NO. 45.— 1894.] ARCHAEOLOGY OP THE WANNI. 



151 



ARCHEOLOGY OP THE WANNI. 



By Mr. J. P. Lewis, c.c.s. 



"The Wanny"* was the name given to that part of 

 northern Ceylon which is bounded on the north by the 

 Jaffna lake, on the south by the Aruvi river and the District 

 of Nuwarakalawiya, which now forms a part of the North- 

 Central Province, on the east by the District of Trincomalee, 

 and on the west by the District of Mannar. 



Roughly speaking, the District of Vavuniya forms the 

 southern half of the Wanni, and that of Mullaittivu. the 

 northern half. The area of the Dutch Wanni was computed 

 to be about 2,000 square miles, while that of the two districts 

 above named is 1,864 square miles. 



The name Wanni in the Sinhalese chronicles appears to 

 have had a more extensive application than that given it by 

 the Dutch, for it included Nuwarakalawiya, which was the 

 Mahd Wanni. 



Baldseus applies the name, " the country of the Wannias," 

 to the Mannar mainland as far north as the Jaffna lake.f 



It is however with the first signification given above that 

 the name is used in this Paper. 



* It is not certain what the meaning- of the name is. Several derivations 

 have been suggested. Tennent mentions two, " one significant of the forest 

 (wanam) which covers it to a great extent ; the other of the intense heat 

 which characterizes the region " (vol. II., p. 508, 4th edition) ; while 

 according to Cordiner the name means " scarcity " (p. 295). One of the 

 meanings of the word Wanni is fire, but the last two derivations are far- 

 fetched, and so is that from val, denoting the hardness of the soil. 

 According to the Xalpeddu, the district took its name from the Wanniyas 

 from India, who colonized it. In accordance with this view another 

 derivation has been suggested from the Indian Bunniyali, or merchant, but 

 the Tamil form of this is Wdnikan, which could not become Wanni. There 

 is a Wanni Hatpattu in the North- Western Province. 



I am inclined to favour the derivation from the name of the Tamil chiefs. 



t Churchill's "Voyages," vol. III., pp. 709, 719. 



