1ras are frequently

mentioned in the records of the AiffflXuvar but it haø not been

possible to find out the nature of their profession. An akakk.ra,

in T41, is a dandy or a masquerader and is derived from the

Sanskrit word a.figa (=body) Perhaps they were professional

entertainers who specialised in masque. The Avaakr rae do not

find mention in the South Indian inscriptions but are referred

1. See supra, p. JS7.

2. M.E.R. for 1910, No. U of 1910.

3. Nadras Tamil Lexicon, I, p. 18.

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160

to in the V 1kala and VihirhThna epigraphe. The name is derived

from am (Skt. meaning market or bazaar Perhaps the

4va4akkras were those who were responsible for the maintenance

of markets and other public places.

The Valkai of our inscriptions are the eighteen

castes of South India who were categorized under this name.

The term occurs in the Jaik1cra inscription as well, along

with the term It.Aki This clearly shows that the South Indian

caste system was maintained b.mong the Dravidiana in Ceylon, too.

The Valafijiyar and the } ndEis as well as some of the laikkras

were Valakai comnmnities But no information is available

regarding the number and names of the Va1a.kai castes in the

island.

There is no information at all regarding the

activities of the 4aciAkams (young lions). It is not possible

to conjecture from the name the nature of their profession. The

Koñga-vias appear to have been a community given to military

pursuita The name means 'swordsmen of Koigu'. They may have been

a class of sword fighters who were among the mercenary communities

1. Madras Tamil Lexicon, I, P. 21+9.

2. See supra, p. I3-

3. See enpra, p. I^3-

1+. E.A.Nilk2nta Sastri, 'A Tamil Merchant-guild in Sumatra', p. 319.

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161

who accompanied the mercantile bodies. The Vhalkaa inscription

has a list of several military personalities who were associated

with the Ceis, VTrakkoiyar and the Valafljiyar. They have

such titles as C!pati (army chief), mallan (wrestler) and

(victor). A certain Citta, is referred to as the Valaftceyar

Cpati, apparently because he was in the service of the

Valafijiyar. Mercantile communities may have employed mercenary

forces to protect their endowments as well as to safeguard

their trust properties. This perhaps explains the presence of

Munimuridaas ( a class of mercenaries) on many occasions when

grants were made by the mercantile communities

Some at least of the mercenary communities from

which the Vai1dras were drawn seem to have gone to the island

along with the mercantile communities. The claim of the }1ahtantras,

a section of the rja1kkras, that the Valafijiyar were their

elders and the invitation extended tè the Valafljiyar and the

Nakarattr to attend an important meeting of the aikkaa

at Polonnaruva show that these mercenary bodies were closely

associated with the leading mercantile communities from South

Indja

1. VII, p. 159 of the text ; E.G., IX, p. 83 of the text;

E.G., XI, p1 126 of the text.

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162As pointed out earlier, the period under review was

one during which the practice of inviting foreign mercenaries

to the island was absent. But despite this, the Dravidian

mercenaries formed one of the significant sections of the army

of the Sinhalese kings. Of these, the V!.aikk raa iLndoubtedly

formed the most important troops. Since much has been written

on the origin and history of these mercenary forces, it may

be necessary to point out some of the misconeeptions regarding

them among writers on Ceylonese history and to attempt a better

understanding of the subject The best source of our information

on this subject is undoubted]$ the Polonnaruva inscription of

the aikkrae. Be8ides this, there are at least two other

Tamil inscriptions in the island, from Ga]. Oya and P4aniDai,

referring to the Vjaikkras and the notices in the q1si

Nilakanta Sastri has explained that the word vaikkra is

derived from the word v!ai (= time, occasion, moment) and that

it stands for the 'time or occasion indicated in an oath by

the soldier who binds himself by the oath to lay down his life

in certain contingencies4 Sastri has also given the alternate

1. K.L.Nilakanta Sastri, 'Vijayabhu I, The Liberator of Ceylon',

pp. 58-60, 67-71; The Cas, pp. 315, 316, 'ik, 455;

S.Paranavitana, 'The Polonnaruva Inscription of V.jayabhu I',

pP. 333-335; T.V.!halingam, . cit., pp. 258-260.

2. LA.Nil2kpnta Sastri, 'Vijayabhu I, The Liberator of Ceylon', p.68

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163

interpretation that 'their designation implies that they were

ever ready to defend the king and his cause with their lives

when occasion (v!ai) arose' It is not possible to determine

whether the element vai is the sane as the Tamil word meaning

time or occasion. It is quite possible that it is derived from

some other word now unknown to ue References to the V!aikkras

occur in Taniil inscriptions and literature from about the

eleventh century. These mercenaries were not all in the employ

of kings. Many were employed by village assemblies and other

institutions They seem to have been divided into different

types according to the nature of the duty performed by them.

We meet with the following types, for instance, in the sources

mentioned above:- a) P-VaikkLar (Tami]. p = flowers)t

b) K4a-fffr dr.ra (Tamil k4jaz' = robbers) c) Rkasa-V. dcrar

(skt. rkasa = giant) d) Tacca-V.aikkrar (Tainil Taccar=carpenters)?

1. LA.Nil2k1,ta Sastri, The Cas, p. k5k.

2. Cf., Indoneasian word b&la, 'to defend'.

3. B.A..Saletore, I, . cit., p. 3k8.

4. K.LNilakanta Sastri, 'VijayabThu I, The Liberator of Ceylon', p.67.

5. . . R. for 1914, No. 368 of 1914.

6. M. .R. for 1921, No. 393 of 1921.

7. LR. for 192k, No. 194 of 192k.

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164e) Tiru-ciila-aikkrar (Taniil tiru = sacred, = spear) and

1) Tiru-ciampala-Va1 krar (ciampalam = hal]. of wisdozn)

The exact functions of these different V,ik1r.ras is not

clear from their names. PU-V!.aikkrar may have been those who

guarded the flower gardens in a temple. Kaa-Vjafkkirar may

have been employed to guard a place against thieves. Rkasa

Vaikkrar may have got this na4e because of their size.

Tiru-cfla-Vaikkrar may have been guards of temples who were

armed with spears. We can only speculate on their functions from

the names they bore.

A number of divisions of VaikkIras, probably in

the service of kings, were named after kings and princes. Among

them were the (a) Nittavinta ffaUdcirar (b) Jaanta-

terifica V.aikkrar1' Cc) k]akiya Ca-teriflca Va1 kkrar

(d) Aridurga-lngbana-t erint a Valafkai Vaikkrar (e) Candra

Parlkrama-t erint a Va].afikai aikkrar' and (f) Iaiya-rja-terint a

1. M.E.P. for 1925, No. 188 of 1925.

2. Ibid., No. 2k3 of 1925.

3. LE.R. for 1927, No. 282 of 1927.

k. M.E.R. for 1921, No. 393 of 1921.

5. 3.1.1., II, Introduction, p. 9.

6. Ibid.

7. Ibid.

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165

Va1Aki VjaUdcrar The epithet Va1a.fkai or Ijatkai denoted

their caste group.

These mercenaries were not a 'warlike tribe or a

clan or a military community' as Geiger thought? but 'a type of

troops bounds by specific oaths of loyalty which they were

bound to keep at the risk of their own lives' They yore drawn

from different castes and were probably organized as a military

guild. R.C.Majumdar takes them as 'a good example of Katriya

The assembly of the Vaikkra community at Polonnaruva

as well as the organized manner in which they sometimes revolted

against the Sinhalese rulers may support this contention. But

apart from these, there is no substantial evidence to prove

this conclusively.

Vai1dcra mercenaries were employed in Ceylon in

the time of Vijayabhu I (1055-1110) and possibly even earlier,

under the Cas. The Colombo Museum Pillar inscription of

Kassapa IV (898-91k) has a reference to a Vekk who was a

body-guard Judging from his profession, this person may have

1. 8.1.1., II, Introduction, p. 9.

2. W.Geiger, Culture of Ceylon in !iedieval Times, p. 152.

3. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, 'VijayabThu I, The Liberatthr of Ceylon' ,p.58.

k. See supra, p. 1S3.

5. R.C.Majumdar, . p. 31.

6. EL III, p. 276.

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166

been a aikkra (Pii V.akkr& may have become Vekk in

Sinhalese by the omission of the final ), but it is not certain

whether there were VakkTras in the island as early as the

tenth century. A Tamil inscription from Gal Oya, near Polonnaruva,

records a grant by a certain Atikaraa, C&Aa4a, a MIu-kai

Tiru-Jaikkra Although on palaeographical grounds this

epigraph may be dated to the eleventh century, it is difficult

to say whther it is a Ca record. It may well belong to the

time of Vijayabhu I. In the present state of our knowledge,

it is not possible to say whether there were V.a1-kkiras in

the island before the time og Vijayabhu I.

The Cilavaisa makes a few references to the

influence exerted by the Jaikkras in the island the

e^tLtt ttf4tLi centuries. It is clear from these that

the Sinhalese rulers from the time of Vijayabhu I depended

to a great extent on these mercenaries for the defence of their

kingdom It is not necessary to assume that all these mercenaries

came from South India. As Nilknta Sastri has pointed out, some

of the Vlaikkras may have been enlisted from among the Dravidians

who were settled in the island This is also perhaps one of

1. I.I., IV, No. 1398.

2. .,6O:36, 63:2k, 29 and 77:kk.

3. K.A.Nila.kanta Sastri, 'VijayabThu I, The Liberator of Ceylon', p.60.

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167

the reasons why we do not hear often of mercenaries being

enlisted from the mainland in this period.

From the Polonnaruva inscription we learn that

there were several sections among the Vaikkraa in the island.

The Mahtantra appears to have been the leading group among

them. According to this inscription, it was the Nahitantras

who first met and invited the Va]Jjiyar, the Nakarattir and

others for the assembly of the V.aikk!ras at Polonnaruva. They

seem to have followed a code of conduct or rules called the

Mahtantra for, at the end of the inscription, there is an

imprecation to the effect that those who violate the Mahtantra

will go to hell We agree With Nile 1 nta Lastri that the

interpretations that they belonged to some sort of Mahyna

2or Saiva sect seem to be very unlikely. In the South Indian

inscriptions, the term Mahãtantra occurs as the name of a military

community or claas Nilknta Sastri is right in suggesting -

that this term may relate to some school of militarism in

South India

1. E.I., xVIII, P. 337

2. K.A.Nilakanta Saetri,'Vijayabihu I, The Liberator of Ceylon', p.71.

3. M.E.R. for 1917, No. k33 of 1916.

4. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri,'Vi4yabThu I, The Liberator of Ceylon', p.71.

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168

Among the other sections of the Va{k-kraa the

Polonnaruva inscription mentions those of the Valañkai, I1kRi,

Ciu-taam, Piaik4-taam, Vatukar, J!a1ayIar and Parivra-

kntam. This mixed composition of the VTi {kkiras clearly

shows that they were not members of one military caste or

community but were organized more like a military guild. Of

these different sections, the Vaikkras of the Valfika{ and

Ttafikai. were obviously tho8e drawn from the two categories of

Dravidian castes known as Vale lflcei and Içaikai. The ValAkai

laikkras appear to have been further sub-divided into

various sections. In the P4anilai inscription of the forty-

second year of VijayabThu I (1097), a Vaikkra of the

Vi kid rama-ca].mka-terinta Val_b1 division is mentioned

This division was apparently named after VikramabThu I (1111-1132),

the son of VijayabThu I and bearer of the consecration name

Ca1mka (Pii, Si1megba) The naming of a division of the

army after a ruler indicates that the Sinhalese rulers were

following a South Indian practive

1. S.Paranavitana, 'A Tamil Slab Inscription from P4amftai',

IV, p. 19k.

2. As Vikramabhu considered himself to be the legal successor

of Vijayabhn I, who bore the consecration name of Siri-sañghabodhi1

be would have adopted the consecration name of Si1-megha-vaa.

3. See supra, p.

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169

The meanings of the terms CiEu-taarn and Piaflc4-

ta 1am are still obscure. Ciu-taam and P, un-taam occur in

a number of South Indian inscriptions of this period. The

term 4u-ta has been variously interpreted as (a) private

treasure (b) minor or small treasury (c) the followers of the

king during his minority Cd) one of the 'purely honorary titles

conferred on officers as well as private individuals according

to the status held by them in official position or societyk

and (e) a c1as of subordinate officials The first two

interpretations are based on the assumption that the element

is derived from the word dhana, meaning treasure or

wealth. The term occurs in connection with certain officials

whose position could be described as military. We get, for

instance, the phrases u-taattu Vafuka kvalar (the Vatuka,

i.e. Telugu, guards of the Ciu-taam) and Ciu-taattu Valafikai

Vaikkra_paaik4 (the Valañkai Vaikkra troops of the

Ciu-taaxn) in two South Indian inscriptiona In another

1. Madras Tamil Lexicon, III, p. lk6o.

2. S.Paranavitana,'The Polonnaru'va Inscription of VijayabThu I',p. 336

S.I.I., II, p. 9.

3. S.Paranavitana,'Tlie Polon.naruva Inscription of VijayabThu I',p.336.

i. Ibid.

5. S.I.I., II, Intro., p. 11; K.A.Nilknta Sastri, The Cas, p.k63.

6. E.I., XVIII, p. 336.

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170

inscription, an official who had military personnel under him

is described as Citu-tanam Perun-taam ri:ya (The Great chief

or Lord of the Citu-taam and Perun-taam) In yet another record,

certain }alay3a officers of Kulttufiga I are stated to have

2been attached to the Perun-taam and the Ciu-taani. A Ca

record in Ceylon refers to an official of the Perun-taani of

Rjndra I (RjThdra C1a Tvar Perun-taattu paimaka)

serving in the island While in Ceylon Dravidian mercenaries

were in the Citu-taain and the Pi.aik4-taijam, we find that

Telugu and Nalaya persons were attached to the Ciu-taam

and the Perun-taana in the Ca country. The above occurrehces

of the terms u-tan, perun-tan and aik4 am show

that these stand either for departments of the state or for

divisiona of the army. It is not possible to explain u-tan

as private treasure for it does not suit the context in the

above instances. It is used, however, in this sense or in

the sense of treasury in some of the C3a inscriptions of the

time of Rjarja I ' The explanation that the ciu-ta and

1. N.E.R. for 1913, No. 14]. of 1912.

2. M.E.R. for 1938/39, No. 130 of l98/39.

3. 5.1.1., IV, No.lLflk.4.. 5.1.1., II, P . 3.

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171

perun-taxi were the 'minor' and 'major' treasuries respectively,

though plausible, leaves the term inexplicable.

It is not known whether the royal treasury was divided into

three different departments to which were attached three sections

of the army. This seems unlikely. It is also unlikely that the

guards and soldiers who protected a king during his minority

belonged to a section of the army different from that of those

who protected him in his later life. It is also not possible to

explain these terms as mere honorary titles,for, in the instances

quoted above as well as in the Polonnaruva inscription, such

an interpretation does not seem to suit the context. Hultsech

baa sometimes referred to the Ciu-taam as a class of subordinate

officials and Ni].akanta Lastri, too, is of the opinion that

this was a flower grade of official nobility' The latter opinion

is the result of confusing the terms perun-tan. and perun-tarani

as referring to the same institution But an examination of

the occurrences of these two terms in the south Indian

inscriptions reveals that the two are different in their meaning.

Peruntaram appears as an honorific indicating high official

1. S.I.I., II, Intro., p. 11.

2. LA.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, p. k63.

3. Ibid. ; peruntarani - perum (= high or big) + taram (=status).

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172status and was used for individual officers, whereas perun-ta

seems to have been a department o a body to which were often

attached a number of soldiers. Perun-taram is often used for

single individuals as, for instance, ar RLjirlja Dvar Peruntaram

which occurs as the title of a s!npati in a Tanjore inscription

Another inscription from G5vindaputtflr describes a person

called VikramCa Nahirja, as a peruntaram of Mumnnii Ca

But whenever individual officers are mentioned in connection

with the Perun-taam, they are referred to as those attached

to the Perun-taam as, for instance, Perun-taattu-paimakap

(servant of the Perun-taam) The occurrence of the phrase

Ciu-ta.attu peun-taram (perun-taram of the Ciu-taam) in some

of the inscriptions not only shows clearly that the terms

perun-taram and perun-tan are different but also demonstrates

FYvntYthat the latter stands for someone attached to a larger body

which is the Ciu-taani Nilkanta Sastri explains this, however,

as implying an intermediate status between the perun-ts

and the u-tanam in the official nobility This is not correct

1. s.I.I., II, p. 161.

2. i. .R. for 1928/29, No.168 of 1928/29.

3. S.I.I.,IV, No.lk])i.

i. s.i.i., II, p. 56.

5. K.A.NilaJcanta Sastri, The Caa, p. 1163.

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173

for the term perun-taram in such instances stands for individuals

rather than for a clase. None of the foregoing explanations

for the terms u-ta, perun-tan and fl.aik4-tan,

therefore, seems to be wholly satisfactory. The ju-ta

occurring in the sense of treasury in some of the Tanjore

inscriptions of Rjarja I appears to be different from the

ciu-tan of the other inscriptions. In the latter inscriptions

we may have to take all the three terms to stand for certain

sections of the army which might have bad different functions

in the admtnistration during this period. Wherever the nature

of the profession of those individuals and groups associated

with these terms is indicated, we find that it was military.

The derivation of the element is not clear. It is unlikely

that it is related to i (army). It may be related to

(army; Nalayalam t4am ; Kannada d4am)

The Vaukar and the Malayjar were, of course,

the mercenaries from the Telugu and Ker4a countries. This

shows that the recruitment to the V i1dcra army was not

confined to the Tamils alone but included other Dravidians as

well. The literary sources, too, contain frequent references to

1. The Ja of t4am may have interchanged with va and later

became a. Cf., Kannada baaftjiga - Tamil v4afijiyar.

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the Ker4a and ica4ia mercenaries in the employ of the

Sinhalese rulers in this period The Telugus are, however, not

mentioned in these sources. Keraja and Telugu mercenaries seem

to have been numerous in the Ca country in this period, while

Kannaa mercenaries went as far north as Bengal in pursuit of

their profession The Cavaa makes a distinction between the

Ier4aa and the ffaikkras which might mean that only a section

of the Ier4a mercenaries were included in the VN.aikkra

army

The Parivra-kntam of the Polonn2rTa inscription

is not known from the South Indian inscriptions. It is, therefore,

difficult to say whether it was just another division of the

Vflaikkra army or a military community included in that army.

It has been suggested that it may stand for the spearmen in the

king's procession (parivL,a) A division of the Ca army was

known as the pariirattr and a number of such divisions are

named in the inscriptions We also come across a troop of

1. Cv., 69:18 ; 70:230 ; 7:144.

2. D.C.Sircar, 'Karta5 outside Karta', J.N.Banvrjea Volume, p. 211.

3. Cv., 7k:k4.

k. D.M.de Z.Wickramasinghe,'Polonnarnva: Slab Inscription of the

Vaikkrae', E.Z., II, p. 25k.

5. .I.I., II, Intro., p. 9.

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175

body-guards known as parivra-meykpparka In modern Mysore

there is a caste called the Parivira Bant, which is claimed

to have been originally a military class The Parivra-kntam

of our inscription appears to have been a similar military

body which was perhaps associated with the royal procession.

There has been some difference of opinion among

scholars regarding the interpretation of the phrase M1u-kai

airk'ra,. This occurs in the Polonxiaruva inscription as well

as in another Tamil record from Gal Oya Mu-kai has been

generally taken to refer to three divisions in the Vaiickra

army. 'It seems from our inscription as if the three divisions

or 'hands' to which the ffa{kk'ras were divided , consisted

of the Mahtantra, the Valafljiyar and the Nagarattir', is the

comment of Paranavitana on this phraae Wickramasinghe baa

observed: 'Whether the term u-kai refers to the triple

principle, namely, giva-$akti-Au or Pati-Pacu-Pica corresponding

to the trika of Cashmere çaivism, or it is only an epithet of

the VaUckras due possibly to their army being composed of

1. S.I.I., II, p. 96.

2. J.Sturrock, Manual of South Kanara, I, pp. 156-157.

3. S.I.I., IV, No. 1398.

k. S.Paranavitana, 'The Polonnaruva Inscription of VijayabThu I',

p. 33k.

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1(0

three wings, we are unable at present to say' Nilknta Zastri

is inclined to think that refers to the 'traditional

three arms left after the chariots went out of use, viz.,

elephant corps, cavalry and i.nfantry' As we have seen earlier,

the Valafijiyar and the Nakarattr were mercantile communities

and. not divisions of the V!aik1 ra army. There is no evidence

suggesting any connection between the triple principle of

Saivism and !u-kai. Although Nilakanta Sastri's suggestion

seems to be plausible, there are certain difficulties in

accepting it. In the first place, there are some inscriptions

in which an individual member of the Iaikkira army is referred

to as Mu-kai VWikk raa It is difficult to assume tat

some of the Vaikk.ras belonged to all three divisions of the

army, if their army was divided into three different sections.

Secondly, it is not likely that the V.aikkras called themselves

Nu-kai Vaikkras because their army was divided into

three divisions, for, such a division was not a distinctive

feature of their army alone. It is more likely that the epithet

1. D.M.de Z.Wicla'amasinghe, 'Polonnaruva: Slab Inscription of

the Vaikkrae', p. 251.

2. K.A.Ni].akanta Sastri,'VijayabThu I, The Liberator of Ceylon', p.69.

3. S.I.I., IV, No.1398.

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177

u-kai has some other significance which we are not in a position

to grasp clearly. does not occur only in connection

with the Vs1&ras. In an inscription from frrmdvi, we are

informed of the existence of a regiment called the Mu-kai

Mahsai, who were also known as the Paai-piitta-pafl1yiravar

(The Many Thousands who are armed as a Troop) 4occura

here in a similar sense as Valkii in the names Valañkai

Nahsai and Valaâkai 1a1ickrar It seems likely that NUu-kai

was the name of a group of castes like the Valki and the

Iañkai or of a community given to military pursuits This name

might have been chosen for some reason unknown to us.

Although the Vaikkraa appear to have been the

most prominent of the Dravidian mercenary forces in the island

during this period, there were other Dravidian troops, too.

Of these the Agampai troops deserve mention. It is in the reign

of Parkramabu I that we first hear of the Agampais. The

Ni1ya-sañrahaya mentions their army among the forces despatched

by Par.kramabhu on his foreign expeditions. This Agampai

1. Y.E.R. for 1905, No.120 of 1905 ; LA.Nilakanta Sastri,

'Vijayabhu I, The Liberator of Ceylon', p. 69.

2. 1.E. . for 1911, No. 116k of 1911; see supra, p..

3. u-kai may be a variant of }m-kai (the third hand), the

Valkai and the I1'IkRi being the other two 'hands' (kai), and may

denote a third group of castes, possibly a minor one.

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178

army is said to have been 2, 1125,000 (sic) strong, which is

undoubtedly an exaggeration The Aganrpais are again referred

to in the Polonnaruva Council Chamber inscription of Nia.ka

NaUa The literary works and inscriptions of the thirteenth,

fourteenth and fifteenth centuries contain several references

to the Agampai troops of the later Sinhalese ru1ers Four

classes of Agampais, namely the äja-, Nuhukala-, Netti- and

Bla-Aganipais are mentioned in these sources.

In the South Indian inscriptions, the Aganipai

or Akampaiy.r find mention from about the time of Kulttufiga I

(l070-ll2O) They often served under minor chieftains and their

leaders or chiefs were known as Akapai-muta1is The Akanrpaia

are mentioned in the inscriptions of the Tamil country and of

Ker4a and appear to have been a military caste or community

rather than a mixed force like the 1a1ic1ras? Even the women

1. p. 18.

2. C.J.Sc, (G), II, p. 137.

3. Dabadei-asna, p.3 ; Mayura-sanda, v. 157; C.J.Sc. (G), II,

p. 139 - Niya.gampya inscription ; E.Z., III, p. 2k0 - )aavala

rock inscription of Parkramabhu VI.

1i. M.B.Ariyapala, Society in Medieval Ceylon, p. 162.

5. M.E.R. for 1926, No. 72 of 1926.

6. M.E.R. for 1913, No. 506 of 1912.

7. T.A.S., V, p. 1k?.

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179

of thths community (apai-peuk4) found service in the inner

apartments of the palace and in the teniples The name AkanrpaiyIr

is a compound of the Taml-1 words akampu (inside or inner

apartment) and 4iyr (servants) and this community may have

originated as a class of servants in the inner apartments of

the palace and the temples, and evolved into a caste. This caste

has survived to this day in Arcot, Pudukktai and Nadural

districts and is variously known as Akampaiyr, Akaniui and

AkamufiyL In Ceylon, too, this caste was existent in the Tamil

areas till very recent times As in some parts of South India,

the members of this caste seem to have gradually mixed with

the Vear and given rise to the saying that 'the K4.ar,

Maavar and the staunch Akaiup4iy.r have gradually become

Vetar' (K4ar Maavar kaatta Akampatiyr niella india

Vear ki This saying is prevalent in South India

as well as in Ceylon Some sections of the Jkampati caste in

the Madurai district are 'regarded as a more civilized section

l.11.E.R. for 1913, No, 506 of 1912.

2. A.F.Cox, }'Ianual of North Arcot, I, P. 211;

N.Thiagarajan, A Manual of the Pudukai State, pp. 202-203.

3. K.Velupillai, a-vaipava-kaumuti, p. 108;

M.B.Ariyapala, . cit., P. 162.

4. A.F.Cox, , . cit, p. 211.

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180

of the southern Maavars' In Ceylon, too, certain writers

consider the Agampai to have been South Indian Maavar who were

taken to the island as znercenaries There is, however, no

evidence on this point. Whatever their origin may have been,

it seems certain that by the twelfth or the thirteenth century

they had become an exclusive caste and that several of their

members bad gone to Ceylon as mercenaries.

After the twelfth century, our sources record the

presence of some other Dravidian mercenary communities serving

under $inha].ese rulers. Of these, the Nukkuvas and the Kurukulas,

who in modern times are among the major castes in the Tanhil

regions of Ceylon, appear prominently But it is not known whether

they bad already begun their migration to the island in the

twelfth century, The Dabadei-aana gives the earliest reference

to the Mukkuvae. It is recorded here that they formed part of

the troops employed by ParlkramabThu II (l236-l27O) The Kurukulas

may have been in the island as early as the time of the Ca

occupation. As pointed out earlier, the earliest reference to

the presence of the Kurukulas in Ceylon may be said to be found

l.A.P.Cox, . cit., p. 211.

2. Pufiflarataha Thera, Lañkv! Pur' Tattvaya, p. 95.

3. Dabadei-asna, p. I. ; Nukkuva-haana, p. 175 ff.

k. DaMbadepi-asna, p. .

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181

in a Ca record from Tirumuicka1, of the year 1067, if the

person named Kuruku1attaraiya in it is taken to be a chief of

the Kuruku1as They are mentioned in later literary sources

as having been in the service of ParkramabIhu VI (lkl2—].k67)

But no evidence is available regarding the presence of these

two communities in the twelfth century. The Mukkuvas, as we

shall see later, were Ker4ae and the Xuruku].as appear to

have been from the Tamil country. It is possible that members

of these two mercenary communities were also found among the

many Ker4as and 'Dam4as' in the island during the twe]Lfth

century.

Apart front the mercenary troops who were in theregular service of the Sinhalese kings, there were also other

South Indian soldiers who were taken to the island as prisoners

of war by the generals of Parkramabhu I. It haa been. the

practise of Sinhalese generals even in earlier times to capture

prisoners during their South Indian campaigns, which were,

however, rare, and send them over to Ceylon Lakpura, the

1. See sura, p.110 ; LD.Ragbavan, The Karva of Ceylon, p.9.

2. M.D.Raghavan, pp. 8-55.

3.I.43.

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182general of Parkramabhu I who conducted campaigns against the

C2a and PIya rulers, was under special instructions from

hi8 king to send prisoners from South India for a particular

purpose. In the words of the Clavaisa, some of the defeated

Tamil armies, 'at the commend of the ruler of LaAk who thought

to have all the cetiyas formerly destroyed by the Dmijas

rebuilt by them, he [LsAkpuraJ had brought to Lk and the

work of restoration begun on the Ratanaviluka cetiya. In

another place, the Clavaisa further states that Laâkpura,

after having made over the government of the Pi4ya kingdom to

VTra Pya, 'sent with speed to STh4a the many horses, men

and elephants captured from the Coa country and from the Pap4u

2land'. In addition to the restoration of ruined Buddhist monuments,

the Tamil prisoners were engaged in the task of building new

and ambitious structures as well. It is stated in the Ctflavaisa

that ParkramabThu 'also had the Mahthpa erected which bore

the name of Damia thpa because it had been built by the

Damiaa who had been brought hither after the conquest of the

Pa4u kingdom' It is confirmed by the contemporary Ca records

1. Cv., 76:103-10k.

2. Ibid., 77:103.

. Ibid., 78:76-77.

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183

that Lafikpura actually won many successes in his initial campaigns

in South India We cannot, therefore, cast doubt on these state-

ments of the P1i chronicle. The gigantic Daxn4a-tbUpa stands

at Polonnaruva to this day, preserting the memory of the Tamil

prisoners. It was intended to sprpass al]. other monuments of its

type in Ceylon and. its circumference at the base is given in

the Chronicle as 1300 cnbits Unfortunately it has not been

possible to ascertain the dimensions of the base from the ruins

at Polonnarua, as it has not been completely excavated. The

dome stands at about fifty feet from the ground. forming an

extensive circular plateau at the top ParkramabThu must have

commanded a large force of South Indian prisoners to undertake

the building of such a stpa and the repair of other buildings.have

These prisoners must, in the course of time,/mingled with the

Tamil population of the island. Some of them may have been

employed in vihras, as on an earlier occasion when Tami].

prisoners were enslaved and. given over to vih.ras An inscription

from the Ga1apta vihra, near Bentoa, dated in the thirtieth

1. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, 'ParkramabThu and South India', C.H.J., IV,

pp. k6-48 ; U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, pp. k82-k83.

2. Cv., 78:77 ; S.Paranavitana, The tpa in Ceylon, p. 10.

3. S.Paranavita.na , The Stpa in Ceylon, p. 10.

4 • - P - c.!..1 44 '

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184year of a ParkramabThu, who is probably the first of that

name, mentions some Tamils among the slaves attached tè that

vihira It is possible that some of them were prisoners from

South India.

In addition to the Tam1l prisoners, Tamil artisans

also seem to have been employed in the time of Parkramabhu I

for the erection of Buddhist edifices. According to the C1flavasa,

there was a dearth of stone-masons in the time pf Parkramabhu

and, as a result, members of other occupational groups were

employed for the work of stone-carving As Paranvitana has

pointed out, in this period, 'when there was a demand for their

art, it is likely that skilled workers came to Ceylon from the

neighbouring continent, where they 'ust have been quite numerous

at that time' As evidence of this, Tamil letters have been

found as mason's marks on the stones of some of the buildings

dating from the time of ParkramabThu I. These letters have

been found not only at Polonnaruva, in such constructions as

the Lotue Bath, but also in some momuments at Padaviya The

building of aiva and Vaiava temples in the Dravidian style

1. S.Paranavitana, 'Galapta Vihra Rock Inscription', E..Z., IV, p.211.

2. Cv., 68:25-26.

3. U.C.R.C.., I, pt.2 , p. 592.

i. Ibid. ; A.S.C.A.R. for 195k, p. 20.

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185

of architecture would have also led to the employment of

South Indian artisans in Ceylon. As mentioned before, a number

of aiva and Vaiqava temples, roughly datable to the Po].onnaruva

period, have been found at Polonnaruva and. elsewhere With

the possible exception of the Ca temples, it is difficult

to determine which of the others were built before the thirteenth

century. Nan; of them, as we shall see later, appear to have

been constructed in the thriteenth century The Tanii]. inscrip-

tions of this period attest to the patronage extended by some

of the Sinhalese monarchs, especially VijayabThu I, Gajabhu II

and Vikramabhu I, to Saiviai In fact, two of these epigraphe

mention two temples named after VijayabThu I and VikaramabThu I.

One iá the temple of Vijayarja-Tvarazn at Kant4y and the other

is the Vik1cirama-ca]imka-varam at kal (1galla) These

temples were built apparently in the reigns of VijayabThu I

and VikramabThu I respectively. Some of the iva and Vin t

temples at Polonnaruva may also have been built in the reigns

of these monarchs. It is, therefore, possible that several

1. See supra, p.117.

2. See infra, f411.^.

3. E.Z., IV, p. 191 fl. ; Ibid., III, p. 302 If. ; S.I.I., IV, No.1397;

unpublished inscription No. 1 359 of the epigraphica]. list

in the Archaeological Department, Ceylon.

1• E.Z., III, p. 302 ; ibid., IV, p. 191.

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186

South Indian artisans found employment in the island in this

time, as in the later periods.

BrThmaaa were among the South Indian communities

in the island in this period. The Polonnaruva period was one of

increasing Bria influence in Ceylon. The services of Brhmaaa

were enlisted for the performance of various rites in the royal

court a.td palace. This was especially so in the time of Parkrama-

bhu I when Brahmanic rites, we are told, were performed at every

important occurrence in his life. The Ct!lavaisa refers to the

sacrifices performed by BrIhznaas and to the alma offered to

them by rulers like ParkramabThu and nbharaa The Tamil

and Sinhalese inscriptions, too, furnish evidence on this matter.

The Sinhalese inscriptions of N1a1ika Nalla mention Brhmaas

among those to whom that monarch offered Two Tamil

inscriptions from P4am t ai and Nahakirinda refer to two

Brhmaa settlements named after VijayabThu and JayaAkoa

Calmka (probably VikramabThu I), namely the Vijayarja-

cat urv!di-maâg4am at Kant ajy and the Jayai.ko a-c alImka-

caturvdi-magg4am at Nahk4rinda An unpublished Taniil inscription

1. Cv., 62:33, k2, k6 ; 6k:l6; 67:9k; 77:105.

2. II, P. 17k.

3. E.Z., IV, p. 19k; unpublished inscription from Nahakirinda,

No. I 29k of the epigraphica]. list in the Archaeological

Department, Ceylon.

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187

from 1Cantay associates Gajabhu 11 with a sacrifice held at

the brahinadeya that place The same monarch is credited in

the T ia-]cailca-puram with the patronage of Brhmaaa

attached to the temple of cvaram The patronage extended

to them by the Sinhalese rulers as well as the need for them

in the new temples of the island may have been responsible for

the migration of BrIhmaas from South India. Although it is

possible that there were in Ceylon BrThmaas from other parts

of the subcontinent, there is little doubt that the catur-v!cli-

mafga!ams were settlements of South Indian BrThmaas. The

occurrence of Tamil inscriptions in these places lends support

to this hypothesis. Even the little internal evidence that we

get in these inscriptions regarding the BrIhmaas points in the

same direction. The P4aniftai inscription, for instance,

furnishes us with the names of a BrThmaa couple from the

Vijayarija-caturvdi-mag4am at Kant4y. They are KrLnpacceu

Tajfia K.iramavitta and NaAkaiccii These persona were South

Indians, probably of Telugu origin. In the contemporary inscriptions

1. No. I 359 of the epigraphical list in the Archaeological

Department, Ceylon.

2. ., VII, vv.95-97.

3. S.Paranavitana, 'A Tpm4l Slab Inscription from Paaxzai',

., IV, p. 195. The reading NJcaiccai for NaAkeicclzi is wrong.

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188

of South India, especially in those from the South Arcot district,

Kiramavitta occurs as a name among the BrThmaas Kr.zzTpaccetcu,

or more correctly, Krmpicceu, occurs as the name of a

village somewhere in Uayrgui, in the South Arcot district

Natkaicci, too, occurs in these inscriptions as a name of

Brihmaa 1adies The element ci in this name is a Telugu

word signifying women and often applied to names of married

women as a mark of respects Numerous names of BrThmaia women

with the element ci occur in the inscriptions of South Arcot

and Guntr districts The BrThmaa couple of our inscription

were, therefore, probably Telugus who came from South Li-cot

or Guntr district.

1. M.E.R. for 1921, NO.556 of 1920 - The name Tajfia Kramavitta

occurs in this ; M.E.R. for 1922/23, No. 380 of 1922 - A certain

mai Nañgai4i, wife of Yajfla Kramavitta is mentioned here;

ibid., Noe.369, 371, 37k and 382 of 1922 refer to several persons

named Kramavitt an,.

2. M.E.R. for 1921, No.603 of 1920.

3. M.E.R. for 1922, No.380 of 1922.

k. M.E.R. for 1921, pp . 92-93.

5. M.E.P. for 1922, Nos. 380, 55k, 558, 57k and 585 of 1922.

Such names as NaAgai4Ii, AniarIeIi, Ayita41i,

and Pr1-ii occur in these records.

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189

As we have seen, our literary and. epigra hic

sources rovide information, though by no means adequate,

regarding the presence of bouth 'ndian mercantile, mercenary,

artisan and Brhmaa communities only. There is hardly any

evidence regarding the migration of peasant settlers during

this eriod. ihe absence of any evidence, however, does not

necessarily ean that no such migration took place. It is

possible that side by side with the migration of the above

occupational groups there were igrations of peasants, too.

Such migrations and settlements may have occurred in the

northernmost regions as well as in the north-western and

north-eastern ].ittorals of the island which lay close to

South India and where the power of the Sinhalese ruler at

Folonnaruva does not seem to have been felt effectively.

The areas of Taniil settle ent in this period, as indicated

by the presence of inscriptions and archaeological finds,

lie ostly in the vicinity of ancient irrigation works

The majority of these settlement sites are far removed from

the capital city and the known provincial towns, where such

co unities as merchants and mercenaries would have norzzaUy

lived. these considerations lead us to think that there may

1. See infra, p. )'1.

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190

have been a Blow and unnoticed migration of small groups of

peasants from the iami]. country into the island in this period.

These are, however, matters of conjecture and in the absence

of any evidence nothing definite can be concluded.

The South Indian 6ources, while providing fairly

substantial evidence regarding the migration of mercantile

and mercenary bodies from the Dravidian regions to outside

areas, are silent on the question of peaceful peasant

migrations As mentioned earlier, there were at least three

.2famines in the Tam.il country in this period. These were not

widespread but confined to certain regions only. We are

informed by one inscription that there was a famine in

Arakaanal].r, in the Squth Arcot district, in A.D. 1131

and that 'people moved after selling their lands' It is

reasonable to think that such movements of people during

times of famine were confined to South India, although it is

pos ible that a few went to Ceylon, too. Like famine, excessive

1. See supra, .,3r.

2. See supra, p. g3

3. M.E.R. for 1931+/35, Inscription o.151 of 193k/35;

K.A..Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, p.562.

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191

taxation or inability to pay taxes also forced villagers to

abandon their homes and migrate to other places. Under the

thoroughly centralised revenue administration of the Cas,

people who, for three years, failed to pay taxes due on the

lands owned by them forfeited their lands, which were then

sold by the village assembly+ Inscriptions of the reign of

Ku]Zttithga I furnish instances of assessments not being paid

regularly and the lands of tenants who defaulted payment being

sold in consequence. Some BrThmaa tenants of Vavai-mtvi-

caturvdi-magaam, for instance, being unable to pay the

assessments, left the village Again, in the forty-ninth year

of Ku]Zttuñga I (A.D. 1118), tenants deserted the village of

K!ri-rAjapuram as they could not pay the taxes There are

several examples of such desertions in the later

But it is not possible to say whether there were many such

instances during this period. Except for a few scattered

examples, there is hardly any evidence regarding migrations.

1. .E.R. for 1897,

2. !'.E.R. for 1910, Inscription No.98 of 1910.

3. Ibid. 1 Inscription No.6 Zf7 of 1909.

k. Cf., B.A.Saletore, Social and Political Life in the Vijayanagar

Empire, II, pp.l97-198.

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192Even these minor movements of people would have been confined

to the Tamil country only. There is, however, a late tradition

recorded in the Ca-prva-paftayam which refers to an overseas

emigration of a hundred families from Trichinopoly in the time

of one Vikramditya But the tradition loses its value by

several discrepancies. According to this account, in the time

of Vikramditya, 1SlivThana and his Sainaia troops lay siege to

Trichinopoly. Thiring the siege a pariah named Ve and

hundred others with their families escaped, went to the sea-

shore whence proceeded to some island' It is not clear which

Vikramditya is referred to here. It is possible that the ruler

was Vikramditya VI (io7, - ( Il-c. ) of the Western Ch.lukyas for,

of the many Chlukya and Ba rulers of this name, it was

Vikramditya VI who made successful inroads into the doniinions

of the Cas. SlivThana is a variant of tavhana and its

occurrence here is apparently the result of mixing up different

legends regarding early invasions. It is hardly possible that

this legend preserves any memory of the Stavhana invasions

of the period prior to the third century A.D. The Samaa troops,

according to Taylor, are in fact Yavana or 'uslim troops

1. C -prva-paayam, No.165 of the Lackenzie Manuscripts in

1.adras, quoted in the Analysis of the }ackenzie Nanu cripta,

W.Taylor, p .1i., 60.

2. W.Taylor, . cit., p.5k.

3. ;_4.

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193

The whole account seems to be of late origin, based on different

traditions of earlier invasions, and has hardly a claim to any

credence. Perhaps it refers to an iinlcriown migration, but this

is a matter of speculation.

It is possible that small groups of peaceful

settlers from South India trickled into the island in this

period. But the increase of the Dravidian element in the local

population seems to have been steadily maintained mainly by

the migration of mercenaries, mercantile communities and artisans.

It was only after the downfall of Polonnaruva, as we shall see

later, that many peaceful settlers from the Taniil country

migrated to the northern regions of the island.

The areas of Dravidian settlement in the island in

the latter part of the eleventh and the twelfth century, as in

the period of Ca rule, have to be traced primarily with the

help of Tamil inscriptions and Saiva archaeolo ical remains.

The meagre evidence of the literary sources and toponynis is

useful in supplementing the testimony of the epigraphic and

archaeological material. Inscriptions do not present much

difficulty in the attempt of tracing some of the probable areas

of settlement. Normally the provenance as well as the internal

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194evidence of the epigraphs help us to a great extent in locating

the settlements. In most cases, the regnal years of kings which

they provide help to date them almost accurately. Even in the

case of inscriptions which do not carry dates, their palaeography

aids us to date them roughly. On the other hand, the archaeological

materials present several difficulties. The limited materials

that are so far available to us are in the form of ruined

aiva and Vaiava temples and icons. The presence of these

temples and icons in any area almost certainly indicates

South Indian settlements, often those of Tamils. A major

difficulty which besets any attempt to trace the areas of

settlement by such archaeological evidence is the doubt whether

the date of an image or of a temple can be determined with

sufficient accuracy to be of use to us. There are some temples

which contain datable inscriptions. There are others, more

numerous, which on the basis of the architectural style as

well as the iconographic style of their images could be roughly

assigned to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. But some of

these may well belong to the early part of the thirteenth

century. Therefore, only those few which could be assigned to

the latter part of the eleventh and the twelfth century with

a reasonable degree of likelihood are considered here in our

discussion. The rest have been taken to belong to the

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195

thirteenth century. There is room, however, for a small margin

of error on either side.

The other difficulties in the use of archaeological

materials are mainly those concerning the identification of the

aiva and Vaiava temples of this period. This is due to the

transformation of some of these temples into Buddhist institutions

and vice versa in the course of time. In areas where Tamil

settlers have been assimilated to the Sinhalese population or

where resettlement by the Sinhalese took place after the sites

had been abandoned by Tamils, hiva and Vair&va temples have

often been converted to Buddhist dv.les. This appears from the

architectural style of the buildings or from the distinctively

aiva and Vaiava finds in them A similar conversion, perhaps

on a greater scale, has occurred in the areas where Tamils have

established permanent settlements. As we shall see later, by

far the largest number of such structures belong to the period

2after the twelfth century. The date of such converted temples

can Only be ascertained roughly with the help of earlier

Sinhalese inscriptions found on their architectural parts or

of the style of the buildings. In some cases stones and pillars

1. Cf., A.S.C.A.R. for 1911/12, p. 8.2. See infra,

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196

from ruined Buddhist buildings have been used to build aiva

temples and such temples, too, cannot easily be dated. In areas

where there has been a continuous Tainil settlement from this

period or earlier, old temples have been renovated Q3ularly

and kept in a good state of repair. Among these, it is difficult

to identify those of this period unless inscriptions or other

datable finds are available. As a result o such difficulties

it is not possible to use afl. the archaeological evidence in a

work of this nature until a thorough survey of all these temple

sites has been completed. For the present, we have to rely on

the evidence of those few which could be assigned to this

period with certain degree of confidence.

A few early forms of Tamilised Sinhalese place

names are available from the inscriptions of this period. These

as well as the little evidence of the literary sources can be

used to confirm and supplement the evidence of the epigraphic

and archaeological materials. The P2i and Sirthalese chronicles

have hardly any information to offer in this respect. But for

the first time we begin to get fairly reliable traditions

relating to this period in the Tmi1 chronicles of the inland.

The Takia-kiiI!c a-puram, T ii' i-kc ala-puram and the

car-kalveu, all of which are chronicles of the temple of

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197

Kvaram at Trincomalee, contain traditions of the time of

Gajabhu II, probably preserved originally in the annals of

Kvaram. With the help of all these sources it is possible

to locate several, if not all, of the Tamil settlement sites

of this period.

Two regions have yielded the majority of the Tamil

inscriptions and aiva archaeological materials for this period.

One is the north-eastern littoral, forming the northern part of

the present eastern Province, from the Kokkuly Lagoon down to

Verukal with a width of about twenty-five miles from the sea

to the interior. The other is the northern part of ancient

Dakkhiadesa, now comprising largely the southern regions of the

North-western Province. In the former region, Tamil inscriptions

have been discovered at Padaviya, h1ka, Kanta]iy, Paaznai

and MafLkai. aiva archaeological remains datable to this

period are found at Kumpakaia-malai, Kandasmi-malai, horagoa,

Kantaly, P4anzftai, Pta-ku and Tampalakmam. In theliterary sources we get traditions pointing to the presence of

Tamils at TrincomaJ.ee, Tampalak niin , KantalAy and Verukal. In

the previous chapters we have seen that there is a certain

amount of evidence which points to Tainil settlements at Padaviya,

Moragoa, Paragiyaiya, Periyak4am and Trincomalee

1. See supra,

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198

The evidence relating to this period not only points in the same

direction but also indicates an extension of these settle ents.

The area around the anciant port of Gokaa, the

modern Trincomalee, seems to have had a fairly strong Tamil

element in its population in this period. The Tainil settlements

of this region seem to have extended from Trincomalee to

Periyak$azn and Nakai in the north, Kant aily arid Pta-k4u

in the south-west and possibly Verukal in the south. Kantaly,

Pta-ku and P4an1ai, lying within three miles ãf each

other, have yielded three Tamil inscriptions and some aiva

remains dating back to this period. Two Taniil inscriptions of

the time of Gajabhu II (1132-1153) come from Kantaly One

records the setting-up of a boundary stone at a sacrificial

ground (ii naçanta bhmi) in the brahmadeya of Kantaly, by

Laikevara, Gajabahu Dvar. The other epigraph also records the

setting-up of a boundary stone by one K4ivai Apinia nip,

who bore the title of Laflai Vijaya Ceaviruttar (the victorious

commander of Lafk), at the request of Lafikvara Gajabhu

Dvar, at Kanta1y The Tamil inscription from Pa.amai,

1. .1.1., IV, No.1397; the other inscription is unpublished

and is listed as No. I 359 of the e igraphical collection

in the Department of Archaeology, Ceylon.

2. Unpublished - Inscription No.1 359.

3. 3.1.1., IV, 10.1397.

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199

of the time of Vijayabhu I (A.D. 1097) refers to Kantaly as

Vi jayar ja-c at urvdi-niaiig4am (Kant alya Vij ayarj a-c aturvdi-

mak4attu) and mentions the existence of a aiva temple in that

place called Te Kailsam r! Vijayarja-varam This inscription

was found among the debris of a ruined aiva temple. The stone

pillars of tbs temple are in the style of those of the aiva

temples which could be dated to the Polonnaruva period A

fragmentary image of Prvat was also found among the debris

Since the inscription recording donations to the Vijayarja-

!varam has been found at this site, the ruined temple may be

identified as the Vijayarja-varam. In the twelfth century,

Paamtai must have formed part of Kanta1y. This temple

seems to have been built in the time of Vijayabhu I (1055-1110),

for it bears the name of that monarch. It is interesting to

note that it was also known as Te Kai1sam (Southern Kaila),

for this name is given only to the temple of Kvaram temple

at Trincomalee in the Tamil chronicles Irom the P4anhai

1. 3. aranavitana, 'A Ta ii Slab Inscription from Paavai',

E.Z., IV, p.19k.

2. A.S.C.A.R. for 1933, p.18.

3. Ibid.

1• Cf., 7:28, p.68.

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200inscription we find that the Vija,.yarja-varain was organized

more or less on the same lines as any contemporary shrine in

South India. The gifts to the temple sometimes took the form

of cash deposits, the interests of which were used for the

maintenance of various services in the temple. The institution

of devadss was a feature of the organization of this temple

for it is stated that seven girls were branded on their

foreheads and given over to the temple as tvar-atiyr (Skt.

devada&Ts). As ln . many of the South Indian temples, the

endowment was placed in the trust of a a1-kkra, of the

Vikkirama-caI.m!ka-terinta Valañkai division. Near P4aznai

and Kantaly is the village of PVta-ku where, too, were

found a stone image of Viu and the ruins of a aiva shrine.

The style of the image belongs to the period between the tenth

and the thirteenth century while the temple is believed to

date back to the time of Vijayabhu I

The foregoing evidence clearly indicates that

South Indians, especially BrThxnaas, were settled in Kantaly

and the surroundin villages from at least the time of VijayabThu I.

1. E.Z., IV, p. 193.

2. A.S.C.A.R. for 1933, p.1S; C.J.Sc. (G), II, pp.156-157.

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201The Kanta].y Stone Seat inscription of Niai"k Malla (1187-1196)

attests to the continued existence of the BrThmaa settlement

(caturveda-brahaapura) in that plaoe during the twelfth century

and refers to a aiva establishment called Prvat1-satra,

probably built in the time of Niañka Ma11a The Tamil chronicles,

too, refer to Kanta1y as a place of importance to aivas and

associate Gajabhu II with that p1mce This is confirmed not

only by the Tamil inscriptions found there but also by the

C1avarjisa, according to which 'Gajabhu betook himself to

Gafig-taka (Kanta1y), made it his residence and dwelt there

happily' and 'died during his sojolLrn there' That Gajabhu

patronised non-Buddhists is implied in the C1avaisa where it

is stated that 'he had fetched nobles of heretical faith from

abroad and had thus filed Rjarafha with the briers (of heresy)'

The toponym Kanta1y supports the conclusion that

the place it represents was settled by Tamils or Tamil-speakers

in the twelfth century. It is in tke Pa.amtai inscription

1. D.M.de Z.bückremasinghe, 'KantaIi Ga1-sarxa Inscription of

Kitti Nissañka Malla', E.Z., II,, p.286.

2. ., 7 : 87-106; Kk., p.20; ., pp.170-178.

3. See supra, p. 19 ; Cv., 71:1,25.

k. Cv., 70:53, 3k.

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202that we get the earliest occurrence of the name Kantaly. After

that it occurs in the two inscriptions of GajabThu II mentioned

above. Kantaily is the Tami].ised form of the Sinhalese name

Gagata]. (Pli Gagtaka) This Tamilisation seems to have

taken place during this period as a result of the Taznil

settlement. The Tamil form has remained in usage to this day

and the Sinhalese origin has been completely forgotten. It is

interesting to note that today, when they have begun to re-

colonise this place, the Sinhalese call it Kantail after the

Taniilised name. As early as the fifteenth century, folk

etymology among the Tamila has attempted to explain the origin

of the name Kantaily in a different way. The name was split

into two elements, ka (eye) and t4ai (to grow), and a story

was woven round it. It is said that Gajabhu II regained his

lost eye-sight at this place and hence the name Kat4ai (where

the eye grew) Such an explanation is typical of the folk

etyqiology that one finds in the Tamil speaking areas where the

origin of a large number of Sinhalese toponyms has been puzzling

the new settlers.

1. ., , p.116; Cv., 71:2.

2. Cf., 7:63.

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203About four miles north of Trincomalee is }1ai

where a Tamil inscription of the time of Gajabhu II has been

found The inscription records the grant by Gajabhu of land

to one Minta Koa, who is designated Superintendent of the

Pa].anquin Bearers (tiru-p41i-civikaiyri1_kaki) . The land

was granted as a jvita evidently for services rendered by the

donee. On another side of the slab on which this inscription

is indited, there is another Tamil epigraph, the purport of

which is not quite clear It states that nbharaa

paraia Tvar) sent a letter (tirumukam) approving the deed

(ceya].) of Gajabhu (Gajabmu T!var) and caused a stone

inscription (ci1-l!kam) to be set up. There was only one

Mnbharaa who was contemporaneous with GajabThu II, namely

the one who ruled in Rohaa in the middle of the twelfth

century, and, therefore, the }nbharaa of our inscription

must be the same person. It is not clear whether the transaction

referred to in the inscription had anything to do with the

grant of Gajabhu recorded on the same slab. But this seems

unlikely for Inbharaa never had any authority over Rjaratha,

1. K.Kana athi Pillai, '1añkai Inscription of Gajabhu II',

U.C. •, XX, No.1, April 1962, pp.12-1

2. Ibid.

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204where this inscription is found. It seems more likely that it

concerns about one of the many transactions that took place

between the two rulers during their wars with ParkramabThu I

Within about three miles of Mafikai is Periyaku.am

where, as we have alyeady seen, the presence of Tami]. settlers

in the eleventh century is indicated by many epigraphs No

Tamil inscription of the twelfth century has been found here,

yet it may not be wrong to sa that there must have been

Tamils in the twelfth century, too. At Trinconialee, only a

fragmentary Tamul inscription of about the twelfth century

has come to light The paucity of Tamil inscriptions in this

place may be explained by the fact that the original temple

of K5varam, where one would have normally expected to find

any inscription, was completely destroyed by the Portuguese

in the seventeenth century. The materials of the destroyed

temple were used by the Portuguese to build a fortress at

Trinconialee. Inscriptions of about the twelfth, thirteenth

and sixteenth centuries have been found here on the bricks

].. Cf., Cv., 71:1-5.

2. See supra,

3. Unpublished.

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205and door-jambs or on fragments of atone in the fortress It is

said that more inscriptions were found on the stones of Portu-

guese buildings demolished in the area in the last century

A number of bronze images of iva and PrvatT have been unearthed

in different parts of the present temple precincts within Fort

Fredericlã It has been surmised that these were buried by the

temple priests at the time of the Portuguese attack in l62.

Most of these have been assigned, on grounds of style, • to

a date between the eleventh and the thirteenth century' some

of these may belong to the period of Ca occupation and some

may date to the thirteenth century when a prince named

Ku.akka appears to have carried out renovations to the

temp1e It is not possible to say whether many of these belong

to the twelfth century. These finds, however, indicate that

1. H.1.Codrington, 'The Inscription at Fort Frederick, Trinconialee',

3. .A.S. (C.B.), No.80, p. 1fk8; S.Paranavitana, 'A Fragmentar

Sanskrit Inscription from Trincomalee', E.Z., V, p.173;

A.S.C.A. . for 1957, p.8.

2. A.Sriskantaraca, 'Tirukamalai VaralLYUla.k4', Tirukkcar

Xlaya Kump!pika alar, 1963, p.95.

3. .Balendra, 'Trincomalee Bronzes', Tamul Culture, II, No.2,

April 1953, pp.176-198; A.S.C.A.R. for 1950, p.32.

14 .Balendra, . cit., p.190.

5. A.S.C.A. . for 1950, p.32.

6. See infra, p. 327

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206around the twelfth century the temple of K!varam was a

flourishing institution. The ancient port of Gokaa may

have had a notable Tamil settlement in this period. The

C1I].avaipsa states that there were Ker4a and V.aikkAra mercenaries

dwelling at Kotha6ra in the time of ParkramabThu

Kothasra is the district of Koiyram, around the port of

Gokapa. We have seen earlier that five villages in this region

contributed in money and in kind towards the maintenance of

the temple of Rjarjvaram at Tanjore in the time of Rjarja I

This fact as *l as the re-nami-ng of two districts in this

region after Ca princes during the period of C 1a occupation

seem to suggest that Kohasra was one of the region4ihere

Ca rule was effectively felt Taniil settlements may have been

established here under the Cas. The presence of Ker4a and

V.aikkra mercenaries would have further strengthened the

Dravidian element in the population of this area in the twelfth

century. The T !a-kail5ca-irilai also refers to the presence

1. £!. 7k:kk.

2. See supra, p.111

3. Ibid.

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207of Saivaa in the region of Trincomalee in the time of GajabThu II

and to the antagonism between them and the Sinhalese Buddhists

of the area The event described in this Tamil chronicle to

illustrate this antagonism seems to take us back to a time when

the Sinhalese of the Trincomalee district were being gradually

ousted by or assimilated to the Tamil population. It is stated

in this work that opposite the rock on which the temple of

Kvaram stood the Bud hists built a temple of the Buddha

and harassed the Saiva devotees who took flowers to (varam.

This led to quarrels between the Buddhists and the Pcupatar

(aivas). The latter triumphed over the Buddhists and pushed

some of them down the rock into the sea. The matter was reported

to GajabThu II, who tried to take revenge on the aivas by

attempting to destroy the Cvaram temple. But through divine

intervention he realised his folly, became converted to aivisxn

and made generous benefactions to the temple and to the Brhmaas

there Although the details of this account may not be wholly

acceptable, it is not altogether untrustworthy. GajabThu is

the only Sinhalese monarch who finds mention in the Takçia-

kailca-mlai. In this chronicle he is said to have taken the

1. E2' 7:89-96.

2. Ibid.

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208consecration name of Ciica..ka-pti (Siri-sa4ha-bodhi) and this

is corroborated by the other sources He is associated with

Kantaly and is credited with the patronage of Brhinaias and

aivism. This is confirmed by Tainil inscriptions and is implied

2in the Clavaisa. Perhaps the contention that GajabThu was

converted to aivisxn is an exaggeration but the gist of the

account cannot be doubted.

Further north of Trincomalee and Kantaly, in

the coastal region east and south-east of Kokkuily Lagoon,

Tami]. inscriptions and aiva remains have come to light in

several sites. At Padaviya and Vhalkaa, two villages in this

area, were found two inscriptions of the Aiffuvar community

and their associates The Vhalkaa inscription was set up to

record certain steps taken by the

and the Vrakkotis so that a certain town 'may not be destroyed's

This town was presumably a market town somwwhere in the

VThalkaa region. Padaviya, as we have pointed out earlier,

also appears to have been a market town of considerable

1. The predecessor of Gajabhu had the consecration name of

Salnrvan (Calmka) and, therefore, GajabThu's consecration

name rust have been Siri-saga-b. Ap arently ParkramabThu I

did not recognise the unconsecrated Gajabhu and also took the

consecration na e of Siri-saga-b.

2. See supra, p4';aoo . 3. See supra, p..r. k. See supra,

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209importance for a number of inscriptions of the ceis belonging

1to the Ca period were found here. The inscription of the

Aiftfiuvar found at Padaviya contains the names of some members

of the AififiUuvar, Valafljiyar and the Cei communities Another

short inscription from the same place records some deed by

a certain Iaicc'ri Iamaiyr of the Sr! Vijayarcaa ..pa....

priamaiyr Sr! Vijayarca seems to form the first part of

the name of a place or temple, the second part of which is

undecipherable. SrL Vijayarja in the Pa.amai inscription

of the time of Vijayabhu I occurs as the name, evidently after

the same monarch,of a catur-vdi-mañg4am and of a aiva temple

The temple o place bearing the name of ri Vijayarca in our

inscription from Padaviya was also presumably named after

Vijayabhu I. Pri.amaiyr is a term met with in the contemporary

South Indian inscriptions as well but its exact connotation

is not known. Nilakanta Sastri takes this to stand for a body

connected with the temple, the duties of which are obscure

1. See supra, p. IOC.

2. Among the names are Azanta Arañka, Uttama Ca .....ce1i,

.t iyparaia Valafkaiya, Tcamata Vraia.

3. .1.1., IV, No.3)409,

k, See upra, p. I7

5, K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The C.as, p.k89.

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210ut from its occurrences in the inscriptions, p!riamaiyr

appears to have stood for a local body responsible for the

- 1 Ssabha of a Brhma village. As a nu ber of Siva temples of the

C5a period have been unearthed at Padaviya, it is possible

that there was a Brhmaa settlement at this place in this

period The pri.amaiyr of our inscription was probably one

of the bodies of a sabh of such a settlement. As mentioned

earlier, in this period Tamil artisans seem to have been employed

at Padaviya as at Polonnaruva for the building of Buddhist

structures, for Tamil mason's marks can be seen on some of

the Buddhist ruins here?

In three sites to the north and north-east of

Padaviya, at Kumpakana-malai, Kandasmi-ma1ai and Budd.hanagehe].a,S S

there are ruins of Saiva temples datable to this period.

Kumpakaa-malai is about eight miles to the north of Padaviya.

The old temple at this place has bricks with Taxnil letters

inscribed on theme Almost midway between Kumpakana-malai and

1. M..R. for 1923, p.lOI.

2. See supra, p. i7

3. See supra, p. t.

k. A.S.C.A. for 1905, p.35.

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211Padaviya is Buddhanaghe1a where exists a ruined aiva shrine

in a cave with broken representations of a lifga, yoni and

Ga4ea. On one of the pillars used as door-jambe of the shrine

is a Sinhalese inscription of Kassapa IV (898-91k) and this

evidently points to the shrine having been built with materials

from a Buddiiist structure, either abandoned by the Buddhists

L 1or destroyed by the baivas. About twelve miles east of this

site, on the western shore of Kokkuly Lagoon, stands another

small temple 'of excellent stone-work similar to that at

Polonnaruva' (iva Dv1) These aiva ruins are clear indications

of Tamil settlement in the region around Kokkuly Lagoon during

this period.

Thus we see that the north-eastern hinterland

between Trincomalee and Kokkuly had Taini]. settlements by about

the twelfth century. In these settlements there is unmistakable

evidence of the presence of BrThinaas and mercantile communities.

In a region where there were two well-known ports at this time,

namely Gkaa and Pallavavki, the presence of mercantile

communities is only to be expected. But this does not explain

the existence of several Tmi1 settlements in this region.

1. A.S.C.A.R. for 1891, p.11; E.Z., I, p.191.

2. A.S.G.A. . for 1905, pp.36-37.

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212It is not probable that all these were mercantile settlements.

If we locate these settlement sites on a map, we find that

most of these are near ancient reservoirs or at the mouth of

rivers. Padaviya, Ioragoa, VhalkaçIa, Kantaily, Ptaku,

Pa.am t ai , liañkai, Parazgiyav4iya, Periyakt4am and

Kumpakaa-malai are all situated close to ancient irrigation

works, while a place like Kandasmi-malai is at the iouth of

a river. It seems possible that there was a slow infiltration

of peasant settlers from South India which was responsible for

at least some of these settlements. The process which culminated

in the transformation of this region into a T'nil-speaking

area appears to have been well wider way by about the twelfth

century.

The other area which has yielded considerable

epigraph*c material relating to Tamil settle exits of this period

is, as we have stated earlier, In the north-western part of

the island and could be said to compr6.aè roughly the southern

districts of the North-western Province. This area stretches

from the coast of Chilaw for about fifty miles into the

interior, as far east as }nikdexa, and from )'iahananneriya in

the north to Kurungala in the south.

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213We have already noticed in the last chapter that

there were several C]a strongholds in this area which had to

be first controlled before Vijayabhu could march on Polonnaruva

We also surmised that there may have been Tainil settlers,

especially mercenaries, in these strongholds during the Ca

occupation. The Tamil inscriptions of this period seem to

confirm this supposition. The Ca strongholds in this region,

as given in the C!lavaisa, were Nuhunnaru (Nuvarakl),

Badalatthala (Batalagoa), Vpnagara (Vnaru), Tilagulla

(Talagall-la), Nahgalla (}galla or Nikavr4i), Naagalla

(Nahamaagala) and Buddhagma (nikdea) Only one Tamil

inscription of the Ca period was discovered in this area.

This was at Eriyva, nearly- eight miles north-west of Nahainaagalla

But the number of Tamil inscriptions of the tweLfth century

coming from this area is These are from }iahananneriya,

Mahakirinda, Budumuttva, Pauvasnuvara and VihrThinna, which

are all within a few miles of the Ca stronghol s mentioned

above. In fact, the stronghold of Mahga1la is specifically

referred to in one of the Budumuttva inscriptions as a place

where there was a iva temple in the time of Gaabhu II

1. Cv., 58:k2-k5.

2. .1.1., IV, No.1k15.

3. S.Paranavitana, 'Two Tanill Inscriptions from Budumuttva', E.Z.,II,

p . 311.

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214We also learn that the site of the inscription, the present

Budumuttva, was part of Mahgalla in the twelfth century. In

this epigraph Nahgalla appears in its Taniilised form of }ka].

and its other name is given as Vikkirama-calinka-puram,

evidently the same as Vikkamapura of the Clavaisa which has

eluded identification by scholars This new name seems to have

been given after Vikramabhu I who would have bad the consecration

name of Calnika (Sinh. Salmvan) The iva temple of Iahgalla

was also evidently named after Vikramabhu fr it was known as

Vikkirama-calmka-ivarain. Perhaps it was built in the reign

of Vikramabhu. The existence of this temple points unmistakably

to the presence of Tamil settlers in this area. The settlement

may have originated in the time of the Ca occupation. It is

of interest to note that our inscription was set up to record

certain gifts to the §iva temple by Cuntamlliyvr

(Cuttamaliyvr3), the daughter of Ku]Zttufiga I and wife of

Virapperuni., a Paya prince. No remains of the temple have

come to light in the area. The present inscription was found

1. Cv., 72:1k7.

2. See upr , p. j-

3. This is the for in which the name ap ears in the South

Indian inscriptions; cf., M.E.R.for 1931/32, No.67 of 193]J32.

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215inscribed on one of the pillars of a Buddhist temple which, in

the opinion of Paranavitana, was built in the Kandyan period

(sixteenth to the eighteenth century) with the materials of an

earlier building This earlier building was evidently the

Vikkirama-calinka-ivaram, which must have been abandoned or

destroyed after the aiva population of the area ceased to

exist, probably as a result of assimilation to the Sinhalese

Buddhist population. The present site of the inscription, which

is only a mile north-west of modern Ngalla, must have formed

part of the ancient Mahgalla. Another Tamil inscription,

2dated A.D.11lS, comes from the same site. This epigraph records

the settlement of a dispute between the blacksmiths and the

washermen of the area over certain privileges. The dispute was

inquired into and settled by the paca-pradhnis of VirabThu,

the dipda of Dakkhiadesa. Among these officers were also

two Taniils, !kk]. jMcm Kaxavati and Vijayparaa. The important

fact is that the settlement is recorded in Taniil. It was obviously

meant for the benefit of the disputing communities. It is

reasonable to assume , therefore, that the members of these

1. III, .302.

2. Ibid., pp.305-306.

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216communities were Tamils, for it does not seem robable that

the pafca-pradhnis of a Sinhalese dipda set up the record

of a settlement in Tamil when the contending parties were

Sinhalese. This inscription could, therefore, be taken to

confirm further the testimony of the earlier record regarding

the presehce of Tamil settlers in rAgalla. There is also a

third Tamil inscription from BudumuttRva, but it is much

weathered to admit of its being deciphered

About six miles north of }galla, at I1ahakirinda,

has been discovered another Tamil inscription dated A.D.113k

The contents of this inscription, too, points to South Indian

settlements in the area. The purport of the epigraph is to

record the grant of certain lands to the Brhmatas of Jaya.koa-

c alma-c aturvdimaig4am. This BrThmaça Settlement was

presumably named after either Jayabhu I or Vikramabhu I,

who bore the consecration name of Salm!van (Calmka), and is

to be located in the region of Iiahakirinda.

Nearly eighteen miles south of flgalla, at

Pa4uvasnuvara, was found another Tamil epigraph dated in the

fifth year of ia.ka }alla (A.D.1192) It records the

1. i.Z., III, p.3O2.

2. Unpublished - Inscription No.29k of the epi raphical list

in the Archaeolo ica.l Department, Ceylon.

3. X.Kana athi Pilai, 'A Ta il Inscription from Pauvasnuvara'U.C.R., XVIII, I os.3ek , July-Oct., 1960, pp.157-162.

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211bull jug of a Buddhist pirivena at rI-pura by a general of

Niafxka Lalla called Natimapaftcara, which name suggests

that be was a Tamil. Perhaps he was in command of one of the

mercenary troops stationed at rI-pura which was the ca ita).

of Dakkhiadesa. Besides, Pauvasnuvara is only two miles

east of Iuhunnaru, one of the Ca strongholds of the eleventh

century.

Two other Tamil inscriptions of this period

come from Mahananneriya1 and Vihärhinna2 which are nearly

twelve miles north and twenty-four miles east of J.ahakirinda

respectively. Vihrhinna is closer to two of the Ca

strongholds, namely Iahamaagala and Buddhagma, which lie about

ei ht miles away. The inscription from VihArThinna, as already

mentioned, is a record of the Aififfuvar conimunity This

shows that members of this mercantile community were active

in Dakkhiadesa, too, in the twelfth century.

No archaeological remains of Dravidian origin,

with the possible exception of the pillars at the Budumuttva

1. Unpublished - Inscription No.1 980 of the epigra hical list

in the be artment of Lrchaeologç Ceylon. Unfortunately, it

has not been possible to obtain a photograph of the estam age

of this inscription and hence the contents are unknown to us.

2. Unpublished - see supra, p. )3

3. Ibid.

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218te pie, have been definitely identified in this region so far.

The only ancient iva temple in the area is the well-known

Muvaram shrine, near Chilaw. The origins of this temple are

unknown, though the Tanii]. puras trace its beginnings to hoary

antiquity The Tami]. inscriptions in this temple belong to about

the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries Several finds in this

place, such as brass lamps, camphor-burners and a candelabrum,

have been described by Ananda Cooxnaraswaxny as medieval and may

well date back to this period As Tamil literature and tradition

in the island have venerated this temple along with Tiru-

ktivaram and. K!varam as a place of special sanctity

dating from early times, it is possible that this temple was

in existence in the twelfth century, with TanLi]. settlers around

it as now. Its location close to the pQo.l banks of Chilaw

suggests that it may have originated as p place of worship for

pearl divers from South India. The svara-mmiyam, tkie

chronicle of this temple, gives a detailed account of the

settlement of the Muvaram district with people from the

1. Cf., Musvara-mmiyam, in the Sri Vaivmpik-sata

aintasvmi Tvastam Kyarccaai 1alar, Cob bo, 19&l, p.3ff.

2. Unpublished.

3. !emoirs of the Colom o Museum, Series A, No.1, Colombo, 1914,

pp. 28-29.

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219Tamil country in the Kali year 512 (2590 B.c.) by the Ca

prince Kuakk 1a As we shall see in the next chapter, these

traditions may reflect the events of a later period and may not

go back to very early times The prince Kua1ka,who is

associated with varam in the other Tamil chronicles,

seems to have lived in. the thirteenth century We cannot, there-

fore, be certain about the origin of the Tamil settlement

around Mu&varam.

The CUlavaisa contains a reference to the presence

.lfof Tainil mercenaries in Dakkhiadesa in this period. According

to this reference, there was a Dami3a army stationed in the

district called Raktakra in the reign of Gajabhu II. flattakara

has been identified with Ratkaravva, nearly four miles

north-west of Kurunga1a and close to the Ca stronghold of

Vpiriagara

In addition to the above epigraphic and other

material indicating settlements of the Tamils in the northern

regions of anciant Dakkhiadesa, there are also some place names

1. Mu svara-mmiyam, . vit., p.8.

2. See infra, p32l -

3. See infra, p. 317

k. Cv., 69:6.

C.W.Nicholas, 'istorical Topogr p y of Ancient an Yedieval

eylon', J. . . . (C. .), N.S., V1 1 1959, p.90.

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220in the area which point in the same direction. The major

difficulty in the way of using this toponymic evidence for our

purposes is one of establishing the date of their origin.

Unfortunately early records of these toponyms are not available

to us. However, the presence of a number of Tamil place names

or Sinhalese place names indicating Tamil settlement in an

area now largely occupied by Sinhalese speakers suggests that

the names are not of recent origin. It is by no means justifiable

to assign the origin of all these names to this period. But

it may not be wrong to assume that some of them at least

originated at this time. any of the Sinhalese place names with

the element dem4a may have originated in this period for they

occur close to the places where Tarn!]. inscriptions have been

found or where the C1as had established their strongholds.

Dem4a-divullva, for instance, is about three miles east of

Jahananneriya and about six miles north-west of Eriyva, places

where Tamil inscriptions of the elventh and twelfth centuries

have been found. Dema.a-srakku.ama is about eight miles west

of Mahakirinda and. udumuttva, where, too, Tamil inscriptions

were discovered. Similarly, Dema.a-dora is about six miles

south-west of Nuhunnaru and about eight miles south-west of

Pauvasnuvara. Dema4a-nina is about ten miles south of

VihrThinna and Demaussa is about six miles north of Vpinagara,

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221a Ca stronghold. The bulk of the Tainil place namea in this

area are probably of later origin, possibly of the fourteenth

and fifteenth centuries when, according to some Sinhalese works,

several Tamils were settled in this area

In the light of all the above strands of evidence,

we have to loeate a number of Tamil settlements of this period

in the northern regions of Dakkhiadeaa. With the evidence that

we have it is not possible to determine the nature or strength

of these settlements. They may have arisen partly as a result

of the establishment of C 1a fortresses in this region to

protect Rjaraha from the attacks of the Rohaa princes.

Perhaps some of them were natural extensions of possible

settlements of South Indian pearl fishers along the Chilaw

coast. In the absence of any evidence to this effect, one has

to be contented with mere conjectures.

In the western littoral north of Dakk4adesa only

one place has yielded a Tainil inscription which may be

assigned to this perio This place is Virandagoa, about

ten diiles south-east of Pomparippu. Even at }1.ntai, where

inscriptions of the Za period have been found, no Tamil epigraph

of this period has come to ii ht. Since there were Tamil

1. Unpublished - Inscription 916 of the epigraphica]. list

in the Archaeological De artment, Ceylon.

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222settlements here in the period of Ca rule, it is reasonable

to assume that such settlements continued to be there in the

twelfth century, too.

Next in importance to the two coastal regions

dealt with above are the two interior regions around Anurdhapura

and. Polonnaruva. It may be recollected that by virtue of the

fact that Anurdhapura was the capital of the Sinhaleseb '"kingdom, there weremercenary and mercantile settlements in

that city in the ninth and tenth cneturies and. possibly even

after that For similar reasons, there were Tamil settlements

at Polonnaruva and the surrounding areas under the Cas. In this

period we see that these settlements continued to exist in

these places, especially in the areas around the citie8. But

the evidence is certainly not sifficient to warrant the

conclusion that such settlements were numerous. Although

Anurdhapura has failed to yield any Tamil inscription or

aiva artefacts datable to this period, such finds have come

to light at l'ioragahavela, V!ragala, }iahakanadarva and

KanadayAva, which are situated close to Anurdhapura.

1. See supra, k-L

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223From Moragahavela comes a Tamil inscription of A.D.fl38

recording the gift of a piece of land at PatL1ya to a Buddhist

temple by one UakakkittaD. Patlya is stated to have been

received as a jvita by the donor. This may mean that the donor

was an official in the service of Gajabhu II, in whose reign

this inscription was set up. The occurrence of th&s Tamil

inscription at !4oragahavela, therefore, may not necessarily

indicate the presence of Tamil settlers there. But since this

site is within about fifteen miles of nuriIura, V'!ragala

and Safigili-kanadarva, where Tamil inscriptions and Saiva

remains of this and earlier periods have been found it is

possible that there were Tamil settlers at Noragahavela in

this period. The Tamil inscription from Kanadarva is unfortu-

nately fragmentary and only the na e of Sri Ca!Lkabodhi-(val3xuar

alias Cakravatti SrI ParkramabThu Tva, who was probably

the first ruler of that na e, has been decipherable It is

unlikely that the ruler mentioned here is Parkramabhu II

for the site of our inscription is outside his de facto realm.

1. 13.1.1., IV, No.1k06; K.Kanapathi Pil].ai, 'APil].ar

Inscription from Moragahavela', U.C. ., XVIII, Jan.-April, 1960,

p.k6 ff.

2. See supra,

3. .1.1., IV, No.]Ji07.

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224About a mile away from Kanadarva is Mahakanadarva where a

bas-relief of the goddess Cmu was unearthed in the vicinity

of a ruined dv] Several statuettes of the 3aptamtk goddesses

were also discovered in the same village At Vragala, about

ei ht miles north-west of ahakanadarva, a unique bronze

image of iva in the Ardhanrivara form was discovered It is

possible that this image was originally housed in a iva temple

in that area. Though these aiva finds from Ziahakanadarva and

Vragala cannot be precisely dated, they could be roughly

assigned to this period on grounds of style. Their presence

may be taken to indioate Tamil aiva settlements in these places

near Anurdhapura.

The evidence of inscriptions and archaeological

remains discovered in and around Polonnaruva points to South

Indian mercenary and mercantile settle ents in this region.

The V!].aikkra inscription from Polonnaruva and the Clavaisa

attest to the presence of V.aikkras, Ker4as and other mercenary

forces in the capital in this period Probably some members of

1. A. .C.A.I?. for 1961/62, p.59.

2. Ibid.

3. A.S.CA.R. for 1 56, p.k.

k. See supra, pq.-gJ..

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225the Valafijiyar and the Nakarattr communities were also living

there, as is implied in the V.aikkra inscription An inscrip-

tion of the AififftTuvar, containing only a part of their

Sanakrit praasti, was found about three miles north of

Polonnaruva, at Anaulundva As Polonnaruva was the capital

city, it is reasonable to assume that atich mercantile communities

were living in and near the city. These communities may have

been responsible for the building of some of the iva temples

in the area. Of the two dozen aiva and Vaiava temples to be

found here in different stages of disre air, some belong to

the C]a period as we have already seen. Some others belong

to the thirteenth century. It is possible that a few were

built in the twelfth century under the patronage of such

patrons of aivism as Gajabhu II and VikramabThu I. The

identification of the temples of this period is, however,

rendered difficult by the problem of dating all the temples

with any degree of accuracy. The same problem applieá to the

large number of aiva and Vaiava bronzes discovered recently

1. See sura, p. gc

2. .1.de Z.Wickremasinghe, 'Polonnaruva: An ulundva Slab-

Inscription', .., II, .235.

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22

at Polonnaruva As a result we are not in a position to use

the archaeological material confidently in the determination

of the Dravidian settlements in the region of Polonnaruva.

As mentioned earlier, it appears that ParkramabThu I,

and possibly some of his successors, may have int&ted artisans

aia& stone masons from South India to help the Sinhalese

craftsmen in the building of Buddhist establishments in

Polonnaruva These artisans as well as the South Indian

prisoners of war employed in repairing and building Buddhist

monuments must have strengthened the Tamil element in the

population of Polonnaruva in the twelfth century. In addition,

it appears that Tamil officials, or at least many of them, who

served under the Cas when the island formed part of the

South Indian empire, were retained by Vijayabhu I. This is

the impression given by a statement in the Pakauva inscription

of this ruler. In this copper plate inscription there is a reference

to a register of Tamil clerks (Dem4a lea aru pota) maintained

by a special keeper For a se arate register of the Tamil

1. C. .Godakumbura, 'Bronzes fro Polonnaruva', J. .A.S. (c. .),

N.S., VII, pt.2, 1961, p.239 ff.

2. See supra, p.I.

3.S.Paranavitana, 'Pakaç1uva_Copper-Plate Charter of Vijayabhu 1,

., V, p.27.

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227clerks to be maintained separately there must have been several

of them in the service of the Sinhalese king. It has been pointed

out earlier that there is no etidence to sug est that Vijayabhu

harboured any grievances against the Tamils His battles were

directed against an empire that had annexed his country, but

once the country was freed he appears to have treated his

Tamil subjects with favour. The employment of Taniil mercenaries

and clerks and the patronage extended to aiva establishments

at Kantaly, as implied by the P4amtai inscription, undoubtedly

attest to the tolerant policy adopted by him towards Tamils.

Such a policy would have encouraged the Tamila in Polonnaruva

to stay behind the Cas were defeated in 1070. Presumably

the Tamils who were in Polonnaruva during the Ca period

continued to be there in the reign of Vijayabhu I.

The South Indian population of Polonnaruva consisted

not only of Tamils but also of Ker4as, Kannaas (Pli, Kaas)

and Telugus. In. the aikkra inscription we are told that the

1aikkra mercenaries at Polonnaruva consisted of Telugus (Vaukar)

and Ker4as(Ma1ay.ar) among others The Va1ajiyar and the

1. See supra, p.7o.2. See supra, p. 173.

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228Nakarattr were probably of Kannaa origin as these mercantile

communities originated in the Kannaa country According to

the Ct1lavasa, there were Ker4as and Kaas at Polonnaruva

serving under GajabThu II Nidka Nalla claims in his Kantaly

Gal sana inscription that his queens from Karnna and 1ellru

(in the Telugu country) brought with them large retinues of

elephants and cavalry Though this may be a vain boast, it is

possible that the matrimonial alliances contracted by Nia.ka

Ma].la led to the arrival of Kannaa and Telugu courtiers and

soldiers with the princesses as was the custom in those days.

Such groups, however, would not have considerably added to

the Dravidian element in the city. The Kannaa or Telugu

element in the Dravidian population of Polorinaruva, or 1 for that

matter, of the island, does not seem to have been strong. It is

notable that there is no Kannaa or Telugu inscription in

the island belonging to this or any other period.

At Dimbu].gala, about ten miles south-east of

Polonnaruva, is a rock inscription of Sundaramandevj, the

chief queen of VikramabThu I, which refers to a Dema-pTh

(Pii, Dami4a-psda) in the area We have already seen that

1. See supra, p. ILt3

2. Cv., 70:230.

3. II, p.289.

k. Ibid., p.195.

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229there were a Dem4-veher at Vva1kiya in the ninth century1

and a Dam.i4a-thpa at Polonnaruva in the twelfth century Now

we find that there was a Dema.U-pliu1 i Dimbu1ga1a in the time

of VikraniabThu I (1111-1132). Wickramasinghe conjectures that

this was probably erected in the time of Vijayabhu I It is

interesting to know the exact significance of the element De 4or Dem4a in these names. In the case of the Daxni.a-thUpa we

are specifically told in the Clavaisa that the stupa got this

name by virtue of the fact that it was erected by Tamil prisoners

from South Indiat In the case of the Deni4-veher it is possible

that it got its name dueZa similar reason or because it was a

residence for Tamil Buddhist monks. The Dema-ph may also

have got its name on account of one of these reasons. This

prsda was already there in the time of Vi]amabhu I who

reigned twenty years before ParkramabThu I, iii whose time

prisoners from South India were taken to Ceylon for the purpose

of repairing and building Buddhist monuments. It is not known

whether VijayabThu I also had such prisoners captured in his

1. S4e supra,p EI ,

2. See supra, p.j3.

3. E.Z., II, p.l&7.

If. See •

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23wars against the Cas and had them similarly engaged. This

seems unlikely, for Vijayabhu adopted a different attitude

towards the Tamils of his kingdom and may not have, therefore,

enslaved Ca soldiers. This prsda may not have been the

work of Tamil prisoners. It not have been an exclusive

residence of Tamil Buddhist monks either, for we know from

other sources that Dimbulgala was a renowned forest dwelling

of this time where there were five hundred Sinhalese monks

1in residence. Perhaps a pious group of Tami]. Buddhists from

some nearby area paid their reverence to these learned monks

by building them a prsda and hence the name Dema4.U-ph. It

is not easy to decide between the different possibilities except

by mere conjecture. The occurrence of the name Dema-phli does not,

however, add to our knowledge of the Tamil settlements even if

we take it to indicate the presence of Tamil Buddhist monks.

At the most it may only suggest the presence of Buddhists

among the Tamils of the island.

A Tamil inscription dated in the reign of Parkrama-

bThu I has been discovered in the Jaumna district This is the

1. .G. .C., I, pt.2, p.566.

2. Llndrapala, 'The aitIvu amil Inscription of Parkramabhu 1,

U.C.R., XXI, No.1, A ru 1963, p.63 ff.

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231earliest Tainil inscription so far discovered in this district

which now has the hi best concentration of Tamils in the island

and once formed the main territory of the Jaffna kingdom. The

record is at present in the island of Naitivu (Pli Igadipa)

and is a proclamation of certain regulations concerning trading

vessels wrecked off the port of rttu ,ai (Sinh. Vrtoa, Pli

Skaratittha, now known in English as Kayts). The fact that

the record is in Tamil may only mean that most of the traders

in this region being possibly Tamils from South India their

language was preferred to Sinhalese. But the manner in which

the proclamation is worded shows that it was addressed to the

officials at the port rather than to the traders of the wrecked

vessels. The preserved portion of the record statethat the

foreigners who came to the port of Vrttuai 'should be protected',

that if vessels bringing elephants and horses got wrecked

'a fourth (share of the cargo) should be taken by the Treasury

and the (other) three arts should be left to the owner' and

that 'if vessels (laden) with (other) erchan ise get wrecked

an exact half should be taken by the Treasury and (the other)

exact half should be left to the owner' This may mean that the

officers in this port to whom the proclamation wasaddressed

1. K.Indrapala, . cit., p.70.

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232were Tamils. Presumably this part of the island was settled by

Tamils. The toponyniic evidence of our inscription also lends

support to this hy othesis. 1rttuai, which occurs in this

record, is one of the earliest recorded forms of Tamilised

place names available to us in the Jaffna district. It is

derived from the Sinhalese name urtota by the substitution of

the second element toa th its Tamil equivalent ai, a

phencnmenon commonly met with in a number of iamilised Sinhalese

toponyms. This Tamilised place name also occurs in another

contemporary Tamil inscription, namely the Tiruvlagu

inscription of Ca Rjdhirja II This South Indian epigraph

also contains two other Taniilised Sinha].ese place na es of Jaffna.

These are Vallikmam (modern Valikmam = Sinh. Vliligama) and

ial iv1 (modern Iafluvil = 5mb. Iauvil) The occurrence ofthese names further supports our hypothesis that there were

Tamil settlements in the Jaffna district in the twelfth century.

The Tamilisation of Sinhalese place names was evidently the

result of such settlements. As we shall see later, it is quite

possible that the Tamil settlement of the Ja±'fna district

1. V.,Venkata ubba Aiyyar, 'Tiruvlañgu In cription of Pj hirja II',

L!. XXII, p.86

2. Ibid.

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233

proceeded slowly after the Ca conquest, although any attempt

at large-scale settlement of people from South India does not

seem to have taken place before the foundation of the Jaffna

kingdom in the thirteenth century.

No definite evidence regarding any significant

Tamil settlement in the Batticaloa district of the Eastern

Province, which is now a predominantly Taniil area, or in other

parts of southern Ceylonhas so far come to light. It is possible

that jhere were some Tamil settlers in the atticaloa district

for 1 from the thirteenth century onwards,we get archaeological,

epigraphic and literary evidence pointing to Tami]. settlements

in that area The Cas had a stronghold at Chagma in this

district. Not far from this place, which is now known by the

Tamilised form of Skmam, is the Tirukvil Siva temple, built

in the P4ya style of architecture and held to be of the same

2date as the Siva Dvl No.1 at Polonnaruva. Although it is

possible that this temple was built in the twelfth century, it

seems probable that it is a construction of the thirteenth

century In all probability significant Tamil settlements were

1. See infra, Pf-37-3

2. C.J.Sc. (G) , II, pp.l60-l6l.

3. See infra, p. 37

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234not established in the Batticaloa district before the thirteenth

century. As for the other areas of southern Ceylon, it is not

very likely that there were Tamil settlers in this period,

except perhaps some mercantile communities in the ports along

the southern coast. Such communities were found in these ports

in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries A rock inscription

in Sinhalese from Galap'ta refers to some Tamil slaves attached

to the Galapta-vihra in the time of ParkramabThu. Unfortunately

it has not been possible to,identify this monarch definitely.

It has been surmised that he may be either the first or the

second of that name but probably the former Galapta is near

Bentota in the outhern Province and, if the inscription

belongs to the time of Par.kramabhu I, it may seem that some

of the South Indian prisoners of that monarch were sent to the

Galapta-vihra as slaves. Such a stray instance, however, is

no evidence of any !amil settlement in that area.

Thus, we see that the period between 1070 and

the end of the twelfth century was a time when Dravidian

settlements were established slowly but steadily in the north-

eastern re ion and in the southern parts of the North-western

Province. These two areas had a reater concentration of Tanifls

1. j., U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p.?68.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'Gala ta Vihra ock-Inscription', .Z., IV, p.198.

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235

than. possibly any other area. The areas around Anurldhapura

and Polonnaruva, where Tamil settlers were present in earlier

periods, continued to be regions with scattered Tami]. settle-

inents. In the Jaffna district, for the first time, we get evidence

of Tamil settlements in this period. The thirteenth century

saw the steady grorth of these settlements and the beginninga

of the transformation of the northern. and eastern parts of the

island into areas permanently occu ied by Tamil speakers.

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23U

CHAPTER IV

STTLEHENTS IN THE THIR.EEITH CEITURI - I : THE JAYFNA DISTRICT

The death of Ni pi3ka Malla in 1196 marked the

end of an era of comparative security, beginning from 1070,

during which the island was not plagued by foreign invasions.

Internal dissensions created by rival aspirants to power and foreign

aspirations for control of the affairs of the island came to a

head almost immediately after the demise of Nia.ka Malla.

Princes from the Ca, Pya and Kalifiga countries exploited

the weakness of the Sinhalese rulers, awopped on the island at

quick intervals and succeeded in holding power for short periods.

To add to this chaotic 8tate, petty king-makers were active

at Po].onnaruva enthroning and dethroning their Zavourites.

The rapid deterioration of the political situation culminated

in the onslaught of !gha in 1215, the like of which was

perhaps not known earlier. The impact of Ngha's occu ation of

Rjara'ha was tremendous. The Sinhalese rulers were 'ist

permanently ousted from the northern parts of the island.

A oonsiderable proportion of the Sinhalese people, too, began

the slow abandonment of that area. The occupation of Rjaatha

by Tamil and Ker4a elements became more marked and permanent.

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237

For nearly seven decades this part of the island became an

arena for the contest for power among different foreign contenders,

chiefly }gha and his associates, the Pyas and the Jvakas,

until at last the P4yas settled the contest to their advantaEe

and paved the way for the rise of a dynasty from the Tamil

country in the newly founded kingdom of that region. While these

events in the island made the situation favourable for the

settlement of the South Indians in northern Ceylon, events in

South India soon provided some of the causes for the migration

of these people. The downfall of the C1as in the middle of

the thirteenth century and the decline of the Pyas at the

turn of the century were followed by the invasions of the

Muslims. The resulting insecurity and disorders seem to have led

several Tamils to migrate to Ceylon where they found a welcome

hand in the South Indian dynasty that had established itself

in Jaffna. The rulers of this dynasty a pear not only to haveLvc.

welcomed such migrants but al6o3en to the extent of inviting

settlers to the new kingdom. The thirteenth and the early part

of the fourteenth century were, therefore, a period of Tamil

immigration for the purpose of settlement. All these were set

in motion by the events that took place between 1196 and 1215,

es ecially the invasion of Igha which may justifiably be

called a land-mark in the history of the Tamils of Ceylon.

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238The first important feature of this period is the

renewal of foreign invasions almost immediately after the death

of NMañka Malla. Within the short span of twenty years

beginning from 1196 there were at least ci ht invasions of the

island, most of which were led or inspired by the Cas. These

are referred to in the Somth Indian and Ceylonese inscriptions

and in the literary works. In the reigns of ParkramabThu I

and Niañka Malla there were Ceylonese invasions of South

India and, possibly, counterLnvasions from the main1and

Sinhalese troops were supplied to Pya princes in their wars

against the Cas and the Ca-supported rivals. Although the

Sinhalese forces won initial successes, in the end they seem

to have lost to the Cas One such victory over the Sinhalese

is claimed by Ku1ttui!xga iii in the ninth year of his reign (A.D.1l87)

From his tenth year (1188) this monarch claims the conquest of

Ceylon in his inscriptions The ruler of Ceylon in 1188 was

Niañka Malla, who would then have been on the throne for

hardly a year. It seems likely that there was a C1a invasion

of the island at this time, if we take the vague and fragmentary

1. f., S.Wickremasinghe, The Age of ParkraxnabThu I, thesis

submitted to the Univerâity of London in 1958; A.Liyanagaivage,

The Decline of Polonnaruva and the ise of Dabade, thesis

submitted to the University of London in 1963.

2. Ibid. 3. S.I.I., III, p.86. k.A.Butterworth andVenu opal hetty, Nellore Inscriptions, Inscription No. N 85.

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239statement in the Galpota inscription of Ni6inka Malla, namely

'Lsnk in times gone by ..... thinking it was dangerous and

annoyed' (Lakdiva pera davaa ...... napur yl dh va ..) ,

to refer to some foreign intervention at the beginning of his

reign Kulttuñga III may have taken advantage of the confusion

that ensued the death of Parkramabhu I and invaded the island.

That the conquest of Ceylon was not effected in 1188 is admitted

in a C]a inscription of 119k, in which KulVttufxga is recorded

to have ordered his troops to conquer the island in that year

The claim in the inscription of 1188 is, therefore, an exaggeration

based robably on a futile invasion of the island. It is not

possible to think that any sñccess in this direction was

achieved by the Ca ruler before 1196, the year of Niaf&ka

Malla's demise. Ku1ttithga's next claim of victory over Ceylon

is made in his inscription of 1199 from Tirumikku.i The ruler

of Ceylon in 1199 was Queen Li1vatI, whose rule was chiefly

guided by the able general Kitti. Kulttu.ga(s claim in 1199

does not appear to be altogether unfounded. In a Sinhalese poem

1. ., II, p. ia. ; U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p.523.

2. .E. . for 1907, Inscription No.288 of 1907 from Tiruviaimarudr.

3. .1., VII, p.17k ; .1.1., III, p.205.

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240called Sasa vata, composed in the time of LilvatI, there is

an allusion to three invasions from the Ca country which were

Successfully checked by the general Kitti The commentary (sann!)

on. this poem gives certain details of these invasions. It is

stated that on two of these occasions the invading armies landed

at 1vau (Nahtittha) and proceeded as far as Anurdhapura

before they were defeated. On the third occasion, they proceeded

from Salvat (Chilaw) as far as rIpura in Dakkhiadesa. They

.2..were all defeated by Kitti. Kitti was a general, presumably

in the armies of Par.kramabhu I and Niañka Malla, who ousted

Cô1agaga from the throne and enthroned Lilvati in ].l97 e

was ousted from power in l2OO ' The three invasions alluded to

in the Sinhalese poem must have, therefore, taken place before

12 0 and probably after 1197. It is,possible, however, that

one or two of the invasions took place in the period before

1197 when Kitti was probably one of the generals of Nia.ka

Ialla. The claim of the cja king in 11 9 was very probably

1. asadvata Sann!, p.5 ; J. .A.S. (C.B.), XXXI, No.82, pp.38k-385.

2. Ibid.

3. U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p.516.

14• Ibid., p.517.

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241based on one of these invasions, Nilkiita Sastri doubts the

validity of the Sinhalese account on the ground that the sann- 1on the Sasadavata is of a later date. But even if we dismiss

the details provided by the sann!, the evidence of the

Sasadvata, a work contemporaneous with the alleged invasions,

cannot easily be set aside. The next and the last claim of

KuIttuiga is made in an inscription of 1212 from Pudukki

where the conquest of Ceylon is referred to as already accomplished

This claim is perhaps based on the successful invasion of the

island in 1209, which appears to have been Ca-inspired. It

is referred to in the Ct!lavaisa and in the contemporary

Sinhalese inscriptions. In the Bpiiya inscription of queen

Kalyavati (1202-1208), it is recorded that the queen had to

leave i.ip on account o a Tamil invasion This Tamil

invasion is also mentioned in the iip inscription of the

same queen, dated in her eighth regnal years According to this

1. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, p. kl2, note 76.

2. Pu ukktai Inscriptions (Text), No.166 ; K.A.Ni1kuita Sastri,

e CN.as, p.382.

3. D. . e Z. Wickremasinghe, 'Bpii Slab Inscription of Kalavati',.., II, .19 -192.

S.Paranavitana, 'Ki4ip Slab In cription'9 .Z., V, p.157-158.

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242record, the general Iti repelled this invasion but lost his life.

On the other hand, it is stated in the Cflavaisa that in 1209

the Iiandipda Anikafiga 'came at the head of a great army from

the Co.a zn9LIcyt, slew the ruler in Pulatthinagara, Prince

Dhanmisoka, together with the general yasmant and reigned

seventeen days' The invasion referred to in the Miiip! inscrip-

tion and the invasion of Anikañga have been treated as identical

and rightly so The claim of conquest in the Pudukktai inscrip-

tion may be, therefore, a reference to this short-lived conquest

achieved by G1a troops with Anikafiga at their head. But it is

also possible that it refers to the Ca invasion in the reign

of Lokec. (1210-1211), alluded to in the KoV.ñge inscription

After 1212 neither the South Indian nor the Ceylonese sources

mention any Ca invasion of the island.

Apart front the Ca invasions mentioned above,

there were two other invasions front South India which occurred

shortly before the onslaught of Ngha. One was led by a Sinhalese

aspirant Lokevara, who brought 'a great Damila army from the

opposite shore, brought the whole of Laz3.kA under his sway and

1. .!•' 80:k3-k'+.

2. Cf., A.Liyanagamage, . cit. ; E.Z., V, p . 159 U.

3. C.J.Sc, (G), II, p.1 7.

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243reigned, dwelling in Pulatthinagara, nine months' It has been

surmised that this Damia army could not have been from the

Ca country, for Lokevara was no particular friend of the

Cas, as is shown by the subsequent Ca invasion of the

island during his reign Bit it is possible that this Tamil

army was only a mercenary fotice and may have come from either

the Ca or the Pya country. The invasion does not necessarily

postulate an allja,nce with any of the South Indian rulers. The

last South Indian invasion before that of }gha is claimed to

have been led by a P4ya prince Parkrania, who succeeded in

capturing power and ruling for three years

The quick series of invasions which began after

the death of Niaka YAalla culminated in that of gha, who

has been described in the chronicles as a Kliga and sometimes

as a Tamil1 The identity of this ruler has remained a matter of

much controversy. For the present we shall confine ourselves

to the invasion and its results in so far as the Dravidian

settle ents in the island are concerned.

1. Cv., 80:k7-k8.

2. E.Z., IV, p.88; U.C. .G., I, pt.2, p. 520.

3. Cv., 80:52-53.

k. Cf., V., 80:58; 3:15.

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244The conquest of northern Ceylon by gha and his

troops is one of the most dramatic events in the history of

the island, with far-reaching results in the lives of the

Sixthalese and the Tamils. For the Sinhalese this was a tragic

event and its memories were preserved in fairly genuine

traditions which came very early to be incorporated in the

Sinhalese and P].i chronicles. For the Tamils it was an event

which widely opened the doors to the occu ation and colonisation

of northern and eastern Ceylon amidst the instability and the

turbulence that characterised the history of the old

Rjaraha in the thirteenth ceatury. At a time like this

no genuine traditions of the events were preserved by them

until a stable kingdom was established there. %Jhen genuine

traditions failed, others, based partly on later events,

were supplied to meet the needs of a later period. In the

chronicles of Jaffna, these traditions centre round the personality

of Vicaya K'lañkai Cakkaravartti, who, as we shall later,

was in all probability no bbher than gha or Vijaya 1liga

Cakravartti In the chronicles of Batticaloa more genuine

traditions seem to have been preserved and the invasion of

gha Ok) occupies an important place in these.

1. See infra, p. JiL J

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245It is the accounts in the Sinhalese and Pli

chronicles, especially those of the Clavaisa and the P1Tjva]4ya,

that form the basis of the study of the conquest. Though

unsatisfactory in some waye, the first familiar statements of

what happened comes from them. The most important of these

accounts are those of the C11laaisa and the Pjvaliya. The

Pjvaliya account is of exceptional value as it was written

within half a century after the invasion. The nature and value

of these two accounts have formed the subject of a lengthy and.

critical discussion by A.Liyanagamae Suffice it to say here

that much of these accounts is devoted to denouncing the

wickedness of the invaders and. bemoaning the damage dome to the

Buddhist Order. Despite the bitter tone of the accounts, there

is no doubt that they are based on genuine traditions as is

confirmed by the archaeolth ica]. evidence and by one of the

Tamil chronicles and are very valukble to our study. Hence

our account of the invasion and of the subsequent occupation

of northern Ceylon is to be primarily based on these sources.

1. A. Liyanagamage, . cit.

2. See infra, p. 3'i.

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24GThe CUavaida account of the invasion begins with

the following trophes:

'But since in consequence of the enormously accu u].ated,various evil deeds of the dwellers in Lañk, the devatswho were everywhere entrusted with the protection ofLaiik, failed to carry out this protection, there landeda man who held to a false creed, whose heart rejoiced inbad statesmanship, who was a forest fire for the burningdown of bushes in the forest of the good, - that is ofgenerosity and the like - who was a sun whose actionclosed the rows of night lotus flowers - that is thegood doctrine - and a moon for destroying the grace ofthe groups of the day lotuses - that is of peace -(a man) by name )gha, an unjust king sprung from theKlitga line, in whom reflection was fooled by hisgreat delusion, landed as leader of four and twentythousand warriors from the Klifiga country and conqueredthe island of Lafik.l

In these preliminary strophes we are told of the character and

lineage of gha and of the numerical strength as well as the

country of origin of the army he led. By describing Ngha as a

man who held to a false faith, the author informs us that he

was a non-Buddhist. This is confirmed by all the literary

sources, including the Tamil M4 akk4appu-mmiyam He is

described here as a king of the Kliñga line. This is generally

re eated in the other Pli and Sinhalese works and in the

Maakk4appu-nmiyam. But it is contradicted in the C1lavaisa

itself in another place where be is called a Dami3a king

1. £!• 80:5k-59.

2. 1m., p.53.

3. i!'' 83:15.

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247This is t0t the only instance of a state ent in the above

account being contradicted elsewhere in the C'Lllavaxpaa, as we

shall see resently. The identity of Ngha, as stated earlier,

has formed the subject of an important controversy anon.g scholars

in the recent past. The controversy centres mainly round the

identification of the Kliga home of Igha, which has been

variously identified as Kaliñga in Eastern India, Kaliiga in

the Malay archipelago and as Jaffna Pavnavitana, as we shall

see later, has recently adduced evidence from some unpublished

documents in support of the identification of Kalitiga in

South-east Asia These documents, if their authenticity is

established, should settle this problem to the satisfaction of

all concerned. In the light of this new development we have to

await the publication of these documents before we discuss this

question further.

The statement in the Glavaisa that gha's 'four

and twenty thousand warriors' who are later described as forty-

four thousand strong, both incre ible numbers, came from Kali!xga

is not consistently maintained throu hout the chronicle.

1. See infra, L7i

2. See infra, P:&.

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248Almost inimediatel after the strophes quoted above, there

appears the following strophe:

thus his great warriors oppressed the people,boasting cruelly everywhere: "We are Ker4a warriors",.. 1

This contradicts the earlier statement that they came from

Kalifiga. This is not all. Again in strophe 70 of the same chapter

they are referred to as 'Dand3a warriors' In the whole C11lavaisa

account, ha's soldiers are described in three places as Keraas

in eight places as Daniask and in one place as Ker4as and

Damias (Ker4a Dam.i4a) This confusion regarding the identity

of ! ha and his soldiers is not confined to the C11lavaisa alone.

It is found to the same extent in the PUjva].iya as well. In

fact, the accounts of 1gha's invasion and occupation in these

two works are remarkably similar so mich so that one is

inclined to think that one is based on the other or that both

are based on a common source. As the P1jvaliya is almost

1. Cv., 80:61.

2. Ibid., 80:70.

3. Ibi ., 80:61, 76; 81:3.

il. Ibid., 80:70; 81:1k; 82:6, 26; 83:12, 1k, 2k; 87:25.

5. Ibid., 83:20.

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249contemporaneous with the occupation of Egha it is unlikely

that this work is based on another sOurce, unless we take the

source to be monastic records. It seems likely that the

Ci11avaisa account is based on that of the P1valiy or om

the records used by the author of the latter work. The iporant

point, however, is that the discrepancies in the two works are

identical. The Pjvaliya, too t calls gha a 1C1i!iga king

(Kaligu-raja) at first and Dravia king (Dravia-raja) and

Tamil king (Dem4a-raja) later on Similarly, his soldiers are

called }lalala (Ker4a) at first, Dema.a (Tamil) in several

other places and Dema3a and Nalala (Dem4a Nalala maha senaga)

in one place That Parkramabhu II, in his campaigns against

gha, fought the lala1as and the Dravias (Tamils) is

maintained not only in the P1jvaliya but also in other

Sinhalese works such as the Dabadei-katikvata, NiJcya-

safigrahaa and the Saddharnia-ratnkaraya There are several

ways of explaining this confusion in our sources. Firstly,

1. Pv., pp.108, 114, 116.

2. Ibid., pp.108, 116.

3. Ibid., pp.117-118; Katikvat-sa1gar, ed. D.B.Jayatilaka, p.8;

Nks., p. 8; Saddhar a-r tnkaraya, p.314.

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250when the author of the Clavaisa states that gha 'landed

as leader of four and twentythousand warriors from the K5J.iixga

country', he may be failing to be precise in his statement

rather than mRking a factual mistake. For, it is possible that

what the author is saying is that }gha landed from the Kliiga

country and conquered Lak with twenty-four thousand soldiers,

who may have been recruited in South India. This is quite

probable for even on earlier occasions princes from KV.iiga,

like AnIkaga and. Lokevara, captured the throne of Polonnaruva

with the help of Tamil mercenaries from South India It is

nowhere recorded that there were mercenaries from the Klifiga

country in the island at this time. Secondly, it may be that

}gha's army consisted of Ker4a and Dami3a mercenaries who were

already in Kliñga in search of employment or in the service of

This is not impossible for we know that in this period

there were Ker4a and Karia mercenaries in the employ of11*

not only the Tamil kings of South India but alsoin far-off

places like Bengal The Nanahali plate of hadanap.la, for instance,

1. See supra, p.24Z ; U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p. 520.

2. See supra, p.7%- ; cf., M.E. . for 1 9, No.315 of 1909.

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251includes Karas and. Choas among the mercenaries employed by

the Pla riler in the twelfth century It is, therefore, possible

that M.gba(s £er4a and Damia mercenaries went to Ceylon from

Kaliga itself. But if we are to belive the Sinhalese and Pli

chronicles that the army of ?gha was very large, then it is

unlikely that all the soldiers came from far-off Kali!xga and

we may have to accept the first possibility, namely that }gha

recruited them, or at least most of them, in South India. The

confusion between Dam4as and Kera3as also could be resolved

without much difficulty. It has been suggested that the 'Damia

Ker4a' of the C!flavaisa, translated as Dand3as and Ker4as,

should be rendered as Ker4a Dami4as, like So]! Dema.un in

Sinhalese meaning C1a Tamils The implication is that like the

Cas and the Pyas the Kera3as were also treated as Damias

and, therefore, there is actually no discrepancy in the

C].avaisa account regarding the identity of Mgha's soldiers.

Though this is a plausible explantion, it appears that 1gha's

army did not consist of only Kera4as but also Dami3as. Perhaps

at the beginning there were many Ker4as but once }TAgha had

1. D.C.Sircar, 'Karas outside Kara', J.N.Banerjea Volume, p.2].l.

2. A.Liyanagamage, . cit.

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252established himself at Polonnaruva, more soldiers would. have

been recruited from among the Tamils who were resident in the

northern parts of the island. This erhaps is the reason why

both the Pjvaliya and the C1flavasa refer to them as Keraaa

and Dami.as. There seem to have been several South Indian leaders

who were united under 1gha and led different contingents of

mercenaries This may be the reason why the Hatthavanagalla-

vihra-vaisa states that there were 'many thousands of enemy

forces with their kings, the Coas, Ker4as and the like, who

had destroyed the world and the ssana and were living in

2Pulatthipura', The statement that there were forty-four

thousand Ker4as and Dami3as at the time of their final débcle

as opposed to the twenty-four thousand at the tine of the

invasion also seems to support the view that more Dami.as

8Welled the ranks of the invaders after their initi.al victories

In this period, the invaders from Kaliñga and the Malay Peninsula

appear to have solved the problem of transporting soldiers

from their home countries by hiring mercenaries from the near-by

Tamil and Ker4a countries. Once they landed in tiae island

1. See infra, ::&,

2 • Hat thavanagalla-vihra-vaisa, p • 32.

3. Cf., gv., 80:59; 83:20.

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253they may have enlisted further mercenaries resident there.

Paranavitana's contention that } ha's soldiers were I,alays

does not seem convincing It is rather difficult to accept

that an army that wrought much destruction and held forth in

a number of fortresses in the northern parts of the island

could ha.e consisted entirely of soldiers froril far-off Jalay

Peninsula. While the C1Ilavaisa specifically mentions that

there were Jvakaa in the army of the Nalay invader Candrabhnu,

who invaded the island in the middle of the thirteenth century,

there is no mention of Jvks in connection with 1gha There

is little doubt that Ngha depended on South Indian mercenaries

for his success.

The invasion of )1gha, though in many ways similar

to the earlier invasions of the island, stands out prominently

in respect of the results it produced. As in the case of the

earlier invasions, there was much destruction wrèught in

Rjaraha, especially in the capital city. The account of the

Clava1sa and the Pjvaliya may be somewhat exaggerated but

1. S.Paranavitana, 'Ceylon and }alaysia in Medieval Times',

J. .A.S. (C. .), N.S., VII, pt. 1,

2. Cv., 83:36, 37.

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254there is no gainsaying the fact that destruction was caused

by the armies of gha. Even in the Tamil traditions this

as ect of Ngha's rule has been preserved. In the Naakaappu-

miyam it is explicitly stated that Ik (I4gha) 'caused

all the Buddhist vihras and Buddhist temples at Tppvai

(Polonnaruva) to be destroyed and sought all the Buddhist

1monks and imprisoned them'. But unlike in the time of the

earlier invasions, this time there seems to have been much

appropriation of land and property by the invaders.

They are stated to have taken away all the possessions of

rich people It is claimed that 'villages and fields, houses

and gardens, slaves, cattle, buffaloes and whatever else

belonged to the Sih4as he Ogha) had delivered up to the

Ker4as' Even in yratha, DaQoia warriors 'dwelt as they

pleased in the single villages and houses4 Thus, the soldiers

of 1gha appear to have seized villages, fields and houses

in Ijaraha and 1yraha. We may make an allowance for

possible exaggeration but we cannot reject these statements

1. Im., p.53, 'Tppvaiyil u3a putta vikrai puttlayaik4 ellm

iippittu putta kurukk4ai elJm ti pitittu_ciaipp utti vaittu'1

2. Cv., 80:6k.

3. Ibid., 80:76.

k. Ibid., 81:1k.

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25

wholly. These allegations are made in the Pjvaliya as well

and repeated in most other works Considering the fact that

the northern regions of the island slipped away from the hands

of the Sinhalese with the conquest of Zgha and the fact that

the slow migration of the Sinhalese people from Rjaraha to

the south-western parts started around this time, we cannot

rule out the possibility of confiication of lands by the invaders.

The migration of the Sinhalese population, or the bulk of it,

from Rjaraha to the south-western region of the i].and

has formed the subject of much study by scho1ars It is generally

agreed that the weakness of the successors of ParkramabThu I,

the incessant invasions of the island and the consequent

break-down of the administrative machinery which was so vital

for the upkeep of the irrigation system were among the more

important causes for the abandonment of Rjaraha in the

thirteenth century. While it is true that the break-down of

the administrative system was greatly responsible for the

abandonment of Rjaraha, one cannot underestimate the

1. Pv., pp.108-109.

2. A.Liyanaganiage, . cit. ; U.C.Ii.C., I, pt.2, pp. 713-719;

R.Murphey, 'The uin of Ancient Ceylon', Journal of Asian

Stu ies, XVI, pp.l81-200.

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25Gimportance of the foreign invasions, especially that of Igha.

This latter factr was in some ways responsible for the

break-down of the administrative system as well as for the

shift of Sinhalese power to the south-west. It is important to

note that the severity of the rule of 1gha and the confiscation

of lands by the Ker4a and Damija warriors would certainly have

led to the flight of the official class, which more than any

other factor is held to have been the cause of the break-down

of the irrigation system and the subsequent abandonment and

depopulation of Rjaaha. The fact that even after Polonnaruva

was regained by the Sinhalese the seat of government was not shifted

to Rjaraçha shows that conditions were not quite normal in

that region. The break-down of the administrative machinery

was not the only reason for this. More iportant than this is

the fact that the enemy had not been quite got rid of. On

earlier occasions when the capital city was regained from the

invaders, they were completely ousted from the island. But,in

this instance,the enemy had only been driven further north.

Moreover, new enemies, namely the Jvakas, ap eared on the

scene and took the place of the earlier enemy. After the Jvakaa

the P4ya feudatories,called the ryacakravartins, took their

place. Thus, there was a succession of enemies in northern Qyl0

and neither Polonnaruva nor any other place in Rjaraha was

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257quite safe for re-occupation. This factor, as much as the break-

down of the administrative machinery, was responsible for the

depopulation of Rjaraha and the failure to shift the Sinhalese

seat of government there. Not only the Sinhalese but even the

Taniils found Rjaraha unsafe. Whereas in the case of the

Sinhalese the fertile regions of the south-west afforded new

homes, the arid peninsula of Jaffna became the seat of Tamil

power and provided homes for many of the new settlers from

South India. Why was it that the new dynasty chose the arid

tvcc&bc. in the northern region of the island which had neither

irrigation works worthy of the name nor sufficient rainfall to

enable easy cultivation ? Compared with that peninsula, the

north-central parts of the island lying north of Polonnaruva,

even after the break-down of the irrigation system, would have

been a better place. These regions were never completely abandoned

by either the Sinhalese or the Tamils. We shall see in the sequel

that small numbers of Sinhalese and Tamils continued to live

in those areas under the rule of petty chieftains called Vannis

or Vaiyr, who changed alliances between the Tamil ruler of

northern Ceylon and the inhalese ruler of the south, accordin

to the political climate of the times. We shall also see later

that the occurrence of a large number of Tamil to onyms in places

which had Sinhalese names in the period before the thirteenth

century certainly suggests that the area was occupied by Tamils

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258and that the majority of the Sinhalese peo le of these re ions

were either ousted by or, less probab]4, assimilated to the

.1Tam3.l population. Even in many areas where Sinhalese re-occupation

took place and where Sinhalese live at present Taniil place names

occur in considerable numbers, thereby showing that such areas

were settled by Tamils at the time of the Sinhalese re-occupation.

The area lying between the Jaffna kingdom and Iyraha,

generally known as the Vanni from the thirteenth century until

recent times, ap ears to have formed some sort of a buffer

between the warring Sinhalese and Tainil kingdoms. The rulers

of the two kingdoms appear to have found it more convenient to

leave this area under the rule of petty chiefs who paid nominal

allegiance to either of them. The northern and eastern parts

of the Vanni were in the hands of the Tamil chiefs while the

southern parts bordering on the Sinhale e kingdom proper

were in the hands of the Sinhalese. It is, therefore, necessary

to ap reciate the significance of the Tamil occupation in the

abandonment of Rjaraha by the Sinhalese. It appears that

already in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the Sinhalese

were being slowly pushed out of the northern regions where

Tamil settlements were numerous, especially from the north-eastern

1. See infra, .4y%

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259

littoral This process was, therefore, expedited by the ruthless

occupation of gha and his troops in the thirteenth century.

Our literary sources attribute the cause of Sinhalese migrations

from Rjaraha at this time solely to the foreign occupation.

We get the following statement in the Clavaa on this point:

During this alien rule several virtuous people hadfounded on divers of the most inaccessible mountainsa charming town (or) a village and dwelling here andthere protected the laity and the Order 60 that theywere in peace. 2

After this some of these new towns and villages are enumerated

An echo of the Ct!lavaisa statement is found in the Hattbavana-

galla-vihra-vaisa, where it is said that when the enemy iorces

oppressed them , the ministers and such other rnportant personages

and the people left their villages and their townships in

thousands in search of places of protection in the rockyLI.

mountains and forest strongholds. Of those who remained behind,

many came under the rule of the new Vanni chieftains.

The permanent dislodgement of Sinbalese power

from Ijaraha, the confiscation of lands and properties by

the Ker4a and Dami.a soldiers and the consequent migration of

the official class and several common people to the south-west

1. See in4-a, p.L,.

2. Cv., 81:1-2.

3. I i ., 81:3-9.

k. Hatthavanaga11a-vihra-vaçisa, p. 30.

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260were among the more iportant results of the invasion and

occupation of )gha. These directly helped the transformation

of the northern and eastern parts of the island into areas

predominantly settled by Tamils. The invasion of ?4gha may,

therefore, be considered to be the most important factor that

helped the establishment of more Tamil settlements in the island

in the thirteenth century.

After the invasion of )gha and before the rise

of a dynasty from the Tamil country in northern Ceylon at the

turn of the thirteenth century there were more than five foreign

invasions of the island. All except one were undertaken with

the help of South Indian troops, thas bringing in more South

Indians to the island. The first o these was the invasion of

the Jvaka ruler Candrabhnu in l2k7 This expedition of the

Jvaka ruler was undertaken with Jvaka troops from his kingdom,

according to the Clavaiisa and the Pjva].iya The next invasion

was that of Javarma Sundara P4y4some time before 1258.

This does not find mention in the Clavaisa but some inscriptions

of Sundara Pya dating from 1258 claim that he exacted

1. UC. .C., I, pt.2, pp. 622-625 ; A.tLiyana amage, . cit.

2. Cv., 83:36-37 ; Pv., p. 117.

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2611tribute from the Ceylonese ruler. A second P4ya invasion

appears to have taken place in or about 1262. This, too, is

not mentioned in the C1avaisa and is known to us only from

the inscriptions of Javarma; Vira P4ya I (acc. 1253)

About the same time, the ,Jvaka ruler Candrabhnu led a

second invasion of the Sinhalese kingdom, on this occasion

with the help of 'many Dami.a soldiers, representing a great

force' whom he recruited in 'the countries of the Paua and

Coas and e1sewhere' It has been claimed that the second

Pya invasion was undertaken to help the Sinhalese ruler

combat the forces of Candrabhnut After 1263 there appears to

have occurred a few minor invasions of the island under the leader-

ship of Pfra feudatories like Ka1iñgaryar and Co.agañgadeva.

These are referred to in the Clavaisa as having taken place

immediately before the accession of Bhuvanekabhu I (A.D. l272)

1. 1. .R. for 1 9k, Inscription No. 166 of 189k; K.A.Nilakanta

Sastri, The Pyan King om, p. 162.

2. N.E. . for 1917, Inscription No.588 of 1916; K.A.Nilakanta

Sastri, The Pyan Kingdom, p.1?6.

3. Cv., 88:62-63.

k. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2 , p. 621.

5. .!•' 90:32.

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262In Paranavitana's opinion, 'all these events appear to have

happened soon after the accession of }avarma Kulakhara

Pãya'(A.D. l268) The next invasion was led by the P4ya

feudatory named L'yaccakkaravartti (Lryacakravin) about

l28k We shall discuss these invasions fully in connection

with the foundation of the kingdom of Jaffna. For the present,

it is sufficient to note that these frequent invasions brought

into the island further bands of mercenaries and other soldiers,

many of whom may have stayed behind and found new homes either

in the new kingdom in northern Ceylon or in the Vanni chief-

taincies. As on earlier occasions, these invasions added to the

strength of the Tamil element in the island and were, there-

fore, an important factor in the establishment of Tamil settle-

ments in tbe thirteenth century.

Apart from the mercenary elements that went as

invaders, there would have been migrations of mercantile communities,

artisans and other peaceful settlers as well. But, unlike in

earlier times, very little information regarding such settlers

is available to us. No inscription of the thirteenth century

referring to any mercantile community has come to light so far.

1. U.C.R.C., I, pt. 2, p. 685.

2. Cv., 90:kk.

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263As for monuments, only one Dravidian-style temple has survived

without much damage. Several others appear to have been erected

in the thirteenth century but they are almost all in ruins and

are not by any means significant buildings It may be that owing

to the unsettled conditions that obtained in the island in this

period there was not much building activity. The chronicles give

hardly any information in this respect. The Tamil chronicle,

Vaiyipal, refers to the migration, around this time, of the

Krnaçiyar who were a mercantile community from the Telugu

2country. This work also refers to the settlement of such artisans

as Taccar (carpenters), Tatr (goldsmiths), Kar (braziers)

and Kollar (blacksmiths) As we shall see later, the authenticity

of these statements can be questioned. It seems possible that

the author of the Vaiypal sometimes based his statements on

the conditions obtaining in his time, that is to say he was

just enumerating the castes of Jaffna in his time as having

migrated in the thirteenth century.

In the records of South India, too, there is little

or no evidence regarding the migration of peaceful settlers.

1. See infra, p ?. 3 I ff.

2. Xu. v.41

3. Ibid., m

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264

One could suppose that the numerous internecine wars that

characterised the decline of the Cas would have led to the

flight of some of the defeated to places like Ceylon. The Muslim

invasions would have certainly led to such flights, but South

India was hardly affected by them in the thirteenth century.

We hear very little about fimines or any other forms of distress

that might have led to the migration of people. In the inscriptions

of the time of Kulttuñga III there are references to fRminea

in two areas of the Ca kingdom. One of the inscriptions from

Tiruppmburam, dated in the twenty-third year of KuJZttuhga III

(A.D. 1301), refers to the distressing circumstances that prevailed

in that village and to the sad incident o a and his

two daughters selling themselves to the local temple to be

saved from starvation In another inscription from TaAv1r,

of the year 1305, there is an allusion to similar distress being

suffered by the villagers for a long time But we are not in a

position to say whether such conditions were widespread in the

Ca country during these declining years of the empire.

1. LE.R. for 1911, Inscription No.86 of 1911, p.7k.

2. LE.P. for 191k, Inscription o.k58 of 1913, p. 91.

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26

Perhaps such conditions led to the migration of some Tamila to

plames like Ceylon, but there is no clear evidence on this point.

Despite the absence of any evidence, we may not be wrong in

saying that migrations of small groupd of peaceful settlers

from South India to Ceylon would have gone on in this period

as in the earlier centuries.

The South Indian invasions were, therefore, still

the most predominant factor that helped to strengthen the

Dravidian element in the local population. There were more than

thirteen invasions from the mainland in the thirteenth century

and one of them at least brought in a large contingent of

mercenary forces. The chaotic conditions that prevailed in

Rjaraha afforded ample opportunities for these mercenary

elements to appropriate land and seize property. Under such

circumstances it is doubtful whether many would have liked to

return to the subcontinent. As is alleged in the Pli and

Sinhalese sources, a large number of the mercenaries must have

found new homes in Rjaraha The Tamil sources, however,

seem to prefer to treat them as peaceful settlers who went to

the island in response to invitations from the Tamil rulers

1. See supra, p.9S

2. See infra, pp.rt ft.

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26G

It may be recollected that several writers on the

history of Jaffna, basing their studies on the traditional

legends found in the late Tainil chronicles, have put forward

certain thorics claiming the establishment of Tmil settlements

- 1in Jaffna in the period of the Anuradhapura rulers. These

theories are not accepted by serious students of istory as

they are not based on trustworthy data. Nany of these have been

convincingly dismissed by scholars in recent years It is,

therefore, not our intention to analyse these theories and

take serious notice of writings which at best cèuld be described

as popular. In the main we shall confine ourselves to the

sources on which these writings have been based.

The story of the Tamil settlements in the Jalfna

peninsula ha8 been told in the Tamil writings of a period at

least three centuries later than the time of the events. These

works are the Vaiypal and its paraphrase Vaiy, the Kailya-

mlai and the As pointed out in the

introduction, these works have much historical data mixed with

1. See supra, pp. .L ff

2. ., S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya Kingdom in North Ceylon',

J.R.A.S. (C.B.), N.S., VII, pt. 2, 19&]., pp.17Lf_22k.

3. See supra, pp. ic-2.o.

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261legendary material, some of which are based partly on popular

etymology and partly on Sinhalese legends. The chronology is

hopelessly arranged and one has to exercise great caution in

using these chronicles as source materials. Their value for the

period prior to the twelfth century is almost nil. Hence, we

have to rely almost entirely on the more trustworthy Linhalese

and Pli works and on the meagre archaeological material for

any satisfactory reconstruction of what happened in the Jaffna

peninsula before the thirteenth century.

Although our purpose in this chapter is to deal

with the Dravidian settlements of the thirteenth century, it

is necessary to analyse briefly the history of the Jaffna

peninsula before our period in order to clear certain common

but important misconceptions. By way of this analysis we will

be able to show how unfounded many of the arguments of popular

writers are. We have already shown that there is no case for

arguing that Jaffna was settled by Tamils in the pre-Christian

1centuries or even in the early Christian centuries. On the

contrary, there is some evidence in our sources which points

to the occupation of Sinhalese in the area in the eetty ivs OP

centuries. The meagre evidence in the Mahvaisa regarding the

1. See supra,

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268

Jaffna peninsula does not help us to know anything about the

identity of the people who lived there in the pre-Christian

centuries. The Pli chronicle informs us that the port of

Jambukola (Camputtuai), on the eastern coast of the peninsula,

was the main port of embarkation to Tmralipti in Eastern India

from at least the time of Devnampiya Tissa (JD _LIO B.C.).

The two embassies from the island to the court of Aoka

embarked on their voyage from Jambukola Sañghamitt arrived

with the Bo-sapling at this porte The Samudda-paa-sl,

commemorating the arrival of the Bo-sapling, and the Jambukola-

vihra were built there by Devnampiya Tissa These facts only

reveal that the northernmost part of the island was under the

suzerainty of the Anurdhapura king in the third century B.C.

and that Buddhism had begun to spread by that time in that

part of the island as in the other parts. But it is in the

second century A.D. that we get some evidence regarding the

people living there. The language of the gDld-plate inscription

from Vallipurain, the earliest epigraphic record diecovered in the

Jafmna peninsula, is the early form of Sinhalese, in which

1. Mv., 11:23.

2. Ibid., 19:23.

3. Ibid., 19:27; 20:25.

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269inscriptions of the time in other parts of the island were

1written. This may suggest that the Sinhalese were settled

in the Jaffna peninsula, or in some parts of at least, in

the second century A.D. There were perhaps Tainil traders in

the port of Jambukola but there is no evidence that points

to Tamil settlements in the peninsula.

That Jaffna was peopled by Buddhists during the

first millenium A.D. is borne out by the meagre evidence of

the Mahvasa and the Clavaisa as well as by the exidence

of the few archaeological and epigraphic materials found in

that peninsula. We find that in the second century A.D.

}'ahallaka ga built the Sli-pabbata-vihra in Ngadpa2(modern Jaffna district). In the same century, Kaniha

Tissa had a temple repaired in that area In the third

century, Vohrika Tissa built walls round the Tissa-vihra

in the same region Aggabodhi II (6Of-6])f) is recorded to

have 'presented the Ua1omaghara temple to the Rjyatana-

dhtu (vihra) as well as an umbrella for the Amlacetiya'

1.

2.

3. Mi,., 3:'

i. Ibid., ':3

5. x• k2:62.

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270It is not possible to identify the sites of these Buddhist

establishments, but they are stated to have been in gadIpa.

These references in the Mahvaisa and the Clavai1sa not only

show that there were Buddhists in the Jaffna peninsula in

the Anurdhapura period but also indicate that it continued

to be under the suzerainty of the Anurdhapura rulers.

The gold plate from Vallipuram reveals that

there were Buddhists in that part of the peninsula in the

1second century A.D. At the site of this inscription the

foundations of a Buddhist vihra were uncovered. These founda-

tions are in the premises of a modern Viu temples There is

little doubt that the Viu temple was the original Buddhist

monument, converted inttoa Vaiava eStablishnient at a later

date when Tami.ls settled in the area. Such conversion of

Buddhist establishments into aiva and Vaiava temples seems

to have been a common phenomenon in the peninsula after it

was settled by Dravidians. In the premises of another Viu

temple at Moolai were discovered some 'vestiges of ancient

remains of walls' and a broken sedent Buddha image Again,

1. E.Z.,IV- - rr 31 ff•2. Ibid., ?2

3. A.S.C.A.P. for 19k9, p. 28.

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271in the aiva temple at Nahiyappitti a Buddha image was found

under a stone step in the temple tank A lime-stone Buddha

image and the remains of an ancient dgba were unearthed at

Ni1varai, in Navakri Among the debris were two sculptured

fragments of shaped coral atèneB with a stthne-railing design.

According to D.T.Devendra, who conducted the excavation at this

site, the dgba can be dated at least to the tenth century

Near these ruins are the foundations of an ancient building

and in the middle of these is a modern iva temple. It has

been conjectured, and rightly so, that the old fotindations are

those of the vihra attached to the ancient dba Buddha

images have also been discovered in Uuvil, Kantarai and

Jaffna town Kantarai has yislded very important Buddhist

finds which prove the existence of an important Buddhist

1. P.E.Peiris, 'adipa and Buddhist Remains in Jaffna',

J.P.A.S. (C.B.), OCVI, No.70, 1917, p. 26.

2. A.S.C.A.R. for 195k, p. 32 ; ibid. for 1955, pp.17-19.

3. A.S.C.A.R. for 1955, p. 19.

k. Ibid.

5. S.Kumaracuvami, 'V4a _attua Cila Iappeyark4 Vara1',

in the a-vaipava-kaumuti by ILVeluppilai, Jaffna, 1918,

p.1k ; P.E.Peiria, . cii., p.25 ff.; J.P.A.S. (C.B.), XXVI,

No.70, p. 11.3, C.A.Z.P., II, pt. 2, p.96.

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2721establishment in the region in early times. Such artefacts

as the glazed tiles and the circular discs discovered here

have helped to connect the finds with those of Anurdhapura

The Sinhalese Nampota, dated in its present form to the

fourteenth or fifteenth century, preserves the names of some

of the places of Buddhist worship in the Jaffna peninsula.

Kantarai is mentioned among these places. The others are

Ngakvila (karkvil), Telipola (Tellipp4ai), Nallgama

(}1allkam), Minuvañgomu Vihraya (VLnazjkmm), Taidivayina

Taa-t!vu or Kayts), Ngadivayina (katIvu or Nayit!vu),

Puvafgudivayina (Puz.ki4u-tIvu) and Kradivayina (KraitIvu)

Of the Buddhist establishments in these places, only the

vihra and dgba at Nkatvu have survived to this day.

It is justifiable to assume that the Iampota list dates

back to a time when the Buddhist establishments of these

places were well-known centres of worship. This was probably

before the thirteenth century for after this date the people

of the Jaffna peninsula were mainly Saivas.

1. P.E.Peiris, . £•' pp.26..28.

2. Me oirs of the A.S.C., II, pp. 5, 12.3. Nampota,

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273The foregoing evidence points to the inevitable

conclusion that in the Anurdhapura period, and possibly till

about the twelfth century, there were Buddhists in the Jaffna

peninsula. Although it may appear reasonable to presume that

these Buddhists were Sibhalese like those in the other parts

of the island, some have tried to argue that they were Tamils.

While it is true that there were Tamil Buddhists in South India

and Ceylon before the twelfth century and possibly even later,

there is evidence to show that the Buddhists who occupied the

Jaffna peninsula in the Anurdhapura period were Sinhalese.

We refer to the topon;niic evidence which unmistakably points

to the presence of Sinhalese settlers in the peninsula before

Tamils settled there. In an area of only about nine hundred

square miles covered by this peninsula, there occur over a

thousand Sinhalese place names which have survived in a Tamil

garb. The study of these names has not yet been systematically

undertaken. One serious that besets a valuable study

of these names is the absence of records of early forms.

Except for a handful recorded in the Vallipuram plate, the

Naintjvu inscription, the Tiruvlafg4u inscription of Rjdhi-

rja II, the Mhvasa, C1!lavaWsa, P!jvaliya and the Nampota

the early forms of the bulk of the place names are not recorded

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274anywhere. This poses a serious problem in the establishment

of a reliable etymology of the toponyms before their language

could be definitely identified and their evidence used for

historical writing. But in spite of this, it has not been

difficult to separate the Sinhalese names from the Tamil.

The difficulty of finding any men{ng in Tamil for the component

elements, the ease with which meanings could be found for theni

in Sinhalese and the commonness of the final elements with

those of the present-day Sinhalese names in the southern

parts of the island are factors that help us in the identification

of the Sinhalese place names of the Jaffna peninsula. The

early forms of the few names that are available to us point

in the same direction, for, they, too, reveal their Sinhalese

origin very distinctly In the whole of the peninsula more than

1. ttuai (Kayts) is derived from Sinh. rtota or

Ertota (Pli Skaratittha). The second element toa (=port)

has been substituted by the Tamil synonym a feature

common in the Tamilised Sinhalese place-names of Ceylon. The

earliest occurrence of this name is in the inscriptions of the

twelfth century. See K.Indrapala, 'The Naitvu Tamil

Inscription of ParkramabThu I', U.C.R., XXI, No.1, Ap. 1963,p.68.Other names for which early forms are available Vali1mam,

Maffuvil, Pufkkuçu-tivu, Campu-tuai, Mallkam, Tellipp4ai,

Krai-tIyu, etc. See infra, pp. 143o

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275a thousand Tamilised Sinhalese names of villages, fields and

estates have been collected. As early as the beginning of the

1century their significance was recognised. But the main difficulty

of using the evidence of these names - a difficulty that sterna

from the fact that early forms are not available - is that of

establishing the date of their origin. Despite this, however,

they help us to draw the irresistible conclusion that the

Sirijialese were settled in Jaffna before the Tamils. For how else

could one explain the occurrence of such a large number of

Tamilised Sinhalese toponynis in that small area 2 If we are to

learn from the experience of scholars who studied the place names

in Britain and in the Scandinavian countries, the survival of

Sinhalese elements in the local nomenclature of a region now

occupied by Tamuls will indicate to us certain important points

In the first place, just as in the case of English place names

where Celtic elements revdal earlier Celtic occupation, the

occurrence of Sinhalese elements in the place names of Jaffna

shows that the area was originally occupied by Sinhalese speakers

1. S.Kumaracuvami, . cit.,

2. Cf., The publications of the English Place-name Society.

S

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27who were responsible for giving Sinhalese names for villages,

fields and estates The Y a-vaipava-inlai, the Tamil chronicle

of Jaffna, confirms this when it states that there were Sinhalese

people in Jaffna at the time of the first Tamil colonisation of

the area Secondly, the survival of Sinhalese elements in the

local nomenclature indicates a slow and peaceful penetration

of Tamils in the area rather than a violent occupation. This is

in contrast with the evidence of the place names in the North-

central Province, where Sinhalese names have been largely

replaced by Tami]. naxnes The large percentage of Sinhalese

element and the occurrence of Sinhalese and Tsmil conipounde in

the places names of Jaffna point to a long survival of the

Sinhalese population and an intimate intercourse between them

and the Tamila This is also,borne out by the retention of

some territorial names, like Valikmam (Sixth. VUligama) and

Marcci (Nracci-rata), which points to the retention of the

].. E.Ekwal]., 'The Celtic Element', in The Introduction

to the Study of English Place-names, ed. A.Mawer and F.LStenton,

I, pt. 1, Cambridge 1924 , pp. 17 If

2. pp.9, 24.

3. See infra, p.3ç!

4. Cf., E.Ekwall, . cit., pp. 17,27,28 and 31.

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277

old territorial divisions and tell strongly against wholesale

extermination or displacement of the Sinhalese population

We are in no position to confirm with the aid of

other evidence that the penetration and settlement of Tamils

in the Jaffna peninsula was peaceful and slow, though it seems

implicit in the Tamil chronicles. According to these, Jaffna

was settled from time to time by Tamils, invited from South

India, after the establishment of a separate kingdom there

That the relations between the new-comers and the Sinhalese

were sometimes not too cordial is reflected in these works

But there is no evidence to suggest that the Sinhalese were

completely ousted from the peninsula. In fact, we are in a

position to conclude from the evidence of the place names

that the Sinhalese p0 ulation survived there long. In the

later and more reliable sections of the a-vaipava-

mlai, dealing with the rule of the Taniil kings of Jaffna,

there are references to the frequent clashes between Sinhalese

and Tamils as late as the middle of the sixteenth century.

The following statement in the is

1. Of the seven territorial divisions of Jaffna three bear

the name of Valikmam, namely Va1ikmam North, East and West;

two bear the name of Marcci, namely V4a-Marcci and Tea-

larcci. See infra, p. ç31

2. See infra, 3. Cf., Yvm., pp.2k, 36, k5.

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278worthy of note in this respect:

Ke (C"ilci1i, 1519-1565) caused all the Buddhist templesthat were found in several places in Jaffna to be destroyedand completely ousted the Sinhalese subjects. None ofthe Siiihalese subjects remained (behind after that). 1

The Vaiypa1 refers to the Sinhalese as one of the communities

living in Jaffna in the time of the Tamil kings It is perhaps

not reasonable to assume that all the Sinhalese were ousted from

the peninsula by the sixteenth century. In all probability

several of them were asimi1ated to the Tamil population. Some

are inclined to believe that the Sinhalese element is represented

in at least one of the castes of Jaffna, namely the Kviyar.

No such caste exists in the social structure of the Tamils of

South India and, what is more, the name Kviyar appears to be

a Tamilised form of the Sinha].ese Goviya (peasant caste). This

caste, whose occupation it was to serve the Ve43as (the peasant

caste of the Tamils), was often referred to in the past as

Kviyacciai (Kviya prisoners), which has been taken to mean

Sinha].ese Goviyas who were taken prisoners by the Tamil Vefl4as

1. p.59.

2. ., v.q- ,

3. Cf., fri.1

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279

While it i8 possible to show to some extent at least

that the Jaffna peninsula was first occupied by Sinhalese settlers,

that the Tamil penetration was probably slow and peaceful and

that the Sinhalese long survived there before they were either

assimilated to the Tamil population or ousted from the peninsula,

it is not easy to determine the period when the Tamil occupation

began. The late chronicles of Jaffna are unanimous in their

assertion that the settlement of the Tamils in the peninsula

began under the Tainil rulers of that area. The X a-vaipava-

mlai refers to the presence of Nukkuvas in Jaffna before the

foundation of the kingdom but distinguishes them from the Tamils

The Nukkuvas, as we shall see later, were a Ker4a caste who

went to the island in the centuries after the C1a occupation

The evidence of the Tamil chronicles is, however, not entirely

r1iable. The ! ppa-vaipava-rulai refers to two different

attempts at settling Tamils in Jaffna. The first attempt was

made in the ninth century but it ended in a failure as the

settlers returned to South India after some time This account

is based on the Ypi legend which , as we shall show later,

has no historical basis and. is a fabrication based on popular

1. Yvm., p. c

2. See supra, p.I&V ; see infra,

3. See infra, p.

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280etymology The account of the second settleient is based. on that

of the Kailyamlai and is similar to the account in the aiy-

This account appears to be somewhat reliable an fits

into the story that could be reconstructed from the Sinhalese

sources. In the main, it places the Tamil settlement of Jaffna

after the foundation of the kingdom, which event took place in

the thirteenth century These accounts of the Tamil chronicles,

despite their late date and their obvious errors, cannot be

altogether brushed aside.

As we have seen above, the Sinhalese and P2i

chronicles, too, claim that the northern parts of the island

were settled by Tamils in the reign of Igha during the thirteenth

century The Jaffna peninsula was perhaps no exception to this.

But althogh it is possible that Tamil immigrants from Soith

India went to settle down in Jafmna in the time of )gha, it

may be wrong to ascribe all the settlements referred to in the

Tamil chronicles to the time of )gha. After all Ngha's reign

was not a peaceful one. It is difficult to believe that many

peaceful settlers would have gone over to the island under the

1. See infra,?p.2ff.

2. See £nra,

3. See supra,

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281turbulent conditions that obtained in northern Ceylon at that

time. It is true that the large number of South Indian mercenaries

in gha's army would have found their homes in different parts

of I?jaraba, including the Jaffna peninsula. But the kind of

peaceful settlements that the Tamil chronicles mention may have

taken place towards the end of the thirteenth or at the beginning

of the fourteenth century, after the establishment of the

iryacakravartin dynasty. The Sinhalese literary sources of

about the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries generally consider

the northern areas - the region north of Salgal-kadura, to be

precise - as Tami]. areas In view of these considerations,

therefore, it is reasonable to demarcate the thirteenth century

as the lower limit for our date of the Tamil colonisation of

Jaffna.

The earliest evidence regarding the presence of

Tamils in the Jaffna peninsula is possibly the Taniil inscription

of Parkramabhu I (1153-1186) from Naitvu We have seen

earlier that till about the ninth century our evidence points

to minor settlements of Tamils in such important ports as

Mahtittha and Goka as well as in Anurdhapura, where there

was a considerable number of mercenary soldiers. In the ninth

1. See infra, p.c37 ; cf., Pv., p.111 ; Tri-siñhal-kaai -saha-

vitti, ed. A.J.W.Narambe, (Kandy 1926), p.21.2. See supra, p.74.

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282and tenth century some villages in Rjaraha seem to have

accommodated Tamil settlers but these were by no means numerous.

It seems unlikely that there were many Tajn.il settlers in the

Jaffna peninsula or in any part of the island other than the

major ports and the capital city before the tenth century. As

we stated earlier, there were perhaps some Tamil traders in the

ports of Jambukola and rtoa, in the Jaffna peninsula. But we

have no evidence on this point. It is possible that after the

Ca occupation of the island in 1017 there were Tamil settlers

in Jaffna. Apparently no strongholds were established in that

region and there is no evidence pointing to the presence of

Tamils. Perhaps the Cas used the port of rtoa for their

commercial and naval activities. The toponym V4avar-k-pa4am

perhapsof the Vajava king, i.e. Ca king) perhaps preserves

the memory of some C 1a association As claimed by some writers,

the place name C4i-puram may be a Tamilised form of the Sinhalese

So!-pura (Ca town) and not of S4u-vra (Small Vihra)

But these are matters of speculation and cannot be confirmed

with the available evidence. We can only say that since there

were Tamil settlers in some parts of Rjaraha in the eleventh

century, some may have been in the Jaffna peninsula, too.

1. Cf., S . Rasanayagarn, . cit., p • ; V4ava is commonly used

in Tamil to refer to the Cas but it is possible that here

it iifers to a Vallabha ruler.

2. Cf., S .Kumaracuvami, j. cit., p. tg

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283We may not be wrong in placing the upper limit of the date of

the Tamil settlements in Jaffna in the eleventh century. As we

have already seen, the occurrence of a TanLi]. inscription and of

three Tamilised forms of Sinhalese toponynis in the becords of

the twelfth century may point to the existence of Tamil settle-

ments in the Jaffna peninsula in the twelfth century It is,

therefore, justifiable to place the Tamil pezetration into

Jaffna and the beginnings of the gradual absorption and displace-

ment of the Sinhalese there between the eleventh and the end of

the thirteenth century.

For the study of the Tamil occupation of Jaffna in.

the thirteenth century we have hardly any archaeological remains

or epigraphic material. The absence of archaeological material

may be explained in several ways. In the first place, no archaeo-

logical excavations worthy èf the name have been conducted in

that region, except for some preliminary diggings in places

like Kantarai and Nilvarai In the second place, the litbology

of the peninsula in partly responsible for the absence of early

monuments. In the North-central Province and the other southern

parts of the island the natural outcrops of granite rocks afforded

1. See supra, P.273

2. See supra, pp.27o-17L

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284materials for the erection of lasting monuments and for inscribing

records. In contrast to this, the Jaffna peninsula, the adjoining

islands and the north-western coastal strip from Kalpiiya to

MullaitIvu, all lying in the Tamil areas, are covered with a

layer of sedimentary limestone of the Miocene and. the later

ages This limestone, with its high degree of solubility, has

not ptoved to be a good medium for the expression of the arts

of architecture and sculpture. It is possible that many of the

structures of our period were reduced to mere rubble in the

course of time and used by villagers for building their semi-

permanent and modest houses. Thirdly, the kings of Jaffna

would not have had the necessary ecomod.c basis for the under-

taking of ambitious building activities. The temples of the

early period, as now, would have been limestone structures of

modest proportions These buildings have been kept in constant

repair, as no part of the peninsula was abandoned in the centuries

after our period, and only a proper archaeological survey will

help us to identify them. The secular buildings at the capital

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 1, p.14.

2. Cf., F.de Queyroz, The Temporal and Siritua]. Conquest of Ceylon,

I, Tr. S.G.Perera, p.50 - 'They never had any other city save

Nelur (Nallr) ,......... Nor is there in that place anything

else worth recording save some tnk, almost devoid of water....'

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285

as well as some of the important temples, according to our

sources, were destroyed in the time of the Portuguese occupation

and the materials used for the building of the fort at Jaffna

town The discovery of stone bricks and steps with Tamil

inscriptions in the Jaffna fort and in some of the old houses

in Parkf Teru (Portuguese Street) confirms this We have,

therefore, to depend on the evidence of the Tamil chronicles

and examine the extent to whic reliable information could be

gleaned from them.

As mentioned earlier, the story of the Tami].

settlements in the Jaffna peninsula is found in four chronicles,

namely the Vaiypal, Vaiy, Kailyamlai and the Thppa-

vaipava-nilai. The Vaiypal and its paraphrase, the Vaiy,

both datable to about the sixteenth century, purport to relate

the story of the Tanhil settlements in the Jaffna peninsula as

well as in other parts of the Northern Province. In these

accounts, as pointed out earlier, there is much hietorica].

data mixed with legendary material and their chronthiogy is

highly unreliable and faulty. Their value for our study is

1. !.!_. pp.78-79.

2. AJuttuttampi Pillai, Yppa-carittiram, Jaffna, 1912, p.73.

It has not been possible to trace these inscriptions since.

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28G

much depreciated as a result of these serious defects The

Kai].yam1ai, a work datable to the early part of the seventeenth

century, on the other hand, confines itself to the story of the

settlement of prominent Tamil families in the different villages

of Jaffna under the iryacakravartina. This account seems to

have been based on traditions preserved among the important families

in the kingdom at the time of the author. The Ya-vaipava-

m1ai, written in the eighteenth century, admittedly bases its

account of the settlements on the KailyaniIaii, Vaiypal

and on the two non-extant works Pararca-ckara-u]. and the

- .2Irac a-mu.

The account of the kingdom of Jafmna and of the

Taniil settlements there begin with the legend of the

(lutist) in all the four chronicles. The Vaiypal, which is

the earliest of the four works, places the foundation of the

Jaffna kingdom in the Kali year 3000 (= 102 B.C.) The legend

of the is presented briefly in a confused mRnner and

it is only with the help of the Vaiy that any sense could be

made out of it. There is no reference )•re to the invitation

1. See supra, pq..cff-

2. Yvm., Ciappuppyiram, pp. 1-2.

3. ., vv.13-lk.

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287

of Tamil settlers from South India by the The laconic

and confused statements in the Vaiypal are expanded in the

Vaiy!, where it is stated more clearly that the after

having obtained the tract of land known as Maarial (present

Jaffna) from the king of Ceylon, invited a thoudand families

from India, settled them in Naar14al and them persuaded an

1Indian prince to rule over them. The incomprehensible statements

in the Vaiypal and their clear elaboration in the Vaiy

remind one of the mnemonic verses in the DTpavaisa and their

expansion in the later Pli chronicles. The Kailyainlai, while

mentioning the establishment of the Jaffna kingdom by Yppa

(Tpi), does not refer to any settlement of Tanils in his

time The Y ppa-vaipava-mlai, on the other hand, states that

fl2ppta, after founding the kingdom in the ninth century,

invited some Tamil families from South India and settled them

in Jaffna. But this settlement did not last long as the

immigrants went back to South India after the death of I ppa

As we shall see later, the legend of the in these

chronicles has no historical basis and is based on popular

1. Vaiy, ed. S.Gnana ragasar, Jaffna, 1921, p.12 ff.

2. Km., p. k.

3. Yvm., p. 2k.

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288

etymology which attempts to explain the origin of the name

YL.ppam. Once the origin of Yppam was attributed to

the legendary za or , it became necessary to

include stories of Tamil colonisation in his time in order to

give substance to the tale of his founding of the kingdom

A second Taxnil settlement is described in these

chronicles to have taken place in the reign of the first Lya

king of Jaffna, who is called K].aAkai Iriya in the Vaiypal,

Vicaya IGlakai Cakkaravartti in the Vaiy, Ciz.kai Iriya in

the Kailyanilai and Ciikai Ariya alias Vicaya Kañkai

Cakkaravartti in the Y a-vaipava-mlai We shall see later

that Cifkai Ariya and Vicaya Klaikai Cakkaravartti were

probably two different personalities whom Tamil tradition has

identified as one. The identification of Vicaya XTflañkai

Cakkaravartti withKliga Vijayabhu (Vijaya Klifiga Cakravartin)

is very plausible and Gifikai iriya, may be identified with

the first of the ryacakravartin rulers of Jaffna? What is

important for the present is the unity of the Tamil traditions

in claiming that the second Tainil co].onisation of Jafmna took

place in the reign of the founder of the first proper royal

1. See infra, p.

2. v.57; Vaiya, p.6; Km., p.6; Yvm., p.30.

3. See infra, p.441

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289

dynasty in the Jaffna kingdom. They disagree only in regard to

the identity of this personality. The Vaiy calla him Vicaya

K1'i Cakkaravartti while the Kailyanlai refers to ha as

Cii3ki iriya. In the Y ia-vaipava-rnlai the t o names are

given to the same person. It appears that Tamil tradition resolved

the disagreement among the earlier works by identifying Vicaya

Kañkai Cakkaravartti with Ciñkai riya. An examination of

the accounts in our chronicles shows that the two names may

refer to different personalities and that the Tamil settlements

ascribed to their reigns are also those of different periods.

The Vaiypa]. and the Vaiy refer to the settlements established

by the Tamils as well as by some Kannaas, Telugus and Ker4as

in the Jaffna peninsula and in the Vanni areas of northern and

eastern Ceylon. The Kailyamlai and the ,a-vaipava-mlai

refer only to the settlement of certain prominent families of

Jaffna. These were mainly the official class invited by the

first Aryacakravartin to organize the administration of the

new kingdom.

The accounts of the Vaiypal and the Vaiy

seem to relate to the time of Vicaya Kafikai who may be

identified as Kliñ a ViayabThu alias I1gha. These accounts

appear to preserve some memories of the events of the thirteenth

century, but these are hopelessly enmeshed with traditions of

later events that it is not always possible to separate the

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290

earlier traditions from the later. The Vaiy'pal account rune

as follows. Ci-fdc, the ruler of Aazkpau, in the Vanni

regions, during the time of Kt!aá 1c i, sought the hand of the

daughter of the king of Nadurai and with that P4ya princess

want sixty Vaiyar or Vanni chieftains. These Vaiyar were

asked by Cifka, to rule kañkparu, presumably on his behalf.

Having accepted the offer, the Vaniyars invited several people

of the eighteen castes from South India to settle down in

their new dominions. These colonists were invited from Naturai

(Nadura), Marithkr, Tirnccilppai (Trichinopoly), Malaiyam

(Ker4a), Tu.uvai-nu (north-western }ysore), Toaimaalam

(To4aima4alani), Vata-kiri-ntu and Kvarpati. They went and

settled in different parts of northern and eastern Ceylon.

The Kaikki4ar, Cnr, Kuyavar, Valaiyar, C!ar, K'rar,

Timilar, Paravar, Maikkualr, Nauvar, ?mavar, Akamp4iyr,

Malaiyakam, KThnaftiyir, Kaar, Cifdca4avar, Taccar, Tar,

Kar and Kollar and. those who were exceedingly compassionate -

'1every caste was happily living in unity in Thlppam (Jaffna).

'The }'Ialaiyakatt (Ker4as) and the Kanr (braziers), along

with the Kaai Klika (Short KalifLga), lived in. Kaacy;

the woman Telli with the intimate (friends 'i) R5viyar resided

1. y., v. ki.

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291in the town called Pajai; the confident Cvakar (Jvks)

lived in their Cri (i.e. Cvaka-cri), the AkampaiyI!, Kucavar,

Kollar, Otiyar and }lukkiyar (Mukkuvas) lived in Pnakari'

'Natuvra-mauvarya and the (other) Mauvarya, who governs

the beautiful land, lived in Yppam (Jaffna) along with

the king' 'Villavaryar lived in Nallr; the Maapp4is, who

are held in high esteem by the great, lived in ippy; the

Kavarar, KThnaiyr and the Tillai-mThryirattr lived in

Varai-uu'

This account of the Vaiyptal is slightly altered

in the extended VaiyL In the latter it is stated that the

Vaiyar sent messengers to laturai, Toaimaçalam, ruñkt!r,

Tiruccirppa.].i, KUta1r and Kra{1ckl in order to invite as

many settlers as possible toom among the Vefl.ar, Pirn'ar

(Brhmaas), Ce$is, Cakkiliyar, Akampais, 11alaiyakam, Timilar,

Kuyavar and other such castes, both the higher and the lower,

as well as the personalities called I.aficifika-nippa, Nalla-

vku-tva,, Atti-mppa, and Karutta-vku-ci ik-mp

1. i2 • v. k5.

2. Ibid., V. 73.

3. Ibid., v. 7k.

4. Valy3,p. 26.

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9Q9

Those who went to the island in response to the invitation were

Atti-mppa, M4uvarya,, Ticai-vi1afiku-mauvarya, Ctu-

vant a-mauvarya,, Karut ta-vku, C iki -mppa, Ira-c iz.kav

mppa, Iafic iñka-nippa,, Nallavku-niey-tva, V!ra-ct aiya,

Tit a-v!ra.c iñka-nippa, Anrc apuri VTra-mauvarya, Ki4ai-

kttava,, Nui-kttava, Ciika-vku, Yppaiyir, M1kkaiyir,

Kppaiyir, Thnaicciyaãr, Tovvi-car, Tic ai-ve, Ia-

c ñka-v.ku-tva, , Taat tia-kirpa, Vkkia-mayit t afl,, Karut ta-

varya-c ifika-kumra, Nut iyi, AiMcac ifika,, Kfica-kat ta.iya,

Klifika, Tillai-mvyiravar, Cuva-t i a-rya, K k i-v4a-

K'vri-ataitt, Mu1lai-maappa3i, Kumra-maapp4.i,

Cañku-mat app4i, Caruku-ma app4i , Akampa iy.r, and the

BrhMaas of the Ariya-vkiam (Irya-vaisa) . They crossed the

sea in boats, arrived and stayed in Thppm in I1ki-nu(Ceylon)' Of these some later went to the Vanni and settled there.

'Of the four named Yppaiyir, Kppaiyir, xnaicciyar ,and

Telli, the last mentioned went and ruled in Thcpa-ntu and

hence the name Teuipp4ai' (for one of the villages there).

1. Vaiy, p. 27 ff.

2. Ibid., p. 30.

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2 J1

'Attimpp4a, and Na1uvariya became lords (atipati, Skt.

adhipati) of Iyppam (Jaffna). ViUavarya resided at

Nallr. Kaaiyar-Klifikan resided at Cvukaccri (Cvaka-

cri). Vekacalam Virutufii of the Tillai-mUvyiravar

resided at Varai-nu. The ?4ukkiya (Nukkuva) named Tiruvca

Vefiyaraca, became lord of Pnri (Pt!akari). The sixty

Cañkamar and the V?arnaycurar resided at Keruvil. The

Cnr, Valaiyar, Timi].ar, Karaiyr, Paar, N4avar,

.Akampai, 1'ia1aiyakam, K'viyar, Naappa3.i, Puravartayar

(Portuguese, provedor), Cintu-ntr (Those of the Sindhu

country), Kaikk4ar, Maavar, Paravar, Muaittvar,

Kollar, Kar , Nãvitar , Va4r , Tar and the

Paaiyar went and lived in. the sixty-four districts of

Iyppam'

1. The Kaikk4ar (weavers) are the same as the Kaikklars

mentioned in the inscriptions of South India. In. the

C 1a period, they also served as royal troops.

Cf., K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, p. 1+57.

2. Vaiy, p. 30 ff.

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294The accounts in the Vaiy!pal and the Vaiy are

thus basically identical, but the Vaiy provides more details

regarding some of the important colonists. It appears that the

author of the latter work obtained this supplementary information

from other traditions prevalent in his time. The problem now is

to examine the extent to which these accounts can be relied upon

for the history of our period. There is no doubt that these are

not wholly acceptable as information relating to the thirteenth

century. We shall see later that the story of ka or Vara-

rca-cifik is an unfounded myth based on the Vijaya legend

It has, therefore, no relevance to the story of the Tamil settle-

ment in Jaffna. The contention that Tamil settlers were invited

to the island by Vanni chieftains in the time of Vicaya Kulet!ikai

may not be wrong. It is in the time of }gha that we hear for

the first time about the rule of Varmi chieftains from the Pli

and Sinhalese sources We have also noticed that the settlement

of Tamils and Ker4as in a number of villages was actively

pursued in the time of }1gha, according to the P'jvaJ4y and

the Ctflavqsa. It is possible that }gha himself was not directly

responsible for this but that his subordinates, probably

1. See infra, p. L1D7

2. .,g:il ; Pv.,p.1°l

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295

including the Vanni chiefs, who were in control of different

parts of northern Ceylon pursued a policy of settling colonists

front South India in the newly acquired dontinions. There may,

therefore, be some truth in what the above accounts have to

say. Some of the communities mentioned in the list of colonists

were already in Ceylon in the twelfth century. These are the

Malaiyakam (Ker4as), Kaar (Kar as) and Akampat iyr

They had gone to the island mRinly as mercenaries. The Ker4as

are also mentioned in the Clava1sa and the Pjvaliya among

the soldiers of }Igha Similarl; the reference to the Jvaka

settlement in Cvakacc!ri seems to have been based on reliable

traditions. As we know, it was in the thirteenth century that

the Jvakas under Candrabhnu occupied the northern regions pf

the island and possibly settled in places like Cvakaccri-

(Jvaka-cri ),Aand C qAfi.k al (Jvk-kffai), which preservetheir memory in their names It is possible, however, that the

reference to te Jvaka settlement is based on the place name

and not on any genuine tradition, but this seems unlikely.

1. See supra, p.

2. See supra, p 14r

3. S.Paranavitana, 'The Lya Kingdom of North Ceylon', . cit.,

p. 19k ; see infra, pr.CJ1 . . S ..I

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29The Naavaryar (variant: Mauvaryar) or Maava chieftains

are mentioned among the more important colonists. It is very

probable that certain Naava chieftains were among those who

led the mercenary forces of }gha. The Naavar (variants: M4apar,

Majepar) were chiefs of certain hill-tribes in the Kara and

Taini]. areas of South India. Their warlike habits led to their

employment as mercenaries in the armies of the South Indian

rulers. In fact, their recruitment for such employment is

specially recommended in the Sanskrit work E.mandak!ya In the

latter part of the twelfth century and in the thirteenth century

the Maavars of the Tamil country became prominent as feudatories

of the P4ya rulers and played a leading role in their wars.Many Maavaryars find mention in the Pya records of the

thirteenth century It is, therefore, probable that some of

these warlike chiefs provided mercenaries for ?igha and

accompanied him to Ceylon. After the conquest of Rjarattha

they may have been given certain villages in Jaffna and in otherparts of northern Ceylon. But it is also possible that they

went to the island with the Pya armies that invaded Ceylon

1. Cf., J.D.LDerrett, The Hoysalas, Madras, 1957, pp.7-9.

2. LE.R. for 1926, Nos.k3, 50, 178, 180, 181, 536, 557,

and 573 of 1926.

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297in the latter hail of the thirteenth century. The author of the

Vaiypal may have confused the 4 lrazt4tions relating to these

later events with those of the time of gha.

There are certain other statements in the above

accounts which are totally unfounded. The mention of C!ar (Chinese)

among the settlers of Jaffna is surprising. This is improbable

unless some Malaya who went with Cangrabhnu were mistaken for

Chinese and some traditions regarding them had survived. It is

not likely that there were Chinese soldiers among the forces of

Candrabhnu. Probably this reference is the result of sheer

imagination on the part of the author. Similarly, certain other

statements are based on popular etymology. This is betrayed in

the derivation of Tellipp4ai from a woman named Telli who

had settled in that village. Tellipp4ai is actually a Tamilised

form of the Sinhalese name Telipola. This Sinhalese form occurs

in the Nampota Pa3ai is clearly a Sinhalese element (poa =

market place) which occurs commonly in the Tamilised place names

The list of castes seems to have been based on the

social conditions obtaining in the Jaffna peninsula in the time

of the authors of the Vaiypal and the VaiyL it is possible

1. Nampota, p.5.2. Cf., Gam-poa = Taniil, Kamp4ai.

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29

that all these castes were represented in the Tamil population

of Jaffna in the thirteenth century, but it is unlikely that

genuine traditions about al]. of them were preserved. The author

of the Vaiy, when expanding the list in the Vaiypal, was

obviously not depending on traditions. This follows fro g his

inclusion of the Puravartayar. Puravartayar is a term derived

from the Portu&uese provedor, meaning supervisor Such names as

IZkkaiyir (The (Long) Nosed), Thnaicciyar (The Dumb),

Yppaiyir (t;-e J ' ) and Eppaiyir

are obviously not names of communities.

While the Vaiypal mentions the MaappaflJ.s

without referring to their various divisions, the Vaiy

elaborates this by listing the different sections, namely the

Mullai-, Kumra-, Cahku-,and Caruku- Naapp4is. The Maappagis,

as Gnanapragasar has pointed out, appear to have been people

who went to Jaffna from Matappa3i in the Kaliga countx7

From the ppa-vaipava-niLai we know that they were members

of the royal family of Jaffna They may have gone originally

with Jgha. it is unlikely that at the time of their arrival

1. S.Gnanapragasar, pa-vaipava-vimarcan, p.kk, note.

2. Ibid., p. lk8 ____

3. p. .

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299

in Jaffna they were divided into several groups. As Gnanapragasar

is inclined to think, such a division must have occurred at

a later date, for it is hard to aasume that a group of people

who were called h4appa4is because they came from a place

named Naappafl.i would have been divided into several sub-sections

even before their arrival The Vaiypa1 seems, therefore, to

preserve a genuine tradition when it refers to the Naappais

without mentioning their sub-sections. The author of the Vaiy,

on the other hand, has expanded the original version on the

basis of the conditions prevalent in his time. It is likely

that some of the other castes, too, have been similarly included

in the VaiyL

Some of the prominent colonists mentioned in the

Vaiy may be fictitious personalities. But such personalities

as the Nauvaryars and KlifLkas were probably leaders of

mercenary forces under }gha. It is possible that persons like

NaUa-vku-tva and Kautta-vku-tva, were also true persons

for there are some place names in Jaffna which are possessive

names with the element vku-t!v. Examples of such names are

Vku-tva-c!m (in VTniaikniam), Ceya-vku-tva-c!m (in

Teilippa3ai) and Vicaya-vku-tva-cTh (in Nallkam)

1. S.Gnanapragasar, !a-vaipava-vimaraan, p.1kB.

2. S.Kumaracuvami, 2' .2i.t• P • !c4

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300

These were evidently named after some of the leading occupants

of those areas at the time of the Tamil settlements and may well

go back to the thirteenth century. The interesting fact about

these toponyma is that their final element, namely cima is a

word in Sinhalese (s!m) denoting boundary. This may suggest

that these names came into existence at a time when Tamils

began to settle in the midst of Sinhalese people. On the other

hand, sni is also found in Malaylam. If the element cTm

in our place names is derived from the Malaylam word, then

it may indicate that there were Kera3as among those who settled

in the Jaffna peninsula. In fact, there are other place names

which clearly suggest this, Toponyms such as }alaiyaka-kaavai

(in Pulli, Malaiya-pyi i and Malaiyaa-v4avu (in

Acoeu), (in Accuvli), Malaiya-ollai in

(in Uuvil) and Nalaiyakaa-v4avu (in rvli) preserve the

memory of the Keraa aettlement

The settlements described in the Kailyamälai

and the Y a-vaipava-mlai are probably those of the time

o the first Aryacakravartin,as stated in the former work.

The account in these two works is the same, except for minor

variations in names and certain other details, and is confined

1. S.Kuxnaracuvami, 2• cit., p.333.

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301

to only the settlements of certain leading families in the new

kingdom. The ,a-vaipava-mlai follows the tradition in

the Vaiypal and the Vaiyã when it says that the Tamil colonists

were invited from the Tamil countries by the ruler of Jaffna.

The Kailyanilai is silent on this score. The rest of the

account runs as 1 èllowe. Puvakavku (BhuvanekabThu), the chief

minister who came from ?4aturai (Nadura), was made to reside at

Nallr, the capital. Pti-ma1avaj, of the Pak!rati-kulani

(Bhag!ratha kula ), from Popariyr, his brother, his brother-

in-law Cepaka-maava and the latter's brother were settled in

Tirunelvli. According to the Ya-vaipava-mlai, Pi-

nzalvan also took with him five more families. Nara-ciñka-vku-

tvaa, the Tu.uva who came from KviriyI1r, was settled

at Mayilii. The a-vaipava-mlai adds that he was the

eldest son of Pravalti-tva. Capaka ppa from Vli-nakar

(Yvm., Vvi-nakar), his relative Cantira-cra-mppa and

another Kaakarya were settled at Tellipp4ai. Pryirava

(Yvm., Pryiram-utaiy ) from Kvapati (Yvm., Kva]i1r) was

settled in Iuvil. The Y a-vaipava-rlai adds that since

this village was found to be unsatisfactory he moved to a village

further west. lakaa, a ve from Kaccllr, and his four

brothers were settled in Paccilaipp4ai. Kaaka-maava from

Cikari-mnakar (Yvm., Cikara-ninakar) and his four brothers

were settled in Pulli. KUpakrntira (Yvm., K'pakryntira)

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from Kpakanu and Pu.ya-inakIpla-ppa (Yvm.,

were settled in Tolpuram. Tvarcntira, from Puflr was settled

in Kvilkkai. u-koa-mutali from Totai-nu

(Yvm., Toai-niaalam) was settled in Iruplai. Iru-kulaniuni-

t uyya-t ainyaka (Yvm., Iru-niarapum-tuyya) from Cyr

(Yvm., Ceyyr) was settled in the island of Netuntivu (Delft).

Pa].lava, and two other chiefs from Vafici were settled in

Vei-ntu (Yvm., Veli-natu alias Pallavaraya-kattu).

The variations in the lpaa-vaipava-m1ai are

not too significant and may be due to either a different version

of the Kailyamlai used by the author or the author's own

corrections on the basis of boa other sources. There is no

doubt that the a-vaipava-mlai account is based on that

of the Kailyanilai. This is admitted by the author in the

prefatory verse It is difficult to say how far this account

is reliable. As this account, unlike those of the Vaiypal

and the Vaiy, relates only to certain important families,

there i every possibility of it having been based on genuine

traditions and genealogies maintained in those families. Even

now there are a number of families which claim descent from

1. Km., 11., lk9-l99; Yvm., pp. 27-29.

2. Tim., p.1

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30Jone or other of these early colonists It is, therefore, quite

possible that the author of the Kailyani]. was bang his

account on reliable traditions. As mentioned before, the l44avar

chieftains had attained prominence in the Pya country in the

twelfth and thirteenth centuries as feudatories of the Pyas.

As the first ryacakravartin came from the Pya country, it

is possible that he took with him or invited some liaavars to

be his administrators. According to our account, a personage

called aava was sebtled in Tirunelvli. In this village

there is still an estate called P i-ma1avarya-va4avu This

may mean that was one of the early Tamil

colonists in that village and may confirm the statement in the

KaiIyamlai. It is not impossible, however, that the author

of this work was depending on such place names for some of his

statements. This seems unlikely. Another place name with the

personal element Naavariya,, namely Maavarya-kuricci, occurs

in Vaa-marcci A family in this place claims descent from one

Kaaka Ma1ava, who is said to have settled there in the time

of the first ryacakravartin Kaaka }Iaava is not mentioned

1. K.Velu pillai, , cit., p 2o2

2. S.Kumaracuvami, . cit., p. oP

3.

14• K.Velup illai, .2• cit., p.

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301in our sources. In view of such traditions, it may be reasonable

to hold that some at least of the colonists mentioned in the

Kailyaiu].ai are true personalities. It appears that Puvanka-

vku,who is referred to in our sources as a minister of the

first Lyacakravartin, is a later personage. He has been identified

with Prince Sapumal Kurnray who conquered Jaffna in the midd].e

of the fifteenth century Some later traditions seem to have

been confused with earlier ones in our chronicles. Some of the

persons mentioned in these accounts may very well be later

colonists.

The foregoing account of the Tamil chronicles seem

to contain some historical information in spite of their obvious

errors. We may be justified in placing some reliance on their

general story, There is hardly any epigraphic or archaeological

evidence to confirm o supplement the above account. The only

information outside the Tamil chronicles about the Tamil occupa-

tion of Jaffna in the thirteenth century comes from the P1jAvaliya

and the Clavaisa . This relates to the Keraja and Dami.a

garrisons maintained by gha and his associate JayabThu in

V1ikg.ma (Valikmam) and Skaratittha (rtota ) The -'-

tenance of garrisons in these two places, in addition to the

1. Cf., S.Paranavitana, 'The irya Kingdom of North Ceylon', . cit.,

p. 193 ; see infra, p..5.2

2. Cv., 83:17 ; p. )I

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3O

many outside the pmninaula, shows that Jaffna had been subdued

Mgha. Several of his Ker4a and Dami.a mercenaries were

evidently given lands in the peninsula. The reference in the

Tamil chronicles to the Nalaiyakas or Ker4as may be based on

traditions regarding these Ker4a soldiers of Ngha. The sub-

sequent P4ya invasions would have added to the Tamil element

in the population of the peninsula.

The thirteenth century appears, therefore, to have

witnessed a marked increase in the occupation of the Jaffna

peninsula by Dravidian settlers, chiefly Tamils. Much of the t

traditions recorded in the Tamil chronicles may date back to

the thirteenth century. The confused character of these sources

and the absence of other evidence prevent us from getting a

better picture of the settlements established in the thirteenth

century. The evidence of toponyms, however, suggest that the

character of the Dravidian settlement of the Jaffna peninsula

was different from that of the major part of the Vanni districts.

The settlement in the peninsula appears to have been more peaceful

and slower. The vilence that characterised the occupation of

Polonnaruva and the surrounding regions by }1gha' s forces appears

to have been absent in the Jaffna peninsula when Tamila and

Kera.as occupied it.

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3OGo.

Province, the chieftaincies of the Batticaloa and Trincomalee

Please read 306 before 306a.

The archaeology and history of the Vanni is still

an unexplored field, although the jungles of that region are

fast vanishing in the face of government-sponsored colonisation

schemes. Much of our knowledge is confined to a few writings of

some British civil servants who evinced a keen interest in the

archaeology and history of this region. Among these, the

1writings of H.Parker and J.P.Lewis deserve special mention.

1. Henry Parker, 'Irrigation in the Northern Province', Papers Laid

Before the Legislative Council of Ceylon, NoI, 1886, pp.105-116;

J.P.Lewis, Manual of the Vanni Districts; 'The Archaeology of

the Vanni', J.R.A.S. (C.B.), No.'45, 1691.

Anonymous, 'Historical Sketch of the Vanni', The Monthly Literar

egister and Notes and Queries for Ceylon, I, No.1, Jan. 1893,

pp. 1-7; Feb. 1893, pp.25-30

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3O

CHAPTER V

SEiTLE!4ENTS IN THE THI1EE1TB CE1IT1JR! : VAMNI DISTRICTS

The borders of the Jaffna kingdom proper and the

Vanni chieftaincies that owed allegiance to it cannot be

ascertained with any degree of certainty. The peninsula of Jaffna,

including the neighbouring islands, was undoubtedly under the

direct ule of the kings of Jaffna as we know from the Tamil

chronicles Beyond the peninsula there appear to have been

some parts, especially in the present )1annr district, which

came under the direct rule of the kings of Jaffna. But the

rest of the present Northern and Eastern Provinces as well as

some of the northern parts of the North-central Province were

in the hands of chieftains often loosely referred to as the

Vannis or Vaniyar. The area that came under their rule was

also referred to as the Vanni. The extent of the Vanrii lands

has varied from time to time. In the Sinhalese chronicles of the

thirteenth and forteenth centuries the depopulated jungle area

that separated the Sinhalese kingdom from the Tamil kingdom

was generally referred to as the Vanni. In the chronicles of

Jaffna the name was mainly used to describe the chieftaincies

of the Northern Province. In the chronicles of the eastern

1. See infra, p-k,

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307In l9kl Geiger published an interesting article on the Vanni

based almost entirely on the Pli chronicle In recent years

was published another work which sadly lacks a proper scientific

analysia There is much difference of opinion among all these

writers on the important problem of the origin and spread of

the Vannis or Vaiyars.

Who were the Vannis who emerge into limelight in

the thirteenth century amidst the confusion that followed gha'a

invasion ? This is a question which iá not easy of solution with

the evidence at our disposal. The derivation of the name itself

presents lot of difficulty. Paranavitana has the following to

Bay about the Vannis:-

The government of the districts away from thecapital was carried on by a class of chieftains referredto as Varini who someties defied the authority of theruler at the capital. The people who lived in the ancientRjaraha , which in our period (thirteenth to thefifteenth century) was being steadily encroached by forests,were under chieftains called vanni, some of whom were ofTamil race, and who transferred their allegiance to theSinhalese king, or the ruler in. Jaffna, as the exigenciesof the changing political situation dictated.

1. W.Geiger, 'Die Vannis', Sitzungsberichte der Bayerischen

Aka ernie dci' Wissenachaften, II, Heft 1f, Juni l9kl, 1'lUnchen, pp.3-li1

2. C.S.Navaratnam, Vanni and the Vanniyars, Jaffna, 1960.

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308

The word vanni is generally derived from Skt. or P. vana,'forest', and 18 taken to have been borne by thesechieftains because they ruled tracts of territory mostlyin forest. The number of vanni and their territories issometimes given as eighteen, and sometimes as threehundred and sixty-four. Two classes of vannis are alsomentioned, namely maha-vanni 'great vannis'and siri-vanni,'saaller vanni' , Perhaps the eighteen were the maha-vanniand the three hundred and sixty-four the siri-vanni. ].

According to this, the Vannis were only a class of chieftains

who derived their name from vana because of the nature of the

tracts that came under their authority. While agreeing with the

derivation of the name, Geiger has a different opinion to express

on the identity of the Vannis:-

Der Name der Vannis (mod. Sgh. vanniy , Pali vannioder Va!i!la ) jet in seiner Bildung nicht vollig kiar,abel' es ist kaum zu bezweifeln, da,er mit vana ,,Wald"zusammenhtngt. Wir konnen ihn passend mit ,,Waldleute"oder ,,Waldsiedler" wiedergeben.

Weiterhin jet es sehr bemerkenswert, dadas Wortvanni oder vafla niemals allein vorkommt, sondern immerin Verbindungen wie vanni-rajnO und dergleichen, an3_Stellen (83.10; 87.52; 90.33) uberdies mit dem Zusatzsih4a. Es ergabe aber em schifes Bild, woilte man dasmit ,,Vannikonige" ubersetzen und nur auf die Anfuhrerund Hauptlinge der Vanuis beziehen. Nein, es war das Nameder Gesamtheit. Das Wort rjan hat in Ceylon eineallgenieinere Bedeutung angenommen, die den Sk. katriyaentspricht. Die vannirajno beanepruchen also, einadeliger Clan zu scm, genau so wie der in Vesliherrschende Adeleclan der Liccbavi in eingha1esichenuel1en (vgl. z. B. Saddharmaratnva1iya, ed. D.B.Jayatilaka,

p.298) ala licchavirajjuruv, wtl. ,,Licchavikonige"bezeichnt wird. Wenn sich aber die Vanuis aus drucklichselber shaa nennen, so stellen sic sich dainit ale

1. UC.H.C., I, pt.2, pp. 736-737.

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309

Arier in bewu ten Gegensatz zu den Darni3as (3k. dravia)wie zu den Vddaa. Wir sehen also, da(5 schom im 13 Jahrhundertdie Vannis ebenso, wie dies ihre heutigen Nachfahrentun, den Anepruch auf arieche Abkunft und vornehme Kasteerhoben, und davon dem Chronisten der zu.. Anfang des1k Jahrhunderts sein Werk Verfate, also ale Zeitgenossegelten darf, dieser Anepruch of fenbar ale durchausberechtigt anerkannt wurde. 1

We shall presently,(that while Geiger is partly right in applying

the name Vanni to a whole community or caste rather than to a

group of chieftains, he is wrong in claiming that they were all

Sinhalese and consequently of Aryan descent. But before we come

to that, let us consider the various derivations that have been

suggested for the name Vanni. Tennent mentions two possible

derivations, namely 'one significant of the forest (vanam)zhich

it (the Vanni region) covers to a great extent, the other of

the intense heat which characterisee the region' (vanni = fire

Some have tried to derive it from the TaIL1 val, 'hard', denoting

the hardness of the soil Still others have suggested a derivation

from Baniy or merchant These are all fanciful derivations

based on the similarity of their sounds with that of vanni.

1. W.Geiger, 'Die Vannis', . cit., pp.k-5.

2. .Tennent, Ceylon, II, (ktb edition), p.508.

3. J.LA.S. (C.B.), )I" , No. 115, 189k , p. 151, note.

i. Ibid.

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310

The derivation from vana appears to be plausible but unusual.

The Pli form vaflfa does not seem to have been derived from

vana. No tradition has been preserved in Ceylon regarding the

derivation or origin of the name, but in South India where,

too, we hear of Vannis or Vaiyar in this period and later,

there are certain traditions regarding their origin which

throw some light on our problem.

The Tainil work entitled Cilai-eupatu, probably

composed in the period of the Vijayaxiagara empire though

ascribed to Kainpa, who lived in the Ca period, is a panegyric

on the Vaiyars According to this work, the Vaiyars

belonged to the Agni-kula and were descended from a certain

Sambhu-niuni. Gnanapragasar is inclined to think that this

association with the Agni-kula is a theory borm of the

similarity between vahni (=fire) and vanni In fact, there is

a le end among the Vaiyar caste of North Arcot which illustrates

the derivation of their name from valini. H.F.Cox has recorded

this legend in the following manner:-

In the olden times two giants named Vata i and 1ahiworshipped Brahma with such devotion that they obtainedfroi him immunity from death from every cause savefire, which element tbe bad carelessly omitted to

1. S.GnanaDragaaar, a-vaipava-vimarcana, p. kO.

2. Ibid.

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311

include in their enumeration. Protected thus they harriedthe country, and Vatapi went to the length of swallowingVayu, the god of the winds, while Mahi devoured the sun.The earth was therefore enveloped in perpetual darknessand stillness, a condition of affairs which struck terrorinto the minds of the devatas and led them to ap ealto Brahma. He, recollecting the omission made by thegiants, directed his supplicants to desire the rishiJambava Munlmuni to perform a yagam or sacrifice by fire.The order having been obeyed, armed horeemen sprung fromthe flames, who undertook twelve expeditions a ainstVatapi and Mahi, whom they first destroyed and afterwardsreleased Vayu and the sun from their bodies. Their leaderthen assumed the government of the country under the nameof Rudra Vanniya Maharaja, who had five sons, the ancestorsof the Vanniya caste. 1

This is one of the many Vtãpi legends current in South India

and has no special historical significance. Perhaps it may be

preserving some memory of their origin as a warrior caste. But

its importance lies in the fact that it is meant to illustrate

their origin from fire and the derivation of their name from

vahni Thus we find in the literature and tradition of South

India the origin of the Vaniyar being associated with fire or

the Agni-kula. The derivation of their name from vahni, therefore,

seems to be plausible but not very convincing. As Gnanapragasar

has suggested, this association may represent a later attempt

to derive the name from vahni Even if we allow the association

1. H.F.Cox, A Manual of Iorth Arcot, I, (Revised by H.A.Stuart,

}iadras, 1895), p.236.

2. Ibid.

3. S.Gnanapragasar, a-vaipava-vimarcaam, p. kO.

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312with the Agni-kula as plausible, it is difficult to explain why

their name was derived from a rarer word like vahni instead of

agni. Vanni being a caste name in modern India, the early

occupation of the Vaiyar may provide a clue to the origin of

the name, for almost all caste names are based on the occupations

followed by the different castes. The modern Vaiyar caste

of South India follows the profession of cultivation like the

Ve.as The Vaiyars of the Vijayagagara period, too, seem

to have been engaged in the same occupation, for they appear in

inscriptions of the time as tenants of BrThmaa and Ve33a

landlords and paid a special tax called the in iya-vari But

in the earlier centuries they appear to have been warriors.

The Cilai-eupatu praises their skill in the art of archery

and gives the bow as their emblem The Kallam refers to them

as aai-vaflLiyar (Vaiyars of the four-fold army) which

shows that they were also warriors employed in the four-fold

army of the states The evidence in the KalIam agrees with the

attributes showered on them in the Cilai-eupatu. It appears,

therefore, that in times past the Vaiyars were a community

1. H.F.Cox, . cit., p. 236.

2. I. .R. for 1913, Inscriptions o. 223 of 1912 and Nos. 30 and

3F of 1913.

3. S pv&asar ippa-vaipava-vimarc auam p. ko.

k. Kalltam, v.7 , p •3oJJ (€4 Yv.0 .t1.Aics

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313of warriors or tribesmen who were noted for their skill in

archery and employed as soldiers in the armies of chiefs and

kings. Gradually they must have begun to lead a settled life

and taken to agriculture. Traditions relating to the Vijayanagara

period refer to them as a 'forest race, a tribe of low cultivators'

They may have lived originally in the forest regions. If theirC.,nP1QC-4-iofl

name has anytiag t-e---do-- with their original habitat, then it

may be derived from Skt. vanya (='wild, savage or existing in

the forest' 2 ). Vanya becomes in Tami]. (ef., Skt. =

Tamil, ) and takes the suffix -r (ir) as a persona]. plural

noun. The P.li form vafifia also suits this derivation (cf.,

Skt. = P. pufifia ). As the name is not of Tamil derivation,

it is possible that this caste or tribe originated in the

Telugu or Kannaa areas, where Sanskrit caste names are not

uncommon. Indeed the Vaiyar caste is still found in the

North Arcot district which borders on the Telugu regions.

There is no evidence regarding the date of the origin of this

caste. There is no reference to the Vaiyar in the early

1. W.Tay].or, Examination and Analysis of the Mackenzie

Manuscripts, Madras 1838, p. 78.

2. M.nier-1il1iams, Sanskrit-English Dictionary, p. 919

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314sources. It is, therefore, difficult to say when this caste originated

We are inclined to think that the name Vanni originated

in India and not in Ceylon. In the first place, it occurs in the

South Indian sources earlier than in the Ceylonese works

Secondly, it is unlikely that a Sinhaleae caste with the name

Vanni migrated to South India or that the term vanni was intro-

duced from Ceylon to designate a caste in South India. But the

converse is possible. Further, the absence of traditions in the

island regarding the origins of the Vannis and their prevalence

in South India may also point in the same direction. Finally,

the Tamil chronicles of Ceylon refer to the migration of the

Vannis from the Tamil country to Ceylon. It seems, therefore, not

justifiable to say that the name was applied to a class of

chieftains or a group of Sinhalese in Ceylon because they were

living in. the forest regions. It appears that the term Vanni

became current for chieftains in the abandoned regions of

Rjaraha and in. the forest tracts ofsewhere after Vanni chiefs

from South India established themselves in the northern parts

of

1. In the Kallam the Vaiyars are said to have been created as a

result of a miraculous conversion of twelve boars into hiimin beings.

Some take this to indicate their origin as subordinates under the

Chlukyas whose emblem was the boar. Cf., Hindu Organ, Jaffna, 8.1.23

and S.Gnanapragasar, Y ppa-vaipava-vi arcane, p.kl. This

is mere speculation.

2. See infra, .

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315

of Ceylon. It is even possible that the term was introduced

into the island before the Vanni chiefs went there, in the

same manner as South Indian administrative terms came to be

introduced But this seems unlikely since vanni is not a term

used in esimilar sense but rather a name that was applied to

a caste or comzminity.

The earliest occurrence of the term is

perhaps in the inscription No.556 of 1919, which appears to

belong to the time of Rjarja Ca The basis of this surmise

is the reference to one Pottappicca in this inscription.

Presumably he is the same as the Pottappicca who figures

in other records of the time of Rjarja I The term that

occurs in our inscription is vanniyapparru, meaning the area or

region of the Vaiyars. A more definite occurrence of the term

• • o-p• • • • Ifis in einscription of Rjendra I. The reference here is to a

certain Vaiya Rva (Rva the Vaiya). After this a number

of persons with the name Vaiya are mentioned in the epigraphs

of the time of Rjdhirja II, Ku1ttufLga III, and avarma

1. Cf., meykppar, m1si, mutten, etc.

2. }.E.P. for 192 , No.556 of 1919.

3. Cf., LA.NilRknta Sastri, The Cas, p. 505.

If. LE.R. for 1 98, p. 2.

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31

Kulaekhara P4ya as well as in the inscriptions of the Vijaya-

nagara period 1ost of the persons mentioned in the Ca and P4ya

records bear the title of Vaiya-nya or Vaiyar-nya (Lord of the

Vaiyars) and appear to have been Vaiya chiefs. Prominent among

thea id one Vaiya-xiya Cuut who figures in as many as

fifteen records of the time of Rjdhirja II. He is described in

these as a Ialaiynp chief, with the fulsome epithets Malaiyam

Iaiyr Periya Uaiy CuUut Vaiya-nya, Rjarja

Cdiyarja One of the Ceylonese works of this period, the Upsaka-

janlaikra, also refers to a Vanni feudatory of the P4ya ruler.

(Pau-bhThnaale yo'bh vafiflo smanta bhThnipo) On the basis of

these references we may venture to suggest that tabout the

twelfth century some Vanni chiefs had risen to prominence as

feudatories of the Cas and the Pyas. Perhaps they were able

to wield much influence as the suppliers of Vaiya soldiers

to these South Indian rulers.

1. ?.E. . for 1903, Nos. 5k6 and 558 of 1902; N.E.I. for 1910,

Nos. 215 and 13k of 1910; M.E.R. for 1913, Nos.30 and 34 of 1913;

?.E.R. for 1920, No .556 of 1919; F.E.P. for 1922, No.352 of 1922;

.E.R. for 1934/35, Nos. 122, 143-149, 154-159, 126, 162, 177,

215 and 189 of 1934/35.

2. }.E.R. forI3f3c, No.lofI1344M

3. Upsaka-janlañkra, p.157

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317In Ceylon, the earliest work in which the name

Vanni occurs is the P1!jvaliya. In connection with the occupation

of RAjaraba by Igha, this work refers to the ]ahavanni areas

1and the chiefs of those regions who lived in. fear of }TAgha.

This would mean that by about the latter half of the tbriteenth

century the term vanni bad come to be used in Ceylon to desig-

nate minor chieftaincies in the areas of Rjaraha where the

authority of the Sinhalese ruler was not felt any more. The

PUjvaliya and the Clavaisa frequently refer to the Vannie.

The period to which these references relate is what may be

called the post-Polonnaruva period (after 1215). Geiger is,

however, of the opinion that there is a notice in the CUavaisa

regarding the Vannis of the twelfth century, although they are

not mentioned by that name here.

E hat Vannis oline Zweifel auch schon im l2.Jahrhundertgegeben, denn auch in der Beschreibung der Zustande, wieale durch die daxnaligen Burgerkriege geworden waren,findet sich }hvs. 61.62 die Notiz : ,,Leute von vornebmerAbkunft (kulina) bielten sich, bier und dort an geeignetenPlatzen (phasutthanesu) verstreut, verborgen und nahmenihren Wohnsitz daselbst". 2

This claim of Geiger is based on his assumption that the Vannis

were Sirihalese of noble descent who sought refuge in the forest

regions in times o distress and later came to be called Vannis,

1. Pv., p. 109.

2. W.Gei.ger, 'Die Vannis', . cit., p. 8.

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318

signifying 'jungle settlers' (Waldsiedler). But this interpretation,

as we shall see presently, is unacceptable. Paranavitana, too,

feels that the Vanni chiefs appear to have been in Ceylon 'from

early days' (earlier than the thirteenth centur) Thi8 opinion

is based on certain statements in the Nikya-sahrahaya and the

Eu-attanag4uvaisa . The latter works alludes to certain

Siri-vannis in the Attanag4u region who disregarded the authority

of Nugalan ) who was ruling at Anurdhapura

This monarch may be any one of the three Moggallnas who ruled

between the fifth and the seventh century. The source of our

information is a work of the post-Polonnaruva period and,

therefore, the reference to Vannis in the period before the

eighth century does not seem to be authentic. Paranavitana

himself has cast doubt on this reference by saying that 'we

cannot be certain that the author of this text was not attributing

to the past conditions which were normal in his day' The

Nika-sagrahay-a, too, has a similar reference. According to

this work, ParkramabThu I conquered three hundred and sixty-four

Vanni territories. This is, however, not mentioned in the

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, P. 738.

2. E.u-ay . , p. ki.

3. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. 737.

Li.. NIL gi&n,, p. 20.

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319

C!1avasa. Though at first sight these statements may appear

inauthentic, they are actually not so. This could be explained

easily if we analyse the exact use of the term vanni in our

medieval Sinhalese and Pli sources. In these sources, vanni

is applied to chieftaincies and chiefs in Ijaraha and in

other forest tracts. Jhile in the Sinhalese sources vanni occurs

alone to mean either a chieftaincy or a chief in the C'alavaisa

- 2 _3it occurs always in compounds, namely vanni-rajattam, vanni-raja,

vanni-r jno vanni-mahIpla maha-vafifia-r ja!fia 6 (variant: niaha-

vanya-rjafi?1a)and vanni-rjhi all of which stand for 'Vannie.xce

kings'. Perhaps the on]$ e-u%.,w.ic-e is the occurrence in the

personal name Vanni BhuvanekabThu, but here,too, it is part of

that name Geiger's contention that the whole compound vanni-rjno

refers to a noble clan (adeliger Clan) of the Sinhalese in the

same way as 'Licchavi-rajjuruv'stood for the Licchavi clan is

not convincing. We are inclined to take these compounds to mean

'kings of the Vanni'. Geiger's argument that the word vanni

never occurs alone but always in a conipund is based purely on

the Clavaisa. Paranavitana' a statement that vannin were a

1. f., Pv., p.109; Rv., pp. kk, 65, 66; Nk.s*n., p.20; Girt-

sand.a, v.128.

2. Cv., 81:11. 3. Ibid., 83:10. k. Ibid., 87:26, 52.

5. Ibid., 88:87. 6. Ibid., 88:88. 7. Ibid., 89:51.

8. Ibid., c101Oc

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320class of chieftains is right in so far as the Sinhalese and P.li

sources are concerned. In these sources the term is used to

denote chiefs and chieftaincies in the areas that did not come

under the direct rule of the Sinhalese king. When the authors

of the Eu-attanag4u-vapsa and the Nikba-sarahaya refer to

vanni chieftaincies of earlier centuries, they were only using

a term that came to be applied to those chieftaincies in the

thirteenth century and later. These references need hot be taken

to imply the presence of a clan of people called Vinnia in those

times. When Geiger referred to the Vannis as a noble clan of the

Sinhalese who took refuge in the jungles in the time of }Agha,

he was only referring to those Sinhalese who set themselves up

as minor chiefs in the abandoned areas of Rjaraha which

came to be known as the Vanni. e was basing his statement on

solely on the Pli chronicle and did not take into account the

evidence of the Tamil sources regarding the Vauiyars. He is

wrong, as we shall see, in calling the present-day Vanni caste

of the Northern and North-central Provinces as the descendants

of the Sinhalese Vanni-rjno of our period.

In the Sinhalese and Pli works of the thirteenth

and fourteenth centuries, therefore, the name Van.ni has been

applied to the chieftaincies of Rjaraha and other forest tracts.

As Paranavitana has pointed out, there seem to have two classes

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321of Vannis, namely the }iaha-vanni and the Siri-vanni. In some

works the number of Vanni chieftaincies is given as eighteen

1and in some others as three hundred and 8ixty —fotar. These could

hardly be taken seriously. Eighteen is a conventional number

often met with in Indian literature. In fact, some Sanskrit

works refer to the existence of eighteen forest kingdoms (avika-

r jya) Since the Vanni chieftaincies were also forest kinglets,

the Sinhalese authors may have referred to them as eighteen in

number, following the Indian practice. In South India, too,

there are references to the Vamiyars of the eighteen

(districts) It is possible that traditionally it was considered

that there were eighteen Vanni chieftaincies. In the Tamil

chronicles, however, the number of such chieftaincies in the

island is given as seven Probably this referred to the major

chieftaincies that were feudatory to the Jaffna kingdom.

As in the Sinhalese sources, the name Vanni is

applied in. the Tamil chronicles of the island to the chieftaincies_$% 511.I'P.

of northernkCeYlon.

But the name Vaniyar is applied to a caste

1 a. E.u-ay., p. kl.

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. 737.

2. Cf., Vsv1'1bv -+o'y .e..ik QivI1i.J.i 1 T,

4. D.C . rcQ.1,CCc. 1s7,?c

3. A.S.S.I., IV, (J.Burgess, Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions), p. 120.

k. Yvm., p. 38.

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322of South Indian Tamila whose leaders were the chiefs of the Vanni

districts These Tamil sources preserve traditions relating to

the migration of this caste to Ceylon, which event appears to

have taken place in the early part of the thirteenth century.

In the present day, with the opening up of several colonisation

schemes in the Vanni, the Vaiyar caste has almost become

integrated into the Sinhalese and Tamil population. But in the

nineteenth century when the Vanni was being opened up for the

first time the Vanniyar formed a distinct caste and followed

their age-old occupation of bunting and occasional cultivation.

Not all the people of the Vanni areas belonged to the Vaiyar

caste. In fact only a small percentage of the people of the

Vanni were Vaiyars. The following observation of Fowler is

worthy of note in this context.

These people are the Wanniaha and are entirely dependenton hunting and occasional chena cultivation. They haveno money and cannot buy land. These Wanniaha are a distinctcaste, of which these men are the only representativesin the province. (There are five or six villages in theNorth-Central Province, I believe). They still use theprimitive bow and. arrow and. are well acquainted with themost remote jungles through which they wander in searchof honey and game. There are some peculiarities in theirdialect, which with their mode of life, suggest relationshipwith the Veddah, but they alto ether repudiate the idea. 2

1. See infra, pp . 3 fl-2. S .Fowler, Diary of 3rd ?iay 1 87, quoted in the lionthly egister

and Noted and Queries for Ceylon, II, No. 5, May 189k , p. 98.

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323The Vaiyars of the nineteenth century were divided into two

different communal groups. Those who lived in the Vavuniy and

Mullaitivu districts were Tamil speakers while those in the

Nuvarakalviya district were miinly Sinhalese speakers. There

are reasons to believe that these Sinhalese-speaking Vannis

were in fact descended from Tamil Vaiyars who had become

assimilated to the Sinhalese population after the Nuvarakalviya

district was re-colonised by the Sinhalese. It was traditionally

believed by these people that they were descendents of Tamils.

A.Brodie, basing his account on certain traditions preserved

among them, wrote in 1856:-

There is one (caste) here not general over the Islandand which is superior to that which is elsewhere consideredthe highest. I mean the Wanni caste. These persons aredescendants of certain Tamils who came over from the continentin the time of Raja Zen, who granted to each extensivetracts of land. 1

There were other aspects of their life which revealed their

close affinity to the Tarnils. Another o# the nineteenth-century

writers makes the following observations on these Sinhalese of

the Vanni region;-

They have adopted the T mu system of personal names, thusa man has his father's name prefixed to his own and doesnot take his name from the village or family he belongs toor the land he owns, as is the common Sinhalese custom elsewhere.

1. J. .A.S. (C. .), iii , 1&56, p. 1k9.

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324Many of their names, too, are Tamil in a Sinha].ese shape.The older generation have taken to weari*g earrings, butthis practice has been discouraged by the presentSinhalese headmen. The Sinhalese villagers have as muchfaith in the Hindu god Pillaiyar (Ganes&') as have theTamil villagers whose favourite god he is.........As regards dress the Linhalese keep generally to theirown customs, but they often wear the Jaffna cloth (chayaveddi)and fasten the handkerchief on their heads after theTaniil manner. 1

The foregoing observations of nineteenth-century writers reveal

certain facts about the so-called Sinhalese Vanniyas. In the

first place, we find that they were a caste distinct from the

rest of the Sinhalese. Secondly, traces of Tamil descent could

be found in their traditions, customs and nlRnners. Thirdly,

they considered themselves to be superior to all other castes

in the Vanni. This feeling of superiority was evidently due to

the fact that they were at one time the ruling caste in the

Vanni. In the light of these considerations it n.s difficult to

accept the view of Geiger that the Vannis were a degenerate

group of Sinhalese. It appears that the Sinhalese Vanniyas

who lived as a separate caste in the North-central Province

were descendants of Tamil Vaniyars who migrated to the island

in the thirteenth century. It is in the same century, as we have

noticed earlier, that we first hear of Vannia in the Sinhalese

sources. It is unlikely that a Sinh ieee caste called the Vannis

1. Anonymous, 'The_Vanni', The lionthly Literary egi ter and

Notes and ueriea for eylon, II, No.5, Iay l89+, p . 98-99.

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32

came into existence independently in the present North-central

Province at a time when a community of Tamil Vaiyars settled

in the adjoining districts. It seems more plausible to assume

that the Vanni people of the North-central Province in the

thirteenth century were settlers from South India like the

Va Diyars of the Vavuniy and IlullaitTvu districts, and that

their descendants became assimilated, to the Sinhalese 0 ulation

when Sinhalese re-colonisation took place in those areas

at a later date. This is clearly suggested by the evidence of

place names in the North-central Province. By far the majority

of the names of Sinhalese villages in this province in the

nineteenth century was of Tami]. on in. These villages, as we know

from the inscriptions and literary sources, bore Sinhalese

names before the thirteenth century' What led to this change

of local nomenclature? The explanation is not far to seek.

Some time in or after the thirteenth century these villages

were occupied by Tamils who gave Tamil names to them. When

Sinhalese re-colonisation took place the Tamil settlers seem to

have been gradually assimilated to the Sinhalese population.

This would explain the retention of Tamil place names by

the Sinhalese as well as the presence of Tamil castes like

the Vanniyas, Cliyas and Bairis speaking Sinhalese but

still retaining traces of Tamil descent. It appears, therefore,

1. See infra, p.3c

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32

reasonable to assume that the latter-day Sinhalese Vanniyas

were descendants of Tamil settlers from South India and were

related to the Vaiyars of the Tamil areas. The term Vanni

was also used to refer to the chieftains of the Vanni ±'egiona

who may or may not have been of the VRnniyJ eaata.The term

vannirjno of the Clavaisa does not refer to the Vanniya

settlers but only to the chieftains of the Vnniregions who

were both Sinhalese and Tamil.

Traditions regarding the migration of the Vaniyars

from South India are preserved in the Tamil chronicles. In the

Takia-kailc a-pur Tiri-k;c ala-pur K!c ar-kalveu

and the a-vaipava-xnlai this migration is connected

with a personage named Kua whose identity and activities

have formed the subject of some amount of controversy. He is said

to have invited Vanni chieftains from the mainland and entrusted

them with the care of the Kvaram temple in Trincomalee and

its lands. The identity of K4akka, has not been easy to

establish. Recently Paranavitana identified him with a C4a-gañga

prince who went to Ceylon in 1223 , presumably from the

KaliAga country It cannot, however, be claimed that be has

settled the problem once and for all.

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Irya Kingdom of North Ceylon', cit.,

p. 179.

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321In the sources mentioned above Ku.aka is

described as a aiva prince from the C5a country who went to

Ceylon on a pilgrimage, tarried at Trincomalee and effected

repairs to the ruined temple of X5!varam. TheTTakia-kai1ca-

purarn calls him K4akk alias C.akañkai, the son of

Mau-n!ti-kaa Ca The Tiri-kcala-puram refers to him- 2as the son of Vararamateva C akn'ik of the Ca country.

The K car-kalvetu agrees with this statement but does not

give Vararmatva's suename as C The a-vaipava-

mlai follows the Takia-kailca-piiram and refers to

Kuakkffa's father as }au-nti-k a-cia 1au-n!ti-kaa-

c]a is a mythical ruler reputed for his benevolence and compassion

who finds a place in the legendary geneaoogy of the Cas

It is hard to explain how he caine to be associated with Kuakkta.

As far as we know no Ca ruler by the name of Vararmatva

CakazUca or Vararniatva ever existed. The Ca descent

attributed to,Kuaic.ka in the Tainil sources appear to be

1. ., Pyiram, v. 8.

2.

3. ., p. 1.

yy •, p. 8.

5. Li. XV, p. 4-

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323

rather unreliable. Even the name K4adca, does not seem to

have been the real name of the person. It means 'He of Tanks

and Temples' and is very probajIy a sobriquet he earned after

his tank- and temple-building activities. As Paranavitana is

inclined to believe, Cakañka may have been the real surname

of the prince. While the Tak1a-kailca-puram, the oldest

of the above Tamil sources, calls him Caiu1k ij, the Tin-

cala-puram calls his father C1akaxtka,. C akaâka seemsto have been the family name of the prince, as it was in the

case of the Eastern Gagaa (Co.agañga or Cagañga). We are,

therefore, inclined to agree with Paranavitana that the real

name of this prince was Cakañka.

The identification of this Cakaika, is no easy

matter for the name was commonly used by the Eastern Gaigas

as well as by princes and feudatories in the Ca, Pya and

Karta countries in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries.

Noreover, our sources reveal that a number of Indian princes

of this name had been in Ceylon in these centuries, As a result

we are up against several possibilities. Our prince may have

been (a) CoagaAga-kumra who lived in the court of Gajabhu II

(b) Coagañga who invaded Ceylon and captured power in U96

1. X•7° :V3.2. Ibid.,

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329

(c) Co4agai a of the Trincomalee Sanskrit inscription who landed

in Ceylon in 1223, Cd) C4agagadeva who invaded Ceylon some

time before l28k or (e) any one of the princes of the Eastern

GafLga, Western Gafiga or Ca family or one of the feudatories

of the Cas or Pyas.

To consider the first possibility, we find that

Co.a añgakum.ra was a Ia34a prince who lived in the court of

Gajabhu II around 1153. The only evidence which may be used in

support of the identification of our prince, Kuakka, with

Coagafigakumra is to be found in the Tamil chronicles. In the

Takita-kai]c a-puram, T iri-kc a1a-puram and the K'c ar-

kalve ttu , Gajabhu and K4a are closely azsociated with

the K!varam tenxple The Ma akk4appu-mnmiyam, which refers

to as Makc!na (Nahsen, states that this

prince married a Ka1iga princess who was an adopted daughter

of Gajabhu hese-tr&i-t4ou inaj kre-eeTrvc omo memory of a-

and Ga j abnu • Is it

likely that GajabThu was closely associated with two different

lAd-i-an- princes named Cbagañga or are we to treat them as one ?

1. • , V , p. t73

2. ,

3. ., 7: 8 ff. ; ., Kayavkuppaa.1am, p. 170 ff.; Kk., p. 20.

k. Mm., p. 2

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330

The evidence of the Tamil chronifles is not strong enough for

such an identification. Though the traditions concerning the

Kvaram temple were preserved by the temple authorities for

a long time, it may be difficult to base our conclusion on the

evidence of the late works which embody these traditions. It

is not impossible that Gajabhu and Kua&a lived in &Lffereut

periods, as indeed the Tkia-kailca-puramand the Tiri-kcala-

purazn treat them, but were brought together by late tradition

owing to their close association with the Kvaram temple.

Coagaftgakumra who lived in the court of GajabThu II may,

therefore, be different from K4a.kta.

The Kaliñga prince Coagafga who seized power in

1196 is said to have been a nephew of Nii3ki Na1la it is not

stated in our sources whether he invaded the island in 1196

or whether he had gone there some time before that date and

captured power in 1196. If he had gone to Ceylon in 1196, it is

unlikely that he is the same as the C4agafxga who effected

repairs to the K3!varam temple and settled Vaiyars in

Ceylon, for he was ousted from the throne within a year and

it is hard to think that under very insecure conditions he would

have undertaken the task of re airing temples and settling peo le

from South India. Moreover, if he was a nephew of NLañka halla

1. 2x. ° :

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331and aspired to the kingship of the island be may have been a

Buddhist and not a aiva. It seems unlikely that he is the

Co.agañga whom we are seeking to identify.

The Sanskrit inscription from Trincomalee, discovered

among the ruins of the Kvaram temple, refers to a personage

1named Coagañga who went to Ceylon in 1223. Paranavitana has i

identified this person with Ku.ak1Za. The inscription is

fragmentary and is engraved on a part of a stone door jamb.

Among the decipherable words is the name Gokara, the ancient

name of Trincomalee and the root from which the name of the

temple is derived (Gokarevara). Since the epigraph is

inscribed. on a part of a building, Paranavitana feels that

it ' may reasonably be assumed to have recorded the building of

the monument of which it formed a part' He therefore argues

that 'it is very unlikely that there were two Coagaftgas who

both came from a foreign country, landed at Trincomalee and

busied themselves effecting improvements to the Saiva shrine

there' He adds further that the date of CoagaAga's arrival

being 1223, it 'agrees with the statement of the Yvm. that

this prince had dealings with chieftains known as Vanniyars,

1. E.Z., V , p.fl32. S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya Kingdom of North . cit., p. 179.

3. Ibid.

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332for it is only from the thirteenth century that Vanniyars or

Vannis are mentioned in the contemporary writings! Paranavitana

is also,of the opinion that this Coagañga is an Eastern GafLga.

There is, however, no evidence for such an assumption. But there

is no evidence eo the contrary either. Gokar.vara was the

favourite deity of the Eastern Gagas The fact that a CoagaAga

from outside the island interested himself in the affairs of

a temple of Gokarevara in Ceylon may indicate that he was an

Eastern Gaiga. Probably Paranavitana is right in identifying

him as an Eastern Gaga prince. Paranavitana's arguments for

the identification of this Coagañga with Ku.aka seem

quite tenable. But let us consider the other possibilities,

too, before we arrive at a satisfactory conclusion.

The CUavaipsa has also a reference to another

C4agañgadeva who is stated to have invaded Ceylon some time

before 128k. From the manner in which this event is introduded

to in the chronicle it does not appear to have been a major

invasion. It is said that BhuvanekabThu I 'drove back all

the Damia , like K'liñgaryara, C4agazgadeva and the

rest who had landed from the opposite coast' Apparently these

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Xrya King om of North Ceylon', . cit., p.180.

2. £ee-iii±ra1---. g.•I • i ,• I

3. Cv., 90:32.

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333

enemies had led punitive raids which were not of much significance

and in time Bhuvanekabhu got rid of them. The nature of the

expedition of Kuaic.ka also seems to have been similar,

according to the Tamil sources which state that he had an army

with him but did not effect any conquest But there is one miin

difficulty in identifying C4agagadeva with Kuakka,.

The former's invasion took place not long before 128k, the

year of Bhuvanekablhu's death. If we are to accept the testimony

of the Tamil sources that K4akka introduced Vaiyars

into the island, this event must be places before 1270 when

we first begin to hear of Vannis in the literary sources

Unless we take that Kuai&ta only introduced a further

band of Vaiyars in to the island, it may not be possible to

identify K4aa, with Co.agañgadeva. Cc4agagadeva may be

different from Kuacka.

It is possible that K4aa, is different from

any of the four Coagaigas known to have been in Ceylon in. the

twelfth and thirteenth centuries. He may have been a C1a, Eastern

Gañga or Western Gaga prince or a South Indian feudatory ruler

whose visit to the island is not recorded in the Sinhalese and

1. Cf., Tv ., p. 10.

2. Cf., Pv., p. 109.

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334Pli sources • The Ya-vaipava-mlai, Takia-kailc a-puriam,

Tiri-kc a1a-puram, Kc ar-kalve u and the Munn vara-mnm.iyam

maintain that Kuak was a Ca prince The last mentioned

workgives Crya Ku]Zttka (SUrya Kuittuâga) as one of the

titles of the father of K$a1c.kffa. It is unlikely that this

is a reference to KulttufLga Ca . Of the three Ca rulers

named Ku]Zttuñga, only Kulttuñga I is known to have had a son

named Coagañga (or Coagañga) This prince 'vanished into

obscurity after his viceroyalty at V!ñgi' What happened to this

prince after his viceroyalty at VgI ? Did he go on a pilgrimage

to Ceylon and effected repairs to the Kvaram temple ? We

can only speculate on this point. There were also other G1a

princes named CoagafLga. We know of at least one, whose other

name was iadhurntaka, figuring in one of the i4acriptions

iffrom Bangalore Taluq. There were also several Ca-Pya feudatories

named Co.agañga. One of them figures in about five inscriptions

dated in regnal years of Rjarja III and Kulttuñga III,

between 1210 and l222 Another feudatory named Periy Aakiyapperiim,

1. Yvm., p. 8; 7:23; ., Varar atvar varu patalam, v. 4;

Kk., p. 1; vara-m iyam , p.

2. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas, p.3'l

3. Ibd.

if. ., IX, Tamil section, p. 17.

5. F. . . for 1913, Nos. 535, 546, 549, 556, 557 and 559 of 1912.

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335alias Co.agafiga whds mention in a number of records of the time

-. 1of Rjaraja III. Certain other C4agañgas are known from P4ya

inscriptions The Upsaka-jan1a.kra refers to a P4ya

feudatory named C4agazga who was himself a vafifia (Vaaiya&

This may mean that some of the Vaiyar chiefs were themselves

known as C4agafiga and one such chief may be Ki4akka who,

after establishing himself in the eastern part of Ceylon, settled

there some of his kinsmen or Vaiya subjects. It was from

South India that gha obtained a large part of hi8 troops.

Probably there were Vaniyars among his mercenary leaders.

In the folk traditions included in the aakk4appu-mmiyam

it is stated that the Mukkuva Vaiyars (Mukkuva chiefs) of

the Batticaloa area went there as leaders of 1gha's troops

and that they were granted nipams (chieftaincies) by

?gba, who is often referred to in this work as Kliáka (Kalixga)

The first mention of the Vannis in the time of gha5 and the

tradition associating him with the Vanni chiefs of Batticaloa

aug est that there may have been some connection between }gha

1. ?.E.L for 1908, Nos. 202 and 205 of 1908; Y.E.R. for 1926,

19k of 1926.

2. Cf., LE.R. for 1921, No.lkO of 1921; Z._.R. for 1922, No, 203 of

1922; M.E.R. for 1915, Nos. k09, kb, k13 of 191k.

3. Upsaka-jan1azkra, p. ç9

k. }., p. 10k. 5. See supra,

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33tand the Vannis. Vaniyars were probably among the mercenary

leaders in the army of Igha. It is possible that a Vaiyar

chieftain named Coagaga was among them. }gha may have granted

him a chieftaincy in the Trincomalee area where he became as

Ki4akka. All these are, however, matters of speculation and

in the absence of any real evidence no certain concluions can

be drawn.

It is, therefore, a difficult task to identify

K$aka Cakazka with any degree of certainty. As the

traditions concerning him are very strong one cannot doubt his

historicity. The chances are that he is the same as Coagaftga

of the Trincomalee inscription. In the first palce, as Parana-

vitana has argued, Coagafxga of this inscription is associated

with the Kvaram temple like K4akkZta. Secondly, the

dates of their activities in Ceylon also seem to agree.

Ki4akka appears to have been in the island in the thirteenth

century when we first hear of Vannis. Coagañga, according to

the inscription, was in the island around 1223. It is probable

that Ku is the same as this prince. He was presumably

a scion of the Eastern Gaiga family. The reference in the Tamil

chronicles to him as a Ca prince may be a confusion resulting

from the name Coagañga. In the Tamil chronicles he is credited

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337with not only the renovation of aiva temples but alsO the

repair of irrigation works such as the Kantay, Allai and

Vearasa tanks This accounts for his sobriquet 'K4akkta

(Builder of TnkR and Temples).

The personality of K4akk3a has been obscured

in Tainil tradition by several factors. His fame as a repairer of

tnkR, for instance, has led to a confusion of traditions relating

to him with those of the earlier and better known tank-builder

Nahsena. In fact, the Maakk4appu-nimiyani refers to K4akkta

as Makc Although Kuakka seems to have taken an interest

only in the repair of the major irrigation works in his

principality, Taniil tradition has credited him with the building

of those tanks. The Maffakk4appu-nnmya also refers to him

as a Vaitulliya CaivaA (Vaitulya aiva) an obvious confusion

with Nahsena who, according to the c1flvaçisa, was a Vaitulya

Buddhist Similarly, while Nahaena is recorded to have destroyed

Brhmanic temples in Trincornalee, Ku.akka is stated to

have destroyed Buddhist structures in the same place Evidently

1. Cf., , Tiruppai cey- p4alam, v. 65.

2. Nm., p. 32.

3. Ibid., p. 33.

!v., 36:111.

5. Ibid., 37:kl ; Nm., p.3k.

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33:these traditions are due to a confusion between Mahsena and

K4akk ta in the eyes of later chroniclers and story-tellers.

There has also been a confusion between K4akkta and

Ukkiracinkaa (Ugra Sifxha), a legendary king mentioned in the

chronicles of Jaffna Traditions relating to Ku.akktta, and.

those about ?gha also appear to have been confused in the

Tamil works As a result of these confusions the personality of

K4akka is shrouded in mystery and his identification &e-

is rendered difficult. Divested of all these legends that

have surrounded his persoxality, K4akkta appears as a

powerful chieftain of the Trincomalee principality in the

thrteenth century, probably in the reign of ?igha. He was

probably an associate o Igha. Ganapragasar has attempted

to identify him with Jayablhu, who, according to the Clavasa,

was a powerful associate of Ngha It is difficult to say

whether K4akktta was known to the Linhalese chroniclers as

Jayabhu. There is, however, no person by the name of JayabThu

in the Tamil works. All that we can say is that Kujakka

was probably a owerful chieftain of the Trincomalee principality

under gha and earned his fame by renovating the KTvarani

temple and repairing some of the tnk in his chieftaincy.

1. See infra,

2. See infra, p9.3714.

3. S.Gnanapragasar, -vaipava-vimarca, p. 6k.

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33)

In the light of the evidence that emerges out of

the confused sources at our disposal we have to assign the

migration of the Vaiyars who settled in northern Ceylon to

about the first quarter of the thirteenth century. We are inclined

to believe that they were among the ercenaries who went to

Ceylon with Ngha or with some of his associates, chief among

whom ap ears to have been the personalit T known to us as

K4akka. After the conquest of northern and eastern Ceylon

was effected by the invaders, the present Vavuniy, Mullaitvu,

Trincornalee and Batticaloa districts were probably divided into

several chieftaincies and granted to Vaiya and other mercenary

leaders. K4ackaa seems to have been res onsible for the

creation of such chieftaincies in the Trincomalee and Vavuniya

districts. Igha, according to the Batticaloa traditions, created

similar vaipams in the Batticaloa district It was in this

manner that the Tami]. Vanni chieftaincies a pear to have emerged.

Once the term vanni became current in Rjaraba, it was

probably applied to similar chieftaincies in the depopulated

Sinhalese areas of Rjaraha as well and came to stand for

any jungle chieftaincy. Those Vanni people who were settled

in the areas which later came to be re-colonised by Siniialese

gradually evolved into the Sinhale e Vanniya caste while those

1. See infra, p.379

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340of the Tamil regions remained Tamil Vaiyars. This is how we

have to reconstruct the story of the Vaniyars with the meagre

evidence at our die osal. The picture may change when further

evidence comrs to light but the general outline is likely to r

remain almost the same.

The Tamil chronicles refer to seven Vanni chieftaincies

in the island. These corresponded roughly to the present

Vavuniy, Nullaitivu, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts,

and possibly included some parts of the North-central Province.

By about the nineteenth century only the Vavuni and NullaitYvu

districts continued to be known as the Vanni. The Tamil

chronicles do not mention the Sinhalese Vanni chieftaincies

that covered the major part of the North-central and North-

western Provinces. There is evidence of these regions having

been settled by Tamils in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries

Even now two of the revenue divisions in these provinces is

are known as Vanni Hatpattu and Dema.a Hatpattu (Seven Tamil

Divisions).

Like Jaffna, the Tamil Vanni districts of Vavuniy,

Mullaitivu, Trincomalee and Batticaloa districts were settled

by Sinhalese before the conquest of the Cas. E igra hical,

archaeological and place-name evidences bear testimony to the

1. See infra, p.37

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31Sinhalese settlements that once covered these regions. Proto-

Sinhalese and Sinhalese inscriptions ranging from about the

third century B.C. to the tenth century A.D. have been found

in these regions Almost the whole of the area is spotted with

ruins of early Buddhist structures. The present Batticaloa

district and parts of the Trincomalee district were included

in the kingdom of Rohaa and it is needless to say that these

were peopled by Sinhalese before Tamils settled there. The inscrip-

tions of these districts preserve the Sinhalese names of many

of the places which now bear purely Tamil names or Tamilised.

forms of earlier Sinhalese names Only a few Sinhalese inscrip-

tions of the eleventh and twelfth centuries have been found here

and after the twelfth century we do not come across any. Tamil

inscriptions occur in these regions from the eleventh century.

With the Ca occupation a slow and not too visible displacement

of the Sinhalese by the Tamils seems to have begun. Ca

1. Cf., U.C.H.C., I, pt. 1, pigraphic map opposite p.l,

A.S.C.A.R. for 1905, pp.k2-k3 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 19 7, p. 29;

E.Z., V, pt.2, pp. 2k0 ff.; E.Z., I, p.70 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 1933,

2. p. 1k; A.S.C.A.R. for 1935, p. 10 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 19k -4, p. 39;

A.S.C.A.R. for 1953, pp. 21, 2 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 195k, pp. 29, 36.

2. , GagataI (Kantay) , A.S.C.A.R. for 1937, p. 1 ;

P.iagamu (Pak m), E.Z., I p. 39; C.W.Nicholas, p. 81.

Velaka or Velagama (Velakmani), A.S.C.A.R. for 193k, p. 8.

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342inscriptions and temples have not been discovered in the Batticaloa

district. In the Vavuuiy district, it is only in the regions

bordering on the Trincoxnalee district and the North-central

province that we get a few Tamil inscriptions and aiva temples

.1dating to the eleventh and twelfth centuries. But in the Trinconialee

district several Tamil inscriptions and Saiva temples dating

from the Ca period have been found This district seems, therefore,

to have attracted Tamil settlers earlier than the other three

districts. It is in the thirteenth century , with the invasion

of Igha, that widespread Tamil and Ker4a settlements appear

to have been established in these districts.

The establishment of Dravidian settlements in the

Vanni districts is dealt with in the Kcar-kalvettu, Tin-

kcala-puram, Vaiy, Vaiyal and the Ya-vaipava-

zrilai. The car-kalveu and the Tini-kcala .punam are

both chronicles of the K;varam temple and therelore embody

the same tradition. The account in these two works may be

summarised in the following manner. The prince K4akZaQ,

after effecting repairs to the K!va.ram temple, decided to

invite some families from South India and entrust to them the

task of maintaining the different services in the temple.

1. See supra,

2. See supra, p c I

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343

According to the Kcar-kalveu, Ku.akka went in person

to invite the famileee while the other chrdinicle states that

he sent his ministers. In response to the invitation thirty

families went from JarufLkiir. They were of the V4ava caste.

They were assigned the duties of attr and were settled in

Trincomalee. Twenty families went from Krai (K'raikkl), They

were conferred the title of Parattr and assigned various

duties. Pa3ave.i, in the Trincomalee district was granted as

to them for settlement. A nobleman of the Krar family was

invited from Tirunelvli (Tinnevelly and conferred the title

of mutanm (chief). He was assigned duties concerning the

conduct of festivals and was granted the villages of Kau-

k4attr and Nilv4i. A minstrel from Kfici was assigned the

duty of singing hymns at the temple *nd was settled at Campr

in the Koiyr division of the Trinconialee district. The prose

section of the K!car-kalvettu adds that five cris (master

craftsmen) were invited from the Ca country and were settled

in Trincomalee. When all these people were assigned different

duties and were settled in and around Trincomalee a nobleman

from ladurai was invited and was a ointed as their

chieftain).

1. Kk., pp.2, 3, 36, 37; ., pp. 131-135.

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344

In the La-vaipava-nilai this account has r atly

been greatly modified. According to this chronicle of Jaffna,

the fince Ku.akkan, after having completed the renovation

of the temple, assigned fields and estates in seven districts

to the temple. lie then invited and settled Vaiyars in those

districts and entrusted them with the task of cultivating the

temple lands. The seven districts in course of time became the

seven Vanni chieftaincies

The Vaiy and the Vaiypal contain a different

version of the Tamil settlement in the Vanni districts. The

confused account in these works may be summed up in the following

manner • When Vararcac ika, (Vara Rja Sifha), a son of Ukkira-

ciñka (Ugra Zifxha) and a king of Ceylon married oa e ..

from the P4ya country, she brought with her a retinue of

sixty Vaiyars. One of the Vaiyars stayed behind at the

capital of the kingdom and the rest were asked to take over

the chiefships of the Aa.kparu region, which corresponds

rou hly to the present Vavuniy district. These Vaiyars

then invited prom South India a number of people belonging to

the eighteen castes. They were settled in different parts of

au as well as in the peninsula of Jaffna, as mentioned

earlier. Ladurai, IaruAkir, Tiruccir a3i (Tric inopoly)

1. 1!! . ' PP . 11-12.

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345

Malaiyakam, T4uvai, Toaimatalam, V4akiri-nu and Kvarati

were among the laces from which iznnii rants went to settle in

Aak au.

After this follows a long and confused list of

places in the Vanni districts where various castes and prominent

personalities went and settled. These places are Muimnakar

(Nujiyav4ai), Kakki, Taikkal, Kiakku-m'L i, Ntku-mlai,It

Karaipparu, Karuv u-ki, Kat ukk4a-pau (Ka4ukki4am

Division), Tirukkai (Trincomalee), Veruka]., Tanrpalakmam,

Ko'iyrani (Kiyr), Ilaivayal, Varpp4ai, Tuukkyr (Tuukky),

Itt imau , Netu.ki , Noccimtai, Pulv4i, Akkaraip aru,Tiriyy, Varavecti, Ceikk4am,and PaaikThnin. All these places

are in the mo&ern Vavuniy, Nullaitvu, Trincoma].ee and

Batticaloa districts. Among the castes and communities mentioned

are Cr,(oil-mongers), Paaiyar (drummers), A)mpatiyr

(Agampai mercenaries), Kaliz.kar (KalifL as), Malaiyakam (Ker4ad)

and Vaiyar

It is interestin to note that the Vaiypal

mentions 'Pflpla Vaimai, K La and others' among the

prominent people who went and settled in Tiriyy and Kaukk4am

1. ., vv. 29-81 ; Vaiy, p. 26 ff.

2.12 . v.73.

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34iThe name of the Vanni chief appointed by Ki4akka is given

in the K!car-kalveu and the ri-cala-purarn as

PtTpla,. Ppla Vanimai of the Vaiypal appears to be the

same person as Pp].a Vaniya. Like the chronicles of Trinco-

malee, the VaiypIal mentions Kaukk4am, Trinconialee and

Koiyr among the places where Immigrants were settled and

NarukUr among the places from where settlers Ident to Ceylon.

Some of the traditions in the Vaiypal may have been based

on those of Trincomalee.

The Maakk4appu-mmiyam deals with only the

origin of the castes of Batticaloa. The creation of these castes

as well as the assignment of duties to them are attributed to

lgha. Except in the case of a few, it is not stated whether

these castes migrated to Batticaloa in the time of gha or

earlier. The Mukkuva Vaniyar are stated to have gone from

K3ikaam (unidentified). They belonged to the Paaiyci

(military caste) and it was the X1iñka (Kalix' a ruler) who

chose the best among them (eñk4flattrai) and took them to

the island as commanders of his army The Kuru-ntar (Skt. uru

Nthas) similarly went to Ceylon with the Kliñka Those of the

1. Nm., p. 10k.

2. Ibid., p. 105.

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347Ppla Kttiram (Bh' la Gotra) and the Pvaciyar (a mercantile

community) also went to the island with the ____

It is difficult to reconclie these different

versions and separate the historical sections from tile re8t.

As we have already noted, the chronicles of Trincomalee and

Batticaloa seem to preserve a more reliable tradition than

those of Jaffna. An analysis of the above versions reveals certain

important points. In the first place, it becomes doubtless

clear that there has been a confusion of traditions relating

to ?1.gha, K4aa and possibly other prominent personalities

connected with either the Tamil settlements or the creation of

petty chieftaincies in or about the thirteenth century. Shorn

of their details, the accounts of K4akka and ZrAgha

appear very similar. In the akk4appu-m.flmiyam, the account

of }igha has four main strands which are similar to those of

the account of Kuakka, in the chronicles of (varam.

Firstly, }gha is described as an ardent Saiva who was intolerant

of Buddhism and even the Vaiiava faith K4akktta,, too,

is stated to have been a very devoted aiva although there is

nothing in the Trincomalee chronicles to indicate that he

was a bigot. It is in the Maakk4ppu-mmiyam, where he is

1. Mm., pp. 105-106.

2. Ibid., pp. 53, 70.

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348

called Na1aTh, that he is said to have destroyed Buddhist

temples in Trinconia1ee Secondly, ?gha is associated with

the building of the Tirukkvil temple and its tanks and with

the invitation of priests to perform service in that temple

K4akka is credited with the renovation of R!varam t

temple and with the building of tanks. Thirdly, Ngha is stated

to have assigned various duties for the different castes of

Batticaloa This account is remarkably similar to the assignment

of duties by Ku.a cta, to the various castes he invited from

South India for the performance of services at the Kvaram

temple. Finally, while K4a kDa is said to have created

the chieftaincy of Trincomalee, the foundation of chieftaincies

in the Batticaloa, Trinconialee, Mannr and Jaffna districts is

attributed to gha

In the second place, there has been a confusion

of the traditions relating to K4akkUa with those about

UkkiracifLkaIj, who may not have been a historical personality.

Ukkiracifika's association with Jaffna is in some ways similar

to Ku ka's association with Trincomalee. The story of

1. L. P . 3k.

4. Ibid., p. 77.

3. Ibid., pp. 70, 71, 95-97.

If. Ibi ., pp. 7k, 75, bk.

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34J

Ukkiraciñka, , as it ap ears in the Tainil chronicles, is basically

a different version of the Vijaya le end Sinhalese traditions

as well as some South Indian legendary material have gone into

the creation of this story which forms the starting point of

the history of the Jaffna kingdom in the chronicles of Jaffna.

Traditions of the Rohaa kingdom, which once included parts of

the present rincoma1ee district, also appear to have helped

the growth of the story of Ck1&6TA!. This is seen in the

story of 1akacavuntari, the queen of Ki4aka in some of

these accounts. In this story, traditions similar to those about

Vihradev1, the mother of Di4hagmai, are to be found The

confusion of many of these traditions seems to have been the

result of a belated attempt on the part of the later Tamil

chroniclers to reconcile the different floating traditions in

the Tamil regions and to give these a historical sequence.

In the story of Ukkiraciñ.ka,, for instance, we see an atte pt

to reconcile the stories of Vijaya, K4akkta and possibly

a third personality associated with the kingdom of Jaffna

In this story, as we shall discuss later, we could see the

1. See infra,

2. See infra, .Ck.i'

___ ckvs3. See infra, p.

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350character Siha and SihabThu of the Vijaya legend in the

personalities named Ukkiraci-ka, and VararacacitLka r s ectively.

Vararcaciñka combines the characters of SiiabAhu and Vijaya.

The matrimonial mission sent by him to the P4ya court and the

arrival of the Pi4ya princess with a large retinue, as

mentioned in the Vaiypal, are both based on the Vijayalegend. The coming of the Vaiyars and the invitation of the

different castes from places like rui.kr in South India,

their settlement in parts of the Trincoinalee 4istrict and the

arrival of the chief called Ppla Vaimai are clearly based

on the story of Ki4akka,. The rest is an elaboration of

these main aspects possibly baeed,(other traditions and on

the conditions that obtained in the time of the writing of the

chronicle, that is, from the knowledge of the different castes

that were found in the Vanni districts. The later chronicle

a-vaipava-mlai attempts to reconcile the discre ancies

seen in the traditions of the Jaffna and Trincornalee chronicles.

The invitation of the Vaiyars is, therefore, attributed to

Kuak]a, and. the invitation of Tauiil settlers by the

blind minstrel Y]pi is included in the Ukkiracifikag story.

Thus it has only helped to confuse the traditions further.

Thirdly, we fin that some of the traditions in

the above accounts of the settlement in the Vanzii districts

are drawn from popular etymology o place names. Such names

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351

as Kantajy, Pakai and Carnpl!r have formed the basis of these

traditions. We have already seen how the author of the Tin-

kicala-puram has incor orated a tradition which attempts

to derive the name Kantay (variant: Kant4ai) from the Taniil

words ka (eye) and ta.ai (to grow), weaving a story round it,(oJso

whereas it is actually derived from the Sinhalese name GañtaJ1va

(Pli, Gagitaka) through the later form GaAtal Similarly,

the Kcar-kalvettu, Naakk4appu-mmiyam and the Tini-cala-

puram contain a story that has been woven round the place

name Pamai, in the Batticaloa district According to this story,

Pamai was the place where the Kaliga infant princess 4aka-

cavuntart drifted ashore in her wooden cradle. Since the baby

was found here smiling, the place was named Plar-nakai (

Plar = baby or young one; nakai = smile) which later became

Pakai and eventually Pamai. But in fact Pamai is derived

from the Sinhalese name Pnama. In the Linhalese inscriptions

of the period between the fifth and the seventh century found

in this place, its ancient name occurs as Pnava The final

1. See supra, p.34.I,J,1,i.

2. Kk., p. 33 ; . , Paalam XII, v.12 ; Mm., p. 28.

3. C.W.Nicholas, . cit., p. 22 ; C.J.Sc. (G), II, pp. 113, 11k.

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3521was replaced by ma in course of time and, when it became

Tamiliaed after the Tamil settlement there, the final a was

substituted with ai In this way some of the traditions preserved

in the Tamil chronicles can be traced ultimately to the work of

popular etymologists.

Thus we see that a number of unreliable traditions

have got enmeshed in the story of the Tamil settlement narrated

in the Tanill chronicles. As things are, it is very difficult

to extract from this anything more than a bare sequence of

events. Compared with the chronicles of Jaffna, those of

Trincomalee and Batticaloa are less confused. Of the later

chronicles, that of Batticaloa, namely the aakk4appu-

miya , is certainly more reliable. It is the only Tamil

chronicle which contains a number of episodes from the history

of the Sinhalese before the thirteenth century, many of which

tally with the accounts in the Mahvaisa and the Ct!lavasa.

Further, the Maakk4appu-mmiyam is the only Tamil chronicle

which mentions MAgha by that name and deals with his activities

in a manner that compares favourably with the Sinhalese accounts.

The miraculous and legendary elements which mar the accounts

1. The interchange of va and ma is common in Sinhalese,

, navaya namaya .

2. This is in keeping with Tainil practice, Gamp4a Kamp4ai,

Polonnaruva Poloauvai.

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353in the chronicles of Trincomalee and Jaffna are found to a lesser

extent in the Batticaloa chronicle. These qualities do not, however,

entitle the account of the 144 akk4appu-mmiyam to be wholly

acce ted. By a comparison of this and other Tarnil accounts

with those of the Sinhalese and Pli chronicles we may be able

to arrive at some of the basic facts, decide which statements

are acceptable and te leave aside the dubious details that

have to be treated with some amount 01 scepticism.

As we have already seen, the Sinhalese and Pli

chronicles leave us in no doubt that the invasion of gha

resulted in the occupation of several parts of Rjaraha by

Tamil and Ker4a soldiers and in the dislodgement o many Sinhalese

from that area. Under the tyrannical rule of ?gha Bud hist

institutions were destroyed and what is called a 'false faith'

1was propagated. 'Villages and. fields, houses and gardens' were

'delivered up to the Ker4as' Dami3a warriors were 'settled

here and there in the country' Even in 1yr4tha there were

'Daniia warriors who dwelt as they pleased in the sin le

villages and houses's The forces of 1gha and JayabThu had

1. Cv., 8O;75.

2. Ibid., 80.76.

3. Ibid., 83:12.

k. Ibid., 81:1k.

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351

set up fortifications in several places in Rjaratha. These

included Po].onnaruva, Kohasra (Koiyram), Gafigtaka

(Kantay), KkIlaya (Kokkiy), Kavt4vi4u (Ka12kk4am Pattu),

Pad! (Padaviya), Kurund! (Kuruntar in Karik aumlai South),

)inmatta (possibly near Giant's Tank), I4ahtittha (tam),

Mannra (Mar), Goa district (Trincoma].ee district),

VLikagma (Valikmam), Skaratittha (ttuai or Kayts),

Gonusu district (K1avpi region), Madhupdapatittha (possibly

Iluppaikkaavai), Pulacceri and Deb rap4an The last two laces

have not been identified. It is not known whether Debarapaan

is a variant of Dem4apaanama, by which name Jaffna was

sometimes called, as evidenced by the Naxnpota On the other

hand, Debarapaan and Pulacceri may well be places in the

Eastern province. The element ceri in the latter name suggests

that this is a Tamil name.

In the light of this account in the Sinhalese and

Phi sources we may accept some of the statements in the Tamil

chronicles. The information in the Mafta_4appu-nfrniyam that

Ngha bad in his army }ukkuva mercenaries who were given

1. v., 83:15-17 ; Pv., p.116 ; p. 3. For the

identification of the p]. ce names, see C.W.Nicholas, . cit.,

pp. k5, k6, 1, 8 1f, 86. Kklaya is sometimes i entified with

Kavuv4u.2. ampota, p. 5.

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35

va (chieftaincies) may be based on some genuine tradition.

The Nukkuvas, as we shall setin the se uel, were from Ker4a.

The fortifications in the Trincomalee district, Kantay and

Koiyram, all in the Eastern Province, were doubtless in the

hands of mercenary leaders who probably became chieftains of

those regions. Parts of the present Battica.loa district may have

been occupied in this manner by }1gha(s mercenaries, among whom

there may have been ?lukkuvas. The creation of the

of Trincomalee may be related to the establishment of the

fortification in hhat district and may not be an independent

event connected with the varam temple. Later tradition

may have separated it from the general story of the establish-

m nt of chieftaincies all over northern and. eastern Ceylon

and treated it with special si nificance owing to the connections

of the chief of Trincomalee with the temple of varam.

Similarly, some of the statements in the Vaiy, Vaiypal

and the i regarding the settlement of the

Vaiyars and other castes may be accepted. The list of forti-

fications established by } ha1 s soldiers clearly indicate

their control of the areas which later became the Tamil Vanni

istrict . Many of the new Tamil settlement sites mentioned

in the V i7 and the Vaiypal are to be located in the istricts

mentioned in the Sinhale e sources as the areas where lgha's

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Ker4a and Tamil soldiers had established fortifications.

Mujiyav4ai, Kaiukki, Taikkal, Vapp4ai and Kruviikki

are in the Kurundi region. Kiakkumalai and Noccimai are in

the Pad! region. Tiriyy and Katukku.am Pattu are in the

Kklaya-Kavuvu.0 regions. Tiru-kamalai, Vervki1, Tampalcmm

and Koiy.ram are in the Goa-Kothasra regions. These areas

form a major part of the Vanni districts where, according to

the a-vaipava-mlai, Kuakkta, settled Vaiyars.

If we discount the details provided in the Vaiy and the

Vaiypal, which we are in no position to confirm except to

say that the settler-castes enumerated in these works were

1pbab' found in those places in later times, we may not be

wrong in concluding that several parts of the Vanni districta,

especially those along the north-eastern coast from Kurund! in

the north to Kohasra in the south, were occupied by the soldiers

of 1Zgha and his associates. These soldiers established forti-

fications in these places and settled there. Their leaders

probably invited more settlers from among thtir kith and kin

on the mainland. The Vaniyars, Mukkuvas and other mercenary

leaders appear to have become chieftains of these new settlements.

Presumably they were appointed by Igha and his associates.

1. J.P.Lewis, A Manual of the anni Di tricts, pp. TO-

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357

Probably Ki4akkan and possibly P la Vaiya, were among

these associates. We know from the Sizihalese sources that

Jayabhu was definitely one of them. All the settlements

described in the Vaiy and the Vaiyp!tal may not have been

established in the thirteenth century. The process of settlement

which began in that century probably lasted till the fourteenth

century. However, among the miin settlemntss established in the

first half of the thirteenth century were those along the north-

eastern coast, namely in Kurund! (Kurunta11r), Eklaya (Kokkiy)

Kavuçvu.0 (Kaukk4am Pattu), Pad! (Padaviya), Goa (Trincomalee)

and Kohasra (Kottiyram). Tamils had begun to settle in

:1.most of these places in the eleveith century. The new immigrants

would have helped to strengthen the older settlements and to

establish the semi-independent Tamil chieftaincies.

This much could be gleaned from the literary sources.

The archaeological and place-name materials not only confirm

this as far as the Tamil settlements are concerned but also

point to the sudden occupation of the major part of the Nar

and Vavuniy districts by Taniils. The majority of the place names

in these districts are Tamil - a feature which is in contrast

with the place names of Jaffna. The number of Tamilised

1. See supra, Ø.ii

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358

Sinhalese names is very small. These names are mainly confined

to the coastal regions where peaceful penetration of Tamil

settlers had begun earlier than the thirteenth century and,

therefore the retention of Sinhalese elements in the place

names could be explained. In the Vavuniy district, for instance,

nearly eighty-two per cent are in Tamil. Three percent are

Tamilised forms of Sinhalese names. About four per cent are

Tamil-Sinhalese compounds. Less than two per cent are Sinha-

ieee names. Nearly nine per cent are of doubtful origin, where

the constituent elements in the majority of the cases are common

to both Sinhalese and Taniil. Less than one per cent of the names

have the elements ikka and pulavu indicating Ker4a

association. The remarkable feature of the place names of

the Vanni districts is the large number with the final element

k4am, meaning tank or reservoir. In the Vavuniy district,

for instance, nearly sixty-three per cent of the names end in

k4arn This may mean that by far the majority of the small

1. The percentages refer only to village names. These have been

calculated on the basis of the list of village names found in

the following works : a) azetteer No.k9: Ceylon, Official

Standard Names A proved by the U.S. Board on Geographie Names,

Office of Geo raphy, Dept. of the Interior, ashin ton, D.C., 1960;

b) J.P.Lewis, Manual of the Vanni istricts, .

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35

settle ents of Dravidians that spread over the major part of

ara$ha after the fall of Polonnaruva originated as peasant

settle ents around the many tanks that were built during the

time of the S&nhalese rulers. It also seems to indicate the

original home of many of the new settlers in these areas, for

the element ku.am is more common in the place names of ICer4a

than in those of the Tamil country. In fact a large number of

the names with the element k4ani occurring in Ceylon are to be

found in Ker4a as we1l This may su gest that several of the

newwsettlers in the Vanni regions hailed from Ker4a, The Sinha-

lese sources, as we have seen, repeatedly state that the lCer4a

soldiers of Ngha played a prominent part in the confiscation

of lands and the establishment of settlements. The Tamil

1. E.g., Periyak4am, Vppañk$am, Kalk$am, Karuñk4am,

Kollak4am, !ñk4am, etc. There are also other names,

without the element kt4am, which are common to both regions.

A. comparative study of the place-names of Ker4a and the

Northern and North-central Provinces is likely to yield

much interesting information rel ting to Ker4a settlements

in Ceylon.

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3G0

chronicles, too, mention Nalaiyam or }alaiyakam (Kera.a)

among the places from which settlers went to the is1axid

1taru.k1r, in Ker4a, is mentioned in the Vaiy, Vaiy5pa1,

car-kalveu and the Tiri-kcal puram as the home of

some of the settlers in the Vanni districs The tradition

that they came from Marufk'tr was current among the Vaniyars

even in the nineteenth century. J.PLLewis records this tradition

in the followin manner:-

The Tamil Vaiyas are descendants of Vai chiefs.The local exp'anation of the origin of this caste isthat they are descendants of the chiefs (Palaya aus)who ca e over from Murithkr in India, and became rulersof the Vai. 3

The na e 1uru.kUr is evidently a corruption of ruikr.

Further, the Mukkuva mercenaries who figure prominently in

the Na akkajappu-m iyam a ong the soldiers of Ngha were

from Ker4a, as we shall see presently.

Apart from the indication that the place names

provide about the original home of the new settlers, the

absence of Sinhalese elements in the majority of the names

may mean that the occu ation of the Vanni regions of northern

1. See upra, p. Zio

2. See upra, ,'. 2.D

3. J.P.Lewis, Nanual of the Van i Di tricts, p. 7.

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361

Ceylon by the Dravidians was not as peaceful as it a ears to

have been in the case of the Jaffna peninsula. In these res ects

the p1 ce na es of the Vanni areas preserve valuable information

that may well o a long way in confirming the statem nts in the

Sinhalese sources that 1gha's army consited of many Ker4as,

that these mercenaries occupied several villages and were settled

here and there in Rjaratha and that their occupation was

far from peaceful. The caution that we have to exercise in the

use of to onymic materials which still await a proper examination

prevents us from drawing any definite conclusions. But it should

be stated that the evidence of these names and that of the

literary sources point in the same direction.

The archaeolo ical material, thou h disappointingly

small, also seems to confirm some of the above points. In the

Tamil Vanni districts only a few Dravidian-style aiva temples

of the thirteenth century have been foun , Among these the

temples at Tirukkvil, Kapuralla,and Nallatai-iakk m and the

- 1Saiva remains at Uruttirapurani and Kuruntanr are notable.

These certainly indicate the existence of Tamul settlements

in those places in the thirteenth century. But monumental

1. S.Paranavitana, 'Archaeolo ical Summary', C.J.Sc. II, p.160-i 1;

A.S.C.A. . for 1933, p. 19 ; A.S.C.A.R. for 1907, p. 27 ;

A.S.C.A. . for 195 , p. 0.

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U')",

reiriains of a different type attest to the destruction wrou lit

by the invaders and the conversion of Buddhist institutions

into places of aiva worship, effected by the new settlers,

thus confirming thee of the statements in the Sinhalese sources.

The many scattered ruins of Bud hist monateries and temples all

over the Vanni region preserve the memory of the Sinhalese

Buddhist settlements that once covere these parts. Several of

the pilimag!s (image houses) attached to monasteries in places

like Kvilkdu, Iikai, mant al, Kaakarya-k4am, Ircnt frar-

ki4am, Ciappvaraca.k4am and I'iaukanda were converted into

aiva temples, often dedicated to Gaea Bud ha images or

inscribed slabs from the Buddhist structures were used to make

the Gaea statues A number of small aiva shrines have been

found in association with Buddhist reniins The destruction of

several of the Buddhist edifices and the conversion of pi1imags

into aiva temples may have begun in the time of IAgba. In the

North-central Province, too, we find evidence of such activities.

On the Ninnrya Road, close to Polonnaruva, were discovered a

few aiva edifices which were built of materials from Buddhist

1. J.P.L.ewia, Manual of the Vanni istricts, pp. 297, 30 -3 6, 311.

2. Ibid. , pp. 297, 303, 306.

3. I id.

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3631 .structures. A door-jamb from one of the aiva shrines there was

found to bear part of an inscription of Parkramabhu I A broken

pillar sha't with Sinhalese writing of the tenth century was

recovered from the enclosing wall of 4$other shrLne In one of

the Viu temples of Polonnaruva, fragments of Niañksi Nalla's

stone inscriptions were foundtl In the same place, two fragments

of a broken pillar with Sinhalese writing of about the tenth

century served as steps to one of the Vaiava shrines A pillar

in the ma4 of iva D!vl! No.5 at Polonnaruva as diecdwered

with a Sinhalese inscription of the eleventh century on it In

iva Dv1 No.7 a square stone sana with an inscription of

Niañka Nafl.a was used as a base for a ].izga? Another of the

Saiva shrines unearthed at Polonnaruva yielded a pillar with

a Sinhalese inscription of Jayabhu I These examples leave us

in no doubt that materials from Buddhist structures were used

in the building of aiva and Vaiava temples. The date of most

1. A. .C.A. . for 19 2, pp. 7-13.

2. Ibid., p. 7.

3. Ibid., p. 11.

. A.S.C.A. . for 19 8, p. 9.

5. A.S.C.A. . for 19 7, p. 8.

6. Ibid., p. 5.

7. A. .C.A. • for 19 , p. 11.

8. A. . .A.I. for 193k, p. 16.

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364

of the inscriptions found on the pillars anti slabs is the twelfth

century. The date of the construction of these aiva and Vaiava

shrines is cert inly later than that. It is not possible to

surmise that these were built before 1212, when Buddhist rulers

were on the thorne. Nor is it possible to date them after lgha

was ousted from Polonnaruva, for with that ecent this city

appears to have been abandoned by the 1.ligas, Tamils and

Ker4as althoIi it is possible that some of the settlers

continued to be there even after that. In all probability the

destruction of Buddhist edifices and the construction of several

at least of the aiva and Vaiava shrines took place in the

time of 1ha. In fact, this is the testimony of the Sinhalese

and Tamil chronicles, too In the light of the examples at

Polonnaruva we may not be wrong in surmising that some at least

of the Saiva shrines found in association with Buddhi t remains

in the Vavuniy district were the work of the invaders and

new settlers in the time of 1 ha. It is possible that some

were built of materials from an abandoned or ruined Buddhist

structure at a later date. Some may have been converted into

aiva temples at a time when the Buddhist po ulafion of the area

ceased to exist due t either slow mi ration or assimilation

1. See sura, pf..•.ci

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3631to the Tamil population, as in Jaffna. The absence of Sinh lese

lemente in the names of many of the laces where such temples

have been found, which speaks against a ion survival of the

Sinhalese o ulation in tho e places, may preclu e t e last

possibilityin most of the cases. However, to some extent at

least, the archaeological evidence may be said to confirm the

information in the Sinhalese sources ab ut the occu ation of the

Tainil knd Ker4a mercenaries in the time of Ngha.

The main sequence of events that emerges from the

different types of evidence that we have discussed may be

summarised now. Till about the tenth century A.D. the Vanni

regions of Vavuniy, Trincomalee, Nul1aitvu and Batticaloa were

almost entirely populated by Sinhalese. By about the beginning

of the elventh century Tainil settlements were established

along the eastern coast nei hbouring Vavuniy district. In

the twelfth century there were notable Tamil settlements in the

area from Kurund! (Kuruntar) in the north to Trinco lee in

the south as far west as Padaviya and Kantay. These were,

however, scattered settlements. In the thirteenth century,

with the invasion of }gha, T mil and Ker4a mercenaries occupied

several parts of these istricts, particularly alon the eastern

1. See upra,

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36

coast. Vaniy rs and Mukkuvas a ear to have been prominent

a ong these mercenaries. There seems to have been a visible

dislodgement of the Sinhalese po ulation from the Vavuniy and

}ullaitvu districts from this time. Some uddhist structures

were probably destroyed and aiva temples built in their places.

The conquered parts of northern and eastern Ceylon were probably

controlled by mercenary leaders. Presumably they were appointed

as chiefs by ha and his associates. These principalities were

the Vanni chieftaincies which later owed allegiance to either

the Sinhalese ruler in the south or the Tamil king of Jaffna.

These Vanni chiefs appear to have invited settlers from South

India and strengthened the Ker4a and Tamil elements in the

local population. This process of settlement may have gone on

well into the fourteenth century.

In these Vanni districts, the areas of Dravidian

settlement in the thirteenth century seem to have been mainly

confined to the Vavuniy, NullaitTvu and Trincomalee districts.

Neither the chronicles of Jaffna nor the Makkaappu-mmiyam

refer to extensive Tamil-Ker4a settlements in the Batticaloa

district or in the Nar district in the thirteenth century.

As we have seen earlier, there were a few Ca stron holds in1

the Batticaloa district in the eleventh century. Among these

1. See supra, p.j

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36/Chaggxna (Skmam)finda mention in the C1lavaisa The others

are nt named. No inscription in Tami]. belonging to the Ca

period or, for that matter, to the twelfth century, has been

discovered here. Of the fortifications set up by the soldiers

of Ngha and Jayabhu, none is to be located in the Batticaloa

district. There are at least two of these fortifications which

have not been identified, namely Pulacceri and Debara atan,

and possibly these are to be located in the Batticaloa region.

A iva temple in the P4ya style of architecture has been

at Tirukkvil, a few miles from Sk.mam. On grounds of style

this temple has been dated o the thirteenth cezitury In the

traditions preserved in the Naakk4appu-miyam this

temple is associated with 1gha Probably it was built in the

reign of this ruler. There is another iva temple at ICa uralla

datable to about the same period Except for these, no significant

archaeological materials or inscriptions indicating DraTidian

settlements in the Batticaloa district in the thirte nth century

have been found. All the Tainil inscriptions of the Batticaloa

1. See supra, p.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'Archaeolo ical Summary,' C.J.Sc. (G), II,

pp. 160-161.

3 • Lee ------- ii' r 7c

k. A.S.C.A. for 1933, p. 19.

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368area are of a later date. The place names here are largely

Tamilised forms of earlier Sinhalese names, as in Jaffna. But

unlike in the latter place, the earlier forms are readily

recognizable in these names. This seems to indicate the relatively

late date when the Tamilisation occurred, It would appear that

the Batticaloa district was not extensively settled by Dravidians

in the thirteenth century although }lAgha's mercenaries seem to

have occupied the area and becoae its chieftains. Extensive

Dravidian settlements here were probably established after the

thirteenth century.

In the Maakk4appu-nfrniyam the Mukkuvas figure

prominently among the mercenaries who were given chieftaincies

in Batticaloa by Zgha The Mukkuvas are an influential and

strong caste among the Taniils of Batticaloa in the present day.

Members of the Mukkuva caste are also found in the Jaffna, Vavuniy,

MullaitTu, Mar and Puttalaa districts. n analysis of the

social organization and legal institutions of this caste has

shown that there exists a close affinity between these Nukkuvaa

and the Ker4as of South India. The Mukkuva law, which forms a

separate code in the traditional law of the Tamils of Ceylon,

is largely based on the Narumakkattyam law of the Ker4

1. See supra, p.3'C

2. Cf., K. .Thambiah, The Laws and ustoms of the Tamils of Jaffria,

pp. 8-12 ;C.Brito, Mukkuva Law, Colombo, 1872.

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369

The Ker4a origin of this caste is further confirmed by the fact

that the only area in South India where we find the Mukkuva

caste now is the Na].ayam-speRking westora]. littoral The name

Mukkuva, too, is of Malayjam origin, as we bhafl see in the

sequel. According to some traditions in Ker4a, the Nukkuvas,

like the Tiyars and avars of Kera3a, originated imihigrated there

from Ceylon But there are some other traditions which claim

that the Mukkuvas are the only indigenous people of Ker4a

The Mukkuvas, being a fishing caste, may have maintained

close and continuous cont cts with the coastal areas of Ceylon

and this may have given rise to a tradition in later times

that they migrated from Ceylon. The traditions among the

Mukkuvaa of Ceylon regarding their and date of their migration

are rather late and are clouded by attempts to enhance their

social position among the Tamils. One of these is the attempt

to relate their ancestry to Kuga, the ferryman who ap ears in

the Rnyaa as a friend of Rma. This is based on the final

syllable of the name Mukkukar (a variant of I4ukkuvar), namely

1. C.A.Menon, Cochin State Manual, (1911), p.10k;

J.Sturrock, Manual of South Canara, (189k), p . 169-170.

2. C.A.Menon, . cit., p. 20k.

L.Yore, Nalabar Law an Custom, p. ]..

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370kukar (equated with Kuka = Skt. Kuga) Such attempts at claiming

descent from personalities appearing in the epics are co Ofl

among some castes of South India and Cey1on

The name Mukkuvar is to be derived from the

Malayam nkkuka, 'to dive' (Tamil Ma1ay4am zm4ukuka>

rnukkuka) Mukkukan literally means a divert Probably the

Mukkuvar were a caste pearl-divers who later took to fishing.

Some of the early foreign notices of this community confirm

their maritime profession. The Italianatravel].er Vartheina (1510)

and the Portuguese writers Correa (1525) and Barros (1552)

refer to the Nukkuvar of Ker4a as fishermen But it appears

that sometimes the term mukkuvar had a general application

1. S.Casie Chetty, Manual of the Putta].am District, p.2k.

2. See supra, p. tic> , the example of the Kurukulas who claim

descent from the Kurus of the Mahbhrata.

3. . urrow and LB.Emeneau, Dravidian Ety ologic 1 Dictionary, (1961),

pp. 337-338.

k. H.Yule,and A.C. urnell, Hobson-Jobson, London 1903, p. 592.

5. L.Varthema, The Travels of Varthema, Tr. T.W.Jones, (1863), p.1k2&

'The fourth class are called Yiechua, and these are fishermen';

E.J.Stanley, Thre Voyages of Vasco a Gama and is Viceroyalty,

fro the Len as In i of spar Correa, (1869), p. :

'Nacuas which are fishermen'; J. de Barros, 'Decadas de Asia, etc.,

Lisbon 1778 : 'ucuaria, a fisherman's village', quoted in

Hobson-Jôbsoh, . cit., p. 592.

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371meanjn mariners or boatmen As a sea-faring community they were

considered to be a low caste

There is little reliable information in our sources

regarding the migration of the Mukkuvar from South India. They

do not find mention in our sources before the thirteenth century.

The earliest known reference is in the Dabadei-asna, where

the Mukkuva mercenaries of the time of Parkramabhu II are

mentioned The next references to them are to be found in a

number of Sinhalese and Tamil works of later times. The most

important among these are the Mukkaru-hatana, Vanni-upata,

RLiv4i-kathva and the Uarata-vitti and the iamil chronicles

of Jaffna and Batticaloa. In the Sinhalese works, there is an

account of an invasion by a people called the Kka Mukkaru,

identifiable with the Mukkuvar, in the time of Bhtika Tissa

(lkO-l6k) According to this account, Kka Mukkar was a Tamil

1. Pyrard de Lava]., Discours du Voyage des Francai aux Indes

Orientales, I, (1887), p. 3]Jf; 'These mariners are called Noucois';

2. A.T.Pringle, The iary and Consultation Book of the Agent,

Governor an Council of Fort St.George, 1st Series, III, p. 131:

'Naquas or boatmen'.

2. I4ahuan (A.D.].k09): 'The liukkuvas, the lowest and poorest of all',

quoted by V.Nagam Aiya, Travancore State !anua1, I, (1906), p.280.

3. Daffi a ei-asna, p. 1i.

k. Cf., Vanni-upata, (Cob bo Yiuseum }ianuscript), p. 15.

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372who , with his chief N4a Nuda].iy and a host of Tamils,

appropriated the territory between the Ka1 Oya and the I Oya.

These Tamils are also called the Kka !kkaru. The above area

was peopled by Tamils, chief among whom were the }ukkuvar, in

the time of Portuguese rule. The account of the invasion of the

Kka Mukkaru is not found in any of the earlier Sinhalese

chronicles. It appears to have been based on a later event

connected with the settlement of the 1Iukkuvar in the north-

western coast. In the !a-vaipava-mlai, 'the fishers caUed

Mukkukar' are stated to have been settled in the ports and

coastal regions (karai-tu .aik4) of the Jaffna peninsula in the

time of Pau (k33-k38). On account of their disrespect for

and defilement of aiva temples, it is said, they were punished

by Pa4u and driven away to Batticaloa where they settled in

places likePPakai (PThama) and Valaiyiavu Ucuma, and Cnta,,

are mentioned as two of the Nukkuva chiefs who were punished in

this manner and who later established Nu.kkuva settlements in

Batticaloa. It is also stated that the places Ucuma-tuLai

and Cnta-k4am in Jaffna were two of the )iukkuva settlements

that were abandoned This story in the Y ia-vaipava-n1 ]. i

has certain similarities with the story of two Mukkuva chiefs

1. Yvm., pp. 9-10.

2. Ibid., P . 10.

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373narrated in the Vaiy and the Vaiypal. According to this

story, a Pya ruler, desirous of obtaining a Nga diamong

from Ceylon for the enklet of Kaaki (sic), the heroine of

the epic Cilappatikrant, sent a chief of the Karaiyr conuuunity

called ?1ma to Ceylon. The latter defeated two Mukkiava chiefs,

V4i-araca, and r-araca, and obtained the Iga diamond.

The defeated Mukkuva chief went to Batticalo'and settled there

while the other chief settled in Vi$attal-tvu, also in the

Batticaloa district The account in the

is apparently a later fabrication based mn the story in the

other two chronicles. The author of the I a-vaipav -mlai

has carefully discarded the story of the Pya ruler obtaining

a diamond for the pnklet of Kaaki, an obvious contradiction

with the account in the Cilappatikram. Instead of the P4aruler and Nkma, he has introduced the Ceylonese ruler Pa4ii

into his story. In place of Veti-araca and ?1rã-araca, the

two pirates whose memory is still preserved in the folk tradition

of De].ft, Puttalani and Batticaloa, he has introduced two other

Nukkuva chiefs called Ucunian2 and Cnta. These two characters,

as Gnanapragasar has an ested, are probably creations of

folk-etymolo ists based on the place names Ucnma-tuai and

1. ., vv.53-55.

2. Ucuzna seems to be a Tainilised form of the Muslim name Usman

and many be associated with Muslim tra era at this port, i.e.

Ucunia-tuaj (Port of Ucuma).

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374Cnta-k4am Furtherri the pa-v ipava-nilai states that

it was Pau's queen who sent troops to prevent K$akkzfta

from building a temple at Kvaraii& But the Trincomalee

chronicles have it that Iakacavuntari, who later married

Kuakka, was the queen who attempted to prevent the work of

K4aia at Trincomalee Presumably the author of the ppa-

vaipava-nlai was drawing from several sources when f bricating

the story of the Mukkuva settlements in Jaffna and Batticaloa.

This account has little claim on our confidence. The account

in the Vaiy and the Vaiypal is clearly based on the popular

tradition about the l4ukkuva pirate Jr-araca, sometimes known

as Veti-araca, and is probably related to a later peri.od.

In the N kka4appu-nmiyam , the Mukkuvar are

referred as those of the Kuka ku]A, the origin of which tradition

i Th*'rwe have aire dy explained.. '-lire said to have been military

leaders under 1gha. Their place of on in is given as Kikaam,

which may be a distorted form of Kikktu (Calicut) in Kera.a.

This tradition seems to preserve some element of truth in it,

for in the thirteenth century we hear from other sources of the

1. S.Gnanapragasar, _vaipava_ka11ni.r,a, p. 5.

2. Iv., p. 10.

3. ., 'Tiruk$a.kaa Patalam', v.2 ff.

4. -.-- Dr s-.... ,y.109.

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375

presence of Ilukkuva mercenaries in Ceylon The Mukkuvaa being

Ker4as were probably among the Ker4a mercenaries of }ga.

As we have already suggested, this tradition may well be accepted

as true.

There are also other traditions among the }u.kkuvas

of Ceylon regarding their migration from India. There is one

recorded by Casie Chetty about the Nukkuva settlement under

Veçi-araca This relates to the western and will be discussed

later. Veti-araca may have been a historical personality

whose memory has been perpetuated in the folk traditions of the

Nukkuvas He probably belonged to a period later than the

thriteenth century.

Front the foregoing discussion it ap ears that the

}ukkuva settlement of Batticaloa began in the thirteenth century.

Other Ker4a and Taniil mercenaries of ?gha and other invaders

may also have settled there at this time. But it does not appear

that the Battialo" 1district bad extensive Dravidian settlements

before the fourteenth century. Probab]4 widespread settlements

of Tamils and Ker4as in this district took place in the fourteenth

1. Dabadei-asn_, p.

2. See infra, p.33D ; S.Casie Chetty, Ceylon Gazetteer, p. 278.

3. S .Gnauapra,gasar, -vaipava-vimarcan, p. k.

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37iand fifteenth centuries, when for the first time Tarnil inscriptions

become available there.

There is a dearth of evideace regarding the Dravidian

settlements on the western coast in the thirteenth century. The

Taniil-speaking region from Mar in the north to Chilaw in

the south has no independent chronicle similar to those of

Jaffna, Batticaloa and Trincomalee. The ancient temples of

Tiru-ktvarani and Nuvarain on this coast do not seem to

have possessed any early chronilce or pura. The Muvaram

temple has a chronicle entitled i vara-nmiyam which is

of recent origiJ Some of the earlier sections of this work are

based on the traditions of the K&varam temple. Although no

formal chronicle of events has been preserved in this region,

there are still folk traditions concerning the Ker4a and Tamil

settlements there. Some of these have been collected and recorded

by British civil servants in the nineteenth century As in the

case of most folk traditions, these lack a pro er chronology.

This has resulted in a confusion early and later traditions.

and it is difficult to extricate the genuine traditions from

Z. F.Modder, A Manual of the Puttalam District, Colombo ;

F.)dder, azetteer of the Putta].am District, Colombo 1908;

S.Casie Chetty, Ceylon Gazetteer, Colombo, 183k.

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37'the rest. Consequently we are not in a position to reconstruct

a satisfactory account of the Dravidian settlements on the western

littoral in the thirteenth century.

The island of Mar and the coastal districts of

?ntai and Puttalam were formed into Vanni chieftaincies in the

time of the Jaffna kingd. These owed allegiance to the rulers

of Jaffna. According to ueyroz, Putela (Puttalam) and Nantota

(Itoa or }ntai) were two of the kinglete into which the

territories outside the kin dom were djvide& at the

beginning of the period (beginning of the fifteenth century)

He mentions Puttalam among the smaller principalities rled by

the Vane.z (Vaiyrs) in the sixteenth century This is

confirmed by a copper sannasa of Bhuvanekabhu VII dated in

the Saka year 111.69 (A.D. 1511 .7) accoHing to which a Mukkava

chieftain called Navaratna Vanniyl was ruling in the Puttalam

region with his residence at Lunuvila He owed allegiance to

the ruler at and not to the ruler of Jaffna. However, it

appears that it was generally considered that on the western

coast Chil&6 (Chilaw) was the southern-most point of the 'lands

of the Vani (Vanni , which belong to the Kingdom of Jafanapata'

1. F.de Queyroz, The Temporal an Spiritual Conquest of Ceylon,

Tr. S.G.Perera, I ,( l930, p. 32.

2. Ibid.

3. Casie Chetty, Ceylon Gazetteer, pp. 190-191.

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373

(Jaffnapatam, now Jaffria) In the Portuguese period, 'from

Nigumbo [Negonibo) to Jafanapata they speak the TanLil language

better' To this day this holds good to some extent. There are

still Tamil speakers in Chilaw and Negombo, many of whom also

speak Sinhalese.

As we have already seen , the settle ent of the

Dravidians on the western coast began at a very early ate

There were sporadic settlements at places like Pomparippu

and Mahtittha before the Ca conquest. Tamil inscriptions

attest to the settlement at Maht.ttha in the eleventh century.

Inscriptions of the twelfth century reveal the existence of

Tamil settlements in the region bordering on the Puttalam

district. But there is not sufficient evidence to warrant the

conclusion that the whole of the western coast from Nanr

to Chilaw was settled by Tamils or Ker4as by about the twelfth

century.

In the thirteenth century, the soldiers of lgha

and Jayabhu are stated to have set up fortifications in

nmatta, ?4annra,and }ahtittha According to the Maakkaj.appu-

1. F. de ueyroz, . cit., p. k7.

2. Thid., p. li6.

3. See supra, ppL1- if-

k. See supra, 2p1- 2l

5. See supra, p. 3c1.

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37

xniyam, the Xaliñga ruler (!gha) gave the principality of

Naiu (I4qr) to 'those who bore the flag of the Tiru-kula

vamnicam' (Kurukula vaziaa) As in the other parts of northern

Ceylon, }gha and his associates probably created chieftaincies

in the Mar district, too. The Kurukulas who are the leading

caste in this region were probably among the Tainils who settled

there in the thirteenth century.

As mentioned earlier, some Sinhalese works of

later times and traditions of the Puttalani district refer to

the establishment of Nukkuva settlements on the western

littoral. According to the Sinhalese wors, the area between

the Kalya and the Mya was occupied by the Kk Mukkar

(Mukkuvar) in the time of Bhtika Tissa As we have pointed out,

it is unlikely that the I4ukkuva settlement on this coast

originated at such an early date. The Sinhalese works seem to

refer to a later event. A tradition recorded by Casie Chetty

seems to preserve a germ of truth regarding a !4ukkuva settle-

ment in the Puttalam district. It runs as follows:-

1. ±!• P . 75.

2. See upra, p. ?j11.

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330When the coast of Na].abar was overrun by the Muhainmadanafrom Arabia, the natives were persecuted, with the viewof causing them to embrace the doctrines of the Koran;in order to avoid which the Nukwas transported themselvesto Ceylon, and established their residence in theMalabar Provinces amil provinceJ.

It appears that the place where the Mukwas firstlanded was Kudramalai, whence they emigrated to otherparts of the Island, and in course of time formed severalsettlements. Some time after the arrival of the Mukwasin the District [PuttaiamJ, their chieftain named VediArasan, had to contend wilh a rival called ManikkTaleivan Mikka Talaiva4, who them yresided over thepeople, denominated Karaiyr CKurukul , and possesseda settlement on the south side of the District. NanikkaTaleivan despatched some of his officers to Vedi Arasanfor the purpose of soliciting his daughter in marriage,but, meeting with a refusal, he collected a considerablebody of armed men and declared war against the Mukwas,threatening their total destruction. As the Mukwas wereat that time a weak and defenceless people, theyconcerted with a crew of an Arab vessel which was thenat anchor at Kudramalai, and with their assistanceslew the rival chieftain and put all his troops toflight. In turn for the service rendered them by theArabs, the whole of the Mukwas embraced the I4uhammadanreligion which many of their descendants renounced infavour of Christianity, through the influence of thePortuguese. After the defeat of the Karaiyars, theNukwas determined to send an embassy to the court ofthe emperor in order to ingratiate themselves into hisfavour. They accordingly made choice of certain individualsfor the pnrpose and despatched them to Sitawaka withmany costly presents. 'When these delegates reached thecapital and presented themselves to the emperor, hereceived them with uncommon kindness, and granted themseveral copper sannasas or receipts, whereby the land inthe whole District of Puttalamaand Kalpentyn were allottedto them for their maintenance as paraveniBesides the assignment of land, the emperor constituteda royal tribunal at Puttalam called Mutrakudam, andappointed ei hteen of the Mukwas to be members of thesame, under the authority of a Dissawa or Pro-Consul, whowas to be annually sent from the court ; and also conferred onthe said members the title of Wanniya, ......l

L. S.Casie Chetty, Ceylon Gazetteer, p. 278.

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381This tradition seems to refer to a ukkuva settlement of the ItT

period (].k15-1505). It ap ears that the Mukkuvar had to contend

with the Kurukulas who were settled along the Puttalam-Chilaw

coast in that period. The Vanni chieftaincies of the Mukkuvar in

the western coast probably originated in the period. The

Sinhalese rulers of seem to have been acknowledged by them

as their overlords, although sometimes the Jaffna rulers, too,

seem to have claimed suzerainty over them. The Kf rulersappear to have assigned lands as parave1 to the Mukkuvar in the

Puttalam district, We know of at least one instance when a

ruler, Bhuvaneabhu VII, granted the region of Pomparippu to

the Mukkuva chieftain Navaratna Vanniya as his paravei in 15 7.The reference to the Muslim invasion of Ker4a and the subsequent

migration of the Mukkuvas from there may preserve the memory of

an earlier wave of Mukkuva mi ration in the fourteenth century

when the Muslims invaded South India. It is not known whether

the Nukkuva migration to the westórn coast of Ceylon had begun

earlier than the fourteenth century. In the thirteenth century

the invasion of }gha seems to have led to the occupation of

this part of Ceylon, too, by South Indian mercenaries. It is

stated in the C1avaisa th t Dami. warriors dwelt as they

1. See supra, p. 377.

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382pleased in sin le villages in Iyratha and that Vijayabhu III

drove them a ay from there The Puttalazn-Chilaw region, which

formed part of Nyraha, was under the direct rule of the

Sinhalese rulers in DaThadeiya and it is doubtful that there erc-

Tamil chieftaincies in that region during the thirteenth century.

The place-name evidence in this coastal region

claarly indicates that at one time a large part of the present

Puttalam district was occupied by Tamils. The high percentage

of Tamil names along the coast may mean that there was a

concentration of Tamils there. One of the revenue divisions of

this district still continues to be called Demaa Hatpattu

(Seven Tamil Divisions) although a large section of this division

is now occupied by Sinhalese speakers. Traditions in this area

preserve the memory of Tamil chiefs having ruled in the

2Ravanni and Kunravanni Pattus of the Dema.a Hatpattu. This

was probably after the thirteenth century.

The vara-znmiyam contains a detailed account

of the Tamil settlements established by K4akk t a in the

region of varam, in the Chilaw district. According to

this account, akka after having completed the renovation

of the temple of Kvaram went to Nu.varam in the Kali

].. V., l:J.k.

2. S.Casie Chetty, eylon azetteer, p. 86.

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383year 512 (2590 .c.) and undertook the renovation of the Mivaram

temple. After the completion of this work, the Brhaaa It1akaa

ivcriyr, hi8 wife Vislaki AmriAj. and several learn d

Br.haas were invited from the Ca country to con uct the

Kunibhb1i.eka festival. In order to ensure the continuance of

the various services in the temple, Kujakka decided to

invite settlers from South India. He, therefore, went to places

like Nadurai, To4aimyalam, Eraikkl, Tiruccirppa.i,

K'alUr NarufikIr, selected people from among the Pirmyar

(BrThmaas), Caivar (aivas), Ceis, Ve.3ar (cultivators),

VTra-niuti Cakmr (a class of VTra aivas), Ttar (Vaiava

mendicants)of the Sdra caste), Kollar (blacksmiths), Kar

(braziers), Tab (goldsmiths), Cipar (sculptors), Taccar

(carpenters), Ypi (minstrels), Eai-viyar (oil mongers),

Akampaiyr (Agampai mercenaries or servants of the inner

apartments), Nul1ai-Naapp4iyr, Caruku-Maappa4iyr, Cañku-

MaappaUiyr1 , Kaikkar (weavers, also temple officials and

Loldiers ), Cniyar C a class of weavers), Ilai-viyar (sellers

of betel-leaves), Viaku-vei (wood-cutters), Ttar (me sengers)

vitar (barbers), Va4r (washermen), Timilar (boatmen),

Valaifiar (caste of fishers), Varua Kulattr (those of the Va.ra kula),

1. See supra, p. 2'

2. See supra, p. ; Travancore Archaeological Series, VI,

pt. 2, p. 116.

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381

Kuyavar (potters), I4aavar (Maava tribesmen), Paflar (a low caste),

Kattikkrar (swordsmen) and Paaiyar (drummers). These immigrants

were assigned different services in the temple and were granted

lands in the vicinity of the temple for their settlement.and

maintenance. A nobleman from Madurai, named

was appointed as their chieftain. The lands belonging to the

temple were divided thnto sixty-four villages. Twelve officials

from among the Cutta Ve j .ar (Pure Ve3as) and the AkRmpai

Ve3ar were appointed at Nuvaram and in ten of the villages,

namely Pampa3ai (Pambala), Pakala-pirmaa-t4uai (Pahala-

brThmaa-daluva), Kokkvil (Kokvi.la), Tampakal (Tabagala),

Curuvela (Suruvela), Pajamai (Pajama), Takampavai (Debambava),

Naalai (Ma4alna), Miikkt4ani (?4inikk4ama) and tikampitti

(Uhampiiya). The two who were assigned duties at Muivaram

were conferred the titles of Cantira-okara-mutali Pattañkai

(Sinh, Paabdi) and Pak4ti Kr.ai (Sinh. Paabdi Kra)

while the others were conferred the title of AttukkZr. i

(Sinh. Atukrja).

The assignment of villages for the settlement of

the different castes was as follows:- a) The Akampati Ve3ar

were settled at Elivei (Elivia), Kkkppa3i (Kk pa3iya),

Maavari (ianavari), Karavei (Karavita), Ka ikj (Gaanke),

Thala-pirmaia-t 4uvai (Ihala-brhmaa-daluva), } TTMtilvet tuva

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385(Mugwiuvaavana), Villattavai (Vilattava), M alai (Maalna),

V!ra-koripan-t4uvai (Vra-komban-daluva), Pirap aiik4i (Pirappak4iya),

Ol].jtt4uvai (Olidaluva) ii Marutafikujam (Narudankulania) an

Tittakkaai (Tittakae); b) the Vrami Params were settled

at Pariyni1lai in Nivaram; c) the Ciperis were settled

in the southern part of Nuvararn; d) the blacksmiths were

settled in Karaveti (Karavia) and Va.kattaai (Bafigadeiya);

e) the Taccar were settled in Va..kattaai (Bagadeiya); f) the

Kar were settled in F'lakk4am (Plakuama) and Ca].pain (Chilaw);

g) the 1 akrar (drummers) and the Tvatcis (temple dancers)

were settled in Nuvaram and Chilaw; h) the Kuyavar were

settled in Vatakal ].ai (V 4akahagala ?) and Nu!svaram;

i) the Cua-viyar (lime sellers) were settled in Narave.i

(Maravila); j) the Kaikkar were settled in Chilaw and Nu6varam;

k) the K5trikkrar (wood-cutters) were settled in Pakalakamam

(Pahalagama) and Po.ki (Ponnankanniya); 1) the Timilar

were settled in Tmm.i].ai (Timilla); in) the Cr were settled in

Maakk4am; n) the Karuppakkaikkrar (jag ery makers) were

settled in Iikotav4i (Inigoavela); o) the Ca.ktis (conch blowers)

were ettle in Kkkp ai (Kkpafl.iya), Iluppatai (Iluppadetiya),

Ciy nip lakasv4i (Siy balagasvel ), Karukkuji (Karukki4iy )

an T,*nive.i (Di amy 1 ); p) the Nlai-kati (the arland makers)

were settled in uvaram and Timilai ( imilla); q) the Var

were settle in Muákant4uvai (Mnngandaluia) and Cempnkketti

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38

(Sembukattiya); r)the Paaiyar were settled in rapiya

(V!rap4iyana)

The above account of the var#iTiyam is in

many respects untrustworthy. In the first place, it has fla rantly

incorporated traditions from the Trincomalee chronicles and

claims them as those of the uuvaram temple. The renovation

of the temple by K4ak the invitation of different castes

from South India, the assi nment of different duties to them

and their settlement in several villages surroundin the temple,

the invitation of Tai- A-ptT from Nadurai and his

appointment as their chieftain are elements from the Trincomalee

chronicles. Secondly, some other elements h ye been borrowed

from the Jaffna chronicles. For instance, the invitation of

the BrThmaa lakaa Sivcriyr, the BrThinaa la y Vislaki

Anun and other learned BrThmaas from the Ca country is

found in the Ypp -vaipava-mlai in connection with the story

of Vij ya The list of castes and the places from which they

came is very similar to that found in the aiy and the Vaiyp1

in connection with the Dravidian settlements in other arts of

the Vanni It appears that such pera nalities as Kuaka

and the Brhmaia a ivcriyr have be en associated

1. vara-mmiyam, pp. 8-li.2. Yv., pp. k,6.

3. See upra, p. 31i.

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381with Nu&varam in order to give it a special sanctity and

anticjuity which it lacked in comparison with the temple pf

Kivaram. The appointment of Atukras is something based

on later knowledge. It is in the Sinhalese inscriptions of the

fifteenth century that we first hear of the officials called

Atukras Similarly the account of the settlement of the

different castes in the villages adjoining Mivaram seems

to be based on later knowled e. It is difficult to accept this

as authentic. It is possible that South Indian families were

invited to perform services in the temple and were settled

in the lands belonging to the temple. But the Dravidian settle-

ment at Munvarain, Chilaw and other nearby villages may not

be the result bt a policy of settlement followed by the temple

authorities. These settlements have to be treated as part of the

Dravidian settlements along the whole coast from Iar to Chilaw.

Thus, we see that neither the Linhalese traditions

nor the Taxnil traditions help us to know anything definite

about the Dravidian settlem nts alon the western coast. The

evidence of place names, though indicating extensive settlements

of Tamils along this coast, does not help us to fix the chronology.

All that we can day now is that the settlements of Nuk.kuvar

1. U.C. . •, I, pt. 2, p.739.

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383Kurukulas and other South Indians was a process that seems to

have one on for a long period. New bands of inuni rants probably

settled down on the western coast in the thirteenth century as

well. As some of the traditions suggest, the invasion of South

India by the 1usli*s probably further migration of }lukkuvar

and Kurukulas in the fourteenth century. During the Kt

period there were Taniil Vanni chieftaincies in this region,

some of which were contr011ed by Nukkuvar. The Tamil chieftaincies

of the Puttalam-Chilaw region seem to have owed allegiance to

the rulers, although according to de Queyroz the lands

as far south as Chilaw belonged to the kings of Jaffna. This

coastal region appears to have been a bone o contention

between the Sinhalese and Tamil rulers owing to its in ortance

in the control of the island's pearl fishery. The ________

vaipava-mlai refers to the struggle between Ceyav1raciMqii

riya, one of the kings of Jaffna, and Bhuvanekabhu, probably

the fourth of that na e, over the control of the pearl banks

Another invasioa of ?yrattha, in which was included the

Chilaw region, by the Tamils from the northern part of the island

in the time of Parkramabhu IV (1302-1326) is alluded to in the

}Iranbdda inscription The Tamil chieftains of the Chilaw-Puttalam

1. Yv., p. k23 S.Paranavitana, 'The 4rya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p.22

2. U.C. .C., I, pt. E, p. 63k, fu. 7k.

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389region may have been forced to change their alliances from time

to time. In the thirteenth century probably there were no Tami].

chieftaincies in the Puttalam district. But probably there were

such chieftaincies in the Nar district, here }gha and

JayabThu had established fortifications.

Outside the Northern and Eastern Provinces and the

Puttalam district, there were Vanni chieftaincies in the North-

central Province in the thirteenth century. This province,

which formed the central part of Rjaratha, was the scene of

much ravage and plunder during the occupation of Ngha. As we

have seen earlier, it was this region which was most affected

by the foreign invasions and the consequent drift of the Sinhalese

population to the south-west. The claim of the Clavaisa that

?1gha's soldiers seized tillages, fields and houses in Rjaraha

may not be wholly untrue. We have seen that there is some

archaeological evidence in Polonnaruva and Minnriya which

attest to the destruction of Bu dhist establishments and the

building of Saiva shrines by the invaders. We h ye also pointed

out that a good percentage of the place names in this province

is Tamil in origin. Certain traditions of the Nuvarakalviya

district of thi province indicate the aettl nt of T mu Vnniy s

in that re 1Ofl The Tmi1 an Ker4a soldiers of N ha as well

1. See upra, p.33

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390

as the mercenaries of the later invaders like Chan rabhnu

probably established settlements in parts of the North-central

Province. The Clavawa has references to Sinhalese Vanni rinces

ruling in Rj raha in the thirteenth century. Probably there

were also Vanni chieft ins of the Taniils in this area at that

time. It is difficult to determine with t e evidence at our

disposal how extensive or strong the new Dravidian settle ents

were in the thirteenth century. The North-central Province was

lar ely abandoned after the thirteenth century by both Tamils

and Sinhalese and only a few pockets of Tamil and Sinhalese

settl ments seem to have been left. In the thirteenth century

the Dravidians were probably scattered all over the province in

small groupá. These settlers have not left behind Tamil inscrip-

tions or Dravidian-style temples. The only evidence of their

settlement is found in the local nomenclature. The disa earance

of the earlier Sinhalese names s eaks both for a su den and

a violent occupation of the area by the forei ners as well as

for settle ent by Tamils after the total abandonment of the

area by the earli r settlers. Th retention of the Taniil na es

by the resent-day opulation which is largely Sinbalese- eakin ,

shows that the Ta is, howev r small in number, bad continu d

to live in this province till the ti e of the Sinhale e resettlement-

1. .C. . •, I, pt. , pp. 713-71k.

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391The wi e rea occurrence of Tamil p1 ce n s sugge te that

the province w s at one time extensively settled by Taxnils. This

was certainly not before the thirteenth century when the North-

central Province was the heart of the Sinhalese kingdom. Tamil

settlements on such a wide seal would not have taken lace

long after the thirteenth century wh n this region was ab n oned

to a great extent and was covered with jungle. The Tamii.l

settle ents that were res onsible for many of the new lace

names have to be dated to the thirteenth century. In conrse of

ti e several of the settlers ap ear to have drifted to the

Taniil kiagdom in the north, where there was soon a concentration

of Tamil population. But small groups seem to have lingered on

in the jungle viflages

In the Sirthalese kizgdom of the southi there is

little evidence of any Dravidian settlem nt in the thirteenth

century. The only evidence relating to the presence of Tamils

is that concerning the mercenaries. Tamil ercenary forces

continued to be in the service of Sinhalese rulers in the

thirteenth century as in earlier times. ih aba e'i-as a refers

to twelve thousand amil soldiers, doubtless an exagg rate

number, who drew their pay from the p u]. chest in the tim

of Parkramabhu 4ong theni were the Agamp i forces and

the Svlakkr s. 1.B.Ariyapa1a attempts to relate theto the

1. vidence of this found in the adzninistr tion reports of the

Dutch an British erio s.

2. Da adei-asna. p.

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392

Cava.aikkrar, a caste of weavers in the Tinnevelly district

He also oints out the similarity betwe n the name Zvlakkra

and the Tamil Cav4akkrar, a class of fishermen or ferrymen

The Svlakkrar are not mentioned in the South Indian sources

among the mercenary bodies. Perhaps they were a minor body of

mercenarie • In the fourteenth century, oo, there were Tamils

in the army of the Sinhalese ings, as is evidenced by the

Gaaldei inscription of Bbuvaneka Thu IV (l3kl-l35l) No

Tarnil inscription of the thirteenth century has been found in

the area covered by the Sinhalese kingdom. But Tamil inscriptions

of the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth centuries have been

found in some places there. There is, however, an inscription

written in the Sinhalese and Tamil scripts and datable to the

thirteenth century, found at ?iysnkndura in the Kamdehna Tea

Estate at Naniunukula, Badulla district The Tamil script has been

1. M.B.Ariyapapal, ociety in Medieval Ceylon, p. 161.

2. Ibid.

3. S.Paranavitana, 'Gaaldei ock Inscription of .bhuvanekabThu IV',

r.z., Iv, p. 106.

k. A.S.C.A.R. for 1952, p. 1f2.

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393used in the inscription for 'words specialising magical power'

This is hardly evidence for any Tamil settlement in that area.

In the unsettled conditions of the thirteenth century few

Taznil settlers would have found their way into the Sinhalese

kingdom which was at war with the foreign invaders. The only

Tamil settlers there were probably the mercenaries. In the four-

teenth and fifteenth centuries when better conditions prevailed

in the south and new ports were epened up for foreign trade

the South Indians who were affected by the Muslim invasions

as well as Tamil traders seem to have settled in Ceylon, not

only in the Tamil kingdom but in the ports and towns of the

Sinhalese kingdom as well. This is attested to by the Tamil

inscriptions, Sinhalese literary sources and Saiva arcliaeolo ical

.2remains.

1. A. .C.A.R. for 1952, p.k2.

4. Tamil inscriptions: a) S.Paranavitana 'The Tamil Inscription

on the Galle Trilingual Slab', (1kb), .Z., III, p.335;

b) In cription from Nyimmra, A.D. lk22, see S.Pa.ranavitana,

Upulvan emple, Memoirs of the Archaeological urvey of Ceylon, VI,

pp. 71-75; inscriptions from Cob bo, Kalutara and Kurunigala

districts, S.Paranavitanal3 'Epigra hical Summary', C.J.Sc. (G), II,

pp. 189, 191, 212.

iva te les: a) H.C.P.Be].l, Kigalla eport, pp. 63-65;

b) S.Paranavitana, 'Epigra hical Summary', .J.Sc. (G), II, p. 191;

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394

c) S.Paranavitana, Upulvan Tem1e, . cit., p.75.

Sinhalese literary references to iva temples: a) Kkila Sanda,

vv.00, .C.H.C., I, pt.2, pp. 768-769; Paravi anda, v.68,

U.C. .C., I, pt. 2, p. 768; Slalihini Sanda, v. 22.

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395From the foregoing analysis it becomes clear that

the settlements of the thirteenth century mark the most important

stage in the course of the early Dravidian settlements in Ceylon.

From the beginning of this century for nearly dtoadee decades

a quick succession of foreign invasions, which brought into the

island fresh mercenary forceB, led to the establishment of new

Dravidian settlements. The nature of the invasions and of the

settlements that followed was in many ways different from that

of earlier invasions and settlements. While the earlier invasions,

including even the Ca invasion of 1017, could be treated as

episodes in the history of the island, the invasions of ?gha,

Chandrabhnu and the P4yas in the thirteenth century cannot

be dismissed as mere episodes. The settlements of th. earlier

periods, though not quite unimpressive, did not result in the

visible dislodgement of the Sinhalese population from any area.

As far as we can see, those were not the result of forcible

occupation of the lands of the Sinhalese. Those early settlers

may have become assimilated to the Sinhalese population in due

course. But it was the events of the thirteenth century that

prevented such an assimilation in the greater part of northern

and eastern Ceylon. The invasion of gha with the help of Ker4a

and Tami]. mercenaries was far more violent than the earlier

invasions. Its chief importance lies in the fact that it led

to the permanent dislodgement of Sinhalese power from northern

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393

Ceylon, the confiscation by Tamils and Ker4aa of lands and

properties belonging to the Sinhalese and the consequent migration

of the official class and many of the common peopleto the south-

western regions. These factors, more than any other, helped the

transformation of northern Ceylon into a region occupied b

Tami]. speakers and directly led to the foundation of a Tamil

kingdom and several 2mi.]. Vanni cbieZti1nies tbere. It may

be concluded that in the major part of the thirteenth century

it was the Tamil and Ker4a mercenaries who founded. the new

settlements. These were spread over a good part of Ijaraha.

Once the kingdom o Uaffna and the Vanni chieftaincies were

founded, it appears that Tamil rulers invited fimt11es from

South India for settlement. Towards the end of the thirteenth

and the beginning of the fourteenth century, therefore, a

peaceful migration of settlers from the Tamil and Kera3a

countries seem to have taken place. The prominent mention of

Ker4a mercenaries in the Sinhalese and Tamil sources and the

occurrence of Xer4a places among the original omes of the

new settlers, as listed in the Tamil chronicles, indicate that

there was a strong Ker4a element in the new population of the

northern districts. This is also revealed by the similarity pr

that exists between the social organizations of the Tamila of

Ceylon and the Nalayis of Kera3a and the affinity between the

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397Marumakkattyarn laws of Kera.a and the Mukkuva and Th!sav4amii

laws. The settlement of peaceful migrants seem to have been

confined mainly to the nortbernmaet regions of the island.

The difference in character between the settlements in the Jaffna

district and those of the Vavuniy, Mullaitvu and

Nuvarakalviya districts is not only borne out by the evidence

of the literary sources but is also demonstrated by the place-

name evidence. Whereas in the Jaffna district we come across

a large percentage of place names with Sinhalese elements,

in the local nomenclature of the other districts the Tamil

element is predominant. The former indicates slow and peaceful

penetration of the Tamils and the latter a violent and sudden

occupation. The survival o Sinhalese place names, especially

of Sinhalese territorial names, in Jaffna tells against

a wholesale extermination or displacement of the Sinhalese

living there. At the same time, Tamil names of estates denoting

family settlement which are found scattered acroos the peninsula

remarkably confirm the evidence of Taxnil chronicles regarding

the settlement of prominent families from South India by the

early kings of Jaffna. The settlements of the orth-central

Province and of the major part of the North-western Province

did not last long and soon there was a concentration of Tami].s

in the Northern Province. The Trincomalee district of the

Eastern Province and the Puttalam district of the North-.estern

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398were also areas bwere la8tiflg Tamil settlements were established.

Dravidian settlements in the Batticaloa district had also begun

in the thirteenth century although the bulk of the settlers

may have migrated to this district in later times.

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399CHAP!ER VI

THE BEGINNINGS OF THE XINGDOX OF JAFPNL - I

)gha and Candrabhnu

After the drift of Sinhalese power to the south-

western parts of Ceylon, the only political authorities in the

northern regions about rhom we hear in the Pli chronicle are

the Vanni chieftaina If we had to depend solely on the

Clavasa for information, we should conclude that after about

the middle of the thirteenth century the whole of the former

Rjaraha was split into minor chieftaincies under Vanni rulers

who owed allegiance to the Sinhalese ruler at the capital in the

south-western region. But the Rehla of Ibn Batuta the Sinhalese

chronicle NiIya-sagrahaya3and the Sinhalese poems Slalihini-

sanda Gir-sanda and Kkila-sand!a6 as well as later

chronicles like the Rjvaliya and the Tamil and Portuguese

1. Cv., 88:87, 89:51.

2. The Rebla of Ibn Batuta, Tr. Nandi Hussain, Baroda 1953, p. 217.

3. p. 27.

k. Slalihini-sanda, ed. LC.Fernando, Moratuva 1956, v. 29.

5. Gir-sanda, ed. T.Sugathapala, Alutgama 192k, vv. 138_111O.

6. Kkila-sand ga, ed. P.S.Perera, Colonibo 1906, vv. 263-26k.

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400works testify to the existence of an independent 1r{ndom in the

northernmost part of the island. The rulers of this kl-4gdom are

referred to in these sources as Ayri Shakravarti Iriya Sakviti

Ariyaxaca Varati3and riyar 1 . The first three are variants of

the Sanakrit ryacakravartin while the last is the Tainil formof the Sanskrit rya. The capita]. of these rulers, according to

the Sinhalese sources, was at flp-pauna (modern JaZfna)

Ibn Batuta visited this northern kingdom in A.D. 13k1. and his

notice is the earliest clear reference to the kingdom. Of the

Sinhalese references, the earliest is that of the Nikya-sagrahay-a,

written in the last decade of the fourteenth century We have,

therefore, definite evidence in our literary sources regarding

the existence of an independent kingdom in the northernmost

l..The Rehia of Ibn Batuta, p. 217

2. Kkila-sand!a, v. 263.

3. 1. de Queyroz, . cit., p. k9.

4..,pp. 25ff. ;Km.,p.6.

5. Kkila-sanda, vV. 263-26k.

6. U.C.H.C., I, ptl, p. 57.

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401part of the ia].and in the fourteenth century

1. In the latest issue of the J.P.A.S. (C.B.), Paranavitana has

claimed the discovery of a Sanakrit inscription dated aka 1211

(A.D. 1289). According to him, it is 'inscribed in faint letters

on the earlier writing on a stone slab in the Abhayagiri-vihra

at Anurdhapura (Ep. Zey., Vol.8 , No. 20)' and 'refers to

the king who ruled at Subhapatana (Jaffna) on that date

with the full style of ripati Sri Sr ya-rryae Sri Candrabhnu

Nahrja' (J.R.AIS. (C.R.), N.S., VIII, pt. 2, p. 26k). This

would, therefore, be the earliest known reference to the

kingdom of Jaffna. But unfortunately the inscription has not

been published yet and considering the nature of the inscription

it is somewhat difficult to use Paranavitana's note with

confidence. The editor of the original inscription, over

which this inscription is claimed to be incised, has made no

mention of any later writing on the slab nor is any such

writing visible on the photograph of the estampage appearing

in the Epigraphia Zeylanica (Vol. I, No. 20 and not Vol. 8, No.20).

In a aper read at the University of Ceylon (see infra, pp45c ),

Paranavitana has stated that these later writings are of such a

nature that they may be totally overlooked when one's attention is

focussed on the original inscription. In these circumstances, it ispreferable to wait till the inscription is published by

Paranavitana before its evidence is used in a work of this nature.

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- 402When did this independent kingdom originate and

who were its founders 2 These are questions which have led to

some amount of controversy among Ceylon historians in recent

years. The origin of the independent kingdom in northern Ceylon

or, to be more precise, in the Jaffna district has been traced

back to pre-Christian times, as far back as the fifteenth

century B.C.,by some while some others have traced it to the

eighth century A.D. The generally accepted theory is that the

k(ngdom was founded some time in the thirteenth century. The basis

for the first claim is a reference in the Mahbhrata as well

as some references in the PV.i chronicles of Ceylon and the

Tamil epic M$imkalai to a 1ga kingdom in northern Ceylon,

then known as NgadTpa, in the time of the Buddha The basis

for the second claim is the evidence of the Tamil chronicles

of Jaffna, especially the pa-vaipava-ir1!lai. In a learned

article contributed to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society

(Ceylon Branch) recently, Paranavitana has analysed at length

the spurious arguments brought forward by some writers in support

of these two claims In our opinion, he has convincingly set

1. C. Rasanayagam, . cit., p. 7 If.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The Xrya I1ngdom of North Ceylon', J.R.A.S. (C.B.),

N.S., VII, pt.2, 1961, pp. l7k-22k.

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403

aside these arguments and shown that there is no reliable

evidence for the existence of an independent kingdom, ruled by

Tamile or others, in the Jaffna district during the period

preceding the fail of Po].onnaruva. It is not our intention,

therefore, to discuss these arguments here. But since these

theories have a direct bearing on our aubject, we shall briefly

outline them along with the counter-arguments before we proceed

on our inquiry.

C.Rasanayagam is the chief protagonist of the

theory of an independent ktndom having existed in the pre-

Christian centuries His argment that an independent kliigdom

of the Ngaa existed in Jaffna from the fifteenth century B.C.

is based on a reference in the Mhbhrata that Arjuna married

a princess of Maipura, a place beyond KalifLga. Rasanayagam has

identified Naipura with Jaffna, for the latter is sometimes

referred to in the Tamil works of the fourteenth century A.D.2as Maavai. He has argued that 'Maavai seems to be a contracted

poetical form of Maavr or Naipuram' and that, therefore,

Arjun.a married a ga princess from Jaffna Such an identification

1. C.Rasanayagaxn, . cit., p . 33 if.

2. Ccm., p. 80.

3 • C. Rae anayagam, . cit. , ft1 3 f 'f

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401of place names without regard to chronology or relevant historical

facts is hardly acceptable. As ffrtber evidence of his theory

that there existed an independent kingdom in norbhern Ceylon

in the pre-Christian centuries, Rasanayagani adduces the reference

in the Mahvasa and the Mainikalai to a 1ga kingdom in the

Jaffna district In the Mahvasa there is a legend about two

Nãga kings of NgadTpa who fought over a gem-set throne and were

reconciled through the efforts of the Buddha The same legend

appears in the Taniil Buddhist epic Naim!ka1ai in which the

scene of the event is given as )1aipallavam, which is identified

by Raeanaygam as NgadTpa or the Jaffna district. We agree with

Paranavitana that these legends are not based on any historical

event and that 'in the Mahvaipsa and the Main1kalai, as indeed

in the ancient Sanskrit and Pli literature in general, the

Ngas are never represented as human beings, but as a class of

superhuman beings, who inhabited a subterranean world' ' We have

also pointed out earlier that Rasauayagazn's attempts to prove

that the gas of Ceylon were Tamil in language and culture and

that their independent kingdom is referred to in Tamil literature

1. C,Raaanayagam, p. 7 if.

2. Mv., l:kk-70.

3. Maimkalai, XKvII.

1• S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 181.

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405as well are baaed on the erroneous identification of some

place names in the Saitgam texts Neither the visit of the

Buddha to Ceylon nor the existence of a Nga kingdom there

can be taken seriously on the strength of these legends.

Rasanayagain has argued the continued existence of

the northern kingdom in the seentb century A.D. on the basis

of a statement by Cosnias Indicopleuates, who visited Ceylon

in that century, that there were two kings in the island

This cannot be an argument for a kingdom in northern Ceylon for,

as Paranavtana baa pointed out, the account of Cosmas itself

indicates that by the two kingdoms he meant those of Anurdha-

pura and Rohaa

The Tamil cbronicles refer to a person called

Ukkiracii1ka as a ruler of some part of Ceylon in the eighth

century A.D. It is stated that be was a descendant of a brother

of Vijaya Rasan&yagam has argued that he was a ruler of northern

Ceylon and that he was a Eliga. He has also contended that

the Kaliga rulers with whom the Zinhalese kings from l4ahinda IV

bad alliances were actually the Kliga rulers of flaffna

1. See supra, :p.3J

2. C.Rasanayagam, . cit., pp. 120-121.

3. S.Paranavitana, 'The irya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 18k.

k. Yvm., pp. 13-23.

5 • C. Rasanayagam, . cit., p • 272 U.

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dOG

There is, however, not the slightest evidence for a line of

1iñga rulers in Jaffna in this period Besides, as we shall

see presently, the legend of UkkiracifLka éannot ha relied upon

or the history of the northern kingdom.

While rejecting the chronèlogical baeis of the

account of 1Jkkiracifka,, Paranavitana has attempted to identify

this personage with Cifikakuzzra of the car-alveu

According to him, 'if we call have faith in the legend given in

the !car-kalvetu, the lion-faced king, Ukkirac1-ikp or

Ci1'1k9kun1rafl, may be taken to have flourished about the same

time as Igha, whether be was identical with the latter or not'

By making such a statement be does not seem to have much doubt

about the historicity of UkkiraciAka. But the authenticity of

he whole account o Ukkiracfi1,, as it appears in the Tamil

chronicles, is questionable. We have already briefly pointed

out that the story of Ukktrac{ik and. his queen ?rutappiravalli

is based on the Vifaya legend and has also certain elements

borrowed from folk-etymology. It has also been indicated that

there is a confusion between the legend of Ukkirac1ik#p and

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Lrya ingdorn of North Ceylon', p. 186.

2. Ibid., p. 191.

3. Ibid.

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407the account of Ku!aa in some of the Tamil chronicles

Here we shall digress a little to show why the story of

Ukkracizka, has to be treated as just another of the popular

versions of the Vijaya legend.

The story appears in different versions in six of

the Taniil chronicles, namely the ppa-vaipava-mlai,

at akk4appu-nmiyam, Tri-1c.c ala-pitham, !c ar-kalve u,

Vaiyptal and the Kailyan1lai. It has hardly any historical

foundation and is clearly based on the Vigjaya legend. It appears

that the Vijaya legend found its way into the historical tradition

of the Tamils in this garbled version through the residents of

the northern regions who in course of time became assimilated

to the Taini]. population. The striking resemblances that one

finds between the UkiraciMr story and the story of SithabThu

as given in the Pli and Sinhalese sources cannot be explained

as mere coincidences. The different versions of the story

reveal the stages by which the story of Si4tiabhu became

transformed into that of Uracika.

The a-v&ipava-n1lai has the following version

of the story Ukkiracifika,, a prince of the line of Vijaya'a

1. See supra, pp.337f•.2. pp. 13-22.

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403brother having a leonine face and a human trunk, invaded Ceylon

from North India in the Saka year 717 (A.D. 795) and conquered

half of the island. In the eighth year of his rule in Ceylon,

a Ca princess named rutappirava11i, who had an equine face

and was suffering frém a strange disease, came to Ceylon on a

pi1griine. On the advice of a sage, she bathed in the springs

of !rimalai, in Jaffna. As a result, she was cured of her illness

and her equine face became human. She tarried there for some

time and effected repairs to the temple at that site. One

night, when she was asleep in her camp outside the temple,

she was abducted by tTkkirac1tk who was enchanted by her beauty.

Ukkiraci)rs married her and ruled from Ceñkataka-nakari

(Senk4agala, i.e. Kandy). In time )1rutappiraval1i bore twin

children, a som named Nara-c( 1cs-rca( Skt. Nara-ai4ha-rja),

who had the tail of a lion, and a daughter named Capakvati

(Skt. Campakavat!). Naraci1rca married his own sister and

reigned from Ceñ.kajaka-nRknri after his father's death. It was

during his reign that a blind lutist or ______

came from the Ca country to Ceñk4 alre l.akiri, sang the praises

of the king and obtained the peninsula of Jaffna as his prize.

Thus be became the founder of the kingdom of Jaffna. The story

of Ukkiracifi1ca end8 abruptly with this event.

The character Ukkiracizka, (Skt. Ugra Si$ha) of

this legend, who is described here as a descendant of Si4.habhu,

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409resembles in many ways the lion who is the father of Si*babThu

in the Vijayallegend. In the different versions of this story

one can distinguish the stages by which the lion of the Vijaya

legend becomes transformed into an ordinary hnm ii being. In the

Kailyamlai, on which the author of the a-vaipava-mlai

seems to have depended heavily for his story, we find this

character as a half-leonine and half-human being whose abode

was in a big cave in the hills (kla malai n muficu), to

which he carried away )rutappiravalli when he abducted her

The p!a-vaipava-nlai states that he as well as his son

bad leonine features, but it does not mention that his abode

was a cave In the Vaiypal we find that be is a normal hum'ui

being although his son is said to have possessed certain leonine

features In the Tir*-cala-puram even that elementdisappears altogether In the K!car-ka1veu and the Ma takkajappu

-nmiyam he is confused with K4a and flahsena respectively

With the exception of the last two sources, al]. the others

give the name of this personage as Ukkiraci?tka (Fierce Lion)

or use variants of this name, such as Uira-caciA1c , (Zkt. Ugra

Sena Ziñha and U kira-n-ca-cl , (St. Ugra )1ah Sena Siiha)!

1. tm., p. 2.

2. lviii., pp. 13, 21.

3. !;a. v.15.

e, supra, p.'37

5. y., v.17 ; ., Tampain&c r-patalam, v. 31.

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410This also indicates the mi nner in which the lion of the original

story gradually became a person called Fierce Lion and later Sena

the Great Fierce Lion.

The transformation of the Vaz1.ga princess SuppdevT

of the Vijaya legend into IZrutappiravalli, or £akacavuntari

as she is known in some versions, can also be seen to an extent

in the Tamil versions. In the car-kalveu and. the Maakk4appu-

- 1miyam the Vañga princess becomes a lifiga princess. In the

Kail;anflai, a-vaipava-nilai and the Tiri-kc ala-

puram she becomes a Ca princess That she was 'very fair'

and 'very amorous', like the Vafiga princess is clearly stated

in the a-aipava-n1].ai and is also borne out by the

name £.akacavuntari (Skt. Faka Sundar) in some of the versions.

Just as it is said of £uppdevT in the Mahvaisa that 'alone

she went forth from the house, desiring the joy of independent

life', it is stated that rutappirvaUi went out with her

maidens and led an independent life, but, of course, with a

different mission Like Suppdevt, she was abducted and carried

away to a cave, or palace in some sources, where she bore twin

1. Kk., p. 32 ; p.30.

2. Tym., P . 15 Km., p.2 ; Tapainskar_paalam, v. 3.

3. Mv., 6:3.

k. Mv. 6:li.; Yvm., pp. 15-16.

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411bhildren, a son and a daughter. In the Tiri-k;cala-puram,

car-kalveu and the Vaiypa1 the birth of only a son

is mentioned.

In a similar mxr1ner, it appears that the children

of Ukkiraciñka and )rutappiravaUi are no other than Sihabhu

and Si*hasTvalT, the children of the lion and SuppdevT in the

Vijaya legend. In the !4ahvasa it is stated that SiI?habThu's

1'hands and feet were formed like a lion'. In our sources, the

son of Ukkiraciks, is stated to have had the face and the

tail of a lion2 or only the tail of a lion His name is given

in the Iailyaxn1ai and the ppa-vaipava-n1lii as Nara-c1Mc,-

rca (Skt. Narasiâha Rja = Man-Lion King) in the Vaiypa].

as Ci!ka (Skt. Si$ha = Lion) in the )1aakk4appu-nmiy

and !car-kalveu as Ciñka-kuira (Skt. &ihakumra)= Lion

Prince) while in the Tiri-cala-puram his name appears

with the fulsome epithets CeyatuâIca Vira Pka Vararca Cik

(Skt. Jayatuiiga VTra Bhoga Vara Rja Si4ha)? In a].]. these names

1. !. 6:10.

2. ., v. 18 ;

3. Km., P . 3 ; Yvm., p. 23.

1, • 3; i!.!, p. 23.

5. !•' v. 18.

6. Kk., p. 35; Mm., p. 35.

7. Tampainakar-patalam, v. 32.

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412the element ei*ha (lion) is preserved. Like S1ihabThn, this

prince married his own sister and attained kingship. Although

this prince is the counterpart of S4habhu in our legend,

certain elements of the story associated with Vijaya have also

been included in the story of this prince in the Vaiypal

and the Tirik cala-pur4am. The Vaiypal states that this

prince, Naracifikarca, sent emissaries to Nadurai and sought

the hand of the Pya princess. The princess arrived in Ceylon

with a large retinue of people belonging to the various castes

as well as sixty maidens This reminds us of the wooing of the

Pya princess of Madhur by Vijaya and the arrival of

'craftsmen and a thousand families of the eighteen guilds'

as well as seven hundred maidens The Tiri-cala-puram,

though not containing all these details, states that the son

of Ukkiracii'iktuj married a Pa princess This element in the

story further strengthens our contention that the legend of

tIkkiraci1ra is clearly based on that of Vijaya.

It is interesting to note the position occupied

by this legend in the traditional history of the Tamils of

Ceylon as it is recorded in the Vaiypal, Xai1yalai,

1. !E. TV. 21-22.

2. Mv., 7:55-57.

3. 2• Tanipainakar-paa1am , v • 33.

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413and the avvaiapva-ifl!lai. In theBe sources it is associated

with the beginning of the independent Tamil kingdom in northern

Ceylon in much the same way as the Vijaya legend marks the

beginning of the Sinhalese kingdom in the Sinha].ese sources.

The manner in which the Sinhalese legend came to assume this

position in the traditional history of the Tamils may not be

difficult to explain. The Zinhalese of the Jaffna district, as

we have already seen were at no time completely dislodged by

the Tamils. Many of them probably became assimilated to the

Tanzil population in due course. The story of Vijaya would have

been current among these people at the time of the Tamil settle-

ments0 When the Sinhalese became assimilated to the Tamil population,

a garbled versio@ of the Vi&ya legend would have still

lingered in their memory. At a time when their origins were

forgotten, these people may have used this legend to expktin

the origin of the Tamil kingdom instead of that of the Sinhalese

kingdom. The legend may also have been current among the other

inhabitants of the Jaffna district. Gradually it appears to

have undergone changes that would have made it more suitable

to explain the origins of the Tamil kingdom. Hence the representatiom

of Mrutappiravalli as a Ca princess and Ukkiraci'iii as a

1. See supra,

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414Ca prince, in some of the versions. In the a-vaipava-

iIi and the Kai].yarnlai it ends abruptly and is used to

introduce the story of the blind lutist who is claimed to have

founded the kingdom og Jaffna. This is an attempt to combine

the Ukkiraciñka, legend with the story of the lutist based on

tolk-etymology In the Vaiypal it is used to explain the origin

of the Ta.mil settlements in northern Ceylon and of the Vanni

chieftaincies. Here the activities of some of the early rulers

of the Jaffna kingdom as well as those of the associates of

gha seem to have been attributed to Ukkirac1ik and his son

NaraciA1cnrca. This is why some are &nc]..ixied to think that

UkkiraciMt of the Tamil chroniles is gha Gaanapragasar

has attempted to identify him with JayabThu, the associate of

)gba

Among the other elements in the Ukkiraci?'ktin story

are those derived from folk-etymology. One of these is the

account of Xavi VTra Rkava (Poet Vira 4ghava), a blind

or (lutist). It is said that this lutist

visited the court of Naraci1rirca,, sang a panegyric on him

1. See infra, p.l-'-O

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The rya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 191.

3. S.Gnanapragasar, pa-vaipava-vimarcan, p. 6k.

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415and obtained the arid peninsula of Jaffna as his prize. He then

invited settlers from South India, gave them lands in that

peninsula and ruled ever them, thus becoming the founder of

the Tamil kingdom of Jaffna. Since it was founded by a

the kingdom was named Thpam This is the traditional account

of the foundation of the kingdom of Jaffna. It has been rejected

by all serious scholars as lacking any historical basis We

are inclined to agree with Gnanapragasar that this story is

based partly on the popjlar etymology of the name T1pp 4am (Jaffna),

a Tamilised form of the Sinhalese name Tp-pauna, and o4 the

story of the blind South Indian poet Kavi V!ra Rkava, who

lived in the sixteenth or seventeenth century Unfortunately

the earliest forms of the name flppam are not known. This

makes it difficult to trace the process of Tamilisation. The

early forms of the name, as recorded in the South Indian

inscriptions are : a) Iy1ppam (lk35) b) flppam (1532 1)

flp 4am (i6Ok) c) ppa-paaaa (1685)? d) Iyalpa-tcam (l7l5)

. pp. 23-2k.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya Kingdom of North Ceylon', pp. 176, 201-202;

S. Gnanapragasar, a-vaipava-vimaraa,c, pp. 15-19.

3. S.Gnanapragaaar, a-vaipava-vimarcan, p. 18.

14 S.I.I., VU, No.778.

5. LE.It. for 1916, No. 61k of 1915.

6.J.Burgess, Tamil and Sanskrit Inscriptions, Setupati Grant No.1, p.62.

7. Ibid., Setupati Grant No.9, p. 81.

8. Ibid., S tupati Grant N .L0,

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416a) Ypia-tcam (173k) 1and g) !pam (173k) The earliest occurrence

of this name in the Sinhalese sources is around ].k50, in the

sanda poems of the time of Parkramabhu VI The form in

these poems is I-pauna. In all the Sinhalese works tifl

the British period this form has been retained without change.

In the Tamil chronicles the name occurs in the present form of

Yppam, except in one instance in the Vaiypal when the

form rAfram occurs' This exception is evidently a copyist's

erroz, for there are several orthographic mistakes in the

Vaiypal. In the Portuguese works the form Jafanapata is

common According to de ueyroz, 'its name without corruption

is said to be Jafana-en-Putalam, which means the 'Town of the

Lord Jafaxia', and is the name of him who first peopled it'

Jafana-en-Putalam has been restored as

(the Town of Tppa)? De ueyroz also mentions another

1. J.Burgess, Tarnil and Sanskrit Inscriptions, Setipati Grant No. 13,p. 90.

2. Ibid., Setupati Grant No.1k, p. 93.

3. Gir-sanda, v. 138; Kki1a-sanda, v. 263; Slalihini-sanda,

v. 29.

k. ., v.

5. F. as Queyroz, . cit., p.k7.

6. Ibid., pp. k7.-k8.

7. id., p. 11.7, fri. 1.

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417derivation of the name and that is 'Jafanapatanature, which

means long harbour' It is not slear how Jafanapatanoture could

be interpreted to mean long harbour. S.G.Perera has suggested

that it may be Tva-paaattuLai meaning deep harbour

This is not very convincing. From the first interpretation

given by de Q3teyroz it appears that in the period of Portuguese

rule the legend of the or lutist was already current

among the people. In the Dutch records there are several forms

of the name, among which Jaffnapatam is common By the time

of the British rule the final element was dropped and the place

came to be known only as Jaffna. The present Sinhalese name of

Jaffna, namely seems to be a recent form derived from

Aflppam. It does not occur in any of the Sinhalese works

before the nineteenth century. We do not agree with Gnanapragasar

that fllppam is a Tamilised form of Tpan4.nd that the latter

form is a variant of np-paçuna Gnanapragasar 's opinion that

!p5-pauna is only a Sinhalese translation of the name Nalilir,

which is now applied to aprt of Jaffna town where the last

1. F.de Queyroz, . cit., p. k8.

2. Ibid., p. k8, fu. 1.

3. l4emoirs of Rijckloff van Goens, 1665, Tr, S.Pieters, Colonibo, 1910,

p. 105.

Ii. • S. Gnanapragasar, Y pa-vaipava-vimarc an, p • 18.

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418rulers of the Tanill kingdom had their court, is also imacceptable

It seems improbable that the $inhaleee translation of the name

of a city founded by the Tamul rulere of Jaffna came to be so

popularly accepted by the Tamula who applied it not only to the

city but also to the whole peninsula and to the entire district.

From the early forms that we have shown above, it appears that

the £ixihalese Tp-pauna first became flppa-paaam, then

Yppam and then Yppam. By about the first bale of the

fifteenth century, when we get the earliest recorded form of

this name in Taniil, the form Ippam seems to have been current.

The earlier form Yppa-paa4am, however, continued to be in

use as late as the seventeenth century. Paranavitana's attempt

to derive in the name flp-pauna, from Jv is not

convincing The element y may be either the Sinhalese word

meaning good, as in flpahuva (Pli Subhapabbata), or the title

used by Sinhalese princes in medieval times, the variant of

In a medieval inscriptional document entitled Mgha-vttnta,

the discovery and contents of which were announced by Paranavita.na

1. S.Gnanapragasar, p. 18.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The Lya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 202.

3. U.C.E.C., I, pt. 2, p. 732.

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419recently, there oceurs the name Subha-patana which is identified

as Jaffna The same name occurs, according to Paranavitana, in

a pa].impsest inscription from Anurdhapura dated aka 121].

(A.D. l289) Subha-paana is a direct translation of the

Sinhalese name Yp-pauna an& seems to provide a clue to the

meaning of this place-name. If subha is not just a wishful

rendering into Sanskrit of the Sinhalese element yp in these

inscriptions, then we may well accept the meaning of the place-

name as the 'good port'. But Paranavitana's account of the nature

of these records and the manner of their discovery throws much

doubt on their authenticity and even their exiatence Until

these inscriptions are peroperly edited and. published, it is

impossible to base any argument on their evidence.

1. S.Paranavitana, 'Newly Discovered Historical Documents

Relating to Ce1on, India and South-east Asia', Paper

read on k.l1.196k at the University of Ceylon, Peradeiya,

Ceylon (unpublished). See infra, p4..c2. S.Paranavitana, 'An inscription from Padaviya', J.R.A.S. (C.B.),

N.S., VIII, pt. 2, p. 26i, fn. 13; see supra, p. #.oI

3. See infra, p.4$i

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42

Although we are inclined to believe that the Tami].

name Yppam is only a rendering of the Sinhaleae Tp-pauna,

it must be admitted that this derivation is not certain. The

earliest forms of this name in both Sinhalese and Tamil occur

around the same time, the Tanii]. form occurring nearly fifteen

years earlier than the first recorded Sinhalese form. It may

well be that the Sinhaleae name is just a Sinhalese rendering

of a Tamil name which may or may not be associated with the

term But this seems unlikely. It is more likely

that Y ppani is one of the large number of Tamilised forms

of Sinhalese toponyms in the Jaffna peninsula.

The other element that has gone into the creation

of the legend is the story of the blind poet Vra

Rkavar, wh lived in the sixteenth -or seventeenth century.

He is said to have visited the court of one of the laat kings

of Jaffna who bore the consecration name of Pararcackara,

1and received an elephant and a plot of land as gifts. While

the earlier work Kailyamlai does not mention the name of

the lutist or that he was blind, the a-vaipava-mlai

names him as VTra Rkavar and states that be was blind

1. S.Gnenapragasar, a-vaipava-viniarcan, pp. 16-18 ;

S.Kiim' racuvarni, 'Vaa }1katt4a Cila Iappeyarkaji Vara1u',

pa-vaiyava-kaumuti, op. cit., p. 127.

2. !vm., p. 23.

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421This statement is evidently due to the confusion of the story

of the lutist created by popular etymologists and the later

story of the blind poet. The whole story of the blind otist

has to be treated as a mere legend devoid of any historical

basis O1tii.'r tt c.vtr4 o+L \Pçv.

Another element of folk-etymology in the UkkiraciMc

legend is the story of the equine-faced )TArutappiravalli. While

this charqcter is based on Suppdev of the Vijaya legend, certain

features in the story are based on the popular etymology of the

place-name Nvifapuram, in Jaffna. In the pa-vaipava-nilai

an ingenious derivation has been given to this place-name It

is stated that it was so named by Mrutappira'valli on account

of the miraculous change her equine face underwent near that

place (Tamil n= horse, vita = left, puram = city - The

City where the (face of the ) Horse Left). As Gnanapragaaar

has explained, }viapuram seems to be a Tnnrilised form of

the Sinhalese name M-vata-'rra The change of the Sinhalese element

v!ra into puram in Tamil is demonstrated in several names in

the Jaffna peninsula

Besides these main elements, several others drawü

from a number of folk tales can be found in the different versions

1. Tvm., p. 19.

2 • S . Gnanapragasar, a-vaipava-vimarc an, p • 13.

3. Ibid.

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422of the Ukkiracika story. One of them, for instance, is the

story of the legendary Pya princess with three breasts named

Taftakai. In the versions where ?rutappirava1li's name is

given as *akacavuntari, she is said to have had the epithet

Mummulai (Three Breasted) This physical abnormality, the

Amazonian natire of the two princesses as well as the similarity

of the namTatakai and Aaka suggest some affinity between

the two legends As we have already pointed out, some other elements

in the story of iakaavuntari are based on the account of

VihradevT as found in the hvasa

In this mrner it could be shown that the story of

Ukkiraci.ka, in the Tamil chronicles baa no historical basis

and is only another garbled version of the Vijaya legend with

elements from popular etymology and several other folk tales.

In our opinion it has to be rejected outright. Any argument

for the existence of a Tamil kingdom in Jaffna before the

thirteenth century based on this legend is unacceptable.

Rasanayagam has further argued the continued

existence of the kingdom of Jaffna in the twelfth century on

1. ., p. 32.

2 • S . Gnanapragasar, a-vaipava-vimarc aam, p • 10.

3. See supra,

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423the basis of certain references in the literary sources.

The Ariyadesa referred to in the Clllavaqisa as the place from

where a king named Vradeva invaded Ceylon in the time of

VikramabThu I (1111-1132) is identified by him with Jaffna

This reference in the Pli chronicle, as Paranavitana has indicated,

is to a country outside Cey1on Probably it was a kingdom in

India Rsanayagam' a argtments for the rule of Tamil kin€s in

Jaffna in the twelfth century, based on the late Tamil-nvalar-

caritai and the £a-matala-catakam, are also unacceptable. As

Paranavitana baa stated, neither of these works can be consideredifas having been written in the twelfth century. The reference

to Koumpu (Colombo) in the verses attributed to Pukanti

1. C. Rasanayagam, . P. 286.

2. S.Paramavitana, 'The Arya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 187.

3. The C1avaisa states that V!radeva was a sovereign of

Palandpa, (Cv., 61:37). The only Paladlpa that we hear of

in our sources in this period is the Maldives, which are

re referred to as PaantIvu in the Ca inscriptions (s.I.I., II, p. 91)

But it is very unlikely that the two are one and the same place.

if. C.Rasanayagam, . cit., pp. 2811_286;

S.Paranavitana, 'The irya Kingdom of North Ceylon', pp. 187-188.

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424in the Tamil-n!valar-caritai and the reference to Kai (Kandy)

in the other work showethat the evidence of these works is

unreliable for the events of the twelfth century, for both places

were known by that name only after the ixteentb century

Rasanayagan's identification of Zbg with Jaffna in order to

argue for the existence of an independent kingdom in Jaffna in

earlier than the thirteenth century is also erroneous Zbg

of the Arab writers, as is well known to students of the history

of South-east Asia, corresponds to Jvaka (Sumtra or Nalay

Peninsula) and. not to a place in Ceylon.

Certain Ca inscriptions of the eleventh century

refer to the defeat of death of six Ceylonese kings at the

hands of the Ca rulers. These kings are Yikramabhu (Ilaikaiyar-

kn -King of the Ceylonese) Vikrama-pçiya. (I1a.kcura -

Lord of Ceylon) VTra-cai1nka (Cik4attaraica, - King of

SiAh$a C!rvailava-mataarija, (attaraica - King of Ceylon)

1. C.Rasanayagam, . cit., p. 287 ;

2. Ibid., pp. 81, 192.

3. S.I.I., III, p. 5k.

k. Ibid.

5. Ibid.

6. Ibid.

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d2

Vra-ca1nika, (Ka1ifikar-ma - King of the Ka1igas) 1 and

1parata (I1atkaiyarkkiaiva - Lord of the Ceyloneee)

It has been possible to identify the first three kings as

three of the rulers of Robaa mentioned in the Cttlavaisa

The identification of the others presents some difficulty.

Rasanayagam and Gnanapragaear have attempted to overcome this

difficulty by arguing that they were rulers of Jfffl

But

there is no justification for such an identification. Nowlire

in the Ceylonese o South Indian sources do we get any reference

to the existence of a kingdom in Jaffna which reáisted the Ca

occupation. On the other hand, after A.D. 1017, the northern

half of the island was securely in the hands of the Cas and

it was in the south that they encountered opposition. The

rulers mentioned in the Ca records were probably in control

of parts oS southern Ceylon. As we know from the Ctllavarjisa, there

were several petty rulers in the south during the period of

Ca rule, offering resistance to the foreigners The fact that

1. S.I.I., III, p. 61.

2. Ibid.

3. U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, pp. kl8-k20.

k. C.Rasanayagam, .cit., pp. 278-28k ;

S.Gnanapragasar, a-vaipava-vimarcan, pp. 52-53.

5. Cv., 56 & 57.

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426some of them are not mentioned in the Clavasa is no argument

to treat them as rulers of a kingdom in the north, the existence

of which is nowhere mentioned.

The arguments of Rasanayagam and Gnanapragasar for

the existence of an independent kingdom in Jaffna before the

thirteenth century are, therefore, untenable. Rasanaysgam's

methods of historical analysis are wholly unsatisfactory and,

therefore, it is unnecessary to examine all his other arguments

besides those pointed out above. Many of these are based on

erroneous identification of place-names on the strength of

superficial similarities without regard to chronology or relevant

historical facts, as shown by some of the examples above. A

number of unidentified or unnamed places in some of the literary

sources and inscriptions are used as evidence for his theories

by a process of argument that they have been' or 'ought to

have been' Jaffna. ror instance, it is stated in the VTdileri

plates of Clukya KTrtivarman II, dated A.D. 757, that

Vinayditya Satyaraya levied tribute from the 'rulers of Kvera,

Praika, Sih4a and other islands ' According to Rasanayagam,

'by the words 'other islands' were meant ¶Jaffna and its dependent

islands' and it can be inferred that a separate king was ruling

over th5Ifl' This is a conclusion unwarranted by the statement in

1. L.Rice, 'The Chalulyaa and Pallavas', l.A., VIII, Jan. 1879, p.28.

2. C. Raeanayagam, . E • p. 239.

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427the inscription. Similarly, the conquest of the 'old islands of

the sea numbering twelve thousand' by Rjarja I, lie says, 'Lust

indubitably refer to the Jaffna is1ande' In. his opinion, the

Maldives and the Laccadives were the dependent islands of JafZna

Such methods of historical analysis, it is needless to say, need

not be taken seriously.

The paucity of references to the Jaffna region in

our sources may suggest that this area was not of much significance

in the island. The few references that we come across in the

Pli chronicle seem to suggest that it was part of the Sinhalese

kingdom till the twelfth century. The authority exercised by

DevThampiya Tiasa over this region in the third century B.C.

is indicated by the account of his reign in the Mahvaisa

The port of Jainbukola in the Jaffna peninsula was under the

control of the Sinha].eae monarch and it is stated that he built

the Jambukola vihra there. There is no mention of that region

having been ruled by any other independent monarch at that time.

Ls Paranavitana has suggested, it appears that this northern

region, whicli was then known as NgadTpa,was administered by

1. C.Rasanayagam, . £•' p. 239.

2. Ibid., p. 262.

3. flv., 11:23, 38; 18:8; 19:23 ff., 60; 20:25.

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428a provincial governor who seems to have held the title of

Tparja The evidence for this is the reference in the- 2Sammohavinodan! to a prince ca].ledDTparaja ruling over N5gadpa.

There is also a reference in one of the pre-Christian BrhmI

inscriptions at Mihintal to a certain DTpara who was the son

of a king of Anurdhapura DTparja was probably the title of

the governor of Ngadpa. That Ngadpa was undoubtedly a

province of the Anurdhapura kingdom in the second century A.D.

is clearly established by the gold plate inscription found at

Vallipuram in Jaffna This inscription informs us that in the

time of Vasabha (67-111), Nakadiva (1 acI!pa) was administered

by a minister (amete) of that king. In the P.li chronicle there

are only a few references to NgadTpa. Sometimes for long periods

there is no mention of this palce at all. Such silence is explained

by Rasanayagam in an incredible m1iner. To him, 'the presuiirption

therefore, is that in those years the northern principality was

quite independeiit and quiet' It is a well-known fact that the

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 189.

2. SammohavinodanT, P.T.S. ed. , p. k43.

3. U.C.H.C., I, pt.]., p.229. In No.231 of 1930/31 (M.E.L for 1930/31)

a subordinate of I?Ajendra I is called DTpattaraiya (Skt. dv!parja).It is not known whether he as associated with Jaffna in any way.

li. See supra, p.'1O-

5. C. Raaaiiayagam, 2. • p. 66.

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429P11 chronicle deals mainly with the rulers at Anurdhapura and

the later capitals and does not inform us of what happened in

the other parts of the island, except when the affairs of these

parts affected the course of events at the centre. The silence

of the CbroniJ,e on matters regarding gad!pa, Rohaa and

Ka].yIi is no argument to say that these regions of the island

were independent. From time to time, when the rulers of Anurdha-

pura built a vihra or sent troops either to suppress rebellions

or to repel invaders, the northern district finds mention in

the Chronicle. In the seventh century, for instance, when

Aggabodhi II (60k-6ik) presented the Ualomagbra temple to

the Rjyatanadhtu vihra and an umbrella to the 4mlacetiya,

both in NgadIpa, the event was considered to b& important

and has been recorded in the Chronicle In the time of Silt-

meghavaa (619-628), when Siringa attempted to take possession

of Uttaradesa, of which adtpa formed a part, the king

promptly advanced to that district and regained control of it

In the time of Nahinda II (777-797), when the district chiefs

of Uttaradesa revolted, they were immediately crushed by the

king At this time Uttaradesa appears to have been under a

]..Cv., 42:62.

2. Ibid., 44:70-75.

3. Ibid., 48:83-85.

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430prince of Anuridhapura, who had the title of Idipda In the

time of Nahinda IV (956-972), when a Vallabha ruler invaded Ngadpa,

the king sent an army from &nurdhapura to fight him. Nahinda' a

troops were able to free that part of the kingdom from the

South Indian invader In the eleventh century, Vijayabhu I restored

the ancient Jambukola vihira in N gadpa These references in

the Pli chronicle show that the northernmost part of the island

was considered to be an integral section of the Sinhalese

kingdom and treated as such by the rulers of Anurdbapura and

Polonnaruva. The evidence of the later inscriptions also shows

that in the twelfth century, too, Jaffna was under the control

of the Polonnaruva rulers. In that century, Parkramabhu I had

strong naval bases at ttuai (rtoa now layts), MaivLL

(Naffuvil) and VallikAmam (Val(kmam), all situated in the

western part of the Jaffna peninsula, According to the Tiruvlañgu

inscription of jdhirja Ca II (1178), Parkramabhu built

ships and assembled troopsin these places in order to launch

an attack on the Ca kimgdom A Tamil inscription from NaitTvu,

L. Cv., 448:155.

2. Ibid., 511:12-15; W.N.LWijetunga, 'Who was Vallabha, the invader

of North Ceylon', TJ.C.R., XX, pt.2, Oct. 1962, pp. 287-291.

3. Cv., 60:60.

44. V.Venkataaubba Liyyar, 'Tiruvalangadu Inscription of Rjdiiirja II',

E.I., xxxi, pp. 86-92.

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431an island off the peninsula of Jaffna, contains an edict promulgated

by Parkramabhu These inscriptions attest to the autbority

wielded by Parkramabhu over the northernmost parts of the

island. Thus we see that whatever little evidence is available

to us regarding the Jaffna district indicates that it was part

of the kingdom ruled by the kings of Anurdhapnra and Polonnaruva.

There is no evidence to suggest that it was independent at any

time during the historical period before the thirteenth century.

We are informed by the Sinhalese sources that in

the thirteenth century gha had fortifications at rtoa

(Pli Sllkaratittha), besides several others in northern eylon

This would mean that in the early part of that century Jafmna

was under the rule of the monarch at Po].onnaruva. ?gha was

the last ruler of Polonnaruva who wielded authority over the

whole of RIjaraba. Re is known to have been ruling at Polonnaruva

at least till l236 We may, therefore, reasonably conclude that

at least up to 1236 there was no independent kingdom in the

Jaftna district. The earliest definite mention of the kingdom

of Jaffna is in the travelogue of Ibn Batuta, who visited the

1. E.Indrapaa, . cit. p. 70.

2. See supra,

3. See infra, -p.4.

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432kindoin in 13kk It must have been, therefore, founded before

that date Hence we have to place the foundation of the kingdom

of Jaffna between 1236 and 13 L 4. An emination of the events

of this period should help us to narrow down these limits and

to understand the circumstances that led to the rise of the

new kingdom.

We have already pointed out the significance of the

invasion of I4gha and of the events of his regis in the bistorl

of the island !gha began his rule at Poloanaruva in 1215.

It is agreed that he was still ruling there in 1236 when

Par]cramabThu II ascended the throne at Dabadeiya But there

has been some amount of difficulty in determining the date

of his defeat and the duration of his reign. The CUavaisa

gives the length of his rule as twenty-one years In the

Pjva1iya, too, it is generally given as twenty-one years, but

in one version it appears as nineteen (ekunvisi) years It has

1. See supra, p. L-0.

2. See infra, p.Ji ; if the palinrpsest inscription of

Ca.ndrabhnu at Anurdhapura, discovered by Paranavitana, is

authentic, the lower limit for the foundation of the kingdom of

Jaffna can be advanced to 1289.

3. See supra,

lf• tT.C.H.C., I, pt.2, pp. 616, 8119.

5. Cv., 80:79.

6. Pv., p.109; U.C.K.C., I, pt.2, p. 8119.

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433

been suggested that this may be an error for twenty-one (ekvisi)

This explanation is palusible for the Pt!jvaliya, in another

place, seems to imply that }gha was in occupation of Ijaraha

for twenty-one years when Parkrarnabhu II ascehded the throne2(1236)

If we are to accept the evidence of the chronicles, we have

to conclude that Ngha's reign ended in 1236, some time after

the accession of Parkramabhu II. It is not stated in our sources

how gha met his death or how his reign came to an end. In the

account of Parkramabhu's campaign against the Dami.a a2d

Ker4a forces, it is claimed that the mercenaries were completely

routed but no mention is made of the fate of ?gha What then

happened to Igha 2 Did he die in 1236 or later 7 Was he defeated

by the Sinhalese army or did he meet his death before the final

debc1e2 These are questions to which our sources do not provide

any definite answer. It has been suggested that ?gha's rule did

not end in 1236, although the C1lavazsa and the P1!jva1iya have

allowed him only a reign of twenty-one years According to this

view, ParkramabThu II, unlike his father,Vijayabhu III,

proclaimed himself as the sole monarch of Ceylon in 1236.

1. U.C.E.C., I, pt.2, p. 8149.

2. Py., p.116 ; aae_.iu,.-.

3. Cv., 83.20 ff. ; Pv., p. 117.

U.C..C., I, pt.2, pp. 620, 621, 8k9 ; A.Liayauagamag!, 'Decline

of Polonnaruva and the Rise of Da1tbadeiya', thesis submitted

to the University of London, 1963.

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434It is, therefore, explained that the 'historians who wrote under

Parkraniabhu II would thus have reckoned }1gha'e reign as

having terminated with the accession of their sovereign, even

though IZgha continued to maintain his position in the Rjaraha

for several years after This seems to be a reasonable e

explanation, for the silence of our sources regarding the fate

of Igha casts some doubt as to whether his reign really ended

in the year when Parkramahãhu's accession took place. 1f

?4gha had died or left Ceylon in that year, the chronicles

would not have failed to mention this. It is, therefore, very

likely that gha continued to rule even after 1236, although

the Sinhalese historians did not recognise him as a legal ruler

of Ceylon after that date.

This brings us to the question of when }Zgha's rule

really ended. Paranavitana and Liyanagamage are inclined to

think that )gha continued to rule in Polonnaruva until 3255

and that he was finally defeated by the Sinhalese armies in that

year Paranavitana bases his arguments on two considerations.

Firstly, he says: 'the Pjvaliya definitely states that igha

bad been ruling at Polonnaruva for forty years before he was

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. 8119.

2. Ibid., p. 621 ; A.Liyanagarnage, .

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435obliged to abandon it ' This would mean that 'Zgha abandoned

Polonnaruva in or about l255' But there is room for doubting

that the figure 'forty' in the Pvaliya statement is •orrect.

In the first place, the campaign against the Dem4a and N$ala

forces, in connection with which the reference to the forty-year

occupation oceurs, is dealt with in the PJvaliya before the

the campaign against Candrabhlnu, which took place in l2i7.

The Ctt].avasa, too, deals with the two campaigns in this order.

If we assume that the campaign against gha's forces took place

in 1255 after the invasion of Candrabhnu, it is difficult to

explain why the two chronicles chose to deal with them in the

reverse order. It is not possible to argue that at this point

'the chronicles do not follow a chronological order in dealing

with the various campaigns' for the P!jIvaliya specifically

states that the invasion of Candrabhnu took place at a time

when the island of LAk was freed of the foreign enemies and

rehabilitation was being undertaken in the country (mes Lakdiva

parasaturan sdh raa samruddha karave min jti kalhi) This

shows that the chroniclers was consciously placing the defeat

1. TJ.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, pp. 620-621.

2. Ibid., P. 621.

3. Ibid.

Pv., p. 117.

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43iof Ngha's forces before the invasion of Candrabhnu. Secondly,

the C!fllavaisa judiciously avoids any mention of the forty-year

occupation, although this work is later than the P'jvaliya

and its accouut of the campaign against the forces of )gha is

remarkably similar to that of the P11jvaliya. This, too, casts

some doubt on the validity of the Pjvaliya statement. It is,

therefore, possible that the figure 'forty' in the statement of

the P11jva1iya is a mistake. It may also be possible that

MAgha was ousted from Polonnaruva before l2k7 but his forces were

not completely routed till 1255. The forty-year occupation may

refer to the presence of the enemy in the northern parts of

Ceylon and not to MAgha's rule in Polonnaruva.

Parana'uitana's second argument in favour of 1255

as the date of MAgha's defeat is that

If we take that Polonnaru and the Rjaraftha wererecovered by Parkramabhu before l2k7, in which yearthe invasion of Candrabhnu was repulsed, he had no enemiesto contend with until the second invasion of Cand.rabbnu,which, as will be shown later, occurred in or about 1260,and the P4ya invasions, the first of which was in orabout 125k. He was, therefore4 free on this supposition,to realise his ambition of being crowxied at Polonnaru,and of restoring the Tooth Relic to its ancient shrineat that city. But, for about ten or fifteen years afterthe first defeat of Candrabbnu, Parkramabhu paid noattention toolonnaru. All his religious and otheractivities during these years were in the MAyraf a, orin the south-western or central districts of the Island.The reason for this must have been that Polonnarurwasstill in the hands of the enemy, who abandoned it afteran occupation of forty years, as stated by the PUjva1!,in 1255. 1

1. U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p. 621.

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43?This is not quite convincing. During the whole period of his r

reign, Parkramabihu had to contend with a number of enemies.

First ?1gha, then Candrabhnu and possibly the Pyas as we

shall see later, gave constant trouble to the Sinhalese ruler.

If one asks why Parkramabhu failed to hold his coronation at

Polonnaruva between 12k7 and 125k when there were no foreign

invasions, one may also ask why he failed to achieve that

between 1255 and 1260 when, according to Paranavitana, Parkrama-

bhu bad freed Polonnaruva of the enemy. The date of Candrabhtnu's

second invasion is not definitely known to be 1260. Some place

it in 1262 and some others later on If we accept 1262, the time

lapse between 12k7 and 125k is almost the same as that between

1255 and 1262. If during the seven-year period between 12k7

and 125k Parkramabhu was pnevented from realising his ambition

by !gha'a presence in Polonnaruva, what prevented him from

achieving his aim during the seven-year period from 1255 andb.CAtler

1262, whenIgha o2, any other enemy was at Polonnaruva I It is

not possible , therefore, to argue that )gha was ruling at

Poloxinaruva till 1255 on the basis that Parkramabhu failed

to hold hid coronation in that city before 1255. As we shall

aee later on, whether )Zgha was defeated in 1255 or before 12117,

what is important is that the Sinhalese rulers could not get

1. A.Liyanagmge, 2•

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438rid of the foreign enemy from northern Ceylon after the fall

of Polonnaruva. The enemies were there even after 1262. Northern

Ceylon had permanently slipped out of the hands of the Sinhalese

rulers in 1215. As we shall see in the sequel, what made it

possible for Parkramabhu to enter Polonnaruva in 1262

was apparently the temporary subjugation of the enemy in northern

Ceylon by the Pyas. This, more than any other factor, prevented

ParkramabThu not only from holding his coronation but also

from restoring Polonnaruva to its pristine position.

We are, therefore, inclined to think that the

defeat of ?gha and his forces took place before the first

invasion of Candrabhnu in 12k7. )gha was ousted from Polonnaruva

possibly not long before that event. Hi forces may have continued

to resist in their fortifications in Rjaraha even after that

date.

The inha1ese sources do not inform us that ?gha

was killed in battle by the Sinhalese. It appears that )1gha

was only dislodged from Polonnaruva but not ousted completely

from Rjaraffha. However, we have no evidence at all as to

what happened to gha or about the events in Rjaraha

after his defeat. In a].]. probability, }gha and his associates

established their authority somewhere in the northernmost part

of the island. In 12k?, some time after the defeat of }1gha,

Candrabhnu invaded Ceylon. He was defeated by ParkramabThu

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439and driven away from the Sinhalese kingdom We do not know what

Candrabhnu was doing between this event and hi second abortive

attempt to capture power in the Sinhalese kingdom, which probably

took place in l262 Between the defeat of gha and the second

invasion of Candrabhnu certain important events seem to have

taken place in northern Ceylon. The Sinhalese chronicles mention

nothing of these events. But the information contained in some

o the contemporary P4ya inscriptions, inadequate though it

may be, helps us to extent in conjecturing the course of events.

The inscriptions of Javarma, Sundara Ipya I,

from the year 1258, refer to a P4ya invasion of Ceylon whichpresumably took place before 125S No details of this invasion

1. The invasions of Candrabhnu have been discussed in great

detail in the unpublished thesis of A.Liyanagamage mentioned

above.

2, Paranavitana dates this event in 1260 (U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p.621),

Krom in 126k (Ned. Kon. Akad. van Wetenschappen, Afd. Letterkunde,

Deel 62, Serie B. Nd.5, pp. 8-9) and Coed&s in 1256 (B.K.I. ,

83, pp. 1f59-472). Liyanagamage (. cit.) has discussed

these views and dated the event in 1262. We are inclined to

accept this.

3. There is no evidence to date this event to 125k.

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440are given except for the fact that Sundara P4ya exacted tributefrok the Ceylonese ruler The Sinhalese chronicles make no mention

of this invasion. It has been surmised by Paranavitana that

there was an alliance between the Sinhaleae and the Pyas

and that Sundara Pya invaded Ceylon to give assistance to

Parkramabhu against gha According to him, 'the silence of

the monks who chronicled these events with regard to the

assistance which their patron received atrom a great Tamil

power for subduing a band of Thmil and Nalayi mercenaries

is easily understandableZ Ee also contends that Ngha was in

league with the Cas ' But there is hardly any evidence for

such alliances between Ceylonese and South Indian rulers at

this time. In support of his conclusion Paranavitana adduces

the statement in the chronicles that the monarchs of foreign

lands bad come under the influence of Parkramabbu But it

must be remembered thatParanavitana himself has stressed that

the account of Parkramabhu's campaign against 1gha in the

chronicles, 'given by monks who wished to glorify their patron,

1. Sen Tainil, IV, pp. 51+-5l6; K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The

Kingdom, p. 162 ; LE.R. for 189k, No. 166 of 189k.

2. TJ.C.H.C.,I, pt. 2, p. 621

3. Ibid.

4 Ibid., . 622.

5. Ibid., p. 621.

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441is meant for those who were accustomed to believing without

iuestion anything stated by the+nd does not carry conviction

to a critical historian of toda.y' In the light of this

much credence cannot be attached to the statement that foreign

monarchs came under the influence of Parkramabhu. Further

Paranavitana tries to identify the Ceylonese prince Parkramabhu,

who died fighting for the Cas in South India in 1230, with

Parkramabhu Niafika MaU.a of the Pa44uvasuuvara Tamil

inscription The latter is termed i1añkaikk (King of

'South Ceylon') in this inscription. On this basis Paranavitana

argues that 'if the ruler of South Ceylon took the side of the

enemies of the C2a empire, it is reasonable to infer that gha

ranged himself on the side of the Coas' The unlikelihood

of this contention has been fully demonstrated by Liyanagamaget

It has also been pointed out in an article on the Pai4uvasnuvara

inscription that Parkramabhu Niik' Nalla of that record

is no other than the K1iiga ruler NlMai3.ka Nalla who reigned

in the twelfth century When the Pauvasnuvara inscription

1. U.C..C., I, pt.2, p. 620.

2. Ibid., p. 622.

3. Ibid.

k. A.Liyanagamage, £. £•5. X.Kanapathi Pillai, 'A Tamil Inscription From Pa4uvasnuvara',

U.C.R., XVIII, No.1,3 & 11, July-Oct. 1960, p. 157 ft.

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442expressly mentions that the Parkramabhu in whose reign it

was set up had the surname Niki Malla it is not clear why

Paranavitana prefers to identify him with another ParkramabThu

who is known to us only from a South Indian inscription. 'om

his Siniialese inscriptions we know that Ni Aka Malla had the

name ParAkrainabThu as wel1 Since it has been discussed elsewhere

in detail, we do not propose to enter into a discussion of this

point. But we would like to point out here that it it erroneous

to take Teilakai to mean the southern part of Ceylon and, on

that basis, to build up a theory of the ruler of South Ceylon

ranging himself on the side of the enemies of the Cas and the

ruler of North Ceylon tk1-rg the side of the Cas. Tei1afkai

has been used in Tamil literature as well as in inscriptions

1. S.Paranavitana, 'A Slab Inscription of NitaM )ialla at Polonnaru,

wrongly attributed to Viayabhu II', E.Z., V, pt.2, p.202.

2. a) Tiru-flacampantar Tvra Tiruppatikaikaj, Ka 1aka ed., No.243,

p. 520 (7th century); b) Cuntarar Tiruppatikam, No.147 (c.8th century

c) ikkavcakar Tiruv'cakam, ed. C.Pillai (Mad. 1949), p. 326j

Cc. 9th century); 4) M.E.R. for 1923, No.505 of 1922 (12th century);

e) M.E.R. for 1915, No.406 of 1914 (13th century); f) mid., No.407

of 1914 (13th century); g) ., Ciappuppyirani & v.k, p.k (c.l5th

century); h) Km., P . 6 (c.l6th century); i) ., vv.90 , 91 (c.l6th

century); j) ., pp. 18, 170 (c.l8th century); k) Mni., Tta.,-

ka1veu, p. 18 Cc. 18th century).

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443almost always in poetry, for a long time since the seventh

century. In all these instances this name stands for the whole

of Ceylon and not for any part of it. The name IlsAki was also

used for some places in south India, besides Ceylon The

prefix tea,, meaning south, was used to distinguish Ceylon from

the other Ila.kais. In the early centuries of the Christian

2era, one of the South Indian Ilañkais had the prefix n (-ilki).

In the Ca period, we find that it had the prefix uttara,

meaning north (Uttara Laz.k) The Lek in the south was, therefore,

known as Te-ilakai (Lañk in the South). Perhaps the best

example that one can show to prove that Te-ilkii does not

stand for the southern part of Ceylon only is its occurrence

in the ailyanilai. In this Tamil chronicle of Ceylon, one of

the kings of Jaffna with the throne or consecration name of

Cekarcacka.ra is styled CekarcaTei1añkai mapav (Cekarca,

the king of Teilakai) No one would contend that the king of

the northern part of the island is here referred to as the king

of southern Ceylon. What is really meant is that the ln.g of

Jaffna is the monarch of the whole of Ceylon. Teilafkei, in

1. See supra, p. 32.

2. Thid.; there was also a }yilafigai in }'sore, E.G., III, pp.1k7-].kB.

3. M.E.R. for 1913, No.77 of 1913; K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Cas,

p. kk3, n83.

k. Km., p. 6.

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441this instance, stands undoubtedly for the whole of Ceylon. In

the Pauvasnuvara inscription, too, as in all the other instances,

it stands for the whole island. It is, therefore, difficult

to accept Paranavitana's theory that Parkramabhu of the

South Indian inscription, mentioned above, was a king of

southern Ceylon who aided the enemies of the Cas. Consequently

there is no basis for the theory that the P4ya invasion that

took place some time before 3258 was aimed at assisting Parkrama-

bhu Iiagainst Ngha, the aUeged Ca ally.

The silence of the Sinhalese chronicles on the

ff'a invasion and the true significance of this event ma

be understood to some extent if we analyse the evidence of

some P4ya inscriptions of 1263 and 126k, which refer in detail

to another P4ya invasion of Ceylon under Jat varma V!ra

P 4ya I (acc. 1253). In one of his inscriptions of 1263, Vra

Pya is credited with the feat of having taken 'Iam and the

CAvaka's crown together with his crowned bead' In an inscription

of 126k, a detailed account of the campaign in Ceylon is givex&

1. N.E.R. for 1911, No. 588 of 1916+ LA.Ni].akanta Sastri,

'The Ceylon Expedition of Javarman Vra Pya' , Proceedings

and Transactions of the Eighth AllThdia Oriental Conference,

Bangalore 1937, p. O9.

2. Ibid., pp. 523-525.

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445The text of this inscription from Kuumiyma1ai is corrupt at

certain places and the details are, therefore, not quite

intelligible. In the words of Nilakanta Sastri,

we can see that there was corns dispute in Ceylon, thatone of the ministers had invoked Pyan intercession,and that the king's aim was to uphold in proper formthe ancient practive of royalty (araiyal va,akkam

ippaa n uñipp4 ). Then we learn that amongthe kings of Ceylon one was killed in the battlefieldand all his troops, treasures and parapherhalia confiscated(araiu keAu dyam aaia van), after which the doublecarp (the Pya emblem) was put upon the fine flagswaving on the Kamalai and the Tnikagini, anotherkixig(of Ceylon) was compelled to sur;ender his elephantsas tribute. Finally, the son of the Evaka, who badformerly disregarded commands and ev±nced. hostility,came and prostrated (before Vra Pya) and was dulyrewarded. The tex is difficult here and so far as I canmake it out, the Svaka's son was presented with theanklet of heroes (vrakka), was taken round nprocession on an elephant and was permitte& to proceedat once to Lnunipuri because it was thought (by VtraPya)that it was only proper that the son shouldrule the vast land of Ceylon formerly ruled by his father. 1

The two inscriptions are generally taken to refer to the same

expedition and rightly so. The expedition is not mentioned in

Vra Pya's inscription of the early part of l262 It appears

to have taken place either in the latter part of 1262 or in 1263.

As we shall see later, it took place probably in 1262. These

Pya inscriptions inform us that around 1262 there were two

kings in Ceylon and that one of them was a Cvski (Jvaka).

1. LA.Nilakanta Sastri, 'The Ceylon Expedition of Javarman

V!ra Pya', . cit., pp. 511-512.

2. l'.E.R. for 1929-30, iqo.k8o of 1930.

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44'iThe campaign of Sundara Pçtya, some time before 1258, was

probably directed against this Cvaka and this may be the reason

why the Sinhalese chroniclers took no notice of it. The reference

in the Ku4uzniymalai inscription to 'the son of the vaka, who

bad formerly disregarded commnnds and evinced hostility' seems

to support this conclusion. For, the person who was recalcitrant

was the Jvaka and not his son, as some are inclined to take.

The phrase 'who had formerly disregarded comrnnds and. evincedS S

hostility' qualifies Svaka and not the 'son of the Zvaka'.

The Jvaka was killed in battle in or about 1262. Then the son

was placed on the throne by the Pya ruler. Before this

event, the P4ya's conim ds would have been directed to the

father and not to the son. It is not possible that the son is

accused in our record of having formerly disregarded commands'.

It is the father who would have disregarded commnnds earlier

and paid for it with his life. Once the father was punished,

the son was given full royal honours and placed on the throne,

'because it was thought that it was only proper that the son

should rule am, surrounded by the vast sea, which was ruled

by his father' It folOows, therefore, that it was the father

and not the son who was recalcitrant earlier. For the elder

1. Nili1ranta Saetri's rendering of this phrase is not quite

accurate; 'which was formerly ruled by his father' should

read 'which was ruled by his father'.

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4471vaka to be accused of having been recalcitrant, have

submitted to Pya authority on an earlier occasion and rater

failed to be submissive. When did this happen 7 It seems to

have occurred some time before 1258, when Sundara P'ya

claims to have obtained tribute from a ruler of Ceylon. The silence

of the Sinhalese chronicles regarding any Pya invasion of

the Sinhalese kingdom suggests that it was the Jvaka and not

ParIkramabhu II who was subdued by the PI4yas. On the evidence

of the Pya inscriptions we may, therefore, say that some time

before 1258 Sundara Pya invaded Ceylon and exacted tribute

from a Jvaka king who was ruling part of Ceylon, that this

ruler soon became recalcitrant and was killed by Vira P4ya

in 1262 and that the son of that Jvaka was then placed on the

throne by VTra Pya"because it was thought that it was only

proper that the son should rule am, surrounded by the vast

sea, which was ruled by his father'.

Now, we have to identify the Jvaka of the Pya

inscriptions and. the kingdom ruled by hint. The Sinhalese

chronicles refer to the activities of only one Jvaka in Ceylon

at this time, He is Candrabhnu, whè is recorded to have invaded

the Sinhalese kingdom on two occasions. The defeat and death of

this invader on the second occasion enabled the Sinhalese princes

to enter Polonnaruva and start restoration work there Since

1. A.Liyanagamage, .

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443the Pya inscriptions refer to the defeat and death of a

Jvaka in Ceylon around the same time, it has been rightly

surmised that these inscriptions and the Sinhalese chronicles

refer to the same incident Paranavitana, who supported this

view earlier, has lately attempted to identify the Jvaka of

the P4ya inscriptions with )gha This change of opinion

has been due to his new theory that gba hailed from 'l4alaysia'

and not from Kalifiga, in In&ia, as recorded by the Sinhalese

and Tainil aources We find this theory unconvincing and agree

with Nilakanta Sastri that it is based mainly on 'vague surmises

kand plays with phonetic similarities' • Recently Paranavitana

has claimed to have discovered epigraphic materials which

conclusively prove his theory until these materials have been

published, we will not be in a position to offer comments on

this theory. For the present, we are inclined to accept the

statement of the chronicles that lgha came from Kalifiga in

India. Consequently, we believe that the only Jvaka known to

1. A.Liyanaganiage, . cit. ; LA.NilAknta Sastri, 'The Ceylon

Expedition of Javarma.n i'a P4ya', . cit., p.520,

2. U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p. 627 ; S.Paranavitana, 'The irya Kingdom

of 1orth Ceylon', p. 19k.

3. S.Paranavitana, 'Ceylon and Malaysia in Medieval Times',

J.R.A.S. (C.B.), N.S., VII, pt.l, pp. 11I2.

k. K.&,N.Sastri, 'Ceylon and Sri Vijaya', JR.A.S. (C.B), N.S.,VIII,p.12

5. See supra, p. JoI

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449have been active in Ceylon in the third quarter of the thirteenth

century is Candrabhnu. It may not be wrong to conclude,

therefore, that the JAvka of the Pya inscriptions was

Candrabhuu, that be was ruler of a kingdom in Ceylon for some

time and that he met his defeat and death in 1262, the year

in which the Sinlialese princes entered the old capital, Polon-

naruva It has been mentioned earlier that the campaign of

V!ra Pya in Ceylon can be dated either in the latter part

of 1262 or early in 1263. Since the death of Candrabhnu, on

the basis of the Sinhalese chronicles, appears to have taken

place in 1262, V!rapPya's campaign against the J'ãvaka ruler

has to be dated in 1262 and not in 1263 As Paranavitana and

Liyanagamage believe, the Pyaa were probably the allies of

Parkramabhu II The Pya inscriptions are not clear on

this point. The Kuuniiyma1ai inscription refers to the request

made by a minister, presumably to intervene in the war in

Ceylon between ParkramabThu and CandrabhAnu. It is not stated,

as has been claimed sometimes, that the minister came from Cey1on

1 • A. Liyanagamage, . cit.

2. Ibid.

3. Ibid. ; U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p. 627.

k. U. .H.C., I, pt.2, pp. 627, 685.

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45k)Re could very well have been mfnister of V!ra P4ya himself.

But probably he was a ninister of Parkramabhu who appealed

to the Pya ruler to intervene in the Ceylonese war. Such

an appeal would have been made to the Pya ruler because, as

we have indicatedk earlier, Candrabhnu was probably a tributary

of VTra Pya, at least in name if not in fact. The Pya

inscriptions claim that after the Jvaka was killed, V!ra

Pya ].evied tribute from the otber king' If this other king

was Parkramabhu, it would mean that the Siniialese ruler was

treated only as a subordinate ally. Raving successfully intervened

in the war and punished his recalcitrant tributary with death,

V!ra Pya raised the Jvaka's son to the throne of his father.

It is clear that the Pya monarch did not intervene in the

Ceylonese war as an ally of Parkramabhu with the intention of

conquering the vaka'a kingdom for the Sinhalese ruler. He

appears to have been settling a dispute between his own tributary,

who had become refractory, and. another subordinate ally, who too

was probably one of his tributaries. This is how we could possibly

interpret the evidence of the Sinhalese chronicles and the Pya

1. !ai vntanaj (ojher king) is the phrase used in the

Kuumiyn1ai inscription, LA.Nil&nta Sastri,'The Ceylon

Expedition of Javarman VTra Pya', . cit., p. 52k.

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451inscriptions regarding the events of the period, between 12k 7 and

1262.

If the little evidence we have favours the identi-

fication of the Jvaka of the PIQya inscriptions with Candrabbnu

the next question we are faced with is the location of his king

dom. The Linhalese sources do not inform us of the existence of

an independent kingdom in southern Ceylon, other than that

ruled by ParkramabThu II, in the middle of the thirteenth

century. ut we do not know whether there was any independent

kingdom in northern or eastern Ceylon, which at this time was

not under the control of the Sinhalese monarch. Candrabhnu'a

activities prior to his second invasion of the Dabadei;a

kingdom were confined to the northern part of the island. He

is stated to have landed at Mahtittha with Tami]. mercenaries

from the P14ya and Ca countries and 'brought over to his

side the STh4aa dwelling in PadT, Eurund and other districts'

1. Paranavitana has claimed that a certain Candrabhnu Nahrja

is mentioned as the ruler of Subhapajana (Jaffna) in 1289 A.D.

in an inscription found at Anurdhapura. If this record is

authentic, this ruler may be the son of Candrabhnu, the invader.

This may confirm the identification of the vaka of the

Pya inscriptions with Candrabhnu. See infra,

2. Cv., 88:63-6k.

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452Pad! and Kurund, as we have noted earlier, are Padaviya and

Kuruntanttr in northern Ceylon. Possibly not az€L the Taniil

mercenaries of Candrabhnu were from South India. Re may have

recruited some from the northern parts of Ceylon, oo. If

Candrabhnu had a kingdom in Ceylon, this must have been in

the northern region of the island rather than in any other

part. It was probably the forerunner of the Tamil kingdom of

Jaffna which was ruled in the fourteenth century by a lineof lnga called the Aryacakravartins. The evidence of certain

place names in the Jaffna district, revealing Jvaka association,

also points to the conclusion that it was in northern Ceylon

that the vakas had some sort of authority at any time in

the history of the island. There are at least two village

nawes in the Jaffna district with the element Jvaka.€..,,Jivy)

Cvaka-cri (Jvaka-cri = Jvaka settlementand CvkVçai

(Cvaka k tai - Jvaka kai = Jvaka fort). These two names,

stifl in use, find mention in the the

Kkila-sanda and in some of the Linhalese Kaaimpotas (Boundary

Books) It appears that the Jaffna pen4nula and some parts of

the Jaffna and Hullaitvu districts had the territorial name

Jvagama. This name OCCU8 in one of the Sinhalese Kaaimpotas

1. Yvm., p. 60; Rkila-sanda, y.Jo ; Tn Siha Kaaim saha

Vitti, ed. A.J.W.I.rambe, 1926, p. 21. 5. 1acv"I, )-o4..

2. Tn Sii.ha Kaaim saha Vitti, op. cit., p.21.

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453Paranavitana takes JAvagama to be derived from Jvaka, through

Taniil, 'just as Sinhalese nA4agama is derived from Sanskrit

nAaka through Tamil' This is plausible, although it need not

necessarily be so. It it is derived from Jvaka, it indicates

JAvaka rule in the northern regions more than the other two place

names.

Paranavitana has adduced further evidence in support

of the conclusion that the JAvakas were the predecessors of

the Aryacakravartins in the kingdom of Jaffna In a fourteenth

century Sinhalese inscription found at davala a personage

named }rttA 4anL Peruniun, who entered into a treaty with

VikramabAhu III (1357-137k) is mentioned. He has been identified

by Paranavitana with IrttAa Cifikai Ariyag, one of the Arya-

cakravartins of Jaffna mentioned in the ppAia-vaipava-n1lai.

In this inscription, he is given the epithet Sav4u-pati.

Paranavitana is inclined to equate the word sava4u with Jvaka.

He argues that 'JAva is pronounced in Tamil as CAva or SAva,

to which A., 'person', has been added on the analogy of

Ma].ayA1i from Malaya + On this basis, he says, SAVA]. or

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 195.

2. Ibid., pp. 197-200.

3. Ibid., p. 199.

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451Svii would denote a person of Thvaka race. 'The final vowel

ii (in sav4u) suggests the influence of Telugu which is known

to have been the language of the rulers of the vaka kingdom

in the Malay peninsula' Having thus derived Sav4u front Jva,

Paranavitana explains the m yrner in which An Iryacakravartin

came to bear the title of Sav4upati.

If, as we have demonstrated, )gha came front Malaysiawith a following of Malay warriors, and if he foundeda kingdom in the North, the ruling class of that kingdomwould have been Jvakae or And further, if anIriyan fro Rmvaram became master of this kingdomas a result of a matrimonial alliance, the Jvakaa or

or Sav4u people would have referred to thisLriyan and his descendants as their lord. 2

This seems to be a far-fetched theory. In the first place, the

identification of ?rttam of the ?davala inscription with

an ryacakravartin of Jaffna is not certain. Even if this is

granted, the derivation of Sav4u-pati from Jiva is rather

ingenious. It is true that Jiva is pronounced in Tamil as

Cva or SAva. But the analogy on which this is made the

first element of SAvAji is certainly wrong. MalayAi is

not derived from the two words Malaya and , but from MalaAam,

the Tamil name for Ker4a, meaning 'valley', in the same way

as Vki (BeñgAi) is derived from Vk.am (BagAa - Bengal).

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The irya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 199.

2. Ibid.

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455

No one would say that the latter is derived from Vaiticø (VaAga)

and , although it would appear quite logical. The derivation

of Sav4u, occurring in the Sinhalese works, is disputed by

scholars. Various other interpretations have been given to it

It does not occur in any Tamil work and it is doubtful whether

any ryacakravartin bore this title. Further, the inscription

in which it is claimed to occur as the epithet borne by a certain

Mrtt4am is badly damaged. Paranavitana admits that 'the

record is badly weathered, and from its sixth line, only a

few letters are legible here and there' and. that even 'some

letters in the first five lines are also indistinct' The term

Sav4u-pati occurs in the fourth line and two letters of this

word, namely va and ti, are not clear. Under these circumstances,

one cannot be sure that the epithet is Sav4upati and not some

other word. Thia evidence adduced by Paranavitana in support

of the rule of in northern Ceylon is, therefore,

unacceptable, although it does not go against our conclusion

arrived at from other evidence.

1. D.B.Jayati].aka, Shitya Lipi, 1956, p. Wi ; E.LCodrington,

'The Gampola Period of Ceylon Bistory', J.R.A.S. (C.B.),

XXXII, No. 86, p. 301.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The 4rya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 197.

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In the light of the meagre evidence that is available

to us w may not be wrong in locating the kingdom of Candrabbnusomewhere in the northern part of Ceylon. In all probability,

it was the kingdom of Jaffna which the 4ryacakravartins inherited

1. The Saziskrit inscription from Anurdbapura mentioned earlier

(see supra, p.43 ) refers,to a Candrabhnu as the ruler of

Subhapatana (Jaffna). If this is an authentic record and if

Candrabhnu is identified as the son of the vaka who invaded

the Sinhalese kingdom, the identification of the Jvaka's

kingdom with Jaffna will be beyond dispute. See infra, p. 4c9In the Vaiypal (v.36) occurs the following reference:-

'Tanikkal eum varaiyatail Cakarr eurn Kar!r enruin

nta kula v'ar patai_uta!_ki tara ilCkXum_njil'

(1ihen the Cka, with the army of low caste hunters called

Cakarr and Karr, were ruling this world from TaikkAl).

The only manuscript of the Vaiypal now extant, from which

this chronicle has been edited, and published, is full of copyist's

errors. The words Cka vum can be emended as Ckavarum

by adding one letter ra

which would then mean 'being ruled by the Ckavar' (a varia nt

of Cvakar). If this is admissible, the reference here may be

taken to preserve some memory of Jvaka rule in Taikkal, in the

Northern Province. But we cannot be certain that only this

emendation is possible. Cka vum is obviously an error.

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457

If, as we have suggested earlier, the invasion of

Javarman Sundara Pya I, some time before 1258, was directed

against this new kingdom, its foundation has to be placed before

that date. We have already laid down that the upper limit for

the establishment of an independent kingdom in northern Ceylon

is 1236. The lower limit may now be reckoned as 1258. Our

sources do not mention anything about the events in northern

Ceylon between these two dates, except for the defeat of gha,

which, we believe, occurred some time before 12k7. In the present

state of our knowledge we can only resort to conjecture in recons-

tructing the course of events that led to the foundation of

the new kingdom in northern Ceylon. The only basis for our

conjecture is the vague evidence of the Tamil chronicles.

Although gha was ousted from Polonnaruva some

time after 1236, be seems to have continued to exercise

authority further north. The Linhalese monarch was in no

position to recover the whole of jaraha or even to secure

his position at Polonnaruva for a long time. The reason for

ParkramabIhu's failure appears to have been the presence of

the enemy in the northern part of the island. The failure of

the Sinhalese to oust the foreigners from the island was an

important factor that led to the rise of the new kingdom in

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453the north. 1gha presumably 5et up a new capital somewhere in

northern Ceylon, probably in Jaffna, and exercised authority

in that region. We do not know what fate eventually overtook him

and it is useless to surmise on this point. He probably died a

natural death and was succeeded by someone else. In all

probability this new kingdom of northern Ceylon is the same

as that ruled by the Tvaka prince around 1262. It is not known

how a Jvaka came to be on the throne of a kingdom in northern

Ceylon. As we are inclined to identify the Jvaka of the

Pya inscriptions with Candrabhnu, it is possible to

conjecture that this I'a1ay ruler, after his defeat at the bands

of the Sinhalese, fled to the northern kingdom. In course of

time, by some means he was in a position to succeed to the

throne.there. Probably he won the favour of Mgha, if he was

still living at that time, and succeeded him. Or, it is possible

that be was able to wrest power from the ruler of the northern

kingdom. If such was the course of events, it would appear that

it was as ruler of the northern kingdom that Candrabhnu launched

his second attack on the Sinhalese kingdom, which turned out

to be fatal to him. After his death, his son ascended the throne

as a feudatory of the PIyas with the blessings of Jatvarman

YTra Pya. This reconstruction of the events in northern

Ceylon seems to fit the meagre and vague information that we are

able to extract from our epigraphic and literary sources, chiefly

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4591

the T mi1 chronicles.

1. In his contribution to the TJ.C.H.C. (I, pt.2, P . 627),

Paranavitana held that 'the independent kingdom in North ceylon

appears to have originated with Candrabhlnu'. Later, be

changed this view and attributed the foundation of the kingdom

to gba and agreed that it was 'possibly also ruled for

sometime by Candrabhnu' (J.R.A.S. (C.B.), N.S., VII, pt.2, p.19k).

But in a paper read at the University of Ceylon recently, he

claims to have discovered an epigraphic document entitled

Mgha-vttnta_(which he sometimes calls Ngharja-vttnta)

which deals inter aiim with the 'foundation o the kingdom of

Subhapatana (Jaffna) with Ga4agopla, }Zgha' a son as its

first ruler, under the protection of the Pyaa, the career

of CandrabbThu, the son of Gaagop.la, ....., the relations

between Candrab1inu of Subhapaana and Pa4ita ParkramabThu

of Kurungala, the supplanting of gha's descendants at

Subhapaana by Rjaputra hakusa from RAmevara (rya Cakravarti)...

(S.Paraxiavitana, 'Newly Discovered Historical Documents

Relating to Ceylon, India and South-east Asia',

Although the light thrown by such a document would alter our

picture in many ways, it would confirm the connections of gha

and Candrabhnu with the northern kingdom. However, until the

new document is published no comments can be offered on this

matter.

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4BiIn the Tamil chronicles , as we have already Been,

the foundation of the kingdom of Jaffna is attributed to a

blind minstrel. It is said that this minstrel died without

an issue and that Jaffna was without a king for some time.

Eventually one of the nobles went to Nadurai and invited a

prince called Ciiki Liya (Irya of Si4ha(nagara) ) aliasKafkai 4riya or Vicaya silcai Cakkaravartti to be the

king of Jaffna. The invitation was accepted and Vicaya

KU]i3kn i Cakkaravartti became the first prince to rule Jaffna.

This is the account found in the Kailyanflai and the

a-vaipava-nlai As we have discussed earlier, it is

stated in these chronicles that several noble families as

well as members of the different castes were invited from

South India in the time of the king Vicaya nCi Cekkaravartti

and given lands in the Jaffna peninsula and the Vanni districts

to settle down There are some reasons to believe that this

first princely ruler of Jaffn4wae no other than Mgha. In

the first place, we are inclined to agree with Gnanapragasar

that the name Vicaya KlMc!ni may be a corruption of

Vicaya K]i?ilcq (Vijaya Kliiga) gha, as we know from the

1. !vm., p. 25; ., p. 6.

2. See supra,

3 • S. Gnanapragaaar, ppa-vaipava-nlaiga, p. 65.

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461,.&+ra k.'roNia-sagrahaya and the 4tbavagalaviraaa, had al8o

the name Kliiga Vijayabhu This name could be easily rendered

into Tamil as Vicaya Klia. Here the second element of the

name Vijayabhu is dropped and the name Kliñga is used at

the end, in the same ner as Ca or Pya in Tami1

Gnauapragasar has explained that in tha manuscripts K].iikp

or its variant Ilixkai may have been mistaken for ____

Since aikai makes no sense, it may have been altered to

KU4ksi (crippled hand) in course of time. Hence the explanation

of the author of the that the king got

kthis name because one of his hands was disabled. But the posibion

1. ks., )•t7 ; &Yw

2. Rjarja Ca, V!ra Pya, etc. Vijaya is. written as

Vicaya in Tamil and Klifia as Klika or IVlifdcai.

3. In the cursive style of the ola manuscripts, where an angular

style is avoided to prevent the ola from splitting, 111P1kR

would have been written thus: 9nJL' . This could have

been easilyymistaken for P,4YV'Ua (I't!.ai.ka).

Li.. p. 30.

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462of IC 1aô.kai after Vicaya suggests that it may not be a nickname.

If it were, it would have been used in fromt of Vicaya, the

surname (akai Vicaya Cakkaravartti), as in the case of normal

nicknames in Taniil Gnanapragaaar explanation sems to be

plausible but it is rather unlikely that sich a well-known

name like K1ifga was misread as IVt!añka. The corruption of

Kliga into Ktax.ka may have occurred in some other way.

That ki is a mistake for ICliga is confirmed by the evidence

of the ?4a akk4appu-xnnm ya. This chronicle of Batticaloa

deals mostly with the history of the Eastern Province of the

island, but in one place it gives an account of the manner in

which the riyas came to establish their rule in Nkatvn

(Pii Ngad!pa - Jaffna district) While the Ypp;a-vaipava-

nlai and the Kailyamlai introduce the story of the blind

lutist in between the story of Nara-cik-rca and that of the

first rya ruler of Jaffna, the M akk4apu-nfmiyarn has no

reference to the Ypi legend Instead, the story of the first

riya ruler follows that of Cii'ikR-kuIxra (Nara-cifika-rca

of the pia-vaipava-mlai). According to this account,

1. ., Antaka (Blind) Kavi VTra Rkavar, Kaikkl (Short-legged)

Irunrpoai, Taikka (Ele hant-eyed) Cy.

2. Mm., pp. 36-37.

3. See supra, p.4-O

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463a Ca prince named lit'iki riya, went from iriya-nu to

Nkatvia (Jaffna district), invited several families from

riyantu to settle down in that region and became their king.

The name of the first Iriya, ruler of Jaffna is thus preserved

in the Maakk4appu-rn iyam as ljkai Iriya which corresponds

to KaiUcai iriya of the a-vaipava-lai This strengthens

our supposition that KtT]añkai is a mistake for Kl4i3ki.

Vicaya 1ki appears to be Vijaya Klif&ga or ?gha, who,

as we shall seepreaently, has been confused with the first

Lyacakravartin in the Tamil traditions.

Secondly, it appears that Gikai Iriya was not

the name of Vicaya K] 1c i but a later addition of the

chroniclers. Cikai Iriya (4rya of Cifkai) was the dynastic

name of the Lyacakravartins who ruled Jaffna in the fourteenth

and fifteenth centuries' In the list given in the

vaipava-ni1ai, there are ten rulers after Vicaya K1afi.kai

who bear this dynastic name and they all have their personal

names prefixed to it But in the case of the first ruler,

Vicaya Kaikai, there is no personal name prefixed to the

1. Yvm., p. 30.

2. See infra, ; i?ikii is an abridged form of Ci?dci-n&tr

(Siha-nagara) which was the capital of the Aryacakravartins.

3. , ulackara Cikai Ariyaa, Ku)ZttuiTh Ci.kai Ariya.

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461dynastic name. He is just called C4i1ca1 Iriya in the Xailyanflai.

and the At the end of the account of his

reign the a-vaipava-nilai gives Vic&ya K'tI]añkai CaJ dca-

vartti and Kafikai Ariya as the other borne by Cii3.kai Iriya.

This confusion is not difficult to explain. In the historical.

traditions of Jaffna the Aryacakravartins have overshadowed all

earlier rulers of the Jaffna kingdom. At a time when these early

rulers were being forgotten, the name of Vicaya K%1'ikni may

have been still, lingering in the memory of the story-tellers,

who, ignorant of the identity of this person, may have identified

him with the first Ariya of Jaffna. We agree with Paranavitana

that the chronicles of Jaffna were 'written when the CiMti

riya,s had ceased to exist, at a time when, after the dynastic

name had been attached to the rulers of Jaffna for about three

centuries, the belief had gained ground that all rulers of that

kingdom bore that name' As a result of tn1drg Vicaya añkM

identical with the first Aryacakravartin, the accounts of their

two reigns bave also been mixed. It appears that somehow the

personality of 14gha, under the name of Vicaya ati, had

survived in the traditions of Jaffna.

I.. S.Paranavitaaa, 'The Arya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 203.

The Vaiypal also refers to Kkai as an riya, v. 57.

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463The conclusion that Vicaym 1ci of the Jaffna

chronicles is gha is further strengthened by other considerations.

In the Sinhalese chronicles it is stated that Ngha settled

several Tamils and er4as in northern Ceylon In the Tamil

chronicles, Vicaya K . Mrai is said to have been responsible

for the settlement in northern Ceylon of people from India But

more important than this is the consideration that the adoption

by the Jaffna rulers of the couchant bull (nandi) as their royal

insignia, Gaâga as their vaisa or kula name and Cifikai-nakar

(Siha-nagara) as the name of their seat of government indicates

the Kliga origins of the northern kingdom The emblem of the

couchant bull (nandi or vabha lfichana), with the crescent

moon above it, was used by the Eastern Gaágaa of Kaliñga, as is

1.evidenced by the seals of their copper plates as well as by

their inscriptions The kinEs of Jaffna used the same emblem

on their flags and coins On these coins, not only do we find

1. See supra,

2. See supra, ; Tvnt., p. 27 tX.; Mm., p. 37.

3. S.Gnanapragasar, !,pa-vaipava-vimarcan, pp. 60-61.

14• E.I., III, p. 130.5. ., IV, p. 192.6. !•' p. 3k; Km., p. 5; ., p. 7; Ki4jai-vifu-t' tu , v.152;

S.Gnanapragasar, 'The Forgotten Coinage of the Kings of Jaffna',

C.A.L.L.V, pt.4, pp. 172-179.

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IA.

the couchant bull but also the crescent moon above it. In the

Tamil literary works produced in the Jaffna kingdom, the rulers

of that kingdom are sometimes referred to as those of the Gazga

country (K__kai-n)1 or simply as 4ryas of Gazga (Kdkai-

Ariyar) In the Kai].yanilai some of the noblemen who served

under the first ruler of Jaffna (Vicaya ii1i) are stated

to have belonged to the Gaga kula (Kazk-kula) These

references seem to reveal the Gañga connections of the

founders of the Jaffna kingdom. We agree with Paranavitana

that the Kaliâgas who touiided the norbhern kingdom must

have regarded their Gaxga connections with pride and that

the 4riyas who inherited the kingdom might very well have

continued these traditions. Gaga in these epithets seem to

1. Ciappuppyiram, v. 11;

Ciappuppyiram.

2. Irakuvammicani, I, v.223, XIII, v.107.

3. ., p. 12. This term may refer to the Vefla castecalled Xkai-kulam .

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467

denote some connection with the Eastern GaAgas. Paranavitana

originally expressed the opinion that the 'claim of the

riya rulers to be of the GaAga lineage can be upheld if they

are taken as successors of the Jvaka kings of the aliAga-vaiaaZ

and that when the KaliAgas founded a kingdom in northern Ceylon

'they must have regarded their Gaiga connections with sentiment

and pride' But in a subsequent article, while attempting to

refute the view of Ni1aknta Sastrits, he has argued against

his own conclusion above. Here he baa stated that KaAkai

is the form that the Sanskrit Gag, and not Gafiga, assumes

in Tamil and that CaiThsi may be ta.ken to be the name of a community.

He then quoted from the Madras Tamil Lexicon, in which Kafikaikulam

is explained as a Ve4a tribe who claim to have migrated

from the Gangetic region. 'As the Jaffna tradition refers to

*rya Cakravartis who had Ve3a consorts', he has argued,

'it is very likely that Kafikai in both these epithets is used

with that meaning' It is true that normally GaAga takes the

form K.fl1ca in Tamil. But just as Kalifiga sometimes assumes

the form Kaliñkai and Sifiha becomes Ciiki, Gañga can take

the form Kaflkai. The name GaAga-.p!4i, for instance, often

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya Kingdom of North Ceylon', p. 201.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'Ceylon and Malaysia', J.R.A.S. (C.B.), NZ.,

VIII, pt.2, pp. 370-371.

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463

occurs in the Tantil inscriptions as KMc-pi, but sometimes

it was also written as Kaikaippi, as in the Pya inscription

found at VmbatT!, in Trichinopoly district The fact that

one of the epithets, mentioned above, refers to i-nu

(the Gafiga country) shows that Kaii.kai, in this instance at

least, does not refer to a Veja community. For the kings

of Jaffna to have used the epithets Ka.kai riyar and. Kax.kai

Nar, it is more likely that Kei ksj was the name of a dynasty

rather than that of a caste into which they married. ut it

must be admitted that we cannot be certain that Ksik4- in these

epithets used by the Jaffna kings refers to the Eastern

GaAgas only.

The capital- of the early rulers of the northern

kingdom was known as CiAkai-nakar (Siia-nagara) or _____

Consequently the ryacakravartins who ruled from there

were known as Ciftkai Iriyar or C1ki-nakar iEiyar The capital

seems to have been named after the aliAga city Sifthapura.

Zifihapura was the 6eat of one of the dynasties of Kaliñga in

the fifth century A.D't After about the sixth century LD.

1. M.E.R. for 1923, No. 366 of 1922.

2. See infra, p.2i.

3. See infra, p.c/"•

k. The Classical Age, ed. R.C.Yajumdar, (Bhratya Vidya Bhavan),

pp. 212-213; E.I., IV, p. 143.

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463

nothing is known about this city from the Indian sources.

In the Sinhalese inscriptions of the twelfth century, the

liga ruler Niafi1ca Mall4laims to have gone to Ceylon

from Shapura, the capital of his father Jayagopa, in

KaliAga om this it appears that as 'ate as the twelfth

century Si*hapura was the capita]. of a dynasty in Kaliñga,

probably a minor branch, which had escaped notice in the

Indian sources. gha and some of his associates probably

hailed from Sihapra, like Ni1c Ma].la. The new capital

founded by the invaders in northern Ceylon was probably named

after their city in Kaliñga. liere, too, we agree with

Paranavitana that )gha 'would have nanied the capital of

his new kingdom after the city which was the home of the

Kaligaa! although we do not support his contention that

the home of the KaliAgaa was in 'Malaysia' These considerations

lead us to think that the kingdom established in northern

Ceylon in the thirteenth century had its origins in a dynasty

which was connected with the Eastern Gafigas of Kalii3.ga.

1. D.M.de Z.Wickremeinghe, 'The Slab Inscription of Krti

NiAka Mafla at Ruvanv.li Dgaba, Anurdhapura', E.Z., II,

pp. 80, 85.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya kingdom of North Ceylont, p. 201.

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470These ICZiI l-ga origins of the northern kingdom

must date from a period before 1262. There is no evidence of

a Ka1izga invasion of Ceylon after that of gha. Prom at

least 1262 the northern Jr(ngdom appears to have been ruled

by JvRk who seem to have enjoyed the protedtion of the

powerful Pyas At the turn of the century, the Iryacakravartine

of South India inherited this kingdom It is unlikel7 that

there was aXaliAga invasion of Jafmna between 1262 and the

date of the cession of the first 4ryacakravartin, which is

not definitely known. This was the time when Pya influence

seems to have been at its height in northern, and even in

southern, Ceylon. Kaliga rule in the independent kingdom

of northern Ceylon should, therefore, be dated to a time

1. Some place names in the Jaffna peninsula 4 seem to preserve

these Kaliga origins. There is a place called Kal4rs-

rIya-cTma and another called

The persona]. names Xa].iAk-rya, (Ka1ia Rja) and

a-kkp-rya, (Coa-gafiga-rja), which form the first

elements in these names ma denote their association with

people from the Kaliñga country. But we cannot be too sure

of this, for both these personal names were used as titles

in the Tamil country.

2. See sura, p.

3. See infra, çt.-vjJ

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471before 1262. As we know, between 3236 and 1262, the X1iigas

who wielded power in northern Ceylon were Mgha and his

associates, among whom there seems to have been at least

one probable Gaiga prince, Coaga

In the light of these considerations, the foundation

of a kingdom in northern Ceylon by Igha and his followers

after their defeat by the Sinhalese seems to be a strong

possibility. The beginnings of this new kingdom are shrouded

in obscurity. The earliest rulers have not left behind any

datable coins or inscriptions. The chronicles of this kingdom

are very late and do not seem to preserve many genuine

traditions about its beginnings. With the meagre evidence

that we have, it is ot possible to.assert anything with

any degree of certainty. Basing our assumptions on the

course of events in the middle of the thirteenth century,

as reflected by the Sinhalese chronicles and the Pya

inscriptions, it appears that )gha and his associates and

the Jvaka invaders were closely connected with the beginnings

of the northern kingdom and that Igha and his associates

rather than the vakas were responsible for its fpundat ion.

1. See supra, ç4-

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472We may now sumniiriae the main conclusionsoof the

foregoing discussion. In the first place, the date of the

foundation of the Jaffna kingdom cannot be traced exactly.

That this took place between 1236 and 1262 appears to be

more or less certain. It was probably between 136 and 1258,

possibly between 1236 and 12k7 that it was founded. Zgha and

his followers who seem to have been defeated some time after

126, in all probability, shifted their seat of government

further north to the Jaffna peninsula, and founded a new

kingdom. The Jvaka invader Candrabhnu appears to have

found his way to the throne of this kingdom some time after

12k7. Re was probably subdued by Sundara P4ya around

1258. and killed by V!ra Pya in 1262. It was probably his

son who was allowed to be crowned in full regal style as

the ruler of the northern kingdom in 1262, under the

protection of Vtra Pya.

Whatever the uncertainties regarding the begin.nings

of the northern kingdom may be, the circtunstances that led

to its foundation are 14 .d.ifficult to understand. In the

first place, the foreign invasions of the thirteenth century

played a significant part in paving the way for the rise of

an independent kingdom in northern Ceylon. The invasion of

gha led to the control of northern Ceylon by Ier4a and

Tmil elements and possibly some from Kalizga like Coagaiga.

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473These invaders could not be ousted from the inland, although they

were defeated and driven away from Polonnaruva. Once they lost

Polonnaruva, the pext natural step would have been to set up

another capital and continue their hold on northern Ceylon.

If 1gba and his associates were led, by their loss of Polonnaruva,

to found a new kingdom, the vaka invaders who came next seem

to have found refuge in this kingdom and helped to consolidate

its position. The Pyas, who invaded the island after the

Jvakas, seem to have given the new kingdom flU recognition

and protection, thus rendering it difficult for the Sinhalese

rulers to wipe it out. In this m pnner, the invasions of the

thirteenth century, while being fatal to the Polonnaruva kingdom

and. limiting the power of the Dabadeiya kingdom, helped the

rise and consolidation of a new kingdom in northern Ceylon.

The foreign invaders of former times were able to wield power

in the island only for short periods. On all the earlier

occasions Sinhalese princes were in a position to drive the

enemies out of the island after some t&.ine. But in the thirteenth

century, when enemy after enemy sacked the country, the Sinhalese

kiTiga were in no position to oust them completely from the islad.

gba and his Ker4a-Tamil forces left Polonnaruva but not the

inland, The vakas were defeated but were apparently allowed

to find refuge in the north. Thepansion of the Pyae could

not be contained by the Sixihalese. They were allowed to reduce

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474the new kingdom in the north to the position of a tributary

and thus give it recognition, dashing the hopes of the Sinhalese

to wipe it out. If Parkramabhu II,invited the help of the

P 4yas , which he probably did, against Candrabhnu and if be

had any hopes of annexing the new kingdom and re-unifying

Ceylon, the results showed that the Pyas were only: willing

to keep the peace in the island but not to allow the annexation

of the northern kingdom which was tributary to thei.

The fall of Polonnaruva and the drift of Sinhalese

power to the south-west were also notable factors that helped

the rise and survival of a kingdom in northern Ceylon. With the

shift of the Sinhalese capital to the south-western parts of

the island effective control of northern Ceylon was lost. This

made it easier for an independent kingdom to emerge in that region.

The foreign elements, who were driven to that part of the island,

exploited the circumstances to found a new kingdom. With the

abandonment of the region around Polonnaruva, the northernmost

regions were virtuafly cut off front the south, The chieftaincies

in the southern part of the formex RAjaraha acted as a buffer

between the northern and southern kingdoms. The re-unification

of the island became difficult even on occasions when either of

the kingdoms was subjugate the other, as they did in the fourteenth

and fifteenth centuries. In the thirteenth century perhaps

the abandoned regions of Rjaraha may not have provided such

a barrier to the subjugation of the north. But it would have

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473

given protection to the new kingdom from the Sinhalese capital

which now lay farther south. The political conditions of the

first half of the thirteenth century were, therefore, favourable

in many ways for the rise of an independent kingdom in northern

Ceylon. The conditions in the second half helped to consoliiate

its position.

The power of the Dravidian elements in northern

Ceylon, with whose support the invaders held that area under

their controi, is a facbbr that cannot be overlooked in this respect.

In the thirteenth century, the Dravidian elements were more powerful

than ever before. They bad grown from strength to strength

with almost every invasion that rocked the island since the

onslaught of the Cas. There was a steady increase of the

Dravidian element in the island, especially in the northern

parts, from the time of the Ca invasion. The invasion of

1gha let loose in the island a further band of Ker4as and

Taiwtls whose leaders established their authority in.imany parts

of northern and eastern Ceylon. These were the elements that

provided the greatest strength to the anti-Buddhist regime of

)1gha. More South Indians seem to have been invited for settle-

ment at this time. The inevitable culmination of the forces that

were at work there was the establishment of an independent authority

that enjoyed the support of the Dravidians. Those South Indian

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Ipl,.41(0

leaders who established petty chieftaincies in the Vanni districts

seem to have acknowledged the authoriti of the new kingdom.

However, the northern kingdom was not a Tamil kingdom at the

beginning, ,though Tamils and Ker4as probably formed a substantial

section of the population. It was with the advent of the

Aryacakravartins that it became a kingdom ruled by a dynasty

from the Tainil country and. gradually evolved into a kingdom of

the Tamil-speaking people.

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477CHAPTER VII

THE BEGINNflGS OP THE XIDOI4 OP JAPPNL - II

The Dynasty of 4ryacakravartlns

The Tamil chronicles do not mention any Klizga or

J5vaka ruler as having ruled over the northern kingdom. It is the

ryacakravartins who are described as the first princely rulers of

this kingdom and. are given the credit for its establishment on a

firm footing. In his paper entitled 'The Lrya Kingdom North

Ceylon', Paranavitana has dealt with the origins of the dynasty

of ryacakravartins and their rule in northern Ceylon This paper

forms the latest contribution to this subject and revises in many

ways the views held earlier by Rasanayagam and other writers on

the history of the Jaffna kingdom. We are inclined to agree in

the main with the conclusions of Paranavitaua, aLthougb we find

some of his arguments unacceptable. His contention that the

4ryacaJavartins of Jaffna came from Rnfvaram in South India

is convincing and is supported by evidence not adduced by him.

The earliest source in which an ryacakravartin is mentioned

is an inscription from ChaturvdixnafLga.am, in the Tiruppattr

1. J.RA.S. (C.B.), N.S., VII, pt.2,, 1961, p. 17k-22k.

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473

tluk of the Rmnd district The astronomical data in this

record has been worked out by Swe m1 kkinnu Pillai as being probably

equivalent to September 9, l27l But since it was inscribed in

the fifth regnal year of IAavarma Ku1akhara I, who ascended

the throne in 1268, this inscription may be dated to 1272.

'An agent of the chief Ariyachakravartig4' is referred to in this

record Another inscription, from Sivapuri in the same tluk and

dated in the same regna]. year, mentions a certain Dvar 4riyaccakkara-

varttika Re was probably the same as the chief mentioned in the

first inscription. The astronomical data in this record, according

to SwmUdcnnu Pillai, correspond to September 5, l27k But this

seems to be a mistake. The third inscription, which Paranavitana

erroneously quotes as the first record mentioning the Xryacakravartins,

is found in rTrai.gam in the Trichinopoly district and is dated

in the tenth regnal year of ravarxna Kulakhara, which is 1277

1. M.E.R. for 1927/28, No. 290 of 1927/28.

2. Ibid., p. li6.

3. Ibid., p. 57. As the record is unpublished, no details are available.

If. I .E.R. for 1928/29, No. 21 of 1928/29. Unpublished.

5. Ibid., p. 53.

6. I'LE.R. for 1936/37, No. 7 of 1936/37, pp. 8, 75.

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479

The astronomical details in the record, which correspond to

December , 1277, confirm this date It reoords the grant of a

plot of land by one Matitu lca (Natitufiga) who bore the title

of Iryacakravartin as well as the epithet Tai niu vea perun1

('the chief who stood alone and wthn)). He bailed from Cakkaravartti

Nallr, in Cevvirukkai-nu. Cevvirukkai-nu has been identified

2as a territorial division in modern Ramnad distr&ct. A fourth

inscription from Truvaraigu.am, in Pudukktai, 'registers

a political compact between Iba, Iryacakaravartin and Srya2

on the one sáde and AiyrkunaUnd Kuppai on the other'

The record is dated in a regna]. year of V!ra P3yadva. But

since it is damaged, neither the year nor the throne name of

the monarch is clear. There were two Vra Pyas in the period

of the second Pya empire. Both had the throne name Javarma.

One ruled between 1253 and 1268 and the other between 1296 and

l3k0 There was also a prince called V!ra Pya whose rule was

confined to the South Arcot district, as is evidenced by his

inscriptions He may not be the same as the V!ra Pya of our

1. M.E. T . for 1936/37, p. 48.

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The rya Kingdom in North Ceylon', p. 207, fn.127.

3. M.E.L for 1915, No. 276 of 191k.

4. K.A.Ni1sknta Sastri, The Pyan Kingdom, pp. 174, 201, 240.

5. Ibid., pp. 233, 245 ; T.V.C.Pantarattar, Piyar Vara1z2, p. 147.

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48

inscription, which is from PudukkVai. The latter may, therefore,

be either Javarma Vira Pya I or II. Lastly, there are

two inscriptions from Tiruppul1i, in the Bamnad. district,

mentioning the jryacakravartins One of them is dated in the

thirty-eighth regnal year of Z"avarma, Kulakhara I, which

is either 1305 or 1306 It registers a grant by var 4riyacakkara-

varttik4. He is identifiable with var £riyaccakkaravarttik4

of the second inscription mentioned above, which is also from the

same district and belongs to the same reign. The other inscription

from Tiruppulli, which is badly damaged, gives the names of

two personages, Teyvaccilaiy Aaka, alias Ariyaccakaravartti

and Irma alias Va. • kkai *riyacc akkaravart ti, the amm of

Parkkirama Piya (Parkrama P4ya) Unfortunately the date

of the record is not known. But the fact that one of the persons

mentioned here is called. an ainn (uncle or father-in-law) of

Parkrama P4ya may help us in the dating. We know of at least

five Paräkrama Pyas who ruled in the southern territories

of Panmad and udukkfai in the fourteenth century, after the

fall of the second empire The first of them, Jatvarma Parkrama

1. N. .R. for 190k, No. 110 of 1903; S.I.I., VIII, Nos. 396 & 398.

2. .1.1., VIII, no. 39G.

3. Ibid., No. 398.

4. LA.NilskRnta Sastri, The Pyan Kingdom, pp. 215 - 246.

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481Pya I, began his rule in 115 and the last of them ruled till

at least 1k15 There are certain considerations which lead us

to think that this inscription belongs to the earty part of

the fourteenth century. This record is from TiruppuUi, in

the Rannad district. The other inscription from the same site

mentioning an Aryacakravartin is dated 1305/06. Further, all

the other inscriptions from the Pimnad district referring to

the Aryacakravartins are datable to either the latter part of

the thirteenth century or the early part of the fourteenth

century.There was no Pya ruler called Parkrama in the thirteenth

century. It is 1 therefore, likely that our inscription belongs

to the time of Javarma Parkrama_P4ya I, who lived in

the early part of the fourteenth century. Irm alias Va..kkaiAriyacc&ckravartti was probably the anim of this Pya ruler.

The evidence of these six inscriptions is practically all th*t

we learn about the iryacakravartins from the IncIia.n side.

That the 4ryacakravartins were niiior chieftains

is clear frog the information we get from the rrafgam inscription

1. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, The Pyan Kingdom, p. 2k5. The five

P74 rulers are: a) Javarma Parkrama Pya, 1315-13k?;

b) avarzna Parkrama Pya, 1335-1352; c) Javarma

Parkrama Pya, 1357- c.1380; 4) Parkrama P1ya, 1367-

till after 1387; and e)Paiikrama Pçtya, c.].38k- till after 1k15.

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482about one of them. As Paranavitana has remarked, 'the title

'Devar' applied to this Xrya-cakravarti, the fact that his

order is called a tirumukam (verbal order) and that there was

an officer whose duty it was to write down his orders, indicate

that he was a ruler; but his record being dated in the regnal

years of the Pya emperor establishes that he was a feudatory'

Al]. the other inscriptions, except the last one,are also dated

in t'egnal years of the Pya kings. The last inscription, from

Tiruppulli, shows that some of them were related to the Pyas,

presumably through marriage. From the Sinhalese sources we learn

that in or about 128k there was a Pya invasion of Ceylon

under the command of an Iryacakravartin This, too, supports

the conclusion that the iryacakravartins were subordinates

under the Pyaa. It is, therefore, clear that they were

feudatory chieftains of the Pya country. The fact that two

persona with the name ryacakaravartin are mentioned in one

record, namely that from Tirnppu11i, map indicate that this

name was used as a family title or name, unless the two persons

mentioned here are of different generations. This is not clear

from the record.

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The irya Kingdom in North Ceylon', p. 207.

2. Cv., 90:k3-k7; Dalad-sirita, ed. Sorata Nayaa Thera, 1950, p.1+5.

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483

Of these six inscriptions, four are from the Pamnad

district. Of the other two, that from Trichinopoly gives the

home of the iryacakravartin mentioned in it as Cevvirnkkai-nu,

which was an bid terr&torial division in the Raiinad district.tLct -

The sixth,from Puduktai, does not indicate that the Aryacakra-

vartina held authority there. This inscription records a political

compact that an Iryacaiq,avartin and another person entered into

with two others Such a compact was probably made at the end

of a battle or a political mission in which an ryacakravartin

was representing his PIya overlord, as an Iryacakravartin

did in Ceylon, or which be conducted himself as a petty chieftain.

The details are not known owing to the damaged nature of the

record. We do not get information regarding any iryacakravartin

in any other part of South India. We are, therefore, inclined to

agree with Paranavitana that it is reasonable to conclude

that the home of the Lyacakravartins was in the Ramnad district,,

as is indeed claimed by one of them in the inscription from

Trichinopoly They probably bade their chieftaincy in that district.

Of the six inscriptions under discussion, the four

datable ones belong to the period between 1272 and 1306, which

1. See supra, p.47q

2. See supra, p.4)1k.

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484

is in the reign of Iavarma Ku1akhara I (1268-1310). Of

the other two, that from TiruvaraJa4am may very well belong

to this period if the VTra PIp4ya nientined. in it is Javarzna,

V!ra P44ya II If be is the first of that name, whose accession

took place in 1253, this inscription woizld be a few, at themoBt nimmeen, years earlier than the four datable ones. On

the other hand, if the inscription belongs to the latter

part of the reign of V!ra P4ya II (1296-l3kO), it would belater than the others by a few years. The sixth inscription,

as we have already seen may belong to the early part of the

fourteenth century. We see, therefore, that most of the South

Indian inscriptions mentioning the Aryacakravartins, or probably

all of them, belong to a period of about four or five decades

in the latter part of the thirteenth and the early part of

the fourteenth century. It is in tha same period that the

Siithalese sources refer to an ryacakravartin who led invasions

on behalf of ?avarzna, Eulakhara I. It is interesting to

néte that all the datable inscriptions in which the 4ryacakravartins

find mention belong to the reign of ?avarma Kulakhara I.

It appears that the ryacakravartins belonged to a short-lived

dynasty of fendatory chiefs who held away in the Rmriad district

in the reign of Zavarma, Ku1akhara and possibly a little longrr.

1. See supra, p. 1.'V

2. See supra, p. i1.3(

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485

Their inscriptions are not found in the Ramnad district after

this period.

As mentioned earlier, Paranavitana is right in

tracing the origin of the ryacaicravartins of Jaffna to this

family from Ramnad. Apart from the fact that the latter are the

only other ryacakaravartins th t we know of, there are other

considerations that lead ud to this conclusion. The chronology

of the iryacakravartins is in favour of such a conclusion. The

last reference to the iryacakravartins in South India occurs

in the inscriptions of the early part of the fourteenth

century. The first definite reference to an Iryacakravartin ruler

of Jaffna is made in l3kk not long after the South Indian

references. But more important than this, as Paranavitana has

indicated, is the fact that the Aryacakravartins of Ramnad and

Jaffna used the word ctu in their records in the manner of a

benediction, as is evidenced by the Tfruppulli inscription of

an ryacakravartin of Ranxnad and the Koagama inscription of an

Aryaeakravartin ruler of Jaffna The word ctu was also inscribed

on the coins of the Aryacakravart ins of Jaffna They probably

1. See supra, p. 400

2. S.I.I., VIII, No. 396 ; H.C.P.Bel]., Report on the Kgalla

District, p. 8.

3. S.Gnanapragasar, 'The Forgotten Coinage of the Kings of Jaffna',

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A C)

had this word inscribed on their shields as well, for de Queyroz,

while describing the defeat by the Portuguese of one of the last

kings of Jaffna, mentions that be 'had a black inscription on

his white ahield' The Aryacakravartins of Jaffna had also

the title ctukvala ('protector of the ctu') C!tu (= darn

or causewa) is the name applied to Ir.mar Lai ('Rnia's Bund'

or Adam's Bridge), the narrow coral reef that ionnecte the

island of Nanr with that of Rmvaram on the Thdian side.

Ctu is also applied to the temple of Rnivara4zid it is in

this sense that it is better known, The Aryauakravart±ns of Jaffna,

till the rise of the 6tupatis of Raninad, considered themselves

as the protectors or custodians of the temple of nvaram

The occurrence of ctu in their records shows that the

Aryacakravartins of Ramnad also had a special association with

the temple of Rni!varam which, being situated in Ranuiad,

probably came under their protection.

Further, there were traditions in Ceylon which

connected the ryacakravartina of Jaffna with Rxx1varam. In

the Cekarca-ckara-nlai, one of the earliest Tami]. works

1. F.de Queyroz, . cit., p. 366.

2. v. 86; ., Ciappupp7iram.

3 • S. Gnanapragasar, pa-vaip ava-vimarc an, p • 62.

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48?produced in Jaffna, the ancestors of the ryacakravartius of

Jaffna are said to have been Brhmaa rulers of antamtaam

It is stated that Rma, after his campaign in Ceylon, want

to Kantanitaam, established a shrine there after his own name

(inivaram) in honour o Siva. and invited five hundred and twelve

Pupata BrThmaas to perform service in the temple. Two of

them were made kings and given the title of '4riya-vntu'

(Lya king) together with the insignia of umbrella, Brahmanic

thread and the bull standard. Kantamtaam is the name given

in the literary works of South India to a hill in the vicinity

of R iiivaram 1.de Queyroz, too, records a tradition that the

ancestors of the kings of Jaffna lived in nvaram Although

the late ,a-vaipava-mlai claims a Ca descent for the

4ryacakravart ins, the earlier work KaiIyanlai states that

the first ryacakravartin came from the P4ya country and that

be was a Pya prince We have mentioned earlier that some of

the iryacakravartins of Ramnad were related to the P4yas,

presumably through marriage. But there is no evidence to suggest

,. Tvai U1, vv. 179, 220 ; Kampa Rmyaaxn, VI, Yutta-ktam,

Paikkci Patalam , v.15, 1'fftci Paa1am, v. 168; Kantapuram,

Makntira Kam, I, v.18.

t. Ccm., Citappuppyiram.

. F.de Queyroz, . cit., pp. k8-49.

k. Km., p. 6; Yvm., p. 25. The Yvm. states, however, that he came

from Nadurai, the P14ya capital.

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483that they were scions of the PIya family. The Kai1yalai

statement may be an exaggeration. That the ancestors of the

Iryacakravartins of Jaffna cxnae from the Pya country is further

etidenced by certain traditions relating to them which are

recorded in the Cekarca-ckara-nlai • In the jappupiram

(introductory section) of this work, an eulogistic description

of the achievements of the ancestors of Cekarca-ckara, the

Jaffna ruler in whose time this work was composed, is given.

In this account, there is an allusion to 'the king who fought

and defeated the KrunI Lkar (1Car1as) at Antaravalli' (ce

Karunakarai Antaravalliyil porutu ceyitta vntu) 1 and to 'the

king who, having dismembered the trunk of the rutting elephant

that dashed angrily towards him, defeated the Pc4a, (Boysaja)'

(i varum mata vam karam tuittu Pc4ai_katinta_vntu)

These two statements appear to be allusions to the achievements

of one person. It is not known that a ruler of Jaffna ever got

involved in a battle against the Hoys4as, the last of whom

ended his rule around l3k3 It is not possible that a ruler ofi1-

Jaffna carried out a succesful expedition against p powerful

Koys4as. The reference is evidently to an 4ryacakravartin of

1. Ccm., v.6.

2. Ibid.

3. K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, A History of South India, 1958, p. 231.

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489

Ramnad who, as the ally of the P4yae, probably won certain

victories over the Eoys4as. This was probably before 1310, for

by that date there were internal dissensions in the Pra kingdomand the Piya princes were in no position to attack their

neighbours The epigraphic sources inform us of victorious

P4ya campaigns against the Hoys4aa only after the accession

of 11avarma, Sundara P4ya in 1251. In an inscription of

his seventh regna]. year, Sundara P4ya claims ba have inflicted

a severe defeat on the aoys4as Following this success, the

Pfras seem to have been in occupation of Kaaür, the

Hoys4a capital, for quite some t1me The second time we hear

of a campaign against the ops4as is in the time of }avarma

Ku1akhara I (1268-1310). In an inscription from Tinnevelly,

Ku].akhara claims the subjugation of the Uoys4as After this

we do not hear of any successful Pya campaigns against the

Hoys4a neighbours. The Iryacakravartin, whose achievement in

a battle against the Hoys4as is alluded to in the Cekarca-

ckara-n1ai, may have been fighting on the side of the Pyas

in one of these campaigns. Probably he was involved in the

1. K.ANilakanta Sastri, The Pyan Kingdom, p. 201 ff

2. Ibid., p. 161 If. ; .E.R. for 1 9k, No. 166 of 189k.

3. LA.Ni]akanta Sastri, he P.yan Kingdom, p. 16k ; El., III,pp.11f

11. . . for 1926/27, No. 29 of 1927.

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49k)

battle of the time of Kulaflhara for, as we know from the

Cflava4sa , it was in the latter's reign that an Iryacakravartin

led some of the PIya campaigna The allusion in the Cekarica-

c!kara-nl!lai seems to be a genuine tradition preserved in the

courts of the iryaca1cravartins of Jaffna. In the light of afl.

these considerations, the conclusion that the Iryacakravartins

of Jaffua were descended from those of Panmad becomes irresistible.

In his paper on the kingdom of northesin Ceylon,

Paranavitana has made some interesting comments on the origin

of the Iryacakravartins of Pinmad. Arguing on the basis that

the word 'Ariya (Irya) has a distinct connotation in T2nil

literature', namely that 'it denotes the language, literature

and people of North India, as distinct from those of the

Dravidian lands', he baa euggest.d a North Indian origin for

the Iryacakravartina Be argues his case as follows: -

Even if, as stated in the Cekarca-cTkara-nilai andreported by de Queyroz, the rulers of Jafina were called1riyaa due to descent from a Bralimin of .ni!varam, itis not the fact of this ancestor being a Brahain, butof his belonging to a particular class of Brnhmlnn,namely Iriya Brahins, that would have conferred onthem the titi. of 4riya. For there are still at

1. Cv., 9O:k3-k7

2. S.Paranavitana, 'The 4rya Ifngdom in North Ceylon', p. 2O+.

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491Izvaram a sect of Brhm{ns called 4riyappirlm4ar,

who hay, special rights in the temple and who claimto be immigrants from North India. The North Indianorigin of the Brahmins to whom the 1riyaa of Jaffna tracedtheir origin is admitted also by the CeIcrca-ckara-nfElai, for it says that they came with Rma. A strayverse, ascribed to Puka2nti, included in the anthologycalled Tami-n1valar-caritai, seems to support theNorthern origin of the rya kings. This stanza, whichexpresses the poet's grief at the death of an lrya king,refers to him by a phrase which, in the printed text,is given as vaal ri r-kThifAp,. The compound vaalIriyarcan only be analysed as vaal+L'iyar. But the first ofthese two words, according to the Tamil Lexicon meansbanya, and gives no sense in this context. As v

can be confused with ]. in Tamil manuscripts, thecorrect reading appears to be avriyar-knf, theking of the Northern Kryas. De Queyroz definitely mentionsthat these Brahmons of RInvaram came from Gufar1twhich, together with the adjoining regions, is called&riaka (Iryaka) by classical geograpber8. De ueyrozfurther states that these Irya Br.hmirn claimed royaldescent. This is rather puzzling, for the rigidity ofthe Hindu caste system of those days would not havepermitted a qatriya being accepted as a Brhmin. Itis possible that originallythere were at RLfl!varamand its neighbourhood Br2h mine as well as KSatrlyaawho called themselves lryae, and that, at a laterdate, when the Brahmina alone_succeeded in preservingtheir separate identity, all 4riyas of Rn1varamknown to tradition were held to be Br.hm(ni. The factthat the rya rulers of Jaffna wore the sacredthread need not necessarily prove that they were of Brahminorigin; the qatriyas, too, were entitled to wear it. 1

Having thus argued in favour of a North Indian, and possible

EatrLya, origin for the Iryaca.kravartins, Paranavitana proeeda

to 'ascertain who the Arias were' For this purpose he takes

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Zrya Kingdom in North Ceylon', p. 20i4 205.

2. Ibid., p. 205.

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492

two independent references to Iryas in the sources relating

to the thirteenth century and, on their basis, attempts to

identify the iryae as RIpute. The first reference is that

in the C!!1ava to 4riyk-Ichattiya (Irya-katriya) warriors

who were mercenaries in the service of Vijayablhu IV (l27O-1272)

These iryakatriya soldiers have been identified by Co&rington

as RIjputa The second reference is that in the inscriptions

of Ja1varma, Sundara PIya I (l25l-c.l270) In this record,-

certain £ryas are mentioned as the 11feeèf MudugUr. Irishna

Sastri identified these Iryas as the Cas, as it was believed

at that time that the ryas of the CUlavasa references were

CVas Disagreeing with Saetri, Paranavitana argues

But,_aa it has now been established. beyond doubt thatthe Aryas of the CUlavqtaa were Bjputs, the Aryas whofought iwith the Telugue must also be similarly identified.In later writings, the Irya families of Jaffna areassociated with a place named 11aap4i, the name ofwhich was borne as a title by the descendants of thelast king of Jaffna. A place of this name is said. tohave existed in the domi nion of,the XTkatTyae, whichis called the kingdom o l4otupal].i by )arco Polo. It ispossible that the Iryas referred to in the inscriptfonof Javarman Sundara Pya as the allies of the Teluguslived in this place, and later, after the conquest of

1. £.' 90:1 ff.

2. H.W.Codrington, 'Notes on the Dabade.i Dynasty', C.A.L.R., X,

p.88.

3. M.E.L for 191k, lbs. 332, 3k0 and 36]. of 1913.

ii. Thid., pp . 91-92.

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493

the 7katTya kingdom by the Muslims, they migratedsouthwards and joined forces with the Irya-cakoavartiaof RInvaram, to be mentioned in the sequel, andultimately fount their way to Ceylon. It was at thistime, or somewhat earlier, that the Rljpit kingdomsin North India collapsed under repeated attacks byMuslim invaders, and bands of warriors who surviv•dthe disasters, but were not prepared to lead a dishonourabl.existence under the yoke of the foreigners, might verywell have come southwards seeking new homes, and takenservice under rulers of Indian faiths and culture whowelcomed them and were ready to take advantage of,and pay for, their military prowess. I! these Rljputexiles came as far as Ceylon, they might as well havesought their fortunes under theirulers of South India.And. there is epigraphical evidence for the presence cZin the country near RIzfl!varam of chieftains namedIrya-cakravartis about the close of the thirteenthcentury. 1

Whatever the possibility of the Aryacakravartins having been

Rljput in origin, Paranavitana's arguments in favour of it is

not quite convincing and the evidence he adduces is not always

correct. In the first place, ho puts forward five arguments

to establish the North Indian origin of th. Iryacakravartine.

The first argument that the word irya has a special connotation

in Ti1, in that it denotes the language, literature and the

peopl. of North India is generally correct. But there seem

to have been aertain exceptions to this ma'i-• An inscription

from KuttUa.a, in the Tinnevelly district, dated in the fifth

year of )avaraa Vikrama Pa (1288), refers to two Tmi1

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The 4rya ingdom in North Ceylon', pp. 207-208.

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491riyar, Lakkum4a DvanIya)cn, and Lekkum4a Iapijii They

were assigned a certain extent of laud by the local village

assembly and required to cultivate it and pay taxes to the

temple at Tiru-kuttilam. Ws do not know who the Tem{. iriyar

were and how they got that name. But the fact that they were

called T&flLt I 4riyar shows that some people from among the Tmila.

were also known as 4riyar in the thirteenth century. Therefore,

one cannot be too sure that the element Irya in the name

*ryacakravartin denotes North Indian origin beyond any doubt.

The second srgument of Paranavitana that it is the fact of

their ancestor belonging to the class of irya BrThmaas that

would have conferred on the 'Zryacakravartine, if they were

Brhn4as, the title of riya, is certainly a possibility,

although it is only an assumption. Thirdly, his coutentiom

that the North Indian origin of these rulers is 'admitted

also by the Cekar1ca-ckara-nilai, for it says that they came

with Pma', is wrong. This Tamil work clearly states that

Rma built the temple of RImvaram on his way back from

Ceylon, 'invited five hundred and twelve PIupatas'(Pcupatark4

1. ?4.E.R. for 1918, No. 1126 of 1917. The astronomical data in this

record corresponds to October 29, 125k, but there seems to be

a mistake somewhere for )avarma Vikrama PIyas accession

was in 1283 (Ibid., p. 112).

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495

aii2rir.ii pairuvarai varavalaittu) and r.queated theni to performservice at the temple (ptcaai cey ini, nr ea karuai purint*)

It is not stated from where the Brli m.4as were invited. In any

case, on. cannot attach much importance to this legend. lourthly,

he takes a stray Terse in the Tamil-nvalar-caritai, makes his

own emendatiozi to a phrase in it and uses it in support of hi.

argument. Th. following ar. the first two lines of the verse

in which the verse, given by him as vaailriyar kThn and

emended as avriyar occurs:-

A I vitiy ,al Ariyar k3n

E valar;l iranta2

(1hZ Is this fate I (Cure.) th. day the valiant king

of the Iriyar died at the hands of the messengers

(of Death) ).

The phrase in question is actually al Iriyar k5n and not

a). iriar In the above verse, the word aa]. is preceded

by vitiy. When the initial vowel a ('9') of aa1 combines with

the final vowel! () of yitiy, th. consonant v (ii) is

introduced for euphonic reasons, in accordance with Tamil

gr.mm*tical rules. The whole line would then read as

1. 2 . TV. 1-4.

2. Tn" i2-nIvalar-caritai, ed. T.XannRuntarampillai, Mad. 1921, p. 52.

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496

A I

When the words are separated, they would rea& as in the Vera.

quoted above. That the word which qualifies Iiyar- is

aal and not vaaL is further demonstrated. by the fact that

the initial letter of this word, namely a ()4), a1U.terat.s with

the first letter of the whole line, in keeping with the rules

of the pj metre Aal, me.nlng strong, 'valiant', 'tough'

or 'ability to kill', is a very common epithet for h or

heroes, elephants, lions and armies, and has been in use from

1. Note the elliteration in this verse:

A I vitiy aal riyai, kn

E Ivalar*l iranta nI - O

Tarukk4ilum kulirnta ta4i tan'cu ia

Tirjum_cuunf_ti?

The alliteration:

-

I ---------j------0 (vowel-vowel)

a

E1

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497

very early tim.e We see, therefore, that there is no reason to

1. 1) gi_nikI, 11, , v. 16 (ad. Cuv1' l-Ita Paitar,

Mad. 1909); 2) Piâkala-nika , X, stra 15, (Rippon Press,

Madras 1917); 3) aa1 kari (valiant elephant) in }dirv'carksr

Tiruvcakam , Ilittal Vi4 appam , v.32, p. 182 (ad. Cuppir.aViya

PiD ai , Mad. 19119); 11) aal an (valiant lion) in N!lak!ci,

Tarumavurai Carude m, V. 55 p. 2k (ad. L.Chabavarti, Mad, 1936);

5) aa1 !y matann earam (the fatal dart of Cupid) in Kanpa-

rinflya, PIla-kaiu, Ka(m4a Paalain, v.11, P. 83k

(ed. V.WIGopIla ri4anicIriyar, Mad. 1953); 6) aal arakid

(th. strong Rkasi), ibid., Ir.4iya-krLam, CUrppaakai'UI

Paa1a', v.]Q, p. 54 (1953); 7) a] Irva4 (the valiant

RIv.4a) , ibid., Cuntara-kIam, Poil-irutta Paalam, v.20,

p. 53k (1955); 8) aealvaliarakkan (the Rkasa with strength

and the ability to kill), ibid., Yutta-kaa, Irv4axj, Yatai

Paa1an, v.18, p. '+8 (pt.2) (19k8) ; 9) aa]. kein tit

vran (the hero with strong broad shoulders), Kant a-puniam,

- Mak!ntira-k4ani, VTravku Kantantaan Ccl Paalaa, v.22, p.111,

(ad. M.T.flukavi, Mad. 1907); aa1 katir vl (the

valiant kiig with the shining spear), Puk4Tnti,

r,litoar..k7am, v.37, p. 386, (ad. K.RghavcIri and

T.C.PirttacLati, Mad. 1938).

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498

emend the epithet of 4rirar k5a in the abovs vere. and to clai

North Indian origin for the riyacaavartina on that basis.

Besides, the authenticity of the veres under diectesion is open

to question. It would not be inappropriate to quote here

Paranayita.na's own comments, in an .arlier section of the same

article, on this and another verse attributed to Puka3nti in

the Tami].-nva1ar-carit ai:

it may be stated that the anthology in question is arecent compilation in which stray verses attributed tby tradition to various poets, together with anecdotesabout the poets, have been collected togeth.r. It is awork of the same tpe as the Sanakrit Bhojaprabandha,and in the attribution made in suck works have to becritically .rm(ned before they are accepted as correct.Th. verses in qi.stion do not occur in any of the workswhich are attested to be of Pu]anti .............Nilknta Sastriialso admits that works with littleor no claim to literary merit have been fathered onPuk flnti. It thus follows that the verses attributedto Pn1rnti are not beyond question from the hand ofthat poet, and that his date too is a matter of controversy,literary crtticG being inclined to place him in thelat. thirteenth century. 1

In addition to the doubt that has to be cast on the authenticity

of the verse, there is nothing in it to indicate that the

Iriyar knf referred to then, was none other than an lryacakra-

vartin. Finally, Paranavitana adduces th. evidence of de Queyroz

who mentions that the Br1a ancestors of the ryacakravartina

came from Gujanit. In this instance, despit. th. many obvious °'

1. S.Paranavitan&, 'The irya Xiugdoa in North Ceylon', p. l7.

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499"4-

found in his workAaeema to b• recording a genuine tradition

for we learn from inscriptions in Gujar&t that there was a

community of peopl, known as Iryas in th. time of the Pratihiras.

A Sansbit inscription of Kakkuka of the PratThlra dynasty,

dated in the Samvat year 918 (A.D.861) and found at GhaiyV.I,

a few miles north-west of Jodhpur, mentions 'that lciilrp

obtained great renown in the countries of Trava!, lTalla, Ma,

amongst (the people known as ) rya, in Gurjjattarl, and in Parvata

in the La country' Another inscription has a reference to

the AjJa, which D.R.iandarkar has equated with the L'ya ot the

first inscription It is possible that some of these Irya people

migrated to RImvaram after the Muslim invasions and the

Iryacakravartins may have been among the descebdants of these

people. Of the arguments put forward by Paranavitana in favour

of a North Indian origin of the Lyacakravartine, that based on

the evidence of do neyroz is the only convincing one.

The case presented by Paranavitana for the

identification of the ancestors of the ryacskravartins with

Rljputs rests entirely on th. identification of the Liy.kirhittiyas

of the C5lav4ia with Rjput mercenaries. The latter identification

1..., IX, Inscription No.38, pp. 277-281.

2. Ibid., p. 278.

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500

need not be questioned. Codrington's identification that the

Liya mercenaries vho were in the service of VijaabThu IV

were Ijputa ma well be accepted. As Paranavitana has stat.d,

it is quite poeøible that there were jput soldiers in South

India, too, at this time. But Rljput$ were not the only

Iryas known in South India in the thirteenth century. The

South Indian inscriptions refer to different grotipe of people

who were known as Iryas, all of whom cannot be identified as

Rljpnts. As mentioned earlier, an ii$ecription from Iuttlam

refers to two Tamil riyar, who appear to have been cultivators

Another from Taujore, dated in th. fifth year of Eu]Zttu.dga

Ca, probably the third, refers to the Mah5vara Iryas who

were attached to a. templ. Besides the inscriptions of

JaraYarma Sundara Piya mentioning th. ryae of Xudugr,

another record of th. same monasch, found at Cidambarani, alludes

to the defeat of the 'fierce army of riyar' (Tern paai riyar)

Another Piya record x.fers to order authorising certain

Iriyar to guard the gold treasury (kval) of the temple of

1. See eupra, P.

2. M.E.R. for 1918, No. 23 of 1918.

3. N.E.R. for 1893. No. 172 of 1092.

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501

rTraAgam All these ryae of the South Indian inscriptions,

belonging to the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, cannot

be identified as Rljpute on the ground that the Iryas mentioned

in the C!lavasa were Rljpute. It is clear from the evidence of

the South Indian inscriptions that there were several groups

of people who were known as Iryas. The Mhvara &ryas, for

instance, were a. class of Brhms$aa. In the CV2a inscriptions

we get several references to these 1Qivaraa in connection with

the administration of temples and Brhm a s.ttlenients We do not

know the identity of the army of Iriyar mentioned in the inscription

from Cidambaram and of the riyar who were temple guards at

rTrañgam. Judging from their occupation, the last two groups

may very well have been Rjput mercenaries. The foregoing

evidence, shows that it is not easy to trace the origin of

the element Irya in the name Iryacakravartin to Rljputa.

An analysis of the little evidence that we have

shows that there are several ways in which the origin of theryacakravartina can be exL4ined. The first possibility is

the Iryacakravartins belonged to a commirnity of people called

the lriyar who lived in the southern parts of the PIya country.

1. kLR. for 1938/39, No. 84 of 1938/39.

2. M.E.R. for 1923, No537 of 1922; M.E.R. for 1926, No.9k of 1926;

M.E.R. for 1927, No.279 of 1927; X.A.Nilnta Sastri, The Cas,

pp. 11.27, k91.

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502We have seen .arli.r that the home of almost all the 4ryacaa..

vartins mentioned in the South Indian inscriptions could b.

traced to the P mnId district Although the titi. Of lryacakza-

vartin seems to hay, gone out of us. in this region after about

the early part of the thirteenth century, we come across some

other titles, with the element irya, which were used ir ths

Remnaci and inneveUy districts in the thirteenth century and

later. One such title was Ayya, (irya), as in Ayya MaavarIya

Cc. thirteenth century) 2 and Ayya Nayi (A.D.l582) Another

was riyapperun occurring in an inscription from rT-villiputtt!r

in the Pamnad diatrict It is dated aka 1k82 (A.D.1560). About

the same time, a territorial division called Iriya-nIu) (rya

country) is mentioned in the inscriptions of Pnmad district

and of the adjoining district of Tinnev.11y. For instance, one

inscription from SrT-vilhiputt!r, in the Rrnad district, records

the gift of a pio of land in a village in 1riya-nIu But a

large number of inscriptions mentioning riya-nu are found in

1. See supra, p.4t3.

2. LE.R. for 1918, No. 428 of 1917; E.I., W, p. 72.

3. LLR. for 1918, No. 600 of 1917.

4. M.ER. for 1926/27, No. 531 of 1926.

5. Ibid., No. 524 of 1926.

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503

Te 1c!iRi tluk, in the Tinn.v.11y diatrict Most of them belong

to the sixteenth c.ntury In many of them the variant ri-nIu

is used instead of riya-nu, together with the prefix (south)

or vaa (north) • That Iri-nu is a variant of 4riya-nIu is

established by the mention of certain villages as being situed

in Iri-nIu in some inscriptions and Ariya-nau in some otbers

The mention of Puliyili TeRi Tiru-kuLLLa$ ?!lIgaram' and

other villages all situated in modern Tek.i tiluk of th.

Tinnevelly district, as being situated in Zrya-nIn helps to

locate this old territorial division in the modern Tinneveily

district. The reference to Ariya-nu in the inscription8 of Rp.pd

district indicates that this territorial division covered parts

of the modern Pnmed district as well. In this connection it

should be noted that the inscription referring to Iriyar

states that they were from Tiru-kuIlam, which was in the

1. LE.L for 1918, No.. 397, 1+01, 1+03, 407, 409, 1+10, 1+12,

1+16, 417, 1+18, 529, 639, 532, 582 and 603 of 1917.

2. There is at least one inscription dated aka 1202 (A.D. 1280)

belonging to the reign of a certain Parkrama PIya, who may

be identified with Parlkrama Pya 1be1i Vlnldirlya. M. E. B. for

1918, No. 401 of 1917 ; K.A.Nilakenta Saatri, The PIran Kindorn,

p. 187.

3. M.E.R. for 1918, 529 and 603 of 1917.

4. Ibid., No.. 397, k0lIO3 f 407 Q9,.4l0, 1+12 and 1+16 of 1917.

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504£riya-nu division The occurrence of at least three titles,

one territorial name and the name of a community or a body

of persons with the element £ry a in the Tinnevelly-Pamnad

region suggests that there must have been some association with

this region of some people calle d Iryas. These Iryas may hays

been a fmi1y of chieftains from North India, possibly from

Gujart, as de Queyroz informs us, who established their authority

in that region, or may have been Brhm4aa , possibly lrya

Br h as, whose descendants are to be found still in RIn!&varam,

who wielded political authority there. The Iryacakravartine

may have been their leaders or may have sprung from these fmi1ies.

In this connection, there is an interesting reference in the

Maak4appn-xnmiyam, which may throw some light on our problem.

This Battica].oa chronicle refers to the first Iriya, who established

his authority in Jaffna as having hailed from riya-nIu If this

place is the same as the Zriya-nIu in South India, its name may

be connected with the 4riyar who became rulers of Jaffna. On the

other hand, the riya-nu of the Battica]oa chronicle may refer

to North India. But this is unlikely, for the chronicle states

that the first iriya ruler of Jafmna settled in that region

1. See eupra, p.1j4..

2. ., p. 36.

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505people from ya-nZu These settlers, according to the chronicles

of Jaffna, came from th. Tamil country.

A second possibility is that Iryacakravartin was

just a title conferred on certain chieftains of the Raiiia&

region and Jaotes only a fictitious connection with ryaa.

In some of the South Indian inscriptions belonging to tb. t

thirteenth and fourteenth centuries we hear of such cakravartin

titles being borne by officials and cçhi.ft4a. For instance,

in an inscription dated in the fourth year of a. V!ra PIyadva,we come across the title ) uva-c ldr1r avartti, which was borne

by an official. in the PIya count ry In a similar the

title PIya-cakravarti was borne by some persona in the K,nn4a

country who had no authority over the PIya 1ringdoni Another

Piya inscription refers to a person with the titl. of

G4ita_ci idrsravartti' It is, ther.for., possibi. that Iryacakra-

vartin was also a sirilar title conferred on certain cbieftLi

in Rnd by the PIya rulers. But this seems unlikely. The

TamI1 chronicles of Jaffna repeatedly refer to the Zryacakravartina

1. Mm., p. 37.

2. M.E.R. for 19128/29, Ne. 413 of 1928/29.

3. Ibid., Nos. li 75 and 488 of 1928/29; LLR. for 1930/31,

No. 360 of 1930/31.

4. M.E.R. for 193]J32, No. 104 of 193]/32.

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506

as Iriyaa and 1 ngs of the riyar (iriiar tarn which may

suggest that their name was more than a title.

A third aM strong possibility i. that the 4rya-

caIavartins belonged to a BrThm ir4a community. We know from th.

Ca inscriptions that Brhma4as served in the army as comnenders

As Nilaknta Sastri baa commented., 'it is remarkable that many

of the leaders (senatis) in the army were of Brahmin extraction'

It may be that one such eenji distinguished h1ielf in battle,

earned the title of lryacakravartin and was granted a chieftaincy

in the 1?p"mad district by one of the PIya kings of the thirteenth

century. It may also be that one of the BrIimea chieftains of

the Ramna4 region earned the title in the service of the PIya

rulers. We have already seen that at least one 4ryaca,kravartin

was .n the service of avarma, Xulatkhara I as a eenpati?

There is a strong possibility that this eenpati was the first

Lyacakravartin. l.a discussed earlier, the earliest datable

source mentioning an iryacakravartin is an inscription of the

fifth year of )avarma Kulakhara I (l268-l3lO) Around 1284,

1. LA.Jile1 aiita Saatri, The Caa, p. k6.

2. Ibid.

3. See supra, p. (1t2

4, See supra, p.411

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507

nearly ten years after the date of this inscription, an Iryacakra-

vartin who was a senati in the service of )avarma, Kn1akhara

led an invasion of C.ylon ince the date of the first mention

of an Aryacaavartin is very close to that of the invasion of

Ceylon by an 7ryacakravartim, the identification of the latter

person with the former seems possible. That the ryacakravartins

who ruled in Jaffna were of Brih m a extraction is stated by

de Queyroz as well as the author of the CekarIca-ckara-nIlai,

a work produced in the time of an Iryacakravartin. According to

de Qneyroz, the rulers of Jaffna were 'Brsnes, natives of

Guzarate, called Arus, who claimed Royal deecent' The Cekarica-

c!kara-mflai refers to the ryacakravartin in whose time it was

composed as a Brhm4a from i, who belonged to the Xyapa

of the Iltylyana stra and who knew the truths of the four

Vedae The evidence of this Tamil work cannot be set aside easily.

1. See supra, p.

2. P.de Queyroz, . p.48.

3. Ccm, v.20k. Vaiya "ann KItya,a clitrattu

nniya Rc 1pm kVtzat4aruvu k4mai

Ceyya catur maai v5ymai ci vanta

CekarIca-ckaram Iti

Tuyya puka2 p'!!cura mz[avar

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508

If the Iryacakravartins were Eatriyae, the author of the Tam(1

work could not have aiade a mistake in caU 1hia patron a Brhmia

ruler. If the ryacakravartiu in whose time the Cekarca-ckara-

.lai was composed were a Brhmia, his ancestors must also have

been Brlhma4aa. They were probably Irya Brahma4as and hence

the name riyar.

We are, therefore, inclined to believe that the

Iryacakravartine were Brhmaas, probably L7a Brhm4as, who

may have hailed from Gujart, as is cla(m.d by de ueyroz. We

have seen that in Gujarit there were at this time a people called

The ancestors of the Iryacakravartins were probably

from this community. As 4rya chieftains they may have used the

title of iryacakravartin.

How and when the Iryacakravartins of South India

became masters of the kingdom of northern Ceylon is not clearly

known, The Ti mI 1 chronicles state that the first 4ryacakravartin

was invited by one of the nobles of Jaffna, called PIi Maavaa,

to rule over the northern kingdom, which was without a ruler for

some time This is rather doubtful. It is unlikely that the

kizmen of the previous rulers would haie kept quiet without

1. See eupra, p.

2. XI!• p. 25 ; !!. P. 7.

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509attempting to seize power. Do Qu.yroz has recorded another tradition

about the in which the Iryacakravartina became kings of

the northern kingdorn According to him, the Arue (ryas) of

uacor (PInvaram)

began to have trade and friendship with the binge ofJafanapata, and one of them married a daughter ofthat King; and finilly his descendants became heirs tothat kingdom. Of these th. first that tried to freehimself from the subjection t the ring of Cota (Xotte,was iriaxaca Varati (ryacakravartin) who being naturallyproud and not brooking the haughtiness of the officersof that King, took the life of one who governed there....2

Paranavitana accepts this tradition and concludes that an Zriya

from RIiI!varam espoused a princess who was a descendant of the

Jvaka prince who-was- ruling the northern kingdom in the

thirteenth centur7 In support of this conclusion be cites an

inscription front Idavala. In this record, a personage named

}rtt1am-perunun-vahanse, with th. title Sav$u-pati, is

mentioned. Paranavitana identifies him as )rttIa Iryacaicra-

i'artin of Jaffna and puts forward 1ge far-fetched hypothesis

on the basis of the title £av4u-pati, which he interprets to

mean lord of the JIT_R According to his argument

1. 1.d. Queyroz, . s.i.. p. L.9,

2. Ibid.

3. S.Paranavitana, 'The 4rya Xingdom in North, Ceylon', p. 197.

Lf. Ibid., p. 199.

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510

if an Iriya from Rn&varain became master of thiskingdom as the result of an matrimonial a1].iance, theJ1v,1r gr £1vIi or Sav4u people would have referredto this Ariya and hi. descendants as their lord. Theepithet 'Sav4u-pati' applied to an Ariya-caicravarti inthe )davala inscription can thus be satisfactorilyexptiined on the hypothesis that the rèyal femlIy- intowhich the Iriya married was that of the 1

As we have pointe& out earlier, Paranavitana's interpretation

of the titi. of Sav4upati cannot be accepted Consequently

there i. no evidence in the }d.avala inscription regarding a

matrimonial alliasce between the ryacakravartins and the

f41y of their predecessors in Jaffna; and de Queyroz's

information stands uncorroborated. Under these circumstances

ws can take this matrimonial alliance to be only a possibility.

Another possibl• manner in which the Iryacakravartins

of Ramnad gained comtrol of the northern )rtngdom in metrm

is by conquest. The successful invasion of an ryacakravartin

around 128k resulted in the eubjuèation of the Sinhalese kingdom

in southern Ceylon by the PIyas It is not known whether the

general ryacakravartin invaded northern Ceylon, too. His troops

presumably landed in northern Ceylon. The ruler of northern

Ceylon possibly continued to be a f.udatory of the PIyas and,

therefore, there was no need. to wage a war against him. If that

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Irya Kingdom in North Ceylon', p. 199.

2. See sura,

3. See enpra, p.

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511was the case, the invasion of Iryacakravartin may not have resulted

in any control of the northern ldiigdom by him. On the other band,

if the northern ruler had been recalcitrant, the Piya genera].

may have subjugated him, oo, and begun to extend his authority

there. Thee. are matters of speculation. The suggestion that

this ryacakravartin. who invaded the Sinhalese kingdom around

128k was already a ruler of Jaffna is not acc.ptable The C!lavasa

specifically states that this general was 'sent with an army by

the five brothers, the kings who held sway in the P.4u realm'

and, having seized the Toots relic as well as other co.tly

treasures, he 'returned *th them to the Pa4 Ir4iigdom' The

PI].i chronicle clearly mentions that he was a 'Damia generai.'

If the L'yacakravartins did not capture power in northern Ceylon

around 128k, this event has to be dated to the time of the

Muslim invasion of the Pya country, when the forces of }ik

KafUr rode triumphkntly down to 1 !varani This was in 1310.

As Paranavitana has stggeeted, in the fateful years between the

first Muslim invasion of South India and. the establishment of

the Nadura Sultanate in 13k'i, the political confusion brought

1. C.Rasanayagam, . cit., p. 3kk.

2. Cv., 90:k3.

3. Ibid., 90:44,

4. K.A.Nilakta Sastri, The PIyan Kingdom, p. 206 if.

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512about by these event4ay have led the £ryacakravartine to seek

their fortunes in Ceylon. The eall and probably weak kingdom

in northern Ceylon would have been a tempting target for their

designs. This is, however, another possibility. In the present

state of our knowledge we cannot be certain about the "sjer

in which the ryacakravartins came to occupy the throne of Jaffna.

Prom the account of Ibu Batuta, we find that the

4ryacaavartina were firmly established on the throne of northern

Ceylon by l3kk and were in contmnd of the sea around, which was

infested with their piratica]. boats Their rule in the island

must, therefore, have begun some time before l3kk. In the absence

of any evidence regarding the date of the accession of the

first Iryacakravartin ruler, we can place this only within

rough Itinite. It certainly took place before l3kk, probably in

the first quarter of the fourteenth century. possibly in the

last quarter of the thirteenth.

The independent ki-gdom of northern Ceylon that

emerged in the thirteenth century continued to be in existence

till 1620, when the laat of the Tamil rulers was beheaded by the

Portuguese and the k4ngdom became part of the Portuguese possessions

in the island This medieval kingdom has been commonly known

1. The Rehia of Ibn Batuta, . cit., pp. 217-22k.

2. T.de Queyroz, . cit., pp. 628 ft, 691.

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513

to historians as the kingdom of Jaffna. Commenting on this,

Gnanapragaear has the following to say: -

It is an anachronism to call the North Ceylon of theTemil period by the name of Jaffna. Nor is it correctto say that any Ruler of the North of the Island wasking of Jaffna.- The name Jaffna, now designating theentire peninsula, was first given to the new town inNallur in the 17th cntiry. The kings, whose briefhistory is to be rec1Ied in the following pages,reigned first at 51i1r1 Nagar, a town situated probablyon the sea-shore near Point Pedro,aud then at Nallur,till their downfall. Their k4gdom was known in theirown days as that of T1m, a ne given also to the wholes1an& of Ceylon. As this old name is no more in use,and as "Jaffn.a" has come to indicate the northernlringdom, we conform to modern usage in calling our ancientrulers the kings of Jaffna. 1

This seems to be a fair criticism, although it is wrong to say

that the name Ja.ffna was first used only in the seventeenth

century The Tamil form of Jaffna, namely flppi4am, does not

seem to have been used for the northern. k{ngdom.in the early

period of its existence. Like the Sinhalese rulers in the d

south, the rulers of the north considered themselves to be the

kings of the whole island. The South Indian inscriptions refer

to the northern ruler as one of the kings ot am or Tlt4b2i

(Cey1on) The Tam4l works of Jaffna, written..be1or th fall

of the kingdom, also refer to him as the king of Ceylon

1. S.Gnanapragasar, 'Sources for the Study of the Kiatory of Jaffna',

Tamil Culture, II, Nos. 3&k, Sept. 1953, P . 303.

2. See supra, p.

3. See infra p. .i.ç

Ii.. S.. infra, p. cit

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514The titles of the Iryacakravartina gen.rally refer to their

overlordship of the city of C4ki, as for instance, ClMral-

riyaA (Iriya, of Ch1ri) C1t'ki-takum-Iriy.z-kV (King of

the Iryas who resides at Ci] cai)2 and Cl r i-em-k5n (Our

Sovereign of C(Mriil) But there are a few other titles

occurring in the earliest Tamil works of Jaffna which may give

a clu. to the names by which the northern 1 ngdm. w.- npwn.

In the medical work entitled CekarIca-ckaram,ritten 1n the

time of an ryacakravartin who had the consecration nam. of

Cekarica-ckara, (Skt. Jagat-rja-ekhara) and atable to

about the fourteenth century, refers to this ruler as 'Ceyam

u Ci ai-nI, Cekarca-cftara,' (th. victorious CekarIca-ckara

of Ci i-u) This is the only occurrence of tha name

Cliflr.i-nIu (Country of C4iri). It is obviously a reference

to the kingdom ruled by Cekarca-cUara,, the capital of which

was Ciñkai. Thia practi.. of extending the rame of the capita].

to the whole kiigdom is common in Tamil literatmre and tradition,

as it is in several other countries, too. The naeKa4i.niu

1. ., CiappuppIyiram, p. 7.

2.., v. 36.

3. IbId., v. 76.

1 Cekarca-c!karam, quoted in p. xiii.

ws v - t. Ltir 'v.4.f-i éc.y.. 'vi -

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51

and !I.ppam for the kingdoms of Kandy and Jaffna, for instance,

are both derived from the names of their respective capitals.

CiMii-ziu was, therefore, one of the names applied to the

northern kingdom after the capital c4ty, but it is not known

whether it was commonly used. Perhaps it was used only in literary

works. Another title of the Aryacakravartina that provides a

clue to the name of the northern kingdom is the one based on

the name Ma4vai. In the Cekarca-ckara-mlai, the Xxyacalcravartin

in whose time the work was written is caUed Maavai lriya

Va.rtayag (rya Vardaya of M.4avai) 1a4avaiyar-kVn Cekarica-

c!kara-ma (King Cekarea-ckara, Monarch of the people of

Ma4avai)2 and Ma4avai-tanta-nlI]. (the Lord produced by Naavai)

Scholars differ regarding the identification of the place

)4a4avai. Some take it to be a place near Ini!varam and. conclude

that the Cekarca-ckara who bore the above titles was born in

Ma4avai , in South Iudia1 But the title Ma4avaiyar-k, meaning

'Monarch of the people of Maavai' may suggest that Ma4avai was

not dust a small viflage but a larger territory over which

1.. v. 158.

2. Ibid,, v. 269.

3. Ibid., v. 173.

If. U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p. 698.

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516

CekarIca-ckara wielded authority. In Paranavitana's opinion,

Z4a4avai may have been an alternate name of Ci 1 i i If we turn

to the Tamil chronicles of Ceylon, we find that the ancient

Tm{1 name of the Jaffna peninsula was J(aai, ?aial

or N aijar. All three ar. variants of the same name. Parana-

vitana and some other writers on the history of the Jaffna

kingdom have stated that M4alr and NaavUr also occur as

variants of these names But no references are given to the sources

where these occur. We have not been able to trace these two

variants in any of the Tamil chronicles. The pa-vaipava-

mlai gives two of these forms, namely Ka4ar.a1 and I4aaiar

The akka4p-iya gives the two forms Naai and Maaiar

In addition, it gives two other names of the peninsula, namely

Naipuram and the older name IkatTpam (Pii 1gadTpa) The form

N4ari also occurs in a poem called ti-nlai-pfu This

form is evidently an abridgement of 1a4aiar or Naarial.

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The rya Xingdom in North Ceylon', p. 202.

2. Thid. ; C.S.Nayaratnam, Tamils and Ceylon, p. 75.

3. !z.• p. 9, 2k.

k. Mm., pp. iii, 14, 56.

5. Ibid., pp. J7, 51.

6. CItivnlaipiftu, quoted in A.Muttuttampi Pillai, !4a-carittiram, Jaffna, 1912, p. 1.

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51?Ma4arial is a compound of two words, ma4al and tia1 (sand + mound).

Tiar is another form of tifal. How tbs name came to be appliedto Jaffna is not known. It is possible that it is a translation

of the Sinhalese name VIli-gama, which was applied to a part of

Jaffna as early as the twelfth century, when it first occurs in

a C5a record and is now applied to the western half og the

peninsula. The Tsinhl translation of Vili-gama would be Naal-Ur,

which is also considered to be one of the names applied to the

peninsula. N4aial may be a variant of this Tamil form. Possiblythe name Viligama was applied to the major part or the whole of

the peninsula at one time, although it is now restricted to

only one half of the region, in much the same way as Nigadipa,

which was once applied to the whole of-_the moern. JaLfna district,

is now restricted to an island off the pe rInRula. Whatever th.

origin of the name I aial, it appears that Naavai -may

have been a variant or an abridged form of this name, just as

Taficai is a shortened form of Tafic1v11r Naavai and Maaia].

may have been applied to the entire kingdom in the thirteenth

and fourteenth centl.ries. If these names represented only a

Tamil rendering of the Sinhalese name VIli-gama, their disappearance

1. See snpra,

2. Cf., Intftain> }nt ai, yamputtr> vai, AurItapuram > &urai,

C1t1ren1rjis )C4?r1.

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518

is not difficu].t to explain. The Tamil rendering of the Sinhalese

name would have been used only in literary works while the old

Sinha].ese name would have continued to be used by the orthary

people in its Tamilieed form of Vl4i mai, which is still

current. Such a practice is in keeping with Ind{n literary

tradition. In the Ceylonese chronicles, we find that very often

Sinhalese names are rendered in Phi, as for instance Mahltittha

for Etoa. However, neither C4ra1nIu nor N aiçal and its

variants appear to have been commonly used as the name of the

northern kingdom. Th*r disappearance in the later literary

works supports this conclusion. We are inclined to agr.e with

Gnanapragasar that this northern kingdom was lmown as am or

Ili Akai, without any special epithets to distinguish it from the

southern kingdom. The Taki4a-kailIca-1,uriam refers to a

CekarIca-ckara,, one of the rulers of Jaffna, as the king of

IlpMr2i The Kai1hyanlai calls the first $rya ruler as

Teilei-m2mava (ling of IlMi in the South) The

Kuumiymz1ai inscription mentioned earlier refers to the ruler

of the northern kingdom as one of the kings of Ceylon We have

1. Tkp., Ciappupphyirain.

2. ., p. 6.

3. See supra,

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519

also seen that the aa of the inscriptions of )avarma Sundara

PIya I may refer only to the northern {ndoa The inscriptions

of the Vijayanagara period, too, refer to the nortber{'dom

of Ceylon as am From about the beginning of tb lnof

Earihar* II (acc. 1377), JaZfna was subdued by_the Vlj&yanagara

rulers. But the subjugation of Jaffna is regard& in_the earlier

inscriptions and literary works, anch as the Nria4T-vilIsam,

as the conquest or re-conquest of Cey1on But in the fifteenth

century, the name flppIam came to be applied to the northern

kingdom and am was reserved for the Linhalese kingdom in the

south. Thus, we see for the first time a Vi4ayngara.i4scription

from Iakri, dated aka 1357 (A.D. 1k35), referring, to the

northern and southern kingdoms as IIppIam and. am.respectively

The name TIppem suBt have gained currency in the liLteenth

century. In all the grants of the Setnpatis of Bmnad the

northern bingdom is referred to as !1ppIam or flppa-tcam

(the land of !ppiam) In the Portuguese works, the ugdoa is

1. See supra, p.

2. LE.R. for 1918, Woe. 128 and 13k; M.E.R. for 1923, No. 92 of 1923.

3 S.Krishnaswamy A.iyangar, Sources of Vifayanagara History, p. 153;

U.C.H.C., I, pt. 2, p. 687.

k. LE.L for 1901, No. 128 of 1901; S.1.1., VII, No. 778.

5. See enpra, P"i-iC

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520often referred to as Jafanapata The Sinhalese literary works

of the fifteenth century refer to tb. 4ryacakravartins as the

rulers of flp1pauna (the Sinhalese form of JafZna) flpIpauna

certainly designated the capital of the northern kingdom. This

is clear from the context in which it occurs in the Sizihalese

owrks But whether it was applied to the whole of the nothern

kingdom as well is not clear. Probably it did. The evidence of

the Sinhalese Nampota suggests that the whole of the Tamil

kingdom, including parts of the modern Trincomalee district,

was also known to the Sinhalese as Dem4a-paanama. In this

work, a number of villages which are now situated in the Jaffna,

I4uflaitTvu and Trincomalee districts, namely Ngak'vila (NkarkZvil),

Kadurugoa (Kantarfai), Telipola (Tellippali), Malligama (Mal].kam),

Ninivañgamu (VTm1cnuin), Taini-divsyina (Kayts), Mni-divayina

(&alai-tTvu), NIga-divayina (NIkatTvu or NayiI-tvu),

Puvagi-divayina (Pwi$u-tTvu), £ra-divayina (Krai-tTvu),

)4olliylvala (N43iyav4ai), TrikiTm1 aja (Trinoozna].ee), Vilgam-

vehera (NItar-kvil or Vilgam-vihra), Tiss mahavebera and

Ilandago4a, are mentioned as places in Dem4a-paanama1

1. F.de Queyroz, . cit., p. k8.

2. See supra, p. o.o

3. See eupra, p. lj.00

k. Nampota, pp. 5-6.

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521Dem4a-paaji.ma (Tamil Port) was probably first applied to the

seat of the Tamil rulers in the northern region and then extended

to mean the whole of the Tamil kingdom. There is also another

Sinhalese name for the Tamil kingdom in an old K4aimpota (Book

of Boundaries). In this work, the whole of the northern kingdom

is referred to as J1vaama, as mentioned earlier This is the

only work mentioning this Tleme. Perhaps it was not widely used

by the Sinhalese.

The capital of the florthern kingdom, which we may

now call the Jaffna kingdom for purposes of convenience, is often

given in the early Tamil works of Ceylon as Ciiea1 or C4kai

nakar. These works, the Cekarica-ckara-mlai, Cekarca-ckaram

and the a-kai1ca-nlai, mgkp it clear that Cl ?ks( was

the place where the Xryacakravartins r.eided The only Tamil

inscription in the island mention4 ng an Xryacakravartin alsorefers to C41ki-nakar as his seat Cikii is also mentioned,

along with Aurai (Anurldhapnra) in the inscriptions of

Arikari Parkrama PI 4ya (].k22-lk6l) 1 It is clear from these

references that ClMi or Ciki-n,kar was the capital of the

1. See aupra, p. lF&3

2. Ccm., v.36; Cekarlca-c!karam, quoted in the Cern., p.xiv,b. ;

., p.78, v. 109.

3. See supra, p. 4w-

k. M.E.R. for 1912, No. 1i of 1912.

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522Jaffna kingdom in the early period of its existence. The later

chronicles, however, do not mention Ci-Mai as the capital of

the Taniil.kingdom, although these refer to the Iryacakravartins

as C lcpi Ariyas The ppa-vaipava-n1ai and the Iailyanlai

give Na111r as the capital of the first iryacakravartins Na1].r

is not mentioned in any of the earlier Tamil works or in inscriptions.

It has, therefore, been suggested that C1?ik2i-nkr was the first

capital and. NallUr the second capital, established in the fifteenth

century after the conquest of the 11ngdom by Sapumal EunrayI

The Linhalese works of the fifteenth century refer to the seat

of the Jaffna rulers as TIppauna The fourteenth-century traveller

Ibn Batuta states that he visited an ryacakravartin at Battala,

which some have attempted to identify with Putta].am, on the

western coast of the island But the topographical details

furnished by the Muslim traveller show$ that this town was

somewhere to the north of Manr. Probably Ibu Batuta was referring

to !IE1pauna. The element una in this name has the variantsanama and ffa1ama_in Sinhalese In fact1 de Queyroz gives

1. Tym., p. 27.

2. Ibid., p. 26; !!• p. 7.

3. S.Gnanapragaaar, pp. 106-107.

k. See supra, p. 1frD.

5. S.Gnanapragasar, pa-vaipava-vimarcana, p. 88.

6. S.Paranavitana, 'The Irya ingdom in North Ceylon', p. 211, fn.136.

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523

Jafana-en-putalain as a variant of Jafaua-pata5 Battala of Ibm

Batuta, like the putalam in the name given by de Queyroz, may

be related to alama. However, it is not impossible that Ibm

Batuta met the ruler of Jaffna at a place which was not the

capital. The Portuguese sources inform us that at the time of

the arrival of the Portuguese in the island, that i. in the

first decade of the sixteenth century, the seat of the rulers

of Jaffna was Na11ttr Thus, we have Ci %Jri-n.kir, npip4una or

!Ilppaa and Na11x' being mentioned in the literary works and

inscriptions as the capital of the Jaffna klngdom. Whether theme

three names refer to the same city or not is a matter of some

controversy. Since Sinhalese literature contemporaneous with

the 4ryacaavartins refers to their capital by the name of

Tpipauna, Paranavitana is- inclined to presume that 'the

name Ci?'ical- or C1#i{-naker was restricted in its use to court

circles and literary men, as GagIsiripura for Gaip4a, for

instance, and. that 'Yipipaçuna' was the popular name' Natesan

has suggested that it is possible that C1?ir,i-nakar was re-named

as NaUtr in later centuri.st Rasansyagam and Gnaiiapragaear hav

1. Y.de Queyroz, . £i• ' p. 47.

2. Ibid., p. 47.

3. S.Paranavitana, 'Tb. 4rya Kingdom in North Ceylon', p. 201.

4. U.C.E.C., I, pt. 2, p. 695.

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524maintained that NallUr was founded in the fifteenth century

after the invasion of Sapumal Kumray1 of the KT kingôom

and that C1ki-nkar was the earlier capital, to be located in

the region of Vallipuru, near Point Pedro According to these

writers, the ancient potsherda and brickbate near the sea at

Vallipuram indicate that this place was the anciant capital of

the 1d-ngs of_Jaffna. This is not an acceptable argument. The

occurrence of ancient artefacts in a place does not necesmarily

prove that that place was the seat of kings. VaUipurwn, where

a gold plate of the time of Vaeabha (67-111) was discovered, is

the site of an ancient vibra, as evidenced by the go]4-plate

inscription But there is no evidence to indicate that it was

the capital of the kings of Jaffna.

Lf we group the different references chronologically,

we find, that the Tamil works datable to the fourteenth century

mention C(1Thski-nakar as the capital. The Loagama inscription,

datable to the fourteenth century, also refers to the 4ryaa of

Jaffna as the *ryaa of Ci1 1r i-ne l ar. The Sinhaleae works of the

fifteenth century give flpIpauna as the capital of the T.i1

rulers. In the sixteenth century, when the Portuguese weiit to

1. C.Rasanayagam, . cit., pp. 117-118;

S. Gnanapragaear, a-vaipava-vimarca, p. 67.

2. S.Parsnavitana, 'Vallipuram Gold-plate Inscription of the Reign

of Vaaabha', E.Z., IV, p. 237.

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525

the island, it was Na11Lr that was the capital of the Jaffna

kingdom. Is it possible that the kings of Jaffna changed their

capitals Be often ? This is unlikely. Un l11re th. south-western

region of the illand, where the Sinhalese kings at this time

changed their capitals frequently, a change of capitals in a sm1l

flat area like the Jaffna peninsula would not have afforded

any real strategic advantages. Further, there is no archaeological

evidence in support of such a change of capitals. So far the only

place where evidence of secular buildings datable to the tine

of the kings of Jaffna is found is Nall'ar. When the Portuguese

went there in the sixteenth century Na11r seems to have been

the only city worthy of mention in the peninsula. In the words

of de ueyroz, 'they never had any other city save Ne].ur (Naillir)

which is not half a league distant from the town and praça of the

Portuguese' The latter is the port of Jaffna which later grew

into the modern Jaffna town. This port is identifiable with the

flplp4una (Port of Tipi or good Port) of the Linhalese sources

and the fllpp4a-paffa4am of the Setupati grants Na11r, where

the royal palace was situated , was within two miles of this

town in the sixteenth century (today Nalfltr comes within the

limits of the Jaffna Municipality). It is possible that original-ly

1. 7. de Queyroz, . ., p. 50.

2. See supra, p.

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rn

the royal palace was also in the port of Jaffna and that it was

later shifted towards the interior to Nallr. The foudation of

NallUr is sometimes attributed to Sapiim.l KurayI who conquered

and ruled the Jaffna kl-ngdoa in the middl, of the fifteenth

century This view is based on *evidence that associates him

with th. building of the £kknda templ. at NallUr. A formula

called the kaiyam which is recited by the priests in the

temple refer to a person named SrT Saghabodhi BhuvanekabThu

Ue is identified as Sapwnal Kunray who, after his rule in

Jaffna, became the ruler of with the name of Bhuvanekablhu

(VI, lk70-lk78) The ppa-vaipava-iflhlai also credits aperson called Puvanftavku (Bhuvanekablhu) with the building of

the Skanda temple at NallUrti Be is described in this chronicle

as a BrThmaa minister of the first Iriya ruler and is also

credited with the building of the outer city walls ef Nal1Ur

A stray verse, published along with the Kai].Uym1ai, attributesthe building of the Skanda temple at NallUr and of TIppa-ni1reri

(the City of lIppan) to a certain Puvaakavku The verse

1. S. Gnanapragasar, a-vaipava-vimarcag, pp. 106-107.

2. S.Paranavitan.a, 'The 4rya Kingdom in North Ceyloa', pp. 192-193;

U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, p. 695; C.Raaanayagam, 22• cit., p. 332.3. Ibid.

I. lvii., pp. 31-32.

5. Ibid.

6. ., p. 23; lvii., p. 32, fn. 1

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527

does not state whether he was a minister ox' a king. Both this

verse and the a-vaipava-nlai dat. these activities of

Bhuvanekabhu to Saka 870 (A.D. 9148). The Puvan!kavku of the

stray vers, and of the pa-vaipava-mlai is evidently the

same as rT Sa4ighabodhi BhuvanekabThu mentioned in the iyam

of the Skanda temple. A recitation preserved in the form of

a formula and recited regularly it the temple for centuries is

likely to be more authentic than the late Taniil chronicle and

the stray verse. The title rI Saghabodi used in the kaiyam

f or Thuvanekabahu indicates that he was a ruler of the Sixihalese

kingdom, for this title, as far as we know, was used only by

the Sinhalese rulers as their consecration name. The oni;

Bhuvanekabhu who bad any association with the Jaffna kingdom

was Bhuvanekablhu V or Sapumal Kunfirayl, who ruled there for

some time before be ascended the throne of It is, therefore,

reasonable to identify Bhuvanekabhu of the kaffiyaiu as Sapiinil

KunrayI. The TIlppa-vaipava-n1lai has evidently confused him

with a minister of an 4ryacakravartin. The date given for the

building of the temple is also unreliable. If, as i.e claimed in

the a-vaipava-nlai and the stray T2mil verse, BhuvanekabThu

had anything to do with the building of the city of Na1].r or

fl 1ppia-n i r'.ri, it is possible to conjecture that he may have

been responsible for the shift of the court from Jaffna (town)

to NaUUr. It is not possible to hold that he shifted the capital

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52d

from some other place to Jaffna, as it.intained by Gnanapragaaar,

for the latter place was weU known as the seat of the 4ryacaa-

vartina before the time of Zapnml EunrayI's occupation. The

Linhales. eand!a poems composed at the time of this occupation

refer to Sapnml KuiflrayI's sack of flplp4una, which is described

as th. seat of the Iryacakravartins A Vijayanagara inscription

dated Saka 1357 (A.D.1k35), nearly fifteen years before the

occupation of Sapnmal KuuIrayI, mentions th. campaign undertaken

by I ldr46a D.4anyaka to destroy IyI]ppIam (Jaffna) It is,

therefore, clear that in the fifteenth century, certainly in

the first halt of the century, TIppauna or IIppIam (Jaffna)

was the capital of the northern kingdom. When the Portuguese

went to the island, NaUr was the place where the ruler of

Jaffna resided. As we have suggested, it was probably in the

time of &apllmRl Kumlrayl that the court was shifted to

It may not be necessary to treat this as a change of capitals,

considering the close prori-4ty of NallI!r to Tppia-paa4am.

As indicated above, C(1ri-nakar is mentioned as the

capital of the ryacakravartina in the Tamil works of th. fourteenth

century. This is confirmed by epigraphic evidence as well.

1. S.. supra, p ç t4OO

2. S.I.I., VII, No. 778.

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529

But till very recently there was no contemporary evidence regarding

the capital of the northern kingdom in the thirteenth century,

that is, during the early decades of its existence. But the

Sanskrit inscription from Anurdhapura, recently deciphered by

Paranavitana as we have already noted, refers to Subha-pkana,

identifiable with Jaffna. Subha-pafana is the £anskrit rendering

of flpIpauna and, if we are to accept the decipherment of

Paranavitana, we have to conclude that in the early years of its

existence, too, the capital of the rulers of the northern

kingdom was flpIpauna or flppam. This would mean. that in

the thirteenth and fifteenth centuries flIp4una was the capital.

In the fourteenth century it was Cif&kai or Ci-fikLi--nakar. Was

C1-k1, therefore, another name for flpIpauna I The answer

seems tobbe in the affirmative. Inscriptions of.4.rikari

Parkrama PI.ya (lk22-].1+6l), belonging to the period between

11149 and 11+51+, refer to the victories won at c{Mei and. Aurai

(Anurdhapura) It would appear, therefore, that in the middle

of the fiftbenth century the capital of the Jaffna kingdom

continued. to be C(MC1. Since the Sinhalese works of the fifteenth

century and a Vijayanagara inscription of 11+35 refer to the

capital as flppaina or IyIppIam, it is reasonable to conclude

1. See supra, P.tp)

2. Travancore Archaeological Series, VI, pp. 89-91; l.A., XLIV, p. 251+;

M.LR. for 1891+, No, 17 of 1891+; M.E.R. for 1907, No. 395 of 1906;

LE.R. for 1922, No. 561+ of 191.

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53t

that C1rai was another name for TIpIpauna. But there is one

difficulty. The mention of Aurai, which in these inscriptions,

as in the Koaga.ma inscription, evidently refers to the Sinha.lese

capital of the time of the epigrapha, shows that C1jai could.

very well have been the name of an earlier capita]. of the

Jaffna. kingdom applied by South Indians, by mistake, to flplp4una

as well. This is possible but unlikely. The evidence of de

queyroz appears to go against such a possibility. According to

him, when the Portuguese landed at Koumputtuai, about two miles

from Jaffna town, in 1590 and marched towards Nallr, they had

1to get past a stockade by the name of Chunguinaynar. We are

inclined. to agree with Gnanapragasar that this name is a corruption

of CiMr ii-nakar Thia may indicate that Ci1i-nakar was in thevicinity of Nallr. In the sixteenth century, the name C(1c.1nakar

was probably zised only for a fortified section of the capital.

Before the court was shifted to Nallar, the Jaffna rulers may

have held. their court in this place. Ci ?kii and IIpIpauna may,therefore, be considered as one and the same place. The silence

of the later chronicles regarding tbeexistence of a capital called

C4-'ai-nakar also points in the same direction. It i. not likely

1. P.ae Queyrom, . ., p.k52;

2. S.Gnanapraga.ear, pa-vaipava-vimarcan, p.68.

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531that CiA1t2ink,r and flpipafuna were two different plac.e and

that the capital of the Jaffna kidom was shifted. from the

latter to the former place in the fourteenth century and back

to the latter place in the fifteenth century. It seems more

likely that Cik,i-n*kar, like NallUr, was another fortified

place in the vicinity of the port of Jaffna. C4ai-nakar,

NallUr and flppauna have to be treated as sections of the

same city rather than as different places. Probably the court

of the Jaffna rulers was held in all three places at different

periods. The capital of the northern kingdom has, therefore, to

be located in the region of the present-day town of Jafmna.

The emblem of the kings of Jaffna, as we know from

their coins, was the couchant bull or nandi. That this emblem

was used on their flags, too, i.e evident from the references

in the Tamil literary works These works are the CekarIca-ckara-

mlai, Kailic a-Dure4 Takia-kailc a-pur 4am, Kaillyainllai

and ai-viu-tUtu. But in the account of Ceyavra Cifzkai-

in the ga-vaipava-iai, it is said that this

Iryacakravartin brought the whole is1rid under his mitup,a I21i

(Mitu,a lute Zlag) This raises the question whether the kings

1. Ccm., v. 76 ; KailIca-purlam, CiappuppIyiram ; ., Ciappup-

pyiram ; ., p. 5 ; Ki#ai-vitu-ttn , v. 152.

2. Nitua (Gemini) lute is one of several kinds of lutes need

in India.

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532

of Jaffna used the lute emblem on their flags at any time.

Gnaxiapragasar has drawn our attention to the reference in the

Kal11I1rpttn-para4i to the v!;ai ( £kt. v1 - lute or lyre)

flag which was among the many flags that were lowered by the

Cae when their tiger flag was raised everywhere Guanapragasar

has posed the question whether this would mean that the lute

emblem was used oi the flags of the Jaffna rulers in the eleventh

century, since we do not know of any other Indian dynasty

having used that flag As there is no evidence that an independent

kingdom existed in Jaffna in the eleventh century, it is not

possible to suggest that the lute flag was that of the Jaffna

rulers. But there is iinm1takable epigraphic evidence that points

1. ICalikattu-para4i, v. 18, p. 25 ;

al ffii kalai yIli vai cilai

Keai e!Jaiya pal koi

a M!ruvil uyartta Cempiyar

i pu].i koi ta1a{1dv.

The single tiger flag of the Cempiyar (Cas) that is planted.

on the )Zru rises high, as the boar, plough, deer, lion, lute,

bow and fish flags and others are lowered.

(Boar - Cllukyas, plough - fldavaa, deer - Pilas, lion - Zinhalese,

bow - Clrae nd fish - PIyas).

2. S.Gnanapragasar, ppa-vaipava-vimarcap, p. 50.

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533

to the use of the vT4 flag in Ceylon in the twelfth century.

An inscription of the second regnal year of Kul5ttuñga C5]a III

(1.180) mentions the vTai-koi_Cik4ar (the Sinhales• whose

flag is the v) There is no reference to the vT flag in

any of the Sinhalese sources. Since the i1ant bad been unified

by 1180 under Parlkramablhu I, it is not possible to surmise

that the reference in the South Indian inscription is to one of

the minor rulers of the island. It would, therefore, appear

that the Sinhalese ruler. 5the v41 flag in the

twelfth century, although it was not probably considered to

be the main banner. The reference in the Kali.kattu-pare4i isprobably to the Sinhalese. Paranavitana is inc1ind to believe

that the vt flag of the Sinhalese must have been used by the

Kaliga rulers of JaZfna. He argues that the 'Xaliâga kings of

Polonnarnva claimed in their inscriptions to be the legitimate

successors of ParamabThu I' and that they, after founding

the northern kingdom, 'must have continued to use the royal

insignia of the Polonnaru kings, which included the lyre-flag'

This, however, remains only a possibility. Since the evidence of

the earlier Tamil works and of the coins of the 4ryacakravartina

1. S.I.I., V, p. 269.

2. A.Paranavitana, 'The rya Kingdom in North Ceylon', p. 222.

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534

clearly inform us that the couchant bull (nandi) was the emblem

of the Jaffna rulersand since it is reasonable to presume that

)gha and his associates, who seem to have founded the kingdom,

introduced the emblem of their home-land, we may conclude that

the main emblem of the Jaffna. kingdom was the couchant bu1l The

lute flag may also have been used as one of the minor banners

of the kingdom.

The exact li'n4t* of the Jaffna kingdom are somewhat

difficult to determine with the evidence at our disposal. It is

only in the time of the Portuguese occupation that we get proper

information of the boundaries of the various kingdoms. A valuable

description of the territories of the Jaffna kingdom is given

by dc Queyroz:-

The modest kingdom is not confined to the littledistrict of Jafanapata, because to it are also addedthe neighbouring lands, and those of the Vani tVanni]which is said. to be the name of the Lordship which theyheld before we obtained possession of them, separated fromthe preceeding (ale) by a salty river, and connected onlyin the extremiby or isthmus of Pachalapali accilai-p4aJ ,within which were the lands of Balig&mo Tai Ucmam1,Temerache e-marcci) , Bedamrache aa-marccj) ,and Pachalapalt }accilai-p4a for ing that pe4nsula,and outside it there stretch the lands of the Vanicrosswise, from the side of Manar to that of Triquilem.].rincomaleeJ , being sepaated also from the country of

Nantta nt5ffam or Nahtittha] in the jurisdiction ofthe Captain of Nanr MaIr by the river Paragali;

1. See supra,

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535

which (lands) end in the River of the Cross in the midstof the lands of the Vanl and of others which stretch asfar as Triqnilemal, which according to the map appearsto be a large tract of country. These lands are dividedinto Patue and the first near the River of the Crossis Tanamavaraddi eM mi'a-viiJ , a very fine country,but almost uninhabited because of war, and because itwas thenroute of our arrayale, the husbandmen who escapedfrom the war bet1c1-ng themselves to the woods, leavingver few for cultivation. Prom thence to the side ofI4anar is the Province of Muliauali ufliyav4ai] , whichconsists of three p8tus, Varcama, Valadadi and )!lpatu.This Province is th. principal one of all the lands ofthe Vant, and is fruitful, though badly peopled onaccount of war and because it is unhealthy. Next comesCarnaptu tjCarunvai-pattij1 and the province calledPanag.mo krmaiirJ, the ne of the Vani who residedthere. It consists of the P&tu of Urugare and of Valaviwhich border on the lands of NantSta, and along the coastof the sea or gulf of Ceylon there are the villages ofParangali, Uerauil Punari, and others of lesser importance. 1

This evidence of the Portuguese writer is generally corroborated

by the Sinhaleae and Tamil works. Prom the references in the

a-vaipava-mlai and the VaiyIpIal it is clear that the

kings of Jaffna directly ruled over the peninsula of Jaffna and

the adjoining islands. The villages that were assigned, according

to the ppj$a_vaipava-ntlai, to the nobles from South India

by EMti Ckkaravartti, the first princely ruler of the kingdom,

are all in the Jaffna penlnula and the adjacent islanda But

it is often entioned that the seven Verni chieftaincies outside

the peninsula were subordinate territories of the Jaffna kingdoin

1. 7.d. Queyroz, . cit., p. 51.

2. See era,

3. Tm., pp. 38, kO.

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53

Whenever these revolted ag{Tist the authority of the Jaffna ruler

and attempted to support the Sinhalese rulers, the former took

necessary steps to subjugate them The Sinhalese Kaainrpotas

(Boundary Books) of about the fifteenth or sixteenth centurl

refer to the territorial divisions of the northern kingdom and

and mention that stone pillars with Ta il writing on them were

set up as boundary stones in those divisions But these works

give neither the boundaries of the Jaffna kingdom nor a full

list of all the territorial divisions .f therCa%eaterritorial

divisions of the Jaffna district are usually given along with

the other divisions of the whole of Pihiiraa (former RjaraHha).

But one of these Kaainrpotas, the Tn Si1ha Kaaim saha Vitti,

has a reference that appears to be useful to our inquiry. This

work mentions that in Jvagama there were five ham districts,

namely Javariparaa, )rac c i-naa, Balat a4i-.raa, I4udundu-ma lliyI..raa and K41kkii-r4a Some manuscripts give the form Cvagacri

or Civagatcini for Javaripa This has enabled the identification

of Java.riparaa with the Clvakaccri region of the Jaffna peninsula.

1. pp. 38, 'io.

2. Tn Si$h4! Kaaim saha Vitti, ed. A.J.W.Narambe, (1926), P. 21;

Sini-lak Kaaimpota, ed. Sri Charles de Silva, (1961), pp. 22-23

3. Tn Siha! Kaaim saha Vitti, . cit., p.

k. S.Paranavitana, 'The Irys. Kingdom in North Ceylon', p. 195.

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537

Mracci-r4a has been identified as the area now comprising the

two revenue divisions of North and South Marlcci in the eastern

half of the Jaffna peninsula Balata4i-raa is to be located in

the vicinity of M4iyav4ai, in the Mullaittivu district. This

location rests on the reference in de ueyroze Conguista to

Valadadi, identifiable with Ba].atai, as one of the three Ptus

(pattus - divisions) of the district of }fuliauali O44iyav4ai)

Madundu-m.11iy-r4a appears to be the present MuUiyav4ai

division. There are certain considerations for this identification.

In the first place, Mudundu-mallij-raa occurs with lat4i-raa

and Ie4u1dc1i_raa which can be located in the areas adjoining

Muiya-v4ai. The element mafliy seems to be a variant of

• Further, in the VaiyipTal, Muiyav4ai is called

)i-nf-nakar as well as Mi_ma anutai_n' r Mudundu may be

a corruption of )-maanuai. In view of these considerations,

the Mudundu-me11iy-raa of the Kaa1nipota may be identified

with the modern Muiyav4ai division, in the Mullaittvu district.

Ka u {i-raa is, of course, the same as modern Kaukk!i,

referred to in the VaiyIpIfal ma Kauk i—nskar1 in the same

1, S.Paranavitana, 'The 4rya Kingdom in North Ceylon', p.195.

2. F.de Qneyroz, . cit., p. 51 ;

P.E.Peirie, Celon: The Portnguee Era, II, p. 152.

3.!•' YT. 35, k2.

I. Ibid.

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538

district. Thus, the five main districts of Jvagama, mentioned

in. the Kaaimpota, can be located in. the Jaffna and )4ullaitTvu

districts of the Northern Province. This raises the question

whether Jvagama was another name for the Jaffna 1 ngdom. Parana-

vitana is inclined to think that Jvagama is a Tamil form of

Jvaka, 'no doubt due to the reason that the region was under

the rule of Jvaka princes' This is possible, though by no means

certain. Whatever the origins of the name, it probably stood

for the northern kingdom. In that case, it would appear that

the kingdom was mainly confined to the Jaffna peninsula and some

parts of the MullaitTvu district that adjoins it. An earlier work,

the PL]lvaliyp, refers to the domains of the Tamils as lying

beyond Salgal-kaMura It has not been possible to identify this

place. It is generally considered to be somewhere north of

Polonnaruva. It is, however, difficult to define the exact l4m{t

of the Jaffna kingdom and it is unlikely that it ever had any

well-defined limits. It is certain that the Jaffna peninsula and

the adjoining islands formed the main. section of the 1ngdom.

The V yini chieftaincies of the rest of the modern. Northern_Province

usually owed allegiance to the kingdom and. were considered to

1. S.Paranavitana, 'The Arya Iingdoa in North Ceylon', pp. 1914-195.

2. Pv., p. 111.

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539

be subordinate territories of it. The Mar region, judging

from the evidence of Ibn Batuta and of the !ppla-vaipava-fflE.ai,

which refer to the control of pearl bnkR by the ryacakravartins,

may have also been directly under the rule of the Jaffna kings

But the region of the pearl bsnkR appears to have remained a

bone of contention between the Sinhalese and the Tamil rulers

It is not clear whether the Trinconialea area was also considered

to be part of the Jaffna kingdom. In the a-kailIca-pur ,

one of the Iryaca.kravartins is closely associated with the temple

of Kvaram at Trincomalee This may mean that the Jaffna

rulers had some sort of jurisdiction over the affairs of that

region. The Nampota, as we have seen , includeá Triku$m1aya

(Trinconialee) and Vilgam-vehera (NtaIr-k'5vil) in ihe list of

places in Dem4a-paanama which were sacre& to the Bud.dhists1

As we have pointed out, Dem4a_pat .numa appear&to have, been

another name for the kingdom of Jaffna. Possibly Trincomalee

was considered to be part of the northern kingdom.

We have seen that in the Tamil works of the fourteenth

century and later the kings of Jaffna are given the epithet

1. The Rehla of Ibn Batuta op. cit., p. 217 ff• ; Tvm., pp.k2-43.

2. , pp. k2-k3.

3. ., Tiruakara Carn1dcm, v.107 U.

k. Nampota, p. 6.

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540Ctn-Ivalar, meaning 'Protectors of the CTtu' (RImvaram)

In th. Ta4ia-.kaiIIca.-pn±4am, an 4ryaca1avartin is referred

tp as Tvaiyinma ( King of Tvai, i.e. RImvaram) and C!tu

uyar karai kva1 vnta ( the Guardian King of the Nigh Coast of

C!tu) Tradition has it that the kings of Jaffna used to send

flowers and milk for the daily services at the temple of RIn!varam

from some of the illands of! the coast of Jaffzia The epithets

Ctu-kivala and T!vaiyi-ma, say not imply any control of the

Rimvaram area by the rulers of Jaffna. We are inclined to

agree with Paranavitana. that these were inherited from the

earlier Iryacakravartins ofT!!Iad. Tb. rulers of Jaffna probably

continied to be closely associated with the temple at RZntvaraa

and considered themselves to be its lawful protectors.

We may, therefore, conclude that the Jaffna kingdom

was mainly confined to the peninsula of Jaffna and the islands

adjolnlr g it. It had some sort of suzerainty over the Vanni

chieftaincies of northern Ceylon, probably those that th

were in the modern Northern Province.

Thus, with the advent of the iryacakravartine, a

stable Tamil ringdom came into existence in the northernmost part

of Ceylon. As we have mentioned, earlier, the foundation. of this

1. See aupra,

2. ., Tiruna1rara Carnkksm , iv. 107, 116.

3. A.}uttuttampi Pillai, 4a-carittiram, (1912), p. 52.

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541

kingdom marks the cul mination of the forces that began to work

in the northern part of the island with the C5]a occupation in

the eleventh century. Gradually the Dravidian elements, chiefly

the Tamils and the Ker4as, increased their numbers and influence.

The invasion of )1gha and the downfall of Polonnaruva soon led

to the emergence of a kingdom in the northern part of the island,

which, though at first controfled by )gha and then by the

vkas, remained their sphere of authority for over three

centuries. From there they attempted to control the rest of

the island and at times met with partial success. The Sinhales*

who remained behind in the northern areas were in all probability

assimilated to the Tamfl population and by the time of the

Portuguese occupation the present Jaffna district had been

transformed into a predominantly Tamil-speH ng area.

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542CORLUS ION

We have seen in the foregoing chapters the stages

by which the Dravidian-speakera from the neighbouring subcontinemt

settled in Ceylon and the circumstances under which a new kingdom,

dominated by theBe South Indians, emerged into existence in

northern Ceylon. The Dravidian settlements that began at the

turn of the tenth century gradually covered several parts of

northern Ceylon and culminated in the rise of the Tamil kingdom.

We have, therefore, considered the foundation of thiB kingdom

a convenient point at which to stop.

As we have seei, two main stages can be distinguished

in the course of these settlement8. The first begins about

the tenth century and extends till the end of the twelfth

century. The process of settlement during this stage may be

said to have reached a fairly notable scale in the eleventh

century. The Ca conquest of the island was certainly responsible

for this. Although there is evidence of several settlements

in northern Ceylon, it cannot be said that there was a mass

scale migration of peaceful settlers in the wake of the C2a

conquest. The mercenary and the mercantile bodies appear to

have been the predominant elements among the Dravidians present

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543in the island in this period. The main areas of settlement lay

outside the Jaffna district which in later centuries bad the

highest concentration of Tsimils. In fact several of the places

which yield, evidence of Tamil settlement in this period are no

more occupied by Tamils.

Four main areas of settlement can be seen in this

period. One is in the north-eastern littoral, another in the

western region or what is now known as the North-western Province

and the other two are in the region of Anurdhapura and Polonnaruva.

There is also evidence of Tamil settlement in the main ports,

eapecial].y Mahtittha and rbba. The most important feature

of these settlements is the presence of a number of trading

communities, such as the Aiffffuvar, Nakarattr and

Ceis, and mercenary bodies like the 11drar and the

Aganrpa4is.

In the first stage of the Tamil settlements, therefore,

the main areas of settlement were still outside the Jaffna

and Batticaloa districts. Of the present-day Tamil areas, only

the upper half of the Eastern Province and parts of the western

coast had Dravidian settlers in the eleventh and twelfth centu-

ries. The main stage in the process of Tamil settlement which

eventually led to the transformation of the present Northern

Province into a predominantly Thmil-speaking area had not yet

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544been reached in the twelfth century. This stage was reached with

the conquest of ?gha and it is doubtful that the Tamil settlements

of the period before the thirteenth century would have resulted

in. a permanent division of the country into two linguistic

regions. cept during the period of Ca occupation, migration

from South India seems to have been slow though steady. The

bulk of the settlers in. this first stage appear to have gone

to the island within the half-century of Ca rule. The predominant

elements among the settlers appear to have been mercenaries and

traders. The absence in the Tamil chronicles of traditions relating

to the C]a period may also suggest that the settlements

were founded in the period after the twelfth century.

The second and most important stage of the Dravidian

settlements is covered by almost the whole of the thirteenth

century. tn this second stage, two different phases can be

distinguished. The first phase covers roughly the first half

of the thirteenth century and the second almost the whole of

the latter half. As in the first stage, the arrival of fresh

mercenary forces and a quick succession of invasions from the

mainland led to the establishments of new settlements in the

first phase. But the nature of the invasions and of the settlements

that followed wamein many was different from the nature of

the earlier invasions and settlements. While the earlier invasions

could be treated as episodes in. the history of the island,

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545

the invasions of )!gba and the Pya rulers in the thirteenth

century cannot be dismissed as mere episodes. The settlements

of the earlier period did not result in the vidible dislodgement

of the Sinhalese population. As far as we can see, those were

not the result of the forcible occupation of lands belonging to

the Sinhalese. Those early settlers may have become assimilated

to the Sinhalese population in due course. But it was the events

of the thirteenth century that prevented such an assimilation

in the greater part of the northern and eastern districts. The

invasion of )Tgha with the help of ier4a and Tamil mercenaries

was far more violent than the earlier invasions. Its chief

importance lies in the fac that it resulted in the permanent

dislodgement of Sinhalese power from northern Ceylon, the

confiscation of lands and properties belonging to the Sinhalese

and the consequent migration of the official class and several

of the common people to the south-western regions. These factors

more than any other helped the transformation of northern Ceylon

into a Tamil region and directly led to the foundation ofçkingdom

there, which soon became a kingdom of the Tamlia.

In the second phase, with the foundation of an

independent kingdom and several chieftaincies, a deliberate

policy of settling South Indians in the Jaffna district and the

Vanni regions seems to have been followed by the northern rulers

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546

and chieftains. This led to a migration of peaceful settlers

from South India. It was this peaceful mogration that was largely

responsible for the Tamil settlement of the Jafina district,

The settlement of Dravidians in the northernmost regions may,

therefore, be said to have been radically different in cbaracter

from the process of mercenary or military settlement in parts

of the present North-central and North-western Provinces.and

Vavuniya district. This is demonstrated by the evidence of

literary works and place-name materials. Whereas in the Jaffna

peninsula we come across a large perceatage of place-names with

with Sinhalese elements, the Tamil element is predominant in

the local nomenclature of the North-central Province and the

Vanni regions. The former indicate a slow and peaceful penetration

of Tamils in Jaffna and the latter a violent and sudden occupation

of the other areas. The survival of Sinhalese place-names, especially

of Sinhalese territorial names, in Jaffna tells strongly against

a wholesale extermination or displacement of the Sinhalese living

there. At the same time, Tamil names of estates denoting family

settlement which are found scattered across the peninsula, confirm

the evidence of the Tami2. chronicles regarding the settlement

of prominent Xml1ies from South India by the early kings of

Jaffna.

The settlements of the thirteenth century, therefore,

mark the most important stage in the course of the early TRWIil

and other Dravidian settlements in Ceylon. The political conditions

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541of the thirteenth century favoured the rise of an independent

kingdom in northern Ceylon. There is little doubt that the

Dravidian elements were the force behind )4gha and his associates

when they founded the new kingdom. With the establishment of

the Jaffna kingdom and the Vanni chieftaincies of the ortbern

and Eastern Provinces, the first steps towards the division of

the island into two linguistic regions were taken. The process

of settlement and assimilation did. not end with the fotuidation

of the northerh kingdom. Tamil settlers continued to n.grate

to Ceylon and presumably most of them went to the Tamil kingdom.

But there were also several Tamils, traders and others, who

settled in the Sinhalese areas as is indicated by the Tamil

inscriptions and Sinhalese literature and traditions. These

settlers were evidently assimilated to the Sinhalese population

in due course. In the Jaffna kingdom a similar assimilation seems

to have gone on in the centuries after the foundation cZ the

kingdom. Here many o the earlier Sinhaleae settlers seem to

have been assimilated to the Tamil population.

The emergence of an independent kingdom and some

minor chieftaincies in the northern and eastern regions of theisland and the lack of intimate intercourse between the Tamil

and Sinhalese kingdoms as a result of the abandonment ef the

North-central Province were factors that led to the division

of Ceylon into two linguistic regions. The Sinhalese kings, as

a rule, did not show any interest in subduing the northern

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43

kingdom and unifying the whole country. Even when a prince

from the Ee kingdom succeeded in conquering the Jaffna

kingdom in the middle of the fifteenth century, he ruled it

as an independent kingdom. The Ke rulers were aati8fied

with receiving nominal all.giance Ifrom the rulers of Jaffna.

It was after the arrival of the Europeans in the island that

the Sinhalese and Tamils were brought together, though the

country was not unified politically and administratively till

the nineteenth century.

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If. Cint.ma4i-nikau,

5. Kailyam].ai,

6 • Kalinkattu-paraj,

7. Kamparmya,

8. Kantapuram,

9. car-ka1veu,

549

A SELT BIBLIOGRAPUT

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A, Tami].

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ed. Cuvaminata Pantitar, Madras 1909.

ed. C.V.Jampu].iñkani Pillai, Madras 1939.

ed. Puliyur Kecikan, Madras 1958.

ed. V.M.Gopa].a Krian.amacaryar, Madras 19k8-

M.T.Panukavi, Madras 1907.

ed. A.Canmukarattina Liyar, JaZfna 1909(Appended to the Takiia-kai].ca-purpam )

10. )ikkavcakar Tirnvcakam,ed. Cuppiramania Pillai, Madras 19k9.

11. Maakk4appn_inThmiam,ed. F.X.C.Nataraca, Colombo 1962.

12. Musvara-nfnmiyam,r! Vavmpik Sata Muantasvmi

Tvastam Kiyarccaai Malar, Coloznbo 1961.13. N4a-vep,

1k. lT1akci,, ed. LRkavacarj, Madras 1938.

15. Patuppn, ed. A.Cakravartti, Madras9l936.

ed. U.V.Caminata Aiyar, Madras 1918.16. Piflkala-n{ktu,

- ed. Rippon Press, Madras 1917.17. Takja-kailc a-puram,

ed. P.P.Vaittiyalinka Tecikir, Pt. Pedro 1916,18. Tami].-nva1ar-caritai,

e d • T • Kanakacunt arampillai, Madras ,3.921.19. Tiri-kc a1a-puram,

ed. &.Canmukarattina Aiyar, Jaffna 1909.

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20 • Tiru-fia-c amp ant ar Tv!ra Tirppat ikafik4,Tami 1Ka 1akazn, Madras

21. To1kppiyam,I,ed. B.Vaiyapuri Pillai, )Iadras 193k.

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2k. pa-vaipava-in1ai,ed. K.Capanatan, Colombo 1953.

B. Sinhalese and P1i:

1. Cilava,ed. W.Geiger, 2 vols., P.T.S., London 1925,1927tr. W.Geiger, tr. from the German intoEnglish by C.Xabel Rickmers, 2 pte.Colombo 1953.

2 .Dabadei-asna,ed. D.D.Ranaainha, Colombo 1917.

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k. Dthvaisa,ed. and tr. B.C.Law, Lahore 1925.

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15. PLTva1iya,ed. A.V.Suravira, Colombo 1961.

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17. Saddharm1añkraya,ed. Bentara Saddha Tissa Thera, Colontbo 1951.

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21. Siàh4a-smitya-lipi,S. London 1923.

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ed. A.J.W.Marambr, Randy 1926.2k. Vaisatthapaksinj,

ed. G.P.Malalasekera, P.1.5., London 1935,1936.

C. Others:

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552

II. Manuscriptss

(in the National Museum Library, Colonibo)

1. Vanni Rjvaliya

2. Vanni Upata

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5. Epigraphia Indio, I -

6. Epigraphia Zeylanica, I-V.

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S.Konow, Calcutta 1929.

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15. South Inj Thriptions,v.la. I-Till.

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553IV. Modern Works

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included in this section).

1. Appadorai, AEconomic Conditions in Southern 'India, 17& II,Madras 1936.

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k. Bashan, A.L.The Wonder that was India, London 195k.

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6. Brito, C. Report on the Kga1la District, Colonibo 1892.

Mukkuva Law, Colombo 1872.Burgess, James1

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Codrington, H.W.'The Inscription at Fort Frederick, Trincorna1ee,J.R.A.S. (C.B.), No.80.'Notes on the Dabadei Dynasty', C.A.L.R., X,pp. 37-53, 88-89.'The Gampola Period of Ceylon History', J.R.A.S.(C.B.mTI,No,86, PP . 258-309.

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13. Collingwood, R.G. and Myree, J.N.L.Roman Britain and the English Settlements,(Oxford History of En1and, I) , Oxford 1936.

1k. Coomaraawamy Anauda K.Bronzes from Ceylon (Memoirs of the ColomboMuseum, Series A, No.1), Colombo 191k.

15. Cox, H.F.A Manual of North Arcot, I, reviAed by H.AStuart,Madras 1895.

16. de Laval, Pyrard,Discours du Voyage des Francai aux Indes OrientalesI, 1887.

17. Derret, J.D.M.The Hoysalas, Madras 1957.

18. Ekwail, E.'The Celt&c Element', Introduction to the Surveyof English Place-names, ed. A.Mawer and F.N.Stenton,Cambridge (England) 192k.

19. Fernando, P.E.E.'Palaeographical Development of the Brhni! Scriptin Ceylon', U.C.R., YII No. 11, Oct. 19k9.

20. Fleet, J.P.'Sanskrit and Canarese Inscriptions', l.A., VI,May 1877, pp. 136-1k2.'Inscription at Nanag.i', E.I., V, 1898-99, pp.9-31

21. Godakumbure, C.E.'Bronzes from Polonnaruva', J.R.A.S. (C.B.), N.S.,VII, pt.2, Pp . 239-253.

22. Geiger, Wilhelm'Die Vannis', Sitzungsberichte der BayerischwnAkademie der Wissensohaften, II, Heft k, Juni 19k1,131nohen, pp.3-il.

23. Culture of Ceylon in Medieval Times, Wiesbaden,1960.A Grammar of the Sinhalese Language, Coloabo 1938.

23. Gnanapragasar, S.Ya-vaipava-vimarcan, Aocuvli 1928.'The Forgotten Coinage of the Kings of Jaffna',C.A.L.R., V, pt.k, pp. 172-179.'Ceylon Originally a Land of Tamils', T.C., I,No.1. , Feb. 1952.'The Tamils Turn Siiiha1Lese', I, No.2, June1952.'Begilninge of Tamil Thile in Ceylon', T.C., I,No.3,Sept. 1952.'Sources for the Study of the History of Jaffna',T.C., II, Nos.3&k, Sept. 1953.

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2k. Indrapa].a, Karthigesu'The Nainativu Tamil In8cription of Parkramabhu 'U.C.R., XII, No.1, April 1963.

25. John, S..a-carittiram, Jaffna (American Ceylon Missi.

1a79.26. Kanakasabhai, V.

Tamils Eighteen Eunred Years Ago, Madras 1956)first edition 190k.

27. Kanapathi Pillai, K.I1afikai-v1 Tamilar Varalr, Peradeniya 1956.'A Pillar Inscription fro Moragahawela',U.C.R., XVIII, Jan-Ap. 1960.'A Tmil Inscription from Pa4uvasnuvara',C.R., XVIII, Noa. 3&1+, July-Oct. 1960.

'Maik;ai Inscription of GajabThu II',U.C.R.., XX, No.1, Apr. 1962.

28. Kumaracuvami, S.'Vaa mkattujja Cila Iappeyark4i Vara1u',

ppa-vaipava-kaumuti by K.VeluppiAlai,Vas yi.A, Jafina 1918.

29. Lewis, J.P.Manual of 'che Vanni Districts, Colombo 1895,' .ohaeo1ogy of the Vanni', J.R.A.S. (C.B.), No.11-5,1891.

Mahalingam, T.V.South Indian Polity, Madras 1955.

?4ajumdar, R.C.Corporate Life in Aticient India, Calcutta 1922.ed.Classical Age,(History and Culture of the IndianPeople)11), Bombay 195k.

Matiyaparanam, K.Y,pa-prvika-vaipavam, Jaffna 1927.

Mawer, A. aad Stenton, g.M.An Introduction to the Survey of English Place-Names, Pt.1, Cambridge England 1929.

3k. Menon, C.A.Cochin state Manual, 1911.

35. }iinakshi, C.Administration and Social Life under the Pallavas,Madras 1938.

36.Nodder, F. A Manual of the Puttalam District, Colombo

37. Moore, L. Gazetteer of the Puttalam District, Colombo 1908.

Nalabar Law and Gust oml,1 Madras 1900.38. Murphey,Rhoads,

'The Ruin of Ancient Ceylon', J.A.S., XVI, pp.181 ff

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556

39. Muttuttampi-piilai, A,pa-carittiram, Jaffna 1912,

140. Nagam Aiya, V.Travancore State Manual , I, 1906.

h i. Narayana Rao, C.'The Brhn Inscriptions of South India',N.IIA., I, Sept. 1938

142.Natesan, S.'The Northern Kingdom', U.C.H.C., I, pt.2, pp.691 fZ

143.Navaratnam, C.S.Tamils and Ceylon, Jaffna 1958.Vanni and the Vanniyars, Jaffna 1960.

14k. Nicholas, C.W.'Historical Topography of Ancient and MedievalCeylon', J.R.A.S. (C.B.), N.S., Vt, 195g.

k5. Nicholas and Paranavitana, S.Concise History of Ceylon, Colombo 1961.

46. Nilakanta Sastri, K.A.The Cas, Madras 1955 (Revised ed.).The Pan Kingdom, London 1929.'A Tamil Merchant Guild in Sumatra', TijdschriftVoor Indieche Taal-, Land-. en Volken Kunde,LXXII, 1932, Batavia.'The Ceylon Expedition of Jara'varman VT.ra Pya',Eighth All Indjan0riental Conference Proceedingsand Transactions, 1937, pp. 50b-526.'Vijayabhu I, the Liberator of Ceylon',J.LA.S. (C.B.), LS., IT, 19.'Parkramabhu I and. South India', C .H. 3., IV,pp. 32-51.

'Ceylon and rI Vijaya', JR.A.S. (C.B.), N.S., VIII,pt. 1, pp. 125-l+0.

A History of South India, 1958.147.Pantarattar, C.V.Cataciva

Piyar VaralHri, Madras 1956 (3rd ed.)148.Paranavitana, Senarat

Art and Architecture of Ceylon - Polonnaruva Period,Arts Council of Ceylon, o1ombo 195k.Sigiri Graffiti, I, London 1956.The Shrine of Upulvan at Devundara, Memoirs ofof the Archaeological Survey of Ceylon, VI,Colombo 1953.The Stpa in Ceylon, Memoirs of the ArchaeologicalSurvey of Ceylon, V, Colombo 1914-6.

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557

k8. Paranavitana, Senarat (contd.)'The Polonnaruva Inscription of Vijayabhu 1',E.I., XVIII, 1926.'A Tamil Slab Inscription from P4amai',E.Z., IV,pp. 3.91-196.'Ga1apta Vibra Rock Inscription', E.Z., IV.'Vallipuram Gold-Plate Inscription of the Reignof Va8abha', E.Z., IV.'Gaa1dei Rock Inscription', E.Z., IV.'The Tamil Inscription on the Galle TrilingualSlab', E.Z., III.'Ktip Slab Inscription', LZ., V, pp. 157-158.'A Fragmentary Sanskrit Inscription from Trinco-malee', E.Z., V.'Pa4kauva Copper-plate Charter 6f Vijayab.hu I',

L.& . V, pt.1.'Colombo Museum Pillar Inscription of Kassapa IV',

III,'Polonnaruva Council Chamber Inscription ofAbhaya Salamevan', E.Z., IV.Giritale Pillar Inscription of Udaya III'

III. —'Two Tami]. Inscriptions from Budunnittva',E.Z., III.'An Inscription from Padaviya', J.E.A.S. (C.B.),N.S., VIII, pt.2.'TamilUouseholders' Terrace ', A.B.I.A., XIII, .13:Epigraphica]. Summary', C.J.Sc.(GI, II, pp 17-29;

99-128; 175-228.'Archaeological Summary', p.J.Sc. (G), II,pp. 160 ff.'A Bas-relief_at Isurumuni', Artibus Asiae, XIX.'anxples of Andhra art recently found in Ceylon',A.B.I.A.,XI, pp. 15-18.'Evidence of Earliest Sinhalese Art', Ceylon Observer

11 .2.1950, p. 6.'The Irya Kingdom in North Ceylon', J.P.A.S. (C.B.),N.S., VII, t.2, pp. 1711-22k.'Ceylon and Malaysia in Medieval Times',J.R.A.S. (C.B), N.S., VII, pt. 1, pp. l-k2.'Ceylon and Malaysia', J.R.A.S.(C.B.), N.S,, VIII,'pt. 2.'Newly Discovered Bistorical Documents Relatingto Ceylon, India and South-east Asia', Lecturedelivered at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya,on k.11.l96k (unpublished).

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51.

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If 9. Parker, Henry'Irrigation in the Northern Province',Papers Laid Before the Legislative Council ofCeylon (Sessional Papers), No.XI, 1886, pp. 105-116.

Peiris, Paul E.Ceylon: The Portuguese Era, II , Colombo 191k.'gad!pa and Buddhist Remains in Jaffna',J.R.A.S. (C.B.), XXVI, No.70, 1917, pp. I1O67.

Ra.ghavan, M.D.The Karva of Ceylon, Colombo 1961.

Rae anayagam, C.Ancient Jaffna, Madras 1926.

Ray, Hem Chandra (ed.)University of Ceylon History of Ceylon,I, 2 pts. Colombo 1959 and 1960.

Rea, A.Catalaogue of Prehistoric Antiquities fromdichchana11Ur and Perumbair, Madras 1915.

Rice, L.'The ChaJ.ukyas and Pallaas', l.A., VIII, Jan. 1879,pp. 23-29.

Saletore, B.A.Social and Pè3itical Life in the VijayanagaraEmpire, 2 vole., Madras 193k.

Satasiva Pillai, VV.ppa-vaipavam, Madras, 188k.

Sircar, D.C.'Karfas Outside Kara', J.N.Banerjea Volume,Calcutta 1960.

Srinivasan, K.R.'The Megalithic Burials and Urn-fields of SouthIndia in the light of Tamil Literature andTradition', Ancient India, Bulletin of theArchaeological Survey of India, No.2, July 19k6,pp.9 fZ.

Srinivaan, LR. and Banerjee, N.R.'Survey of South Indian Megaliths', Ancient India,No.9, 1953 special number, pp. 113 ff.

Sriskantaraca, A.'TiruImlai Vara1u Tirnick!carIlaa Kumppika Malar, Trincomalee 1963.

Stanley, E.J.s of Vasco da Gama and His Viceroa1

55. Sturrock, J. das da India,of Gaspar Correa, 1tS69.

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57. Taylor, William,Catalowue Raisonn of Oriental

ernment Library, 4L, iaras .00u.tion and Analysis of the Mackenzl

Manuscripts, Nadra8 1b.58. Tenneht, Emerson

Ceylon: An Account of the Island Physical,Historical and Topographical, London 1860.

59. Thambiah, LW.Laws and Customs of the amils of Jaffna, Colozubo

60. Thiagarajan, N.A Manual of the Pudukottai State, Puthkottai 1921.

61. Vaithianathan, KanthiahTiruketheesvaram Papers, Colombo ,1957.

62.Veluppillai, .Ya-vaipava-kaumuti, Vasavilaii Jaffna 1918.

63. Veluppillai, T.K.Travancore State Manual, II, Travancore 19140.

64. Venakatasubba Ayyar, V.'TiruvLafig4u Inscription of Rjdhirja II',E.I., XXII, PP . 86-92.

65. Vogel, J.Ph.'Ngrjuakoa Inscriptions', E.I., XX, pp. 1-37.

66. von FUhrer Haimendorf, Christof'New Aspects of the Dravidian Problem,' T.C., II,No.2, pp. 131 ff.

67. Wickrsmainghe, Don Nartino de Zilva'Po1onnar*va Xnau1und.va Slab Inscription',E.Z., II,T baganiuva Inscription of Vijayabhu I', E.Z., II.'The Slab Inscription of 1rti Ni&afika Maflaat Ruvnv1i Dgba, Anurdhapura', E. Z., II.'Bpii Slab Inscription of Xa1yavtT', . ,II,pp. 190-192.'Anurdhapura Slab Inscription of Mahinda IV',E.Z., I, pp. 29-38. D'The Slab Inscription Marked of Queen LflvatT',E.Z., I, pp. 176-182.'Polonnaruva Slab Inscriptions of the V.{kkras',E.Z., II, pp. 242-255.'Kant4ai Ga1-sana Inscription of Eitti Ni?ikaMalla', LZ., II, pp. 282-290.

68. Wijesekera, N.D.People of Ceylon, Colombo 1951.

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1.

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5.Board

1960.

56

V. Unpublished MoflOr'i1s

1. Kanapathi Pi].la.i, K.A Study of theJJ. L&

Thesis submitted to the University of Londonfor the Ph.D. degree, 1936.

2. Liyanagma,ge, AmaradasaThe Decline of Polonnaruva and the Rise ofDabadeiyaThesis submitted to the University of Londonfor the Ph.D. degree, 1963.

3. Marr, J.R.tholoies with svecial refere

Thesis submitted to the University of Londonfor the Ph.D. degree, 1958.

if. Wickramasinghe, SirimaThe Age of Parkramab.hu IThesis submitted to the University of Londonfor the Ph.D. degree, 1958.

5. Wijetunge, W.LK.The Rise and Decline of CN.a Power in Ceylon

VI. Reference Works

Cintniai-nika4uCd. Cuvi 1Iilnata Pantitar, Madras 1909.

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Encyclopaedia of Buddhism - Volume of Specimen Articlese • -in-chief G • P. Nalalasekera, Colombo

Gazetteer No. 119; CeylonOfficial Standard Names Approved by the U.S.on Geographic Rames, Office of Geography,Department of the Interior, Washington D.C.

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