08.04.2018 Views

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

Create successful ePaper yourself

Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.

413<br />

<strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> avvaiapva-ifl!lai. In <strong>the</strong>Be sources it is associated<br />

with <strong>the</strong> beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>dependent Tamil k<strong>in</strong>gdom <strong>in</strong> nor<strong>the</strong>rn<br />

<strong>Ceylon</strong> <strong>in</strong> much <strong>the</strong> same way as <strong>the</strong> Vijaya legend marks <strong>the</strong><br />

beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> S<strong>in</strong>halese k<strong>in</strong>gdom <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> S<strong>in</strong>ha].ese sources.<br />

The manner <strong>in</strong> which <strong>the</strong> S<strong>in</strong>halese legend came to assume this<br />

position <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> traditional history <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Tamils may not be<br />

difficult to expla<strong>in</strong>. The Z<strong>in</strong>halese <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Jaffna</strong> district, as<br />

we have already seen were at no time completely dislodged by<br />

<strong>the</strong> Tamils. Many <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong>m probably became assimilated to <strong>the</strong><br />

Tanzil population <strong>in</strong> due course. The story <strong>of</strong> Vijaya would have<br />

been current among <strong>the</strong>se people at <strong>the</strong> time <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Tamil settlements0<br />

When <strong>the</strong> S<strong>in</strong>halese became assimilated to <strong>the</strong> Tamil population,<br />

a garbled versio@ <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Vi&ya legend would have still<br />

l<strong>in</strong>gered <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir memory. At a time when <strong>the</strong>ir orig<strong>in</strong>s were<br />

forgotten, <strong>the</strong>se people may have used this legend to expkt<strong>in</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> orig<strong>in</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Tamil k<strong>in</strong>gdom <strong>in</strong>stead <strong>of</strong> that <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> S<strong>in</strong>halese<br />

k<strong>in</strong>gdom. The legend may also have been current among <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />

<strong>in</strong>habitants <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> <strong>Jaffna</strong> district. Gradually it appears to<br />

have undergone changes that would have made it more suitable<br />

to expla<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> orig<strong>in</strong>s <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Tamil k<strong>in</strong>gdom. Hence <strong>the</strong> representatiom<br />

<strong>of</strong> Mrutappiravalli as a Ca pr<strong>in</strong>cess <strong>and</strong> Ukkiraci'iii as a<br />

1. See supra,

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!