Selected Writings by Sachi Sri Kantha

A Millennial Anniversary in Eelam

1 November 2000

"In two months time, we will be bidding good bye to the year A.D. 2000. Thus, it is apt to remember a millenial event which has not received due attention among the Eelam Tamils. This was a remarkable event in the political history of Eelam Tamils....The Time Tables of History [Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982] compiled by Bernard Grun (1901-1972) lists the following the nine events in its History and Politics column, for the year 1000... the event listed as number 5 is 'King Rajaraja of the Chola dynasty conquers Ceylon'..."

[see also The Tamils - their History & Geography]

In two months time, we will be bidding good bye to the year A.D. 2000. Thus, it is apt to remember a millenial event which has not received due attention among the Eelam Tamils. This was a remarkable event in the political history of Eelam Tamils. Let me evaluate this event which happened in the year A.D. 1000 in South Asia, in comparison to the simultaneous events which occurred in Europe and in a new continent, which later came to be named 'America'.

The Time Tables of History [Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982] compiled by Bernard Grun (1901-1972) lists the following the nine events in its History and Politics column, for the year 1000, and check the event listed as number 5.

1. Bohemia and Moravia united.
2. King Olaf I of Norway killed in the Battle of Svolder; Norway becomes Danish.
3. Piasts rule in Poland.
4. Venice rules over Dalmatian coast and Adriatic Sea.
5. King Rajaraja of the Chola dynasty conquers Ceylon.
6. Ethelred II ravages Cumberland and Anglesey.
7. King Stephen of Hungary receives from the Pope the title of Apostolic Majesty.
8. Sancho III, the Great of Navarre.
9. Emperor Otto III makes Rome his permanent residence.

These were the nine events which shook the then civilized world. If there were newspapers and other mass media 1000 years ago, these were the major events which would have received prominent coverage. In addition, the Science and Technology column of Bernard Grun's reference book lists the following four items.

1. Leif Ericson, son of Eric the Rred, is supposed to have discovered America
(Nova Scotia).
2. Indian mathematician Sridhara recognizes the importance of zero.
3. Mention of several abortive attempts to fly or float in air.
4. Arabs and Jews become court physicians in Germany.

When the Indian master Sridhara was pioneering with the significance of zero in the mathematical world, in the year 1000 (or Y1K, as it is now dubbed in the popular science parlor), the peasant Tamils living in the prosperous Chola empire recognized that year as only the 15th year of the reign of King Rajaraja the Great. The Indian subcontinent had a population of approximately 50 million, who did not identify themselves as 'Indians'. They were adherents to Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism. King Rajaraja ruling from Tanjavur was one of the policy makers of the then civilized world. There were courtiers, scientists and tradesmen traveling to his court from the lands of Arabian peninsula, China and Southeast Asia. Tanjavur had a population of 90,000. It was the 15th most populous city in the world then. [source: U.S.News and World Report, Aug.16-23, 1999, Special Issue on The Year 1000].

The island of Ceylon probably would then have had a population between 800,000 and one million at the most. Those living in the island also never would have identified themselves as 'Lankans' or 'Sri Lankans'. All of them were adherents of either Buddhism (a hybrid version of North Indian Buddhism, deeply influenced by South Indian Hinduism) and Hinduism. One can guess that when King Rajarajan made his conquest of Ceylon exactly 1000 years ago and made the Tiger emblem a symbol of obeisance, 10,000 to 20,000 Tamils from the Chola empire would have settled in the Northern and Eastern regions of the Ceylon island. Undoubtedly, these pioneers from Rajarajan's Chola empire were the ancestors for quite a segment of our contemporary Eelam Tamil population.

Make no mistake about this. I'm not stating that this is the first Tamil settlement in the Eelam territory. According to archeological and historical records, the first permanent Tamil settlements would have occurred in the now Mannar region, then known as Maa-Thottam [Great Garden] or Maanthai, two millenia ago or even before that.

King Rajarajan's conquest of Ceylon would have been akin to the 1849 Californian Gold Rush, which brought hundreds of thousands of White Anglo Saxon Protestants to the American West territory. But one should remember that the first permanent English settlement in America was established in 1607 at Jamestown, Virginia.

I wonder what composition those 10,000 to 20,000 pioneers would have had. All the known traditional jobs would have been represented; servicemen and sentries, administrators and accountants, tradesmen and temple priests, musicians and mariners, farmers and foresters, teachers and technicians. Included in this composition would be quite a few hustlers, toadys and criminals as well. Nevertheless, all of them were adventurers.

They also would have brought the latest technical expertise to the island of Ceylon. These accountants, architects, mariners, engineers and even hustlers would have first introduced the concept of zero in the arithmetic calculation of routine affairs to the islanders, including those living beyond the Wanni forests in the regions of Uda Rata and Ruhuna.

1000 years ago, the Chola empire of King Rajaraja was vast - even by contemporary standards. The exports from Chola empire included incense, spices, gems, gold, cotton and timber, not to mention science and technology (especially arithmetic and architecture). The ports in the Eelam section of the Chola empire also would have been bustling with activities; people landing with dreams of better life, and setting the international business world in motion with exports such as cotton, timber and spices. For 1000 years, the activities in these ports have captured the imagination of Tamils and other tribes in Eelam and elsewhere. The Tamil names of some of these ports say them all; Paruthithurai [Cotton Port], Valvettithurai [Tough Dock Port or Endurance Port], Kankesanthurai [Kankesan's Port] and Oorkaavalthurai [Town Vigilance Port].

So, let us raise a 'thousand year cheers' and toast to the master-mind of Tamil resurgence - the Chola King Rajaraja the Great, who lived 40 generations ago. We, Eelam Tamils, owe one to him.