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Gurunagar
Gurunagar () is a coastal village in Jaffna city in northern Sri Lanka. Gurunagar is also known as ''Karaiyur'' (). The suburb is divided into two village officer divisions (Gurunagar East and Gurunagar West) whose combined population was 3,520 at the 2012 census. The suburb is mainly populated by Catholic Sri Lankan Tamils, engaged in sea activities. The village is known in Jaffna due to its maritime history and also served as the western sector of the Jaffna Kingdom. Etymology Gurunagar, also spelled as ''Kurunagar'' derives its words from ''Kuru'' and ''Nagar'' (Urban centre in Tamil). The word ''Kuru'' is a clans name used by the Karaiyars also known as ''Kurukulam,'' who make up majority of Gurunagar. Karaiyur, as it was earlier known as stems from the Tamil words ''Karai'' (coast) and Ur (village). Karaiyur was marked in the Dutch maps as ''Cereoer.'' History The earliest settlers of Jaffna, were according to local legend, a musician and his kinsfolk. The sur ...
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Jaffna Municipal Council
Jaffna Municipal Council (; JMC) is the Local government in Sri Lanka, local authority for the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. JMC is responsible for providing a variety of local public services including roads, sanitation, drains, housing, libraries, public parks and recreational facilities. Established in January 1949 as a successor to Jaffna Urban Council, it currently has 45 members elected using the mixed electoral system. History The first organised local government for the city of Jaffna was the sanitary board established under the ''Sanitary Boards Ordinance No. 18 of 1892''. The board consisted of the local Government Agent (Sri Lanka), Government Agent (chair) and other local officials from the British administration. A local board was established in July 1906 under the ''Local Boards Ordinance No. 13 of 1898''. The board consisted of six members, three official (including the Government Agent who was chair) and three unofficial representing three wards - central, ea ...
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Jaffna
Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th List of cities in Sri Lanka, most populous city. Jaffna is approximately from Kandarodai which served as an Marketplace, emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical antiquity. Jaffna's suburb Nallur, Jaffna, Nallur served as the capital of the four-century-long medieval Tamil Jaffna Kingdom. Prior to the Sri Lankan civil war, 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 plac ...
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Mandaithivu Sea Massacre
Mandaithivu sea massacre was a civilian massacre of ethnic Tamils by members of the Sri Lankan Navy off the coast of Mandaitivu island of the Jaffna peninsula. 33 civilians, all of them fishermen mostly from Gurunagar, who had been fishing at sea were attacked, tortured and murdered by Sri Lankan Navy personnel on 10 June 1986. Massacre Mandaitivu is an islet situated off the Jaffna peninsula and is connected to the city of Jaffna by means of a causeway. On 10 June 1986, Sri Lankan Navy personnel clad in black clothes approached a group of fishermen who were in the sea. The fishermen raised their hands to show they were civilians. The Navy however began to attack the fishermen and destroying their boats and nets. All of the fishermen were tortured and brutally murdered. The eyes of some fishermen were gouged out. Stomachs of some fishermen were cut open. In all 32 fishermen from Gurunagar and one from Mandaitivu village were killed by the Navy. Semon Mariyathas (41), the o ...
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Karaiyar
Karaiyar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found mainly on the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora. They are traditionally a seafaring community that is engaged in fishing, shipment and seaborne trade. They fish customarily in deep seas or on shore, and employ gillnet and seine fishing methods. The Karaiyars were the major maritime traders and boat owners who among other things, traded with pearls, chanks, tobacco, and shipped goods overseas to countries such as India, Myanmar and Indonesia. The community known for their maritime history, are also reputed as a warrior caste who contributed as army and navy soldiers of Tamil kings. They were noted as the army generals and navy captains of the Aryacakravarti dynasty. The Karaiyars emerged in the 1980s as strong representatives of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism. The nuclear leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have background in the wealthier enterprisin ...
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Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, Indian peninsula by the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait. It shares a maritime border with the Maldives in the southwest and India in the northwest. Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte is the legislative capital of Sri Lanka, while the largest city, Colombo, is the administrative and judicial capital which is the nation's political, financial and cultural centre. Kandy is the second-largest urban area and also the capital of the last native kingdom of Sri Lanka. The most spoken language Sinhala language, Sinhala, is spoken by the majority of the population (approximately 17 million). Tamil language, Tamil is also spoken by approximately five million people, making it the second most-spoken language in Sri Lanka. Sri Lanka has a population of appr ...
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Land Reclamation
Land reclamation, often known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new Terrestrial ecoregion, land from oceans, list of seas, seas, Stream bed, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamation ground, reclaimed land, or land fill. History In ancient Egypt, the rulers of the Twelfth Dynasty of Egypt, Twelfth Dynasty (c. 2000–1800 BC) undertook a far-sighted land reclamation scheme to increase agricultural output. They constructed levees and canals to connect the Faiyum Oasis, Faiyum with the Bahr Yussef waterway, diverting water that would have flowed into Lake Moeris and causing gradual evaporation around the lake's edges, creating new farmland from the reclaimed land. A similar land reclamation system using dams and drainage canals was used in the Greek Lake Copais, Copaic Basin during the Middle Helladic period, Middle Helladic Period (c. 1900–1600 BC). Another early large-s ...
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Catholicism
The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions and has played a prominent role in the history and development of Western civilization.Gerald O'Collins, O'Collins, p. v (preface). The church consists of 24 Catholic particular churches and liturgical rites#Churches, ''sui iuris'' (autonomous) churches, including the Latin Church and 23 Eastern Catholic Churches, which comprise almost 3,500 dioceses and Eparchy, eparchies List of Catholic dioceses (structured view), around the world, each overseen by one or more Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishops. The pope, who is the bishop of Rome, is the Papal supremacy, chief pastor of the church. The core beliefs of Catholicism are found in the Nicene Creed. The ...
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Cankili I
Cankili I () (died 1565), also known as Segarasasekaram (Jaga Rajasekharam), is the most remembered Jaffna kingdom king in the Sri Lankan Tamil history. He was active in resisting Portuguese colonial inroads into Sri Lanka. He inherited his throne via palace intrigues in which a number of heirs died under mysterious circumstances. Ultimately, he was removed from power by a local uprising that led to his son Puviraja Pandaram taking nominal power from him. Biography 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; they couple were the parents of Paranirupasingham. Cankili's mother had Cankili and a daughter named ''Paravai''. As part of palace intrigues, Cankili was able to ascend the throne. Rule According to a letter by ''Andre de Souza'', ordered Cankili I on November 1544 the murder of his eldest son for converting to ...
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Nallur (Jaffna)
Nallur (; ) is an affluent suburb in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It is located 3 km south from Jaffna city centre. Nallur is most famous for Nallur Kandaswamy temple, one of Sri Lanka's most sacred place of pilgrimage for Sri Lankan Hindus. Nallur is also famous for being the historical capital of the old Jaffna Kingdom and birthplace of renowned philosopher and theologian, Arumuka Navalar. Etymology The name Nall-ur was colloquially used by natives in Jaffna to refer to the town as the 'place of high castes'.Pon Kulendiren’s‘Hinduism a Scientific Religion, & Some Temples in Sri Lanka’, page 154 The first part of the word Nallur ( ''Nall'' ) derives from the Tamil word ‘''Nalla''’ which means 'good'. In the past, it was Tamil linguistic tradition to refer to somebody of a higher or more socially upward caste as 'Nalla akkal' (good people). The second part to the name ( ''Ur'' ) means place or region. This loosely used name for the town is believed to have been adopted ...
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Ibn Battuta
Ibn Battuta (; 24 February 13041368/1369), was a Maghrebi traveller, explorer and scholar. Over a period of 30 years from 1325 to 1354, he visited much of Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Iberian Peninsula. Near the end of his life, Ibn Battuta dictated an account of his journeys, titled '' A Gift to Those Who Contemplate the Wonders of Cities and the Marvels of Travelling'', commonly known as ''The Rihla''. Ibn Battuta travelled more than any other explorer in pre-modern history, totalling around , surpassing Zheng He with about and Marco Polo with . Name "Ibn Battuta" is a patronymic, literally meaning 'son of a duckling'. His most common full name is given as Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battuta. In his travelogue, '' The Rihla'', he gives his full name as " Shams al-Din Abu ’Abdallah Muhammad ibn ’Abdallah ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Yusuf Lawati al- Tanji ibn Battuta". Early life All that is known about Ibn Battuta's life comes from the au ...
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Port
A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manchester and Duluth; these access the sea via rivers or canals. Because of their roles as ports of entry for immigrants as well as soldiers in wartime, many port cities have experienced dramatic multi-ethnic and multicultural changes throughout their histories. Ports are extremely important to the global economy; 70% of global merchandise trade by value passes through a port. For this reason, ports are also often densely populated settlements that provide the labor for processing and handling goods and related services for the ports. Today by far the greatest growth in port development is in Asia, the continent with some of the world's largest and busiest ports, such as Singapore and the Chinese ports of Shanghai and Ningbo-Zhoushan. As ...
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Aryacakravarti Dynasty
The Arya Chakravarti dynasty (, Sinhalese: ආර්ය චක්‍රවර්තී රාජවංශය) were kings of the Jaffna Kingdom in Sri Lanka. The earliest Sri Lankan sources, between 1277 and 1283, mention a military leader of this name as a minister in the services of the Pandyan Empire; he raided the western Sri Lankan coast and took the politically significant relic of the Buddha's tooth from the Sinhalese capital city of Yapahuwa. Political and military leaders of the same family name left a number of inscriptions in the modern-day Tamil Nadu state, with dates ranging from 1272 to 1305, during the late Pandyan Empire. According to contemporary native literature, such as ''Cekaracecekaramalai'', the family also claimed lineage from the Tamil Brahmins of the prominent Hindu pilgrimage temple of Rameswaram in the modern Ramanathapuram District of India. They ruled the Jaffna kingdom from the 13th until the 17th century, when the last of the dynasty, Cankili ...
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