Deciphering The Vanniyas; A People Out Of The Box
By Darshanie Ratnawalli -October 13, 2013 |
Darshanie Ratnawalli
During the twilight of the Vanniyas, that is, the latter half of the 19th century, the last remaining representatives of that identity were found eking out a living in several villages of Nuvarakalaviya (North Central province) and Northern province (mainly around Vavuniya in Kurunthankulam and Nochcikulam or Chinna Cheddikulam). They were living, breathing fossils of a species of people that have entered case studies of modern historiography as exemplifiers of the incorporating drives of the pre-modern Lankan state. “Thus, in Sinhale on the one hand there existed an incorporative tolerance that a) permitted immigrant bodies to settle in the Vanni and the Eastern Province…”-(Michael Roberts, “Prejudice and Hate in Pluralist Settings: The Kingdom of Kandy”, 2000).
“The case presents a fascinating study of a people originating from different immigrant cultures who were compelled by circumstances and the office and responsibilities they accepted, to assimilate into another culture.”- (D. G. B de Silva, “New Light On Vanniyas And Their Chieftaincies Based On Folk Historical Tradition As Found In Palm-Leaf Mss. In The Hugh Nevill Collection[i]”)
To get back to these late 19th century representatives of the Vanniya twilight, certain signature features set them apart. They claimed themselves to be Sinhalese, but preserved a tradition of being “descendants of certain Tamils who came over from the continent in the time of Raja Sen, who granted to each extensive tracts of land[ii]”-(A. Brodie, J.R.A.S (C.B) Vol III, 1856). Theirs was a distinct caste the membership of which had dwindled in this twilight, to a few villages in the Northern and North Central provinces. This was the “Wanni caste”, which was “not general over the Island and which is superior to that which is elsewhere considered the highest.”- (Brodie, op.cit). Nevertheless, they had “no money and cannot buy land” and was “entirely dependent on hunting and occasional chena cultivation”- (S. Fowler, Diary of 3rd May 1887). “They still use the primitive bow and arrow and are well acquainted with the most remote jungles through which they wander in search of honey and game. There are some peculiarities in their dialect, which with their mode of life, suggest relationship with the Veddah, but they altogether repudiate the idea”-(Fowler, op.cit). Read More
