areas. Patna means thalassocracy on the seashore. This is really an African tree growing in the bushes of Jaffna. It is found wildly growing in African bushland.
Indonesian links
Sailendra was in possession of this small area and they used this as entry into India and for the transit of East-West trade by which they were controlling the Indian Ocean and Madagascar, a Javanese colony. Sailendra (Sanskrit:Lord of the Mountain) is the name of an influential Indonesian dynasty that emerged in 8th century Java. The migration to Madagascar accelerated in the 9th century, when the powerful Sumatran empire of Srivijaya controlled much of the maritime trade in the Indian Ocean. Present Sumatra was the ancient Swarnadvipa
.
Medieval Jaffna
Sailendras and Cholas
The Sailendras were active promoters of
Mahayana Buddhism and covered the Kedu Plain of Central Java with Buddhist monuments, including the world famous Borobudur
.
The Sailendras were considered to be a
Mekong River
upto Viet Nam. Although the Chola invasion was ultimately unsuccessful, it gravely weakened the Srivijayan hegemony.
Hindu Malaya and Majapahit converts to Islam
Later this was under the rule of Chandrabhanu, a Malay Thai prince who was a conqueror of Northern Sri Lanka.
Sri Parameswara Dewa Shah
. As a result, Raja Ibrahim ruled for less than seventeen months and he was stabbed to death.
Raja Ibrahim's elder half-brother, Raja Kasim, by a Tamil Muslim mother, assumed the throne and taking on the Islamic title Sultan Mudzafar Shah. This signalled a new golden era for the Melaka Sultanate. [1]
The
Sultanate of Kedah
started in year 1136 when the 9th King Phra Ong Mahawangsa converted to Islam and adopted the name Sultan Mudzafar Shah.
Sri Vijaya
In the 7th and 8th centuries, Kedah was under the domination of
Province Wellesley to the British at the end of the 18th century. The Siamese nevertheless conquered Kedah in 1811, and it remained under Siamese control until transferred to the British by the Anglo-Siamese Treaty of 1909
.
The ports of ancient Sri Lanka served as entry and exit points for traders, immigrants and Buddhist missionaries. Sri Lanka, being located in the middle of the Indian Ocean and to the extreme south of the Indian Peninsula, held a commanding position as the sea routes lining the east and west lay along the coasts of Sri Lanka.
Jambukola in the Jaffna Peninsula (Nagadipa) and now identified as Kankesanthurai and Mahatottiha the pearling port on the north-western coast off Mannar are frequently mentioned in the Mahavamsa. The pre - Buddhistic Valahassa Jataka contain the account of voyages to Sri Lanka from North India testifies to the fact that one of these ports of the many referred to in the Jatakas was situated in the north western coast namely
Mannar which was half the distance from Jambukola to Anuradhapura and emerging as the easily accessible port to Sri Lanka. However, Jambukola, served as the closest port to South India, Bengal and the Gangetic plains, and was used mainly for Buddhist missionary voyages, and other activities connected with culture, while Mahatottiha continuing as the commercial port.
Jaffna Kingdom
Main article:
Jaffna Kingdom
In northern Sri Lanka, the Jaffna Kingdom (1215-1619; also known as the Kingdom of Aryacakravarti) began with the invasion of one
Kotte Kingdom
in the 1450s.
After it was reconstituted its rulers energies were directed towards consolidating its economic potential by maximizing revenue from pearls and elephant exports and land revenue. It was less feudalized than most of other Sri Lanka kingdoms of the same period. Important local Tamil literature was produced and Hindu temples were built during this period including an academy for language advancement.
The arrival of the Portuguese colonial power in Sri Lanka in 1505 and the understanding of its strategic location in the Palk Strait connecting all interior Sinhalese kingdoms to South India created political problems. Many of its kings confronted and eventually made peace with the Portuguese colonials. Eventually Cankili II (1617–1619) a usurper to the throne confronted the Portuguese and was defeated, thus bringing the kingdom’s independent existence to an end in 1619.
After lasting for over 400 years,the Dravidian-influenced Jaffna Kingdom finally lost its independence to the
Sangili Kumaran and took him to Goa in India along with his sons. After the trial, the Portuguese found him guilty of treason and hanged him along with his sons. With the Jaffna Kingdom’s demise, the only indigenous independent political entity that was not Sinhalese and Buddhist in character came to an end in the Island. The Portuguese built the Jaffna Fort and the moat around it. Portugal was a thalassocracy
and they needed Jaffna to run their spice business like Sri Vijaya rulers.
During the Dutch rule the islands of the Palk Straits were renamed after Leiden, Kayts and other cities in the Netherlands. The Dutch priest
Rev Philippus Baldeus
wrote a great historical record similar to Mahawamsa on the Jaffna people and their culture and it was immediately published in Dutch and German with several beautiful pictures. A granite stone inscription at the Point Pedro Market Square still marks the place where Rev Baldeus preached to the Tamils under a big tamarind tree. This tamarind tree was uprooted during the cyclone of 1963.
The Dutch were a thalassocracy and they needed Jaffna to run their spice business like Sri Vijaya and Portuguese rulers.
Kandyan Kingdom was brought under British with signing of the Kandyan Convention
.
British rule began in 1798. Many educational institutions were established during this period. The English language was taught to the locals. The Jaffna Tamils were given higher ranks in government institutions. At this time
American missionaries and Anglican missionaries were in close competition with Catholic missionaries in establishing churches and schools in every nook and corner. The Hindu Board of Education in turn established its own network of schools. Several high schools and western style education became the hallmark of Jaffna. Jaffna Tamils became loyal subjects of the ever-expanding British Empire and took the middle-level positions in public service throughout the South East Asian countries of the British Raj (Burma, Malaya, Borneo and Singapore) in the late 19th century and early 20th century.
ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, many residents moved out of the city, and thus the population was reduced dramatically. According to the 2001 census, the population of the municipality is about 145,600 [citation needed]. The population of the district is currently estimated by the district administration at 600,000. Jaffna also functions as the economic and cultural capital of Sri Lankan Tamils
.
Jaffna was once a stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist outfit that seeks to set up an
for Tamil-speaking people in Sri Lanka. Jaffna currently is under the occupation of the government of Sri Lanka.
The
Jaffna Public library was burnt down by an organized mob in June 1981, when ethnic tensions in the country were building steadily towards war. The Sri Lankan government (United National Party) at that time was accused of letting the paramilitaries loose in Jaffna, following an incident where two Sinhalese policemen were killed by a Tamil group. The library was renovated in 2003 by the government of Sri Lanka.[2]
Mass exodus and ethnic cleansing
Main articles:
Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna
Many of the
Tamils
from this region moved out to other parts of the island or to foreign countries. This exodus of Tamils from Jaffna occurred for a number of reasons.
The mass exodus of
LTTE occupation in December 1995. Nearly 450,000 Tamils displaced during at that time.[3]
There have been claims of human rights violations on both sides. Due to Jaffna becoming a constant battleground between the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE, many people have been displaced. The tight security measures loosened as the war ended.
