Jaffna or
Yazhpanam (யாழ் meaning = Harp and பாணம் meaning = Town, therefore யாழ்ப்பாணம் means Town of (the) Harper) is the capital city of the
Northern Province, Sri LankaThe Northern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils...
. Though most of the residents of Jaffna are Sri Lankan Tamils, there is also a minor presence of
Sri Lankan MoorsThe Sri Lankan Moors are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 8% of the country's total population . They are predominantly followers of Islam. The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka some time between the eighth and fifteenth centuries...
(Muslims) and
Portuguese BurghersThe Portuguese Burghers are an ethnic group in Sri Lanka, of Portuguese and Sri Lankan descent. They are Roman Catholic and spoke the Sri Lanka Indo-Portuguese language, a creole based on Portuguese. In modern times, English has become the common language while Sinhalese is taught in school as a...
(Roman Catholics). Almost all Sri Lankan
Muslims were driven off from JaffnaThe expulsion of the Muslims and other nations from the Northern province was an act of ethnic cleansing carried out by the Tamil militant Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam organization in October 1990...
by the LTTE in the 1990s, as a result of the ethnic conflict which started in the 1970s
http://www.uthayam.net/articles/oct30_2005html_2.htm which today leaves Jaffna almost exclusively Tamil, apart from the military personnel.
Etymology
In the local Tamil dialect, it is currently spelt as Yaalpaanam and it is generally believed that the term Yaalpaanam is derived from Yaal and Paanam meaning land of the
harpA harp is a stringed instrument which has the plane of its strings positioned perpendicular to the soundboard. As many other non-percussion instruments, it can also be used as a percussion instrument. All harps have a neck, resonator and strings. Some, known as frame harps, also have a forepillar;...
player alluding to a
mythMythology is the study of myths and or of a body of myths. For example, comparative mythology is the study of connections between myths from different cultures, whereas Greek mythology is the body of myths from ancient Greece. The term "myth" is often used colloquially to refer to a false story;...
of a blind lute player receiving the land as a royal grant. Currently in Sinhalese, it is known as Yapanaya. Jaffna may also be a latter-day simplification of the name Yapa Patuna. A prominent port in the area was known as Yapa Patuna in Sinhala and Yaalpaana Pattinam in Tamil since medieval times.
The ports of Jaffna were on the ancient silk route which can be traced from China via Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Java and Malaya. Marco Polo vividly described the various aspects of life in Jaffna. He was travelling by the silk route by sea guarding a Chinese princess - a daughter of Kublai Khan - and a future wife of the Persian king. Jaffna was the safest route for an emperor's daughter and a future queen of Persia.
Written records
The Northern
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
city of Jaffna has a written history of 2000 years. Along with the
MahavamsaThe Mahavamsa is a historical poem written in the Pali language, of the kings of Sri Lanka. It covers the period from the coming of King Vijaya of Kalinga in 543 BCE to the reign of King Mahasena ....
and Chulavamsa, The Yalpana Vaipava Malai, Kailaya Malai, and Irasamurai are some of the books containing historical facts of Jaffna. The Abitta Jataka in the Pali canon refers to the Brahmin sage Akitta (Agastya) who had visited the island of Kara adjacent to Nagadipa. This is identified by some as the present Karaitivu or Karainagar.
One of the five great epics of Tamil literature Manimekalai refers to a place called Manipallavam which might well be Jaffna. The archeological ruins in Kantarodai might well confirm this literary reference.
ManimekalaiManimekalai , written by Seethalai Saathanar, is one of the masterpieces of Tamil literature and is considered as one of the five great epics of Tamil literature...
speaks about Buddha's visit to Jaffna. The Mahavamsa also mentions that Lord Buddha used his siddhi or yogic powers to visit Jaffna by air to resolve a crisis over a jewel between the Naga
chieftainsA traditional tribal chief is the leader of a tribe, or the head of a tribal form of self-government.The notion of a "tribal chief" is rather vague and arbitrary; neither chief nor tribe is clearly defined, so in many cases other designations are used for the same institution, such as petty ruler...
and introduced
BuddhismBuddhism, as traditionally conceived, is a path of salvation attained through insight into the ultimate nature of reality. It encompasses a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha...
to them. It refers to the port of Jambukola Pattuna, now known as Sambalturai, where ships embarked to India. The Mahavamsa Tika - a commentary on the chronicle, speaks of a Thera Dhammadinna in the island of Piyangudipa which is probably the present island of Punguduteevu. The Sangam era Tamil literature in the early centuries of the common era included poets
Eelattu PoothanthevanarEelattu Poothanthevanar was one of the earliest known classical Sri Lankan poets. His poems were included in the Tamil sangam or Cankam poetry anthologies compiled in Tamilakam before 250 AD....
from Mantai in what is today the
Mannar DistrictMannar district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Mannar town...
of Sri Lanka.
Jaffna Kingdom
In northern Sri Lanka, the Jaffna Kingdom (1215-1619; also known as the Kingdom of Aryacakravarti) began with the invasion of one
MaghaMagha , also known as Kalinga Magha and Magha the Tyrant, is a medieval king of Sri Lanka who is remembered primarily for his tyrannical and oppressive rule. Magha invaded the country from Kalinga in eastern India, usurping the throne from Parakrama Pandya, in 1215...
also called as Kulankai Chakravarti claiming to be from
KalingaKalinga was an early kingdom in central-eastern India, which comprised most of the modern state of Odissa / Utkal, as well as some northern areas of the bordering state of Andhra Pradesh...
in India. Some historians says the Tamil word Kulangai often misspelled as
KalingaKalinga is a landlocked province of the Philippines in the Cordillera Administrative Region in Luzon. Its capital is Tabuk and borders Mountain Province to the south, Abra to the west, Isabela to the east, Cagayan to the northeast, and Apayao to the north...
because he had a defect in one arm, which is the reason he was called Kulangai. It eventually became a tribute paying client of the Pandyan Empire in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
around the 1250s only to become independent with the fragmentation of the Pandyan control. For a brief period in the early and middle fourteenth century it was an ascending power in Sri Lanka with all major kingdoms becoming its tributaries only to become occupied by the rival Kotte Kingdom in the 1450s.
After it was reconstituted its rulers energies were directed towards consolidating its economic potential by maximizing revenue from pearls and elephant exports and land revenue. It was less feudalized than most of other Sri Lanka kingdoms of the same period. Important local
TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in Malaysia, Mauritius and Réunion as well as emigrant communities around the world...
literature was produced and Hindu temples were built during this period including an academy for language advancement.
The arrival of the Portuguese colonial power in Sri Lanka in 1505 and the understanding of its strategic location in the Palk Straight connecting all interior Sinhalese kingdoms to
South IndiaSouth India, also known as the Dravida in the Indian anthem, is the area encompassing India's states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry, occupying 19.31% of area...
created political problems. Many of its kings confronted and eventually made peace with the Portuguese colonials. Eventually Cankili II (1617-1619) a usurper to the throne confronted the Portuguese and was defeated, thus bringing the kingdom’s independent existence to an end in 1619.
Portuguese colony
After lasting for over 400 years,the Dravidian-influenced Jaffna Kingdom finally lost its independence to the
PortuguesePortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of mainland Europe and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the west and south and by Spain to the north and east...
in 1621. The Portuguese captured the King of Jaffna
Sangili KumaranThe Jaffna kingdom , also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti, of modern northern Sri Lanka came into existence after the invasion of Magha, who is said to have been from Kalinga, in India. It eventually became a tribute paying feudatory of the Pandyan Empire in modern South India in 1258, gaining...
and took him to
GoaGoa is India's smallest state by area and the fourth smallest by population. Located on the west coast of India in the region known as the Konkan, it is bounded by the state of Maharashtra to the north, and by Karnataka to the east and south, while the Arabian Sea forms its western coast.Panaji is...
in India along with his sons. After the trial, the Portuguese found him guilty of
treasonIn law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more serious acts of disloyalty to one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife...
and hanged him along with his sons. With the Jaffna Kingdom’s demise, the only indigenous independent political entity that was not Sinhalese and Buddhist in character came to an end in the Island. The Portuguese built the Jaffna Fort and the
moatA moat is a deep, broad ditch, either dry or filled with water, that surrounds a castle, building or town, historically to provide it with a preliminary line of defence. In some places moats evolved into more extensive water defences, including natural or artificial lakes, dams and sluices...
around it.
Dutch colony
The
TamilsTamil people , are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, a state in India, and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. They speak Tamil , with a recorded history going back two millennia. Emigrant communities are found across the world...
and the Kandyan Kingdom collaborated and conspired with the
DutchThe Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, aided by their skills in shipping and trade and the surge of nationalism accompanying the...
rulers of
BataviaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a greater population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia , and Djakarta . Located on the northwest coast of Java, it has an area of and a population of 8,489,910...
(today's
JakartaJakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. It also has a greater population than any other city in Southeast Asia. It was formerly known as Sunda Kelapa , Jayakarta , Batavia , and Djakarta . Located on the northwest coast of Java, it has an area of and a population of 8,489,910...
in
IndonesiaThe Republic of Indonesia is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia comprises 17,508 islands. With an estimated population of around 237 million people, it is the world's fourth most populous country, with the world's largest population of Muslims.Indonesia is a republic, with an...
). The Dutch invasion from Batavia brought religious freedom for Tamils and Muslims.The Dutch and later the colonial English ruler reigned for approximately three centuries, with each ruling for approximately 150 years. The
Jaffna TamilJaffna Tamil could mean*Jaffna Tamil person of Jaffna, in Sri Lanka origin.*Jaffna Tamil dialect used by a person of Jaffna Tamil origin...
has several Portuguese and Dutch words still in usage.
During the Dutch rule the islands of the Palk Straits were renamed after Leiden, Kayts and other cities in the Netherlands. The Dutch priest
Rev Philippus BaldeusFather Philippus Baldeus was a Dutch priest. He went to Jaffna, Ceylon with an invading Dutch force during 17th Century. He documented the life and culture of Tamil people who lived in Jaffna at that time....
wrote a great historical record similar to Mahawamsa on the Jaffna people and their culture and it was immediately published in Dutch and German with several beautiful pictures. A granite stone inscription at the Point Pedro Market Square still marks the place where Rev Baldeus preached to the Tamils under a big tamarind tree. This tamarind tree was uprooted during the cyclone of 1963.
British Period
With the
Treaty of AmiensThe Treaty of Amiens temporarily ended the hostilities between France and the United Kingdom during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was signed in the city of Amiens on 25 March 1802 by Joseph Bonaparte and the Marquess Cornwallis as a "Definitive Treaty of Peace"...
all maritime territory under Dutch rule became apart of the British Crown. This included the what is today, Jaffna district. In 1815, the Kandyan Kingdom was brought under British with signing of the
Kandyan ConventionThe Kandyan Convention was an agreement in 1815 between the British and the Chiefs of the the Kandyan Kingdom, in Sri Lanka for the deposition of rule of the king Sri Vikrama Rajasinha. The king who was of South Indian ancestry faced powerful opposition from the Sinhalese chieftains and sought to...
.
British colony
BritishThe Kingdom of Great Britain, also known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain, was a sovereign state in northwest Europe, in existence from 1707 to 1801...
rule began in 1798. Many educational institutions were established during this period. The English language was taught to the locals. The Jaffna Tamils were given higher ranks in government institutions. At this time American missionaries and Anglican missionaries were in close competition with Catholic missionaries in establishing churches and schools in every nook and corner. The Hindu Board of Education in turn established its own network of schools. Several high schools and western style education became the hallmark of Jaffna. Jaffna Tamils became loyal subjects of the ever-expanding British Empire and took the middle-level positions in public service throughout the South East Asian countries of the British Raj (Burma, Malaya, Borneo and Singapore) in the late 1800s/early 1900s.
Christian missionary activity
Jaffna also played an important role in the Roman Catholic religious administration of Sri Lanka. It also plays an important role in the administration of the
Church of South IndiaThe Church of South India came into being as a union of Anglican and Protestant churches in South India. It is India's second largest Christian church after the Roman Catholic Church in India...
in Sri Lanka, a group of Protestant denominations.
Ethnic conflict
Due to the civil war, the city has witnessed
wholesale massacresThe Navaly Church bombing was the result of bombing of The Church of Saint Peter and Saint Paul in Navaly or Navali in the Jaffna peninsula in Sri Lanka by the Sri Lankan Air Force. It is estimated that at least 125 civilians, who found refuge from the fighting inside the church, have died as a...
,
disappearancesA forced disappearance occurs when force is used to cause a person to vanish from public view, followed by a refusal to acknowledge the deprivation of liberty , thereby placing the victim outside the protection of law.According to the Rome Statute of the International...
of the civilian population and a deterioration in the human rights situation. Currently it is occupied by the
Sri Lankan ArmyThe Sri Lanka Army is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces and is responsible for land-based military and humanitarian operations. Established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, it was renamed when Sri Lanka became an independent republic in 1972...
, with full government control; between 1992 and 1995 it was under the control of the LTTE before that the Indian Army IPKF had captured it first in 1989 and handed over to Sri lankan Army after a hard fought battle before its withdrawal from Sri Lanka. Due to ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, many residents moved out of the city, and thus the population was reduced dramatically. According to the 2001 census, the population of the municipality is about 145,600 . The population of the district is currently estimated by the district administration at 600,000. Jaffna also functions as the economic and cultural capital of Sri Lankan Tamils.
Jaffna was once a stronghold of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), a separatist outfit that seeks to set up an independent
Tamil EelamTamil Eelam is the name given by certain Tamil groups in Sri Lanka to the state which they aspire to create in the north and east of Sri Lanka...
for Tamil-speaking people in Sri Lanka. Jaffna currently is under the occupation of the government of Sri Lanka.
The
Jaffna Public library was burnt downThe burning of the Jaffna library was an important event in the Sri Lankan civil war. An organized mob went on a rampage on the nights of May 31 to June 2, 1981, burning the Jaffna public library. It was one of the violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the twentieth century...
by an organized mob in June 1981, when ethnic tensions in the country were building steadily towards war. The Sri Lankan government (
United National PartyThe United National Party, often referred to as the UNP Sinhalese: එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය , Tamil: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி), is a leading political party in Sri Lanka....
) at that time was accused of letting the paramilitaries loose in Jaffna, following an incident where two Sinhalese policemen were killed by a Tamil group. The library was renovated in 2003 by the government of Sri Lanka.
Mass exodus and ethnic cleansing
Many of the
TamilsTamil people , are an ethnic group native to Tamil Nadu, a state in India, and the north-eastern region of Sri Lanka. They speak Tamil , with a recorded history going back two millennia. Emigrant communities are found across the world...
from this region moved out to other parts of the island or to foreign countries. This exodus of Tamils from Jaffna occurred for a number of reasons.
The entire
MuslimThe Sri Lankan Moors are the third largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka comprising 8% of the country's total population . They are predominantly followers of Islam. The Moors trace their ancestry to Arab traders who settled in Sri Lanka some time between the eighth and fifteenth centuries...
population of Jaffna was forced to leave within 48 hours in 1990 due to an order by the LTTE allegedly to avenge the ethnic cleansing of Tamils in the East. The mass exodus of Tamils from Jaffna to
VanniVanni may refer to:* Vanni District*Francesco Vanni*Simone Vanni*Marco Vanni*In the Punjab, Vanni is a term used to describe the practice of compensation marriage...
is another significant incident in the history of Jaffna. When Sri Lankan Army captured Jaffna from LTTE occupaton in December 1995. Nearly 450,000 Tamils displaced during at that time. There have been claims of human rights violations on both sides. Due to Jaffna becoming a constant battleground between the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE, many people have been displaced. The tense security situation over the years of the ceasefire has left Jaffna in a precarious position as it is likely to be a key target should the conflict reignite in the future.
Demography
85% of the population of the Jaffna and Kilinochchi districts are Hindus. The Hindus follow the Saivite tradition. The remainder are largely Roman
CatholicThe word Catholic is derived from the Greek adjective , meaning "universal". In the context of Christian ecclesiology, it has a rich history and several usages. For some, the term "Catholic Church" refers to the church in full communion with the Bishop of Rome, made up of the Latin Rite and the 22...
s or Protestants, some of whom are descendants of colonial settlers, known as Burghers. The Tamils are divided along
casteA caste is a combined social system of occupation, endogamy, culture, social class, and political power. Caste should not be confused with class, in that members of a caste are deemed to be alike in function or culture, whereas not all members of a defined class may be so alike.Although Indian...
lines, with the farmer-caste
VellalarVellalars or Velalars are a dominant caste of affluent Tamil agricultural landlords in the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala states in India and in neighbouring Sri Lanka. The most important among them were the chiefs of these landlords called as Velirs in the Sangam literature...
forming the majority. However, there are many "Jati" divisions within the Vellalars and they vary in social status, with various Saiva Vellalars usually on top. The maritime caste known as the
KaraiyarKaraiyar, also known as Karayar, Karaiar or Kurukulam is traditionally both a seafaring and warrior caste found in the Tamil Nadu state of India, coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil Diaspora, occupying a large variety of educated and respectable professions.-Origins:The...
dominates the coast. The
KaraiyarKaraiyar, also known as Karayar, Karaiar or Kurukulam is traditionally both a seafaring and warrior caste found in the Tamil Nadu state of India, coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil Diaspora, occupying a large variety of educated and respectable professions.-Origins:The...
caste is seen as inferior due to their ancestral profession as fisherman, and due to their lower caste in terms of the ancient
HinduA Hindu is an adherent of Hinduism, a set of religious, philosophical and cultural systems that originated in the Indian subcontinent. The vast body of Hindu scriptures, divided into Śruti and Smriti , lay the foundation of Hindu beliefs which primarily include dhárma, kárma, ahimsa and saṃsāra...
VarnaVarna is the largest city and seaside resort on the Bulgarian Black Sea Coast and in Northern Bulgaria, third-largest in Bulgaria after Sofia and Plovdiv, and 77th-largest in the European Union, with a population of 355,450 .Commonly referred to as the marine capital of Bulgaria, Varna is a...
system. Most residents of Jaffna are
TamilTamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in Malaysia, Mauritius and Réunion as well as emigrant communities around the world...
speaking, Sri Lankan Tamils.
Culture
Most Jaffna Tamils belong to the
DravidianDravidian may refer to the following about southern South Asia:* Dravidian languages, a language family comprising about 21 languages including the four literary languages spoken mainly in South India and North-Eastern Sri Lanka*Proto-Dravidian, a model of the common ancestor of the above...
culture, thus,
PongalThai Pongal is a harvest festival equivalent to a thanksgiving event celebrated by Tamils across the world. Pongal coincides with the festival Makara Sankranthi celebrated in various parts of India...
, the Hindu New Year in April,
DeepavaliDiwali or ' is a significant festival in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, and Jainism, and an official holiday in India and Nepal. Adherents of these religions celebrate Diwali as the Festival of Lights...
, Navaratri and Shivaratri are some of the religious
festivalA festival is an event, usually and ordinarily staged by a local community, which centers on some unique aspect of that community.Among many religions, a feast or festival is a set of celebrations in honour of God or gods. A feast and a festival are historically interchangeable...
s celebrated, see
Culture of Sri LankaThe culture of Sri Lanka has been influenced by many things in the past. Mostly it has been influenced by religion and colonialization by the Dutch, the Portuguese and the British.-New Year:Main article Sinhala and Tamil New Year...
. Jaffna was known as perhaps the most important cultural center of Sri Lanka.
Arts
The traditional dance of the Sri Lankan Tamils is called Kooththu. These are a variety of stage
dramaDrama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning "action" , which is derived from "to do" . The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production and a collective...
s. Karthavarayan Kooththu, Sangiliyan Kooththu and Poothaththambi Kooththu are some of the famous Kooththus in Jaffna. The Poothaththambi Kooththu has been staged from the
DutchThe Dutch Empire consisted of the overseas territories controlled by the Netherlands from the 17th to the 20th century. The Dutch followed Portugal and Spain in establishing an overseas colonial empire, aided by their skills in shipping and trade and the surge of nationalism accompanying the...
era. These arts are mainly focused on the historical values of the community and to entertain the people. The villuppattu is one of the famous arts of the tamils. Oyilaattam is a notable variety of dance in the
Jaffna peninsulaThe Jaffna Peninsula is an area in Northern Sri Lanka. Its underground water is used for drinking, agriculture and industry. Paddy cultivation is rain fed but only for three months during the North East monsoon period. It is a part of the peninsula consisting of fourteen D.S Administrative...
. The South Indian
danceDance in India covers a wide range of dance and dance theatre forms, from the ancient classical or temple dance to folk and modern styles.Three best-known deities, Shiva, Kali and Krishna, are typically represented dancing...
and
musicThe music of India includes multiple varieties of folk, popular, pop, classical music and R&B. India's classical music tradition, including Carnatic and Hindustani music, has a history spanning millennia and, developed over several eras, it remains fundamental to the lives of Indians today as...
is also indigenous to Jaffna. Noteworthy here would be Bharata Natyam and
Carnatic musicCarnatic music is a system of music commonly associated with the southern part of the Indian subcontinent, with its area roughly confined to four modern states of India: Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, and Tamil Nadu...
- the classical high traditions of Hinduism.
Literature
A poet called
Eelattu PoothanthevanarEelattu Poothanthevanar was one of the earliest known classical Sri Lankan poets. His poems were included in the Tamil sangam or Cankam poetry anthologies compiled in Tamilakam before 250 AD....
is mentioned in the ancient Tamil Sangam in
MaduraiMadurai , is the oldest inhabited city in the Indian peninsula. It is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and is the second biggest Municipal Corporation of Tamil Nadu. It is situated on the banks of the River Vaigai in Madurai district...
. He was most probably from the North of Sri lanka. The Chief Nalliyakodan of Mantai in what is today Mannar sponsored several Sangam era poets in the Tamil land. Kumanan, another chief from Kudiramalai, also sponsored poets. However, the precise identity of Nalliyakodan and Kumanan is under doubt. This is discussed in Mudaliyar C. Rasanayagam's "Ancient Jaffna".
The medieval Tamil court in Jaffna had produced some rare manuscripts on
astronomyAstronomy is the scientific study of celestial objects and phenomena that originate outside the Earth's atmosphere...
or
ayurvedaAyurveda is a system of traditional medicine native to India and practiced in other parts of the world as a form of alternative medicine. In Sanskrit, the word Ayurveda consists of the words , meaning 'life', and , meaning 'related to knowledge' or 'science'...
.
Turning to modern times, Arumuga Navalar was born in
NallurNallur is a small town in the Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. It is 3 km from city of Jaffna and was the capital of the ancient Jaffna kingdom for many years. This is one of the ancient cities in Jaffna District. Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil is situated here....
in December 1822. He died in 1879. He helped develop modern Tamil prose and freed the language from what had become the stilted classicism of the past with his freer use of words. He translated the Bible into Tamil and then researched Hindu doctrine. Navalar wrote many Hindu religious books and was an outstanding orator. He was the pioneer of religious reforms in the Jaffna Hindu society. C.W Thamotheram pillai, another native of Jaffna, was one of the first two graduates in the Madras Presidency. He obtained his degree from the University of Madras in 1858 and contributed to Tamil studies. Dr.
Ananda CoomaraswamyAnanda Kentish Coomaraswamy was a Sri Lankan philosopher...
contributed extensively to the study of Indian art in its social context. He was born in 1877.
Mallikai, Sudar, Samar, Siriththiran, Alai and Kathambam were some of the Tamil magazines
published in the 1970s. Many of them disappeared after the ethnic tension in the late 1980s.
The term
Pulampeyar Ilakkiyam refers to the
literatureSri Lankan Tamil literature or Ceylon Tamil literature refers to Tamil literature produced in the current day country of Sri Lanka by various Tamil speaking communities such as the Sri Lankan Tamils, Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka and Sri Lankan Muslims...
of the Tamil speaking people who migrated away from their native region.
Viduthalai Ilakkiyam is the literature of various Tamil nationalist organizations.
Media
The first newspaper in Jaffna, Uthayatharakai (Morning Star) was published in 1841 by C.W. Thamotharampillai
Today it has number of newspapers including
Eelamurasu,
வலம்புரி and
UthayanUthayan is a Tamil newspaper published in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1985 and has been the lone voice of the people of the Jaffna since 1996 has been the only publication which has not ceased publication due to the Sri Lankan Civil War.The newspaper has been attacked several times...
.
Economy
Sea products, red onion, and tobacco are the main products in Jaffna. Prior to the civil war it was a place of many small scale industries manufacturing household items as well as packaging and food processing for export. Most industrialists have left or closed shops. The present Jaffna economy is facing setbacks because of the unstable connectivity with the south. The prices of goods in Jaffna are relatively high compared to the south. Currently the primary economic activity is trade. The foreign remittance from the
Sri Lankan Tamil diasporaThe Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora refers to the global diaspora of the people of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Tamil diaspora....
sustains many people.
Jaffna Harbour
The pending
Sethusamudram Shipping Canal ProjectSethusamudram Ship Channel Project proposes linking the Palk Bay and the Gulf of Mannar between India and Sri Lanka by creating a shipping channel through the shallow sea sometimes called Setu Samudram, and through the island chain of Adam's Bridge, also known as ram sethu. This would provide a...
may increase the productivity of the Jaffna Harbour. Enlargement of the harbour will bring benefits to Sri Lanka. However it might damage the ecosystem of the area. The strategic advantages derive from obtaining a navigable sea route close to the coast, with a reduction in travel distance of more than 350 nautical miles (650 km) (for larger ships). The project is expected to provide a boost to the economic and industrial development of coastal
Tamil NaduTamil Nadu is one of the 28 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai . Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by Puducherry , Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh...
in
IndiaIndia, officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the south, the Arabian Sea on the west, and the Bay of Bengal...
. The project will be of particular significance to Jaffna, Kankesanthurai,
MannarMannar may refer to:* Mannar, a town in northern Sri Lanka* Mannar, a town in Kerala, India* Mannar District, a district in Sri Lanka* Mannar Electoral District, a former electoral district in Sri Lanka* Mannar Island, an island in Sri lanka...
,
Point PedroPoint Pedro is the northernmost town of the island of Sri Lanka. The agriculturally active area around Point Pedro with fertile calcic red latosols is known for its cotton production. The eastern coast of Point Pedro is a 3-mile-broad beach with huge sand dunes up to 100 feet height, extending...
and Tuticorin harbour.
Education
Jaffna is considered to be the most literate
districtDistricts are a type of administrative division, in some countries managed by a local government. They vary greatly in size, spanning entire regions or counties, several municipalities, or subdivisions of municipalities.-Austria:...
in the whole of
Sri LankaSri Lanka , officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka , is an island country in South Asia, located about off the southern coast of India...
(whose national literacy rate in 2001 was 90.7%). In the early days (before 1970s') Sri Lankan universities were dominated by Jaffna
studentThe word student is etymologically derived through Middle English from the Latin second-type conjugation verb studēre, meaning "to direct one's zeal at"; hence a student could be described as "one who directs zeal at a subject"...
s but currently their enrollment numbers are minimized due to the effects of a district based quota system introduced in the 1970s as well as the effects of the civil war. However, in 1974 the government opened the
University of JaffnaJaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has two campuses. They are situated in Thirunelveli and Vavuniya...
which is
de facto reserved for students from the region, while they have a quota based access to the other Sri Lankan universities as well.
Peter Percival was a Wesleyan Missionary who started several schools in Jaffna including
Jaffna Central CollegeJaffna Central College is a national school in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1814. It is among the oldest and most distinguished of the modern secondary schools in Sri Lanka.-History:...
,
Hartley CollegeHartley College is a boys' school located in the northern, coastal city of Point Pedro, Sri Lanka, which was founded in 1838. It was named after Wesleyan priest and missionary Rev. Hartley.-History:...
, Vembadi Girls School, and the Methodist Girls High School. The first translation of the Bible into Tamil was carried out by Fr Peter Percival and
Arumuka NavalarArumuka Navalar was the first revivalist of native traditions in Sri Lanka. He along with others like him were responsible for reviving and reforming native traditions and religions such as Hinduism that had come under long period of dormancy and attack during the previous 500 years of colonial...
.
The Jaffna Hindu College is one of the leading schools in Jaffna. This institution was established by a Hindu asscociation in 1890. The Hindu Board of Education established a network of grant-in-aid schools. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan established Ramanathan College for Girls and Parameshwarar College for Boys.
Founded by
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
missionariesA missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who proselytizes. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus A missionary is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith;...
in 1819, Jaffna College has records of
MalaysiaMalaysia is a country in Southeast Asia that consists of thirteen states and three Federal Territories, with a total landmass of . The capital city is Kuala Lumpur, while Putrajaya is the seat of the federal government. The population stands at over 28 million inhabitants...
, Singaporean, South Indian and even
JapaneseThe are the predominant ethnic group of Japan. Worldwide, approximately 130 million people are of Japanese descent; of these, approximately 127 million are residents of Japan. People of Japanese ancestry who live in other countries are referred to as...
students enrollment in the 1930s and 1940s. American missionaries also founded many other institutions of higher learning that are still functioning today. Today most students are locals.
Jaffna is now considered a backward district for university admission by the University Grants Commission. While district quotas once kept down Jaffna numbers at the universities, today they are increased by the same quotas because of poor performance from Jaffna. Peter Percival arrived in Ceylon in 1926 after Central College was founded. He reorganized the school in 1936 or so.
The first full translation of the Bible was in Tranquebar in 1723 succeeding partial versions earlier. This Tamil Bible was translated by Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and Benjamin Schultze. The translation of Fabricius followed—the New Testament in 1772 and Old Testment in 1791. The Jaffna version was by a six member committee, headed by Peter Percival, Principal of Central School. Jaffna at that time had a tremendous fund of scholarship from which to draw, both on the side of Western missionaries as well as on that of Jaffna Tamils. The other missionaries were Levi Spaulding, H. R. Hoisington, Samuel Hutchings, Daniel Poor and Miron Winslow. They knew Hebrew and Greek to translate. Arumuka Navalar was merely one of at least 2 Pandit Assistants who simply put the missionary translation into good Tamil—interestingly a form of Tamil that was soon rejected in Jaffna itself and a new translation modelled on the Tamil of Fabricius is what we use today in Indian and Sri Lankan Churches. Navlar had very limited eudcation and could not be credited with the scholarship and methodology required for serious translation. As the front page of the 1850 Bible says, "Translated out of the original tongues and with former translations diligently compared and revised." Thus the translators themselves do not claim to have made the first translation and this claim comes only from sectarian groups in Jaffna. The Americans founded only one institution of higher learning—Batticotta Seminary.
See also
- A9 Highway, linking Jaffna peninsula with the mainland.
- List of cities in Sri Lanka, airport city.
- Nallur (Jaffna)
Nallur is a small town in the Jaffna District, Sri Lanka. It is 3 km from city of Jaffna and was the capital of the ancient Jaffna kingdom for many years. This is one of the ancient cities in Jaffna District. Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil is situated here....
, ancient capital city.
External links