ion the extinction of Buddhism, the overthrow of
temples, the ruin of dagobas, the expulsion of priests, and the
occupation of their dwellings by Damilos, the outrage of castes, the
violation of property, and the torture of its possessors to extract the
disclosure of their treasures, "till the whole island resembled a
dwelling in flames or a house darkened by funeral rites."[1]

[Footnote 1: _Mahawanso_, ch. lxxix.; _Rajaratnacari_, p. 93;
_Rajavali_, p. 256.]

[Illustration]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1211.]

On all former occasions Rohuna and the South had been comparatively free
from the actual presence of the enemy, but in this instance they
established themselves at Mahagam[1], and thence to Jaffnapatam, every
province in the island was brought under subjection to their rule.

[Footnote 1: _Rajavali_, 257.]

The peninsula of Jaffna and the extremity of the island north of Adam's
Bridge, owing to its proximity to the Indian coast, was at all times the
district most infested by the Malabars. Jambukola, the modern
Colombogam, is the port which is rendered memorable in the _Mahawanso_
by the departure of embassies and the arrival of relics from the
Buddhist countries, and Mantotte, to the north of Manaar, was the
landing place of the innumerable expeditions which sailed from Chola and
Pandya for the subjugation of Ceylon.

The Tamils have a tradition that, prior to the Christian era, Jaffna was
colonised by Malabars, and that a Cholian prince assumed the government,
A.D. 101,--a date which corresponds closely with the second Malabar
invasion recorded in the _Mahawanso_. Thence they extended their
authority over the adjacent country of the Wanny, as far south as
Mantotte and Manaar, "fortified their frontiers and stationed wardens
and watchers to protect themselves from invasion."[1] The successive
bands of marauders arriving from the coast had thus on every occasion a
base for operations, and a strong force of sympathisers to cover their
landing; and from the inability of the Singhalese to offer an effectual
resistance, those portions of the island were from a very early period
practically abandoned to the Malabars, whose descendants at the present
day form the great bulk of its population.

[Footnote 1: See a paper on the early History of Jaffna by S. CASIE
CHITTY, _Journal of the Royal Asiat. Society of Ceylon, 1847_, p. 68.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 1235.]

After an interval of twenty years, Wijayo Bahu III., A.D. 1235,