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Beginnings of Tamil Rule in Eelam (Ceylon, Sri
Lanka)
Nallur Swami S. Gnana Prakasar O.M.I.
In ancient times Ceylon was divided into four provinces, Nagadipa in
the North, Kalyani in the South West, Rohana in the South East and
Malaya in the Centre. Mediaeval Ceylon consisted of three Ratas or
countries: The first was Pihiti or Rajarata, the King's country
which almost coincided with the ancient Nagadipa and was situated
roughly above the Dedura Oya and Mavaliganga: the second was Mya or
Mahaya Rata, the country of the sub-king which was to the south of
the Deduru Oya as far as kaluganga and the third was Ruhuna
extending all over the East and South of the Island as cut off by
the Kaluganga and Mavaliganga.
....the inhabitants of Nagadipa were never fully reconciled to
the new belief which came to the firmly established under
Devanampiya Tissa (247 - 207 B. C.) In their heart of hearts they
clung to their old religion and had constant communication with the
Tamils of the main land who were often found in their midst as
merchants and dealers. They ever nurtured a spirit of revolt and
were only to ready to stretch out a helping hand to any adventurer
who would attempt to curb the sovereign power of the Sinhalese. An
occasion soon presented itself.
When Suratassa was reigning at Anuradhapura the two Tamils Sena and
Guttaka "sons of a freighter who brought horse hither" conquered the
king "at the head of a great army." They were evidently from South
India and were in the Island as dealers in horses like many other
merchants who frequented the country. Where they raised their "great
army" we are not told. If that army was not formed of the local
Tamils, the latter certainly approved the two Indians seizing the
Sinhalese throne. The Mahavamsa itself has but praise for the Tamil
rulers. It says that the two brothers "reigned both together for
twenty two years justly." (Mahavamsa Chapter 21) (B.C.237 - 215) If
the usurpers had brought their army from India the chances are that
a considerable accession would have been made to the Tamils of the
North.
As pointed out by Tennent, there was a reason for the Sinhalese
themselves to acquiesce in the rule of this country by Tamil from
India which was so often repeated in the course of as many as
fifteen centuries. 'I' had reason was the intimate relation which
originally existed between Tamils and the Sinhalese. "Vijaya himself
was connected by maternal descent with the king of Kalinga, now
known as the Northern Circars; his second wife was the daughter of
the king of Pandya, and the ladies who accompanied her to Ceylon
were given in marriage to his ministers and officers. (Tennent
Ceylon I. 394-5) Brito adds these interesting details: The Pandiyan
sent out his own maiden daughter with 699 maidens chosen from among
his nobility. These 700 ladies landed with their retinue safely at
Cottiar. (Cassie Chetty's Gazetteer).
The princes was attended by a personal staff of 18 officers of
state, 75 menial servants (being house-keepers, elephant-keepers and
charioteers), besides numerous slaves. It may reasonably be assumed
that each of these 18 officers was accompanied by his wives and
children, his men-servants and maid-servants and his male-slaves and
female-slaves. in like manner each of the 699 noble maidens was
accompanied by attendants, servants and slaves, of both sexes. And
there were also numbers of families of each of the five sorts of
tradesmen who came to Ceylon on this occasion. (Rajavali p. 175,
Tennent I 458).
These facts swell the number of the original Tamil colonists to
at least twenty times that the Magadhi settlers. And it must be
borne in mind that the way once made for these colonists was kept
open by a communication which Vijaya carried on with Madura during
his whole reign of 38 years. He sent pearls and chanks to his
father-in-law from time to time of the annual value of two lakhs.
Such a communication could not have failed to lead to a continual
influx of the Tamils from the continent in his and the succeeding
reigns. (Yalpana-Vaipavamalai, p. iv) "Intimate intercourse and
consanguinity, were thus established from the remotest period.
Adventurers from the opposite coast were encouraged by the previous
settlers".
Such a reason might have naturally suggested itself to Elalan or
Elara "a damila of noble descent" from the Chola country who, only
ten years after Asela the Sinhalese Successor of Sena and Gultaka
was in power, landed at Mahavatutota near Trincomalee with a large
army and seized the throne. He reigned forty-four years over the
entire Nagadipa or Rajarata, compelling the chieftains of Rohuna and
Maya to acknowledge his supremacy and pay him tribute, "He reigned
with even justice towards friend and foe" says the Mahavamsa which
goes on adding some instances of his absolutely impartial justice:
As the head of his bed he had a bell hung up with a long rope so
that those who desired a judgement at law might ring it. the king
had only one son and one daughter.
When once the son of the ruler was going in a car to the
Tissa-tank, he killed unintentionally a young calf lying on the road
with the mother cow, by driving the wheel over its neck. The cow
came and dragged at the bell in bitterness of heart; and the king
caused his son's head to be served (from his body) with that same
well." Let us remark that this is a stock incident related in Tamil
literature about the mythical Chola king Manu. After relating some
other wonderful achievements in his life the Buddhist annalist says
about the pious Hindu: "Only because he freed himself from the guilt
of walking in the path of evil did this (monarch), though he had not
put aside false beliefs, gain such miraculous power; how should not
then an understanding man, established in pure belief, renounce here
the guilt of walking in the path of evil?" Of Elalan the Pujavaliya
adds that he established thirty two fortresses in Rajarata and
employed twenty great champions. ( Extracts from the Pujavaliya by
Mudaliyar B. Gunasekara, p. 15) But the allegation that the
inhabitants of his realm began to practise their old religion
openly. The Rajavaliya also seems to voice the sentiments of some
bigots when it affirms that Elalan "reigned wickedly." (refer to
page 7 of this chapter) (B.C. 205 - 161)
When Dutthagamani had slain Elalan in single combat and ascended the
throne, Bhalluka the latter's nephew arrived from India with a
following of 60,000 men at arms (or 30,00 according to the
Rajavaliya) in response to his uncle's invitation. Learning that
Elalan was no more he made a bid for the throne himself, but was
defeated and killed. (Mahavamsa XXV, 77-97) That all his army was
slain is doubtless an exaggeration by the Buddhist Chronicles. It is
more probable that those who escaped with their lives found an
asylum among their kinsmen of the Northern country.
The Rajavaliya mentions a more successful invasion in B.C. 103.
"Seven Tamils landed on the Island of Lanka bringing with them 7000
men from the Soli country and drove out king Valagambahu. One of the
seven Tamil having pursued the king, carried off his chief queen;
another of them carried off the dish from which the Buddha used to
eat. The remaining five Tamils succeeded one another and reigned 14
years."(Rajavaliya p.44)
That same Chronicle records that during the reign of Vankanasika
Tissa (A.D. 110-113) a Chola king made a predatory descent on Ceylon
and carried away 12,000 Sinhalese as slaves to work on the
embankment of the Kavery. Gajabahu 1, the son and the successor of
the Sinhalese king, avenged the outrage by invading the Chola
country and bringing to Ceylon a large multitude of Cholas together
with the redeemed captives. The Cholian Tamils are said to have been
established in a number of villages of the Alutkuru Korale where
they lost their identity among the Sinhalese inhabitants. (Ibid pp.
44-49) This is one of the many instances of infusing fresh Tamil
blood into the Sinhalese people. It is also of interest to note that
Gajabahu brought with him a jewelled anklet of the Goddess Pattini
whose worship he introduced in Ceylon. He is also said to have
brought back the bowl relic of the Buddha carried away in the days
of king Valagambahu.(Cf. R. A. S., C. B. Vol. XIII, pp. 144-149. The
Cilappatikaram mentions the visit to India of a Gajabahu king of
Ceylon but on a friendly mission)
Anuradhapura was again taken by Pandu and five other Tamil chiefs
from India in A.D. 436. All Sinhalese noble families fled to Rohana
beyond the Mahavali-ganga. The entire land of Rajarata was under
Tamil rule for twenty seven years. Five of the invaders occupied the
throne one after another, when, Dhatu Sena was able to overpower
them at last. With regard to this Singhalese king's reign Tennent
remarks: "Dhatu Sena, after his victory, seems to have made an
attempt, though an ineffectual one, to reverse the police that had
operated under his predecessors as an incentive to the immigration
of Malabars; settlement and intermarriages had been all along
encouraged and even during the recent usurpation, many Sinhalese
families of rank had formed connections with the Damilos. The
schisms among the Buddhist themselves, tending as they did to
engraft Brahmanical rites upon the doctrines of the purer faith,
seem to have promoted and matured the intimacy between the two
people; some of the Sinhalese king erected temples to the gods of
the Hindus, and the promoters of the Wytulian heresy found a refuge
from persecution amongst their sympathisers in the Dekkan."(Tennent
I, 397-8)
If we may believe the Vaipavamalai's statement about Kulak-kodan's
visit to Trincomalee, it was probably during the Tamil rule of this
period that the Vanniyas from India began to colonize the country
between Trincomalee and Mantota. The Tamil history mentions the
correct date of king Pandu as Saka 358 which works out as A.D. 436.
He is made to reign at Anuradhapura, another correct details. At
Trincomalee Kulakkoddu-maharaja repaired the ruined Konesar temple
and sending for the Vanniyar from the coast of India put them in
charge of the temple and the lands he had allotted for its supports.
Here Mailvakana-pulavar relates many legendary accounts taken
doubtless from the Konesar Kalveddu and the Vijaya (Vaipavamalai p.
4-8) but the central fact of the Vanniyas being connected with the
Konesar temple seems historical. In India they were a fighting
caste. Probably large contingents of them had accompanied the Tamil
invaders at various times and remained behind. Later, they set
themselves up as petty chiefs in various parts of the north, some of
them becoming or begin nominated as managers of the temple of
Trincomalee. The Vaipavamalai also speaks of their Increasing in
number and power in course of time. And the name and date of the
king of rank of Atikaris are correctly given as Aggrabodhi (the
first of the name) in the year 515, Saka year, which is A. D. 593.
This is another purple patch in an otherwise confused medley of
facts and legends.
Another invasion claimed by the Pallava Narasimhavarman (His
grandfather Simha Vishna also claimed in one of his inscriptions to
have vanquished the Sinhala king: Dubreuil: Pallavas p. 73)
(630-668) but actually by Manavamma with the help of that Pallava
king is noteworthy as having brought fresh accession to the Tamils
in Ceylon. He was the son of Kasyapa 11 but was excluded from regal
power by Dhathopatissa 11 who ascended the throne (664). Manavamma
fled to India and took service under Narasimhavarman and was present
at the battle of Vatapi in which the monarch defeated Pulakasan 11
in 642. Now manavamma retuned to Ceylon with an army furnished by
Narasimhavarman and succeeded in taking Anuradhapura but had soon to
return to this patron for further help. Invading Ceylon after the
reign of three of its kings "he raised the imperial banner of
sovereignty over all Lanka."(Mahavamsa Ch. XLVII) (671-726)
The story of Ukkairasingan in the Vaipavamalai looks like a travesty
of Manavamma's first taking possession of the north and the south of
Ceylon. In spite of many a wild fancy it gives a date for his
invasion which makes the store likely to be based on some historical
fact. Advocate Britto, the translator of the Vaipavamalai into
English has a note about this in an unpublished work entitled
Viruttiyam. It says "In Knighton (p.111) we read: There was a scion,
Mahalaipamu, of the royal blood of Ceylon, who having obtained aid
from an Indian king named Narasinha, invaded Ceylon, but was
defeated. Repairing again to his patron, he obtained a large force,
by means of which he was completely successful. And he ascended the
throne in A.D. 72 The Saka years 717 of the Vaipavamalai is
evidently a mistake for A.D. 717. The author of the Vaipavamalai
lived in Jaffna during the Dutch period and collected his materials,
as he says in his preface, from other authors some of whom probably
gave their dates in A.D., and not in Saka. Accustomed to use the
Saka year, the author sometimes adds the word Saka to the Christian
year without first altering the Christian year to correspond with
the Saka year. Sometimes he adds the number 78 o the Christian year,
intending to subtract that number in order to reduce the Christian
to the Saka year. This is an instance in which he adds the word Saka
to the Christian year. If it is so, there is still a difference of
three years. That difference is not great. Nor is it unaccountable.
It may be that 717 A.D. is the year of the first and unsuccessful
attempt, while 720 is the year of the conquest. According to the
Sinhalese account Narasinkan is the name of the patron of the
conqueror, According to the Tamil account, that same is the name of
the Conqueror's son and successor.
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