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TAMIL TIGERS PROMOTE A BOOK OF DISTORTED HISTORY ON TRICOMALEE, THE PORT CITY THEY WANT TO MAKE THEIR CAPITAL

Kanagasabapathy Saravanapavan The man who distorted history Of Trincomalee for the LTTE (photo by LTTE news website, TamilNet )

By Walter Jayawardhana reporting from Los Angeles

July 25.10.30 PM:Historical documents and academic research show that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) promoted “Historic Trincomalee” written in Tamil contains distorted history of the island and the book was based on sheer imagination and not on historical facts, with the intention of facilitating separatist plans of the Tamil rebel group, knowledgeable sources said.

The LTTE’s official news website, The Tamil Net, July 19 announced the release of “Historic Trincomalee” written by Kanagasabapathy Saravanapavan at a ceremony held at Siri Koneswara Hindu College Hall in Trincomalee and said the Tamils had the Temple at Konesar Malai for thousands of years.

“This is nothing but rubbish,” said Professor Nalin de Silva when asked for a response. ”The so called historic kovil was built only recently after dismantling the ancient Buddhist Temple at the same place. There are people who have seen the Buddhist temple in the forties,” he pointed out deliberately.

Professor Nalin de Silva said in Sri Lanka they were creating history for ulterior motives. “ These people cannot produce, “ he said, “an iota of historical or archaeological evidence to support the view that the so called ancient kovil in Gokanna has a history going back to thousands of years. There is no reference in history to a place called Konesar Malai. Where as Gokanna is a place familiar to historians.”

In a tract published in 1984 history scholar E.T. Kannangara said besides recorded facts in the chronicles recent archaeological findings in these areas adduce irrefutable evidence that not only the Jaffna peninsula but also the Northern and Eastern parts of the island had been ruled by Sinhala kings throughout history.

In an essay entitled, Aryan settlements and early kings, published in the Concise History of Ceylon renowned historian Senarath Paranavithana tracing the history of the Sinhalese and writing about the king who ruled Ceylon (Sri Lanka) after the first king Vijaya said, “Panduvasdeva with thirty two followers, it is said, arrived in Ceylon in the guise of mendicant monks. They landed at the mouth of the Mahakandara River at the port of Gokanna, the modern Trincomalee according to the commentator of the chronicle.(Mahavamsa)”

Pointing out the long relationship of the ancestors of the Sinhalese with Trincomalee Paranavithana said in the same essay, “ Not long after the Sinhalese came to this island from the North West of India, other bands of indo Aryans arrived in ports like Gokanna (Trincomalee) on the Eastern coast and it is they who introduced the word Ganga, the name of a particular river in India, as the generic name of rivers, and gave that name to the longest river in the island (Mahaveli) which fell in to the sea near the port at which they landed. No river falling to the sea on the North Western sea board of the island, which attracted immigrants from Western India is called Ganga…There is no evidence that there were in Ceylon peoples of an advanced culture at the time the Indo Aryans settled in it.”

Historian C.W. Nicholas writing in the same book, the Concise History of Ceylon, said Sinhalese monarchs used Trincomalee as a port. Writing the essay entitled the “Second Lambakarna Dynasty” he thus described the aftermath of a Pandyan invasion that plundered Anuradhapura: “ The Sinhalese King , Sena 1 , had meanwhile taken to headlong flight , and in great fear and alarm had reached Trincomalee where he planned to escape across the sea to the Siri Vijaya Kingdom of Malaya. Apparently, friendly relations already existed between the Sinhalese and the Malays. “

To trade with Malaya and China the Sinhalese used Trincomalee. In the same book, C. W. Nicholas writing under the title, “Civilization of the late Anuradhapura period”, said, “Mahatitta (Mantai) and Gokanna (Trincomalee) were the principal ports ; there were regular trade routes between Nagapattana in the Cola country and Mahatitta and a haven in the Kalinga country (Malaysia) and Trincomalee. The most valuable exports from Ceylon continued to be pearls and precious stones. Rajasekhara, writing in the ninth century, says that the Sinhalese king had two store- houses of wealth, namely the ocean which produced pearls and Mount Rohana (Adams Peak) with its mines of precious stones. In return for her exports Ceylon obtained precious metals, copper, silk, chinaware and horses.”

E. T. Kannangara, in “Jaffna and the Sinhala heritage” wrote, “Trincomalee during the periods of the Sinhala kings was one of the chief trading centers in Sri Lanka. Sri Gokarna, Siri Gokanna, Sri Gonapura, Siri Gonamala, Gonagamaka Pattana, Gonagama-Patuna, and much earlier Gokannatitta were some of the names attached to this place in the chronicles. The present Sinhala name Thirikunamala is apparently a derivation from Siri Gonamala.

“Sri Gokarna Vihara built in the reign of King Mahasen (276-303 A.C.) was the earliest Buddhist edifice in Trincomalee. Being on a rock it was also called Vehera Gala (Vihara on a rock)

“ King Aggabodhi V (718-724 A.C) built a monastery and a sitting hall (asana sala) for monks in Trincomalee. In the wars of Parakramabahu 1 (1153-1186 A.C.) it is said, fleets with powerful naval forces were directed to Ramanna and South India from Trincomalee. In these expeditions, he successfully invaded and conquered Ramanna, Pandya and Chola kingdoms. History provides sufficient evidence that from the very dawn of Sri Lanka’s story Trincomalee and the East, like Jaffna and the North were thickly populated by Sinhalas.

“Badda Kachchayana who later became the queen of King Panduwasdeva (505-474 B.C.) with her party of royal maidens landed in Siri Gonamala harbor. She was a sister of Prince Digha, the founder of Dighavapi.”

Kannangara referring to more recent times said, “ The treaty between the Sinhala government and the Dutch East India Company signed in 1766 A.C. supports the statement that Batticaloa with the places appertaining thereto was included in the Kandyan provinces. Batticaloa is mentioned as Puliyanduwa and Trincomalee as Thirikunamala in the treaty.

“The captivity and detention of Robert Knox , the Englishman who landed in Kottiyar in the Trincomalee District in 1659 A.C. after shipwreck , was on orders from the King in Kandy.

“If as some Tamils now say, there was a Tamil administration in Trincomalee in the early days, Robert Knox would then have been taken in to custody on orders from a Tamil ruler for trespassing his area and not by the Sinhala King of Kandy. “

LTTE sponsored writers have intensified publications indicating that the Tamils held Trincomalee for thousands of years, distorting history. This happened after the LTTE decided that the ancient port city should be made their capital when they separate Northern and Eastern Provinces from Sri Lanka, possibly with European help.

(25/07/03 go2lanka.com)