TG: New Book by Tamil Historian

A new research volume by veteran historian and former University of Jaffna Chancellor Professor S. Pathmanathan, exploring early Tamil society in the island’s North, was launched on April 11, marking the culmination of more than five decades of scholarship.

Titled ‘Glimpses of an Ancient Civilisation: Society and Culture in Jaffna (300 BC to AD 500)’, the book examines the socio-economic and cultural foundations of early Jaffna through Tamil-Brahmi inscriptions, archaeological discoveries and comparative literary analysis.

Structured across eighteen chapters and five thematic sections, the work draws on a century’s worth of historical material gathered through excavations and exploratory surveys, much of which, the author notes, had long remained underutilised or undeciphered.

Speaking at the launch, Professor Pathmanathan said the study brings together “historical information that has accumulated over the past 100 years… but hitherto not used or deciphered,” adding that a close reading of inscriptions found in the Jaffna district has enabled a clearer understanding of “the society and culture of the distant past.”

A defining feature of the volume is its methodological restraint. In reassessing sources such as the Vallipuram Gold Plate, Pathmanathan avoids sweeping political conclusions, instead grounding his analysis in verifiable textual evidence. This approach opens space for interpreting the emergence of early Tamil political formations in the north without presuming subordination to southern kingdoms.

The book also revisits the role of the Nāgas, identifying them as a foundational community in early Sri Lankan history and potentially linked to the ancestry of the island’s Tamil population. Their presence is traced to as early as 900 BC, with associations to the introduction of iron technology, agricultural development, and irrigation systems that supported long-term settlement.

Further, the study highlights evidence of extensive maritime trade networks, including links with the Roman world, supported by archaeological finds such as Roman coins. It also explores the interweaving of local animistic traditions with evolving religious practices, noting the enduring influence of Nāga worship within both Hindu and Buddhist contexts.

The publication arrives amid ongoing contestation over historical narratives and identity in Sri Lanka, particularly regarding the origins and continuity of Tamil presence in the north and east. By consolidating epigraphic and archaeological evidence, Pathmanathan’s work contributes a rigorously grounded perspective to debates on the island’s early civilisation and cultural plurality.

The launch event, attended by academics, legal professionals, and civil society representatives, was widely described as a significant contribution to the documentation and interpretation of early Tamil history.