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யாழ்ப்பாண அரசு Kingdom of Aryacakravarti 1215 – 1619 Flag Capital Nallur Language(s) Tamil, Sanskrit Religion Hinduism Government Monarchy Aryacakravarti  - 1215-1255 Kulingai Cakravarti  - 1617–1619 Cankili II Historical era Medieval era  - Fall of Polonnaruwa 1215  - Portugese invasion 1505  - Fall of Nallur 1619 Currency Setu coins

The Jaffna Kingdom (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாண அரசு) (1215-1619 CE) also known as Kingdom of Aryacakravarti of northern Sri Lanka came into existence after the invasion of Magha, who is said to be from Kalinga in India. It eventually became a tribute paying feudatory of the Pandyan Empire in modern South India in 1250 but later become independent with the fragmentation of the Pandyan control. For a brief period, in the early to middle fourteenth century it was an ascending power in the island of Sri Lanka when all regional kingdoms accepted subordination. However, the kingdom was eventually overpowered by the rival Kotte Kingdom around 1450.

It was freed of Kotte control in 1467 and its subsequant rulers directed their energies towards consolidating its economic potential by maximising revenue from pearls and elephant exports and land revenue. It was less feudal than most of other regional kingdoms in the island of Sri Lanka of the same period. During this period important local Tamil literature was produced and Hindu temples were built including an academy for language advancement.

The arrival of the Portuguese colonial power in island of Sri Lanka in 1505 and it's strategic location in the Palk Straight connecting all interior Sinhalese kingdoms to South India created political problems. Many of its kings confronted and eventually made peace with the Portuguese colonials. Eventually Cankili II, an usurper to the throne confronted the Portuguese but was defeated, thus bringing the kingdom’s independent existence to an end in 1619.

Contents 1 History 1.1 Early period 1.2 Colonial period 2 Administration 3 Economy 4 Culture 4.1 Religion 4.2 Society 4.3 Literature 4.4 Architecture 5 Notes 6 References

See also: Aryacakravarti dynasty

The origin of the kingdom is obscure and still the subject of controversy among historians. Some historians believe that there was an independent kingdom in Uttaradesa (northern part of Sri Lanka) during the classical Sinhalese kingdom period,^[1][2][3][4] which is contested by Sri Lankan historians.^[5] Among mainstream historians such as K.M. de Silva and Karthigesu Indrapala the widely accepeted view is that what became of the Kingdom of Aryacakravarti began with the invasion of an previously unknown chieftain called Magha, who claimed to be from Kalinga in modern India.^[6][7][8][9] He deposed the ruling King Parakrama Pandu of Polonnaruwa and began a process of destruction with the help of his soldiers and mercenaries from Kalinga, modern Kerala and Damila regions in India.^[6]

After the devastation of Rajarata, he moved the capital to the Jaffna Peninsula and ruled as a tribute paying subordinate of the Chola empire of Tanjavur, in modern Tamil Nadu, India.^[6] During this period (1247), a Malay chieftain and a sea pirate named Chandrabhanu from Tambralinga invaded the politically fragmented island.^[6] Although King Parakramabahu II (1236-70) from Dambadeniya was able to repulse the attack, Chandrabhanu moved north and secured the throne for himself around 1255 from Magha.^[6] This prompted the Pandyan Empire in modern South India to intervene and Chandrabhanu submitted to Pandya rule in 1258. When Chandrabhanu embarked on a second invasion of the south, the Pandyas again came to the support of the Sinhalese king and killed Chandrabhanu in 1262 and eventually installed Aryacakravarti, a minister in charge of the invasion as the king.^[6] When the Pandyan Empire became weak due to Muslim invasions, successive Aryacakravarti rulers made the Jaffna Kingdom independent and a regional power to reckon with in Sri Lanka.^[6][10] It should be noted that the subsequent kings of the Jaffna Kingdom claimed descent from ‘‘Magha’’ while maintaining their Pandyan progenitor’s family name. ^[11][12]

The dynasty claimed titles such as Setukavalan, meaning custodians of the Rameswaram temple in modern India, Singaiariyan (from the city of Singai Nagar),^[13] another name for their capital Nallur, and Gangainadan, alluding to their origin from the Ganga dynasty or the Ganges region of modern North India.^[13] Politically it was an expanding power in the 13th and 14th century with all regional kingdoms paying tribute to it.^[10] However, it met with simultaneous confrontations with the Vijayanagar empire that ruled from Vijayanagara, southern India, and a rebounding Kotte Kingdom from the southern Sri Lanka.^[14] This led to the kingdom becoming a vassal of the Vijyanagar Empire as well as briefly loosing its independence under the Kotte kingdom from 1450 to 1467.^[10] Eventually the kingdom was re-established with the disintegration of Kotte kingdom and the fragmentation of Viyanagar Empire.^[15] It maintained very close commercial and political relationships with the Thanjavur Nayakar kingdom in southern India as well as the Kandyan and segments of the Kotte kingdom. This period saw the building of Hindu temples and a flourish of literature both in Tamil and Sanskrit.^[16][14][17]

Rulers of Jaffna Kingdom (1215-1619)
Kulingai Cakravarti	(1215 - 1255)
Chandrabhanu (Tambralinga)	(1255-1262)
Kulasekara Singaiariyan	(1262-1284)
Kulotunga Singaiariyan	(1284-1292)
Vickrama Singaiariyan	(1292-1302)
Varodaya Singaiariyan	(1302 - 1325)
Martanda Singaiariyan	(1325 - 1347)
Gunabhooshana Singaiariyan	(1347 - ????)
Virodaya Singaiariyan	(???? - 1380)
Jeyaveera Singaiariyan	(1380 - 1410)
Gunaveera Singaiariyan	(1410 - 1440)
Kanakasooriya Singaiariyan	(1440 - 1450)
Sapumal Kumaraya (Kotte Kingdom)	(1450 - 1467)
Kanakasooriya Singaiariyan	(1467 - 1478)
Singai Pararasasegaram	(1478 - 1519)
Cankili I	(1519 - 1561)
Puviraja Pandaram	(1561-1665)
Periyapillai	(1565-1582)
Puviraja Pandaram	(1582-1591)
Ethirimana Cinkam	(1591 - 1616)
Cankili II	(1617-1619)
Phelipe de Oliveira (Portuguese Empire)	(1619-1627) This box: view • talk • edit

See also: Portuguese Ceylon

Portuguese traders reached Sri Lanka by 1505 where their initial forays were against the south-western coastal Kotte Kingdom due to the lucrative monopoly on trade in spices that the Kotte Kingdom enjoyed that was also of interest to the Portuguese.^[18] The Jaffna Kingdom came to the attention of Portuguese officials in Colombo for multiple reasons which included their interference in Roman Catholic missionary activities,^[18] (which was assumed to be patronizing Portuguese interests) and their support to anti-Portuguese factions of the Kotte Kingdom, such as the chieftains from Sittawaka.^[18] The Jaffna Kingdom also functioned as a logistical base for the Kandyan kingdom, locatd in the central highlands without access to any seaports, as an entrypot for military aid arriving from South India.^[18] Further, due to its strategic location, it was feared that the Jaffna Kingdom may become a beachhead for the Dutch landings.^[18] It was King Cankili I who resisted contacts with the Portuguese and even massacred 600-700 Parava Catholics in the island of Mannar. These Catholics were brought from India to Mannar to take over the lucrative pearl fisheries from the Jaffna kings.^[19][20]

Client state

The first expedition led by Viceroy Dom Constantino de Brganca in 1560 failed to subdue the kingdom but wrested the Mannar Island from it.^[21] Although the circumstances are unclear, by 1582 The Jaffna King was paying a tribute of ten (10) elephants or an equivalent in cash.^[18][21] In 1591, during the second expedition lead by Andre Furtado de Mendonca, King Puvirasa Pandaram was killed and his son Ethirimanna Cinkam was installed as the monarch. This arrangement gave the Catholic missionaries freedom and monopoly in elephant export to the Portuguese,^[21][22] which the incumbent king however resisted.^[21][22] He helped the the Kandyan kingdom under Kings Vimaladharmasuriya I and Senarat during the period 1593-1635 with the intent of securing help from South India to resist the Portuguese. He however maintained autonomy of the kingdom without overly provoking the Portuguese.^[21][22]

End of the Kingdom

With the death of Pararasasekaran in 1617, a usurper named Cankili II came to throne after killing the rightful regent.^[23] As Cankili II was unable to secure Portuguese agreement to his over lordship, he invited the Thanjavur Nayaks to send military help as well as allowed corsairs from Malabar to use a base in Neduntivu that posted a threat to Portuguese shipping through Palk Straight.^[23] By June of 1619, there were two expeditions; one naval that was defeated by the Malabari corsairs but the land expedition by Phillippe de Oliveira with 5,000 men was able to defeat Cankili II and his troops.^[23] Cankili was captured and taken to Goa and hanged to death and every surviving royal family member was taken to Goa. Most of them were "encouraged" to become monks and nuns in holy orders, as most obliged, this avoided any further claimants to the Jaffna throne.^[23]

Consequences

There were three rebellions against the Portuguese rule during the next 40 years, two of them led by one Migapulle Arachchi, until the Dutch capture of Jaffna fort in 1658.^[23] During that period , Portuguese destroyed every known Hindu temple^[24] and the Saraswathy Mahal library in Nallur, that held all the literary output of the kingdom until then.^[25][26] Due to excessive taxes, the population decreased and many people moved to Ramanathapuram in India and the Vanni Districts further south.^[23] The external commerce was decimated and Jaffna's principle export the Elephants were exported in exchange for saltpetre from various kingdoms in India for Lisbon, thus unable to pay for any of its imports and such items ceased to be imported.^[23] In the words of Fernao De Queiros, the principle chronicler of Portuguese colonial exploits in Sri Lanka, the people of Jaffna were "reduced to the uttermost misery" during the Portuguese colonial era.^[23][24]

Although The Portuguese attempted to completely destroy the Royal family through "encouraged" celibacy there are number of families of Sri Lankan Tamil origin who claim descent from the royal family.^[27][28]

According to Ibn Batuta, a traveling Moroccan historian of note, by 1344, the kingdom had two capitals: one in Nallur in the north and the other in Putalam in the west during the pearling season.^[30][17][10]

The Kingdom proper, that is the Jaffna peninsula was divided into various provinces with subdivisions of parrus meaning property or larger territorial units and ur or villages, the smallest unit, was administered on a hierarchical and regional basis.^[31] At the summit was the King whose kingship was hereditary; he was usually succeeded by his eldest son. Next in the hierarchy stood the adikaris who were the provincial administrators.^[31][10] Then came the mudaliyars who functioned as judges and interpreters of the laws and customs of the land.^[31] It was also their duty to gather information of whatever was happening in the provinces and report to higher authorities. Administrators of revenues called kankanis or superintendents and kanakkappillais or accountants came next in line. There were also known as pandarapillai. They had to keep records and maintain accounts.^[31][32]

Maniyam was the chief of the parrus.^[31] He was assisted by mudaliyars who were in turn assisted by udaiyars, persons of authority over a village or a group of villages.^[31] They were the custodians of law and order and gave assistance to survey land and collect revenues in the area under their control.^[31] The village headman was called talaiyari, paddankaddi or adappanar and he assisted in the collection of taxes and was responsible for the maintenance of order in his territorial unit.^[31] It may be mentioned that each caste had a chief who supervised the performance of caste obligations and duties.^[32][31]

Relationship with feudatories

Vannimais were regions south of the Jaffna peninsula in the present-day North Central and Eastern provinces and were sparsely settled by people. They were ruled by petty chiefs calling themselves Vanniar.^[32] Vannimai's just south of the Jaffna peninsula and in the eastern Trincomalee district usually paid an annual tribute to the Jaffna kingdom instead of taxes.^[32][15] The tribute was in cash, grains, honey, elephants, and ivory. The annual tribute system was enforced due to the greater distance from Jaffna.^[32] During the early and middle part of the fourteenth century the Sinhalese Kingdoms in western, southern and central part of the island too became feudatories until the kingdom itself was briefly occupied by the forces of Parakramabahu VI around 1450 for about 17 years.^[33] Around the early 1600's the kingdom also administered an exclave in Southern India called Madalacotta.^[34]

Jaffna Kingdom was less feudalized than other kingdoms in Sri Lanka such as Kotte and Kandy.^[35] It's economy was based on more money transactions than transactions on land or its produce. The Jaffna defense forces were not feudal levies; soldiers in the kings service were paid in cash.^[35] The king’s officials namely Mudaliayars were also paid in cash and the numerous Hindu temples seem not to have owned extensive properties unlike the Buddhist establishments in the South. Temples and the administrators depended on the King and the worshippers for their upkeep.^[35] Royal and Army officials were thus a salaried class and these three institutions consumed over 60% of the revenues of the kingdom and 85% of the government expenditures.^[35] Much of the kingdoms revenues also came from cash except the Elephants from the Vanni feudatories.^[35] At the time of the conquest by the Portuguese in 1620 the kingdom which was truncated in size and restricted to the Jaffna peninsula had revenues of 11,700 pardaos of which 97% came from land or sources connected to the land. One was called land rent and another called paddy tax called arretane.^[35]

Apart from the land related taxes, there were other taxes such as Garden tax from compounds where, among others, plantain, coconut and arecanut palms were grown and irrigated by water from the well. Tree tax on trees such as as palmyrah, margosa and iluppai and Poll tax equivalent to a personal tax from each.Professional tax was collected from members of each caste or guild and commercial taxes consisting of, among others, stamp duty on clothes (clothes could not be sold privately and had to have official stamp) Taraku or levy on items of food, and Port and customs duties. Columbuthurai, which connected the Peninsula with the mainland at Poonakari with its boat services, was one of the chief port, and there were customs check posts at the sand passes of Pachilaippalai.^[31] Elephants from the southern Sinhalese kingdoms and the Vanni region were brought to Jaffna to be sold to foreign buyers. They were shipped abroad from a bay called Urukathurai which is now called Kayts shortened form of Portuguese Caes dos elephantess. (Bay of Elephants)^[36] Perhaps a peculiarity of Jaffna was the levy of license fee for the cremation of the dead.^[31]

It should be noted that not all payments in kind were converted to cash, offerings of rice, bananas, milk, dried fish, game meat and curd persisted.^[35] Some inhabitants also had to render unpaid personal services called uliyam.^[35]

The kings also issued number of types of coins for circulation. Several types of coins categorized as Sethu Bull coins issued from 1284 AD to 1410 AD are found in large quantities in the northern part of Sri Lanka. The obverse of these coins have a human figure flanked by lamps and the reverse has the Nandi (bull) symbol, the legend Setu in Tamil with a crescent moon above.^[13][9]

See also: Hinduism in Sri Lanka

Saivism a sect of Hinduism in Sri Lanka has had continuous history from the early period of settlers from India. Hindu worship was widely accepted even as part of the Budhist religious practices.^[37] During the Chola period in Sri Lanka around the 9th and 10th century, Hinduism gained status as the official religion in the main state in the island.^[38] Kalinga Magha who followed them too is remembered as a Hindu revivalist of a violent sort by the native literature of that period.^[39]

As the state religion, Saivism enjoyed all the prerogatives of the establishment during the period of the Jaffna Kingdom. The Aryacakravarti dynasty, because of its ancestral connection with the Rameswaram Hindu temple, a well-known pilgrimage center of Indian Hinduism was very conscious of its duties as a patron. As noted one of the titles assumed by the kings was Setukavalan or protector of Setu another name for Rameswaram. Setu was used in their coins as well as in inscriptions as marker of the dynasty.^[41]

Sapumal Kumaraya also known as Chempaha Perumal in Tamil, who ruled the Jaffna Kingdom on behalf of the Kotte Kingdom is credited with either building or rebuilding the Nallur Kandaswamy temple.^[15][42] Singai Pararasasegaramis credited with building the Sattanathar temple, Vaikuntha Pillaiyar temple and Veerakaliamman temple. He also built a holy pond called Yamuneri and filled it with water considered to be holy from the Yamuna river in North India.^[43] Almost all major temples were maintained by the kings and the salary was paid to those who worked in the temple from the Royal treasury unlike in India and rest of Sri Lanka where religious establishments were autonomous entities with large endowments of land and related revenue.^[35]

At the higher level most accepted Lord Siva as the primary deity and lingam, a symbol of the creative powers of Siva would be found in wayside shrines. The other Hindu gods of the pantheon such as Murugan, Pillaiyar, Kali were also worshipped. At the village level village deities were paramount along with the worship of Kannaki whose veneration was popular amongst the Sinhalese in the south as well. There was also belief in charm and evil spirits just like in the rest of South Asia.^[41]

See also: Caste system in Sri Lanka

The principle social organization of the people of Jaffna kingdom was modelled on the caste structure of South India where the agricultural castes had social and religious control. In this way, it resembled the social organization of the Sinhalese kingdoms in the south where the agricultural Govigama caste was dominant just below any ruling family. The Aryacakravarti kings and their immediate family claimed Brahma-Kshatriya status meaning Brahmins who have come to play the warrior ruler role.^[44] Below them were the agricultural Vellalar and a unique Madapalli caste who provided most of the Mudaliyars to village headman who owned most of the arable land and operated the Hindu temples.^[45] Just below the Vellalar were the Koviar who also were involved in agriculture.^[45] The fishing castes collectively known as Karaiyar stood outside the land based caste system and were independant of the social structure.^[45]Chettys were well known traders and also owned Hindu temples,Pallar and Nalavar were the landless workers who provided the labor required for agriculture.^[45] Barbers, washers, potters and other service castes provided the needed services per convention and Parayar were settled in segregated settlements and were the untouchables just like in Tamil Nadu and Kerala.^[45][46] Mercenaries from India of various ethnic and caste backgrounds such as Telugus known locally as Vadugas and Malayalees from Kerala were employed by the king as soldiers.^[45][45]Muslim traders and sea pirates of Tamil Muslim or Malabari ethnicity as well as Sinhalese were in the Kingdom.^[47][10] It also functioned as a refuge for many royal rebels from the south who had lost out in their political struggles.

Patronage to literature and education was given by of the kings of the dynasty. Temple schools and traditional gurukulam classes in verandahs (known as Thinnai Pallikoodam in Tamil) spread basic education in languages such as Tamil and Sanskrit and religion to the upper classes.^[48] During the reign of Jayaveera Singaiariyan rule a writing on medical science (Segarajasekaram), on astrology (Segarajasekaramalai)^[49][48] and on mathematics (Kanakathikaram) were authored by Karivaiya.^[48] During the rule of Kunaveera Singaiariyan, a writing on medical sciences known as Pararajasekaram was completed.^[48] During Singai Pararasasekaran's rule, an academy for Tamil language propagation on the model of ancient Tamil Sangam's was established in Nallur. This academy performed a useful service in collecting and preserving ancient Tamil works in manuscripts form in a library^[48] called Saraswathy Mahal. Singai Pararasasekaran's cousin Arasakesari was credited with translating the Sanskrit classic Raghuvamsa into Tamil.^[49] Among other literary works of historic importance compiled before the arrival of European colonizers, Vaiyapatal written by Vaiyapuri Aiyar is well known.^[48][50]

There were periodic waves of South Indian influence over Sri Lankan art and architecture, though the prolific age of monumental art and architecture seemed to have declined by the 13th century.^[52] Temples built by the Tamils of Indian origin from the 10th century belonged to the Madurai variant of Vijayanagar period.^[52] A prominent feature of the Madurai style was the ornate and heavily sculptured tower or gopuram over the entrance of temple.^[52] None of the important religious constructions of this style within the territory that formed the Jaffna Kingdom survived the destructive hostility of the Portuguese.^[52]

Nallur, the capital was built with four entrances with gates.^[53] There were two main roadways and four temples at the four gateways.^[53] The rebuilt temples that exist now do not match their original locations which instead are occupied by churches erected by the Portuguese.^[53] The center of the city was Muthirai Santhai (market place) and was surrounded by a square fortification around it.^[53] There were courtly buildings for the Kings, Brahmin priests, soldiers and other service providers.^[53] The old Nallur Kandaswamy temple functioned as a defensive fort with high walls.^[53] In general the city was laid out like the traditional temple town according Hindu traditions.^[53]