Thambiluvil is a coastal village situated in the Eastern Province of Sri Lanka. It is 78 kilometres (48 mi) south of Batticaloa, on the east coast of the island. Thambiluvil is known for its preservation of the Tamil culture, especially the traditions of the ancient Mattakkalappu Desam. It is also known for Periya Kalappu, an area that has a lagoon and rice paddys.
The caste systems in Sri Lanka are social stratification systems found among the ethnic groups of the island since ancient times. The models are similar to those found in Continental India, but are less extensive and important for various reasons, although the caste systems still play an important and at least symbolic role in religion and politics. Sri Lanka is often considered to be a casteless or caste-blind society by Indians.
Sri Lankan Mukkuvar is a Tamil speaking ethnic group found in the Western and Eastern coastal regions of Sri Lanka. They are primarily concentrated in the districts of Batticaloa, Ampara and Puttalam. They are also related to "Sri Lankan Moors". Sri Lankan Mukkuvars along with Eastern Muslims of Sri Lankan claim their origin from Kerala and matrilineal in practice. Recent studies show their habits and clan structure, as well as dialects, show affinity towards the Northern Kerala regions.
Nalavar is a Tamil caste found in Sri Lanka. They were traditionally occupied in palm tree climbing and toddy tapping.
Karaiyar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found mainly on the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora.
Karava is a Sinhalese speaking ethnic group of Sri Lanka, whose ancestors migrated throughout history from the Coromandel coast, claiming lineage to the Kaurava royalty of the old Kingdom of Kuru in Northern India. The Tamil equivalent is Karaiyar. Both groups are also known as the Kurukula.
Sri Lankan Moors are an ethnic minority group in Sri Lanka, comprising 9.3% of the country's total population. Most of them are native speakers of the Tamil language. Majority of Moors who aren’t native to the North and East also speak Sinhalese as a second language. They are predominantly followers of Islam. The Sri Lankan Muslim community is mostly divided as Sri Lankan Moors, Indian Moors, Sri Lankan Malays and Sri Lankan Bohras depending on their lineage, language, history, culture and traditions.
The following is a chronological overview of the history of the Karavas and Karaiyars caste of Sri Lanka and India. Both communities were historically also known as Kurukulam, meaning Kuru clan.
History of Eastern Tamils of Sri Lanka is informed by local legends, native literature and other colonial documents. Sri Lankan Tamils are subdivided based on their cultural, dialects & other practices as into Northern, Eastern and Western groups. Eastern Tamils inhabit a region that is divided into Trincomalee District, Batticalo District and Ampara District.
Vanniar or Vanniyar was a title borne by chiefs in medieval Sri Lanka who ruled in the Chiefdom of Vavuni regions as tribute payers to the Jaffna vassal state. There are a number of origin theories for the feudal chiefs, coming from an indigenous formation. The most famous of the Vavni chieftains was Pandara Vannian, known for his resistance against the British colonial power.
The Vanni chieftaincies or Vanni principalities was a region between Anuradhapura and Jaffna, but also extending to along the eastern coast to Panama and Yala, during the Transitional and Kandyan periods of Sri Lanka. The heavily forested land was a collection of chieftaincies of principalities that were a collective buffer zone between the Jaffna Kingdom, in the north of Sri Lanka, and the Sinhalese kingdoms in the south. Traditionally the forest regions were ruled by Vedda rulers. Later on, the emergence of these chieftaincies was a direct result of the breakdown of central authority and the collapse of the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa in the 13th century, as well as the establishment of the Jaffna Kingdom in the Jaffna Peninsula. Control of this area was taken over by dispossessed Sinhalese nobles and chiefs of the South Indian military of Māgha of Kalinga (1215–1236), whose 1215 invasion of Polonnaruwa led to the kingdom's downfall. Sinhalese chieftaincies would lay on the northern border of the Sinhalese kingdom while the Tamil chieftaincies would border the Jaffna Kingdom and the remoter areas of the eastern coast, north western coast outside of the control of either kingdom.
Social class in Sri Lanka is often described as casteless, though caste is still found on the island in both a symbolic and a practical sense. Caste is also used in an analogous sense to refer to the new social class divisions that have appeared in recent decades. The combination of ethnic nationalist movements that saw caste as an island-wide dividing tool, strong emphasis on providing access to education and healthcare regardless of background, and historic lack of discrimination among the colonial civil service played a factor in eradicating the caste system in most sectors of the island's society. Although the Buddhist culture actively fought against all forms of class discrimination, many Buddhist organizations used caste as a method to extract surplus from temple property.
Asiff Hussein is a Sri Lankan journalist and freelance writer. He is the author of a number of publications in the fields of ethnology, sociology, and linguistics. He currently serves as Editorial Director of Sailan Muslim, a Sri Lankan website, overseeing the Finance, Culture & Heritage and Publications pages.
Mattakkalappu Maanmiyam is a Tamil language historical book concerning the history of Batticaloa. It was compiled by F. X. Nadarajah from the collections of palm-leaf manuscripts, copper plate inscriptions and inscriptions and it was published in August 1962. The authors of the original manuscripts and other forms of documentation are unknown.
Vannar is a Tamil caste found primarily in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. The community has traditionally been involved in laundry. also agricultural workers They are in Tamil Nadu classified as Most Backward Class.
The Pathans of Sri Lanka were a Muslim community in Sri Lanka of Pashtun ancestry. Most of them left in the 20th century, however a small number of families living in the country still claim Pathan ancestry.
Thimilar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found in the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora. They are traditional artisanal fishers primarily engaged in shallow-water fishing. In Eastern Sri Lanka are they also involved in cattle cultivation.
Mukkuvar is a maritime ethnic group found in the Indian states of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and the Eastern and North Western coastal regions of Sri Lanka. They are mostly found on the Malabar Coast, South Travancore Coast and Kanyakumari district, Tamil Nadu, who have traditionally been involved in fishing and other maritime activities.
Thurumbar is a Tamil caste found in northeastern part of Sri Lanka and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. They are traditionally occupied in laundry, notedly performed in service for caste members from the lower strata. They are also known for their involvement as sorcerers.
Sharika Thiranagama is a political anthropologist at Stanford University. She is the daughter of Sri Lankan Tamil human rights activist and feminist Rajani Thiranagama, who was murdered by LTTE in 1989. She was the president of the American Institute for Sri Lankan Studies from 2017-2020. Her first book In My Mother’s House: Civil War in Sri Lanka was published by University of Pennsylvania Press in 2011.
