History of Tamil Eelam

From South India Rameswaram the coastal, border of tamilnadu. There from if you proceed further in a motor boat southeast through the Palk-Straight you can launch in a coast where Tamil speaking people are inhabiting.

Now you are in Jaffna.You can see cent percent Tamil speaking people here. You would have read many things about this Jaftna in your News papers. Look at your feet which are turned reddish, by the native red soil of Jaffna. You could moreover observe the houses the fencing and the lands into two or three pieces.

Not only the lands, but also the people are being divided by caste system here, The majority of landowners belongs to upper-caste and the others are almost daily bread winning folks who belongs to lower-castes. 

There are different assessments about the hierarchy of the Tamil speaking people of this island. One differs with the other. One such assessment affirms that those Tamil-speaking people were the heirs of those who were left here after the invasions of the south Indian kings. The other assessment states that these people-were the Immigrants before the deluge which was said to have partisaned the land of Island once connected with the land of India. Some historians find a different theory acceptable which states that the Tamil-speaking people of this island were none but the heirs of Yakkas and Nagas the ancient race of people who had inhabited this part of the world before thousands of years. But how these traditional groups have been distorted is a question yet to be answered. The recent excavations done in Anaikottai and other places of importance have supplied us with authoritative and authentic evidences for the theory which states that before B.C. 5000-3000 the people with Dravidian culture lived in this Island.

Middle Stone Age implements such as bones and grinding stones have been unearthed in the Bandarawela region in the south; some late Stone Age tools of ground quartz were discovered nearby. Early Buddhist pottery and iron artifacts have been found throughout the country. Hindu burial relics dating from the 5th century BC have been discovered in the North-Western Province. The National Museums of Sri Lanka, with branches located in Colombo, Kandy, Ratnapura, Anuradhapura, Galle,Jaffna and Trincomalee, contain collections of archaeological finds and historical documents of the country.

According to Hindu legend the greater part of Sri Lanka was conquered in prehistoric times by Ramachandra, the seventh incarnation of the supreme deity Vishnu. The written history of the country(Tamil Eelam.)begins with the chronicle known as the History of Jaffna, Yalpana Vaipavamalay,and others. 

The written history of the country in Sinhala (Sri Lanka.)begins with the chronicle known as the Mahavamsa. This work was started in the 6th century AD and provides a virtually unbroken narrative up to 1815.

 The Mahavamsa was compiled by a succession of Buddhist monks. Because it often aims to glorify or to degrade certain periods or reigns, it is not a wholly reliable source despite its wealth of historical material.

PREHISTORIC RECORD

The Jaffna Kingdom existed with Nallur as its capital from 1200 AD 1619 AD. The following are the names of the Kings and their period of rule of Tamil Eelam:-

1. Kalingaman alias Koolangai Singai Aryan alias Kalinga Vijeyabahu (1200 to 1240)

2. Kulasegara Pararajasegaram (1240 to 1256)

3. Kulothungan (1256 to 1279)

4. Vikramnan (1279 to 1302)

5. Varothayan (1371 to 1380)

6. Marthanda Perumalan (1325 to 1348)

7. Kunapooshanan (1348 to 1371)

8. Virothayan (1371 to 1380)

9. Jeyaveeran (1380 to 1410)

10. Kunaveeran (1410 to 1446)

11. Kanagasooriyan (1446 to 1450). From 1450 to 1467 Jaffna Kingdom came under the rule of Kotte kingdom. Troops which came under the command of Chenpagap Perumal captured Jaffna. Later he become King of Kotte under the name of King Bhuvanekabahu (VI). Kanagasooriyan fled to Tamilnadu and came back with an army and re-captured the Kingdom and again ruled from 1467 to 1478.

12. Pararajasegaran (1478 to 1519)

13. Sankili Segarajasegaran (1519 to 1561). He was born to the third wife of Pararajasegaran.

14. Pararasa Pandaram, Pararasasekaran (1561 to 1565). he is son of Sankili.

15. Kurunchi Nainar (1565 to 1570)

16. Periapillai Sekarasa Sekaran (1570 to 1582)

17. Puvirasa Pandaram II (1582 to 1591)

18. Ethirmanna Singa Pararasasekaran (1591 to 1615).

19. Sankili Kumaran (1615 to 1619).

In all Jaffna Kingdom existed for 403 years.

Kalinga Magan

Ariyachackravathis...

The place names such as Chavakachcheri, Chavankoddai and Chavakakoddai came into existence as a result of the rule of Chavakas in the 13th century.

Around this time the Pandian empire under the rule of Maravarman Sunderapandyan became very powerful. during his reign the domination of the Kingdom in North Ceylon by Pandias was further strengthened.

When Chandrabanu refused to pay tribute to the Indian empire, Maravarman Suderapandian defeated Chandrabanu and brought his Kingdom under his domain.

Among those chieftains who were left behind by the Pandias to rule over Jaffna one Pandimalavan emerged very powerful. After Chandrabanu, his son accepted the suzerainty of the Pandias and ruled for some time. After him, it is claimed that when there was no successor to throne Pandimalavan who hailed from the village of Ponpatti went to Madurai and brought Prince Singairiyan and crowned him king of Jaffna. The rule by Ariyachakravarthis were established in Jaffna as a sequel to invasion of Ceylon by Pandias under the leadership of army general Ariyachackravarthi about A.D 1284.

According to inscriptions, during the rule of Maravarman Kulasegaran (AD 1268-1310), Ariyachakravarthis served both as army generals and ministers under him.

According to the astrological book Segarajasekeramalai the ancestors of Jaffna Kings served as army generals and ministers under Pandias. They are said to be Brahmins who belonged to Kasiyappa ancestry and descendants of five-hundred and twelve "Panchagrama Vethiyar" of Ramesvaram temple.

The Aryachackravarthis are not in fact Aryans in the ethnic sense, but they referred to themselves as such because of matrimonial relationship established with brahmins in Rameshvarmam.

The Chulavamsam referring to the invasion of Pandias following the death of Bhuvanakabahu 1 (AD 1272- 1281) states that Pandian Kings despatched troops under the command of a Tamil army general. Although he was not an Aryan he was considered both popular and influential. Further it states that the invading force destroyed the fortified city of Yapahuva and carried away the Budha's Tooth relic and other priceless valuables.

Consequent to the invasion by Pandias under the command of Aryachckravarthi the Sinhalese kingdom got further weakened. Yapahuva lost its status as capital city. Also there was infighting for the throne between Bhuvanakabahu II (son of Bhuvanakabahu I), and Parakramabahu III (son of Vijayabahu IV, AD 1271-1272) As a result the Sinhalese Kingdom got divided. Bhuvanakabahu made Kurunagala his capital and ruled from there. Parakramabahu III went to Madurai and retrieved the Tooth Relic that was taken away by the Pandian king and installed same at Polonarwa where he established his rule.

The Ariyachakravarthi mentioned by Chulavamsam or some other descendant of him must have by passage of time crowned himself king of Jaffna. The name Ariyachakravarthi does not refer to real name but one denoting ancestry.

Foreign Control

From the late 3rd century AD to the middle of the 12th century, Sinhala was dominated by Tamil kings and by a succession of invaders from southern India. Native princes regained power briefly in the late 12th century and again in the 13th century. From 1408 to 1438 Chinese forces occupied the island of Sinhala, which had been partitioned into a number of petty kingdoms.

In 1517 the Portuguese, having established friendly relations with one of the native monarchs, founded a fort and trading post at Colombo. Their sphere of influence expanded steadily thereafter, mainly as a result of successful wars of conquest, and by the end of the 16th century they controlled large sections of the island. Consequently, in 1638 and 1639, when the Dutch launched the first of a series of attacks on Portuguese strongholds in the island, they found numerous allies among the natives. The struggle ended in 1658 with the Dutch gaining control of most of the island, although the kingdom of Kandy remained an independent entity.

British Rule

In 1795, following the occupation of the Netherlands by France, the British government dispatched an expeditionary force against Sri Lanka. The Dutch capitulated early in the next year, and in 1798 the British made all the island, except the kingdom of Kandy, a crown colony. By the provisions of the 1802 Treaty of Amiens, which terminated the second phase of the Napoleonic Wars, the country was formally ceded to Great Britain. The kingdom of Kandy was also occupied in 1803 and annexed to the crown colony in 1815. The British period of rule was marked by abortive native rebellions in 1817, 1843, and 1848. Tea and rubber estates were developed. In this period violent social-religious struggles between the Sinhalese peasants, mostly Buddhists, and the moneylenders and traders, chiefly Muslims, also occurred, and all the native peoples struggled continuously for representative government and national freedom. The first substantial victory in the struggle for self-government came after more than one century, when, in 1931, Great Britain promulgated a new constitution that granted the indigenous people semiautonomous control over national affairs.

During World War II (1939-1945) Sri Lanka was an important base of operations in the Allied offensive against the Japanese and a major source of rubber, foodstuffs, and other materials vital to the war effort.

Independence

On February 4, 1948, the colony became an independent member of the Commonwealth of Nations; Sir Henry Moore was installed as governor-general and D. S. Senanayake, leader of the United National party (UNP), became prime minister. An ancient Sinhalese flag was adopted as the flag of the new state.

The foreign ministers of the Commonwealth of Nations assembled at Colombo in January 1950, and drafted a tentative plan for the economic development of Southeast Asia. As finally formulated, the Colombo Plan allocated nearly $340 million of Commonwealth funds for a variety of projects designed to advance the Sri Lankan economy, notably irrigation works and hydroelectric plants.

When D. S. Senanayake died in 1952, his son, Dudley Senanayake, who belonged to the same party, was named prime minister. In 1954 Sri Lanka declined to join the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization, which was formed as a defensive alliance by the United States, Great Britain, and six other nations. On December 14, 1955, the republic of Sri Lanka was admitted to membership in the United Nations.

The Bandaranaikes

The UNP lost the elections held in April 1956, and Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike, leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom party, became prime minister. Sri Lanka subsequently adopted a policy of neutrality in the disputes between the Communist and non-Communist countries. The United States agreed in early 1958 to provide the country with technical assistance and a grant of about $780,000 for economic projects. The Soviet Union and Sri Lanka signed trade and economic agreements at about the same time. Shortly afterward the country accepted a loan of about $10.5 million from China.

On September 25, 1959, Prime Minister Bandaranaike was shot by a Buddhist monk and died the following day. In the general elections of March 19, 1960, the UNP won the greatest number of votes, and two days later Dudley Senanayake again became prime minister in a minority cabinet, which quickly lost parliamentary confidence. New general elections held on July 20 resulted in the victory of the Sri Lanka Freedom party now led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike, widow of the late prime minister, and she was sworn in as prime minister the next day.

On December 31, 1960, a bill was passed making Sinhalese the only official language of the country. Representatives of the Tamil-speaking minority led mass demonstrations against the measure in early 1961. To cope with the situation, a state of emergency was declared, the Tamil Federal party was forbidden to operate, and strikes were declared illegal. Sinhalese-Tamil relations continued to be strained until January 1966, when Tamil was made the official administrative language in the northern and eastern parts of the island.

The Republic

With the nation in a period of economic decline, Dudley Senanayake was returned to power in the 1965 legislative elections. His policy of nonalignment, economic development, and increased domestic production did not satisfy the voters, as high unemployment, food shortages, and labor unrest continued. In 1970 a leftist coalition headed by Sirimavo Bandaranaike won the elections; the new government began to move the country toward socialism. In March 1971 a brief but violent armed revolt took place, sparked by leaders of the Marxist-oriented People's Liberation Front. By September, the Bandaranaike government had almost completely suppressed the rebellion. In that month the Senate was abolished and the House of Representatives was renamed the National Assembly. On May 22, 1972, the country, until then known as Ceylon, officially became the socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, when the assembly adopted a new constitution. Bandaranaike continued as prime minister, and William Gopallawa was appointed president.

In 1977 Bandaranaike's government was decisively defeated at the polls. She was replaced as prime minister by Junius R. Jayewardene, leader of the UNP. His government in 1978 replaced the 1972 constitution with one providing for an executive president, an office which Jayewardene then assumed. Reversing the socialist trend of his predecessor, he achieved some initial economic gains. By 1980, however, inflation and falling wages led to a general strike, which the government thwarted only by calling out troops. Later in the year Bandaranaike was expelled from the National Assembly and barred from voting or standing for election for seven years. The supreme court had previously found her to have abused her power during her years as prime minister. Jayewardene won reelection to a second six-year presidential term in October 1982. Subsequently, in December, a government proposal to extend the life of parliament until 1989 was approved by popular referendum.

In 1983 a civil war began between the Sinhalese-dominated government and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The LTTE is a group that seeks to create a separate nation for the Tamil minority in the northern and eastern portions of Sri Lanka. In June 1987, after an agreement with Jayewardene, Indian troops moved into northern Sri Lanka to enforce a peace agreement between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. Warfare subsided, and Jayewardene retired in 1988; Ranasinghe Premadasa was elected to succeed him that year, defeating Bandaranaike. Premadasa's UNP retained its majority in the parliamentary elections of February 1989, and the last Indian troops departed in March. The period of relative peace was short-lived. In 1991 and 1992 several major battles were fought between the army and the LTTE, and in early 1993 the government was rocked by two assassinations. On April 23 Lalith Athulathmudali, who had founded the opposition Democratic United Liberation Front in 1991, was shot to death during a political rally. A week later, during the annual May Day parade, President Premadasa was assassinated by a suicide bomber who allegedly was a member of LTTE. Days later the Parliament unanimously elected UNP member Dingiri Banda Wijetunga, who previously was the premier, to serve as president until the next national election. In November 1993 LTTE forces managed to seize a government military base in Pooneryn, which is about 32 km (20 miles) southeast of Jaffna. Several days later government forces drove the rebel forces back, and recovered the base. The fighting was some of the worst between the Sri Lankan government and rebel Tamil forces; the Sri Lankan government estimated that about 1200 people were missing or killed. Since fighting between the two groups began in 1983, more than 18,000 people have been killed. In parliamentary elections held in August 1994, the People's Alliance party defeated the UNP, and Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga became prime minister.

2. In 1948 the parliament legislated that the sword wielding Lion shall be the national flag of Ceylon. To appease the Tamils and the Muslims yellow and green stripes were added to the flag.

3. In 1948, the very year of independence, the Parliament dominated by the majority Sinhalese, enacted the Citizenship Act which reduced the political strength of the Tamils by one-half. Under this Act, one million Hill country Tamils, whom the British brought from South India 200 years before to work in the tea and rubber plantations, lost their citizenship rights.

4. In 1949 the Hill country Tamils' franchise rights were deprived by simple amendment to the order in council. The new law Ceylon Amendment Act defined that only citizens have the right to vote in elections.

5. The leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress Mr. G. G Ponnambalam voted in favor of the citizenship Act and Ceylon (Parliamentary Elections) Amendment Act. Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayagam voted against. This caused the All Ceylon Tamil Congress which was formed in 1944 to split into two.

6. In 1949 Thanthai Chelvanayagam broke away from the Tamil Congress and formed a new party. It was named Ilankaith Tamil Arasuk Kadchi (Federal Party).

7. In 1948-50 the then Prime Minister of Ceylon D.S. Senanayake launched massive Sinhalese colonization schemes in the Eastern province, the traditional homeland of the Tamils. Gal Oya in the Batticalo District, Allai and Kanthalai in the Trincomalee District were the colonization schemes launched by him.

8. The Hill country Tamils who were able to elect 8 members to the Parliament in 1947 failed to elect even a single member at the elections held in 1952.

9. On June 14, 1956 Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranayake, leader of the Srilanka Freedom Party and Prime Minster, who won the Parliamentary Elections help in 1956 caused Parliament, dominated by the majority Sinhalese to enact "Sinhala Only" as the official language of Ceylon. This was a negation of the hitherto accepted language policy of treating both Sinhala and Tamils as the official languages in place of English. The imposition of Sinhala only represented the subjugation of Tamils by Sinhalese imperialism. In protest the Federal Party which opposed the Sinhala only act staged Satyagraha in Colombo.

10. On July 26, 1957 the Bandaranayake-Chelvanayagam pact was signed. The B-C pact envisaged decentralization of powers to the North and East through the establishment of Regional Councils. But Bandaranayake abrogated the pact under pressure from Sinhalese chauvinists.

11. In 1958 following the National convention of the Federal Party held in Vavuniya, violence was let lose against the Tamils. There were heavy losses of lives and property.

12. The government of Bandaranayake passively connived with the Sinhalese hoodlums responsible for the violence directed against the Tamils and imposed emergency rule only after 4 days of rioting.

13. In 1961 the Federal Party launched a civil disobedience campaign and Satyagraha in front of Kachcheries in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Ceylon which paralyzed civil administration. Mrs. Bandaranayake's government used the military to break the peaceful Satyragraha campaign.

14. The Senanayake-Chelvanayagam pact was signed on March 24, 1965. This pact envisaged certain degree of regional autonomy to the North and East through the establishment of District Councils. But this pact too was abandoned in the face of opposition from the Sinhalese.

15. In the elections held in May 1970 the United Front headed by the Srilanka Freedom Party, Lanka Sama Samaja Party and The Ceylon Communist Party came to power after capturing 116 out of 157 seats in Parliament. In the same year militant Tamil youths formed the Tamil Manavar Peravai to fight the impeding introduction of "Standardization" to university admissions.

16. In 1971 admission to the university based on merit was abandoned and "standardization" to university admissions through G.C.E A/L examination results was introduced. Lower qualifying marks were fixed for Sinhalese than for Tamil students, both regarding the language of instruction and the subjects themselves. The introduction of "standardization" adversely affected Tamil students' access to higher education.

17. On May 22, 1972 a new constitution was adopted. Ceylon was renamed Srilanka. All ties to Britain were severed and Srilanka was declared a Republic. Buddhism was afforded foremost recognition. Because of the New Republican Constitution the sovereignty of the Sinhalese and the sovereignty of the Tamils reverted back to the Sinhalese and Tamils. To safeguard the language and education rights of Tamils, to halt the encroachment of Tamils traditional homeland through Sinhalese colonization, to stay and hit back when attacked by the Sinhalese, Prabhakaran realized that taking up arms is the only way. He formed the New Tamil Tigers organization comprising brave, self-sacrificing and disciplined youths.

18. On January 10, 1974 nine people lost their lives when the Srilankan Sinhalese police at the instigation of Alfred Duraiappha, Mayor of Jaffna, arbitrarily broke-up the 4th Tamil Research conference held in Jaffna by baton-charging and firing.

19. In 1975 Thanthai Chelvanayagam won the by election held for the Kankesanthurai electorate by a margin of more than 16,000 votes. Chelvanayagam proclaimed that his victory was a mandate for the Tamils to establish the state of Tamil Eelam by exercising their right to self determination. In 1972 Thanthai Chelva had resigned his parliamentary seat in protest against the new constitution and challenged Mrs. Bandaranayake's government to hold a by-election to test the acceptability of the new constitution by the Tamil people.

20. On July 27, 1975 Tamil traitor Alfred Duraiappah was shot dead. This marked the first attack in the history of the armed liberation struggle. The attack was mounted by Tamil New Tigers under the leadership of V. Prabhakaran.

21. On May 5, 1975 with the object of rallying the entire Tamil nation, the "Tamil New Tigers" were re-named "Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam." V. Prabhakaran was named the Chairman and Military Commander of the LTTE.

22. On May 14, 1976 the Tamil United liberation Front (TULF) was formed. A resolution to establish an independent Tamil Eelam was adopted at the TULF convention held at Vaddukkodai. This is called the Vaddukkodai Resolution.

23. In the elections held in July, 1977 the United National Party headed by J.R.Jayawardena came to power. The Tamil United Liberation front won 18 seats on a mandate for the establishment of an Independent, Sovereign, Secular, Socialist state of Tamil Eelam, to become the official opposition party. Following the election yet another racial riot was engineered and executed against the Tamils.

24.In July 1978 Democratic Socialist Republic of Srilanka was established under a new constitution. Presidential system of government came into effect. J.R. Jayawardena became the first president.

25. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was proscribed by the Srilankan government as an illegal organization.

26. In July 1979, Parliament enacted the Prevention of terrorism Act. On July 11th emergency was declared in Tamil areas. Innocent youth were shot dead by the security forces in Jaffna.

27. In June 1981 under directions of two Sinhalese Ministers the army and the police set fire to important buildings in Jaffna town, specially the Jaffna Public Library considered one of the best in South Asia was torched. This resulted in the destruction of 84,000 valuable books. In addition printing presses and shops were also burnt down. Civilians were killed by the army . Another racial riot broke out.

28. The first Tiger fighter Lieutenant Sathiyanathan (Sankar) attained martyrdom on November 27, 1982.

29. On July 24, 1983 The Liberation Tigers mounted their first guerrilla style ambush using land mine against the Srilanka army. 13 soldiers died in this attack.

This was followed by the worst genocidal attack by the Sinhalese on the Tamils. Thousands of lives and property worth many millions were lost. Tamils girls were subjected to sexual violence.

On July 27-28, 53 Political prisoners and detainees incarcerated at the Welikada prison were brutally murdered inside the prison by Sinhalese convicts with the connivance of the Sinhalese prison guards. This is popularly known as the " Welikada Murder".

30. In 1984 an all Party conference was convened by the Srilanka government. Indra Gandhi was assassinated by her own Sikh body guards.

31. In July-August 1985 talks between the Srilankan government and Tamil militants were held in Thimbu, the capital of Bhutan. The talks ended in failure.

32. In January, 1987 an economic blockade was imposed by the Srilankan government on the Jaffna Peninsula. Minister for National Security Lalith Athulathmudail announced the launching of "Operation Liberation". The Sinhalese army attacked the Vadamarachi regions of Jaffna district. Black Tiger captain Miller executed a suicide attack on the Sinhalese army camped in Nelliady Madhya Maha Vidyalayam. Hundreds of soldiers died in the attack.

33. In July 29, 1987 Rajiv Gandhi and J.R signed the Indo-Srilanka Peace Accord without the consent of the LTTE. The LTTE leader who was taken to Delhi on the eve of signing the accord was forcibly confined at Ashoka Hotel incommunicado. Later LTTE Leader V.Prabhakaran declared at the meeting held at Suthumalai that India had signed the agreement to safeguard her own geopolitical interests. This is popularly known as the Indo-Srilanka Peace Accord. But the Tamils even today believe the Accord was a betrayal of their trust by the Indian Government.

S.J.V.Chelvanayagam.In 1949 Thanthai Chelvanayagam broke away from the Tamil Congress and formed a new party. It was named Ilankaith Tamil Arasuk Kadchi (Federal Party).