Naga people of Sri Lanka

The Naga people, also known as Cheras, among with the Yakkshas, were an ancient tribe who once inhabited Sri Lanka. The Naga people appear until the third century BCE as a distinct group in the early Sri Lankan chronicles as well as early Tamil literary works. In the third century BCE they started to assimilate to Tamil language and culture.

The Nagas had by the 9th century AD or probably earlier assimilated into the major groups, the Sri Lankan Tamils and Sinhalese. Naga identity was visible in history through persons with the name Naga added to their personal names. According to several authors they may have been a race of the Dravidians.

The Yakshas and the Nagas are depicted in the Pali epic Mahavamsa as the early inhabitants of Lanka when Vijaya arrived in the island in 500 B.C. According to Manogaran, some scholars also "have postulated that the Yakshas and Nagas [...] are the aboriginal tribes of Sri Lanka". Holt concludes that they were not Tamils, but a distinct group.

The Oliyar, Parathavar, Maravar and Eyinar who are widespread across South India and North-East Sri Lanka are all Naga tribes.

Early Tamil literary works such as Kaliththokai' mention that many Naga tribes such as Maravar, Eyinar, Oliar, Oviar, Aruvalur and Parathavar migrated to the Pandyan dynasty and started living there in the Third Sangam period 2000 years ago.

In the Ramayana, the mythological island Lanka is been often identified with Sri Lanka. The inhabitants of Lanka were mentioned as non humans, mainly referring to the Rakshasas and Yakshas, but also mentioning the Nagas.Indrajit, the son of Ravana was married to Sulochana, a Naga princess.

...
Wikipedia