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The Mukkara Hatana ("The Mukkuvar War") is an old palm leaf manuscript from Sri Lanka now in the British Museum. It is in the Hugh Neville collection of the British Museum and is catalogued as Or. 6606 (53). It is in the style of other local histories such as Kadaim-poth, Vitti-poth etc.
Contents
The story in the Mukkara Hatana is also found in Rajasimha Kale Pravrti and Vanni Upatha in much the same form. These are also in the British Museum and catalogued as Or. 6606 (54) and Or. 6606 (139). These palm leaf manuscripts had been preserved by the descendants of the Karavas chiefs of Negombo.
Hugh Nevill had also discovered another version of this manuscript preserved by the Karavas of Tamankaduwa. Their copy additionally says that their ancestors betrayed the Karava leaders and the Portuguese, and helped King Rajasinghe II to capture the port of Negombo in 1646 and were rewarded with Egoda Pattu and several villages in the Matale district as fiefs.
Plot
The Mukkara Hatana is an account of the defeat of the Mukkuvar by the Karaiyars in the Saka era 1159 and the taking of the fort of Puttalam after a three-month siege. They are said to have proceeded to Nagapattinam where one of the royal leaders Manikka Thalaivan was killed. That fort too is said to have been taken after the loss of 1,500 troops. Manikka Thalaivan's sons were eventual adopted by Parakramabahu VI, one of whom is known as Sapumal Kumaraya.
The leaders in this operation were Vaccanatu Thevar, Kurukula Nattu Thevar, Manikka Thalaivan, Adirasa Adappan, Varna Suriya Thomaram Nathan Adappan, Kurukula Surya Mudiyanse, Bharathakula Suriya Mudiyanse, and Arasakula Suriya Mudiyanse. These were all Kurukula chiefs from Kanchi, Kilakarai and Kaveri Puttanum. They had settled between Puttalam and Negombo.
Dates proposed
The year of their arrival Saka 1159 poses some problems as it takes us back to the Dambadeniya period of Sri Lanka’s history and Parâkkamabâhu II (1234-1267). Although the events are said to have occurred during the reign of Parakramabahu VI of Kotte (1412-1467) . However, as the date appears in three versions it is difficult to dismiss it as a copyist error. It may well be a mix up of the kings when recording a centuries-old tradition. But since the manuscript gives the exact astrological time of the arrival as: the 15th Meena Rivi, Panchami lat Rivi dina, Rehena Nakatha, Simha Lagna, Guru Horava, a scholar with knowledge of the old calendar could easily unravel this issue.