North East Sri Lanka in ancient and medieval times
Kamalika PIERIS
The 'north east' of Sri Lanka was an integral part of the Sinhala
kingdom in the ancient period. It was never a separate kingdom.
Hettiarachchy says the whole of the eastern province right down to Panam
pattu was permanently under the rule of the king during the time of
Dutugemunu (161-137 BC). An inscription of Mahadathika Mahanaga (7-19
AD) was found at Verugal.
Vallipuram plate says that in the reign of Vasabha (67-111) his
minister ordered that a vihara be built in Nagadipa. Inscriptions of
Gajabahu I (114-136) have been found in Batticaloa and Vavuniya. Coins
assigned to Parakrama bahu I. (1153-1186) and Parakrama bahu II
(1236-1270) have been found in the Jaffna area.
The north was ruled by the Sinhala king up to the 13th century. From
the 13 century the island of Jaffna went under foreign rule. It was
ruled successively by the Pandya kings of Tamilnadu (13th century)
Vijayangara kingdom of Karnataka (14th and 15th century) and the
Portuguese (16th century). The Pandya kingdom was weakened by Malik
Kafur's invasion of 1310. Jaffna may also have been affected. In 1344,
Ibn Batuta was told that Ariyachakravarti of Jaffna was an ally of a
Muslim power in south India. The coins of Ariyachakravarti exhibit on
one side the bull and on the other the crescent.
Settlements
The eastern province continued under the Sinhala king until the 17th
century, when a part was ceded to the Dutch. P.A.T Gunasinghe thinks
that Tamils penetrated the east and west coasts only in the 16th
century, and the settlements were only 8 to 16 miles inwards from the
coast. In the 19th century the eastern province consisted mainly of
Sinhala villages. The British deprived these villages of water and the
villagers died. Then Tamils came in from India at the invitation of the
British.
The language used in the north and east was Sinhala, not Tamil. The
place names were Sinhala ones, such as 'Gokanna' for Trincomalee. The
Tamil name for Gokanna 'Tirukonamalai' first appears in a Tamil
inscription dated to 10th or 11th century. 'Tiru' means holy, malai
'means hill and 'kona 'comes from Gokanna. Similarly, present day Tamil
place names are translations of the original Sinhala names. They are
meaningless in Tamil. Kokuvil, Manipay and Valikamam were originally
Kokavila, Mampe and Valigama. Mattakalapu is taken from Madakalapuva.
Polvattai refers to Sinhala used in 14th century. According to
Kiribamune, the earliest inscription in Tamil found in Sri Lanka has
been dated to the end of the 10th century, immediately preceding the
Cola conquest of the island. It records a donation to a Hindu shrine.
During Chola rule (1017-1055) Rajarata was administered in Tamil and the
bulk of the Tamil inscriptions, which are not numerous, fall within this
period. When the Sinhala king overthrew the Colas, he threw out the
Tamil language as well. Tamil was not permitted to take root in Sri
Lanka. There is only one Tamil inscription dated to Parakrama bahu I and
that was for the benefit of south Indian traders who called at the port
of Uratturai, (Kayts).Kings who came after Parakrama bahu I did not
issue inscriptions in Tamil. All inscriptions were in Sinhala. Nissanka
Malla set up a Tamil inscription at Rameswaram, South India.
Archaeology
The north east was an important part of the Sinhala Buddhist
civilization. According to Mahavamsa, the Buddha visited Nagadipa in the
north and Dighavapi in the east. A map prepared in 1982 by M.H.Sirisoma,
Department of Archaeology listed 276 sites of 'archaeological interest'
in the northern and eastern provinces. Jaffna district had 21 Buddhist
sites of which the best known is Kantarodai (Kadurugoda).
There were 4 sites in Mannar, 105 in Vavuniya and Mullativu, 19 in
Trincomalee, 22 in Batticaloa and 43 in Ampara.
Ven. Ellawela Medhananda (2005) found 45 Buddhist sites in Jaffna
district, including four in the smaller islands. There was one at Delft.
He found 19 more in Vavuniya and Mullativu and 32 more in Mannar, of
which 15 were by sea coast. He added 6 to Trincomalee, 4 to Batticaloa
and 22 to Ampara. He said there were Buddhist ruins on at least 600
acres around Kudumbigala. The Yan Oya valley is studded with stupas. The
Sembumale monastery complex spreads over more than hundred acres.
Historians noted that the Mahayana temples of the 7th to 8th centuries
were situated along the eastern coast, in places like Kuccaveli and
Tiriyaya.
According to the Mahavamsa, the Buddha visited Nagadipa. Nagadipa is
one of the solosmasthana venerated by the Buddhists.
Historians have found that Jaffna was originally known as 'Nagadipa'.
Jaffna is the largest of the islands and the one closest to the
mainland. However, today pilgrims are worshipping at a small,
insignificant island, far away from the mainland, called 'Nainativu'. It
is smaller than Delft, Karaitivu or Kayts. There is nothing of
archaeological interest there. I think that the Nagadipa temple should
be relocated to Jaffna and the worship conducted there.
Folklore
Tamil historians say that the north east was Hindu as well. Of the
five sacred Hindu temple of Sri Lanka, two are in the north east,
Kailayanatar kovil in Nallur and Tirukkonesvaram in Trincomalee.
Historical records show that the Pandyan rulers built the Kailayanatar
kovil, Nallur in the 13th century. Tirukkonesvaram in Trincomalee is
declared to be very old, but there is no firm evidence to support this.
The evidence offered is very flimsy. Historian S Pathmanathan notes that
the Mahavamsa says king Mahasen destroyed a 'temple of the gods' at
Trincomalee. Pathmanathan says Indian records speak of a Siva temple
named Gokarna in Malaya dvipa and that Malaya dvipa is probably Sri
Lanka.
It is now proposed to declare Koneswaram as a Heritage sites. Bandu
de Silva points out that the sanctity of Koneswaram temple is based on
mere folklore rather than proven historical facts. Historical sources
indicate that three Buddhist temples stood on the hill over looking the
Trincomalee harbour. The Portuguese demolished the temples and used the
material for a fortress. I think that that these temples should be
rebuilt.
(The writings of K.N.O. Dharmadasa, P.A.T. Gunasinghe, T.
Hettiarachchy, S. Kiribamune, Ven Ellawela Medhananda, K..A. Nilakanta
Sastri, S. Pathmanathan and R.C. Proctor were used for this essay). |
