33-610: Wellawaya ( Sinhala : වැල්ලවාය , romanized: Vællavāya ; Tamil : வெல்லவாய , romanized: Vellavāyā ) is a town located in Monaragala District , Uva Province of Sri Lanka. On 25 August 1630 a major battle took place near Wellawaya between Portuguese forces and the Sinhalese under the command of King Rajasinghe II , which resulted in a complete rout of the Portuguese army. Wellawaya
66-662: A Dravidian origin for this word. ), dola for pig in Vedda and offering in Sinhala. Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones (in toponyms used throughout the island, although others have also suggested a Dravidian origin). There are also high frequency words denoting body parts in Sinhala, such as olluva for head, kakula for leg, bella for neck and kalava for thighs, that are derived from pre-Sinhalese languages of Sri Lanka. The oldest Sinhala grammar, Sidatsan̆garavā , written in
99-518: A common ancestry. They were all adopted sons of a king named Vali (Bali), born by a sage named Gautama Dirghatamas, who lived in Magadha close to the city of Girivraja. Other texts say that, because king Bali had no descendants, this deputed rishi Dirghatamaas to give birth of the children through Niyoga and thus five sons were born from the womb of the wife of Bali. The Kashmiras , the Daradas ,
132-747: A hub of sailors. In the 5th century BCE, the Vanga king Sinhabahu 's son prince Vijaya sailed across the Bay of Bengal and established a kingdom in what is now Sri Lanka . The religious traditions of the kingdom included Buddhism , Jainism and Hinduism . Vanga is recorded as an administrative unit in the Arthashastra written by Kautilya . It is described as a notable naval power by Kalidasa . There are also records of subdivisions within Vanga, including an area called "Upa Vanga" (minor Vanga) which corresponds to Jessore and forested areas corresponding to
165-779: A period of prior bilingualism: "The earliest type of contact in Sri Lanka, not considering the aboriginal Vedda languages, was that which occurred between South Dravidian and Sinhala. It seems plausible to assume prolonged contact between these two populations as well as a high degree of bilingualism. This explains why Sinhala looks deeply South Dravidian for an Indo-Aryan language. There is corroboration in genetic findings." In addition to many Tamil loanwords , several phonetic and grammatical features also present in neighbouring Dravidian languages set modern spoken Sinhala apart from its Northern Indo-Aryan relatives. These features are evidence of close interactions with Dravidian speakers. Some of
198-463: Is a conspicuous example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia . Sinhala ( Siṁhala ) is a Sanskrit term; the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan ( Eḷu ) word is Sīhala . The name is a derivative of siṁha , the Sanskrit word for 'lion'. The name is sometimes glossed as 'abode of lions', and attributed to a supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to
231-599: Is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka , who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 2 million speakers as of 2001. It is written using the Sinhala script , which is a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. Sinhala
264-484: Is divided into four epochs: The most important phonetic developments of Sinhala include: According to Wilhelm Geiger , an example of a possible Western feature in Sinhala is the retention of initial /v/ which developed into /b/ in the Eastern languages (e.g. Sanskrit viṁśati "twenty", Sinhala visi- , Hindi bīs ). This is disputed by Muhammad Shahidullah who says that Sinhala Prakrit branched off from
297-522: Is mentioned as the ruler of Vanga at (8:22). Probably all these rulers had a stake in the territory of Vanga. All of them were mentioned as ruling the neighbouring kingdoms of Vanga, in other passages in Mahabharata. Bhagadatta was the ruler of Pragjyotisha kingdom to the north of Vanga. Paundraka Vasudeva ruled Pundra kingdom to the east of Vanga and Karna ruled Anga kingdom to the west of Vanga. Kings of Kalinga and Vanga were mentioned as attending
330-412: Is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, alongside Tamil . Along with Pali , it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Early forms of the Sinhala language are attested as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions, still retaining long vowels and aspirated consonants, is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi , a regional associate of
363-704: Is where the first armed attack occurred, on 5 April 1971, by the communist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) against the Government of Ceylon , under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike . This Uva Province, Sri Lanka location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Sinhala language Sinhala ( / ˈ s ɪ n h ə l ə , ˈ s ɪ ŋ ə l ə / SIN -hə-lə, SING -ə-lə ; Sinhala: සිංහල , siṁhala , [ˈsiŋɦələ] ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( / ˌ s ɪ n ( h ) ə ˈ l iː z , ˌ s ɪ ŋ ( ɡ ) ə ˈ l iː z / SIN -(h)ə- LEEZ , SING -(g)ə- LEEZ ),
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#1732771789178396-1192: The Kaurava army at (7:158). Many foremost of combatants skilled in elephant-fight, belonging to the Easterners, the Southerners, the Angas, the Vangas, the Pundras, the Magadhas, the Tamraliptakas, the Mekalas, the Koshalas, the Madras , the Dasharnas , the Nishadas united with the Kalingas (8:22). Satyaki , pierced the vitals of the elephant belonging to the king of the Vangas (8:22). Bhagadatta
429-1194: The Kuntis , the Kshudrakas, the Malavas , the Angas , the Vangas , the Kalingas , the Videhas , the Tamraliptakas, the Rakshovahas, the Vitahotras, the Trigartas , the Martikavatas were all vanquished by Bhargava Rama (7:68). Karna captured the Angas, and the Vangas, and the Kalingas, and the Mandikas, and the Magadhas. the Karkakhandas; and also included with them the Avasiras, Yodhyas, and
462-729: The Middle Indian Prakrits that had been used during the time of the Buddha . The most closely related languages are the Vedda language (an endangered, indigenous creole still spoken by a minority of Sri Lankans, mixing Sinhala with an isolate of unknown origin and from which Old Sinhala borrowed various aspects into its main Indo-Aryan substrate), and the Maldivian language . It has two main varieties, written and spoken, and
495-529: The Sundarbans . The rulers of the Vanga kingdom remain mostly unknown. After the 2nd century BCE, the territory became part of successive Indian empires, including Mauryans , Guptas , Shashanka 's reign, Khadgas , Palas , Chandras , Senas and Devas . The term Vangala was often used to refer to the territory. For example, an inscription of the South Indian Chola dynasty referred to
528-587: The UNESCO National Commission of Ceylon According to Wilhelm Geiger , Sinhala has features that set it apart from other Indo-Aryan languages. Some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language . Sinhala has many words that are only found in Sinhala, or shared between Sinhala and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Possible examples include kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda (although others suggest
561-464: The 13th century CE, recognised a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhala. The grammar lists naram̆ba (to see) and koḷom̆ba (fort or harbour) as belonging to an indigenous source. Koḷom̆ba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo . The consistent left branching syntax and the loss of aspirated stops in Sinhala is attributed to a probable South Dravidian substratum effect. This has been explained by
594-867: The Ahikshatras (3:252). The Angas, the Vangas, the Kalingas, the Magadhas, the Kasis , the Kosalas , the Vatsyas , the Gargyas, the Karushas and the Paundras were mentioned to be vanquished by Vasudeva Krishna (7:11). Arjuna defeated the countries of the Vangas, the Pundras, and the Kosalas (14:82) in his military campaign after Kurukshetra War . The kings of Anga, Vanga and Pundra were mentioned as attending
627-716: The Eastern Prakrits prior to this change. He cites the edicts of Ashoka , no copy of which shows this sound change. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular (instead of Western -o ) in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets , one example being the words mæssā ("fly") and mækkā ("flea"), which both correspond to Sanskrit makṣikā but stem from two regionally different Prakrit words macchiā (Western Prakrits) and makkhikā (as in Eastern Prakrits like Pali ). In 1815,
660-616: The Hindu epic Mahabharata , which is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of India. The other epic, the Ramayana , mentions the kingdom as an ally of Ayodhya . The Vanga kingdom emerged in the lower Ganges delta during the Northern Black Polished Ware Period. It controlled many of the islands of the delta with its naval fleet and embarked on overseas exploration. Ancient Indian records refer to Vanga as
693-868: The Kalingas, the Magadhas, the Tamraliptas, the Supundrakas, the Dauvalikas, the Sagarakas, the Patrornas, the Saisavas, and innumerable Karnapravaranas, were found waiting at the gate (2:51). Vanga army was skilled in handling war elephants . They sided with the Kauravas . Vangas sided with Duryodhana in the Kurukshetra War (8:17) along with the Kalingas. They are mentioned as part of
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#1732771789178726-478: The Vangas, however, quickly jumping down from that elephant, alighted on the ground (6:93). At (2:29) two rulers Samudrasena and Chadrasena were mentioned. It is not clear if they were rulers of Vanga kingdom. Karna is mentioned as the ruler of Anga and Vanga at (2:43). Paundraka Vasudeva, an ally of Jarasandha and enemy of Vasudeva Krishna is mentioned as king of Vanga, Pundra and the Kiratas at (2:14). Bhagadatta
759-681: The chronicle Mahāvaṃsa , written in Pali, Prince Vijaya of the Vanga Kingdom and his entourage merged in Sri Lanka with later settlers from the Pandya kingdom . In the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India, including additional migration from the Vanga Kingdom (Bengal), as well as Kalinga and Magadha . This influx led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. The development of Sinhala
792-582: The court of Yudhishthira at (2:4). The Vangas, Angas, Paundras, Odras , Cholas , Dravidas and Andhrakas were mentioned to be giving tribute to Yudhishthira (3:51). The Angas, the Vangas, the Punras, the Sanavatyas, and the Gayas—these good and well-born Kshatriyas distributed into regular clans and trained to the use of arms, brought tribute unto king Yudhishthira by hundreds and thousands. The Vangas,
825-848: The east; Pundravardhana in the north; and Magadha , Anga , Suhma and Radha in the west. The Vanga kingdom encompassed the many islands of the Ganges delta and the Sundarbans mangrove forest. Chandraketugarh and Wari-Bateshwar ruins are the major archaeological site of the kingdom. At (6:9), Anga , Vanga, and Kalinga were mentioned as close kingdoms in Bharata Varsha (Ancient India). All regions of sacred waters and all other holy palaces there were in Vanga and Kalinga, Arjuna visited all of them, during his pilgrimage lasting for 12 years throughout ancient India . The founders of Angas , Vangas, Kalingas , Pundras and Suhmas shared
858-457: The features that may be traced to Dravidian influence are: ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නවා dannavā know ඒක අලුත් කියලා මම දන්නවා ēka aḷut kiyalā mama dannavā it new having-said I know "I know that it is new." ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new ද da Q කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නේ Vanga Kingdom Vaṅga
891-550: The island of Ceylon came under British rule . During the career of Christopher Reynolds as a Sinhalese lecturer at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London , he extensively researched the Sinhalese language and its pre-1815 literature. The Sri Lankan government awarded him the Sri Lanka Ranjana medal for his work. He wrote the 377-page An anthology of Sinhalese literature up to 1815 , selected by
924-650: The region as Vangaladesha during a war with the Chandra dynasty of Samatata region of Bengal . After the Muslim conquest of Bengal , the region was referred to as Bangalah , which may have evolved from Vangala . The names are the precursors of the modern terms Banga and Bangla . The core region of Vanga lay between the Padma - Meghna river system in the east and the Bhagirathi-Hooghly river system in
957-462: The rule of the Gupta Empire , ancient Bengal was divided into two independent kingdoms – Gauda and Vanga. Historically, Chandraketugarh , present-day Berachampa , has been identified as the capital of the Vanga kingdom. Indian and Greco-Roman writers referred to the region's war elephants . In Indian history, Vanga is notable for its strong navy . There are numerous references to Vanga in
990-451: The very front of Duryodhana's car. With that elephant he completely shrouded the car of thy son. Beholding then the way (to Duryodhana's car) thus covered by the intelligent king of the Vangas, the eyes of Ghatotkacha became red in anger. He ruled that huge dart, before upraised, at that elephant. Struck with that dart hurled from the arms of Ghatotkacha, that elephant, covered with blood and in great agony, fell down and died. The mighty king of
1023-469: The west. In the east, it encompassed the modern Bangladeshi Khulna Division excluding pre-1947 Jessore District i.e. Upa Vanga which is in Paschim (West) Vanga and Barisal Division , as well as the southwestern part of Dhaka Division . In the west, it included Presidency Division of West Bengal and may have extended to Burdwan Division and Medinipur division . Its neighbors included Samatata in
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1056-713: Was an ancient kingdom and geopolitical division within the Ganges delta in the Indian subcontinent . The kingdom is one of the namesakes of the Bengal region. It was located in southern Bengal. Vanga features prominently in the epics and tales of ancient India as well as in the history of Sri Lanka . Vanga was probably the center of the Gangaridai Empire mentioned by numerous Greco-Roman writers. The exact capital of ancient Vanga kingdom could not be identified. After
1089-569: Was mentioned as the ruler of the Pragjyotisha kingdom that took part in the Kurukshetra War. Behind Duryodhana proceeded the ruler of the Vangas, with ten thousand elephants, huge as hills, and each with juice trickling down (6:92). The ruler of the Vangas (Bhagadatta) mounting upon an elephant huge as a hill, drove towards the Rakshasa, Ghatotkacha . On the field of battle, with the mighty elephant of great speed, Bhagadatta placed himself in
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