Page 44 - 2022 Abstract Book RUICHSS_2022_11_17 after conference

University of Ruhuna ISSN: 2706-0063
Matara, Sri Lanka

Historical Facts through Oral Stories During the Colonial
Period in the District of Batticaloa

N. Chenthurran
Department of History, Faculty of Arts and Culture, Eastern University, Sri Lanka.
nilanthinic@esn.ac.lk

Oral history preserves for future generations a sound portrait of who we are in the
present and what we remember about the past. Today, oral history has become an
important field of study. There are lots of oral stories disappearing since having no
written documents about the District of Batticaloa. Therefore, the objective of the
research is to collect historical facts from oral stories. The problem of the research is,
our originality of the traditions and customs, natural resources, and other many
identities gradually vanish without proper documentation. At this juncture, collecting
the oral stories from our ancestors, regarding the colonial period, and then later
comparing the facts between the original records and oral stories, can fill up the
research gap in this period. This research has revealed the historical facts from oral
stories during the colonial period based on a historical approach gathering the selected
five verbal stories of the Batticaloa District due to the limitation of the research, such
as the tale of a Man-Eating Leopard, Trade of the Elephant and other Natural
Commodities from Batticaloa to Kandy, Wasps attack on Portuguese Soldiers at
Mandur Murugan Temple, Arumaikutty Pody and Kanthapody of Ambilanthurai and
A Wall Built by Kunjilayapodi Vanniyanar. Finally, from the oral stories, interpreting
and analyzing the voices and memories of people, communities, and participants
about past events. However, some hidden historical facts were revealed by comparing
the study of oral and archaeological evidence in the District of Batticaloa.

Keywords: Colonial, Documentation, Historical facts, Oral History

19