''Mattakkalappu Maanmiyam'' (; ''The Glory of Batticaloa'') is a

Tamil language Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...

historical book concerning the history of

Batticaloa Batticaloa (, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu'', ; , ''Maḍakalapuwa'', ) is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the Batticaloa District. The city is the seat of the Eastern Univers ...

. It was compiled by F. X. Nadarajah from the collections of

palm-leaf manuscript Palm-leaf manuscripts are manuscripts made out of dried palm leaves. Palm leaves were used as writing materials in the Indian subcontinent and in Southeast Asia dating back to the 5th century BCE. Their use began in South Asia and spread to ot ...

s, copper plate inscriptions and

inscription Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

s and it was published in August 1962. The authors of the original manuscripts and other forms of documentation are unknown. The book records the history from ancient Batticaloa to the Dutch colonial era. It gives information about such matters as the kings who ruled the Batticaloa, the caste system, and the temple system. Historians say that the book has perplexity and mythical story as it written by various authors in various durations. However, it is considered a rare and important book for understanding the history of Batticaloa. Mattakkalappu manmiam

According to anthropologist Dennis B. McGilvray, the book records the only known ethnohistorical document that presents the lineage of the early rulers of the Batticaloa region. He notes that this 18th-century palm leaf record, called the ''Mattakkallappu Purva Carittiram'', is "a bewildering list of royal names, events and social groups which has yet to be systematically corroborated and placed in the larger Sri Lankan historical context."

References

External links

Ebook of ''Mattakkalappu Maanmiyam''
{{in lang, ta 1962 non-fiction books Sri Lankan Tamil literature Batticaloa