Documenti di Didattica
Documenti di Professioni
Documenti di Cultura
Ceylon has
43
44
Vol.
XIII,
CEYLON
45
the problem of inadequate sources. While the Pali and Sinhale-se chronicles provide very reliable, fairly adequate and surprisingly continuous
information regarding the poiitical, and to an extent the religious,
history of the fsland, their contribution to our inquiry is very littJe.
The activities of the Tamils in Ceylon find mention in the chronicles
only when these affected the political or religious afiairs of the Sinhalese
kingdom. On the Tamil side the chronicles that are extant are those
written nearly three centuries after the foundation of the Tamil kingdcm in the Island in the thirteenth century. The sections of these works
dealing with the period prior to the thirteenth century, i.e. the period
in Ceylon.
;;;;;;a
The evidence of the archaeological materials is far more encouraging in this respect but by no means adequate. Evidence similar to
that used in England is sadly lacking. Excavation work in almost every
region in England has brought to light cemeteries, grave goods and
several other artefacts which throw a direct light upon the early settlements. But excavation is still an undeveloped branch of archaeological research in our country. As long as excavation work remains
undone, much that is relevant to our study will be wanting. We cannot,
of course, hope to discover cemeteries and grave goods that relate to
the greater part oI the period covered by our study. But at least for
the period prior to the third century A.D. we may reasonably expect
a few sepulchral remains to be brought to light. The only burials which
could be taken to relate to Tamil settlements in the Island were discovered by chance, and today nearly forty-five years after the discovery, the site still awaits a proper scientific excavation.l For the
period after the third century a.D. it is Saiva and Vaipr,lava temples
and icons as well as Tamil inscriptions that will help in our inquiry.
Here too, owing to the lack of excavation work, we have to depend
solely on the surface finds. Archaeologists have not helped us so far
to know something of the earliest Saiva temples referred to in the
literary sources, such a"s the Tiruk6tiSvaram temple at Md,tota. No
surface ruins of these exist now and only an excavation of the sites
is likely to yield something of value. However, it is the archaeological
material that forms the main basis of our study for the period prior
to the r3th century, although the picture reconstructed.ritli it rvill by
no means be complete.
r.
for our Durilose has beei collected, we are not in a position to use it
*iifr*t'r'piop.i tinguirtic training. The establishment of soundoedisrees #it5'tne hejp of earlier f"orms and the analysis of sound
46
VoI.
tgdg
"rso.a
here in the
l'1prl. settled in ceylon before the rndo-Aryatrs camJ
fifth- century e.o. Some others have assigrred dates ranging from the
third century n.c. to.the tenth century e.n. Most of tiiuie-o*1iing,
l'
S;g;if.
"
1. q-.t-.t"*,-'Tamil
Bi,bliograpfu.o/
Householders,
si". il,npr.t
Terrace-Anurfrdhapura,, Anutal
Law, C^olombo
(xiu\, ir:ro'(ed.'rvl'Crig'.;r,'i;fornuo
.."r".LJ
?.
4,
47
(TirukEtisvaram)
widespread settlements of
Tamil tr'ading communities in the first mileniurn e.p.
But considering the number of Tamil irrvasions and the number
r9rI).
6.
IN CEYLON
9.
ro,
rr.
C'.
48
Vol.
XIII, (New
In the
time
in the
eastern
bf
and after the seventh century. Before the seventh century, only three
instances ol mercenaries being invited to Ceyion are recorded in the
chronicles. Each occasion was separated from the other by about tlvo
centuries. But in the seventh century mercenaries from the mainland
beiween the port of li.a,tc.'r' ar;.. Anuradhapura, and of certain-prominent Tamils possessing viilages, tanks and slaves and building
Buddhist instituiions.ls Although it is possible to conjecture that the
Tamil mercenary elements would have founded smali settlements in
and around Anuradhapura and possibly in some other strategic places,
rz.
13.
r.4.
15.
Cu, 76:ro3-to4,78i75-77'
Ca, 45 u, tz,
note 4'
See
Sevies), rg6s
is not tili the tenth century that lve get more dcfinite literary or
epigraphic evidence regarding any Tarril settlement. fn the tenth
c?'tr1uiv, for the first time there are referenccs in tlle Sinhaiese immunitv
grants to Tam il ailotm enls (D etne! -ktibti lla), lanc1s enjoyed b-v-Tamils
it
5d.
r6.
dt'elt
(scattered)
t7.
18.
19.
20.
S.
EZ, III,p.273.
Il:icl.
III,' EZ,III, p.
r43.
5()
1960
Detnel4-kuli, for the first time in the records of the tenth century
may mean that bythistimeTamil settlers in the Island were becoming
numerous so as to necessitate the levy of a separate impost from them.
For the first time thcre occur tlvo place-name,s with the first elernent
Dame!, meaning Tamil. The element Detnel in these names obviously
inclicates some association with Tamils. They denote Tamil settlements
in those places. These names, not do of course, point to a large pef,centage of Tamils; they indicate rather that Tamil villages must have been
an exception. These are comparabtre to such English place-names as
trValton and Walcot, where the elemerft zsal-indicates \Velsh settiement
(:wealas OE) in a predominantiy Anglo-Saxon area. Finally, it should
be noted that it is-not a pure coincid"ence that Tamil inscriptions of
the eleventh century have been found not far from some of the Tamil
allotments, Tamil lands and the villages associated with the collection
oI Dem,elE-kwl[ which are mentioned in the tenth century Sinha^lese
inscriptions.
Of more significance than these is the discovery of Tamil inscrip-
buildings scattered heire and there. Sorne of these are Sivalinga temples
wbile some others are dedicated to I{aJi, the Mother Goddess. Several
stonelihgas, too, have been unearthed in different places in this sector.
All the shrines are of one design, which is simple and reminiscent of
the early Dravidian tempie-<. The style is in marked contrast to the
embellished granite temples of the Co]a and later periods. Judging
on the basis of the style, these temples are datable to either the ninth
or the tenth century. This is further confirrrred by the Tamil inscriptions discovered among these ruins, which are also datable to the
same period.26 The Saivite nature of the ternples, the Dravidian
character of their style and the occurrence of Tamil inscriptions ciearly
associate them with some Tamil settlement in that area. The internal
evidenee of the inscriptions also reveals the existence of a'Iamil settlenrent. Two of these record certain donations to the temples and
refer to Tamil money-ienders, members of the village assembly and the
committee caTled Kurniirakaqtam, which we know from South Indian
inscriptions to be a board of managers or trustees of Saiva shrines"
This shows the existence of village institutions similar to those of Sorrth
fndia among the Tamil settlers at Anuradhapura abou.t the tenth
century.zT A third inscription from the same ruins throws filrther interestiug light on the Tamils who lived in that area. This epigraph records
the building of a Buddhist temple by the NaAku Na{tu Tamilaz rvhich,
translated, would mean 'Tamils of the Four Countries.'z8 We trearn
from some I(annada inscriptions of South India that l{d.nku I'Id,tw
or 'Four Countries' was the name of a body, often associated wittr-r
the mercantile community known as the Aiflflflg1uvar.ze They 'nvere
also probably a tracling ccmmunity like the Nblu-Nakarattdr or 'Those
of the Four Cities.'3o This shows that some of the Tamils lvho were
living at Anuradhapura at this time were menrbers of trading cornmu."
nities, and that, as in South India, there were Buddhists among thern.
The Saivite ruins and Tamil inscriptions of the pre-Cola period are
confined only to Anuradhapura and, therefore, do not help us to
confirm whether there lvere notable settlements of Tan-lils in areas
outside the capital.
(ed.
5r
29.
2t,
K. Indrapala, 'Anurd,tapurattilu!!'a Ndg,hu Ndlldl Kalaella: p. 35.
Epignphi,a Carnatica, VIII, p. 89 of the text.
30,
p.
28,
s2
Vot.
If
raklng
"ithls settlement sites o{ ihe Tamils in
one o[ t"he earliest
of the-river
muuth
the
()i'titttitt,
near
ffiiil
the
into consideration
\'\'estern coas^t it is probable
Ka la oya and ciose t o til-a'settlemen!
;;;;i -L;is ofof-tirepearl-divers'
fishermen and
as
originated
that this
clo
cists.35
J..
for
p' r7'
51
34.
K.R'Srinivasan,.TheNlegalithicBurralsandUrn-fieldsofSouthlndia
ffg-rti J;famil literat"ure and tradition,' "4nci'ent Ind'i'a' II' pp' 9 tr'
i"'tit"
S. Paranavitana, 'Archaeological
Summary,' CJScG'
II,
pp'S+-S5'
]tis,ofcourse,possiblethatmarryofthemegalitlrsinCeylonwerebuiltthe
;;;;*; non-otiti.t;u'' people * hose culture rvas influenced bv tlat o{
54
Vol.
inscriptions is that these Tamils were foreigners. Although the inscriptions were set up by the Tamils whose names are mentioned in them,
the language is Proto-Sinhalcse as in the case of all the other inscriptions
of the Island at ttris time. But more important than this is thtt tbe
recorders have made special mention of the fact that they were Tamils,
which rvould indicate that they consiclered themselves tc be distinct
from, if not alien to, the general popuiation just as much as the Sinhatrese doncrs in the pre-Clrristian cave inscriptions cf the Tamil country
urade known the fact that they were Sinhalese. In later times, too,
we get instances of Tamils whc, n.rade grants to temples outside the
Tan'ril country recording the grants in the language of the area but
making mentjon of the {act tl,at thev were Tamils. It is only the archaeoIogical evidence that points to the existence of a Tamil settlement
probabiy at Pom"oarippu and possibly at Katiraveli, betweeu about
the second century n.c. ancl the secrtnd century e.p. After this there
is a long gap tiil we reach the seventb centrrry, when we gct sorne
{lirnsy cvidence that points to possible Tamil settlements in the Island.
A"ccording to the Pali chronicle, bands of Tamil mercenaries were
taken to the Island at least on eight occasions in the seventh century,
arrd tliere are vague references to Tamils lit'iug in some parts of the
Island. Certain prominent Tamils in possession of villages and tanks
also find mention. In the contemporary Tamil sources of South India,
there are references to Siva temples at the ports o{ MS,tota and Gokar4a
whicir were venerated by'lamil.r. However, it could not be said that
there is definite evidence relating to Tamil settlements in this century.
trt js in tire tenth century that we get definite evidence in the Siniralese
and lamil inscriptions, in the archaeological sources and to a small
exLent in the Pali chronicle. That by tlie tenth centrrry permanent
"Iarnil settlements had begun in tlie lsland is faily clearly borne cut
by these sources. Looking back on the whole body of evidence that is
avaitrable to us, rve have to conclude that there lvere no ividespread
'Iamil .rettlements before the tenth century. Tire settlemcnts at Pomparippu and the possible settlement at l{atiraveli have to iie treated
as isolated earlier settlements. These are comparable to the carliest
Saxon settlements at places like Dorchester where the Teutonic artefacts are so early that they are not sometinies considered to belong to
the period of Saxon setttrement at all. The brrrials at Pomparippu
apart, the evidence as a. whole does not rvarrant the assumption of so
early a date as the second century A.D. for th.e beginning of pe:':nranent
'famil settlements. In this context it is worth noting that Ceylc.n is
cnnspicuously omitted in tiie iist of Tamil-speaking areas included in
the Tamil grammar Tolkcl>l>iyana, u'ritten about the fiftir ccntury
a.D. In the seventh century, it is possible that there tvc-'re r-nercantile
and mercenary settlements in the capital and in the rna-in ports. But
evidence for extensive setttrerncnt bearing thc sigr:s of a date earlier
than the tentii century is lacking. On the basis of the present evidence
we couid say that it was only by about the tenth century that per-
Irlt
manent settlements of the Tamils began. Going by the available evid.ence, these settJements wele by no means extensive but their importance
lies in the fact that they formed the nucleus of the later settlements
that covered the greater part of northern Ceylon. After the tenth
century, Tamil settlements grew gradually but steadily until the
present northern and eastern provinces were transformed into Tamilspeaking areas. The conquest of Ceylon by the Colas late in the tenth
century seerns to have given an impetus to the migration of Tamins
into the Island. More than three dozen Tamil inscriptions and thq
ruins of a number of Saiva and Vais{rava establishments attest to the
fairly widespread nature of the settlements in the eleventh centuty.
(This will be discussed in the next section.) It is, therefore, reasonable
to conclude tirat permanent Tamil settlements on a notable scale
began very probably about tlre tentb century and these became fairly
extensive early in the eleventh century.
56
Vol.
1969
icle the c6!as hacl established. seven stronghoids in this region.36 Tamil
i"..+li""r of ifr" eleventh ancl twelftli centurics have been founcl
(Jne
i,, ."i o{ iire strongholds and within a fer'v miles of the others'3?
a
strongwas
C.!a
rvhich
place
a
in
temple
a"Siva
to
of ifr"* refers
ttota lU"t ogalla).:ls Only some portions cf .ttrre criginal-tempie. are to
il-.""1r l" t"hat place irirv. The-same inscription lecorcls certain gi{ts
i"ua"- to the temple by a daughtcr o{ the Cola ruler Kulottunga I.
e*"otJ,"i l"."riptio"n refels to Tairil blacksmitlis and rvashermen settled
the
i" tt-r" san-re piace.3c A tliird inscription refers to the activities of tlvo
area
to
in
an
close
Aiflfltgluvar
the
called
mercantile community
of thc cuia stronglrolis.ro Archacological eviclence in the lorm ,'f ruins
of Sri"o & Vai;ilava tcmples is. ho*eyer, lacking. Tlris se.t^ms to be
partly clue to the fact that the materials {rom the sair'a eclifices \vcre
irtilisLd {or tire construction of Buddhist structures in the later period
.tiut tt.," Saiva population ceased to exist. Tbere is at least one instance
of the materials' oi a Siva temple of this period being used to. constn ct
a Bucldhist temple sorne timein the sixteenth or seventeenth century.
(Budumuttava iemple).al In the coastal part of this area where there
ire Tamils living even now, a Siva tempie datable to this period, if
not earlier, is sti"ll in existence.'Ihis is the well-known l\{unnSvaram
temple. But more than the inscriptions and the archaeological matqrials
it is'the place-narnes of the area which preselve the memory of the
have already pointed out, the maior
Tamit setilements. But as
this toponynric evidqqce for our plrrposes
difficutty in the way of using've
is one 6f establishing the date oi their origin. Unfortunately early
records of these n^-"er are not available to us. However, the occurrerrce of a number of Tamil place-names or Sinhalese_place-names
which indicate Tamil settlement in an area which is now largeh occupied by Sinhalese-speakers suggests that-the names could not be of
iecentbrigin. It is by no *eans justifiable to assign the origin of all
36.
goc.lJ),
de4a).
These inscriptions are
3t,
from Mahananneriya, Budumuttiva, Pai{uvasnuvara, Vihirdhinna, Ilakkatlu Eba and Eriya'va. Some of these are unpub-
38"
lish ed.
39.
44.
Irtid., pp.3o5-3o6.
Inscriptions from Vihdrhinna (unpublished). { Tamil slab inscription-of
the Virakoliyar, a South Indian iommunity closely associated Yith !h."
Aiiflulguvar, was discovered at Ilaklrattu Eba (Chilaw l)istrict) aiter th]s
publicGcture was de,liverecl. This site, too, is not-very far-from ttt-e Qa!aitrongholcls. K. Indrap:rla, 'Epigraphical Discor''eries in !-e-vlol in the last
deca'd"e (r95q-rgoq): A Brief Surveli', Paper read at the IInd International
Confererice'Seminir of Asian Archaeologv (Colombo 1969), p.
(unpub-
iished).
41.
IN CEYLON
57
these names to this period. But it may not be wrong t-c -assume that
some of thein at leait originated at tliis tirr,e. Many of the Sinhalese
place-names with the liril element f)etttala (meaning Tamil) rnay
Lavc. originated in this period, for they occur close to the placcs lrtere
Tamil iiscriptions cf tdis period have been found or where the Colas
had their stiongliolds. Place-name evidence apart, the Tarnil iuscrip'
42
43.
(Madras).
58
Vol.
XIII, (Neu
thernselves claim iir their inscriptions. ISut apart from their function
as traders they seem to have occupied a supreme position among a
larger number of professional bodies in the towns and acted as their
Ieaders, exercising much porver and influence. In many of their South
Indian inscriptions we ge1 as many as forty-six such bodies associated
Seriesl, x969
S. Paranavitana, 'The Polonnaruva Inscription of Vijavabahu T,' EIX\IIII, pp. 330-338; S//, IV, No. 1398.
S. Paranavitana, 'The Polonnaruva Inscription of Vijayal2fup t,, p. 337.
59
aqilS this
.. ,.&!E{tiry
Vol.
XIII, (New
Seties), t969
port of Matola
district' Of
the. present-
is
;,/
'fhe
't
r9z8).
6r
to
thirteentii century and the seconcl almost the whole of the latter
half. As in the first stage, the arrival of fresh mercenary forces and a
quick succession of invasions from the Indian mainland led to the
estrblish*"nt of nerv settlements in the first phase' But the nature of
the invasions and of the settlement that followed was in many ways
different from the nattrre o{ earlier invasions and settlements. While
the earlier invasions, inch,ding even the C6!a occupation of ror7,
could be treated as episodes in the history of the Island, the invasion
Vol.
XIII,
due course. Brrt it was the events of the thirteenth century that prevented such an assimilation in the greater part of the northern and eastern
districts. The invasion of l\{lgha with the help of the Tamil and KeraJa
mercenaries rvas far more violent than the earlier invasions. Its chief
importance lics in the fact that it resulted in the permanent dislodgement of Sinhalese power frorn northern Ceylon, the confiscation of lancis
and properties beJonging to the Sinhalese by the Tamil and l{erala
mercenaries and the consequent migration of the offrcial class and
63