Dabana Wadda People

Dambana is a village in Badulla District in Uva District, Sri Lanka. It is near the town of Mahiyangana. It is said to be the refuge of the Vedda people as well as their Vedda language. Known for its environmental work, it is managed by the Eco Team. In 2010 there were about 1000 people in all Vedda families.

Vedda People

The Vedda or the Wanniyalaeto, a small group of people in Sri Lanka who, along with other small groups such as Coast Veddas, Anuradhapura Veddas and Bintenne Veddas, are given ethnic status. The small Vedda in Sri Lanka can be fully used. Many speak Sinhala instead of their native language, which is on the verge of extinction. It is said that the Vedda may have been the first people to live in Sri Lanka and have lived on the island since the arrival of other tribes in India.

Ratnapura District, a part of Sabaragamuwa District, is known to have been inhabited by the Veddas in the past. This was pointed out by scholars like Nandadeva Wijesekera. The very name Sabaragamuwa is believed to mean the village of Sabaras or "wild spreaders". Place-names like Vedda-gala (Vedda Rock), Vedda-ela (Vedda Canal) and Vedi-Kanda (Vedda Mountain) in Ratnapura District also testify to this. As Wijesekera observes, a strong Vedda element is discernible in the Vedda-gala population and its environs.

Anthropology

The Vedda are often seen as the indigenous population of Sri Lanka. A 2011 study of dental characteristics suggested a close relationship between the Vedda and other South Asian populations as well as western Eurasian populations. A 2012 study on crania showed that the Vedda are closely related to other South Asian peoples such as Sri Lankan, South Indian, and Punjabi and are very different from the Andaman people.

A 2013 craniometric study by Raghavan et al. show that the Vedda are closely related to other groups in Sri Lanka and India, especially to the Sinhalese and Tamils, and also show deep connections between the people of South Asia and the modern people of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa . According to Raghavan et al. cranial features of the Vedda are closest to other South Asians and different from "Australo-Melanesians". However, Raghavan et al. In addition, while also observing the differences between the South Asian (including the Vedda) and the Andamanese crania, explaining that this does not contradict the basic evidence that shows a part of common origin (the a non-West Eurasian group called "Ancestral South Indian" or "ASI") with genetic ancestry between South Asians and Andamanese people (sometimes classified as Australo-Melanesians), says "The distinctiveness of the Andamanese and south Indians should not challenge Reich et al.'s quest for an "Ancestral South. India" common south Indian and Andamanese", and the difference may be partly due to the more specialized craniometric of the people of South Asia compared to the Andamanese.

Genetics

The group that descended from the modern Veddas may have been the first people to live in Sri Lanka. Their arrival is suggested to be around 40,000-35,000 years ago. They show a relationship with other South Asians and Sri Lankans, but it is possible to see diseases from other Sri Lankans, showing high diversity within groups. This is consistent with a long history of subgroups dealing with genetics.

In one study on the genetic (mitochondrial DNA) haplogroups in Sri Lankan people (the Vedda, Sri Lankan Tamils, and Sinhalese), it was found that the Vedda carry most of the haplogroups U and R and carry the maternal haplogroup M by about 17%, unlike the Tamil people and most ethnic groups of India, and haplogroup M is increased. The Vedda people and Low-country Sinhalese showed signs of haplogroup R at 45.33 and 25%, respectively. The Vedda were found to be clearly but more closely related to the Sinhalese than to other groups in South Asia (including the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are believed to be "more of a main origin" and recently established in Sri Lanka than Vedda or Vedda. .Sinhala). It was determined in the study that it seems that the branches of haplogroups R and U "were found to be the most common in the Vedda, originating from ancestors on the Indian subcontinent."

Another study about the maternal haplogroup in Sri Lankan groups (also the Vedda, Sri Lankan Tamils, and Sinhalese) found similar results, and the Vedda is specific to the mitochondrial haplogroup N (which "is present in almost all European, Oceanian, and most Asian and Amerindian populations.") and its subgroups U and R (with them comprising about two-thirds of their maternal lineage ), different from other South Asian groups (such as the Sri Lankan Tamils, Sinhalese, and many Indian Tribal groups) with haplogroup M. is predominant. The study also found that "South Asian (Indian) haplogroups were predominant" in three Sri Lankan groups (including the Vedda) while the Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamil, and Vedda populations also West Eurasian haplogroups "were present in significant numbers." The Vedda are related to the evolutionary studies on the mitochondrial DNA hypervariable group HVI and some of HVII.significantly different from other major groups (Sinhalese, Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils) in Sri Lanka." Another study on the alpha-2-HS-glycoprotein bridge showed that the Veddas and the Sinhalese are more closely related to each other than to many other ethnic groups in Asia.

Vedda Language

The origin of the Vedda language is unknown and is considered a separate language. Early linguists and observers thought the language was a foreign language or a Sinhala language. The main authority on the theory of language is Wilhelm Geiger, but he also contradicts himself by saying that Vedda is a relexified aboriginal language.

The Veddas consider the Vedda language to be different from Sinhala and use it as an ethnic marker to distinguish them from the Sinhalese.

Religion

The first religion of Veddas was animism. The Sinhalized interior Veddahs follow a mixture of animism and nominal Buddhism; but the Veddahs on the east coast Tamils follow a mixture of animism and Hinduism with human influences on anthropologists.

One of the most prominent aspects of the Vedda religion is the worship of the dead ancestors, who are called nae yaku among the Sinhala-speaking Veddas and are called for the game and cover.

Veddas, together with the Buddhists, Hindus and Muslims of the island, respect the temple located in Kataragama, showing the syncretism that has developed over 2,000 years of living together and together. Kataragama is supposed to be the place where the Hindu god Skanda or Murugan in Tamil met and married a village girl, Valli, who in Sri Lanka is believed to be a Vedda.There are many famous temples on the island that are sacred to the Veddas as well as other villages.

Livelihood

Such delicious meat is a food supply in times of scarcity. The beginning of the year (January-February) is considered the season of yams and the middle of the year (June-July) fruits and honey, while hunting is available throughout the year. Today, many Vedda people are taken to the field of Hena (slash and burn). The Kurakkan (Eleusine coracana) is often planted. Maize, yams, gourds and melons are also grown. In ancient times, the homes of the Veddas consisted of caves and rock houses. Today, they live in primitive houses made of wattle, bamboo and thatch.

During the reign of King Datusena (6th century AD) the Mahaweli ganga at Minipe was turned into the almost 80 km (47 miles) long Minipe canal said to have been built with the help of the Yakkas. The Mahawamsa refers to the canal of Yaka-bendi-ela. When the Ruwanweli Seya was built during the reign of King Dutugemunu (2nd century BC) the Veddas obtained the necessary minerals from the forest.

These Veddas served as scouts for King Parakrama Bahu the Great (12th century) in his conflict with the insurgents.

During the reign of King Rajasinghe II (17th century) during his war with the Dutch he had a Vedda administration. In the Uva-Welessa rebellion of 1817-1818 during the British period, led by Keppetipola Disawe, the Veddas also fought with the rebels against the British forces.

King Parakrama Bahu the great (12th century) in his war against the rebels employed these Veddas as scouts.

Some observers say that the Veddas are disappearing and lament the decline of their distinct culture. Land acquisition for large-scale irrigation projects, government conservation, and government warfare have disrupted traditional Vedda culture. Between 1977 and 1983 under the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Project and the colonization process, about 51468 hectares were converted into a large hydroelectric dam project. Later, the creation of the Maduru Oya National Park deprived the Veddhas of their last hunting ground. the United Nations Working Group on Indigenous Peoples.Dr. Wiveca Stegeborn, a researcher, has been studying the Vedda since 1977 and says that their young women are being deceived into accepting contracts in the Middle East to be domestic workers but the truth is they will be sold to prostitutes or sold as slaves.

However, the traditional use of Veddas and other local people continued for a long time. "Vedda" is used in Sri Lanka to mean not only hunter-gatherers but also any person who leads a sedentary and rural life and thus can be a derogatory term that is not based on sort of. Therefore, over time, non-Vedda groups can become Veddas, in this general cultural situation. Vedda population of this type is increasing in some districts.

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