The Cambridge History of India, Vol. I: Ancient India v1.c32.4

v1.c32.4

The oldest and purest race in Ceylon is that of the Väḍḍas, who inhabit the larger part of the Eastern Province, a small region in Tamankaduwa, and nearly one-fifth of Uva, but are known to have been formerly spread over the whole of Uva and a large portion of the Central, North Central, and North Western Provinces, and no doubt were at first undisputed masters of the island. Their ethnical affinities are somewhat uncertain; but there is good reason for classing them with the Kurumbas, Irulas, and some of the wilder tribes of the mainland as pre-Dravidian². A few of them still live under the most primitive conditions as homeless hunters; others are somewhat more civilised, and practise rude arts of culture similar to those of the Sinhalese peasantry.