Karave caste and Kurus

[Raveen Satkurunathan]

On Sat, 30 Dec 2000 05:32:30 +0000, Narayan R.Joshi <giravani at JUNO.COM>
wrote:

>Raveen Satkurunathan"--Many South Indian derived Sinhalese coastal castes
>in Sri Lanka namely Karave---claim that they are descendants of Kurus of
>Mahabharat fame...". I do not know connection between Karave and Kuru is
>based on true tradition or just based on phonetic similitude.

The Sinhala word 'Karave' is ultimately derived from the Tamil, 'Karaiyar' (
coastal dweller). The 'folk etymology' of Karai with Kuru had already been
made in Tamil Nadu before associated with the Kshatriyisation of
"lower" castes before these people showed up in historical records of Sri
Lanka, which is pretty late.

>I know
>however that Kurus and Kambojas in the past did reach Shri Lanka as
>attested by the presence of these name in the ancient cave inscriptions of
>Lanka.The Rajput queen Padmini who prefered fire to the capture of
>Allauddin Khilji was the princess of Lanka from the princely family related
>to the ancient Kambojas. The Sinhelese believe their connection to the
>north-west of the Indian sub-continent.And the ancient names of states of
>Gujarat, Maharashtra,and Karnatak were different. The ancient name of the
>Jog fall(near Sharvati) from Karnatak state is available. All this
>information project pre-history of India different from the one we are told
>to accept without questioning.Thanks.