By Brian Senewiratne –
Dr. Brian Senewiratne
The majority Sinhalese (74% of the population) have been carefully and deliberately shielded from reality by manipulation of the media by Sinhalese politicians, and ethno-religious bigots, especially the Buddhist monks, playing to the chauvinist gallery.
The Sinhalese have been fed with myths and legends (masquerading as facts), and downright lies or not told what they should have been told. The realities have never been disclosed as to do so would lead to widespread misgivings about the wisdom of the Sri Lankan government’s policy.
This is something that has to be addressed since it is the Sinhalese who elect those to run (or ruin) the country. A separate publication is needed and this must be circulated in the Sinhalese area – something that is likely to be blocked by those in power – all of whom have the Mahavamsa mind-set” (see below).
There are at least four important factors that have to be addressed:
- The failure of the colonial British to see the difference between a nation and a community. Sri Lanka is a British colonial construct that has failed – as have so many colonial constructs.
- The Mahavamsa and the Mahavamsa mind-set that Sri Lanka is a Sinhala-Buddhist nation. If it is, then there is no alternative to setting up a separate Tamil State since the Tamils are neither Sinhalese nor Buddhist.
- The Dutugemunu-Elara war – between a Sinhalese prince from the South and the ageing (Tamil) king originally from the Chola dynasty in South India who was ruling Anuradhapura – the ancient capital of Ceylon.
- The claim that Sri Lanka is too small to be divided. That is arrant nonsense. After division, the Sinhalese State is larger than 63 UN nations and the Tamil State larger than 38 UN nations.
It is simply not possible to deal with these crucially important points here. A separate publication is needed. All that can be done here is to deal with them in the barest possible manner.
Sri Lanka has two nations (Sinhalese and Tamil) and five communities (Indian Tamils, Sri Lankan Muslims, Indian Muslims,, Burghers and Malays). A ‘nation’ is fundamentally different from a ‘community’.
A Nation
A nation is a historically evolved stable community of language, territory, economic life and psychological make-up manifested in a community of culture. It is generally accepted that a nation possess a common ethnic identity, a continuous linguistic and cultural tradition, a definite territory as a homeland and a shared historical experience. It is all these that together that generates in a nation a dominating sense of collective consciousness which gives it the capacity and will for organisation.
The colonial British
The British failed to relaise that there are two nations in Ceylon. Prior to the arrival of the British, for hundreds of years there were three separate ‘Kingdoms’ (essentially ‘States’) – the Tamil Kingdom in the North (Tamil), the Kotte Kingdom in the South (Low-country Sinhalese) and the (massive) Kandyan Kingdom (Kandyan Sinhalese) which occupied most of the island.
The invading Portuguese (1505) quickly overran the Jaffna Kingdom and the Kotte Kingdom but not the Kandyan Kingdom. So also the Dutch who replaced the Portuguese in 1640 and finally the British in 1796.
All of them administered the three Kingdoms separately. The Kandyan Kingdom was finally ceded to the British and, for the first time, the entire country was under foreign rule.
In 1833 the British for administrative ease ‘unified’ that which was divided and centralised power in Colombo in the Sinhalese area. The Colebrooke=Cameron ‘Reforms’ of 1833 was about the worst thing that the colonial British did.
In 1948 when Independence to Ceylon was granted the very least that the British could have done was to leave two Federal States especially since the Tamils were seriously concerned as to what would happen to them under Sinhalese rule. However, the British only wanted their tea estates and military facilities in Trincomalee and Colombo in ‘safe’ hands. They were not particularly concerned as to what happened to the Tamils.
They were to find out before the year ended when a million Plantation Tamils of Indian descent brought by the British to work on the tea estates were decitizenised and disenfranchised in one of the most brutal acts of political irresponsibility in the world. One seventh of the population in the country became non-citizens.
More was to follow as the Ceylonese (Sinhalese) government turned on the Indigenous Tamils who had been there for thousands of years, and passed highly discriminatory legislation. English was replaced by Sinhalese only and not Sinhalese and Tamil. Discrimination in education followed, with the Tamil students having to get a higher mark than the Sinhalese to enter the University.
What did the British do? Nothing. The British have more than a case to answer for the chaos that followed.
The Mahavamsa (Great Chronicle)
This extremely anti-Tamil chronicle written by a Buddhist monk, Mahanama “for the serene joy and emotion of the pious” is regarded as a historical text by the Sinhalese (which it is not). Written in the 6th Century AD about events he thought had occurred in the 5th Century BC, it glorifies the Sinhalese as saviours of Buddhism and derides the Tamils as invaders, vandals, marauders and heathens. It essentially says that multiethnic, multireligious, multicultural, multilingual Sri Lanka is a Sinhala-Buddhist country. If that is what the Sinhalese believe, then there is no alternative to the establishment of a separate Tamil State- Tamil Eelam – since the Tamils are not Sinhalese nor Buddhists. As Voltaire said “ Those who can make you believe absurdities, can make you commit atrocities” which is what has happened in Sri Lanka since Independence.
Tamil Eelam is not the creation of the Tamil people but the result of ethnoreligious chauvinism by the Sinhalese based on Mahavamsa doctrine. This Mahavamsa mind-set has been the hallmark of every Sinhalese leader since Independence. The foremost proponents of this are the Buddhist monks who have the same mind-set as Mahanama who wrote this chauvinist nonsense.
The Dutugemunu-Elera fight
Elara (Ellalan in Tamil) was a Tamil prince from the Chola dynasty in South India who ruled Anuradhapura. He was well known as a just king.
Dutugemunu was the son of a Sinhalese king in the South, King Kavantissa. Kavantissa refused to fight Elara. The 16 year old Dutugemunu thought otherwise. He was found lying crouched and when asked why he replied that he could not stretch himself because he felt boxed in ‘by the Tamils to the North and the sea to the south’. He ridiculed his father and said ‘If [my] father were a man he would not speak thus’ and sent him a piece of women’s jewellery.
The King urged him not to go to war and said that if he did he should not go north of the ‘great river’ (probably today’s ‘Mahaveli)’) which runs across the island about half the way to the North saying that the land below that was more than enough ‘for us’.
However, Dutugemunu was determined to kill Elara. The fighting was so severe that the Mahavamsa describes that the lake in Anuradhapura was ‘red with blood’.
Finally, Elara and Dutugemunu decided to fight each other than sacrifice so many lives. The Chronicle says that the ageing Tamil king was felled by a ‘dart’ (probably an arrow) fired by the young Sinhalese prince, who was the first to rule the entire island. It is of interest that the previous Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who also comes from the South, fancies himself as the present day Dutugemunu. When he was President it was common to see a large cardboard figure of Dutugemunu with a smaller cardboard figure of Mahinda Rajapaksa standing by his side in Colombo.
Dutugemunu had ‘10 brave worriers’. One of them was called ‘Gotabaya’. Interestingly, Mahinda Rajapaksa’s murderous brother, the former Defence Secretary, was also Gotabaya.
Though Buddhism infinitely values human life as being the one and only thing necessary to achieve nirvana, the ultimate state of ‘nothingness’ for Buddhists, Buddhist Sri Lanka has one of the highest murder rates per capita in the world. The Mahavamsa made a virtue of killing in defence of Buddhism. In the victories of Dutugemunu over the Tamil king Elara, in the 2nd Century BC when thousands of Tamils were killed, the Chronicle capriciously states that Dutugemunu’s war cry was: “Not for Kingdom, but for Buddhism”.
The Mahavamsa states that Dutugemunu , in repentance over the lives lost in the war, addressed the eight arhats (Saints):
“How shall there be any comfort for me, O venerable sirs, since by me was caused the slaughter of a great host numbering millions?”
The arhats reply (as quoted in the Mahavamsa) was disturbing:
“From this deed arises no hindrance in they way to heaven….Unbelievers and men of evil life were they, not more to be esteemed than beasts. But for thee, thou will bring glory to the doctrine of Buddha in manifold ways. Therefore cast away care from thy heart, O ruler of men”. That was in the 2nd-Cenrury BC.
Much more recently in 2006, during the slaughter of Tamil civilians in the North, a Sinhalese soldier, a Buddhist, troubled by the slaughter asked his boss: “Sir, I am a Buddhist. Is it acceptable for me to kill these people”. The officer reassured him: “I am also a Buddhist. What the Buddhist teaching says is that killing human beings is not acceptable but this is not what you (and I) are doing. So worry not.”
As the son of a devout Buddhist (my mother) I find this completely unacceptable and an insult to one of the great teachers the world has seen. If ever there was a time for the revival of Buddhism, it is long overdue.
Sri Lanka is too small to be divided (into a Sinhalese area and a Tamil area
So say the ‘patriotic’ Sinhalese. That is arrant nonsense. Sri Lanka is not a particularly small island. It is 26,000 sq miles– about the size of Tasmania.
After division, the Sinhalese State of seven provinces – 18,800 sq miles will be larger than 63 UN nations. The Tamil State of two provinces – 7,200 sq miles, larger than 38 UN nations.
There are several islands that are much smaller than Sri Lanka that have been divided.
Cyprus, 3,372 sq miles, an eighth of the size of Sri Lanka, is divided into the Republic of Cyprus (Greek Cypriot Republic) 2,276 sq miles, and the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (Turkish Cypriot Republic) 1,295 sq miles.
Timor, 11,850 sq miles is divided into Timor-Leste 5,400 sq miles and West Timor (Timor Barat) 6,100 sq miles. Timor-Leste became a sovereign State on 20 May 2002, the first new sovereign State in the 21st Century, and joined the UN.
The Caribbean island of Hispaniola (30,417 sq miles), only slightly bigger than Sri Lanka (25,332 sq miles), is divided into the Dominican Republic (18,700 sq miles) and Haiti (10,521 sq miles).
This is by no means an exhaustive list but sufficient to show that the claim that Sri Lanka is too small to be divided is arrant nonsense.
It is of even greater interest that Israel and Palestine together (10,343 sq miles) are half the size of Sri Lanka. Israel is 8,019 sq miles and Palestine, 2,324 sq miles. Barack Obama in his famous Cairo speech (4 June 2009) said:
“The only resolution is for the aspirations of both sides to be met through two states where Israelis and Palestinians each live in security”.
If a Two-State solution is the only solution to the Israel-Palestine conflict, why not Sri Lanka?
With this long but essential preamble, I can now deal with the situation in Sri Lanka, particularly focussing on the Sinhalese people.
The cause of the conflict
The true cause of the conflict – ‘war’ – has been Tamil nationalism and the Sri Lankan government’s decision to resist it, irrespective of the financial cost or human cost (to the Tamil people, and even to the Sinhalese). This has never been clearly explained to the Sinhalese people. What has been claimed is that it is ‘Tamil terrorism’ or a variant “The Tamils are trying to divide and destroy Sri Lanka”.
That is simply not true. The Tamils never wanted a Separate Tamil State. They were driven to it because of Sinhala-Buddhist ethnoreligious chauvinism and deliberate discrimination against the Tamils by a succession of Sinhalese governments. Even then, the Tamils tried non-violent Ghandi-style protests for decades. It got them nowhere.
It was a documented failure of non-violent protests that drove the Tamil youths (in 1972) to pick up arms to force the Sri Lankan government to address the problem.
To claim that it was the Tamil Tigers who wanted a separate Tamil State is arrant nonsense. It was the Tamil people who, in the 1977 General Election, gave their elected representatives an overwhelming mandate to secure a Separate Tamil State, Eelam.
Solutions other than war
There were other solutions available. The obvious one was to establish two Separate States – a Sinhalese State and a Tamil State as has been done in several countries – just a few of which have been set out above. This has certainly not been explained to the Sinhalese people.
“Giving our land” to the Tamil people
The entire concept of “giving” something to the Tamil people – in this case one third of “our land”, has been a serious problem. Discussions by Sinhalese of the Tamil people’s aspirations have always been couched in terms of a demand by “them” for something from “us”. What has been presented to the Sinhalese people is that “They want our land and we are not going to give it to them.”
Sinhalese politicians, the Sinhalese media, and the most vociferous of them all, the Buddhist monks – all have used this frame of reference. The Sinhalese people do not have the slightest inkling of the fact that the Tamil people want nothing from them. The Tamil people are in possession of their homeland, they already live there (and have done so for centuries). All they want to do is to establish for themselves a State of their own in their homeland. The Sinhalese are not called upon to give anything to the Tamil people. A recognition that the Tamil nation owns the homeland in the North and East in which they live is simply a recognition of a self-evident reality. It s not an act of giving or sacrifice by the Sinhalese people – one cannot give to others what already belongs to them. If there is going to be peace, and most certainly, peace with justice, the Sinhalese consciousness must be changed to accept the true nature of the situation and that the misguided idea of “giving up” or “sacrificing” a part of “our territory” should be abandoned.
The mythical insecurity of the Sinhalese people
This goes back to Dutugemunu who felt that he could not stretch himself because of Tamils to the north and the sea to the south. This is why I dealt with this in some detail.
A latter day variant of this is that the Sinhalese have nowhere to go whereas the Tamils always have a home-base in India. A further variant is that the Sinhalese are a minority compared to the neighbouring Tamil people including the Tamil population of the Indian state of Tamilnadu.
These emotive ideas have been expressed by a succession of Sinhalese political and ethnoreligious chauvinists for a very long time. However absurd, they have played a major role in the Sinhalese psyche and ‘justification’ for crushing the Tamils.
None of them bear rational examination. Nobody is threatening to expel the Sinhalese from the territory they have lived for centuries and to drive them into the sea. Such fantasies are not consistent with even the most elementary level of sanity and are unworthy of a people such as the Sinhalese who have had a long and civilized history – and are reasonably well educated.
Equally nonsensical is the bogey that the Sinhalese nation has nowhere to go but the Tamil people have India. The first characteristic of a nation is that it is rooted to its territory. Nations do not pull up their stakes and march en masse into another country. There is no call on the Sinhalese people to go anywhere; the territory in which they have lived for centuries has sufficed pretty well for them and in many respects they are very fortunate in its possession. They should rejoice in it and prosper with its many resources instead of hallucinating about “nowhere to go”.
It is perfectly true that the Tamil people, taken as a whole, are more numerous than the Sinhalese. The whole world is covered with such juxtapositions. Indeed, the juxtaposition of small nations with big ones is the rule rather than the exception, and calls not for hysterical alarm and dismay but for sensible good neighbourly policies. No Sinhalese politician or leader has tried to dispel these fears – indeed many have played on them to draw support for their ethnic strategy.
To create the climate needed to turn the Sinhalese people towards peace and sanity, these psychological cobwebs should be dusted off and they must be encouraged to confront the world reality with clear-eyed vision and confidence.
There are other ‘problems’, all of which can be settled.
The ‘wrong’ ethnic group in the ‘wrong place’
There are about quarter of a million Sinhalese (increasing by the day!) living in the Tamil area (the North and East). If there is a sensible solution to this problem, they might find that they are a minority after being a majority. The same fears arose when the French under de Gaulle withdrew from Algeria leaving behind a population of a million ethnic French. It was then pointed out that an even larger number of ethnic Algerians had already settled in France.
There are at least half a million Tamils living in the Sinhalese South.
The existence of a minority of one ethnic group living in the ‘wrong place’, calls for reasonableness and moderation – not for panic.
The Muslims have resided in both the Sinhalese areas and the Tamil areas and have a centuries-long experience of being a minority wherever they have lived. They have faced no problem.
The ‘loss’ of land and coastline
If/when sense dawns, and the Tamil people are allowed to do what they want to do – secure the land (North and East) where they have lived for centuries, one-third of the land area and two thirds of the coastline will be in Tamil hands.
As for the land area, it will not be possible for the Sinhalese from the South to come en masse and steal Tamil lands (which they are doing at an alarming rate today). The question is “Where do they go?” The answer is that there are vast tracks of land in the Sinhalese South – in places like Sabaragamuwa, Uva and Southern provinces where resettlement (or settlement) is possible. There is no ‘need’ to steal Tamil lands.
I draw attention to what I have stated earlier that the Sinhalese King Kavantissa who totally opposed his son Dutugemunu’s intention to fight the Tamils in the North, said that if he is determined to do so he should stop short of the ‘Great River’ because the land below this is more than enough for us to develop.
As for the coastline falling into Tamil hands, it is migrant Sinhalese fishermen who would be affected. It is very unlikely that this will be stopped since some of the fish are sold in the local market and will be beneficial to the local people. It is possible that there will be some sort of levy which will be passed on to the purchasers of the product so that the net effect on the fishermen will be marginal.
Cost saving by winding down the (massive) military
No one has pointed out to the Sinhalese that at the height of the war there were 175,000 military. After the end of the fighting, this has escalated to 200,000 and now to 300,000. The question is “Who is the enemy?”
It is a very relevant question because the Sinhalese people are paying for this massive military, the highest number per capita of the civilian population in any country in the world.
If there is peace with justice such a massive number of people in uniform, doing nothing, simply cannot be justified by even the most pessimistic.
Is the current ‘military solution’ really a solution to the problem?
The vast majority of the Sinhala people and all their leaders without a single exception believe that the current “military solution” has not only been possible but is also desirable. This illustrates how the long period of warfare has begun to obscure any clear understanding of the causes of the conflict. The fact that the LTTE is not the cause of the problem but the result of it is beyond the comprehension of the Sinhalese. The cause of the problem is Sinhala-Buddhist ethnoreligious chauvinism and simply crushing the result, the Tamil Tigers, is not a ‘solution’ There is a facile assumption that with the military defeat of the LTTE, Tamil nationalism itself will disappear. The lessons of history have simply not been learnt – that nationalism cannot be crushed. Two decades after the end of World War I, German nationalism reared its head again with a vengeance. After the end of World War II it was the vanquished who won the peace so resoundingly. The desirability of a military solution is a view that can be held only by ignoring the greatest and most pervasive international trend of 20th century history – the rise of ethnic nationalism.
The Sinhalese will have to ask the hard questions
The Sri Lankans, in particular the Sinhalese, will have to ask the hard questions from their Government and demand a response. It is their country that is being dragged before the UN Human Rights Council; it is their country that is being (rightly) targeted by internationally credible human rights groups and others.
Here are some questions that the Sinhalese will have to ask:
- Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group have been excluded from the country. Why? What is there to hide?
- The Tamil areas in the North and East are under military occupation. The military are not there to administer, they are there to defend the country. What is the justification for military rule?
- The Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA), condemned by every major human rights group in the world, remains unchanged. There are no longer ‘terrorists’. What then is the need for the PTA?
- Gotabaya Rajapaksa, the former Defence Secretary, against whom there is overwhelming evidence as the man responsible for the most serious violation of human rights, including mass killing, has not been charged. Why?
- What is the need for a 300,000-strong Armed (‘Defence’) Force? From whom are they defending the country?
- The country is seriously in debt and barely able to pay the interest without further borrowings. The people, their children and even grandchildren are being saddled with a crippling debt. Is that acceptable?
There are other questions which do not need to be gone into here because they have been very well dealt with in the just-released publication by PEARL (see below).
Hiding the truth. Continuing violation of human rights in the Tamil North and East
For the Sri Lankan government to simply prevent human rights groups such as Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and International Crisis Group and even UN investigators from entering the country achieves nothing In this day and age it is simply not possible to hide what is going on behind closed and censored doors. To believe that it can be is a demonstration of ignorance.
As recently as 21 April 2016, the Washington-based ‘PEARL’ (People for Equality and Relief in Sri Lanka) published a 48 page report:
“Withering Hopes” – New Report raises Concern – Sri Lanka’s Window for Reconciliation is Closing.
This explores why Sri Lanka’s elusive peace remains out of reach, detailing ongoing human rights violations, the militarization of the North-East, and obfuscation from the government on key issues such as accountability. Continuing human rights violations in the North-East include violence and harassment by members of the security forces, occupation of traditional Tamil lands acquired illegally, torture and sexual violence of Tamils, absence of answers for families of the “disappeared,” and the continued detention of Tamil political prisoners without charge. The military remains heavily involved in civilian activities, such as running shops, farms, hotels and even pre-schools.
“Sri Lanka’s continuing lack of progress on key issues such as accountability and demilitarization throws into question the government’s sincerity and political will to implement the pledges it has made,” PEARL’s Advocacy Director Mario Arulthas said. “The government could have taken strong, concrete measures to build confidence amongst Tamils over the last 15 months, but instead has continued policies in place under the Rajapaksa regime. This is not conducive for accountability and for an end to decades of state-impunity for crimes, both of which are integral to a lasting peace in the island.”
For Sri Lanka to experience lasting reconciliation between all communities, the grievances of the Tamil people must be addressed. This requires justice for the mass atrocities committed throughout the armed conflict, and significant changes to the Sinhala Buddhist nationalist nature of the state. Sustainable peace and reconciliation will require the government to act meaningfully, expeditiously, and in good faith when addressing Tamils’ legitimate misgivings and distrust, while also educating the Sinhala polity on the need for credible accountability and an inclusive, pluralistic society.
‘Peace’ with amity or enmity?
The Sinhalese people will have to decide whether they want to live with the Tamils in the North and East in amity or permanent enmity. The latter is what is happening today, and will continue to do so unless there is a change in strategy.
The Tamils wanting to develop their homeland, call it Eelam or anything else, is a state of mind. One cannot crush a state of mind with KFir jets, bombs and rockets. Indeed, the opposite. The suppressed anger of those who are the victims (Tamil civilians) has not gone away – it has only been silenced. It is a silence that might not, indeed will not, last.
It is now up to the Sinhalese people to get involved and ask the hard questions as to what is going on in the Tamil areas.
(My admiration and gratitude to an exceptional Sinhalese, the late Adrian Wijemanne, who told me on his death bed: “Use whatever I have written in any way that you want for the cause of the Tamil people who have suffered so much under a succession of senseless Sinhalese politicians”. This is what I have done.)
bharana / April 23, 2016
[Edited out]
FYI what King Dutugamunu did was to recapture the Land taken away from his ancestors (Elara killing King Asela). He did not wage war to capture the land that belonged originally to tamils.
/
Native Vedda / April 24, 2016
bharana
“FYI what King Dutugamunu did was to recapture the Land taken away from his ancestors (Elara killing King Asela).”
Interesting point.
From whom did ancestors of King Dutugamunu steal the land? Any innovative evidence?
“He did not wage war to capture the land that belonged originally to tamils.”
Whom did the land originally belong to, prior to Tamils, even prior to whoever owned the land?
At the time of King Dutugamunu and before him, did the people own any land? if so could you cite copies of deeds?
/
Paul / April 24, 2016
2300 years ago when this war took place there were no Sinhalese are a Sinhalese language, what was spoken was Elu which is a Dravidian semi Tamil dialect or a new dialect that was forming in the south that was a mixture of the semi Tamil Elu and the Sanskrit and Pali of Buddhism that would have been still very close to Tamil( even now modern Sinhalese vocabulary is 40% Tamil derived). Neither Dutugemunu or his father and mother were Sinhalese but Nagas. Nagas were Tamil speaking sub Dravidians. His father’s actual name was Kakkai Vanna Theesan meaning the king or great man the colour of crow. Basically the black king. Kavanissa is a Pali given to him by the Mahavamsa legend, as they did not want to use his real Tamil name. Just like Thevanai Nambiya Theesan( the great man who loved god in Tamil) became Devanambiyatissa in Pali. His mother belonged to famous Buddhist Naga family from Kelaniya. This was between the Tamils who converted to Buddhism largely residing and ruling in the south and the ruling Tamil establishment in Anuradhapura and the Tamils who remained Hindu. That the descendants of these Tamil or semi Tamil speaking sub-Dravidian races like the Naga Yakka and Raksha with a greater amount of Australoid taint, became Sinhalese later is another story.
/
ravi perera / April 24, 2016
Paul Gembo,
2300 yrs ago, not only sinhala , the whole world was Tamil. The whole world descended from Tamil. Now take it up at the UN, you might be granted the whole world
/
Rohan / April 24, 2016
Why don’t you ask your South Indian ancestors who were brought into the island by the Portuguese and Dutch as slave labour if this is true, instead of haranguing others
/
ravi perera / April 24, 2016
Rohan Gembo,
Thanks for reminding me of my ancestors.Are your ancestors North Indians? What garbage are you taking you Thalaya
/
Native Vedda / April 24, 2016
ravi perera the Sinhala speaking Demla
“Are your ancestors North Indians?”
Were yours?
/
Rohan / April 25, 2016
I am very proud of my Dravidian/Tamil ancestry and have do not have a need to hide this, like most Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Muslims do.
/
John / April 25, 2016
That why you call yourself Rohan isn’t it? A very pure Tamil name indeed.
/
Rajash / April 27, 2016
“2300 yrs ago, not only sinhala , the whole world was Tamil. The whole world descended from Tamil.
..Now take it up at the UN, you might be granted the whole
old Hindu temples and Tamil encryptions are evident all ober the world
Scholars all over the world has accepted that at one time Tamil was the only language spoken all over the world
Tamils words can be found in all modern languages
Nanri Vanakam
/
jim softy / April 24, 2016
What is this Dravidean Semi Tamil.
Is Tamil a Dravidean language ?
If so, how come it becomes semi tamil ?
Tamils don’t have a history. Even todate they are govern ed by Malayalis and nor th Indians. Even in Tamilnadu Tamils are Dalits and they have only a quota for every thing.
Here in Sri lanka, they talk big and try to establish a history.
Brian Senvirathne is also descending from Dalit Tamils. that is why he is bleeding For his relatives.
/
Ravi / April 24, 2016
Elu was an Aryan language.
Not a dravidian language.
There are only 4 Dravidian languages in the world – Thelungu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil. That’s all.
/
Native Vedda / April 24, 2016
Ravi
“There are only 4 Dravidian languages in the world – Thelungu, Malayalam, Kannada and Tamil. That’s all.”
Here is a list of Dravidian languages which you chose not to know which is your prerogative.
Kolami (Northwestern & Southeastern) 60,000 India
Duruwa 90,000 India
Northern
Brahui 2 million Pakistan
Kurux (Kurukh) 2 million India
Sauria Paharia (Malto) 85,000 India
South Central
Maria, Dandami 150,000 India
Gondi Southern 700,000 India
Maria 134,000 India
Pardhan 117,000 India
Koya 10 million India
Kui 717,000 India
Kuvi 300,000 India
Telugu 75 million India
Southern
Badaga up to 300,000 India
Kannada up to 44 million India
Kodagu 122,000 India
Kurumba up to 200,000 India
Malayalam 35 million India
Tamil 74 million India
Yerukula 300,000 India
Tulu up to 2 million India
http://www.ling.fju.edu.tw/
typology/Dravidian.htm
“Elu was an Aryan language.”
Since when?
Please let me have your evidence.
/
Dr,Rajasingham Narendran / April 25, 2016
NV,
This is what Caldwell has to say of Elu,
” Elu, the ancient language of Ceylon, still spoken in modified form by the Sinhalese natives of the southern half of the island. It has long been cultivated, and is written with a peculiarly elegant alphabet somewhat resembling the Telugu of Madras, and, like it, derived from the Devanagari [Devanagari] of the Asoka inscriptions. Elu holds a somewhat intermediate position between the two great Sanscritic and Dravidian linguistic families. It abounds in grammatic forms, and is certainly much older than any of the Prakrits though grouped by Childers and Beames with the Neo-Sanscritic tongues, owing to its numerous Sanscrit and Pali elements; but in its structure it shows more affinity for the Dravidian, though in many respects differing essentially from that family (Caldwell, Grammar of the Dravidian Languages; Petchel, Races of Man, English ed., p. 454).”
Any other researched updates?
Incidentally, there is language called Elu, spoken in Manus Island in Papua New Guinea.
Dr.RN
/
Nimal / April 25, 2016
Dr,Rajasingham Narendran
Caldwell, whoever he may be must be a half-baked researcher.
Elu was NOT a spoken language but a written poetic language and it was NOT an ancient language either. Elu evolved very much after Sinhala (after 9th century AD). Sinhala literary culture between 10th and 15th centuries AD employed one “alphabet” for writing Sinhala poetry and one for Sinhala prose. The script was the same for both; the difference between the two was the number of permitted letters, prose, having fifty seven, against thirty-six for poetry.
The Elu texts ‘Elu Sendas Lakuna’, ‘Elu Bodhi Vamsa’, ‘Elu Akaradiya’, ‘Elu Hathvanagalu Vansaya’, ‘Elu Umanda’, ‘Elu Daladavansa Kavya’, ‘Elu Silowa’, ‘Elu Silo Sathakaya’, etc. were produced only after the 10th century AD.
For example ‘Elu Sendas Lakuna’, also explains the grammatical rules of Sinhala Poetry. ‘Elu Akaradiya’ is a Sinhala dictionary that had been used by Rev. Benjamin Clough in compiling a Sinhala – English dictionary in 1821.
The alphabet for poetic Sinhala (Elu) prevented the use of many Sanskrit loanwords because it lacked letters for the aspirated consonants of Sanskrit, although Sanskrit loanwords became as common in Sinhala prose.
/
Dr.Rajasingham Narendran / April 25, 2016
nimal,
” Bishop Robert Caldwell (7 May 1814 – 28 August 1891) was a missionary and linguist, who academically established the Dravidian family of languages. He served as Assistant Bishop of Tirunelveli from 1877.[citation needed] He was described in The Hindu as a ‘pioneering champion of the downtrodden’ and an ‘avant-garde social reformer’.[1] The Government of Tamil Nadu has created a memorial in his honour and a postage stamp has been issued in his name.[2][3] On the Madras Marina, a statue of Caldwell was erected as a gift of the Church of South India in 1967.”
Please check in Google for comprehensive information on this great man, of whom I first learned from my father. Any linguist interested in the languages of India, should be familiar with his contributions.
Dr.RN
/
Nimal / April 24, 2016
Paul,
Why don’t you learn some basic history from authentic sources like research papers and from reputed history writings instead of blabbering blatant lies due to complete ignorance?
“What was spoken was Elu which is a Dravidian semi Tamil dialect”
Elu was NOT a spoken language but a written language. People cannot speak in Elu.
Elu was NOT an ancient language either. Elu is a poetic language that was created in Sri Lanka to write poems. It came into existence only after the 9th century AD after Sinhala language was established.
You have to analyze the Elu texts Elu Sendas Lakuna, Elu Bodhi Vamsa, Elu Akaradiya, Elu Hathvanagalu Vansaya, Elu Umanda, Elu Daladavansa Kavya, Elu Silowa, Elu Silo Sathakaya, etc. to see if any Dravidian semi Tamil words are also found in any of these Elu texts.
Why don’t you check with a Tamil historian about Elu instead of making yourself a fool.
“Just like Thevanai Nambiya Theesan( the great man who loved god in Tamil) became Devanambiyatissa in Pali.”
What is mentioned in all the ancient stone inscriptions is Devanapiya Tisa (Not Thevanai Nambiya Theesan). Devanapiya Tisa was a contemporary of Emperor Ashoka who was also known as Devanapiya Ashoka. ‘Devanapiya’ was a title used by King Ashoka.
Are you trying to say Emperor Ashoka also had a Tamil name Thevanai Nambiya Ashoka?
Why don’t you learn the basics before writing nonsense?
“His mother belonged to famous Buddhist Naga family from Kelaniya.”
There never existed any ‘Naga’ family. Naga is a myth created by the Mahavamsa author. He must have read too much of North Indian Sanskrit and Pali texts before writing the Mahavamsa.
You keep blabbering the same nonsense over and over due to complete ignorance. Learn the latest discoveries in history without repeating the old and obsolete stuff.
/
Paul / April 24, 2016
Nonsense. The only person blabbering is you a hard line Sinhalese Buddhist extremist. Nagas did exist and they are not a myth.The Vedda dialect as probably did the old Sinhala approaches far closer to Tamil than modern Sinhala in its pronunciation”. The Vedda dialect, their spoken language is identical with Elu which was the spoken language of ancient Sri Lanka, which is semi-Tamil; as to the grammatical structure it is essentially Dravidian and simple.
Even modern Sinhalese vocabulary is around 35= 40% Tamil based. Modern Sinhalese grammar lexicon Syntax and alphabet is 100 % Tamil derived. Stop deluding your self with this Aryan myth. Pathetic. Sinhalese is basically a language that has a solid Dravidian foundation on which a Indo Aryan super structure has been built.
The prevalence of the Tamil language was such in early times as to dominate the language of the Sinhalese. Mudaliar W. F. Gunawardhana (to quote from K. Navaratnam Tamil element in Ceylon Culture, 1959 p52- 53) states ‘1t must be said that Sinhalese is essentially a Dravidian language, its evolution too seems to have been on a Tamil basis …..The structural foundations of the Sinhalese language are Dravidian, while its superstructure, i.e. the vocabulary is Indo Aryan’
/
Nimal / April 24, 2016
“Elu which was the spoken language of ancient Sri Lanka, which is semi-Tamil”
Again and again this fool is blabbering nonsense. He is confused between Sinhala and Elu. During early historic period the language in the island was Prakrit, much later it was Hela and then it became Sinhala. Elu evolved after Sinhala as a poetic language. Learn some basic linguistic history of the country. No doubt Sinhala also contains Tamil words but Elu is something different. If you go to the Colombo Public Library you can find copies of Elu texts such as Elu Sendas Lakuna, Elu Bodhi Vamsa, Elu Akaradiya, Elu Hathvanagalu Vansaya, Elu Umanda, Elu Daladavansa Kavya, Elu Silowa, Elu Silo Sathakaya, etc. See if you can find any Tamil words in them.
/
shankar / April 28, 2016
” During early historic period the language in the island was Prakrit,”
i agree with nimal on that.Nimal knows his history better than paul.
/
Nimal / April 24, 2016
Paul
Elu Akaradiya is a Sinhala dictionary that had been used by Rev. Benjamin Clough in compiling a Sinhala – English dictionary in 1821. However, he did not use the text Elu Akaradiya to compile a Tamil – English dictionary.
Another example is the Elu Sendas Lakuna, they were not only written in Sinhala they also explain the grammatical rules of Sinhala Poetry. Elu is a Sinhala poetic language. Nobody spoke in Elu, they only recited poems in Elu.
/
Rajash / April 27, 2016
why did the British divide a single Indian sub-continent into two countries Pakistan and India ( and now there is 3)based on religion but decided to merge two separate Kingdoms in Ceylon?
/
ramona therese fernando / April 24, 2016
Dr. Brian Senewiratne is at it again!
He forgot the millions of Kandyan Sinhalese were driven to the coast by the British- hence the two separate Sinhalese kingdoms (if ever), merged into one.
It’s not that Sri Lanka is too small to be divided. It’s that the state of caste-driven Hindu Tamil Nadu has over 70 million Tamils too close to us.
It’s not that Sri Lanka has any problem with Tamil DNA. Sri Lanka has a problem with Hindu caste systems vs. Buddhist egalitarianism – the very concepts that created a completely different psyche for the 2 races of people throughout the millennia.
Guy feels that division would solve the problem of Sinhalese and Tamil disunity- where Tamils can retain their purity and Sinhalese can retain theirs. He has obviously forgotten the fragility of the Buddhist side vis-à-vis the gigantism of colossal Hindu Tamil Nadu close-by.
He takes the simplistic solution over honorable Buddhistic one. Indeed some devout Buddhists (Buddhist priests included) see it as a fast track to personalized Nirvana for them, and only them. They have forgotten millions of Lankan souls, and the billions to come, that will lose out on Buddha’s Middle-Path.
Cyprus has Greece and Turkey to balance out Cyprus. Sinhalese do not have anyone to safeguard their side.
Tiny Timor does not have a colossal Christian side anywhere nearby to pose any threat to the Islamic side.
Hispaniola had no ancient history for either of the sides.
/
King Wala Gemba / April 24, 2016
One of the tragedies of Sri Lanka is that the Sinhalese have never understood the meaning of federalism. To them it meant creating a separate country on the island and joining it with Tamil Nadu.
A self-confident Tamil nation will have no need to conquer and rule the Sinhala people. It is the weak who fear and who in their fear seek to subjugate and assimilate, so that they may feel secure. To pursue its assimilative agenda, the Sinhala nation masquerades as the Sri Lankan nation (albeit with a privileged position for Buddhism and in practice, for the Sinhala language as well).
/
ramona therese fernando / April 24, 2016
It will naturally happen as a result of permeability from caste-driven Hindu India, to egalitarian Buddhist Sri Lanka.
Caste driven India, with dry-deserted landscape due to neglect, will naturally be pull for sufferers, towards the luscious cohesive societies of Sri Lanka. 12 million untouchables along the coast of Tamil Nadu is proof enough, leave alone the high employment rate even by those who are in more privileged positions.
But we can encourage rich Tamil Naduians and other Indians to invest and even migrate to Sri Lanka. And they can fly here, first-class on planes. To be fair, and in true Buddhistic style, we can have a lottery system for 10,000 Indians (5,000 from Tamil Nadu), of whatever caste, to migrate to Sri Lanka.
/
Paul / April 24, 2016
Ramona Therese Fernando sounds very Portuguese or a Catholic Sinhalese Karawa. If you are the latter then you are the descendant one of these recently Sinhalised Indian Tamil low castes that was imported into the island by the Portuguese colonials to do menial slave labour and also to increase the Catholic population in the island, now beating the anti Tamil drum.
/
Celeo / April 24, 2016
“untouchables along the coast of Tamil Nadu”
That is part of your Ancestry. You seem to be talking about your unknown relatives. All the Fernandos were originally those untouchables who came from the coast of Tamil Nadu. Dr. Paul E. Pieris has published details about these Fernandos. I hope you know the history of your own people.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 24, 2016
Fernando was a generic name given to both Indian and Sinhala coastal people when they were converted by the Portuguese – some of whom the Portuguese assimilated with. It is true that Indian and Sinhala fishermen used to (and still do), associate and assimilate with each other. They were hardly untouchables, and had their own caste. After the upheavals of especially British colonization, many udadrata people were driven to the coastal areas and assimilated with the coastal people. Fernando, however is my married name.
There were 10’s of thousands of low-caste who came around when the British were here (that some person keeps commenting on). These were the poor Sakiliyas that used to live in the slums before the 80’s. We used to see them bathing in the canals when we were young. Most were chased away by the Sinhalese during the riots. They went to the North. There those poor people were used as human shields at the last stages of the war.
/
Suresh / April 24, 2016
ramona therese fernando
“These were the poor Sakiliyas that used to live in the slums before the 80’s. We used to see them bathing in the canals when we were young. Most were chased away by the Sinhalese during the riots. They went to the North.”
The British brought Sakiliyas (untouchables) from South India (Telagu speaking Andara Demala from Andra Pradesh) as sanitary laborers for them. Since the Tamils of North-East followed a very strict caste system, they did not allow them to settle in the NE and therefore they were all settled in the Southern parts of Sri Lanka. Another Telagu speaking community living among the Sinhalese (very similar to the ‘Sakiliyas’ is the ‘Ahikuntaka’).
By living among the Sinhalese, most of them got converted and assimilated with the Sinhala population. The ‘Sakiliyas’ and the ‘Ahikuntaka’ were speaking Telugu basha (the Sinhalese called it Andara Demala) then but now they speak Sinhala, and most of them today are converted to Sinhala and the others who still did not convert are also living among the Sinhalese not only in Colombo slums but in all the Sinhala areas but none of them live in NE. Even if the Sinhalese had chased them away, the NE Tamils will not accept them.
In an interesting genetic finding, the Sinhalese and Sinti Roma (Telagu speaking ‘Sakiliyas’ and ‘Ahikuntaka’ community) also have a high frequency of Haplogroup R2 (38% and 53% respectively) (Sengupta, S; et al. (2006), The American Journal of Human Genetics 78 (2): 202–21). A 2003 Nature study found the Romani language to be most closely related to Sinhalese language. In addition the Romani people and Sinhalese both have a high frequency of Haplogroup H (Y-DNA) (Gray, Russell D.; Atkinson, Quentin D. (2003). “Language-tree divergence times support the Anatolian theory of Indo-European origin”. Nature 426 (6965): 435–9). These findings point to a multi-faceted origin of Sinhalese and the other ethnic groups with a similar genetic pattern of mixed genetic background.
However, today Sakili has become a job title for sanitary laborers and today the Sinhala women are the most famous public sanitary laborers in the mid-east.
Just because you speak Sinhala and go to Buddhist temple do not think that you are a Niyama Sinhala, you sound very much like one of them.
/
Paul- Real Siva Sankaran Sarma / April 25, 2016
Suresh the Roma speaking gypsies of Europe originated from very low caste/untouchable populations from North, India, traditionally engaged in stealing thieving killing looting and eating animal flesh etc.
They were kept apart from the caste Hindu villages. They largely originated from the lower orders of the North Dravidian and pre Dravidian population who came into conflict with the Aryans, separated themselves very early from the southern Dravidians (the ancestors of the modern day Tamils, Telugus, Kannada Malayali and Tulu ETC)as Dasa-Dasyus people.
However they have the same origins and still share the same DNA with many of the untouchable/low castes of South India like these Telugu gypsies and Sakkili and also with scheduled tribes like Irula etc in Tamil Nadu/Kerala.
The caste Hindu population in South India are not related to them.
DNA analysis had also found that like most Sinhalese,the European Roma gypsies,are very closely related to the largely low/schedule caste Indian origin Tamil estate population in Malaysia.
Without knowing this truth, many Sinhalese hardliners were trumpeting around stating DNA analysis has found close relationship between the Sinhalese and the Roma gypsies of Europe. This proves the North Indian Aryan origin of most Sinhalese.
What these clowns did not realise was that the Roma gypsies of Europe originated from the untouchables of North India, who were not Aryan but from the lower orders of the North Dravidian and pre Dravidian population who again had a common origin and ancestry with the lower and scheduled castes of South India. Nothing Aryan or Indo European.
So either so called Vijaya was not a prince but a low caste brigand and a common murderer and thief, who together with his band of thieves were put on a ship and banished from some part of north India. Most probably they thought he and all his goons will perish in sea and not land in some island to create havoc.
Or most of the modern day Sinhalese are descended from low caste South Indian immigrants. At least around 50% are and it is recorded history. Or a mixture of both.
Either way nothing to be proud of. No wonder despite 2300 years of Buddhism has not cured all these evil traits of their ancestors.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 25, 2016
Paul- Real Siva Sankaran Sarma,
Jezzz….some of you Tamils are like goblins hobbling about in the North, spewing venom and discord with much inimicalness. Being part Tamil myself, I feel ashamed that the Tamil race has given rise to such disgrace. I never find the Sinhalese having the same perversity. If any, it is due to their reaction against Tamil taunts. Sinhalese are what they are- Aryan blood and all. Why be jealous of the fact?
/
Upali Wickramasinghe / April 27, 2016
” some of you Tamils are like goblins hobbling about in the North, spewing venom and discord with much inimicalness. Being part Tamil myself, I feel ashamed that the Tamil race has given rise to such disgrace I never find the Sinhalese having the same perversity.”
You may not have been born by 1956.That was the time some yellow togared thugs ruled the roost.In 1988-89 during a Wednesday Bana preaching over the Radio on such man called for the elimination of the Tamils and there is another who is accused of starting the 1983 riots.
Aryan Blood my foot.The thug Vijaya first laid Kuveni and after two kids were born they were thrown out and her relations, may be including Kuveni and her children were killed.The come the ” rich cake ” of Manama’s history.They brought 700 princes from India.
Who is the Princes who come in search of a prostitutes son and his colleagues.make no mistake Ramona, we are the product may be 100,000 time removed of 700 Indian prostitutes.Yes you and me included.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 27, 2016
Upali Wickramasinghe,
It is a sad a sorry situation what happened in 1956 and ensuing decades. If I been around Sri Lanka during those times, I might have been attacked as being part Tamil. However, 2016 is a far cry from those times. Much of it is due to Sinhalese being influenced by the likes of Anagarika Dharamapala(a part colonial masquerading as a pure blooded Sinhalese Aryan). Such absurdity really contorted the Sinhalese mindset, and even to this day you’d find certain elite still championing that notion. Thank God for genetic analysis. However, the masses of Sinhalese and Tamils have little time for such nonsense and know instinctively that they are almost one race, regardless of religious differences.
As a Nation, we cannot only blame one side. Tamils also have a huge role in provoking the violence (e.g. see how perverse some of the Tamil commentators are – racially and otherwise….and I have seen it in real life too). Also, one must not forget the sufferings of the Sinhalese at that time compared to the other races. Many Tamils were/are rampant at hooting and howling in provocations. Can you imagine the Tamils who had a greater niche monetary network jeering in typical style, at the struggling and suffering Sinhalese?
Degrading your own race is a short-term and unproductive way to appease tensions. The Buddhist priests you speak of are only a few of the majority who have much honor and integrity. Each race has their own pride of culture and heritage. Each race has a right to be what they are, without racial provocation from the other. We have to build up each other. And ridiculing ourselves is no way to go.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 26, 2016
Paul- Real Siva Sankaran Sarma ,
However, I do agree that certain Sinhalese feel they are pure Aryan, and it is good that genetic testing gives a better picture.
It’s the way you write about castes that is so offensive.
/
Siva Sankaran Sarma / April 27, 2016
Cool story, bro :D
/
Nimal / April 25, 2016
“These were the poor Sakiliyas that used to live in the slums before the 80’s. We used to see them bathing in the canals when we were young. Most were chased away by the Sinhalese during the riots.”
Lady and Gentlemen,
Calm down. Do not show who the real ‘Sakiliyas’ are.
People who clean toilets and drainages are also doing a job, like many of us. They also may have children and wives who do not want to see their fathers and husbands getting insulted by others. Every time you insult someone with the word ‘Sakiliya’, remember, there would be a small child witnessing his/her father (probably, the heroes of their worlds) getting insulted and abused.
Mind what you write. This forum deserve more decent people than you.
PS: Ramona, I honestly expected more than this from you. I never expected you to stoop down to this level. Really disgusting!
/
ramona therese fernando / April 25, 2016
Oh no, Nimal. I had no idea what Sakliyas were even, till it was mentioned by Tamil commentators on CT. I used to see them as poor people and feel very sorry for them. I then thought they were a Tamil caste, as Tamils put their people into castes.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 25, 2016
Nimal,
You shouldn’t be so hasty to score points against someone who is attempting to take a balanced approach. It is not easy to get the message across in the midst of fuming and perverse racism from certain quarters. You should be brave enough to attack the source and not stoop to pin-point minor gaffes (if any), just for the heck of it
/
Upali Wickramasinghe / April 27, 2016
“Fernando was a generic name given to both Indian and Sinhala coastal people when they were converted by the Portuguese – some of whom the Portuguese assimilated with. It is true that Indian and Sinhala fishermen used to (and still do), associate and assimilate with each other. They were hardly untouchables, and had their own caste. “
Modern History
/
ramona therese fernando / April 24, 2016
Those 10’s of thousands of low-caste Tamils who came down exceeded the quota needed for workers by the British. Sri Lanka is now filled to capacity for foreign workers, and needs to create jobs for her own people.
/
Celeo, / April 24, 2016
What about those 10’s of thousands of low-caste Tamils who got converted to Sinhala-Buddhists and adopted Portuguese surnames such as Fernando who are already in the work force?
/
ramona therese fernando / April 25, 2016
You Tamils certainly have a HUUUGE inferiority complex. What a way to live! Guess the ultimate end is to become suicide bombers to eradicate the horrible feeling. How much simpler and honorable the Sinhala Buddhist life is.
/
Celeo / April 25, 2016
“You Tamils certainly have a HUUUGE inferiority complex.”
It is the other way around. You Sinhalese certainly have a minority complex even though you are a majority.
/
ramona fernando / April 26, 2016
Celeo,
Yep, you Tamils suffer from the fact that you cannot even get near the history of Cyprus, which suffered so much through invasions from South India, not to mention Albania.
Please remember that the Sinhala language has a 4000 year history, even before Buddhism, revealed recently due to excavations by a young archaeologist in Tamilnadu. She found a copy of a Sinhala scientific journal inscribed on 3970 year old potsherds! So Tamil did evolve from Sinhala.
/
Native Vedda / April 26, 2016
ramona fernando
You are talking rubbish, confining Sinhala culture to 3970 year old potsherds.
The first ape according to Champika, spoke Sinhala and practiced Buddhism well before Buddha was born.
The Sinhalese invented zero, Champika’s ancestors performed the first ever cross breed of beauty and a beast in Sinhapura, Lata land Venga.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 26, 2016
Colombo Telegraph,
This is not me. Can you check this out and confirm if it is/isn’t a pseudonym?
Ramona Therese Fernando
/
Old Codger / April 26, 2016
The men in white coats will be coming soon to carry away Ramona. Let us wish her a speedy recovery.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 26, 2016
Old Codger,
Ramona Fernando is a common name in Sri Lanka. Guess I will have to change my logo. You’re having a hard time with me, huh……poor old fellow.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 26, 2016
ramona fernando,
I agree with you. Is there a link to that discovery. It is very interesting. Yes, Buddhism has been there for over a million years with many Buddhas in between.
RTF
/
Old Codger / April 27, 2016
Dear Ramona:
“Old Codger, Ramona Fernando is a common name in Sri Lanka. Guess I will have to change my logo. You’re having a hard time with me, huh……poor old fellow. “
Why change your name? How will we know you?
You’re not giving me a hard time. I am enjoying every minute. You provide such entertainment. I believe I am not giving you a hard time either. Do I call you stupid/ donkey/ racist/ idiot etc.? Carry on clowning ..pleeaaase.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 27, 2016
The logo (picture), old codger, not my name.
/
Upali Wickramasinghe / April 27, 2016
Ramona:”to egalitarian Buddhist Sri Lanka.” Ramona you are the chief priestess of the house of Brain Washing.
Egalitarian my foot.Do you know Ramona, that the Buddhist clergy is divided on caste basis,Siam for Govigama, Amarapura and some other nonesensical names.Do you know Ramona that there are Buddhist temples with separate sections for different castes, I know of one with separate sectors for Govigama, Karawa and Durawa castes.Do you know Ramona that some Govigama priests do not accept alms from non govigama households.Why the dickens do Buddhist priests wear their toga differently, some with both shoulders covered and some with only one shoulder covered.Do you think the Buddhist priests who expose one shoulder does it with the same expectations as young girls who expose their shiny thighs?
/
ramona therese fernando / April 27, 2016
I explained it rather well in my comments for the article, “Transforming From ‘Ethnicity’ To ‘Common Humanity’: The Long March Necessary,” Upali Wickramasinghe
/
Max / April 24, 2016
Then all Tamils should go to north east. They can’t have the best of the south and the north.
That is not federal that is nonsense.
/
Upali Wickramasinghe / April 27, 2016
“millions of Kandyan Sinhalese were driven to the coast by the British- hence the two separate Sinhalese kingdoms (if ever), merged into one.”
When did this happen?You are rewriting history or are you the High Priestess of Brain Washing?
/
Upali Wickramasinghe / April 27, 2016
“Indeed some devout Buddhists (Buddhist priests included) see it as a fast track to personalized Nirvana for them, and only them”
My my my, you are now creating a new Buddhism.Does the fast tracking end up in a bulging bank account,super luxury cars and a well established harem?
/
DCDC / April 24, 2016
This article is utter nonsense. Author does not look at the matter objectively but justification mindset of his personal beliefs or he is being paid for his work.
In many countries in the world, different communities live respectfully and happily. Each community cannot have their own land or separate country you don’t need a doctorate to understand that. Military presence is absolutely essential in north and east because, people there supported terrorism hence cannot be trusted.
We need a good constitution which mitigate or eliminate ethnic discrimination and honest leadership who looks after all ethnic groups. Together we can make a strong country with a common objective.
/
Nathan / April 24, 2016
DCDC, I wish to be on your side! But, I have a problem. I don’t have any argument to counter what Dr. Brian Senewiratne has put forth. Help me, oh, help me; help me with some!
/
jim softy / April 24, 2016
Old Fool is vomiting Racism.
/
Paul / April 24, 2016
Pray what are your personal beliefs? The land should only belong to Sinhalese Buddhist. The Eelam Tamil nation never existed? Even your Mahavamsa myth by trying to prove that the Tamils were alien invaders had only proved the opposite, that Tamils had been existing in the island long before a so called Sinhalese ethnicity originated and also the so called Sinhalese ethnicity from its very inception was largely made up of Tamils. SO called fairy tale prince Vijaya and his 500 companions marrying Tamil maidens from the Pandian country and later invaders and immigrants largely from the Tamil country in India settling and gradually becoming Sinhalese.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 24, 2016
Besides, Cyprus’ history was one of continual invasions and upheavals for thousands of year with any majoritarian rule for any good length of time. Sri Lanka has had a 2,500 year old history of Sinhalese dominance of the island, with only a generation of Tamil co-rule in between (Elara – where he too learned Sinhalese and converted to Buddhism), and a unavoidable Tamilized North due to the colossality of the Tamil Nadu state nearby.
/
Celeo, / April 24, 2016
“Sri Lanka has had a 2,500 year old history of Sinhalese dominance of the island”
LOL!
What a load of crap!
This is what is known as the Mahavamsa mindset.
Someone rightly said not to take ramona therese Fernando seriously because she shoots senseless rubbish (most probably from the rear) and to use her only for comic relief. She proves over and over that she is just a comedy piece.
/
ramona therese fernando / April 24, 2016
Celeo,
Not at all.
/
jim softy / April 24, 2016
CELCO:
LOL! What a load of crap! This is what is known as the Mahavamsa mindset. Someone rightly said not to take ramona therese Fernando seriously because she shoots senseless rubbish (most probably from the rear) and to use her only for comic relief. She proves over and over that she is just a comedy piece.
This is how Kallathonis who swam from the other side are trying to establish a history in Sri lanka.
/
Celeo / April 24, 2016
Jim Stupidity,
Kallathoni is a Tamil word used by the native/aboriginal Tamils of Sri Lanka to call all the illegal immigrants starting from Sinhala Vijay and his 700 men to your great grandparents who came in a boat from India to peel Cinnamon and tap toddy and got converted to Sinhala-Buddhists. It is the Tamils who called you Kallathoni (in Tamil language, Kalla – thief/illegal, Thoni – boat).
/
Max / April 24, 2016
Well said!
/
ravi perera / April 24, 2016
Celeo,
“What a load of crap! This is what is known as the Mahavamsa mindset”
It may be a load of crap to you. What else are you buggers going to say. Talking about Mahawansa mindset, there are more tammas quoting mahawansa (When it suits) than Sinhalese.
It is not Ramona, most tammas shoot senseless rubbish all the time.
/
Celeo, / April 24, 2016
ravi perera the Sinhala speaking Demala with a Portuguese surname,
Tell me, when did you speak sense?
/
Paul / April 25, 2016
Pea brain, yes we quote your Mahavamsa fairy tale as in its anti Tamil anti Hindu fervour to portray the island’s Tamils as alien outsiders, it was doing the opposite, it was constantly quoting the ancient presence of Tamils in the island of Tamil kings chieftains and Tamil kingdoms and lands. Thereby confirming the ancient presence of Tamils in a large scale in the island
Even in the story of Ellalan and Dutugemmunu it describes the number Tamil chieftains and lands in the north and north central parts of the island that Dutugemmnu had to capture.
Even your fairy tale that you all love to quote only starts talking about the Sinhalese people from the 7th century onwards but about Tamils Hindus and Buddhists from the word go.
/
Paul / April 24, 2016
2500 year old Sinhalese domination in the island! don’t make me laugh. How can there be a 2500 year old Sinhalese domination of the island when the Sinhalese language and a so called Sinhalese ethnicity only came into definite existence from the 9th century onwards. Even your Mahavamsa fairy tale vomiting out hatred against the island’s Tamils and Hindus only started to call all the island’s Buddhist population as Sinhalese from the 7th century onwards. This word has nothing to do with a lion but is derived from an ancient Tamil word for the island Chingkalam which means the land of red or copper coloured soil.
Non of the ancient kings in the island never called themselves Sinhalese or Aryans as they were neither. They were Dravidian Nagas Pandians or Cholas most of them Buddhist some Hindu. Most of your kings and dynasties as well as aristocracy are largely of South Indian origin 90% Tamil the rest Kalinga or Telugu.
Your so called Sinhalese lion symbol is from the Tamil speaking Naicker Kandyan kings and their era. Nothing to do with the lion or prince Vijaya myth.
/
MR / April 24, 2016
Mr. Seneviratne! You write: “Elara (Ellalan in Tamil) was a Tamil prince from the Chola dynasty in South India who ruled Anuradhapura. He was well known as a just king.”
Out of curiosity I would like to know if Elara ruled Lanka from South India? Or did he invade Lanka?
Thanks.
/
brian Senewiratne / April 24, 2016
her paternal grandfather, Sir Soloman dias Bandaranaike, was my paternal grandmother’s brother
ask her
just drop a line to Horagolla, Nittambuwa, Sri Lanka and she might reply.
Brian Senewiratne
/
Susan Somalingam / April 24, 2016
I have used the terms “they” and “Sinhalese” below, to denote only the Sinhala supremacists and not the entire Sinhala people. May I point out that among the Tamils in Sri Lanka, there are some who are racists, and others who are/were terrorists.
What follows is list of myths and falsehoods, believed by most Sinhalese in Sri Lanka.
[1] Myth: The Sinhala people are Aryans who came to Sri Lanka from north India.
{Fact: A small number of the ancestors of the Sinhalese, Vijaya and his 700 terrorists, were banished by Vijaya’s father in the area of Bengal state in India. But, even the Mahavamsa (part fairy tale) states that these 701 bengalis married Tamil women.}
{Fact: Scientists have determined that the land (Rama’s) bridge between India and Sri Lanka existed until around the year 1500. Rameswaram temple records state that the bridge existed until 1480. It was then washed away by the ocean and cyclones. Thus Tamils from Tamilnadu would have been the first outsiders to arrive in Sri Lanka, by simply walking 29 km.
Even if the bridge never existed, Tamil Nadu fishermen would have easily spotted SL land, which was separated from India by 29 km of very shallow ocean.}
{Fact: Modern DNA tests are showing the close affinity between so called Aryan Sinhala Buddhists, and Tamils. Even the Kandyan Sinhalese look down upon the west coast Sinhalese, as Tamil hybrids. The Sinhalese Karawe, Durawe, Salagama and others are Tamils who arrived from India around 400 years ago, when they were imported as laborers by the Portuguese.
The ultra racist Sinhalese, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike had a Tamil great grandfather, or similar, named Neela Perumal.
Another ultra racist Sinhalese, J.R. Jayawardene also had a Tamil great grandfather, or similar, named Thamby Mudliyar.}
{Fact: Kantharodai in Jaffna has ancient Tamil Buddhist dagobas, only up to about 6 feet tall. Most Tamils in SL and Tamil Nadu were buddhists at that time. But many Sinhalese insist that Kantharodai was built by Sinhala Buddhists.
Black and red ware Kantharodai potsherd Tamil Brahmi scripts from 300 BCE excavated with Roman coins, early Pandyan coins, early Chera Dynasty coins from the emporium Karur punch-marked with images of the Hindu Goddess Lakshmi from 500 BCE.}
[2] Myth: Sinhala, is an Indo-Aryan language.
{Fact: Sinhala is mainly a Dravidian language, created by some Bhikkus who modified Tamil, a dravidian language with borrowed words and grammar from Pali.
The Sinhala language came into existence only around the the 8th Century A.D.}
[3] Myth: King Devanampiya Tissa, the first SL King to convert to Buddhism around 300 B.C., was a Sinhalese.
{Fact: He was Tamil. And a hindu. The Sinhala language did not exist at that time. His father was Mutasiva – a Tamil Hindu name. (Muta Siva, in Tamil, means the older Siva.)
Devanampiya Tissa, the name in the Mahavamsa, is the Tamil name, Devanampiya Theesan in Tamil it means, Theesan who believed in god.
Devan means god, in Tamil. Nampiya, in Tamil means, believed in.
[4] By simply ordering the Tamils to call themselves “Sri Lankans”, the Sinhalese expect most of the ethnic conflict to be resolved.
[5] They refer to the ethnic conflict as “terrorism” and the LTTE as terrorists, to justify the war.
[6] They refer to LTTE’s violent acts as “terrorism”. But, the very same acts committed by the SL military is not called “terrorism”
[7] Fact: The first terrorist act in newly independent Ceylon was planned by bhikkhu Mapitigama Buddharakkitha and committed by bhikkhu Talduwe Somarama – murder of SWRD in 1959.
[8] Brian, you should state in your articles that the LTTE did commit acts of terrorism and war crimes; and that an international court should investigate both the SL military and the LTTE. You personally, should not condemn only the SL military and Sinhalese!
The HR violations by both the LTTE and SL military have been documented over many years, by international HR orgs and refugee boards of many countries.
[9] Brian, you should write briefly about some of Velupillai Prabhakaran’s faults, terrorism and war crimes. You personally, should not condemn only the SL military and Sinhalese!
[10] Myth: More than 50% of Tamils live happily in the South, and made that choice.
{Fact: some of them had no choice but to flee the war zone and live in Colombo. Also, very few jobs in the North and East. Since 1948 SL governments deliberately neglected the development of the North and East.}
[11] Myth: We Sinhalese single handedly won the war and defeated terrorism.
The Sinhalese don’t admit that they won the war against the LTTE, only because the western nations and India, shut down LTTE offices, cut off funding channels, cut off LTTE supply routes, and provided satellite and military intelligence to SL. In addition China, Pakistan and Russia supplied lethal and some banned weapons to SL, which the western nations refused to provide.
[12] Fact: How would the Sinhalese feel if Tamil Nadu was an independent country which ruled the whole island of SL, and refused to devolve power to the Sinhalese via provincial councils. The Sinhalese would be pleading with the now reviled UN, UN human rights council, international HR orgs, US State Dept and UK Foreign office to please, please help them.
[13] The Sinhala military are our war heroes, thus cannot be prosecuted by international or Sinhala courts.
[14] LTTE bombs in Colombo was terrorism. But Sinhala and SL military violence and murder from 1956, 1958, 1977 and 1983 is not terrorism.
[15] The 1976 Vaddukoddai Resolution was one of the reasons the Tamils deserved the 2009 Mullivaikal massacre.
[16] The Tamils fully deserved the 2009 Mullivaikal massacre. One reason being that Tamils supported the LTTE.
[17] Fact: The JVP violence and killings of 1971 and 1989 are never referred to as terrorism by the Sinhalese.
[18] Myth: The caste system in Tamil society was the main reason the LTTE was created.
[19] Fact: The caste system is equally prevalent among the Sinhalese. Premadasa was hated by Sinhalese, partly because he was from a low caste – dhobi or clothes washerman. Only high caste (govigama) Sinhalese can become ordained as buddhist monks by the Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters. Today’s matrimonial advertisements by Sinhala parents demand a partner for their child from only certain castes.
[20] Fact: The Mahanayake Theros and many Sinhalese are still against the SL national anthem sung in Tamil – which is Ranil’s cosmetic concession to the Tamils. This anthem is nearly all about the Sinhalese. Virtually nothing in it about the Tamils, Muslims, Burghers or Malays. Even Indonesian origin people like Mahinda Rajapaksa are not mentioned in the SL national anthem. Hambantota, his hometown, is known as the town where the “Hamban” or Javan/Indonesian people live. But Sinhalese and Mahinda religiously believe that Mahinda is a descendent of King Duttu Gemunu.
[21] Myth: The highlight of the July 1983 holocaust was that it showed the world that the Sinhalese love the Tamils. Because a few Sinhalese supposedly risked mob violence against them, when they sheltered a few Tamils.
[22] Myth: Lakshman Kadirgamar was the ultimate Sri Lankan and Tamil patriot of SL.
{Kadirgamar was involved in the killings of innocent Tamils, and, most gruesome of all, with the bombing of children in a school and defending this act in none other location than the UN Assembly, where he said they were terrorists. Kadirgamar was an architect behind the already-prevailing refusal of the Sinhalese to accommodate the Tamils as equal citizens.}
{When the Church in Navaly was bombed this Tamil named Minister of the Sinhala Sri Lanka became agitated. He became upset and irate – but ironically, not because of the SL terrorist murder of innocent refugees, but because the International Red Cross had leaked the news of the church bombing. All that mattered to him was that his masters’ image was tarnished; and, he had worked so hard to build it up! He ranted and raved at the Red Cross. He was joined by the racist monk Rahula Walpola and his ilk, who demanded that the ICRC be expelled.}
[23] Myth: Tamils in VVT and surrounding coastal towns are smugglers operating between India and SL.
{Fact: They have been traders for the past several hundred years, when the Jaffna kings allowed it. Only recently colonial powers such as the British and now Sri Lanka, have outlawed this legitimate ocean trader}
[24] Myth: Intermarriage between Tamils and Sinhalese will be one way to solve the ethnic conflict.
{Fact: Intermarriage has existed for hundreds of years up to now. It did absolutely nothing to stop the bloodshed which started in 1956. Intermarriage will not solve the ethnic conflict today or in the near future. US diplomat, Robert Blake observed some Sinhala-Tamil intermarriage when he was based in Colombo, and made the idiotic conclusion that the Sinhala Tamil conflict is not severe. Later, Robert Blake, was tricked by the racist Mahinda Rajapaksa who agreed that after receiving American and Western help to end the war, Mahinda would then offer the Tamils a good political solution.
Now, Nisha Pillai, who is new to diplomacy is delusional to believe that her cosmetic and flimsy plans to solve the ethnic conflict, will work. She is also naive to believe all the lies and false promises made to her by Mangala and Ranil that they will solve the ethnic conflict.
/
ravi perera / April 24, 2016
Susan,
“1] Myth: The Sinhala people are Aryans who came to Sri Lanka from north India. {Fact: A small number of the ancestors of the Sinhalese, Vijaya and his 700 terrorists, were banished by Vijaya’s father in the area of Bengal state in India. But, even the Mahavamsa (part fairy tale) states that these 701 bengalis married Tamil women.} “
Sinhala people are more Dravidian than Aryan, though there may be some Aryan blood due to migration from North India. Most likely scenario is that todays Sinhala people have evolved from the original inhabitants of Sri lanka (Hela Tribes, who were of Dravidian origin)
You also mention that the Tamil would have arrived earlier than the Sinhalese due to close proximity to Tamil Nadu. As far as arrivals from Indian are concerned, it is likely the Tamils may have come long before the Indians from the other parts. Most likely scenario would have been that the early Tamil migrants would have been absorbed into the hela tribes and they too would have been contributors to the evolution of the present day Sinhalese from Hela tribes.
2)”Myth: Sinhala, is an Indo-Aryan language. {Fact: Sinhala is mainly a Dravidian language, created by some Bhikkus who modified Tamil, a dravidian language with borrowed words and grammar from Pali. The Sinhala language came into existence only around the the 8th Century A.D.} “
Sinhala probably is a mix of Dravidian and Northern Indian languages.
Bulk of the Sinhala language may have been derived from the languages used by Hela tribes and NOT TAMIL.
Present form of Sinhala probably came into existence around the 8th century AD. Cultures and languages keep evolving. In present day conversation many English words are being used in the Sinhala languages. In time to come these words will get permanenly included in the Sinhala language. The Sinhala spoken by Dutugemnu would have been very different to the present day Sinhala. Sinhala language during dutu’s days would have been closer to Hela languages than the present day Sinhala. So, what ever name you call it IT IS THE SAME PEOPLE AT A DIFFERENT STAGE OF THE EVOLUTION PROCESS.
3″Myth: King Devanampiya Tissa, the first SL King to convert to Buddhism around 300 B.C., was a Sinhalese. {Fact: He was Tamil. And a hindu. The Sinhala language did not exist at that time. His father was Mutasiva – a Tamil Hindu name. (Muta Siva, in Tamil, means the older Siva.) “
Like Dutu Devanampiyatissa may have been closer to one of the hela tribes than present day Sinhalese. Him being a tamil is another wild imagination by the tammas.
4″11] Myth: We Sinhalese single handedly won the war and defeated terrorism. The Sinhalese don’t admit that they won the war against the LTTE, only because the western nations and India, shut down LTTE offices, cut off funding channels, cut off LTTE supply routes, and provided satellite and military intelligence to SL. In addition China, Pakistan and Russia supplied lethal and some banned weapons to SL, which the western nations refused to provide. “
War was not won by the Sinhala army alone. Army was always capable of defeating the LTTE terrorists. Bulk of the credit should go to Sonya Gandhi. It was Sonia Gandhi taking revenge, execution was done by the Sinhala Army. Just as much the Sinhala government received international support, it was again international support that converted your rag tag LTTE into a super killing machine
/
Suresh / April 24, 2016
ravi perera
What Hela tribes are you talking about?
The North Indian bandit prince Vijay (the father of the Sinhala race) and his 700 men who were exiled from Sinhapura, India landed (or rather invaded) Lanka. Do you know what happened to the pre-populations (the native aboriginals) that already lived in the island of Lanka (those that you wrongly believe as “Hela”, the four tribes of Lanka)?
Very similar to what happened to the aboriginals/natives of Australia and North America, Vijay and his men annihilated most of those aboriginals (including Kuveni) and the remnant had been driven (escaped) into the jungles and become Veddas. Later he (Vijay) married a Pandyan princess of Madurai, South India and his men were given in marriage to the Pandyan maidens. The Sinhalese people are made up of half North Indian and half South Indian and the poor Veddhas (the original natives) had to live in the jungle forever.
Why don’t you at least read the Mahavamsa and learn a little bit of your own history before commenting. If you find it difficult to get a copy of the Mahavamsa, then at least watch the Sinhala movie Vijaya Kuweni. The full movie is available free on-line.
/
ravi perera / April 25, 2016
Suresh Thanbi,
“The North Indian bandit prince Vijay (the father of the Sinhala race) and his 700 men who were exiled from Sinhapura, India landed (or rather invaded) Lanka. Do you know what happened to the pre-populations (the native aboriginals) that already lived in the island of Lanka (those that you wrongly believe as “Hela”, the four tribes of Lanka)? “
Which ever way you look at the Sinhala culture and language is unique to Sri Lanka. The original tribes like nagas were not a backward race like the veddas, so it is highly unlikely the helas may have been knocked off by Vijaya and the troops. Veddas are a different story, like in Sri Lanka the aboriginal races have been decimated all over the world.(Except Tamil Nadu where the veddas still rule). Most likely scenario would be that the vijaya and al;so laterday migrants played a role in the evolution of the Sinhala race from the original hela tribes.
You seem to be another Tamil who belives in Mahavansa when it suits you. Mahavansa is full of surangana stories, like any other religious or ancient texts
/
Native Vedda / April 25, 2016
ravi perera the Sinhala speaking Demela
“Which ever way you look at the Sinhala culture and language is unique to Sri Lanka.”
What is Sinhala culture and why it is unique to Sri Lanka.
Even if one accepts that Sinhala culture and language is unique to Sri Lanka, why bother wasting resources on a culture and language which are shared only by 15 millions?
Can you not relocate/transplant the culture and language to somewhere in India?
Give this a thought.
/
ravi perera / April 25, 2016
Vedda,
Actually can you pls let me know if you are in front of a computer all day/night. Are you a refugee in Toronto?
/
Suresh / April 25, 2016
ravi perera malee
You base your arguments on assumptions rather than facts. There is no evidence to prove that the Sinhalese descend from the Nagas. Even the existence of Nagas seems to be a myth.
/
ravi perera / April 26, 2016
Suresh Thanbi,
“You base your arguments on assumptions rather than facts. There is no evidence to prove that the Sinhalese descend from the Nagas. Even the existence of Nagas seems to be a myth. “
There were no Nagas or sinhalas, only thalayas. The whole world was tamil once and now and also forever.
/
Native Vedda / April 25, 2016
ravi perera the Sinhala speaking Demela
“Most likely scenario is that todays Sinhala people have evolved from the original inhabitants of Sri lanka (Hela Tribes, who were of Dravidian origin)”
Could elaborate the above with evidence and logic, without qualifying your typing with “Most likely scenario”.
Tell us what you know about your Hela tribes who lived in 18,000 BC, 12,000 B.C, 7,500 BC, 6,000 BC, 3,000 BC, ….. and their respective population those years.
What language did they speak in those years?
What was their culture?
Here is an excerpt which could help you clear your innovative history :
“Our island: Let’s start at the very beginning”
sundaytimes.lk
Sunday October 03, 2010
……..
When the ice-caps melt, this process is reversed: sea-levels rise and lands along the sea-shore are submerged. Temperatures and humidity rise. Inter-glacial ages are, therefore, rich in vegetation. Scientists have mapped this up-and-down movement, and we now know what the sea-level was at different times in the past (compared to today’s level). We know, for instance, that only 18,000 years ago, the mean sea level was about 120 metres below present sea level.
It was this phenomenon that made Sri Lanka an island while yet remaining a part of the Indian plate. The Palk Strait, between north Sri Lanka and India, is a very shallow body of water. On our northwest is the Gulf of Mannar, between India and us, which is also comparatively shallow. Between these two bodies of water is a ridge, variously called “Adam’s Bridge”, “Ram Sethu” etc. But no man or god built a bridge there: it is a natural formation on the seafloor of the Indian plate. Whenever sea-levels drop just 12 metres below today’s levels (that is, during a glacial period) a large tract of seafloor, including that ridge will rise above the new sea-level, linking us with Asia.
The scientists’ record for the last 100,000 years shows that, during 80% of that time, Sri Lanka was part of the Asian landmass: there was no mere narrow ridge like “Adam’s bridge”, but a huge stretch of land many kilometres wide including the whole of what we call the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. During these 100,000 years sea-levels rose high enough to make Sri Lanka an island only twice: first, about 120,000 years ago and second, about 7,500 years ago. We are living in the second, now. Since it takes a drop of only 12 metres to link us to Asia, it is easy to see that Sri Lanka was part of mainland Asia for 80% of the time.
….
…
/
Paul / April 25, 2016
What a lot of contradictions and gibberish. So you now reluctantly admit the Sinhalese are more Dravidian with little bit of Aryan. So if they were Dravidian it would have been South Dravidian and pray what was this language? There was no Telugu Kannada, or Malayalam only variations of the Tamil language many of them later developed into other languages with influence of invaders and other arrivals. Proper Tamil was called ChenTamizh of SenThamil and these dialects were called Kodum Thamizh or Kodun Tamil.
Elu was one of these semi Tamil Dravidian dialects that was spoken language of the island. Sinhalese extremists do not want to admit this and keep on with these fairy tales of ancient Hela tribes. Hela is the Pali version of Elu and Eelam. The living proof are the Eezavas or Eelavar of Kerala who migrated to modern day Kerala from the island during prehistoric times. They still known by their ancient Tamil name Eezhavan or Eelavan not Helava.
Go and get a life.
Vedda dialect -meanings in Elu & Tamil
1.Muruwnin -Elu dialect denotes ananku the ancient Indian god Muru.
2.Moriga -arrow in Elu
3.Muru -is a form of ananku, in Elu and Tamil.
4.Kanta- boda hill side.
5.Kur-spike; same as in Tamil
6.Iyaka, Iya arrow. kanu, vellu in Tamil
7.Ira- sun ray
8.Ira pojja -sun. iravi in Tamil.
9.Neya Yakūn-kindred spirit, neya is friendly in Tamil
10.Taraka -star, taraki in Tamil
11.Kanta-elephant.(mount of Murukan)
12.Yakas -includes both benevolent and malevolent deities
13.Appa-father, same as in Tamil
14.Elam-young, same as in Tamil
Lastly the word Dravidian or Dravida denotes the Tamil language basically meaning Tamil or languages of Tamil
Tamil>Tamila> Damila> Dramila>Dravida This has been proven many times.
The people of Bengal and other parts of east India are not Aryans but largely Dravidians, Dravidian/Mongol, Dravidian/Australiod who got Aryanised and replaces their ancient Dravidian speech with the Indo Aryan speech of their rulers, however many of the ancient Dravidian traits still exist amongst them. The Bengalis still worship the Dravidian Mother Goddess Durga. They celebrate and follow the ancient Tamil solar calendar and not the Sanskrit lunar calendar.
/
ravi perera / April 25, 2016
There was and is no contradictions at all. Sinhala people highlight the vijaya story to highlight the the Northern Indian connection. Word Dravidian is associated with the word Tamil by the Sinhalese. Hence do not want to associate with the word Dravidian.
” So if they were Dravidian it would have been South Dravidian and pray what was this language? There was no Telugu Kannada, or Malayalam only variations of the Tamil language many of them later developed into other languages with influence of invaders and other arrivals. “
You seem to be saying that Telegu, kannada and Malayalam was also offshoots of Tamil. What about Chinese and Japanese and the rest of the world?
Assuming your statement is correct, the fact remain part of those people who spoke a variation of Tamil now speak completely different languages and belong to completely different cultures.
Similarly if the hela tribes are fairy tales and the beginning of the Sinhala race is from the elu’s , the fact remains the Sinhala is unique to Sri Lanka (Whatever the origins are)
Also you can write whatever you want, but you need to convince the international community with those fairy tales of yours.
Having met and spoken to the embassy crowd in Colombo, I can assure you that they all firmly believe historically the country belongs to the Sinhala people, but they also seem to think due to the long presence in the island , Tamils deserve some sort of power devolution in the North
So my dear friend you can come up with any type of surangana katha,but without convincing the international community you will not get anywhere.
Also can you pls let me know, why according to the Tamil dictionary in Tamil Nadu, the word Eelam is considered a strict tamilisation of the word Sinhala.
/
sekara / April 25, 2016
Ravi
Comments like the one you responded to are no different in spirit from the Sinhala communal venom of some writers here.
Much of it comes from people with a nostalgia for Tamil Eelam, but will not commit themselves to their cause beyond chipping in a few dollars and giving instructions from the comfort of their homes abroad. They want others to make the sacrifices.
BTW
Whether Sinhala is Indo-Aryan is a matter for linguists to resolve. For now the verdict is that it is Indo-Aryan.
Sinhala was influenced by Pali, Sanskrit and Tamil and later other languages. There are linguistic characteristics including root word stock that distinguish it from Tamil and other Indian languages.
I am not sure if the Hela language can be identified properly. But that is irrelevant.
Sinhala is unique and, owing to its adaptability, is in many ways more capable than Tamil in handling modern ideas. I think that Tamils should learn a thing or two from Sinhalese and Malayalis about modernizing heir language.
Who arrived first etc. are irrelevant and a large group has created an identity for itself and that has to be respected. That identity can and will change with time as any other does.
Susan’s etymology is flawed. Devanampiya Tissa is Deva-nam-piya Tissa (Deva is god, nam in name, piya is love). Incidentally, the sound D in Deva is absent in Tamil.
Thank you for a sober rebuttal and not resorting to racist abuse as some others do.
Dr Brian S was for long fairly soft on the LTTE. The demand here is to whitewash all its crimes.
A fair inquiry is necessary, desirably local by a panel with representation of minorities and a non-party-political composition should probe all HR violations and war crimes. It can go back in history if necessary.
/
Vibhushana / April 24, 2016
I would not call Donkey Brian a “traitor”. The guy is an incredible fuckwit who is just bizarrely wrong.
Don’t read the Mahavamsa. Just read Dutch archives.
If the Jaffna kingdom of 15 CE was Tamil how come 200 years after the entire area is Sinhala? This must be one of the most bizarre things ever.
http://www.jaffnahistory.com/Northern_Province/Sinhala_Villages_of_Jaffna_1695.html
http://www.jaffnahistory.com/Eastern_Province/Sinhala_Villages_of_Eastern_Lanka_1695.html
/
Suresh / April 24, 2016
Ha, ha, ha LOL!
Dutch archives created by ‘Vibhushana and friends’ using photo shopped maps and images to fool the Sinhalese.
/
jim softy / April 25, 2016
Very scholarly comment from another Educated Tamil.
this is how they prove the whole Tamil history in Sri lanka, since dutch times and homeland since 1911.
/
Vibhushana / April 24, 2016
Donkey Suresh,
Keep that image fixed in your mind.
I am a student of cause and effect. It always works. The universe always regains its balance.
When that happens you and fuckwit Brian Senewiratne will pay dearly for sins against the Sinhala people.
/
Suresh / April 24, 2016
Monkey Vibhushana,
Cause and effect never works when it comes to fooling people. You always try to fool people with your fake website with photo shopped maps and images. You can fool the Sinhalese but not the Tamils.
/
Vibhushana / April 25, 2016
There are Tamil PhDs also cannot believe their eyes. I think it must be a communal mental problem.
The original collection here.
http://www.gahetna.nl/collectie/afbeeldingen/kaartencollectie/zoeken/q/zoekterm/jaffna
The normal reaction should be one of expression in remorse. Express in remorse for all the pain and suffering you have subjected 15 million people for 60 years.
/
Suresh / April 25, 2016
“Express in remorse for all the pain and suffering you have subjected 15 million people for 60 years.”
When those 15 million people elect Sinhala racist Monkeys like Vibushana and Sinhala chauvinist Donkeys like Jim Softy as their leaders, they definitely deserve to suffer in pain. What the Sinhalese and their leaders were trying to do for the last 60 years was to control the Sri Lankan Tamils but they cannot. See how much the country lost, it is a curse, a curse due to the foolishness of the15 million people. At independence in 1948 Sri Lanka was the second best economy in Asia, today it is one of the worst. All because of the foolishness of the Sinhalese in not giving the Tamils their rights. Don’t worry, if the Tamils are going down the pallam, they will take the Sinhalese also along with them. When there is no peace for Tamils, there won’t be any peace for the Sinhalese either. It is being proved that if the Tamils are subjected to pain and suffering, the 15 million Sinhalese will also be subjected to pain and suffering. The Sinhalese must understand this basic law.
BTW, Vibushana,
You can try to fool all the people some of the time, and some Sinhalese people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all the time. So, take your medication on time and go to bed.
/
Siva Sankaran Sarma / April 27, 2016
I see Suresh the monkey still hasn’t learned to type anything beyond “The Dutch national archives are fake!!1!1” on his typewriter :D
/
Shyamon Jayasinghe / April 24, 2016
You are right Yakkala Simon, Brian S is a names dropper. He has been dropping CBK’s name for years. For some reason he writes hate against Sinhala leaders. Says nothing good about the Sinhala people and their culture. I am all for reconciliation and fair play but Brian is on a lunatic path. He has been writing this senseless stuff for many years now. Dotage takes its toll.
/
thrishu / April 24, 2016
Brian wants to rewrite history and remodel the nation according his dictat or trying to convince millions of Sri Lankan citizens that they should follow his formula. It is not realistic, is it? Just dreaming and trying to hog the lime light. Lets try a practical test instead. Go to Jaffna and apply for Viggie’s job when he retires, or try to become an MP from the North. If you were selected by the citizens of the North, then you could fight your battles from within Sri Lankan Parliament and convince everyone else that your formula would work.
/
justice / April 24, 2016
This ‘debate’ will never end.
The army should be removed from the north, and the NPC allowed, like in other provinces, full powers to develop the province.
Stop state colonisation.
Give back all land taken by the army.
Remove the PTA.
Tamils are not going to run away with the land.
/
jim softy / April 26, 2016
Tamils are not going to run away with the land.
They just sell it move overseas to be western coolies.
/
Paul=Real Siva Sankaran Sarma / April 24, 2016
Who is a Tamil from Tamils in early Ceylon from C. Sivaratnam
To understand who a Tamil is, one has to go back to immemorial times, and study the three component parts of the Dravidian race:
I. Pre-Dravidians (a) Negroids from Africa (b) Proto-Australoids probably from Palestine
II. Proto-Dravidians came from the Eastern Mediterranean region. The above three races migrated into India about five thousand years ago in the above time order, and their amalgam, formed the Dravidian stock. The Proto-Dravidians form the core of this amalgam, while the earlier arrivals became accretions.
Proto Australoids: Although with an aged civilisation, they possessed special high qualities of their owns good enough to be admired. Themselves agriculturists with a colithic culture worshipped the ‘digging fork’ an agricultural implement as ‘Lingam’ (phallic-cult), in other words their worshipped this instrument whose constant use gave them food and prosperity. The rice and the variety of vegetable curries and condiments we use today in our cuisine, are their introductions, also turmeric, vermilion and ‘tambula’ an austric word for betel, used in rituals and social life. As totem worshippers they worshipped Ganesha (Elephant headed god), Naga, (serpent spirits), monkey god, had vague notions of incarnation etc. They practised magic, ‘baran” for removal devil eye, The world learnt first from them the enumeration of days, ‘Tithis’ by the phases of the moon. They voyaged through the sea in outriggers revealing the superiority of their culture over the Negroids who paddled in primitive dugouts.
Proto-Dravidians. (civilised or Advanced Mediterraneans and Armenoids) There are two theories of their origin:
1. Aotochthoncs, India their original home.
2. Immigration theory, with equal support from scholars for both, They are considered an Eastern Mediterranean or Aegean race with their original home in Crete, the doorstep to Asia and Eutope, with whomm they continued having trade relations
They gained the Asian mainland at Asia Minor where they were called Lycians from where they traversed through High Asia i.e. Anatolia, Armenia, Iran and Baluchistan into India leaving behind in their trail, traces of their blood and civilisation. In Crete they were known by the name which the Greeks wrote as Termilai, in Asia Minor as ‘Trimmili’ or Trimalai (Sastri p60), and in India as Dramiza, Dravida, Dramila and finally Tamil. Their deity was “Mother-Earth” who gave them grain, vegetables and food. The ‘Mother Goddess’ cult belonged exclusively to Crete where it was known as Durgha (compare Trqqas mentioned in Lycian inscriptions in Asia Minor) as Uma or Parvati. (Sastri p61) They probably brought along with them to India this Mediterranean or Aegean Saivaism, Mother Goddess with her consort Siva. The blood, beliefs and culture of the proto-Australoid and proto-Dravidian were incorporated into the general Dravidian stock. The Nagas, Yakkas, Rakshas were sub-Dravidian races with a greater amount of Australoid taint.
[Sources (1) Vedic Age. (1951) and (Vol. I 1965 (pages. 144, 145. 157, 161, 164, and 165). (2) Nilakanta Sastri K. A. – A History of South India 1955-p60.]
The North Dravidians who came into conflict with the Aryans, separated themselves very early as Dasa-Dasyus people and were never Tamils
The Portuguese and Dutch followed the example of Ceylon chronicles in calling the Tamils of India and Jaffna loosely as Malabars, Malabar proper is known as Kerala or Malala. Of all the Dravidian languages it is Tamil that has exerted the greatest influence on Sinhalese (Concise History of Ceylon, 1961, 40). Sir Grierson, an authority on Indian linguistics mentions ‘that Tamil was the oldest, richest and most highly organised of the Dravidian languages, plentiful in vocabulary and cultivated form a remote period”. Tamil was the language of the Telugu, Kannada and Malayalee people earlier, Telugu separating from Tamil into a separate literature in 10 A. D. Kannada in 850 A. D. and Malayalam lastly in 14. A. D. It is held by some that Tamil or some variant of it must have been the language of the prehistoric inhabitants of Ceylon in the 2nd century B. C. (Concise History of Ceylon, 1961, 42).
To quote Sir P Arunachalam from page 80 of his admirable Census Report of 1901, Tamil is so old that its words have passed into the Old Testament of the Hebrews (refer 1 Kings X-P 22). The Hebrew words for peacock, apes and ivory are Tamil. From a very early period they have cultivated their language with such earnestness and assiduity that in the opinion of Bishop Caldwell (the grammarian of Dravidian languages) ‘it is impossible for any European who has acquired a competent knowledge of Tamil to regard otherwise than with respect the intellectual capacity of a people among whom so wonderful an organ of thought has been developed. Its literature in its best period is characterised by enthusiasm for Tamilic purity and literary independence’.
In the same census report, ‘Mannar and Puttalam were Tamil districts and that, there is a large admixture of Tamil blood and speech in the Sinhalese districts of Chilaw and Negombo.”‘
Numerous Tamil place names which have displaced the earlier Sinhalese names are met with in the present Anuradhapura and Kurunegala districts. But most of these with Tamil names are at present inhabited by Sinhalese who had migrated about 300 years ago from the Vanni Hatpattu, the Tamils who occupied them in 13 C. or so having abandoned them. (Concise History of Ceylon, 1961 714). Many Tamil words occur in the Sinhalese inscriptions from the ninth century onwards, particularly words connected with administrative functions and land tenure (Concise History of Ceylon, 1961 433).
There was a register of Tamil clerks in the reign of Vijayabahu I which shows that in his reign certain amount of official business was conducted in Tamil… Vickramabahu I and Gajabahu II preferred Tamil in their documents (Concise History of Ceylon, 1961 543).
Inscription No. 12 of the second century B. C. found in Periya-Puliyankulam mentions a corporation of Tamil merchants in Anuradhapura of which the captain of a ship “navika” was the head. Tamil inscriptions have been found in different parts of Ceylon, although only a few have been published. Some Tamil inscriptions of the period ranging from the eighth to the eleventh centuries have been discovered at Anuradhapura and other places in the North Central province. Lankatilaka vihara in the Kandyan district has a Tamil inscription of the fourteenth century side by side with Sinhalese inscriptions. This shows that the later Sinhalese kings made use of Tamil also in respect of these inscriptions in some places. The majority of the records left by the Sinhalese rulers between the death of Vijayabahu I and accession of Parakramabahu I (1153) are in Tamil (Concise History of Ceylon, 1961, 45).
‘Tamil influence is most clearly discernible in Sinhalese works on astrology and medicine.’ Sarajotimalai, a Tamil work on astrology written by a Brahmin, Posa-Raja was placed before Parakramabahu IV of Kurunegala for approval (13100
A Tamil poet from Ceylon, Ilattu Putan Tevanar contributed his poems to the Madura Sangam in the 1st century B. C. Navaratnam (p 43) states that Putan Tevanar was a Naga poet and comments that this was an indication that the Nagas were ancient Tamils.
Titles such as ‘Illangakkon”, ‘Tennakon” and “Perumal, as well as official designations such as ‘Mudaliyar’ and ‘Aracci’ are pure Tamil words. (Concise History of Ceylon, 1961 p 44.).
Tamil influence was strong in the courts of Polonnaruva, Rayigama, Kotte and in the final stages in the court of the last four kings of Kandy as shown in the sequel.
“We find that the study of Tamil formed a feature of Pirivena education from the twelfth to the fifteenth centuries. (Chief source- Concise History of Ceylon, 1961 p. 41-45).
The prevalence of the Tamil language was such in early times as to dominate the language of the Sinhalese. Mudaliar W. F. Gunawardhana (to quote from K. Navaratnam Tamil element in Ceylon Culture, 1959 p52- 53) states ‘1t must be said that Sinhalese is essentially a Dravidian language, its evolution too seems to have been on a Tamil basis …..The structural foundations of the Sinhalese language are Dravidian, while its superstructure, i.e. the vocabulary is Indo Aryan’.
/
Sunil / April 25, 2016
Dear Dr.
What else you have to write ?. Have you been in sri lanka for last 10 years ?
You are a limited.
/
Vidhya / April 25, 2016
OMG, I enjoyed the comments more than the article,it was hilarious..however the talk about “low caste and untouchables” by both Tamils and Sinhalese is moronic and tasteless. Just goes to show that this is not a problem caused by politicians and religious fundamentalists, but the basic need of humans to prove that they are more blue blooded hence have more rights than the rest..ugghh. I personally don’t think humans even know how to live in peace, the human species are too selfish and self serving for that
/
CountryFirst / April 25, 2016
As the old adage goes…
“Big fleas have little fleas
Upon their backs to bite ’em,
And little fleas have lesser fleas
And so ad infinitum”
/
anotherbuddhist / April 25, 2016
Brian Senevi(rat)ne has been part of the Eelamist propaganda war for years. He may not be aware of how he has been used by the Eelamist. They do not want a federal system or a separate state. They believe the whole nation is theirs to take. Hence all the theories of where the Sinhalese originated being rewritten and recreated. And the Yahapalana Sinhalese buying this, falling hook, line and sinker for all this. The separatist are following the Israel model, put it bluntly the Zionists tactics- terrorism, ethnic cleansing and propaganda based on myths! Final goal to push the Sinhalese to a ‘Gaza’ / Ranil’s planed ‘Mega city’ in the Western province. So Sinhalese be prepared to be slaves!
/
srinath.gunaratne / April 25, 2016
I think the old age is getting to him or completely lost his marbles!
/
Plato. / April 25, 2016
srinath.gunaratne.
Dr.Brian Senewiratne has been consistent in his views.
Even when he was an Academic at Peradeniya,more than three decades ago,he had the same views!
/
srinath.gunaratne / April 26, 2016
May be true, But these arguments are fairy tales and childish!
/
Native Vedda / April 26, 2016
srinath.gunaratne
“May be true, But these arguments are fairy tales and childish!”
Is that why you find it harder to understand? Find someone who can help you with the article above.
/
Ravi-Telugu / April 26, 2016
Thank you very much respected Dear Mr.Brian Senewiratne Sir for this article.
/
max / April 26, 2016
Thanks for what? Brain washing with false facts?
/
Ravi-Telugu / April 27, 2016
Those who have no brain need not bother about the same. that is none of your holy business.
/
max / April 26, 2016
Yet another Pus Wedilla from the camp of ‘mahavamsa bashers’ whose dream is tarnish the Sinhala Buddhist mark from Jaffna to Matara and Colombo to Batti from the history of this country. All what I have to tell these day dreamers is read Professor Karthigesu Indrapala who deny any Tamil permanent settlements in SL or Jaffna peninsula for that matter, at the time of Portuguese arrival.
/
Ravi-Telugu / April 27, 2016
no need to those mahavamsa and indrapala’s hybridized stories. They are not histories.Just hysteria.
/
Ravi-Telugu / April 27, 2016
no need to read those mahavamsa and indrapala’s hybridized stories. They are not histories.Just hysteria.
/
YakkalaSimon / April 27, 2016
So his claim to credentials is that he is supposedly a THIRD cousin from the Banda side to CBK. Wow wow wow. Really, I checked my lineage and I am a fifth cousin to Rajiv Gandhi, ergo I am an expert on India. Giggle.
/
PattiGona / April 27, 2016
I quote
“The Caribbean island of Hispaniola (30,417 sq miles), only slightly bigger than Sri Lanka (25,332 sq miles), is divided into the Dominican Republic (18,700 sq miles) and Haiti (10,521 sq miles).”
That too is because of their different colonial histories dear so called Third cousin of CBK.
a. Haiti is FRENCH speaking FRENCH colony COLONIIZED anbd RAPED by French and devoid of all the natural vegetation, and devoid of much rain west of the Mountain range that divides it. Environmental degradation on the Haitian side is horrible.
The political division of the island of Hispaniola is due in part to the European struggle for control of the New World during the 17th century, when France and Spain began fighting for control of the island. They resolved their dispute in 1697 by splitting the island into two countries but France did not grant independence to Haiti until 1804. Look at the pathetic state Haiti is in today.
Dominican Republic(DR) was a SPANISH colony. They were constantly at war too even after independence. The French Frogs were cruel and at one time a group of French Haitians rule parts of DR and unleashed a lot of cruelty and atrocities against Spanish speaking black and mulattoe DR citizens.
DR war of independence in 1843-49 saw the birth of DR.
Haiti like Tamil tigers banned ownership of property by Whites. Tiger Tamil Fascists would not allow a single Singala or Tamil to own land in Eelam.
In the mid-Twentieth Century, both countries had a comparable economy, but while the Dominican economy grew, Haiti’s diminished as a result of factors such as internal power struggles, rapid population growth, environmental degradation, and trade embargoes. Today, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. There is a lack of resources and Haiti’s population density exceeds its neighbor’s by far. How will piss poor Eelam Fascist survive if they cannot trade with Sinhala Eelam?
/
Siva Sankaran Sarma / April 27, 2016
Dr BS is back with another cool story :D
I say “back”, but We Thamizh know he was always here with We Thamizh, donning various identities and even a short skirt at one point :D
/