12 November, 2024

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Into The Vanni And Jaffna Of The 17th Century

By Darshanie Ratnawalli

Darshanie Ratnawalli

His name was Knox. Robert Knox. English. He was a prisoner in Lanka from 1660 to 1680. Finally he escaped from Kandy or more specifically from Rajasinha II, who claimed to be the sovereign overlord of the whole of Lanka and its people. The world-view Rajasinha II inherited as a ruler of Sinhalē (a perception of pan island Chakravartihood) comes across in his correspondence with the Dutch. He told them that “the black people of this island of Ceilao, wheresoever they might be, [are] my vassals by right”- (Roberts: 2004[i]:78). In the royal view, the Dutch were the “faithful Hollanders, the guardians of his coast” and earlier during his enterprise to oust the Portuguese, they were “his hired guns”. In Rajasinha II’s early letters to the Hollanders (written in Portuguese) he was “The most potent Emperor of Ceilao” while they were “My Hollanders” and the fortresses held by them were “my fortresses” as in “my fortress at Gale”. What with “my black folk”, “my vidanas,” “these lowland territories of mine” and “my said island”, Rajasinha II was asserting that he “did not recognize Dutch claims to sovereignty over the coastal areas”- (ibid and Dewaraja 1995:189). The Dutch kept up the appearance of concurring with this assertion in their diplomatic relations. “The governor, Pijil, referred to himself as the “king’s most faithful governor and humble servant”, called the king “His Majesty” and spoke of “the king’s castle at Colombo.” He even “declared that all the island belonged to the Sinhalese King.”- (Roberts: 2004:79).

In reality though, the Dutch were merely going through the motions of going along with the efforts to incorporate them into the Lankan scheme of things. They weren’t genuine stakeholders of it. That’s why Knox headed for Arippu. Once in Dutch territory he knew he would be safe. He had no fear of the faithful Hollanders, guardians of the sea coasts handing him back to the most potent Emperor. But on his way there, he had to cut across a certain territory, which lay outside the immediate realms of Rajasinha. In this territory he was afraid. Because unlike the Dutch, its ruler was an organic part of the Lankan scheme of things. He was a Vanniya. Let’s hear Knox on his ‘fears’.

“But yet we were somewhat dismayed, knowing that we were now in a Countrey inhabited by Malabars. The Wanni ounay or Prince of this People for fear pay Tribute to the Dutch, but stands far more affected towards the king of Cande.”- (Knox: 1681[ii], p166). Knox had been nervous from afar about his entry into the Wanni Unnehe’s country; “This People we were sorely afraid of, lest they might seize us and send us back, there being a correspondence between this Prince and the King of Cande, wherefore it was our endeavour by all means to shun them; lest according to the old proverb, we might leap out of the frying pan into the fire.”- (p157)

This Prince whom Knox calls “Coilat Wanea” has been identified (by Donald Ferguson) as being none other than the Kayla Vanniya, famous in the Dutch records for his liveliness. At one point during Rajasinha II’s reign, the Dutch found Arippu, which was critical for the security of the Pearl Fishery threatened by “the restlessness of Kayla Wannia who was acting in concert with Tennekon” who was Disawa of the Seven Korales and was “hovering near Kalpitiya with his men”.(P.E. Peiris:1918:22)

According to Knox (p175), the Hollanders had tried to subdue this “Coilat wanea” by wars, “but they cannot yet do it…The King and this Prince maintain a friendship and Correspondence together. And when the King lately sent an Army against the Hollanders, this Prince let them pass thro his Countrey; and went himself in Person to direct the King’s People, when they took one or two Forts from them.”

The exact nature of the Lankan status quo that birthed bonds like these between the centre and the periphery was for a long time unexplored and even ignored by present day historians. In the planet called Sri Lankan Historiography, most of the clues aren’t picked up because there aren’t enough Sherlocks.

Very few Sherlocks in professional historiography have picked up on Phillipus Baldaeus (A True and exact Description of the Great Island of Ceylon: 1672). He and Knox belonged to the same generation. Knox majored in the doings of the Kandyan Kingdom, while Baldaeus on the Dutch doings with a special focus on Jaffna. In 1658 when he accompanied the Dutch Troops as Chaplain and witnessed the capture of Mannar and Jaffna from the Portuguese, Baldaeus was 26 while Knox was 17 and still in England. That year, he was appointed the predikant over Jaffna and adjacent islands and spent the next 7 years in Lanka[iii]. Baldaeus informs us (Pieter Brohier[iv] translation; Ch.44, p316) that the Kingdom of Jafnapatan “remained under the Portugezen sway for upwards of 40 years, wrested from the Emperor by Philippo d’Olivero when he defeated the Cingalezen forces near Achiavelli by the great pagode…”

The “Emperor” of the above quotation was Senarat, who was the father of Knox’s King Rajasinha II and  styled himself “Cenuwiraed by the Grace of God, Emperor of Ceylon, King of Candy, Setevaca, Trinquenemale, Jafnapatam, Settecorles, Manaer, Chilaon, Panua, Batecalo, Palugam[v] and etc. etc.-(Baldaeus: Ch.14: p70 and Bouchouwer:1931). Baldaeus wrote recounting events in 1612 that “While the Emperor’s attention was thus engaged, he received tidings that the Portugezen with a large force of armed men were making for Jafnapatan. The Emperor whose scheme of warfare had been only directed to Gale and Walane now dispatched some of his troops to meet and oppose the enemy’s progress. The latter falling in with the Portugezen troops in the rear soon put them to flight in great confusion.”(p56, Ch.11).

On two occasions (Once in 1613 as Senarat lay sick expecting death and earlier in 1612 when he is planning a major offensive against the Portuguese in the coastal areas.) Baldaeus listed among those assembled as Senarat’s Councilors of State, Namacar, Envoy of the King of Jafnapatan along with Idele, King[vi] of Cotiarum; Celle Wandaar, King of Palugam; Comaro Wandar, King of Batecalo and etc.-(p55 and 68).

Michael Roberts stands out as one of the few scholars to have explored these threads of cohesion which bound the peripheries to the centre of the pre-modern Lankan State aka Sinhalē. His analysis of the issue can be summarized under three broad headings.

First, the political mechanism or concept that birthed these threads was “Tributary Overlordship”, a different form of allegiance and rule that accommodated localized dominion and satellite states, provided symbolic acknowledgement was accorded to the superior Chakravarti figure.

Secondly the Chakravarti muscle was flexed when necessary. An instance is given by Baldaeus; “In September following there arrived tidings that the King of Panua had thrown off his allegiance and joined the Portugezen and that the King of Cotiarum was also plotting a revolt against the Imperial Crown when they were instantly summoned by letters dated 23rd September to make their appearance before the Emperor within 16 days under pain of confiscation of property and banishment”- (Chap.12, p60).

Thirdly, there existed independent of force and obligation, an element of sentimental or patriotic allegiance to the kingship of Sinhalē; “There are glimpses of allegiances to the King of Kandy that did not arise from force exercised by the latter. The evidence is indirect and emanates from incidents during the massive war of liberation against the British that developed in the years 1817-18 in many parts of the former Kingdom of Kandy. This was a struggle to restore the status quo ante and was therefore oriented towards a restoration of kingship, namely, a king of the Sinhalese. As such, a pretender king provided a focus for rebel loyalty. This king selected the shrine of Kataragama as his springboard and surrounded himself with a body of Vadda archers (P E Pieris 1995c: 277-80). Among those who joined the rebel forces one found (a) Kivulegedara Mohottala of Walapana, a headman of Vadda lineage, (b) several headmen in the distant Vanni areas of Bintanna and Wellassa and (c) Kumarasinha Unnahe of Nuvarakalaviya[vii]. These expressions of allegiance to the old order from such outlying localities is suggestive because British rule could not have had a severe material impact on such places in the course of two years. In other words, they suggest that the chieftains and headmen of the Vanni, the epitome of fissiparous principalities in the imagination of modern scholars, remained attached to the idea of Sinhala kingship.”- (Roberts: 2004:p76)

@ http://ratnawalli.blogspot.com/  and rathnawalli@gmail.com


[iv] Pieter Brohier, the son of a Captain of the Dutch Army was born in 1792. Thus he is only 160 years younger than Baldaeus. “As a translator Pieter Brohier had several distinct advantages which make the present translation an accurate and useful one. He was born in Dutch times, learnt the language as a boy and continued to use it for a considerable time, for Dutch was the spoken language of the Burgher community well into the British Period. He thus had a sound knowledge of the language and was closer to the “High Dutch” of Baldaeus by well over a hundred years than present day translators. Similarly, as a public servant under the British colonial administration and having lived during the British occupation of Ceylon for over fifty years, Brohier had a good knowledge of English which enabled him to render the translation from the Dutch into English accurately. Besides as a Ceylonese he was able to translate properly oriental words, customs and descriptions given by Baldaeus, which for instance were wrongly rendered in Churchill’s English translation.”-(Introduction)

[v] Chilaon=Chilaw, Panua is Panama. Palugam has become Palukamam today. See Glossary of Place-Names by C.W. Nicholas given in the Pieter Brohier translation of “A True and exact Description of the Great Island of Ceylon”: 1672

[vi] The “Kings” referred to (except in the case of the King of Jafnapatan) are Vanniyas. So called due to their greater autonomy. In Sinhalese too they are called vanni rajavaru, vanni nirindu, vanni ranno.

[vii] This Kumārasinha Unnähē of Nuvarakalaviya was none other than the last Maha Vanniā under the Kandyan rule and the brother in law of  Pandāra Vaniyā of Mulliyāveli.

Latest comments

  • 0
    4

    Malabars are NOT Srilankans. Malabar is a place in SOUTH INDIA!

    This proves Tamilians are South Indians who illegally came to SL recently.

    Send them back!

    Arabs came to SL peacefully and respectfully. They were traders not slaves.

  • 0
    3

    We should rename SL island as Sinhale.

    Like England, Thailand, Russia, Japan, China, Indonesia, Ireland, etc., etc.

    Then the invaders will truly feel as they should – aliens.

    • 3
      0

      you are posting two contradictory statements. in the first post you say Tamilians came to Sri Lanka illegally recently

      In the second statement you say Invaders?

      shows your unstable mind ..you just want to rush and post some comments on every blog here

      you should also learn some English for Mahinda’s Al Jazeera interview

      • 0
        4

        Cannot maggots and slaves invade a nation?

        Well they can. That’s what tobacco and tea slaves did.

        In my school in Batticaloa they didn’t teach Aangilam. They taught us a disgusting language from south India spoken by sanitary workers.

        Yuk!

        • 1
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          May the Maggots invade your pubic manes and undermine your chastity.

        • 0
          1

          So, they taught you about AaanLingam?

        • 1
          0

          You must be a mad Muslim fool it clearly shows every thing you write in this forum is irrelevant. You are an ignoramus fool and an unintelligent being.

      • 3
        0

        Rajash,

        Leela (who got kicked out) is now posting as Fathima Fukushima. He is on the key board 24/7 to get the first post. He is a Sinhala-Buddhist racist. He has gone mad.

        The readers hardly respond to his comments. Please ignore him.

        • 3
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          I agree it’s a waste of time responding to the likes of Fathima

      • 1
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        RAJESH:

        you should also learn some English for Mahinda’s Al Jazeera interview

        Only the As4 lickers of the Colonial masters talk this way.

        I know how happy Tamils are to behave like their English master. Every president or prominent politician that comes to North america talk in their Language and the translator translates it. Sri Lankan politicians talk English. I feel disgusted.

        I know how TN – Tamils were anti-HINDI – – the majority language of their motherl and now they talk a English and Tamil mixed dialect.

        So much for the Tamil dialect. Except for Tamil there is no other thing that can unite Tamil.

        Why all the illiterate Tamils in Tamilnadu are low caste ?

    • 0
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      It is in 1948, England educated Sinhala – politicians who knew nothing about Sinhale renamed it as Sri Lanka.

      their only qualification was they were the chosen lost as their parents were translators to the English.

      England is speaking English.

      Hindusthan is speaking Hindi.

      Sinhale is owned by Tamils, Muslims and christians and Sinhala – buddhists are marginalized.

      • 2
        1

        Jim softy

        Dim wit Jim soft

        “It is in 1948, England educated Sinhala – politicians who knew nothing about Sinhale renamed it as Sri Lanka.”

        It is in 1972 the island was renamed as Sri Lanka, not in 1948.

        “Sinhale is owned by Tamils, Muslims and christians and Sinhala – buddhists are marginalized.”

        You are wrong again, Veddah land is now owned by Sinhala/Buddhists, Tamil/Saivaites, Arab/Mulims and Latin/Christians and the sons/daughters of the land of Veddhas are marginalised.

        Could we have our land back.

        Sinhalam is Indo Aryan language. Buddhism came from India. Tamil is a Dravidian language. Hinduism came from India. The culture you call yours mostly came from South India.

        Go back to India where you will feel at home.

      • 1
        2

        So what are you going to do about it?

        Let the dirt rule Sinhale or rule over them by hook or by crook?

        13% of Tamil women are war widows (13% of married Tamil men are dead). Why won the war in a hurry? Government should have let it run for another decade and spread the war to Colombo city and Jaffna. Pack Tamil men in boats to Australia and sink them midway with a timed explosive device. If 100 can be sent in a week that is 5,200 a year (and 5,200 Tamil widows).

        That is the way to reestablish Sinhale. No shortcuts.

        • 0
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          Unfortunately for Fathima our President is not Sinhabahu. What a pity that Sinhabahu did not have a remote controlled detonator 2500 years ago

    • 1
      0

      England = Land of the Angles

      No mention of the Saxons and Normans
      The original celts got pushed to wales.

      How and why a term derived from the name of a tribe that was less significant than others, such as the Saxons, came to be used for the entire country and its people is not known, but it seems this is related to the custom of calling the Germanic people in Britain Angli Saxones or English Saxons.[18] In Scottish Gaelic, another language which developed on the island of Great Britain, the Saxon tribe gave their name to the word for England (Sasunn),[19] and the Welsh use “Saesneg” – a form derived from “Saxon” – to describe the English language.

    • 2
      0

      Fathima Fuk U Shima, your first and last name clearly demonstrates that you are still no where.
      Arabs did not come peacefully. They came for trading and had not left yet. They learnt how to stay from the camels in the desserts. Once you give a small place for a camel to put its head, it would slowly take over the tent. This was what the traders did in Asia, especially in Ceylon.

      • 0
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        Were you cameltoed by the sailing Arabs by any means?

        • 1
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          Come on Negativity:One can’t be”cameltoed”.It is not a verb, but a noun.One can only display a “cameltoe” and Ms Ratnavalli has been doing that for long now.Joyfully!

          • 0
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            ‘Camaltoed’ a noun, in which language, yalpaddy?

            • 0
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              GINGIVITIS

              READ MY COMMENT AGAIN.I EXPLAIN IT IN THE NEXT SENTENCE.

          • 0
            0

            What do you mean by your version of ‘cameltoe’ kuppadi?

  • 0
    0

    Child

    Its time for you to go to bed as you know you have tuition classes early morning

    Have a glass of milk and brush your teeth before going to bed.

  • 0
    0

    Darshanie:

    that the Kingdom of Jafnapatan “remained under the Portugezen sway for upwards of 40 years, wrested from the Emperor by Philippo d’Olivero when he defeated the Cingalezen forces near Achiavelli by the great pagode…”

    I carefully read your article to see whether there were tamil names in the North in Jafnpatam of nearby. I can not see any such names. Instead, I read that Portugeuse defeated sinhala forces to capture Jafnapatan.

    So, the present Achchuveli is achiavelli.

    So, Sinhale became Sri Lanka because of the present politicians and the colonial masters.

    • 0
      0

      “upwards of 40 years, wrested from the Emperor by Philippo d’Olivero when he defeated the Cingalezen forces near Achiavelli by the great pagode…”

      Even the English find it difficult to prove history because of Viking conquest etc. Therefore, it is rightly called HisStory.

      500 years after Gautama’s death Mahawamsa was written as another romantic history.40 year lapse story by the enemy in power is another romantic story.

      All literature is 2 dimensions and does not carry much weight
      eg. Even today we don’t know which side used Gas in Syria to murder 1000 people.

      Bihari Ravana’s go to the listening posts Andaman Islands see the natives because you both are kallathoni.

    • 0
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      Jim softy

      You are a dim wit Jim Soft.

      “So, the present Achchuveli is achiavelli”

      Machiavelli’s descendants married to Ratnawalli’s ancestors. The village was named after him, which over a few hundred years evolved into Tamilised form of Achuveli.

    • 0
      0

      Well said JS.

      Something must be done about it and Buddha Dharma does not have the solutions. A demographic manipulation is needed. Boats are a good way to achieve that. Any Tamil would pay anything affordable to get on a boat to Australia. Sink them midway.

    • 0
      0

      ” defeated the Cingalezen forces near Achiavelli by the great pagode… “

      Does the pagoda still exist ?. Do the Buddhist temples/relics of Jaffna pre-date the Hindu ones ?

      • 0
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        ram

        Don’t take this child seriously.

  • 0
    0

    As a guy from Viyaluwa off Mahiyangana, I am interested in the Chieftain, Kivulegedara Mohottala, who, according to this article, is from Walapane.What I know is that the British forces had killed him after capture for the leadership role he had palyed in the uprising. Can you tell me exactly when and where?

    • 0
      0

      She has to scratch twice both the rear humps to ponder on your query. Better if you guess yourself with your forty year axeperience.

  • 0
    0

    Walli,

    Absolute Rubbish!

    What exactly are you trying to prove? The Northern Province election is over and we all know its results. That is the ground reality today. Nobody can change it.

    This article is not worth the paper it’s written on.

    So Michael Roberts is the local Sherlock?
    Absolutely hilarious!
    The old guy will start blushing if he sees this.

    Why not write something that you are good at like sensual and erotic literature instead of all this nonsense wasting everybody’s time and the cyber space?

    • 0
      0

      Silva

      “Why not write something that you are good at like sensual and erotic literature”

      You are a dirty old man.

    • 0
      0

      Portugeuse – Silva is upset.

  • 0
    0

    Blah Blah Blah
    Can you write 1 article without quoting any one else ? we would like to see what you are capable of writing. Not that I value what you write but would like to see your capabilities rather than hijacking from others.

    • 0
      0

      Afzal

      Irathina Valli is only a child please treat her as such.

    • 0
      0

      Muslims don’t want to understand that they are trying to dominate a foreign culture over the Island’s existing culture.

      So, he is upset.

      • 0
        0

        Where exists the existing culture to exit now?

  • 0
    0

    dear Ram

    Does the pagoda still exist ?. Do the Buddhist temples/relics of Jaffna pre-date the Hindu ones ?

    Yes They do but they are Tamil Buddhist. Remember Silapathikaram and Manmehalam. One written by Tamil Buddhist Monk the Other written about a Tamil Buddhist Nun.

    levi

    • 0
      0

      There is no reason to doubt that there were Buddhist Tamils in Jaffna but that does not exclude Buddhist Sinhala who co-existed there at the time. Both would have worshipped at the same temples/pagodas.

      • 0
        0

        The pagoda referred to in the article is the Indian pakoda (pakkuwada), and what we dismiss to understand is pagoda is a name of the place called paagoda.

    • 0
      0

      So, who wrote the Sivaka Sinthamani, a Japanese Buddhist?

  • 0
    0

    PHILLIPPUS BALDAEUS is one of the foreign writers who had written widely on Jaffna. What he wrote about Jaffna was in par with what Knox wrote about the Kandyan kingdom.

    PHILLIPPUS BALDAEUS has said to have preached under a certain ‘Siyambala’ tree in Jaffna. You can see the tree clearly in the image at http://www.rijksmuseum.nl/aria/aria_assets/SK-A-1299?lang=en

    This ‘Siyambala’ tree has been preserved by the government for a long time, but has unfortunately come down as a result of the 1952 cyclone, which hit the Northern peninsula badly.

    Then the Head of the Government archives at that time had brought down part of its trunk to Colombo and made two wooden slabs from it.

    Now the original copy of the book written by PHILLIPPUS BALDAEUS is kept at Govt. archives Colombo is covered with those two wooden slabs made with the trunk of the famous ‘Siyambala’ tree.

    I saw the same picture with an English translation. There was a very interesting revelation in that. In the English translation of this picture the local person is referred to as a ‘Sinhalese’ of vellala cast. It also says the background is a hill and church near Pandatarrippu. There is no hill in Pandatarippu in Jaffna. Something wrong.

    I am sure someone who does not know Jaffna will take this as a true account of Jaffna and make serious comments.

    Was the translation wrong?
    OR
    Was he ignorant or did he refer to the Tamils also as Sinhalese?
    OR
    Was all the comments he supposed to have made, was about the Sinhalese?

  • 0
    0

    When the Portuguese landed in 1505 A.D there were three Kingdoms namely Kotte, Kandy and Jaffna. But the perusal of the Portuguese sources, and indigenous sources show that prior to the European conquest of Sri Lanka there was a plurality of polities in the Island. The account of the Portuguese historian Fernao de Queyroz in this respect is remarkable as this provides an indication of the political conditions that prevailed in the Island during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It is evident from his account that the Island was politically divided into four Kingdoms, namely those of Kotte, Sitavake, Kandy and Jaffna and a number of Kinglets or principalities collectively known as the Vanni when the Portuguese came to the Island. The Portuguese, although they had brought the Jaffna Kingdom under their political over lordship by 1619, did not however, interfere much with the internal administration of these areas. The Portuguese, although they had brought the Jaffna Kingdom under their political over lordship by 1619, did not however, interfere much with the internal administration of these areas.

    When the Dutch replaced the Portuguese, as rulers of coastal areas of Sri Lanka by 1658 Tamils too came under a new master from the West. Dutch introduced a better organization and system of management, than the Portuguese, over the areas occupied by the Tamils. But even they did not make any fundamental changes with regard to the society or life of these people, though they were generally more efficient and systematic masters than the Portuguese. In the seventeenth and the eighteenth centuries, Tamil speaking territories of the North and the East maintained their administrative separation from the rest of the Island even though the Portuguese and the Dutch ruled over the entire maritime distinct of the Island. While the Tamil Vanni chieftaincies of northern Sri Lanka such as Tennamaravdy, Panankāmam, Mēlpattu, Mulliyawalai, Caricattumōlai and Carunwal pattu acknowledged the over-lordship of the Portuguese and the Dutch, the Tamil chieftains of Trincomalee such as Tirukkonmalai, Tampalakmam, Kottiyram and Kattukkulam and Batticaloa district such as Mattakkalappu, Palukmam, Pōrativu, Ntukatu, Panmai and Cammnturai before they came under the administrative control of the Dutch, nominally acknowledged, the over lordship of the Kandyan kingdom. During this time the Island was also divided into two linguistic zones is attested by the testimony of European colonial historians and administrators.
    Commenting on the provenance of the Tamil and Sinhalese languages the Dutch Predikant, Philippus Baldaeus who was in the Island during the mid-17th century asserts,
    “It is to be observed that in Ceylon they not only speak the Cinghalesche but also the Malabaarsche languages, the former from Negombo to Colombo, Caleture, Berbering, Alican, Gale, Belligamme, Matura, Donders etc., But in all other parts of the Island which are contiguous to the coromandel coast Malabaarsche is the prevailing language. I have heard it often asserted by the inhabitants of Jafna patnam that, that part of the country was times past peopled from the Coromandel coast and hence the dialect of their fatherland (which is situated so close to Ceylon) the probable accuracy of this account is borne out by the circumstance, that in the interior of the country as Candy, Vintane, Ballaney etc, the Cinghalesche is the only language generally spoken”

    The above view is also corroborated by the Governor Rjklof Van Goens account dated 1675. Referring to Batticaloa he made the following comment.

    “And since all the inhabitants of Batticalo (both in customs, religion, origin and other characteristics) together with those of Jaffnapatnam, Cotjaar and on Westward right over to Calpentyn and the Northern portion of the Mangul Corle inclusive, have been from the remotest times and are still now Malabaars, divided into their tribes, and very unwillingly mix with the Cingalese, Weddas or others outside their tribes, as also the others are not willing to do with these, they are up till now to be considered no otherwise than that they form with those of Jaffnapatnam, Cotjaar, & a people separate from the Cingalese, and have up till now remained pretty well in their freedom; having accepted of their free will the company’s protection only in order to protect themselves against the cruelty of the King of Candi, wherefore it behoves us not to leave them in need or to delay if we do not wish to see them presently stand exposed to the same cruelty; since otherwise we have to expect from this rich, populous and fertile territory yet many fruits both temporal and spiritual.”

    Taking the above factor into consideration, the Dutch for administrative purposes divided their maritime possessions into six units. They are Colombo, Jaffnapatnam, Galle, Trincomalee, Batticaloa, Kalpetty and Puttalam. Of these Jaffna patnam, Trincomalee and Batticaloa divisions embraced the present day Tamil speaking North – Eastern provinces. Besides this the Dutch also divided their possessions into three units namely Colombo, Jaffnapatnam and Galle for judicial purposes and brought the present day Tamil speaking North – Eastern province under the jurisdiction of the Jaffna patnam. Its courts of justice exercised jurisdiction in the northern and eastern part of the Island from the limits of Puttalam and Mannar to the river Koemene or koembekeroy (Kumbukan Oya), which separates the country of Batticaloa from that of Matura (Matara).

    It is in the light of the above background that one has to view the observations of Hugh Cleghorn, who served as Colonial Secretary to the first British Governor of Sri Lanka, namely Frederick North in 1799. He observed that,

    “Two different nations, from very ancient period, have divided between them the possession of the Island. First the Cingalese inhabiting the interior of the country, in its Southern and Western parts, from the river Wallouve, to that of Chilow, and secondly the Malabars,, who possess the northern and eastern districts. These two nations differ entirely in their religion, language and manners. The former, who are allowed to be the earlier settlers, derive their origin from Siam, professing the ancient religion of that country. Besides these two nations, Mohometans from the coast of India, are spread in great numbers everywhere along the coast; they are beyond all comparison, the most industrious, and useful class of inhabitants, but being the last settlers, they are regarded not only as strangers but are moreover very unwisely and unjustly exposed in the European settlements to very high captitation tax and other particular imposts.”

  • 0
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    Dear Darshanie Ratnawalli,
    Did you know Gemunu was a Buddhist Tamil?

    • 0
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      The Dutta Kaiyiman (or Kaimman – ‘a handful of soil’).

  • 0
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    Where is reference to Bandu’s Vanni in this discourse? Looks like -walli has forgotten her other mentor. Poor chap! Hibernating somewhere till CHOGM is out of way, I suppose ? Someone had spotted him around Gabba-gabba trying to find out why CHOGM 2002 there dropped Terrorism from CHOGM agenda after much attention given to it by Commonwealth Ministers; and later chatting with Jurnos at a French Café at Surface Paradise.Native, Do you know anything more?

  • 0
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    Test sbarrkum

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    You might also wonder why the “Tamil” kings had children named Sinhabahu or styled themselves as Arya Chakravarti and added the appendage Aryasinghe (SingaiAryan)to their name.

    His father, Singai Pararasasegaram, had two principal wives and a number of concubines. His first wife, Rajalaksmi, had two sons, Singhabahu and Pandaram. Singai Pararasasegaram second wife was Valliammal, she bore him Paranirupasingham. Cankili’s mother had Cankili and a daughter named Paravai. As part of palace intrigues, Cankili was able to ascend the throne.

    Singai Pararajasekaram is also the first in line not to use the title Singaiariyan as part of the regnal name. After him all kings had the shorter version Singai as part of the regnal name.

    • 0
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      Chakravarty is a derivation from the Bengal name ‘Chakraborty’. The great grates of Mithun Chakraborty.

      Cinkai is derived from the word ‘Chinku’ for ‘Zinc Tin’, thus coining the name Chinku bahu (Zinc-Armed) mean to say how frail he was than an Iron-Armed one.

      So, with the noun Sinhala too nothing should to be amazed of it being a ‘Zincilay’ _ meaning Tinnybranch, a brach of the Tamils.

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    Can one explain why Robert Knox used the title “unnehe” whwn referring to the Vanni chieftain? isn’t “Unnehe” the Sinhala term used for referring to Vanni chietains even till the latter day?

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      Un-Nahe = “they aren’t there” _ means ‘all vanquished’.
      in other words _ their soul conquered, and subjugated to be a ‘puppet’.

      Therefore,in reality the tejas title ‘Unnahe’ was applied to ‘appointed’ puppet chieftains in the older times by their masters, which reflects otherwise in usage in modern times.

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    Tamils are stateless people.

    Only Rajafucksa introduced Tamil to the UN. Until then and after him NO ONE ever spoke in Tamilian language at the UN.

    What a damn shame!

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    Dharshie, you naughty, naughty thing. Stick at what you are good at. You are NOT good at regurgitating old history. You twist and turn and wriggle you way through a mess of old porridge, massaging dead stuff to give credence to the events of the here and now. Stop looking back, the future is based on what we have before us now. Too many people are ‘angili gahanawa’ in the urgent process of today of building a new peaceful society founded on fairness and justice and respect for each other. Raking over old coals is so passe. Give it up girl, there are other ways of earning good money.

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      Darshanie Ratnawalli has started an unnecessary and unproductive exercise. Unfortunately none of the intellectuals or scholars is commenting here. When most of the educated people in our country are trying to unite the ethnic groups, Darshanie Ratnawalli’s so called Sherlockan look into the past history is an exercise to separate them. This is not the time to dig into the ancient past and find who came first.

      Such people are a curse to our country.

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    My dear Fathima Fuk U Shima,

    do you know Lord Buddha was a born Hindu.
    Buddhism is a philosophy and not a religion. I wish and hope that you can differentiate between a religion and philosophy.

    In 1815, when Kandyan King Sri Wickramarajasingan surrendered to the British, the Convention was signed by Sri WickramaRajasingan. He signed in Tamil. This Convention was displayed in 1965 in Colombo at the Industrial Exhibition held at Bullers lane. This was the time the planeterium was built. Those who attended this exhibitiion would have seen this Convention. I did. I personally saw this document that was displayed. Since then it disappeared for public display.
    The point is, why the King did not sign that famous Convention in any other language?

    If you look at any Ceylon map that was drawn before 1825, you would see many places in the south are Tamil names. For an example. Cal Turai (rock fort) is now known as Kalutara!

    Negombo was sinhalised during our time and in front of us and not long before. Why not earlier?

    But, all these are irrelevant and nonsensical now for a peaceful living in this country. Life is changing and let us change with the demography. We do not live for 100 years and we did not bring anything to take back anything with us.

    Where are the native Red Indians in North America now? Where are the natives of Botswana and South Africa now. Each and every car dealership in Botswana is owned by Fathima’s people in Botswana who went from Sri Lanka. Camels had not left and after sometime would claim that they belong to that place.

    Fuk U Shima, like you, I also learnt “Ingilish” in Batticaloa but I am still in Batticaloa. Like a camel. I did not poke my head in Japan.

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    Oh! How I enjoy these articles and comments — particularly Ratnavalli’s new kind of historiography — what has been aptly in one of these entries as “vallyism”: inspired interpretaions of hazy data to suit a racist political agenda.She is of course not the only one but the most inspiered one,I think. This will no doubt achieve,eventualy the status of such terms like Darwinism and historicism etc.
    And that Fukushima:What wisdom and wit are condensed in her one-liners!

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    It is her ‘hysteria crappy’.

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