User:Nishadhi/sandbox

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Adam Davie
Born1764
Edinburgh, Scotland
Died1812
Kandy, Sri Lanka
Allegiance United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Ireland
Service/branch British Army
Years of service1787–1812
RankMajor
Unit75th Regiment of Foot
First Ceylon Regiment (Champagne's Infantry)
Commands heldFirst Ceylon Regiment
Battles/warsKandyan Wars

Early life[edit]

Adam Davie was born in Edinburgh, in 1764, as the only son of a family of seven. His father was John Davie[note 1] an owner of a successful Sal ammoniac industry. Adam Davie joined the 75th Regiment of Foot in 1787 as a lieutenant and involved in recruiting in Edinburgh. In 1793 he was promoted to the rank of Captain and became a commander of a company in the same Corps which was attached to Madras presidency. During his service in India, he didn't participate in any military actions despite the 75th regiment's involvement in military campaigns. Once he was court-martialed for "abandoning" after an arrest made on board of a ship bound to England. However he was acquitted after finding out that he has taken leave of absence from the headquarters though he had failed to properly convey the message to the regimental commander. Later, on 25 April 1801, he was appointed as a Major in the newly created First Ceylon regiment which was also known as the Malay regiment.[note 2] From 1801 to 1802, they were based in Colombo and Davie was the acting commander of the unit. On 19th October 1802 he was appointed as the commandant of the Fort Ostenburg in Trincomalee and he held that position till the beginnning of the first Kandyan war in 1803.

Kandyan War[edit]

Sketch of the town of Kandy and surrounding country for about three miles, in the year of 1815.

31st January 1803, marked the beginning of the first Kandyan war. A British force under Major General Hay MacDowall left from Colombo while another British force under Lieutenant Colonel Burton Gage Barbut left Trincomalee on 04 February 1803 in order to subjugate the kingdom of Kandy and to establish Mudduswami (also known as Muttusami), a claimant loyal to the British, on the Kandyan throne. Davie was among the Trincomalee force with a majority of the first Ceylon regiment.

British forces met with little resistance from the Kandyans. The Trincomalee force under Barbut covered 142 miles with in 16 days and reached Katugastota where they rendezvous with the MacDowalls force, on 21st February. They captured Kandy, the capital of the kingdom, on 22nd February but it was entirely deserted and King had fled to the interior of the kingdom with the court.

Life as a prisoner of Kandy[edit]



Death[edit]

Terrain near Kandy: much of the kingdom was mountainous, thickly forested and devoid of roads; the climate was often cold, with violent winds and rains.

Legacy[edit]

Davie's tree, as seen from the Mahaweli river bank. After a pencil sketch by J.K.L Vandort in 1850.

See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ also known as Sooty Davie due to the Coal-soot which used as a raw material.
  2. ^ Sometimes also referred to as Champagne's Infantry, after its first commanding officer.

References[edit]

External links[edit]

The Nagas of Lanka are a group of superhuman beings who is said to have inhabited northern and western parts of Sri Lanka with abodes in Jaffna peninsula and Kelaniya. Yakka Deva Asura Naga

Naga people were snake-worshipers, and may have been a race of the Dravidians.[1][2]

Until the third century BCE they appear as a distinct group in the early Sri Lankan chronices as well as the early Tamil literary works.[citation needed] In the third century BCE they started to assimilate to Tamil language and culture, and lost their separate identity.[citation needed]

Historicity[edit]

Early literary sources[edit]

In early Sanskrit and pali literature, Nagas are represented as a group of superhuman beings. They inhabited a subterranean world with sometimes adobes in ocean and land of the human world. They had a physical form of serpents but also possessed the ability to take an any form, at will. According to Mahawansa Buddha's second visit was to pacify two naga fractions, ocean dwellers and mountain dwellers, who were preparing to battle over a ownership of a gem throne.

Mahawansa states "That same naga Mahodara was then a king gifted with miraculous power, in a naga kingdom of the ocean, that covered half a thousand yojanas. His younger sister had been given in marriage to the naga king on the Kannavaddamana mountain; her son was Chulodara." It also mentions about a Naga king from Kelaniya, Maniakkhika, who was the uncle of Naga king Mahodara. However these names also appear in early Sanskrit literature as superhuman beings.

Archaeological evidence[edit]

Senerath paranavithana , writing in 1961, argued that there wasn't enough evidence to support the ehumerisation of Nagas as human beings. However, in 1992, citing two protohistoric archeological sites at Anaikkoddai and Kelaniya, Siran Deraniyagala has speculated that term Naga which appears in chronicles, referes to protohistoric iron age people of Sri Lanka. Accordingly, K Indrapala, describe the term Nagas as "protohistoric early iron age peoples of Sri lanka that displaced the earlier Mesolithic hunter gatherers from northern and western parts of the island from about 1000 BCE".

History[edit]

Nagas arrived in Sri Lanka around 1000 BCE from India. They displaced the hunter gatherers and settled in the northern and western parts of the island including Jaffna peninsula and Kelaniya. Kantarodai which is the only site with a verified radiocarbon data shows that it was settled around 6th century BCE. Since so far Jaffna peninsula failed to unearth any verified stone age artefacts, it is generally accepted that Nagas were the first inhabitants of Jaffna.

Until the third century BCE, the Naga appear as a distinct group in the early Sri Lankan chronices as well as the early Tamil literary works. Also, the earliest burial and BRW sites of Jaffna peninsula forms a separate complex which is distinct from rest of the North western cist burials. However, during the early historic period, they were subjected to acculturation and by 9 century CE the were assimilated to the Hela and Demela ethnic groups of the island. After 9 Century CE there are no references indicating the presence of Nagas.

The word Naga was sometimes written in early inscriptions as Nāya, as in Nāganika which can be identified in the Nanaghat inscription of 150 BCE.

Naga Nadu[edit]

See also: Jaffna Peninsula

By the time Buddhism had reached Tamilakam, the twin epics of ancient Tamil Nadu Silappatikaram (5-6th century CE) and Manimekalai (6th century CE) were written, speaking of Naga Nadu across the sea from Kaveripoompuharpattinam, and their civilization which was even more sumptuous than those of the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas.

Manimekalai speaks of the great Naga king Valai Vanan and his queen Vdcamayilai who ruled the prosperous Naga Nadu with great splendour and a rich Tamil Buddhist tradition. Their daughter, the princess Pilli Valai had a liaison at Nainativu islet with the early Chola king Killivalavan; out of this union was born Prince Tondai Eelam Thiraiyar, who historians note was the early progenitor of the Pallava Dynasty. He went on to rule Tondai Nadu from Kanchipuram. Nainativu was referred to as Manipallavam in ancient Tamil literature following this union. Royals of the Chola-Naga lineage would go onto rule other territory of the island, Nagapattinam and Tondai Nadu of Tamilakam. The Talagunda inscriptions of Kadamba Kakusthavarma also refer to the coastal Thiraiyar tribe as forming from this Chola-Naga alliance.

Cīttalai Cāttanār, the author of the Manimekalai reflected the perception at the time that Naga Nadu[citation needed] was an autonomous administrative entity, kingdom or nadu stretching across coastal districts, distinguished from the rest of the island also ruled intermittently by Tamil kings.[3]

Ptolemy in his 1st century map of Taprobane mentions Nagadiboi. By the time Buddhism had reached Tamilakam, the twin epics of ancient Tamil Nadu Silappatikaram (1st century CE) and Manimekalai (3rd century CE) were written, speaking of Naga Nadu across the sea from Kaveripoompuharpattinam, and their civilization which was even more sumptuous than those of the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas.

Ptolemy mentions in 150 CE that King Sornagos, a descendant of this lineage, ruled from the early Chola capital of Uraiyur during this time. Kaveripoompuharpattinam received many adulatory comparisons to the Naga capital Kanderodai (Kadiramalai) in the classical period.

Naka Nadu included Mantai in the northwest, Thirukonamalai in the northeast and Mahavillachi in the middle of the island. The socioeconomic structure of this nation was built around its oceanic trade and agriculture, the inner trade and trade with the kingdoms of Tamilakam, Rome, Greece, Egypt, Kalinga and the far east being the mainstay of its economy. The Karaiyar tribe of these Tamils were coast-residing seafaring people and the oldest settlers of the Coromandel Coast and the coasts of Sri Lanka. The Ketheeswaram temple of Maanthai was built by this clan in the classical period.

Early Cholas[edit]

The Manimekhalai and archaeological inscriptions refer to the Chola-Naka alliance and intermarriage as being the progenitor of the Pallava Dynasty.[4]

Buddhism[edit]

In 250BC Arahath Mahinda came to Sri Lanka to spread Buddhism.[note 1] Sri Lanka were officially converted to Buddhism. Yaksha, Raksha, Naga, Deva groups who were divided according to what they worshiped lost their identification after all converting to Buddhism.

Culture[edit]

Architecture[edit]

The Naga used to have kingdoms and temples in Sri Lanka.[7][8] The Nagas built a temple in Medawattha, Mathara called Nagavila today. It used to hold a statue of Lord Buddha sitting on the Muchalinda, the Cobra. Naga maidens used to perform dances there.[9]

Irrigation[edit]

It is also believed they were great irrigation engineers who built water storages.[10] The Yoda Wewa dam and reservoir system in Mannar, Sri Lanka is considered by some (Such as Author, Mudaliyar C. Rajanayagam) to have been built by the Nagas based on the extensive ruins and the presence of villages with surrounding the port with Naga name (e.g. Nagarkulam, Nagathazhvu and Sirunagarkulam).[11]

Snake worship[edit]

Naga people were snake-worshipers.The word Naga was sometimes written in early inscriptions as Nāya, as in Nāganika - this occurs in the Nanaghat inscription of 150 BCE.

The Mahavamsa describe the Nagas as super natural beings whose natural form was a serpent, but they could assume any a form at will.[12]

Similarly, Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus since ancient times have regard the Cobra as a divine being by the passing down of Naga traditions and believes. Further cobra can be found entwining itself round the neck of the supreme Hindu god Shiva as serpent king Vasuki. Cobras can also be found in images of Lord Vishnu.[10][1][13]

Statistics[edit]



See also[edit]

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ The Mahavamsa also mentions that Buddha visited Sri Lanka on three occasions. On the second occasion Lord Buddha visited Nagadipa in 581 BCE to resolve a conflict between the Naga kings (Chulodara and Mahodara) in Kelaniya (near present day Colombo)[5] and Wadenawagallaf (formerly Seven Korles) over a gem-set throne of gold. Eleven years in Ceylon. Comprising sketches of the field sports and natural history of that colony, and an account of its history and antiquities".[6]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b Laura Smid (2003). South Asian folklore: an encyclopedia : Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka. Great Britain: Routledge. 429.
  2. ^ Chelvadurai Manogaran (1987). Ethnic conflict and reconciliation in Sri Lanka . United States of America: University of Hawaii Press. 21.
  3. ^ Peter Shalk. SERENDIPITY - ISSUE 02 - THE VALLIPURAM BUDDHA IMAGE - AGAIN
  4. ^ Ordhendra Coomar Gangoly. The art of the Pallavas, Volume 2 of Indian Sculpture Series. G. Wittenborn, 1957. p. 2.
  5. ^ Patrick Peebles (2006). The history of Sri Lanka. United States of America: Greenwood Press. 14.
  6. ^ "11 Years Since". Retrieved 7 March 2010.
  7. ^ WWW Virtual Library Sri Lanka. (2009). The original inhabitants of Lanka: Yakkas & Nagas. Available: http://www.lankalibrary.com/cul/yakkas.htm. Last accessed 07 March 2010.
  8. ^ Wilhelm Geiger . (2003). The Mahavamsa. Available: http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/mahavamsa/chap001.html. Last accessed 07 March 2010.
  9. ^ Paravi Sandeshaya verse 128/ Kokila Sandeshaya
  10. ^ a b Godwin Witane . (2003). The growth of the cobra cult in Sri Lanka . Available: http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2003/09/21/fea17.html. Last accessed 07 March 2010.
  11. ^ Lionel Wijesiri . (2009). The giant wakes up Revival of Yoda Wewa . Available: http://www.dailynews.lk/2009/10/20/fea21.asp. Last accessed 07 March 2010.
  12. ^ Prof. S.Ranwella. (2009). THE SO-CALLED TAMIL KINGDOM OF JAFFNA. Available: http://www.infolanka.com/org/srilanka/hist/hist4.html. Last accessed 07 March 2010.
  13. ^ 'Naga' Worship in India and. (2004). 'Naga' Worship in India and. Available: http://puthettusarppakkavu.tripod.com/id7.html. Last accessed 07 March 2010.

Sources[edit]

  • Holt, John (2011), The Sri Lanka Reader: History, Culture, Politics, Duke University Press
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