The Jaffna kingdom (Tamil: யாழ்ப்பாண அரசு, Sinhala: යාපනය රාජධානිය; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna Peninsula and was traditionally thought to have been established after the invasion of Kalinga Magha from Kalinga in India. Established as a powerful force in the north, northeast and west of the island, it eventually became a tribute-paying feudatory of the Pandyan Empire in modern South India in 1258, gaining independence when the last Pandyan ruler of Madurai was defeated and expelled in the early 14th century by Malik Kafur, the army general of the Delhi Sultanate. For a brief period in the early to mid-14th century it was an ascendant power in the island of Sri Lanka, to which all regional kingdoms accepted subordination. However, the kingdom was overpowered by the rival Kotte Kingdom around 1450 when it was invaded by Prince Sapumal under the orders of Parakramabahu VI.
It gained independence from the Kingdom of Kotte in 1467 after Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan and his two sons returned from Madurai with mercenaries to wrest the Jaffna kingdom from Kotte's over lordship. Its subsequent rulers directed their energies towards consolidating its economic potential by maximising revenue from pearls, elephant exports and land revenue. It was less feudal than most of the other regional kingdoms on the island of Sri Lanka of the period. During this period, important local Tamil literature was produced and Hindu temples were built, including an academy for language advancement. The Sinhalese Nampota dated in its present form to the 14th or 15th century CE suggests that the whole of the Jaffna kingdom, including parts of the modern Trincomalee District, was recognised as a Tamil region by the name Demala-pattanama (Tamil city). In this work, a number of villages that are now situated in the Jaffna, Mullaitivu and Trincomalee districts are mentioned as places in Demala-pattanama.
The arrival of the Portuguese on the island of Sri Lanka in 1505, and its strategic location in the Palk Strait connecting all interior Sinhalese kingdoms to South India, created political problems. Many of its kings confronted and ultimately made peace with the Portuguese. In 1617, Cankili II, a usurper to the throne, confronted the Portuguese but was defeated, thus bringing the kingdom's independent existence to an end in 1619. Although rebels like Migapulle Arachchi—with the help of the Thanjavur Nayak kingdom—tried to recover the kingdom, they were eventually defeated.
History
Founding
The origin of the Jaffna kingdom is obscure and still the subject of controversy among historians. Among mainstream historians, such as K. M. de Silva, S. Pathmanathan and Karthigesu Indrapala, the widely accepted view is that the kingdom of the Aryacakravarti dynasty in Jaffna began in 1215 with the invasion of a previously unknown chieftain called Magha, who claimed to be from Kalinga in modern India. He deposed the ruling Parakrama Pandyan II, a foreigner from the Pandyan dynasty who was ruling the Kingdom of Polonnaruwa at the time with the help of his soldiers and mercenaries from the Kalinga, modern Kerala and Damila (Tamil Nadu) regions in India.
After the conquest of Rajarata, he moved the capital to the Jaffna Peninsula which was more secured by heavy Vanni forest and ruled as a tribute-paying subordinate of the Chola Empire of Tanjavur, in modern Tamil Nadu, India. During this period (1247), a Malay chieftain from Tambralinga in modern Thailand named Chandrabhanu invaded the politically fragmented island. Although King Parakramabahu II (1236–1270) from Dambadeniya was able to repulse the attack, Chandrabhanu moved north and secured the throne for himself around 1255 from Magha. Sadayavarman Sundara Pandyan I invaded Sri Lanka in the 13th century and defeated Chandrabhanu the usurper of the Jaffna kingdom in northern Sri Lanka. Sadayavarman Sundara Pandyan I forced Chandrabhanu to submit to the Pandyan rule and to pay tributes to the Pandyan dynasty. But later on when Chandrabhanu became powerful enough he again invaded the Sinhalese kingdom but he was defeated by the brother of Sadayavarman Sundara Pandyan I called Veera Pandyan I and Chandrabhanu lost his life. Sri Lanka was invaded for the 3rd time by the Pandyan dynasty under the leadership of Arya Cakravarti who established the Jaffna kingdom.
Aryacakravarti dynasty
When Chandrabhanu embarked on a second invasion of the south, the Pandyas came to the support of the Sinhalese king in 1262 and installed Aryacakravarti, a minister in charge of the invasion, as the king. When the Pandyan Empire became weak due to Muslim invasions, successive Aryacakravarti rulers made the Jaffna kingdom independent and a regional power to reckon with in Sri Lanka. All subsequent kings of the Jaffna kingdom claimed descent from one Kulingai Cakravarti who is identified with Kalinga Magha by Swami Gnanaprakasar and Mudaliar Rasanayagam while maintaining their Pandyan progenitor's family name.
Politically, the dynasty was an expanding power in the 13th and 14th century with all regional kingdoms paying tribute to it. However, it met with simultaneous confrontations with the Vijayanagar Empire that ruled from Vijayanagara, southern India, and a rebounding Kingdom of Kotte from the south of Sri Lanka. This led to the kingdom becoming a vassal of the Vijayanagara Empire in 1440's as well as briefly losing its independence under the Kotte kingdom from 1450 to 1467. The kingdom was re-established when Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan and his two son's returned from Madurai with mercenaries to wrest the Jaffna Kingdom from Kotte's over lordship in 1467. It maintained very close commercial and political relationships with the Thanjavur Nayakar kingdom in southern India as well as the Kandyan and segments of the Kotte kingdom. This period saw the building of Hindu temples and a flourishing of literature, both in Tamil and Sanskrit.
Kotte conquest and restoration
The Kotte conquest of the Jaffna kingdom was led by king Parakramabahu VI's adopted son, Prince Sapumal. This battle took place in many stages. Firstly, the tributaries to the Jaffna kingdom in the Vanni area, namely the Vanniar chieftains of the Vannimai were neutralised. This was followed by two successive invasions. The first invasion did not succeed in capturing the kingdom and failed. It was the second invasion dated to 1450 that eventually was successful.
Apparently connected with this event was an expedition to Adriampet in modern South India, occasioned according to Valentyn by the seizure of a Sri Lankan ship laden with cinnamon. The Tenkasi inscription of Arikesari Parakrama Pandya of Tinnevelly who saw the backs of kings at Singai, Anurai, and elsewhere, may refer to these wars; it is dated between 1449–50 and 1453–54 and it's pointing to Pandyan Victory over Kotte.
Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan the Aryacakravarti king fled to South India with his family. Then Kanakasooriya Cinkaiariyan and his two son's returned from Madurai with mercenaries to wrest the Jaffna Kingdom from Kotte's overlordship.
Decline and dissolution
Portuguese traders reached Sri Lanka by 1505 where their initial forays were against the south-western coastal Kotte kingdom due to the lucrative monopoly on trade in spices that the Kotte kingdom enjoyed that was also of interest to the Portuguese. The Jaffna kingdom came to the attention of Portuguese officials in Colombo for multiple reasons which included their interference in Roman Catholic missionary activities, (which was assumed to be patronizing Portuguese interests) and their support to anti-Portuguese factions of the Kotte kingdom, such as the chieftains from Sitawaka. The Jaffna kingdom also functioned as a logistical base for the Kandyan kingdom, located in the central highlands without access to any seaports, as an entryport for military aid arriving from South India. Further, due to its strategic location, it was feared that the Jaffna kingdom may become a beachhead for the Dutch landings. It was king Cankili I who resisted contacts with the Portuguese and even massacred 600–700 Parava Catholics in the island of Mannar. These Catholics were brought from India to Mannar to take over the lucrative pearl fisheries from the Jaffna kings.
Client state
The first expedition led by Viceroy Dom Constantino de Bragança in 1560 failed to subdue the kingdom but wrested Mannar Island from it. Although the circumstances are unclear, by 1582 the Jaffna king was paying a tribute of ten elephants or an equivalent in cash. In 1591, during the second expedition led by André Furtado de Mendonça, king Puvirasa Pandaram was killed and his son Ethirimanna Cinkam was installed as the monarch. This arrangement gave the Catholic missionaries freedom and a monopoly in elephant exports to the Portuguese, which the incumbent king however resisted. He helped the Kandyan kingdom under kings Vimaladharmasuriya I and Senarat during the period 1593–1635 with the intent of securing help from South India to resist the Portuguese. He however maintained autonomy of the kingdom without overly provoking the Portuguese.
Cankili II the usurper
With the death of Ethirimana Cinkam in 1617, his 3-year-old son was the proclaimed king with the late king's brother Arasakesari as regent. Cankili II, a usurper, and nephew of the late king killed all the princes of royal blood including Arasakesari and the powerful chief Periya Pillai Arachchi. His cruel actions made him unpopular leading to a revolt by the nominal Christian Mudaliyars Dom Pedro and Dom Luis (also known as Migapulle Arachchi, the son of Periya Pillai Arachchi) and drove Cankili to hide in Kayts in August–September 1618. Unable to secure Portuguese acceptance of his kingship and to suppress the revolt, Cankili II invited military aid from the Thanjavur Nayaks who sent a troop of 5000 men under the military commander Varunakulattan.
Cankili II was supported by the Kandy rulers. After the fall of the Jaffna kingdom, the two unnamed princesses of Jaffna had been married to Senarat's stepsons, Kumarasingha and Vijayapala. Cankili II, as expected, received military support from the Thanjavur Nayak kingdom. In turn, Raghunatha Nayak of Thanjavur made attempts to recover the Jaffna kingdom for his protégé, the Prince of Rameshwaram. However, all attempts to recover the Jaffna kingdom from the Portuguese met with failure.
By June 1619, there were two Portuguese expeditions: a naval expedition that was repulsed by the Karaiyars and another expedition by Filipe de Oliveira and his 5,000 strong land army which was able to inflict defeat on Cankili II. Cankili, along with every surviving member of the royal family were captured and taken to Goa, where he was hanged. The remaining captives were encouraged to become monks or nuns in the holy orders, and as most obliged, it avoided further claimants to the Jaffna throne. In 1620 Migapulle Arachchi, with a troop of Thanjavur soldiers, revolted against the Portuguese and was defeated. A second rebellion was led by a chieftain called Varunakulattan with the support of Raghunatha Nayak.
Administration
According to Ibn Batuta, a traveling Moroccan historian of note, by 1344, the kingdom had two capitals: one in Nallur in the north and the other in Puttalam in the west during the pearling season. The kingdom proper, that is the Jaffna peninsula, was divided into various provinces with subdivisions of parrus meaning property or larger territorial units and ur or villages, the smallest unit, was administered on a hierarchical and regional basis. At the summit was the king whose kingship was hereditary; he was usually succeeded by his eldest son. Next in the hierarchy stood the adikaris who were the provincial administrators. Then came the mudaliyars who functioned as judges and interpreters of the laws and customs of the land. It was also their duty to gather information of whatever was happening in the provinces and report to higher authorities. The title was bestowed on the Karaiyar generals who commanded the navy and also on Vellalar chiefs. Administrators of revenues called kankanis or superintendents and kanakkappillais or accountants came next in line. These were also known as pandarapillai. They had to keep records and maintain accounts. The royal heralds whose duty was to convey messages or proclamations came from the Paraiyar community.
Maniyam was the chief of the parrus. He was assisted by mudaliyars who were in turn assisted by udaiyars, persons of authority over a village or a group of villages. They were the custodians of law and order and gave assistance to survey land and collect revenues in the area under their control. The village headman was called talaiyari, pattankaddi or adappanar and he assisted in the collection of taxes and was responsible for the maintenance of order in his territorial unit. The Adappanar were the headmen of the ports. The Pattankaddi and Adappanar were from the maritime Karaiyar and Paravar communities. In addition, each caste had a chief who supervised the performance of caste obligations and duties.
Vannimais were regions south of the Jaffna peninsula in the present-day North Central and Eastern provinces and were sparsely settled by people. They were ruled by petty chiefs calling themselves Vanniar. Vannimais just south of the Jaffna peninsula and in the eastern Trincomalee district usually paid an annual tribute to the Jaffna kingdom instead of taxes. The tribute was in cash, grains, honey, elephants, and ivory. The annual tribute system was enforced due to the greater distance from Jaffna. During the early and middle part of the 14th century, the Sinhalese kingdoms in western, southern and central part of the island also became feudatories until the kingdom itself was briefly occupied by the forces of Parakramabahu VI around 1450 for about 17 years. Around the early 17th century, the kingdom also administered an exclave in Southern India called Madalacotta.
Economy
The economy of the kingdom was almost exclusively based on subsistence agriculture until the 15th century. After the 15th century, however, the economy became diversified and commercialized as it became incorporated into the expanding Indian Ocean.