History should be accurately and scientifically recorded and the facts with evidences cannot be dismissed. It is unfortunate that many histories are not complete and facts are distorted to suit the particular stance of the historian. Sometimes, myths and undue imagination go as history. The rulers and their mighty wars are glorified rather than depicting the actualities in the society.
I cannot vouch for the facts as recorded in a recent slim book in Tamil but certain parts of it are certainly elucidative.
There are 18 small articles in this slim volume written by VaaakaraiVaanan (S. Ariyaratnam), published by former students of St. Patrick’s College, Yaalpaanam, last year, which is priced at Rs.350. Chief among the students who studied in 1992 was senior lecturer at the Open University, Thevarasa Mukunthan, a prominent short story writer in Tamil. The author, hailing from the East has taught them. T Mukunthan.in his foreword says, being a non-academic, the author has done some research in an independent fashion. The author is also a writer.
The first section is on Linguistics while the second is on the history of the Tamilians and their culture.
These are the subjects the writer mentions in his discussion:
1. The Tamil words found in foreign languages
2. A study of Dialects- Regional words in Maddakalappu (Batticaloa) area
3. A study of words that confirm the origins of MaddakalppuTamilians
4. Names like Sarasuwathi, Ladchumi and Paarvathi and the elucidations on them
5. The Tamil spoken in Maddakalappu
6. Latin words that formed the English words
In the second section, the writer speaks about the History of the Tamilians and accumulated culture under the following heads:
1.Religions in the history of Tamilians
2. Science in Tamil Literature
3. Maha Kavi Bharathi and the fact that” Knowledge is God”
4. Ilongo’s Kannaki and Kamban’s Raman (Ilango wrote the epic ‘Silapadikaaram’ and Kamban wrote ‘Kamba Raamaayanam’)
5. Names of places that tell the history of Lankan Tamilians
6. ‘Silapadikaram’ “is an epic blending imagination and history
7. ‘Pura Naanooru’ is a wartime literature
8. Riddles and ancient words referred to by Thol Kaapiyar (the Grammarian who lived before the Sangam period-before 3rd Century B C) are spoken in Mddakalappu Tamilland
9. The background and consequences of the ‘Movement for Pure Thamil’
10. History of Lankan Tamilans as seen in the name ‘Thiru Kona Malai’ (Trincomalee)
11. The secular festivals of the Sangam period Tamilians
12. The similarities in the concept of God in Hindu (Saiva) and Catholic religions
Thus, we see the writer has brought new knowledge of the ancestor Tamilians in the East of Lanka with his painstaking research done independently. This book should be translated into Sinhala and English so that a wider discussion could be had to discern the truth from a heap of imaginative interpretations of historical facts.