LTTE
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit. Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, Sinhalese: දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, translit. Demaḷa īḷām vimukti koṭi, commonly known as the LTTE or the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka
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Killed In Action
Killed in action (KIA) is a casualty classification generally used by militaries to describe the deaths of their own combatants at the hands of hostile forces. The United States United States Department of Defense">Department of Defense, for example, says that those declared KIA need not have fired their weapons but have been killed due to hostile attack. KIAs do not come from incidents such as accidental vehicle crashes and other "non-hostile" events or terrorism. KIA can be applied both to front-line combat troops and to naval, air and support troops. Someone who is killed in action during a particular event is denoted with a † (dagger) beside their name to signify their death in that event or events. Further, KIA denotes one to have been killed in action on the battlefield whereas died of wounds (DOW) relates to someone who survived to reach a medical treatment facility
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Portuguese Ceylon
Portuguese Ceylon (Portuguese: Ceilão Português, Sinhala: පෘතුගීසි ලංකාව Puruthugisi Lankawa) was the control of the Kingdom of Kotte by the Portuguese Empire, in present-day Sri Lanka, after the country's Crisis of the Sixteenth Century and into the Kandyan period. The Portuguese presence in the island lasted from 1505 to 1658. Their arrival was largely accidental, as they sought control of commerce, rather than territory. Their appearance coincided with the political upheaval of the Wijayaba Kollaya, and they were drawn into the internal politics of the island as they sought to establish control over the lucrative cinnamon trade that originated there. The Portuguese used these internal divisions to their advantage during the Sinhalese–Portuguese War. Direct Portuguese rule inside the island did not begin until after the death of Dharmapala of Kotte, who died without an heir
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Vanniar (Chieftain)
Vanniar or Vannia (Tamil: வன்னியர், Sinhalese: වන්නියා) is a title of a chief in medieval Sri Lanka who ruled the Chiefdom of Vanni regions as tribute payers to the Jaffna vassal state. There are a number of origin theories for the feudal chiefs, coming from an indigenous formation
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Dutch Ceylon
Dutch Ceylon (Sinhala: ලන්දේසි ලංකාව Landesi Lankava) was a governorate established in present-day Sri Lanka by the Dutch East India Company. It existed from 1640 until 1796. In the early 17th century, Sri Lanka was partly ruled by the Portuguese and Sri Lankan kingdoms, who were constantly battling each other. Although the Portuguese were not winning the war, their rule was rather burdensome to the people of those areas controlled by them. While the Dutch were engaged in a long war of independence from Spanish rule, the Sinhalese king (the king of Kandy) invited the Dutch to help defeat the Portuguese
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British Ceylon
Ceylon (Sinhala: බ්‍රිතාන්‍ය ලංකාව, Britanya Lankava; Tamil: பிரித்தானிய இலங்கை, Birithaniya Ilangai) was a British Crown colony between 1815 and 1948
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Chola Rule In Sri Lanka
The period of Chola rule in the island of Sri Lanka began with the invasion in 993 AD, when Raja Raja Chola sent a large Chola army which conquered the Anuradhapura Kingdom"> Anuradhapura Kingdom, in the north, and added it to the Chola Empire. Most of the island was subsequently conquered and incorporated as a province of the vast Rajendra Chola I">Chola empire during the reign of his son Rajendra Chola. The Chola rule which lasted for eight decades in the island, would be overthrown in 1070 through a rebellion led by Vijayabahu I one of the dispossessed Sinhalese monarchs
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Colebrooke-Cameron Commission
The Colebrooke–Cameron Commission was appointed in 1822 as a Royal Commission of Eastern Inquiry by the British Colonial Office. According to Sir Charles Jeffries' book, Ceylon - The Path to Independence, "by the time the Commission got round to Ceylon, in 1829, most of the members had fallen by the wayside, and only one, Major (afterwards Sir William) Colebrooke was left." to assess the administration of the island of Ceylon and to make recommendations for administrative, financial, economic, and judicial reform. The commission comprised William MacBean George Colebrooke and Charles Hay Cameron. Cameron was in charge for investigating the judicial system. The legal and economic proposals made by the commission in 1833 were innovative and radical. Many of the proposals were adopted
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Nainativu
Nainativu (Tamil: நயினாதீவு Nainatheevu, Sinhalese: නාගදීපය Nagadeepa), is a small but notable island off the coast of Jaffna Peninsula in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. The name of the island alludes to the folklore inhabitants, the Naga people. It is home to the Hindu shrine of Nainativu Nagapooshani Amman Temple">Nagapooshani Amman Temple; one of the prominent 64 Shakti Peethas, and the Buddhist shrine Nagadeepa Purana Viharaya. Historians note the island is mentioned in the ancient Tamil Sangam literature of nearby Tamil Nadu such as Manimekalai where it was mentioned as Manipallavam (Tamil: மணிபல்லவம்), and ancient Buddhist legends of Sri Lanka such as Mahavamsa
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Naga People (Sri Lanka)
The Naga people were believed to be an ancient tribe who once inhabited Sri Lanka. They make references in several ancient text such as Mahavamsa, Manimekalai and also in other Sanskrit and Pali literature"> Pali literature. They are generally being represented as a class of humans taking the form of serpents who inhabit a subterranean world. Other texts such as Manimekalai represent them as humans. Certain places such as Nagadeepa in Jaffna and Kalyani in Gampaha are mentioned as their abodes. The names of some Naga kings in Sri Lankan legends such as Mani Akkhitha (Mani Naga) and Mahodara are also found in Sanskrit literature among superhuman Nagas, and the cult of Mani Naga prevailed in India up to medieval times. They inhabited the Northern and Western parts of Sri Lanka
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Ravana
Ravana (IAST: Rāvaṇa; /ˈrɑːvənə/; Telugu: రావణ, Sanskrit language">Sanskrit: रावण, Tamil: இராவணன், Malayalam: രാവണൻ),Sinhala: මහා රාවණා), is the primary antagonist in the ancient Hindu epic Ramayana where he is depicted as a Rakshasa, the Great king of Lanka. Ravana is the son of Visravas Muni and Kaikesi and grandson of Pulastya Muni. Ravana, a devotee of Shiva, is depicted and described as a great scholar, a Brahmin, a capable ruler and a maestro of the veena (plucked stringed instrument). He is also described as extremely powerful king and has ten heads. His paramount ambition was to overpower and dominate the devas. His ten heads represent his knowledge of the six shastras and the four Vedas
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Secularism
Secularism, as defined in the Merriam-Webster dictionary, is the "indifference to, or rejection or exclusion of, religion and religious considerations"
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Revolutionary Socialism
Revolutionary socialism is the socialist doctrine that social revolution is necessary in order to bring about structural changes to society. More specifically, it is the view that revolution is a necessary precondition for a transition from capitalism to socialism. Revolution is not necessarily defined as a violent insurrection; it is defined as seizure of political power by mass movements of the working class so that the state is directly controlled by the working class as opposed to the capitalist class and its interests. Revolutionary socialists believe such a state of affairs is a precondition for establishing socialism and orthodox Marxists believe that it is inevitable but not predetermined. Revolutionary socialism encompasses multiple political and social movements that may define "revolution" differently from one another
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Separatism
A common definition of separatism is that it is the advocacy of a state of cultural, ethnic, tribal, religious, racial, governmental or gender separation from the larger group. While it often refers to full political secession, separatist groups may seek nothing more than greater autonomy. While some critics may equate separatism with religious segregation, racist segregation, or sexist segregation, most separatists argue that separation by choice may serve useful purposes and is not the same as government-enforced segregation. There is some academic debate about this definition, and in particular how it relates to secessionism, as has been discussed online. Separatist groups practice a form of identity politics, or political activity and theorizing founded in the shared experiences of injustice visited upon members of certain social groups
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