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Nalavar
Nalavar () is a Tamil caste found in Sri Lanka. They were traditionally occupied in palm tree climbing and toddy tapping. Etymology According to a folk etymology is the name Nalavar a corrupted form of ''Naluvinavar'' (those who decamped), which they gained after withdrawing from a battle field. Another theory suggest the name is derived from ''Nalua'' meaning to climb, in reference to their traditional occupation. It has also been proposed that the name is derived from ''Naravar'' (from ''Naravu,'' ancient Tamil term for toddy). History According to Yalpana Vaipava Malai were the Nalavars originally called ''Nambis'' who originally Vanniar chieftains and served as bowmen. A former subdivision among them were known as ''Kottai Vayil Nalavar'' i.e. "Nalavars in service of the fort". Under the Dutch Ceylon was the Thesavalamai law codified. This law allowed landlords to have slaves, and the Nalavars were also employed as agriculture labors, and were classified along w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Pallar
Sri Lankan Pallar is a Tamil caste found in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. They are traditionally involved in agriculture and were also involved in toddy tapping and artisanal fishing. Etymology The ''Pallar'' name may be derived from ''pallam'', which means a pit or low-lying area. This aligns with their traditional occupation of cultivators of the low wetlands. There is literary evidence that suggests that Pallars were traditional farmers who produced large quantities of food grains, and that some were probably rulers in the Tamil region. The change of name from Mallar to Pallar is thought to have been imposed upon them after the decline of their rule, when the leaders ( Nayaks) of competing tribes wanted to suggest a degradation in status. The caste name is sometimes being spelled as ''Pallan''. The -"an" suffix is originally masculine singular and in colloquial usage often attached when implying disrespect. This usage has been observed for other service castes. The plural a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caste System In Sri Lanka
The caste systems in Sri Lanka are social stratification systems found among the ethnic groups of the island since ancient times. The models are similar to those found in Continental India, but are less extensive and important for various reasons. Modern times Sri Lanka is often considered to be a casteless society in South Asia. The caste systems of Sri Lanka were historically not tied to the religious establishment but rather a tool to service the ruling elite - a model more reminiscent of feudalism in Europe. At least three major, parallel caste systems exist in Sri Lankan society: Sinhalese people, ''Sinhalese'', Sri Lankan Tamils, ''Sri Lankan Tamil'' and Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka, ''Indian Tamils''''.'' A universal welfare system that focused on providing education for everyone regardless of background has provided people from lower caste groups similar opportunities to enter jobs previously only frequented by those in upper-caste groups, with younger generations mostly reje ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Tamil (native)
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, form the plurality 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 Vanni 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 beginning of the Sri L ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dutch Ceylon
Dutch Ceylon (; ) was a governorate established in present-day Sri Lanka by the Dutch East India Company. Although the Dutch managed to capture most of the coastal areas in Sri Lanka, they were never able to control the Kingdom of Kandy located in the interior of the island. Dutch Ceylon existed from 1640 until 1796. In the early 17th century, Sri Lanka was partly ruled by the Portuguese and partly by Sri Lankan ( primarily of Sinhalese origin) kingdoms, who were constantly battling the Portuguese. Although the Portuguese were not winning the war, their rule was oppressive to the people of those areas controlled by them. While the Portuguese were engaged in a long war of independence from Spanish rule, the Sinhalese king (the king of Kandy) invited the Dutch to help defeat the Portuguese. The Dutch interest in Ceylon was to have a united battle front against the Iberians at that time. History Background The Portuguese The Dutch were invited by the Sinhalese to help fig ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kuladevata
A ''kuladevata'' (), also known as a ''kuladaivaṃ'' (), is an ancestral tutelary deity in Hinduism and Jainism. Such a deity is often the object of one's devotion (''bhakti''), and is coaxed to watch over one's clan (''kula''), gotra, family, and children from misfortune. This is distinct from an ''ishta-devata'' (personal tutelar) and a grāmadevatā (village deities). A male deity is called a ''kuladeva'' and female deity ''kuladevi'' (sometimes spelled ''kuldev'' and ''kuldevi'' respectively). Etymology The word ''kuladevata'' is derived from two words: ''kula'', meaning clan, and ''devata'', meaning deity, referring to the ancestral deities that are worshipped by particular clans. Veneration Kuladaivams of the Shaivism, Shaiva tradition are often considered to be forms of Shiva and Parvati, while those of the Vaishnavism, Vaishnava tradition are often regarded to be forms of Vishnu and Lakshmi. Due to the veneration of holy men (''babas'') in several regions of the s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bow And Arrow
The bow and arrow is a ranged weapon system consisting of an elasticity (physics), elastic launching device (bow) and long-shafted projectiles (arrows). Humans used bows and arrows for hunting and aggression long before recorded history, and the practice was common to many prehistoric cultures. They were important weapon of war, weapons of war from ancient history until the early modern period, when they were rendered increasingly obsolete by the development of the more powerful and accurate firearms. Today, bows and arrows are mostly used for bowhunting, hunting and Modern competitive archery, sports. Archery is the art, practice, or skill of using bows to shooting, shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 A person who shoots arrows with a bow is called a bowman or an archer. Someone who makes bows is known as a bowyer,Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 31 someone who makes arrows is a fletching, fletcher,Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 56 and some ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Livestock Branding
Livestock branding is a technique for marking livestock so as to identify the owner. Originally, livestock branding only referred to hot branding large stock with a branding iron, though the term now includes alternative techniques. Other forms of livestock identification include freeze branding, inner lip or ear tattoos, earmarking, ear tagging, and radio-frequency identification (RFID), which is tagging with a microchip implant. The semi-permanent paint markings used to identify sheep are called a paint or color brand. In the American West, branding evolved into a complex marking system still in use today. History The act of marking livestock with fire-heated marks to identify ownership has origins in ancient times, with use dating back to the ancient Egyptians around 2,700 BCE. Among the ancient Romans, the symbols used for brands were sometimes chosen as part of a magic spell aimed at protecting animals from harm. In English lexicon, the word "brand", common to most ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Farmer
A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer might own the farmland or might work as a laborer on land owned by others. In most developed economies, a "farmer" is usually a farm owner ( landowner), while employees of the farm are known as '' farm workers'' (or farmhands). However, in other older definitions a farmer was a person who promotes or improves the growth of plants, land, or crops or raises animals (as livestock or fish) by labor and attention. Over half a billion farmers are smallholders, most of whom are in developing countries and who economically support almost two billion people. Globally, women constitute more than 40% of agricultural employees. History Farming dates back as far as the Neolithic, being one of the defining characteristics of that era. By the Bronze ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thesavalamai
Thesavalamai is the traditional law of the Sri Lankan Tamil inhabitants of the Jaffna peninsula, codified by the Netherlands, Dutch during their colonial rule in 1707. The Thesawalamai is a collection of the Customs of the Malabar Inhabitants of the Province of Jaffna (collected by Dissawe Isaak) and given full force by the Regulation of 1806. For Thesawalamai to apply to a person it must be established that he is a Tamil inhabitant of the Northern Province. The Law in its present form applies to most Tamils in northern Sri Lanka. The law is personal in nature, and it is applicable mostly for property, inheritance, and marriage.http://www.austlii.edu.au/~andrew/CommonLII/LKSC/1983/28.html Under this law, not all property could be given away. A person could give away only the tediatettam; i.e., joint property or property acquired by either spouse during the period after married life and or the priests acquiring from such properties. Even of the tediatettam property, the husband canno ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fortification
A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Latin ("strong") and ("to make"). From very early history to modern times, defensive walls have often been necessary for cities to survive in an ever-changing world of invasion and conquest. Some settlements in the Indus Valley Civilization were the first small cities to be fortified. In ancient Greece, large cyclopean stone walls fitted without mortar had been built in Mycenaean Greece, such as the ancient site of Mycenae. A Greek ''Towns of ancient Greece#Military settlements, phrourion'' was a fortified collection of buildings used as a military garrison, and is the equivalent of the ancient Roman, Roman castellum or fortress. These constructions mainly served the purpose of a watch tower, to guard certain roads, passes, and borders. Th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bowmen
Archery is the sport, practice, or skill of using a bow to shoot arrows.Paterson ''Encyclopaedia of Archery'' p. 17 The word comes from the Latin ''arcus'', meaning bow. Historically, archery has been used for hunting and combat. In modern times, it is mainly a competitive sport and recreational activity. A person who practices archery is typically called an archer, bowman, or toxophilite. History Origins and ancient archery The oldest known evidence of arrows (not found with surviving bows) comes from South African sites such as Sibudu Cave, where the remains of bone and stone arrowheads have been found dating approximately 72,000 to 60,000 years ago.Backwell L, d'Errico F, Wadley L.(2008). Middle Stone Age bone tools from the Howiesons Poort layers, Sibudu Cave, South Africa. Journal of Archaeological Science, 35:1566–1580. Backwell L, Bradfield J, Carlson KJ, Jashashvili T, Wadley L, d'Errico F.(2018). The antiquity of bow-and-arrow technology: evidence from Middle S ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
