Vavuniya

Vavuniya lies in the Vanni, the wooded inland country between the Jaffna peninsula and the older centres of northern Sri Lanka. Small reservoirs and seasonal rainfall supported rice cultivation in this dry region. The Vanni was divided among local chiefs known as Vanniyars, whose territories lay between the kingdoms and coastal powers of the island. Their authority rested on their own communities, though they also acknowledged stronger neighbours and paid tribute.

At the beginning of the nineteenth century, the Vanni chief Pandara Vanniyan resisted the British, who had taken over the Dutch coastal possessions. In 1803 his forces captured the fort at Mullaitivu on the eastern coast. British troops subsequently recovered the fort and pursued the chief through the interior. His struggle remains associated with the history of the Vanni and its chiefs.