Reference is made by Orme *[1] to the assistance which the Vaniah of Sevagherry gave Muhammad Yūsuf in his reduction of Tinnevelly in 1757. The Vaniah here referred to is the Zamindar of Sivagiri in the Tinnevelly district, a Vanniya by caste. Vanniyas are mentioned in Ceylon archives. Wanni is the name of a district in Ceylon. It is, Mr. W. Hamilton writes,†[2] "situated towards Trincomalee in the north-east quarter. At different periods its Wannies or princes, taking advantage of the wars between the Candian sovereigns and their European enemies, endeavoured to establish an authority independent of both, but they finally, after their country had been much desolated by all parties, submitted to the Dutch." Further, Sir J. E. Tennent writes, ‡[3] that " in modern times, the Wanny was governed by native princes styled Wannyahs, and occasionally by females with the title of Wunniches."
The terms Sambhu and Sāmbhava Rāyan are connected with the Pall is. The story goes that Agni was the original ancestor of all kings. His son was Sambhu, whose descendants called themselves Sambhukula, or those of the Sambhu family. Some inscriptions §[4] of the time of the Chōla kings Kulōttunga III and Rāja Rāja III record Sambukula Perumāl Sāmbuvarāyan and Alagiya Pallavan Ēdirili Sōla Sāmbuvarāyan as titles of local chiefs. A well-known verse of Irattayar in praise of Conjeeveram Ēkāmranāthaswāmi refers to the Pallava king as being of the Sambu race. The later descendants of the Pallavas apparently took Sāmbuvarāyar and its
