SINHALA
Posted on August 11th, 2015
by Dr.Sripali Vaiamon
History has been taken out from our school curriculum in 1972. So you can’t blame Justice Minister who is a young man uttering that Sri Lanka is not a Sinhala country. Let him learn.
Now Let us go deep into the pre-history for the sake of those who are ignorant of the true history of our Sinhala country. The term SINHALA exists from about 1200 B.C. Historical wise I first came across it in the second book of MAHABARATHA.(translated by Van Beutenen) where there was a poem which depicts a SINHALA deputation gone from our country to participate in the Royal Consecration,(Rajassuya) of the king Udisthra carrying a load of gifts such as pearls, conches sea beryls,,elephant husks etc.and further elaborated what the Sinhala Chieftain of the deputation had dressed for the occasion.(2-27-48)-subsequently Mr.K.M.Ganguly who translated all the 18 books, revealed the term Sinhala appeared in Book 1,Ch 177 and Bk 2 Ch 33 and Ch 51. Besides these it is given in several ancient Sanskrit books viz Markandya Purana, Bhagawatha and Brahath sanhitha..Dr.B.J.Perera contributed an article to the Ceylon Historical Journal Vol.2. where he says Sinhala is given in the Jaina Canonical works which was compiled before the dawn of Buddhism. According to Dr.Senarath Paranavithana, the term Sinhala is Sanskrit. In Pali it is Seehala and Sainhala in Prakrit..Internet depicts Mahabharatha commences its compilation in 900 B.C.But Monier Monier Williams who compiled the first English Sanskrit Dictionary says it was 1200 B C .That shows it is much before the advent of Vijaya from Gujarath as elaborated in the chronicle Mahavansa.Vijaya is not the progenitor of Sinhala race as described in Mahavansa.. .400 years prior to the advent of Vijaya there had been a civilization at Anuradhapura according to extensive research conducted by veteran archeologist Siran Deraniyagala.The Sinhala Litarati late Mr. Arisen Ahubudu says four major tribes in the ancient island were Deva,Naga,Yakka and Raksa.Prof.J.B.Dissanayaka is agreeable with this. They were speaking a dialect Illu.Helu or HELA.The combination of the four tribes Siv + Hela= It became SIHALA the equivalent for the Sanskrit, SINHALA. Scholar Mr.Cumaranatunga contributing an article to Prabhashodaya in 1935 depicts Sinhala is the term used by ancient time for the country as well as the language. For both.
According to archeological revelations in the country the first human bone has been discovered in 123,000 years ago at Pathirajawela down South, Subsequent excavation at 80,000 have discovered not only a human bone but fossils of LIONS, rhinoceros and Hippopotamus. Subsequently more fossils of lions have been discovered from Ratnapura and Sabagamuva province. I hypothesize it is quite possible to have some connection to lion the term Sinhala from ancient time..Our Historians and archeologists must make an attempt to trace this from very old Sanskrit books of ola leaves in the Sanskrit University at Thripunna thurai and several other places in India.We may not have anything for this purpose in our country.
Even in the recent history Jaffna was occupied by Sinhalese. It confirms by Mudliyar Rasanayagam in his book ‘Ancient Jaffna’ page 384 ,if I Quote,-Jaffna was occupied by the Sinhalese earlier than by the Tamils is seem not only in the places names of Jaffna but also in some of the habits and customs of the people. The system of branding cattle by which not only the caste but also the position and the family of the owner could be traced was peculiarly Sinhalese. That shows from ancient times entire country,North,East,South and West was a Sinhala country.
Isn’t it quite evident that our country is Sinhala from more than 1000 BC.How could it has any claim to any other community who stepped in just in yesterday!
Chief Minister of Tamilnadu. Who is governing a vast area of India. Why does she wants to grab Kacthchative from Sri Lanka?.It was outhourticaly given over to Sri Lanka after several discussion by two great leaders in the world,Mrs.Srimao Bandaranaiake and Mrs Indira Gandi.Why on earth she who living in a vast area of India wants to grab Kachchative belongs to this small island.Why she wants to send her fishermen with massive boats to grab the ocean floor of the Sri Lanka waters not only to catch fish but to ruin the ocean floor.We had a minister in charge of the area but I do not know whether he uttered a word. Perhaps during that time Chief Minister was in the Jail. Prime minister Modi has no right to falk his fingers into this when he has million of problems.Two hundred and fifty million Dalit people are suffering miserably.Why can’t he look into his problems? What a world!
August 11th, 2015 at 5:48 am
Look mates Indians are the only people on this earth that treat some people as lower than animals. Tamils claim all kinds of Tamil breed but they are very similar and any changes among them have happened since they hd a ride on the back of the British Raj as colonial parasites. I have come across them from all over the place.
August 11th, 2015 at 6:02 am
Ancient tamil kingdoms only exist in www. and books. Nobody has ever seen an ancient brick from these buildings
whereas you can see plenty of ancient buildings still standing in Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa etc.
Tamils themselves know these are bogus claims. They know they’ve been living here for a few hundred years. Even the so called natives of Jaffna been living there for a few hundred years. The dutch rascals brought them from s india to work on tobacco farms. Oldest building in Jaffna is the old dutch fort. Not a good claim then.
Coastal belt is covered by kallathonis who came to Sri Lanka in the 60s to save their lives from starvation when there
was a famine in s india. There were no visas those days. So they all settled down along the coastal belt. Now they have become so called natives of Sri Lanka.
They use this bogus claim to get more and more of the cake and get it. Sinhalese in their own country are helpless because of the greedy politicians. Unpatriotic party (UNP) has been dividing the Sinhalese and making minorities king makers. Sinhalese have become refugees in their own land thanks to Unpatriotic party. Only when the election times they remember the Sinhalese. Then they come with a loads of false promises and soon after the election they kick the Sinhalese in their backs and dance to tamils and mussies tunes. These crafty, murderous Unpatriotic party (UNP) politicians know Sinhalese have very short memories. So they exploit it to the hilt and make the Sinhalese more and more helpless.
To make things worse Unpatriotic party (UNP) agenda is destroying Buddhism from Sri Lanka on the orders of the church and the west. They carried this out this to the letter when Sinhalese Buddhist youth took arms up against the traitor party.
They killed 60,000 Buddhist youth mercilessly reducing a big chunk of the Buddhist population. When tamils took up arms against the traitor party, it was a different story. They were very reluctant to kill them since they were not Buddhists.
Thanks to the Unpatriotic party tamils and muslims have been able to distort our history and use numerous bogus claims
for our land. Germany for the Germans, France for the French, Spain for Spaniards etc. there is one motherland for every race on this planet. Sri Lanka is the motherland of the Sinhalese while there is a place called tamil nadu (nadu means country in tamil) 16 miles across the waters.
There hasn’t been any other kingdom on this land other than the Sinhalese kingdoms. In the olden days, for a civilisation to exist there was one thing needed in abundance. Water. In the north of Sri Lanka, due to the harsh climate water was 200ft underground. For Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa have Kala Weva and Parakrama Samudraya. So is it any wonder there ancient Sinhalese kingdoms in those two citieis. If people don’t like living there, they should think about leaving the country as no Sinhalese invited them to be there.
August 11th, 2015 at 7:33 am
It is up to the History Professors and Buddhist Priests to get together and compile the proper History of the Sinhala People and publish the results once and for all.
BBS ought co-ordinate the whole procedure with funds from other sympathetic Buddhist countries. China may help.
500 yrs of Colonisation, inimical Cold War politics, plus political parties running with ex-Colonists (not with the People of the land), are the ruin of Lanka. Add the Tamil 3,000 yr old Caste system and Tamil Dalit discrimination yet unresolved with some 15 Million Tamil Dalits in Tamil Nadu, with Tamil Separatism encouraged by foreign sources, and we have a lethal brew in Lanka.
Awaken, Lankans, before it is too late !! Teach the proper History to your children of Lanka.
August 11th, 2015 at 8:51 am
The evolution of the Sinhala people in Sri Lanka has been a much ignored topic in recent decades which have been swamped with propaganda from the Tamil Eelam-supporting elements both in Sri Lanka and in the West where the Tamil communities who emigrated have focused on rewriting history and attempting to make the world accept their Revisionist Version through the Internet and more recent books that have replaced the older history books of British and European (especially German) authors on the shelves of University libraries.
Hopefully, this gap will be soon be filled with more entering this VERY IMPORTANT discussion on this all-important topic.
The SINHALA people have to make this a PRIORITY….the historians at LANKA’S UNIVERSITIES MUST WAKE UP!!
August 11th, 2015 at 9:32 am
Agree with nilwala.
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more notes :
Prince Vijaya married (or co-habited) the Yakha Queen, Kuveni, who was already in the islalnd Lanka. They had two children. Thus the new arrivals to Lanka were unified with the indigeous people.
The Sinhela People of today, of course, are of a mixed gene pool, as are most ethnic groups all over the world. Sinhela People are identifed by their culture, language and mainly Buddhist religion, together with some from the Catholic & Christian sectors.
To digress a bit : The main problem today is Tamil Separatism, and a false claim laid to the North & East as ‘Tamil homeland’.
Therefore, it is important that Lanka History be written and taught clearly and properly, with no anomalies.
August 11th, 2015 at 11:17 am
THE 25,000 SINHALESE WHO WERE ETHNICALLY CLEANSED FROM THE NORTH HAVE TO BE RE-SETTLED BACK IN THEIR OWN LANDS WHICH THE TAMILS HAVE PLUNDERED NOW. THIS HAS TO BE DONE FIRST AS A PRIORITY, BEFORE GETTING DOWN TO THEORY. SAME FOR THE MUSLIMS.
MR SHOULD PROMISE NOW, RIGHT NOW, THAT HE WILL ATTEND TO THE AFORESAID. HE NEGLECTED THE SINHALESE BUDDHIST. THIS IS MANDATORY, AND SHOULD BE IN HIS MANIFESTO. IF HE HAS NO INTENTION OF RE-SETTLING THE SINHALESE, WELL THE LAW OF KARMA WILL TAKE ITS DUE COURSE.
MANY, MANY PEOPLE HAVE WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT. MR SHOULD TAKE COGNISCANCE.
August 11th, 2015 at 12:44 pm
I agree with Susantha. The Sinhela People must be resettled in the N&E and all poliitical parties ought to agree to this, even the TNA. Those want Separatism cannot have their cake and eat it too.