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Koviar
(, also known as Covia) is a Tamil caste found in Sri Lanka. They are traditional agriculturalists and temple workers. ''Kattavarayan'' as caste deity is observed by the Koviar. Etymology The Yalpana Vaipava Malai states that the term ''Koviyar'' stems from ''Kovil'', a Tamil term meaning temple. Another view holds that the term is derived from the Tamil words ''Ko'' (cow) and '' Idaiyar'', meaning cowherds. Another theory states that they are descended from Sinhala prisoners of war, and that Koviyar is a Tamilised form of the Sinhala Goviya. Tamil dirge songs sung by Vellalar women during funeral rituals carried out by Koviyar refer to them as Sinhalas ("O you Kovia, Sinhala"). Vellalar men often took concubines from the Koviyar community, and the children are entitled to Vellalar status as well as certain paternal inheritances. Early period They are mentioned in the Thesavalamai law of the Jaffna Peninsula, which was codified by the Dutch under their rule. There th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Vellalar
Lankan Vellalar () is a caste in Sri Lanka, predominantly found in the Jaffna peninsula and adjacent Vanni region, who comprise about half of the Sri Lankan Tamil population. They were traditionally involved in agriculture, but also included merchants, landowners and temple patrons. They also form part of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora. They are reputed as a ritually and numerical dominant caste, who have contributed among the political elites of the Sri Lankan Tamils. Many of the Tamil Mudaliyars, a high colonial rank, were drawn from the Vellalar caste. In Eastern Sri Lanka are the Vellalars as other prominent castes there, further divided into ''kudis'' or matrilineal clans. Etymology The word ''Vellalar'' is derived from their art of irrigation and cultivation. The word comes from the Tamil words ''veḷḷam'' ("flood", "water" or "abundance") and ''āṇmai'' ("lordship" or "management"); thus the word literally means "those who manage water" or "lords of the floods" ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Pallar
Sri Lankan Pallar is a Tamil caste found in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. They are traditionally involved in agriculture and were also involved in toddy tapping and artisanal fishing. Etymology The ''Pallar'' name may be derived from ''pallam'', which means a pit or low-lying area. This aligns with their traditional occupation of cultivators of the low wetlands. There is literary evidence that suggests that Pallars were traditional farmers who produced large quantities of food grains, and that some were probably rulers in the Tamil region. The change of name from Mallar to Pallar is thought to have been imposed upon them after the decline of their rule, when the leaders ( Nayaks) of competing tribes wanted to suggest a degradation in status. The caste name is sometimes being spelled as ''Pallan''. The -"an" suffix is originally masculine singular and in colloquial usage often attached when implying disrespect. This usage has been observed for other service castes. The plural a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Karaiyar
Karaiyar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found mainly on the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora. They are traditionally a seafaring community that is engaged in fishing, shipment and seaborne trade. They fish customarily in deep seas or on shore, and employ gillnet and seine fishing methods. The Karaiyars were the major maritime traders and boat owners who among other things, traded with pearls, chanks, tobacco, and shipped goods overseas to countries such as India, Myanmar and Indonesia. The community known for their maritime history, are also reputed as a warrior caste who contributed as army and navy soldiers of Tamil kings. They were noted as the army generals and navy captains of the Aryacakravarti dynasty. The Karaiyars emerged in the 1980s as strong representatives of Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism. The nuclear leadership of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have background in the wealthier enterprising section of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nalavar
Nalavar () is a Tamil caste found in Sri Lanka. They were traditionally occupied in palm tree climbing and toddy tapping. Etymology According to a folk etymology is the name Nalavar a corrupted form of ''Naluvinavar'' (those who decamped), which they gained after withdrawing from a battle field. Another theory suggest the name is derived from ''Nalua'' meaning to climb, in reference to their traditional occupation. It has also been proposed that the name is derived from ''Naravar'' (from ''Naravu,'' ancient Tamil term for toddy). History According to Yalpana Vaipava Malai were the Nalavars originally called ''Nambis'' who originally Vanniar chieftains and served as bowmen. A former subdivision among them were known as ''Kottai Vayil Nalavar'' i.e. "Nalavars in service of the fort". Under the Dutch Ceylon was the Thesavalamai law codified. This law allowed landlords to have slaves, and the Nalavars were also employed as agriculture labors, and were classified along wit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tamil Language
Tamil (; ' , ) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. Tamil is an official language of the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, the sovereign nations of Sri Lanka and Singapore, and the Indian territory of Puducherry. Tamil is also spoken by significant minorities in the four other South Indian states of Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and the Union Territory of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. It is also spoken by the Tamil diaspora found in many countries, including Malaysia, Myanmar, South Africa, United Kingdom, United States, Canada, Australia and Mauritius. Tamil is also natively spoken by Sri Lankan Moors. One of 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution of India, Tamil was the first to be classified as a classical language of India. Tamil is one of the longest-surviving classical languages of India.. "Tamil is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India" (p. 7). A. K. Ramanujan described it as "the on ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
International Quarterly For Asian Studies
The ''International Quarterly for Asian Studies'' is a biannual peer reviewed open access academic journal published since 1970 by the Arnold Bergstraesser Institute (Freiburg, Germany). Until 2016 its title was ''Internationales Asienforum''. The journal covers research on issues related to political, ecological, economic, and socio-cultural questions in Asia as well as on Asia's role within the international system. Abstracting and indexing The journal is abstracted and indexed in (under the name ''Internationales Asienforum''): * ATLA Religion Database * EBSCO databases *International Bibliography of Periodical Literature *International Bibliography of the Social Sciences *Modern Language Association Database * ProQuest databases History The journal was established in 1970 by Detlev Kantowsky (University of Konstanz) and Alois Graf von Waldburg-Zeil ( Weltforum Verlag) as the ''Internationales Asienforum''. Kantowsky was the founding editor until he was succeeded by Ekkehard ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most populous city. Jaffna is approximately from Kandarodai which served as an emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical antiquity. Jaffna's suburb Nallur served as the capital of the four-century-long medieval Jaffna Kingdom. Prior to the Sri Lankan Civil War, it was Sri Lanka's second most populous city after Colombo. The 1980s insurgent uprising led to extensive damage, expulsion of part of the population, and military occupation. Since the end of civil war in 2009, refugees and internally displaced people began returning to homes, while government and private sector reconstruction started taking place. Historically, Jaffna has been a contested city. It was made into a colonial port town during the Portuguese occupation of the J ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, translit=Damiḷa īḷām vimukthi koṭi; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil militant organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an Independence, independent Tamils, Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north-east of the island, due to the continuous Sinhala Only Act, discrimination and List of attacks on civilians attributed to Sri Lankan government forces, violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese people, Sinhalese dominated Sri Lanka government, Sri Lankan Government.T. Sabaratnam, Pirapaharan, Volume 1, Introduction (2003)T. Sabaratnam, Pirapaharan, Volume 1, Chapter 1: Why didn't he hit back? (2003) Violent persecution erupted in the form of the 1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TELO
The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an Eelam Tamils, Eelam Tamil organisation which campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka during 1972-1987 which later accepted the December 19th proposals. The TELO was originally created as a militant group, and functioned as such until 1986, when most of its membership was killed in a conflict with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Its surviving members reorganised themselves as a political party, and it continues to function as such today. The TELO currently has two Members of Parliament of Sri Lanka, Parliament. It is part of the Tamil National Alliance, a coalition of Tamil parties which won 2.9% of the popular vote and 14 out of 225 seats at the 2010 Sri Lankan parliamentary election, 2010 parliamentary election in Sri Lanka. Early history The TELO evolved out of the group of Tamil student radicals formed by Nadarajah Thangathurai and Selvarajah Yogachandran (b ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sri Lankan Tamil Militant Groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception among minority Sri Lankan Tamils that the state was preferring the majority Sinhalese for educational opportunities and government jobs. By the end of 1987, the militants had fought not only the Sri Lankan security forces but also the Indian Peace Keeping Force. They also fought among each other briefly, with the main Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) rebel group dominating the others. The militants represented inter-generational tensions, as well as the caste and ideological differences. Except for the LTTE, many of the remaining organizations have morphed into minor political parties within the Tamil National Alliance, or as standalone political parties. Some Tamil militant groups also functioned as paramilitaries within the Sri Lankan military against separati ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Universities
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, the designation is reserved for colleges that have a graduate school. The word ''university'' is derived from the Latin ''universitas magistrorum et scholarium'', which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". The first universities were created in Europe by Catholic Church monks. The University of Bologna (''Università di Bologna''), founded in 1088, is the first university in the sense of: *Being a high degree-awarding institute. *Having independence from the ecclesiastic schools, although conducted by both clergy and non-clergy. *Using the word ''universitas'' (which was coined at its foundation). *Issuing secular and non-secular degrees: grammar, rhetoric, logic, theology, canon law, notarial law.Hunt Janin: "The university ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Policy Of Standardization
The policy of standardization was a policy implemented by the Sri Lankan government in 1971 to curtail the number of Tamil students selected for certain faculties in the universities. In 1972, the government added a district quota as a parameter within each language. In 1977 this policy was annulled and new policies were implemented for a fair education. Now, students from districts with inadequate educational facilities are given an allocated quota irrespective of their race. The reasoning for the law Under the British, English was the state language and consequently greatly benefited English speakers. However the majority of Sri Lankan populace lived outside urban areas and did not belong to the social elite, and therefore did not enjoy the benefits of English-medium education. The issue was compounded further by the fact that in Jaffna, where a largely Tamil populace resided, students had access to English-medium education through missionary schools. In addition, many Tamils ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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