Vanni forest

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The Vanni forest is a heavy forest which covers the Vanni area [1] [2] and the majority (approximately 75%) of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. This jungle is spread from Omanthai in south to Paranthan in north. This jungle played a very significant role in the history of Sri Lanka. This forest is located in a dry-zone area. The biodiversity in the Vanni forest is considerably low. There are approximately 300,000 people living near the forest area. [3]

Contents

People

This area was situated between the Sinhalese Kingdoms from the south and the Tamil ruled Jaffna Kingdom from the north. Small groups of Sinhalese and Tamils were established in the Vanni. It brought an ethnic balance to the area. Sinhalese settlements were concentrated in the southern interior of the jungle. Tamils primarily settled in the coastal northern areas of the jungle. [4] Settlements were controlled by a chief selected by the group. Chiefs of Tamil people were called Vanni Chieftains and Sinhala chiefs were called Wanniarachchi. Vanniar Chieftains paid tribute to the Jaffna Kingdom.

Historical Importance

This jungle was a hotbed of resistance to the civilizations in ancient kingdoms in Sri Lanka. The Giant's Tank area in Mannar District by King Dhatusena, [5] Eropathana in Vavuniya District, Padawiya area in Anuradhapura District and Mullaitivu District by King Moggallana II [6] proves that the Kingdom of Rajarata, the golden civilization of ancient Sri Lanka is spread to south boundary of the forest. This area was situated between later Rajarata and the Jaffna Kingdom. Vanni forest stood as a heavy barrier to the rising conflict between Sinhalese and Tamils and assured protection to the Jaffna Kingdom from the kingdoms to the south. After the fall of the Kingdom of Rajarata in the 12th century due to the Kalinga Magha invasion, the Vanni forest wasn't part of the Rajarata. In 1323, the Pandyan Jaffna administrative center became the independent Jaffna Kingdom due to the lack of influence from the Pandyans who were engulfed in war with the Delhi Sultanate. The last Pandyan ruler of Madurai was expelled in 1323 by Malik Kafur. [7] [8] Within 125 years of establishing the Jaffna kingdom, it lost the control of Vanni area due to lack of support from the Pandyans and rising the power of Sinhala kingdoms in south. It would appear that by the 13th century Tamils withdrew from the Vanni. [9] In 1450 Chempaha Perumal, adopted son of king Parakramabâhu VI of Kotte invaded the Vanni area [10] and Jaffna Kingdom to bring them under the control of Kotte. After the falling of Kotte Kingdom, small groups again settled in Vanni. But they paid tribute either to the Jaffna Kingdom or Kingdom of Kandy.

During the Sri Lankan Civil War period, the LTTE controlled this area until 2008. The majority of the battles which took place during the Civil War took place in the Vanni forest. Modern day forest coverage is low due to deforestation.

Settlements in 20th century

In 1936, the town of Paranthan was established, leading to the increased settlement of the Vanni forest. New towns like Kilinochchi, Mankulam, and Puliyankulam were colonized by clearing the forest.[ citation needed ] This affected the ethnic balance in Vanni area which was between Rajarata and Jaffna Kingdom. After independence from the British, the Sinhalese colonized Tamil lands to neutralize the ethnic balance. This led to another wave of forest clearing, as well as increasing the already heated ethnic tensions between the two groups. The Sinhalese colonization of Tamil lands would serve to be a factor behind the outbreak of the Sri Lankan Civil War. [11]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaffna Kingdom</span> Tamil kingdom in present-day Sri Lanka (1215–1619)

The Jaffna Kingdom, also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally thought to have been established after the invasion of Kalinga Magha from Kalinga in India. Established as a powerful force in the north, northeast and west of the island, it eventually became a tribute-paying feudatory of the Pandyan Empire in modern South India in 1258, gaining independence when the last Pandyan ruler of Madurai was defeated and expelled in 1323 by Malik Kafur, the army general of the Delhi Sultanate. For a brief period in the early to mid-14th century it was an ascendant power in the island of Sri Lanka, to which all regional kingdoms accepted subordination. However, the kingdom was overpowered by the rival Kotte Kingdom around 1450 when it was invaded by Prince Sapumal under the orders of Parakramabahu VI.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vavuniya</span> City in Sri Lanka

Vavuniya. Vavuniya is the capital city of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. The municipality is administered by an Municipal Council. The town has been known since ancient times, but being a heavily forested area, less than 100,000 people lived in the entire district before the Sri Lankan Civil War. The city is situated as a border town that divides the Tamil and Sinhalese population. To the south of the city are the Sinhala cities and to the north are the Tamil cities. The city has a large population of Tamils, Muslims and a significant number of Sinhalese. In the early days, Vavuniya was known as Vanni due to the abundance of Vanni Trees. The Security Forces Headquarters - Wanni is located in Vavuniya.

Bharatha People also known as Bharatakula and Paravar, is an ethnicity in the island of Sri Lanka. Earlier considered a caste of the Sri Lankan Tamils, they got classified as separate ethnic group in the 2001 census. They are descendant of Tamil speaking Paravar of Southern India who migrated to Sri Lanka under Portuguese rule. They live mainly on the western coast of Sri Lanka and mainly found in the cities of Mannar, Negombo and Colombo.

Kalinga Magha or Gangaraja Kalinga Vijayabahu was an invader from the Kingdom of Kalinga who usurped the throne from Parakrama Pandyan II of Polonnaruwa in 1215. A massive migration followed of Sinhalese people to the south and west of Sri Lanka, and into the mountainous interior, as they attempted to escape his power. Magha was the last ruler to have his seat in the traditional northern seat of native power on the island, known as Rajarata; so comprehensive was his destruction of Sinhalese power in the north that all of the successor kingdoms to Rajarata existed primarily in the south of the island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sinhala Kingdom</span> Series of monarchies in Sri Lanka from 543 BCE to 1815 CE

The Sinhala Kingdom or Sinhalese Kingdom refers to the successive Sinhalese kingdoms that existed in what is today Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese kingdoms are kingdoms known by the city at which its administrative centre was located. These are in chronological order: the kingdoms of Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Dambadeniya, Gampola, Kotte, Sitawaka and Kandy.

Sinhalisation is a term, derived from Sinhala, that has number of meanings in Sri Lanka. it is mainly the assimilation into Sinhalese Culture in which the members of an ethno-cultural group are steadily integrated or "absorbed" into established Sinhalese culture.

Sri Lankan state-sponsored colonization schemes is the government program of settling mostly Sinhalese farmers from the densely populated wet zone into the sparsely populated areas of the dry zone. This has taken place since the 1950s near tanks and reservoirs being built in major irrigation and hydro-power programs such as the Mahaweli project.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pandara Vanniyan</span> Tamil Vanniar (Chieftain) of Vannimai The Last King of Vanni

Pandara Vanniyan was a Tamil Chieftain who ruled in Vanni Nadu in 18th century AD. He is referred to by some as the last Tamil king in Sri Lanka, who also rose to revolt against the British Ceylon empire and Dutch Ceylon empire, who died battling the British colonial rule on the island. He was officially declared a National Hero of Sri Lanka in 1982.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jaffna District</span> Administrative District in Northern, Sri Lanka

Jaffna District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Jaffna.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kilinochchi District</span> Administrative District in Northern, Sri Lanka

Kilinochchi District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the town of Kilinochchi.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mullaitivu District</span> Administrative District in Northern, Sri Lanka

Mullaitivu District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the town of Mullaitivu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vavuniya District</span> Administrative District in Northern, Sri Lanka

Vavuniya District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Vavuniya.

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Vanni chieftaincies</span>

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.

Bhuvanekabahu VI of Kotte, also known as Sapumal Kumaraya and Chempaka Perumal, was an adopted son of Parakramabahu VI, whose principal achievement was the conquest of Jaffna Kingdom in 1447 or 1450. Bhuvanaikabahu was apparently summoned south after the demise of his adopted father. He then ruled for 17 years. According to Rajavaliya, he killed the grandson of Parakrama Bahu VI, namely Vira Parakrama Bahu or Jaya Bahu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingdom of Kotte</span> Sinhalese kingdom in southwestern Sri Lanka from 1412 to 1597

The Kingdom of Kotte, named after its capital, Kotte, was a Sinhalese kingdom that flourished in Sri Lanka during the 15th century.

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Mannar District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is Mannar, which is located on Mannar Island.

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

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rajarata</span>

Rajarata [rā dja ra tə] was one of three historical regions of the island of Sri Lanka for about 1,700 years from the 6th century BCE to the early 13th century CE. Several ancient cities, including Tambapanni, Upatissa Nuwara, Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, were established as capitals within the area by successive rulers. Rajarata was under the direct administration of the King. Two other areas, Malayarata and Ruhunurata, were ruled by the king's brothers "Mapa" and "Epa". The Magha invasion in the 13th century brought about the end of the Rajarata kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Malay invasions of Sri Lanka</span> 13th c. military conflicts

Malay invasions of Sri Lanka occurred in the mid-13th century, when the Malay ruler Chandrabhanu Sridhamaraja of Tambralinga, invaded Sri Lanka twice during the reign of king Parakramabahu II of Dambadeniya. Both invasions were successfully repulsed by the Kingdom of Dambadeniya.

References

  1. ↑ Google map static view of Vanni Forest, Parantan (North), Giant Tank, Eropathana,Padawiya Tank
  2. ↑ Vanni Forest satellite view
  3. ↑ "Vanni: A graphic history". Himal Southasian. 2020-06-16. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  4. ↑ page 31 Sri Lanka By Joe Cummings
  5. ↑ Yoda Wewa - Mannar District amazinglanka.com
  6. ↑ The Sri Lanka Reader History, Culture, Politics by John Clifford Holt, Robin Kirk, Orin Starn page 55
  7. ↑ The History of Sri Lanka By Patrick Peebles page 31
  8. ↑ Delhi Sultanate History Map in 13th Century
  9. ↑ K.M. De Silva, A History of Sri Lanka, p. 64.
  10. ↑ A History of Sri Lanka by K.M. De Silva page 87
  11. ↑ Peebles, Patrick (1990). "Colonization and Ethnic Conflict in the Dry Zone of Sri Lanka". The Journal of Asian Studies. 49 (1): 30–55. doi: 10.2307/2058432 . ISSN   0021-9118.

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