History

In the 13th Century, Jaffna Kingdom was established by Arya Chakaravarthi, a chieftain of the South Indian Pandyan Empire. The Kingdom was Saivite Hindu in its religion and Tamil in an island that was Buddhist in character till then. Even before the establishment of the independent Jaffna Kingdom, the general area had become independent of Sinhalese rule due to the efforts of Kalinga Magha, a chieftain from Kalinga (present day Orissa state of India) and Chandra Bahnu a King from the Malay Straights region.

The Kingdom had suzerainty over the Jaffna Peninsula, Northern Vanni Districts, Mannar and the Pearl rich western Puttalam coast. It had two seats of govt, one in Nallur and other during the

The Kingdom was aggressively expanding South at the expense of the costal Kotte kingdoms when Portuguese colonials showed up in 1505. After lasting for over 400 years, it finally lost its independence to the Portuguese in 1621.

With its demise, the only indigenous independant political entity that was not Sinhalese and Buddhist in character came to an end, the repercussions of which are still reverberating.

Demography

Prior to the civil war most residents of Jaffna were Tamil speaking, Sri Lankan Tamils with notable Muslim and Sinhalese presence. There were also various ethnic groups from India such as Indian Tamils, Telugus, Malayalees and Bohra Muslims from Pakistan.

Most Tamils of Jaffna were Hindus followed by a significant Catholic and Protestant minority. Hindu Tamils were also divided along caste lines with Vellalar forming an elite group followed by many other castes.

Ethnic conflict

Due to ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka, many residents have moved out of the city, and thus the population has been reduced dramatically. According to the 2001 census, the population of the city is about 145,600. Jaffna also functions as the cultural capital of Sri Lankan Tamils. It was also a

Many of the Tamils from this region have moved out to other parts of the island or to foreign countries. This exodus of Tamils from Jaffna has occurred for a number of reasons. The Muslim population and some Sinhala had been forced to leave Jaffna within 48 hours notice in 1990 due to an LTTE order.

There have been claims of human rights violations on both sides. Due to Jaffna becoming a constant battleground between the Sri Lankan military and the LTTE it has left many displaced people. The tense security situation over the years of the ceasefire has left Jaffna in a precarious position as it is likely to be a key target should the conflict renew in the future.

Education

Jaffna is considered to be the most literate district in the whole of Sri Lanka that has a very high literacy level to begin with. In early days (before 1970s') Sri lankan universities were dominated by Jaffna students but currently their enrolment is minimized due to the effects of race based quota system introduced in 1970s as well as due to the effects of the civil war.

Founded by American missionaries in 1819, Jaffna College, has records of Malaysian, Singaporean, South Indian and even Japanese students enrollment in 1930s and 1940s. American missionaries also founded many other institutions of higher learning that are still functioning today.

The concentration of so many educational institutions within a small geographic area has produced a large number of highly literate Jaffna Tamils who had to leave the area and the country to find appropriate jobs. During the British colonial era educated Jaffna Tamils were recruited by the British in their overseas colonies namely in Malaysia and Singapore as government bureaucrats whose descendants still live there.