CLASSIFIED | POLITICS | TERRORISM | OPINION | VIEWS

Mahavamsa: The Living Savior of a Well Founded Nation

Dilrook Kannangara.

The Mahavamsa is the bible equivalent of the civilized history of Sri Lanka and most importantly its people. It is no doubt a great chronicle. Its references are amply corroborated by physical evidence and results of C-14 age determination methods. Without compromise, the Mahavamsa, etc. and the remains of the great past of Sri Lanka answers a lot of doubts and clears a number of false beliefs surrounding this island. One such nonsense is the ‘Tamil homelands’ concept. Pro Tamil Elamists argue that the North-East of Sri Lanka were Tamil homelands although they have no evidence that can dislodge the evidence provided by written chronicles and corroborating evidence. One key obstacle in asserting their ideology is the existence of a written history of this island. There may not be any other chronicle that was ridiculed, hated and detested than the humble Mahavamsa in the whole wide world; such is the jealousy and odium pathetic supporters of the Tamil homelands theory holds against this great chronicle.

Not Sinhalese verses Tamil but the Sinhalese including Sri Lankanised Tamils verses Tamils

The debate of Sri Lanka’s history is not about a contest between the Sinhalese and Tamils; it is rather about the exclusivity of Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka (loosely called the Sinhalese by south Indians) which leaves no room whatsoever for the existence of a Tamil homeland. In other words according to the history of Sri Lanka, Sinhalese, Tamils, Kalingas, Keralites, Muslims, etc. all made up the Sri Lankan (Sinhala) identity as opposed to the Tamil identity which centred in Tamil Nadu (which literally means the Tamil homeland). There were many Srilankised or Sinhalised Tamils in Sri Lanka but there is no evidence to suggest that there were any other form of Tamils until the fourteenth century. As an example, pro-LTTE elements claim that Ratwattes’ (including Sirima Ratwatte’s) ancestor signed the English-Sinhala Pact of 1815 in Tamil! That does not in anyway means that there were separate Tamil representation or a Tamil homeland existed in Sri Lanka. On the contrary, it means there was neither separate Tamil representation nor a separate Tamil landmass in this country. Few Tamils that existed were part and parcel of the Sinhala identity.

Sri Lankan history refers to Tamil invaders. Of course they were Tamil invaders who tried to make part of Sri Lanka a carbon copy of Tamil Nadu. Nowhere in history has it said that there were no Tamils apart from Tamil invaders on the Lankan soil. On the other hand there is enough evidence of the existence of Tamils in Sri Lanka who were part of the race that emerged as the Sinhala race. Same evidence validates without a hint of doubt the fact that there were no Tamil homelands in Sri Lanka because had there been such a Tamil homeland in Sri Lanka, it would have been resisted and defeated in no time as it happened right throughout the history. This struggle would have included Sri Lankanised Tamils as well fighting against Tamil invaders. As an example the Eastern commander of King Elara had joined forces with Prince Dutugemunu’s troops. This strikes a chord with the theory that Sinhala was not an ethnic group but the mixture of many ethnicities into one who rightfully lived in Sri Lanka. Therefore in that context it is not wrong to say that Sri Lanka was exclusively for the Sinhalese only, where Sinhalese being a collection of people of different races identifying as one nationality including Tamil.

This begs the question, then who are these people who claim that the North-East of the island were Tamil homelands? The obvious answer is they must be aliens to this land.

Historically Sri Lanka dispersed Tamil Nadu than any other country

Historically Sri Lanka made strategic alliances with Orissa, Kerala, Burma, Thailand and many other countries and regional powers including the Portugese, the Dutch, the French and the English. But never did Lanka enter into any such agreement, understanding or alliance with Tamil Nadu even though Tamil Nadu was the closest to Lanka! In fact some alliances were aimed directly at alienating Tamil Nadu. For instance Sri Lanka had three kings with connections to Orissa (Kalinga) namely King Parakramabahu the Great, Nissankamalla and Magha. Under the leadership of King Parakramabahu the Great, Sri Lanka invaded Tamil Nadu for no apparent reason with a view to destroying it. However, the attack didn’t yield expected results. Interestingly after that attack, there were no attacks from Tamil Nadu on Sri Lanka that led to an occupation! Also interesting to note is the Kerala (Malayali) connection. Many Kerala kings ruled Sri Lanka gracefully. Why Kerala? That is because Kerala had its share of antagonism with Tamil Nadu.

Connections with Tamil Nadu were never political; they were rather about different forms of slaves (one example is King Gajabahu’s era) and women. These were one-off affairs with no common agreement.

Evidence sited by pro-LTTE elements on purported connections between Tamil Nadu and North-East Sri Lanka

There is no historical evidence of such close connections. However, in order to strengthen the hilarious myth of Tamil homelands, pro-LTTE elements have brought up equally hilarious “historical” evidence. One such piece of evidence is similarities in soil of northern Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu! Another is the “Adam’s bridge”. Based on these they assert that there would have been human interaction between south India and north Sri Lanka. Of course there have been. But there is no evidence to suggest that such interaction had anything to do with Tamils. It refers to prehistoric eras where the likes of barbarians had lived. They also point out that some very primitive artwork found in caves in Jaffna, etc. follow similar artwork in south India. These are so primitive that it cannot have been made by any civilized human group. Asserting that these were done by Tamils is self derogatory.

Sinhala kings built prominent Hindu temples

The cordial relationship between Buddhists and Hindus of the Sinhala race (which includes SriLankanised Tamils as well) is apparent right throughout the island. In most Buddhist temples there is a small Hindu temple. Further, Sinhala kings who fought and defeated Tamil invaders built many monumental Tamil Hindu places of worship including the Kataragama temple, Nallur temple of Jaffna, Munneswaram temple of Chilaw and the Devinuwara temple. These facts leave very little for wild imagination.

In the same token, the oldest religious shrine in the Jaffna perninsular is the Nagadeepa Buddhist temple. If Jaffna is at the heart of Tamil nationalism in Sri Lanka, this piece of evidence is enough to completely annul the wild guess that there was a separate Tamil kingdom in Jaffna dating back further than the fourteenth century.

It was revealed in some media that there is an attempt to rewrite the Mahavamsa! This is a ridiculous attempt to erase the great Sri Lankan history and to replace it with a mythical state that never existed on this side of the Palk Strait. The Tamil national struggle that raised its ugly head in Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Malaysia is close to meeting its violent end in Sri Lanka. However, Tamil nationalism will never die. It will continue until India recognizes Tamil Nadu which has been the birth place of all Tamil cultural, religious (Tamil Hinduism, Tamil Islam, Tamil Christianity, Tamil Buddhism and Tamil Atheism), social and political endevours, as an independent country. There is absolutely no need whatsoever to change historical accounts to convince the world that Tamil Nadu was the Tamil homeland; it is there to see!

Meanwhile it is vitally important that Sri Lanka does not make any concessions that can be relied upon by future Tamil nationalists to claim this land as part of a mythical Tamil homeland. Colonizing the North-East of Sri Lanka with people of all races is the surest way to restore the pristine glory of these areas. Those who left these areas in fear of Kalinga Magha, malaria, drought and terrorism can soon return. That will be the cremation of the Tamil homelands myth.

All Sri Lankan should be proud of the Great Chronicle that has stood the test of time. Its relevance and influence enhances as years pass by. It is unthinkable what would have happened to this little island had we not had a well documented history.

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