.
The
term Vadda must have derived form the Pali and Sanskrit word Vddha
meaning hunter or huntsman.According to Wilhelm Geiger Vaddas of Sri
Lanka were an aboriginal tribe perhaps related to the ancient tribes of
south India. They were inhabiting the island long before the coming of
Aryans an had spread all over the island and later confined only to
Vadi rata or Maha Vadi rata consisting of
areas from Hunnasgiriya hills and lowlands spreading through
Mahiyanganaya, Alutnuwara, Vellassa, Bintenne, Digamadulla, Vasgamuwa,
Dimbilagala, Manampitiya, Nilagala, Toppigala, Panama, Dambana etc. up
to the sea in the east. They spoke a non Aryan language a small number
of words of which survive up to the present day. With the coming of
Aryans gradually they learnt a number of Aryans words and with time
words of their own dialect became rare owing to the spread of education
and encroachment of civilization over the areas occupied by them.
