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

3G0
chronicles, too, mention Nalaiyam or }alaiyakam (Kera.a)
among the places from which settlers went to the is1axid
1taru.k1r, in Ker4a, is mentioned in the Vaiy, Vaiy5pa1,
car-kalveu and the Tiri-kcal puram as the home of
some of the settlers in the Vanni districs The tradition
that they came from Marufk'tr was current among the Vaniyars
even in the nineteenth century. J.PLLewis records this tradition
in the followin manner:-
The Tamil Vaiyas are descendants of Vai chiefs.
The local exp'anation of the origin of this caste is
that they are descendants of the chiefs (Palaya aus)
who ca e over from Murithkr in India, and became rulers
of the Vai. 3
The na e 1uru.kUr is evidently a corruption of ruikr.
Further, the Mukkuva mercenaries who figure prominently in
the Na akkajappu-m iyam a ong the soldiers of Ngha were
from Ker4a, as we shall see presently.
Apart from the indication that the place names
provide about the original home of the new settlers, the
absence of Sinhalese elements in the majority of the names
may mean that the occu ation of the Vanni regions of northern
1. See upra, p. Zio
2. See upra, ,'. 2.D
3. J.P.Lewis, Nanual of the Van i Di tricts, p. 7.