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

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turbulent conditions that obtained in northern Ceylon at that
time. It is true that the large number of South Indian mercenaries
in gha's army would have found their homes in different parts
of I?jaraba, including the Jaffna peninsula. But the kind of
peaceful settlements that the Tamil chronicles mention may have
taken place towards the end of the thirteenth or at the beginning
of the fourteenth century, after the establishment of the
iryacakravartin dynasty. The Sinhalese literary sources of
about the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries generally consider
the northern areas - the region north of Salgal-kadura, to be
precise - as Tami]. areas In view of these considerations,
therefore, it is reasonable to demarcate the thirteenth century
as the lower limit for our date of the Tamil colonisation of
Jaffna.
The earliest evidence regarding the presence of
Tamils in the Jaffna peninsula is possibly the Taniil inscription
of Parkramabhu I (1153-1186) from Naitvu We have seen
earlier that till about the ninth century our evidence points
to minor settlements of Tamils in such important ports as
Mahtittha and Goka as well as in Anurdhapura, where there
was a considerable number of mercenary soldiers. In the ninth
1. See infra, p.c37 ; cf., Pv., p.111 ; Tri-siñhal-kaai -sahavitti,
ed. A.J.W.Narambe, (Kandy 1926), p.21.
2. See supra, p.74.