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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The history of the Ca occupation of Ceylon has
been critically examined by W.X.K.Wijetunge in a thesis submitted
to the University of London in 1962. It is, therefore, not our
intention to deal here with the Ca conquest which was begun by
Rjarja I in c.992/993 and completed by Rjndra I in 1017. In
this chapter, we shall confine ourselves to a discussion of the
Dravidian settlements that were established in the period of
the CN1a occupation.
Although it is possible to argue that the transformation
of northern and a part of eastern Ceylon into Tamil-speRking
areas must have been well under way by the time of the foundation
of the independent Tamil kingdom of Jaffna in the thirteenth
century and that this process must have begun at least a century
or two before the latter event, it is not so easy to trace the
course of the Dravidian occupation of these areas. The settlements
of the Dravidians in the eleventh and twelfth centuries cannot
be told as a na*rative with the materials at our disposal. We
can only attempt to seek an answer to some of the important
questions concerning their migration and settlement. Was there
any large-scale migration of Dravidians in the period of Ca
rule 2 What was the nature and extent of some of the settlements
indicated by the inscriptional and archaeological materials 9
It may not be possible to set out on our inquiry with the hope
of arriving at the whole truth, but at least we may be able to