Mullaitivu

Mullaitivu lies on the northeastern coast of Sri Lanka, between the sea and the wooded country of the Vanni. A coastal fort guarded the settlement during the period of Dutch and then British rule. Inland, Vanniyar chiefs retained influence among communities whose lands lay between Jaffna and the Kandyan kingdom. In 1803 forces including the Vanni leader Pandara Vanniyan attacked Mullaitivu fort during resistance to British authority. The encounter brought the struggles of the inland chiefs to the coast.