113992242-Dravidian-Settlements-in-Ceylon-and-the-Beginnings-of-the-Kingdom-of-Jaffna-By-Karthigesu-Indrapala-Complete-Phd-Thesis-University-of-London-1965

273
The foregoing evidence points to the inevitable
conclusion that in the Anurdhapura period, and possibly till
about the twelfth century, there were Buddhists in the Jaffna
peninsula. Although it may appear reasonable to presume that
these Buddhists were Sibhalese like those in the other parts
of the island, some have tried to argue that they were Tamils.
While it is true that there were Tamil Buddhists in South India
and Ceylon before the twelfth century and possibly even later,
there is evidence to show that the Buddhists who occupied the
Jaffna peninsula in the Anurdhapura period were Sinhalese.
We refer to the topon;niic evidence which unmistakably points
to the presence of Sinhalese settlers in the peninsula before
Tamils settled there. In an area of only about nine hundred
square miles covered by this peninsula, there occur over a
thousand Sinhalese place names which have survived in a Tamil
garb. The study of these names has not yet been systematically
undertaken. One serious that besets a valuable study
of these names is the absence of records of early forms.
Except for a handful recorded in the Vallipuram plate, the
Naintjvu inscription, the Tiruvlafg4u inscription of Rjdhirja
II, the Mhvasa, C1!lavaWsa, P!jvaliya and the Nampota
the early forms of the bulk of the place names are not recorded