Caste in Sri Lanka

Caste in Sri Lanka
From Ancient Times to the Present Day
Asiff Hussein
B.A. (Social Sciences)
PGr.Dip (Archaeology)
Caste in Sri Lanka.
From ancient Times to the Present Day
1st Edition: September 2013
© Asiff Hussein
ISBN 978-955-0028-35-1
Printed by: Printel (Pvt) Ltd
Published by: Neptune Publications
CONTENTS
Introductory Note
Introduction
Casteism in Sri Lanka
Chapter 1
Caste in Sinhalese Society
Chapter 2
Caste in Tamil Society
Chapter 3
Caste in Moor Society
Introductory Note
The subject matter dealt in the present work, namely, casteism, is
rather sensitive even in these enlightened times and works dealing with
it are rather scarce. There are a few notable works such as Bryce
Ryan’s Caste in Modern Ceylon (1953) and Bryan Pfaffenberger’s
Caste in Tamil Culture (1982), but these are rather limited in scope,
dealing with the social aspects of the caste system as it obtained at the
time these writers undertook their studies and did not so much take into
consideration the history of these caste groups, their origins and
affinities, settlements, family names etc. It is this void that the author of
the present study intends to fulfill.
We have for this purpose relied not only on the well known textual
sources such as the Mahāva sa, Cūlava sa, Janava sa and
Mandārampura Puvata, but also lesser known and rarer works dealing
with various caste groups published by interested organizations which
we have had the fortune to peruse. Other sources such as lithic
inscriptions and colonial period registers known as the tombos have
also been made good use of. Much information on the various castes’
settlements, family names etc were also gathered from numerous
individuals whom we interviewed during the course of this study.
As for casteism in Tamil society, we have made good use of ancient
literary works such as the Cilappatikāram and other literature of the
epic Sangam age, as well as more recent works such as the Yālppāna
Vaipava Malai. Other works cited include Dutch and British period
records as well as more recent publications such as James Cartman’s
Hinduism in Ceylon (1957), M.D.Raghavan’s Tamil culture in Ceylon
(1971), Robert Holmes’ Jaffna (1980), Bryan Pfaffenberger’s Caste in
Tamil Culture (1982) and Dennis Mc.Gilvray’s Crucible of Conflict.
Tamil and Muslim Society on the east coast of Sri Lanka (2008).
With regard to casteism in Sri Lankan Moor society, we find only
one such group, namely, the Osta or Barber community who could be
characterized as a caste based on the lack of inter-marriage and interdining with the rest of the Moor community. Much of the information
relating to this group was gathered by the author’s own inquiries, a
good part of which has already been published in his work Sarandib.
An Ethnological Sudy of the Muslims of Sri Lanka (2007, 2011) with
supporting evidence gathered from the Portuguese and Dutch tombos as
well as British period records. Mc.Gilvray’s recent 2008 work has also
been employed to some extent.
The system of transliteration employed in the text, save for citations,
is the standard method. Thus dots below letters represent retroflex
sounds while c represents the voiceless palatal affricate (as sounded in
the English church) and ś the palatal sibilant (as sounded in English
show). The initial c occurring in certain Tamil words cited from various
authorities may however not necessarily reflect the actual
pronunciation, but rather be pronounced as ś or even s.
Similarly, intervocalic t given by these authorities is pronounced as d
and intervocalic k as g or a guttural h. This however may not apply to
the older works such as those of the Sangam age which were probably
written in the forms that faithfully represented the actual pronunciation
at the time. Ligatures placed over vowels represent long vowels, though
the long e and o of Sanskrit and Pali vocables are not represented as
such in keeping with the standard practice.
We have as far as possible endeavoured to retain the original
spellings such as of caste names and place names as given by the
writers themselves when citing their works. As such the spellings of
caste names may differ from place to place, though in other contexts we
have employed the proper usage.
Geographical references to India refer to the historical India including
those parts of the subcontinent today known as Pakistan and
Bangladesh and may not necessarily be restricted to the region
encompassed by the modern-day Indian Republic.
Abbreviations
(Literary works, newspapers, journals, archives)
AE – American Ethnologist
AL- Anthropological Linguistics
ARGB – Archiv fur Rassen und Gesellschaft Biologie
BMOM- British Museum Oriental Manuscripts
CAJ – Cambridge Archaeological Journal
CLR – Ceylon Literary Register
CALR – Ceylon Antiquary and Literary Register
CAR - Ceylon Administration Reports
CDN – Ceylon Daily News
CHJ – Ceylon Historical Journal
Clp – Cilappatikāram
CV - Cūlava sa
DAG – Dhampiyā Aṭuvā Gätapadaya
DmbAs – Dambadeni Asna
IA – Indian Antiquary
JBORS – Journal of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society
JRASB – Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Bengal
JRASSL- Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka
JSK – Janaśruti Śabda Kōṣaya
JV- Janava sa
Mbh – Mahābhārata
MCS – Modern Ceylon Studies
MLR – Monthly Literary Register
MV – Mahāva sa
MVV – Mahaväli Va saya
NKMS – Newsletter of the Kshatriya Maha Sabha
PjV - Pūjāvaliya
PRO.CO – Public Record office, London, Colonial Office
RV – Rg Veda
Rjv – Rājavaliya
SBV- Si hala Bōdhi Va śaya
Sdl- Saddharmala kāraya
SdR – Saddharma Ratnāvaliya
SO – Sunday Observer
SKBGW – Sitzungsberichte Königlich Böhmischen Gesellschaft der
Wissenschaften
SLNA – Sri Lanka National Archives
SSK- Si hala Śabda Kōṣaya, Sinhala Dictionary Ed. D.E.Hettiarachchi,
P.B.Sannasgala
SZ – Spolia Zeylanica
UCHC – University of Ceylon History of Ceylon
UMTL – University of Madras Tamil Lexicon
VP- Va sattappakāsini
Yvm – Yālppāna Vaipava Malai
ZDMG – Zeitschrift der Deutschen Morgenlandischen Gesellschaft
Abbreviations
(General)
A.C. – After Christ
C. – Circa, around
c.- century
e.g.- exempli gratia, for example
i.e – id est, that is
lit.- literally
B.C. – Before Christ
Cf. – Confer, compare
Ed.- Edited by
Fr. – from
Ibid – ibidem, same place
Pr.- probably
Abbreviations
(Languages)
Gk. – Greek
MIA – Middle Indo-Aryan
P. – Pali
Pkt. – Prakrit
Skt. – Sanskrit
L. – Latin
OIA – Old Indo Aryan
PIE – Proto-Indo-European
Sinh. – Sinhala
T. – Tamil
INTRODUCTION
Casteism in Sri Lanka
A caste may basically be defined as a largely homogeneous group of
people who are almost or invariably endogamous and who claim
descent from a common ancestor or a close association from the distant
past. A caste also professes to follow a common hereditary calling.
Since caste is hereditary and determined by birth alone, one cannot
move out of it. Nor does one have any opportunity for social mobility.
One’s place in the overall social structure is fixed, and it is this feature
that distinguishes caste from other forms of social stratification.
Today, perhaps more than ever before, free and open discourse on
matters relating to caste is regarded with caution and sometimes even
contempt, mainly due to the sensitive nature of the topic. On the one
hand it is divisive as discussion or debate on the topic among members
of different caste groups can lead to unpleasantness and ill-feeling,
particularly when one group attempts to arrogate to itself claims of
superiority to the exclusion of others. Such sentiment is considered
detrimental to the formation of a national identity which is greatly
desired at the present day.
At the same time, however, one cannot doubt that caste sentiment
also provides a sense of cohesiveness among members of a particular
caste, giving it a sense of identity, belonging and community feeling
akin to that of a family, clan or tribe. This has led to a somewhat
paradoxical situation in society, at one time being considered extremely
impolite to be mentioned in the public domain and at another very
much a matter for discussion in private conversation in hushed tones or
in connection with matrimonial matters when it assumes sudden
respectability. This becomes apparent the moment one peruses the
matrimonial columns of the national newspapers where the castes of
prospective brides and grooms find mention in very frank terms. It
therefore needs no stretch of imagination to conclude that casteism is
deeply rooted and firmly entrenched in Sri Lankan society. How far
this situation will continue only time will tell, but for the present it still
very much remains a social reality.
Available evidence suggests that casteism was introduced to the
Indian subcontinent by its Aryan conquerors around four millennia ago.
It still exists in the Indian subcontinent in a more or less rigid form,
particularly among the followers of Hinduism, a religion that has its
origins in the beliefs of the ancient Aryans. However it cannot be said
to be altogether absent among the Muslims of the subcontinent who in
spite of the egalitarianism laid down in the Islamic faith, are also
known to have zāts or distinct caste-like groups that marry among
themselves.
Casteism also exists in Sri Lanka among the majority Sinhalese, a
largely Buddhist people who form over 70 percent of the total
population of the island, and the minority Tamils who are largely
Hindus and who constitute about 20 percent of the population. It is also
known to exist among the Moors, a Muslim minority comprising of
around 10 percent of the population, in the form of a solitary
endogamous group known as the Osta.
That casteism should exist among the Sinhalese is not surprising
considering the proximity of Sri Lanka to India and the fact that the
Sinhalese constitute the descendants of various ethnic groups
originating in India that crossed over to Sri Lanka at various periods of
time. The unifying factors of these otherwise diverse Sinhalese groups
has been a common language, namely, Sinhala, and to a lesser extent
religion, namely, Buddhism, introduced from India during the reign of
Emperor Asoka around the third century B.C. Indeed, the true sociocultural unity of the Sinhalese as an ethnos on the basis of language and
shared cultural traditions is a relatively recent phenomenon. The fact is
that the Sinhalese of today are a conglomerate of different groups that
hailed from the Indian subcontinent at different periods of time. Such
groups may even be regarded as distinct races rather than castes per se.
The island’s Tamils likewise constitute diverse groups that share a
common language, namely, Tamil, and to a lesser extent a common
religion, namely, Hinduism. These groups like the Sinhalese seem to
have migrated to Sri Lanka at different periods. However, unlike many
of the Sinhalese groups that appear to have hailed from the northern
parts of India and claim Aryan descent, the Tamil groups seem to have
originated from Southern India, and consequently claim Dravidian
ancestry.
The situation of the Moors is however somewhat different. This
Muslim community seems to have its origins from Arab settlers in the
island hailing from different parts of the Arab world who intermarried
with local Sinhalese and Tamil women, later to be supplemented by
Indo-Arab immigrants from the southern parts of India. Although they,
do not recognize casteism among themselves, there is the solitary
instance of a minor occupational group with whom they disdain to
intermarry or interdine, namely, the Osta or Barbers, an occupational
group which performs ritual tonsure and circumcision, activities that
are considered rather polluting, not due to the influence of Islam, but
rather due to Hindu and Dravidian ideas that have influenced the
community for some time past.
The Indian Origin of Casteism
Despite the fact that casteism has been in existence in Sri Lanka for
over two millennia, there can be little doubt that it is in fact a spillover
from the Indian subcontinent whence most of its people originated.
Although it is true that human societies have throughout history been
divided into distinct social strata based on power and wealth, none of
these have been so pervasive as India’s caste system. Casteism however
did not arise overnight, but appears to have been the product of a long
process of historical development, beginning with the arrival in India of
an Indo-European people known as the Aryans who had moved
southwards towards Iran and India from their original homeland in
Ukraine or Southern Russia 1.
These Aryans, it would appear, were originally organized into three
distinct social groups, the Brāhma s or Priestly class, the K atriyas or
Warrior class and the Vaiśyas or the commonalty, while a fourth group,
1
The appellation ārya means ‘noble’ ‘honourable’ in Sanskrit, an early Indo-Aryan
language spoken in Northern India C.2000-1000 BC. It is connected to the Avestan Airya
and the very name Irān derives from the Avestan genitive plural airyanam meaning
‘(land) of the Aryans’. The Ossets, a largely Christian people of the Caucasus region also
termed themselves iron meaning ‘Aryan’. J.P.Mallory and D.Q.Adams (Encyclopedia of
Indo-European Culture 1997) give as its origin the PIE protoform *heros ‘member of
one’s own (ethnic) group, peer, freeman’ to which they connect Hitt.arā ‘member of
one’s own group’, ‘peer’, ‘companion’, ‘friend’ and arawanni ‘free’ ‘freeman’, Lycian
arawa ‘free’ and arus ‘citizens’ and O.Ir. aire ‘freeman’ (whether commoner or noble)
‘noble’ (as distinct from commoner). David Anthony (The Horse, the Wheel and
Language. How Bronze-age riders from the Eurasian Steppes shaped the modern world
2008) avers that the Proto-Indo-Europeans had a group identity above the level of a clan,
probably tribe, which was known as *heros and which root developed into Aryan in the
Indo-Iranian branch.
the Śūdras or Servile class was constituted to accommodate the peoples
whom the Aryans conquered shortly after their arrival in the Sind and
Punjab around 2000 B.C.
A somewhat similar division existed among the ancient Iranians who
were closely related to the Aryans who had entered India as borne out
by their national appellation Airya by which they termed themselves.
These Iranian Aryans were initially divided into three social classes,
viz. Āthravan or priests, Rathaeshtār or warriors and Vāstryosh or
husbandmen to which was later added a fourth class, the Hutokhsha or
manual-workers who were probably constituted of some enslaved
people or peoples.
There can however be little doubt that the original social division
among these kindred Aryan peoples was a three-fold one comprising of
priests, warriors and commoners, an arrangement which finds parallels
among other Indo-European peoples as well. This three-fold division of
warriors, priests and commoners is also seen in the Milites, Flamines
and Quirities of Roman society and the Equites, Druides and Plebes of
Celtic society. Although this tripartite division is an obvious enough
division of responsibilities within a community, its formal recognition
is characteristically Indo-European as contended by Stuart Piggott 2.
Georges Dumézil 3 has proposed a grand tripartite scheme for the
organization of Indo-European society. Dumézil, basing his thesis on
the Vedic evidence and parallels in other early Indo-European cultures,
contends that there existed a tendency for the men to organize
themselves into a triad or three classes comprising of priests, warriornobles and providers, i.e. the rest of the community including farmers,
merchants and artisans.
Proto-Indo-European society evidently knew of rulers or monarchs as
borne out by Vedic rāj, Latin rēx and Gaulish rīx (PIE *rēĝs) though
what their powers were and whether they were hereditary leaders
cannot be said for certain. The term seems to have originally meant
‘one who determines what is right’, suggesting a leader more concerned
about maintaining moral or social order than a despotic secular ruler.
Indeed, based on the correspondence between Sanskrit rājan and Greek
2
Prehistoric India (1950)
3
L’ideologie des trios functions dans les épopées des peoples indo-européens (1958)
aregon, it has been suggested that the term could have simply meant
‘protector’ or ‘charismatic or powerful personality’, but not ‘king’ in
the sense we commonly understand it.
It is however not unreasonable to suppose that with time, when this
society had evolved a warrior tradition and were constantly on the
warpath against other peoples, the leader would have assumed the role
of a monarch in the sense we understand it, enjoying wide powers with
the support of the leading warriors who would have constituted
themselves into an exclusive class of military aristocrats. Local leaders
of clans, tribes or communities also seem to have been known as borne
out by the Vedic viśpati, Avestan vispaiti ‘king’, ‘clan chief’ and
Lithuanian vëszpatis ‘lord, ‘king’, formerly ‘clan-chief’ (PIE * wikpotis). This would suggest that Proto-Indo-European society was
constituted into clan or tribal groups based on patriarchal authority.
There is also reason to believe that Indo-European society had a
distinct priestly class as seen in the correspondences between
Skt.Brāhma and L.flamen which appear to be not only structurally,
but also linguistically related. Besides these warrior rulers and priestly
class were the vast mass or ordinary folk, the commonalty who could
be regarded as having constituted the backbone of the community and
the real economic contributors to society. These folk would have been
engaged in a variety of productive occupations such as agriculture and
livestock breeding that formed the mainstay of the community.
Whether these distinct social groups had already become hereditary,
that is, inherited their position by virtue of birth in a particular group,
we cannot say for certain. We can however postulate that at some stage
of its development, Proto-Indo-European society had begun to undergo
some form of stratification with the stronger and evidently more
intelligent sections assuming power and consolidating it; the more
religiously inclined opting for a priestly function that also gave them
prestige in the eyes of the larger society and the rest of the community
contenting themselves with their usual lot. We might suppose for
instance that while the leader of this community who had proved
himself as a man of extreme intelligence and valour in battle was
bestowed with kingship, those other leading warriors on whose support
he depended would have constituted themselves into an exclusive class
of military aristocrats much like the knights of mediaeval Europe.With
time, these roles would have assumed a more or less hereditary
character as those enjoying a more privileged position such as the
ruling warriors and those exerting priestly functions sought to confine
such positions to members of their own families. This development
which would appear quite natural in a society that was fast becoming
organized and considering expanding its sphere of influence over other
regions would have little doubt had far-reaching implications for the
entire community, for with it came a formalised system of social
differentiation determined by birth and not merit as was likely the case
at an earlier period.
Whether this development had already taken place in the Proto-IndoEuropean homeland anterior to the dispersal of this people to the
different parts of Europe and Asia or subsequent to it we cannot say.
What we can say for certain however is that this primitive three-fold
division had become fixed and formalized among the ancient Aryans
who entered India from the North-West at about the beginning of the
second millennium B.C. Indeed, so obsessed were the Indo-Aryans
with this division of human society that they even thought it fit to
include a fourth class comprised of some native peoples of the
subcontinent whom they had conquered and whom they variously
termed Dāsa or Dasyu.
The Rg Veda, the earliest known religious composition of these
Aryans however hardly mentions this division of society, though it
commonly knows of the Aryans as a fair-skinned conquering people as
distinct from the darker-skinned autochthonous peoples whom they
fought. It is only in a relatively late hymn of the RV, the Puru asūkta
that we find any mention of this four-fold division. According to the
hymn, the four varnas emerged from the Cosmic Being (Puru a) whom
the gods sacrificed as an offering in a primordial sacrifice that
constituted the very act of creation. “The Brāhma ” it says “was his
mouth; of both his arms was the Rajanya made; his thighs became the
Vaisya; from his feet the Sudra was produced”.
This four-fold caste system (caturvarnya) was also given religious
sanction and remains an essential part of orthodox Hinduism. We read
in the Mahābhārata that the deity Isvara created the four varnas and
assigned to the Brāhmaṇs as their duty, the protection of the Dharma, to
the Kṣatriyas, the protection of the people, to the Vaiśyas, support of
the three Aryan varnas by wealth, and to the Śūdras service to the
others. The Yajñavalkya Smrti which elaborates on the duties of the
various varnas, states that the chief duties of the Brāhmaṇ are teaching
and sacrificing, that of the Kṣatriya, protection of the subject, that of
the Vaiśya, trade, agriculture, cattle rearing and that of the Śūdra,
serving the twice-born or Aryan castes. It adds that if he is unable to
live by such means, the Śūdra may become a trader, or may live by
various arts, promoting the good of the ‘twice-born’.
Closely associated with this four-fold division of society and the idea
of divinely allocated duties to each of these groups was the concept of
varna or colour. Each of these groups was assigned a distinct colour or
varna – white for the Brāhmaṇs, red for the Kṣatriyas, yellow for the
Vaiśyas and black for the Śūdras. Indeed so closely associated was
colour with these caste groups that they became more or less
synonymous, hence the term caturvarnya (lit.the four colours)
employed in the old Hindu texts to denote this system. In the Mbh, we
find that these four great castes are assigned a varna or colour; white to
the Brāhmaṇs, red to the Kṣatriyas, yellow to the Vaiśyas and black to
the Śūdras. The Sage Bhrgu is cited in the work as saying that the
Creator Deity, Brahmā Prajāpati originally created only Brāhmaṇs, but
that those who were short-tempered and violent left their varna, turned
red and became Kṣatriyas; those who took to cattle-rearing and
agriculture turned yellow and became Vaiśyas , and those who in their
delusion took to injury and falsehood turned black and became Śūdras.
This mythological explanation as to the existence of colour
assignment to these various groups would have arisen in later times,
when the real meaning of the colour-based scheme of human division
had been lost. Rather, it would appear that the varna scheme had its
origins in skin colour, or as some would contend, clothing. The IndoAryans who invaded India C.2000 B.C. were no doubt a fair-skinned
people as evidenced by their ancient literature such as the Rg Veda and
the fair complexion of their modern-day descendants, the peoples of
northern India such as the Sind, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. There
existed significant physical differences between the Aryans and the
native folk of the Indian subcontinent, especially with regard to skin
colour. According to the Rg Veda, the Aryan men and women had
lustrous complexions like the sun (sūrya tvac) while the native peoples
were characterized by dark skin (tvacam kr nām). The tawny-bearded
Aryan war god Indra was constantly invoked for help in the fight
against the dusky native folk. One Rg Vedic passage has it that “Indra,
the breaker of the fort, has torn open (the forts) of Dāsas, which in
their wombs hid the black folk”, while another Rg Vedic passage says
of Indra: “Slaying the Dasyus, he promoted the Aryan colour”.
This fair complexion of the early Indo-Aryans as opposed to the dark
skin of the native peoples whom they had subjected could have well
formed the basis of a colour differentiation which would henceforth
characterize Hindu society. White for the Brāhmaṇs at one end of the
spectrum and black for the Śūdras at the other end certainly makes
sense. The red assigned for the Kṣatriyas, the Aryan warrior class, it is
possible, was derived either from the ruddy hue that would have
characterized these hot-blooded warriors or the colour of blood which
they were accustomed to shed. The yellow colour assigned to the
Vaiśyas, the Aryan commoners accustomed to livestock breeding
would have derived from the colour of their primary sources of
livelihood, wheat or cattle.
Another likely explanation perhaps lies in J.W.Barber’s 4 contention
that there was a tendency for dress in Indo-European culture to consist
of three basic colours, viz., white, red and dark blue or black – just the
three colours we can reconstruct for the PIE language, and the three
that languages of the world distinguish, if they distinguish no more than
three. Barber who relates this three-colour scheme in clothing to
Dumezil’s tripartite division of society, contends that this schema
persisted among an Iranian folk known as the Sarts until fairly recent
times. He draws our attention to the observations of a Swiss adventurer
named Henri Moser 5 who having traveled into the area between the
Caspian and Pamirs in the 1870s encountered in the town of HazretiTimour the Sarts, the men of whom wore on important occasions
turbans ‘of white linen for the mullahs or priests, of blue wool or cotton
for the merchants, and red for the warriors’.
He also notes that this scheme pervades Slavic folk costumes, where
both men and women wear all three at once. Red, he says, is seen as
iconic for blood, black as iconic for the black earth, and white as a
symbol for purity and sanctity. “Such an interpretation suggests that
the three colours may once have represented the postulated three
classes of male society. Red as a colour for a warrior’s clothing has a
strong practicality, of course, because it prevents friend and foe alike
4
Colour in Early Cloth and Clothing.CAJ. April 1999
5
A Travers l’Asie Centrale (1885)
from seeing when one is wounded – a realization which could
adversely discourage one’s companions and hearten the enemy. This is
camouflage of another sort”.
We have seen above that it were the Indo-European invaders of India
known as the Aryans who introduced to the subcontinent the varna or
caste system. These Aryans, it would appear, were divided into three
social groups, namely, Brāhmaṇs, Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas at the time of
the Aryan penetration into India C.2000 B.C. The Śūdras or fourth
group, it is very likely were a later addition, being drawn from the
subjected native peoples of India shortly after the Aryans had
established themselves in India.
These early Aryans, like other ancient conquerors were no doubt a
proud lot. That a good part of them thought themselves to be racially
superior to other peoples, especially the darker skinned natives, there
can be little doubt. It would appear that it was primarily with the
support of these ethnocentric Aryan elements that the caste system
evolved into a rather rigid one with time, confining connubium
(marriage) and commensality (dining) to one’s own social group on
pain of exclusion from society and various other penalties.
That the system should have evolved into such a rigid one when
compared with the social systems found amongst other ancient IndoEuropean peoples is little doubt due to a singular cause, and that is the
inclusion of the native peoples into society by way of a fourth caste.
Although it is true that other Indo-European conquerors too had come
into contact and admitted other subjected peoples into their pale, such
as for instance, the ancient Greeks, Romans and Persians, in India, the
physical differences between the tall, fair-skinned and fine-nosed IndoEuropeans and the shorter, dark-skinned and broad- or snub-nosed
native peoples would have been considerably greater as to exclude any
close relationship between the two.
These differences in physical appearance between the Aryans and the
native peoples known as the Dāsas and Dasyus are borne out by
numerous passages occurring in the earliest extant composition of the
Aryans in India, the Rg Veda composed C.2000-1800 B.C. According
to the RV as we have seen earlier, the Aryan men and women had
lustrous complexions like the sun (sūrya tvac) while the native folk
were characterized by dark skin (tvacam kr nām). The tawny-bearded
Aryan war god Indra was constantly invoked to help in the fight against
the dusky native folk. One such passage says of Indra: “Slaying the
Dasyus, he promoted the Aryan colour”. Another has it: “Fifty
thousand blacks you defeated. You slit up the forts like age (slits up) a
garment (pañcāsat k a ni vapah sahasrā atkam na puro jarimā vi
dardah)” while yet another declares: “Out of fear of you the black
tribes moved away, leaving behind their possessions without fight (tvad
bhiya viśa ayann asiknīr asamana jahatīr bhojanāni)”. It seems likely
that Indra was originally a heroic warrior who led the Aryans in their
wars against the Dāsas and Dasyus and was later deified on that
account. Yet another Aryan warrior who finds mention in the RV bears
the name Dasyave Vrka (Lit.Wolf to the Dasyu).
It was however not long before the Aryans, with their superior
physical prowess, advanced metallurgy and swift horses and chariots
subjected the native peoples and brought them under their yoke. The
swift horse-drawn war chariot of the Aryans driven by a charioteer and
conveying a warrior armed with a bow proved to be a deadly weapon in
the struggle against the autochtones. As one Rg Vedic hymn has it:
“Armed with the bow, may we subdue all regions”. With this, the
campaign of conquest and extermination against the native peoples
would have ceased, giving way to co-existence. However this coexistence was not one that would be on equal terms. The subjected
peoples had to content themselves with a decidedly inferior position,
not very different from the slaves of ancient Rome.
The colour bar between the Aryans and the native races was
undoubtedly a major contributory factor to the evolution of casteism as
is evident in the Old Indo-Aryan or Sanskritic term for caste, varna
(li.colour). That there originally existed only two varnas, viz. the Ārya
varna and the Dāsa varna is borne out by the RV. It was the later Hindu
texts that came to speak of the four varnas, classing Brāhmaṇs as white
(sita), Kṣatriyas as red (lohita), Vaiśyas as yellow (pītaka) and Śūdras
as black (asita).
It would however appear that even in those remote times,
intermarriage or sexual relations between Aryan men and non-Aryan
women was not unknown, for we find in the RV, the Aryans praying
that they be granted fair-complexioned (piśañgarūpa) sons only. This
suggests that although the early Aryans cohabited with aboriginal
women, they nevertheless feared begetting dark offspring by these
women.
Even in later times, after the caste system had become rigid and
formalized, intermarriage or co-habitation with the native populations
did not altogether cease since anuloma or hypergamy, that is, the
marriage of a man with a woman belonging to a lower caste was
recognized by the Hindu jurists in contrast to pratiloma marriages or
hypogamy, the marriage or union of a lower caste man with a woman
of higher caste which was severely penalized. Says the Manusmrti: “A
person born to a non-Aryan female from an Aryan man may become an
Aryan through his virtues. However it is determined that a person born
to an Aryan female from a non-Aryan man is indeed a non-Aryan”
(jāto nāryām anaryāyām āryād āryo bhaved gu aih / jāto py anāryād
āryāyam anārya iti niścayah). This could be said to conform to the
Indo-European idea of patrilineality which recognized the son of an
ethnically Aryan man to be Aryan, regardless of the identity of the
mother.
In a rigidly patriarchal society where descent was reckoned through
the male line, pratiloma marriages, if it were to be permitted, would
have meant that the women of the Aryan varnas would have borne
issue that would have been considered inferior in blood to themselves
and their patri-kin, an event that could not take place in the case of an
anuloma marriage. In anuloma marriages the offspring could not have
been considered debased as they would have taken after the father.
Of the four varnas that prevailed among the ancient Indo-Aryans, the
Brāhmaṇs or priestly class enjoyed the foremost place. They zealously
preserved their arcane rituals centred on the worship of nature
elements. They also jealously preserved their bloodlines, marrying
among themselves, and this perhaps explains why the Brāhmaṇs, more
than any other Aryan group, were able to preserve their Indo-European
features such as blond hair. The Grammarian Patanjali declares in the
Mahābhāṣya Ad Pānini (C.2nd century B.C) that blond or red brown
hair (kapilah pi galakeśa) is one of the essential qualities of a
Brāhmaṇa. Another Indo-European trait, light eyes, is known to have
survived among a minority of Brāhmaṇs until fairly recent times, for
we have Herbert Risley 6 observing: “Occasional instances of grey eyes
6
The People of India (1915)
are found among the Konkanasth Brahmans of Bombay and the
combination of blue eyes, auburn hair and reddish blond complexion is
met with on the north-western frontier”. Thus we may suppose that the
early Brāhmaṇs, like their Indo-European brethren of northern Europe
had light hair and eyes and that these traits were lost over time due to
environmental factors such as the influence of the Indian climate.
As for the appellation by which this varna was known, Brāhma
appears to have denoted the sacerdotium or spiritual power. The term
has also been connected to the Avestan barasman meaning ‘a bundle of
grass’ used mainly as sacrificial straw which might suggest that the
appellation had its early origin in an Old Aryan term for grass or straw
used in the sacrificial fires which figured prominently in ancient Aryan
ritual.
Next came the Kṣatriyas or Aryan warrior caste who led the vanguard
of the Aryan conquest of northern India. It was mainly as a result of the
Kṣatriya effort that India came under the Aryan sway. The Kṣatriyas
though ritually inferior to the Brāhmaṇs were in secular affairs a most
superior class exercising authority as rulers even over their Brāhmaṇ
subjects. It was from the Kṣatriyas that the royalty and aristocracy of
ancient India was drawn. They constituted the ruling class and as such
were widely respected. Indeed, even in the older portions of the Rg
Veda, we find the Ksatriyas being connected with kingship (rā ra
k atriyasya). Kingship devolving to one other than of Kṣatriya lineage
was unthinkable and this was even so in countries where Aryan
influence was strong like Sri Lanka.
K atram, from which the appellation K atriya is derived denotes the
temporal power or Imperium as distinguished from Brāhma , the
Sacerdotium or spiritual power. It appears to have originated from the
root k meaning ‘to possess’, ‘to rule’. A cognate term with a similar
meaning is found in an Old Iranian language known as Avestan where
we have ksathra ‘imperium or rule’ and ‘ruler’s domain, province etc’.
Also related to it is the Greek ktāomai ‘to acquire, possess, hold’
leading us to believe that its original primitive sense was ‘to acquire or
possess’ which later acquired, with the progress of Aryan or IndoIranian culture, the sense of ‘possessed or conquered territory’ before in
turn coming to mean ‘dominion’. Kṣatriya (i.e. related to or belonging
to the kṣatra) could therefore be taken to mean ‘one who possesses
dominion’ or even in its more primitive sense of ‘one who took part in
the acquisition of (non-Aryan) territory (by force of arms)’
The Vaiśyas who ranked third in the ancient Aryan social scheme,
comprised the commonalty who were engaged in settled occupations
and who led economically productive lives, as farmers, pastoralists and
merchants. Though inferior to both Brāhmaṇ and Kṣatriya, they
nevertheless held a respectable position in Aryan society contributing
to its economic life in no small way. The term from which Vaiśya is
thought to be derived viś means in Sanskrit ‘clan, tribe’ group of
families and their settlement or place of habitation’ (Cf.L.vicus,
Goth.weihs ‘village’, Gk.(w)oikos ‘house’). The PIE term * wiks seems
to have meant a small settlement whose members were related,
anything from a cluster of houses belonging to an extended family up
to a clan. Thus the appellation Vaiśya would have primarily meant
settlers or in other words the common Aryan masses who followed in
the wake of the conquests of the Kṣatriyas or Aryan military class,
taking to a settled life in these newly acquired lands.
The Śūdras or fourth varna comprised of the conquered peoples
whom the Aryans had subjugated in the course of their conquests in the
subcontinent. These Śūdras appear to have been largely drawn from
peoples whom the ancient scriptures know as Dāsa and Dasyu. The
appellation Śūdra is unknown to the early Vedic era and appears only
once in the Rg Veda in a hymn probably dating from the period when
the four castes had come into being according to the Brāhmaṇical
system. Indeed what we find throughout much of the later Hindu
literature is that Śūdra had taken the place of the early Vedic Dāsa and
Dasyu, mention of whom disappears in post-Vedic times 7.
7
The terms dāsa and dasyu are believed to have been primarily ethnic terms, the former a
tribal name and the latter a generic term for non-Aryans which seems to have derived
from the Sanskritic root das ‘to lay waste’ which would have denoted the eventual fate of
these folk, the dwellers of the waste land following conquest by the Aryans. These later
came to assume the meaning of ‘slave’ and ‘brigand’ respectively. Dāsa was probably
the tribal name of a people north of India which was later expressed in the Persian form
Daha which is found as an ethnic term in the Persepolis inscription of Xerxes (C.5th
century BC). Strabo tells us in his Geographica (1st century AC) that most of the
Scythians, beginning from the Caspian Sea, are called Dahae. It was very likely this tribe
that gave its name to Dahistan, a province on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea.
Although it would appear that in Vedic times, those peoples who
were subdued or surrendered to the Aryans were not harshly treated so
long as they offered some form of tribute or service 8, in later times,
with the absorption of these peoples into Aryan social and economic
life, they were given an inferior position. The Śūdras who seem to have
been constituted from the Dāsa and Dasyu of old as well as other nonAryan peoples who entered Aryan society were decidedly inferior to
the three Aryan varnas. They held a very low position in society,
serving as slaves, servants and labourers involved in a variety of lowly
occupations.
The term by which these folk were known Śūdra seems originally to
have been a tribal name borne by a non-Aryan people of Northern
India. The Indian epic Mahābhārata compiled in the latter part of the
second millennium or early part of the first millennium BC mentions
the Śūdras as a tribe along with the Ābhīras and Tukhāras. Diodorus,
the author of the historical treatise Bibliotheca Historica (C.1st century
BC) records the advance of Alexander the Great against a tribe known
as Sodrai who occupied portions of modern-day Sind while Ptolemy,
the author of the Geographike Hyphegesis (C.2nd century AC) mentions
a tribe called Sydroi inhabiting northern Arachosia (Eastern
Afghanistan).
By the time of the Atharva Veda which marked the ascendancy of the
Brāhmaṇ priesthood, we notice a marked change in the attitude towards
the Śūdras. Brāhmaṇ arrogance was especially marked during the
period the Brāhmaṇas were being composed (C.800-500 B.C.) and
reached its peak with the compilation of the Laws of Manu. The
Aitareya Brāhmaṇa went so far as to declare that a Śūdra is one who
could be killed (or beaten) at will (yathākāmavadhya) while Manu, the
Hindu lawgiver declared that the Śūdra was created the slave of the
Brāhmaṇ and could be compelled to do servile work by the latter. Such
was the low status given to the Śūdras by ancient Aryan society.
The question however arises from which ethnic stock the Śūdras were
primarily drawn from. This is no easy task, since the pre-Aryan
inhabitants of India we know would have comprised of two great ethnic
stocks, namely the Dravidians who would have been comprised of both
8
We learn from the RV that at least one Dāsa chief, Bālbutha had adopted Aryan culture
even going to the extent of patronizing Brāhmana singers.
Mediterranean and Armenoid elements and the Munda peoples who
were of Austro-Asiatic origin. To this we may possibly add a third
group, the Negritoes who there is reason to believe also lived in ancient
India.
That the early Aryan conquerors of India encountered a Dravidian
people or peoples is borne out by literary evidence. For instance, a Rg
Vedic epithet for the non-Aryan Dasyus anāsa (noseless) is perhaps a
derogatory allusion to the squat or snub noses that to this day
characterize some Dravidian peoples. The reference in the RV to the
Dāsas being v aśipra (bull-lipped) may well refer to the thick lips
found among certain Dravidian folk. We further have a Vedic hymn
referring to the adversaries of the Aryans as those ‘whose god is the
phallus’ (śiśna-deva) which again points to a Dravidian connection,
phallic or lingam worship being a characteristic feature of Dravidian
religion from very early times.
The sudden demise of the Indus Valley civilization of Harappa and
Mohenjo-Daro which was very likely peopled by a Dravidian folk also
suggests that it were the Aryan invaders who were responsible for its
downfall and that they had indeed encountered a settled Dravidian
population whom they would have eliminated or enslaved, which again
suggests that the Śūdras or a good part of them were drawn from a
Dravidian stock.
It is also possible that the less solidly organized and more widely
dispersed Austro-Asiatic peoples of India today represented by the
Munda peoples of Central and Eastern India such as the Hos and
Birhors were also enslaved by the Aryans and constituted as Śūdras.
Indeed, linguistic evidence suggests the prevalence of a Mundic stock
in India for a very long period 9 and to this day the Austro-Asiatic type
is widely prevalent in many parts of Central, Eastern and Southern
India, particularly among the lower castes and humbler classes of
society. It is therefore quite possible that a fair number of AustroAsiatics who had come under the Aryan sway were absorbed as Śūdras.
9
Neue Literature zu den Substraten im Alt-Indischen. Manfred Mayrhofer. Archiv
Orientalni.1950
Besides the Dravidians and Austro-Asiatics, certain primitive tribes
of mixed blood and considerable Negrito admixture also seem to have
been absorbed as Śūdras. Ancient Hindu literature knows of a people
known as Niṣādas who were equaled to Śūdras. The Kauṣitaki
Brāhmana for instance makes mention of a Naiṣāda, Vaiśya, Kṣatriya
and Brāhman where in the sequence of varnas from the lowest to the
highest, the Naiṣāda takes the place of the Śūdra. Further, Manu states
that the son of a Brāhman father and a Śūdra mother is a Niṣāda, the
son taking the status of the mother, suggesting again that Śūdra was
synonymous with Niṣāda.
Now, who were these Niṣādas ? Hindu literature gives us some clues.
The Mahābhārata describes a Niṣāda prince Ekalavya as of dark hue,
and having matted locks on his head. The MBh also states that Niṣida,
the ancestor of the Niṣāda was short-limbed, resembled a charred brand
and had blood-red eyes and black hair. The Viṣnupurāna states that he
had a complexion like that of a charred stake, flattened features, and a
dwarfish stature, while the Bhāgavata Purāna describes him as being
black as a crow, of short stature, arms and legs, with high cheek bones,
a broad and flat nose, red eyes and tawny hair. These various
descriptions, though rather disparate in certain particulars are clear on
certain points such as black complexion, flat nose and short stature,
features still borne by some primitive tribes of India such as the Bhils
whom literary sources indicates are the descendants of the ancient
Niṣādas. The commentator Mahidhara for instance explains Niṣāda in
the Vājasaneyisamhitā as meaning a Bhil, and the typical Bhil we know
is described as “Small, dark, broad-nosed and ugly” 10.
It would therefore appear that the Śūdras were drawn from various
non-Aryan populations of the subcontinent in different localities and at
different times before being eventually subsumed under the Śūdra
varna. Although this Śūdra varna could never aspire to become an Ārya
varna, there are instances in the early literature to show that the varnas
of the Aryans were at times nebulous, so that there are instances of
members of one Ārya varna changing over to another. For instance,
purānas such as Vāyu, Matsya and Hariva śa know of instances of
Kṣatriyas becoming Brāhmaṇas while there exists evidence in the
Brahma Purana and Hariva śa to show that Vaiśyas could also become
10
See for instance The Rajputana Gazetteer (1908)
Brāhmaṇas. Thus it is evident that even in the time of the early purānas,
caste barriers were not as rigid as in later times.
Furthermore, there is evidence to show that kindred Indo-European or
perhaps other Aryan-speaking peoples outside the pale of the Vedic
Brāhmaṇical fold, especially those in the eastern regions such as
Magadha, were gradually absorbed into the Vedic fold by means of the
Vrātyastoma ceremony which sought to secure to the Vratyas or those
Indo-European or Aryan peoples outside the Vedic fold the rights and
privileges of the twice-born castes, namely the Brāhmaṇs, Kṣatriyas
and Vaiśyas as evident from the Tānḍya-Pañcavi śa Brāhmaṇa of the
Sāma Veda and the Lātyāyana Śrauta Sūtra, the latter of which clearly
states that the Vrātyastoma transformed the Vrātyas into dvijas (i.e the
three Aryan or twice-born castes). The Vrātyastomas however appear
to have become obsolete fairly early, for we hear of no such ceremony
in later literature. At any rate, the process seems to have been
completed by about the early centuries of the Christian era.
As to who these Vrātyas were, we could infer from available literary
evidence such as gathered from the Pancavi sa Brāhmaṇa that they
had a different speech characterized by peculiarities not found in the
Vedic Aryan speech, perhaps an aversion to the r sound and conjunct
consonants so characteristic of Vedic Sanskrit. As for their physical
type, it is likely that unlike the Vedic Aryans who were dolicocephalic
or long-headed Nordics, these Vratyas derived from a brachycephalic
or broad-headed Alpine stock that seems to have evolved in Central
Asia many millennia ago. That they were a fair-skinned, narrow-nosed
people who had derived from the Proto-Indo-European community
there can be little doubt. Their speech too appears to have been Aryan
or at any rate Indo-European which along with their fair colour and
certain aspects of their social and cultural life would indicate why the
Vrātyastoma was extended to them. Thus it is likely that the Arhants or
priestly class of the Vrātyas were absorbed as Brāhmaṇs while the
Yaudhas or ruling warrior class were absorbed as Kṣatriyas and the
common masses as Vaiśyas. It is little doubt these Vrātyas who
eventually went on to give rise to the modern Bengali castes such as the
Bengali Brāhmaṇ, Kāyastha, Sadgop and Goala as well as the Nāgar
Brāhmaṇs of Gujarat, all of whom are brachycephalic or show a
marked tendency towards brachycephaly 11.
This same brachycephalic stock also seems to have found its way to
Sri Lanka by about the middle part of the first millennium B.C. leading
to the establishment in the island of the Indo-Aryan-speaking Sinhalese
nation whose ancestors ancient chronicles such as the Mahāva sa state
hailed from the Lāla country or West Bengal, a contention borne out by
anthropometric and linguistic evidence. The predominant Sinhalese
caste in the island, the Govi who constitute over 50 percent of the
Sinhalese population and are representative of the early Sinhalese
settlers in the island have preserved this trait to a certain extent, despite
intermarriage with the dolichocephalic aborigines of the island, the
Veddas12.
11
The fact that castes such as the Kāyasthas and Nāgar Brāhmaṇs appear to represent a
curious blend of Brāhmaṇic and non-Brāhmaṇic elements also suggests that these were
sprung from the Vrātyas who at the time of the Vrātyatoma we may suppose were
absorbed as different Aryan varnas depending on their social status at the time. For
instance, the Nāgar Brāhmaṇ sarman (family name) Deva (Bengali Deb) is a name suffix
of Brāhmaṇs while Varman (Bengali Barma) is that of Kṣatriyas and Datta and Gupta
those of Vaiśyas (see Foreign elements in the Hindu Population. D.R.Bhandarkar. I A.
1911)
12
See Zeylanica. A Study of the Peoples and Languages of Sri Lanka. Asiff Hussein
(2009)
CHAPTER 1
Caste among the Sinhalese
Casteism among the Sinhalese does not ever appear to have been as
rigid as in Hindu India. This is very probably due to the benign
influence of Buddhism which has since at least the 3rd century B.C.
exerted a considerable influence on Sinhalese society as a whole,
though at the same time one cannot deny the fact that many of the
tenets of the faith have been misused to justify the existence of caste
strictures and so perpetuate the existing social order with its various
restrictions on the free exercise of certain civil liberties.
Casteism in Sinhalese society very likely had its origins with the
Aryan invasion of Sri Lanka about the 5th century B.C. when a group of
Aryan-speaking migrants who hailed from West Bengal vanquished the
country’s aboriginal inhabitants and established permanent settlements
here. According to an ancient Sinhalese chronicle, the Mahāva sa
compiled C.5th century A.C., the Sinhalese race was founded by Prince
Vijaya and his 700 compatriots who having been banished from their
homeland, the Lāḷa country or West Bengal, landed upon the shores of
La kā at about the same time of the death of the Buddha which is
variously assigned to the 6th-4th centuries B.C.
These early Aryan settlers were very probably Hindus as there is
nothing in the MV to suggest that they were Buddhists at the time and
this is further corroborated by the statement in the chronicle that
Buddhism was introduced among the Sinhalese only during the reign of
King Devanampiya Tissa, a contemporary of Emperor Asoka of India
who reigned C. 3rd century B.C. As such these early settlers would have
adhered to the four-fold caturvarna system that characterized Indian
society at the time, though at the same time there is reason to believe
that distinct inter-marrying occupational groups, albeit under the
caturvarna scheme, had already arisen or arose shortly afterwards.
That the ancient Sinhalese had an idea of the caturvarna scheme is
suggested by the sequel to the MV, the Cūlava sa, which tells us that
General Āyasmanta who administered the government during the reign
of Queen Kalyānavatī (early 13th century) “scrupulously separated the
four varnas (catubbana) who had become impure through mixture”.
The Gaḍalādeniya rock inscription of the reign of King Bhuvanekabāhu
IV (14th century) similarly refers to ‘high and low folk such as
Kṣatriyas, Brāhmaṇas, Vaiśyas and Śūdras’. We similarly have the 13th
century Pūjāvaliya authored by Mayurapada Buddhaputra mentioning
the four castes of Raja, Govi, Bamunu and Velaňda.
As to the origins of these groups, we have literary evidence to show
that some originated with the Vijayan migration while other groups
migrated afterwards. We learn from the MV that Vijaya himself was a
Kṣatriya as he declined consecration as king without a Kṣatriya maiden
(khattiya-kañña) as his consort. The Janava sa, a C.15th century
account of the various Sinhalese castes by Buddha-Rakhita 13 traces the
origins of the Govi and Vahumpura to Vijaya’s followers and the
origins of the various service castes such as the Hannāli, Radavā and
Ämbättayō to occupational groups obtained by Vijaya from the
Pandyan country (Pāndi ra a) of South India. This work probably
reflects the prevailing views as to the origins of the early Sinhalese
castes and on the whole may be taken as reliable.
Although we have no means of ascertaining the exact status of these
caste groups in those early days, later writers do give us schemes where
castes are assigned a particular rank in the social hierarchy. Robert
Knox14 who deals with the Sinhalese social system of the upcountry,
mentions the following castes as preceding one another : Firstly, the
Hondrews or Govi ; Secondly, Artisans such as Goldsmiths,
Blacksmiths, Carpenters and Painters ; Thirdly, Barbers ; Fourthly
Potters ; Fifthly Raddaughs or Washers ; Sixthly, Hungrams or
Jaggery-makers ; Seventhly, Poddas ; Eighthly, Weavers ; Ninthly,
Kiddeas or Basket-makers ; tenthly, Kinnerahs, followed by the
Couratto or Elephant-men and the Roudeahs or Beggers.
James Cordiner 15 who enumerates nineteen distinct Sinhalese castes,
says that “the first or highest cast” is that of the handerooas “who
follow the occupation of agriculture” followed by the Gopelooas or
“keepers of cattle”. The third, he says, are the Carawas or “fishers”,
and the fourth Doorawas or “drawers of toddy”, the fifth, the
13
See The Janawansa. Ed. & Trans. Hugh Nevill. The Taprobanian.Feb.1886
14
Historical Relation of Ceylon (1681)
15
A Description of Ceylon (1807)
Cambooas or “mechanics” such as carpenters, goldsmiths, and sixth,
the Somerooas or “tanners”; seventh Coombelooas or potters, eighth
Radewas or washers; ninth Chalias or “cinnamon peelers”, tenth,
Jagherers or “porters”, eleventh, Hirawas or “sieve makers” ; twelfth,
Pannikias or barbers; thirteenth Hoonas or “lime-burners”, fourteenth,
Berawayas or “drummers”, fifteenth, Olias “makers of charcoal”,
sixteenth, Padooas “palaquin bearers”; seventeenth, Kinereeas
“weavers of matts” ; eighteenth, Gahalegan Badeas “executioners” and
nineteenth, Rodi or “persons who touch and eat dead animals”.
We find in these notices, the absence of any mention of the varnas.
However, this does not mean that the varna scheme was absent or had
been discarded by the Sinhalese, for we have evidence to the contrary,
showing that these caste groups were subsumed under one varna or
another. For instance, we have John Davy 16 listing the Goewanse
(cultivators) and Nillemakereya (shepherds) as belonging to the
Wiessia Wanse (i.e.Vaiśyas). He gives as belonging to the Kshoodra
Wanse (Śūdras) a variety of castes including not only the service castes
such as the Rada (washermen), Hannāli (tailors), Badahela (potters) and
Ambattea (barbers), but also the Carawe, Chandos, Halee, Paduas,
Hakooro, Pannayo, Paḷḷaroo, Kinnera, Villedurai and Dodda Weddahs.
For ‘out-castes’ he gives Gattaroo and Rhodees.
What all this shows is that the Sinhalese of old (particularly the more
learned sections such as the clerical establishment who served as the
repository of ancient knowledge) did preserve a memory of the fourfold varna scheme, though the strict application of such a scheme
would have been somewhat attenuated by the absence of a strong
religious sanction for perpetuating it as in the case of the Hindus, the
Sinhalese being for the most part a Buddhist people to whom the strict
tenets of Hinduism regarding the caste hierarchy did not apply in a
religious sense.
In more recent times, beginning from about the latter part of the
nineteenth century or the early part of the twentieth century, we find
that the emphasis on varna classification had considerably declined or
had altogether died out, so much so that Bryce Ryan could observe in
his Caste in Modern Ceylon (1953) that “The Sinhalese in modern
times have recognized no Brahmin peoples, nor K atriya, and have
16
An Account of the Interior of Ceylon (1821)
been scarcely conversant with such concepts as Vaiśya and Śūdra. The
conventional fourfold hierarchy would appear to be but a memory of
the ancient past”. He however also notes that there is some basis for
believing that Sinhalese caste “rather than being a pale expression of a
classical, rigidly defined hierarchy of ancient times, is instead the
modern expression of a primitive Indian system”.
What is however interesting is that although modern Sinhalese
society in general has not formally recognized the caturvarna scheme,
the educated elite of various caste groups, had, by about the early part
of the twentieth century begun to claim a status based on such a
scheme, prompted largely by an increased awareness of caste identity
as a result of upward social mobility facilitated by colonial policy and a
new found fascination for the old Indian worldview with its emphasis
on Aryan supremacy.
Surprisingly such claims were not made by the traditionally
predominant caste, the Govigama, whose educated elite would not have
dared to claim a status higher than that of Vaiśya, the third ranking in
the varna scheme of things, but by those who had thus far been
considered lower on the social scale, including the Karāva, Durāva and
Vahumpura, all of whom claimed Kṣatriya status, and the Salāgama
who claimed Brāhmaṇ status. This is not to say that such claims are
without any basis, for there is evidence to show that much of it does
have a basis that in the least could be regarded as tenable. We will now
proceed to deal with the various Sinhalese caste groups that have
inhabited Sri Lanka from ancient times, beginning with the two primary
varnas, the Brāhmaṇs and Kṣatriyas.
The Brāhma s
The Brāhmaṇs of ancient and mediaeval Lanka seem to have figured
prominently in the social, cultural and religious life of olden day
Sinhalese society. They benefited considerably from the munificence of
royalty, who though Buddhists, regarded them with great deference.
Besides serving as chaplains, they also held a number of other
important posts.
The ancient Brahmi inscriptions in Sinhala Prakrit assigned to C.3rd
century B.C.-1st century A.C. refer to no less than 18 Brāhmaṇs. These
Brāhmaṇs or Bamaṇa as they are called in the inscriptions are said to
have donated caves such as at Haňdagala, Maňdagala and Piccanḍiyāva
to the Sangha (Buddhist clergy). This suggests that these Brāhmaṇs
were either supportive of Buddhism or would have embraced it while at
the same time retaining their traditional title as Brāhmaṇs. One
Brāhmaṇ, Gobuti was evidently very close to the reigning monarch of
the time as seen in the following inscription at Piccanḍiyāva:
Maharajhaśa Devanapiyaśa Gamini-Tiśaśa vejha Bama a Gobutiya
lene śagaśa (The cave of the Brāhmaṇ Gobuti, physician of the great
King Gamini Tisa is given to the Sangha). The same Brāhmaṇ is also
called a teacher (aciriya) of the great King.
The occurrence of these inscriptions referring to Brāhmaṇs who had
donated caves in different parts of the island, from Rohana and the
Malaya country as well as from districts close to the Capital
Anuradhapura suggest that they were a widely dispersed group. The
names borne by these Brāhmaṇs were typically Indo-Aryan. These
included names such as Tiśa, Śuma, Vaca, Gotama, Vaśakani, Puśaka,
Kośika, Megali and Siha. Many of these suggest a Brāhmaṇical clan
nomenclature. For instance Kosika (Skt.Kauśika), the name of the gotra
to which Viśvamitra belonged. Ati-Mataka seems to have been socalled as his mother was of the Atreya-gotra, another Brāhmaṇ gotra
that had produced some well known sages. Vaśakani probably stood for
the Vārṣaganya gotra while the son of Vaśakani, Somadeva bore a
name very appropriate for a Brāhmaṇ. Gotama is the name of a gotra in
which was born the famous Kapila and it is said that it was the name of
this Brāhmaṇ gotra that was adopted by the Kṣatriya clan of Sakyas in
which the Buddha was born 17.
The Brāhmaṇs also figure prominently in the MV, particularly during
the reigns of the early kings such as Paṇḍuvāsudeva (C.5th century
B.C). The chronicle tells us that the king’s daughter, Princess Cittā, was
confined to a tower in order to prevent her having intercourse with a
male, as the Brāhmaṇs had predicted that the son born to her would kill
his uncles for the sake of sovereignty. Cittā’s son Paṇḍukābhaya
secretly sired by Prince Dīghagāmani, eventually killed eight of his
uncles and obtained sovereignty over the entire country, resulting in the
fulfillment of the prophesy. This would imply that the Brāhmaṇs of
ancient Sri Lanka had earned a reputation as soothsayers and
practitioners of astrology.The MV also tells us that a rich Brāhmaṇ
17
See Inscriptions of Ceylon. S.Paranavitana (1970)
named Paṇḍula, well versed in the Vedas and residing in the south,
helped Paṇḍukābhaya, then a rebel prince, with money for the purpose
of enrolling soldiers in his campaign to oust his uncles. Paṇḍula’s son
Canda subsequently held the office of chaplain under Paṇḍukābhaya.
Even in later times, well after the Sinhalese had embraced Buddhism
around the 3rd century B.C., we find the Brāhmaṇs being paid great
consideration, especially by royalty. Particularly interesting is the
statement in the MV that Emperor Asoka of India assigned for the
protection of the Bodhi Tree eight persons from Brāhmaṇ families,
suggesting that even this staunch Buddhist monarch thought it fit to
involve the Brāhmaṇs in religious rituals to protect the tree. This was
also true of Sinhalese royalty who despite being Buddhists seem to
have looked upon Brāhmaṇs as men of great learning and religious
devotion who were well suited for the conduct of Brāhmaṇical rites
from whose hold they could not extricate themselves. As such they
came to play an important role in court life and ritual. The CV for
instance has it that Prince Mānābharaṇa had Brāhmaṇical rites such as
the Homa sacrifice performed by the house priest and other Brāhmaṇas
versed in the Veda and Vedangas upon learning that his queen was
about to give birth to a son. The work also states that the Prince
summoned those Brāhmaṇas versed in the lore of body marks, and
charged them with the determination of the body marks of the boy,
whereupon they declared “Apart from the island of La kā he is able to
unite under one umbrella and to rule even the whole of Jambudīpa”.
These Brāhmaṇs seem to have been well treated and bestowed with
numerous gifts by royalty. Thus the CV tells us that King Mahinda II
(8th century) gave the Brāhmaṇas delicious foods such as the king
receives and milk with sugar to drink in golden goblets. The Oruvala
Sannasa of the village of Oruvaḷa in the Hēvāgam Kōralē (15th century)
records the grant of land to two Brāhmaṇs (Bamu u) named Potā
Ojjhalun and Avunhaḷa Ojjhalun of the Śāňḍīḷya gōtra who served as
purōhitas or chief chaplains in the court of Parākrama Bāhu VI. The
Elamalpē Sannasa (16th century) likewise records the grant of a village
known as Elamalpē in the Sabaragamuva Province to a Brāhmaṇ
named Elasamunu Brāhmaṇa from the Uttrabadda dēsa.
Many such Brāhmaṇs would have later embraced Buddhism, thus
facilitating their absorbtion into Sinhalese society. The Mātale Kadaim
Pota compiled by Niyerepola Alahakon makes mention of several
Brāhmaṇs who having arrived with the sacred Bodhi tree settled in the
Matale area including Śrī Viṣṇu Brāhmaṇarāla of Aluvihāra, Sola ga
Śrī Brāhmaṇarāla of Hula gamuva and Śrī Danta Brāhmaṇarāla of
Monaruvila. The fact that these Brāhmaṇs arrived with the Bodhi tree
would suggest that they arrived here to perform some religious rituals
in connection with this object of veneration to Buddhists, and that they
themselves would have embraced Buddhism. We also find that
Moratoṭa Dhammakkhanda, the chief monk of the Malvatta Vihāra
from 1787-1811 is said to have been of Brāhmaṇ ancestry, being the 7th
descendant of a Brāhmaṇ named Bālakṛṣna 18.
There is considerable evidence to show that many of these Brāhmaṇs
merged into the Govi caste. For instance we find the composer of a
poem known as Devidat Katāva stating in the introductory verses to be
Karagahagedara Vanijasūriya Mudiyanse, whose family, once
Brāhmaṇs, had become of Govi caste 19. Likewise we find that the well
known Bandaranaike family, traditionally considered as Govi, is
descended from a 15th century personage named Nīlaperumāl, a
grandson of the Brāhmaṇ Ārya Kāmadēva who was given the title of
Baṇḍaranāyaka by King Sri Parākramabāhu VI who served as high
priest of Saman Devale in Sabaragamuva Province 20. In 1631, King
Senarat is said to have given lands to one Bamunu Mudali for loyal
service 21, the title Mudali suggesting a title of the Govi. Although the
title would have been given due to prevalent usage, for high ranking
officials, it is possible that with time such a title would have prompted
the Govi aristocracy to look upon him or his offspring as of theirs.
Evidence from the Dutch registers of the local populace known as the
tombos (C.1760-1770) also indicate that the Brāhmaṇs had been
absorbed into the Govi fold. For instance we find Bammoenoeatjege
Lokoe Appoe and Bammoena Atjege Don Pasqual given as Bell(ale) a
common term the Dutch employed for the Govi 22. We also come
18
See Moratoṭa Vata. Charles De Silva (1959)
19
See Sinhala Verse. Hugh Nevill (1954)
20
See Saparagamuvē pärani liyavili. Kiriälle Jnānavimala (1946)
21
HMC.III. 1951
22
SLNA 1/3728 and 1/3846
across Bammoenoege Nainde Samy who is likewise given as Bell (ale)
23
. One also finds mention of a Brammenege Poentie Appoe who is
given as Bell (ale) 24. Moreover, Govi folk with the patronymic gename Bamuṇugedara are found in the Kurunegala district and are
known to officiate at religious rites such as the Kaḍavara Ka kāriya 25.
Modern-day Sinhalese ge-names like Bamuṇugē, Brāhmaṇagē,
Bamuṇu Āraccigē provide us with further evidence of Brāhmaṇ
assimilation into Sinhalese society.
Villages largely if not entirely peopled by Brāhmaṇs were also known
in the olden days. The 14th century Saddharmalankāraya of Dharmakīrti
mentions a Brāhmaṇ from a Brāhmaṇ village named Dikhuna in
Gonagama (gō agama dikhuna nam bamu ugama bamu aku) in the
days of King Kāvantissa (C.2nd century BC). Among the place names
which recall Brāhmaṇ settlements are Brāhmaṇagama (Brāhmaṇ
village) found in both the Western and North Western Provinces and
Brāhmaṇayagama (Brāhmaṇ’s village) of which there are three in the
North Western Province and one in the Southern Province. Among the
other place names indicative of a former Brāhmaṇ settlement are
Bamuṇugama (Brāhmaṇ village) of which there are no less than ten in
the North Western Province, two in the North Central Province, one in
the Southern Province in the Matara District and one in Gandolaha
Pattuva of Beligal Korale in Kegalle District of the Sabaragamuva
Province; Bamuṇākoṭuva (Brāhmaṇ Fort) of which there are two in the
North Western Province, near Variyapola in the Kurunegala District
and in the Däduru Oya area; Bamuṇumulla (Brāhmaṇ quarter), of
which there is one each in the Southern, Western and North Western
Provinces; Bamuṇugedara (Brāhmaṇ house) of which there are three in
the North Western Province. Other place names that seem to have been
associated with Brāhmaṇs include Bamuṇuvala (Brāhmaṇ pit) in the
North Western Province, Bamuṇagammāna (Brāhmaṇ village) in the
Sabaragamuva Province and Bämiṇigalla (Rock of the She-Brāhmaṇ)
in Anukkane in Kuliyāpiṭiya.
23
SLNA 1/3734
24
SLNA 1/3738
25
See Demaḷa hat pattuvē ädahili viśvāsa hā śāntikarma. Mudiyanse Dissanayake (1996)
What all this suggests is that the highest concentration of Brāhmaṇs
in former times was in the North Western Province and it is quite
possible that the lineal descendants of these Brāhmaṇs of yore are still
found in this region, though nevertheless assimilated with surrounding
Sinhalese communities.
That the Brāhmaṇs who had made Sri Lanka their home were a fairskinned folk who had preserved their typical Aryan features is borne
out by a traditional Sinhala saying kalu bamu at sudu parayat viśvāsa
karanna epā (Never trust a black Brāhmaṇ or a white Pariah), impying
that a dark-complexioned Brāhmaṇ was an oddity as they were usually
fair-complexioned and that a dark-skinned one among them was
something in the nature of a prodigy and therefore to be avoided 26.
The K atriyas
The Kṣatriya presence in Sri Lanka is as old as the legendary Vijaya
who himself was a Kṣatriya as suggested by literary evidence. The MV
clearly implies that Vijaya, the founder of the Sinhalese nation, was a
Kṣatriya as he declined consecration as king without a Kṣatriya maiden
(khattiya kañña)) as his consort. Vijaya’s previous union with a native
Yakkhini (probably aboriginal Vedda woman) had produced two
children, a son and a daughter, but he repudiated them for a Kṣatriya
princess from the Pāndya country of South India, a reprehensible deed
no doubt, but one nevertheless intended to establish a truly Aryan
polity in the island.
Although Vijaya died heirless, he was succeeded by his nephew
Paṇḍuvāsudeva, the son of his brother Sumitta, who arrived in the
country with 32 followers from Sīhapura, a city in the Lāḷa country
established by Vijaya’s father Sīhabāhu. Paṇḍuvāsudeva having
espoused a Sākya princess from India named Bhaddakaccānā reigned
for several years before being succeeded by his son Abhaya and his
daughter’s son through a Sākya prince – Paṇḍukābhaya, thus
establishing the Sinhalese royal line.
The Sinhalese chronicles as well as lithic inscriptions constantly
ascribe Kṣatriya descent to Sinhalese royalty. The MV calls
Paṇḍuvāsudeva, the nephew of Vijaya, and his grandson Paṇḍukābhaya
26
See Dictionary of Proverbs of the Sinhalese. John M.Senaveratna (1936)
Kṣatriyas. The other monarchs whom it specifically calls Kṣatriyas
include King Uttiya, the brother of Devanampiya Tissa, and
Duṭṭhagāmani. In 10th century inscriptions , kings like Kassapa IV and
Dappula IV are called the pinnacle of the Kṣatriya clans (kät-kula-kot).
Kings such as Kassapa V and Udaya III (both of the 10th century) even
boast of having made the other Kṣatriya clans their vassals (an kät-kula
pāmili ka a). The Dambulla rock inscription of King Niśśa ka Malla
(12th century) states that the king is lord by lineal descent from the
lords of the soil of the island of Lanka who were descended from the
race of King Vijaya, that threw into shade the other Kṣatriya races of
India, and that made Lanka a habitation for man by extirpating the
Yaksas (Dambadivuhi an kät-kula pāmili ka a yak a pra aya ko ä
la kāva manu yāvāsa ka a vijaya rāja paramparāyen ā lak-divpo oyon-parapuren himi).
These Kṣatriyas were by no means a pure race as some of them seem
to have intermarried with aboriginal or non- Aryan women, begetting
dark-skinned offspring who were nevertheless considered Kṣatriyas.
Kākavaṇṇatissa, son of Goṭhābhaya is called a Kṣatriya in the MV,
despite the fact that he was of dark complexion as indicated by his
epithet, Kākavaṇṇa or ‘crow-coloured’. The MV also has it that a
nigantha named Giri called King Vaṭṭagāmaṇi, a nephew of
Duṭṭhagāmaṇi and a Kṣatriya ‘the great black Sinhalese’
(mahākālasīha o).
The majority of the royal clans that ruled ancient and mediaeval Sri
Lanka, viz. the Kāli ga, Lambakaṇṇa and Moriya dynasties, claimed
to be of the Sūrya-va sa (Solar dynasty) 27, though intermarriage with
the Candra-va sa (Lunar dynasty) 28- the clan to which the royal
family of the Panḍus belonged –were a frequent occurrence, beginning
from the time of the legendary Vijaya 29.
27
The Sūrya-va sa were originally based in North India, in strongholds such as Ayodhya
(Oudh) as attested in the Rāmāyana. The dynasty traced its origins to the legendary
Ikṣvāku, the eldest son of Manu and the first king of Ayodhya.
28
The Candra-va sa also seem to have been originally based in North India, in
strongholds such as Hastināpura (Delhi) as evident in the Mahābhārata. An offshoot of
this dynasty appears to have invaded South India C.800 – 600 B.C. giving rise to the
Pandyan kingdom in the extreme south. The dynasty traced its origins to Purūravas.
29
For instance, in the CV we have queen Ratanāvali who is described as an ornament of
the Solar dynasty telling the powerful Sirivallabha who was keen that her daughter Mitta
Pages intentionally left blank
The Kṣatriyas of ancient and mediaeval Lanka evidently never
encompassed a substantial number of inhabitants and as we shall see
eventually died out or were absorbed into the higher castes, particularly
into the higher rungs of the Govi such as the Baṇḍāra and the Radaḷa.
In the early days however, they played a very important role in the
army, in pioneering colonization and in the administration of the
country.
With the passage of time and especially as a result of recurrent
Dravidian invasions and western colonialism, the Kṣatriyas gradually
declined, eventually being absorbed into the Govi fold. There is
considerable evidence to show that members of the royal family
including kings and princes cohabited with women of the Govi caste.
These women who served as concubines of the rulers were known as
yaka a-dōli (iron palanquin) in contrast to the queen consorts of equal
royal status who were known as ran-dōli (golden palanqin). For
instance, King Narendra Si ha is said to have had a son, Unambuve
Baṇḍāra from a relationship with a Govi woman of the famous
Unambuve family. Indeed, the Unambuve family is said to have
intermarried with royalty from the time of Vijayabāhu III in the 13th
century 30.
It is also probable that not only the reigning monarchs, but also their
brothers, cousins and other princes of the royal house wed or cohabited
with Govi women drawn from families such as the Unambuves of
Udapalata, Dunuvilas of Harispattuva and Rambukwellas of Uda
Dumbara 31 thus giving rise to the Bandara sub-caste of the Govi. This
is supported by the Mandārampura Puvata (C.17th century) which has it
that the Baṇḍāravali became powerful due to the intermixture of kings
of the Sūriyava sa with Brāhmana and Gahapati families (āriya
bamunu gahapati kula maha sāra, sūriya va sa rajakula musa viya).
The Radaḷa, another important sub-caste of the Govi who
constituted the aristocracy of Kandyan society also seem to have had a
considerable infusion of Kṣatriya blood, for the very term appears to
have derived from the Sanskrit Rāja-kula or ‘Royal-clan’. Epigraphic
30
Unambuve parapura, a manuscript written around the 16th or 17th century and found by
Hugh Nevill in the village of Unambuve (BMOM 6605)
31
See Family genealogies in the study of pre-colonial Kandyan society and Polity.
K.P.Vimaladharma. JRAASL. 2000
evidence such as the Vessagiri inscription assigned to the reign of
Mahinda IV (10th century) knows them as rad-kol-sam-daruvan (lit.
children or descendants of lords of royal lineage). Finally we come
across the rare ge-name Kattrigē borne by some Govi folk in the olden
days and perhaps even today which suggests a Kṣatriya connection. For
instance in the Dutch tombos dealing with the Kalutara District and
Salpiti Korale we come across Cattrige Don Joan who is given as
Bellale and Kattriatjege Don Joan who is likewise described as bell
(ala)32. Another Govi name suggesting a princely connection is
Kumāragē (House of the Prince) which is attested in the Dutch records,
where for instance we find one Kumarege Don Phillippoe 33.
All this would suggest that the Kṣatriyas of old had ceased to exist as a
distinct caste due to political changes brought about as a result of
Dravidian invasions and western colonialism among other factors, and
that the remnants of those who had managed to survive, through
intermarriage with high-born women of the Govi caste, were able to
constitute themselves as the dominant elite of this group, which due to
its numerical strength was on the ascendancy and emerging as a
formidable force to be reckoned with by all concerned. The role of the
Radaḷa as kingmakers as was seen in Kandyan times clearly bear this
out.
The Govigama
The Govigama who constitute the predominant Sinhalese caste of the
country are by no means a homogeneous group, but rather formed out
of the assimilation of various groups of people who arrived from the
subcontinent at different periods of time beginning with the early
Vaiśya settlers who arrived with the Vijayan migration C.6th-5th century
B.C.
Although we have no early records to show that this was indeed the
case, later records certainly testify to it. For instance we have the
Janava sa of Buddha-Rakhita (C.15th century) tracing the origins of
the Govi to Vijaya’s followers. The work has it that Vijaya appointed
for cultivation those possessed of skill, energy and strength from
32
SLNA 1/3728
33
SLNA 1/ 3761
among the seven hundred heroes who reached Lakdiva with him. This
is supported by Davy (1821) who records that the Sinhalese maintain
that “their island was colonized from the eastward about 2363 years
ago” and that “the first settlers, with the exception of their leader of
royal descent, were of the Goewanse”.
The appellation Govi is probably derived from the Prakritic Gahapati
which literally means ‘householder’ 34. We find in the 13th century
Saddharma-Ratnāvaliya of Dharmasena, the Pali term gahapati being
rendered as Govi (gahapatika = Govi kulehi upan tänättō). Gahapati
occurs in ancient Pali literature as the third ranking caste after the
Khattiya and Brāhmaṇa and appears to have been synonymous with the
Vessakula i.e. Vaiśya. This is also supported by the fact that the
Govigama have been traditionally subsumed under the Vaiśya varna
which is the third ranking Aryan caste after the Brāhmaṇ and Kṣatriya.
For instance we find Davy (1821) giving the Goewanse (cultivators) as
belonging to the Wiessia Wanse (Vaiśya va sa). The traditional
occupation of the caste as cultivators 35 also suggests a Vaiśya origin.
Thus it would appear that it were the Vaiśya ancestors of the
Govigama who were largely representative of the early Sinhalaspeaking Aryan element that introduced the Sinhala language and
Sinhalese culture and civilization to the island. In fact, available
evidence would suggest that the ethnic term Sinhala was originally
applied to the early Kṣatriyas who ruled the island as well as to the
Govigama and not the other Sinhalese castes such as the Karāva,
Durāva or Salāgama.
34
As noted by Paranavitana (1970) the word gahapati in the local context appears to have
been specialized to denote the Vaiśya caste “for govi, now in use to designate the class
corresponding to the Vaiśya, is derived from gahapati”.
35
So much so that today the term Govi is synonymous with farmer. The term goviyā
denotes a farmer irrespective of caste or nationality. It would seem from the 13th century
Pūjāvaliya that the appellation govi had already acquired the meaning of farmer as seen in
the expression govihu nam nikam hidina davasak näta (There is not a day when farmers
do nothing). We also find the 14th century Saddharmālankāraya referring to farming as
govitän. The more specific term used to denote the caste is Govigama where the suffix –
gama, a derivative from the Old Indo-Aryan grāma seems to have retained the original
sense of ‘horde’, ‘multitude’ and not village as is commonly understood in modern
Sinhala. The caste is also known as Goyi or Goyigama, obviously a corruption of Govi or
Govigama.
According to the MV, all those who are connected with Sīhabāhu, the
father of Vijaya who captured his leonine father are called Sīhaḷa 36.
The commentary of the MV, the Va sattappakāsini elaborates on this
further when it states that the 700 members of Vijaya’s retinue and all
their descendants “up to the present day” are called Sīhaḷas because of
the association with the prince called Sīhaḷa, who is evidently Sīhabāhu
as he had caught the lion (sīha gahitva iti). As such the appellation
would have applied to the early Kṣatriya rulers of the Sinhalese as well
as to their Vaiśya subjects who formed the vanguard of the early Aryan
colonization of the island. As seen earlier, the JV traces the origins of
the Govi to Vijaya’s followers whom we can reliably infer from the VP
were also called Sīhaḷa on account of their association with Sīhaḷa or
Sīhabāhu.
This is also supported by the fact that the Veddas, the country’s
aboriginal inhabitants have traditionally applied the ethnic term
Sinhalese solely to the Govi caste. Says Hugh Nevill 37: “Vaeddas
apply the name Sinhalese, in the form Singala, to the Goyiya caste
alone”. Physical anthropology also suggests that the Govi originally
hailed from Bengal and that despite substantial admixture with the
aboriginal Veddas they have managed to retain to a great extent their
original physical characters including a tendency towards
brachycephaly or broad-headedness 38 and relatively fair skin 39, an
inheritance probably from an Indo-European-speaking Alpine stock of
36
The term appears to have literally meant ‘(one who) seized the lion’, a compound
formed from the Old Sinhala * si-ha a where si meant ‘lion’ (Skt.si ha, P.sīha) and
ha a ‘seized’ (Skt.hrta, P.ha a). Such a term however could have also denoted ‘lionheart’ (si-ha a) in Old Sinhala.
37
38
39
Notes and Queries. The Taprobanian. Dec.1885
See Hussein (2009)
Hugh Nevill in his contribution on the Vaeddas of Ceylon to the Taprobanian of April
1888 observed that the natural skin colour of the Govi Sinhalese was light. He pointed
out that “when a Sinhalese of Goyi race wears clothes from youth his body is usually very
light in colour, far lighter than his face and neck or hands. This proves that the natural
colour is light”. We also have Cordiner (1807) who observes: “The Cingalese, in general,
are of slender make and rather below the middle stature. Their limbs are slight but well
shaped: their features regular, as the same form as those of Europeans: and their colour
of various shades”. He adds: “Many of the higher classes of people who are not exposed
to the rays of the sun have complexions so extremely fair, that they seem lighter than the
brunetts of England”.
Bengal that had found its way to India’s northeast from Central Asia
and were absorbed as Aryans after undergoing the Vrātyastoma
ceremony 40.
The Govi or rather their Gahapati antecedents evidently comprised an
important class in ancient Sinhalese society. A class known as Gapatis
(The Old Sinhala or Sinhala Prakrit equivalent of Pali Gahapati) figure
prominently in the country’s Brahmi inscriptions dated to C.3rd century
B.C.-1st century A.C. For instance, the son of a Gapati named Avirada,
Deva had even risen to the position of a chief (Parumaka). Others held
such positions as Dutaka (Diplomat) while yet others were engaged in
lesser occupations such as Manikara (Lapidary) and Naṭa (Actor or
Dancer).
Later mediaeval records indicate that the Govi had grown extremely
powerful and were regarded as a potential threat to Kṣatriya claims to
the Sinhalese throne. It was evidently such a development that led King
Nissanka-Malla in his Polonnaruva Slab Inscription to vehemently
denounce the aspirations of the Govi caste to the Sinhalese throne in
the following terms: “People of the Govi caste (Govi kulehi ättan)
should never aspire to the dignity of kingship (rāja-līlāva a no-pätuva
mänäva), for this would be like the crow (kākayā) aping the swan
(ha sa), or the donkey (ko aluvā) the Saindhava Steed (saindhavaya),
or the worm (gäň ahulā) the Cobra King (nāga-rājaya), or the firefly
(kanamandiri) the sun (sūryya), or the snipe (va u) the elephant
(hastīn), or the jackal (känahilā) the lion (si haya). However powerful
the people of the Govi caste may be (kese balavat vuva-da), they
should not be elected to rule the kingdom (rājyaya a balā no-gata
yuttāha)”.
The strong language used by the reigning monarch shows to what
extent the Govi caste were considered a threat to the claims of the
Kṣatriyas. By Kandyan times, beginning from about the 16th century,
the Govi had established themselves as the most powerful caste in
Sinhalese society, even to the exclusion of the traditional Kṣatriyas
whom they seem to have absorbed, save for a very few members of the
ruling class.
40
See Hussein (2009)
Says Knox (1681): “The highest are their noblemen called
Hondrews, which I suppose comes from the word Hondrewne, a title
given to the King, signifying Majesty: these being honourable people.
‘Tis out of this sort alone, that the King chooseth his great officers and
whom he imploys in his Court and appoints for Governors over his
Countrey”. He also relates a Kandyan proverb: “Take a ploughman
from the plough, and wash off his dirt, and he is fit to rule a Kingdom”
and explains that it is spoken of “the people of Cande Uda, where there
are such eminent persons of the Hondrew rank”.
The term Hondrew used for the Govi by Knox is probably the same
as the Sinhala expression Hāmuduruvane which literally means
‘children of lords’, but generally conveys the meaning of ‘Honoured
Sir’. The term which is today an exalted honorific applied to a Buddhist
monk, is no longer applied to the Govigama or even their high subcaste Radaḷa, save perhaps by a very few regional groups where caste
consciousness still remains strong. The term hāmu which may well be a
shortened form of hāmuduruvane may still be used by servants when
addressing their Radaḷa masters though an earlier form hāmi as all but
died out 41.
Another observer who refers to the high status of the Govi is Davy
(1821) who describes the Goewanse as being “raised by caste above
the rest of the people”. The Goewanse, he says, are a privileged people
and monopolise all the honours of church and state, and possess all the
hereditary rank in the country.
This is not to say that the Govigama were considered a homogeneous
whole or that all of its members were considered equal in status. There
did exist - and still exist- various sub-castes among the Govi, some of
them higher in status than others. Knox (1681) could identify only two
broad groups when he observed: “of these Hondrews, there be two
sorts, the one somewhat inferior to the other as touching marriage; but
not in other things”. These two broad groups mentioned by Knox were
little doubt the aristocrats comprising of the Bandara and Radaḷa and
the commonalty comprising of such sub-castes as the Mudali-pēruva,
Nilamakkāra, Patti-vala, Katupulle and Porovakāra.
41
One would notice in the Dutch Tombos of the 18th century that names ending in hamy
such as Imeage Gelloe Hamy (SLNA 1/3737) invariably belong to the Govi. The term
has its origins in the Sanskritic svāmi ‘lord’.
A more detailed account is given by Francois Valentijn 42 who says
that among the Goy caste are different sorts, namely Bandares or
Adassing (Those who are at court as courtiers, counts or even princes
of the royal family), Maendellyperoe (Who become Modeljaars,
Adigars and Dessaves, though they are mostly in the militia) and
Goyperoe (Who are found both in the militia and as cultivators).
Ryan (1953) found several Govi sub-castes in the Kandyan areas,
though these ranged from high differentiation to non-existence. He
gives as Govi sub-castes Radaḷa, Mudali, Nilamakkāra, Paṭṭi and
Kaṭupulle and observes that the recognized Govi subgroups occur
mainly in areas surrounding the city of Kandy, long the seat of the
interior monarchs, who ruled even into the British period with their
feudal-caste system of organization. “Within a fifteen – or twenty-mile
radius of Kandy the subcastes are prevalent today, particularly toward
the north and east. They are found elsewhere, as in parts of
Sabaragamuwa and Uva, and in the north-central jungles, but they are
more the exception than the rule”. He notes that almost everywhere the
subcastes are found, there is a reluctance, except by the Radaḷa, to
admit a subcaste title even though it may be evident in the name of the
village itself or in the Gē-names of the people. However, as noted by
Ryan, the formal division of the cultivator caste is strictly a Kandyan
phenomenon. He observes: “Functionally the Kandyan system is
closely related to manorial feudalism, and status services abound. The
Low Country is remote from the feudal aspects of caste”. However this
does not mean that the Govi sub-castes did not exist in the low country.
They very probably did at least in the cases of the higher sub-castes
such as the Bandara and Mudali. However, sub-caste differentiation
seems to have been minimal when compared to Kandyan society due to
the socio-economic changes brought about as a result of colonial rule
beginning with the Portuguese in the 16th century.
The highest sub-caste among the Govi were no doubt the Baṇḍāra,
the offspring of royalty by high-born Govi women of distinguished
families. The Baṇḍāras of Kandyan times who constituted the elite
among the nobility it is established were the offspring of royalty 43
42
Naamen der Inlandsche Bedienden Inde Dorpen op Ceylon in oud en Nieuw OostIndien (1726)
43
Reigning monarchs, their brothers and cousins and perhaps even other princes of the
royal house.
through the Yakadadolis or non-Kṣatriya concubines drawn from such
families like the Rambukvellas of Uda Dumbara, Amunugamas of Pata
Dumbara, Mampitiyes of Udunuvara, Dunuvilas of Harispattuva,
Monaravilas of Matale and Unambuves of Udapalata who comprised
the native gentry 44.
We find that even in earlier times, the Baṇḍāras were an influential
and powerful group though the power of some of these Baṇḍāras was
curtailed by King Vikramabāhu IV in the 14th century, probably
because he feared their growing influence and power. According to the
Siḍuruvāna Kaḍaim-Pota, an account of the great Baṇḍāras who ruled
much of the present-day Kandy district during the Gampola period, the
Baṇḍāras were deprived of their umbrellas and shields and given
Mudali titles by Vikrama Bāhu. In other words, they ceased to be semiindependent princes. However this does not mean that all Baṇḍāras of
old suffered a similar fate. Many no doubt thrived and it would appear
that by the 16th century the term Baṇḍāra had come to denote the
royalty and nobility not only of the Kandyan Kingdom, but also of the
kingdoms of Kōṭṭe and Sītāvaka.
As for the appellation Baṇḍāra, it is likely that the term is derived
directly from the Sanskrit bhā āra meaning a ‘treasury’ so that a
person maintained out of treasury funds would be called a Baṇḍāra,
hence applying to the offspring of royalty. It is also possible however
that the appellation has its origins in the Malay Bendahāra or Javanese
Bendara ‘lord’ or ‘chief'’ used of higher ministers of state. For
instance, we have Mendez Pinto 45 stating: “There the Bandara of
Malacca who is as it were the Chief Justice among the Mahometans
was present in person”. Godinho de Eredia 46 refers to the native
Bendara of Malacca in charge of the government of the lower class of
subjects and foreigners. In the Divehi language of the Maldives the
term bandarāin meant ‘king’, ‘sultan’ 47. Interestingly we also have
44
See Vimaladharma (2000)
45
Peregrinação (1614)
46
Malaca, L’Inde Meridionale et le Cathay (1882)
47
See A Concise
Maniku (2000)
Etymological Vocabulary of Dhivehi Language. Hassan Ahmed
Knox (1681) giving the term Bonder as ‘implying something relating to
the King’ when discussing a place known as Bonder Cooswat.
Dewaraja (1988) however suggests that it is more likely that the title
was borrowed from the Tamil Paṇṭārams, priests of the Vellala caste
who officiated in Siva temples in South India and who immigrating to
Sri Lanka were absorbed into the Govikula. In support, she notes that
such a process would not have been difficult as the Paṇṭārams belonged
to the Vellāla or high agricultural caste of South India. For instance,
she cites a descendant of one particular Paṇṭāram who helped Rājasi ha
I (1581-1593) in his wars against the Portuguese being rewarded for his
bravery with the title of Mārasi ha Mudiyanse, the latter being a title
suggesting a high sub-caste of the Govikula. She adds that by the 17th
and 18th centuries, the Paṇṭārams had become part and parcel of the
Kandyan nobility, and their title too became popular among the nobles
of high rank.
This is however unlikely given the historical and genealogical
evidence cited earlier. Besides, it is difficult to imagine how the Tamil
Paṇḍāram could have become Sinhala Baṇḍāra as we have no cases of
the Tamil voiceless labial p ever turning into its voiced equivalent b
when adopted as loan-words into Sinhala. Rather, it would appear that
the Tamil Paṇḍāram was itself derived from the Sanskritic bhā āra or
‘treasury’ as these priests were maintained by funds donated to the
temples by royalty and others.
Next in rank to the Baṇḍāra were the Radaḷa or native aristocracy
who comprised of courtiers, ministers and governors, particularly
during the period of the Kandyan Kingdom. The Adikāram or Adigars,
the chief officers of state under the kings of Kandy were drawn from
the Radaḷa, as were the Disāvas or provincial chiefs. Although it is
possible that the Radaḷa like the Baṇḍāra had their origins in the royal
families of old as is suggested by linguistic and epigraphic evidence,
they do not seem to have been regarded as such in later times such as
during the Kandyan period when any pretensions to a royal origin were
unheard of.
It is not unlikely that the very term Radaḷa has its origins in the
Sanskritic and Prakritic rāja-kula or ‘royal-clan’ through the
intermediate forms rad-kola and *raddola as suggested by Don
Martino De Zilva Wickremasinghe 48. A Vessagiri inscription assigned
to Mahinda IV (C.10th century) refers to lords of royal blood (rad-kolsam-daruvan, lit. children or descendants of lords of royal lineage) who
functioned as officials of royal parks (ma gul-maha-uyan- kämi) while
a Kataragama inscription assigned to the reign of Dappula V (10th
century) mentions rad-kol-kämiyan in the sense of ‘officers or workers
of the royal household’, suggesting that rad-kol denoted the royal
household.
We also come across in the Puliyankulam inscription of Udā Mahayā
(early 11th century) a reference to royal officers known as radolan. If
this be the case however, it is surprising why the term denoting the
Sinhalese aristocracy should be spelled with a retroflex rather than the
dental l in literature posterior to the above inscriptions and indeed even
in modern-day usage. It is possible therefore that the term may have a
different origin from rāja-kula and may perhaps have its origins in a
form such as rāja-ha a or ‘royal-heart’, meaning those who had ‘royal
hearts’ or those ‘beloved by royalty’. Be it as it may, there can be little
doubt that the term Radaḷa is somehow connected to rāja or ‘king’,
‘royal’.
The Radaḷa appear to have had diverse origins with some even
claiming a Brāhmaṇ ancestry. For instance, the Ähälepolas are said to
have a Brāhmaṇ origin as vouchsafed by the Mahabedda land grant.
Likewise the origin of the Käppetipolas is traced to a Brāhmaṇ who
settled down in Navagamuva village near Rambukkana in Kegalle
District. Similarly, the Kegalle chieftains, the Edanduvave and
Tudugala Disavas and Leuke Disavas are said to have been of Brāhmaṇ
origin 49. Many others probably had some remote Kṣatriya origin as
suggested by their appellation Radaḷa which little doubt derived from
rāja or ‘king’ ‘royal’, rāja being synonymous with Kṣatriya.
The Radaḷa were no doubt an influential lot in Kandyan society.
Most senior officials, both at the court and in the districts, were drawn
48
Epigraphia Zeylanica Being Lithic and other inscriptions of Ceylon. Vol I (1912). The
Sinhala language regularly turns the OIA and MIA voiced palatal j into the dental d as in
evident in such forms as diva ‘tongue’ (P.jivhā, Skt. jihvā) and däla ‘net’ (P.Skt. jāla).
The change had evidently taken place by the 10th century as borne out by epigraphic
records.
49
See Vimaladharma (2000)
from these Radaḷa who comprised of the landed aristocracy of the
country owning considerable tracts of land. They also held important
posts in the ecclesiastical establishment, including that of the
Sa gharāja or Head of the Buddhist Clergy of the country 50.
The Radaḷa played an important role in the political life of Sinhalese
society and it was primarily with their support that the Kandyan kings
exercised regal authority. The Radaḷa also played an important role in
bringing the downfall of the Nayakkar dynasty in 1815 collaboration
with the British 51 as well as in subsequent uprisings against British rule
as was seen in the Kandyan uprising of 1817-18 52. The Radaḷa also
played an important role in the country’s political life ever since
independence in 1948. It was a Radaḷa lady, Madame Sirimavo
Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike who declared Sri Lanka an independent
republic in 1972, thus severing all links with the British crown and the
colonial past, a feat she accomplished when she was Prime Minister
from 1970-1977. She had previously held the post of Prime Minister in
1960-65, thus becoming the world’s first woman prime minister,
following the death of her husband S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike at the hands
of an assassin. Another prominent Radala figure was William
Gopallawa, a former Governor-General who became the first President
of the Republic in 1972.
The Radaḷa were also able to establish matrimonial alliances with the
leading politically influential low country Govigama families of the
time, cases in point being Don Stephen Senanayake’s marriage in 1910
to Molly Dunuwille, Don Richard Wijewardene’s 1916 marriage to
Alice Gertrude Meedeniya and S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s 1940
marriage to Sirimavo Ratwatte. Both Senanayake and Bandaranaike
eventually became prime ministers while Wijewardena, a newspaper
magnate was also a highly influential figure in the political life of the
country. Prominent Radaḷa families which have played an important
role in the political life of the country include the Aluvihāras,
Bulankulames,
Dulleves,
Dunuvilas,
Ellāvalas,
Gopallāvas,
50
See Dewaraja (1988)
51
The Radala chieftains involved here included Ähälēpola Adigar and Molligoda and
Pilimatalāve Disāvas.
52
Among the Kandyan leaders who played an important tole in this uprising, also known
as the Uva-Vellassa Rebellion were Monaravila Käppetipola., Kobbäkaḍuva,
Kivulegedara, Madugalla and Dambavinna Disāvas.
Halangodas, Kotalāvalas, Kobbäkaduvas, Madavalas, Mīdeniyas,
Nugavelas, and Ratvattes.
Even today, centuries after the commencement of colonial rule and
several decades after independence, the Radaḷa are treated with some
respect, though the deference shown to them by others as noticed by
Ryan over 50 years ago could be said to have considerably declined.
Says Ryan (1953): “The Rada a, as the descendants of the manorial
lords, hold firmly to that status, and to many of its attendant roles. They
are not incensed when referred to as Goyigama, but nevertheless they
are Rada a, and the villagers and all surrounding treat them as such.
Even where feudal tenures are entirely abandoned, the Rada a is
usually a seat of power and his home, the Valavva (manor house), with
its occupants, is looked upon in a way that in some communities
probably has not changed essentially in the past two hundred years.
Where the Rada a exists, caste differentiation generally is at its
maximum, for around him adhere the various service castes and with
him, too, traditional modes of conduct persist. The family names found
here are the most respected in the land today and are well known as
such in effete urban circles as well as in the remote jungles”.
Ryan says that the deference shown to the Radala by others including
the Mudali is related to the fact that he is the large land holder and
hence the local patron and wielder of power over all others of the
village regardless of caste. These observations are however no longer
valid as subsequent social changes over the decades with greater
emphasis on democratic and socialist ideals have also meant a change
in attitude towards the Radala so that they are not held in the esteem
they formerly used to be held in. Nevertheless, they are still treated
with respect by the larger Sinhalese society, particularly by the Govi
who still often regard them as an elite class among themselves.
Below the Baṇḍāra and Radaḷa were the Mudiyanses or MudaliPēruva who comprised of Govigama caste people who enjoyed the
privileges of the middle positions in the official hierarchy. They were
addressed as Rālas or Appuhāmis and when appointed to key positions
were known as Rālahamis 53. The appellation Mudali given to this sub-
53
See Vimaladharma (2000)
caste is evidently of Tamil origin and literally means ‘the first’ or ‘the
foremost’ 54.
The term mudali occurs in Sinhala for the first time in the literature of
the Polonnaruva period such as the 13th century SaddharmaRatnāvaliya. The SdR often refers to a class of administrative officers
known as mudali who seem to have been in charge of a village or a
number of villages. The work in one instance refers to a mudali in
charge of a hundred villages. The term does not seem to have come into
existence until after the 10th century. In the SdR where it occurs in the
form gam-mudali it is usually rendered as a translation of the Pali term
gāmabhojaka ‘chief of a village’. The DAG gives the Sinhala
equivalent of the P. gāmabhojaka as gamladu, showing that in the 10th
century the term had not as yet come into existence.
The occurrence of the Tamil term mudali however does not mean that
the Mudalis were of Tamil or Dravidian origin, for there exists no
historical record to indicate that any large scale absorption of Tamil
Veḷḷāḷars or others ever took place in Sinhalese society. Rather it would
appear that the title was borrowed as a result of increasing Dravidian
influence beginning from about the 12th century. The Tamil language
had begun to exert a considerable influence on Sinhala during this
period and it is likely that it covered many aspects of society including
social organization. The reference to a Vedda Mudali who lived during
the time of the Kandyan King Kīrti Sri Rājasi ha 55 clearly shows that
the term was employed as a title and had no ethnic connotation.
The Mudali though deemed lower than the Baṇḍāra and the Radaḷa
on the social scale, were nevertheless considered higher than other
Govi folk. Ryan (1953) observes that the Mudali is a subordinate of
good blood in areas where the Radala resides and is likely to be termed
simply Goyigama even by the Radaḷa. He notes that it would probably
be correct to consider the Mudali the nindagam brother of the
54
The UMTL (1934) gives mutali as ‘head’, ‘chief’ which is probably derived from
T.mutal ‘First, as in rank, place’, ‘best’, ‘that which is superior’. M. Winslow’s
Comprehensive Tamil and English Dictionary (1862) gives mutali as ‘the First’ and as “a
title of Vellalas and some other classes”. The term seems to have been applied in the
olden days to the land-holding descendants of Veḷḷāḷar chiefs (The Tamils eighteen
hundred years ago. V.Kanakasabhai (1904)
55
Nevill (1954)
undifferentiated Goyigama in other areas and that intermarriage
between them seems to be acceptable.
The Mudali of modern times have by and large lost their former
influence. The old feudal system of village headmanship largely
dominated by those of Mudali caste no longer exists and has given way
to administrative officials such as Divisional Secretaries who are
appointed by the state based not on caste considerations, but on merit or
party loyalties. At the same time however, a few select upper crust
Mudali families which had carved a niche for themselves in the
colonial period made a profound impact on the political life of the
country, both in the British colonial period and the immediate postindependence period. This included the De Alwises, De Liveras, De
Sarams, Pierises, Dias-Bandaranaikes, Obēsēkaras and Sēnānāyakas.
Below the Mudali were what we may term the vast mass of
undifferentiated Govigama who tilled the soil for a livelihood. Indeed,
so inextricably linked were the Govi to cultivation that the two were
more or less synonymous, so much so that in modern Sinhala goviyā
means ‘a farmer’ and its plural form goviyō ‘farmers’ (irrespective of
race or caste) while govitän-karanavā means ‘to farm or cultivate’.
This Govi commonalty no doubt comprised the largest Govigama
group and are little doubt the same as the Goyperoe mentioned by
Valentijn (1726) who says that they are found both in the militia and as
cultivators.
Indeed, it would appear that besides cultivation, the Govi were also
enlisted into military service, particularly in the days of the Kandyan
kings. Davy (1821) noted that agriculture, the original employ of the
Govi “is not now their sole occupation”. He also records that the
Goewanse formerly constituted the militia of the country, and were
required to appear in arms as often as summoned by the King to repel
an army. In fact, Govigama caste soldiers are said to have comprised a
formidable force, uniformed with red caps and white jackets with each
pēruva or company being commanded by a lēkama 56. We also find in
the Dutch records a few Govigama names bearing the ge-name Hēvagē
(House of the Soldier). E.g. Hewage Pauloe and Hewage Andre Dabree
of Salpiti Korale who are described as ‘Bell(ale)’, in other words Govi
56
See Sinhalese Social Organization. Ralph Pieris (1956)
57
. The military tradition of the Govi however died out with the
establishment of colonial rule, so that the middle levels of Govi society
had as their sole vocation agricultural activity at the beginning of the
twentieth century.
Below this mass of Govi commonalty were the Nilamakkāra or
cowherds whose name oddly enough meant ‘officer, or one who holds
an office’. Davy (1821) gives the Nillemakareya as belonging to the
Wiessia Wanse and says that they are considered an inferior
subdivision of the Goewanse, rather than a distinct caste. He also notes
that although a Goewanse man may connect himself by marriage with a
Nillemakareya woman, a man from the latter ‘sub-caste’ is not allowed
to take a wife from the former, though it is occasionally done and
winked at. Their business, he says, is to attend to cattle, besides which
they are employed in cultivating the land. Their dues, in the King’s
time they paid chiefly in rice, ghee, curd and milk.
Davy identified the Nilamakkāra with the Paṭṭi (Pattea) and
described them as shepherds while H.W. Codrington 58 gives
Nilamakkārayā as a man of the Paṭṭivala caste in the Kandy district,
who he observed were “the royal cattle-keepers”. Ryan (1953) however
found a clear distinction between the two. According to Ryan, the
status claims of the Nilamakkārayās would make them superior to Paṭṭi,
but imply inferiority to many Goyigama families. He however notes
that there is considerable doubt if families who are Nilamakkara are, or
are looked upon as a true caste subdivision. “They are simply
Goyigama people who have preserved the traditional roles. Since
marriage and social intercourse is local, this tends to operate towards
the appearance of subcaste endogamy and communalism” he observes.
Ryan records that ‘Kandyans well versed in traditional lore’ described
the Nilamakkāra as ‘helpers of priests’. He notes that persons of
Nilamakkāra status were readily, if infrequently, to be found both in the
Central Province and Sabaragamuva and that in accord with tradition
were usually farming hands with some temple services in their titles.
As for the Paṭṭi with whom the Nilamakkāra were often confounded,
they probably take their name from T. pa i ‘cattle-fold’ after their
57
SLNA 1/3729 and SLNA 1/3847
58
Glossary of Native, Foreign and Anglicised Words (1924)
occupation as cowherds, for the Paṭṭi have been traditionally associated
with cattle-breeding. They have also been described as Gopallā or
‘those who take care of cattle’. That they were considered members of
the Govi caste is suggested by a Dutch Tombo 59 which describes
individuals bearing the ge name Pattiege or Pattijege (Eg. Pattiege
Pauloe Pieris and Pattijege Siman Pieris) as of the Bellale, meaning the
Govi caste. Codrington (1924) gives Paṭṭivala as a subdivision of the
Goyigama caste in the Kandyan country and describes them as “royal
cattle keepers”.
He also gives Saṭṭambi as an attendant of the bathing and palanquin
departments at the Kandyan Court, adding that they are said to have
been of the Paṭṭivala caste. Ryan (1953) noted that the Patti were found
in the Kandyan area, especially the Central Province. He found that in
the majority of localities, the sub-caste repudiated the term Patti and
insisted upon being called Goyigama. He notes that for those of ‘good’
or undifferentiated Goyigama status “this is an amusing pretension and
one which does not usually succeed in bringing the pretender into
social intercourse with the superior group”.
Indeed there is reason to believe that the Paṭṭi were somewhat
physically distinct from the ordinary Govigama, suggesting that they
originally derived from a different stock or at any rate had a substantial
infusion of non-Aryan blood. Particularly interesting are the
observations of P.R.Vijesinha 60 who in his study of the conservative
Govi village of Kalundāva says that the residents are of fair complexion
unlike those of the neighbouring village of Nayākumbura who belong
to the Paṭṭivala caste and are of dark complexion. Whether this dark
complexion of the Paṭṭi is widespread or universal among the group it
is difficult to say. It is however possible that given their low status,
they would have derived from some remote non-Aryan group, perhaps
even a group of Vedda aboriginals who had taken to livestock rearing
during some distant period, a supposition supported by the fact that the
Veddas were traditionally considered as part of the Govi caste. Be it as
it may, Paṭṭi folk are known to bear fairly respectable sounding genames such as Vijēsūriya Vāsala Mudiyanselāgē, Vikramasinha
Mudiyanselāgē and Ilukkumbura Mudiyanselāgē.
59
SLNA 1/3848
60
Purāna sāmpradāyika kalundā ga koṭuva in Aitihāsika Mātale (1984)
Pages intentionally left blank
There are those like W.H.Gilbert 61 who place the percentage of the
Govi in the total Sinhalese population at ‘two thirds’. At any rate it is
likely that the Govi constitute well over 50 percent of the total
Sinhalese population. A reasonable estimate would be between 50-60
percent of the entire Sinhalese population.
As for their distribution, the Govi are found in almost all areas where
the Sinhalese are in a majority, though they are sparsely dispersed in
the coastal areas which are largely inhabited by the non-Govigama
castes such as the Karāva, Durāva and Salāgama. The towns and
villages they inhabit, particularly in the interior districts, are countless
and enumerating them would seem a futile exercise, suffice to say that
they are found in all predominantly Sinhalese areas except those parts
where the non-Govigama dominate and which we will have occasion to
mention in the succeeding pages covering the other castes.
Nevertheless their natal villages have been one of pride to the
Govigama, so much so that their patronymic ge-names usually take
after place-names, showing the intimate connection between this caste
and the lands they enjoyed - understandable for a farming community.
Among the typical Govigama ge-names may be included Gamagedara,
Baddegedara,
Vedagedara,
Boralessagedara,
Kapugedara,
Talagahagedara, Dambagahagedara, Kongahagedara, Millagahagedara
and Bovattegedara 62. It is evident that many of these names have
derived from localities. E.g.Gamagedara (House of the Village),
Baddegedara (House of the Jungle) and Bovattegedara (House of the
Garden of Bo Trees). Many such names we find have taken their names
after trees (probably found in the vicinity of their natal residences or
villages) such as Dombagahagedara, Talagahagedara, Kongahagedara
and Millagahagedara. Indeed even the ge-names borne by the Radala
aristocracy have largely originated from place-names. E.g. Ähälēpola,
Käppetipola, Mīgastänna, Ratvattē. A notable exception is Hērat which
no doubt has its origins in Sērat, a titular name bestowed as an honour
according to the Mandarampura Puvata.
61
The Sinhalese caste system of Central and Southern Ceylon.CHJ.1953
62
See for instance the Catalogue of Villages by Channa Wickremesekara in The
Settlement Archaeology of the Sigiriya-Dambulla Region. Ed.Senake Bandaranayake
(1990)
We find that even in the low country which was occupied by the
European colonial powers for several centuries, the Govigama largely
bore patronymics based on place-names though there were a few
exceptions. Such ge-names occur in the Dutch records known as the
Tombos, where for instance we find Aandawollege, Anganmoellege,
Bamberendege, Boomboewellage, Botantrige, Bitmege, Bollewattege,
Dambange, Deweminige, Diallege, Dolege, Dotelage, Dombegahage,
Dombegammege, Gomerege, Haberekadege, Haberegommege,
Hendelege, Hendoerangelege, Hiemboeloewege, Horrewollege,
Horrettege,
Hondenaindelage,
Hungeddere,
Imboelgoddege,
Joenbowilge, Magellege, Miegoddege, Pellenge, Pelendige,
Penniehillege,
Timmagoddege,
Toenbowilge,
Kendeliaddege,
Kindelpiettiege,
Selembege,
Singoerelige,
Siembelagoddege,
Wahalatantrige and Welleboddege 63.
Some family names of the Govigama we would also find were
influenced by both the Tamils and the Western colonial powers. For
instance names such as Abayakōn, Tennakōn and Samarakōn (In Tamil
kōn means king as in Tennakon, lit.Southern King) are Tamil in origin
and probably arose in the days of the Nayakkar kings. Although it is
widely believed that the Govi do not usually possess Portuguese
surnames which are more common among non-Govi castes who lived
in the Portuguese-occupied territory of the maritime districts, this is not
necessarily so and one finds a significant number of Govi folk of the
low country who bear surnames of Lusitanian origin. This was
particularly so during the colonial period. We find in the Dutch tombos,
low-country Govigama names like Arachilage Don Andre, Colombege
Don Siman, Parangige Christobu D’Abre, Joenbowilge Don Louis,
Liejenege Don Constantinoe, Magellege Joan Fernando, Nawollege
Don Luis, Walgamage Don Christoffel, Edirisinge Joan Joris,
Merinjege Joan De Costa, Liyanage Adrian Fernando and
Dewamullege Bastian Perera 64. Nevertheless we still find surnames of
Portuguese origin occurring among low-country Govi, among them
D’Alwis, Corea, Dias, Perera, Pieris and Saram.
63
SLNA 1/3728, 1/3729, 1/3732, 1/3734, 1/3738, 1/3739, 1/3761, 1/3762, 1/3812
64
SLNA 1/3728, 1/3766, 1/3811, 1/3848
The Karāva
The Karāva are perhaps the most important Sinhalese caste after the
Govi and exert a considerable influence in almost all aspects of the
nation’s political, social and economic life. Their importance in the
national life of the country cannot be measured by their numbers alone
which stands at less than 10 percent of the Sinhalese population. The
rise of the Karāva, particularly during the colonial period and its
aftermath is one that has been the subject of intensive sociological
research. How an immigrant caste group from peninsular India that
arrived relatively late could have risen to such an eminent position in
the Sinhalese social scale in less than 500 years is one that elicits both
envy and admiration. The caste, like other migrant communities, is no
doubt an enterprising and industrious one. That it should have risen to
such a position in so short a time is however not surprising when we
consider the history and evolution of this group in the Sri Lankan social
setting. The Karāva are a predominantly coastal population inhabiting
the western and southern littoral from Chilaw to Hambantota and
largely comprise of the three great clans, the Kuru-Kula, Mihindu-Kula
and Varuna-Kula, though there also exist a few other minor clans.
Certain elites of the caste claim to be of Kṣatriya extraction and look
upon the ancient Kuru Kingdom of North India 65 as their ancestral
domain whence their forbears, the Kauravas 66 migrated to South India
and thence to Sri Lanka following their defeat by the Pandavas in the
great battle so vividly described in the famous Indian epic – the
Mahābhārata 67.
65
The Kuru Kingdom of ancient times was situated between the rivers Yamuna and
Ganga, in an area roughly corresponding to the western part of Uttar Pradesh, bordering
Haryana. The capital of the kingdom which was ruled by kings of the lunar dynasty was
Hastinapura.
66
The Kauravas were a clan of Kṣatriyas of the lunar dynasty who took their name after
their legendary ancestor Kuru, for Kaurava literally means ‘(descendants) of Kuru’.
Puranic tradition traces their origin to Purūravas, the progenitor of the Aila or Lunar
dynasty. The term usually refers to the elder line of the descendants of King Kuru,
meaning the offspring of King Dhritaraṣtra though it could also refer to their cousins, the
Pandavas who are descended from Pandu, the younger brother of King Dhritaraṣtra.
However, it is commonly employed in its narrower sense of the descendants of
Dhritaraṣtra.
67
The great Hindu epic Mahābhārata supposed to have been compiled by a sage named
Vyāsa during the pre-Christian era mentions that this terrible battle fought between the
Kauravas and the Pandavas and their allies lasted 18 days and resulted in the deaths of
We will here firstly consider the origins of the Karāva and the
circumstances in which they arrived in Sri Lanka taking into account
the various traditions and historical sources that relate to it. Tradition
has it that King Parākrama Bāhu (Probably Parākrama Bāhu VI of
Kōṭṭē who reigned C.1412-67) invited the Karāva of Kancipura,
Kilakkare and Kaveri Pattanama in South India to Sri Lanka in order to
defeat the Mukkara (I.e.Mukkuvars) who had occupied Puttalam 68.
According to the tradition recorded by Sri Sumangala (1876) the
Karāva who arrived in Sri Lanka to fight the Mukkara comprised of
7740 men led by leaders such as Kuru-Kula-Nattu-Devarir,VacchaNattu-Devarir, Kuru-Kula-Suriya-Mudiyanse,Varna-Suriya Adappa
Unnahe, Arsa-Kula-Suriya Mudiyanse, Arasa-Nila-Itta-Mudiyanse and
Manikka Talaven. The King, rejoiced at the overthrow of the Mukkara,
is said to have granted to the victorious troops on a copper plate grant
areas such as Migomuva, Munnesarama, Kammala and Tambaravilla.
Specific localities included Kolompiti Maha Vidiya (Grand Street),
Valle-Vidiya (Sea Street), Kammala-Vidiya, Kurana-Vidiya,
Periamulle-Vidiya and Hunupitiye-Vidiya.
That some early or Proto-Karava had found their way to Sri Lanka
even before this great migration is suggested by the Tirumukkudal
inscription of the Cōḷa King Vīra Rājēndra (C.1062-1067) who records
his invasion of the island thus: “(Putting forth) a number of ships
(laden with) excessively large forces on the ever-swelling and highly
protected sea, and without attempting to ford it, he (the Cō a king)
began to wage a war in Īlam which cast a gloom on that army of the
Sinhalese wherein Kurukulattaraiyan who wore a golden anklet and
another feudatory whose anger in war was that of thunder, fell down
and were slain. A great tumult then arose and spread through the land
which was not able to bear (the charge of the Cō as) with the result
that Vijaya Bahu , the king (of the island) took to flight without
knowing even the directions and (the Cō a King) took his queen
millions of warriors on both sides before the Pandavas emerged victorious. The battle
was probably fought sometime around the middle part of the 2nd millennium B.C.
68
From a Sinhala Itihāsa or history edited by Weligame Sri Sumangala in 1876 and cited
in A Dip into the Past or Matters of historical interest relating to the portion of the
Singhalese known as Kaurawa. H.F. and F.Fernando (1920). The original work from
which it has derived is very likely the Mukkara Hatana, an old manuscript of the Kōṭṭe
period which describes a great battle between the Karava and their foes, the Mukkara
(i.e.Mukkuvar).
captive, conquered…. carried away immeasurably large family jewels
along with fine crowns and made Lanka with its impregnable walls his
own”. This would suggest that an early chief or minor king belonging
to the Kuru-kula (as suggested by his name Kurukulattraiyan) served
the Sinhalese King as a warrior or perhaps even a general. That there
were other merceneries belonging to his clan at the time seems likely.
Be it as it may, there have been attempts to trace the Karāva presence
in Sri Lanka to much earlier times than is commonly supposed. One
notable proponent of this view was A.S.F.Weerasuriya who in his
Kurukula Caritaya (1948) cited considerable evidence to show that
Kauravas from India had settled in Sri Lanka well before the Vijayan
era, though they are also said to have immigrated to the island with the
Vijayan migration as well as afterwards, during the reigns of
Devanampiya Tissa and Bhātiya Tissa.
In connection with the pre-Vijayan settlement of the Karāva,
Weerasuriya cites a little known work known as the Rāvanā-Rājāvaliya
which states that following the great war between Rāvanā and Rāma (as
described in the Rāmāyana of Vālmiki), a queen consort, a royal prince,
a rich merchant and a Brāhmaṇ chaplain who arrived from the Kuru
country along with their retinue settled in the country under King
Rāma’s orders and that the place where they settled was known as
Kuru-raṭa (pera atīta kālayehi kurura in ruväti päväti bisōkenek hā raja
kumaruvek hā sitāna kenek hā purohita bamu u kenek hā pirivarin
avut rāvanā yudakala pasu rāma rajugē niyōgayen visūheyin kuru ra a
yayi namviya). This Kuru-rata, he contends on the basis of oral tradition
was situated in the Negombo area and divided into two parts, Uturu
Alutkuru Kōralaya and Dakunu Alutkuru Kōralaya.
Weerasuriya also cites the Janava sa to show that some Karāva
would have also arrived in the island with Vijaya, the founder of the
Sinhalese nation. He cites a statement in the JV to the effect that of the
700 persons who arrived with Vijaya, some who disembarked on the
shore established houses at that very spot and lived near the sea and
that they were known as Karāva in the language of Lanka (vijaya
rajahu sirilaka raja karana samayehi taman vahansē hā samaga ā sat
siyayak yōdhayin ataren samahara denek muhudin goda basina tänama
geval ko a muhuda ke avara diya samīpayehi vasana heyin….. la kā
bhā āven ovun a karāva yayi kivha). He also cites an Ola leaf
manuscript found in the Māngedara Valavva in Kegalle District which
states that of Vijaya’s ministers, four of them, Kuruvanniyā who settled
in Kurudūva, Karāni who settled in Karadeṇapiṭiya, Kurāni who settled
in Kurupiṭiya and Karāti who settled in Karāpiṭiya were all Kuru-Kulas
(i.e.Karāva).
He further cites an Ola leaf manuscript titled Jalanandanaya of
Vanavāsa Svāmi of the Koḍikāragama temple of Tamankaḍuva which
states that Vijaya appointed Kāravanta Kumāra to the post of Viceroy
(yuvaraja) and bestowed on him sixteen villages (gamvara so asak).
Having espoused a lady from Kāncipura with whom he had six
children, he left two sons and two daughters in Vijaya’s care and with
his two youngest sons departed for the Kānci country where he served
as a governor of that city. It states that those who were descended thus
came to be popularly called Macca Konta Kāravanta or Karāva. It also
states that they are very barbaric and by doing sinful deeds are fearless
and are daring in war (ovun bohō kruraya, akusal kirīmehi bhaya näta,
yudayehi dak ayōya).
It further records that when Vijaya was ruling Lanka, he, with the
objective of filling the post of Prime Minister and working on his
palace, got down from this same Kāncipura, 24 Karāva householders
and settled them in the country by presenting them with fields, cattle
and ornaments (itā tīk a avu vikrama kriyāda gruha karmāntayehi
dak avu niyāvada kālinga cakravartihugē mu upuru vū si habāhu
rajahugē putravū abaya äti vijaya nara patihu lakdiva rajakarana kala
tamangē vijitayehi agamäti kama a hā visituru māligādiya karavīma a
siyum kaminda mantra kaminda yuktavu kāncipura nuvarin karāve
gruhapatin sūvisi denek genvā la kādīpayehi hiňdinā lesa ket vat gava
mahi a vastrābharana ādīn ovunovun a dī sammata ka āha).
Weerasuriya also contends that the Karāva arrived with the sacred
Bo tree in the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa and cites ge-names
supposed to be connected with the incident such as Jaya Śrī Maha
Bōdhiyagē, Jaya Maha Bōdhiyagē and Bōdhiyagē. Furthermore,
Weerasuriya (1948) basing his contentions on an Ola leaf manuscript of
Sivalā Kulamē Rāmanāta Mudiyansē known as Vanni Kathā avers that
Kaurava warriors were brought into the country as mercenaries as early
as the reign of King Bhātiya Tissa (C.1st century A.C ) to defeat a
Tamil Mukkara chieftain named Nala Mudaliya who had captured the
area bounded by the Kalā Oya, Kälani Gaňga and Moraṇiya Hela, taken
over its fields, gardens, ponds and reservoirs and brought ruin to
Buddhism by destroying its vihāras, dāgäbas and ārāmas and expelling
its clergy.
Nine Karāva generals of Ayōtti Pattanama (Ayodhya or Oudh)
named Pō Ittan, Kō Ittan, Kāli ga Ittan, Nallangavan Pālavan, Iccan
Mudavan, Tēvar Vedi Araśan and Maravarāyar and their 7800 soldiers
are said to have landed at Kāraduva following which they made their
way to Anuradhapura and defeated the enemy hosts. The King is said to
have settled them in the area bounded by Māragashinna and Nävgala
in the east, Moraṇiyē Kanda to Buluvala Galpaḍi Hela in the south and
Tunpane Handuru Kanda to Kälani Gaňga in the west.
Weerasuriya suggests that the place name Kurunägala (Rock of the
Kin of the Kuru) has its origins from the fact that the descendants of the
earlier settlers of the Kuru Kōralaya who came in the days of Rāma
called the spot after the late settlers from Ayōṭṭi Pattanam as suggested
in works such as the Rāvanā Rājāvaliya and Kurunägala Vistaraya. He
further records that the descendants of the Kaurava folk who came over
in King Bhātiya’s time reside in villages like Nelliya, Diddeṇiya,
Eňdaragalla, Potubōva, , Kahagolla, Valasväva, Moragolla,
Dehelgamuva, Poramaňḍala, Aňḍarapanē, Goḍigamuva, Ulhitiyāva,
Bulnäva, Mānagäṭē, Siyambalākälē and Sendiriyāpiṭiya and bear
hereditary names like Varunasūriya Mudiyanselāgē, Budal Gedara
Rāmanātha
Mudiyanselāgē,
Siyambalāgedara
Bālasūriya
Mudiyanselāgē and Kurukulat Araśan Ila gasi halāgē.
A great antiquity for the Karāva presence in Sri Lanka has also been
argued for by Lionel De Fonseka 69 who seeks to connect the people of
the Four Korales to the Karāva on the basis of their sun and moon flag.
He cites Paul E.Pieris 70 according to whom the people of the Four
Korales were considered “the most noble of all in Ceylon” and “Some
of the families, for instance the Kiravelli, were recognized as
representing the true royal stock. The martial prowess of the men of the
Four Korales was always recognized, and their mahakodiya,
emblazoned with the sun and moon, was allotted the place of honour in
the van of the army”.
69
The Karave Flag. CALR.1921
70
Portuguese Era I (1913)
He concludes from this that the sun and moon emblems in the case of
the Four Korales were primarily associated with the noble birth of the
inhabitants, seeking to corroborate it by reference to the Kadaim Pot
which refers to a district in Ceylon known as Kuru-rata, conterminous
more or less with the region of the Four Korales. The inhabitants of this
Kuru-rata, he says, were believed to have come from the Kuru-rata
(Delhi District) in India. In this connection, he cites the Kadaim Pot,
according to which in ancient times “there came to this island from the
Kuru-rata, a queen, a royal prince, a rich nobleman and a learned
prime minister with their retinue, and by order of King Rama, dwelt in
that place, called on that account Kuru-rata”.
Says Fonseka: “Kuru-rata is the district in India whence the Kaurava
Vanse claims its ultimate origin, and, if we turn to the list of Karave
chieftains who rescued the fort of Puttalam, the names of some are
sufficuiently indicative of their origin. Kuru-kula-nattu-dhevarir is one
chief; Vaccha-nattu-dhevarir is another. Now Vaccha was a town in
N.India, called also Kausambi, the capital of Nemi-Sakkaram, King of
Hastinapura, who transferred his capital to Vaccha. Vacca-nattuthevagay is still the name borne by certain Karave families of Siyane
Korale, where some of the oldest Karave families are resident”.
More recently, Michael Roberts 71 has argued that the advent of the
Karava does not seem to have been a single step affair, and that they
appear to have trickled in continuously or migrated en bloc from time
to time, in a period extending from the 13th to 18th centuries, the first
date derived from Nevill’s dating of the Janava sa and the latter from
oral tradition existing among some Karava families. The former dating
is however based on faulty grounds as Nevill in fact dates it to the
fifteenth century 72. As for the latter date for the closing migration of
Karava to the island, although it may appear to be rather far-fetched,
Roberts depends on oral traditions among certain Karava families
(relating to the Warusahännädige de Soysa and Hännädige Pieris
families) which suggest migration at some time in the 18th century.
71
72
Caste Conflict and Elite Formation. The Rise of a Karava Elite in Sri Lanka (1982)
Nevill notes in his introduction to the Janawansa (The Taprobanian. Feb. 1886): “It
bears internal evidence in the allusions to the Wattimi King Wijaya Bahu III, A.D.1233,
of being later than his reign and seems from the style to be of the period of Parakrama
Bahu VI, or about A.D.1420”. Roberts presumably based his contention on the JV as the
Karāva find mention in it.
Be it as it may, the most reliable tradition we have is that of the
Karāva hailing from, Kāncipura Kilakkarai and Kāvēri Paṭṭanam in
peninsular India 73. This does not however necessarily mean that they
are of Dravidian origin, for it is argued that the very name Karāva by
which they were, and are still known, is in fact derived from Kaurava, a
well known clan of North Indian Aryans who were defeated by the
Pāndavas in the great battle of Kurukṣētra as related in the Mahābhārata
74
. These defeated Kauravas, it is said, dispersed to other parts of India,
some settling in Central India, while others penetrated into East India
and yet others found their way into South India 75. However, this does
not mean that the appellation Kaurava should necessarily have
originated from Kaurava, for other interpretations are not wanting.
The Janava sa, in its attempt to trace the origins of the Karava, notes
that there were some among Vijaya’s followers who built houses on the
spot where they disembarked from the sea and lived at the edge of the
sea in the vicinity of salt water (karadiya) whence they were called
Karāva. Although the JV’s attempts to trace the origin of the Karāva
73
These localities are located in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Kāncipura is
Kānjivaram or Conjeevaram on the banks of the Vegavati river a little south west of
Madras while Kāvēripaṭṭanam is the chief town on the banks of the Kaveri river near
Trichinopoly in Northern Tamil Nadu. Kilakkarai is a coastal town in south eastern Tamil
Nadu near Ramnad in Ramanathapuram District.
74
It is not unlikely as contended by the Fernandos (1920) that it was the Tamil word for
the Kaurava of the Mahabharata, viz. Kauravar which became the modern Karāva. The
term as we have seen earlier apparently meant ‘of (the family of) Kuru’ , Kuru being their
legendary ancestor. The meaning of this name Alfred Ludwig (Uber die Mythische
Grundlage des Mahābhārata. SKBGW.1895) interpretes as ‘red’, suggesting perhaps a
ruddy-complexioned or bloodthirsty warrior.
75
See for instance Kurukula Caritaya by A.S.F.Weerasuriya (1948-1960) which has
made a strong case for the Kaurava origins of the Karāva. This view is not untenable, for
there still exist peoples scattered over India who bear names apparently derived from
Kaurava. Edward Dalton in his Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal (1872) states that the
Dūdh Kaurs, whom he describes as the cream of the Kaurs “preserve the true blood of the
Kuru race”. He notes that the other types of Kaurs such as the Paikera and Cherwa Kaurs
have degenerated in appearance as they had mixed with the mlechchas or barbarians, by
which he seems to have meant the aboriginal Mundari-speaking folk. It is also possible
that those Kaurava migrants who had found their way to South India left an indelible
mark on the toponymy of the region. As pointed out by James Tod (Comparison of the
Hindus and Thebun Hercules. Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society 1831): “The
Caroora regia cerobothri adjoining the Modura regia Pāndi onis on the Coromandel
Coast was in all probability named from a colony of the children (putra) of the Curus;
and Coromandel itself may be Curumandala, the region of the Curus”.
appear to be a bit too far-fetched, it shows that other plausible
explanations for the origin of the term do exist.
In fact, Charles Pridham 76 gives Karawe as “men of salt water”
which interpretation would probably have been derived from some
native source. This is not unlikely as the word kara-diya to this day
means ‘salt-water’ as opposed to miri-diya or ‘fresh water’. We also
have the Vaharakgoda slab inscription of Parakrama Bahu VI (15th
century) which states that whoever disputes his grant will receive the
sins of the animals killed in the seven coasts (sat karāve marāpu
satunge pavugattoye) suggesting that the term could have also denoted
‘coast’ or even those who inhabited it, which brings it close to a caste
of Tamil-speaking fishermen inhabiting the coastal areas of South India
known as the Karaiyār (Lit.Coast people fr.T.karai ‘coast’). In fact,
Portuguese sources such as Fernao De Queyroz 77 call the Karāvas
Careas.
Furthermore, certain sections of the Karaiyār of South India
inhabiting the coastal areas of the east coast from the Kistna to Tanjore
are known to bear names such as Kurukula, after Kuru, the ancestor of
the Kauravas, and Varunakula after Varuna, the ‘god of the waters’ 78
again suggesting a connection with the Karāva who also bear such
family names as Kurukula-Sūriya and Varnakula-Sūriya. However
what is interesting is that only certain sections of the Karaiyār of South
India bore such names, with others bearing names that do not seem to
have had any connection with Kuru or the Kauravas. This would
suggest that it was only a portion of this community that traced their
origins, whether real or imagined, to the Kauravas of yore, for KuruKula literally means ‘the Kuru clan’.
Thus even if we are to suppose that the Karāva originated from the
Karaiyār of peninsular India, they would have probably largely if not
solely derived from those sections that claimed Kaurava ancestry.
Indeed, it is possible that a group of Kaurava refugees did find their
way to peninsular India during some remote period inter-marrying and
76
77
78
A Historical, Political and Statistical Account of Ceylon (1849)
Conquista Temporal e Espiritual de Ceylao (1687)
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Edgar Thurston. Vol.VI (1909)
assimilating with the native peoples of the coastal areas, but
nevertheless retaining a memory of their origins which they jealously
preserved and passed down from generation to generation. The
Paṭṭinappālai alludes to big red-haired fishermen and their black
women in the seashore near the mouth of the Kāviri and compares the
red evening cloud on a black hill to the (red-haired) child at the breast
of its (black) mother in the days of the Cōḷa King Karikāl about the 2nd
century A.C. This might perhaps indicate the presence in the area of
some light-haired Aryan folk who had migrated south and espoused
native women – perhaps a band of Kaurava migrants who took to
fishing for a livelihood.
When we consider the physical traits of the Karāva, we find a great
variety with both light- and dark-skinned individuals. The dark-skinned
element which often approaches a very dark, chocolate brown
complexion however seems to differ from the usual Dravidian type in
having not only darker skin but also more broader noses and it is not
improbable that the type has derived from some Austro-Asiatic stock
that lived in the littoral of peninsular India during some remote period.
It is likely that it was this type that eventually evolved into that caste
or social group known as the Karaiyār, with certain sections of them
receiving an infusion of Aryan blood coming by way of some Kaurava
refugees, who having inter-mingled and co-habited with them, passed
down their traditions of a Kaurava lineage. The lighter skinned Karāva
element characterized by a fine physiognomy could well be the
remnants of the postulated Kaurava migration that had somehow been
preserved by regular cohabitation or marital unions between fairerskinned individuals.
However in spite of their relatively recent origins from peninsular
India, the Karāva have successfully assimilated into mainstream
Sinhalese society so that they are today recognized as Sinhalese by all
and sundry. The Karāva of the southern coastal areas such as
Ratmalana, Moratuwa and Panadura gave up their Tamil speech for
Sinhala long ago and are today a distinctly Sinhala-speaking folk. This
process however did not affect the Karāva of the northern areas as one
may still come across Tamil-speaking Karāva in areas such as
Negombo and Chilaw 79. That it were the Karāva who gave the Sinhala
language a good part of its piscene names of Dravidian origin also
seems very likely 80.
The Karāva, like other Sinhalese castes, also had sub-castes which
were based on their modes of occupation, though such distinctions no
longer appear to be observed. Valentijn (1726) mentions nine different
sorts of the Carrea caste or fishers, namely 1) Caraeuw 2) Boroedal
Caraeuw 3) Dandoe-Caraeuw 4) Moroe-Caraeuw 5) Kespe-Caraeuw 6)
Cadoel –Caraeuw 7) Tock-Keulo 8) Godo-Keulo and 9) Indimal-Keulo
81
.
He notes that the Caraeuw are the most important fishermen, who
also make their chiefs as they are expert in war. Among them, he says,
are Modeljaars, Mohamdirens, Araatsjes and other important officials.
He adds that they may sail in their thonies or boats with their fishing
gear deep into the sea but may not fish with angle or line. The
Baroedel-Caraeuw, he says, may not use anything other than thrownets, called Baroedel or Wisoedel by them, in sea and in the rivers. The
Dandoe-Caraeuw, he says, may fish in the sea but with angle rods made
by them from small bamboos with which they go deep in the sea.
Moroe-Caraeuw, he says, have nets of hemp and go to the sea to catch
79
Ryan observed in 1953 that evidence of the late ‘Tamil’ origins of the Karāva was
present in the “mixed usage of Tamil and Sinhalese languages among Sinhalese
fishermen in the Chilaw and Negombo areas”and in their “unique marriage customs
probably of Indian origin”. P.N. Kumaranatunga (La kāvē Kṣatriyayō Brahmaṇayō.
2004) found the language spoken by the Karāva on both sides of the Negombo lagoon to
be Tamil, while those of Duve and Pitipana Vidiya spoke Sinhala. In earlier times it is
evident that the northern Karava spoke Tamil as their native tongue. As noted by
G.A.Dharmaratna (The Kara-Goi contest.1890): “The Karawe of the Western and
Southern Provinces talks Sinhalese, but his brethren of the Negombo, Chilaw, Puttalam,
Calpentyn, Manaar, Batticaloa and Trincomalee Districts use Tamil”.
80
The fact that many edible sea fish bear Tamil names suggest that the Sinhalese
fishermen who gave these fish their names originated from a Tamil-speaking region. E.g:
Sinh.sālayā ‘Sardinella melanura’ (T.cālai), sūdayā ‘Sardinella albella’ (T.cūdai), paravā
‘Caranx Sezfaciatus’ (T.parai) and kelavallā ‘Thunnus albacares’ (T.kelavalai). It is very
likely that they were of the Karāva caste.
81
These appear to be his rendering of the Sinhala Karāva, Barudäl Karāva, Daňdu
Karāva, Mōru Karāva, Käspä Karāva, Kadul Karāva, Tok Kevulu, Goda Kevulu and
Iňdimal Kevulu respectively.
sharks from whose fat they make oil which they sell; they may not
catch any other fish.
Kespe-Caraeuw, says Valentijn, go into the sea with their large nets
to catch turtles by which they must subsist. Cadoel-Caraeuw, he says,
make a reddish-brown dye from the bark of the cadoel tree with which
they dye the sails of their thonies in which they are accustomed to fish
in the river. The Tock-Keulo, he says, may not go to sea except to salt
water inlets, or to the mouth of the river. They have another kind of net,
to which two long cords are bound and to which young olas from the
jaggery tree (in Cingalese called Talgas) are fastened on one end and
the other end hangs in the water; stretching the cords on both sides of
the net they keep their thonies opposite the open side, then beat with a
stick on an edge of the thony and go away till the net is hauled up. In
this and in no other way may they catch fish.
The Godde-Keule, he says, may not go to the sea but fish in the river,
and at the mouth or in the salt water inlets. They have also a special
fishing gear such as a four sided net which they spread under the water
on the ground with four stones. The Indimal Keulo, he says, make coir
ropes from the coconut husk and also nets from it which they sell to the
fishers. They also catch fishes in the river with baskets and small nets,
but on theoir festivals they may not use the flowers or majang (the first
shoots of the fruit) of the coconut tree, but only date palm flowers
which they call Indimal. He adds that the three last types of fishers are
the lowest caste among them, with whom the others will not eat or
intermarry.
Likewise Tennent (1859) says that the Karāva are divided into
classes, distinguished by the implements they employ, and the
department of the craft to which they addict themselves. “Thus there
are the Madell Karawe and the Baroodell, who cast nets; the Dandu
who carry the rod; the Kisbai who catch turtle; the Oroo who fish in
boats; and the Gode Kawoolo who fish from the rocks; with others of
inferior rank”. He notes that the conventional distinction socially
respected within these different classes is as marked and imperative as
between different castes; so much so that intermarriages are not
permitted except between individuals of the five first named divisions.
Orumānkulama Candana 82 similarly recorded nine Karāva sub-castes
82
Veraḷa (1994)
that existed in the past, namely, Mādäl Karāva, Barudäl Karāva, Goḍa
Karāva, Daḍu Karāva, Käsbä Karāva, Porava Karāva, Ṭok Karāva,
Iňdimal Karāva and Orudäl Karāva 83.
Ryan (1953) however found that the closest approximation to true
subcastes is found between the Karāva north of Colombo and those to
the south. “Some southerly Karāva look somewhat distastefully on their
northerly caste comrades because of the unmistakeable evidence of
Tamil influence. On occasion, the disparaging name of “Dema a
Karāva” (Tamil Karāva) is applied to the northerners, but this of
course is a spite word rather than a descriptive or accurate
designation”. He further says that more literally a subcaste division, but
of little importance, are the Karāva Porovakāra in a few small villages
inland some twenty miles from Kalutara. “Wholly disassociated with
fishing, they are simply village cultivators claiming Karāva status, but
looked down upon as an inferior lot by other members of that caste and
treated with the etiquette and social distance accorded those of low
caste” 84.
He also notes that although the wealthy urban members among the
Karāva live in a different social world from the village fishermen “the
aristocrat of wealth would not reject the claim of equal respectability
in blood on the part of the fisher”. A “good name” among the Karāva,
he says, is one made eminent by acquired position rather than by the
“immutable” law of blood and lineage. It would thus appear that the
division of the Karāva into sub-castes had all but died out by the middle
part of the twentieth century.
83
Many of these sub-castes, it is apparent, have taken their names after the types of nets
they used. The Mā Däl Karāva evidently took their name after the mā-däl or seine nets
used by the Karāva of places such as Chilaw, Negombo, Modara, Moratuwa, Weligama,
Mirissa and Ahangama to catch fish. The Barudäl Karava likewise seem to have taken
their name from the baru-däl or nets to which weights had been attached. The Iňdimal
Karāva or Iňdimal Kevul probably denoted those who weaved Iňdikola (date palm
leaves) into what were known as Iňdiväl däl. This kind of net was also made with
coconut leaves (polkola) and used to catch fish in Nāgulu Ga toṭa (The ferry of the
Kelani river near the old Victoria bridge) in the Käḷaṇi river to Ha välla and Yatiyantoṭa
( See Weerasuriya 1960).
84
The Karāva Porovakara mentioned by Ryan are little doubt identical with the
Porwecareas who are mentioned along with Angookareas and other fishers of the
Alootcoor Corle in the Ceylon Almanac of 1835.
The Karāva of today are basically constituted into three great clans,
viz. the Kuru-Kula-Sūriya, the Varna-Kula-Sūriya and the MihinduKula-Sūriya. The appellation Kuru-Kula-Sūriya which literally means
the ‘Sun of the Clan of Kuru’ appears to preserve a reminiscence of the
origin of the clan from Kuru, the legendary ancestor of the Kauravas.
The Varna-Kula-Sūriya which means the ‘Sun of the Clan of Varuna’
probably has its origins in the belief that the clan is connected to
Varuna whom the ancient Indo-Aryans regarded as the god of the
waters. In Vedic literature Varuna is regarded as the god of the waters
and of the ocean and it is not unlikely that the Karāvas of old, being
sea-farers, held Varuna in great awe and possibly even worshipped
him.
As for the Mihiňdu-Kula- Sūriya or the ‘Sun of the Clan of
Mahinda’, we may perhaps have to agree with V.Vitarana 85 when he
observes that the original form may have been Muhudukulasūriya –
muhudu being the sea. “muhudu”, he says “can undergo a phonetic
change and come to be pronounced as mihidu which can inspire a form
mihiňdu” 86. What is also interesting is that the Mihiňdukulasuriyas are
said to have been formely known as Arsakulasūriya (Fr.T.arasa ‘king’
+ Skt.kula ‘clan’ + Skt.sūrya ‘sun’) 87. This is interesting as one
Arsakulasūriya figures as a leader of the Karāva who arrived here to
fight the Mukkara at King Parākramabāhu’s request. One may however
still come across folk bearing patronymics such as Arsakulasūriya and
Arsakularatna. Other less significant clans include the Maṇukula
Pēruva, Karṇakula Pēruva, Meghavarṇa Pēruva, Jayavarṇa Pēruva,
Viravarṇa Pēruva and Kauṇda Pēruva 88.
85
The oru and the yātrā (1992)
86
This is quite possible as alternate forms having different vowel values are known in
Sinhala such as pa al and pu ul ‘broad’ while the semi-nasal ň could spontaneously arise
from the intervocalic d as seen in instances such as Sinh.iňdi in iňdi-ka uva ‘needle’
(O.Sinh.hidi). Indeed, in a Sigiri inscription of C.8th-10th century, we come across the
form muhunda ‘sea’ while as late as the 17th century Robert Knox (Robert Knox’s
Sinhalese Vocabulary. D.W.Ferguson. JRAS.CB.1896. Based on the manuscripts of
Dr.Robert Hoole relating to Sinhala vocables obtained from Knox) gave the form
moondah ‘sea’.
87
See The Karāva of Ceylon. Society and Culture. M.D.Raghavan (1961)
88
See Weerasuriya (1960)
However there is reason to believe that there were as many as 21
Karāva gōtras or clans which is said to be represented by the 21 stars in
the Ira-haňda-koḍiya 89. Within these clans, one would find sub-clans.
For instance, the Mihindukulasuriyas comprised of five sub-clans in
Chilaw, namely, the Fernando, Pereras, Peiris’, Pintos and Costas,
while the proud clan name of Varunakula Ādittiya Arasanilayitta (Of
the Clan of Varuna, of the Sun, endowed with, or possessing, Kingly
Status) was borne by the d’Anderados, de Fonsekas, de Rowels, Lowes,
Tamels and Tisseras 90.
Karāva clan names usually precede the proper names of persons
while surnames of Portuguese origin might follow it. For instance the
clan name Kurukulasūriya would precede one’s proper name while a
surname such as Fernando would follow it. In this manner one could
find families like the Kurukulasūriya Rodrigos, Varnakulasūriya
Tiseras and Mihindukulasūriya Pereras. One also comes across
traditional Sinhalese patronymic ge-names among the Karāva. These
include Badugē, Vaḍugē, Vedagē, Telgē, Rangē, Tantrigē, Koruvagē,
Galappatigē, Patabändigē, Merinnagē, Vaṭuduragē, Vakuduragē,
Māluduragē, Tota Hēvagē, Uluvis Hēvagē, Juvan Hēvagē, Loränsu
Hēvagē, Marakkala Hēvagē, Gardiya Puncihēvagē, Hēvakodikāragē,
Mututantrigē, Liňdamullagē and Varusahännädigē.
These ge-names which are borne by one or another of the Karāva
clans indicate the traditional occupation of the ancestors of these
families or their former titles. For instance, Patabändigē which literally
means ‘House of those Bound by the Band’ suggests that a forbear or
forbears of these families had been conferred a titular rank by some
Sinhalese monarch of old for some heroic deed by means of fastening a
band of silk or gold round the forehead. Belonging to this category are
families bearing names such as Ran- Patabändigē, Bāla- Patabändigē
and Mōdara- Patabändigē.
Karāva folk are also known to bear the ge-name Hēvagē ‘House of
the Soldier’ suggesting a former military tradition. These occur in such
forms as Toṭa- Hēvagē (House of the Soldier of the Ferry), MarakkalaHēvagē (House of the Skipper-Soldier) and Gārdiya-Puncihēvagē
(House of the Little Soldier of the Guard, the term gārdiya probably
89
Ibid
90
Raghavan (1961)
being a corruption of the Eng.guard). Another ge-name suggestive of a
former military tradition is Hännädigē meaning ‘House of the One
prepared (for War)’ (fr.Skt. sa -naddha ‘armed, mailed. equipped’)
(E.g.Varusa-Hännädigē, Bōdiya-Hännädigē and Mumarat-Hännädigē)
91
.
Among the other notable Karāva ge-names are those which suggest a
sea-faring tradition such as Marakkalagē ‘House of the Skipper’
(marakkala meaning captain or skipper of a sea-faring vessel,
fr.T.marakkalan ‘skipper’), (E.g. Arasa-Marakkalagē, Savundara Marakkalagē, Marakkala-Sannādigē and Marakkala-Hännädigē),
Mālimagē (House of the Ship-Pilot) and Galappatigē (House of the
Caulker, fr.Port.calafate).
Among other well known Karāva ge-names may be included Vaḍugē
‘House of the Carpenter’ (E.g.Alagiya-Vaḍugē, Balāpu-Vaḍugē, JuanVaḍugē, Gustigna-Vaḍugē, Lasada-Vaḍugē, Mānika-Vaḍugē) and
Badugē ‘House of the Tax Collector’ (E.g. Āndra Badugē, Korin
Badugē, Kristōmbu Badugē, Naina Badugē, Manikku Badugē), names
borne by a considerable number of Karāva families.
We also come across a number of Karāva ge-names with the prefixKuru such as Kurukulasūriyagē, Kurukulasūriya Merennagē,
Kurukulasūriya Su gammatvaḍigē, Kurukätiyagē, Kurukulat Araśan
Ila gasi ha Odayārgē, Kuruvīragē, Kurusi hagē, Kurunērugē and
Kurunāyakagē. Other ge-names include Arandaragē, Amarasūriyagē,
Arasakulasūrigē, Bālasūriyagē, Bolondagē, Ediriviragē, Hambakulagē,
Hinidumagē, Ila gasūriyagē, Jayasūriyagē, Juvan Pullagē, Madanagē,
Mēstrigē, Manukulasūriyagē, Rangē, Raṇasūriyagē, Salpagē, Telgē,
Tuppahigē, Vellagē, Vaṭuduragē, Vimalasūriyagē, Väl Arumagē,
Vijaya Dōrugē and Yeḍḍigē 92. Many such patronymic ge-names which
precede the proper names of individuals are also associated with
surnames of the European type passed down the generations. These are
often of Portuguese origin. For instance there are the prominent
91
Interestingly, the term later came to be associated with leadership in fishing activities.
For instance we have Carter (1924) giving Hännäddā as ‘head fisherman’. The name is
even attested in a Dutch Tombo SLNA 1/3848 which gives the name of a Visser (Fisher)
as Hannendige Louis Fernando.
92
See Kaurava Va śa Katāva. T.S.Dharmabandu (1962)
families such as the Varusahennedige Soysas, Lindamullage De Silvas,
Vidanalage De Mels and Balappuvaduge Mendises of Moratuwa, Telge
Peirises of Panadura and other lesser known families like the
Hanvedige Peirises, Mahavaduge Pereras and Mututantrige Fernandos
93
.
Modern-day Karāva surnames are often of Portuguese origin.
E.g.Cooray, Dias, De Mel, De Silva, De Soysa, Fernando, Fonseka,
Mendis, Perera, Peiris, Pinto, Rodrigo, Salgado and Tisera. Many
others are suffixed with - sūriya (lit.‘sun’) E.g.Amarasūriya,
Arsakulasūriya,
Bālasūriya,
Jayasūriya,
Kurukulasūriya,
Manukulasūriya, Mihindukulasūriya, Sōmasūriya, Sumanasūriya,
Vikramasūriya and Vīrasūriya. We also come across others such as
Guṇaratna, Guṇavardhana, Jayaratna, Jayavikrama, Kularatna,
Vijayanāyaka and Vikramasi ha.
Some Karāva family names are apparently very old. For instance,
those bearing the ge-name Vacca-Nāṭṭu-Tēvagē (or Dēvagē) found in
Kalageḍihēna near Sīna Kōralaya and in Accankulam in Jaffna are
supposed to be descended from Vacca Nāṭṭu-Tēvarir (Dēvarir), the
Karāva leader who fought in the Mukkara Hatana. This name, which in
Tamil means ‘Lord of the Vacca Country’ may suggest a connection
with Vaccapura, which according to the Fernandos (1920) was identical
with Kausambi, the capital of Nemi-Cakra, King of Hastinapur and a
descendant of Pandu who transferred his capital to Kausambi or VaccaPattanam. Those bearing ge-names such as Māṇikagē, Māṇikka
Kumāragē, Māṇikku Hēvagē and Mānikku Sannaddigē are believed to
be descended from yet another hero of the Mukkara war, Māṇikka
Talaven 94.
Some may go back still further. It is said that those Karāva folk of
Kurana who bear the name Varnakulasūriya Iccan Pullige are
descended from a general named Iccaṇadavan who arrived from
Ayodhya during the reign of Bhātiya Tissa 95. Yet others are claimed to
93
See Nobodies to Somebodies. The Rise of the Colonial Bourgeoisie in Sri Lanka.
Kumari Jayawardana (2000)
94
Weerasuriya (1948)
95
Weerasuriya (1960)
go back to the days of the Mahābharata War. For instance those bearing
the names Karṇasūriyagē and Karṇakumāragē found in Uḍugampola
Henaratgoḍa are said to be descended from Karṇa 96.
Others take their names from various other circumstances. For
example, the ancestor of the Rangē (lit. Golden House) family, one of
the oldest Karāva families of Devundara is said to have been an officer
or caretaker of the gold ornaments of Viṣnu in the Devundara Devale
97
. Those Karāva folk of Petiyāgoḍa said to be descended from one
Prince Nettikumāra take their name Hat-tällage (The House of the
Seven Necklets) from the belief that his consort adorned her neck with
seven golden tālis or marriage necklaces 98. Other prominent Karāva
families of yore included the Jayasuriyes of Matara, Wirasuriyes of
Galle and Kodippilis of Mirisse 99.
The Karāva elite take great pride in their families and are even known
to have regular annual family get-togethers. One such Karāva family
association, the Kataluve Gārdiya Puncihēvā Jnāti Samājaya of the
Puncihēvā family which is over 50 years old has even gone to the
extent of publishing quarterly newsletters in Sinhala relating to the
family entitled Jnāti Pradīpaya.
Pride in their families has also been demonstrated on various
occasions by the display of clan insignia. The Karāva have been known
to use royal insignia such as the pearl umbrella, trident, sword and the
Makara and Sun and Moon Flag at their funeral ceremonies. In the past,
these symbols are also said to have been used at Karāva weddings and
other family functions 100.
96
Ibid. Karṇa, though a son of Kunti, the mother of the Pāndavas, allied himself with the
Kauravas, eventually going on to becoming their commander in the course of the great
battle.
97
See Landhesi Kaalaya or the Dutch Times. F.E.Gooneratne (1922)
98
Weerasuriya (1960)
99
Gooneratne (1922)
100
The Mutukuda. Chandra Fernando. NKMS.No.4.1999
As noted by Ryan (1953): “The Karāva, whether villager or
urbanite, never covers up his caste; to the contrary, he is usually proud
of it. It is the only caste, except possibly the Salāgama, today using
ancient caste symbols in public ceremonies. The white umbrella and
the flag of the Karāva are seen in village funerals, both Christian and
Buddhist”.
According to the Fernandos (1920), the Irasanda flag, Makara flag,
Muthukudai, the two alavattams, trident, sword, bugle, drum and kettledrum formed the ten insignia of the Kaurava people and were “still
largely used among these people especially south of Colombo, at
weddings and funerals”. Among these insignia, the Irasaňda Ko iya or
Sun and Moon Flag figured prominently, and according to Sri
Sumangala (1876) was among the honours given the Karāva warriors
101
. Yet another well known flag used by the Karāva was the Makara
Ko iya representing a Makara, a fabulous sea monster depicted as a
fish-like crocodile with gaping jaws, boar’s tusks, elephant-like trunk
coiled above its snout, peacock’s tail and feet and talons of an eagle
102
. Indeed, the Makara Ko iya seems to have been held in great regard
by the Karāva of old. Valentijn (1726) tells us that the most important
Karāva have a white flag with a fish in the middle as an emblem which
they call Addealancody and the fish Maghere, which honour the higher
among them do not permit to the lower.
Another important symbol used by the Karāva of old and which may
be used even today on occasion is the Mutukuda or white umbrella – a
symbol of Kṣatriya or royal status. According to the Mukkara Hatana,
King Parākramabāhu VI presented a mutukuda and other royal honours
to the victorious Kaurava warriors who had defeated the Mukkara.Yet
101
As noted by the Fernandos (1920), the Irasanda Kodiya is symbolic of the connection
between the Suriya and the Chandra (sun and moon) races from ancient times, the mother
of King Kuru himself having been the daughter (descendant) of Vaivaswata or Suriya.
102
The occurrence of the Makara in the Karāva flag is significant. According to the late
āgamas which are largely of South Indian origin, the Makara is the vehicle of Varuṇa as
lord of the Yādas or Sea-monsters while classical Hindu iconography depicts the Makara
as Varuṇa’s mount. In Vedic literature, Varuṇa is regarded as the god of the waters and of
the ocean, while in the Mbh. Varuṇa is said to be consecrated by the gods as lord of the
waters and told that his home shall be the ocean, the home of the Makaras. All this would
suggest that the Karāva of yore who were sea-farers were given to the worship of Varuṇa
as the god of the sea or held him in considerable awe. As such, his mount, the Makara,
would have been taken as a symbol, perhaps even a religious one.
another cultural symbol of the Karāva comprised of the ālavattam, a
kind of fan carried before prominent people.
As for the distribution of the Karāva, one comes across considerable
settlements in the western and southern coastal districts. Ryan observed
in 1953 that the Karāva were heavily concentrated in the coastal area
from Chilaw to Hambantota, and this remains true today as of then,
though of course it is only reasonable to assume that the Karāva have
since also dispersed further inland due to population growth and other
socio-economic factors.
The Karāva however originally seem to have settled in the region in
and around Negombo in the northern littoral of the Gampaha District
and it was only in later times that they dispersed to other areas such as
Moratuwa towards the south and Chilaw further north. According to the
Mukkara Hatana, King Parākrama Bāhu (C.15th century) granted to the
Kaurava warriors on copper sannas as their hereditary lands,
Mädinnoruva, Ānaolundāva, Munnessarama, Kammala, Tambarāvila,
Mīgamuva, Hunupitiya Street, Periyamulla Street, Kammala Street,
Kolonpiti Mahavīdiya, Kurana Vīdiya and Välle Vīdiya. This region in
the Western littoral would have thus comprised the early Karava
settlements or in any case that of the three great Suriya clans in the
island whence they dispersed to other areas.
That it was the Negombo region that constituted the earliest
settlement of the Karava of the three great clans is suggested by the
distribution of these various clans in Negombo to this day. Thus we
find the Grand Street area occupied by the Kurukula Sūriya, Sea Street
occupied by the Varnakula Sūriya and the peninsula of Duwa occupied
by the Mihiňdukula Sūriya, all strategically located and distributed as
the guardians of the port of Negombo which they seem to have been
entrusted with in the days of Portuguese rule in the maritime provinces.
Portuguese sources would however have us believe that the settlement
of the Karāva in Negombo was prompted by the fact that it had ample
stocks of fish. Queyroz (1687) states that the Careas or fishermen flock
to Negombo as those shores are more provided with fish, though they
are not wanting in the other dissavas.
What is clear however is that the early Karāva were settled in the
more northerly coastal regions such as Negombo. The drift to the more
southerly areas such as Moratuwa, Kalutara, Panadura and beyond little
doubt took place at a later period and was probably influenced by their
fishing and related activities 103.
The Karāva eventually came to establish substantial settlements in
the South Western littoral. A census of the British-ruled maritime
districts of the South and West taken in 1814 returned as many as 15.2
percent Karāva in the total population, with as many as 19.5 pecent
Karāva resident in the Kalutara District 104.
The major Karāva settlements today extend from the Western to the
Southern littoral of the island. These include Anamaduva, Chilaw,
Wennappuwa, Nattandiya and Puttalam in the Puttalam District;
Wattala, Ja-ela and Negombo in Gampaha District; Modara,
Mattakkuliya and Kollupitiya in Colombo District; Moratuwa,
Panadura, Kalutara, Maggona and Payyagala in the Kalutara District;
Alutgama, Ambalangoda, Gintota and Dodanduva in the Galle District;
Weligama, Mirissa, Gandara and Devundara in the Matara District and
Tangalle in the Hambantota District. Substantial Karāva settlements are
also found in the North Western hinterland, in Kuliyapitiya,
Katugampola, Bingiriya and Kurunegala in the Kurunegala District.
Among the Karāva settlements in the interior of the country are
Dumbemäda in the Four Korales, Andarapāne near Alavva, Umutuvella
near Pasyāla, Gojjarāgama in Galgamuva 105 and those found adjoining
103
Vitharana (1992) records a folk tale among the fisher-folk of Tangalla which speaks of
a migration and the founding of their settlement. Thus it is said that once a few Oru
vessels loaded with fishermen set out from Negombo sailing southwards in quest of the
Balayā fish, and in search of a locality to found a new settlement. They had agreed that
they would turn shore-wards at a point in the sea at which they would obtain a catch of a
1,000. They reached the sea opposite Galle without any appreciable catch, and turned
east-wards to run parallel with the southern shore-line. Soon luck seemed to be with
them, and they began to have larger and larger catches the more eastwards they sailed –
but not of a 1,000 as yet. Off Nilvälla they baited 999, and temptation was strong to turn
into the bay and terminate their expedition. But the captain was firm, and chose to sail on.
The next day and five miles to the east they caught the required number, with the
Tangalla Bay within sight on the left. They hastily turned in, and on reaching the coast
planted their new settlement there. Vitharana adds that nothing more can be said about
this tale other than the fact that this southern sea region is a major haunt of shoals of the
balayā (skipjack) and that by chance or otherwise, the incidence of the sur-name
Varṇakulasūriya appears to be more frequent among the fisher-folk of Negombo and
Tangalla than in any other area of Sri Lanka.
104
Return of the Population of the Maritime Districts. 1814 (1816)
105
Raghavan (1961)
the Hat Kōralaya such as Sendiriyāpiṭiya, Potubōva, Neriyāva,
Araśanväva, Mīgalāväva, Kuruppuvatta, Otuvela, Māspota, Diddeṇiya,
Dombēmaḍa, Bulnäva, Nelliya and Demaḷamānē whose inhabitants call
themselves Candra Karāvē, Sūrya Karāvē and Kōn Karāvē 106.
Ratalaväva in Asgiri Pallesiya Pattu of Matale South is said to be
occupied by Karava of the Varnakulasūriya while Diddeniya in Maulla
Division of Baladore Korale of the North Western Province also
comprised of Karava of the Varunakulasūriya clan 107. What is
interesting here is that A.C.Lawrie 108 describes the Karava inhabitants
of Ratalaväva as “descendants of fishers brought from Negombo by
King Raja Sinha to serve in time of war”.
Also found in the upcountry are the villages of Paḍiviṭa and Ambana
in the Matale District granted by King Rājasi ha II C.1650 to two
Karāva Mudalis belonging to the Kurukulasūriya and Varunakulasūriya
clans from Maha Vīdiya and Vella Vīdiya of Negombo for helping him
gain a decisive victory over the Dutch. Their descendants are said to
have possessed the lands thereafter 109.
Others include Balabōva and Matukulagama which is said to have
formed part of the old Uḍugampoḷa Kingdom and which is said to be
peopled by the descendants of generals Mutukoḍi Varṇasūriya and
Karṇasūriya who guarded the northern gate of the city. Petiyagoḍa is
likewise said to be peopled by the descendants of the brothers
Nettikumāra, Līniya Kumāra, Randunu Kumāra and Kuḍā Kumāra.
Karāva settlements found in Burullapiṭiya, Puvakvatta, Välivēriya and
Hāpitigama are said to have originated from Karāva princes and their
retinues 110. The far-flung Karava outpost of Manampiṭiya in Egoda
Pattuva Kōrale in the Tamakaḍuva District of the North Central
Province is said to trace its origins to one Cinna Tēru Mudali (Small
Street Mudaliyar) of Negombo, indicating that this settler originated
106
Weerasuriya (1960)
107
Raghavan (1961)
108
A Gazetteer of the Central Province of Ceylon. Vol.II (1898)
109
Weerasuriya (1948)
110
Weerasuriya (1960)
from Sea Street which would have been deemed cinna or ‘small’ in
contrast to the Periya Tēru or ‘Grand Street’ of Negombo 111.
Many are the sannasas or royal grants that claim to grant the
members of this caste lands and villages bestowed by royalty. For
instance, a copper sannasa dated the Saka year 1150 (C.early 13th
century) states that the King of Lanka who reigned at
Jayavardhanapura, Śrī Vīra Parākramabāhu, bestowed on Āditya Kuru
Arisanilayiṭṭa the post of Royal Commander of the forces (rāja
sēnādhipati) and the villages of Bambaraboṭuva, Yelayāla and
Munagama. Another sannasa dated the Saka era 1561 (early 17th
century) has it that King Śrī Bōsa Sikhara Bhuvanekabāhu granted to
Karāvē Varnakulasūriya and Patabändi Muhandiram Ilē Nayidē for
ferrying him across Rukgahavatta ferry to Mädagoḍa without letting
him be captured by the Portuguese, the following lands – Mädagoḍa
bounded on the east by Kälanigaňga and on the west by
Lububiṭimōdara Oya and on the north by Ipilagala and on the south by
Kapōruva stone fence 112. Among the place names suggestive of the
former settlement of Karāva are the villages of Kurukulāva not far from
Negombo, Kurukuliya in the Chilaw District and Kurukula Kuḍi in the
Batticaloa District 113.
As for the traditional occupations of the Karāva, a large number of
the Karāva folk of the coastal areas we would find have been engaged
in sea-fishing, so much so that their traditional caste occupation has
been given as fishing. For instance the Portuguese Tombos described
them as Pescadores ‘fishermen’ while in the Dutch they were described
as Vissers ‘fishers’. Indeed, even such early European historians like
Queyroz (1687) and Valentijn (1726) thought it fit to term the Careas
or Karāva ‘fishers’ or ‘fishermen’. The Dutch Governor of Ceylon Joan
Gideon Loten in a Memoir meant for his successor Jan Schreuder in
1757 114 called the Carauws (Karāva) Fishers who are under obligation
to supply fish daily for the Governor’s table. Mr.Joinville in his
111
See Raghavan (1961)
112
See Kurukshetra. Siri Lak-Indo Studies Vol.3. Ed.F.B.Jagath Wijayanayaka.1977
113
Weerasuriya (1948)
114
Memoirs and Instructions of Dutch Governors. Trans.E.Reimers.1935
contribution On the Religion and Manners of the People of Ceylon to
Asiatick Researches (1801) also refers to them as fishermen, when he
comments: “The fishermen, or Karave, cannot be of much importance
in Candy, as the Candians at present can only fish in the rivers of that
kingdom”. Even so keen an observer as Emerson Tennent (1859) could
refer to the Karāva as the ‘fisher caste’ and indeed many later writers
have termed them as such. Fishing nevertheless appears to have been a
later development among the Karāva whose original occupation as
borne out by historical sources and hereditary names was military
activity.
This military tradition which was largely a mercenary one and
probably inherited from their supposed Kaurava forbears however does
not appear to have lasted very long as the upkeep of an army of foreign
warriors out of state funds was very likely not a viable one. Land grants
to the Karāva by Sinhalese royalty not only encouraged them to settle
down here, but also provided them the means for a more stable lifestyle
and other means of livelihood which when compared with their seafaring tradition as ‘navigators’ would have meant a smooth transition to
fishing, both for subsistence (which would have probably been the case
earlier as well) and as an occupation. Thus fishing, especially
undertaken by the humbler classes, would have soon become a regular
economic activity, not only for subsistence purposes, but also for a
livelihood.
With time, the Karāva as a whole would have come to be identified
and described as ‘fishers’. Respectable Karāva folk of the higher
classes however detest their designation as ‘fishers’ and regard it as an
affront to their blue blood, as we found out at an annual get-together of
theirs, the 56th Annual General Meeting of the Kṣatriya Maha Sabha
held at Frankfort House, Moratuwa in late August 2001 which we had
the good fortune of attending. The Sabha, we found, was deeply
concerned with attempts by various parties to degrade the Karāva by
designating them as ‘fishers. The President of the Sabha, Sydney
Perera, voiced strong sentiments against their being classified as
fishermen and pointed out that although they were not trying to create
caste problems or run down anybody else, if others attempted to run
them down, then they would certainly stand against it 115.
115
See The Karava – The blue-blooded Kshatriyas. Asiff Hussein. SO Sep.2.2001
It is also apt here to cite F.B.Jagath Wijanayayaka 116 who had this to
say about the matter: “If fishing is the sole occupation of the Karawas
and fishing only confined to them, then to equate Karawa as “fisher
caste” sounds reasonable. This is definitely not the case. Besides, the
sea-board is not exclusively inhabited by the Karawas. Further, all
Karawas are not fishermen. Along the coasts of Sri Lanka fishing is not
the exclusive right of the Karawas. We observe Durāvas in Galkissa
and Pitipana; Salāgamas in Mutual and Balapitiya; Govis in
Pamunugama, Bentara and Dickwella; Muslims in Beruwela,
Kalpitiya, Kalmuni, Puttalam and Hambantota. There are Vellalas and
Mukkuwas too who are engaged in fishing in some areas. It is obvious
then that there is no specific group of people or one single community
engaged in fishing to warrant the classification of Karawas alone as
“Fisher Caste”.
A similar sentiment was expressed by G.A.Dharmaratna 117 nearly a
century earlier when he contended that the Karawe fishermen were but
one-sixteenth of the entire Karawe population in the island including its
Tamil-speaking sections. He also querries why the Govi do not style
themselves Keullus (those who fish on fresh waters, namely, rivers,
canals & c.) when more than one-fourth of the goi population
consisting principally of women live by fishing on fresh water, called
in Sinhala miridiya. “In the occupation of fishing” he says “Goi women
as contra-distinguished from their husbands, who are generally simple
and indolent men, evince great skill both in the calculation of the times
when the droughts recur and dry up the bogs, marshes and canals and
in the use of the kemin-karaggedia and hand-nets. These clever women,
on whom their husbands depend for maintenance, make a dish of
thithayo, mudde-kurrie and lullu, thus caught for their husbands who
have never seen from want of means, one Seer-fish”. He adds: “Besides
the fishing on fresh water, which is now monopolized by Goi men and
women, and which was very extensive before the introduction of the
railway and the increase of the roads to the sea coast, Goi fishermen
do fish at sea and on other brackish waters as much as Karawe
fishermen do. Go to Induruwe during the fishing season and mark if not
the fishermen there are not Goi fishermen, come down to Bentote and
see whether there are any other fishermen than the Goi ones, at
116
Kurukshetra (1977)
117
The Kara-Goi Contest (1890)
Payagalla you will see Karaee and Goi fishermen labour together,
travel to Ego-deoyene in Panadure where you will see Karawe
fishermen, Goi fishermen and Moor fishermen equal in number, stay a
while at Angulane, where you will witness the fact that Chalia
fishermen exceed in number Karawe fishermen, and proceed to
Galkissa which will present Karawe fishermen and Durawe fishermen
in equal numbers. Compare the number of fishermen at Mutwal, and
you will discover that Chalia fishermen equal Karawe fishermen, and
that there are Durawe fishermen too. We can also remind our readers
that at Waskaduwa, Kosgoda, Akkurala, Madampe, Sienigame,
Tottegamme & c. the fishermen are of Chalia caste. At Telwatte,
Karawes and Chalias both fish, at Kittangoda and Panangoda Karwas
and Goias fish”.
The military tradition of the early Karāva nevertheless continued
among some of their descendants, especially those able-bodied men
who had chosen to follow the calling of their ancestors by supporting
the established order with military power. For instance, Valentijn
(1726) refers to the Caraeuw having a militia under them such as
Modeljaars, Mahandirems, Araatjes and Lacarines while Loten (1757)
informs us that some of the Carauws perform lascarin’s service, chiefly
in the district of Negombo. This military tradition of the Karāva
appears to have been confined to that sub-caste whom Valentijn simply
calls Caraeuw (i.e.Karāva) and whom he describes as the most
important fishermen who also make their chiefs as they are expert in
war. Interestingly, Loten’s reference to the Karāva of Negombo
performing lascarin’s service suggests that these folk had still preserved
their military tradition in the area of their oldest habitation. Besides, as
seen earlier, many are the Karāva families which bear the patronymic
Hēvagē or ‘House of the Soldier’ indicating the former military
tradition of their forbears.
Many Karāva folk also entered into skilled crafts such as carpentry
and woodworking, especially in the southern coastal areas such as
Moratuwa, Ratmalana, Katukurunda, Kolaḷavälla, Iňdibädda,
Egodauyana and Moraṭumulla. The ge-name Vaḍugē or ‘House of the
Carpenter’ borne by certain Karāva families suggests that this
occupation among these families is quite old. Although pre-colonial
sources lack references to Karāva carpenters, they find mention by the
Dutch period. Loten in his Memoir of 1757 found a large number of
carpenters among the Karava.
The Durāva
The Durāva are a predominantly low-country caste largely settled in
the southern and western littoral and coastal districts of the island.
Although this caste has been traditionally designated as ‘toddy tappers’
extracting the juice of the coconut palm flower for use as a beverage
(rā), there is reason to believe that only a very small percentage of
them are toddy tappers by profession, the rest being involved in a host
of other occupations.
The origins and affinities of this caste are also a moot point, with
some believing them to be of relatively late South Indian origin while
others contend that they are the descendants of an ancient people
known as the Nāgas, a legendary race believed to have inhabited the
island long ago. The Nāgas find mention in an ancient Sinhalese
chronicle, the Dīpava sa (C.4th century A.C) where it is stated that the
Buddha visited the island to settle a dispute between the two Nāga
kings, Mahodara and Culodara over a gem-set throne. The Buddha is
also said to have visited the Kalyani country where dwelt the Nāga
King Maniakkhika and his retinue of Nāgas. The Mahāva sa too
contains a similar account.
The theory that the Durāva are the descendants of the ancient Nāgas
was first propounded by Hugh Nevill, the editor of the Taprobanian
way back in the nineteenth century. He also sought to show that the
Durāva were related to the Gonds, a Dravidian-speaking people
inhabiting Central India, Bihar and Orissa. Nevill 118 observed thus:
“The Gonds probably answer to the maritime Nāgas of the Dipawanso,
and are part of the people now called Durawa in Ceylon, one of whose
ancient kingdoms was that of Kalyani”. Nevill did not elaborate on his
thesis, contenting himself with the above observations. It is likely
however that he had arrived at the inference upon observing that the
Gonds were also known by names such as the Dorowas.
118
The Adites in India. The Taprobanian. August 1887. Previous to this, in his Notes to
the Janawansa published in the Taprobanian of April 1886 he had been more keen on
comparing the Durava to the Gonds as could be gleaned from his statements like
“Duruwas, also a name kept up in India as Dhurwa or Dorowo, an alias of the Gonds”
and “I regard Duruwa as the name of the rice cultivators of Orissa about the time of
Wijaya. Durawas I thing were a contemporary and kindred race living in Ceylon, when it
and Orissa were alike under Rakshasa rule”.
Particularly interesting are the observations made by Edward Tuite
fifteen years earlier in his Descriptive Ethnology of Bengal (1872).
Dalton has recorded thus: “In the Singbhum District there are many
colonies of Gonds, but they are there styled Dorowas. They are also
called Naiks”. He adds that they are probably brethren of the clan
noticed in the Central Provinces Gazetteer as follows: “The Naik or
Dhurwe Gonds are found in the south of the district (Chanda), but their
numbers are very small. They appear under the Gond kings to have
been employed as soldiers, and at the present day to prefer such service
to agricultural work”.
In connecting the Gonds and the Durāva to the Nāgas, Nevill seems
to have been influenced by the term Naik by which the Dorowa or
Dhurwe Gonds were known. It is also possible however that he was
influenced by the elephanteer tradition of the Durāva. In Pali, the
language in which the DV was written, the term Nāga may signify a
cobra, an elephant or an Ironwood tree (Messua Ferrea). We find in the
Dhammapada, the expression Nāga-vana ‘a forest inhabited by
elephants’. The Durāva and the elephant have had a long connection
and it is not unlikely that they could have been termed Nāgas on this
account 119. Nevill’s view that the Durāvas were also connected to the
Gonds was probably influenced by the fact that the latter were styled
Dora which seems to have meant ‘lord’ or ‘master’ as borne out by the
form Koṇḍa Dora or ‘Hill lord’ applied to the Dravidian- speaking
Konds 120.
Be it as it may, the contentions of Nevill regarding the connection of
the Gonds, Nāgas and Durāvas have been supported by Durāva scholars
such as James Bastian Perera, the author of the Nītiratnāvali (1914),
Richard De Silva, the author of Lämäṇi Raja Kulaya (1995) and
Nandanapala Cumaranatunga, the author of Indo-Lanka Ethnic
Affinities (2001). Cumaranatunga (2001) has cited geographical
119
This is suggested by many of their ge-names which suggest a former connection with
elephanteering such as Kuruvegē, Kurunāyakagē, Gajanāyakagē and Gajanāyaka
Muhandiramgē.
120
The speakers of the Dravidian language Koṇḍa who live in Visakhapatnam,
Vijayanagaram and Srikakulam districts and who are closely related to the Gonds are
known as Koṇḍa Dora or ‘Hill lord’ though they call themselves Koṇḍen (See Koṇḍa.
Brett Benham. The Dravidian Languages.Ed.Sanford Steever.1998). The term ko a
means ‘hill’ in Telugu while dora seems to denote ‘lord’, ‘master’.
evidence to show that the Durāvas are the descendants of the ancient
Nāgas mentioned in the Sinhalese chronicles such as the DV and MV.
He argues that the Ruhuna country was the kingdom of the ancient
Nāgas of Lanka, citing what he claims to be ‘historical data’ to support
the idea of Nāgan dominance of the region. For instance, he refers to
some ancient verses of C.3rd century B.C. inscribed on a large rock to
the west of a Buddhist chetiya near Kirinda in Tissamaharama:
Megalahi vihara naka uvarajena ma budhasarana gate micadatika
bidiya yaha maga para ya na bhute Some verses inscribed on a stone
pillar at Kuda Akurugoda close to Tissaweva in Tissamaharama which
belong to the same period similarly run: micaditika binaka ati mathika
Budha sarananagate nāga uvaraje nama kada uvaraja kalahi. What
these inscriptions indicate, suggests Cumaranatunga is the conversion
of a Nāga king to Buddhism and how he got his subjects in Kirinda as
well as Tissamaharama converted to the new faith. As such he
concludes: “The earliest Nāgas who later came to be known as
Durawas had inhabited these cities from antiquity. Hence the Durawa
of present time are the descendants of the Nāgas of yore”.
He goes on to state that although the Durawa who are confined only
to the low country now, is a small community numerically, it has
maintained a comparatively high percentage in its population in and
around Matara from time immemorial. “In this regard its position in
the Hambantota District too has been high throughout the history of
the Ruhunu Kingdom. It has always been the dominant group in the city
of Matara and its outskirts. From known times the Durawa has had
comparatively large populations in the cities of Palaputana, Kirinda,
Tissamaharama or Magampura, Hambantota, Ambalantota, Tangalla,
Sitinamaluwa, Devundara, Matara, Weligama and Ahangama also.
These were some of the original settlements of the ancient Nāgas of
Lanka, whose descendants are the Durawa”. He adds: “The Durawa
influence culturally, educationally, administratively and on literary and
religious activities in the region now known as Ruhuna in particular
and the low country in general has been far beyond its numerical
strength. This could mainly be due to the leadership qualities it had
inherited from its regal ancestors when Lanka was a monarchy”.
Cumaranatunga also points out that there is no evidence of Vijaya
clashing with the Nāgas and concludes that Vijaya and his followers
would have decided to live in amity with the powerful Nāgas. He also
notes that when the Vijaya-Panduvasudeva dynasty came to an end, the
Nāga power began to revive and spread. In this connection, he refers to
the names of several monarchs bearing the name Nāga who reigned in
Lanka, including Uparaja Mahā Nāga, brother of King
Devanampiyatissa (C.240-207 B.C.), Khallata Nāga (50-44 B.C.), Cora
Nāga (3 B.C.-9 A.C.), Ila Nāga (95-101 A.C.), Mahalaka Nāga (193199 A.C.), Khujja Nāga (241-243 A.C.), Kunca Nāga (234-244 A.C.),
Siri Nāga (244-263 A.C.) and Abhaya Nāga (285-293 A.C.). He also
refers to some early inscriptions which he takes to indicate the presence
of Nāga royal personages and nobility in various parts of Sri Lanka
such as Anuradhapura, Polonnaruva and Vavuniya. For instance, one
inscription refers to a princess Abi Anuradi, daughter of King Nāga and
wife of King Uttiya while another refers to one Tisa, son of the chief
Nāga.
Cumaranatunga also contends that the Nāgas, whom he believes to be
the ancestors of the Durāva, were Lanka’s earliest converts to
Buddhism. In support, he cites the Sinhalese chronicles such as the MV
and DV which state that the Buddha visited Nāgadīpa and reconciled
the Nāga kings Mahodara and Culodara, after which he preached the
doctrine to them. Further, when the Buddha visited Kelaniya
accompanied by 500 arahats, the Nāgas are said to have offered them a
sumptuous repast. These numerous Nāgas would have accepted the
new faith, concludes Cumaranatunga.
Another early supporter of the Nāga theory, Perera (1914) even went
on to claim that the Nāgas were in Kelaniya in the time of Toṭagamuvē
Śrī Rāhula as evident in the following stanza from the Säḷalihiṇi
Sandēśaya:
Mana hara nā me eviya nidala välipi a gena Mi ive a tat niyagin
mäda ruva a kana heva Gayana budugu a gī miyuru ko asana heva
kä a i gaňgaba a mada kalaksi a
(The pretty Nāga damsels on the clean sands, Playing the gem-studded
lute with finger tips, Singing of the Buddha sweet songs of praise, Have
a respite on the banks of the Kelani river)
He has also attempted to show that the Gonds came to be known as
Gon in the Sinhala language and that their high-born women became
queens of Sri Lankan royalty as borne out by epigraphic evidence. A
number of mediaeval Sinhalese inscriptions, mainly of the 10th century
are known to record matrimonial unions between Sinhalese kings and
princesses named Gon. These include the Mihintale inscription which
makes mention of Dev Gon, queen of King Abahay Salamevan and the
Mayilgastoṭa inscription which refers to Sang Gon, queen of Abhā
Salamevan.
Moreover he has sought to show that the Durāva descend from
Vijaya’s seven hundred followers as suggested by the Tamil term
Ēlunuttuvar or ‘People of the Seven Hundred’ borne by some of them.
He observes that many Durāva people living in the country’s Western
Province in areas such as Alutkurukōrala, Negombo, Koccikada,
Pallansēna, Sīduva, Tillanduva and Kuraṇa have been called
Ēlunuttuvar from early times as borne out by deeds, birth, marriage and
Christian tombos. For instance, he gives a copy of a tombo of
St.Sebastian church in Negombo where the race of a number of
individuals from areas such as Pallansēna, Hunupiṭiya and Munakkarē
is given as Ēlunuttuvar.
Perera thinks that the Tamil term came to be applied as a result of
Tamil gaining widespread usage in regions such as Tumpaṇa,
Hārispattu and Alutkuru Kōrala following the settlement in these areas
of the Cōḷans captured by Gajabāhu. He notes that the Tamil usage
exists only in Negombo and Chilaw areas and does not exist among the
Durāva of the Southern Province, the Satarakōrale of the Kegalle
District or the Satkōrala of the Kurunegala District.
In this he is supported by De Silva (1995) who gives a number of
historical records attesting to the appellation Satsiya Variga (Sinhala
for ‘Clan of the Seven Hundred’). These include a land grant by
Rājādhi Rājasinha in 1790 to Satsiya Varigayāgē Amarasinha Pilippu
Da Silva Mudali, a deed of gift of 1841 mentioning a Satsiya
Varigayāgē Peḷantiyē Don Gabriyel of Seeduva village in Alutkuru
Korale and a record of a loan dated 1931 which mentions a
Āňḍibudugē Girinōris Pranāndu of Satsiya Vargayā resident in
Tillanduva, Negombo.
There have also been attempts to connect the Durāva with the ancient
Kṣatriya clan known as the Lambakarṇas. Lambakarṇa literally means
‘long eared’ or ‘having pendulous ears’ and Monier Monier-Williams
in his Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899) gives the word as denoting an
elephant, probably on account of its sagging ears. De Silva (1995) on
this basis connects the Lambakarṇa to the Durāva who have been
involved in elephanteering since time immemorial and who are known
to bear hereditary names connected to the elephant such as Gaja, Nāga
and Kuru.
De Silva (1995) also believes that Durāva folk bearing such
hereditary ge-names as Kuḍakaṇagē, Mahadäḷiyā Mānagē and
Mahanam Radāgē are of royal origin. Kuḍakaṇa, he believes is Kūṭa
Kaṇṇa Tissa (1st century B.C.), Mahadäḷiyā Māna is Mahā Dāṭhika
Mahānāga (1st century A.C.) and Mahanam is Mahānāma (5th century
A.C.). He also cites hereditary names such as Kumāragē (House of the
Prince) and Kumārapperumagē (House of the Prince of Princes) to
show that they are of royal stock. He is also of the view that it was the
duty of Durāva folk to bear the royal sword known as the ran ka uva or
‘golden sword’ as suggested by hereditary names such as Ran-kaḍugē
or ‘House of the Golden Sword’. Similarly, he believes it was the duty
of the Durāva to bear the ran kota or golden spear of the king as seen
from hereditary names such as Rankotgē “House of the Golden spear’.
He also believes that those Dēvarājas who live in Devinuvara and other
places are descendants of Devarāja Dampasangina, the Minister of
Justice who wrote the Daḷadā Sirita during the Kurunegala period.
Cumaranatunga (2001) has likewise attempted to trace the lineage of
prominent Durāva families to Sinhalese royalty of the Kotte and
Sitavaka kingdoms. Thus he traces the ancestry of the Pattamestri and
Pattamestri Rajapakse families of Chilaw and Negombo to Pattamestri
Sinhala Kirti Rajapaksa, father of King Rajasinha I, and his kinsmen.
Similarly he traces the kinship of the Kahatudes and Kahatudagēs of
Koccikada, Katana, Seeduva and Katunayaka to Kiravelle Biso
Bandāra, queen of Vijayabāhu VI, whose personal name was Anula
Kahatuda. In like manner, he traces the kinship of the Salpadoru and
Salpadorugē people of Katana, Koccikade, Seeduva, Kurana and
Katunayaka to Princess Samudra Devi, daughter of King
Bhuvanekabahu VII whose personal name was Samudra Salpadoru.
Likewise he traces the ancestry of the Adambarage De Alwises of
Panadura and Gorakana to Adambara Rala, the brother of the Ridi Doli
or Secondary Queen of Vikramabahu III whose conspiracy to set her
son on the throne failed as a result of which he was compelled to flee
and seek asylum in Rayigama. The Timbiripolage families of
Gorakana, Timbirigasyaya, Rayigama, Kalutara, Panadura, Dehiwala,
Bambalapitiya, Kollupitiya, Seeduva and Katunayaka he believes to be
descendants of Timbiripola Adahasin, the second son of King
Mayadunne, and his kinsmen.The Tammitage families of Chilaw,
Koccikade, Pallansena, Katana, Seeduva and Katunayaka, he believes
to be connected to Tammita Bandara, brother of King Vidiya Bandara,
the ruler of Rayigama and father of Don Juan Dharmapala. He likewise
traces the kinship of the Obberiyage families of Gampaha, Nattandiya,
Divulapitiya, Katana, Negombo and Chilaw, many of whom now go as
Obberiyage Fonsekas to Obberiye Ralahami, son of Kiravelle
Maharalahami who espoused the daughter of King Senasammata
Vikramabahu of Kandy and who himself was the brother of Vijayabahu
VI’s queen Anula.
There were others besides. The Selappulige families of Seeduva,
Kurana, Koccikade, Pallansena and Minuvangoda Cumaranatunga
believes to be descendants of Sellappuli Aracci, the trusted minister of
King Bhuvanekabahu VII (C.1522-1551) who at the king’s bidding
conveyed an effigy of his grandson, Prince Dharmapala made of gold
and ivory to Lisbon in 1541 where it was crowned by the King of
Portugal Dom Joao III who thereby recognized the claim of the young
prince to the Sinhalese throne. The Diogu De Silvage Rajakarunas of
Pamankada in Wellawatte, Dehiwala, Mount Lavinia and Ratmalana,
he believes to be descended from Diogu De Silva Vikramasinha, the
Commender-in-Chief of Mayadunne while the Barestuge Abeysinha
Gunavardanas of Polhena and Pamburana he holds are descended from
General Dom Theodosio Barestu, the powerful Sinhalese rebel leader
of Portuguese times who was appointed Disave of Matara by King
Senarat. Cumaranatunga (2001) also notes that traditions current in
Magama or Tissamaharama of the Ruhunu country were that many of
the paladins of King Dutugemunu were from the Nāgan-Durawa
coteries who had blended with the royal clans. “These traditions were
not unknown even as late as the nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries. Durawa elders at family gatherings in the Ruhunu towns
were accustomed to relate interesting anecdotes about Velusumana,
Gotaimbara, Pussadeva and others who were considered as their
kinsmen”.
When we consider the various theories on the origins and affinities
of the Durāva, we would find that much of it is far-fetched as for
instance the connection between the Durāva and the legendary race
known as the Nāgas 121. If at all the Durāva of old were called Nāga, it
was very probably on account of their elephanteer tradition, Nāga being
a term used for elephant. The idea that the Durāva are related to the
Gonds of South and central India also seems to be rather far-fetched
although the similarity of the terms Durāva and Dora or Dorova borne
by certain sections of Gonds certainly needs to be given some
consideration. It is not possible that a term like Gond could have
become Gon in Sinhala as contended by Durāva writers 122.
Besides, the Durāva seem to be rather far removed from the locality
and the physical type of the Gonds. The traditional habitat of the Gonds
has been known as Gondwāna or country of the Gonds which extended
from the Vindhyan mountains to the Godāvarī and embraced the
Sātpura range. It is said to have included Korea, Sirgūja and Udaipūr
123
. It is difficult to imagine that a tribal people living in the interior of
Central and South India could have found their way to Sri Lanka. As
for the physical type of the Gonds, it appears to be rather distinct from
that of the modern-day Durāva who though often dark brown-skinned
do not appear to have the other physical traits attributed to the Gonds
124
.
121
For a detailed discussion of the Nāgas in Sri Lanka see Hussein (2009) where the
author argues that a race known as Nāgas probably never existed in ancient Lanka.
122
The general rule is that in the passage of Indic terms having a d preceded by an n into
Sinhala it is the n that is dropped and not the d, as for instance in words like Sinh.mädiyā
‘frog’ (Skt.P.ma ūka) and koma u ‘water melon’ (Skt.ku mā a). The name borne by
these queens Gon appears to have derived from the P. gahani ‘womb’ implying pure
descent.
123
124
Dalton (1872)
For instance, we have Hayavadana Rao (The Gonds of the Eastertn Ghauts, India, in
Anthropos. 1910) : “The Gonds are not, physically speaking, a favoured tribe. They are
dark-skinned and repulsive in features generally. They are thick set in limbs, possess a
circular head, distended nostrils, wide mouth, heavy lips, straight black hair and scanty
beard and moustache”.
However if we are to admit of the Durāva-Gond hypothesis, we could
also find some support in favour of it for reasons other than those
mentioned by Nevill or the earlier mentioned Durāva scholars. Rao
(1910) has an interesting observation to make when he notes: “It is
usual among the Gonds of this part to style themselves either “Sing”
(meaning lion) or Nayako (corresponding to headman). The former
has a history which is worth setting down here. The Hindu subjugators
of Gonds were Rajputs and these formed alliances with the primitive
Gonds, and their descendants took the title of Raj or Rajput Gonds and
styled themselves “Sing” ”. Some of these, he says, formed kingdoms
of their own. One of these had its capital at Mandla and at Gasha (near
the modern Jubbulpur) and dominated the greater part of the Nerbudda
valley. Another had its capital at the now ruined city of Deogarh on the
southern slope of the Satpura range while a third had its capital at
Kherla, a hill commanding the rich valley of Baltul in the heart of the
Satpura range. To this belonged the celebrated forts of Gavilgarh and
Naruala, both in the same hills.
If this indeed be the case, it is not unlikely that a mixed breed of
Rajput-Gonds did find their way to Sri Lanka during some remote
period, probably as mercenaries, eventually becoming the Durāva
which also accords well with a former military tradition borne out by
their hereditary patronymic ge-names and their traditional flag, the
A ayālam Si ha Ko iya which depicts a red lion on a white field, the
lion probably signifying descent from the Rajput Gonds who called
themselves Sing and red being symbolic of a warrior stock.. Also
interesting is the fact that there exist many Durāva hereditary names
ending in Mānagē such as Baḷa Mānagē, Sapu Mānagē, Hēvā Mānagē,
Bōdi Mānagē, Andara Mānagē, Liyana Mānagē and Nāyimana Mānagē
which may perhaps suggest a connection with the Mānas who derived
from the Gonds or who were absorbed by them.
R.V.Russel 125 gives Māna as a Dravidian caste of cultivators and
labourers belonging to the Chānda District. Some of the Mānas, he
says, claim that they are offshoots of the Gond tribe. The Mānas are
also said by him to resemble Gonds in marriage customs (the practice
of marrying a brother’s daughter to a sister’s son) and funeral rites (the
125
The Tribes and Castes of the Central Provinces of India (1916)
dead being laid with feet to the north). We also have the observations
made by Major Lucie Smith 126: “Tradition asserts that prior to the
Gond conquest the Mānas reigned over the country, having their
strongholds at Surajgarh in Ahiri and at Manikgarh in the Mānikgarh
hills, now of Hyderābād, and that after a troubled rule of two hundred
years they fell before the Gonds. In appearance they are of the Gond
type, and are strongly and stoutly made; while in character they are
hardy, industrious and truthful. Many warlike traditions still linger
among them, and doubtless in days gone by they did their duty as good
soldiers, but they have long since hung up sword and shield and now
rank among the best cultivators of rice in Chānda”. Thus it is not
wholly unlikely that some of the the Durāvas at least had their origins
in the Rajput-Gond-Māna peoples who arrived in the country as
warriors and mercenaries during some remote period before settling
down in the country. That they could have risen to royal status over a
period of time by virtue of their warrior tradition also remains a
possibility.
There also remains the possibility that the Durāva may be connected
to the Chandars or Shanars of South India who are largely found in
Tinnevelly and Travancore, though this is based on rather flimsy
evidence, namely, the fact that the early European sources, called them
Chandas or Chiandos. Such designations on the part of European
writers are however not reliable as we know that the Govi were called
by them Vellala which properly denotes the cultivating caste among the
Tamils. Besides, it would appear that even the European writers were
well aware that the folk whom they termed Chiandos or Chiandes were
called in Sinhala Durāvo. For instance, Valentijn (1726) tells us that the
Chiandes caste or tappers are called Dourawo in Cingalese. Joinville
(1801) referring to the Sinhalese caste he calls Dourave adds that
“Europeans call them Shandos”. There are also those like Perera (1914)
who believe that the name Chando given by the Portuguese to the
Durāva reflected the usage in Portuguese-ruled areas such as Goa in
India, a usage continued by the Dutch and British. Cumaranatunga
likewise believes that the term Chandas for the Durāva was first
introduced by the Portuguese, who mistook them for the Shanars, a
Palmyra-tapping caste of peninsular India 127.
126
127
Chānda Settlement Report of 1869
Cited in The Durāva – Toddy tappers or royalty ?. Asiff Hussein. SO. November 18,
2001
Nevertheless, it is interesting that M.D.Raghavan 128 records that
inquiries from elders revealed that in the villages of Pitipana, Seeduva
and Nallandaluva are small communities of what are popularly called
“Sinhalese Chandars”who speak Tamil and between whom and the
Puttalam Chandars marriage alliances are entered into. These Puttalam
Chandars he believed to be an offshoot of the large body of Shanars of
South India who were among the early arrivals from that region,
landing it is said at Madikettan Oḍa at Kalpitiya.
What is interesting here is that the villages given by Raghavan are
also known to have Durāva populations and it is not unlikely that those
Durāva who continued to speak Tamil were known as Chānḍārs.
However, if this were the case, it is difficult to see why these so-called
Sinhalese Chānḍārs should have maintained a distinct identity from
their Durāva neighbours or why they should have intermarried with the
Chānḍārs of Puttalam and not the Durāva who lived in their midst.
Rather, it would appear that it were these Chānḍārs who lived on the
western coast who unwittingly gave the name Chandos by which the
Durāva as a whole came to be known by the Portuguese, not the least
because the Portuguese, the foreign power they were, could not make
out the difference between the two which would have particularly been
the case if the Durāva like the Chānḍārs or Shānars were largely
engaged in tapping toddy at the time. At the same time however, it is
not impossible that the terms Chando etc if actually applied to the
Durāva as an ethnic term in the real sense, may be connected to the
Chanda District, which as we have seen earlier was the homeland of the
Māna-Gonds with whom the Durāva may share some remote
relationship.
There is also reason to believe that at least some Durāva folk hailed
from Kerala. The patronymic Malavaragē borne by Durāva folk such as
Maha Malavaragē, Dēvarāja Malavaragē and Kavisēkara Malavaragē
implies a connection with Malavara or Kerala. This may perhaps
indicate assimilation into the Durāva community of migrants
originating from Kerala during some remote period. A Keralite
connection is also suggested by the clan name Ēlunuttuvar used by
128
Ceylon. A Pictorial Survey of the Peoples and Arts (1962)
some of them. The Ēlunūttuvar (The Seven Hundred) along with the
Ārunuttuvar (The Six Hundred), the Anjunuttuvar (The Five Hundred)
and the Munnuttuvar (The Three Hundred) comprised of bands of
soldiers constituted into military organizations which were maintained
by local chieftains and principalities of Kerala during the Perumal
period (10th-12th centuries) and afterwards 129. Thus the Ēlunuttuvar
who went into the composition of the Durāva probably had their origins
in Kerala and arrived here as mercenaries or military adventurers and
do not appear to have had any connection with Vijaya’s seven hundred
as contended by Perera (1914).
As for the term Durāva by which the caste is usually known in
Sinhala, it may not be significant as an ethnic designation if we are to
hold with Nandanapala Cumaranatunga 130 that the term Durāvō means
‘those who held royal or state positions’ (raja tanaturu, rājakīya duradäruvō). If however the term is taken to have originated in Central or
Southern India, it may have well denoted ‘lord’ or ‘master’ as borne out
by the form Koṇḍa Dora or ‘Hill lord’ applied to the Dravidianspeaking Konds. Pridham’s (1849) view that the word Duravos denoted
‘come from afar’ (perhaps a contraction of Sinh.dura-āvō), if really so,
might well suggest a relatively recent foreign origin for the caste.
We find that the Durāva like many other Sinhalese castes, were
divided into sub-castes and that these were collectively known as the
Dasa-Durāva or Daha-Durāva. For instance Valentijn (1726) tells us
that the Chiandes caste or Tappers are called Dourawo in Cingalese and
consist of 10 types called Dahadoerawo who subsist by tapping trees,
though each type has its distinctness, especially in custom and different
rank. They are:
Magoel Doerawo who are the most important and are used for the
capturing and taming of elephants, and also as lascarines and in other
important services, and as woodcutters, and are tappers of coconut
trees.
129
In fact the Ēlunūttuvar are mentioned as belonging to the ruler of Kurumporainadu in
the Tirunelli copper plate inscription of Bhaskara Ravi. They were apparently considered
expert swordsmen.
130
Durā Va śikayo. Jaya haňda, a Subha Sādaka Padanama Publication (1992)
Pages intentionally left blank
As for the hereditary patronymics of the Durāva, these are quite diverse
and indicate a variety of occupations. A good many such names denote
military occupations. This includes Hēvagē (House of the Soldier) in
such forms as Baḷa Hēvagē, Goḷu Hēvagē, Lamā Hēvagē, Māmu
Hēvagē, Hakmana Hēvagē, Dunuvila Hēvagē, Kodippili Hēvagē,
Perumpuli Hēvagē, Gārdiye Vasam Hēvagē and Bambarände Punci
Hēvagē. Many seem to have distinguished themselves in war and
commanded high offices as seen in such names as Ranavīragē (House
of the War Hero) and Henānāyakagē (House of the Commander-inChief). They also had clans of Archers (Dunu Vidi Hēvagē), Gunners
(Koḍituvakkugē), Lance-bearers (Lansagē), Flag-bearers (Koḍikāragē,
Hēvā Dajagē) and Bards (Bäṭṭagē, Hēvā Bäṭṭagē).
We also find family names with Vedagē (House of the Physician)
such as Baḷa Vedagē, Hēvā Vedagē and Dikvälle Vedagē and Gurugē
(House of the Teacher) such as Talpe Gurugē, Koggala Gurugē and
Bambarände Gurugē. There are also a number of Durāva families
bearing names of a religious significance such as Kapugē, Kōvilagē and
Pattinigē, and those denoting pastoral pursuits such as Gōsinhagē,
Gavasi hagē, Gavasi ha Āraccigē and Hēvā Vasam Eňḍēragē. Many
are the families whose ancestors seem to have distinguished themselves
as poets as evident in names such as Kaviratnagē, Kavisēkaragē and
Kavitilakagē. Saṭṭambigē, yet another patronymic borne by the Durāva
implies a connection with the Royal Palanquin or Royal Bath, whose
overseers in Kandyan times were known as Saṭṭambis. The gē-name
Mutuvāḍigē (House of the Pearl Fishery) found in the Chilaw and
Negombo area suggests that many of these families had been involved
in pearl diving. On the other hand Madinagē or ‘House of the Tapper’
is a rare name among the Durāva.
Other prominent Durāva ge-names include Aligē, Andaragē,
Āḍambaragē, Aturaliyagē, Annakkagē, Baḍārigē, Baraṇigē, Betmegē,
Bōtalagē, Bōvalagē, Bōmiriyegē, Biyanvilagē, Dūligē, Dombavalagē,
Devarajagē, Ēnadigē, Edirisi hagē, Halpegē, Haňdungē, Ortalangē,
Obbēriyegē, Kammalagē, Kaḍupiṭigē, Kahatuḍagē, Kasakāragē
Kumārannähelāgē, Kuṭṭigē, Kombugē, Kompannagē, Koḍippiligē,
Madurasi hagē, Madanasi hagē, Malevigē, Malavaragē, Malavīragē,
Manampērigē, Mārambagē, Māmugē, Maṇamāḷagē, Mutukumāranagē,
Mututantrigē,
Munivaragē,
Nambukāragē,
Nayidapulligē,
Nāgasi hagē, Gīganagē, Grērugē, Gurusi hagē, Gurubävulagē,
Palavinnegē, Panambaragē, Paskuvalgē, Palihavaḍanagē, Pattamēstrigē,
Porovakagē, Polgē, Landegē, Lekamgē, Ravuḷugē, Ranasi hagē,
Rāvaṇagē,
Rendegē,
Tantirigē,
Tammiṭagē,
Talambaragē,
Talammaharagē, Tonḍilēgē, Tuḍugalage, Samarasi hagē, Saputantrigē,
Salpadōrugē, Sellappulligē, Sērasi hagē, Vagaccigē, Vanasi hagē,
Vatutantrigē, Vallivalagē, Vanduruvalagē, Veṭṭumpuligē, Vitanagē,
Vilambagē, Vikramatu gagē, Dēṇuvala Gaṇingē, Gajaman Rumbigē,
Hevā Vasamgē, Hevā Koparagē, Kiri Madanagē, Ve gappuli Āraccige
and Porovaka Vasangē 131.
Among the prominent Durāva families may be included the
Ādambaragē Alwises, Bianvilagē Pereras, Mātaragē Pereiras,
Timbiripolagē Peirises, Obberiyegē Fonsekas, Kontagamagē Greros,
Vatutantrigē
Fernandos,
Vidānalāgē
Soysas,
Palavinnegē
Kumāraṇatu gas, Ortalange De Silvas, De Silva Mutukumāranas, Don
Pasquelgē Pāndi taratnas and Paranapalliye Gurugē Sirivardanas.
Modern-day Durāva patronymics often employed as surnames include
Grero, Perera, Pieris, De Silva, Rodrigo, Salgado, Fonseka, Fernando,
Dēvarāja, Dikkumbura, Gunavardana, Hēvāvitārana, Karunāratna,
Kumāranatunga,
Mihiripänna,
Mutukumārana,
Nānāyakkāra,
Ratnapāla, Rājakarunānāyaka, Sēnādhīra, Samarajīva, Samaravikrama,
Tudāvē, Tilakavardhana, Vimalaratna, Vijayaratna, Vikramasēna and
Vikramasēkara132 .
When we consider the occupations resorted to by the Durāva, we find
a considerable variety. Although the traditional occupation of the
Durāva is often given as toddy tapping, this view does not find support
when we consider their hereditary ge-names and is widely refuted by
Durāva scholars who have sought to show that the Durāva engaged in a
greater variety of occupations than is commonly supposed, particularly
as military men.
131
A detailed list of hereditary Durāva ge-names could be found in Richard De Silva’s
Lämäṇi Raja Kula Parapuru Nam Vaga (1996). We also find in the Dutch tombos
Chiando (Durāva) ge-names like Barnadoege, Doerege, Dembatantrige, Gonedoewege,
Habradoewege, Hembatantrige, Kornekege, Lindemoellege, Saroekalige and Sarangoege
(SLNA 1/3738, 1/3761 & 1/3762)
132
Being a low country caste, we find a good number of Durava bearing surnames of
Portuguese origin which is also seen in the Dutch Tombos, as for instance in SLNA
1/3728 which gives Timbiripollege Louis Pieris and SLNA 1/3848 which gives Greroege
Domingo Fernando.
The idea that the Durāva engaged in toddy tapping as their caste
calling was particularly prominent in the writings of the early European
sources. Queroz (1687) for instance tells us that the Chandaz are those
who draw the liquor or toddy from the Palmeyras and who make from
it wine, vinegar and jaggery. Valentijn (1726) likewise refers to the
Chiandes as Tappers who tap Coconut or Jager (probably Kitul) trees,
while Baron Van Imhoff, the Dutch Governor of Ceylon in his Memoir
of 1740 133 refers to the Chiandos as Typperaars (Toddy Tappers).
Joinville (1801) records: “The Dourave or Sourave are those who draw
the juice from the palm trees” adding “They make of this juice Souri or
Toddya liquor, which they ferment, and then distil, by which means it
becomes arrack". Davy (1821) says that the occupation of the Chandos
or toddy-drawers is to collect the sweet juice that flows from the
decapitated flower-stalk of the cocoa-nut tree, and two other palms, for
the purpose of fermentation. He notes that “It being contrary to the
religion of the Singalese to use fermented liquors, there are very few
families of this caste in the interior, except in one or two districts
bordering on the maritime provinces”.
In contrast are the views of Nevill 134 who avers that very few
Durāva had anything to do with toddy-drawing and that he could not
find any records of Durāvas being employed for toddy-drawing until
the Portuguese gained the coast and substituted distilling for the
legitimate services of this race, in its ten divisions. The Durāva, he
believes, were elephant-keepers and domestic servants, and that being
the lower household servants, the drawing of toddy from the few
coconut trees round their master’s house would naturally fall upon
them. He adds that they probably drew toddy for their own and their
masters’ use, but only as an occasional luxury and not as a trade until
the arrival of the Portuguese. In this he is supported by Nandanapala
Cumaranatunga who contends that the Durāva took to tapping toddy
only because they were the original coconut land owners of the
country. He is also of the view that the coconut plantation from
Devundara to Unavatuna planted by King Agbo I was entirely owned
by Durāva folk from very early times. If at all they tapped toddy, it was
133
Trans.Sophia Pieters (1911)
134
The Taprobanian April 1886
for their pleasure and that of their masters, who were also Durāva folk,
he avers 135.
Even when we consider the hereditary names of the Durāva, we
come across very few who bear the ge-name Madinagē or ‘House of
the Tapper’ when compared to the vast numbers who bear ge-names
indicating a variety of other occupations particularly connected with
elephanteering and military activity. Indeed, even in the Dutch tombos
we very rarely come across the ge-name Madinagē among those given
as Chiandos, save for a very few such as Madinadoerege Salman of
Beruwala 136.
Nevertheless we have on the authority of the JV (15th century) that
the Durāva were known as Madinno or Madano because “they made
stealthily intoxicant things (mat deya) and gave them to the public and
drank them”. Although Ryan (1953) could observe that many toddy
tappers were drawn from the Durāva, he notes that there is no retention
of the traditional occupation comparable to that among fishermen.
“There are many urban members ranging, like the Karāva and
Salāgama, from rich to very poor, but the majority are peasant
cultivators and laborers”. Today, it is only a very few Durāva families
that are believed to be engaged in toddy tapping, in Payāgala in the
Kalutara District and Koccikaḍē in the Chilaw District.
We will now deal with the other occupations attributed to the
Durāva, namely their military and elephanteer tradition. With regard to
the former military activity of the Durāva, there exists considerable
evidence to show that large numbers of them were engaged as soldiers
and mercenaries. This is suggested by both the family names borne by
Durāva folk as well as traditions relating to these families. One such
notable warrior was Kuntaka Mutukumarana, the chief of the
Bowmen’s Division of the army of King Parākramabāhu VI of Kotte
who was conferred the title of Saddavidda by the King in recognition of
his exceptional dexterity in archery. Other individuals who were
conferred this title included Ambakumarannahelage Hendrick Alfonso
and Ambakumarannahelage Samuel Alfonso. The descendants of these
archery families are still said to live in the Southern and Western
135
Cited in Hussein.Nov.18.2001
136
SLNA 1/3761
Provinces 137. Those Durāva folk bearing family names such as
Saddavidda Mutukumarana Hewa Tondilege, Hewa Tondilege,
Saddavidda Rajapakse Mutukumarana and Wickramasinghe
Mutukumarana who possess lands at Tondile, Tundahewatte, part of
Koholankala, Palaputana, Butawa, Andun Oruwa and Gella Kada are
said to be the descendants of Kuntaka Mutukumarannehe, a master
archer from Dickwella who was conferred the title ‘Saddavidda
Palangapatira Rajapakse Wickramasinghe’ and awarded the above
named lands his descendants enjoy by King Parakramabahu VI in the
Saka year 1365 or 1443 A.C. 138
Durāva monks such as Dikvälle Sāmaṇēra, the author of the Hēma
Kurulu Sandēśa mention that they are members of the Kaňdavuru Kula
while De Silva (1995) notes that Durāva folk such as the Amarasi ha
Hēvagēs of Mirissa affixed to their hereditary name the term
‘Kaňdavuru Kula’. Now, kaňdavura means ‘camp’, ‘fort’,
‘encampment’, ‘army quarters’ and De Silva contends that the term is
related to kaňdavara or ‘mountain community’ and that warriors were
so called as they lived in mountain fortresses. This again suggests a
martial heritage of some Durāva.
A former military tradition is also suggested by the clan name
Ēlunuttuvar (The Seven Hundred) used by some of them which as we
have seen earlier denoted a military organization of Kerala in times
gone by. A former military tradition is also suggested by the flag of the
Durāva known as Aḍayālam Si ha Koḍiya which depicts a red lion on
a white field. Silva (1995) basing his inference on the fact that the
figure of the lion in it is depicted in red (the colour of the warrior),
concludes that the Durāva flag indicates a martial origin for the caste.
His views are not unfounded. The flag of the Durāva, we can be
certain, is no recent innovation for Valentijn (1726) refers to the
Durāva having an Addealanchody, a flag with a red lion in the middle
painted on a white background. The flag seems to have been originally
confined to the Magul Duravo and Nattambovo subdivisions of the
caste 139. This Durāva flag is said to have been seen in the Irugal
137
See Cumaranatunga (2001)
138
Ibid
139
See The History of Ceylon from the earliest period to the year MDCCCXV.
Philalethes (1817)
Devala in Koggala, Ariyakara Vihara in Mihiripänna and Kihiräli
Vihara, Devundara. Indeed, it is said that elderly folk of areas such as
Koggala, Tangalla, Dikvälla, Pamburana, Unavatuna and Devundara
recall their ancestors using the Durāva flag on ceremonial occasions, a
custom which became obsolete during the last century or so 140.
What is however surprising is that despite the existence of vast
numbers of Durāva folk who bear family names such as Hēvagē and
other names suggesting a prominent military role as well as traditions
to the same effect, the European writers did not take much notice of
this role. There exist only a few desultory references to Durāvas
serving as soldiers occurring in European sources, among them
Valentijn (1726) who refers to the Magoel Dourawo, the most
important of the caste, being used as lascarines. In 1757, Loten found
that only some of the Chiandos served as lascarines. In the Ceylon
Almanac of 1835 written nearly a century later we come across another
reference to the Lascoreens of the Chandos. The military tradition of
the Durāva has all but died out today.
However, it is the elephanteer tradition of the Durāva that seems to
have distinguished this caste from the rest. Many are the hereditary
Durāva family names that suggest a former connection with the
elephant force and elephanteering. These include Kuruvegē,
Kurunāyakagē, Gajanāyakagē, Gajanāyaka Mudaligē, Gajanāyaka
Muhandiramgē, Nākande Nāgē and Nāgasen Mutukumāranagē. Kuru,
Gaja, Nāga, Nā used here are synonymous terms and denote elephant.
Kurunāyaka and Gajanāyaka are particularly important as they denote
‘Commander of the Elephant Force’ or ‘Superintendant of Elephant
Affairs’. Nānāyakkāra, another common Durāva name could be said to
mean ‘Chief of the Elephants’and occurs in such forms as
Nānāyakkāragē, Nānāyakkāra Hēvagē and Nānāyakkāra Maha
Baraṇigē. Other ge-names relating to the elephant include Paṇikkalagē
which relates to elephant capture and Nākande Nāgē which probably
relates to the seat placed on the elephant, nā meaning ‘elephant’ and
kanda ‘elephant seat’.
140
See Indo-Lanka Ethnic Affinities. Vol.II.P.N.Cumaranatunga (2003)
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The Salāgama
The Salāgama, like the Karāva and Durāva, are a predominantly lowcountry caste, and like them, are relatively recent migrants from
peninsular India. The traditional occupation of this caste not very long
ago was cinnamon peeling, though they are said to have been originally
brought hither as weavers of fine cloth, or as Brahmin priests to
officiate in an abhiṣeka or royal consecration ceremony.
One of the earliest records relating to the caste, the Janava sa states
that Vijaya-Bahu who attained victory in the city of Jambudroni 141,
sending letters and presents with the minister named Mira Lebbe,
brought from the Salli country eight master cloth weavers to Beruvala,
gave them rice villages in the district of Salāvata and appointed them to
weave. This King is believed to have been Vijaya-Bāhu III of
Dambadeniya who reigned C.1220-1224 A.C.
We further find in a petition presented to the Portuguese Governor
Diego De Mello (1633-38) 142 the Chaleas claiming to have arrived in
the island in a paguel of the Moors which transported them to Chilao.
They further state that they derive their origin from Chale and that it is
from them that the port of Chale takes its name. They also claim here
that they married in the island at the King’s capital and that Kalutara
was the first paraveni (gifted land) given to them, whence they spread
along the coast. Also interesting is Queyroz (1687) record of what these
folk had to say of themselves: “We, the Chaleaz, came to this island in
a paguel (Baggalow or Arab vessel) of Moors which came into Chilao.
We derived our origin from Chale (Chalia, an old port in Malabar on
the south side of the Beypur river) and the port of Chale took from us
the name it has to-day. We came seven, one went away, and we remain
six”. Another record of their origins comes from the Dutch Governor
Jan Schreuder in his Memoir to Baron Van Eck dated March 17, 1762
143
who has this to say: “The ancestors of those who are called Chalias
were mostly weavers who came from the Coromandel Coast and were
reckoned among the respectable classes. In the year 1250 it happened
141
Dambadeniya
142
Cited in Ceylon. The Portuguese Era. Vol.I. P.E.Pieris (1913)
143
Trans. E.Reimers.1946
that seven of them were brought here by Moor merchants, and that
having come to the court they earned their livelihood by their
handicraft, and had increased to a considerable number. That some
time later they fell into disfavour with the King on which account he
doomed them as a low caste and ordered them to depart from the hill to
the low country, and that having arrived there in the year 1380 they
obtained from the King of Kotte the villages which they still possess
and were taxed with Dekkum or the so-called poll-tax. This state of
things did not however last for very long, for in the year 1406 they
made themselves so hated by the King of Kotte both through their
ingratitude and other causes that he imposed on them by way of
punishment the work of the peeling of cinnamon, which before that time
was performed by other indigenous castes of this country. It was for
that reason and at that time that the cinnamon service was first
assigned to them and they have continued to perform it ever since,
except that some of the least blameworthy were employed as coolies by
the King, and others who were found less guilty were placed over them
as Durayas or petty headmen”.
Yet another notice of their origins is by Sir Alexander Johnston 144
who relates that: “As the Cingalese inhabitants of Ceylon were previous
to the thirteenth century, ignorant of the art of weaving fine cloth,
which was then known to the Hindu inhabitants of the peninsula of
India, the Kings of Kandy offered great rewards to any of their subjects
who would bring over from the peninsula some weavers for the purpose
of introducing that art into Ceylon. Early in the thirteenth century, a
Mahommedan merchant of Barbareen, a port between Colombo and
Point De Galle, on the south west coast of the island, induced by the
offer, brought over eight weavers from the peninsula in one of his
trading vessels, and landed them at Barbareen 145. On their arrival, the
then King of Kandy received them with great kindness, had them
144
Account of a Flag representing the Introduction of the caste of Chalias or Cinnamonpeelers into Ceylon. Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain & Ireland.
1835.
145
Indeed, Johnston is said to have possessed a copper grant made by a Sinhalese King
about six or seven hundred years ago to a Muslim merchant residing at Barbareen
(Beruvala) which entitled him to certain privileges in consequence of his having
introduced “from the opposite coast of India the first weavers of cloth who were ever
established on Ceylon” (Communication to the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain &
Ireland.1827)
married to women of distinction, gave them houses and lands,
established a manufactory for them in the vicinity of his palace, and
conferred the highest honours upon their chief. The descendants of
these persons, who were called by the other natives of the country
Chalias, having in the course of two centuries become numerous and
powerful, excited the jealousy of the Kandian government, and were
compelled by the King of the country, as a punishment for some alleged
offence against his authority, to quit the interior, and settle near the
south-west coast of the island, in the district where cinnamon grows to
perfection; and there as the condition upon which they were allowed
some government lands, to peel and prepare for the government,
without pay as much cinnamon annually as it might require”.
It would appear from all these accounts that the Salāgama were
introduced to the island as weavers of cloth by some Moor merchant or
merchants at the behest of the then reigning Sinhalese monarch,
sometime around the 13th century. Salāgama scholars however disagree
with this view, arguing that the ancestors of their caste were Brāhmaṇs.
In this they are supported by the 15th century JV which traces the
ultimate origins of the caste to Bamunas (Brahmins) who wove cloth
and who were known as Pesakara Brahmans.
One of the earliest to propound such a view was Adrian Ragia Pakse,
a chief of the caste who in his History of the Chalias published as an
appendix to Joinville’s 1801 contribution on the People of Ceylon to
Asiatick Researches traced the origins of the caste to Peskaré
Brahmines, a set of Brahmins manufacturing ‘gold stuffs’. These
Brahmins, he believes were a powerful lot as books such as the
Dampouvavé, Attouvavé and Nekalikavé speak of Peskaré Brahmines
who were kings. As for their arrival here, he notes that a King of
Ceylon called Vige Savakkremebahow, also called Vatimé sent
presents to the King Holie and obtained several Peskaré Brahmines, to
whom he gave rubies, pearls, elephants, lands, slaves & c. He further
relates that it is stated in the book Saliegesoutré that they lived in the
village Saleagamé which meant the village of houses or buildings. It
was this place which was afterwards called Chelow that gave its name
to the caste. Raja Pakse is however not clear as to why the caste arrived
here in the first place, unless we are to suppose that they were brought
here to manufacture ‘gold stuffs’ which is said by him to have been
their original occupation.
Others have been more specific, arguing that they arrived here as
Brāhmaṇs to participate in a coronation ceremony of a local monarch.
For instance we have G.S. Seelananda stating in his Manarajaniya
(1929), a work meant to extol the low country castes, that they were
brought hither by a local prince for his coronation (o unu pälaňdīmē
ma galya). This was Prince Vattimi, the son of Bhuvanekabāhu V of
Gampola (14th century) by a beautiful Arab woman who administered
the country extending from Kalutara to the Bentara river from his
palace in Beruwala. The prince’s accession was disliked by many of his
ministers, the Buddhist clergy as well as the locally resident Brahmins
since he was not born of a royal mother. He therefore sent some Moors
(Yon minisun) to get down some Brāhmaṇs from India. The Moors,
having found their way to Śāligrāma brought seven Brāhmaṇs to the
country, only to find that the prince had been hurled down a mountain
in Kurunegala and killed by conspirators who replaced him with his
half brother born of a royal mother. The Brāhmaṇs eventually settled in
the villages of Välitara, Mādampe and Kosgoḍa.
C.De Z.Gunaratna 146 who relies on the Heladiv Bamuṇu Vata, an
old Ola leaf manuscript dealing with the arrival of the Salāgama, holds
that the Salāgama arrived in Sri Lanka in the Saka year 1009 or 1087
A.C. These Brāhmaṇs, he says, were brought to Sri Lanka to perform
the abhi eka (coronation ceremony) of Vijayabahu I as borne out by the
illustrations in the Salāgama flag and the Saka date of the 7th day of
Vesak 1010 (1088 A.C.) when Periya Mudali Marikkār received his
famous copper grant, it being the practice in the time of the Rajarata
kings to perform the abhi eka on the pasaḷossaka pōya day of Vesak.
The copper sannasa bestowed on Periya Mudali Marikkār on the 7th day
of the month of Vesak in the Saka year 1010 has it that the seven
Brāhmaṇs named Nambudiri, Kappinai, Vīrasi gi, Vīrakkodi,
Edirimuni, Valaimuni and Edirisi gi were brought from Sāliya
Ma gala by Mudali Marikkā of Gorakaduva, Beruvala 147.
Gunaratna records that the task of bringing the eight Brāhmaṇs to the
country to perform the abhi eka of Vijayabāhu was entrusted to Periya
Mudali Marikkār, who along with Kappal Udayār, Ahamad Kadirāl
Lebbe, Udumān Lebbe, Selesmān Lebbe and sixty other Arabs
146
Viśvayehi Obat Mamat (1975)
147
Gunaratna (1975)
embarked on ships bound to India and made their way to Sāligrāma
(which was known as Sāliya Ma gala) where they selected the eight
Brāhmaṇs as well as an additional Brāhmaṇ, two of whom later died
due to an unfortunate incident that took place while at sea. The seven
remaining Brāhmaṇs however arrived at the port of Beruwala. Here
they received from the King a Sannasa, Mutukuda and a flag depicting
the sun, moon, svastika, conch, sword and trident. They then departed
to Anuradhapura to perform the abhiṣeka. Having thus pleased the King
they were invited to settle in Polonnaruva where they were espoused to
aristocratic women by the King. The Heḷadiv Bamuṇuvata gives the
names of the Brāhmaṇs as follows:
Kappina bamu u saha nambudiri bamu u
Vīrasi ha saha vīrakko i bamu u
Idirimuni da saha valimini nam bamu u
Edirisi ha yana mē nam satin vu u
The view that they espoused local women is corroborated by Queyroz
(1687) who has the Chaleaz stating: “We married in this island in the
court of the King”. When we consider these varied traditions, it
becomes a rather difficult task to ascertain which one of them gives a
factual account of the origins of the caste, suffice to say that the
Heladiv Bamuṇuvata which seems to have been in the possession of the
caste for quite some time probably reflects the traditional beliefs of the
Salāgama or at any rate their elite literati as to the origins of their caste.
If this were indeed the case, we would have to assume that the other
accounts relating to the arrival of the caste were propogated by persons
ill-disposed or envious of the caste. It may have well been that the
victorious King Vijayabāhu I after having defeated the Dravidians and
united the country under a single parasol set about to have a complete
coronation in the ancient tradition that existed in King Devanampiya
Tissa’s time, little doubt an imitation of the coronation ceremony
practiced by the emperors of India such as Asoka. This would have
necessitated the services of Brāhmaṇs well versed in conducting
abhiṣeka ceremonies and who would have thus had to be obtained from
overseas. As time went on, these Brāhmaṇs, having little else to do in a
society that did not follow Brāhmaṇical rites and hence did not need
their services, except perhaps on occasion, would have chosen to take
to the weaving of cloth with which they subsequently became
associated.
The formal appellation of the caste, Salāgama has also been cited as
indicating a Brāhmaṇ origin by Gunaratna (1975) who attempts to trace
the origins of the Salāgama to the Śālagrāma plain south of the
Himalayan mountains and near the Gaṇḍakī river which is said to have
formed part of the Kosala country in the time of the Buddha, whence
the Salāgama Brāhmaṇs dispersed to various parts of the subcontinent
including North, Central and Southern India. Indeed, he has sought to
show that Śāligrāma which belonged to the Kosala country finds
mention in Buddhist literature such as the Ma galārtha Dīpani which
states Kosalara he sālya gāme nivasikā na sāleyya kāna nāma
Brāhma a gahapati kāna dhamma desento which is to say that the
Buddha preached to the Brāhmaṇ householders of Sālya gāma in the
Kosala country. Śālagrāma, a village situated on the river Gaṇḍakī is
also regarded as sacred by Vaishnavas. Its name is said to derive from
the Śāl trees growing near it 148. The term however also denotes a
sacred stone worshipped by the Vaishnavas which is supposed to be
pervaded by the presence of Visnu. It is a black stone containing a
fossil ammonite and is chiefly found near Śālagrāma in the Gaṇḍakī 149.
Be it as it may, the term Salāgama may simply mean the ‘Sala horde’
just as Govigama means the ‘Govi horde’. Besides, the Salāgama have
been known as Hāli and this is the case even when they refer to
themselves. Thus the early Salāgama would have been known as Sāli or
perhaps even Cāli, for we know that European writers commonly
referred to them as Chalias. The term, rather than suggesting a North
Indian origin from Śālagrāma near the Gaṇḍakī may perhaps suggest a
connection with certain weaver peoples of South India, some of whom
like the Salāgama claimed to be Brāhmaṇs. For instance Edgar
Thurston 150 gives the Chāliyan as a caste of Malayalam cotton weavers
and the Sāliyan as weavers of Kornād and Ayyampet in the Tanjore
District. He notes that the latter Tamil-speaking class have taken to
wearing the sacred thread, engage Brāhmaṇ Purōhits and are guided by
Brahman priests 151.
148
A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Monier Monier Williams (1899)
149
Ibid
150
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.II (1909)
151
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.VI (1909)
He records a belief they held that they were the decendants of one
Sāliya Mahā Rishi, a low caste man who became a Rishi by serving the
Rishi Visākar who was doing penance near Nallādai.
These appellations Cāliyan/Sāliyan appear to have ultimately derived
from Skt. Jāla ‘a net’, ‘any reticulated or woven texture’. Also consider
jālika ‘spider’ which may have also been perceived as ‘a weaver’. The
hardening of j to c is well attested in the passage of foreign loan words
into Tamil so that this may have indeed been the case. This accords
well with both the widespread belief that the Salāgama hailed from
South India and that they were weavers by profession. This however
does not necessarily mean that they were not Brāhmaṇs or could not
perform abhiṣeka ceremonies for we have no reason to dispute the
origin legend as contained in the Bamunuvata.
Further, the theory of a Brāhmaṇ origin, though seemingly farfetched, does find some support from cetain historical incidents
connected with their arrival as well as some of their family names. The
fact that the ancestors of the Salāgama were conveyed to land on the
shoulders of the Moor sailors who had brought them hither in a seafaring vessel, which is depicted in the scenes contained in the Salāgama
flag known as Namediri Koḍiya suggests that these folk were afraid of
wading in sea-water which accords with the orthodox Hindu belief that
one loses caste by crossing the Kālā pāni or ‘Black water’ meaning the
sea or ocean, which was particularly applicable to Brāhmaṇs. That
these folk were reckoned among the ‘respectable classes’ and were
married to ‘women of distinction’ as borne out by the statements of
Schreuder and Johnston respectively as well as the fact that their chief
was conferred the highest honours including a state umbrella suggests
that they were deemed a fairly high caste.
The name Muni (Sage) which figures in many a Salāgama family
name such as Edirimuni, Vīramuni and Valimuni may perhaps also
suggest a Brāhmaṇ connection152. We find in the Gurubhāṣitaya or
Śāligrāma Brāhmaṇava śaya compiled by O.M.Obeyesekere (1897) a
large number of Salāgama patronymics occurring with the suffix -muni
such as Asuramuni, Isurumuni, Idirimuni, Dēmuni, Garumuni,
152
Though the Sanskrit muni generally means an ascetic, it very often refers to Brāhmaṇ
ascetics who were noted for their other worldliness. In Tamil, the plural form munivar
means Brāhmaṇs.
Jinamuni, Haljotimuni, Hoňdamuni, Nalumuni, Nigamuni, Mutumuni,
Mädibämuni, Kaluhatmuni, Ratanamuni, Valimuni, Vīramuni,
Valiyanmuni, Valisālimuni and Vijēmuni. Some of these names seem
to have evolved from still earlier Sanskritic names such as Haljotimuni
from Ayodhyamuni, Kaluhatmuni from Kālahastamuni, Mädibämuni
from Madimāmuni and Dēmuni from Dēvamuni. In the Dutch Tombos
too we find a few Chalia names with Muni such as Asoeremoennige
Aponsoe Farnandoe, Singamoennige Adrianna and Wallimoennige
Silvester Silva 153 though these are few.
The name suffix seems to occur commonly among those who belong
to the Hēvapanna sub-caste. Also belonging to this particular sub-caste
whose forbears are believed to have had a martial origin are names
prefixed with Agampadi such as Agampadi Thabrew, Agampadi
Mendis and Agampadi De Zoysa 154 which suggests a connection with
the Tamil Agampaḍiyār, a caste said to have been once employed as
temple servants 155. The term may however also mean ‘mercenaries’,
‘bodyguards’ or ‘king’s household troops’ which is probably the sense
in which it occurs in Sinhalese works such as the 13th century DmbAs.
The Mayurā Sandēśa of the 13th or 14th century also refers to an
Agampaḍi army (agampo i senaňga).
One must however bear in mind that a group that claim to be
Brāhmaṇs do not necessarily have to be Brāhmaṇs in the ethnic sense,
that is descendants of the priestly class of the Indo-Aryan invaders who
settled in North India and also found their way to theIndian Peninsula
in limited numbers. Many a South Indian caste group has claimed
Brāhmaṇ status by investing in ritual so as to move up the social ladder,
which does not seem to have been a difficult task in Dravidian South
India unlike in North India where such a status could not be assumed
153
Head Tombo of Chalias for Kalutara District (Hoofd Thombo Der Chialiassen Van
Het Calitures District. 18th century)
154
However in the Head Tombo of Chalias for Kalutara District we find Aganpoddige
Raphiel and Aganpoddige Maarkoe being described as Caneel Schiller (Cinnamon
Peelers) though it is possible that they took to this occupation when they were no longer
needed for military service.
155
T.akampa iyār which Winslow (1862) gives as ‘a caste among the Hindus formerly
employed as servants in the palace and in temples’.
lightly. The ancestors of the Salāgama may have well belonged to such
a group 156.
When we consider the physical characters of the Salāgama, we find
that a good majority of them are dark-brown skinned. Many are also
known to be of a tall stature often with a rather lanky appearance and
long-limbed. Thick lips are also not wanting among a number of them
to whom we may attribute a Dravidian strain. Some women also show a
tendency towards curly hair which may have its origins in a remote
Austro-Asiatic strain. However we also find a considerable number of
light brown skinned individuals with regular features among the
Salāgama perhaps derived from some remote Aryan forbears.
As to from exactly where the Salāgama originated it is difficult to
say. One source (i.e.the copper sannasa bestowed on Periya Mudali
Marikkar) has it that they migrated to the island from Sāliya Mangala
while another (the petition of the Salāgama presented to Diego De
Mello) has it that they arrived from the port of Chale which would
probably translate into Tamil as Sāliya Paṭṭanam. This Sāliya Mangala
or Sāliya Paṭṭanam whence they are said to have migrated to Sri Lanka
could have been on the east coast of peninsular India in Tamil Nadu or
on the west coast in Kerala.
That the Salāgama would have originated from the coastal areas of
Tamil Nadu is suggested by the statement of Schreuder (1762) that the
ancestors of the Salāgama hailed from the Coromandel Coast. It is also
supported by the poem Gurubhāsita cited by Seelananda in his
Manarajaniya (1929) which has it that Vastimi sent soldiers northward
to the Chola country to fetch the Brāhmaṇs (uturu desa soli ra a a
sebalun yavā bamu an gennu vilasa) which would suggest that they
hailed from the coastal parts of Tamil Nadu. However, the view that
they hailed from Kerala is also tenable given the fact that the name
Nambudiri said to have been borne by the first chief of the Salāgama
suggests a Kerala connection, for to this day, the Nambudiri Brāhmaṇs
figure significantly in the national and religious life of the South Indian
state. It is also possible that the place of origin might have been a
156
Consider for instance Thurston’s reference to the Sāliyan belief that they were the
descendants of a low caste man who became a Rishi.
coastal region of Karnataka, though the evidence for it is rather flimsy
157
.
The Salāgama, like many other castes of the low-country were also
divided into sub- castes until fairly recent times. These four sub-castes
were based on occupation, viz. Kuruňdukārayō (Cinnamon Peelers),
Paniviḍakārayō (Messengers), Hēvapanna (soldiers) and Ūliyakkārayō
(Coolies) showing that during their short stay in the island, their
occupational role had changed by and by, initially weaving and
thereafter cinnamon peeling, military activity etc. A mid-17th century
Dutch document containing instructions for the Captain of the
Cinnamon Peelers gives a number of classes existing among the
Chaliyas of the time. This includes the Aratchies who “hold the same
position as other Sinhalese officers of war”. Besides these were the
Handarias or Lascoreens and the Deccum Carrias who did duty as
“canganies, messengers, and letter carriers, and are bound to serve in
all ordinary, inferior and servile occupations”. Finally, there were the
Corondahalias who “though last in rank among the Chaliyas, are the
real Cinnamon Peelers, and have to perform most labour” 158.
The Dutch Governor Thomas Van Rhee in his Memoir of 1697 159
says that the Chialias are divided into four classes, viz. Cinnamon
Peelers, Handarias, Coolies and Lascoryns. The Cinamon Peelers, he
says, are called Coerondehalias and are the lowest in rank among the
Chialias. The Handarias, he says, are the sons and descendants of the
chief and lesser headmen known as Durias and from them are chosen
the Durias as well as the Lascoryns. He also says that they are
employed as messengers and in village service and that in times of
disturbance have to arm themselves, and together with the Lascoryns,
protect the cinnamon and the peelers.
157
The 10th century DAG gives Sāliya ra a as the equivalent of a country known as
Cālukāya which may refer to the country ruled by the Calukyas who were based in
Karnataka. The Dravidian term pa anam usually refers to a town on the coast or a port
city, rather than an inland metropolis.
158
Instructions from the Governor-General and Council of India to the Governor of
Ceylon.1656-1665. Trans. Sophia Pieters (1908).
159
Trans.Sophia Anthoniesz (1915)
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The Vahumpura
The Vahumpura, found in both the upcountry as well as in the low
country regions constitute a significant caste among the Sinhalese.
Although not regarded as a high caste in the traditional social order,
they nevertheless constitute a numerically powerful group. The
traditional occupation attributed to the Vahumpura has been jaggerymaking and this has no doubt been the case for several centuries when
we consider the available records relating to the caste. The Vahumpura,
or rather their elite sections however disclaim any connection with
jaggery manufacture as their ancestral calling, arguing that their
ancestors were warriors and soldiers of the Kṣatriya caste and adducing
considerable evidence to support their claims.
Before dealing with these contentions however we will analyse what
the Janava sa, an old Sinhalese narrative of the various castes, has to
say of their origins. The work interestingly traces the origins of the
Vahumpura, or Hakuru as they are called in the text to some of the
seven hundred men who came to the island with Vijaya. After much
time had elapsed, the power and injustice of the king and his ministers
increased, prompting some among the Raja, Bamunu and Grahapati
among them to find their way to the forest, both from fear of their
enemies and robbers, where they lived eating yams, fruits and
vegetables. The Sangarammu branch among them are said to have
originated from young samanera priests who served the priesthood.
With time, those who were not faithful discarded their robes and
building houses near the vihāras, lived with wives and children,
drawing Kitul toddy for a living. As they looked after the sangharāma
and even took charge of the arāmas and vihāras when the Sangha went
to places such as caves and the like in the forest they were called
Sangarammu. Both these groups, the priests who had no wives and
children and the householders are said to have mixed, giving and taking
in marriage and living in the jungle. As both groups joined and lived in
hills (kandu), their name, with the passage of time, is said to have
become kande ätto or ‘those of the hills’. What this record indicates is
that the Vahumpura are a very ancient group among the Sinhalese,
having arrived in the island with the Vijayan migration from Bengal
C.5th century B.C. It also suggests that those who went to constitute this
caste were drawn from the Raja, or in other words, the Kṣatriya caste,
as well as from the Brāhmaṇs and Vaiśyas among Vijaya’s followers.
However, it is not on the JV that the proponents of the VahumpuraKṣatriya connection rely on for their theory. Rather their theory is
largely founded on the study of onomastics or names. For instance,
Martin Edward Munasinghe 160 claims a Kṣatriya origin for the
Vahumpura on the grounds that the appellation Dēva which figures
prominently in the vāsagam or patronymic ge names of a good many
Vahumpura families is a sure indication of their Kṣatriya ancestry since
none else had the right to use such names. He also observes that such
names are used by no other caste. Munasinghe’s contentions seem quite
tenable since we know that the term dēva which originally meant ‘god’
was also applied to those of royal or Kṣatriya stock. Many kings for
example are known to have borne the appellation dēva. We also come
across in the MV, a statement to the effect that the Rathesabha or ‘lord
of the chariots’ who is generally taken to mean Emperor Asoka,
assigned for the protection of the Bodhi tree eighteen persons of the
Dēvakula or Dēva clan. Guruge in his translation of the Mahāva sa
(1989) contends that the word dēva in the appellation dēvakula should
be taken to mean ‘king’ and merely as a synonym for Khattiya or
Kṣatriya. He therefore translates dēvakula as ‘royal families’. We can
therefore be quite certain that in the olden days, the appellation dēva
was applied to those of Kṣatriya stock.
However, it must also be pointed out that not all Vahumpura genames end in Dēvagē. For instance Hakurugē which is extremely
common among Vahumpura folk of the lower orders lacks this term.
This would imply that it were only certain sections of the Vahumpura
who were considered true Kṣatriyas, if we are to indeed take the dēva
name as being indicative of a Kṣatriya origin. Munasinghe is also of the
view that the Vahumpura are descended from Kṣatriya princes of the
Śakya clan, the Indian royal clan to which many a Sri Lankan monarch
also traced his ancestry. The origins of the very name Vahumpura he
traces to an event that took place around the 3rd century BC when
Buddhism was introduced to the island. In this connection he cites the
Bodhiva sa where King Devanampiya Tissa advices the Śākyan
princes Sumitta and Bodhigupta, the brothers-in-law of Emperor Asoka
who joined Theri Sanghamittā on her visit here: Tva asamhinna
va so hutva mahā bodhim paripālehi ‘Protect your lineage’ meaning
to marry among themselves and so protect the purity of their descent.
160
History of the Vahumpera Caste of the Singhalese Race (1928)
He argues that it was the Pali word va sa pūraka that became
va sapūrna and eventually vahumpura.
He goes further, arguing that the antecedents of the Vahumpura lie in
the Kṣatriyas of the Lambakarṇa clan 161 that originated from Sumitta
who had espoused a princess named Sumanā. In this connection he
cites a little known historical work, Polonnaru Vistaraya to show that
there were a thousand Kṣatriya soldiers in the army of Parākrama Bāhu
the Great, who he believes eventually formed a good part of the
Vahumpura. As evidence of their being of royal stock he cites the
Sälalihini Sandēśa of Totagamuve Sri Rahula (C.15th century) which
extols the Lambakarnas as rivikula lämäni got (Lambakarna clan of the
Solar dynasty).
The origin of the name Sangarammu also applied to the Vahumpura,
Munasinghe traces to the brother of Sumitta, Bodhigupta who also
arrived in the country during the time of Devanampiyatissa. This prince
is said to have espoused a Buddhist nun named Sunandā
who
belonged to the Moriya (Maurya dynasty to which Asoka himself
belonged), thus giving rise to the Meheṇavara clan which is thought to
mean ‘the clan of the nun’. Munasinghe believes that it is these
Meheṇavara princes who came to be eventually known as
Sa ghārāmikayō or Sagaram meaning ‘Residents of the Monastery.
The ancestress of the clan, Sunandā is said to have lived with
Sanghamittā in the Hatthālaka Monastery and it is possible that her
descendants maintained an intimate connection with the Buddhist
establishment, a contention supported by the statement in the JV that
the Sangarammu served the Sangha and took care of the arāmas and
vihāras in their absence.
Munasinghe further goes on to show that the appellation
Sangarammu was an honourable one and had no deriogatory
connotation, citing as evidence a passage in the Mayura Sandēśa
dedicated to King Bhuvaneka Bahu of Gangasiripura (C.14th century)
which refers to the virtuous women living in Sa geram (guna manaram
liya räňdi ran liya lesini, yava saňgaram salpiti vel pi a maňgini) as
161
The Lambakarṇa clan who are known as Lämäni in classical Sinhala are known to
have been a powerful group in ancient and mediaeval times.
well as the place name Haňguranketa in Kandy District which he takes
to mean the ‘field of the dwellers of the monastery’. As for the
Kandayō, another term used to denote Vahumpura folk, Munasinghe
thinks it to be connected to the Giriva śa, a prominent mediaeval
Kṣatriya dynasty that produced the likes of Ayasmanta, the general of
Queen Kalyanavati who is described as being of the Kandavara Kula.
The Sanskritic giri it should be pointed out is the equivalent of the
Sinhala kanda meaning ‘mountain’ and it is therefore quite possible
that the appellation Kandayō is connected to the Giriva śa as
suggested by Munasinghe. That the Giriva śa and Meheṇavara are
connected is borne out by mediaeval Sinhalese records. The Sagama
rock inscription of Bhuvanekabāhu V (C.14th century) clearly states
that Aḷakeśvara who has been identified with Aḷakeśvara I belonged to
the Meṇavara family on his father’s side while the Nikāya Sa graha
states that Aḷakeśvara I was born in the Giriva sa. It is therefore
possible that this Giriva śa was either synonymous with or a division
of the Meheṇavara.
However what one fails to understand is how a single clan or dynasty
could have given its name to an entire people. Further, according to
Sinhalese works like the Rājaratnakāra and Saddharmaratnakāra, the
Aḷakeśvaras were of the Giriva śa and originally hailed from
Vancipura. In Sangam literature Vanci figures as the capital of the Cera
Kingdom which some identify with Kuruvur in modern-day Kerala.
Besides, the term Giriva śa may also apply to the inhabitants of Kerala
as a whole whose country is renowned for its hills. The name Malayali
for the people and Malayalam for the language as well as its old name
Malabar (Pr.fr.T.malai ‘mountain’ + Skt.vara ‘country’) all suggest a
connection with Dravidian malai ‘hill’.
If however we accept Munasinghe’s thesis connecting the
Vahumpura to the Giriva śa, we might even conjecture that the
appellation Vahumpura or at least one of its clans, the Vansapura, may
have derived from the Kerala city of Vancipura which some Sinhalese
works connect with the Aḷakeśvaras and the Giriva śa to which they
belonged. The Giriva śa were no doubt a powerful clan in the olden
days. Its most well known member Aḷakeśvara I rose to fame in the
reign of King Vikramabāhu III by liberating the Sinhalese from the
threatened subjection to the Tamils of Jaffna and their South Indian
allies, eventually becoming the virtual dictator of the Sinhalese nation
under the title Prabhurāja. His son Kumāra Aḷakeśvara or Aḷakeśvara II
and nephew Vīra Aḷakeśvara or Aḷakeśvara III also wielded
considerable power in the country.
Munasinghe has also sought to show that Vahumpura officers held
high positions in mediaeval Sri Lanka. For instance, he contends that
Dēva Lankādhināyaka, a general serving King Gajabāhu II (C.11311153 A.C.) was a Vahumpura personage whose descendants he
believes to be the Divunugē family of Dangedara, Galle. The name
Divunugē he believes to have derived from Dēvanāyakagē, a
contraction of Dēva Lankādhināyaka, through an intermediate Devnagē
or from Dēvanā meaning ‘Leader of the Devas’ (Dēva-Nāyaka).
Likewise, he contends that Dēva La kāpura, the able minister and
general of King Parākramabāhu 1(C.1153-1186) was another
prominent Vahumpura officer and believes his descendants to be the
Vahumpura family residing in Gidolgamuva in Anuradhapura District
bearing the vāsagama Mahā La kāpura Dēva.
Other prominent personages whom Munasinghe believes to have
been members of the Vahumpura include Dēva Patirāja, the Prime
Minister of Parākramabāhu II (C. 1234- 1269) and Phussa Dēva, a
famous paladin of King Dutugämunu ( C.2nd century B.C.), a
contention he presumably bases on the occurrence of the term dēva in
these names. He also cites contemporary Vahumpura vāsagam bearing
high sounding titles like La kēśvara (Lord of Lanka), Mantri (Minister)
as in Mantri Dēvagē and Baṇḍāra (Treasurer) as in Manik Baṇḍāra
Dēvagē and Ran Baṇḍāra Dēvagē to show that their ancestors must
have held high positions in the olden days. Indeed, he even traces
certain patronymics to royalty, contending for instance that those
bearing the ge-name Dāsen Dēvagē are descended from King
Dhātusēna (5th century).
There are also those who contend that the Deva ancestors of the
Vahumpura lived in the island even before the Vijayan migration.
Jinadasa Kulatillake, President of the Taruna Abhivurddhi Sādaka
Sa ghamaya contends that in the ancient past there existed a
Vahumpura Kingdom ruled by Mahā Sumana (Mahā Sumanagē Dēva
Rājya) in the Sabaragamuva area162, a region that boasts a high
162
Rāvaya. August 30, 1998. This view is an elaboration of Munasighe’s contention that
the Dēvas may have existed in the island even before the coming of Vijaya, on the
grounds that the deity Mahā Sumana was in fact a Dēva prince who had embraced
Buddhism in the days of the Buddha himself. He believes that previous to this, these folk
Vahumpura population. He also contends that the prefix Dēvanampiya
applied to King Tissa during whose reign Buddhism was introduced to
the country, means ‘Tissa loved by the Dēvas’ which he argues shows
that the ancient Sinhalese kings ruled with the approval of the Dēvas,
whom he takes to be the Vahumpura 163. Kulatilleke also claims that of
King Dutugämunu’s ten yodhas or warriors, three of them, namely,
Phussadēva, Kancadēva and Laviyadēva were Vahumpuras as borne
out by the name Dēva 164.
When we consider these varying claims of the Vahumpura, we would
find that the idea of a pre-Vijayan existence of the Vahumpura in the
island is rather far-fetched. The idea that the Vahumpura were
Kṣatriyas who arrived with the Vijayan migration or sometime
afterwards is however not untenable given the evidence adduced above,
namely, the high proportion of families bearing the gē-name Dēvagē.
A former military tradition of the Vahumpura is borne out by the fact
that many Vahumpura families bear the gē-name Hēvagē or ‘House of
the Soldier’. The appellations borne by the caste such as Vahumpura,
Haňgarammu and Kandayō though varied in meaning may however
also offer some clues as to their ancestral callings. An earlier form of
Vahumpura, Vasumpura occurs in the 17th century work
Mandārampura Puvata, according to which these folk were found in the
villages of Galabada and Balumgoda (galaba a bälumgo a yana
gamvala vasana mehekaru vasumpura janayan). The term Vahumpura
may perhaps be connected to a little used Sinhala folk term, vahuma,
meaning ‘cooked or prepared food. Likewise, vahumā means ‘cook’ or
‘one who prepares food’ 165. Another possible term from which it could
have derived is the Sinhala vasama ‘service’, ‘profession’, ‘power’,
‘rank’, ‘possession’, ‘district’. The suffix -pura figuring in the caste
appellation though often used in Sinhala in the sense of ‘city’ or ‘town’
known as Dēva would have been Hindus living from Adam’s Peak (Samanala-Kanda ‘the
mountain of Saman or Sumana’) to Anuradhapura. Interestingly, the abode of the
Sinhalese deity Sumana or Saman Deviyo is considered to be the Sabaragamuva region.
The title of Dēva given him may therefore mean ‘Kṣatriya’ rather than ‘Divinity’ if we
are to accept this view.
163
Ibid
164
Personal communication to the author, May 2002
165
JSK. Siri Liyanage (2000)
may in Sanskrit also denote ‘castle’, ‘fortress’ or even ‘house’, ‘abode’
or even ‘gynaeceum’ or ‘female apartments’. If we are to accept the
first suggested derivation, the term Vahumpura could well mean ‘the
cooking abode’ while if we are to accept the second, it may mean ‘the
district city’ or even ‘those who served in forts or cities’.
We however venture to think that the explanation for the caste name
lies in the first suggested derivation, for as we shall see, the Vahumpura
were until recent times considered suitable as ‘kitchen servants’ by the
Radala aristocrats however lofty their status might have been in bygone
times 166. Nevertheless the fact that the Vahumpura were deemed
suitable to serve in the kitchen shows that even the aristocracy
considered them a relatively high caste as cooking for a higher caste
like inter-dining was considered a privilege rather than a menial service
167
. Another well known appellation for the Vahumpura, especially in
the olden days, was Haňgarammu 168.
166
It is not unlikely that it is because of such connotations that today’s Vahumpura
disdain to use this appellation in formal parlance as in the marriage proposal columns of
the national newspapers, preferring instead the terms Dēva or Dēva Va śika. Although
we cannot say exactly when this usage arose as the name of the community as a whole,
we certainly know that it had gained some currency in the early part of the twentieth
century, if not before. For instance we have E.B.Denham in his Report on Ceylon at the
Census of 1911 (1912) informing us that the Hakuru are also called Devayo or
Vahumpura.
167
In this context, it is pertinent to cite Nevill (Aug.1887) who says of the Sakuru: “Until
comparatively recent times, the Sinhalese Goyiya caste in Ceylon, one of the most jealous
of races, admitted them so far into equality that they would feed and associate together
though not intermarry”.
168
The term Haňgarammu is evidently an old one. The Portuguese Tombo of 1618 refers
to Amgramas of the Jagggery caste. Knox (1681) gives Hungram as ‘Jaggory-Makers’
while Valentijn (1726) calls the Vahumpura Hangarema. Loten (1757) terms them
Hangerannoe. The term Hangeran also figures in a number of ge-names of Vahumpura
folk in the Dutch tombos. E.g.Koloehangerange Anang and Hangerandewege Joean
Fernando (SLNA 1/3738). In later times however the term assumed a rather derogatory
connotation for Codrington (1924) gives Haňgaramā as an impolite name for
Vahumpurayā. In fact, one hardly if ever comes across the term Haňgaramā used to
address a member of the Vahumpura caste or even when referring to one in his absence.
In some sources, however, the term, rather than occurring as a synonym for Vahumpura
occurs as a branch or sub-group of that caste. For instance The JV gives Sangarammu as
a branch of the Vahumpura while the Portuguese Tombo of 1618 refers to Amgaramas of
the caste of Jagreiros who lived in the Amgaragama Gricul Parrentava in the Passadum
Coralla. Elsewhere in the same work, however, the term occurs as a synonym for the
Jaggery caste as in Amgarambada or Renda of the Jagreiros.
It is possible that the term may have derived from sangha-ārāmaya
which seems to have referred to the monastries or houses of Buddhist
monks in the olden days. This is suggested by the statement in the JV
that the Sangarammu branch of the Vahumpura originated from young
Samanera priests who having discarded their robes and living with
wives and children took care of the Sangharamaya, thus serving the
Sangha. They are said to have taken charge of the aramas and viharas
when the monks retired to places such as caves and the like in the
forest.
Another account by F.E.Gooneratne 169 relates the origin of the term
Hangaram as follows: The incumbent priest of a certain arame on going
his morning rounds to beg for his noon-day meal observed a large
quantity of drippings near the stem of a kitul palm, a flower of which
had been nipped by a squirrel or rat. He tasted it and found it to be nice
and sweet and thereafter engaged a samanera (unordained priest) to
bring the drippings to him. Once however the drippings got fermented
and the old priest having taken an immoderate quantity and having
become inebriated drove the samanera out. The samanera who became
a layman took to tapping kitul and was known as ‘Sangha Ramaya’
which in time was corrupted into ‘Hangaram’.
This latter account is nevertheless a rather fanciful one. The account
given in the JV on the other hand appears to be a rather convincing one.
The appellation Hangarammu may however perhaps also suggest a
connection with the Sanskritic sa grāma ‘an assembly of people’,
‘troop’, ‘army’ as well as ‘battle’, ‘war’, ‘fight’, ‘combat’ which
accords well with their former military tradition. In the Divehi language
of the Maldives which branched off from Sinhala sometime about the
7th-8th centuries A.C. the term hangurāma means ‘warfare’, ‘battle’,
‘armed conflict’ showing that a derivative of the Skt sa grāma had in
fact survived in Old Sinhala.
There is also the possibility however that the term may have its
origins in the Tamil.ca karam (pronounced ca garam, śa garam or
even sa garam) which Winslow (1862) gives as ‘mixture’,
‘promiscuousness- as of castes by indiscriminate commerce & c.’
which accords well with the statement in the JV that they were formed
169
“Hangaram” given to the men of the “Vahumpura caste”. The Landhesi Kaalaya or the
Dutch Times (1922)
of a mixture of Raja, Bamunu and Grahapati castes. Another term by
which the Vahumpura were once widely known was Kandayō which
appears to literally mean ‘Those of the Hills’. The JV relates that as the
Vahumpura lived in kandu or hills, their name with the passage of time
became Kande Ätto or ‘Those of the Hills’. Codrington (1924) gives
Kandayō or ‘Hill men’ as a synonym for Vahumpurayō and Kaňdugam
or ‘Hill villages’ as the name of the villages of the Vahumpura,
suggesting that the term Kandayō applied to the Vahumpura had arisen
on account of their living on higher elevations than the other
inhabitants of the Sinhalese Kingdom 170.
As for sub-castes among the Vahumpura, there do not appear to be
any today, though if we are to believe the account of the JV the
Vahumpura were not a homogeneous community, but rather a
heterogeneous one originating from a mixture of the Raja, Bamunu and
Grahapati castes. Furthermore, the folk that evolved from this
heterogeneous mixture itself seems to have comprised of two groups,
namely, the Hakuru who invented jaggery and the Sangarammu who
were former monks who had discarded their robes and taken to a more
worldly lifestyle. When we consider the physical type of the
Vahumpura, we find a variety of types ranging from very fair to a dark
brown. The upper classes such as the Hēvagēs are often fair and
possess regular features while those of the humbler classes tend to be
darker and are often characterized by relatively broad noses, suggesting
that this caste, like the Govi, is a mixed one composed of both Aryan
migrants and aboriginal autochtones.
As for the vāsagam or patronymic ge-names of the Vahumpura, we
find a considerable number with Dēvagē. Munasinghe (1928) for
instance gives the following Vahumpura vāsagam ending with Dēvagē:
1) La kēśvara Dēvagē 2) Vikramasi ha Dēvagē 3) Ranasi ha Dēvagē
4) Munasi ha Dēvagē 5) Jayasi ha Dēvagē 6) Virasi ha Dēvagē 7)
Vāsalasi ha Dēvagē 8) Subhasi ha Dēvagē 9) Vijēsi ha Dēvagē 10)
Miturusi ha Dēvagē 11) Gurusi ha Dēvagē 12) Edirisi ha Dēvagē 13)
Haturusi ha Dēvagē 14) Rājasi ha Dēvagē 15) Kulasi ha Dēvagē 16)
Rūpasi ha Dēvagē 17) Samarasi ha Dēvagē 18) Dunusi ha Dēvagē
19) Randunu Dēvagē 20) Sēnānāyaka Dēvagē 21) Pa cādhikāra
170
Indeed, even in low elevation areas, the name seems to have stuck. For instance, in the
Nuvara Kalaviya region of the Anuradhapura District, the Vahumpura is called Kandayā
and his wife Kandätti or Dēvamahagē Kandava ī (Nuvarakalāviyē Janavahara.
K.Manava. 2001).
Dēvagē 22) Ranpati Dēvagē 23) Mantri Dēvagē 24) Henarat
Dahanāyaka Sēpatpura Dēvagē 25) Mahā La kāpura Dēvagē 26)
Mäṇikpura Dēvagē 27) Ranbaṇḍā Dēvagē 28) Heṭṭivana Dēvagē 29)
Ābharana Dēvagē 30) Hēvā Dēvagē 31) Va śapura Dēvagē 32)
Pahindara Dēvagē 33) Jayamaha Dēvagē 34) Kīrtisiri Rājasi ha
Dēvagē 35) Va śapūrṇa Dēvagē 36) Visurumāna Dēvagē 37) Śrī
Vardhana Dēvagē 38) Narasi ha Dēvagē 39) Dāsen Dēvagē 40)
Rājapura Dēvagē 41) Saman Kuṭṭu Dēvagē 42) Rājanetti Dēvagē 43)
Dharmakīrti Dēvagē 44) Mahā Dēvagē 45) Rājakaruna Dēvagē 46)
Rājapakṣa Dēvagē 47) Ma gala Dēvagē 48) Pa cāyudha Dēvagē and
49) Kaṭulanda Dēvagē.
The Bodhyāhārakulaya hevat Devava saya edited by Kavindra
Rajasinha Deva (1931) gives besides those given by Munasinghe the
following Vahumpura ge-names with Dēvagē: Haňdunpura Dēvagē,
Mānelpura Dēvagē, Nammuni Dēvagē, Saňgasi ha Dēvagē, Si hapura
Dēvagē, Siripatul Dēvagē, Raṇepura Dēvagē, Rājamuni Dēvagē,
Randunupura Dēvagē, Rankot Dēvagē, Ranmāla Dēvagē, Tikirilamā
Dēvagē, Valimuni Dēvagē, Vasumpura Dēvagē and Varṣamāna
Dēvagē. Besides the names given by Munasinghe and Rajasinha Deva,
there are others like Bōmbuvala Dēvagē, Pimpura Dēvagē, Pusvälla
Dēvagē, Peṭṭā Dēvagē, Pälanda Dēvagē, Ranamuka Dēvagē, Rampati
Dēvagē and Sēsatpura Dēvagē. In the Dutch tombos too we find
Vahumpura folk bearing the ge-name Dēvagē, e.g. Alankaredewege
Oendia, Rannemoekkedewege Philippoe and Kalintjedewege Sendoetja
171
, but rarely.
Many of these ge-names probably arose from the clan, titular or
personal names borne by the ancestors of these folk. That some would
have originated from personal names is supported by the observations
of N.T.Karunatilaka 172 who found the Vahumpura of the Däduru Oya
area having personal names like Sōma Dēva, Nanda Dēva and Puspa
Dēva as well as titles like Vel Dēvayā (field Chief) and Gam Dēvayā
(Village Chief) which is not found in other areas. In fact, the term
Dēvayā is said to have formerly denoted the headman of the
Vahumpura community 173 so that it is possible that those who bear the
171
SLNA 1/3738 & 1/3739
172
Däduru oya baḍa vitti (1989)
173
Codrington (1924)
ge-name Dēvagē are descended from Vahumpura headmen. Another
fairly common ge-name among the Vahumpura is Hēvagē or ‘House of
the Soldier’. E.g. Vēvälvala Hēvagē, Māramba Hēvagē, Naravälpita
Hēvagē, Pēduru Hēvagē, Malavänna Hēvagē, Ranēpura Hēvagē,
Ambavatta Hēvagē, Ukvatta Hēvagē and Iyāre Hēvagē.
Other prominent Vahumpura ge-names include Sēmagē, Maha
Duragē, Dapana Duragē, Batalavatta Vahumpuragē, Kāriyavasamlāgē,
Niriällagē and Suduhakurugē. An extremely common ge-name,
particularly among the lower classes, is Hakurugē or ‘House of the
Jaggery Maker’. We find in the Dutch tombos a very large number of
those given as Jagarero (Vahumpura, after their occupation of jaggery
making) bearing the ge-name Hakuruge. E.g. Hakoeroege Itta and
Hakoeroege Balea of Salpiti Korale and Hakkoeroge Tettoewa of
Boomboewelle 174. Among other Jagareros bearing the ge-name may be
mentioned Hackoeroege Dienga, Gallebane Hakoeroege Minghiel
Fernando, Galmangodde Hakoeroege Lourensoe, Hewahakoeroege
Aponde Fernando, Kandehakoeroege Michiel Fernando and
Willeherrehakoeroege Wattoewa 175.
We also find in the Dutch tombos ge-names such as Kalanjepoerege
Kirieboya, Menniekpoerege Kira and Randoennapoerege Oekeria 176.
Among the other ge-names given are Boomboegollige Hakkelia,
Donoroewege Joebenie, Handowellege Sangera, Jakkewollege
Doemingoea, Jamange Joewema, Jayalage Janan, Leboenage
Doemingoe, Oeroedeniegekandege Balea, Pannawennege Abaddea,
Kandege Soendira and Wandoeroege Kirieja 177.
Prominent Vahumpura patronymics of today include Alavatuvala,
Ambavatta, Amarasēna, Bastian, Dīgala, Fernando, Jayasēna, Pēdris,
Mathew, Munasi ha, Ranasi ha, Kulatilaka, Niriälla, Silva, Sēmagē,
Väliviṭigoḍa, Vijētu ga, Vimaladharma and Vimalasēna. Those bearing
such surnames also have their ge-names. For instance, the Pēdrises
174
SLNA 1/3728 & 1/3762
175
SLNA 1/ 3737 & 1/3738
176
SLNA 1/3739
177
SLNA 1/3738, 1/3739 & 1/3762
belong to the Diyunugē, the Fernandos to the Hēvadēvagē and the
Mathews to the Kaluvadēvagē.
As for the traditional occupation of the Vahumpura, it was, until
relatively recent times, the tapping of the kitul palm (Caryota urens)
and the production of jaggery, a course brown sugar made from the sap
exuding from the flowers of the palm. As such, the vahumpura were
often referred to as Hakuru, the Sinhala term for jaggery
(Fr.Pkt.sakkharā, Skt.śarkarā ‘ground or candied sugar’, originally
‘gravel’). That the occupation of tapping kitul palms and manufacturing
jaggery figured prominently among them is borne out by the ge-name
Hakurugē or ‘House of Jaggery’ which as the Dutch tombos testify,
were very common among them. The earliest mention of their jaggery
making tradition is probably that of the JV which tells us that it was
they, who having made the forest their abode, discovered hakuru or
jaggery. It states: “Because they made hakuru (palm sugar) like akuru
(pebbles) they were called hakuro”. By the Dutch period, the
Vahumpura seem to have been deeply involved in the occupation, so
much so that they were termed Jagarero by the Dutch. Van Rhee (1697)
calls the Hangeremans or Hakoeras sugar-makers while Valentijn
(1726) calls the Hangarema tappers of Jager trees named Kitaelgas
from whose sap sugar is made. Loten (1757) calls them Jagreiros who
made palm sugar.
The situation seems to have been no different in the succeeding
British period, showing that jaggery-making was an established
tradition among them during the colonial period. Joinville (1801)
records that the employment of the Jagregors is “to extract from the
cocoa-tree, from the kitoul, and the talgaha, a liquor with which they
make black sugar”. Davy (1821) tells us that the Hakooro or Jaggerymakers are pretty numerous and that their occupation is to prepare
jaggery from the juice of different palms, but chiefly from that of the
Ketoolga. He says that for their lands they had to furnish a certain
quantity of jaggery annually to the King’s stores, and provide the chiefs
with the same article, and with sweet toddy.
More than a century later, shortly after the country had obtained
independence, Ryan (1953) found that the Vahumpura were
traditionally distinguished as tappers of the kitul palm and makers of
the sugar (jaggory) produced from its juices.
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The Batgama
The Batgama, a numerically significant but nevertheless much
depressed Sinhalese caste of the upcountry have traditionally figured as
agricultural labourers in those parts of the interior that once constituted
the Kandyan kingdom. They also formerly served as carriers of
palanquins and providers of grass for elephants.
The appellation Batgama by which they designate themselves
literally means ‘rice village’, suggesting a connection with paddy
cultivation, though it is possible that it also means ‘bonded village’, in
other words, villages bound to the crown or state and obliged to
produce grain or provide other services solely for royalty or the state
178
. The JV traces the origins of the Batgama to the children and grandchildren of some crop-cultivating Sudras among the grahavasi who first
came to Lakdiva and lived there. Being idle at cultivation, they are said
to have existed by carrying loads for others. As time passed, kings and
ministers, annoyed at their indolence, ordered them to cut and thresh
their crops for hire on which they could maintain themselves. The JV
adds that as these folk lived in the king’s food villages, they were
called Batgam Ätto.
The Batgama are also known as Padu which term is however
considered derogatory. Several explanations have been put forth to
explain the origin of this rather strange term. I.Gunaratna 179 contends
that the term Padu could have derived from Parajāti (Lit.Outside
nation, or in other words, foreigners) through the intermediate forms
*pa + jāti and * pa+dä, citing in support the fact that a few of those
who bear Batgam vāsagam (patronymics) claim to have descended
from the Cōḷan captives brought hither by Gajabāhu from India. He
178
This is suggested by the fact that the caste name is also known to occur in the form
Badgama (See SSK.1990) which probably derives from the Prakritic baddha ‘bound’ +
gāma ‘village’. Also supporting this contention is the fact that Sinhala is known to
possess the rare form bat which is employed in the sense of ‘bound’ (See SSK.1990) and
the term it is evident has derived from the form baddha (as found in both Sanskrit and
Pali) through an intermediate form *bad. Such a hardening of a final dental d to t is
known to have taken place in Sinhala, as for instance in the case of the Sinhala behet
‘medicine’ which we know has derived from an earlier form behed which for instance
occurs in the 13th century SdR.
179
Batgama kula pīdanayē ārambhaya. Rāvaya. May 23, 1993
argues that these foreign captives were locally identified as Parajāti or
foreigners which gave rise to the term Padu. Another version gathered
from Batgama villagers by Saman Candrasiri 180, probably from the
villagers of Hevadivala Kudagama in Kegalle District has it that among
those captives brought hither by Gajaba from India were those who
rowed oru vessels and who were ordered to row quickly (ikmana a
padu) which thus gave rise to the term.
Wilhelm Geiger 181 who gives Paduvā as a ‘man of a community so
called attending to elephants, carrying palanquins etc’ connects it to
Sanskrit prājaka ‘driver’, ‘coachman’ and compares it to the Sinhala
verb padinavā ‘to paddle, row, drive, swing to and fro (Skt.pra+aj,
P.pajēti). A similar origin is given by Mudiyanse Disanayaka 182 who
records that those who drove the palanquin as a vehicle were called
Paduvās (dōlāva vāhanayak lesa salakatahot eya pädavūvāya yana
arthayen da movuhu pädduvō paduvō). A.H.Vīrasi ha 183 avers that the
term Paddō has derived from an older usage pādannō as he believes
that they once belonged to the King’s infantry or foot force (rājakiya
pābala hamudāva). We however venture to suggest that the term may
possibly derive from pajā ‘born of the foot’, in other words, a Śūdra or
low caste person, which would have arisen from the Hindu belief that
the Śūdras were sprung from the feet of Puru a or the Cosmic Being
184
. This would however only hold true if we are to suppose that the
Batgama had their origins in some remote Śūdra stock. The last named
derivation is nevertheless the most likely when we consider the fact that
Queyroz (1687) refers to a low caste known as Pachas, the greater
number of whom live in the Four Corlas and in the Seven Corlas and
who like the Chaleaz or Salāgama prepared cinnamon. Queyroz here
probably refers to the Paduvas as the term Pachas employed by him
180
Batgama kulaya pilibaňda ūna pūranayak. Rāvaya. June 06.1993
181
An Etymological Glossary of the Sinhalese Language (1941)
182
Vanniyē samāja sa vidānaya (1997)
183
Rajavarunṭa viśvāsa vantama vū jana kotasak. Rāvaya. Sep.12.1993
184
All these suggested etymologies are tenable for the simple reason that while Old and
Middle Indo-Aryan initial p has been retained in Sinhala, the intervocalic j of OIA and
MIA becomes d in its passage to Sinhala. Cf. Sinh.baduna ‘utensil’ (Skt.P.bhājana) and
yoduna ‘distance of about 16 miles’ (Skt.P.yōjana).
may well be his rendering of pajā ‘born from the foot’, a term which
later became Padu. That this community were considered Sudras is
borne out by the JV which refers to them as the descendants of some
crop-cultivating Sudras.
Such a classification would accord with the view that connects them
to the Tamil prisoners brought hither by Gajabāhu as suggested by
Gunaratna (1993) or to aboriginal tribals suggested by Candrasiri
(1993) who contends that the Batgama are descended from the Yakkhas
of old, citing in support the folk beliefs of the Batgama folk of
Talampiṭiya on the borderland of the Kegalle and Kurunegala districts
who claim that they are descended from the Yak a gōtrikayan (Yakṣa
tribals). He also cites as proof their colloquial usages such as ähunada
yakō ! (Did you hear Yako!) resorted to by elderly persons when
addressing one another.
The idea of a non-Aryan origin is also supported by the physical
characters of the Batgama, for we find that a good many are darkcomplexioned and possess rather short noses that somewhat differ from
both the broad nose of the typical Vedda and the fine slightly pointed
nose that characterizes many Govi folk, though at the same time it
cannot be described as snub either, suggesting perhaps a basic
Australoid strain that had been modified by admixture wth Dravidian
and to some extent Aryan elements. Besides Padu, the Batgama have
also been known as Durā as borne out by common folk usages such as
Durā Māmā (Dura uncle) and Durā Nändā (Dura Aunt) 185. These Durā
are said to have comprised of ten sub-castes known as the Daha Durā,
namely: 1) Paṭṭi Durā whose duty it was to protect cattle 2) Porō Durā
who chopped wood 3) Hari Durā who served as messengers 4) Maňgul
Durā who served as Barbers 5) Nadi Durā who bathed elephants 6)
Kuntavi Durā who provided defence services 7) Balibat Durā, the
slaves of the Kuntavi Dura 8) Panna Durā, grass cutters 9) Naṭṭambu
Durā, caretakers of elephants and 10) Hivanta Durā who washed the
clothes of the above mentioned folk 186.
185
See Karunatilaka (1989)
186
Ibid
Also interesting is the fact that in the Vanni, Batgama folk are also
called Durāva 187. This might perhaps suggest a connection between the
Batgama and Durāva, the former being that section of them confined to
the Kandyan areas and the latter being those of the littoral, who
assumed separate identities with the passage of time as a result of the
political divisions existing between the central highlands and maritime
districts largely as a result of colonial rule. The former association of
both castes in the caretaking of elephants also supports such a view.
Also interesting is the fact that the headmen of the Batgama were
known as Durayā. According to Codrington (1924), the headmen of the
Paduvā caste were known as Durayā or Vidāna Durayā, while Clough
(1892) gives Durayā as ‘chief of the Paduwas’.
When we take the hereditary ge-names of the Batgama, we would
find that almost about all such family names end in Pēḍigē 188 and
among the ge-names borne by the Batgama, we commonly come across
names such as Rankot Pēḍigē, Ransil Pēḍigē, Horatal Pēḍigē and
Meregal Pēḍigē. Even in the old Dutch records we find that the vast
majority of those given as Padoewa bear the ge-name Pedige. E.g.
Aloegal Pedige Maneha, Balesinge Pedige Kalindera, Dewetapedige
Tikiria, Handerie Pedige Moeroekoewa, Hewapedige Manikoe,
Hoeloegalpedige Sandoewa, Hoeretal Pedige Hattana, Ilandari Pedige
Sieria, Merregal Pedige Bilinda, Jalat Pedige Sahanda, Ranweli Pedige
Malkekkoela, Ranhottie Pedige Sahodera and Singele Pedige Hawedia
189
. Exceptions include Aganpodige Hawedia, Balisingege
Goeniendera, Gabbelage Jalloewa, Jarowage Oepindera, Jodegammege
Haukinda, Ilanganramenge Horretalla, Isoeremanejage Sowodera,
Koetiwillege Gauwa and Walloeage Seleloewa 190. Another well
known patronymic borne by the Batgama was Durayalāgē or Durayalägedara, as for instance Karunāpēḍi Durayalāgē, Rankot Pēḍi
Durayalāgē, Horatalā Durayalä-gedara and Pūlā Durayalä-gedara 191.
187
See Disanayaka (1997)
188
This term may perhaps derive from Skt.pe aka ‘box’ ‘chest’ which may by extension
refer to the palanquins they are formerly supposed to have carried.
189
SLNA 1/3737, 1/3738 & 1/3739
190
SLNA 1/3737, 1/3738 & 1/3739
191
See Disanayaka (1997)
When we consider the occupations the Batgama have engaged in
throughout the ages we find a considerable variety, though their
primary occupation seems to have been agricultural labour. The
Batgama are said to have formerly been slave farmers (dāsa goviyo)
who worked in the King’s batgam as well as in the fields of the Radala
aristocrats 192. Indeed, they are still known to serve as tenant farmers
and domestic servants, which could perhaps be considered a survival of
their days as agricultural serfs.
Ryan (1953) found the Batgama in the Central and Sabaragamuva
Provinces to be an economically depressed lot, lacking in land and
often serving as wage labourers. He was also informed that the
Batgama in the Ratnapura area served as funeral drummers. He notes
that the high castes considered them as fit only for menial outdoor
labour, and traditionally unsuited for household work, which again
shows the low esteem they were held in traditional Sinhalese society.
All this depite the fact the the Batgama formerly served as cultivators
and also formed part of the Sinhalese army.
Diogo Do Couto in his Decada V (1590s) calls the Pachas (which
presumably refers to the Paduas, as the Batgama were also termed) “a
people base in blood but brave in warfare” and as “a caste of
Chingulas cruel in the extreme, so that when they capture an enemy
they immediately cut off his nose and lips”. One however wonders why
he also calls them “men of the jungle” which might suggest that at
times he would have confounded them with the Veddas. Knox (1681)
tells us that the Poddah are of no trade or craft, but are husbandmen and
soldiers. That the Batgama served the Kōṭṭe Kings and their Portuguese
successors as soldiers seems very likely. In Portuguese times we come
across a reference to several Durey with their brave Padowo
strategically located in various places of danger to defend the
Portuguese possessions in the country against any incursions. It is also
said that in the war between the Portuguese and Rājasi ha, a hundred
and fifty bold Paduwo were concealed in the jungle adjoining the spot
where Rājasi ha had arranged to pitch his camp and that as the
Sinhalese army approached, the Paduwo opened fire on them 193.
192
193
See Karunatilaka (1989)
See Pieris (1913)
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The Navandanna
The Navandanna, who comprise the traditional artisan caste of the
Sinhalese, are a widely dispersed lot, being found in both the interior as
well as in the coastal districts. The caste has traditionally enjoyed a
high status in Sinhalese society probably on account of their putative
Brāhmaṇ ancestry and close relations with the royalty of the country.
Available evidence suggests that the ancestors of the Navandanna
arrived from different parts of South India and at different times before
settling down in the country. Those who had already settled down and
their descendants would have incorporated into their ranks other
immigrant artisans hailing from the subcontinent from time to time, all
eventually coalescing to form the modern-day Navandanna.
The Janava sa traces the origin of the Navandanno to a company of
kamburas (smiths) dispatched to Sri Lanka by King Asoka along with
the Maha Bodhi tree. These Kamburas, upon their arrival here, are said
to have become the chiefs of the smiths and the term Navan-danno
applied to them. Prior to this, the function is said to have been
performed by five craftsmen from the Pāndi country who arrived with
the Pandyan princess and the other ladies meant for Vijaya and his
followers. This is corroborated by the Mahāva sa which refers to a
thousand families of the eighteen guilds dispatched by Vijaya’s fatherin-law, the Pandyan King, and some of these guilds it is certain
comprised of artisans 194. Further, the chronicle has it that Emperor
Asoka assigned for the protection of the Bodhi tree eight persons from
the families of guild-chiefs. The account is further corroborated by the
Si hala Bodhi Va śaya which makes mention of eight Kamburu
families, eight Lōkuru families and eight Svarṇakāra families who
arrived with the sacred Bodhi tree from India during the time of King
Devanampiya Tissa.
The oral lore prevailing in isolated artisan villages of the upcountry
also appear to corroborate the account. The Navandanna village of
194
A reference to the 18 guilds occurs in the Mahā-Ummagga-Jātaka where it is stated
that Senaka, an official of King Videha took with him members of the 18 guilds to
construct accommodation facilities for the King. The members of the 18 guilds are
described as men adept at various crafts (nānāsippakusalā) and included carpenters,
blacksmiths, leather-workers and painters (va hakī-kammāra-cammakāra-cittakāra).
Nīlavala in the Kandy District for instance is said to have been founded
by a Brāhmaṇ named Nīla Nārāyana who arrived in the days of King
Devanampiya Tissa. The legend has it that four Brāhmaṇs, namely,
Nīla Nārāyana, Parama Nārāyana, Dēva Nārāyana and Tinna Nārāyana
arrived in the country during the time of Arahat Mahinda and decided
to settle down here. Dēva Nārāyana settled in Äldeniya while Parama
Nārāyana settled in Madavala and Tinna Nārāyana in Udispattuva. Nīla
Nārāyana having settled in Nīlavala gave rise to a community of
artisans who became famous in the days of the Kandyan Kings and all
the forty or so artisan families of the village trace their ancestry to him
195
.
It is quite possible as stated in the JV that the earliest artisans of the
country were those who had migrated from the Pandyan country, for as
the MV records, a thousand families of the eighteen guilds was
dispatched by the Pandyan King, and some of these guilds it is certain
comprised of artisans. That one or more of such guilds comprised of
workers in gold, silver and other crafts is therefore not unlikely. The JV
account would imply that these smiths were submerged by, or subjected
to those smiths who arrived from Eastern India during the reign of
Asoka. It is quite possible that these two groups, hailing respectively
from the Pandyan country and the Asokan realms of Eastern India
eventually merged to form a single community of artisans, serving the
royalty and aristocracy of the time.
Even in later times we hear of many artisans hailing from Eastern or
Southern India. For instance an old record dating to the reign of King
Parākramabāhu (C.13th century) states that the King fetched from
Kimbulvatpura (Kapilavastu) some Brāhmaṇs as well as a Śilpācāri to
renovate Munnēssaram Dēvāla. This Śilpācāri not only completed the
work assigned to him, but also engraved a stone slab and completed the
work on the Pattirippuva, as a result of which he received many
rewards from the King. He was conferred the title Mutugala
Rājakaruṇādi Vīravardhana Viskamnandana Ācāri, given four male and
female slaves and bestowed with the villages of Karāulla and
Uḍamäṭiyaňganē until the sun and moon would last in the Śaka year
1201 196.
195
See The Jewellers of Nilavala. Asiff Hussein. SO. April 20, 2003
196
See Kumaranatunga (2004)
The early history of the family of the Nīlavala Muhandirams of
Äldeniya and Ma galagama, artificers belonging to the RankaḍuPaṭṭala given in a ‘Vitti Vaṭṭōruva’ or ‘Statement of Claim’ in the
possession of the family, traces their settlement in the island to the
fourteenth or fifteenth century during the time of King Bhuvaneka
Bāhu of Kōtte (Possibly Bhuvaneka Bāhu VI). The progenitor of the
family is said to have been a master smith from India who so earned the
favour of the King that he was given the village called Ma galagama in
Kindigoda Kōrale for his sustenance and invested with the title of
Mandalavalli Nayide 197.
The South Indian element was no less pronounced particularly in later
times. As noted by M.H.F. Jayasuriya in his translation of the
Vaijayantatantra, a local Śilpaśāstra or Sanskritic handbook for artisans
and craftsmen (2001), the last century of the Sri Lankan monarchy was
a period when Hindu princes of the Nayakkar dynasty ruled the
country. Although these kings embraced Buddhism as a matter of
necessity, that they remained Hindu at heart cannot be doubted. “It is
possible that guilds of craftsmen and artisans would have been brought
over from time to time from Madura in South India to supplement the
local professionals in providing these Hindu kings and princes and their
queens with the jewellery, ornaments and other requisites required by
them on those various occasions of their official and private lives”.
Further, as contended by Coomaraswamy (1908), the Navandanna, at
any one time, speaking of the eighteenth and immediately preceding
centuries at least, consisted partly of indigenous craftsmen, and partly
of newly settled Tamil artificers, coming from Southern India, to work
for the King, who showed them favour and made them grants of land.
“Hence”, he says “it is that not only do we find the closest
correspondence in detail and technique between South Indian (Tamil)
and Sinhalese work; but also that the artificer families have often
Hindu names (such as Rājeśvara Dēvasurēndra), they preserve traces
of Śiva worship (such as Sanskrit ślōkas written in his praise), and of
other Hindu ceremonies (nētra ma galya etc.); the technical works are
obviously a part of the Indian Śilpaśastra; some of their technical
terms are corruptions of Tamil words; they make use of Hindu
mantrams”.
197
Coomaraswamy (1908)
However, to term these artisans as ‘Tamil artificers’ as
Coomaraswamy has done is not quite correct, for we have good reason
to believe that a good part, if not all of those artisans who migrated to
Sri Lanka from peninsular India claimed, and probably actually
possessed, Brāhmaṇ antecedents. Indeed, a tradition of their origins
recorded by Coomaraswamy himself suggests a Brāhmaṇ origin.
Coomaraswamy (1908) traces the South Indian segment of the
Navandannō to the Kammalār or craftsmen of Southern India who
claimed descent from the five sons of Viśvakarma ‘the patron deity of
arts and crafts, the great over-craftsman of the universe’, of whom the
first-born Manu, worked in iron; the second, Maya, in wood; the third,
Tvastra, in brass, copper and alloys; the fourth, Silpi, in stone; and the
fifth, Viśvajna, was a gold- and silver-smith and jeweler. He also
records a tradition to the effect that the Kammalār are descendants of a
race of Aryans who entered India across the Panjab long before Vyāsa
began the collection and arrangement of the Vedas. “They were known
in early times as Viśva Brāhma s, Dēva Brāhma s or Dēva Kammalār,
in contradistinction to the modern Brāhma s who are descendants of
Vashishta” says Coomaraswamy. “They reject the authority of the
Brāhma s, having priests of their own caste, and perform many rites
after the manner of Brāhma s” 198.
198
Indeed, it is a well known fact that artisan groups all over india commonly refer to
themselves as Visvakarma Brāhmaṇs after the god Visvakarman or ‘World Creator’ of
the RV. Edgar Thurston ( Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.III.1909) says that the
Kammalāns of South India who are made up of the five occupational sections, viz. Tattān
(goldsmith), Kannān (brass-smith), Tacchan (carpenter), Kal-Tacchan (stone-mason) and
Kollan (blacksmith) claim to be Brāhmaṇs and call themselves Āchāri, which is
equivalent to the Brāhmaṇ term Ācharya. He also notes that the Kammālans claim to be
descended from Visvakarma, the architect of the gods and call themselves Visva
Brāhmaṇs. “Visvakarma”, he records “is said to have had five sons, namely, Manu,
Maya, Silpa, Tvashtra and Daivagna. These five sons were the originators of the five
crafts, which their descendants severally follow”. Also interesting is the fact that the
Lohar artisans further north also traced their origin to Viśvakarma. Crooke (Tribes and
Castes of the N.W.P and Oudh) says that practically all the Lohars “trace their origin to
Visvakarma, who is the later representative of the Vedic Twashtri, the architect and
handicraftsman of the gods ‘the fashioner of all ornaments, the most eminent of artisans,
who formed the celestial chariots of the deities, on whose craft men subsist, and whom a
great and immortal god, they continually worship; one tradition tells that Visvakarma
was a Brāhman and married the daughter of an Ahīr, who in her previous birth had been
a dancing-girl of the gods. By her he had nine sons, who became the ancestors of various
artisan castes, such as the Lohār, Barhai, Sunār and Kasera”. Visvakarma also finds a
place in the banner of the Navandanna caste known as the Hanumanta Koḍiya. Here,
Visvakarma crowned and throned on the Himalayan heights (Kailasa) is seen holding in
Further, as we have seen earlier the origin legends of many a
Navandanna family traces its antecedents to Brāhmaṇs. Indeed, many
are those Navandanna who still claim a Brāhmaṇ ancestry and even
today we often find them referring to themselves as Visvakula
(implying descent from Visvakarma) as in the marriage proposal
columns of the national newspapers, and not Navandanna.
Indeed, there have been educated members of the caste who have
elaborated on their claims to Brāhmaṇ ancestry in very convincing
terms. Alfred Roberts 199 for instance argued for a Brāhmaṇ origin of
the Navandanna based on an interpretation of ancient Hindu texts.
Ratnawira held that the original progenitor of the Visvakarma caste, a
caste known also as Kammalar, Achari and Navandanno was
Visvakarma “the Heros Epnimos of the Visvakarma race” and “the
great architect of the universe”. Visvakarma, he notes was of the
Soorya Wansa or Solar race and that all members of the Visvakarma
caste descended as they are from him must of necessity be members of
that wansa. He further notes that the five sons of Visvakarma, namely,
Manu, Maya, Twashtar, Silpi and Visvagna are said to have sprung
from his five faces and were therefore Brāhmaṇs. In support he cites a
Vedic passage: Ayā Manu Rg Vedam Mayā dāru Yajustathā Tāmram
Twashtāra Jā Sāmam Silā Silpi Atharvanah Visvagna Swarnaka
Pranavām Pancha Brāhma a Vidhiyate (Manu was a Blacksmith and
Author of Rg Veda; Twashtar was a Brazier and Author of Sāma Veda;
Silpi was a Mason and Author of Atharvana Veda, and Visvagna was a
Goldsmith and Author of Pranava Veda. Know that these five Vedis
were Brahmins).
He also quotes the Vyjayanta of Vyjayanta Rshi who says:
Sasarjeeta Brahmapurāhi lokam poorvāgni yāmyā disdēsa vyāptam
his right hand the book of crafts and arts and in his left hand a sceptre. Hanuman is
depicted holding in his right hand the magic shrub, with a part of the peak of Dungiri
which he had transported, and his left hand is uplifted as, according to the Navandanno
tradition, he beseeches the god not to intervene for a short space till he has set fire to the
city of Lankapura, Visvakarma’s beautiful creation. Above is the emblem of the sun,
while below is shown the smith at work in his forge. On the right a man on one knee is
blowing the bellows. The smith is striking with a hammer a piece of iron, which he holds
with a pair of tongs upon an iron anvil fixed to a wooden block, and the fire blazes on the
masonry kiln (Perera 1916). The flag is fairly old. Philalethes (1817)) refers to the
Navandannajo or artificers who carry a flag with a device of an ape called Anumanta.
199
Visvakarma and his descendants (1909)
Tadanya bhutāni balāni tatsikham satyāda vichchēda prajāpatibhyāh
(In the remote past, Brahmaya who ruled the East, the South-East and
the South, created the world. To make crowns in the world thus created,
other gods save Brahmaya are unskilled and ill-qualified. In verity, this
crown-making caste is directly descended from Brahmaya). He also
cites the following quotations from the same work to establish the
nobility of the caste: Visvadēwa kulē jātā sansuddhē bhayavansajah
sarvasāstra dharo daksah sthapatih dasa karmani (The Achāri, who is
born of the Visvakarma caste, begotten of parents of pure and noble
Visvakarma wansas themselves, and who is instructed in all the sastras,
and proficient in all the ten arts becomes the chief Achāri) and
Etatchaturvidhāchāryam mānayēth Brahmaputravat sarvakarma kriā
chittram yēsamukta pramānatah (These four kinds of Acharis or
teachers versed and efficient as they are in all the industrial arts, should
be worshipped and revered as Brahmin princes) 200.
Roberts also cites Cadwalder Wadday who, in speaking of the
Visvakarma caste wrote as follows in the Madras Times of 21st
November 1884: “Masonry or Freemasonry is two thousand years old
in this presidency, and the signs and symbols are carved on some of the
temples. This caste is a strict Brahmin caste”. He also cites
Rev.J.E.Padfield who wrote in the Christian College Magazine: “The
Goldsmith caste, many of whom are carpenters, workers in brass and
copper, are themselves a class of Brahmins having their own share in
the Vedas, and their ritual”. He further notes that although in Ceylon
and Madras the descendants of Visvakarma have lost their position
“they are still held in great respect in some parts of India”. “In
Tiruvanamalai” he notes “a holy shrine and place of worship of great
renown, all the obsequies pertinent to a Brahmin dead are observed in
the humation of a Visvakarman. In some parts of Northern India they
are reigning princes”.
200
The work cited by Roberts is probably the Vaijayantatantra which Coomaraswamy
(1908) refers to as a ‘Śāstra used by Sinhalese jewellers’. The work states in no uncertain
terms that the Master-Craftsman should be a member of the Viśvakarma caste and one
born into a family whose mother and father are wholly pure themselves. It also adds that
one should never employ a Sūdra or a man of any other caste than that of the Viśvakarma
as his Master-Craftsman.
Other indications of the former Hindu, and not unlikely Brāhmaṇ
origin of the Navandanna are found in their Sanskritic names such as
Dēvēndra and Dēva Surēndra and their preserving vestiges of Śiva
worship which was noticed by Coomaraswamy a century ago, though
this no longer appears to be the case. Coomaraswamy observed that the
artificer families of his day possessed Sanskrit slokas written in Śiva’s
praise, suggesting that their forbears were Saivites.
However there are indications to suggest that some of them at least
were Vaishnavites. D.T.Devendra 201 has suggested that the
Navandanna on the basis of their names like Dantanarayana,
Devanarayana, Wijenarayana and Devasirinarayana would have
belonged to clans rather given to Vaishnava than to Saiva worship. This
is quite possible given the fact that the name Nārāyana is a name by
which devotees of Viṣnu invoke him as Īśvara or the Supreme Being.
The fact that a good part of them were Vaishnavites rather than Saivites
would also explain why they would have embraced Buddhism without
much difficulty, for the Vaishnavites regard the Buddha as the ninth or
last incarnation of Viṣnu so far, which belief would have little doubt
facilitated good relations and eventual assimilation into Sinhala
Buddhist society 202. Be it as it may, what all this shows is that the
ancestors of the Navandanna were Hindus until fairly recent times.
The fine physiognomy and fair complexion of the Navandanna may
also be taken as evidence of a remote Aryan, and probably Brāhmaṇ
ancestry. Many of the Navandanna folk we encountered during the
course of our research in the upcountry were a fairly lightcomplexioned people with a skin colour ranging from a light brown to
201
202
The way we grew (2001)
Although it is true that Thurston (Vol.III.1909) has recorded that the Kammalans
profess the Saiva form of the Brāhmaṇ religion, he also records that it was Kōchadē
Periyāndavan regarded as Viṣnu who invited the Tattāns to settle in his kingdom.
Tradition holds that the Tattāns emigrated from the north and settled in the Madura and
Tinnevelly districts (ibid). This would suggest that the Kammalans or at least the most
important section of them, viz. the Tattān or goldsmiths were formerly Vaishnavites and
that Saivism among them was a later development. As evident from the observations of
Coomaraswamy (1908), those Kammalan who had settled among the Sinhalese were also
formerly given to Saivism, though at the same time it is apparent that they had also
preserved vestiges of their former Vaishnavism as suggested by some of their names,
especially those bearing the form –Nārāyana which as we have seen above would have
been used by worshippers of Viṣnu.
a rosy or golden complexion. The fine features, intelligent
countenances and cultured conduct of these folk may also be taken as
survivals of a persistent Aryan and probably Brāhmaṇ strain facililated
largely by strong endogamy or marriage within the community.
The appellation Ācāri by which the Navandanna have been
respectfully referred to in Sinhalese society may imply a connection
with the Brāhmaṇs, for as Thurston notes, the term Ācāri by which the
Kammālans or South Indian artisans called themselves is equivalent to
the Brāhmaṇ title Ācarya. At the same time however, ācāri itself is a
Tamil term used as a title of respect for head masons and carpenters 203
and even in Sinhala the term seems to have had the meaning of ‘master’
or ‘expert’. For instance Davy (1821) tells us that silversmiths,
blacksmiths, brass-founders, carpenters, turners, lapidaries and
sculptors are called by the general name achari “as masters or teachers
of the arts which they profess, such being the meaning of the word”.
The term is nevertheless Sanskritic in origin, deriving from the Sanskrit
ācārya ‘teacher’. In fact, the Sinhala term äduru which has very likely
derived from the Skt.ācārya or T. ācāri does not seem to have ever
denoted a Brāhmaṇ, but was rather applied to a craftsman 204. As such,
we cannot place too much reliance on this term to prove a Brāhmaṇ
origin for the Navandanna.
The appellation Navandanna too gives no indication as to the origins
or affinities of the people so designated, for as held by popular belief it
may simply mean ‘Those who know nine (industries)’ 205 or if we are to
go with the explanation given in the Janava sa they were so-called
because they did novel work (nava kam) and renewed old work, for as
it notes, the expression nava is a name for a new thing. We however
venture to suggest that it could have also possibly meant ‘Nine Peoples’
(Fr.Sinh. nava ‘nine’ + dana < MIA & OIA jana ‘people) suggesting
203
Winslow (1862)
204
In the 10th century tablet of Mahinda IV at Mihintale we find a reference to the chief
master artisan (va u maha ädura) and the guild of artisans at Boňd-vehera (boňd -vehera
se āya). In the Piyummala too we come across the term maha-äduru in the sense of
‘master-carpenter’.
205
Śrī la kāvē pāramparika śilpi gam ha paramparika śilpīngen pävata ena pavul
pilibaňda samīkṣaṇayak. Jayadeva Tilakasiri (1994)
that this community would have at one time been constituted of nine
groups or sub-castes.
As for the sub-castes within the Navandanna community, these
appear to have been more like guilds than sub-castes proper and it is
not unlikely that there was frequent intermarriage between them. It
would appear from the accounts given in the MV and the JV that the
earliest artisans comprised of those who had arrived from the Pandyan
country with the royal princess and other women meant for Vijaya and
his followers shortly after they had consolidated their power in the
island. Later times however saw the arrival here of some Kamburas
dispatched by Emperor Asoka who went on to become the chiefs of the
smiths (whom we may suppose to be the Pandyan smiths) and
eventually came to be called the Navandanna.
Whether these groups intermarried is uncertain. It is however not
unlikely that they did, considering the fact that they would have
possessed a common origin tradition and the small numbers of artisans
domiciled in the country which would have severely restricted the
choice of spouses given the likelihood that they like the other caste
groups of the time would have preferred marriage within the caste,
despite their origins from the different regions of India. The reference
in the SBV to the eight families, each of the Kamburu 206 , Lōkuru 207
and Svarnakāra 208 who arrived with the Sacred Bodhi Tree from India
during the reign of King Devanampiya Tissa would suggest that these
artisans belonged to different guilds comprising of workers in iron,
brass and gold. Whether these guilds intermarried cannot be said for
certain, but if we consider the evidence gathered from later sources,
they probably did.
206
Sinh.kamburā ‘smith’, ‘brazier’ fr.MIA kammāra. We come across a reference to an
ironsmith (kabara) named Puśa in an ancient Brahmi inscription of the pre- or earlyChristian period found at Brāhmaṇayāgama while in a Mihintale Tablet of Mahinda IV
(10th century) we find a reference to two blacksmiths (kambur de janak) to whom some
land was to be given.
207
Sinh.lōkuru ‘worker in copper or brass’ fr.OIA lōha-kāra ‘worker in metal such as
copper’.
208
A Sinhalese loan from the Sanskrit svarnakāra ‘worker in gold’.
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Prominent Navandanna ge-names include Ācārigē, Davunda
Mulācārigē, Alhendracārigē, Mallikā Baḍalgē, Puvakdaṇḍāve
Lōkurugē, Välihinda Baḍalgē, Dorēmurē Baḍalgē, Kuḍaradala
Ratnavibhūṣaṇalāgē, Dēvanārāyana Nayidelāgē, Vijēndragedara,
Dēvasurēndragedara, Dēvēndragedara, Manuvīra Vikramagedara,
Dēvanārāyana Hittaragedara, Śrī Randeniyēgedara, Hangiḍi Gedara
and Ābharana Gedara 209.The present-day descendants of Dēvēndra
Mulācāri, a native of Devundara, who during the time of Śrī Vikrama
Rājasi ha designed the Pattirippuva (Octagon) and the Maňgul Maduva
(Palace hall) at Kandy are said to belong to two houses, namely,
Ämbäkkē Manuvīra Vikrama Gedara and Uḍunuvara Handessē
Arantana Dēvēndra Gedara 210.
Those artisan families of Kaḍavat Dumbara bearing the ge-name
Rankot Vibhūṣana Gedara and Gurunānsēlāgē Gedara are said to
belong to the Nīlagama family 211. Ge-names with Hittara-Gedara such
as Uḍavela Hittaragedara and Dēvanārāyana Hittaragedara indicate a
connection with painting. Similarly, Galvaḍu Ācārigē indicates a
connection with rock carving. Among the prominent Navandanna
patronymics may be included Amēndra, Ambēpiṭiya, Alahēndra,
Imbulāna,
Ilukkumbura,
Kōdāgoda,
Tēnuvara,
Dēvēndra,
Dēvasurēndra, Hēmacandra, Dēvapura, Delpecitra, Dēvanārāyana,
Dantanārāyana, Navaratna, Nārāyana, Batukumāra, Bartolamiyus,
Manamēndra, Middenipiṭiya, Rabel, Ratnavibhūṣana, Välihiňda,
Vīramantri, Vijayēndra, Vijēsurēndra, Vimalasurēndra, Vijēnārāyana,
Vimalaratna, Salvatura, Sonnādara and Sampāyō 212.
The Navandanna no doubt enjoyed a high status in traditional
Sinhalese society and the situation is not much different today. Knox
(1681) ranks the artisans (Goldsmiths, Blacksmiths, Carpenters and
Painters) just below the Hondrews or Govi folk. He notes that there was
no difference in apparel between the Govi and artisans while they were
also privileged to sit on stools which were denied to the other castes.
209
Many of these names occur in Tilakasiri (1994)
210
Tilakasiri (1994)
211
See Citra, mūrti hā kätayam. S.P.Charles. MVV (1985)
212
See Kumaranatunga (2004)
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The Ba ahäla
The Baḍahäla constitute an occupational group involved in the
manufacture of pottery for household use. Thus they could be regarded
as the traditional Potter caste of the Sinhalese. The caste name
Baḍahäla now used to denote this group probably originally meant ‘a
storehouse, place where goods are made or placed’ as it appears to be
derived from the OIA bhā a-śālā (as found in Sanskrit). The
intermediate forms ba asala and ba asäla in this sense are found in
Sinhala literature 213. It is possible that it was through an intermediate
sense of ‘storekeeper’ that it came to denote a potter. These Potters are
also known as Kum bal in certain parts of the country 214.
It is likely that Potters have figured prominently in Sinhalese society
from very early times, given the fact that the articles they manufactured
such as earthen vessels for cooking and storage purposes were
considered indispensable in Sinhalese households until not very long
ago and is still so in the remote rural areas. The JV traces the origins of
the Baḍahälayō to the days of Vijaya who is said to have appointed for
the Potters’ (kumbal) service those who made clay utensils (valan) after
which a chief Potter (kumbakāra) who was appointed to accompany the
Dumindra Raja (Bodhi tree) arrived at Lakdiva and performed the
service. Another early reference to the group is found in the SBV which
alludes to eight Kumbal families who accompanied the Sacred Bodhi
Tree to Sri Lanka. It is quite possible however that some Potters had
already been established in the country, particularly after the
immigration into the country of the eighteen guilds who are said to
have arrived here with the Pandyan Princess and other ladies meant for
Vijaya and his followers. One such guild would have very likely
comprised the Potters. Rohana Pranandu 215 however seeks to trace the
213
SSK (1990). The JV attributes a slightly different origin to the term when it states:
“Erecting halls (sālā) because they baked and fired there, their name became badasäla”
(sālā tanā ehi ulu valan davā pulussana heyin badasälayo yayi kiyā).
214
The term is probably related to such appellations as Kumhār or Kumbhār denoting the
Indian Potter caste and deriving from the OIA kumbha-kāra ‘potter’ (Skt.kumbha ‘jar,
pitcher, water-pot’). Terms such as kubakara and kubala for ‘potter’ are attested in the
local Brahmi inscriptions and these forms it may be supposed were the predecessors of
the modern term kumbal. The modern form occurs in the 13th century DmbAs which
refers to 790 potters (kumbal satsiya anuvak) in the royal service corps.
215
Kumbal Prajāva saha mäṭi karmāntaya (2010)
origins of the caste to the Nāgas of old on the grounds that the term
nayidē used in reference to their headmen derives from nāga-dēva or
“Naga King’. He also points out that Navagamuva, a prominent potter
settlement was formerly called Nāgomuva as Nāgas lived there. This
explanation, needless to say, is a bit far-fetched, especially since the
very existence of a race known as Nāgas in ancient Sri Lanka is in itself
questionable.
One thing however is certain, and that is the settlement of potters in
the island is very old. An ancient Brahmi inscription of the pre- or
early- Christian period found at Vēgiri Devala in the Central highlands
refers to the potter Sona (kubakara so a) while another at Patahamulla
Vihāra refers to the potter Cita (kubala cita). The occurrence of these
Prakritic or Middle-Indo-Aryan sounding names in these inscriptions
which record the donation of caves to the Buddhist clergy suggest that
these potters had adopted the dominant Aryan culture of Sinhalese
society and were like them Buddhists. Scattered references to the
Potters are also not wanting in mediaeval Sinhalese literature. The Dmb
As (13th century) refers to Baḍahälayo forming part of the royal service
corps. The SdR also makes mention of Baḍāl-kula or Potters. In the
olden days, such as in the time of the Kandyan Kingdom, the services
of the Potter for the tenement of land he enjoyed are said to have
consisted of supplying a proprietor with all the requisite earthenware
for his house and bath, and his lodgings on journeys, for cooking, and
for soaking seed paddy, for festivals, wedding & c. and also the
supplying of tiles and bricks, giving earthen vessels to tenants and
making clay lamps and vases for temples 216.
Davy (1821) says that the Baddahala or Potters are pretty numerous
and that for their lands they had to pay a small tax in money, and to
furnish the kitchen of the King and chiefs with earthenware. Valentijn
(1726) likewise says that the Coeballo or Potters are subject to the
temple and to the village, and must also make earthenware pots for rthe
landlord. With the collapse of the feudal system and the service tenure
upon which it was based, the Badahäla continued with their traditional
occupation of pottery-making for commercial purposes as the demand
for their products remained high. Ryan noted over fifty years ago that
216
Coomaraswamy (1908)
hand-potting, an important caste monopoly among the Baḍahäla, had
become one of production for the impersonal market, though Potters in
certain remote areas continued to maintain symbolic vestiges of their
service roles to the leading Govigama families. Such roles today
however appear to have altogether died out for the Baḍahäla of today
solely produce for the market.
As for the distribution of the caste, we cannot but agree with
A.K.Coomaraswamy 217 when he says that the Sinhalese Potters
(badahelayo) are found all over the country in every village affording
the necessary clay, but often aggregated in greater numbers in places
where an especially good supply of suitable clay is available. Ryan
(1953) likewise observes that the Baḍahäla are scattered over the
island, but are usually found in homogeneous villages or in subvillages
close by towns or the cultivator villages. He found that in most cases
the Baḍahäla were pursuing their traditional craft, although frequently
engaged also in agriculture. “Clay deposits possibly influence their
distribution, but clay is widely available, and in some instances Potter
villages transport it from places which, in a bullock-cart economy, are
quite distant”. It is also likely as argued by Pranandu (2010) that the
earliest settlements of the caste began near Sri Lanka’s rivers where
clay soils are found.
Perhaps the earliest reference to a settlement of Potters is that found
in the Va satthappakāsini or Mahāva sa Ṭīkā (Commentary to the
MV) which refers to a Kumbhakāragama (Lit.Potter Village) to the
south of Anuradhapura. References to this village are also found in the
Sahassavatthupakaraṇa and Visuddhimagga. Among the prominent
Badahäla villages of today may be mentioned Pepiliyana, Telavala,
Borupana, Kaňdavala, Jaltara, Habarakaḍa, Ambatalē, Sālāva,
Velangalla and Navagamuva-Ranāla in Colombo District;
Ambalanmulla, Bemmulla, Polhēna, Pilapiṭiya, Periyamulla,
Nambādaluva, Vīraňgula, Kalageḍi Hēna, Haḍideni Kanda and the
Galborälla region of Kelaniya in Gampaha District; Bolgoda, Mahavila
and Mahayāla in Kalutara District; Ambanpola, Dangolla,
Dummalsuriya, Giribāva, Hu gamuva, Tittavälla, Yahalēgedara,
Lihiniyā-Vähära, Galliňda-Koṭuva and Horombāva Pilässa in
Kurunegala District; Buluvāna and Mādampē in Ratnapura District;
217
Sinhalese Earthenware. SZ.July 1906
Kumbiyangoḍa and Bambāva Māningamuva in Matale District;
Maravanāgoḍa, Nugaliyädda, Valala and Vēruvala-Velambaḍa in
Kandy District; Kusumpura, Gokarallagama and Pandita-Rambava in
Anuradhapura District; Tanamulvila, Hīvidigala and Hiňdakivula in
Monaragala District; Kumbalgama, Puhulvälla, Valgama, Valasgala,
Vallivala and Ūrugamuva in Matara District; Āňdādola, Sīnigoḍa and
Sipan Kanda in Galle District and Kāsingama and Kohompōruva in
Hambantota District.
Many of these Potter settlements have declined of late, due no doubt
to the scarcity of quality clay and the ready avalabilty of modern
substitutes made of metal or plastic. A couple of years ago it was found
that in Colombo District, it were only the potter folk of NavagamuvaRanāla comprising of over 200 families that still engaged in the
industry while in Kelaniya too it had declined significantly. The potter
folk of Pepiliyana no longer practice their profession as no clay
industry exists in the region at present. The folk of Telavala have also
abandoned pottery-making, though in former times they obtained the
required clay from the nearby Vēräs River 218.
Some potter communities have not been content with their traditional
productions, but have ventured into new areas for commercial reasons.
For instance, the Potters of Kelaniya are said to have acquired a
reputation for redware with incised work for household needs as well as
the colourful clay toys that thrilled children of a bygone age. The large
pots, bowls and tall vases meant for modern home décor have been the
special contribution of the Potters of Kegalle and Veyangoda in more
recent times 219.
As for the patronymics of the caste, it was not uncommon for Potter
folk to bear the ge-name Baḍahälagē or ‘House of the Potter’ which
may be preceded by the name of their village or place of origin. The
Dutch Tombos bear ample testimony to this. Take for instance,
Baddehellege
Kiria,
Kosgoddebaddehellege
Adrian
and
Ambelangoddebaddehellege Daniel who are given as Pottebakkers (Pot
makers) 220.
218
See Pranandu (2010)
219
See Handicrafts of Sri Lanka. Jayadeva Tilakasiri (1994)
220
SLNA 1/3728 & 1/3761
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The Radavā
The Radavā who constitute the traditional Washer caste of the
Sinhalese, like other service castes, are a widely dispersed group, found
in both the interior as well as in the low country. The term by which the
caste is known, Radavā, literally means ‘Washer’ having derived from
the OIA and MIA rajaka ‘Washerman’ as found in Sanskrit and Pali.
Among the other appellations by which the Radavā are known are
Hēnayā 221and more rarely Pēḍiyā or Pēňḍiyā 222 which may perhaps
suggest some distant connection with the Batgama who also bear the
rather unusual ge-name Pēḍigē. Be it as it may, the existence of Washer
communities in the island is probably very old and may go back to the
early days of Aryan colonization of the island. The Janava sa traces
the origins of the Radavā to Cloth Cleaners obtained by King Vijaya
from the Pāndi country whom he is said to have appointed to clean the
clothes of everybody, and it is not unlikely that the earliest Washers
arrived from that part of the subcontinent.
That the early Radavā comprised of a darker-skinned folk than the
ordinary Sinhalese of the time is suggested by a Sigiri graffiti of C.9th
century: Pila apulana to nätten ha ugar nättan vä [dä] vesey ridiyak
beyandhi ran-vanun ature (As there is no place of water where clothes
are washed and as there is no clothes-house, a Washerwoman has gone
into the midst of the golden-coloured ones). The verse obviously refers
221
Codrington (1924) gives Hēnayā as a polite synonym for the Radavā, and Vidāna
Hēnayā as the designation of a Radavu headman. Indeed the Washerman is colloquially
known as Hēna Māmā in village usage. The JV in its characteristic style gives a rather
fanciful origin for the term. It states that because they washed and gave infants’ sleeping
(hona) clothes and because they cleaned and gave clothes so that affection (senehe) was
increased, they were called hēnayā.
222
The JV would have us believe that the Radā were called Pē iyā because they took
wages (pa i) for washing, though this explanation seems to be a rather far-fetched one. In
a land grant of C.1807, we find a Washerman being called Pē iyā (See Saparagamuvē
pärani liyavili. Kiriälle Gnānavimala (1946). Charles Carter in his Sinhalese English
Dictionary (1924) likewise gives Pē iyā as ‘washerman’ and ‘chief of washermen’. A
variant form Pēňḍiyā is also known (JSK 2000). Some Washerfolk are also known to
have borne the ge-name Pēḍigē. We find in the Dutch tombos, one Ginihoelopedige
Tambieja being described as a ‘Dorps Wasser’ (Village Washer) and another Karnahalloe
Pedijalage Joan Fernando being described as a ‘Pedia Wasser’ ( SLNA 1/3734 &
1/3728). The Mandārampura Puvata also refers to pē ihu and pē ii dana (Pēḍi folk) of
Amunumulle and Nāpaṭavela, which probably refer to these folk.
to the fresco of a darker-skinned woman, many of whom are found
painted in the midst of fairer-skinned women depicted with a
complexion approaching a golden hue and hence described as ranvanun (golden-coloured ones) in the graffiti. That the Radavā or a
sizeable portion of them were of Dravidian origin is also suggested by
the fact that in the Dutch Tombos of the 18th century their patroymics
are often suffixed with the form poeli or poellie which we may suppose
was a corruption of the T.pillai ‘son’223.
Whatever their origins may have been, the Radavā had become
established quite early on as part of Sinhalese society, as a service caste
occupied in washing the raiment of the higher castes, especially the
Govi to whom they were bound by service obligations. They were a
common feature of mediaeval Sinhalese society. The PjV for instance
makes mention of the Radavun or washers while the DmbAs makes
mention of 800 washers (Radā a asiyayak) forming part of the royal
service corps.
The traditions prevailing among the Washer caste themselves do not
give us any indication as to their origins. The Washer folk of the
Ruhuna country are said to have a folk tradition according to which the
daughter of King Mahasammata and Mā Dēvi attained age and there
was none to remove her cloth. For this purpose Mā Dēvi called her
brother who was a māmā (maternal uncle) in relation to the princess.
As he was in the chena (hēna) at the time, he became hēnē māmā.
However, as he was unmarried and did not have a wife he was unable
to perform the duty. A woman was therefore created for him and as she
increased in prosperity (riddhi) she became Redi Nändā. This is said to
have been the beginning of the Rajaka parapura or Washer folk 224.
The Radavā when formally referring to themselves, as in the marriage
proposal columns of the national newspapers, term themselves Rajaka
which is the Sanskritic term for ‘washer’.
223
Consider for instance the following Wasser (Washer) names occurring in the Tombos.
Wirapoellie Battema (SLNA 1/3728), Saderipoelli Radage Soebea and Asserapoelli
Radage Poentjoewa (1/3737). Hugh Nevill (Kohomba Yakas. Taprobanian.Feb.1886)
also gives Samarapulle Radāgē as a name used by the Washers.
224
Malvara Sirita. Devika Perera (1993)
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The ge-names of the Radavā are quite distinctive when compared with
those of other castes, and often suggest a connection with their
traditional occupation. These include Halugē, Radāgē, Raṇagē,
Naidagē, Kīragē, Hēnayalāgē, Kuḍāhēnayalāgē, Vijēratsalugē,
Nāgahalandē Gedara, Kongaha Gedara, Mailagas Gedara,
Kuḍāhēnayalāge Gedara, Hapuapullana Gedara and Ratnahaluvidāna
Gedara. The ge-name Radāge or ‘House of the Washer’ is a fairly
common patronymic among the Radavā and was so in the olden days as
well.
In the Dutch Tombos we very commonly come across the ge-name
Radage borne by the Wasser (Washer folk), among them Radage Balea,
Radage Joan, Radage Louis Silva and Radage Domingo Fernando 225 .
We also come across more complex names such as Aremberadage
Pasqual, Kaddinapoellie Radage Lanan, Goellewilleradage Christobu
and Hallewolleradage Sanema 226. Those bearing non-Radage genames are very few indeed. E.g. Sarentekondege Pasqual,
Wanniheenealage Bastiaas 227 Simbagiekiennege Domingo and
Hembagikienne Mohandiramge Lourensoe 228.
Another fairly common ge-name used by the caste is Haḷugē which
again suggests a connection with laundry, ha uva meaning a ‘cloth’ or
‘shawl’ in Sinhala. The name seems to have been a fairly common one.
Carter’s Dictionary (1924) gives Ha ugē as ‘a family or tribal name of
the washer caste’. The term apullana occurring in ge-names such as
Hapuapullana-Gedara means ‘to rub’ or ‘to scrub’, again suggesting a
connection with washing. Another common family name borne by the
Radavā is Asurā. Nevill 229 gives Asurā as a family name of the
Radawa people and in the Dutch records we find Wasser (Radavā)
names such as Assoeroepoelie Radage Tominikoewa and
Assierapoelige Jantjea 230. What the exact significance of this term is, it
225
SLNA 1/3728, 1/3762, 1/3846 & 1/3848
226
SLNA 1/3762
227
SLNA 1/3762
228
SLNA 1/3761
229
Taprobanian.August.1887
230
SLNA 1/3739
is difficult to say. Whether it suggests any connection to the Asuras
whom Hindu tradition regarded as the enemies of the dēvas or deities,
or whether it is connected to the Sinhala asura/ahura ‘handful’, ‘as
much as can be held in the closed hand’ it is difficult to say.
As for the distribution of the Radavā, it is only natural to suppose
from the nature of their occupation that the distribution of the caste
should be a widespread one and it is indeed so. In this connection we
cannot but agree with Ryan (1953) who notes that the Hēna people are
scattered throughout all Sinhalese regions. “Seldom does one find a
high caste village without a few of these families. In addition there are
many exclusively Hēna villages, particularly in the Kandyan
provinces”. He observes that although the Hēna are often engaged in
agriculture, the washing of the clothes of the high castes, and hence
most clothes, since the higher castes predominate, remains a Hēna
monopoly. “Whom the Hēnayā serves varies widely by locality, but
always the Karāva and Goyigama are included. In some Kandyan
areas washing is done strictly for the Goyigama, elsewhere for
Vahumpura and other moderately low castes”. He however noted that
many had become urbanized and were found in professional and
clerical occupations. “The majority” he adds “are, however, in villages
where, if they themselves do not wash, at least some of their caste
neighbors do. Even in cities, where laundering is frequently undertaken
on a small capitalistic scale, the industry is almost entirely theirs, in
both roles of entrepreneurs and hired labor”.
This remains very much the case today as well, in so far as the rural
areas are concerned, though it is not unlikely that the demand for their
services in the urban areas such as Colombo has declined of late due to
the incursion of professional laundry establishments and even washing
machines which have made their presence felt in many an urban
household 231. Nevertheless it is in the rural areas that the Washer caste
enjoys a greater distribution.
231
There was a substantial number of dhobies settled near Colombo’s Beira Lake not so
long ago. E.B.Denham in his report on Ceylon at the Census of 1911 (1912) informs us
that a part of the lake was known as Dhobies Lake and refers to an old plan of Colombo
in Le Grand’s “Ribeiro” where it is described as Etang Des Lavandieres or ‘The Tank of
the Washerwomen”.
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The O i
The Oḷi are a caste of astrologers, exorcists and occult practitioners
found in both the upcountry and low country, and especially in the
southern parts of the country. Practices such as astrology where
auspicious times are sought to commence an important event such as
marriage, exorcism to ward away evil spirits that have taken possession
of the human body and the occult arts such as black magic to bring
harm to an enemy have figured prominently in Sinhalese folk religion
since time immemorial and it is in such a context that the role of the Oḷi
has to be viewed.
The Oḷi, like many other Sinhalese service castes, appear to have had
a South Indian origin. Indeed, even the term Oḷi does not appear to be
Aryan in origin and is in all likelihood of Dravidian origin.
Raghavan (1962) notes that Oḷi does not seem to be a Sinhala word and
that considered etymologically, the idea is conveyed of a ‘hidden man’
- one who is disguised,-from Oḷi in Dravidian languages meaning ‘to
hide’. The idea of disguise, he explains, accords with masked dancing,
and masked dancing, we know, was one of the occupations undertaken
by the Oḷi 232. Raghavan takes his argument for a Dravidian connection
of the Oḷi further in his Tamil Culture in Ceylon where he seeks to
show that the Oḷi were originally a Tamil group from South India and
connects them to the Oliyans who find mention in the Pattinappalai
(Part of an ancient anthology of Tamil poems known as the Pattuppāttu
or Ten Poems). This poem tells of Kaikala Cōla who followed up his
victory over the Cēra and Pāndiya by marching against the Oliyans,
who submitted to him. He further gathers from the inscriptions of
Mamallapuram that the Oliyar originally inhabited the
Tondaimandalam region and that they were subdued by Karikala. He
also gives as personalities who bore names affixed with Oli in early
Cōḷa times, Oli Nāgan Madaiyan, Oli Nāgan Narayanan and Oli Nāgan
Chandra Sekera.
232
See Raghavan (1967)
It is also possible however that the term Oḷi could have derived from
T.o i which figures in terms such as o iyam ‘a kind of witchcraft’
and o iyakkaru ‘medical drugs & c. used in witchcraft’ 233 and which
originally appears to have referred to the Orissa country which would
imply that the caste had its origins in Orissa in Eastern India.
Although we have no evidence for the existence of the caste in the
earliest days of Sinhalese civilization, they seem to have been known in
the mediaeval period. For instance, in the Tablet of Mahinda IV at
Mihintale (10th century) we find a reference to an Oḷ-kämiya which
probably refers to a person of Oḷi caste. We also find the 15th century
JV stating that those who danced making gesticulations (uhulu vihulu)
were called Uliya or Oliya. The functions of the Oḷiya of old were
varied. Besides astrology and exorcism in which they have figured
prominently, they also performed ritual dances, particularly to a deity
known as Garā-Yakā. Loten observed in 1757 that the Ollie were
Baljaardens or dancers while Joinville noted in 1801 that the Ollias
were dancers and mimics, the former being obliged “to be on the road
when great people pass by, and accompany the palanqueen, for a
length of time, by their extravagant steps, which they call dancing”
while the latter “put on a mask of the devil Rakseia, who is very
formidable here, and dance with the mask on, in order to appease
him”. Hugh Nevill 234 says that the Ulliya or Oliya are dancers by
profession, dancing a religious dance to Garā-Yakā who strikes men
with pestilence and epidemics. None but the Ulliya can appease him by
this dance, he adds.
There were also those Oḷi, particularly of the Kandyan country, who
seem to have had no other ritual function but to participate in peraharas
or religious processions which were a common feature in the olden
days, particularly in the days of the Kandyan kings. Davy (1821) says
that the Olee who are very few in number, had no particular service to
perform, but to carry in the procession, at one of the great annual
festivals, the monstrous effigies of the demons called Assooriahs. Such
participation in the perahäras which involved carrying effigies of the
233
The change of > seems to have taken place in Sinhala in the early centuries of the
Christian era in connection with words derived from Prakrit and it is possible that the
same development could have taken place with regard to Dravidfian loans.
234
The Taprobanian.April 1886
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The Hunnā
The Hunnā are a caste of lime-burners found largely in the lowcountry, though a few may be found in the upcountry as well. The caste
takes its name after the Sinhala term for ‘lime’ hunu (Skt.cūr a,
P.cu a) and as its name implies has been traditionally engaged in the
burning of lime required for construction purposes (i.e. plastering or
whitewashing of buildings) and for the fast dying habit of betel
chewing (where it forms an important ingredient) 235.
When this caste emerged among the Sinhalese it is difficult to say.
The JV traces the origins of the Hunu to some of the men among
Vijaya’s followers, who having reached Lakdiva with him, each for
himself, making lime, consumed it. The King, angry at it, caused one or
two of them to do the lime work and from then onwards they were
called Sunna in the Lanka language. It however also refers to a hundred
men of the Kālinga race who were sent by King Dharmasoka
(i.e.Emperor Asoka of India) for the construction of the nava mahal
(nine-storied pagoda) with tiles (ulu), bricks (gadol) and lime (sunu) for
the Dumindra Raja (i.e.Śrī Maha Bōdhi). The King Devenipätis
(i.e.Devanampiya Tissa) in order not to allow those of them who knew
the craft to return to Dambadiva (i.e.India) gave them fields, gardens,
cattle, pearls, gems etc. together with Sunupiṭi and Dangāla and
established them in the royal court, giving them much rank and respect
and the Ravana Kodiya. It however adds that they lived in the shore in
the midst of the Kevula (fishers) submissively. The early European
sources also refer to them. The Dutch Tombos refer to the Hunnā as
Choenamberoe or Kalkbrander. Cordiner (1807) refers to the Hoonas or
‘lime-burners’ while Davy (1821) says that the occupation of the Hunu
or Chunam or lime burners is to burn lime and make charcoal.
235
The hunu or lime for this purpose was traditionally produced in primitive kilns from
material obtained from ancient fossilized coral reefs found inland or below ground or
more recently from coral found off the seas of the south western coast of the island or
imported from the Maldives. The industry which was largely centered in the stretch
between Ambalangoda and Hikkaduwa, particularly in areas such as Akurala, has seen a
severe decline of late as existing inland deposits have been depleted and offshore coral
mining has been banned. A finer lime is obtained from burnt seashells, though unlike the
stronger lime obtained from coral which is used for plastering brick walls, it is often used
as an ingredient in betel chewing. It seems that lime was obtained from a variety of
sources even in the olden days. As the JV states: “Those who taking stones, trees and the
like, burning them and making lime (sunu) are called Hunna”.
Codrington (1924) gives Hunnā as a Sinhalese caste of Chunamburners.
The community nevertheless seems to have been an organized one,
for Valentijn (1726) says that among the Hoenno or Lime burners are
different sorts and services such as the Hoenodewea, their chief who
customarily plasters the walls and directs the people. That they had
their own chiefs is also borne out by Codrington (1924) who notes that
their headman is known as Hunu Payinḍakārayā.
As for the distribution of the Hunnā, it is likely that their settlements
were influenced by proximity to sources of lime. A Mihintale Tablet
inscription of Mahinda IV (10th century) refers to the assignment of a
village named Sunuboḷ-Devägama to the lime-burners (sunu-bo na).
We find in a Dutch Tombo of Adikaripattoe in Hinakorle in the village
Hoenopittie over 16 Kalkbranders and their families 236. The Dutch
records also indicate some Kalkbranders in Bokoendere 237 and some
Choenamberoes in Kalemoelle 238. In the Ceylon Almanac of 1835 we
come across a reference to the Chunamberus caste of the Negumbo and
Allootcoor Corle. More recently, Hunupiṭiya in the littoral of Negombo
not far from Periyamulla had a community of Hunnas who produced
lime obtained, it is said, from coral imported from the Maldives. We
may also surmise that the Hunna had once established settlements in all
those areas bearing the name Hunupiṭiya or ‘lime grounds’ of which
there are at least three, one not far from Negombo, another near
Wattala and yet another in the Slave Island area of Colombo. Ryan
(1953) says that the Hunu, although few in number, are to be found
almost exclusively in the southern and western coast, in towns or
urbanized villages. “In the Low Country where the majority live,
relatively few are engaged in the traditional vocation, many having
entered urban occupations. In some instances the large scale lime kilns
of the southwest coast are owned and operated by Hunu”. He adds that
“in a few Kandyan localities Hunu villages are to be found engaged in
lime production on a small scale”.
236
SLNA 1/3738
237
SLNA 1/3728
238
SLNA 1/3762
As for the ge-names of the Hunno, a very common ge-name amongst
them is Hunugē or ‘House of Lime’ and this is even borne out by the
Dutch records. E.g.Hoenoege Mighiel Fernando, Hoenoege Louis,
Ballipittie
Hoenoege
Anthony,
Benterrhoenoege
Joewema,
Dewerahoenoege Pasqual, Manikoe Honoege Kiria and Nikkadoewe
Hoenoege Ralloewa 239. There are however a few exceptions such as
Ourakadoewege Joan Fernando of Bokoendere 240 and Annakarege
Joan, Boelawellege Nicolas Hemboedorege Markoe and Lienedorege
Adria of Hoenopittie 241. Yet another interesting name given as that of a
Kalkbrander is Hingalipoeredewege Tilloewa 242.
The Yamannu
The Yamannu are a numerically small upcountry caste that had as its
traditional occupation the smelting of iron, though it is doubtful
whether they ever engage in this occupation today. The appellation
Yamannu seems to literally mean ‘Iron-men’ or ‘Those who make iron’
as it is evidently connection to an Old Sinhala term for iron, ya
(Skt.ayas, P.aya) which still occurs as a particle of the modern Sinhala
term for the metal, yaka a and in compound terms such as yahala
‘forge’, ‘foundry’.
Whether the Yamannu were an independent caste or arose as a
division from another caste it is difficult to say. It is not unlikely
however that they arose as an offshoot of another caste such as the
Padu or Vahumpura. The JV simply states that the Yamanas are those
who understand iron smelting and produce iron suggesting that there is
a possibility that they were merely an occupational group that could
have been part of a larger caste. Valentijn (1726) gives Jamano or those
who smelt iron as belonging to the Hangarema or Vahumpura, an
identification which finds support in the Portuguese Tombo of 1618
which refers to Jagreiros or the Vahumpura giving as their service
obligation to the authorities lumps of iron, presumably produced by
them. For instance the Tombo refers to 18 Jagreiros in Caramdenia and
239
SLNA 1/3728, 1/3761 & 1/3762
240
SLNA 1/3728
241
SLNA 1/3738
242
SLNA 1/3737
Batapala who gave the King 380 lumps of iron and 120 lumps to the
Vidanes of Bentota and Balapitiya. Davy (1821) on the other hand
gives Yamanoo or ‘iron smelters’ as of the Padua caste, while
B.Clough in his Sinhalese English Dictionary (1892) refers to Paduvās
as being employed as ‘smelters of iron’. Ryan (1953) likewise believed
Yamano to be an occupational name for persons who are otherwise the
same as the Batgama. He notes that those who accept the appellation
are simply elderly members of a Batgam village and who retain some
knowledge of an ancient art of iron smelting practiced in former days.
Be it as it may, there can be little doubt that the caste figured
prominently in the social life of the olden days as the iron they
produced was considered indispensable and much sought after for the
production of weaponry and kitchen utensils.
The Samanalawewa area where considerable iron smelting sites
dating to the early Christian period have been found are known to have
had a number of Yamannu folk living in the vicinity. For instance,
Pilipota is known to have once had a sizeable Yamannu community as
well as Tennekumbura and We-Eliya near Horagune at Haldumulla.
There was also found in Veralugasmankada seven families of Yamannu
who operated as a small community on the edge of the large village of
Muttetuwegama 243. Nevertheless the distribution of the Yamannu
would have been much more wider in the olden days. Field
investigations in two areas known for their iron occurrences, namely,
Wilagedara and Pandirendawa in the North Western Province have
revealed that there are several villages in the area with the name
prefixes āgara and ākara (Lit.mine), eg. Agare, Akaravita) which had
iron mines 244.
The earliest evidence for indigenous iron-smelting in the area of the
Anuradhapura kingdom comes from the recent excavation of a number
of furnaces at a large smelting site at Dehigaha-ala-kanda to the west of
Sigiriya dated to 2nd century B.C. to the 4th century A.C. and which
evidently belong to the same technological tradition as those at
Samanalawewa 245. This would suggest that these ancient iron-smelting
243
See Early Iron and Steel in Sri Lanka. Gillian Juleff (1998)
244
Metal mining sites in Sri Lanka. W.Karunaratne and C.B.Dissanayake in Perspectives
in Archaeology. Ed. Sudarshan Seneviratne et al (1990)
245
Juleff (1998)
sites were either worked by the forbears of the Yamannu or that the
Yamannu had been vested with the technology by another people from
whom they had taken over the skill of iron-making.
The Yamannu of old were bound to provide a certain quantity of the
iron they produced to the state for the lands they enjoyed, for Davy
(1821) notes that for their lands, the Yamanoo had to furnish to the
King’s store, and to the chiefs of districts, a certain quantity of iron.
Much of the iron produced by the Yamannu however seems to have
been sold to or exchanged by barter with the Acari or blacksmiths who
produced the utensils required by the populace. Coomaraswamy (1908)
for instance refers to the smiths of the Navandanna caste procuring iron
from the Yamannu for the purpose of manufacturing steel, while we are
told that the Pilipota Yamannu made iron for blacksmiths at Hatanpola,
Imbulpe, Nedungama and Mawalgaha 246.
The incursion of British colonialism and the resultant laissez faire
economy in the upcountry beginning from 1815 appears to have
severely affected the caste occupation. Dr. C.A.Hewavitarane in his
contribution on ‘Cottage Industries’ to the Ceylon Handbook (1924)
says: “Iron smelting is still found in one or two places among a special
caste known as Yamannu”. He however adds “Owing to the cheapness
of imported iron and the difficulty of getting fuel the industry has
practically died out”. Nevertheless the art of iron-smelting did survive
among the caste in a small way until fairly recent times.
As for the distribution of the Yamannu, it is likely that the settlements
of the caste were influenced by proximity to the iron ore which they
smelted. The villages of the caste, according to Nevill 247 were known
as yagam which literally means ‘iron villages’ suggesting that the
localities where they settled had an abundance of iron ore. Villages
whose names were affixed with yahal ‘forge’ (E.g. Yahala,
Yahalmulla) and kamburu ‘furnance’ (Kamburugama, Kamburupitiya)
appear to have had a tradition of iron-manufacturing and were very
likely founded or at some time settled by the Yamannu.
246
Ibid
247
The Taprobanian.April 1886
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The Gaha a
The Gahaḷa, Gahaḷayō or Gahaḷagambadayō are an obscure
upcountry Sinhalese caste who served as executioners and scavengers
in the days of the Kandyan kings. So low was this caste held in public
esteem that Cordiner (1807) classed the Gahalegan Badeas
“executioners” as ranking just ahead of the untouchable Roḍi in his
hierarchical list of the Sinhalese castes. Davy (1821) records that the
Gahalagambadayo had the lowest and vilest services to perform and
had to furnish executioners and scavengers to keep the streets clean,
and remove dead bodies.
One thus finds that the functions of the Gahaḷa of Kandyan times
greatly resembled those of the Caṇḍālas of the early Rajarata kingdom.
According to the MV, King Panḍukābhaya engaged five hundred
Caṇḍāla men as city-scavengers, two hundred as sewage-cleaners, one
hundred and fifty as removers of corpses, and as many Caṇḍālas as
cemetery-keepers. It however cannot be said for certain whether the
Gahala are the direct descendants of the early Caṇḍāla or whether they
were constituted of an aboriginal people, some other caste or persons
outcasted for some offence or other. That this caste was constituted
from another caste is not unlikely though we cannot say for certain
from exactly which caste they derived. Davy (1821) calls the
Gahalagambadayo ‘a degraded portion of Paduas’ who were prohibited
from eating and marrying with the rest, though even among themselves
one set was considered lower than the other and held in contempt for
eating beef. The SSK (1983) on the other hand states that the Gahaḷa
are regarded as a sub-caste of the Panna caste (Pannākulayē upa
kulayak). The appellation by which the caste is known, Gahaḷa, does
not give us any indication as to the identity of the caste as it appears to
literally mean ‘filth’ 248 and it is not unlikely that they took their name
after their much despised occupation of clearing rubbish.
The fall of the Kandyan Kingdom to the British in 1815 and
subsequent changes in the legal system of the country which introduced
hanging as the preferred mode of executing criminals in place of
248
The Si hala Śabdakōṣaya (Ed.D.E.Hettiaratchi. 1983) gives gaha a as ku uro u and
ku ukasala (both of which denote ‘filth’ or ‘rubbish’) as well as ‘a caste of that name’
(enam kulaya), the individuals of which cleared rubbish (kasa a sōdaka katayutu) and
tortured (vadhyan a vadha dīma).
beheading meant that the Gahaḷa lost the support of the state and had to
look for other avenues of income, which did not bode well for a society
unwilling to accept them into more productive avenues of employment.
The degraded lot of this folk and the dangerous path they had chosen to
pursue was noticed by Tennent (1859) who refers to ‘the village on the
opposite side of the (Mahaväli) river’ which he crossed at the ferry of
Katugastota being inhabited by the Gahalayas ‘a race less degraded in
blood, but more infamous in character than the Roḍi yas’. He adds:
“They acted as public executioners during the reign of the Kandyan
kings, and being thus excluded from the social pale and withdrawn
from the healthy influences of popular opinion, they became in later
times thieves and marauders, and subsisted to a great extent by the
plunder of travelers”. Nearly a century later, Ryan (1953) found that
the village “on the opposite side of the river” near Kandy referred to by
Tennent was still well known even many miles distant as the home of
the Gahala, though not one man was found who would assert that he
was a member of the caste. Ryan also found that the very mention of
the village name brought a smile to the face of far distant villages; it
was notorious not because it was the home of a degraded people, but
because it was a prosperous community notorious for its prostitution.
The Dema a Gattara
The Demaḷa Gattara are a low country caste said to constitute the
descendants of Tamil captives brought hither by a Sinhalese monarch
of old. Ryan (1953) has recorded that the popular origin story of the
Demaḷa Gattara finds them descendants of the Tamil King Elara’s
warriors, who presumably married among the Sinhalese. He observes
that their contemporary designation as ‘Tamil’ possibly attests the truth
of the legend. He however notes that at least as likely as this legend is
their descent from an immigrant Tamil labour force, possibly
introduced in the Portuguese period.
Ryan’s belief that the Demaḷa Gattara are descendants of King
Elara’s warriors despite its basis in popular legend appears to be a bit
too far-fetched as the appellation appears to literally mean ‘Tamil
captives’. Codrington (1924) records that the Demaḷa Gattaru (which
he believes to be from dema a ‘Tamil’ and gattaru ‘captives’) were
supposed to be the descendants of Tamil captives taken by Sinhalese
kings. Which king or kings took these captives he does not say.
However given the available literary sources they were probably taken
by King Gajabāhu (C.113-135 A.C.). The Rjv says that Gajabā having
obtained 12,000 Cōlans from the Soli King settled them in Alutkūruva,
Sārasiya Pattuva, Yaṭinuvara, Uḍunuvara, Tumpane, Hēvāhäṭa, Pansiya
Pattuva, Egoḍa Tiha and Megoḍa Tiha 249. However if this were the
case, what happened to those captives who were settled in the
upcountry areas such as Tumpane, Uḍunuvara and Yaṭinuvara remains
to be explained, unless we are to suppose that they at some point in
history drifted south west to the areas where they are presently found
due to some unexplained reason. According to Codrington (1924) , the
Demaḷa Gattaru were to be found chiefly in the villages of
Iňdigastuḍuva and Bondupiṭiya in the Pasdun Korale of the Western
Province; Vallambēgala and Galkanda in the Bentota-Valallāviti Korale
and Galahēnkanda and some other villages in the Gangaboḍa Pattu of
Galle in the Southern Province. Ryan (1953) writing a few decades
later recorded that the Demaḷa Gattara were composed of several
thousand households and were found exclusively in the western low
country, and chiefly in contiguous agricultural villages near Alutgama.
The distribution of the Demaḷa Gattara of today is probably very much
the same, though it is not unlikely that the lure of urban life has
attracted many to the larger towns and cities, particularly Colombo.
As for the occupations undertaken by this caste, we do not have any
evidence to show what this caste did for a living in the olden days or
what their traditional service roles were, if any. By the middle part of
the last century the vast majority were found by Ryan (1953) to be
typical village peasants and labourers, and not engaged in any craft. He
however noted that in some of their southernmost villages, the Demaḷa
Gattara were alternatively described as the Kalupothu Demaḷa,
indicative of a traditional vocation in winnow making and other forms
of basketry. The more northerly villages, he observed, professed no
knowledge of the art.
As for the status of these folk in the traditional Sinhalese caste
hierarchy, they were apparently deemed of a very low social level. The
appellation gattara or gattaru applied to them often meant an outcaste.
249
Folklore also seems to support such a view. Denham (1912) records that Harispattu
‘Country of the Four Hundred’ according to tradition, received its name from its been
originally peopled by four hundred captives brought from the Coromandel Coast by King
Gajabahu in lieu of those whom the sovereign of that country had carried off from
Ceylon during the reign of his father.
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The Kinnara
The kinnara are a largely upcountry caste group who appear to have
originated from some tribal folk that found its way to the island during
some remote period. Their physical traits display a curious blend of
Australoid, Mediterranean and Negrito traits and whether they have at
least partly descended from the lost tribe known as the Niṭṭävō 250 it is
difficult to say in the absence of any direct evident to this effect.
Parker (1909) who represents the Kinnaras as “the lowest caste in the
island” observes that the Kinnaras are the only race in the country with
curly hair. “In the case of some of the men the whole hair of the crown
consists of a mass of very short thick curls, while the lips of those I
have seen were invariably rather thick, although the jaws were not
prognathous”.
250
The Niṭṭävō were a legendary race of people, a recollection of whose existence is
preserved in Vedda tradition. This dark-skinned, dwarfish race which is believed to have
lived in the Mahalenama region, now within the Yala East Intermediate Zone as well as
the Tamankaduva area has been identified by this author as a Negrito stock that had made
its way to Sri Lanka in some remote period, a hypothesis supported by the fact that some
typical Negrito traits such as closely coiled hair that stands out from the head as a
permanent curly mop do occur among the Veddas of Tamankaduva which is exactly the
area where the Niṭṭävō are also said to have inhabited, suggesting that the Niṭṭävō were
very likely a Negrito people (See Hussein.2009). According to Vedda legend, this race of
people gave immense problems to the Veddas, attacking intruding members of the tribe
so that no Vedda dare enter their district to hunt or collect honey. The Veddas are said to
have fought with these Niṭṭävō and driven the remnants of them, men, women and
children, into a cave, before which they piled firewood and kept up a fire for three days,
thus exterminating the race, an event which if at all probably took place sometime around
the 18th century. The belief that the Niṭṭävō were completely wiped out also seems to be
reflected in their very appellation which appears to have in all probability meant ‘the
exterminated ones’, having derived from the Sinhala ni āva‘end’ which also occurs in
the form ni ā-venavā ‘to perish totally’, ‘to disappear finally’, ‘to be ended’ The term
very likely derives from the Prakritic ni hā and Sanskritic ni hā which gives a similar
meaning. It is however possible that before the extermination of this folk, its more
peaceful members would have had some intercourse with the Veddas which may explain
why Negrito traits have been discerned among the Veddas of Tamankaduva, while others
would have entered civilized society and taken to practicing some type of craft or other,
eventually mixing with some other tribal folk and settling down to the manufacture of
mats and becoming absorbed into Sinhalese society as a distinct caste – the Kinnara.
M.D.Raghavan 251 however avers that the curly hair mentioned by
Parker is “nothing more than what is generally associated with the
cymotrichous or the wavy or curly-haired races of mankind. It is not
the wooly-haired type or the short spirals seen in the negroid peoples”.
He adds: “In racial classification individual variations scarcely affect
the racial type. There is a good deal of the straight hair also present
though the wavy hair predominates. Skin colour varies between light to
dark brown, more medium than dark. Nose is perhaps the more
noticeable of their facial characters. The older generation have mostly
rather high-pitched nose, thick and heavy at the base. The observable
somatic characters are mainly – medium stature, brown skin colour,
more medium than dark, rather long, large and thick nose in full grown
adults, eyes set deep, lips not thick or everted, hair more wavy or curly
than straight, a variable head form, and no prognathism or heavy brow
ridges. The elder generation presents rather rugged features, with
scant body hair and the chin tuft”. These traits, he concludes, make it
rather a problem to place them racially, presently generally a composite
make up of Mediterranean and Australoid admixture.
One cannot but agree with Raghavan’s observations, for the Kinnara
folk we visited in the village of Hēnāvala (during a visit in early April
2003) were not invariably dark-complexioned. Their complexion
ranged from dark to light brown while all had wavy or curly hair. At
the same time we cannot simply dismiss Parker’s assertion that some of
the Kinnara men he came across possessed a head of hair consisting of
a mass of very short thick curls or that their lips were rather thick. Thus
one cannot rule out the possibility of some remote Negroid or Negrito
strain that found its way into the composition of this folk given their
rather peculiar racial characters.
The appellation Kinnara by which these folk are generally known is
often used in Sanskritic literature to refer to a mythical being with a
human figure and the head of a horse or with a horse’s body and the
head of a man 252. The Sinhala term kiňdurā which has derived from it
however denotes a class of fabulous beings, human above and bird-like
below 253. It is however not unlikely that the Kinnaras may have been
251
The Kinnarayā - The tribe of Mat Weavers. SZ.1951
252
See Monier-Monier Williams’ Sanskrit-English Dictionary (1899)
253
See for instance Coomaraswamy (1908)
an actual tribe of men as suggested by the Raghuva śa of Kālidāsa
(C.5th century A.C.). In fact, the land of the Kinnaras of the classical
Indian writers such as Kālidāsa has been identified with modern
Kanaur in the upper valley of the Sutlej 254. Nevertheless to suppose
that the local Kinnaras could have derived from such a geographically
distant folk purely on the basis of a shared name is rather far-fetched.
The origin of the name as told by the Kinnara themselves is no less
fanciful. Christine Spittel 255 records the following Kinnara legend as
told by themselves: “When an ancient King’s garden was being raided
of its flowers, his nephew, Kuru Mudaliya, was set to catch the thief. At
midnight he saw seven divine maidens alight from the sky to steal the
flowers. Catching one he married her. Her name was Kinnara Devi.
The young couple were so idle that the King threatened to behead them
both if they did not offer some service to the crown. This made them so
despondent that the god Sakra taught them the art of mat weaving,
which they do to this day believing that theirs is a divine art”.
Alternatively, the term Kinnara may have derived from the Elu or
Classical Sinhala kinu or ki u ‘black’ (Skt.kr a, P.ka ha) + nara
‘man’ indicating that they would have originally been a rather swarthy
race of men. The Kinnara have also been known as Karmāntayō. Parker
(1909) gives Karmāntayō as a synonym for the Kinnarayo and also
relates a folk tale ‘The Prince and the Princess’ which refers to a
Kinnara man as Karumantaya 256. Raghavan (1951) says that the
Kinnarō are also known as Karmānta Minissu, Karmānta Kārayō and
Karmāntayo. These terms are rather vague and offer no indication as to
the origin of this folk as they are all derived from the Sinhala term
karmānta meaning ‘industry’, in a narrower sense, the industry they
were traditionally engaged in, meaning mat weaving. Another term,
albeit a very rare one applied to them, Tiṇakāra appears to literally
mean ‘grass people’ (Cf.P.ti a, Skt.tr a ‘grass). Yet another rare term
applied to them Panakāra appears to have meant the same thing, either
‘grass’ or ‘leaf’ (Cf.P.pa a, Skt.par a).
254
See India in Kālidāsa. Saran Upadhyaya (1947)
255
Surgeon in the Wilderness (1975)
256
Village Folk-Tales of Ceylon (1910)
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The Ro i
The Roḍi who have the unenviable reputation of being the lowest
ranking Sinhalese caste as well as the only ‘untouchables’, so to say,
among the Sinhalese are a numerically small caste largely found in the
upcountry, though a few are also found in the north western parts of the
island.
The Roḍi, like the Kinnara, are of tribal origin, a fact borne out by a
number of factors, including their distinct language and unique folklore
which betray elements of a remote tribal past. Although considered a
Sinhalese caste, there is reason to believe that the Roḍi are derived
from an Austro-Asiatic stock hailing from Eastern India and are
racially akin to such aboriginal tribes of India such as the Hos and
Birhōṛs. There is much in favour of such an origin for the Roḍi and
among those who clung to this belief was M.D.Raghavan 257 who held
that the Roḍi were descended from a Kāli-worshipping Austro-Asiatic
tribe of Eastern India. This, he held, was suggested by the tribal
organization of the Roḍi (the conservative Vanni group of which
comprised of twelve exogamous clans), their distinct speech and their
folklore and invocations to their legendary ancestress Ratnavalli which
seem to have preserved memories of Kāli worship and human sacrifice
such as was found in eastern India upto fairly recent times. Raghavan’s
theory is indeed quite tenable, for as we shall see, the evidence
marshalled in its favour is fairly substantive and is corroborated by our
findings based largely on the nomenclature and physical anthropology
of the community.
The folklore of the Roḍi lends much support to the theory of a
distinct origin for the caste as it has preserved memories of an origin as
hunters from India. Among the authorities cited by Raghavan in this
connection is A.M.Ferguson who has recorded an interesting tradition
concerning the origins of the caste. Ferguson 258 says of the Roḍi: “On
a close examination it has been ascertained from several old and wellinformed men of the caste, that according to a legend prevalent among
them, their first ancestors were Weddahs or hunters and that they trace
257
Handsome Beggars. The Rodiyas of Ceylon (1957)
258
The Rodiyas of Ceylon. MLR. Nov.1895
their origin to India. They first landed in the retinue which followed the
transportation to Anuradhapura across the sea, of the sacred Bo-tree,
by Sangamitta about 2,000 years ago”.
The invocations of the Roḍi to their legendary ancestress Ratnavalli
has also been cited by Raghavan as indicating a tribal origin. Consider
the following Roḍi song addressed to Ratnavalli collected by Nevill
(June 1887):
Ratnā-tilaka-walli nama obinnē, Rissa noyana toyiluyi mama karannē,
Vissa wayasa pasuwenakota bolannē, Massā aran misa pitipā noyannē
(The name Ratna-tilaka-valli befits you, With rituals awe-inspiring I
propitiate you,And you whose twentieth year has passed, You shall not
go without the coin (or flesh) 259.
Also consider the verse:
Edā sitama munindun dunna awasarē, Meran unu wendā gaesuwē
ekasberē, Berat gasā gen geta aevidin nitarē, Uranat Ratnawallige
naetum puradirē
(From that day by permission granted by the Sage Lord, Was struck the
ekas bera to heat Meru, Beating the drum, you go from house to house,
And snakes rejoice at the dance of Ratnavalli)
Another verse runs:
Sīta sulan sal oli yal aenda liyē, Gāta gīta una isa rada naedda liyē,
Bīta karana mutumālā baenda liyē, Gātā asannata wara ratnawalliyē
(Oh woman dressed in wreaths of cool Sal flowers, At whose
incantations fevers and headaches vanish, Who wears the fearsome
strings of pearls, Oh come Ratnawalli, to hear (our) stanzas)
259
Nevill interpretes massa as fish-coin while Raghavan believes it to refer to flesh or
mas.
Yet another verse runs:
Nil bara nil rukata pita di unnu liyē, Nil bara nil warala gawasā
baenda liyē, Pil bara kandanwala pachepat karana liyē, Nil bara
telambuwen bahu ratnawalliyē
(Oh woman, leaning against the tree of blue,Oh woman who bound her
bluish tresses, Oh woman, like the peacock resplendent, Descend from
the blue-laden Telambu tree, Oh Ratnavalli)
Finally there is a verse attributed to Ratnavalli herself where she
addresses the King thus:
Agēwadana maye telambuva nosi a loba, Dangē waeteyi maharaja
nosi an asubā, Gangē watura men le waeki karana subā, Magē nama a
baendapan ratna dāgabā
(Covet not the Telambu tree I so esteem, Oh King ! Do not think of
evil, Prosperity do I bring you with blood flowing, Like the waters of
the river, Erect in my name the golden dagaba) 260.
As Raghavan notes: “The references to her worship in a sacred
grove of trees, her braided bluish tresses, her resplendent figure, her
continuous dancing movements, her strings of pearls, incantations
against diseases, her wreaths of flowers, her fearsome necklace, her
triumphal progress, her house to house visits accompanied by
drumming, the rejoicing of the Nāga world, the offerings of flesh and
blood which flow like the Gangā, all these and more are unmistakable
as associated with the ceremonial cult of Kāli, the most active of the
early cults of India. The fearsome necklace of corals is the garland of
human skulls round the neck of the awe-inspiring Kāli. Munindu who
gives her permission, is here the great lord Siva, and the reference is to
260
The reference to the Telambu tree is clarified by Nevill (June 1887) who records a
tradition that there once stood a gigantic Telambu tree amid a sacred grove on the site of
the Ruvanväli Dāgaba. This grove and tree, he says, were sacred to Nava-Ratna-Valli, a
form of Pattini as Kāli to whom human and other sacrifices were there made. When the
Thera Mahinda selected the spot for the dāgaba, the angry goddess is said to have
scattered pestilence around the country and it was only after enormous sacrifices were
made to appease her that her tree and grove were felled and the dāgaba erected on its site.
It is possible that the Ruvanväli Dāgaba itself may have been named after Ratnavalli,
since the term ruvan has the same meaning as that of ratna, namely, golden or precious.
the permission which Siva vouchsafed to her, to betake herself to the
mortals below, where she would be received and worshipped with
proper rituals. The awe-inspiring offerings are the human bloody
sacrifices”. This would perhaps also explain the outcaste status of the
Roḍi, for as Raghavan notes: “That a form of worship in which human
offerings formed the essential ritual would have been anathema to the
Buddhist way of life goes without saying; and it needs no stretch of
imagination that any class of people in whom the cult prevailed or
survived in an attenuated form, would have been pronounced by the
Sangha as exiles from the social order”.
As revealing as these verses are, the origin legends of the Roḍi in its
many variants also reveal some insight into the early antecedents of the
community, connecting it to a cannibalistic past that may perhaps hide
a more sinister tradition of human sacrifice. One of the earliest notices
of the origin legend is that of Knox (1681) who says of the Roḍi : “The
Predecessors of these people, from whom they sprang, were Dodda
Vaddahs, which signifies hunters to whom it did belong to catch and
bring Venison for the King’s Table. But instead of Venison they
brought Man’s flesh, unknown; which the King liking so well,
commanded to bring him more of the same sort of Venison. The King’s
Barber chanced to know what flesh it was, and discovered it to him. At
which the King was so inraged, that he accounted death too good for
them; and to punish only those persons that had so offended, not a
sufficient recompense for so great an Affront and Injury as he had
sustained by them. Forthwith therefore he established a Decree that all
both great and small, that were of that Rank or Tribe, should be
expelled from dwelling among the inhabitants of the Land, and not to
be admitted to use or enjoy the benefit of any means, or ways, or
callings whatsoever, to provide themselves sustinence; but that they
should beg, from Generation to Generation, from Door to Door, thro
the Kingdom; and to be looked upon and esteemed by all People to be
so base and odious, as not possibly to be more”.
Hugh Nevill 261 records the following Roḍi tradition told to him by
an aged Rodiya: At Parakrama Bahu’s court the venison was provided
by a certain Vaedda archer, who during a scarcity of game substituted
the flesh of a boy he met in the jungle, and provided it as venison for
261
The Gādi or Rodi race in Ceylon. The Taprobanian.June 1887
the Royal Household. On the following day Navaratna Valli, the
beautiful and idolised daughter of the King, called the Vaedda aside
and said emphatically “Just so, Vaedda bring just such venison again,
or fear my anger”. It would seem that the princess had penetrated the
horrible deception, but fascinated by a sudden longing for human flesh,
determined to gratify her morbid craving. Terrified at the risk of
exposure, the Vaedda continued to waylay youths in the woods, and
purveyed their flesh to the royal kitchen, urged on by the princess. At
last the whole country took alarm at the mysterious disappearance of so
many youths, and dark and sinister rumours began to circulate that a
devil haunted the vicinity of the court, preying on young men, whose
bodies were devoured by it. At this crisis a barber who happened to be
waiting at the palace for audience, and who had to complain of the
disappearance of his only son, on the previous day, having been long in
waiting, was given by servants of the royal scullery a leaf of rice, and
venison curry. Just as the bereaved father was about to put the first
mouthful to his lip, he noticed on his leaf the deformed knuckle of the
little finger of a boy. Recognising it by the deformity as that of his son,
he at once feigned sickness and a choleraic attack, and explaining that
the unwanted smell of meat after his long fast had made him ill, he left
his food untasted and crawled away. When once beyond the purlieus of
the palace, he quickly spread the alarm that the King himself was
killing and eating the youths of the city. On this an angry crowd
collected at once at the palace demanding justice of the King against
the King. The facts then came to light, and the King, stripping his
daughter of her ornaments, and calling out a scavenger then sweeping
out a neighbouring yard, gave her to him as wife, and sent her away to
earn her living in her husband’s class.
A.M.Ferguson (1895) records the following tradition: “The origin of
the race is traditionally known to date from the period when GangaSiri-Poore (Gampola of the present day) was the capital and
Perakumbe the reigning monarch. It is said, that the Dade-Wedda, the
supplier of venison to the King, who had orders to furnish the palace
with it regularly once a week, having once failed to obtain any,
substituted human flesh in its place. Ratnewally, the King’s daughter
preferring this meat to the ordinary supply, asked him to continue
supplying meat of the same kind. The Dade-Wedda agreed to this
request and did accordingly, continued to supply human flesh
regularly, and with great secrecy; but some supposed with the consent
of Ratnawally. It so happened however, that on one occasion, the son
of the Royal Barber fell a victim to the skill of the Dadewedda, and that
his flesh was delivered at the Royal Kitchen. The meat was dressed,
and properly served up at the Royal Table. The remnants of this dish,
were, as usual, distributed between the King’s Barber and the Royal
Kineraya (or mat weaver). The Barber, whilst enjoying his meal,
discovered a child’s finger nail in it. Struck with a secret misgiving, he
suspected the nail was that of his infant son who had suddenly, and
mysteriously disappeared a little before. He felt a natural loathing and
repugnance to the food, and, after securing the little finger nail about
his person, feigned a sickness, which was not unnatural. This
circumstance being observed by the “Kinnera” the latter suspected
some thing to have gone wrong, and therefore urged the barber to
entrust him with the secret of his sudden indisposition. He thus
succeeded not only in learning the cause, but also in obtaining
possession of the finger nail; this, the mat-weaver carried boldly to the
King, and reproached him with feeding on human flesh, exhibiting at
the same time the horrid proof of what the Royal repasts were
composed to his astonished sight. The indignant monarch instituted an
immediate investigation, and discovered the extent of his daughter’s
complicity in the crime. He degraded the Dade-Wedda to fill the office
of a Rodda, or public scavenger in cleaning the filth and removing the
impurities of the capital; an occupation considered mean. His own
daughter, was likewise discarded, and sent away to perform the same
degrading task”. He adds: “The descendants of this Rodda, and the
discarded princess Ratnewally, were known as Rodiyas from that time;
and held by all other castes in the greatest abhorrence”.
M.D.Raghavan (1957) has also recorded a few variants of the
Ratnāvali legend current in the different Roḍi settlements of his time.
For instance the old Hulavāliyā or Roḍi headman of Hiruvela in the
Dulläva Vasama in Mātale South in tracing the origin of the Roḍi clan
to Ratnāvali, the daughter of King Parākrama Bāhu, narrated that the
King was given to meat eating. One day as there was no meat in the
house, the Väddā was ordered by the daughter of the King, Princess
Ratnāvali to bring human flesh, as nothing else was available. There
was a Kinnarayā in the palace who had a little son. The Väddā killed
this boy and carried the flesh to the royal kitchen. This was cooked and
served up. Later the Kinnarayā was given his food and he discovered
the finger tip of his little son in the meat curry that was served. He
made search for his son and found that this boy had been killed. He
complained to the King, who put to death the Väddā and gave his
daughter away to a Roddā or sweeper in the palace and made them
outcasts for ever. From the name Roḍḍā is said to have derived the
present term Roḍiyā.
Yet another variant was related at the village of Koskoṭē in Hārispattu
Division: King Parākrama Bahu employed in his household a Roḍḍā as
a sweeper. At that time it was the custom to employ poorer members of
the royal line in the lower rungs of service, the Roḍḍā himself being
one of them. Princess Ratnāvali spat out some betel she was chewing.
This alighted on the Roḍḍā who resented the insult. He stretched
himself across the palace floor and refused to rise until he was given
the princess in marriage. It was an accepted custom at the time that if a
person was allowed to die as a result of another, such latter person
would himself be degraded. The King thereupon gave the princess in
marriage to the Roḍḍā, but excommunicated them for ever as Roḍiyās.
Raghavan also relates than an illicit love affair between princess
Ratnāvali and the Roḍḍā, the sweeper at the palace, is yet another turn
given to the legend. The King discovering the intrigue gave her over to
the Roḍḍā exiling them both.
Raghavan notes that there is nothing altogether conflicting in the
various variants of the legend which may best be recognized as local
variations of what essentially is the same, all agreeing to ascribing a
royal lineage to the tribe – a tradition best known in the Vanni, the
home of the Roḍiyā, whence Nevill first collected it and which largely
agrees with the version as Knox has it. In most of the versions of the
Ratnavali legend gathered from Roḍi men and women by Nireka
Weeratunge 262 Ratnavali was said to be the daughter of King
Perakumba, and in many of them, she is said to have been either given
away to a Rodda or sweeper or else eloped with him.
Who exactly this Ratnavali was, it is difficult to say, unless we are to
believe the Roḍi tradition that she was the daughter of King
Parakumba or Parākramabāhu who reigned at Gangāsiripura or
Gampola whom we may take probably referred to the fifth king of that
name who reigned from 1344-1359. The idea of a distant royal
connection for the Roḍi has been supported by a few scholars, among
them Nevill, who in his contribution on the Roḍi race (June 1887)
opined that the Ratna Valli story was perhaps true, and at most only so
262
Aspects of ethnicity and gender among the Roḍi of Sri Lanka (1988)
far exaggerated as substituting cannibalism for human sacrifice to Kali.
He observed that it would seem that the princess Ratnawalli, daughter
of King Perakumba Raja had adopted the worship of Kāli at
Anurājapura. The cannibal episode, he avers, is probably an
exaggeration of the fact that she offered human sacrifices. Raghavan
(1957) also notes: “It may well have been that a very daughter of the
king, was herself a votary of the cult of Kāli propitiated with offerings
of flesh and blood, and the priestess in whom the goddess manifested
herself to her worshippers”.
More interesting however are the observations of Weeratunge (1988)
who notes that one means by which the group could explain their
outcast status without revealing the dimension of human sacrifice
which would offend the sensibility of a Buddhist culture would be “to
conceal their deity Ratnavalli in the form of a princess, human sacrifice
at her shrine in the form of human flesh consumption in the palace, the
votary of the deity in the form of a dirt-sweeping servant who followed
the princess into her exile, the exile itself standing for the persecution
of the cult”. She adds that in fusing the verses to the myth, the Roḍi
perhaps not only maintained a continuity with an older tribal myth of
creation, but also continued to pay homage to their deity, as they sang
her praises while begging from door to door. When the rituals were
forgotten as the Roḍi were forbidden to perform them, only the
memory of the deity Ratnavalli was kept alive in metaphor from
generation to generation.
Tenable as Weeratunge’s hypothesis is, it is also possible that the
idea of a royal ancestry of the Roḍi was influenced by an age-old
practice that prevailed well up to Kandyan times, of handing over highborn women to the Roḍi as punishment, for as Knox (1681) noted over
three centuries ago, many times when the King cut off great and noble
men against whom he was highly incensed, he would deliver their
wives and daughters to the Roḍi , reckoning it to be far worse
punishment than any kind of death.
Another indication of a tribal origin of the Roḍi is their division in
former times into exogamous clans. Nevill (June 1887) records that the
Roḍi of the Vanni were divided into twelve exogamous clans, viz.
Mahappola, Tiringa, Mitangala, Talinna, Nāpola, Uwe, Wāpolla,
Nuwaragama, Mangama, Galewela, Tammankada and Alpāga. The
members of any of these, he says, could only marry into one of the
other eleven. The daughters however belong to the clan of the mother,
and the sons alone follow the father’s clan. This feature is also found
among the tribal Munda-speaking Austro-Asiatic folk of Eastern India
such as the Hos, Birhōṛs and Santals who are likewise divided into a
number of exogamous clans 263.
Yet another characteristic of the Roḍi which suggests a distinct tribal
identity is their unique speech which survived among them until fairly
recent times and may still do to a certain extent. This distinct Roḍi
speech, it is not unlikely, is the survival of an ancient Munda tongue
spoken by the primitive hill tribes dwelling around Orissa and Bihār.
Many are the Roḍi nouns that have no known cognates in IndoEuropean or Dravidian languages, among them dumūna ‘village’,
dulumū ‘fire’, hidulu ‘milk’, hurubu ‘salt’, hurugu ‘light’, lāunā ‘fruit’,
migi i ‘boiled rice’, matubu ‘oil’, girāva ‘day’, lavanā ‘month’, matilla
‘door’, bakura ‘god’, iravva ‘face’, kera iya ‘head’, pekiritta ‘belly’,
lāvate ‘eye’, dagula ‘hand’, bolalu ‘teeth’, luddā ‘bull’ and bussā
‘dog’. Distinct verbs include miganavā ‘to eat’, likkenavā ‘to die’,
lukkanavā ‘to beat’, yappanavā ‘to give’, tavanavā ‘to bury’ and
dissenavā ‘to go’ 264.
The Roḍi vocabulary and syntax does not appear to show much
resemblance to Munda words and forms, but this may be due to
divergence from a common source at a very early period. Indeed the
absence of lexicographical material pertaining to the ancient Roḍi and
Munda dialects makes it difficult for a comparative study. A few
correspondences may however perhaps be seen in such Roḍi forms as
dagula ‘hand’ (Kharia tig) and boralu ‘stones’ (Kharia biru ‘hill’).
The various names applied to the Roḍi, both by themselves and by
outsiders may also be taken as suggesting a tribal origin. The
appellation Roḍi applied to them by the larger Sinhalese society has
been traditionally derived from the Sinhala term ro a (Pl.ro u)
263
The Santals for instance are known to have been formerly divided into twelve
exogamous clans (See ancestral and sacrificial clans among the Santals. Johannes
Gausdal. JAS.1952
264
The Roḍi language has been dealt with at great length by Wilhelm Geiger in his Die
Sprache der Rodi yas auf Ceylon. SKBAW (1897). Hugh Nevill (The Taprobanian.June
1887) also gives a comprehensive list of Roḍi words.
meaning ‘dirt’. This derivation is however questionable and would
have probably arisen as a result of folk etymology where when the
original meaning of a word has been lost over time, its speakers tend to
attribute to it another meaning which makes some sense to them. It is
more likely that the term Roḍi is connected to the Sanskrit raudra,
rudra and the Pali rudda, ludda ‘hunter’ as suggested by Raghavan.
However whereas the Sinhala Ro i has retroflex such forms like
rudda have a dental d. This problem may however be surmounted if a
by-form ru a in Eastern Prakrit derived from OIA raudra is assumed.
Retroflexion is pronounced in the Eastern Prakritic speeches so that this
suggestion is not altogether untenable. Nevill 265 observed that the
Tamils called the Roḍi Luddi and it is likely that this was a corruption
of some Prakritic loan such as Ludda.
A rare term for the Roḍi, Sä ol was observed by Raghavan (1957) as
surviving in at least one of the far flung Roḍi villages of the North
Western Province. This term is little doubt derived from the Sanskritic
and Prakritic Caṇḍāla ‘an outcaste’. It nevertheless gives us no clue as
to the ethnic origins of this folk other than suggesting that they were
neither Aryans nor Dravidians, but rather belonged to some tribal group
that had entered the pale of civilized society relatively late. The term by
which the Roḍi call themselves, Gāḍi also suggests an ethnic affinity
with the Munda-speaking tribes of Eastern India such as the Hos,
Birhōṛs and Santals. Nevill (August 1887) derives the word Gāḍi from
kada or gada ‘red’ to which he connects Magadha which he believes to
be “a relic of an ancient name of the Red Mother, or goddess-mother of
this race, a name perpetuated, though translated, in the Sembu-NatchiMār, the Red chief-one of some Tamils of to-day”. This view is
however very hypothetical and does not appear to be tenable. It is more
likely that the appellation is connected to such terms as Ho and Hōṛ (as
in the form Bir-hōṛ) used by the Munda-speaking peoples to designate
themselves. Not only do the Roḍi describe themselves and their
ancestors as Gāḍi, but also employ it in their kinship terminology.
Cf. gā i bilindā ‘son’, gā i bilindi ‘daughter’, gā iya ‘husband’, gā i
kevenni ‘wife’. The terms for brother and sister are eka-ange-gā iyā
and eka-ange-gā i respectively, eka ange signifying ‘of the same
265
The Gādi or Rodi Race in Ceylon. The Taprobanian.August 1887
body’. A Roḍi male is generally called gā iya by the community, while
a Roḍi female is called gā i.
We know that the Munda-speaking peoples refer to themselves
simply as ‘men’. The tribal appellation of the Munḍās is Hō ō ‘men’.
The Santals call themselves Hō -hopon ‘children of man’. The tribal
appellation of the Kurkus, Kūr-kū (the plural of Kōrō ‘man’) literally
means ‘men’, as does the tribal name of the Korkus, Kō -ku. In
speeches such as Santāli, connected forms also denote kinship. Cf.
Santāli kor and kuri in ko a hopon ‘son’ and ku i hopon ‘daughter’.
Also Cf. Asur kō a-hopon ‘male child’ and kū ī-hopon ‘female child’.
We have reason to believe that the prototype of the Munda term for
man was something like *kō ō since forms with h such as Munḍā hō ō
seem to have derived from an older form containing an initial k, as is
suggested by Munda tribal designations such as Kūrkū 266, while the
older form of the peculiar Munda or r was evidently a retroflex as is
suggested by the fact that Munda represents Old Indo Aryan forms
containing
as r (Cf.asar< ā ā ha) and the possession of such
alternating forms as ko a and ko a ‘one’ 267. It is possible that it was a
form such as *kō ō that gave rise to the present Roḍi Gāḍi, especially
since there is evidence to show that the Roḍi speech had softened k to
g at some point in time. Nevill (August 1887) notes: “In the Rodiya
language each ‘k’ is replaced by a ‘g’ and ukku would then become
uggu….. kiriya would be giriya; Kirimalli be Girimalli”.
Yet another indication that suggests a tribal past of the Roḍi is their
hunter tradition. As Ferguson (Nov.1895) observed over a century ago,
the Roḍi, according to a legend of their own were Weddahs or hunters
who traced their origin to India. He also found that the Rodiyas of his
day “hunt a great deal with trained dogs, and invariably use bows and
arrows”. We also learn that the Sinhalese villagers of remote regions
(the Däduru Oya area) called Roḍi folk Väddā and Väddī 268. The term
266
That the k of Kurku forms such as kōrō ‘man’ has preserved an earlier stage of
phonetic development than cognate forms with h such as Munḍā hō ō has been
demonstrated by Sten Konow (The Kurku dialect.JRAS. GB & I.1904).
267
See Pre-Aryan and Pre-Dravidian in India. P.C.Bagchi (1929)
268
Karunatilaka (1989). We also have Nevill (June 1887) stating: “The term Vaedda is
applied to any Rodiya by a man of any caste when addressing him in a kindly or
conciliatory manner”.
Väddā which is also applied to the aboriginal inhabitants of the country
known as the Veddas is probably derived from OIA vyādha ‘one who
pierces’, hence a hunter with bow and arrow.
This hunting tradition of the Roḍi is also borne out by Knox (1681)
who says that there are some of this sort of people who dwell in remote
parts distant from towns who shoot deer and sell them where they fall
in the woods, for if they should but touch them, none would buy them.
Weeratunge (1988) however found that the Roḍi no longer practiced
large-scale hunting, though she has cited evidence obtained from the
older folk to show that they hunted large game such as wild boar,
venison, sambhur, iguana and terrapin. She however found that boys
and youth hunt iguana and fresh-water turtle with nothing more than a
knife and their bare hands. They also went fishing, eel and catfish being
favourites.
The reason she attributes to this decline in hunting is that there were
no jungles in the region of her study, most of the land being under
intensive cultivation. “The Rodi would not be able to survive as
hunters, even if they desired to. The small game that the boys bring
home provide merely a welcome supplement to their daily meals”. She
also notes that the Roḍi , although averse to being regarded as meateaters by outsiders, relish meat and would consume fish, terrapin and
beef at the same meal when these are available after a good day of
hunting or earning. She also notes that the Roḍi basically live from
meal to meal, not very differently from a hunter/gatherer existence.
Another feature that suggests a non-Sinhalese tribal origin of the Roḍi
is the fact that according to the traditional Sinhalese social system
based on the varna classification, both the Daḍa Väddas and the Villi
Durayi from whom the Roḍi derived were considered to have formed
part of the Sūdra va sa 269 while the Roḍi themselves were regarded
as outcastes 270. This would suggest that the ancestors of the Roḍi were
considered Śūdras (the lowest ranking caste in the traditional varna
system which was comprised of non-Aryan peoples) and not Vaiśyas
(as were the Sinhalese of the Govi caste). This would suggest that the
269
Davy (1821)
270
Ibid
Roḍi comprise of an outcasted branch of a tribal stock who were
considered Śūdras under the old Aryan Sinhalese social system.
The physical characters of the community also suggests an origin
distinct from that of the Aryan Sinhalese. A consideration of their
physical characters such as skin colour (i.e.relatively dark complexion)
and other somatic features suggest that they represent an Austro-Asiatic
stock with a heavy infusion of Sinhalese blood. Sinhalese admixture
would have been considerable given the fact that in Kandyan times, and
perhaps even earlier, the handing over of high-born women to the Roḍi
as punishment by royal decree was not unknown, and has been alluded
to by Knox (1681) who says: “Many times when the King cuts off great
and noble men, against whom he is highly incensed, he will deliver
their daughters and wives unto this sort of people, reckoning it as they
also account it, to be far worse punishment than any kind of death”.
D’Oyly (1929) likewise tells us that the consignment of persons of
superior caste to the caste of Rhodiyas can be inflicted only by the
King’s orders. The infamy of such a punishment, he says, cannot be
equaled and never retrieved and that it was awarded for the most
atrocious offences. There were also instances of Sinhalese women
voluntarily going over to the Roḍi as borne out by the statement of
Ferguson (Nov.1895) who observes: “Women of high caste who have
had so little regard for their exclusive privileges, as to have had
criminal intercourse with low caste people, as well as those who have
otherwise brought disgrace upon themselves in other ways recklessly,
and to escape from the reproaches, scorn and even death at the hands
of their own people have run away from their homes and joined the
Rodiyas”. He notes that such women, of whatever caste they may be,
provided they are not of the Kinnerea, barber, Koolankattee or Palia are
readily received, sheltered and admitted to the Rodiyan society, and are
never afterwards acknowledged, or reclaimed by their family or
friends271. Sinhalese men, too, attracted by the beauty of Roḍi women
(little doubt acquired as a result of the heavy infusion of blood from
high-born Sinhalese women) are also known to have mixed with the
271
So defiling were the Roḍi considered to be that even their touch was supposed to
render one an outcaste in conservative Kandyan society. Nevill (June 1887) noted over a
century ago: “It was always held that a touch from a Rodiya man to a woman rendered
her an outcaste”.
Roḍi, for as Simon Casie Chitty 272 notes: “Their women are generally
handsome, which, with their winning address, has often enticed many a
Sinhalese youth to go and live with them in their kuppayams,
abandoning his family and connections, and enduring with stoical
indifference the reproaches and disgrace consequent upon his
conduct”.
All this miscegenation would have no doubt affected the original
Austro-Asiatic composition of the Roḍi so that the modern-day Roḍi
display a blend of Austro-Asiatic and Indo-European features.
Raghavan (1957) describes the average Rodiya as possessing a long
head, short straight shapely nose, medium stature and brown skin
ranging from deep brown to light. He also notes that unlike the Vedda,
there is little of the Proto-Australoid racial type with the pronounced
prognathism, heavy browridge and other Australoid traits. He however
notes that a mixed Australoid strain may nevertheless be rarely seen in
villages, which he believes to be “the heritage of an early intrusive
Australoid element”. An Austro-Asiatic element is also suggested by
the sparse body hair of the Roḍi . Says A.M. Ferguson 273 of the Roḍi:
“The men mostly have very short beards, or shave them completely. A
Rodiya has never been known to have a long flowing beard”. Thus here
too we are led to believe that the Roḍi belonged to an Austro-Asiatic
stock with sparse body and facial hair. Cohabitation with upper caste
Sinhalese may perhaps explain the development of a more advanced
hairy system among some of them. The dearth of other Australoid traits
such as broad nose, heavy browridge and pronounced prognathism may
likewise be attributable to intensive inbreeding with the larger
Sinhalese society.
The regular features and fair complexion of some of the Roḍi women
has been noticed by a number of observers, among them Ferguson
(Dec.1895) who notes that a major part of the Roḍi women are well
made, and of a fair complexion, with beautiful dark and expressive
eyes. With regard to skin colour, however, H.C.P.Bell 274 could observe
that in general appearance Roḍi women were of darker complexion
than ordinary Kandyan women, by which he presumably means the
272
Some Account of the Rodiyas. JRAS.CB.1855
273
The Rodiyas of Ceylon. MLR.Dec.1895
274
Report on the Kegalle District (1904)
fairer skinned Govi women, which is understandable given the fact that
the Roḍi likely had a dark-skinned Austro-Asiatic origin. The physical
beauty of the Roḍi, particularly of its women, is only explicable if we
are to suppose that they have for ages past had a considerable infusion
of Sinhalese blood that came by way of high-born women of the Govi
caste, including its upper strata such as the Radaḷa.
Thus having concluded that the Roḍi were a tribal group with AustroAsiatic antecedents, it remains for us to locate the country whence they
originated. Ferguson (1895) says of the Roḍi: “On a close examination
it has been ascertained from several old and well-informed men of the
caste, that according to a legend prevalent among them, their first
ancestors were Weddahs or hunters and that they trace their origin to
India. They first landed in the retinue which followed the
transportation to Anuradhapura across the sea, of the sacred Bo-tree,
by Sangamitta about 2,000 years ago”.
There is also reason to believe that the Villi-durayās, a group of
people devoted to particular services to the Bo-tree, are distantly
connected to the Roḍi. Ferguson observes in a footnote to his 1895
paper: “These Vil-li Dureas have relations in this district who inhabit
several large and important villages such as Maduve, Malie-Elle etc.,
whose services to the King under the Kandyan government consisted in
the supply of venison to the palace”. The mention of the supply of
venison to the royal household is especially significant as Knox (1681)
refers to the Roḍi as being descended from “Dodda Vaddas 275 which
signifies hunters” whose duty it was to supply the King’s table with
venison, but later substituted human flesh in its stead, and on being
discovered, were condemned to their status, the King deeming death
too good for them. Hugh Nevill 276 too connects the Dada Vaeddo with
the Wili Duraya caste whose ancestors are said to have come to Sri
Lanka with the sacred Bodhi tree as part of its retinue. Ievers (1899)
also observes that the Villi-Durayas assert that “their ancestors came
over with the Bo-tree which their descendants continued to protect
from monkeys by their bows (villu)”. Interestingly, Ievers’ observations
275
Sinh.Da a Väddo or hunting Veddas. The epithet da a would have been employed to
distinguish them from the true Veddas. Valentijn (1726) distinguishes between
‘Wanneweddas’ and ‘Dadeweddas’.
276
The Mal duraya, Wili duraya or Dada vaedda race. The Taprobanian.Oct.1887
may perhaps provide us with the reason why such a clan arrived in the
island in the first place. We may therefore have to agree with Raghavan
(1957) that they were an Eastern Indian tribal group that came over to
Sri Lanka during the reign of Emperor Asoka as is suggested by their
own folklore which traces their origins to India and has it that they first
landed in the retinue which followed the transportation to
Anuradhapura across the sea, of the Sacred Bo-Tree, by Sangamitta,
over 2000 years ago.
Raghavan notes that the only evidence we have of a social group of
hunters are the tribes referred to in the MV as the Taraccha and Kulinga
who formed part of the entourage that accompanied the Bo-tree in its
progress to the island. Says Raghavan: “The empire of Asoka including
within its domains the hill country of West Bengal, the Southern
Gangetic country, and the recesses of the Orissan hills, forming one
extensive habitat of hill tribes, some of these hunters still living in
groups of exogamous clans on traditional totemistic basis, it would
seem reasonable to conclude that the exogamous totemistic clans that
accompanied the Bodhi-sapling to Ceylon obviously represented some
of the tribes who still have their homes in the hill country within the old
Asokan Empire”. Thus Raghavan would have us believe that the Roḍi
were derived from either or both the Taraccha or Kulinga tribes
mentioned in the chronicle and that they were originally totemistic
clans, which is to say that they had specific symbols (totems) which set
them apart from the rest and to which they traced their ancestry or
professed affinity in some form or other. Totemism has been shown to
have existed among a number of Munda-speaking peoples such as for
instance the Birhōṛs who were divided into a number of exogamous
totemistic clans such as Mūrmu (Stag) or Hembrōm (Betel-palm) 277.
The two clans mentioned in the MV, namely Taraccha and Kuli ga,
appear to mean ‘hyena’ and ‘sparrow’ respectively, suggesting that
these were as Raghavan has suggested totemistic clans 278.
277
278
See Totemism among the Birhors. S.C.Roy. JBORS.1916
Ancient Sinhalese literature does mention a Kulinga clan that served the Bodhi Tree.
The Si hala-Bōdhi-Va sa states that the chief of the Kiliňgu-kula was enjoined to
supply fresh flowers to the Bodhi tree through the Kiliňgun, his clansmen or followers
while the Mahābodhiva sa Granthipada Vivaranaya has it that the clan served the Srī
Mahābodhi at Anuradhapura by supplying fresh flowers for the use of the shrine during
the reign of King Dēvanampiya Tissa.
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Lost or Obscure Castes
Besides the caste groups mentioned above, we find a number of
other castes who are not as prominent. Many of these have been listed
by only a very few observers, probably on account of their extremely
small numbers, while some of them appear to have altogether died out,
though it is possible that they still survive in the remote areas, possibly
even having merged or gotten ‘lost’ in a larger caste.
One such rather minor caste still known to survive in some remote
parts of the upcountry are the Velli Durayas whose folklore traces their
origins to India, having arrived here as part of the retinue of the Sacred
Bo tree during the reign of King Asoka. Although this obscure group
has escaped the notice of most observers, they have been mentioned by
Davy (1821), Nevill (Oct.1887), Lawrie (1898) and Ievers (1899).
Davy (1821) found that the Velledurai constituted a small caste chiefly
confined to the district of Neuracalava. He notes that it is said that they
are weavers. Nevill (Oct.1887) was informed that the ancestors of the
Wili Duraya came to Ceylon with the Sacred Bo Tree as part of its
retinue and the following villages allotted to them, on condition they
continued in service to the holy tree – Mal Pota, Hīng-nārang-golla,
Kaenda-golla and Hinguru-gamuwa. The clan, he says, became divided
into four sections, viz. the Rankot Pēdiya, Wāyali Pēdiya, Rājapaksa
Pēdiya and Rang-hawadiya. While the Wāyali Pēdiya and Ranghawadiya performed temple service, the Rājapaksa Pēdiya prepared
white sugar-candy from palm syrup for the Royal household and the
Rangkot Pēdiya provided dried venison and fresh game. Those who
hunted came to be known as Dada Vaeddo and were assigned exclusive
rights of chase over Uda Bopat Talāva, Bagawan Talāva, Āgeri and
Bambaragasduwa. Nevill says that he has met many other Wili Duraya
who belonged doubtless to the Wāyali and Rang-hawadiya sections, for
they were not hunters. “There are still a good many of these in the
North-Western Province, and I believe also in the North Central”. He
adds “The Dada Waeddo are now practically extinct, merged into the
other sections of their race”.
A few decades earlier, Davy (1821) found that the Dodda-Weddahs
or hunters were few in number, and inhabited some of the wildest parts
of the mountainous regions. He adds that for the land which they held
they were required to furnish the King with game. We also come across
a reference in the Portuguese Tombo of 1618 to Cassadores (hunters)
who lived in the village of Imgama and who in the time of the native
king named Raju supplied to the King’s kitchen, forest meat. These
hunters, it is likely comprised of a group of Daḍa-Väddō. Lawrie
(1898) records a tradition that at the time when the branch of the Botree was brought from Pelapup, the capital of King Dharmasoka of
India, to Ceylon, in the reign of Devanampiya Tissa, four Welli Durayo
accompanied it. Of these four, one Miniwan Welliya settled in
Loluwela. One of his descendants, Rankot Welliya, obtained the
permission of King Wijayapala of Godapola to settle in the village of
Selagama in Asgiri Pallesiya Pattu in Matale South where Lawrie
found the Welli Durayo predominating. Galaliyadda in Asgiri Pallesiya
Pattu in Matale South is also said to have been inhabited by Welli
Durayo, descendants of Mini Mutu Welliya (Lawrie 1896). Ievers
(1899) too mentions the caste and gives us an indication as to the
reason why they arrived here when he observes that the Villi Durayas
asserted that their ancestors came over with the Bo-tree which their
descendants continued to protect from monkeys by their bows.
According to Sudat Gunasekera and H.M.Gunavardana 279 the
Vellidura who arrived here as part of the retinue of the Sacred Bodhi
tree had as their duties the removal of the dead branches of the tree,
watering it and protecting it. Tradition has it that a certain Dinumutu
Valliya of the Śramaṇa Velli Brahmaṇa caste who came along with the
Sacred Bodhi tree settled in a nearby village named Divilla while his
descendants subsequently settled in Uṇavēruva. There are said to have
originally been four families settled in the village, namely, Kirā
Durayalä Gedara, Pusumbā Durayala Gedara, Komalā Durayala Gedara
and Pa cavattē Gedara 280.
The village of Unaveruva in the Asgiriya Udasiyapattu Korala of
Matale District is probably the largest Velli Dura settlement today. We
found that the folk here were engaged in the manufacture of sēsat or
ceremonial umbrellas in a big way. There were about 70 families or so
engaged in the making of these sēsat, though many did so as a parttime vocation, their main livelihood being farming or some other
occupation 281. Whether the making of sēsat among this folk is an
279
Mātale disāve pāramparika kalā śilpa. In Aitihāsika Mātale (1984)
280
Ibid
281
The Sesath-makers of Unaveruva. Asiff Hussein. SO.June 08, 2003
ancestral calling it is difficult to say. Davy (1821) noted that they wre
said to be weavers and it is not improbable that this weaving among
them referred to the making of sēsat which involved the leaves of the
tala palm (Corypha Umbraculifera) which had been previously boiled,
dyed and dried, being cut into strips before being plaited and sewn
along with sheets of mica to form the necessary designs such as the
nelum mala or stylized lotus flower which adorn the centre and the
palapetta motifs which decorate the outer circles 282. What is surprising
however is that the art of making sēsat is said to have been kept a
closely guarded secret until about four decades ago by just one solitary
individual, namely Kōmala Durayalägedara Mutingia and was in
danger of being lost to posterity had it not been for the efforts of a
kinsman of his, Kirā Durayalägedara Loku Kiriyā, who having
surreptitiously learnt the craft, passed it on to the rest of the villagers
283
.
As for the physical characters of this group, all evidence suggests an
Austro-Asiatic origin. We found in a visit to the village of Unavēruva
in late May 2003 that the villagers here were fairly dark-complexioned
and short in stature. These folk, unlike the Roḍi to whom they are very
likely connected as seen earlier, appear to have preserved to a large
extent their original traits and unlike the latter do not seem to have been
subjected to any Aryan Sinhalese admixture arising from cohabiting
with Govi or other higher caste women.
Yet another largely unnoticed and very small caste group are the
Konta Durayi whom Ryan (1953) found in the eastern part of
Sabaragamuva Province. He notes that they, like the Panna and others,
were simply called Durayi and opines that it is possible that the
Kontadurayi are the same caste as the Velli-durayi, or more accurately,
that the two are branches from the same root. He notes that although
the former are not in contact with the latter, they insist upon their
ancient identity with them. He also notes that the origin legends of both
groups are associated with the Bo-tree and that the name prefixes of
both might have a similar significance, being construed as referring to
armed guardians. Ryan however notes that unlike the Velli-durayi, the
282
Ibid
283
Ibid
Konta-durayi claimed that they had secular caste duties in the time of
the kings, as palanquin bearers etc. He adds that those visited near the
town of Balangoda looked upon themselves as the descendants of
serving tenants in a Royal village once on the spot.
Among the other obscure castes may be mentioned the Tondagattara.
The Census of Ceylon 1824 284 has enumerated a low country caste
known as Tondagattera and Ryan (1953) believes that these folk may
have been a ‘locality division of the Demaḷa-gattara’, despite the fact
that the two are listed separately in the census. Van Rhee (1697) refers
to the Tondegattere as grass-cutters who had the village of
Wallambagalle, south of the river Alican. Albert Herport in his Short
Description of a nine-year East-Indian Journey (1669) 285 mentions a
very low caste among the Sinhalese known as Guly who were as much
as slaves, yet not bondsmen, but free, but such as any that have need
may use, but they must provide them with victuals. These also carry the
Balagin, and without leaves may not sleep under any roof, but lie most
under the free sky, but put a tall pot branch over them. He also notes
that the Sinhalese have a custom, when they wish to know secret and
hidden things, that their priests or sorcerers beat harshly and torture a
Guly, till he is driven quite mad. Then they cause the devil to speak
from out of him, which answers all their questions. Herport’s Guly
seems to correspond to a caste known as Culin whom Christopher
Schweitzer in his Journal and Diary of his Six years’ East Indian
Journey (1682) 286 says will carry people where they please for money.
Whether these correspond to the Sinhalese Kōllū, another name for the
Sinhalese slave caste known as Vāl it is difficult to say.
Kahandagamage (1996) records a caste of Bintänna known as Vāl who
are said to have done work in the houses of Govi folk, especially during
occasions such as marriages and funerals. These folk are also said to
have been known as Kōllū. They lived near the Govi villages and
worked their fields for which they received grain as payment.
Kehelpälē Bädda is said to have been an ancestral village of theirs 287 .
284
Return of the Population of the Island of Ceylon (1827)
285
Cited in Raven-Hart (1959 )
286
Ibid
287
Kahandagamage (1996)
Yet another very obscure minor caste, sometimes considered as a
Govi sub-caste were the Porovakāra or ‘Axe-men’. Codrington (1924)
gives Porovakkārayō as ‘axe-men’, ‘woodcutters’, ‘ a caste in three
korales and sabaragamuwa said to have been introduced by Sēraman,
Rāja of Malabar’. Although the caste has been generally viewed as a
lower sub-caste of the Govi, they have also been considered a distinct
caste of lower status than any claimant to Govigama rank 288. In
contrast to this are the observations of Pieris (1914) who describes the
Porowakarayo as a branch of the Karawo who in Dutch times fished
among the rocks. Their Rajakariya, he says, was to serve as ‘wood
sawers’. Interestingly the Poravakāra are given by Perera (1914) as a
sub-caste of the Durāva.
The caste appears to have had only a very few settlements. The
Portuguese Tombo of 1618 refers to Cortadores or Woodcutters (very
probably the Poravakāra) in Mimdigama which was attached to the Port
of Belligao (Weligama) in the Southern part of the country. They were
also to be found in the central districts. Lawrie (1898) records a village
called Porokaragama alias Porowakaragama in Udugoda Pallesiya Pattu
in Matale North inhabited by ‘woodcutters’, while Lewis (1921)
observes that there are Porawakārayo at Dehipāgoḍa in Uda Nuwara,
and at Kengalla in Lower Dumbara. Pieris (1914) says that the
Porowakarayo were chiefly found in the Galle Korale, especially at
Ambalangoda. He also gives as Porowakara caste villages in Kuruviti
Korale, Bopetta, Paligala, Walavita and Teppanawa.
A number of other obscure caste groups have also been noticed.
Valentijn (1726) for instance alludes to a caste group known as Heeri,
woodcutters who have to cut all sorts of trees, to carry gunpowder in
time of war and to cut open the paths. This caste, he says, is not to be
found in the lowlands, but in Kandy. Tennent (1859) records an
outcaste group known as the Hanomoreyos or betel-box makers of
Oovah “who are looked on as so vile that no human being would touch
rice that had been cooked in their houses”. These outcasts, he says, are
abhorred and avoided even by the Roḍi who “on the occasion of
festivals, tie up their dogs to prevent them prowling in search of food to
the dwellings of these wretches”. Knox (1681) mentions a caste known
as Couratto or ‘Elephant-men’ and another known as Kiddeas or
Basket-Makers who made fans to fan corn, baskets of cane, lace,
288
Ryan (1953)
bedsteds and stools. Schweitzer (1682) refers to two caste groups
known as the Batins and Zubjes as the ‘meanest castes’ among the
Sinhalese. He notes that they may not sit upon the ground but with a
winnowing fan, nor are they permitted to lie under any roof. All their
women, he says, are obliged to go naked all upwards upon pain of
being whipped.
Bennet (1843) also mentions two more Sinhalese castes, a low caste
called Pidayne Danno who make offerings to devils and the
Kustarogiyo caste who worship devils by dancing, who, no doubt, are
identical with Pridham’s (1849) Pidaynidanno ‘Offering makers to
devils’ and Koostarogiyo ‘Lepers and those who worship devils by
dancing’. Pridham (1849) gives two more, which he describes as low
castes, one called Henawalayo ‘fine mat makers’ and the other
Gauraykawallu ‘Village watchmen’. Joinville (1801) also gives two
more, Kinnavas ‘winnowing fan makers’ and Jamale who “work in the
iron mines” though it is possible that the latter refer to the iron smelting
caste known as Yamannu.
Davy (1821) mentions a Sinhalese caste known as Handee whom he
classes among the Kshoodra Wanse. These Handee were few in number
and were required to furnish the royal stores with baskets and winnows.
The caste is probably identical with a low caste who are called
Hänḍayō by Yatalamatte Manijoti in his contribution on Pahat
Kulajayo (Low Castes)289. He gives them as a destitute folk who earn a
living by weaving wicker work trays. These folk may perhaps be
identical with the Kulupottō (Wicker workers) mentioned in the 13th
century DmbAs. The 15th century JV also makes mention of this folk
when it states that those who weave winnowing baskets (kulu) and trays
(vatti) from bamboo are called Kulupotta. Interestingly it gives another
name by which this folk were known, Hädaya, which brings it close to
the Handee or Hänḍayō. Davy (1821) also mentions a ‘very small
caste’ known as Radayo whom he distinguishes from the Rada or
washermen. He is supported by Joinville (1801) who distinguishes
between the Radave wahermen and the Radeas, the washermen of a
lower class. Pridham (1849) however gives Radayo as a small caste and
principally skinners living in woods.
289
In Roḍi Janayā by Munidasa Abhayavikrama (1928)
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CHAPTER 2
Caste in Tamil Society
A strong caste consciousness remains a characteristic feature of
many traditional Dravidian societies to this day, whether it be in South
India or Sri Lanka, where it is particularly prevalent among the Tamils
of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. In fact, caste known as cāti or
kulam in Tamil has been a well recognised social institution of the
Tamils of the country since time immemorial.
Whether casteism existed in ancient pre-Aryan Dravidian society or
took place as a result of Aryan influence it is difficult to say. What we
know however is that the ancient Dravidians had reached a high level
of economic development characterized by differentiation into various
spheres of economic activity such as agriculture and the handicrafts.
Linguistic evidence from a reconstructed Proto-Dravidian (C.3000
B.C.) indicates that the early Dravidians were engaged in settled
agriculture, cultivating grains like rice as well as in occupations such as
weaving, pot-making and toddy-tapping 290 .
We also know that during the epic era of the ancient Tamils known as
the Sangam age , the Dravidian inhabitants of South India were divided
into occupational groups. For instance, the Cilappatikāram (C.2nd
century A.C.) refers to various occupational groups like fishermen,
meat vendors, oil mongers, carpenters, blacksmiths, goldsmiths,
washermen, potters, tailors and cobblers in the Tamil land. Whether
these occupational groups were organized on some sort of caste basis,
that is to say, whether their occupations were hereditary and whether
they were characterized by endogamy or marriage within one’s group,
we cannot say for certain. We nevertheless know that Aryan influence
from the north had already begun to be felt by way of Brāhmaṇical
rituals. This is borne out by works such as the Clp which alludes to the
sacrificial smoke raised by Brāhmaṇs in the agnisālas or fire-chambers
of their houses. Thus it is not unlikely that even if casteism in the sense
we know it today did not exist among the ancient Dravidians, it came
into being by a gradual process of evolution due to the infilteration of
Aryan ideas from the north which laid great stress on the preservation
of bloodlines and the superiority of particular peoples as against the
290
See The Dravidian Languages. Bhadriraju Krishnamurti (2003)
inferiority of others, an inheritance from their days as invaders,
conquerors and subjugators of native peoples who stood in their way
when they swept through the northern parts of the Indian subcontinent
in a burst of ruthless zeal perhaps never seen in the annals of history.
Before we proceed further however, it is thought necessary here to
trace the origins of the Dravidians as casteism is intimately connected
to race. Castes ultimately have their antecedents in some particular race
or other and it is therefore necessary to have an idea of such race or
races before we proceed to deal with castes which in a sense are its
offshoots. There are basically two predominant types among the
present-day Dravidian-speaking peoples of South India. One such is the
Proto-Mediterranean type with long narrow head and face, straight nose
of medium length and dark hair. This type of man was the prevailing
type at an ancient urn-burial site Ādichanallūr and in the iron-age cairns
of the Deccan. Skulls of this type with marked Negroid characteristics
have been found at Langhnaj in Baroda (Mesolithic) and at Chanhu
daro from the Harappa level (C.3000-2600 B.C.). The Negroid traits in
these skulls are believed to have been an inheritance from their
ancestral stock and not due to an admixture with Negroids in India 291.
However, another type, the broad-headed Armenoid type
characterized by markedly convex high-bridged nose and high-vaulted
head rising steeply from the nape of the neck is also found among the
Tamil-speaking peoples. It has been found that in certain parts of South
India, the basic long-headed element represented by the ProtoMediterraneans has been overlaid by a short-headed element, its
occurrence being greatest in Mahārāshtra and traceable through the
Mysore Plateau into Tamilnād beyond. It has affected Andhradeśa
slightly but has left Kerala untouched. The fact that Kerala and to a
lesser extent Andhradeśa are free from the round-headed element
suggests that it came by way of Sind, Gujarat and Mahārāshtra, and
broke into Tamilnād over South-eastern Mysore. It is inferred that if
numbers be any criterion, the round-heads who constitute a small
percentage when compared with the basic long-heads are later arrivals
in India – a conclusion supported by the evidence on the succession of
race strata elsewhere 292.
291
See A History of South India. Nilakanta Sastri (1955)
292
Ibid
As to which of these types the true Dravidians, that is to say, those
who termed themselves Dravida and who introduced Dravidian speech
into India, belonged, it is difficult to say. According to S.K.Chatterji 293
the word from which Tamil is derived was in all likelihood * Dramiza
in the first half of the first millennium B.C. and it was this that was
adopted into Sanskrit as Drami a, Drami a, Dravi a before the
Christian era. Chatterji, on the basis of this national appellation as well
as certain religious beliefs, seeks to connect the Dravidians with the
Mediterranean peoples of the west. Says Chatterji: “We find that the
Lycians of Asia Minor, a Pre-Indo-European Mediterranean people,
called themselves in their inscriptions (written in their own speech in a
script allied to the ancient Greek) Trmmili. Herodotus has noted that
the Lycians originally came from the island of Crete, and that in Crete
the Pre-Hellenic Asianic people were known by a name which the
Greeks wrote as Termilai. It would not perhaps be too much to assume
that some at least of the Dravidian speakers of India who came
ultimately from the Eastern Mediterranean tracts brought with them
one of their national or tribal appellations Termilai-Trmmili-Dramiza
which became transformed into the modern name Tamil by the middle
of the first millennium A.D”.
Chatterji opines that the Dravidians had as their original homeland,
the islands of the Aegean and the tracts of mainland along the Aegean
Sea – Greece and Asia Minor, and that it was thence that they brought
their concept of the great mother goddess and her male counterpart
which were equivalent to the ancient Mediterranean Mā or Kubēle
(Cybele) and Attis, or Hepit and Teshup. Sastri (1955) who observes
that the round-headedness among Tamils can be traced through the
Deccan, Gujarat and Sind into the eastern portions of the Iranian
Plateau where there is a striking group of round-heads, postulates a
connection between the round-heads of the Iranian Plateau and uplands
and the Dravidian speakers of India, a contention he believes to be
borne out by resemblances between the culture of the Caspians, the
earliest inhabitants of the highlands of Iran, and Dravidian speakers.
Sastri believes that the Armenoids who entered India spoke Dravidian
as their native tongue, particularly since the languages spoken by the
Mitanni, Hurrians and Kassites who were round-headed, possess a
clearly demonstratable affinity with Dravidian.
293
Race Movements and Pre-historic Culture. The History and Culture of the Vedic
People. Ed.R.C.Majumdar (1951)
The present home of this type, that is, the wide tract of Asia
stretching from the Pamirs to the Levant, must have been its original
home, that is to say, the area of its characterization, he infers. These
characteristics, he notes, are found among peoples inhabiting the
mountainous tract extending from the Pamirs and the western flanks of
the Himalayas to the mountains of Anatolia and along the western
shores of the Adriatic. “The ancient Hittites” he notes “were typical
members of the Armenoid race. The pre-historic inhabitants of Shah
Tepe in Asterabad, the province bordering the Caspian on its southeast, were short-headed. The present-day population of Armenia and
Trans-Caucasia is short-headed. In Luristan, the highland of Persia on
the border of Mesopotamia between Hamadan and Sushan, in the
second millennium B.C. we have a short-headed people. The basic
stock of the highland zone from which the Hurrians, the Kassites, the
Elamites and the Mitanni were derived, was round-headed”.
Whichever group introduced Dravidian language into India, there
can be little doubt that both had become amalgamated into a common
Dravidian ethnos, so to say, by about the beginning of the second
millennium B.C. There is also reason to believe that the Dravidians in
the course of their migrations and settlement in India absorbed a
considerable infusion of Austro-Asiatic blood. Although as seen earlier,
those peoples designated Dravidians constitute of two basic types, a
dolicocephalic Mediterranean type with high cranial vault and a
mesaticephalic (and probably originally brachycephalic) Armenoid
type characterized by an especially flat occiput, one not infrequently
comes across many Tamils with an Austroloid strain including dark
skin, prominent browridges and even some degree of prognathism 294.
294
This miscegenation with Proto-Australoid elements very likely began around 2000
B.C. or perhaps even earlier, for the Indus Valley civilization which was probably
Dravidian in origin knew of an Australoid element. There can be little doubt that the
bronze figure of a dancing girl from Mohenjo Daro has unmistakeable Proto-Austroloid
features and that her coiffure is strongly reminiscent of the coiffure of the present-day
Proto-Australoid jungle folk of Central and Southern India (Sastri 1955). The Dravidian
migration to the south would have resulted in further miscegenation as there is evidence
to show that the aboriginal peoples of this region who later went on to constitute the
exterior or depressed castes were Australoid in origin. It has been shown that striking
similarities do exist between the depressed castes of the Deccan and Bengal
(E.Mc.Farlene. JRASB.1940). Further, as pointed out by Sastri (1955) in South India the
Australoid element which forms the basis of jungle folk like the Chenchus, Malayans,
Kādars, Kurumbas and Yeruvas generally entered into the composition of the so-called
exterior castes. It is also known that Munda languages are found as far south as the
Interestingly, those Tamil folk deemed of higher caste tend to be of a
lighter complexion than those regarded as low caste, showing clearly
that the true Dravidians who went on to constitute the higher castes
were lighter in complexion than the darker skinned aboriginals who
went into the constitution of low caste folk like the Paraiyar 295.
Unlike the broad noses possessed by the true Austro-Asiatics, however,
many Tamils are known to possess squat or snub noses, which is very
likely a result of intensive in- and in-breeding, probably acquired as a
result of consanguineous marriages, a long established custom amongst
Dravidian peoples.
Be it as it may, all that we can say is that there must have existed a
Dravidian race calling itself by a name such as Dramiza that probably
had its origins outside India. This folk very likely invaded or settled
down in the subcontinent well in advance of the Aryan invasion of
India C.2000 B.C. That it was they who founded the Indus Valley
civilization of the Sind and Panjab there can be little doubt. Although
no finality has been reached with regard to the linguistic affinities of
the pictographs connected with the culture, G.R.Hunter 296 inclines to
the view that the pictographs in the Indus Valley seals have a Dravidian
origin. S. Natesan notes in his paper on the Tamil Language 297 that this
view has acquired some significance in the light of the references made
in the Clp (C.2nd century A.C.) to pictographs (T.kanneluttu) used by
merchants in sealing their merchandise. He also notes that the Tamil
word for writing elududal means also the drawing of pictures.
Godāvari and must have prevailed at one time over the whole of the Deccan, as Bhili
shows Munda affinities (See Sastri 1955).
295
For instance we have Edward Carpenter (From Adam’s Peak to Elephanta. 1903)
telling us that the Tamils “tend towards black, though shading off in the higher castes to
an olive tint”. That the Tamils of the higher castes were lighter skinned than those
deemed to be of lower caste is also borne out by the Naṛṛinai, an ancient Tamil work,
which refers to upper class Tamil women whose complexion was like in colour to the
tender mango leaves, which we know is a sort of maroon-brown.
296
The script of Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro and its connection with other scripts (1934)
297
UCHC.Vol.I.1959
John Marshall 298 also suggests that the language of the Mohenjo
Daro seals might be Dravidian. In support, he cites three reasons;
firstly, the Dravidian-speaking people were the precursors of the
Aryans over most of northern India and were the only people likely to
have been in possession of a culture as advanced as the Indus culture.
Secondly, at no great distance from the Indus valley, the Brahuis of
Baluchistan have preserved among themselves an island of Dravidian
speech which may well be a relic from Pre-Aryan times, when
Dravidian was perhaps the common language in these parts, and
thirdly, because the Dravidian languages being agglutinative, it is not
unreasonable to look for a possible connection between them and the
agglutinative language of Sumer, in the Indus valley, which had close
ties with Sumer.
However, it was in the Southern parts of India that the Dravidians
established themselves, particularly in those regions presently occupied
by the modern-day South Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh where they predominated. Here the
Dravidians seem to have established a preponderant position since very
early times and a strong Dravidian national and political consciousness
was already in evidence in the pre-Christian period.
The Cilappatikāram, an ancient Tamil work assigned to C.2nd century
A.C. refers to a war waged by the Cēra King Cenkuttuvan destroying
the valorous soldiers of the northern Arya kings celebrated for their
death-dealing chariot forces and swift-footed horses. The battle referred
to here was evidently one between the Cera monarch and a
confederation of northern Aryan kings who had boasted “Let us see the
prowess of the southern Tamil kings” only to be defeated in this crucial
battle. That the ancient Tamil rulers stood united in the face of Aryan
conquests from the north is also borne out by the Hathi-gumpha
inscription of Emperor Khāravela (C.173-160 B.C.) which refers to his
breaking the league of the Dravidian states (Tramira-de a-sa ghāta )
which had been in existence for 113 years, showing that the Dravidian
nations would have been politically united at the time against any
Aryan onslaught from the north.
298
Mohenjo-Daro and the Indus Civilization (1931)
At the same time, however, there is reason to believe that Aryan
cultural influences, particularly those pertaining to religious and social
life were already making its presence felt by the Sangam age.
Brāhmaṇs and Brāhmaṇical rites were known. Furthermore, the higher
classes of Tamils came to be contented with their designation as
Śūdras, no doubt as a result of Brāhmaṇical influence, despite the fact
that the Śūdras were deemed the lowest varna or rank in the Aryan
scheme of things.
Available evidence suggests that prior to the nineteenth century,
Śūdra rank was not an embarrassment to such castes as the Veḷḷālars.
They proclaimed that status for instance in temple inscriptions 299 . It
was only in later times, beginning from about the latter part of the
nineteenth century or early part of the 20th century with the revival of
Dravidian ethnic and linguistic consciousness that the higher Tamil
castes such as the Veḷḷāḷars began to shy away from their identification
as Śūdras which they quite rightly deemed an Aryan imposition from
the north.
It appears that in the olden days, the appellation Tamilan or
Dravidian was conferred exclusively upon the Dravidian Śūdras
represented by the higher South Indian castes such as the Veḷḷāḷars, and
denoted neither the Brāhmaṇs, nor the low or untouchable castes such
as the Pallans or Paraiyans. Tamilan is defined in the Tamil language as
‘one whose mother-tongue is Tamil’ as well as a Tamilian as distinct
from Āriyan and a ‘caste man’ as distinct from Paraiyan 300. Similarly,
Dennis Mc.Gilvray 301 found that a high caste man in Sri Lanka such as
a Vellalan or Mukkuvan would refer to himself simply as ‘a Tamil’
(Oru Tamilan) in semantically unmarked contrast to any low caste
person who would be unequivocally marked as ‘a Paraiyan’ for
instance. Lower castes, he says, adopted the same convention, so that
when he inquired in low-caste neighbourhoods about “Tamil customs”
he was told he should go ask some “Tamil people” rather than them
about such unfamiliar concerns.
299
See Caste in Tamil Culture. The Religious Foundations of Śūdra Domination in Tamil
Sri Lanka. Bryan Pfaffenberger (1982)
300
See UMTL.Vol.III.1929
301
Crucible of Conflict. Tamil and Muslim society on the east coast of Sri Lanka (2008)
The definition is significant as it suggests that the term Tamil may
have originally referred to a racial stock distinct from both the Aryans
and the so-called low castes. The term ‘caste man’ referred to in the
Tamil Lexicon obviously refers to the high Dravidian castes such as the
Veḷḷāḷars who in Sastric terms were deemed to belong to the Śūdra
varna, a class which in South India enjoyed a high social status and
ranked only second to the Brāhmaṇs 302. Robert Caldwell in his
Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian family of
languages (1856) notes that it was upon the middle and higher classes
of the Dravidians (chieftains, soldiers, cultivators) that the title of Śūdra
was conferred and that it did not designate the servile classes such as
the Paḷḷans and Paraiyans. It is evident here that the true Tamils who
were regarded as Śūdras constituted neither of the Brāhmaṇs who little
doubt were an Aryan imposition on the south, nor of the low or
untouchable castes who would have probably constituted the
descendants of a native aboriginal stock of Austro-Asiatic affinities
who had been subjugated or enslaved by the true Dravidians during
some remote period.
These non-Dravidian groups were often deemed untouchables and
held in much contempt in traditional Tamil society. In South India, they
were deemed to belong to the ‘left side’ as against the better castes of
the ‘right side’ while in Jaffna they were termed a imai implying
lowness or aboriginality as against the ku imai or the service castes. As
shown by Pfaffenberger (1982), although the right side versus left side
distinction is unknown in Jaffna, it could be argued that the a imaiku imai distinction retains the spirit of its South Indian counterpart. As
he notes, an important clue to the status of the ‘left’ untouchables may
be found in the aversion shown to these non-peasant folk, for it was
from the ranks of the detested tribal peoples that these untouchables
were, for centuries, recruited. He quite rightly points out that as the
agrarian order of South Indian peasant society expanded, previously
forested areas were cleared to make way for agriculture and that the
inhabitants of these areas, if not driven off were incorporated into the
social framework - by force if necessary - as castes of the left side.
Likewise in Jaffna, all a imai castes (The Kōviyār, Pallar and Nalavar)
were viewed as ‘stranger peoples’ who, for a variety of reasons –
conquest, famine and exile – had to submit to Veḷḷāḷar domination.
302
See Pfaffenberger (1982)
Caste structure in Sri Lankan Tamil society
The caste structure in Sri Lankan Tamil society is very much similar
to that existing among the Tamils of Southern India, though there also
exist a few differences as well. There is evidence to show that the
Dravidian presence in Sri Lanka dates back to the pre-Christian period,
largely as a result of invasions such as that of Eḷāra in the time of King
Asēla (C.3rd century B.C.).
Tamil power however does not seem to have been consolidated till
the late mediaeval period, for the Sinhalese monarchs, wary of
recurrent Dravidian invasions spared no pains to destroy their power.
The 14th century Sinhala work, the Saddharmalankāraya refers to the
destruction of Tamil fortifications (dema a vahasal biňdīma) in the
days of King Dutugämunu (C.2nd century BC) while we find the
Jētavanārāma slab inscription of Mahinda IV (C.955-972 A.C.) stating
that the King with his majestic power drove away from Lanka the
Dravidian foe, just as the rising sun dispels darkness from the sky (lak
amburen deme -rupu-andur hära lo ek-he i-kärä). However, it was not
very long before the invasion of the Cōḷa Emperor Rājarāja I (C.992993 A.C.) resulted in the fall of the Sinhalese capital of Anuradhapura
and in the conquest of the northern part of the island which was
organized as a Cōḷa province under the name Mummuṭi-CōḷaManṭalam. A Tamil inscription of Rājarāja found in the Rājarājeśvara
Temple at Tanjavur states that he conquered by his army, which was
victorious in great battles, among other countries, Īḷa-Maṇṭalam of the
Sinhalese who possessed rough strength (mura ē il ci kalar
Ī ama alam) while that of his successor Rājendra Cōḷa has it that he
conquered with his warlike army, the whole Īḷamaṇṭalam on the
transparent sea (ī ama alamu uva um). It was only a matter of time
before the Sinhalese were able to wrest control of the south, though it
would appear that by this time the northern part of the island was
probably Tamil-dominated. It was only after the thirteenth century that
substantial Dravidian settlements were formed in the north of the
country when Tamil emigrants from South India migrated to the island
with the definite aim of settlement 303, a contention also supported by
linguistic evidence 304.
303
See Early Tamil Settlements in Ceylon.K.Indrapala. JRAS.CB.1969
304
See Hussein (2009)
The rule of the Āriyacakkarāvarati rulers of Jaffna in the subsequent
period further consolidated Dravidian power in the north prior to the
invasion of Jaffna by the Portuguese in the 16th century after which it
came under European colonial rule and the independent Sinhalesedominated Sri Lankan state that followed. The Tamil inhabitants of
Jaffna and other parts of the Northern Province appear to have rigidly
subscribed to caste ideology as it found expression in the traditional
Dravidian society of South India, though this seems to have been
applied less rigidly in the Eastern Province where a significant
proportion of the inhabitants are also Tamils.
In both South India and Northern Sri Lanka, the Brāhmaṇs are
accorded the highest place followed closely by the Śūdra castes such as
the Veḷḷāḷars. This is because the intermediate varnas one could expect
to find in the north, namely, the Kṣatriyas and Vaiśyas who could
legitimately claim in the Sastric sense to be far higher than the Śūdras
of the Tamil country have been absent or nearly so in the south 305.
Indeed, the alliance between the Brāhmaṇs and Śūdras is a cardinal
feature that characterizes South Indian society, particularly of Tamil
Nadu, and it is this 1000-year Brāhmaṇ-Śūdra alliance that Bryan
Pfaffenberger refers to as ‘the most distinctive feature of Dravidian
society’. Pfaffenberger contends that the amalgamation of the
indigenous village folk culture of the south dominated by Veḷḷāḷar
landholders and the Gangetic culture of the north brought thither by the
Brāhmaṇs was an entirely peaceful process mutually acceptable to all
parties concerned. It was mutually beneficial because Brāhmaṇs were
accorded ritualized endowments or legitimate claims to a portion of the
Veḷḷāḷar-controlled harvest.
Brāhmaṇs provided Veḷḷāḷars with the ideology they needed to
defend their privileges and position (vis-à-vis the other depressed castes
such as the Paḷḷar and Paraiyar) as a morally excellent and distinct
caste. For instance in public ritual events at the temples, Veḷḷāḷar
donors were rewarded with honours indicating their high status and
legitimate rights. This arrangement though not in complete accord with
northern Brāhmaṇical ideas of social distance between Brāhmaṇ and
Śūdra nevertheless found a congenial home in the south, very probably
305
Pfaffenberger (1982)
for the reasons outlined by Pfaffenberger. This was all the more so in
the northern parts of Sri Lanka where the relationship between
Brāhmaṇs and the Veḷḷāḷars has been a very cordial and intimate one
306
.
Although there are probably no more than twenty Tamil castes in the
north and east of the island at the present day, available evidence
gleaned from historical records suggest that there were over forty
different caste groups among the Tamils in the olden days. The Dutch
Governor Thomas Van Rhee in his Memoir of 1697 307 lists over 30
Tamil castes of Jaffna. These include the Brahmins, Bellales, Chiandes,
Chivias, Tannekares, Paradeeses, Maddapalys, Palwelys, Tawassys,
Parreas, Marruas, Parruas, Nallawas, Pallas, Wallias, Toerambas,
Malleales Agambadys, Fondadoors, Silversmiths, Barbers, Washers,
Potters, Tailors, Painters, Weavers, Dyers, Shoe-makers and Fishers
(consisting of six different classes, viz. Carreas, Moekeas, Paruwas,
Kaddeas, Tummulas and Chimbalawas).
J.P.Lewis 308 names such castes of the Vanni (i.e. Vavuniya and
Mullaitivu Districts) as the Paravar, Mukkuvar, Timilar, Valaiyar,
Maravar, Taḍḍar (Goldsmiths), Kollar (Blacksmitths), Tachchar
(Carpenters),
Chakkiliyar
(Shoemakers),
Kusavar
(Potters),
Kaikkaḷavar (Weavers), Kaḍaiyar (Lime burners), Oḍḍar (Tank
diggers), Chanar (Toddy-drawers), Ampaḍḍar (Barbers), Vannar
(Dhobies), Naḷavar (Toddy-drawers) and Turumpar (Dhobies to low
castes).
The local Tamil castes given by Simon Casie Chitty 309 include
Brahmins (priests), Vellaler (landlords), Idayer (herdsmen), Seniyer
(weavers), Paller (ploughmen), Shananar (toddy drawers), Chiviyar
(palanquin bearers), Kadeyer (lime burners), Nalawer (toddy drawers),
306
So much so that the Jaffna Peninsula does not seem to have ever experienced an antiBrāhmaṇ movement at all which was in sharp contrast to the mainland where a virulent
anti-Brāhmaṇ movement emerged in the late 19th century reaching its peak in the mid-20th
century (See Pfaffenberger.1982).
307
Trans.Sophia Anthonisz (1915)
308
Manual of the Vanni Districts (1895)
309
The Ceylon Gazetteer (1834)
Parreyar (tom-tom beaters), Thanakarer (tobacco planters) and Kowiyer
(bondsmen). Other castes he gives include Marawer, Parawer,
Karreyar, Mukuwer, Timiler, Sempadawer, Agampudiyar, Palliwilli
and Madapalli. He also mentions the Kudimakkel or ‘domestic
servants’ including the Navider (barbers), Koller (blacksmiths), Taṭṭār
(goldsmiths), Kannar (brass founders), Tatcher (carpenters), Sitper
(masons), Paner (tailors), Vaniyer (oil makers), Kusaver (potters) and
Wannar (washermen).
H.W.Codrington 310 gives as Tamil castes Akampaḍiyār (a caste
which attended to business in the interior of palaces and temples),
Cakkiliyar (a caste of leather workers), Cēniyar (a caste of weavers),
Cittirakkārar (a caste of painters), Ciṭpar (a caste of masons),
Naḍḍuvar (a caste of dancers), Oḍḍar (a caste of earth-diggers),
Paḍḍunūṭkārar (a caste of silk cloth makers), Kaikkiḷavar (a caste of
weavers), Kannār (a caste of brassfounders), Kollar (a caste of
ironsmiths), Kusavar (a caste of potters), Taḍḍār (a caste of
goldsmiths), Taiyaṭkārar (a caste of tailors) and Vannār (a caste of
washers). He also gives Turumpar as a Tamil caste of washers serving
the low castes, as well as Cempaḍavar as a Tamil caste who he says are
also known as Paḷḷivili and Sāliyar whom he describes as ‘a caste in
Jaffna’ but does not give its occupation.
Today however we hear of no more than 20 Tamil castes. James
Cartman 311 mentions among the Hindu castes of Ceylon, the
Brahmans, Vellala, Koviyar, Nalava, Palla, Karaiyar, Muchavar,
Ambattar and Thurumbar. He also mentions the Seneer ‘Weavers’,
Kadaiyar ‘lime burners’ who also undertake the work of colour
washing buildings and the Chakkiliyar ‘people who work in leather’
who are considered a very low caste in consequence of the fact that
“the hide comes from the sacred cow”. Pfaffenberger (1982) gives
Veḷḷāla, Karaiyār, Paḷḷar, Naḷavar, Kōviyar, Paraiyar, Mukkuvar,
Taccar, Vaṇṇar, Paṇṭāram, Ampaṭṭar, Taṭṭār, Cāṇṭār, Kucuvar,
Cirpācāri, Kaikular, Kollar and Nattuvar. There are also a few others
such as the Timilar, a fisher caste mentioned by Robert Holmes in
Jaffna (1980).
310
Glossary of Native, Foreign and Anglicised Words (1924)
311
Hinduism in Ceylon (1957)
It is nevertheless possible that many of the castes mentioned in the
older records still survive in remote areas. These castes which were
probably small social groups would have been either numerically
insignificant or settled in areas so remote or isolated that they would
have escaped the notice of the more recent observers. Others would
have possibly assimilated into neighbouring groups while yet others
who were not possessed of many members would have died out with
time.
The Brāhmans
The Brāhmans, known in Tamil as Pirāman 312 have a long history in
South India. The Cilappatikāram alludes to the sacrificial smoke raised
by Brāhmaṇs in the Agnisāla (Lit.Fire-Hall) of their tall houses. It
further makes reference to the Cēra monarch engaging in Vedic rituals
such as the fire-rite offered by the Brāhmaṇs. The Brāhmaṇs are also
said to have resided at Cenkanam in the Cōḷa country, Matura and
Tankal in the Pandyan country and at Vanci, Mankatu and Poraiyur in
the Cēra country 313.
The Tiru-murukārrup-paṭai, a Sangam age work of a religious
character refers to the six duties of the Brāhmaṇs (viz.reciting the
Vedas, teaching the Vedas, performing Yajnas and getting them
performed, giving charity and accepting charity) and their tending of
the sacred fires of three different forms (viz. Ahavaniya, Dakṣinagni
and Grihapatya which are tended in pits of the form of the square,
triangle and bow-shape). It also refers to their wearing of sacred thread
of three triple strands. These early Brāhmaṇs of South India very likely
represented an Aryan Brāhmaṇ migration to the south. This is
suggested not only by the fact that one comes across many South
Indian Brāhmaṇ communities which bear typical Aryan traits such as
fair skin and tall stature, but also by the fact that they have a long
established practice of suffixing Ayyar, a derivative of the Sanskritic
Ārya, to their names.
312
The term Pirāman is a corruption of Brāhma , since in Tamil a loan with an initial b
is hardened to p
313
Cilappatikāram
This however does not necessarly mean that all South Indian
Brāhmaṇs are descended from the Aryan Brāhmaṇs. There do exist
Brāhmaṇ communities in the south which possess a dark skin
complexion and other physical characters that suggest that they were
drawn from a Dravidian stock with considerable Austro-Asiatic
admixture. Says Edgar Thurston 314: “Popular traditions allude to
wholesale conversions of non-Brāhmans into Brāhmans. According to
such traditions, Rājas used to feed very large numbers of Brāhmans (a
lakh of Brāhmans) in expiation of some sin, or to gain religious merit.
To make up this large number, non-Brāhmans are said to have been
made Brāhmans at the bidding of the Rājas”. He adds: “Here and there
are found a few sections of Brāhmans, whom the more orthodox
Brāhmans do not regard as such, though the ordinary members of the
community regard them as an inferior class of Brāhmans”.
According to Herbert Risley 315 the Tamil Brāhmaṇs themselves
belong to a lower physical type and their mean nasal index of 76.7 has
probably been affected by the inclusion in the group of some tribal
priests, who obtained recognition as Brāhmaṇs when their votaries
insensibly became Hindus. Now, to have such a high nasal index
certainly suggests some remote Austro-Asiatic antecedents. Be it as it
may, the Brāhmaṇs of South India and Sri Lanka in general have been
traditionally regarded as the highest caste group and a very respectable
one to whom great deference has been traditionally shown by the Tamil
populace.
The Brāhmaṇs figure quite early in the history of Jaffna. The
Yālppāna-vaipava-malai, a chronicle of the kings of Jaffna composed
by Mayilvakanan in the 18th century has it that King Tisai-YukkiraCōḷan of the Cōḷa country, father of Princess Marutap-Pira-Vika-Valli
dispatched a Brāhmaṇ from the Sivalayam at Tillai named PeriyaManat-Tullar to Lanka to perform the rites necessary for a temple to
Kanta-Suvami the princess intended building at Kirimalai. We are
further told in the chronicle that a King of Jaffna, Si ka Ariyan
appointed a Brāhmaṇ from Kashi named Ka katara-Ayyar as priest of
the temple of Kayilaya Natar and Kayilai-Nayaki-Amman which he
had built. The Yvm also has it that during the period of Dutch rule in
314
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.I (1909)
315
The People of India (1915)
the island, sometime around the 17th or 18th century, a great commotion
having arisen in Southern India, many Piramana families, both of the
Viṣnu and Saiva Samayams came from Uttara-Kosa-Ma kai and settled
in Karativu.
A Tamil slab inscription from Pālamōṭṭai near Kantaḷāy in the
Trincomalee District assigned to the 11th or 12th century, informs us
that Kantaḷāy was also called Vijayarāja Caturvedima galam. The term
Caturvedi-Ma galam is of frequent occurrence in South Indian
inscriptions and is appended to the names of villages inhabited by
Brāhmaṇs 316. Thus it is likely that Kantaḷāy must have had a sizeable
colony of Brāhmaṇs at the time. Furthermore, Kārāmbacceṭṭu is found
prefixed to the names of Brāhmaṇs in South Indian inscriptions, and in
the Pālamōṭṭai inscription we find a reference to a Brāhmaṇa named
Kārāmbacceṭṭu Yajniyakramavittan
What the origins of these Brāhmaṇs were we cannot say for certain.
The Brāhmaṇ names given in the Yvm bear the suffix –Ayyar, e.g.
Ka katara-Ayyar and Parasu-Pani-Ayyar, suggesting that they could
have had Aryan antecedents. Nevertheless, it is worth noting the
observations of Cartman (1957) who points out that there are some who
think that the Ceylon Brahmans are not really Brahmans by race. “To
cross the sea is one way to lose caste, and it is thought that a high caste
Brahman in India would not lightly take the adventure across the sea to
Ceylon. Hence those who hold this view contend that the Brahmans
who are presently attached to temples in Ceylon were originally
selected by the community from another caste for this purpose”. Further
as pointed out by Holmes (1980): “The Brahmans get no credit in
Jaffna for being Aryans; no one has any doubt that the best people are
Dravidians !”. Thus it may as well be that the Brāhmaṇs of Sri Lanka
are derived from those rather unorthodox Brāhmaṇs from South India
who probably had their origins from a non-Aryan people.
It must however also be borne in mind that the worldview of those
Aryan Brāhmaṇs who had settled in the Southern Indian Peninsula
would have differed considerably from that of those of the north as for
instance with regard to ritual impurity arising from interaction with
lower castes. Thus it is possible that at least a few of the Brāhmaṇs of
the northern parts of the island are derived from those South Indian
316
See Studies in Cōḷa History. Nilakanta Sastri
Brāhmaṇs who had their origins in North India, a contention supported
by the fact that some Brāhmaṇs, at least, had the name Ayyar or
‘Aryan’ suffixed to their names. Also supporting this view is the
slightly lighter skin colour of local Brahmins. Johann Christoph Wolf
observed a little over 200 years ago 317 that the Bramin (Brahman) of
Jaffnapatnam was of a yellow complexion, plump and fleshy, whereas
the Malabar (Tamil) was black. The lighter complexion of the Jaffna
Brāhmaṇs was also noticed by an American missionary almost fifty
years later: “The natives are divided into a variety of classes, the
highest of which is the Brahmins, who are much fairer and more
beautiful than any caste below them” 318.
The Brāhmaṇs of Sri Lanka, though an influential group in the Tamil
north, are nevertheless a numerically insignificant lot. Some of the old
Brāhmaṇ families said to have been brought in to the country during
the days of the Jaffna Kingdom are found at Māviṭṭapuram, Kīrimalai,
Kārainagar, Karaṇavāi and Kokkuvil 319. Simon Casie Chitty observed
in the early part of the 19th century 320 that although Brāhmaṇs were to
be found in almost every town in the south of India, in Ceylon they
were confined only to Jaffna, and that their total scarcely exceeded a
few thousands. Coming to more recent times, Holmes (1980) gives an
estimate of 600-800 Brāhmaṇ families. Indeed the Brāhmaṇs have been
found to comprise less than 1 percent of the total Tamil population of
Jaffna. Pfaffenberger (1982) gives 0.7 per cent as the percentage of
Brāhmaṇs in Jaffna.
This low proportion of Brāhmaṇs in the island is however not
surprising given the prejudice which many Brāhmaṇs, even those
domiciled in South India, would have had in crossing the sea. The
demand for their services would have been another influential factor
that would have determined their numbers, for if the demand for them
317
Reize Nach Zeilan (1782)
318
Letters and Conversations on the Ceylon Mission. Massachusetts Sabbath school
Union (1830)
319
See Early Settlements in Jaffna. An Archaeological Survey. Ponnampalam Ragupathy
(1987)
320
The castes, customs, manners and literature of the Tamils, written in the early part of
the 19th century and published in 1934.
as temple priests would have been low, the likelihood of their
emigrating to the island would have also been proportionately low. Yet
another factor that would have contributed to their low numbers is their
practice of strict caste endogamy which seems to have been rigidly
followed throughout the centuries. Philip Baldaeus 321 for instance tells
us that the Brāhmaṇs of Jaffna never marry out of their families, but
frequently their brothers’ and sisters’ children. Thus intensive
inbreeding and consanguineous marriages would have been the norm in
the community. The dearth of suitable prospective mates would have
also been a pressing problem. All this, we could infer, would have
contributed to the lower numbers of Brāhmaṇs among the Tamils of the
north.
The Brāhmaṇs, as the priestly caste of the local Tamils serve as
temple priests and officiate in various religious rites such as the hōma
or fire sacrifice. As noted by Holmes (1980), there are only a few
Brahmans in Jaffna and the great majority of them function as priests in
Hindu temples. However the owners and managers of these temples are
usually Vellalas, many of whom have the recognized traditional right to
interfere in the temple ceremonies if occasion arises. The few
Brahmans who do own temples in Jaffna, he says, are recent
immigrants from India and are always to be found either in large towns
or at pilgrimage sites. The Brāhmaṇs serve only in those Āgammic
temples where there are no animal sacrifices. These are the bigger
temples featuring elaborate sculptures known in formal parlance as
āgama kōyilkal (lit. shrines (built according to) the scripture). These
differ from the non-Āgammic temples which are mainly those
dedicated to Māri Amman, to a local Amman, to Bhairava or to
Aiyanar. At such temples, the priest is not a Brāhmaṇ, but a Saivite
priest, frequently called a Pandāram 322. There also exist Piḷḷaiyār and
Aiyanār shrines in which the Pūsāri or Veḷḷāḷar priest officiates 323.
321
Beschrivinge der Oost-Indische Kusten Malabar en Choromandel der Selver
aengrensende Koninckrijcken en Vorstendomme als oock het Keijserrijck Ceylon (1672)
322
Cartman (1957)
323
Pfaffenberger (1982)
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The Ve ā ar
The Veḷḷāḷar constitute the traditional farmer caste of the Tamil
country, whether in South India or Northern Sri Lanka. A very
numerous caste, they are represented in every district of Tamil Nadu
and are also the predominant caste in Sri Lanka’s north.
The Veḷḷāḷar are probably representative of the true Dravidians who
found their way to South India C.2500 B.C. or perhaps even earlier.
The Veḷḷāḷar of both South India and northern Sri Lanka are
characterised by a marked dolicocephaly characteristic of the
Mediterranean type. Anthropometrical studies indicate that the Sri
Lankan Tamils are a long-headed people and this is especially so of the
Jaffna Tamils with the largest head length with a mean cephalic index
of 73.62 belonging to the Jaffna Veḷḷālars 324. The Veḷḷāḷars of South
India have likewise been shown to be long-headed, though with a
slightly higher mean cephalic index of 74.1 325. At the same time,
however, there can be little doubt that their distinctive traits such as
darker skin complexion when compared to other Mediterranean types
has been acquired as a result of miscegenation with some Austroloid
stock several millennia ago.That such miscegenation has affected both
the Veḷḷāḷar of Sri Lanka and South India it is likely given the similarity
in skin colour and physiognomy.
The term Veḷḷāḷar is generally believed to be derived from ve ānmai,
Tamil for ‘cultivation’, ‘tillage’ (from ve am ‘flood’, ‘water’ and
anmai ‘management’). Indeed so intimate has the connection between
the Veḷḷāḷar and agriculture been that Edgar Thurston 326 cites a South
Indian proverb current in his day: “Agriculture is no agriculture, unless
it is performed by Vellalas”. The term however does not give us any
indication as to their origins or antecedents. M.D.Raghavan 327 however
cites the verses of the Kural iruntombi il valvatellam viruntombi
velanmai seytarporuttu, taking it to reveal the Vellala as a name
intergrating the twin ideas of Vellala in being generous in their
324
See Physical Anthropology of Ceylon. Howard Stoudt (1961)
325
Risley (1915)
326
Castes and Tribes of Southern India (1909)
327
Tamil Culture in Ceylon. A General Introduction (1971)
hospitality and of their descent from the Vels sung in the Sangam
poems. “Sangam literature, we are informed, holds up the character of
the Velir chieftains of satisfying the wants of the people. The Kural
defines velanmai as doing good to those who sought one’s help. This
line of thought has led to the inference that the people called Ve ā ar
are related to the Vels or Velir chieftains spoken of in the Sangam
literature. The alternative definitions of the word Vellalar are from
vellam meaning water, and from vel, the Velir chieftains of the Sangam
tribes. It is held that the term Vellala is always written with the ‘e’
elongated, while in vellam it is shortened. The historic development of
the term Vellala has been in the direction of vēl, vēlan, vellālan”.
Be it as it may, it is very likely that it was their numerical strength
and occupation as agriculturalists that earned them a high status in
Tamil society. The Clp refers to the villages of cultivators as “the sons
of Dame Kāvēri and her expansive waters, who were responsible for
the support of the needy and their dependents and for the victory of the
monarch”. Tiruvalluvar likewise proclaims in his Kural: “They alone
live who live by tilling the ground; all others but follow in their train,
eating what they give” (u utun u vālvāre vālvār marrellām tolutun u
pincelpavar). In like manner, the poet Kampar declares a few centuries
later in his Er Elupatu: “Those alone born in the farmer community are
born to save this world”. He further says: “How could the Cera, Cō a,
Pandya or any other King have established himself without depending
upon the fertile heads of the crops in their soils”. It is evident from all
this that agriculture was regarded as the mainstay of the kingdom and if
not for the contribution of the Veḷḷāḷars the country would be in a state
of deprivation.
The history of the Veḷḷāḷars in Sri Lanka is an ancient one. Although
the earliest Dravidian invasions of the country were spearheaded by
Tamil princes, soldiers and even merchants, it is not unlikely that
Veḷḷāḷar colonists followed in their wake, settling down in the north of
the island and taking to agrarian pursuits. The Yvm has it that a Tamil
colonist, a Veḷḷāḷar nobleman of Ponpattiyur in Pāndi Nadu named
Malavan prevailed upon the Cōḷan Prince Si ka Ariyan to occupy the
vacant throne of Jaffna which he did. Thereafter, settlements were
assigned to Veḷḷāḷar colonists hailing from various parts of South India
from places like Ponpattiyur, Kaccur, Kovalur, Kupanatu, Kayilnakar,
Puttur, Vavikka and Sikarama-Nakar who were settled in such places as
Tolpuram, Tirunelveli, Tellippalai, Paccilappalli, Puloli, Koyilakkandi,
Neduntivu, Inuvil and Irupalai 328. The constitution of the northern
parts of the island into a separate Cōḷa province under the name
Mummuṭi-Cōḷa-Maṇṭalam following its fall to the Cōḷa Emperor
Rājarāja I in the 10th century would have led to further Veḷḷāḷar
migration, though as we have seen earlier, it is probably only after the
13th century that intensive colonization of northern Sri Lanka by
migrants from the Cōḷa country took place. That the majority of these
migrants were drawn from the Veḷḷāḷar caste seems very likely, for
even today the northern parts of the island, and especially its arable
tracts, are predominantly Veḷḷāḷar.
However this is not to say that the Veḷḷāḷars hailed from only the
Cōḷa country. Many would have hailed from other parts of peninsular
India such as the Pandyan country and perhaps even the Cēra country
which might explain certain peculiarities of the local Tamil speech 329.
The Veḷḷāḷar of Jaffna are said to have traditionally comprised of ten
sub-castes, namely, Thera Kula Veḷḷāḷar, Solia Veḷḷāḷar, Pāndi
Veḷḷāḷar, Kongu Veḷḷāḷar, Karala Veḷḷāḷar, Kondai Veḷḷāḷar, Karkatha
Veḷḷāḷar, Kalla Veḷḷāḷar, Maran Veḷḷāḷar and shampodi Veḷḷāḷar 330.
These Veḷḷāḷar sub-groups, it is evident, take their names after the
countries of their origin. Thus it is likely that the Solia Veḷḷāḷar are
descended from those of the Cōḷa country; the Pāndi Veḷḷāḷar from
those of the Pandyan country and the Kongu Veḷḷāḷar from those of the
Kongu country. Interestingly, we have an account of the various
328
Yvm
329
A strong Malayali influence is evident in the local Tamil language such as in the
numeral term for ‘five’ anji instead of the proper Tamil aindu and in having –cc- in place
of the –tt- of Tamil first person past tense verbs such as a iccan “I beat’ and sandiccan ‘I
met’ instead of their respective Tamil equivalents aditten and sanditten. This
development may be due to the influence of Veḷḷāḷars hailing from Cēra (Kerala) or
perhaps as a result of the influence of the Mukkuvar who are also known to have hailed
from Kerala and who would have left their mark on the Tamil language of the island
which they subsequently adopted as their own.
330
Raghavan (1971)
Veḷḷāḷar sub-castes of the subcontinent in the Madras Census Report
1901 by W.B.Francis who enumerates such divisions as the Soliya
Vellala, men of the Chola country, the present day Tanjore and
Trinchinopoly districts; the Pandya Vellala of the Pandyan kingdom of
Madura and Tinnevelly, and the Konga Vellala of the old Kongu
country, corresponding to the districts of Coimbatore and Salem. The
Karkatha Veḷḷāḷar, another local Veḷḷāḷar sub-caste are probably
descended from those Pandya Veḷḷāḷars known as the Karkattas or
Karai katus, a territorial sub-division from Karai Kadu. The Kondai
Veḷḷāḷar probably take their name from the peculiar style in which they
wore their hair, in a kon ai or bun of hair tied at the back of the head.
Besides the above mentioned sub-castes, there seem to have been
other Veḷḷāḷar sub-castes organized on a sort of clan basis. Ragupathy
(1987) for instance refers to the Toṇṭai Maṇṭala Veḷḷāḷar whom he
believes to be connected to the Toṇṭai Nadu region (Kānci region of
Tamil Nadu). He also gives Pāṇṭi Malavar, Cittiramēliyār and Cāliyar
as other clans of Veḷḷāḷar found in Jaffna. The Cittiramēliyār, he says,
are survivors of an ancient agrarian guild and still retain a village near
Iḷavālai. The Cāliyar, he believes to have taken their name after an
ancient Tamil word for paddy cāli. This group he notes have a
distribution in Jaffna along the traditional paddy field stretches and that
at Paccillappalli it is known as Paccaricic-Cāliyar or ‘Raw rice
Cāliyars’. The Vellalar of the eastern regions are also known to have
ku is or exogamous matri-clans, a practice probably inspired by the
neighbouring Mukkuvar communities. Among the few Vellalar ku is
found here may be mentioned the Kaṇḍan (Warrior or King) and
Maḷuvarasan (Battle Axe King) 331. The Veḷḷāḷar clans of old seem to
have had their own banners or symbols. Although it was the Merli Kodi
‘Ploughshare flag’ that was generally regarded as the caste flag, the
ruling clan among them had a lotus bud standing out on a device known
as pasumbai while another clan had as its emblem a crow’s foot 332.
Those Veḷḷāḷars who settled in the north, and later in the east of the
country, like their cousins, in the mainland, appear to have been treated
with great favour by its rulers such as the Āriya Cakkarāvaratis,
particularly in a context where agriculture was the mainstay of the
331
See Mc.Gilvray (2008)
332
J.W.A.Canagasabey cited in Perera (1916)
economy.These Veḷḷāḷars, like the Govigama of the south, seem to have
been regarded as a sort of farmer aristocracy and we even hear of
intermarriages between them and royalty. For instance, we find in the
Yvm, a king of Jaffna named Para-Rasa-Si kan (C.16th century)
bestowing his daughter Veta-Valliyar in marriage to a Velalan of the
Matakal district. At the same time, however, the Veḷḷāḷar came to
dominate the other castes, including the service castes, in a manner
much more oppressive than ever seen in the mainland. This oppressive
attitude towards the lesser castes seems to have reached its peak by the
colonial period and did not escape the notice of the colonial authorities.
For instance, we find Hendrick Zwaardecroon , the Dutch Commandeur
of Jaffnapatam in his Memoir of 1697 333 referring to the oppression of
the Bellales (i.e.Veḷḷāḷars) “who are very proud and despise all other
castes” and who had become so powerful that “they were able not only
to worry and harass the poor people, but also to prevent them from
submitting their complaints to the authorities”. He also refers to the
appointment of Maddappallys and other castes as tax collectors to serve
as a counteracting influence to the Bellales. The colonial authorities
however do not seem to have taken any drastic measures to contain the
evil and we find that even after independence in 1948, the Veḷḷāḷar still
continued with some of their oppressive practices, particularly with
regard to the untouchable castes whose members were subjected to
various disabilities such as being prevented from dressing as they
pleased or from entering temples or from walking on pavements when
Veḷḷāḷars were using them 334.
A major reason for the dominance of the Vellalar in Tamil society is
their numerically preponderent position which is more pronounced in
the north than it is in the east 335and the fact thay they hold much of the
arable land, particularly in Jaffna, thus enabling them to dominate the
social setup in the areas of their influence. Historical reasons, meaning
the fact that they enjoyed the goodwill of both the Tamil rulers of
Jaffna and the colonial authorities, also meant that they were able to
333
Trans.Sophia Pieters (1911)
334
See for instance Pfaffenberger (1982)
335
Pfaffenberger (1982) estimates that the Vellalar comprise of as much as 50 percent of
the total Tamil population of Jaffna, compared to 10 percent for the Karaiyar, 9 percent
for the Pallar, 9 percent for the Nalavar, 7 percent for the Koviyar and 2.7 percent for the
Paraiyar.
consolidate their power, not only politically, but also economically at
the expense of the other castes.
Pfaffenberger (1982) has attempted to explain the high rank of the
dominant Veḷḷāḷar in local Tamil society in terms of a Dravidian
worldview in which caste statuses have been accorded religious
legitimacy, in other words, the religious foundations of Śūdra
domination in northern Sri Lanka. Pfaffenberger observes that judged
in purely Sastric terms, the non-Brāhmaṇ dominant caste of South
India, the Veḷḷāḷar ‘a caste which possesses only the lowly Śūdra rank’
should not merit a very high caste rank. Yet proclaiming themselves to
be very pure and respectable, they are judged to stand in public esteem
just below the Brāhmaṇs. Yet he notes that the “Ve ā ar caste, at the
same time that they proclaim their great purity, in fact tend to lead a
fairly impure lifestyle. Ve ā ars, for instance, do not eat beef, but they
very often eat other kinds of meat; drink alcohol, carry on close
relations with impure, untouchable laborers; supervise blood
sacrifices; drink the blood of sacrificial victims; remarry widows; and
in general, throw themselves lustily into the tainting affairs of day-today life. These practices are very much out of keeping with the other
worldly, ascetic-like customs of the pure castes, and according to the
classical doctrine, the Ve ā ars’ rank should be low indeed. Yet
Ve ā ars, throughout the Tamil lands are ranked very high”.
According to Pfaffenberger, the underlying reasons for Veḷḷāḷar
hegemony are not simply the purity versus impurity distinction of the
Dharmasastras or the wealth versus poverty distinction, but rather their
investment in ritual which wins them a ‘culturally recognized right or
entitlement to control agrarian reproduction’, and validating that status
by maintaining Kudimakkal servants. Such ritual includes a great
variety of rites such as those meant for fostering rain and fertility ‘by
controlling the masculine and feminine disorder inherent in localities’
and gaining ‘the protection and help of the gods’. The patrons of Hindu
temples, usually served by Pirāman or Brāhmaṇ priests, are also for the
most part Veḷḷāḷar householders. Aḍimai untouchables, on the other
hand, are deliberately alienated from titles to reproductive resources
such as stock and crops and prevented from investing in such rituals as
are undertaken by the Veḷḷāḷar, thus throughout keeping them in a
subservient and poverty-stricken condition. Such a thesis, according to
Pfaffenberger “helps us to understand why Ve ā ars in Jaffna continue
to grow rice and to maintain ku imakkal servants, despite the collapse
of any real economical or political incentives for doing so. To win an
entitlement in ritual, and to validate it by giving rice, is even today to
possess enormous prestige and fame in Jaffna, a fact that simply
reveals the persistence and vitality of an old status ideology”. “Just as
Ve ā ars receive their potency as masters of reproduction from rituals,
so too do untouchables receive their potency – a dark, dangerous
power arising from disorder – from the same ritual process. The
untouchables’ condition, the antithesis of the Ve ā ars’ is created and
sustained when untouchables are not only prevented from benefiting
from the rites, but are also required, in their various ritual capacities,
to imbibe or to manipulate the very substance of the autochthonous,
evil powers which are thought to afflict this world”.
By this he means that ‘sacred power’ ordered by ritual and music
(ordered sound) does not invest those who perform the ordering a high
rank, but rather a despised one as manifest in the condition of the
Paraiyans (drummers), the so-called Ilicinan or ‘low born’ who are
thought to be saturated with the very disorder that they control through
their ritual roles. The resulting afflicted condition (tōsam) negates
fertility, good fortune and health. Thus “just as the Ve ā ar is obliged
to become the custodian of growing, reproducing things, the
untouchable is obliged to remain deprived of them”. Thus, according to
Pfaffenberger, there lies a hidden, unspoken southern ranking ideology
within the framework of the Gangetic or Aryan ranking ideology of
purity and impurity, which underlies caste statuses and invests them
with a legitimacy unquestioned in the system. The notion of disorder
(tōsam) according to him “is purely a Tamil one, of very ancient,
southern provenance”. Although Pfaffenberger’s views may be valid in
providing an explanation for the distinction between high and low in
contemporary Tamil society, the original distinction, like that of the
northern Indo-Aryans, it would appear was a racial one, as we have
seen earlier. Nevertheless, there can be little doubt that religious
legitimacy was also employed to achieve these ends, a process
facilitated by the close and intimate relationship they shared with the
Brāhmaṇs whom they regularly patronized.
Another means by which the Veḷḷāḷars sought to maintain their
supremacy was by building and patronizing Hindu kovils 336.
336
See for instance Pfaffenberger (1982)
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The Karaiyār
The Karaiyār comprise the traditional fisher caste of Northern Sri
Lanka. They are a predominantly coastal people settled in the littoral of
the Northern Province having as their main occupation fishing. The
very term Karaiyār literally means ‘Those of the Coast’ (fr.T.karai
‘shore’, ‘caste’). The caste is no doubt South Indian in origin, for a
fishing caste of the same name exists in the eastern coastal regions of
peninsular India from the Kistna to the Tanjore District 337.
The caste is certainly an ancient one for Ptolemy in his treatise on
Geography (C.150 A.C.) mentions a South Indian people known as
Kareoi which is probably his rendition of the Tamil Karaiyār. The
Karaiyār, or at least a certain section of them are known to have
formerly called themselves Kurukulam (fr.Skt.Kuru-Kula ‘Kuru clan’)
suggesting a connection with the ancient Kurus or Kauravas of northern
India who fought in the great war of Kuruksetra described in the
Mahābhāratha. R.K.T. Kanakaretna 338 records that “The fishers and
boatmen of Jaffna call themselves Kurukulam, and trace back their
origin to Kuru referred to in Páratham” 339. We also find that in South
India, certain sections of the Karaiyār inhabiting the coastal areas from
the Kistna to Tanjore are known to bear the name Kurukula after Kuru,
the legendary ancestor of the Kauravas 340.
The Karaiyār also seem to have been divided into sub-castes and at
least two broad groups seem to have existed until recent times, a
337
See Castes and Tribes of Southern India Edgar Thurston. Vol.VI (1909)
338
Information regarding Kudimakkal. CAR 1883 (1884)
339
H.F. & F.Fernando (A Dip into the Past.1920) however record that “In Jaffna town
there is a people of some importance called Kuru-kulam, and in Mantotte near Mannar
there is an agricultural people also of this name”. They also observe that the small
community calling itself Kuru-kulam in Jaffna town claim to be descended from the
Kuru-kula captains of old and their relations, who they note were got down by the Kings
of Jaffna such as when Chankili wrote to Tanjore for assistance against the Portuguese
around 1618, whereupon the Naique sent him a band of fighters commanded by a
chieftain called Varana Gulata, which must be the Kaurava name Varna-Kula-Aditta. All
this suggests that not all Karaiyar fishers of Jaffna styled themselves Kurukulam.
340
See Thurston. Vol. VI (1909)
division which may still hold good in certain parts. Kenneth David 341
makes mention of the Karaiyār sub-castes in Myliddy coast between
Kankasanturai and Palali in Jaffna Peninsula’s northern coast, namely,
the wealthier Tēvar Karaiyār and the poorer, ordinary Catāranar
Karaiyār. The Tēvars, he says, are identified with Vari or founding
ancestors, namely, Periyanadutēvan and Verimanikatēvan, reputedly
commanders of an invading Cōḷa army. He adds that commoner
Karaiyār, said to be descendants of the army’s soldiers and workers,
have no ancestral name. He also notes that the Tēvars of Turai and
Panivu wards descend from Verimanikatēvan while the Tēvars of
Tirupūr, Palanturai and Kalavai wards descend from Periyanadutēvan.
Holmes (1980) likewise says that the Karaiyār are divided between the
wealthier Tevar (seafarers) and the ordinary Karaiyār (fishermen). He
notes that since men of the Tevar sub-caste were allowed to shave the
front part of their head like the Brahmans and Vellalas, they claimed to
be equal with the Vellalas, a claim which the Vellalas rejected.
Less manifest however was the bifurcation of the Karaiyār into
economic classes though it is uncertain whether this fitted into or
overlapped the Tēvar-Ordinary Karaiyār divide. Such a division based
on economic considerations was noticed by Raghavan (1971) who
found in a visit to Jaffna in 1965 that the Careas of that region were
progressively inclined to demarcate between two classes of the group,
the Melongi and the Keelongi “the former the socially advanced class
with benefits of higher English education, and employed in educational
or other fields in Government or private services. The other section
denotes the class that pursues fishing, mainly deep-sea fishing, as their
main avenue of livelihood”. The terms used to denote these classes are
interesting. In Tamil mēlē means ‘over’ and kīlē means ‘under’ so that
the terms are easily explicable as ‘Those who are over’ and ‘Those who
are under’, reflecting a rather deep bifurcation of society based upon
socio-economic status. Nevertheless, it is not difficult to understand
such status-determined social ascription given the high premium Jaffna
society as a whole has traditionally placed on social mobility.
Judging from the context of Raghavan’s statement, however, it
would appear that the Melongi were identical with the Tevar Karaiyār
since the Keelongi are said to be the class that pursues fishing for their
341
Spatial Organization and Normative schemes in Jaffna, Northern Sri Lanka.MCS, Jan
& July 1973
livelihood which fits the description of the ordinary Karaiyār given by
Holmes. The Melongi on the other hand are said by Raghavan to be the
socially advanced class which fits Holmes description of the Tevar
Karaiyār as being wealthier. His mention of their being seafarers (as
opposed to fishermen) also supports such a view, for we may suppose
sea-faring comprised of maritime trading between the coasts of Sri
Lanka and peninsular India which would have allowed this folk to
accumulate wealth and aspire to greater social mobility such as by
investing in education, for instance.
Although the Karaiyār are primarily a coastal people, they are also
found in the interior. Such interior settlements have been in existence
for quite some time. The Foral or Quit-Rent Register of the Kingdom of
Jaffna by Don Philipe Mascarenhas (1645) makes mention of the
Careas of Patanao (Jaffna town), Cangancture (Kankasanturai),
Paracunapetitebature (Peria noti tevan) and Virimani Catuvaoture
(Viramanica Tevan) in the Province of Beligamo (Valikāmam).
As for their traditional occupation, it is evident that it has been
fishing since time immemorial, so much so that many observers
considered Karaiyār to be synonymous with fisherman. For instance,
we have Baldaeus (1672) stating that the Carreas live upon fishing
which they perform with large monstrous nets. He found them near the
seashore of Jaffnapatnam and the banks of the Salt River, showing that
these folk had settled in areas conducive to their livelihood of fishing.
Zwaardecroon (1697) refers to Carreas or fishermen while
Pfaffenberger (1982) terms the Karaiyār ‘deep sea fisher’. Besides
fishing, however, today’s Karaiyār have ventured into a number of
other occupations
The Tamil separatist movement in the north and east of the island
until its defeat a couple of years ago was dominated by the Karaiyār.
The leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Veluppillai
Prabhakaran for instance was a Karaiyan. A large proportion of the
Karaiyārs of today are Roman Catholics, having been induced to that
faith by Portuguese missionaries.
The Mukkuvar
The Mukkuvars are a predominantly coastal people largely found in
the Eastern Province and in Puttalam in the north western part of the
island. Their traditional occupation like that of the Karaiyār is fishing.
Available literary evidence suggests that the Mukkuvar have a long
history of domicile in the northern parts of the island. The Mukkuvar
find mention in the Yvm as early as the reign of Pandu-Maha-Raja who
we may identify with Paṇḍu, a Tamil leader from the Cōḷa country who
invaded Sri Lanka in the 5th century A.C. and ruled from
Anuradhapura. The work has it that upon a complaint made by the
inhabitants of Koyil Kadavai, a sacred area in the north, the Mukkuvar
whose hereditary occupation was fishing were ordered to quit the
sacred neighbourhood. The Mukkuvar chieftains Usuman and Sentan
are said to have migrated with their followers to Batticalao and settled
in Panakai and Valaiyiravu. A few remained behind in Jaffna and
formed new settlements on the sea coast far removed from Kiri-malai.
As for their origins, it is likely that the Mukkuvar hailed from
penisular India and are closely related to the Mukkuvar of South India
who are found in the coastal areas of Kerala and along the coasts of
Kanyakumari District of Tamil Nadu. That the Mukkuvars are a
Dravidian people there can be little doubt. Chitty (1834) for instance
notes that the Mookwas bear a close resemblance to the Tamils in their
physiognomy, manners and gait. Likewise, Dennis Mc.Gilvray (2008)
found that the Mukkuvar, like the Vellalar would call himself ‘a Tamil’
(Oru Tamilan) in contrast to the lower castes who were referred to by
caste names and never simply as ‘Tamils’. Chitty (1834) has given an
interesting account concerning the origin of the Mukkuvar in Sri Lanka.
He tells us that when the coast of Malabar was overrun by the
Mohamedans from Arabia, the natives were persecuted with the view
of causing them to embrace the doctrines of the Koran; in order to
avoid which the Mookwas transported themselves to Ceylon. He notes
that from the information that he had been able to collect, it appears
that the place where the Mookwas first landed was Kudremale, whence
they emigrated to other parts of the island, and in course of time formed
several settlements. He records that sometime after the arrival of the
Mookwas in the Putlam District, their chieftain named Vedi Arisen had
to contend with a rival named Manika Taleiven, the chief of the
Karreyar who possessed a settlement on the south side of the district.
Manika Taleiven is said to have dispatched some of his officers to Vedi
Arasen for the purpose of soliciting his daughter in marriage, but
meeting with a refusal, collected a considerable body of armed men and
declared war against the Mookwas, avowing their total destruction. As
the Mookwas at that time were a weak and defenceless people, they
concerted with the crew of an Arab vessel, which was then at anchor at
Kudremale, and with their assistance slew the rival chieftain and put all
his troops to flight. This skirmish is said to have taken place in the
plains between Mangalaveli and Kattakadu. In return for the service
rendered them by the Arabs, the whole of the Mookwas are said to have
embraced Islam, which many of their descendants afterwards
renounced in favour of Chritianity, through the influence of the
Portuguese.
Chitty further tells us that the Mookwas of Putlam call themselves
Mukuger and believe themselves to have originally been emigrants
from Ayodhya or some part of Oude in Hindostan, though they are
ignorant of the period when this event occurred. The name Mukuger
itself is said to derive from Kuga, the ferryman mentioned in the
Ramayana as assisting Rama and his retinue in crossing the Ganges on
their way from Ayodhya. Chitty who notes the existence of a race in
Kutch or Kuchchhava lying west of Guzerat called Mookwanas which
from the similarity of the names may appear to have some relation to
the Mookwas, however points out that the striking resemblance of the
Mookwas to the Nairs and Mookwas on the coast of Malabar,
encourages a supposition that they originally emanated from one of
these two tribes, rendering the former hypothesis of their origin
unnecessary. He suggests a connection between the Mookwas and
Nairs on the grounds that their ancestral property called mudusam
devolves to the sons of their sisters or in their absence to the sons of
their mothers’ sisters’ daughters, and so on to the fourth degree, a
custom which corresponds with that prevailing among the Nairs. Chitty
of course is referring to the custom of marumakkattāyam or matrilineal
system of inheritance that exists among the Nairs.
We however venture to believe that the local Mukkuvars are
descended not from the Nairs who are the dominant military caste of
Kerala, but rather from the Mukkuvans who are described by Edgar
Thurston 342 as the sea fishermen of the Malabar coast. This is borne
342
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.V.1909
out not only by the similarity of name, but also the fact that certain
sections of Indian Mukkuvar such as those of Kerala have, like those of
Sri Lanka, followed the marumakkattāyam system. The local
Mukkuvar therefore appear to have largely originated from the northern
Mukkuvars of the western coast of India rather than those of the
southern part. This is suggested by the fact that the northern Mukkuvars
like the local Mukkuvar practice the marumakkattayam or matriarchal
lineage system of Kerala while those of the south have the
makkattayam or patriarchal system 343. Similarly, the Mukkuvar to the
north follow the ‘house system’ peculiar to Kerala while those of the
southern areas of Kanyakumari District do not 344. This again bears a
close resemblance to the kuḍi system which the local Mukkuvar are
known to have practiced. In this system of social organization,
offspring, whether male or female, take after the clan of the mother and
cannot marry within their clan, but have to marry outside it.
The Mukkuvar appear to have originally been pearl divers. This is
suggested by the fact that in Tamil mukku means ‘dive’. Mukkuvar are
therefore ‘those who dive’ or ‘divers’. It is therefore likely that the
Mukkuvar were originally pearl and/or conch shell divers by profession
and that it was in later times that they took to fishing. In fact,
Ragupathy (1987) refers to the Mukkuvar of Jaffna as ‘a community of
conch shell divers’ “who have now turned towards fishing, as the conch
shell trade has now decined” 345. Nevertheless it was fishing that came
to constitute the traditional occupation of the Mukkuvar, whether in
India or Sri Lanka. Thurston (1909) describes the Mukkuvans as the
sea fishermen of the Malabar coast. That the local Mukkuvar had taken
to fishing over three centuries ago is borne out by a Portuguese Tombo
or Land Register of 1618 which refers to fishermen (Pescadores) who
343
344
Madras District Gazetteer. C.A.Innis (1915)
The Mukkuvār. A Fishing
Ecology.Ed.B.Saraswati (1998)
345
Community.John
Samuel.
In
Lifestyle
and
In fact it is said that the Jaffna lagoon and the seas around the Jaffna Peninsula provide
the best waters in Sri Lanka for conch-shell diving and it may be that this was one reason
why the Mukkuvar chose to settle down here following their arrival from India. This is all
the more so since conch shell was a precious article of trade in ancient and mediaeval
times, being used to make bangles and other ornaments. Indeed, until recent times,
conch-shell was a major export item from Jaffna, especially from the port of Ūrkāvatturai
(Kayts) (Ragupathy 1987).
were Mukkuvars by caste 346. Baldaeus (1672) too refers to the
Mokkuas being fishermen. More recently we have R.L.Brohier 347
noting that many Mookuwas retain their ancestral calling, and continue
to prove themselves the most intrepid deep-sea fishermen, as the
Negombo and Puttalam fishermen are reputed to be. Indeed, the
Mukkuvar appear to have been so zealously devoted to fishing that they
held those parts of the sea in which they fished to be their exclusive
preserve. As Raghavan (1971) has noted: “Mukkuvar claim territorial
rights in the waters in which they fish, a convention strictly observed in
North Ceylon. According to the national fisheries laws, the public can
fish anywhere in the sea, unless it is exclusively and legally possessed
by an individual or group of individuals. The Mukkuvar of North
Ceylon claim that they have hereditary rights over the sea. A
determined lot, they even go to the courts to fight it out. Even among
themselves they cannot tolerate if one group encroaches into what they
consider the territorial waters of the other. Some have written
documents of rights over the seas”.
The Mukkuvar, unlike the Karaiyār, are also known to have taken to
fishing in lagoons, so much so that Pfaffenberger (1982) terms the
Mukkuvar ‘lagoon fisher’ in contrast to the Karaiyār whom he calls
‘deep sea fisher’. The Mukkuvar of old also seem to have engaged in
chank fisheries and even the noosing of animals if we are to infer as
such from their ancient symbols. It has been observed that the chief
clans of the Mukkuvar had a chank as their device, probably to denote
their being engaged in the chank fishery while the clan called
panikankudi had a coil of rope to denote their trade of Panikans or
noosers of animals such as elephants and cattle. These emblems had
since fallen into disuse as flags and were branded only on cattle 348.
Although the Mukkuvar are not known to have sub-castes, they have
preserved a unique form of social organization based on exogamous
matrilineal clans known as ku is. M.D.Raghavan 349 records that the
346
The Ceylon Littoral 1593. P.E.Pieris (1949)
347
Discovering Ceylon (1973)
348
Canagasabey (1916)
349
Ceylon. A Pictorial survey of the Peoples and Arts (1962)
Mukkuvar of the Eastern Province proudly tell of Guhaṛ, the boatman
who rowed Sri Rama across the Ganges, a legend which lends
verisimilitude to their own derivation of the term Mukkuvar from MutGuhaṛ or Mun- Guhaṛ, the original Guhaṛ. He says that depending on
the Guhaṛ legend, are the names of their three original or mun kudis,
Kalinger Kuḍi, Ulahi Poḍi Kuḍi and Paḍayāchi Kuḍi which are
numbered among the seven kudis in which the entire body of
Mukkuvar stands organized. “Kalinger” he adds “is the Raja, Ulahi
Po i the mantri or Minister, and Pa ayāchi the Sēnā diper”.
Chitty (1834) records that the Mookwas are divided into seven
distinct tribes, each denominated after the name of its founder, or the
particular occupation professed by him. They are – Pichanda Vegei,
Nallanda Vagei, Vilangona Vagei, Kalanga Vagei, Koyta Vagei, Pala
Vagei and Mudivilangu Pandiye Tever. S.O.Canagaratnam in his
Monograph of the Batticaloa District (1921) gives seven Mukkuvar
kuḍis inhabiting Batticaloa District, namely, Ulakippoḍikuḍi,
Kalinkakuḍi,
Paḍaiyanḍakuḍi,
Pettanḍakuḍi,
Panikkaṇakuḍi,
Kaccilakuḍi and Pettanḍapaḍayanḍakuḍi. These kuḍis had their distinct
meanings. Thus Kāli ga (A mediaeval kingdom in Orissa), Ulakipōḍi
(World Chief) and Paḍaiyāṇḍa (Commanding the army). Indeed, the
Mukkuvar of Batticaloa were even able to preserve their own distinct
usages governing succession known as the Mukkuva Law 350 . Hugh
Nevill 351 records a tradition prevalent in Trincomalee that the
Mukkuvar were allowed to preserve their “special nayak law of
inheritance, a right which they are still allowed” in return for providing
a beautiful maiden for a human sacrifice, probably to the temple of
Tirukona Malai. This system of matrilineal succession peculiar to the
Mukkuvar has however died out since, and so has the tradition of
providing a maiden as a sacrifice, if indeed this was really the case.
As for the distribution of the Mukkuvars, we would find that the
caste is a fairly dispersed one, with sizeable settlements in the littoral of
the Eastern Province and Puttalam District. It would appear from the
Yvm that the Mukkuvar were in ancient times settled in Jaffna before
migrating to the eastern district of Batticaloa.
350
See The Mukkuva Law. C.Brito (1876)
351
The Kalvettu or chronicle of Trincomalai. The Taprobanian. Dec.1887
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The Madappallis
The Madappallis are a small caste of Jaffna who appear to have
served as domestic servants, though there are those who contend that
they are the descendants of the offspring of royalty or are descended
from a group of Brāhmaṇs.
The early notices of the caste as well as the etymology appears to
suggest a connection with the kitchen or cooking. Van Rhee (1697) for
instance says that the Maddapalys were employed to assist in the
kitchens of the Brahmins in heathen times. Chitty (1834) observed that
the Veḷḷāḷar, through motives of jealousy, derive the appellation from
the term madeipali or kitchen “where they say it was the duty of the
mothers of the Madeipaliyar to attend”. Winslow (1862) gives
ma appa i as ‘A caste, limited to North Ceylon’ as well as ‘A
cookhouse’. Another lexicon, the UMTL gives matai-p-palli as a
‘cook-house, kitchen, especially of a temple’ as well as ‘steward of a
palace’.
There are however those who hold that the caste derives from the
offspring of royalty. That the term madappali may also mean something
other than a ‘kitchen’ or ‘cookhouse’ is suggested by the Yvm which
has it that the Jaffna ruler Sa kili (C.16th century) proposed to make his
royal rival, Para-Nirupa- Si kan, lord of 500 villages with the title of
Madap-pali, a word composed of madappam, a cluster of 500 villages
352
, and ali, a ruler. The proposal was declined by the latter. Chitty
(1834) observed that there existed in Jaffna “an extraordinary race of
people” called Madeipaliyar descended from the offspring of the
Chakravartis or Kings of Jaffna, not by their queen consorts, but by the
ladies of their harems. The Maddapallis, he says, assert their
appellation to have derived from madappam, a term applied to a village
that had the presidency over five hundred smaller ones, their ancestors
having been the chieftains of such villages in former times.
Raghavan (1971) suggests that the appellation Madappalli may have
a connection with T.madam ‘a Brahmin house’ or ‘a King’s Palace’
and T.palli which conveys ‘a sense of sacredness attached to the name,
352
Interestingly, Winslow (1862) gives ma appam as ‘A principal village or district, the
metropolis of five hundred villages’ as well as ‘A city surrounded by villages’.
as in its meaning of a ‘house of the gods’. He also refers to a possible
connection with madappad ‘a domain, royal farm or king’s granary’
and notes that the very term madapalli occurs in Kerala as a ‘school’
for the kings or as ‘an institution for training in hunting’. Given these
likely derivations, Raghavan opines that the Madappalli could have
either had a descent from royalty or would have more likely been a
group descended from Brāhmaṇs who had been degraded and exiled
from Brahmanical status. The latter surmise, he avers, finds a close
parallel with a community in Malabar known as the Plappallies, a
community originally of Nambudiries, exiled and degraded from the
orthodox social order. Observing that the history of orthodox Kerala
provide numerous instances of communities originating from Brāhmaṇs
ex-communicated for social offences, mostly of the nature of minor
departures from the path of orthodoxy, he contends that the
Madapallies of Jaffna “may easily have been a society taking their
descent from such an exiled Brāhma group of Malabar”. He further
notes that the Brāhmaṇ extraction of the Madapallies is evidenced by
the upanayanam, the initiation ceremony of wearing the sacred thread,
and other special observances.
Raghavan’s hypothesis we venture to believe is quite tenable, save
that instead of deriving the Madappalli from either a Royal or
Brāhmaṇical stock as contended by him, it is more likely that given the
evidence, the Madappalli belonged to both a Royal and a Brāhmaṇical
stock since we known that the Āriya Cakkaravaratis to whom they
traced their descent were a dynasty believed to have had Brāhmaṇ
rather than Kṣatriya antecedents 353. This would explain both the claims
to royal descent and the traces of Brāhmaṇ rituals that survived among
them.
353
The rulers of Jaffna known as the Āriya Cakkaravaratis are said to have traced their
descent to a community of Brāhmaṇs who had originally hailed from Benares but later
settled at Rāmeśvaram. According to the Cēkarācacēkaramālai, Cēkarācacēkaran, the
king of Jaffna was a descendant of a Brāhmaṇ who had mastered the four Vedas and
belonged to the Kāsyapa gotra. This monarch is also described in the work as Kantamalai
Āriyarkōn or the King of the Āriyar (Brāhmaṇs) of Kantamalai, the old name for
Rāmeśvaram. This community evidently distinguished themselves in the court of the
Pandyan King at Madurai, and it was from Madurai, according to the Kaiyalamalai, that
Cinkaiyāriyan, the first Āriya Cakkaravarati ruler to rule Jaffna arrived before
establishing his capital at Nallur.
The Kōviyar
The Kōviyar are a relatively small caste in the Jaffna District, being
largely confined to the Jaffna peninsula. These folk were formerly
domestic slaves and servants of the Veḷḷāḷar, but are no longer so,
having emancipated themselves from Veḷḷāḷar domination over a
century ago. A few however may still serve as domestic servants in
Veḷḷāḷar households attending to chores such as cooking.
The Kōviyar, unlike most other local castes, have no corresponding
caste in South India, suggesting that they are of indigenous origin. In
this connection the etymology of the term Kōviyar may perhaps yield
some idea of their origins. According to the Yvm, the appellation
Koviyar is a corruption of the word Koyilar or ‘slaves of the kovils’, for
these people had originally been servants of temples, but afterwards
had, through poverty, sold themselves as slaves to temples. When the
temples were destroyed by the Portuguese, the temple managers sold
the Koviyar to private purchasers as they had no occasion for their
services.
Yet another derivation is from the Sinhala Govi, the traditional
designation of the Sinhalese farmer caste. The similarilty of the two
names and the fact that the Tamil language hardens the initial g to k
lends support to such a view. One of the earliest proponents of this
view was Mudaliyar C.Rasanayagam 354 who traces the origins of the
Koviar to the Sinhalese Govigama and believes that the transition from
Govigama to Koviar took place during the reign of the Jaffna Tamil
King Sankili whose bigotry not only resulted in the infamous massacre
of Christians, but also in the expulsion of Sinhalese Baddhists from
Jaffna. “Most of them” he says “betook themselves to the Vanni and the
Kandyan Kingdom and those who were unable to do so became the
slaves to theTamil chieftains and are now known as Kovia, a caste
peculiar to Jaffna”.The term, adds Rasanayagam, is no doubt a
corruption of the Sinhalese word Goviya or Goiya and that their
original status was equal to that of the Vellalas can be inferred from
certain customs which were still in vogue in Jaffna. In this respect he
points out to the peculiar dress of Kovia women “who wear the inner
354
Ancient Jaffna (1926)
end of their cloth over the shoulder in a manner quite strange to the
genuine Tamils”.
Whether Rasanayagam was expressing his personal views on the
origin of the caste or whether it reflected a prevalent tradition in the
Jaffna Tamil society of his day it is difficult to say. This view is echoed
by Cartman (1957) who records that it is widely believed that the
Koviyar were originally Sinhalese and that their ancestors were war
captives. This would imply that the belief that the Koviyar were the
descendants of Sinhalese Govigama who were enslaved by the Tamils
during some remote period was a widespread one in Jaffna Tamil
society.
A number of other possible derivations may also be suggested. One
such is that the term could have derived from the Skt. gōpah ‘one who
guards’, ‘cowherd’ which is quite possible as Winslow (1862) gives
kōvar as ‘herdsmen’, ‘cowherds’. Such a view found a vocal advocate
in Raghavan (1971) who held that the Koviar could have had their
origin as a vocational offshoot from the main Veḷḷāḷar stem which
focused on herding, which would also explain the ritual equality and
the curious status relationship that characterized social relations
between the two. He notes that the appellation Koviar may well be
derived from the root ko meaning ‘cow’, ‘cattle’ and by extension
cultivation, intimately related as it is to cattle. “That Koviar were the
original herdsmen and served as such in the economy of the Tamils, is
the most sensible view that we can take of the group in the context of
the Tamil social system of the early days when each group severally
fulfilled its function to the community. That both have the same cattle
brand mark today – the standing brass lamp, a mammothy and the
arukal vatturai or the six-spoked wheel, goes to show that the Ve ā ar
and the Koviar are associated units, two limbs of the same body. The
same washerman serves the Koviar, Ve ā ar, Vanniar and Chettiars.
The guardian god of the Koviar is Virapattira, whose vahanam is the
dog, and a dog vahanam is the offering to the deity. To the herdsmen
that the Koviar are the dog is an appropriate symbol”. Also interesting
is the derivation suggested by Ragupathy (1987) who traces the term
Koviyar to the Portuguese term corve ‘slave’ in which they were listed
in the Portuguese records. The Koviyar are known to have formerly
served as domestic slaves so that this derivation too is not unlikely.
This however does not answer the question as to the origins and
affinities of the caste.
A consideration of the physical anthropology of the caste may
perhaps be useful in determining the affinities of this folk. 42 Koviyars
measured in the Ethnological Survey of Ceylon showed a mean
cephalic index of 73.66 as against the Sinhalese mean of 78.33. It
however closely approached the Jaffna Veḷḷāḷar mean of 73.62, which
might suggest a connection between the Koviyar and Veḷḷāḷar as
contended by Raghavan.
The Koviyar mean however was also not too distant from the Vedda
mean of 73.46, and it is possible that the caste may have originated
from some Sinhalised Vedda folk who had been captured and enslaved
by the Tamils of the north during some remote period. The fact that the
Veddas were considered to be members of the Govi caste among the
Sinhalese (which may explain the appellation Koviyar) as well as their
aboriginal a imai status among the Tamils also supports such a view.
If this were indeed so, it may be that any manifest Dravidian
physiognomy of the Koviyar may have arisen from the fact that
Veḷḷāḷar men of former times took Koviyar women as concubines.
While some of the offspring were accepted as Veḷḷāḷars, others
remained Koviyars as recorded by Holmes. It is therefore quite possible
that the modern-day Koviyars if indeed they have aboriginal
antecedents, also have a considerable infusion of Dravidian blood.
This view however is also not entirely without fault. For one thing,
the Veddas were not held in any great respect in Jaffna Tamil society
355
which makes it difficult to explain how they could have attained the
high status they did even to the extent of being considered almost equal
to the Veḷḷāḷar in ritual status. For another, it is difficult to understand
355
The typical Jaffna Tamil attitude towards the aboriginals is summed up by
Pfaffenberger (1982) as follows: “They live a life without rules, without ritual and
without conventions (ola kumurai illāta vālkkai) celebrating no marriages and failing to
seclude women. Their women possess no chastity….Jaffna Tamils say of the Veddahs
“They are fools of the jungle (kā u mirān ika ). They let their women go about freely
(cummā) and later on they suffer for it”. Afflicted and saturated with primordial and
therefore disordering power, the fools of the jungle are riddled with the very opposite of
the orthodox Hindu power of vitality. They are saturated with a negative power of
disorder, so that they become, in Jaffna Tamil thinking, very dangerous indeed. The
Veddahs, and anyone whose lifestyle resembles theirs, are deemed to be not only low by
caste (kurainta cāti “castes found wanting”) but also thoroughly evil and dangerous
(ke avarkal “bad people”). Thus it is said of the Veddahs that they are not only impure
by custom, (which in itself is not a thorough justification for low rank), but also evil by
saturation with disorder”.
why they should have been named Koviyar (if indeed it did originate
from the Sinhala Govi) rather than a Tamil equivalent such as Vēdar
which is the name by which the Tamils refer to the Coast Veddas in
their proximity.
These counter-arguments may however not hold if we are to suppose
that at the time these folk were enslaved, they had been thoroughly
Sinhalised, so that there arose no occasion for them to be regarded with
the same disdain as the Veddas nor be termed as such. It must also be
borne in mind that the Koviyar were for a long period an enslaved lot
and it is possible that the little symbolic equality they were conceded as
well as the fact that their women were taken as concubines by the
Veḷḷāḷar could have simply arisen from the long term familiarity of the
Veḷḷāḷar with the Koviyar, which would have with time attenuated any
rigid social barriers that had previously existed between the two groups.
Available evidence would suggest that the Koviyar of former times
were an enslaved lot. Chitty (1934) says that the Kowiyar were
formerly “Slaves to the Velaler in Jaffna and used to work for them in
their fields”. He adds that “latterly they have become emancipated”.
Indeed, many Koviyars emancipated themselves from Veḷḷāḷar bondage
during the colonial period 356 and were henceforth known as Iddampone
Koviyars, i.e. the Koviyars who emancipated themselves. Such
‘emancipation’ was however not universal nor complete as many
Koviyar still remained dependent on the Veḷḷāḷar by virtue of the
latter’s hold on arable land. Raghavan (1971) for instance found that in
Tenmarachy, Vadamarachy and in the islands, the Koviar still remained
in their position of subordination to the Vellalar, discharging their
customary functions. In other areas, they figured as tenant cultivators.
For instance Raghavan found a Koviar village of about 600 families
named Kaitadi which held land on lease from the Vellalar and
cultivated paddy, tobacco and a variety of rotation crops. Two-thirds
share of the produce went to the owner and one-third to the cultivator.
Raghavan however found that in a few villages as in Valigamam East,
West and North, the Koviar owned lands of their own and enjoyed a
comparatively independent standing and did not serve the Vellalar.
356
Slavery in Sri Lanka was finally abolished in 1844.
However, many were the occasions in which the Koviyar served the
Veḷḷāḷar and this may still hold true to some extent. This may at least
partly be due to economic considerations, the Koviyar, still being to a
large extent, an economically backward group. Cartman (1957) gives
the Koviyar as ‘cooks (domestic servants) to Vellalas’ while Holmes
(1980) notes that it is the Koviyars who always cook at Vellala
weddings. He however also observes: “Today there seem to be no
longer enough Koviyar to supply the Vellala need for household
servants. Koviyar are certainly entering other kinds of employment
whenever possible; that is, usually, when they manage to get their
children educated and able to get a job with more status than a
servant”.
Nevertheless, the Koviyar, despite their former enslaved status,
occupy an important place in the Jaffna social hierarchy and rank only
next to the Veḷḷāḷar. Says Michael Banks 357 : “Koviars and Vellalas
have a curious status relationship. Although Vellalas are generally
acknowledged as the superior caste, and certainly are so in secular
terms, since formerly they owned the Koviars as chattel slaves, yet
Koviars are recognized by all as the ritual equals of Vellalas. Vellalas
will eat from Koviar cooking; Koviars may be employed as Vellalas’
servants, and always cook at Vellala weddings. Formerly Vellalas often
took Koviar women as concubines; many of the children of such unions
are today accepted as Vellalas, while others remain Koviars. Vellalas
attend Koviar weddings as guests and eat there. At Vellala funerals,
Koviars carry the bier to the burning-ground, and at Koviar funerals
the Vellala who has been served by the dead Koviar, must touch the
bier of the Koviar before the procession may start for the buryingground. This illustrates very well the distinction between the ritual
equality and the secular inferiority of Koviars. By touching the bier
Vellalas assert or admit their ritual equality with Koviars; by not
carrying it they assert their secular superiority. The ritual equality is
today ‘explained’ by an origin myth which alleges that Koviars are the
descendants of captured Sinhalese Goigamas who were enslaved by
Vellalas.
357
Caste in Jaffna. The Sacred- Secular split in Vellalar-Koviar Ranking. Aspects of
Caste in South India, Ceylon and North-West Pakistan. Ed.E.R.Leach (1960).
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The Paraiyar
The Paraiyar comprise a much-shunned untouchable caste group in
both southern India and northern Sri Lanka who have since time
immemorial engaged in drumming, though they are also known to have
been engaged as scavengers. The appellation Paraiyar very likely
derives from T.parai ‘drum’, thus denoting their hereditary occupation
– drumming. Thus Paraiyar would literally mean ‘drummers’ 358.
It is however possible, as contended by Gustav Oppert 359 that the
term Paraiyar does not necessarily have to be derived from parai or
drum. He notes that the word para or parai is, except in Malayalam and
Tamil, not found in the other Dravidian languages in the sense of drum
and at the same time as the name of the Paraiyars; for the Paraiyar is
called Holeya in Kanarese in spite of pare signifying a drum, and in
Telugu he is known as Mālavā u, which word originally signified
mountaineer. He therefore argues that the word Paraiyar designated
originally a mountaineer from the Dravidian root para preserved in the
Malayalam para. He also points out that of the various kinds of drums
used by the natives of Southern India - the parai, is not carried, when
beaten. But lies on the ground between the feet of the drummer and is
used at festivals, weddings and funerals, and that it is beaten only by a
particular class of Paraiyar, the Veṭṭiyān who burns corpses and digs
graves. It is therefore neither beaten by all Paraiyars nor used in
common life. He however notes that the term parai “is in Tamil now
used as the general term for drum”. It is nevertheless also possible that
the term Paraiyar may have meant ‘the dwellers of the quarter’ (pārā)
implying their ghetto-like existence in the past. According to a proverb
“Every village has its hamlet of Pariahs” 360.
358
Interestingly, the parai from which their name probably derives, is a one-sided
calfskin-headed drum found in South India but has as yet not been found in Sri Lanka.
Instead of using the drum that is believed to be their caste namesake, local Paraiyars play
the tavil (a double-headed cylindrical drum played with one stick and one hand) and the
tampa am (a single-headed, bowl-shaped drum played with two bent reed sticks)
(Mc.Gilvray.2008) which perhaps explains why they have often been described as
beating ‘tom-toms’.
359
The Dravidians (1888)
360
Risley (1915)
Epigraphic evidence also supports such a view. For instance a Tamil
inscription of the Cōḷa King Rājarāja in the Rājarājeśvara Temple in
Tanjavur mentions the quarter of the Paraiyans (paraiccēri) and the
ponds and wells of the Paraiyans (paraikkulakku i) showing that they
were a rigidly segregated lot. As seen earlier, the Paraiyar probably
comprise the descendants of an aboriginal non-Dravidian stock
subdued or enslaved by the true Dravidians of old which explains not
only their lowly status as untouchables, but also exclusion from the
Dravidian ethnonym.
Physical anthropology suggests that this group is a darkcomplexioned, long-headed broad-nosed folk closely resembling the
Austro-Asiatic peoples found scattered in many parts of South Asia
such as the Munda-speaking peoples of Eastern India and the Veddas of
Sri Lanka. E. Thurston 361 found that the very dark Paraiyan had a
cephalic index of 73.6 and a nasal index of 80 showing that they are a
dolicocephalic, platyrrhine folk of probable Australoid affinities 362.
As for their antecedents, we have an interesting observation by Francis
(1901) who observes that “the old Tamil poems and works of the early
centuries of the Christian era do not mention the name Paraiyan, but
contain many descriptions of a tribe called the Eyinas, who seem to
have been quite distinct from the rest of the population, and did not live
in the villages, but in forts of their own. Ambūr and Vellore are
mentioned as the sites of two of these. They may perhaps have been the
ancestors of the Paraiyans of to-day”. It is however curious as to why
these folk should have lived in forts, unless of course they were jungle
or mountain fastnesses far removed from the major population centres.
Strangely, ancient Tamil works do not appear to look down upon
those who engaged in drumming. For instance, the Pura-porul
composed by one Aiyanāritan which is said to be hardly less than ten
centuries old celebrates the virtues of the man who beats the drum for
the jewel-ankleted warriors: “For my grandsire’s grandsire, his
361
362
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.1 (1909)
For instance in a photograph of a Paraiyar drummer from Karainagar reproduced in
Ragupathy (1987), we find him bearing typical Australoid traits such as deep set eyes,
wavy hair and most significantly a very broad nose which is very much distinct from the
snub noses not uncommonly seen among Tamil folk. Likewise the photo of a Paraiyan in
Thurston’s Castes and Tribes of Southern India (Vol.VI.1909) shows him with a very
broad nose.
grandsire’s grandsire beats the drum! For my father, his father did the
same. So he for me. From duties of his clan he has not swerved. Pour
forth for him one other cup of Palm tree’s purest sweetest wine!”. This
reference to drummers however refers to war drummers who would
have little doubt enjoyed a respected place in the highly militarized
Dravidian society of old, and not the later drummers of the Paraiyar
caste who were very likely drawn from an aboriginal stock.
The Paraiyar are a widely distributed caste in South India, suggesting
that it is a very old one. Says E. Thurston 363: “Paraiyans are to be
found throughout the Tamil districts from North Arcot to Tinnevelly,
and in the southern extremity of the Native State of Travancore”. In
Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka too, the Paraiyar are a widely dispersed
caste, showing that their presence in the island is a fairly old one.
The earliest notice we have of the local Paraiyars is perhaps that of
Baldaeus (1672) who says that the Parreas are the most despicable of
all castes, their employment being to carry out dung and such like filthy
things. This would suggest that the primary occupation of the Paraiyars
of old was to serve as cleaners and as removers of unclean or discarded
matter.
At the same time however there is also evidence to show that they
were also employed to beat drums on important or ceremonial
occasions. Van Rhee (1697) records that the Parreas were required to
call the people to the churches to which they belong by the beating of
Tamblinjos (tom-toms). It is evident here that the age-old practice of
beating tom-toms on festive occasions was put to good use by the
Dutch colonial regime to summon people to church. All later evidence
suggests that it was the beating of drums that was regarded as the
primary ritual occupation of the caste. Kanakaretna (1884) who notes
that the Pariahs are found in almost all villages of Jaffna, says that they
are recognized as “a sort of musicians, particularly for mournful
occasions, and they accompany the corpses to the burning or burial
ground, sounding the tom-tom & C., and there they receive the copper
coin and company”. He adds that this class of people are paid annually
a certain quantity of grain, vegetables and fruits in their seasons, for
their support. We also learn from Holmes (1980) that only some
363
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.VI (1909)
Paraiyar people play drums, especially at funerals and at Kali and
Vairavar temples.
What all this suggests is that the practice of tom-tom beating among
the Paraiyars was a ritual role they had to perform in connection with
certain occasions in Tamil society and that at other times, they were
required to keep the roads and other public places clean. Indeed, it has
been found that besides their traditional role as drummers at temple
ceremonials and festival days, the Paraiyar have been engaged in a
number of other pursuits, including farm-work in the paddy-fields 364.
Raghavan 365 also notes that the Parayar of Jaffna, despite their low
social position, are economically self-sufficient, engaged largely in
weaving in their handlooms in their own humble dwellings and in other
handicrafts. The same writer (1962) refers to the Jaffna Parayar villages
of Chiviateru, Chuṇṇākam, Kōpai, Point Pedro, Nāvali and Vaṭṭukōṭai
treading the path of self-sufficiency as weavers and craftsmen. He also
notes that the Parayar of Jaffna are skilled in the making of baskets and
mats, boxes, bags etc of Palmyra leaves, besides weaving of textiles
including sarees. It appears that most Paraiyar of today, and particularly
those of the east, do not practice their traditional occupation and have
taken to a number of other trades. Mc.Gilvray (2008) for instance found
that the overwhelming majority of Paraiyar in Akkaraipattu were
agricultural workers, many of whom worked in Gal Oya Scheme land
on annual permit, though a few possessed permanently deeded paddy
land.
In fact, drumming as an occupation, ritual or otherwise, has declined
among the Paraiyar of late and this has been particularly noticed among
the eastern Paraiyar. Among the reasons cited for this decline are their
displacement from their musical function by higher caste Mēlakkārar
who are preferred at the household ceremonies of wealthier Tamils and
the desire of the present generation to distance itself from this
stigmatizing social role 366. Another task of the Paraiyar was the
cleaning of human habitations. Says Holmes (1980): “The Parayar’s
traditional task is sweeping the compound of his employers or patrons.
Daily or less often he or she appears with the broom which is the
364
Raghavan (1971)
365
Ibid
366
Mc.Gilvray (2008)
sweeper’s symbol. Waste paper and other rubbish from the home,
classroom or workshop have been thrown out messily in anticipation of
his services. When he sweeps up the papers and leaves from the
compound or other open spaces such as along the roadside, he
frequently stirs up a big cloud of dust through which the neighbours
have to walk as they go their ways. I have always suspected that the
sweeper took pleasure in stirring up dust for his neighbours of higher
caste to breath – such a dust cloud may be known as the “Sweeper’s
revenge”.
Yet another occupation undertaken by a few Paraiyar folk was the
practice of medicine, while yet others are known to have practiced
sorcery. Mc.Gilvray (2008) who noticed a drastic decline in the
occupation of drumming among the Paraiyar in the course of his
fieldwork in Akkaraipattu, found that the Paraiyars were quite famous
for their curing and magical powers. “The most famous Paraiyar curer
during the period of my fieldwork was a woman named Karani, a full
time snakebite specialist whose fame was widespread throughout the
Batticaloa region and as far away as Jaffna. Karani had learned the art
of visha vaittiyam (poison medicine) from her father, Velan Parisari,
who was also a renowned expert”. He also noticed a Paraiyar man who
was a specialist in treating madness (paittiyam) whose clientele was
drawn from a wide area that included Jaffna. The Paraiyar also had a
reputation for sorcery, and Mc.Gilvray tells us that he was warned by
his high caste Tamil assistant when he entered a drummer settlement
that “a Paraiyar could easily glean fingernail clippings or a bit of soil
from under your footprint or take a few threads from your garment, to
use in sorcery against you”.
What is most interesting however is that the very ritual occupation
they engaged in, namely, drumming, which should have actually
conferred on them a high standing in the social life of Jaffna society,
was perceived by the larger Veḷḷāḷar-dominated society to be the very
one that relegated them to their despised status. As Pfaffenbberger
(1982) has pointed out, the ilicinan or ‘low born’ condition of the
Paraiyans is believed to arise from saturation with the very disorder
they control by means of music or ‘ordered sound’ in the course of their
ritual role of drumming. The resulting, afflicted condition known in
common parlance as tōsam is said to negate health, fertility and good
fortune.
Yet another justification for the lowly untouchable status of the
Paraiyar is believed to be their constant contact with animal hide (that
go into the making of drums) which is believed to be polluting, as well
as their supposed scavenging activities including their coming into
contact with bovine carcasses. As noted by Pfaffenberger (1982): “To
scavenge carrion is the role of the Paraiyar”. He further notes that the
lowly Paraiyar who is believed to be “saturated with the pollution that
comes of handling the carcasses of cattle” exemplifies the opprobrious
features that in the ancient texts, as well as among Hindus today,
condemn a caste to a despised status.
Given the strictures against the caste, it is indeed remarkable that the
Paraiyars of Jaffna should regard themselves as fallen Brāhmaṇs.
Pfaffenberger (1982) records a tradition of theirs that long ago “two
brothers were the Pusaris in a Mariamman temple. The elder brother
decided to fast and to observe a vow of silence. He wanted his younger
brother to watch over the temple. So he said to the people “Nān
parrayan, tampi pārpār” (I will be silent, my younger brother will
watch). But the people misunderstood him and thought he said ‘Nān
paraiyan, tampi pārpār’ (I am the drum person, younger brother is the
priest). A similar view prevailed among the Paraiyars of South India of
whom Edgar Thurston 367 has recorded: “They have a very exalted
account of their lineage, saying that they are descended from the
Brāhman priest Sāla Sāmbavan, who was employed in a Siva temple to
worship the god with offerings of beef, but who incurred the anger of
the god by one day concealing a portion of the meat, to give it to his
pregnant wife, and was therefore turned into a Paraiyan. The god
appointed his brother to do duty instead of him, and the Paraiyans say
that Brāhman priests are their Cousins”.
Such stories needless to say have no historical or factual basis and
have merely been circulated to give them self-esteem and respectability
in a society that looked upon them with great aversion. There are also
those paraiyars who prefer to call themselves Valluvar kulam on the
grounds that the ancient Tamil poet Valluvar who is widely considered
a saint was a Paraiyar.368
367
368
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.VI (1909)
In the Eastern Province, for instance, the Paraiyar who figure prominently in
Saintamarudu in Kalmunai are known as Valluvar kulam (See Raghavan 1971).
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The Turumbar
The Turumbar were considered by far the lowest of the castes of
Jaffna. Not only was this caste which was employed as washers to the
low castes considered untouchable, but were also, so to say,
‘unseeable’. A caste of this name or description is not found among the
Tamils of South India, suggesting that it is an indigenous or
indigenously evolved caste.
The Christian missionaries, Mary and Margaret Leitch 369 have
recorded that the washers serving the drum-beaters’ caste were
considered so polluting that in former times they were prohibited from
leaving their homes in the day. “A century ago, in the darker days of
Ceylon, this caste of people were never allowed to leave their houses
except in the night, and then they were obliged to drag a large branch
behind them, so that any one of a higher caste walking in the street
might hear and call upon them to turn aside until they had passed; for
to touch, speak to, or even look at a person of this low caste was
considered a pollution”.
This caste appears to have been identical with the Thurumbar
mentioned by Holmes (1980). Holmes notes that the Thurumbar, the
washermen for the untouchable castes, were not only untouchable
themselves, but also ‘unseeable’. He notes that by tradition, the
Thurumbar were supposed to move around only at dusk or later, and in
order to avoid polluting anyone by accidental contact in the dark, each
Thurumbar was supposed to drag a Palmyra leaf behind him so that its
rustling would warn others of his presence. He notes that since they
mostly went about in dark or semi-darkness, some high caste people
did not even know of their existence. He notes that at any rate they
were not ever very numerous and a few of them washed clothes for a
living. He also notes that members of this caste were reputed to be
sorcerers able to dispense evil to one’s enemy, for a fee, and that in this
capacity, they met on a professional basis with some members of the
higher castes now and then. The Thurumbar, he adds, no longer drag
the Palmyra leaf with them. We also have Cartman (1957) who records
that the Thurumba ‘the lowest of the low castes’ are usually found
distant from the towns and rarely come into contact with the high
369
Seven Years in Ceylon (1890)
castes. As to whom these Turumbar served, we learn from the Leitchs
(1890) that they served the drum-beaters’ caste, in other words, the
Paraiyar. Van Rhee (1697) says that the Toerambas are the washers of
the Nalawas while Cartman (1957) gives the Thurumba as “Dhobies to
Palla, Nalava and Paraiyar”.
As for the origins of this rather unusual caste name, it may perhaps be
connected to T.turumbu ‘a straw’, ‘rush’, ‘splinter’, also ‘a straw given
to a wife as a token of divorce’ 370, a term which may be construed to
suggest an outcaste or separated group of people. M.D.Raghavan 371
believes the term to derive from the Malayalam word for washing
tirumbuka suggesting a Malabar (Kerala) link. The Turumbar appear to
be still found among the Tamils of Jaffna. Holmes (1980) found that a
few Turumbar of his time washed clothes for a living while Ragupathy
(1987) found a few families of Jaffna still retaining the caste name
Turumpar.
The Siviyar
The Siviyar who comprised the traditional palanquin-bearer caste of
the Tamils of the north are hardly if ever heard of nowadays, though it
is possible that a few still survive in the remoter parts of Jaffna. The
caste name Siviyar evidently derives from T.civikai ‘palanquin’
reflecting their traditional occupation as palanquin-bearers.
The caste is also found in South India. Edgar Thurston 372 who notes
that Siviyar literally means a palanquin-bearer says that it is an
occupational name applied to those employed in that capacity. He notes
for this reason, a sub-division of the Idaiyans is called Siviyar. He also
notes that the Canarese-speaking Siviyars of Coimbatore say that they
have no connection with either Idaiyans or Toreyas, but are Besthas
who emigrated from Mysore during the troublous times of the
Muhammadan usurpation. “The name Siviyar” he adds “is stated to
have been given to them by the Tamils as they were palanquin-bearers
to officers on circuit and others in the pre-railway days. They claim
370
Winslow (1862)
371
The Malabar inhabitants of Jaffna. Sir Paul Pieris Felicitation Volume (1956)
372
Castes and Tribes of Southern India. Vol.VI (1909)
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CHAPTER 3
Caste in Moor Society
There is perhaps no religion that has stressed so much on the equality
of man as Islam. The Qur’ān (2:213) states in no uncertain terms that
mankind were a single community (Nāsu ummatan wahidatan). This is
also supported by the sayings of the Prophet such as his Final sermon
delivered to his followers in 10 AH where he is reported to have said:
“O people, know that your Lord is one and your father is one. There is
no superiority of an Arab over a non-Arab, and no superiority of a nonArab over an Arab. Nor of a red (i. a fair person) over a black (a dark
person) or a black over a red, save in piety” (Musnad, Ahmad). We
nevertheless find that the Islamic ideal of the equality of all believers
has not entirely displaced the very unislamic idea that some men are
lower than others, despite community of faith. One finds in many parts
of South Asia, castes, in the sense of endogamous and largely
marginalized or segregated groups existing among a number of Muslim
peoples, especially in the Indian subcontinent. For instance, among
certain peoples in India, we find the Musalman zāts taking the place of
the Hindu jātis, though it must be conceded here that casteism- if we
may so term it- among Muslim communities has never been so rigid as
it functions in Hindu society.
In conventional terms, a caste may be defined as an endogamous
group often professing a common hereditary calling. Besides the
absence of connubium or intermarriage between this and other groups,
there is also the lack of commensality or interdining. Thus a caste in the
Indian sense is that which is characterized by a total absence of
intermarriage and interdining with other groups. Although casteism as a
formal institution is absent among the Moors of Sri Lanka who profess
the Islamic faith, a parallel is to be found in an interesting endogamous
occupational sub-group, the Osta or Barbers who remain more or less
ostracized on account of their profession. The Osta are also
characterized by two features which could in conventional terms
relegate them to the position of a caste, namely, the absence of
connubium and commensality with the larger society. In fact, Dennis
Mc.Gilvray 373 tells us that the name the Osta gave themselves was
373
Crucible of Conflict. Tamil and Muslim Society on the east coast of Sri Lanka (2008)
Osta vali (Osta path or line of descent) and that they themselves
candidly described their group as a ‘caste’ (cāti).
The Osta
The Osta or Nāsuvā Kūtam who constitute the barber caste of the
Moors are a largely endogamous group with whom the rest of the Moor
community do not usually intermarry and often even interdine. This
small socially marginalized community is to be found wherever there
exist considerable Muslim settlements. These include Maligawatte,
Hulftsdorp and Borella in Colombo and the major settlements in the
outstations. The functions of this group include the performance of
such religious duties as the ritual tonsure of infants and circumcision.
The men of the caste known variously as Osta-māmā or Nāsuvan
perform the circumcision of male children and in the not too distant
past shaved the heads of Moor boys and men. Their womenfolk known
variously as Osta-māmī or Nāsuvatī perform the ritual tonsure and the
paring of nails of both male and female infants. They also circumcise
female infants and sometimes pierce their ears.
These barber folk appear to have played an important role in Moor
society very early on. Probably the earliest reference to them is in the
Portuguese Tombo certified in 1618 and preserved at the Bibliotheca
Nacional at Lisbon which refers to a barber of the Moors resident at
Belligao (Weligama). In the olden days, Osta families found in each
Moor settlement appear to have been far more numerous than one
comes across at present. The demand for their services then appear to
have been far more greater than at present since they then regularly
shaved the heads of Muslim men and boys of the village, a practice that
has since died out. Circumcisions were also invariably performed by
them while today it is common to resort to qualified doctors to have the
procedure performed. Nindavur for instance is said to have had about
10-15 barber families residing in a separate quarter around fifty years
ago or so.
The origins of the Osta are obscured in antiquity. Although today
considered a sort of distinct group among the Moors, they very likely
had a different origin. Osta has been recorded in the Travancore Census
Report (1901) as the name of a caste of barbers for Muslims. We also
find that among the Mappila Muslims of Kerala the hereditary barber
(circumcisor/midwife) folk are known as Ossans, probably a corruption
of Osta. In Hindustani too, we come across the word ustā meaning ‘a
barber’ 374 . An interview with a traditional Ostamami of Hēnamulla
named Sithy Sumrah in early December 2002 however gave us an
interesting clue as to the origin of the term Osta. She said that her folk
were called Ostā or Ostādu and the latter term we can be certain is the
older one and derives from the Arabic ustādh or ustād meaning
‘master’, ‘teacher’, ‘artisan’ ‘celebrated doctor’ 375. In Persian ustād
means ‘a master’,‘teacher’ ‘artisan’ as well as ‘barber’ 376. This is also
supported by the evidence of the French Explorer François Pyrard, the
author of the Discours du Voyage des François aux Indes Orientales
(1619) who says that when the children are grown up, they pay a
profound deference to the operator who circumcised them, and call him
‘master’, and this was very likely expressed in the Arab-Persian form
ustād.
As for Nāsuvan, we find that it figures as a name for Ambaṭṭar or
Barbers of the Tamil country 377. The term is said to mean “unholy, one
who should not be touched or one sprung from the nose” 378 (if the
derivation of the term from Sanskrit nāsa ‘nose’ is correct, though the
Tamil term generally used for nose is mūkku) though it is also possible
that the term may have a Persian origin and that the derivation of
Nāsuvan as one sprung from the nose is merely a folk etymology 379.
374
See A Dictionary Hindustani and English. Duncan Forbes (1857)
375
See Arabic-English Dictionary. F.Steingass (1884). The term Usta however also
figures in Arabic as the colloquial form of Ustādh or Ustād meaning not only ‘master’ or
‘teacher’ but also ‘foreman’, ‘overseer’ as well as a form of address for those in ‘lower
callings’ eg. to a cab driver or coachman. What is interesting however is that the term
Usta or Ustād does not ever seem to have been employed for a circumcisor in Arabic,
this being generally undertaken by Arab Barbers or Surgeons. Women who specialise in
circumcising girls are known in Arabic as awāsī (Pl.of āsiyah) (Stengass 1884).
376
See A Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary.F.Steingass
377
See Castes and Tribes of Southern India.E,Thurston.Vol.V (1909)
378
ibid
379
Nasu figures in early Zoroastrianism as a female demon of death who contaminates
the body of a person who has touched a corpse. It also refers to the impure state of the
corpse after death and also refers to ‘dead matter’ such as cut hair and nail parings where
it is used in the sense of ‘unclean’. The term is apparently related to the Greek nekūs
‘corpse’ and goes back to the Proto-Indo-European * nku ‘dead body’. So polluting is the
corpse considered in Zoroastrianism that it is only touchable by the Nassāsālars or corpse
bearers who live apart from the rest of society. That this was also so in ancient Iran is
There can be little doubt that even locally the term is a derogatory
one. In fact, the Osta folk themselves disdain the term and prefer to be
referred to as Osta 380. In the eastern districts, however, a corrupted
form Oyitta is used in place of Osta. Thus the males of the caste are
known as Oyitta māmā and the females Oyitta māmi.
It is possible that at least some of the Osta represent a migration from
peninsular India as is suggested by their nomenclature. This however
cannot be said of all as they vary considerably in physical features,
some of them being relatively fair-complexioned like the Moors and
others dark-complexioned, though the darker element appears to be
more common among them as we inferred from the few members of
suggested by the fact that the attendant of corpses was regarded as the most contaminated
of all mortals with the pollution of death. He was to be taken to a place most distant from
righteous humans where the worshippers of Mazda are said to have “enclosed enclosures
out of this earth” (ainha zamo pairidaēzan pairi daezayan) where he was to be kept until
he grew old and died. It is therefore quite possible that ancient Zoroastrian ideas had
permeated to the Indian subcontinent as far as the extreme south of Peninsular India, also
affecting the worldview of the Dravidian peoples to the extent that they came to share
similar views with regard to pollution arising out of contact with ‘dead matter’ such as
cut hair. This is pehaps why Barbers were regarded in traditional Dravidian society with
such abhorance. Not only did they cut hair and pare nails, but they also served as funeral
priests. That such ideas were also prevalent in other parts of India to the north, including
in predominantly Muslim areas is evident from the statement of Niccolao Manucci who
in his Storia Do Mogor has this to say of Moghul India in the 18th century: “When a
Mohamedan dies, there are special persons who come to wash the corpse. These people
make their living by this office; they are abhorred, and no one eats with them”.That such
a belief is of ancient Persian provenance is suggested by the fact that the Zoroastrians, the
dualists that they were, regarded death and dead matter as the creation of the evil spirit
Angra Mainyu or Ahriman and hence polluting and therefore to be avoided. The same
cannot be said of either Islam or Hinduism which shared no such belief.
380
In fact the term Nāsuvan is regarded by Osta folk as a very derogatory one used only
by those Moors who wish to degrade them. An Osta-māmā we recently (June 2008) met
in Hēnamulla voiced very strong objections against this usage and initially did not even
want to mention the much detested term. He noted that it was indeed a very sorry
situation that his folk should be referred to as such, since they performed a religious duty,
namely, circumcision which is an obligatory requirement for Muslims. Some Ostamāmīs
from Hēnamulla and elsewhere we had interviewed earlier, in the latter part of 2002, also
expressed strong objections to the usage. They said that although they were commonly
referred to as Nāsuvati or Nāsuva pombula, they preferred to be addressed by the more
respectable term of Ostamāmī. They contended that it was rather unfair that they should
be socially ostracised and referred to in derogatory terms since they do perform a service
to society, and a religious one at that. In fact, these folk regard their functions as
important. Thus one Ostamāmī practicing in Tennaikiramam, Sammanturai could
describe her functions as ūr-ka amai ‘village duties’.
the group we came across during the course of our inquiries. John
D’Oyly 381 refers to Panikki or Barbers of Moor religion as being
‘Malabars’ 382 and living in Ramankulama, Sangattikulama, Alutgama
and Mannigama in Pandita Pattu, a part of the Demala Pattu in the
Puttalam District. It is therefore not unlikely that many Osta folk
originally hailed from South India and are largely of Dravidian
ancestry. Thus whereas a good part comprising of the core or nucleus
of the Moor community has its origins in Arabian settlers from certain
parts of the Arab world such as Yemen who intermarried with local
women, both Sinhalese and Tamil, the Osta, it is likely have largely
originated from peninsular India.
Perhaps the earliest reference to a Barber of the Moors is found in
the Portuguese Tombo of 1618. Another early reference is found in a
C.1770 Dutch register where we read of a Moorse Barbier (Moorish
Barber) named Daudoe of Dorp Berbery (Beruwala) whose son Sleman
was also a barber 383 suggesting that the occupation was hereditary and
passed down from father to son. Yet another Dutch Tombo (C.18th
century) refers to one Jeinadin Marackiaar as a Moor Barbier (Moor
Barber). He is said to have been 95 years old at the time. Also referred
to are his wife Ayza, sons Packier and Agamadoe and Agamadoe’s
wife Moettuliboe 384. The fact that this particular Barber is referred to
as Marikkar may indicate that he was addressed in respectable terms or
had an origin from Peninsular India.
The Osta women also seem to have practiced their traditional calling
of shaving the heads of infants and circumcising female children since
very early times as these practices were regarded as religious
obligations by the local Muslim community. They were probably first
noticed by the colonial authorities in the 1881 census which found that
there were 17 female Moor Barbers in the country at the time. Of the
four female barbers in the Southern Province, and the four in the North
381
A Sketch of the Constitution of the Kandyan Kingdom (1929)
382
The term Malabar used by the early British writers refers to Tamils or those
originating from the Tamil
country of South India and not those Dravidian peoples
resident in or originating from Kerala.
383
SLNA 1/3764
384
SLNA 1/3889
Western Province, all were Moors, while in the Central Province, out of
four female barbers, three were Moors. A report on the census could
observe of them: “We suppose there are special reasons why there
should be female barbers amongst the Moors” 385. Some of these
barber folk seem to have lived in separate villages in the olden days, for
we find D’Oyly (1929) alluding to four villages of Eymbettayo
(i.e.Barbers) of Moor religion in Marikara Pattu, part of the Demala
Pattu. R.W.Ievers 386 who enumerates 108 Moorish villages in the
North-Central Province, also records a solitary village of ‘Moorish
Barbers’. Inquiries by us in Nindavur also revealed that the barber folk
resident here had occupied a separate quarter about fifty years ago.
The formation of these Osta communities would have been a gradual
development over time. For instance, legend maintains that it was to
Saintamaruthu, an old Muslim settlement near Kalmunai, that the first
Osta, an Indian Muslim who had married a woman of Osta descent
from Kotabowe in the Uva Province, came to settle with his wife. For
many years these Ostas from Saintamaruthu provided circumcisions for
the other villages in the southern part of the Batticaloa and Ampara
Districts. Like a colonial administrator, it is said that the Osta would
make periodic circuits to villages in the area once or twice a year.
Akkaraipattu, a notable village in the area, eventually grew to such a
size that local Moorish leaders wished to obtain a resident circumcisor
for the community, and an Osta named ‘Utumān Kaṇṭu’ from
Saintamaruthu was induced to settle in the village on a piece of land.
This man and his descendants were originally supported by a tithe
amounting to several maraikkals of paddy from each Moorish family
annually 387.
As for their low status, it is difficult to comprehend why such a
stigma should attach to the Osta folk, especially since their traditional
role includes the performance of duties which are thoroughly religious
in character, such as the ritual tonsure and circumcision. In the Arab
countries we hardly if ever find such opprobrium attached to the
385
The Ceylon Handbook & Directory. 1883-84. Ed.A.M & J.Ferguson
386
Manual of the North-Central Province (1899)
387
Mc.Gilvray (2008)
barber-surgeons or midwives who perform similar duties 388. The
explanation may perhaps lie in the belief, probably arising out of Hindu
or Tamil ideas, that such tasks though necessary, may lead to the
person undertaking them acquiring a state of impurity especially since
they would inevitably come into contact with unclean or discarded
matter, in this case, prepuces and hair and nail clippings. Such a view
is supported by the observations of Bryan Pfaffenberger 389 who
attributes the lowly status of the Paraiyar caste to their saturation “with
the pollution that comes of handling the carcasses of cattle” an
opprobrious feature that in ancient texts as well as in contemporary
Hindu society condemns a caste to a despised status. The Ambaṭṭar or
Barber caste of Jaffna has likewise been traditionally deemed an
untouchable caste 390 and we would probably have to agree with
Robert Holmes 391 when he attributes the untouchable status of the
barber to their dealing with a species of human waste, i.e. hair, which is
deemed a polluting bodily excretion in the Hindu worldview 392.
The Osta, being a small marginalized community, are nevertheless a
closely-knit one despite geographical distance and many are the
instances where they seek for marriage partners from among the caste
388
For instance we have Hamid Hurreiz (Folklore and Folklife in the United Arab
Emirates. 2002) according to whom in the United Arab Emirates the midwife who was a
recognized surgeon and entirely responsible for female circumcision operations had an
honoured position, being the person employed to lead the bride into her bedroom during
the wedding night, thus introducing her to her husband in absolute privacy.
389
Caste in Tamil Culture. The Religious Foundations of Sudra Domination in Tamil Sri
Lanka (1982)
390
ibid
391
Jaffna (1980)
392
It would however be a mistake to suppose that casteism obtains only amongst Tamils
and Hindus. For instance, in Indian states like Uttar Pradesh, one finds the Nai, a Muslim
caste of barbers whose traditional duties have included hair-cutting and circumcision (See
Muslim Caste in Uttar Pradesh. Ghaus Ansari.1960). Another such Muslim caste is the
Abdal of Eastern Bengal (modern-day Bangladesh) who circumcise boys while their
women act as midwives (See The People of India. Herbert Risley 1915). Indeed, there
appear to have been Muslim communities who even disdained to associate with those
who bathed corpses. Says Niccolao Manucci in his Storia Do Mogor on Moghul India
(18th century) “When a Mohamedan dies, there are special persons who come to wash the
corpse. These people make their living by this office; they are abhorred, and no one eats
with them”.
outside their own localities. This is of course natural, given the small
number of caste people in any given area 393.
The Osta have been most well known as circumcisors. Until recent
times, all circumcisions, both in the urban as well as in the rural areas
were invariably performed by them, though one hardly hears of them
undertaking this role in urban areas today except in the case of poorer
or more conservative households in areas like Slave Island in Colombo.
In the rural areas however they are still known to carry on their
practice, though here too there is reason to believe that it has been
declining. Circumcisions are nowadays very often performed by skilled
surgeons and medical practitioners in hospitals and nursing homes.
However, there are a few who are still popular and sought after for their
skill in the operation, among them an Osta-māmā of Hēnamulla in
Panadura popularly known as ‘Dr.Rūbān’ whose advanced
circumcision technique, combining both traditional methods and
modern surgical procedure, has earned him a good name. Dr. Rūbān as
he is popularly known is particularly busy in the school holidays as
many parents choose to have their school-going sons circumcised
during the holidays. He visits homes to perform the operation in
individual cases, but also does group circumcisions of needy children
which are sponsored by wealthy individuals or welfare organizations.
He also claims to have circumcised thousands of adults, both converts
and those who ostensibly desire a better sex life for themselves and
their partners. His services are sought for not only in the Kalutara
District where his hometown is situated, but also in areas like
Colombo, Galle, Malwana, Rakwana, Ratnapura and even Jaffna.
The traditional manner of circumcising boys prevailing in the remote
rural areas as performed by the Osta Māmā has been described in some
detail by Victor De Munck 394 who records that the boy, having been
393
For instance, we learned from Hameed Lebbe of Tennaikiramam, Sammanturai whose
father hailed from Kattankudi and his more distant ancestors from Tammankada, that his
three daughters had married Osta caste men from Kinniya, Kattankudi and Colombo,
while another daughter had married a non-Osta man from Eravur. Thus we would find a
greater degree of geographical mobility among the Osta than one finds among the larger
Moor community who may still be said to have a preference for marrying within its own
locality.
394
Seasonal Cycles. A study of social change and continuity in a Sri Lankan village
(1993)
invited to the room where the operation takes place, is told to lower his
sarong and sit in a chair placed conspicuously centre stage. As he sits, a
man, always an elder male relative, but not his father, takes hold of his
arm and legs from behind. The Osta mama then pulls the foreskin out
and places a clip “like a wood clothes pin” around it, after which the
foreskin is quickly cut with a razor blade and ash and other medicines
placed on the wound. ‘Dr.Rūbān’ revealed a more advanced technique,
combining both traditional methods and modern surgical procedure.
This Osta who initially learned the procedure from his maternal
grandfather also resorts to local anaesthesia, perfecting a method that
has earned him a reputation far and wide. Indeed it is not only his
reasonable charges that is said to attract parents who want their sons
circumcised to his services, but also his dexterity and swift execution of
the delicate operation. The child to be operated on is seated on a chair
with his legs widened and held tight by an adult who has placed himself
right behind. The foreskin is sprayed with Xylocaine, a pump spray for
anaesthesia of mucous membrane before it is placed in firmly between
the two ends of a wooden clip (kiti) and a wooden probe (kūra) tapering
at one end is inserted into the aperture of the foreskin and the skin
stretched from underneath whereupon it is swiftly severed with a
scalpel. The blood exuding from the incision is quickly absorbed with a
piece of cotton and another piece of cotton with Betadine microbicidal
solution placed over the line of circumcision before a bandage is wound
over it. The parents of the child are advised not to wash or bathe him
for five days, after which he is taken for a bath whereupon the dressing
would fall down or if not must at any rate be removed. Cicatrine
powder is thereafter applied to the wound which would heal within the
next two days. Meanwhile the child should have taken the prescribed
dosage of Amoxylin for seven days, commencing from the day of the
circumcision. The entire operation usually takes around three minutes
and the usual rate of payment is Rs.2000, though parents are free to pay
as they wish. This is of course a far cry from the more complicated
procedure involving stitches performed in hospitals or nursing homes
which takes much more time and also costs several times more. The
boys circumcised are aged anywhere between seven days to seven
years, and sometimes even a bit older.
There is reason to believe that the prominent Moor families of old
retained their own barbers or else sought the services of a selected few.
A.H.Macan Markar 395 refers to the circumcision of Ahmad Hussain
(1919) being performed by Jalal “the family barber from Galle” and
that of the sons of Mohamad Macan Markar (1929) being performed by
Zain “the famous master barber of Colombo”. In the olden days (prior
to the 1950s) when Muslim men and boys had their heads shaved
regularly, it was the Osta men who performed this function. In the
Eastern Province these Ostas usually performed this task in mandapams
or halls especially erected for the purpose. For instance, Nindavur
which is said to have had as many as two mandapams on either side of
the mosque with about four Osta men practicing in each mandapam.
Indeed, it would appear that even in the 1970s traditional Moor men
had their heads and armpits shaven monthly by an Osta or Moorish
barber 396.
The Ostamāmī is still commonly employed to circumcise female
infants 397, especially since the ritual in the case of females is closely
tied up with the tonsure ceremony which is usually performed on the
7th, 9th or 40th day after birth. This ‘circumcision’ of girls very often
consists of a mere prick or laceration made with a common razor blade
or a mayikatti (barber knife) so as to draw a little blood from the vulval
region and is very different from the procedure recommended in
Islamic texts which prescribe the removal of the clitoral prepuce. The
case of an Ostamāmī we interviewed in Panadura is particularly
instructive. This woman who hails from a traditional Osta family
claims to have learned the procedure from a paternal aunt from
Malwana which she said comprised of extracting a little bit of blood
from the tip of the clitoris. She explained that after shaving the head
and paring the nails of the infant, she would ‘circumcise’ and bathe it
395
Short Biographical Sketches of Macan Markar and Related Families (1977)
396
See Arabs, Moors and Muslims. Dennis Mc.Gilvray. Contributions to Indian
Sociology (1998)
397
This occupation is a hereditary one usually transmitted from mother to daughter,
though there are occasions where it could be acquired from other relatives including ones
in-laws. Thus one Osta-mami practicing in Borella informed us that she learned the
practice from her mother Balkis Umma. Another practicing in Panadura said that she
learnt the procedure from a paternal aunt named Tajida Umma from Malwana. Yet
another, younger woman, practicing in Maligawatte said that she learned it from her
mother-in-law.
before piercing its ears with ear-studs. In the case of an adult (i.e. a
convert) she would instruct her to recite a Kalima (declaration of faith)
thrice, after which she would remove the hair from the head from seven
places. This being done, she instructs the woman concerned to shave
the hair of the armpits and the pubic hair before proceeding to
‘circumcise’ her, after which she would bathe her in water mixed with
lime and turmeric. This order of first circumcising and then bathing is
however not always followed. Thus whereas it is the custom to first
circumcise and then bathe the child in areas like Akkaraipattu,
Nindavur and Sainthamaruthu, we were told that in Sammanturai, the
practice was to first bathe and then circumcise the child. The bathing,
we were told, was to remove the impurities (todakkī nīkki) of the infant,
probably a reference to the impurities the child would have acquired as
a result of passing through the birth canal.
We however also found indications that the practice could vary
considerably, ranging from extracting a bit of blood from the private
parts, probably from the hood or tip of the clitoris, to removing the skin
covering the clitoris or a little bit of tissue in the vulval region.
Another little known duty of the Osta-māmi which may still be resorted
to on occasion is the shaving of a little bit of hair from the forehead and
near the ears of the brides of conservative households shortly before
their wedding, a practice ostensibly performed to enhance their beauty,
but one without any religious sanction whatsoever. There may also be
those rare instances where Osta folk may undertake the bathing of the
corpses of those other than their kin prior to burial, which is an Islamic
duty primarily delegated to a deceased’s close relatives 398. We
however know of only a very few instances where the Osta are said to
have played a role here, namely a reference to their ‘bathing dead
bodies’ besides circumcision and shaving the head at birth in a
newspaper article 399 and the only actual case we came across was an
Ostamāmi from Panadura who told us that she performed the mayyit
bath (for females) for which she was usually paid Rs.500-2000, but
accepted any payment given for it. Her services we were told was
398
It is interesting to note that whereas the bathing of corpses is often undertaken by the
Muadhdhin of the local mosque in the case of the larger Moor community, in the case of
the Osta, it seems to be undertaken by their own kinsfolk. This seems to be the case even
in the East where we were informed by an Osta-Māmi of Sammanturai that she bathed
the corpses of her relatives.
399
Cut in the cot. Renuka Senanayake. Midweek Mirror. March 13, 1996
sought not only in predominantly Muslim areas like Atulugama,
Henamulla, Pallimulla and Vattalpola in the Kalutara District, but also
occasionally in areas beyond such as Modara, Dehiwala and
Mt.Lavinia. Inquiries by us however revealed that this function is not
among their traditional duties. Nevertheless it is possible that the
occupation of bathing corpses was formerly undertaken by them as a
regular occupation, an inference suggested by Manucci’s reference to
the abhorrence in which corpse washers were held in Moghul India
(suggesting that a similar situation would have existed in the local
Muslim community in the olden days where there would have existed a
group of corpse-washers who were held in abhorrence by the larger
society, particularly in the absence of a sound religious knowledge
where the duty should have been performed by the close kin of the
deceased) and Mc.Gilvray’s (2008) reference to the local Tamil barbers
who served as Hindu funeral priests and whose duties included shaving
the corpse if it were that of a man (suggesting that the Moor barbers
with whom they shared certain traits would have also played a
significant role in the funerary rites of the communities they served).
It is also perhaps not too far-fetched to suppose that the so-called
Mayyit kulupatrāl or ‘Washers of corpses’, a Muslim occupational
group of a very dark complexion found in areas such as Maligawatta
who specialize in the washing of corpses may share a common origin
with the Osta, having possibly branched off from this group at some
point in time. With time, the term Osta would have ceased to apply to
them as it would have primarily denoted expert circumcisers which
they had ceased to be. This may also explain the belief among certain
folk that the Osta wash corpses.
There is also evidence to show that the Ostas of old, with not much to
do than performing tonsures and circumcisions, did not simply content
themselves with these traditional roles. It is said that in the past, the
Osta was often called on to decorate special pandals for kandūri feasts
(festivals held in honour of Muslim saints) at the mosques and for
major life-crisis ceremonies at Moorish homes. For instance, the ālātti,
a bright, conical, tree-shaped object made of tin or coloured paper
circled around the head of a bridegroom or a going to be or newly
circumcised boy in order to ensure good luck or to draw away the
effects of the evil eye, was often constructed by Osta families and
rented out on special occasions.It is also said that in the past, some
members of the community were hired to give exhibitions of special
martial arts, including Burmese fighting (barmiya i), Chinese fighting
(cīnā i), stick fighting (kampa i), sword play (vā vi aiyā u) and coiled
sword (curu u vā ). The Ostas would also set up carnival amusements
at mosque celebrations, including large swings, and would present
puppet shows called pāvaipi ai kūttu 400.
We find that although ideas against intermarriage with the Osta still
remain fairly strong, the sanction against interdining with them does
not seem to rigidly operate today as it did in the past 401. Moreover
despite the low social status generally ascribed to the Osta, they
nevertheless seem to have enjoyed an intimate relationship with the
Moor families whom they served, as is suggested by the terms māmā
and māmī suffixed to the appellation Osta. These terms no doubt have
their origins in the Tamil māmā ‘maternal uncle’ and māmī ‘maternal
uncle’s wife’ or ‘paternal aunt’ which are respectable terms generally
employed to address elderly persons 402. Finally, it is worth noting that
attitudes towards the Osta are slowly changing. Partaking of meals with
them is now known to take place, even on festive occasions. We are
also aware of Osta folk who have married outside. Some are said to
400
Mc.Gilvray (2008)
401
Although interdining is not nowadays often regarded as a symbol of social status, the
fact is that commensality has been one of the main criteria of caste identity in India and
Sri Lanka, the other being intermarriage. In traditional societies, eating together meant
much more than it does today, and not only amongst the Hindus. As observed by
Robertson Smith (Lectures on the Religion of the Semites.1894): “The act of eating and
drinking together is the solemn and stated expression of the fact that all who share the
meal are brethren”.
402
Not only are Osta men and Osta women addressed as Osta-Māmā and Osta-Māmī
respectively, but the suffix may also be added after their proper names as a form of
respect, as Āsiyā Māmi, an Osta woman we met in Sammanturai.
have even established barber salons 403 for the purpose of cutting hair
while others have taken to more respectable professions 404.
What we gathered from our inquiries with the members of the Osta
community is that it is their occupation of circumcision that has
contributed to their low status in the eyes of the larger community and
not their family background. Two reasons may be cited for this,
namely, making a living from a procedure that involves the removal of
a part of the human body that also necessarily involves some pain and
their coming into contact with prepuces widely regarded as an unclean
portion of skin, and also to some extent, blood, in the process of
severing such skin from the penis. The position of the womenfolk of
the community would not have been much different as they too are
known to undertake a somewhat similar task, namely, some sort of
surgical intervention on the genitals of female infants, often by making
an incision on the skin of the clitoris or some other part of the vulval
region and drawing some blood, a cheap substitute for the proper
Islamic form of female circumcision which involves the removal of the
clitoral hood.
Indeed those members of the caste who have given up their
circumcising role are said to have risen in social standing and have
even married outside in contrast to those who still practice their
traditional role who have great difficulty in marrying outside. In fact,
one Osta-māmā who still practiced his ancestral calling bemoaned the
fact that he was unable to get his sister married despite the immense
wealth his family had to offer as dowry, though he claimed that he
himself had married outside to a non-Osta woman whose family had no
objections to the union. The community, needless to say, is a very
403
Indeed, Mc.Gilvray (2008) noticed in the 1970s that a few enterprising Ostas of the east
were beginning to open modern-style barbershops and although their numbers were
small, they had the advantage of being able to locate their barbershops within Moorish
neighbourhoods which was a convenience for Moorish customers. In fact Osta-run barber
salons were said to be prospering in almost wholly Moorish towns like Addalachenai and
Nindavur. The trend seems to have continued. During a field visit to Sammanturai in
early January 2011 we learned from an elderly Osta man who had practiced circumcision
in his younger days, that his sons had set up barber salons in Sammanturai.
404
One whom we know, besides practicing his traditional calling, is the wealthy proprietor
of a large shoe shop dealing in various kinds of footwear, umbrellas, clocks and sports
goods in his hometown of Hēnamulla in Panadura. Another, who does n’t practice his
ancestral duty became a sub-editor of a leading Tamil newspaper. Indeed we would find
that the Osta of today are largely an occupationally heterogeneous group.
small one and it is not unnatural to suppose that many would have to
look for spouses outside it.
One redeeming factor however is that unlike the Sinhalese and Tamil
systems, the opprobrium attached to the Osta caste does not appear to
be hereditary and largely depends on their practice as traditional
circumcisors, though this may not necessarily have been the case in the
past where they probably constituted a caste in the Indic sense, a
situation which would have been facilitated by the larger social milieu
inspired by the Aryan and Dravidian social systems. Greater religious
awareness on the inherent equality of man stressed in Islamic works
and by Islamic scholars, it would appear, has succeeded to a great
extent in admitting many a member of the caste to the Moorish fold
though it remains to be seen how far such religious edification would
succeed in assimilating those members of the group who still persist
with their traditional calling.