Jaffna: Difference between revisions

Browse history interactively ← Previous edit Next edit →Content deleted Content addedVisual WikitextInline

Revision as of 15:12, 19 December 2006 editRajsingam (talk \| contribs)1,022 edits m← Previous edit		Revision as of 16:30, 19 December 2006 edit undo220.247.220.176 (talk) →History Next edit →
Line 49:		Line 49:
	Jaffna Peninsula under Kalinga Maga's rule was the worst marauding regime that had existed in the Island according to historians.		Jaffna Peninsula under Kalinga Maga's rule was the worst marauding regime that had existed in the Island according to historians.

	According to "Yalppana Vaibava Maalai"(which was written by Mayilvagana Pulavar, during ~~dutch~~ period), the first king took ~~in 1215~~ the throne of Jaffna as "Segarajasekeran Singhai Ariyar Chakravarti" is considered to be none other than Kalinga Magha (Kulasekara Segarajasekeran Seliyasekaran Vijeyar Singhai Ariyar Chakravarti-1215-1240).		According to "Yalppana Vaibava Maalai"(which was written by Mayilvagana Pulavar, during ] period), the first king took the throne of Jaffna Kingdom in in 1215 as "Segarajasekeran Singhai Ariyar Chakravarti" is considered to be none other than the ] (Kulasekara Segarajasekeran Seliyasekaran Vijeyar Singhai Ariyar Chakravarti: 1215-1240).

	By the end of his rule, he had subjugated most of Sri Lanka. The Batticaloa chronicle states that Segarajasekeran captured Polonnaruwa. The chulavamsa and Mahavamsa say that Segarajasekeran stationed troops at Trincomalee, Koddiyara, Kantalai, Padavia, Kaddukkulam, Kayts, Pulachery and ruled Rajarata from his capital Polonnaruwa.		By the end of his rule, he had subjugated most of Sri Lanka. The Batticaloa chronicle states that Segarajasekeran captured Polonnaruwa. The chulavamsa and Mahavamsa say that Segarajasekeran stationed troops at Trincomalee, Koddiyara, Kantalai, Padavia, Kaddukkulam, Kayts, Pulachery and ruled Rajarata from his capital Polonnaruwa.


	After Segarajasekeran's death in 1240, his Kulasegaran succeeded to the throne under the name		After Segarajasekeran's death in 1240, his son Kulasegaran succeeded to the throne under the name
	Pararajasekeran and ruled from Nallur in the Jaffna Peninsula.		Pararajasekeran and ruled from Nallur in the Jaffna Peninsula.

Revision as of 16:30, 19 December 2006

This article is about the capital of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. For other uses, see Jaffna (disambiguation).

Jaffna (யாழ்ப்பாணம் in Tamil meaning யாழ்=harp, பாணம்=town of harper, යාපනය in Sinhala) the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It had been the second largest city in the country for several decades, until recent times.

History

Main article: Jaffna Kingdom

The Northern part of the Indian Ocean's Island(today's Sri Lanka)throve during the Naga Kingdom from 6th century BC to the middle of the 3rd century AD.

Naga people were of Tibeto-Burman origin, a Mongoloid race and migrated to India in 4000 BC, driven by some political disturbances from Central Asia through the North Eastern frontier of the Himalayan mountain range.

The Nagas were a prominent non-Aryan race in India and their names are still extant in various parts of India.

The Nagas were dependent on the sea for their living and established trade with India, and developed art and culture. They also worshipped serpents, which is in the icon of Lord Siva.

The Naga Kingdom was flourishing in various parts of the North of Island and the Jaffna Peninsula.

It is said that Lord Buddha visited Jaffna to resolve a crisis over a jewel between the Naga chieftains and introduced Buddhism to them.

Archeological findings in Kantharodai, Nagadeepa, and Vallipuram areas in the Jaffna Peninsula are evidence to prove the existence of Buddhism.

Long before Buddhism crept into some areas of the Jaffna peninsula the Nagas who lived in Jaffna were worshiping Lord Shiva.

The Nagas were good sea traders and Ptolemy, the famous Greek-speaking geographer and astronomer who lived in the Roman Egypt between 85 A.D. and 165 A.D. and travelled around the world observed that one of the oldest seaports of the Island was in the Northern part of the Jaffna Peninsula and was used since 6th century B.C.

Yakkas, a tribal group also were living in isolation with Nagas together in the Jaffna Peninsula.

The ‘Yakkas’, possibly early immigrants to the Island, were numerous and very powerful, and held themselves aloof and confined themselves mostly to the mountain fastnesses of the North- Central region of the Island, whereas the 'Nagas' confined themselves to the seaboard.

Ptolemy called the Mahaweli River as "Phasis fluvius", which means the Persian river, indicating that the Yakkas who dwelt there, were connected to the Persia.

Kuveni was the queen of Yakkhas and became the consort of Prince Vijaya(B.C. 543-504) who eventually bacame the first Indo-Aryan king of Sri Lanka with the Kalinga ancestry. Later he married a princess from the Dravidian Kingdom of Pandy in South India.

Though the Nagas ruled the North of the Island, a formal Jaffna Kingdom came into being by the ambitions of two chieftains, one Kalinga Magha from Orissa, India and Chandrabhanu from Malacca in the Malay Straits region of Malaysia.

In 1215 the aggressive Kalinga Maga conquered Sri Lanka with his powerful army from Kalinga. Kalinga was an ancient Indo – Aryan Kingdom of central-eastern India, in the province of Orissa. The kingdom had a formidable maritime empire with trading routes linking Sri Lanka, Burma, Thailand, Vietnam, Borneo, Bali, Sumatra and Java. Colonists from Kalinga settled in far away places such as Sri Lanka, Burma as well as the Indonesian archipelago. Even today Indians are referred to as "Klings" in Malaysia because of the early Indian invasions from Kalinga into Malaysia. Many Sri Lankan kings, both Sinhalese and Tamil, claimed to have descended from Kalinga dynasties.

The Yakkas and Nagas might have become the outcasts as bondsmen and slaves, after the Indo-Aryan immigrants conquered them and became the lords and aristocrats. And finally they might have assimilated within the dominant society.

The Nagas' religious practices are still prevailing among the Tamils in Jaffna and other parts of the island. They have a great faith on serpents and worship by offering milk and eggs. Still they don't keep Garuda (Falcon)'s pictures at home as the Garudas have eternal enmity towards serpents. In India, the demi-god tribe called Suparnas (in which Garuda belonged) was arch-rivals of the Nagas.

The customs and practices of the Nagas are still prevailing among a section of Sinhalese who were assimilated originally from Nagas in various parts of the Island.

Jaffna Peninsula under Kalinga Maga's rule was the worst marauding regime that had existed in the Island according to historians.

According to "Yalppana Vaibava Maalai"(which was written by Mayilvagana Pulavar, during Dutch period), the first king took the throne of Jaffna Kingdom in in 1215 as "Segarajasekeran Singhai Ariyar Chakravarti" is considered to be none other than the Kalinga Magha (Kulasekara Segarajasekeran Seliyasekaran Vijeyar Singhai Ariyar Chakravarti: 1215-1240).

By the end of his rule, he had subjugated most of Sri Lanka. The Batticaloa chronicle states that Segarajasekeran captured Polonnaruwa. The chulavamsa and Mahavamsa say that Segarajasekeran stationed troops at Trincomalee, Koddiyara, Kantalai, Padavia, Kaddukkulam, Kayts, Pulachery and ruled Rajarata from his capital Polonnaruwa.

After Segarajasekeran's death in 1240, his son Kulasegaran succeeded to the throne under the name Pararajasekeran and ruled from Nallur in the Jaffna Peninsula.

In 1247 Chandrabhanu invaded the Island with the aid of Indian armies from the Malayan peninsula and inflicted heavy damage on the Kalinga Maga domain. Although Chandrabhanu’s invasion was repulsed in 1263 he managed to capture certain areas(Chavakachcheri.......etc.) in the Jaffna Peninsula that were then under Kalinga Maga.

Kulothungan succeeded his father and reigned until 1279 under the name Segarajasekeran II. Vikraman, son of Kulothungan, reigned from 1279 to 1302. He was known under the throne name of Pararajasekeran II. Varothayan succeeded his father and reigned from 1302 to 1325 under the name of Segarajasekeran III. Varothayan's son Marthanda Perumal became the ruler as Pararajasekeran III. He reigned from 1325 to 1348. Gunapushanam succeeded his father and reigned as Segarajasekeran IV from 1348 to 1371. In 1371, Virothayan followed his father and reigned until 1380 as Pararajasekeran IV. From 1380 to 1410, Jeyaveeran, son of Virothayan, reigned as Segarajasekeran V. Virothayan's son Kunaveeran held the throne as Pararajasekeran V from 1410 to 1446.

The Jaffna Kingdom was dominated by the South Indian Pandyan Empire, a dravidian empire in the 13th Century after they defeated Chadrabanu. The development of the Dravidic tribes in the past twenty centuries gave rise to states like Pallava, Pandyan, Chola, Chera and Vijayanagar kingdoms in Southern India. From time to time one or the other of these Dravidian states reached pre-eminence but indubitably the greatest of these was the Chola Empire, which encompassed not only south India but the entire region up to the Ganges in Northern India, Sri Lanka and the Maldives to the south to Malaya and Sumatra in the east.

The political, socio-economic and cultural impact and influence of this empire was very great. All these Dravidian kingdoms had a lasting politico-socio-economic and cultural impact and influence on Sri Lanka and in the region to a very great extent.

Though in the later centuries some of the Jaffna Kings claimed them as Arya Chakravartis, they were originally the Dravidian Kings and not the direct descendants of the Kalinga Maha Dynasty but went under the "Arya Chakravarti" royal title continuously.

The Jaffna Kingdom had control over the Jaffna Peninsula, Northern Vanni Districts, Mannar, Pearl rich western Puttalam coast and sometimes even Trincomalee port.

After lasting for over 400 years the Dravidian influenced Jaffna Kingdom finally lost its independence to the Portuguese in 1621. The Portuguese captured the King of Jaffna Sangili Kumaran and had took him to Goa in India along with his sons. After 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.

The Tamils and the Kandyan Kingdom collaborated and conspired with the Dutch rulers of Batavia( today's Jakarta in Indonesia). The Dutch invasion from Batavia brought religious freedom for Tamils and Muslims.

The Dutch and the later colonial English ruler reigned approximately 3 centuries in length with each ruling for approximately 150 years.

The Jaffna Tamil has several Portuguese and Dutch words still in usage.

Etymology

The general area of Jaffna peninsula boasts a written history dating back to circa 4th centry BC.

A prominent port in the area was known as Yapa Patuna in Sinhala and Yaalpaana Pattinam in Tamil in olden times.

In the local Tamil dialect it currently spelt as Yaalpaanam and some local Tamils belive the term Yaalpaanam is derived from Yaal and Paanam meaning land of the lute player alluding to a myth of a blind lute player receiving the land as a royal grant.

Currently in Sinhalese, it is known as Yapanaya.

Jaffna may be a latter-day simplification of the names either Yapa Patuna or Yaalpaana Pattinam.

Demography

Prior to the civil war most residents of Jaffna were Tamil speaking, Sri Lankan Tamils, with a notable Muslim and Sinhalese presence. Thus the 1981 Census gives: Tamils 800,000; Moors 14,000; Sinhala 5,000. compared to 20,514 Sinhala speakers in 1971 and none by 1988. There were also various ethnic groups from India such as Indian Tamils, Telugus, Malayalees and Bohra Muslims from Pakistan.

Most Tamils of Jaffna were Hindus followed by a significant Catholic and Protestant minority. Hindu Tamils were also divided along caste lines with Vellalar forming the majority.

Economic activities

Prior to the civil war it was a place of many small scale industries manufacturing house hold items as well as packaging and food processing for export. Most industrialists have left or closed shops. Currently the primary economic activity is related to trading. The foreign remittance from the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora sustains many people.

Jaffna Harbour

The pending Sethusamudram Shipping Canal Project may increase the productivity of the Jaffna Harbour positively. Enlargement of the harbour will bring benefits to Sri Lanka. The strategic advantages derive from obtaining a navigable sea route close to the coast, with a reduction in travel distance of more than 350 nautical miles (650 km) (for larger ships). The project is expected to provide a boost to the economic and industrial development of coastal Tamil Nadu in India. The project will be of particular significance to Jaffna, Kankesanthurai, Mannar, Point Pedro and Tuticorin harbour.

Media

The first newspaper in Jaffna, Uthayatharakai (Morning Star) was published in 1841 by C.W. Thamotharampillai Today it has number of newspapers including Eelamurasu and Uthayan.

Educational instituitions

Jaffna is considered to be the most literate district in the whole of Sri Lanka, which has a very high literacy level to begin with. In early days (before 1970s') Sri Lankan universities were dominated by Jaffna students but currently their enrollment is minimized due to the effects of district based quota system introduced in 1970s as well as the effects of the civil war. However, in 1974 the government opened the University of Jaffna which is de facto reserved for students from the region, while they have a quota based access to the other Sri Lankan universities as well.

Founded by American missionaries in 1819, Jaffna College, has records of Malaysian, Singaporean, South Indian and even Japanese students enrollment in 1930s and 1940s. American missionaries also founded many other institutions of higher learning that are still functioning today. Today most students are locals.

Ethnic conflict

Main articles: Ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, State terrorism in Sri Lanka, and Human Rights in Sri Lanka

Due to the current civil war, the city has witnessed countless numbers of murders, rapes, wholesale massacres and disappearances of the civilian population. Currently it is occupied by the Sri Lankan Army; prior to 1995 it was under control of the LTTE. Due to ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, as well as ethnic cleansing by the LTTE, many residents have moved out of the city, and thus the population has been reduced dramatically. According to the 2001 census, the population of the city is about 145,600 . Jaffna also functions as the economic and cultural capital of Sri Lankan Tamils.

It was also a so-called 'stronghold' of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a political and military organization seeking the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam for Tamil-speaking people in Sri Lanka. However, it is under the control of the government of Sri Lanka.

The Jaffna Public library was burnt down by a Singhalese mob in June 1981, when ethnic tensions in the country were building steadily twoards war. It renovated in 2003 by the government of Sri Lanka.

Mass exodus and ethnic cleansing

Main articles: Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora and Expulsion of Muslims from Jaffna

Many of the Tamils from this region have moved out to other parts of the island or to foreign countries. This exodus of Tamils from Jaffna has occurred for a number of reasons.

The entire Muslim and Sinhalese population of Jaffna was forced to leave within 48 hours in 1990 due to an ethnic clensing order by the LTTE. During this forced exodus, they were not allowed to take any of their belonging with them. LTTE had even removed the jewellery from the women that they were wearing at the time.

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 tense security situation over the years of the ceasefire has left Jaffna in a precarious position as it is likely to be a key target should the conflict renew in the future.

Christian missionary activity

Main article: Jaffna Roman Catholic diocese

Jaffna also has played an important role in the Roman Catholic religious administration of Sri Lanka. It also plays an important role in the administration of the Church of South India in Sri Lanka, a group of Protestant denominations. Some notable missionaries are

Eliza Agnew, Presbyterian missionary from New York City

References

http://uthayam.net/articles/oct30_2005html_2.htm Fifteenth Anniversary of Muslim Expulsion From Jaffna, DBS Jeyaraj
Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Marquis Who's Who. 1967.

This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)