Immigrants from Madurapura: A Collection of Ola-leaf Manuscripts in Sri Lanka (Sinhala and English)

This bilingual (English and Sinhala) publication contains a collection of eleven Sri Lankan historical ola-leaf (palm-leaf) manuscripts known as Viththi (events) and Kadayim (demarcation of divisional boundaries) books. Most of them are rare and have never been published.

They describe waves of migrations from South India, particularly from the regions of Kerala and Madurapura (Madurai) to Sath Korale and Kandyan regions in Sri Lanka, that took place during the medieval period. This information provides a fresh perspective on the evolution and the current ethnic composition of the Sri Lankan society, in contrast to the traditional historical records.

These manuscripts had been collected for an anthropological research conducted by the author which resulted in the publication "South Indian Brāhmins in Sri Lankan Culture: Assimilation in Sath Korale & Kandyan Regions" in 2021.

All these historical manuscripts are packaged herewith providing readers with some guidance to navigate easily through them. The publication starts with the sources of these manuscripts. Then goes into a general introduction to the nature and tradition of ola-leaf manuscripts and finally, goes into an account of the contents and common characteristics of them all.

However, these manuscripts contain multifaceted historical information given in diverse narrative styles. An effort has been made to summarise each manuscript to help readers despite the difficulties that arose from array of extensive information extending across many historical eras, a lack of consistent chronology, and excessive repetitions.

In any event, author strongly believes that the readers and researchers of the history of Sri Lanka will welcome this publication.