A LEGEND ABOUT THE VEDDAHS

It is believed by some people that the Veddahs of Ceylon are the descendants of Vijaya and Kuweni. There is a legend about this, and here it is.

When Prince Vijaya and his seven hundred men arrived in Ceylon, at first they found no one. Then one of them saw a dog, followed it and was led to a pond. Near it a woman was sitting. The man was hot and tired, so he got the woman’s permission to wash in the pond. After his bath however, he was mysteriously thrown in to a cave, and was not allowed to return to his friends. When his friends came looking for him, they too were thrown into the cave. This happened because the woman had magic powers. She was a Yakkihini and her name was Kuveni.
When his men did not return, Vijaya set out to find them. While wandering about, he saw Kuveni and asked her, “Lady, have you seen my men?”
She replied, “Why do you want your men, Prince? I will give you a kingdom instead.”
Then everything became clear to him. Because the woman was a Yakkhini, she knows his rank. He caught her by the hair and said “Give me my men or I will kill you.” Then the Yakkhini said in fear, “Don’t kill me. I will release your men and give you a kingdom as well.”
The men were released. The Yakkhini brought them food too because they were hungry. After the meal, she turned herself into a lovely maiden. She then asked Vijaya to fight her people, the Yakkhas, and become king. He did as he was asked. After the victory the city of Thambapanni was built. Vijaya and Kuveni lived there and two children were born.
A few years later Vijaya’s ministers said to him, “A king must marry a princess. You must send Kuveni away.” So a princess was brought from Madhura and Kuveni was asked to go. She was told to leave her two children behind.
But she did not do so. She took them with her and went back to Lankapura, the Yakkha city. The angry Yakkhas remembered how she had helped Vijaya to fight her own people. So they killed her. But the children were not killed. They managed to escape because Kuweni’s uncle saw them and he said, “Run away. Don’t stay here. They will kill you as well.” So they ran away and lived near Sri Pada. It is said that their descendants became the Veddhas of Ceylon.