DRAVIDIAN SETTLEMENTS IN CEYLON
Excerpts from Karthigesu Indrapala's
PhD thesis
University of London 1965 *
(* click to read about the author)
- Until the ninth century, with the exception of the
megalithic remains of Pomparippu and the possible exception of those Katiraveli, there is
no definite evidence regarding Dravidian settlement in the island.
- No definite evidence regarding any significant Tamil
settlement in the Batticaloa district of the Eastern Province, which is now a
predominantly Tamil area, or in other parts of Southern Ceylon has so far come to light.
It is possible that there were some Tamil settlers in the Batticaloa district from the
thirteenth century onwards, we get archeological, epigraphic and literary evidence
pointing to Tamil settlements in the area.
- It may be recollected that several writers on the
history of Jaffna, basing their studies on the traditional legends found in the late Tamil
chronicles, have put forward certain theories claiming the establishment of Tamil
settlements in Jaffna in the period of the Anuradhapura rulers. These theories are not
accepted by serious students of history as they are not based on trustworthy data. Many of
these have been convincingly dismissed by scholars in recent years. It is therefore, not
our intention to analyse these theories and take serious notice of writings which at best
could be described as popular.
- Jaffna peninsula does not help us to know anything about
the identity of the people who lived there in the pre Christian centuries. The Pali
chronicle informs us that the port of Jambukola (Camputturai), on the eastern coast
of the peninsula, was the main port of embarkation to Tamralipti in Eastern India from at
least the time of Devanampriya Tissa (250-210 B.C.) The main embassies from the island to
the court of Asoka embarked on their voyage from Jambukola. Sangamitta arrived with the
Bo-sapling at this port. The Samuddha-panna-sala, commemorating the arrival of the Bo
sapling, and the Jambukola Vihare were built there by Devanampriya Tissa. These facts only
reveal that the northern most part of the island was under the suzerainty of the
Anuradhapura king in the third century B.C. and that Buddhism had begun to spread by that
time in that part of the island as in the other parts. But it is in the second century AD
that we get some evidence regarding the people living there.
- The language of the gold plate inscription from
Vallipuram, the earliest epigraphic record discovered in the Jaffna peninsula, is the
early form of Sinhalese, in which inscriptions of the time in other parts of the island
were written. This may suggest that the Sinhalese were settled in the Jaffna peninsula, or
in some parts at least, in the second century A.D. There were perhaps Tamil traders in the
port of Jambukola but there is no evidence that points to Tamil settlements in the
peninsula.
- The gold plate from Vallipuram reveals that there were
buddhists in that part of the peninsula in the second century A.D. At the site of this
inscription the foundations are in the premises of a modern Visnu temple. There is little
doubt that the Visnu temple was the original Buddhist monument converted in to a Vaisnava
establishment at a later date when Tamils settled in the area. Such conversion of Buddhist
establishments into Saiva and Vaisnava temples seems to have been a common phenomenon in
the peninsula after it was settled by Dravidians. In the premised of another Visnu temple
at Moolai were discovered some "vestiges of ancient remains of walls" and a
broken sedent Buddha image. Again in a Saiva temple at Mahiyapitti a Buddha image was
found under a stone step in the temple tank. A lime-stone Buddha image and the remains of
an ancient dagaba were unearthed at Nilavarai in Navakiri. Among the debris were two
sculptured fragments of shaped coral stones with a stone railing design. According to
D.T.Devendra, who conducted the excavation at this site, the dagaba can be dated at least
to the tenth century A.D. Near these ruins are the foundations of an ancient building and
in the middle of thesis a modern Siva temple. It has been conjectured, and rightly so,
that the old foundations are those of the Vihara attached to the ancient dagaba. Buddha
images have also been discovered in Uduvil.
- Kantarodai and Jaffna town Kantarodai has yielded very
important Buddhist establishment in the region in early times. Such artifacts as the
glazed tiles and the circular discs discovered here have helped to connect the finds with
those of Anuradhapura. The Sinhala nampota dated in its present form to the fourteenth or
fifteenth century, preserved the names of some of the places of Buddhist worship in the
Jaffna peninsula, kantarodai is mentioned among these places. The others are nagakovila
(Nakarkovil), Telipola (Tellippalai), Mallagama (Mallakam), Minuwangomu Viharaya
(Vimankaram) Tanjidivayina.
- (Tana-tivu or kayts), Nagadivayina (Nkativu or
Nayinatovu). Puvangudivayina (Punkutu-tivu) and Kradivayina (Karaitivu). Of the Buddhist
establishments in these places only the vihara and Dag at Nakativu has survived to this
day. It is justifiable to assume that the Nampotalist dates back time when the Buddhist
establishments of these placed were well known centres of worship. This was probably
before the thirteenth century, for after this date the people of the Jaffna peninsula were
mainly Saivas. The foregoing evidence points to the inevitable conclusion that in the
Anuradhapura period, and possibly till about the twelfth century, there were Buddhists in
the Jaffna peninsula. Although it may appear reasonable to presume that these buddhists
were Sinhalese like those in other parts of the island, some have tried to argue that they
were Tamils. While it is true that there were Tamil Buddhists in South India and Ceylon
before the twelfth century and possibly even later, there is evidence to show that the
Buddhists who occupied the Jaffna peninsula in the Anuradhapura period were Sinhalese. We
refer to the toponymic evidence which unmistakably points to the presence of Sinhala
settlers in the peninsula before Tamils settled there. In an area of only about nine
hundred square miles covered by this peninsula, there occur over a thousand Sinhalese
place names which have survived in a Tamil garb.
- The Yalppana-vaipava-malai, the Tamil chronicle
of Jaffna, confirms this when it states that there were Sinhalese people in Jaffna at the
time of the first Tamil colonization of the area. Secondly, the survival of Sinhalese
elements on the local nomenclature indicates a slow and peaceful penetration of Tamils in
the area rather than violent occupation. This is in contrast with the evidence of the
place names of the North Central Province, where Sinhalese names have been largely
replaced by Tamil names. The large percentage of Sinhalese element and the occurrence of
Sinhala and Tamil compounds in the place names of Jaffna point to a long survival of the
Sinhala population and an intimate intercourse between them and the Tamils. This is also,
borne out by the retention of some territorial names, like Valikamam (Sinh. Valigama) and
Maracci (Maracci-rata), which points to the retention of the old territorial divisions and
tell strongly against wholesale extermination of displacement of the Sinhalese population.
- The earliest evidence regarding the presence of Tamils
in the Jaffna peninsula is possible the Tamil inscription of Parakramabahu I (1153-1186)
from Nainativu. We have seen earlier that till about the ninth century our evidence points
to minor settlements of Tamils in such important ports as Mahatitha (Mannar) and Gokanna
(Trincomalee) as well as in Anuradhapura, where there was a considerable number of
mercenary soldiers. In the nineth and tenth centuries some villages in Rajarattha seem to
have accommodated Tamil settlers but these were by no means numerous. It seems unlikely
that there were many Tamil settlers in the Jaffna peninsula or in any part of the island
other than the major ports and the capital city before the tenth century. As we stated
earlier, there were perhaps some Tamil traders in the ports of Jambukola and Uratota, in
the Jaffna peninsula. But we have no evidence on this point.
- The Sanskrit inscription from Trincomalee discovered
among the ruins of the Konesvram temple, refers to a personage names (Cadaganga who went
to Ceylon in 1223. Paranavitana had identified this person with Kulakkottan. The
inscription is fragmentary and is engraved on a part of a stone door jamb. Among the
decipherable words is the name Gokarna, the ancient name of Trincomalee and the root from
which the name of the temple is derived (Gokarnesvara)
- In the Tamil Vanni districts only a few Dravidian style
Saiva temples of the thirteenth century have been found. Among these the temples at
Tirukkovil, Kapuralla and Nallatanni-irakkam and the Saiva remains at Uruttirapuram and
Kuruntanur are notable. These certainly indicate the existence or Tamil settlements in
those places in the thirteenth century.
But monumental remains of a different type attest to the destruction wrought by the
invaders and the conversion of Buddhist institutions into places of Saiva worship,
effected by the new settlers, thus confirming the statements in the Sinhala sources. The
many scattered ruins of Buddhist monasteries and temples all over the Vanni region
preserve the memory of the Sinhalese Buddhist settlements that once covered these parts.
Several of the pilimages (image houses) attached to the monasteries in places like
Kovilkadu, Malikai, Omantai, Kankarayan-kulam, Iracentiran-kulam, Cinnappuvaracankulam and
Madukanda were converted into Saiva temples, often dedicated to Ganesa . Buddha images or
inscribed slabs from the Buddhist structures were used to make the Ganesa statues (
J.P. Lewis Manual of the Vanni Districts, pp. 297, 303-306, 311) A number of small Saiva
shrines have been found in association with Buddhist remains. The destruction of several
of the Buddhist edifices and the conversion of pilimages into Saiva temples may have begun
at the time of Magha. In the North central Province too, we find evidence of such
activities. On Minneriya Road close to Polonnaruwa were discovered a few Saiva edifies
which were built of material from Buddhist structures. A door jamb from one of the Saiva
shrines there was found to bear part of an inscription of Parakramabahu I. A broken pillar
shaft with Sinhalese writing of the tenth century was recovered from the enclosing wall of
another shrine. In one of the Visnu temples of Polonnaruwa fragments of Nissankamalla's
stone inscriptions were found. In the same place, two fragments of a broken pillar with
Sinhalese writing about the tenth century served as steps of one of the Vaisnava shrines.
A pillar in the mandapa of Siva Devale No.5 at Polonnaruwa was discovered with a Sinhala
inscription of the eleventh century on it. In Siva Devale No.7 a square stone asana with
an inscription of Nissankamalla was used as a base for a linga. Another of the Saiva
shrines unearthed at Polonnaruwa yielded a pillar with a Sinhalese inscription of Jayabahu
I. These examples leave us in no doubt that materials from Buddhist structures were used
in the building of Saiva and Vaisnava temples. The date of most inscriptions found on the
pillars and slabs is the twelfth century. The date of the construction of these Saiva and
Vaisanava shrines is certainly later than that.
The invasion of Magha with the help of Kerala and Tamil
mercenaries was far more violent than the earlier invasions. Its chief importance lies in
the fact that it led to the permanent dislodgement of Sinhalese power from northern
Ceylon, the confiscation by Tamils and Keralas of lands and properties belonging to the
Sinhalese and the consequent migration of the official class and many of the common people
to the south western regions.
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