Prof.Dr.VK Agarwal: Started Some Details V1

2026-04-11T10:04:25Z

Started Some Details V1

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{{Infobox royalty
| name = Pandara Vanniyan
| title = Tamil [[Vanniar (Chieftain)]] of [[Vannimai]] <br />'The Last King of Vanni'
| image =Pandaravanniyan image.jpg
| caption = Pandara Vanniyan statue
| reign = 1785–1803<ref name=GS>{{cite web|url=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qKo7j7ooFDk/UQtgmmVXVxI/AAAAAAAAAEs/sf4LfP6OVhk/s1600/Pandara+Vanniyan+Memorial+stone.jpg|title=Grave stone of Pandara Vanniyan|publisher=www.canadamirror.com}}</ref>
| coronation =
| full name = Kulasegaram Vairamuthu Kumara
| religion = [[Hinduism]]
| dynasty =
| successor = [[British Ceylon|British rule]]
| father =
| mother =
| birth_date = ~1775
| birth_place = [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]], [[Sri Lanka]]
| death_date = 31 October, 1810<ref name=GS /> (Succumbed to injuries from ambush by British forces{{cn|date=January 2020}})
| death_place = Katsilaimadu,<ref>{{cite book|last1=Duraisingam|first1=Thambimuttu|title=Politics and Life in Our Times: Selected Articles Published for Over a Century, Volume 2|date=2000|publisher=University of Michigan|location=Michigan|page=1490|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TztuAAAAMAAJ&q=pandara+vanniyan|access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref> [[Sri Lanka]]
| date of burial =
| place of burial =
}}

'''Pandara Vanniyan''' ({{langx|ta|பண்டார வன்னியன்|Paṇṭāra Vaṉṉiyaṉ}}, {{langx|si|වන්නි බණ්ඩාර|Vanni Baṇḍāra}}) was a [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Tamil]] Chieftain who ruled in [[Vanni Nadu]] reigned from 1785 - 1803<ref name=GS>{{cite web|url=http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qKo7j7ooFDk/UQtgmmVXVxI/AAAAAAAAAEs/sf4LfP6OVhk/s1600/Pandara+Vanniyan+Memorial+stone.jpg|title=Grave stone of Pandara Vanniyan|publisher=www.canadamirror.com}}</ref> in 18th century AD and early 19th century AD. He is referred to by some as the last [[Sri Lankan Tamils|Tamil]] king in [[Sri Lanka]], who also rose to revolt against the [[British Ceylon|British Ceylon empire]] and [[Dutch Ceylon|Dutch Ceylon empire]], who died battling the British colonial rule on the island.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Sabaratnam|first1=T.|title=Sri Lankan Tamil Struggle: Birth of a Unitary State|url=http://sangam.org/2010/09/Tamil_Struggle_6.php|access-date=16 October 2014|agency=Ilankai Tamil Sangam|publisher=Association of Sri Lankan Tamils in the USA|date=3 September 2010}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xdBDwAAQBAJ&q=bandara+vanniyan&pg=PT80|title=Scarred Communities: Psychosocial Impact of Man-made and Natural Disasters on Sri Lankan Society|last=Somasundaram|first=Daya|date=2014-02-11|publisher=SAGE Publishing India|isbn=9788132118299|language=en}}</ref> He was officially declared a [[National Heroes of Sri Lanka|National Hero of Sri Lanka]] in 1982.<ref>{{Cite journal|url= |title=Collective trauma in the Vanni- a qualitative inquiry into the mental health of the internally displaced due to the civil war in Sri Lanka|last=Somasundaram|first=Daya|journal=International Journal of Mental Health Systems|year=2010|volume=4|location=University of Jaffna|pages=4|doi=10.1186/1752-4458-4-22|doi-access=free |pmid=20667090|pmc=2923106|s2cid=40442344}}</ref>

==Biography==
Kulasegaram Vairamuthu Pandara Vanniyan was a native of Vanni. The 'Vanniyan' here is different from the caste of the same name. Much remains unclear about his family, but reports state that he had one sister, Nallanachal Vanniyan, and two younger brothers called Kayilaya Vanniyan (Minister) and Periya Meynaar (Commander of the State).<ref>{{cite news|title=Minister Sathyalingam stirs debate of Pandara Vanniyan history|url=http://www.tamilcnn.ca/minister-sathyalingam-now-makes-historical-researchers-debate-pandara-vanniyan-history.html|access-date=16 October 2014|agency=TamilCNN|date=16 August 2014}}</ref> [[Pandara Vannian|Pandara Vanniyan]] married Kumarasinghe Maha Vanniya's family of present day [[Thammannakulama|Nuwara Wewa]], who held the office of residential Governor and Custodian of the formerly Tamil area. Marriages between [[Vanniar (Chieftain)|Vanniar Chieftain]] families in the northern and southern regions helped to unite and strengthen rule. Thus, when [[Pandara Vannian|Pandara Vanniyan]] married into the [[Thammannakulama|Nuwara Wewa]] family, he gained political power in the south [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]] as well as in the north. It is said that he lived in Kumulamunai, which today is in [[Mullaitivu District]]. His statue of honour is located in [[Jaffna]].

==History==
[[Vanniar (Chieftain)|Vanniar chieftain]], [[Pandara Vannian|Pandara Vanniyan]], appeared to have paid some tribute to the more powerful rulers in the region at that time, who had an independent spirit and a distinct culture and dialect of their own. [[Vannimai|Vanni]] functioned as a buffer zone between the north and the south of [[Sri Lanka]]. Historically, the [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]] encompassed [[Mannar District|Mannar]], [[Vavuniya]], [[Trincomalee]], [[Polonnaruwa]], [[Batticaloa]], [[Ampara]] and [[Puttalam]] hinterlands.

The beginnings of the people of the [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]] (Vanniar), who were ruled over by [[Vanniar (Chieftain)|Vanniar Chieftains]], has not been clearly established, but there is evidence of settlements in the region dating back 2000 years. Furthermore, there is information on the Konesar Kalvettu and in the old 'Vya' song of sixty Vanniar coming from [[Madurai]] in [[South India]], accompanying the royal bride for the king at [[Anuradhapura]] in the first century BC.{{Citation needed|date=January 2021}}

==Conflict with colonial rule==
When the [[Jaffna Kingdom]] was captured by the [[Portugal|Portuguese]] in 1621, the [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]] was under their nominal control and it is thought that 'Parangichetticulam' of the [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]] is the former fort of the [[Portugal|Portuguese]].

Around 1782, the continued conflicts came to an end when the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]], who had by then arrived in [[Sri Lanka]], once and for all defeated the Vanniars. It has been noted that "The [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] met nowhere a more determined resistance than from one of the native princesses, the Vannichi (widow) Maria Sembatte, whom they [carried] away as prisoner, and [detained] in captivity in the [[Fort (Colombo)|Fort of Colombo]]."
[[File:Flag of Pandara Vanniyan.PNG|thumb|The Flag of Pandara Vanniyan]]

Pandara Vanniyan has defeated the Dutch several times by defeating the [[Lt. Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg|Lt. von Driberg]] several times.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Somasundaram|first1=Daya|title=Scarred Communities: Psychosocial Impact of Man-made and Natural Disasters on Sri Lankan Society|date=2014|publisher=SAGE|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788132111689|page=52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0PenAwAAQBAJ&q=pandara+vanniyan&pg=PA52|accessdate=16 October 2014}}</ref>Pandara Vanniyan fought against the [[British Empire|British]] colonial powers. The Vanniars commenced to live a wild and marauding life and carried on a predatory warfare against the [[British Empire|British]] in [[Mannar, Sri Lanka|Mannar]] and [[Trincomalee]], and even penetrated to the [[Jaffna peninsula]]. The [[British Empire|British]] had to build forts along the river to keep them at bay. In alliance with the [[Kandy]] Kingdom, [[Pandara Vannian|Vanniyan]] started a revolt to expel the [[British Empire|British]] from his district. On 25 August 1803, [[Pandara Vannian|Vanniyan]] attacked the Government House in [[Mullaitivu|Mullaitheevu]] and drove out the garrison from [[Mullaitivu|Mullaitheevu]],{{ref|1}} which was under the command of Captain Edward Mudge of the 19th Regiment, before finally seizing the fort.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Tambiah|first1=Henry Wijayakone|title=The laws and customs of the Tamils of Ceylon|date=1954|publisher=Tamil Cultural Society of Ceylon|location=University of California|page=65|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8x5bAAAAIAAJ&q=pandara+vanniyan|access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref>

Pandara Vannian captured the [[British Empire|British]] cannons and overran the whole of the northern districts ([[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]]), highlighting his boldness and ability to penetrate as far as [[Elephant Pass]] and into the [[Jaffna Peninsula]]. From conventional warfare, Pandara Vannian resorted to guerrilla tactics, but was finally defeated by [[Lt. Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg|Lt. von Driberg]] when the (recently arrived) [[British Empire|British]] organized a three-pronged attack from [[Jaffna]], [[Mannar, Sri Lanka|Mannar]] and [[Trincomalee]] in 1803. In that battle, the [[British Empire|British]] also captured the cannon given to Pandara Vanniyan by [[Sri Vikrama Rajasinha of Kandy|Sri Wickrema Rajasinghe]]. The British presented the village of Pandara Kulam to [[Lt. Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg|Lt. von Driberg]] as a prize for defeating Pandara Vanniyan.

This was followed by the "burning of all his houses, [whereby Pandara Vanniyan's] people ... dispersed into the jungle, and eventually out of the [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]] to the districts of Hanwella.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Rajasuriar|first1=G. K.|title=The history of the Tamils and the Sinhalese of Sri Lanka|date=1998|publisher=Quill Graphics|location=University of Michigan|isbn=9780646365701|page=128|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jUpuAAAAMAAJ&q=pandara+vanniyan|access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref> The power of the [[Vanniar (Chieftain)|Vanniar (Chieftains)]] was thus finally and effectually extinguished." Alternative histories have it that [[Lt. Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg|Lt. von Driberg]] of the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]] forces felt humiliated by [[Pandara Vannian|Pandara Vanniyan]] for having been defeated by him several times, including in a personal combat situation; despite being permitted by senior officials to withdraw, he stayed on even after the [[British Empire|British]] ousted the [[Dutch Empire|Dutch]].<ref name="Daya">{{cite book|last1=Somasundaram|first1=Daya|title=Scarred Communities: Psychosocial Impact of Man-made and Natural Disasters on Sri Lankan Society|date=2014|publisher=SAGE|location=New Delhi|isbn=9788132111689|page=52|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0PenAwAAQBAJ&q=pandara+vanniyan&pg=PA52|access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref>

==Death==
Pandara Vanniyan was defeated in battle at the hands of [[Lt. Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg|Lt. von Driberg]], in October 1803 at Oddusuddan, Katsilaimadu. Now no longer a feudal ruler, he withdrew to areas near the Kandy Kingdom. He remained there until September 1810 where he was attacked in an ambush by British forces, and later succumbed to his injuries.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Navaratnam|first1=Ramon V.|title=The fall and rise of the Tamil nation: events leading to the Tamil war of independence and resumption of Eelam sover[e]ignty|date=1991|publisher=University of Michigan|location=Michigan|page=118|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yfMBAAAAMAAJ&q=pandara+vanniyan|access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref> A granite stone monument commemorating Vanniyan's defeat was erected in the village Katsilaimadu in [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]]; it was placed in tribute by [[Lt. Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg|Lt. von Driberg]], who had fought him in battle. The monument bears the inscription: "Here abouts Captain von Driberg Defeated Pandara Vawniyan Oct 31 st 1803." In 2010 it was found broken; some [[Tamil people|Tamil]] media outlets reported that it had been damaged by [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] soldiers in light of recent ethnic tensions and criticized it as an act of destruction of Tamil heritage and culture.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://m.tamilwin.com/show-WUmTTsC0qJRsm.html|title=கற்சிலை மடுவில் உடைக்கப்பட்டுள்ள பண்டார வன்னியனின் நினைவுச் சின்னம்|date= 22 April 2010|publisher= tamilwin.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://thesamnet.co.uk/?p=69494|title= பண்டாரவன்னியன் நினைவுநாளும் அதில் உள்ள வரலாற்றுத் திரிபும் – அ.மயூரன் கட்டுரைகள்|date= 31 October 2015 |publisher= thesamnet.co.uk}}</ref>

==Legacy==
[[File:Statue pandara vanniyan.png|thumb|right|Statue of Pandara Vanniyan, unveiled 10 August 2014.]]

Pandara Vanniyan was declared a national hero by the [[Prime Minister of Sri Lanka|Prime Minister]], [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]] in 1982 and a statue of him was opened with much fanfare in [[Vavuniya]] at the main junction on the [[A9 highway (Sri Lanka)|A-9 Highway]], where the [[Jaffna]] and [[Kandy]] (and [[Colombo]]) road meets the road to [[Mannar, Sri Lanka|Mannar]].<ref name="Daya" /> The [[Pandara Vannian|Pandara Vanniyan]] Memorial Day falls on 25 August each year.

Present-day [[Tamil people|Tamils]] and [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] of [[North Central Province, Sri Lanka|North Central]] and [[North Western Province, Sri Lanka|North Western]] provinces in [[Sri Lanka]], which were once part of [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni]], revere Pandara Vanniyan highly. The [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] are known to summon the protection of '''Vanni Bandara Deio''' when they pass through jungles.

[[Tamil nationalism|Tamil nationalists]] valourise Vanniyan as an epic hero, and his character has recently been appropriated and measured against [[Vellupillai Prabhakaran]], the leader of the now dismantled [[LTTE]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Karunanidhi|first=Kalaignar Muthuvel|title=Payum Puli Pandara Vanniyan|date=1991|publisher=Thirumakal|location=Chennai, India|pages=467|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LzKlYgEACAAJ}}</ref> [[Karunanidhi|Minister Muthuvel Karunanidhi]], an Indian politician and writer, in his novel 'Payum Puli Pandara Vanniyan' ('The Leaping Tiger Pandara Vanniyan' in English), uses Vanniyan to typify [[Tamil people|Tamil]] [[patriotism]] and [[transnationalism]]. According to Vijaya Ramaswamy in ''Historical Dictionary of the Tamils'', "the course of the novel is ... connected to ... developments in Sri Lanka related to moves by the [[LTTE]]. The novel describes the mission of a friend of [[Veerapandiya Kattabomman]] (the last Poligar who resisted British rule in Tamil Nadu) to the [[Wanni]] jungles in Sri Lanka. His mission was to meet Pandara Vanniyan who was also resisting the [[British Empire|British]]. This part of the novel echoes the meeting of [[Vaiko|V. Gopalsamy MP]] (popularly known as [[Vaiko]]) and [[Vellupillai Prabhakaran]] (leader of the defunct [[LTTE]]) in the dense jungles of [[Wanni]]."<ref>{{cite book|last1=Ramaswamy|first1=Vijaya|title=Historical Dictionary of the Tamils|date=2007|publisher=Scarecrow Press, Inc.|location=Maryland|isbn=9780810853799|page=114|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=H4q0DHGMcjEC&q=pandara+vanniyan&pg=PA114|access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref>

[[Pandara Vannian|Pandara Vanniyan]] is also the subject of the eponymous play by Mullaimaṇi Ve Cuppiramaṇiyam, 'Pantara Vanniyan.' The play was awarded a prize by the Ceylon Art Council in 1964, and was published thereafter in 1970.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Subramaniam|first1=Veluppillai|title=Pantara Vanniyan|year=1970|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zkWbpwAACAAJ&q=pandara+vanniyan|publisher=Ceylon Art Council|access-date=16 October 2014}}</ref>

On 10 August 2014, three statues of former Tamil kings including Pandara Vanniyan, [[Ellalan]], and Pararaja Sekaran were installed by [[Jaffna Clock Tower]].<ref>{{cite news|title=Statues of Tamil Kings unveiled in Jaffna|url=http://www.epdpnews.com/news.php?id=12052&ln=eng|access-date=16 October 2014|agency=EPDP News|date=11 August 2014}}{{Dead link|date=April 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20120210192940/http://wanni.org/south-vanni.htm Closer look at Southern part of Vanni]
* [http://www.geni.com/people/Fredrick-von-Driberg/6000000013096880282 Details of Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg]
* [http://www.geni.com/family-tree/index/6000000013096880282 Family tree of Friedrich Wilhelm von Driberg]
* [http://tamilmirrorcanada.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/pandara-vanniyan-last-tamil-king-of.html History of Ceylon: PANDARA VANNIYAN, THE LAST TAMIL KING OF VANNI]
* [http://www.island.lk/2001/04/08/featur14.html Lord of the Vanni Forests]
* [http://www.noolaham.net/project/18/1747/1747.pdf Vanni and the Vanniyas by C. S.Navaratnam]
*[http://warwithoutwitness.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=310:vanni-narratives-the-exposure-to-massive-existential-trauma-resulted-in-the-tearing-of-the-social-fabric-described-here-as-collective-traumaby-dr-daya-somasundaram&catid=38:reports&Itemid=61 Vanni narratives]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pandara Vanniyan}}
[[Category:Sri Lankan Tamil history]]
[[Category:Tamil monarchs]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan Hindus]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan Tamil rebels]]
[[Category:British Empire]]
[[Category:1803 deaths]]
[[Category:1777 births]]

Pandara Vanniyan - Revision history

Prof.Dr.VK Agarwal: Started Some Details V1