The Real History of Srilanka – Part 5
TweetPart-3 of this series dealt with the North Indian origins of the Sinhalas, which more or less coincides with the prevailing notion among islanders of their “Aryan” ancestry. Let’s explore this belief, shall we? A drama typically unfolds with the Dramatis Personae. Why should we be typical? I’ll tee off with who this post is not about.
- The North Indian immigrants were not the 1st inhabitants of Srilanka. That credit goes to the cave dwelling Balangodas: their remains are at least 34,000 years old.
- The present-day aborigines of Srilanka, the Veddas – or Wanniyala Etto as they call themselves – may have called the island their home from 18,000 BC.
- The Burghers are the descendants of European settlers that married locals. Yet another community in Srilanka has an equally eclectic mix of genes – the Colombo Chetties. Both these groups are neither Sinhala nor Tamil.
This post is not about any of them.
Immigrants Galore
When the new nation was established, many villages were founded as more land became arable. Sinhala kings needed people to perform certain specialized caste based jobs, such as weaving, jaggery making or toddy tapping. Further, they recruited mercenaries for their army. The fledgling nation had occupations that no one could neatly fit into – such as peeling cinnamon trees, native to the island. Migrant groups moved to Srilanka to fit into these niches.
Where did the kings turn to for such skilled & unskilled workers? The Eastern Seaboard of India, the Coromandel Coast, is an easy boat ride away from Srilanka. Why go elsewhere, when you could hire from the 4 Southern states? And that’s exactly what the kings did.
Enter the South Indians
It should be noted here that the Sinhala caste system is closer to the Jati system, than the Sanskrit Varna system. Quiet a few Sinhala castes are composed of South Indians & their descendants, who came over several centuries – sometimes for trade or as the soldiers of the presiding Sinhala, Pandya or Chola kings.
Continued Marriage alliances of Sinhala kings with their South Indian counterparts could only have bolstered migrations further. As late as the 18th century CE, the Sinhala rulers of Kandy preferred to marry women from the Telugu Nayaks ruling Tamil Nadu. This led to an interesting situation: the last rulers of Srilanka were Nayaks from the Balija/Kapu community. Of course, they converted to Buddhism & played an important role in the religious revivals in Srilanka.
In this post, let’s see how 3 important, influential & upwardly mobile communities in Srilanka, known as the voices of strident Sinhala Buddhist Nationalism, can trace their ancestry to South India.
Sinhalisation
Sinhalisation is the slow but sure process of assimilation, of migrant, minority communities into the Sinhala Buddhist fabric. In a sense, this means that a particular language, ethnicity & religion are deemed superior to all others, that other groups relinquish their identity to become more acceptable to the majority.
Salagama, Durava & Karava: these 3 castes were originally accorded a low status. But, they became prosperous during the colonial period. Many of them shed their caste-based jobs & occupied high positions – thus recalibrating themselves only just below the Govigamas, the most dominant caste in Srilanka.
Salagamas
Salagama (AKA Chaliya) is a caste of cinnamon peelers in the Southern coastal areas of Sri Lanka. They were also associated with cinnamon cultivation & in Kandy, with weaving. Noted cricketer Lasith Malinga is a Salagama.
Chaliya or Saliya is a caste of weavers in Northern Kerala & Southern Karnataka. It seems possible that the Sinhala kings sought skilled weavers to setup shop at various periods. Saliyas from Kerala & Karnataka moved in waves. And some of them moved onto cinnamon peeling.
Duravas
Durava or Chanda is a toddy tapping caste, that initially moved to the Southern Coast of Srilanka. Their hereditary role is coconut or palm tree climbing. It is believed that they descended from the Nadars of Tamil Nadu & the Ezhavas of Kerala. Many of them also functioned as mercenaries & soldiers for the Sinhala kings.
Its worth noting that the term “Chanda” is very similar to “Sanar”, another name for the Nadar community in Tamil Nadu. The Duravas take great pains to deny their connections with South India & with toddy tapping, which in their eyes is a demeaning profession.
According to the Durava revisionists, their ancestors took up toddy tapping only because they owned the land themselves. Or, they did it for their Durava brethren that owned large coconut groves. Toddy tappers, them – Oh, sacrilege! They also claim that they are a community devoted to martial arts, which was well connected with the aristocracy. Their role as soldiers for the Sinhala kings probably explains their contacts with the royals.
Karavas – The Negombo Story
Along the Eastern sea-board of India, predominantly in the states of Tamil Nadu & Andhra Pradesh, a community of fisher-folks called “Karayar” live. A long time back, they moved to the South-Western coast of Srilanka.
In due course of time, their caste name morphed to “Karava”. Most of them are either Christians or Buddhists & consider themselves ethnic Sinhalas. Traditionally associated with fishing & boat-building, they also performed the roles of mercenaries to local kings.
Let’s focus on 2 districts in Srilanka: Gampaha & Puttalam, that abuts it. The Tamils – fishermen included – in Puttalam are known as Negombo Tamils. But the fishermen in Gampaha are Sinhala. Interestingly enough, the Karava in Gampaha are bilingual. While they speak Sinhala with the fluency of natives, they also speak an unusual dialect of Tamil – the “Negombo Fishermen’s Tamil”. This dialect is an admixture of Tamil & Colloquial Sinhala.
Elsewhere in Srilanka, the Karavas to the South of Colombo speak only Sinhala, though.
So, with the Karava caste, one can see Sinhalisation – akin to the coalescing of matter after the big bang – in progress, right before our eyes. In due course of time, one can expect the Negombo Tamil dialect to disappear, cutting the umbilical cord forever between the Karava & South India.
The Dance of Ingratiation
For their Sinhalisation to be complete, these 3 communities had to either forge an “Aryan” identity for their group, trace their ancestry to the pre-Indian aborigines of the island or claim royal or high-caste roots. They had to relinquish their “plain” South Indian roots, to ingratiate themselves to the Sinhala majority.
♣♣♣ The Salagamas are keen to establish their upper caste Aryan roots. To strengthen their claims, their surnames use the “Muni” suffix which – surprise, surprise – is the Sinhala word for Brahmins. Or, they go all out & use the family name “Nanedri”: a possible corruption of “Namboodiri”, the most common surname of Kerala Brahmins.
Here are a couple of legends, supposedly historical, to bolster the claims of the Salagamas.
King Bhuvaneka Bahu II ran into a small hitch while crowning his son, Prince Wathimi. The Prince’s mother was rumored to be a Muslim. This incensed the monks & they refused to perform the Coronation. The King flexed his royal muscles & imported Namboodiri Brahmins from Kerala to perform the ceremony. Their descendants mixed with weavers & soldiers from Kerala – and formed the “Salagama” caste.
Alternately, some claim that King Vijayabahu I implored the Saligrama Brahmins to manage his cinnamon plantations.
♣♣♣ Instead of claiming “Pure Aryan” ancestors, Duravas have declared they are the descendants of the elusive Nagas – who are mentioned in legends as one of the original inhabitants of Srilanka.
Some claim that since the word “Durava” has no meaning in Sinhala, it must have originated from “Durai” – which means “Headman” in Tamil. Some colonial records have noted that the Durava were “Palanquin Bearers” from Tamil Nadu & the Malabar coast. How & when Headmen started toting palanquins is left rather vague 🙂
♣♣♣ In an attempt to assimilate further with the majority Sinhalas, the Karava have Aryanized their caste name to “Kuru Kulam”. They even claim that the Coromandel Coast is the Anglicized version of Sanskrit “Kuru Mandalam” – Land of the Kurus. This helps them deny their South Indian origins & to claim North Indian Kshatriya roots.
Summing Up
The aim of this post is to question the wisdom of assuming that the Sinhalas are a product of inter-marriage between North Indians & the aborigines of Srilanka. It is ridiculous to assume that batches of people from Orissa, Bengal & Gujarat moved to Srilanka – while those from the much closer 4 Southern states did not. The migration history of Indians to Srilanka – and vice versa – is considerably more complex than that.
What then is the Sinhala identity? Is it correct to assume that they are a mono-ethnic community? If the present day Srilankans have measurable doses of Vedda, North Indian & South Indian blood – what about the ethnic mix of South Indians? Or for that matter, Srilankan Tamils?
It would be interesting to see what a scientific genetic study of these 3 groups would find. After 2500 years of shared history & intermingling, we will find that – there are too many genetic variations within each group. Would we also find that there are little or no appreciable differences between these groups?
That would make the Srilankan ethnic conflict the South Asian equivalent of the Hutu – Tutsi rebellion in Rwanda. What a terrible revelation that would be.
Excellent post Priya.
Very informative..have gone through the first 2 parts and looking forward to reading the next 3 (including this one)
Vamsi – Thanks for your comment.
It breaks my heart that people who are pretty much the same ethnically, are beating each other up ignorantly, in the name of race. History has the power to set us free – its not just a rear view mirror. For what lies before us may be very similar to what just passed by.
Comic Digital – Thanks for your comment & kind words.
Excellant Post Priya,
But I liked your comment better .It was stunning .In one of Micheal Crichton’s novel Time Line.
One character makes a similiar statment.” Our future lies in our past”
Karthik – Thanks for your comment.
You are too kind to think of Crichton in the same breath as me – its blasphemous, I think 🙂
They say that when you travel awfully close to the speed of light, you can see your own back. An apt metaphor, for people who dismiss the past as inconducive to our fast-paced lives. The faster we go, the more important it is steer our future with lessons learnt from the past.
I always felt it that Priya.Crichton novel just stuck me a like a thunderbolt.Inspite of not being his best that remains one of my favorite Novels for sheer depiction of past.
Its really nice to know that you too think the same way 🙂
PS: I really meant my comment.I was not trying to be nice at all to you ;).I am blasphemous in many aspects . so I dont mind commiting sacrilage on this 🙂
Its nice to meet like minded indivuals Priya,I have always felt the same way.
I was off the opinion that Coromandal was a derivative of Cholamadalam..Its really interesting to note people distort names for their own benefits.
excellent and great analysis. but what are the reference for this finding? i think that sri lakans are very distant to dravida culture. sinhala is clearly a branch of indo-european language and no where near to dravida. the 4 state people migrated to sri lanka, just followed sinhala and they assimilated with the main stream and forgot roots not even a single reference? so the recent tamil migration was different from others? There could be some small migration from 4 states but those are negligible to compare with mass tamil migration happened in britisher time. 4 state influence should be there and the main DNA should point to northern plains. just my thoughts, i haven’t did a extensive research on this matter.
subba
Karthik – Thanks.
Yes, I’ve also read that “Coromandel” means “Chola Mandalam”. I googled Coromandel after reading your comment & came across another interpretation: Kari Manal (Black Sand). Apparently, there’s a small village near Lake Pulicat near Chennai, which still bears this name 🙂
Subba – Thanks for your comment.
You raise some interesting questions. Such as – How many South Indians migrated to Srilanka? Let me answer that with a few more of my own. How many North Indians migrated to Srilanka? How are you sure that the Sinhala gene pool will show a clear North Indian origin?
The point I wanted to make is this: within a so-called ethnic group, DNA will vary so widely as to question our understanding of what constitutes a race. “Race” is infinitely complex, because of migrations, inter-marriage & assimilation.
Salagama, Karava & Durava are just 3 communities that I high-lighted. Many other service type castes must have moved from South India. Such as the Tom-Tom beaters – called Berava in Sinhala & Paraya in South India.
Culture has many parameters. Language is only 1 of them. Its not surprising that Srilanka, being a Buddhist nation, retained Sinhala – a derivative of Pali. As for South Indian influence, let me point to just 2 similarities, off the top of my head:
1. Script. Sinhala uses the Kadamba script, which is similar to Kannada & Telugu.
2. Food. I checked out some of their recipes. It is very similar to food from Kerala or interior Tamil Nadu – only its fiery & more intensely spiced.
If we analyze attire, music, dance etc in detail – we’ll find more similarities with South India. Such similarities will be retained only if the migrations were non-trivial.
In any case – Do you think culture spreads only if people move en masse? How many Britishers moved to subjugate India, thereby spreading English & Christianity?
Its natural for people to assimilate over several millenia. You live in the US. Tell me, how many white Americans retain their ties with their ancestral land in Europe? Do you find Germans sticking to their bratwurst after 4 centuries?
The Tamils that moved to Srilanka during the British period are the Indian Tamils. They are a small minority, < 5% of the population. They are not the same as the Srilankan Tamils, BTW. And finally - look at the Sinhalas. What can we infer from their appearance?
Priya,
As usual informative. Is there a timeline for such immigration? Did any particular caste during any particular time or was it just enmasse – each types of folks overlapping each other during migration?
The difference between the spoken language and written script, is there such a difference in any other country/culture?
Ganesh
all society required a minimum set up of social structure for functional. as per patterns from all over the world’s history, they select slaves for hard labor tasks. so my point is what ever you listed here are hard manual labor hence they might take slaves from south india for that and forced them to learn local language and culture.i’m not buying food similarities becoz even thai food also looks and taste same as kerala food. my point is north indian masters and south indian slaves forms sri lanka society at first and then mass tamil migration.
white american forgot their roots mainly becoz they fed up with europe customs and migrate for the good, then why they want to keep the roots. i know several indian families mainly from kerala and gujarat also same pattern as they migrated for the good with all family members and forgot indian roots.
Ganesh – Thanks for your comment.
Timelines would be difficult to get, because people have been migrating over a period of time. And I’m sure migrations over-lapped too, as you say.
Turkish for example, is written in the Latin script – because Ataturk wanted to align the country with Europe & wanted to cut off the ties with the Arab way of living. Mongolia stopped using its script & adopted the Cyrillic alphabet. These are recent events, from the 20th century.
Subba – The similarities between Srilankan & South Indian food is so remarkable, that one might mistake it for another Southern state. You can have string hoppers (Idiyappam in Tamil) & Kirri Hodi (similar to Ishtu in Malayalam or Sodhi in Tamil) in Srilanka. Or Godhamba (Godhumai is Wheat in Tamil & Sanskrit) Roti with Eggplant curry.
Thai food uses so many ingredients & spices that are not used in Indian food. Its resemblance to Indian food is not strong. Srilankan food uses a couple of extra ingredients like Pandan leaf, which is similar to the magnitude of differences you’ll find from 1 state to another in India.
South Indians also moved as soldiers (mercenaries), trade & thru marriage alliances. We shouldn’t forget that. And I don’t think in the time of the Sinhala kings, laborers were slaves in Srilanka.
What’s unusual in people losing touch with their roots, when they’ve been in a country for several centuries? They will ape the language & religion of their pay masters or the dominant community. Why else did the Kandy Nayaks become Buddhists?
Interesting post with excellent research Priya. The research you have done shows clearly how the modern Sinhala identity has a South Indian substratum influence. The substratum influence shows that over time a lot of south indians would have migrated to SL. If a lot of them didn’t migrate, we would not see the south indian influence.
This of course, begs the question, how come the Tamils in the North East, who migrated long ago (not the tamil workers during Brit Times), didn’t get Sinhalized?
The parallel i see is, Tamilnadu. Tamils in Tamilnadu maintained their identity because no one really conquered them until the British (Even Ashoka did not extend control Tamilnadu). Maybe something similar may have happened in the North East SL. For whatever reason the North East was allowed to continue on its own.
I agree that a modern day genetic profile of SL would only show that most people are similar (same is the case with India). Also language is not a substitute for race. This is the point missed by most people. Clearly SL people are killing each other in the name of language without looking at the shared gene pool as well as heritage.
The final point you make on Hutu Tutsi is very interesting. it is another instance of people killing their own people based on superficial differences. However, Hutu and Tutsi speak the same language! i guess when people want to kill each other they will come up with reasons for that – how sad.
Sukumar – Thanks for your comment & kind words.
It is hard to say how many people moved & in how many waves. But yes, the bolder souls move first, followed by others. Kings change, situations change – then a different category of people may have been imported.
Your question is wonderful: How did the Srilankan Tamils retain their identity? This is the corner-stone of the separatists. They claim that the North East was never a part of Srilanka. How accurate is that? That’s the subject of another post. But in general, people adopt the language & religion of the dominant group. There is no need to change, if you are the dominant group.
Language & Religion – a heady mix for civil war. Interestingly enough, Buddhism was languishing in Srilanka & had a revival in the past couple of centuries. Perhaps that’s a contributory factor.
Profound truth: Hutus & Tutsis speak the same language. Yet thy killed each other. Hate needs no logic.
Subba – I’ll give you an example of people losing their language in a “foreign” land: Brahmins in South India.
Iyers & Iyengars in Tamil Nadu don’t speak Sanskrit-based languages. We speak Tamil. Our grand-parents spoke a dialect, which could best be called “Mani Pravala” – Tamil & Sanskrit mish-mashed. The influence of Sanskrit in our dialect is considerably weaker now.
We do retain some customs, foods & rituals that are unique to us. But, how many would call us Aryans now?
Our community is very small, yet we managed to Aryanize South India to a great extent. But, we had to Dravidianize ourselves to get that done.
i agree that sri lankan conflict is between cousins who are culturally related even though my arugument of sri lanka founders and main stream are from nothern plain is valid. as the matter of fact is, sri lanka and north india connection can not happen unless a strong south india influence because of geographical dependencies.
Yes…one should be localized in order to achieve one’s goal. in our area, roman catholics changed so many rules of chirstinity to help locals to accept the reglion. nowadays all are mixed and matched and all are same look. i had a discussion with my cousin, he was unaware of these castes and his mind he will marry anybody whom he likes. thats really a great news and result of progrssive development.
Subba – Fair enough. The founders of Sinhala Srilanka are of North Indian origin, that seems to be a reasonable assumption. Modern day Sinhalas are a mix of aboriginal, North Indian & South Indian blood. How much of each is unknown & I think that may vary with their caste.
As an aside:
Modern South India will have an even more complex migration pattern than Srilanka. Many people that have integrated completely with the fabric of their respective states – moved from other states. This is very apparent in Tamil Nadu – a state which doesn’t have an overwhelming majority of people from any caste. The population is so fragmented. So, there will be a lot of variations in the gene pool of people in Tamil Nadu.
Priya,
Do you have any account of migration of people from tamilnadu, that accompanied a war? For example, when south indian kings invaded SL, they used to transfer scores of people for establishing their kingdom there.. particularly, the vellalars, skilled people and administrators.. This was the usual practice of the moovendars of tamilnadu..
You have said, that the SL kings invited different castes to their kingdom for their specialised skills.. Does it not indicate the mobility of the castes, as discussed in the earlier posts?
/** It should be noted here that the Sinhala caste system is closer to the Jati system, than the Sanskrit Varna system. **/
Varnas, jaatis, castes and kulams are all different .. we often use these words interchangeably..
Senthil – Thanks for your comment.
Yes, people did move in as soldiers to assist kings. And as you say, when kings created new villages, they imported people to live there & to perform various caste-based roles.
People like the Karava moved in to Srilanka to do their traditional job of fishing. Plus, similar people (maybe people from different castes who moved from the same region in India) – may have coalesced to a single caste. They may have performed a different function (a new caste-based role).
From what I understand:
Varna is a class system. “Caste” is a variation of the Portuguese word “Casta”, which means lineage or birth. By the time the Europeans came in, Varna & Jati had meshed together more or less. Under each class, several jatis were grouped together. The Portuguese used that term to refer to this system, where the group or the Varna-Jati of a person was determined at birth.
Kulam is a generic term which has many meanings. In “Vannia Kulam”, it refers to the caste of Vanniars. In “Kuru Kulam”, it refers to a family or lineage.
Also i heard that valli, the wife of Murugan belongs to sri-lanka.. atleast sri-lankans believe so.. so can this SL india relation trace back to ancient times?
My understanding of why tamils in eastern and northern areas had separate identity may be because, they had their own political structure and preserved their hindu religious practices. Its because, most of the times, the north and eastern region were ruled by south indian kings, and thus they established societies based on Hindu system, which is considerably different from SL society..
Apart from soldiers and mecenaries, the vellalars are the largest group that was transported to SL during chola period.. I remember reading that chola moved 60,000 vellalar families there after winning a SL king..
If we see the current pattern, the tamilians are mostly hindus, and SL are mostly buddhists..
But both the Sri-lankans and tamilians rever murugan, valli and mariamman temples a lot..
Two weeks before, i heard another interesting incident, from my friend.. his family friend was a chettiar returned from srilanka, during 1983 riots.. at that time, when the SL rioters entered his house, they first asked, if he was yalpana tamil or indian tamil.. he told, he was from india.. they spared him on hearing that..
My understanding of varna sysem are:
Varna – a classification of people based on people role in a society.. similar to the classfication of upper class, middle class and lower class in modern societies..
There are lot of mis-understandings over the term shudra.. shudra is often equated with slaves.. but its not.. for eg, in today’s society, the classification of upper class, middle class doesnt mean, they enslaved lower class people..
Kulam – Its a patriarchal lineage.. Kulam is the only segment that is based on birth, and its by default.. due to its exclusive nature, new kulams started originating from a displaced family or group of people that later became separate one… for example, in my caste, there is separate kulam called “mudavandi kootam” who on those days were given the task of taking care of the handicapped people..
Jaati – Indian way of categorizing people based on profession.. in most cases, the groups of kulams, rather than individual are categorized in to a jaati.. it is flexible, and new jaati emerged based on new professions..
Caste – European version of categorizing people based on identities.. for example, the title of Gounder were given for a administrative role in western tamilnadu.. but britishers used it as identity, and categorized the entire vellalar jaati in to gounder caste..
Today, we are following british classification of caste system rather than the earlier jaati system.. and this is the reason, why caste become acquired a racial tone..
But it is to be noted that both caste system and jaati system fits in to Varna system..
Priya,
I agree with your understanding of caste system..
Do you have any idea, when does the SL society started acquiring the racial character? It seems, historically, there were lot of mobility in SL society..
Senthil – Yes, I’ve read the Srilankan version of the Valli – Murugan story. Instead of Murugan, it is Kande Yakka, the God of Kataragama that woos Valli. Here’s a link for those that want to read the story: http://www.xlweb.com/heritage/skanda/valli.htm
Fables generally move from 1 region to another. Thus, the story of the great deluge appears in the Old Testament, as well as the epic of Gilgamesh. In the absence of written records, its difficult to say which Valli story is older – the one in Srilanka or the one in Tamil Nadu. But, it is indeed interesting to speculate.
I knew that Sinhala Buddhists worship Vishnu, Kataragama/Skanda & Shiva, but didn’t know about Mariamman. Is there any link, that you can pass on to me? And yes, Vellalas are a dominant Tamil community in Srilanka.
Its interesting to know that the rioters let your friend go, because he was an Indian Tamil. In many places, they made no such distinction.
On the North East being unique, whether it had a separate political identity & when SL acquired a racial character – related points. I’ll cover that in a subsequent post.
Senthil – So, Kootam & Kulam are used inter-changeably. This is something I observed during my stay in Coimbatore, but wasn’t sure. I wonder if this is the equivalent of “Gotra” in the Brahmin community. Traditionally, a man & a woman from the same Gotra are considered brother & sister – and hence can’t marry. Is that the same case with Kulam & Kootam?
@ Priya and Senthil,
I personally feel Nagarathars(NattuKottai Chetti) could be a imporant community in this reseacrh.They have been responsible in established Hindu communoties in many places in Far East.Their orgin can be traced back to Pandyas…..Do we have an equivalent caste/Community among Sinhalese/Tamils of SriLanka
Priya,
kootam and kulam means the same here.. the gotram exists only for the brahmanas, and later to kshatriyas.. ie, to all communities, where the people studied in kuru kulam.. even vyshyas had gotrams..
In our community, there is only simple rule.. people from same kulams should not marry.. but i heard from my friends who belong to nayakar community, that they will see for both kulam and gotram, and people belonging to same kulam and gotram do not marry..
Btw, this kulam concept has another genetic dimension.. a male contains XY chromosome and the female contains XX chromosome.. so son of a man can only inherit that Y chromosome.. in a particular lineage, the Y chromosome is continuously preserved through sons..
so a man’s son has his Y chromosome, and the X chromosome of his wife.. but his grandson has his Y chromosome, but definitely not his wife’s X chromosome..
(long back, i heard that this is a proven one, through my friend.. just now got remembered it.. i hope, priya would be knowing more details on it..)
karthick,
the naatukottai chettiyars had a grand and rich tradition for long.. i have a research document on nattukottai chettiars, which details their lifestyle in and around karaikudi..
it seems, almost all kings sent their traders, either after capturing a country, or as a good will measures..
Priya,
Long back, we had a discussion on the mangala vaazhthu song followed by the kongu vellalars.. one of my friend has uploaded that in his site..
http://www.velmuruganc.com/kvg-mangalaValthu.zip
This song was sung by kambar for a marriage occasion of sadayappa vallal, who helped kambar to complete his ramayana.. as a reward, kambar composed this song, and till now, it was sung for all marriages, by the barber..
Priya,
Today, i read karuna’s interview in dinamalar print.. i found the same in its website..
http://dinamalar.com/worldnewsdetail.asp?News_id=2326&cls=row4&ncat=INL
Vanakkam. I am P (azhanisaamy) Padmanaabhan. a lawyer.
In my search of the web for one tmt.muththammal Grant of Malaysia who aythored Shoer to Shore, i tripped over this website
and have taken copeis of the all five parts of the so called “Real History of Sri Lanka”
sure enough, I have to read them in full to add my views on the contents of the five parts history of the Sinhalese dominated island polity which diefinitely got unified during the colonial reign as was the current polity of Unon of India.
we will see what we could add further here on the libertaion war of the ethnic Tamils in the island. My immediate comment must relate to certain posting by thiru.Senthil about Kulam/koottam.
He must of Kongu VeLLala Gounder social group in tamil naadu. On that bsis i am equally entitle to add to his comments.
“In our community, there is only simple rule.. people from same kulams should not marry.. but i heard from my friends who belong to nayakar community, that they will see for both kulam and gotram, and people belonging to same kulam and gotram do not marry..’
occasionally this rule is broken to establish that biological urges as it happened in a near by village to mine enar Kaangeyam in Erode maavattam. The parents of both opetd to honour killing method as the fathers of the girl and boy were of brothers by common ancestry. Theirs was “muzhukkathan” ( fulll ear/whole ear – remember names in Astrix comics ?) division of the main sub caste of Porulthanathaar/Porulanthai.
I dissuaded them NEVER to do such crimes and today the married couple is happily livling in the same village and their child son is accepetd into the sub caste of Muzhukkathan. Incidentally the fampous Sri Lankan criketer thiru.Muththaia MuraLeedharan is of KVG idientity and of Naamakkal origin. will continue.
I do not how much a genetic study may reveal, because Indians, for large part, are genetically similar. ( http://varnam.org/blog/2008/01/the_genetic_distance_between_k/ ).However, there may be cultural differences, though they can be negated over time in an integrated community.
Arby K – Thanks for your comment.
The study that you quote is disputed & I don’t agree with its findings. This was discussed in detail in the “Real History of India” series last year.
Kathik – Yes, the Chetties did go to Srilanka. For the most part though, the Hindu traditions must have been kept alive by the Vellalas in Srilanka, as they are the most dominant group.
It is indeed interesting to speculate. The proximity with Tamil Nadu would certainly have helped too.
Senthil – Thanks for the clarification on the Kulam & Kootam.
And cool, thanks for the Managal Vazhthu link 🙂
Pazhanisaamy – Thanks for your comment.
And thanks for the clarification on Kulam & Kootam. Yes, these days in the Brahmin community also, people don’t take Gotram seriously. There are always some “work-arounds” that are provided.
VaNakkam, senthil, PR and others.
I opened the mail box of the id furnished to this blog only this night after my last posting under part-1 a few days ago and found there was a copy of posting from Senthil.
But that posting is not seen either here or under part-1
is it moderated PR?
well the references to my community from Senthil is NOT any topical discussion here and hence I refrain from replying to his comments about the origin of my community members. Also about current status of Periraaism and the strong orientation in tamil naadu for indian nationalism.
well all u said about current mind set of an average person in Tamil naadu was epitomised in PR’s proposition that current concern is of economic well being than for race, religion, language and caste.
I do not want not debate on them here now for a variety of resaons and in particular for want of time.
may be in future I may post in relpy if need be on topics that concern ethnic interests.
wish u all well.
thank u senthilnak u
PP – I don’t recall moderating comments in Part 5, so I’m puzzled too.
Some of the authors of this blog – myself included – admire certain teachings of Periyar, though we are not always in agreement with him. People like Senthil, who cherish the traditions of Hinduism, are chagrined by our support for Periyar. It has given rise to some spirited debates in this blog, in the past.
We don’t restrict our writing to certain genres, we write about whatever interests us. So, do check our blog when you find some time. Regarding ethnic interests, you may not find a writer in this blog that is in sync with your views. Nevertheless, when we do write a post on ethnic interests, we would love to hear your side too.
vaNakkam..mma PR
PR: I do not have time this mornign at this hr of 01:54 AM of 31st jan. I have accessed to my laptop mainly to send my daily mail to my son of my daiteray intakes! I took a while to open this mail box of rediff too to find any further response and i find u here. very kind of u.
this mornign too Ima confining to certai poinst in ur mail only.
Nice to know that there r some in this blog have their own support to certain things in Thanthai Periyaar. Most recent work in printed form I had read about Periyaar was in Aanatha Vikatan serial presentation of elading perosnalities in social and poltical like. There was presenttion about Periyaar and Dr.Ambedkaar. It was marvellous to know so much of such people.
I am a sworn enemy to evils like dowry, astorlogy and connected matter , catstesim etc and i am for equality to women.What is more I have and am practising them. On all such matters I have writtren in volumes in dailies like Dhinamani, Kumudam ( the ast piece published by Kumudam was my views against astrology with my photograph in its centre speread pages undrer the heading “vaatham-Vivaatham” and it was against the views of the the famous Br.B.V.Raaman of Astrological Magazine publisheds from Bengalure. I knocked him out in his astrological commensts for Pakisthan on the eve of results of thier country’s parliamnetray elections, when the fight was between the then ruling party and its PM Tmt.Benazir Bhuto ( who has been since then slain in the murky world of the poltiics of her country) and her opponent thiru.Nawaz Sherief and teh results disproved all predictions of Dr,BVR which inlcuded “no majority for any party and militray rule. But Nawaz won a necessary 2/3 majority and even later Military took control , it is routine there after all periodically and not necessarily by the influnece of any planets over hanging) Anada vikatan , The Hindu , Indian express, Illustrated Weekly of India, Sunday, The Week, Indina today, Outlook. etc and i read mots of the jorunals upto this date. I was a susbscriber to print edition of NationaL Geographic after I left MCC and from my days there I was reading LIFE and TIME too. later susbcribed to tLIFE too and stopled buying it only when it ceased publication. My recent books bought a week ago were about Thiru.Velu Pilai Pirabhakaran, LTTE and the book by Thiru. Kaarthikeyan all in Tamil who investigated the assasination of thiru.Raajiv Gandhi. My best work was on the subject of impostion of Hindi and opposition to Hindi in Tn , running for 60 pages and poublished in the journal of Pacific Affiars orignating from Australia. It was in the 60s of last century and after the momentus Anti Hindi Agitation in TN which marked a crucila turning point in the political course of TN. My main source was the book titled “Dravidian Nationalism and Tamil Renaisance ” al Dr.Nambi Aarooran son of late saivite scholar and savant of Tamil Maraimali Adigal. But my work was published due to the courtesy of and guidance from my warden and professor of Poltics in Colelege , Rev.Duncan b Forrestor from UK fo Scottish origin with whom I am in touch till date by Xmas greetings!
to continue
I printed for 6 yeras in the forums of popular web site for the global Tamils from 1998 to 2006.
it is an experiencing in contrats here in the bolg writing ! These days I can not be regular. Miost writers form thatw ebsite have chanegd over to some other wen base and my time these days r different. Eezham affairs are my prime concern.
Hindu traditions opposed to humanitarianism and it expression in sanskrit language do NOT find favour with me. Though i do visit regularly two temples at Sivanmalai ( Lord Murugan ) and Kaadaiyur both enar my native town in Erode maavattam my belief inr religion is very highly rationalised. So much so when my family’s traditional Brahmin’priest’s current generation members who have taken their heriditary roles as priests in Sivanmalai hill temple, I give gthem shocks with comments like “Why the presiding Lord with two consorts VaLLi and Deivaanai . is yet to beget even one child? Such comments I use to shield myself from their misinfromation from them. My visit ito these tempels are mainly to express respect to my ancestors/. I do have enormous resepct for temples in TN which are monuments of our culture and history. But i hate the dirciminatary traditions and practiecs there. Bets view of God and presentation is in Islam where God is namelss and formless. I love the cleanliness and equality in plaecs of worship in islam and Christianity.
thank u so much mmaa Piryaa for rhe accommodative commnst of :” Nevertheless, when we do write a post on ethnic interests, we would love to hear your side too.” let em see what i can do here whenever I find time.
we will meet again.
anbudanum nandRiudanum
Padmanaabhan.
vaNakkam..maa, Priyaa and other.
hope u r all fine . so much has happened since last met to share views.
But Piryaa’s words of economic incentives to kill the authentic and natural nationalism like tamil nationalism were reminded to me when I read in the early morning today ( 9th Feb 09) in the web edition of Dinamani the news that, and let me give the link – http://www.dinamani.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=DNH20090208100408&Title=Headlines&lTitle=%D8d%A1V+%F9Nn%A7Ls&Topic=0&ndate=2/9/2009&dName=No+Title&Dist=
India will never allow a separate sovereign Thamizh stat next door to its own state of Tamil naadu.
here the cinema craze, caste based political aims and economic develepment have erased the tamil natiolaims.
Piryaa’s comment elsewhere that there is no tamil nationalism is a reverberation of the above truth.
am i right Piryaa? hope to print a compelet answer to ur all 5 parts artile above.
I do not have time for the time being.
Thamizhanbudan
P.Padmanaabhan
Nb. I once again epress my sincere regret for the spell mistakes in my previous postings. Please bear with me ! It is all a matter of time management!
vaNakkam.
Hope u r all fine.
this early morning of 22nd Feb 2009, when i was reading the current issue of Tanmil bi-weekly journal JUNIOR VIKATAN dated 25.2.2009, I came across the following words in an interview published undre the title “RAJAPAKSHE MANITHATHANMAI ARRATTAVAR” (“Raajpakshe has no human feelings” ) at pages ar14/15 between the journal and thiru.Kaarthik Chidamabaram, son of the Union Home Minister thiru Pa.Chidambaram:
“the policy of Raajapakshe is that no journalist who writes what is fair and just
must not live. We must search for apt words to describe the murderous frenzy of Raajapakshe who bundeles the media which collects news in war zones. He has forced the correspondent of BBC which telecasts reliable news globally. I will not tolerate as a Tamil the gory dance spectacle in Sri Lanka of causing abortion to the women, who fear the bullets and come begging for mercy to their lives , holding their children in their hands, if found pregnant again currently. No Congeress man here is holding the tail of Raajapakshe . We know the pains of dying of each innocent Ezham tamil hunderd times more than any one else. A very small man that I am, May i request all those who fight for Eezham Thamizs noit to politiicise the Ezham tangle”.
Priyaa, the same BBC telecast a documentary titled “SUFFERINGS OF WOMEN IN WAR ZONES” a few years back. This was soon after SLA took control of Yaazhppaanam area in northern Ceylon. It was shown that youg girls would not wear “pottu ” on their forehead to avoid quick detection by SLA soldiers. The familiwes which have womes of approriate age must not latch up the entry doors of their home druing ngiht to enable the SLA soldiers easy entry and exit for and after satiating their r carnal pleasure”
Piryaa May I break at this time of 05:41 AM IST on 22 Feb 2009 .. I need to go for morning walk. I will resume later.
P.Padmanaabhan
Hi PR & Padmanaabhan ,
Now that LTTE chapter has ended what are your comments on that.
This Post has been silent for so long !!!!
vaNakkam. Thank u Joel. I cheked up mail box only this evening of 25th and this mail from this blog had been delievered into junk folder. have got it moved into inbox and my comments have to be necessarily in gew postings atleast. Before i could add my coommnets on LTTE hvaing been defeated in Vanni part Thamizh Eezham in the island let me add here what has been my emotional frame of mind as the SL army was inching forward day by day. I have written intensively of course without damage o manners and readability of matters prsented to readers under each ehading lof eezham related news in expressbuzz.com (now discussion are closed for readers an account of filthy and foul langusage) and in Dinamani. My daily mornign walk at 05)) am along race in Cbe would commence with prayers for Tamil in war zone for the LTTE since i am a committed tamil nationalist and has been an ardent and and consistent supporter for the cause of separate and sovereign state of Thamizh Eezham. With the news of demise of the greatest Tamil warrior in the history of Tamil nation, albeit historical emperor like RaajaRaaja cholan, Imayavaramban Nedunjaralaathan etc, i treally felt acute emotional pain and I resolved to forgo food for next 30 hrs from mid day of 17th to 18th night. In homage to the several thousands ethnic tamils who perisehd in the onlsuaght of SL army, I have resolevd NEVER again to eat sweet in my life and to take part in any feast. My son’s wedding is planned before this year end and i shall be proposing to forego traditional feasts befitting wedding and would serve simple food. I can not eat fesat while several thosusands of Eezhami tamils suffre in war camps. I am aghaust to note that China, india, and Paksitan have very actively colledued with Colombo to vaquish the freeedom struggle of the ethnic tamils in the name of deswtroying the LTTE dubbing it the wrost terrrorists in the world as if all the ealier dmeocratic and non violent methods fo the Eezham tamils from the time Thanthai Selvanaayakam had been respected adn accepted by the majority sinhalese! From vaatukkottaiu resolution to 1977 victory of TULF in parliamentray elections all were non violent, peaceful and democratic. WHAT DID THE SINHALESE DO? LTTE was born and slowly built into a force to get the goal of Thamizh EEzham reallised. BUT INTERNAL POLITICAL CIRCUMSTANCES HAVE EN HOSTILE TO THEM. Save thiru.Raajiv’s assasination by way of pre empting gn him from seeking to destroy if he returned to pwoer, LTTE DID NOT COMMIT ANY CRIME AGIANST ANY ONE UNLESS IT FOUND SOME IN THE ISLAND WERE SEEKING TO COMPROMISE THE HERISHED GOAL OF THAMIZH EEZHAM. I was personally kanow to Thiru.Appapillai Amirthalingam his wife tmt.Managyarkkarasi aNNi and his and other slaying of persons like the famouse lawyer Thoiru.NNELAN THIRUCHCHELVAM were totally reprehensible to em, But i slowly reconciled to their demise and turend a nm ardent supporter of LTTE for the sake of casue of Thamizh Eezham. GTrue, dear Joel, LLTE is gone in Thamizh EEzham in the island and nothign is evry clear at the momnet. I can write more and mlore. But please forgive me . Peisdes mild personal health problem and immediate need to work for a Ciivll Revision Petition to be filed after vacation till 7th June, in the High Court of Judicature at Madras, I have to leave u. But when i fidn tiem I will sure be here. nandRi, Joel.
Thanks for your comments P.Padmanaabhan .
Its nice to hear ur openion on the Thamizh Eezham. Its gr8 that u have taken a resolution not to eat sweets anymore.
We hope that the Rajaprake Gov will resolve this issue & given equal rights in all areas..
Howz ur health now & the Civil petition mentions earlier.
Also can you post ur other Blogs in this site or other sites. Its interesting to read urs. !!!
Nandri Padmanaabhan
joel, vanakkam.
since i last posted here on 25th of May, on 28th early hrs my car met with a serious accident of hit by another car as my car was seeking to go across the NH 67 after attending the wedding between 05:00 and 06:00 AM , opposite a wedding hall in the suburbs of city. The impact was so high that i suffered five undisplaecd frcature to my right ribs and dispalecd fracture to left shoulder back. That was because the moment i realised a forcible sdie hit was not unavodiable, i swictehd off my engine and isnatntly crouched on the speparatefrot seat next left to my driver seat. That spilit secodn decsiion and action was to save atlesat to save my face without glass injuries if the widnscreen or sisde window glass collapsed in pieces. I was in the next two minutes I recoverd from a sort of breif faintign and it took me juts one miniute to realise that I had suffered no external blood injuries at all owing to strong right front door of my well maintained AMBASSADOR car of 1968 model. The door shielded mu back from the hit of the other car -a Ford icon out from dealer juts two months back to the owner. Mercifully i owe my life to the owner of other car of 47 yrs old who applled the breaks of his car wiht all his strength possible. Joel, Sir, THE CREATOR is GREAT to give me further extension of my life! ……after foru days of hospitalsiation for pains managemnet and this mornng i opened the inbox in my laptop to seacrh for an incoming draft attachment of the revision petition from my colleague in Chennai. I noetd ur letter. thank U Sir. eezham will take its own course. U have said :'”Rajaprake Gov will resolve this issue & given equal rights in all areas..”
Actually what to do u mean by equal rights? How could a small minority be equal with a steam roller majority? BUT IT IS ALL NOW LEFT TO THE STAMINA OF THE EEZHAMITE TAMILS. THEY SHOULD NOW KNOW THAT THEIR ETHINC KINSMEN THIS SIDE PAK STRAITS CAN NOT BE TRUSTED FOR TIMELY & PURPOSERUL ACTION IN COHESION. Take for the fofrmer CM JJ. She was most vcoal during her campaign for separate Eezham. Once the results were known- she is NOT anymore heard of her voice in support of separate eezham! This morning (og 10th june) web editon DINMANI had a title that even MDMK urged only a state for the eezhamite tamils within Sri Lankan! I did not reda the deatils. BUT Eezhamite tamils abroad have their own plan. that will be in my next posting.