28 March, 2024

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Nagas Come And Pitch Their Tents In Naga-Dipa Of Lanka

By Darshanie Ratnawalli

 Darshanie Ratnawalli

Darshanie Ratnawalli

What if a part of Sri Lanka in the centuries before Christ had been named after a personage, a creature or a deity from the Celtic myth pool? We’d know that a people who were immersed in the Celtic myth pool were responsible for the naming. At the very least we’d deduce heavy, long-term and thoroughgoing involvement of Celts in Sri Lanka. That was an analogy. Here is the reality: In the last centuries before Christ, the part of Sri Lanka known today as the Jaffna peninsula was called Naga-dipa[i], after a species of creatures from the Indo-Aryan myth pool.

First, some background. As everyone knows, during the first thousand years before Christ, Indo-Aryan languages as well as ideologies and lore that were sired and mothered by the speakers of these languages, and so couched in them were spreading in south Asia, over land and later by sea. When the Christian era was just a few centuries in the future, this cultural package had arrived in Sri Lanka. The package was also delivered throughout south India down to its southernmost tip. It’s easier if you liken this to the spread of radiation from powerful radioactive nodes located in north India. If you took a metaphoric Geiger counter able to measure metaphoric radiation to the area corresponding to Tamil Nadu in the centuries immediately preceding Christ, it would beep. Loudly.

In order to beef up that beep with some percentages, let’s survey the corpus of pottery and cave inscriptions of Tamil Nadu during the period commencing two centuries before Christ and concluding one century after Him. Out of a total collection of 469 Tamil Brahmi inscribed pot-sherds, the writing on which typically and invariably spells out personal names, 270 legible inscriptions were surveyed by Y. Subbarayalu. Nearly fifty percent out of the total were Prakrit names. Of these, some appear raw in the pure Prakrit form, some in partly Tamilized form (visakaṉ) and/or hybridized with Sinhalese Prakrit (eg: buta-śa, camuta-ha) and North Indian Prakrit (yakhamitra-sa) genitive suffixes  while a smaller percentage appear “fully Tamilized avoiding non-Tamil letters, like Kuviraṉ (from Kubira or Kubera)”:-(Subbarayalu, “Early Historic Tamil Nadu”; 2009, pp.95-122[ii])

Surveying the cave inscriptions of Tamil Nadu representing his early Tamil-Brahmi phase, stretching from the early 2nd century BC to the end of the 1st century CE, I. Mahadevan found that nearly 30% of the stems of all the words in them were Middle Indo Aryan (Prakrit). “For arriving at this figure, he has taken into account all the lexical items, including place names, verbs and grammatical particles”. Surveying “only the proper names of persons found in these cave inscriptions excluding other lexical items” Y. Subbarayalu found that, just like in the pottery names, nearly 50% of them were Prakrit names, either in pure form or in the Tamilized form.-(ibid)

Getting back to our radiation metaphor, Tamil Nadu received its Indo-Aryan radiation largely from North India as regards to ideologies, ideals and lore couched in Old Indo-Aryan (Sanskrit). “The expansion of Vedic culture (the Ārya culture as its propagators and contemporaries would have called it. Parenthesis mine), or the process of Sanskritization as some scholars prefer to call it, to the areas south of the Vindhya mountain started in the later Vedic period from circa 1000 BC. It was a gradual process spread over several centuries. Bold and adventurous Brahmin seers and sages, priests, kings, soldiers, traders, artisans and others were involved in this process.”- (V. Sivasamy[iii], “Early Historic Tamil Nadu”, p157)

But as we saw above, TN received a more mass-market IA radiation with the arrival of Middle Indo-Aryan languages flanked by ideologies and lore expressed in them. Tamil Nadu absorbed this from two sources; Sri Lanka and North India. The pot-sherd and cave inscriptions of Tamil-Nadu carry the imprint of these two sources;

“Though the Prakrit influence from Sri Lanka is clearly perceptible, Sri Lanka is not the only source. In fact, the impact of North Indian Prakrits is found more influential than that of Sri Lankan one. That is understood from the larger use of the dental “s” (standing for all the three sibilants) as in the case of all north Indian Prakrits. Sri Lankan Prakrit used the palatal “ś” instead, avoiding “s” altogether, in the earlier stage, i.e., during the second century BCE…Mahadevan (1996A, 2003:p. 109) suggested that the non-doubling of consonants and also the absence of the ligaturing of consonants in the Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions may be due to the influence of Sri Lankan Prakrit. This feature, however, cannot be attributed to the Sri Lankan Prakrit alone, as it is also noticed in North Indian Prakrits, for instance, in the case of the pottery inscriptions of Kasrawad in Madhya Pradesh…The occurrence of a large number of Prakrit names, in their original form or in the adapted form, certainly vouch for a considerable presence of immigrant Prakrit-speaking people in the particular sites. The foregoing evidence suggests that some of the Prakrit speakers hailed from Sri Lanka while the majority of them came from the northern parts of India. ”- (Subbarayalu, op.cit., pp.104-105)

Pottery and cave inscriptions however, are not the only sign-posts announcing Indo-Aryan influence in the South. Much more fascinating than tracking Middle Indo-Aryan north to south on inscriptions is following the various creatures from the Indo-Aryan myth-pool southwards. Of all the creatures in this very fecund myth pool, none is as fun to follow south as the Naga.

With the extension of the Indo-Aryan cultural universe southwards, the Naga universe too expanded into the southern regions. The Northern Nagas together with their accessories and paraphernalia (such as gem studded seats sat on by the Lord Buddha) moved also into southern settings to enact their captivating plot themes, eventually entrancing the southern human populace too into following their northern brethren in doing “Naga things”. A conspicuous “Naga thing” the northern Indo-Aryan speakers did was to start the fad of adding “Naga” to personal names.

“ …we may call attention to the frequent occurrence of the word ‘Naga’ as the first member of personal names both in literature and in inscriptions. This alone would suffice to demonstrate the importance of the deified snakes in ancient India. Cf. the Index of personal names accompanying Professor Luders’ List of Brahmi Inscriptions. Ep Ind, vol x, pp. 193 f” – (‘Additional Notes’ re p23, in the final pages of Jean Philippe Vogel:1926[iv] full text)

It would have been unnatural for the southernmost Indo-Aryan speakers, the Sinhalese not to follow this fad. Didn’t the deified Nagas play a lead role in their lore too? See what happened when Sangamitta tried to set sail for Lanka with the sacred Bodhi branch. No sooner had the ship touched the sea, the waves were stilled for a yojana all around, lotus flowers of five colours blossomed, manifold music instruments rang out and the Nagas tried to seize the branch through magic. Arhat Sangamitta drew on her supernatural powers, assumed the shape of a Garuda and frightened them into submission. When the terrified Nagas entreated her, she relented and gave up her precious charge to them just for a week. They took the branch into the Naga realm, bestowed on it the kingship of the Nagas, worshiped it with manifold offerings and brought it back to the ship. (ibid[v], p24). So narrates the Mahawamsa at length, presumably drawing on the earliest monastic oral tradition of Lanka in the centuries BC, when the monks were living in drip ledge caves donated by a people who inscribed their donation in MIA Sinhalese on the cave wall. Quite a number of these donors had the personal name “Naga”.

Only in Lanka, “Naga” was for the most part a single name not the first member of a compound as in North India. In inscription number 80, Inscriptions of Ceylon, Vol.1[vi], “The cave of Deva, son of Nagaya[vii] the Goldsmith, [is given] to the Sangha of the four quarters, present and absent”. In no. 1172, Tissa who is an elder monk (tera) is the son of lay-devotee (upasaka) Naga[viii]. Monk Elders were named “Naga” too. No. 458 announces that it’s the cave named Indasala-guha of the tera Naga. In 451, we meet the cave “Sudassana of the tera Nagasena.” Naga of 101 is a titled bloke, “Barata Naga”. 128, 129 and 132, 387 and 718 give us the title Bata in front of the personal name Naga. In 260, 261, 262, 263, 264, 265, 266 we meet a very elite family (every son and even the mother has a title) who uses the name “Naga” a lot. Parumaka Mahareta who also goes by the names Reta and Revata is the son of Parumaka Naga. After marrying a woman titled Parumakalu, the daughter of a Parumaka Naguli, Reta has begotten two sons Naga and Kadali, both Parumakas. Kadali has a son named Parumaka Cudanaga. In 318 we meet a titled family a little less hung up on the name Naga. Parumaka Mala has innovatively named his son Namara, also a Parumaka.  Namara’s son however is Parumaka Naga.

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


[i] “Subsequent references to Nagadipa in the Mahavamsa and other Pali writings, coupled with certain archaeological and epigraphical discoveries, have conclusively established that Nagadipa of the Mahavamsa is the present Jaffna Peninsula.”-(p180, “The Arya Kingdom in North Ceylon”, S. Paranavitana, JRAS Ceylon- Vol. VII, Part 2- New Series, 1961Full text)

[ii] Visākī and Kuviraṉ, Historical Implications of Names in the Tamil-Brahmi Inscriptions”, Y Subbarayalu- in Early Historic Tamil Nadu, c 300 BCE-300 CE, Essays commemorating Prof. K. Kailasapathy on the twenty-fifth anniversary of his death, Ed. K. Indrapala, 2009

[iii] “Brāhmaṇas and Yāgas, Spread of Vedic Ideas”, p156-166, V. Sivasamy, Early Historic Tamil Nadu, 2009

[iv] 1972, 1926, English, Book, Illustrated edition:Indian serpent-lore; or, The nāgas in Hindu legend and art”-(full text) by Vogel, J. Philippe (Jean Philippe), 1871-1951

[v] A word about Jean Philippe Vogel, former Professor of Sanskrit and Indian Archaeology in the University of Leyden, Holland and late Superintendent, Archaeological Survey of India. His work on the Naga lore remains unread as I suspect by almost all the living historians and archaeologists of present day dismally intellectually climated Sri Lanka. This has resulted and continues to result in public displays of incredible naiveté on Nagas. In contrast, S. Paranavitana acknowledged (in his obituary for Vogel); “The present writer owes an immense debt of gratitude to the late Professor Vogel and if he has made any contribution to Ceylon archaeology, it was in great measure due to his aid and the inspiration derived from him.” – (Full Obituary)

[vi] Archaeological Survey of Ceylon, Volume 1, Containing cave inscriptions from 3rd century B.C. to 1st century A.C. and other inscriptions in the early Brahmi script. By S. Paranavitana, 1970 (IC1)

[vii]  This name Nagaya is a sandhi: Naga + aya. ‘Aya’ is an Middle Indo Aryan equivalent of Old Indo Aryan ārya. (p XXXVII, IC1). Princes used this particular sandhi when they had the personal name Naga to join their name and the title; aya. E.g. In inscription no. 736, prince Naga is called Nagaya. Apparently, there was no bar for goldsmiths to use this name too.

[viii] It is written as Naka, as sometimes Naga was written in our inscriptions.

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Latest comments

  • 3
    14

    Because of Tamil infestation, Nagadeepa is now restricted to the buddhist vihara area.

    • 3
      1

      “Because of Tamil infestation, Nagadeepa is now restricted to the buddhist vihara area.”

      The real curse is the infestation, pf the Land of Native Veedah Aethho by the Paras from India and South India with their Para Prakrit and Dravidian Languages and Their Para Myths of Buddhism and Hinduism with lies of Rebirth.

      The only truth is in the DNA in the Paras bodies that prove they came from South India and India…

    • 13
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      JimSofty

      “Because of Tamil infestation, Nagadeepa is now restricted to the buddhist vihara area.”

      You will do well to remember infestation started with Kallatonies arriving from Venga, have been living off the host.

      • 0
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        Kallathonis are ok but not the ones who wish to continue thier criminal record – like the ones we have now.

        • 2
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          Kirri Yakka

          “Kallathonis are ok but not the ones who wish to continue thier criminal record – like the ones we have now.”

          If Kallathonies were okay why did your government send back hard working upcountry Tamils in the 60s and 70s and the Pakistanis?

          I think something wrong somewhere.

          • 1
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            it is the upper cast Jaffna Tamils who colluded with the decendants of the kallathoni Vijaya who were expelled due to their criminal record. Read the lattest edition of the Mahavamsa it has three chaptets celebrating the criminal acts of the decendent of this dicard from india from whim he claims ancestorey.

            You illetrare Veddha read the Mahavamsa you will then better understand the behaviour of the morons whom you have to deal with.

            • 1
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              Kirri Yakka

              “Read the lattest edition of the Mahavamsa it has three chaptets celebrating the criminal acts of the decendent of this dicard from india from whim he claims ancestorey.”

              Why do you mention latest edition? Have the revisionist historians unearthed archaeological evidence and added that to Geiger’s original translation?

              “You illetrare Veddha”

              This is how sometimes my Elders call me. You can use the title to address me. Thanks.

  • 6
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    Ken

    Anything new?

    • 4
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      Ha ha ha Native, Andare (vikataya) is back.

      Jimsofty must be rejuvenated :) after having belly full these days from every other commenter.

      • 8
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        Ravana

        “Jimsofty must be rejuvenated :) after having belly full these days from every other commenter.”

        Dimwit is back, with a vengeance, he must be high on coke in the last few days, even fizzy drinks make him high highly patriotic after high octane attacks on Muslims.

        • 0
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          Native seems to have gone up market in his taste after joining the Diaspora dudes…..

    • 6
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      Tell me vedda where this bitch live, make me sick….

      • 5
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        J.Muthu

        “Tell me vedda where this bitch live, make me sick….”

        I know you are after her with ulterior motives. She is only a child and never even thing about it.

      • 1
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        Darshanie, I am your fan, gorgeous. And there are many like me. So, ignore the perverts here. You carry-on your good work. May Triple Gems Bless you!

        • 5
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          Banda

          “I am your fan, gorgeous. And there are many like me.”

          Banda the old pervert loves Darshanie Ratnawalli’s titillating articles for its sexual content. Here are some of her early creative writings which made Banda attracted to her.

          Ass

          by ratnawalli –
          February 17, 2008 at 9:19 pm

          When you see a nice ass and the female it belongs to is not you and when you can see that the female it belongs to walks with the perfect awareness that her ass is great and when you also know that the depraved, perverted bastard you happen to love like crazy is at large in the Faculty walking with that tom cat walk eyes missing nothing and is liable to be treated to the sight of the aforementioned ass any moment, may be even several times on any given day what can you do? I mean how are you supposed to handle that?

          Well, O.k. the very same bastard said one day, I mean he just voluntarily came forward with the statement without any fishing for compliments on your part that you yourself had a lovely ass. Surely that is supposed to comfort you, reassure you, make you feel secure? But the problem is that it doesn’t. Instead you feel this sick pressure inside your head. As the day progresses this sick pressure builds up, oh due to various reasons. First of all, there’s this great party coming up, it’s called the Block Night or Nite rather. There are notices all over “Hey come and have fun!!! A night to remember, filled with music, dance and frolic. Come and riot!!!

          Tell me is it inconceivable for a girl to feel sick under such pressure? Specially when the girl knows that miss nice ass(and tits) is probably going to be there swinging her nice ass to the music and matters are not helped when that depraved, perverted and lecherous bastard is almost a permanent fixture in the bloc nite accompanied by his cute wife and when they are supposed to be one of the best dancing couples in the faculty and when you yourself don’t know a damn thing about dancing and all you are capable of doing when the lights are pulsating and the music is roaring is jerking your body in that unrythmical, boring, no doubt ridiculous way;when circumstances are like that is it unreasonable or mad of the girl to want to go home and sleep?

          http://ratnawalli.com/2008/02/ass/

          The first man to look upon my naked virgin breasts and compliment them was….
          by ratnawalli – July 19, 2009 at 10:18 pm
          Professor Colvin Guneratne. The chain of events that led to my standing naked above the waist in front of that suave, sophisticated, straight talking, famous and sometimes scratchy man started with puberty. Mine not his.

          Here, Watson let us examine this strange woman whose seeds of strangeness started sprouting from puberty onwards. I am in a dilemma here folks because I don’t want to call myself strange online. This blog does seem to enjoy some little traffic. Mainly because I direct people here in a shameless bid to toot my own horn. Calling oneself strange is not considered the done thing in certain circles. But Watson how else can we explain this thing. Here we have a girl entering puberty and sprouting breasts. And resenting it! Because they make her feel unsafe and threatened. They spoil her pre pubertal pristine silhouette, attract unwelcome attention and unwelcome restrictions. The attention of adults, the bad sort.

          I remember after a bath walking from the well towards the gate in wet knickers and nothing else. And a rug seller was walking along the road and he gave me this hot scalding smoldering once over. This thin kid of 12 or so with just sprouting breast buds. And why was a 12 year kid in the early stages of breast development walking around in knickers you might ask. Because the kid in addition to resenting the breast development is also in denial about it. Covering up would be an admission, an acknowledgment of breasts. So she does not. May be if she pretends they are not there…. they might go away. I remember my last uncomplicatedly happy April. Was in my 13th year. The last year that I could get away with being one of the boys with my brother and cousin brother. The last year of total kid freedom. Next year I would be told not to accompany them to the paddy fields to fly kites because there would be jd types about. My last year of being totally comfortable with my family members in public places without feeling unpleasantly singled out and creepily special because of all the male stares directed at me. And all this was without the complication of breasts! From my 12th year to about 18th year I could still pretend in certain clothing that I was flat chested. I remember looking at my fully endowed mates and thinking what hell their life must be. Having to carry that conspicuous luggage around.

          When I was 15 to make matters worse this creepy crawly male life form developed a thing for me. He wasn’t even going to school at the time, was short, wasn’t at all the kind of male qualified to frequent my fantasies and yet he dared to cast his eyes at me. Actually gave me a letter all wrapped in brown paper via a friend of his. I received this packet when I was in the act of getting down from the bus. Tore the brown paper. Saw red flowers and hearts drawn with a red pen. Dropped it in the bus halt like a radio active titanium rod and forgot about it.

          Next thing I hear the whole neighborhood is buzzing about our affair (how my skin crawls even now to use the word ‘our’), the short creep is routinely following in his bike the bus I take to the tuition class, I see him with depressing frequency in my haunts, my mother is interrogating me, my brother is teasing me, my friend’s mother is advising me, my friends are telling me stories of how they heard the creep had vowed to lift me. All this without one word being passed between the creep and me. Can you believe it? I remember a nightmare I had shortly after hearing this ‘lifting’ story. In it I was being lifted, carried by a friend of his. And this was a nightmare. There was nothing sexual about it although being carried by a man, had always had deeply sexual connotations for me on account of witnessing when very young my father carrying my mother. I think it was a kind of foreplay act for them and they did it in front of us kids because they thought we wouldn’t be aware. And there was another nightmare spawned by this lifting talk. In it my legs would be covered in some thick wart like gray skin. The real skin would be under this covering and extremely itchy. But no matter how hard I would scratch the warty gray second skin I would feel nothing and the itch would remain. It was very fortunate that I didn’t have any obvious assets back then because if I had I would have felt like cutting them off. The presence of assets would have made me feel worse as if I was inciting the creep in some way.

          Then in my 18th year there came this point of no return when I could no longer pretend even in my school uniform that I was flat chested. At 19 it was worse. Uniform had been bad but T shirts made it worse. Not for nothing do they have wet t-shirt contests. To make matters worse Watson the girl is still not wearing any bras. Because she is still in denial. To wear bras, to be seen to be wearing bras, to go to mother and ask to be bought bras would be an admission, an acknowledgment of the existence of breasts. If she pretends they do not exist they would go away? Perhaps not. But at least she would be part of a manufactured set of reality where breasts don’t exist because they are unacknowledged.

          However going bra less presents serious mobility issues. Not at all conducive to comfortable, smooth streamlined movement. So the girl wondered. Could a bra actually help? Would it have a reducing effect too as well as a restrictive effect? The girl decided to experiment. Only rather than telling mother she just decides to embezzle some funds and buy it on her own.

          The girl tries it on and wears a t shirt over that and it is a disaster. The effect is totally Pamela Anderson. A little explanation here Watson. Getting a bit above herself this girl. No way could she have looked like Pamela Anderson. It is a genetic impossibility. That fabled 19 year old bust can’t have been more than a 34 B at the most. Here we have a girl whose body perception is way out of touch with reality.

          So now what. The bra doesn’t help? Maybe if she pinned it up real tighter? Would she be able to do with her breasts what the Chinese did with their feet? Real tight like with about a ten pins? Faint inducing, rib crushing, permanent welt forming tight? How about that folks will that work? What I remember about this period and it lasted around two years, is the pain of having to sit long hours in the classes enduring the pain and the suppurating cut marks and the welts. And finally the gradually easing pain as the bust shrank gradually. And at the end of those two years, eureka! a totally acceptable non threatening bust. Then gradually awakening to the knowledge of the terrible achievement, the remorse, the yearning for the lost fullness, the depression and then pinning hopes on hormones or even plastic surgery. And that was how I ended up in front of the Prof naked to the waist.

          I told him the tale. A likely tale he must have thought. As you must too. But it really happened I swear. It made my bust go down one or two sizes. From around 34 B to 32B. Or was it from 36 to 32? I will never be sure. I have to believe it’s the former and not the later. Makes it easier to sleep at night.
          Anyway to get back to the main scene. Me bare breasted in front of Prof Colvin Gunaratne and telling him “But Sir my breasts used to be pretty” and he coming right back at me “And they are still pretty”
          “No Sir, they are not” “Have you seen breasts of other females?” “ No Sir” “I have seen thousands and I am saying they are pretty”. End of story. The girl goes home. She will play with her silicon ideas and hormones ideas a little bit longer. But it has ended right there. In Colvin Guneratne’s room”. With those words “I have seen thousands of women… And they are pretty”.

          Tags: breasts, Colvin Guneratne, myself

          http://ratnawalli.com/2009/07/the-first-man-to-look-upon-my-naked-virgin-breasts-and-compliment-them-was/

      • 1
        3

        WOW, Kallathonis are pi$$ed off.

    • 3
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      Native

      I do not have new things to add at this moment. Infact the refrence material provided by By DR is q

      • 2
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        Native

        I have been searching for literature on NAGA mythology for the last two weeks in Indian bookshops as well as on Amazon. I scanned the book by Prof Vogel on Nagas, reference book mentioned by DR. It is an interesting book covering Naga culture in various places in India.

        Dharshanie eloquently argues the spread of aryan language and culture from north to south of India and to Sri Lanka. I gather from her essay that Naga culture also could have came from the same way. This all sounds quite logical. Further more Dharshanie explains (I think) that inscriptions in south India were influenced by both northern and sri lankan brahmi therefore it could be argued the language and cultural development of south India was greatly shaped by the aryan influence much to jubilance to my good friend brain softy.

        It is an important fact that Indians did not consider history as an important discipline and therefore we only get to know a glimpse of the past from Puranas of hindu mythology, archeology and culture. Therefore one need to be really careful in interpreting evidence, and a number of commentators of CT have pointed out, it is wrong to read history through the inscriptions. The classic example is Prof Paranaviathana’s interpretations of Greeks and Sinhalese.

        Firstly, Indian subcontinent was isolated by himalayan mountains therefore whatever the influence that seeped though was gradual. furthermore It is quite comical to say that influence was one way from north to south. In fact genetic evidence suggest mixing of Native south Indians and Native North Indians around 1500 BC,

        Secondly there is evidence to say that the so called aryan influence came from western side to south east However I am inclined to believe that the buddhist influence in sri lanka is more eastern origin that is more dravidian,native south indian or Andaman islandian what ever the name one attributes to it.

        The evidence is present in the south indian buddhist scholars visiting lanka, presence of loan words from tamil number system and many cultural and social aspects shared by sinhalese and tamil brethren.

        Finally I like to remind the writer trying to bury a civilisation that was a force to reckon from north India to the khmer regions in kampuchea is equivalent to earning the wrath of Kuveni!

      • 1
        1

        ken Robert

        Thanks

        J.Muthu is up to something. We will have to keep an eye on him.

        • 3
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          He is targeting DRs soft spots is evident.

    • 2
      1

      Native

      I have been searching for literature on NAGA mythology for the last two weeks in Indian bookshops as well as on Amazon. I scanned the book by Prof Vogel on Nagas, reference book mentioned by DR. It is an interesting book covering Naga culture in various places in India.

      Dharshanie eloquently argues the spread of aryan language and culture from north to south of India and to Sri Lanka. I gather from her essay that Naga culture also could have came from the same way. This all sounds quite logical. Further more Dharshanie explains (I think) that inscriptions in south India were influenced by both northern and sri lankan brahmi therefore it could be argued the language and cultural development of south India was greatly shaped by the aryan influence much to jubilance to my good friend brain softy.

      It is an important fact that Indians did not consider history as an important discipline and therefore we only get to know a glimpse of the past from Puranas of hindu mythology, archeology and culture. Therefore one need to be really careful in interpreting evidence, and a number of commentators of CT have pointed out, it is wrong to read history through the inscriptions. The classic example is Prof Paranaviathana’s interpretations of Greeks and Sinhalese.

      Firstly, Indian subcontinent was isolated by Himalayan mountains therefore whatever the influence that seeped though was gradual. furthermore It is quite comical to say that influence was one way from north to south. In fact genetic evidence suggest mixing of Native south Indians and Native North Indians around 1500 BC,

      Secondly there is evidence to say that the so called aryan influence came from western side to south east However I am inclined to believe that the buddhist influence in Sri lanka is more eastern origin that is more dravidian,native south indian or Andaman islandian what ever the name one attributes to it.

      The evidence is present in mahavamsa stating the south indian buddhist scholars visiting lanka, presence of loan words from tamil number system and many cultural and social aspects shared by sinhalese and tamil brethren.

      Finally I like to remind the writer trying to bury a civilisation that was a force to reckon from north India to the khmer regions in kampuchea is equivalent to earning the wrath of Kuveni!
      Ken

      • 2
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        ken Robert

        Here is something that you ought to read:

        The Baratas A Case of Community Integration in Early Historic Sri Lanka

        By Sudharsan Seneviratne

        Pages 49 to 56

        FESTSCHRIFT 1985

        James Thevathasan Rutnam

        Sri Lanka UNESCO National Commission

        http://www.noolaham.net/project/94/9331/9331.pdf

        This paper is recommended by my Elders.

        • 3
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          The Baratas A Case of Community Integration in Early Historic Sri Lanka

          Native this could be quite interesting. Mr sivanathan, a commentator of CT used to contribute on the comparison of caste system, ancestry between the sinhalese and kerala people.

          I hope he finds time to go through this article on parathavar/baratas. I do believe the caste system of sinhalese could teach us a lot more than the inscriptions and naga mythology.

          I started reading the Prof Vogel’s book on Naga mythology. It is definitely worth a read if one was brought up reading chandamama/ambulimama books in their childhood.

          Reading a buddhist verses (Mahavamsa), or a tamil poetry (kalingathuparani) could shed light into the historiography of Lankans. But one needs a lot of motivation, patience and audience to discuss these difficult treasures from the past. I suppose we need to create a different forum ( for eg anthropology forums)

  • 2
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    Darshanie Ratnawalli

    RE: Nagas Come And Pitch Their Tents In Naga-Dipa Of Lanka

    Whatever you call them, Naga or any other, they all are Paras, Para-sedhis, Foreigners in the Land of Native Veddah Aethho.

    It does not matter whether they are Prakrit speakers or Dravidian speakers. They are Paras from India, specially South India.

    Para Sinhala actions in the Land of Native Veddah, by those who believe in the lies and Imaginations of Para-Monk Mahanama. Para= Para-deshi , Foreigner The Paras came from South India, Check their DNA. No lion Genes. Just myths.

    The Vedda Tribe

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f89NuukY32U

    http://www.lankanewspapers.com/news/2007/6/15923_space.html

    The Genetic affinities of Sri Lankan populations In conclusion, the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka were the Veddahs, who have had little admixture with the Sinhalese and possibly none with the Tamils. The Veddahs are distinct because they were confined to inhospitable dry zones and were hardly influenced by the neighboring inhabitants. Furthermore, the Sinhalese and the Sri Lankan Tamils are an admixed population genetically. The Sinhalese, who first came from northwest India under the leadership of Prince Vijaya in 543 B.C., have received and exchanged a substantial amount of their genes with the populations of northeastern and southern India. The Sinhalese and the Tamils have no contribution from the population groups of northwest India. In fact, the contribution made by Prince Vijaya and his small band of 700 companions to the original pool of the Sinhalese must have been eliminated by the long-standing contribution (over 2000 years) of the population groups of northeastern and southern India.

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      Amarasiri looks like an old fool, a Tamil, living eleventh hour of his life.

      He repeats the same thing.

      So, just take it.

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        But, aren’t you irritated by his prcky rhetorics, you old fool.

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    Rathnawalli:

    Your articles exposes many Tamil myths and false propaganda trying to establish non existing tamil …. every thing.

    Even the Tamil Language has Sinhala and Sanskrit – influence. Dravidean languages came before Tamil.

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      This very clearly shows that this JimSothy has only read the title but did not read even a single word in the article or he could not understand anything anything at all from the article.

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        Nabil

        Jim the Brain softy is an expert in muslim fundamentalism, confrontation, conflict resolution and communal violence and he has written a number of books on Holy quran and Hadith.

        He is showing a gut reaction to DR’s polemics

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    I could say “Nawa Gilunath Band Choon” or “Even though the ship is sinking band keeps playing”

    Darshanie Ratnawalli is like our government, even when the country is burning or while people are suffering due to high cost of living, the SLG pretends as it’s carnival time, Night Races, Foreign Tours and blatant lies.

    What if a huge “Naga” comes up from nowhere and gobbles up MR and his cronies. Wouldn’t that be a sight to savor for the whole nation ? excluding the die hard racist.

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      I don’t know how much Dharshanie understands this.

      The blames and criticisms that comes against are like those comes against the Sinhala Buddhists and Sri Lanka.

      They all want to subjugate Sinhala- buddhists and make us submit to them.

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      Afzal can claim that the “Naga” were Arabic people (Nanas) who came by sea, in times before the Prophet. Even Arabic, preceded by Aramnic (the language of Nazareth), was known as Ramic which is what you get when you drop the usual preceding “a” vowel of old-Hebrew.

      Was Ramic just the language of Rama? Could it have kinship to these Nana (naga) languages! All that is needed to make this true is some more Wahabi money from Saudi Arabia, and a few more Kuragalas with arabic inscriptions dating from the 10th century before Prophet Mohamed.

      The “Devanagari” script mirrors and honours the Nagas, who lived in Nagars. But the spreading of their culture -the Devanagari culture- is poorly described by the radioactive analogy. Gamma Radiation travels straight, while alpha- and beta- decay travels in short linear collisional paths. So, ignoring attenuation, the radiation doesn’t go beyond the horizon which is only about 5 km as seen by a person who is 1.75 meters tall. If the radioactivity is on a 30 meter hill, the direct radiation cannot go beyond 20 km (horizon limit) when the earth’s surface curves away from the radiation.

      So I think DR is thinking of radio-active fallout, which propagates very differently. But even that does not propagate in the manner needed.

      Clearly DR is totally ignorant of basic physics.

      If she in need of an analogy for the propagation of ideas, she can use the model of how a cough and cold (or any virus) spreads in a human population.

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        Whether you like it or not the whole country is desperately depended on Wahabi money or in legitimate words foreign exchange poring in from GCC countries.
        If this money dries up our economy will take a irrecoverable nose dive, If the governments policy of oppression of minorities continues we are not too far away from that scenario.

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    Muttu, Nungabakkam high road is where you and vedda can get cheap transsexual whores. Don’t forget to fetch Amaraya to get their dna checked because he knows how to chop and checks it from the tip.

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      I am no muslim

      Do not worry!
      Look at the plight of muslims today due to anarchy of non muslims ( sinhalese and Tamils)of Sri Lanka. I am sure you could have a field day in the coming weeks for planned looting of Muslim woman and property.

      But stick to the topic for the time being!

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      I am no human

      “Muttu, Nungabakkam high road is where you and vedda can get cheap transsexual whores”

      Have you had good time with them? Do they provide all services humanly possible? How much did you spend during your entire time with them?

      How much did you spend on repairing the gun?

      No wonder no women would go out with you.

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        The bugger would have wrapped pankada to compensate the depths.

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    Celts in Sri Lanka? What humbug! It seems that this woman has picked up some names of authorities on ancient history , archeology etc from the Internet or elsewhere and just by quoting their writing is pretending to be a pundit on subjects she knows nothing about. Another Miracle of Asia!

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    And through all of her esoteric article, the fragrant Darshanie never once mentioned that old classic Naga song, ‘wherever I lay my Naga, that’s my home’.

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    The usual disclaimer. Thanking the positive commentors, yet emphasizing that the comments and the commentors on this site are not connected with me in any way. All the comments are entirely a reflection on the democracy and the discretion of this site. I haven’t solicited those comments in any way, nor am I part of any “circle” consisting of these commentors. They are completely unknown to me and I haven’t submitted my article to them. This disclaimer is to establish the widest distance from and renounce all responsibility for the levels of comprehension of those outside my intended target audience.

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      Tarzanie.

      You claim, proclaim, acclaim or disclaim or is not a part of a circle or is a part of an sinister circus is a matter for the commentators to decide. Do not try to show off your intellectual beliggerence over here to the highly intelligent species of the CT.

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    Looks like our Kuveni descendants manged to keep Nagdeepa intact for over two and half thousand years even with LTTE Praba holding the Fort nearly three decades.

    Being our Buddha’s first pit stop during his many visits to the Kuveni Land , this place is blessed and taken care by all deities , including the ones which only the Vellalas are allowed to carry.

    Will it stay the same if the NPC heavy Sivalingam and his side kick Premachandran hold the Land Ministry and the Police Dept respectively after the Pillai Police Inquisition..

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    I got the following comment for this same article posted in my site ( http://ratnawalli.com/2014/06/nagas-come-and-pitch-their-tents-in-naga-dipa-of-lanka/#comments). It’s from Chennai (as read by my stat programme)

    Vijay says:
    June 30, 2014 at 11:07 am

    Thanks for this informative article. There are many ‘naga’ names in the Sangam poetry as well.

    //‘Aya’ is an Middle Indo Aryan equivalent of Old Indo Aryan ārya.//

    Yes, true. Goddess is called as ‘ayyai’ in Tamil – feminine form of Arya. The popular tamil brahmin surname Iyer (written in Tamil as ‘ayyar’ also refers to Arya).
    Reply

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      The closet women working in our homes are so called as Aaya. The street thugs and popular KuduSomeys are mostly addressed as Ayya. The Hindian paradesis calls their arrivals as Aaya. The para Sinhalas when they levy somebody call it Aya. Darshanie when pricked by Gajamthu may wail out Ayyo Budu Ammo.

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    The auther need to look into ancient information before commenting.
    Tamil grammar Tolkappiyam is probably the worlds first written grammar.
    Tamil alphabet do not represent sounds/phonemes, rather places of articulation (pirappidam) from where all possibla phonemes are created in day to day use. Tamil in its day to day usage displays large number of phonemes, where as sound based alphabets display limited (some time special) sounds.

    For Tamil, christian era is yesterday. Even Prakrit era is yesterday. Yes there was an influence of Sanskrit in later period for various politico religious reasons.

    Tamils is a classical language, dating even before the other few classical languages.

    It would be nice if the author research even further before commenting.

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    According to Dr Ambedkar
    A BUDDHIST dalit who helped form Indias consitution
    Tamil people were the original people of the entire subcontinent and they were racially known as the ‘Naga’
    He says that the term ‘Dravidian’ was created by the caucasian invaders who took over the subcontinent
    Australian aboriginees worship the rainbow serpent
    Many African cultures too worship the serpent
    The Inkanyamba of Southern Africa is believed to be linked to the ancestors of many tribes
    The Olmecs of Mexico (who look african) were led by the god quetzalcoatl, who was the winged serpent
    I know some Black Americans who say that the racist derogatory term ‘nigger’ actually came from Naga.
    Since the european slave masters saw the original black people refer to themselves as the Naga
    I dont know what ‘Indo Aryan’ is supposed to mean
    But Naga to me is connected to the ancient black skinned people of the earth

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      That’s how we should address our dear DR as Nanga naga.

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    Dear Ratnavalli,

    It is really a extremely valuable write up, with a lot of facts and archaeological evidence. I presume you are a historian. Am I correct?

    Thanks

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      You aren’t correct when you are a masquerading Leeloid.

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    An interesting interview:
    http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/172-opinion/49152-buddhism-existed-before-mihindu-thera.htm

    I am sure sections of this interview will be interesting to readers interested in different aspects of our history.

    Dr.Rajasingham Narendran

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      Dr.Rajasingham

      The link to the interview is broken. Here is the interview:

      Buddhism existed before Mihindu thera

      WEDNESDAY, 02 JULY 2014 00:06 E-mail Print

      Buddhism existed in Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Mihindu Thera says Professor Raj Somadeva an eminent Archaeologist in an exclusive interview with the.

      He also says he has concrete evidence to prove that the history of Sri Lanka goes beyond the period of Vijaya and Kuveni.
      He was also involved with the excavations on the mass grave in Matale. In an interview with the Professor Somadeva said it was sad that Sri Lanka did not give much attention to the development of Archaeology. He says with time, there would be many additions to the already learnt history, but there seems to be no way of updating the knowledge for future generations. Excerpts:

      Q You claim that the history of Sri Lanka goes back to more than 2500 years. This goes beyond the period of Vijaya and Kuveni. Do you have evidence to prove this?

      The shortest answer I can give is that it is a truth. I have evidence to prove this point and also the findings of other scholars to
      prove this.
      The fact that our history begins with the arrival of King Vijaya is solely based on historical accounts. History of a society is a process. It is the society’s duty to give definitions to certain events according to time changes. Along with time, changes may appear in historical accounts. Since it is the present generation which gives various definitions to history, history belongs to the present.
      I can answer your question in two ways. First is according historians, the history of Sri Lanka runs more than 125,000 years. Evidence has been found that Homo Sapiens have established themselves in Sri Lanka. Later they adjusted themselves and created a culture which was suitable to the environment. Second is that the transition period between the existence of Homosapiens and the confirmed history.
      In other words that is the last period of the existence of early Homosapiens and the beginning of the history known to us. Accordingly there is a clear culture transition. But to confirm on this, we need to do more in-depth study.

      Q According to you, Buddhism was already there in Sri Lanka and it was introduced prior to the visit of Mihindu Thera. But for many years we believed that Buddhism was introduced by Mihindu Thera. How can you contest this widely accepted belief?

      The majority acceptance of a fact does not mean that it in fact, is true. For instance at one point of time majority of our ancestors believed that the earth was flat. But I emphasise I have no desire to challenge to a widely accepted fact. But when doing more research and reading changes might appear in to what is already accepted.
      I said Buddhism existed in Sri Lanka even before the arrival of Mihindu Thera based on my observations. When I observed temples and their expansions. They share similar eminence with graffiti.
      Also the fact that Lord Buddha visited Sri Lanka thrice indirectly suggests that Buddhism may have existed in the country during that period also. It is questionable as to why nobody embraced Buddhism after Lord Buddha visited three occasions.
      The incidents which were based for Lord Buddhas’ arrival are connected with Yakka and Naga tribes affairs. This is authenticated by the frescoes we have found so far.
      When I say that another might question whether there was writing proficiency by then as that was long before Mihindu Thera’s arrival. The commonly accepted fact was that letters were introduced during the reign of Emperor Asoka. But this is also contested now. Professor Shiran Deraniyagala found a piece of a pot which consisted of letters. This piece belongs to 300 BC. Many people did not want to accept this as it was different from what was already accepted.
      However, my assumptions are based on the materials I find during the studies and excavations. We hope to carry on physical specialities in the caves we have carried on our observations.

      Q What is your opinion with regard to Divaguhava? Have we actually found it or what is considered as Divaguhava is not the real one?

      I have to say that I am unable to give an answer to the said question. It is very dangerous to compare archaeological facts with historical realities. Archaeological facts must be explained independently. For example when you observe cave temples in Kalthota it is being found out that they are ancient. When digging further this also leads to the fact that Buddhism has existed before the period we think. Therefore in answering a question like this the better way is to investigate it in an empirical way. Even in an archaeological excavation it will be impossible to answer the question asked.

      Q One of the incidents that drew great attention locally and internationally was the Matale Mass Grave. What are your conclusions about this archaeological finding?

      I have provided my observations in the report I have submitted. When I got involved in that case some of my collegues were not happy about it. Their question was what an archaeologist can do in an issue as such. But I must say an Archaeologist always deals with material evidence. Therefore, we can give a definition to matter which belongs to any time period. In the report I have specifically mentioned that it was essential to mention to observe the material and evidence further and I have recommended the laboratory which provides such advanced services. As a Professional I have rendered my service. The step byond that is with the Authorities.

      Q Some feel that Archaeology is somewhat a neglected field in Sri Lanka . Do you agree? What are your thoughts about the place Sri Lanka has given for archaeology?

      With the economy of Sri Lanka, it is impossible to expect the authorities would focus on empowerment of areas such as Archaeology. But that should not be a barrier to engage in archaeological excavations
      and studies.
      It is the duty of the professionals to explore the history and seek knowledge about a country. In fact archaeology is a separate discipline. Proficiency comes along with the experience. I do not think a Government Institute or Ministry could control the quality of such a discipline. The only way they can uplift is by providing financial bases
      and principles.

      Q Sri Lanka has a rich history of more than 2,500 years. Considering this, how does the developments in the archaeology field compare with the rest of the world?

      As a professional it is impossible to answer this question. Yet yes, there seem to be a laid back attitude in archaeological matters. There are many reasons for this. More than the wealth of knowledge, our younger generation chase after
      materialistic comforts.

      Q What action has been taken to safeguard archaeological findings of great importance? Are you satisfied about the protection given to such items?

      The question is out of my tangent. This should be answered by the Department of Archaeology and National Museum Department. Unfortunately, the prominence given towards the field of Archaeology is highly unsatisfactory.

      http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/172-opinion/49152-buddhism-existed-before-mihindu-thera.html

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    The people who are living in SriLanka have lived for generations and generations… Nobody migrated from any other part of Sri Lanka recently. Why not we all get together and live happily rather than fighting over who came first to Sri lanka, this and that. Srilankan people are cting like children. May peace prevail in this beautiful country… We haven’t come to this world to live forever. Bearing this in our minds why can’t we promote a more peaceful SriLanka rather than fighting over minor things like children.

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    Kids think in a mature manner. Lets all get together and promote peace…. Without peace generations to come will have to suffer…

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    Kids think in a mature manner. Lets all get together and promote peace…. Without peace generations to come will have to suffer… Let us all get together and discuss methods to find peace among our people.. That’s the best thing to do at this time. not to find the differences… not to find where people came and so on.. Use your brains and try to find a solution without a blood shed…

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    Kindly watch this….

    [Edited out]

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    Revisionist historians with ulterior motives( as is the case with Rathinavalli)will stop short at anything to argue against coventional wisdom and settled historical findings.

    According to Rathinavalli although she looks like a half cast African woman with curly hair that her ancestors were Aryan and that they spoke sanskirit or a drivatite of that ie Prakirit.Her only aim is to say anything and every thing to challenge the received wisdom of all the historians, archiologists and anthropologists to establish her delusional theory that Prakrit speakers lived in Eelam ( Jaffana in particular)and South India ( Tamilnadu in particular) before there were Dravidian/Tamil speakers.

    Tha Tamil history establishes that it originated from the continent of Lemuria or Kumari kandam and therefore all the Africans, Dravidians and Austranesians are related people. Rathinavalli whose appearance clearly show that she has this Lemurian genes ( African/Austrenesian)as she looks like a half caste African or an Aboriginal Austrailan with frizzy hair, no respect intended to Rathinavalli as I am only stating the obvious.

    Until recently as 2000 years ago there was no smell of any Aryan ( sanskiri, Prakirit and Pali) speakers any where in the Southern part of South Asia where Tamilnadu and Thamil Eelam are situated.

    The inferirity complex of these later arrivals such as the Aryans and the misguided Sinhalese (as I do not ascribe to the theory that Sinhalese are Aryan and Sinhalese are pure Dravidian like us Tamils) are attempting to re -write the history. Rathinavalli’s attempt to write some mumbo jumbo stuff is also a vein attempt in that direction.

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