History of the Jaffna Kingdom

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Main article: Jaffna kingdom
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When to date the start of the history of the Jaffna kingdom is debated among historians.

Background

Sangam period

The name 'Ko Veta' is engraved in Brahmi script on a seal buried with the skeleton and is assigned by the excavators to the 3rd century BCE. Ko, meaning "King" in Tamil, is comparable to such names as Ko Atan, Ko Putivira and Ko Ra-pumaan occurring in contemporary

Tamil Brahmi inscriptions of ancient South India and Egypt.[1][2]

Black and red ware pots and beads similar to those found in Arikamedu and Karaikudi.[4][5][6]

References in epics

The twin epics of ancient Tamil Nadu

Cīttalai Cāttanār, the author of the Manimekalai reflected Tamilakam's perception at the time that Nāka Nadu was an autonomous administrative entity, kingdom or nadu stretching across coastal districts, distinguished from the rest of the island also ruled intermittently by Tamil kings; Eela or Irattina Tivu-Nadu.[7] Jaffna is an anglicized rendering of the medieval Tamil name for the northern peninsula, Yaalpaanam or Yaalpanapattinam.[citation needed
]

There is scattered literary and archeological evidence from local and foreign sources describing the division of the whole island in the first few centuries of the common era between two kingdoms. The accounts of 6th century

Rashtrakuta dynasty.[10]
Inscriptions from the period reveal that the Cholas defeated three Jaffna kings during their conquest of the island.

Founding & early history

Pandyan tribute paying territories circa 1250, includes what ultimately became the Jaffna kingdom in Sri Lanka

The origin of the Jaffna kingdom is obscure and still the subject of controversy among historians.

Pandyan dynasty who was ruling the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa at the time with the help of his soldiers and mercenaries from the Kalinga, modern Kerala and Damila (Tamil Nadu) regions in India.[19]

After the conquest of

Pandyan Empire in modern South India
to intervene and Chandrabhanu submitted to Pandya rule in 1258.

Aryacakravarti dynasty

Main article: Aryacakravarti dynasty
National Museum of Colombo
.

When Chandrabhanu embarked on a second invasion of the south, the Pandyas again came to the support of the Sinhalese king and killed Chandrabhanu in 1262 and installed

parasol and the emblem of Setu. Rasanayagam therefore suggested that the Brahmin connection may have been mythical and adopted by the later kings as they grew in eminence.[28]

The dynasty claimed titles such as Setukavalan meaning custodians of the

Kandyan and segments of the Kotte kingdom. This period saw the building of Hindu temples and a flourishing of literature, both in Tamil and Sanskrit.[30][32][33]

Kotte conquest and restoration

Main article: Kotte conquest of the Jaffna Kingdom
The position of Jaffna Kingdom with respect to other regional powers circa 1520s

The Kotte conquest of the Jaffna Kingdom was led by king

Vannimai were neutralised. This was followed by two successive conquests. The first war of conquest did not succeed in capturing the kingdom. It was the second conquest dated to 1450 that eventually was successful. Apparently connected with this war of conquest was an expedition to Adriampet in modern South India, occasioned according to Valentyn by the seizure of a Lankan ship laden with cinnamon. The Tenkasi inscription of Arikesari Parakrama Pandya of Tinnevelly 'who saw the backs of kings at Singai, Anurai,' and elsewhere, may refer to these wars; it is dated between A.D. 1449-50 and 1453–4.[34] Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan
the Aryacakravarti king fled to South India with his family. After the departure of Sapumal Kumara to Kotte, Kanakasooriya Cinkaiarian re-took the kingdom in 1467.

Decline & dissolution

Main article:
Portuguese conquest of Jaffna Kingdom
See also: Portuguese Ceylon
André Furtado de Mendonça, the Portuguese commander during the siege

Portuguese traders reached Sri Lanka by 1505 where their initial forays were against the south-western coastal Kotte kingdom due to the lucrative monopoly on trade in

Catholics in the island of Mannar. These Catholics were brought from India to Mannar to take over the lucrative pearl fisheries from the Jaffna kings.[36][37]

Client state

The first expedition led by Viceroy

Kandyan kingdom under kings Vimaladharmasuriya I and Senarat during the period 1593–1635 with the intent of securing help from South India to resist the Portuguese. He however maintained autonomy of the kingdom without overly provoking the Portuguese.[38][39]

Cankili II the unsurper

The royal family, first from the right is Cankili I, who held off the Portuguese Empire.

With the death of Ethirimana Cinkam in 1617,

Palk Straight.[40] Cankili II was supported by the Kandyan rulers. After the fall of the Jaffna kingdom, the two unnamed princesses of Jaffna had been married to Senarat's stepsons, Kumarasingha and Vijayapala.[41] Cankili II expectably received military aid from the Thanjavur Nayak Kingdom. On his part, Raghunatha Nayak of Thanjavur made attempts to recover the Jaffna Kingdom for his protege, the Prince of Rameshwaram .[41]
However, all attempts to recover the Jaffna Kingdom from the Portuguese met with failure.

By June 1619, there were two Portuguese expeditions: a naval expedition that was repulsed by the Malabari corsairs and another expedition by

Filipe de Oliveira and his 5,000 strong army which was able to defeat Cankili II.[40] He, along with every surviving member of the royal family were captured and taken to Goa, where he was beheaded. The remaining captives were encouraged to become monks or nuns, and as most obliged, it avoided further claimants to the Jaffna throne.[40]

Consequences

Over the next 40 years, there were six rebellions against the Portuguese rule led by

Jaffna were "reduced to the uttermost misery" during the Portuguese colonial era.[40][43]

Although the Portuguese attempted to completely destroy the royal family through encouraged celibacy, there are number of families of

Sri Lankan Tamil origin who claim descent from the royal family.[46]

References

  1. ^ Indrapala, K. The Evolution of an ethnic identity: The Tamils of Sri Lanka, pp. 324
  2. ^ Mahathevan, Iravatham (June 24, 2010). "An epigraphic perspective on the antiquity of Tamil". The Hindu. Archived from the original on July 1, 2010. Retrieved 13 September 2010.
  3. ^ Mahadevan, I. Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the Earliest Times to the Sixth Century A.D., p. 48
  4. ISBN 9780824823320
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  5. ISBN 9788180900037
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  6. ISBN 9780646425467
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  7. ^ Peter Shalk. SERENDIPITY - ISSUE 02 - THE VALLIPURAM BUDDHA IMAGE - AGAIN
  8. ^ L.E. Blaze (2004). History of Ceylon. New Delhi. pp. 83–84.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  9. ^ James Emmerson Tennent (1850). Christianity in Ceylon: its introduction and progress under the Portuguese, the Dutch, the British, and American missions : with an historical sketch of the Brahmanical and Buddhist superstitions. J. Murray. p. 4.
  10. OCLC 250247191. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help
    )
  11. ^ Gunasingam, M Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, p.53
  12. ^ Manogaran, C, The untold story of Ancient Tamils of Sri Lanka, p.22-65
  13. ^ Kunarasa, K The Jaffna Dynasty, p.1-53
  14. ^ Rasanayagam, M Ancient Jaffna, p.272-321
  15. ^ "The so called Tamil Kingdom of Jaffna". S.Ranwella. Retrieved 2007-11-30.
  16. ^ Nadarajan , V History of Ceylon Tamils, p.72
  17. ^ Indrapala, K Early Tamil Settlements in Ceylon, p.16
  18. ^ Coddrington, K Ceylon coins and currency, p.74-76
  19. ^ a b c d e f de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p.91-92
  20. ^ a b c Peebles, History of Sri Lanka, p.31-32
  21. ^ Kunarasa, K The Jaffna Dynasty, p.65-66
  22. ^ Coddrington, Short history of Ceylon, p.91-92
  23. ^ Coddrington,Ceylon Coins and Currency,p.74
  24. ^ Coddrington, Short history of Ceylon, p.91–92
  25. ^ Pathmanathan, The Kingdom of Jaffna,p.1–13
  26. ^ de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p.132
  27. ^ Peebles, The history of Sri Lanka, p.31–32
  28. ^ Ancient Jaffna: being a research into the history of Jaffna from very early times to the Portug[u]ese period, by C. Rasanayagam, p.293-296 [1]
  29. ^ a b V. Sundaram. "Rama Sethu: Historic facts vs political fiction". News Today. Archived from the original on November 23, 2008. Retrieved 2007-11-29.
  30. ^ a b de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p.132-133
  31. ^ Peebles, History of Sri Lanka, p.34
  32. ^ Kunarasa, K The Jaffna Dynasty, p.73-75
  33. ^ Codrington, Humphry William. "Short history of Sri Lanka:Dambadeniya and Gampola Kings (1215-1411)". Lakdiva.org. Retrieved 2007-11-25.
  34. ISBN 0-8369-5596-X
  35. ^ a b c d e f Abeysinghe, T Jaffna Under the Portuguese, p.2
  36. ^ Kunarasa, K The Jaffna Dynasty, p.82-84
  37. ^ Gnanaprakasar, S A critical history of Jaffna, p.113-117
  38. ^ a b c d e Abeysinghe, T Jaffna Under the Portuguese, p.3
  39. ^ a b c de Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p.166
  40. ^ a b c d e f g h Abeysinghe, T Jaffna Under the Portuguese, p.58-63
  41. ^ a b An historical relation of the island Ceylon, Volume 1, by Robert Knox and JHO Paulusz, p.43.
  42. ISBN 9788120609969
    .
  43. ^ a b Gnanaprakasar, S A critical history of Jaffna, p.153-172
  44. ^ "Portuguese Colonial Period (1505 CE 1645 CE)". Rohan Titus. Retrieved 2007-12-07.
  45. ^ "SRI LANKA: THE UNTOLD STORY Chapter 27 - Horsewhip Amirthalingham". KT Rajasingham. Archived from the original on 2002-06-22. Retrieved 2007-12-07.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  46. ^ Kunarasa, K The Jaffna Dynasty, p.115
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