History of Eastern Tamils - Early Settlements

Early Settlements

Evidence of a settlement of people with burial practices similar to that found in the Tamil Nadu region in India and further North was excavated at megalithic burial sites at Pomparippu in the western coast and in Kathiraveli in the eastern coast. These are dated between 2nd century BC and 2nd century AD.

Although it is not known when ethnic Tamils first settled in Sri Lanka, early settlements occurred in the aftermath of repeated South Indian invasions (c. 1st to 13th centuries.). Tamil royal dynasties in this period are known to have patronized Tamil Saivite culture in the east that parralled the growth of the community in the area, and by the 6th century, a special coastal route by boat was functioning to the Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee and Thirukkovil temple of Batticaloa. It wasn't until the 13th century that there was firm evidence of the rise of a significant Tamil Hindu social formation in the Jaffna Peninsula, complete with a Hindu king and a palace, in the aftermath of the collapse of the classical Sinhala Dry Zone civilisations. By the 11th and 12th centuries, the upper half of the eastern province had a large Tamil community.

Eastern Tamils had feudal organizations that centered around Ur Podiyar at a village level and the Kudi system that controlled social interactions. They also were organized politically as Vannimai chiefs who came nominally under the Kandyan kingdom. The most important social group were the Mukkuvar who had originated from South India and had repeatedly invaded Sri Lanka as evidenced by Sinhalese literature of that period called Kokila Sandeśa as the Mukkara Hatana. One of the local traditions that records the landing and settling of eastern Sri Lanka is called Mattakallappu Manmiam (Tamil:மட்டக்களப்பு மான்மியம்).