Vannimai

The Vannimais, or Vanni chieftaincies, were feudal land divisions ruled by petty chiefs south of the Jaffna peninsula in northern Sri Lanka. These chieftaincies arose in the 12th century, with the rise of the medieval Tamil kingdom's golden age and the collapse of the classical Sinhalese kingdom period. The chieftaincies developed in sparsely settled areas, and were ruled by Tamil chiefs of multi-caste origins, who called themselves Vanniar. An extension of the Jaffna kingdom's territory, the chiefs of the Vannimais were, for most of their existence, tribute-paying subordinates to Jaffna. The arrival of European colonists in the 16th century saw some of the Vannimai territories subdued by different kingdoms. By the early 18th century, the lands of the Vanni had been reincorporated with Jaffna to form the Malabar Coylot Vanni country.