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 Vedda man and child. | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| Between2,500 – 6,600[1][2] (less than 0.20% of the population) (2001)[3] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Sri Lanka 2,500 (2002) | |
| Languages | |
| Vedda,Sinhala,Sri Lankan Tamil | |
| Religion | |
| Traditional animistic beliefs withBuddhism,Hinduism[1] | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Sinhalese,Tamils |
TheVedda (Sinhala:වැද්දා[ˈvædːaː];Tamil:வேடர் (Vēḍar)), orWanniyalaeto,[4] are a minorityindigenous group of people inSri Lanka who, among other sub-communities such asCoast Veddas,Anuradhapura Veddas and Bintenne Veddas,[5] are accorded indigenous status. The Vedda minority in Sri Lanka may become completely assimilated.[6] Most speakSinhala instead of their indigenous languages, which are nearing extinction. It has been hypothesized that the Vedda were probably the earliest inhabitants ofSri Lanka and have lived on the island since before the arrival of other groups from the Indian mainland.[7][8]
TheRatnapura District, which is part of theSabaragamuwa Province, is known to have been inhabited by the Veddas in the distant past. This has been shown by scholars like Nandadeva Wijesekera. The very nameSabaragamuwa is believed to have meant the village of theSabaras or "forest barbarians". Place-names such asVedda-gala (Vedda Rock),Vedda-ela (Vedda Canal) andVedi-Kanda (Vedda Mountain) in the Ratnapura District also bear testimony to this. As Wijesekera observes, a strong Vedda element is discernible in the population ofVedda-gala and its environs.
Ethnonyms of Vedda includeVadda,Veddah,Veddha andVaddo.[5] "Vedda" is a word that stems from theTamil wordVēdan meaning "hunter",[5][9][10][11] or fromSanskritvyādha ("hunter") orveddhṛ ("the one who pierces").[12]
Groups ancestral to the modernVeddas were probably the earliest inhabitants of Sri Lanka. Their arrival is dated tentatively to about 40,000–35,000 years ago. They show a relationship with other South Asian and Sri Lankan populations, but are genetically distinguishable from the other peoples of Sri Lanka, and show a high degree of intra-group diversity. This is consistent with a long history of existing as small subgroups undergoing significantgenetic drift.[13][14]
In one study on maternal (mitochondrial DNA) haplogroups in Sri Lankan populations (the Vedda,Sri Lankan Tamils,Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka, andSinhalese), the Vedda were found to carry predominantly haplogroupsU andR and to carrymaternal haplogroup M at about 17%, unlike theIndian Tamils of Sri Lanka and many mainland Indian tribal groups, among whichhaplogroup M is predominant. The Vedda people and Low-country Sinhalese showed frequencies of haplogroup R at 45.33 and 25%, respectively. The Vedda were found to be distinct but closer to Sinhalese than to other South Asian groups. It was determined in the study to be likely that the branches of haplogroups R and U "found to be particularly prevalent in the Vedda, were derived from ancestors on the Indian subcontinent."[14]
Another study on maternal haplogroups in Sri Lankan groups (also the Vedda, Sri Lankan Tamil, and Sinhalese) found similar results, with the Vedda belonging predominantly to the mitochondrialhaplogroup N (which "exists in almost all European,Oceanian, and many Asian and Amerindian populations.") and its subgroups U and R (with those comprising about two thirds of their maternal lineages), differing from other South Asian groups (such as the Sri Lankan Tamil, Sinhalese, and several Indian Tribal groups) among whom haplogroup M is predominant. The study also found that "South Asian (Indian) haplogroups were predominant" in the three Sri Lankan groups (including the Vedda) but that the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamil, and Vedda populations also "had a considerable presence of West Eurasian haplogroups." One phylogenetic study on mitochondrial DNA hypervariable segments HVI and part of HVII showed the Vedda to be "genetically distinct from other major ethnic groups (Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils) in Sri Lanka." Another study on alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein allele frequency showed the Veddas and Sinhalese to be more biologically related to each other than to most other ethnic groups in Asia.[15]
A 2024 genetics study using high-resolutionautosomal andMitochondrial DNA analysis found that the Veddas were genetically closer to thePallar caste of India and Sri Lanka,Santhal,Juang,Irula andPaniya tribes than to theSinhalese andSri Lankan Tamils.[16] The study concluded that the Veddas were "agenetically drifted group with limited gene flow from neighbouring Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil populations" and that the maternalHaplogroup M mediated their initial settlement of the island.[16] Other studies have shown the Vedda share genetic components with the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils as well as genetic affinity with the Irula, Kota and Mulla Kuruma of India, theSemai andSenoi of Malaysia and tribal groups ofUpper Myanmar.[16] A 2025 study revealed significant allele sharing between the Veddas and East Asian-related populations, includingAustroasiatic- andTibeto-Burman-speaking populations.[17] It was concluded that the East Asian genetic affinity can be partially explained due to high levels of Basal Asian AASI ancestry, which is genetically related to ancestral East Asians found in the Veddas.[17]
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The original language of the Veddas is theVedda language, which today is used primarily by the interior Veddas ofDambana. Communities such asCoast Veddas andAnuradhapura Veddas, who do not identify themselves strictly as Veddas, also use Vedda language for communication during hunting and or for religious chants.[citation needed] When a systematic field study was conducted in 1959, it was determined that the language was confined to the older generation of Veddas from Dambana. In the 1990s, self-identifying Veddas knew few words and phrases in the Vedda language, but there were individuals who knew the language comprehensively. Initially, there was considerable debate amonglinguists as to whether Vedda is a dialect ofSinhala or an independent language. Later studies indicate that it diverged from its parent stock in the 10th century and became aCreole and a stable independent language by the 13th century, under the influence ofSinhala.
The parent Vedda language(s) is of unknowngenetic origins, while Sinhala is of theIndo-Aryan branch ofIndo-European languages.Phonologically it is distinguished from Sinhala by the higher frequency ofpalatal sounds C and J. The effect is also heightened by the addition ofinanimatesuffixes. Vedda language word class ismorphologically divided intonouns,verbs and variables with uniquegender distinctions in animate nouns. Per its Creole tradition, it has reduced and simplified many forms of Sinhala such as second personpronouns and denotations of negative meanings. Instead of borrowing new words from Sinhala, Vedda created combinations of words from a limited lexical stock. Vedda also maintains manyarchaic Sinhala terms prior to the 10th to 12th centuries, as arelict of its close contact with Sinhala. Vedda also retains a number of unique words that cannot be derived from Sinhala. Likewise, Sinhala has also borrowed from the original Vedda language, words, and grammatical structures, differentiating it from its related Indo-Aryan languages. Vedda has exerted asubstratum influence in the formation of Sinhala.
Veddas that have adoptedSinhala are found primarily in the southeastern part of the country, especially in the vicinity of Bintenne inUva Province. There are also Veddas that have adopted Sinhala who live in Anuradhapura District in the North Central Province.[18][19]
Another group, often termedEast Coast Veddas, is found in coastal areas of the Eastern Province, betweenBatticaloa andTrincomalee. These Veddas have adoptedTamil as their mother tongue.[20][21]
The parent of Vedda language is of unknownlinguistic origin and is considered alanguage isolate. Early linguists and observers of the language considered it to be either a separate language or a dialect of Sinhala. The chief proponent of the dialect theory wasWilhelm Geiger, but he also contradicted himself by claiming that Vedda was arelexified aboriginal language.[22]
Veddas consider the Vedda language to be distinct from Sinhala and use it as an ethnic marker to differentiate them from Sinhalese people.[23]
The original religion of Veddas isanimism. The Sinhalized interior Veddahs follow a mix of animism and nominalBuddhism; whereas the Tamilized east coast Veddahs follow a mix of animism and nominalHinduism withfolk influences among anthropologists.[clarification needed]
One of the most distinctive features of Vedda religion is the worship of dead ancestors, who are callednae yaku among the Sinhala-speaking Veddas and are invoked for the game andyams.[24] There are also peculiar deities unique to Veddas, such asKande Yakka.[25]
Veddas, along with the Island'sBuddhist,Hindu andMuslim communities, venerate the temple complex situated atKataragama, showing thesyncretism that has evolved over 2,000 years of coexistence and assimilation. Kataragama is supposed to be the site where the Hindu god Skanda orMurugan inTamil met and married a local tribal girl,Valli, who in Sri Lanka is believed to have been a Vedda.[26]
There are a number of less famousshrines across the island which are sacred to the Veddas as well as to other communities.[26]
Vedda marriage is a simple ceremony. It consists of the bride tying a bark rope (Diya lanuva) that she has twisted, around the waist of the groom. This symbolizes the bride's acceptance of the man as her mate and life partner. Althoughendogamous marriage between cross-cousins was the norm until recently, this has changed significantly, with Vedda women even contracting marriages with their Sinhalese and Moor neighbors.
In Vedda society, women are in many respects men's equals. They are entitled to similar inheritance. Monogamy is the general rule, though a widow would frequently marry her husband's brother as a means of support and consolation (levirate marriage). They also do not practice acaste system.[27]
Death, too, is a simple affair without ostentatious funeral ceremonies where the corpse of the deceased is promptly buried.
Since the opening of colonization schemes, Vedda burials changed when they dug graves of 1.2–1.5 m (4–5 feet) deep and wrapped the body wrapped cloth and covered it with leaves and earth. The Veddas also laid the body between the scooped out trunks of thegadumba tree (Trema orientalis) before they buried it. At the head of the grave were kept three open coconuts and a small bundle of wood, while at its foot were kept an openedcoconut and an untouched coconut. Certain cactus species (pathok,Opuntia dillenii orO. stricta) were planted at the head, the middle and the foot. Personal possessions like the bow and arrow, betel pouch, were also buried. This practice varied by community. The contents of thebetel pouch of the deceased were eaten after his death.
The Veddas practice what is referred to by Western ethnologists as "a cult of the dead".[28] The Vedda perception of the world when originally studied in the mid 19th and early 20th centuries was not divided into polarities as life and afterlife or living and dead. At that time when asked whether the dead lived on as spirits they found that "they did not consider whether the departed were living or dead, they were just spirits...all spirits were alike neither good nor bad".[28]
In the words of John Bailey studying this population in 1853: "the Veddahs have a vague belief in a host of undefined spirits, whose influence is rather for good than evil...they believe the air is peopled by spirits, that every rock and every tree, every forest and every hill, in short every feature of nature, has its genus loci;but these seem little else than nameless phantoms whom they regard with mysterious awe than actual dread".[29]
In addition to this experience of the world often referred to as "animism" they have a belief that after death every relative is a spirit "of those who watches over the welfare of those left behind. These, which include their ancestors and their children, the term their 'nehya yakoon', kindred spirits. They describe them as ever watchful, coming to them in sickness, visiting them in dreams, giving them flesh when hunting".[29]
The Vedda behavior at the time of these original ethnological studies regarding the recently dead is quite different from our behavior toward the dead."When a person dies it is the hetha that killed him; and the hetha of the dead one remains by the corpse and haunts the vicinity for years."[30]
The majority of the Vedda tribes studied at that time held what is referred to as a "kirikohraha ceremony". This was often held "to present an offering to the newly dead within a week or two of their decease...The yaku of the recently dead....are supposed to stand towards the surviving members of the group in the light of friends and relatives, who if well treated will continue to show loving kindness to their survivors, and only if neglected will show disgust and anger by withdrawing their assistance, or becoming actively hostile."[28]
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Until fairly recent times, the clothing of the Veddas was limited. In the case of men, it consisted only of aloincloth suspended with a string at the waist, while in the case of women, it was a piece of cloth that extended from the navel to the knees. Today, however, Vedda attire is more covering, men wear a shortsarong extending from the waist to the knees, while the women clad themselves in a garment similar to theSinhaladiya-redda which extends from the breast line to the knees.
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Bori Bori Sellam-Sellam Bedo Wannita,
Palletalawa Navinna-Pita Gosin Vetenne,
Malpivili genagene-Hele Kado Navinne,
Diyapivili Genagene-Thige Bo Haliskote Peni,
Ka tho ipal denne
— A Vedda honeycomb cutter's folk song[31]
Meaning of this song: The bees from yonder hills of Palle Talawa and Kade suck nectar from the flowers and made the honeycomb. So why should you give them undue pain when there is no honey by cutting the honeycomb.
Veddas were originallyhunter-gatherers. They used bows and arrows to hunt game, harpoons and toxic plants for fishing and gathered wild plants, yams, honey, fruit and nuts.[32] Many Veddas also farm, frequently usingslash and burn or swidden cultivation, which is calledHena in Sri Lanka. East Coast Veddas also practice sea fishing. Veddas are famously known for their rich meat diet. Venison and the flesh of rabbit, turtle, tortoise, monitor lizard, wild boar and the common brown monkey are consumed with much relish. The Veddas kill only for food and do not harm young or pregnant animals. Game is commonly shared amongst the family and clan. Fish are caught by employing fish poisons such as the juice of thepus-vel (Entada scandens) anddaluk-kiri (Cactus milk).
Vedda culinary fare is also deserving of mention. Amongst the best known aregona perume, which is a sort of sausage containing alternate layers of meat and fat, andgoya-tel-perume, which is the tail of the monitor lizard (talagoya), stuffed with fat obtained from its sides and roasted in embers. Another Vedda delicacy is dried meat preserve soaked in honey. The Veddas used to preserve such meat in the hollow of a tree, enclosing it with clay.
Such succulent meat served as a ready food supply in times of scarcity. The early part of the year (January–February) is considered to be the season of yams and mid-year (June–July) that of fruit and honey, while hunting is availed of throughout the year.Kurakkan (Eleusine coracana) is cultivated very often. Maize, yams, gourds and melons are also cultivated. The Veddas used to live in caves and rock shelters. Today, they live in huts of wattle, daub and thatch.
In the reign of Datusena (6th century CE) the Mahaweli ganga was diverted at Minipe in the Minipe canal nearly 80 km (47 miles) long said to be constructed with help from the Yakkas. The Mahawamsa refers to the canal as Yaka-bendi-ela. When the Ruwanweli Seya was built in King Dutugemunu's time (2nd century BCE) the Veddas procured the necessary minerals from the jungles.
Parakrama Bahu the Great (12th century), in his war against the rebels, employed Veddas as scouts.
Rajasinghe II (17th century), in his battle with the Dutch, had a Vedda regiment. In the abortive Uva-Welessa revolt of 1817–1818 of the British times, led by Keppetipola Disawe, the Veddas too fought with the rebels against the British forces.
| Year | Pop. | ±% |
|---|---|---|
| 1881 | 2,200 | — |
| 1891 | 1,200 | −45.5% |
| 1901 | 4,000 | +233.3% |
| 1911 | 5,300 | +32.5% |
| 1921 | 4,500 | −15.1% |
| 1931 | 5,200 | +15.6% |
| 1946 | 2,400 | −53.8% |
| 1953 | 800 | −66.7% |
| 1963 | 400 | −50.0% |
| 1971 | — | |
| 1981 | — | |
| 1989 (est.) | — | |
| 2001 | — | |
| 2011 | — | |
| Source:Department of Census & Statistics[33] Data is based on Sri Lankan Government Census. | ||
Some observers have said Veddas are disappearing and have lamented the decline of their distinct culture.[19][34][35][36] Land acquisition for mass irrigation projects, government forest reserve restrictions, and the civil war have disrupted traditional Vedda ways of life.[19][34][37][38] Between 1977 and 1983 under the AcceleratedMahaweli Development Project and colonization schemes, more than 50,000 hectares were turned into a large hydroelectric dam and irrigation project.[34][39] Subsequently, the creation of theMaduru Oya National Park deprived the Veddas of their last hunting grounds.[39] In 1985, the Vedda Chief Thissahamy and his delegation were obstructed from attending the United NationsWorking Group on Indigenous Populations.[39] Dr. Wiveca Stegeborn, ananthropologist, has been studying the Vedda since 1977 and alleges that their young women are being tricked into accepting contracts to theMiddle East asdomestic workers when in fact they will betrafficked intoprostitution or sold assex slaves.[40]
However,cultural assimilation of Veddas with other local populations has been going on for a long time. "Vedda" has been used in Sri Lanka to mean not only hunter-gatherers but also to refer to any people who adopt an unsettled and rural way of life and thus can be aderogatory term not based on ethnic group. Thus, over time, it is possible for non-Vedda groups to become Veddas, in this broad cultural sense.[41][42] Vedda populations of this kind are increasing in some districts.[43]
A spider genus endemic to Sri Lanka was namedWanniyala as a dedication to Sri Lanka's oldest civilized people.[44]
A species of Sri Lankan snake,Indotyphlops veddae, was named in honor of the Vedda.[45]
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)A great deal of information on them can be found atVedda.org
| Indigenous | |
|---|---|
| Traditional | |
| Multiracial | |
| Immigrants | |
