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Vannimai
The Vanni chieftaincies or Vanni principalities was a region between Anuradhapura and Jaffna, but also extending to along the eastern coast to Panama and Yala, during the Transitional and Kandyan periods of Sri Lanka. The heavily forested land was a collection of chieftaincies of principalities that were a collective buffer zone between the Jaffna Kingdom, in the north of Sri Lanka, and the Sinhalese kingdoms in the south. Traditionally the forest regions were ruled by Vedda rulers. Later on, the emergence of these chieftaincies were a direct result of the breakdown of central authority and the collapse of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa in the 13th century, as well as the establishment of the Jaffna Kingdom in the Jaffna Peninsula. Control of this area was taken over by dispossessed Sinhalese nobles and chiefs of the South Indian military of Māgha of Kalinga (1215–1236), whose 1215 invasion of Polonnaruwa led to the kingdom's downfall. Sinhalese chieftaincies would lay on th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanniar (Chieftain)
Vanniar or Vanniyar (, ) was a title borne by chiefs in medieval Sri Lanka who ruled in the Chiefdom of Vavuni regions as tribute payers to the Jaffna vassal state. There are a number of origin theories for the feudal chiefs, coming from an indigenous formation. The most famous of the Vavni chieftains was Pandara Vannian, known for his resistance against the British colonial power. Etymology The word ''Vanni'' may have been a derivation of the Tamil word ''vanam'', meaning "forest", with Vanniar meaning "person from the forest". History Medieval Tamil chronicles such as the 18th-century '' Yalpana Vaipava Malai'' and stone inscriptions like Konesar Kalvettu recount that the Chola royal Kankan, a descendant of the legendary King Manu Needhi Cholan of Thiruvarur, Chola Nadu, restored the Koneswaram temple at Trincomalee and the Kantalai tank after finding them in ruins. He visited the Munneswaram temple on the west coast, before settling ancient Vanniars in the east of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Tamils
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Province and are in the minority throughout the rest of the country. 70% of Sri Lankan Tamils in Sri Lanka live in the Northern and Eastern provinces. Modern Sri Lankan Tamils descend from residents of the Jaffna Kingdom, a former kingdom in the north of Sri Lanka and Vannimai chieftaincies from the east. According to the anthropological and archaeological evidence, Sri Lankan Tamils have a very long history in Sri Lanka and have lived on the island since at least around the 2nd century BCE. The Sri Lankan Tamils are mostly Hindus with a significant Christian population. Sri Lankan Tamil literature on topics including religion and the sciences flourished during the medieval period in the court of the Jaffna Kingdom. Since the beginni ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaffna Kingdom
The Jaffna Kingdom ( ta, யாழ்ப்பாண அரசு, si, යාපනය රාජධානිය; 1215–1624 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally thought to have been established after the invasion of Kalinga Magha from Kalinga in India.Nadarajan, V. ''History of Ceylon Tamils'', p. 72Indrapala, K. ''Early Tamil Settlements in Ceylon'', p. 16 Established as a powerful force in the north, northeast and west of the island, it eventually became a tribute-paying feudatory of the Pandyan Empire in modern South India in 1258, gaining independence when the last Pandyan ruler of Madurai was defeated and expelled in 1323 by Malik Kafur, the army general of the Delhi Sultanate. For a brief period in the early to mid-14th century it was an ascendant power in the island of Sri Lanka, to which all regional ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhala Kingdom
The Sinhala Kingdom or Sinhalese Kingdom refers to the successive Sinhalese kingdoms that existed in what is today Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese kingdoms are kingdoms known by the city at which its administrative centre was located. These are in chronological order: the kingdoms of Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Gampola, Kotte, Sitawaka and Kandy. The Sinhala kingdom ceased to exist by 1815, following the British takeover. While the Sinhala kingdom existed from 543 BCE to 1815 CE, other political entities co-existed in Sri Lanka spanning certain partial periods, including the Jaffna kingdom (which existed 1215–1624 CE), Vanni chieftaincies (which existed from 12th century –1803 CE) and the Portuguese and Dutch colonies (Which existed 1597–1658 CE and 1640–1796 respectively). During these partial periods of time, these political entities were not part of the Sinhala Kingdom, except Jaffna and the Vanni cheiftaincies following the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pandara Vanniyan
Pandara Vanniyan ( ta, பண்டார வன்னியன், Paṇṭāra Vaṉṉiyaṉ, si, වන්නි බණ්ඩාර, Vanni Baṇḍāra) was a Tamil Chieftain who ruled in Vanni Nadu in 18th century AD. He is referred to by some as the last Tamil king in Sri Lanka, who also rose to revolt against the British Ceylon empire and Dutch Ceylon empire, who died battling the British colonial rule on the island. He was officially declared a National Hero of Sri Lanka in 1982. Biography Kulasegaram Vairamuthu Pandara Vanniyan was a native of Vanni. The 'Vanniyan' here is different from the caste of the same name. Much remains unclear about his family, but reports state that he had one sister, Nallanachal Vanniyan, and two younger brothers called Kayilaya Vanniyan (Minister) and Periya Meynaar (Commander of the State). Pandara Vanniyan married Kumarasinghe Maha Vanniya’s family of present day Nuwara Wewa, who held the office of residential Governor and Cus ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most populous city. Jaffna is approximately from Kandarodai which served as an emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical antiquity. Jaffna's suburb Nallur served as the capital of the four-century-long medieval Jaffna Kingdom. Prior to the Sri Lankan Civil War, it was Sri Lanka's second most populous city after Colombo. The 1980s insurgent uprising led to extensive damage, expulsion of part of the population, and military occupation. Since the end of civil war in 2009, refugees and internally displaced people began returning to homes, while government and private sector reconstruction started taking place. Historically, Jaffna has been a contested city. It was made into a colonial port town during the Portuguese occupation of t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mukkuva
Sri Lankan Mukkuvar () is a Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil speaking ethnic group found in the Western and Eastern coastal regions of Sri Lanka. They are primarily concentrated in the districts of Batticaloa, Ampara and Puttalam. They are also related to "Sri Lankan Moors". Sri Lankan Mukkuvars along with Eastern Muslims of Sri Lankan claim their origin from Kerala and matrilineal in practice. Recent studies show their habits and clan structure, as well as dialects, show affinity towards the Northern Kerala regions.https://www.colorado.edu/faculty/mcgilvray-dennis/sites/default/files/attached-files/mcgilvray_1982_mukkuvar_vannimai.pdf It is still unclear when did this group migrated from South Western India to Sri Lanka. Mukkuvars traditionally involved in fishing, conch shell and pearl diving but are also rendered their service as Mercenaries and Naval Mariners to Kings of Sri Lanka, today most of them involved in agriculture. They also include the major landlords in the Eastern Provi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sinhalese Kings
The Sinhalese monarch -- anachronistically referred to as the Kings of Sri Lanka—featured the heads of state of the Sinhala Kingdoms, in what is today Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese monarchy originates in the settlement of North Indian Indo-Aryan speaking immigrants to the island of Sri Lanka. The Landing of Vijay (as described in the traditional early chronicles of the island, the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa) recounts the date of the establishment of the first Sinhala Kingdom in 543 BC when Indian prince Prince Vijaya (543–505 BC) and 700 of his followers arrived in Sri Lanka, establishing the Kingdom of Tambapanni.Mittal (2006) p 405 In Sinhalese mythology, Prince Vijaya and followers are told to be the progenitors of the Sinhalese people. However, according to the story in the Divyavadana, the immigrants were probably not led by a scion of a royal house in India, as told in the romantic legend, but rather may have been groups of adventurous and pioneering merchants explor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Vanni (Sri Lanka)
The Vanni, also spelled Wanni, is the name given to the mainland area of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It covers the entirety of Mannar, Mullaitivu and Vavuniya Districts, and most of Kilinochchi District, and has an area of approximately . The population and infrastructure of the Vanni were devastated by the Sri Lankan Civil War. History Tamil feudal chiefs called Vanniar chiefs who have their origin here cultivated the Vanni in the first millennium of the Common Era governing what were called Vannimai, the Jaffna kingdom's land divisions located south of the Jaffna Peninsula in the present-day Northern, North Central and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka. Geography Geographically, the Vanni is distinct from the Jaffna Peninsula, the other area of the Northern Province. Jaffna peninsula is irrigated by underground aquifers fed by wells whereas the Vanni has irrigation tanks fed by perennial rivers. Major rivers include: Akkarayan Aru, Aruvi Aru, Kanakarayan Aru, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kingdom Of Kotte
The Kingdom of Kotte ( si, කෝට්ටේ රාජධානිය, Kottay Rajadhaniya), named after its capital, Kotte, was a Sinhalese kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century. Kotte, under the rule of Ming-backed Parakramabahu VI, conquered the Jaffna kingdom and the Vanni principalities, and brought the country under one flag. It led to a punitive invasion against the Vijayanagar dynasty and captured a port, which was converted to a trade route. The Kotte Kingdom was largely dissolved during the Sinhalese-Portuguese War, as it faced attacks from rival Sinhalese kingdoms, the Kingdom of Sitawaka and Kingdom of Kandy. Dom João Dharmapala handed it over to the Portuguese, thus leading to the formation of Ceylon. The remainder was annexed into Sitwaka and Kandy. Etymology The term ''Kotte'' is said to have derived from the Sinhalese word ''kotta'' (කෝට්ට) and Tamil word ''kōttei'' which mean fortress.The word ''Kotte'' was introduc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chola Dynasty
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil thalassocratic empire of southern India and one of the longest-ruling dynasties in the history of the world. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka of the Maurya Empire. As one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam, along with the Chera and Pandya, the dynasty continued to govern over varying territories until the 13th century CE. The Chola Empire was at its peak under the Medieval Cholas in the mid-9th century CE. The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the Kaveri River. They ruled a significantly larger area at the height of their power from the later half of the 9th century till the beginning of the 13th century. They unified peninsular India south of the Tungabhadra River, and held the territory as one state for three centuries between 907 and 1215 CE. K. A. Nilakanta Sastri, ''A History of South India'', p 157 Under Rajaraja I an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Velakkara
Velakkaras are royal guards mentioned in various historical accounts of Sri Lanka. The general prevailing notion is that they were Tamil mercenaries employed by the Sinhala and Tamil kings. They were considered to be loyal to the king, but occasionally rebelled against him as happened during the time of Vijayabahu Vijayabahu I (born ''Prince Keerthi'') (ruled 1055–1110), also known as Vijayabahu the Great, was a medieval king of Sri Lanka. Born to a royal bloodline, Vijayabahu grew up under Chola occupation. He assumed rulership of the Ruhuna principalit .... Etymology "Velam" in Tamil means "the inner court" and probably these guards were elite and guarded the king and his family. Velam also could be the Sanskrit 'aham', both meaning the inner line of defence in a royal set up. See also * Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka#Historyvellai-kara means time soldiers.vela in tamil have 3 meanings,vel -spear,velai- work,velai- time References {{SriLanka-hist-stub Anuradhapura perio ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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