Naga people (Lanka)

Etymology

The word Naga may have different origins. The word naga or nag means mountain in Sanskrit, although the term Nāga also means cobra in Sanskrit. The Nagas have also been known as the "Chera's", which is a Tamil term for hill or mountain. They were probably called "Cheras" since they may have been a hill tribe. Sri Lanka has also been known as Cherantivu, meaning "island of Cheras".

Origins

The Yakshas and the Nagas are depicted in the Pali epic Mahavamsa as the early inhabitants of Lanka when Vijaya arrived in the island in 500 B.C. According to Manogaran, some scholars also "have postulated that the Yakshas and Nagas [...] are the aboriginal tribes of Sri Lanka". Holt concludes that they were not Tamils, but a distinct group. The practice of dravidian customs such as snake-worshipping, are the Nagas considered by some scholars to have been Dravidians. Snake-worship is still practiced among Sri Lankan Tamils and the Nair community of Kerala.

Ancient Naga tribes

The Oliyar, Parathavar, Maravar and Eyinar who are widespread across South India and North-East Sri Lanka are all Naga tribes.

Early Tamil literary works such as Kaliththokai' mention that many Naga tribes such as Maravar, Eyinar, Oliar, Oviar, Aruvalur and Parathavar migrated to the Pandyan dynasty and started living there in the Third Sangam period 2000 years ago.The early Sangam literature provide the names of several Tamil poets with the name Naga.

Ramayana

In the Ramayana, the mythological island Lanka is been often identified with Sri Lanka. The inhabitants of Lanka were mentioned as non humans, mainly referring to the Rakshasas and Yakshas, but also mentioning the Nagas. Indrajit, the son of Ravana was married to Sulochana, a Naga princess.

Naga territory

There is a reference to the town Naga Nakar in Tamil Brahmi inscriptions belonging to 200 BCE, which is believed to be denoting Kudiramalai.

An early copper coin discovered at Uduththurai port carries the name Naga bumi in Tamil, referring to the Naga Dynasty of the North.

Naga Nadu

By the time Buddhism had reached Tamilakam, the twin epics of ancient Tamil Nadu Silappatikaram (5-6th century CE) and Manimekalai (6th century CE) were written, speaking of Naga Nadu across the sea from Kaveripoompuharpattinam.

Manimekalai speaks of the great Naga king Valai Vanan and his queen Vasamayilai who ruled over Manipallavam, todays Nainativu, which is also known as Nagadeepa. Their daughter, the princess Pilli Valai had a liaison at Nainativu islet with the early Chola king Killivalavan; out of this union was born Prince Tondai Eelam Thiraiyar, who historians note was the early progenitor of the Pallava Dynasty. He went on to rule Tondai Nadu from Kanchipuram. Nainativu was referred to as Manipallavam in ancient Tamil literature following this union. Royals of the Chola-Naga lineage would go on to rule other territory of the island, Nagapattinam and Tondai Nadu of Tamilakam.

Cīttalai Cāttanār, the author of the Manimekalai reflected the perception at the time that Naga Nadu was an autonomous administrative entity, kingdom or nadu stretching across coastal districts, distinguished from the rest of the island also ruled intermittently by Tamil kings.

The Pali work Mahavamsa and the Tamil work Manimekalai, mentions a dispute between two Naga kings, which was settled by the Lord Buddha.

Ptolemy in his 1st century map of Taprobane mentions Nagadiboi. Ptolemy mentions in 150 CE that King Sornagos (Chora Naga of Anuradhapura), a descendant of this lineage, ruled from the early Chola capital of Uraiyur during this time. Kaveripoompuharpattinam received many adulatory comparisons to the Naga capital Kadiramalai in the classical period.

Naga Nadu included Mantai in the northwest, Thirukonamalai in the northeast and Mahavillachi in the middle of the island. The socioeconomic structure of this nation was built around its oceanic trade and agriculture, the inner trade and trade with the kingdoms of Tamilakam, Rome, Greece, Egypt, Kalinga and the far east being the mainstay of its economy. The Karaiyar tribe of these Tamils were coast-residing seafaring people and the oldest settlers of the Coromandel Coast and the coasts of Sri Lanka. The Ketheeswaram temple of Mantai was built by this clan in the classical period.

Architecture

The Naga used to have kingdoms and temples in Sri Lanka. The Nagas built a temple in Medawattha, Mathara called Nagavila today. It used to hold a statue of Buddha sitting on the Muchalinda, the Cobra. Naga maidens used to perform dances there.

Irrigation

It is also believed they were great irrigation engineers who built water storages. The Giant's Tank dam and reservoir system in Mannar, Sri Lanka is considered by some (Such as Author, Mudaliyar C. Rajanayagam) to have been built by the Nagas based on the extensive ruins and the presence of villages with surrounding the port with Naga name (e.g. Nagarkulam, Nagathazhvu and Sirunagarkulam).

Snake worship

Naga people were thought to be snake-worshipers. According to Rasanayagam,

The origin of their name cannot certainly be traced to serpents or serpent-worship, for they were so named long before the advent of the Aryans in whose language alone the word signified 'serpents'.

The word Naga was sometimes written in early inscriptions as Nāya, as in Nāganika - this occurs in the Nanaghat inscription of 150 BCE.

The Mahavamsa describe the Nagas as supernatural beings whose natural form was a serpent, but they could assume any a form at will.

Similarly, Sri Lankan Tamil Hindus since ancient times have regarded the cobra as a divine being by the passing down of Naga traditions and beliefs. Further, a cobra can be found entwining itself round the neck of the supreme Hindu god Shiva as the serpent-king Vasuki. Cobras can also be found in images of Vishnu.