Front Note by Sachi Sri Kantha 

In his autobiographical memoirs Surely You’re Joking Mr.Feynman; Adventures of a Curious Character, iconoclast cum physicist Richard Feynman told a humorous anecdote on the abuse of research. To paraphrase this anecdote: 

In the ancient Chinese kingdom, commoners were not permitted to see or touch the Emperor. But the Pooh-Bahs had a need to know the length of Emperor’s nose. To solve the problem, Pooh-Bahs went around the country surveying the commoners asking about the length of Emperor’s nose. Then they averaged the answers and arrived at the purported length of Emperor’s nose. Undoubtedly a result appeared for record, which satisfied the Pooh-Bahs - but the accuracy of which left much to be desired, with the existing prohibition on touching the Emperor. 

Currently circulated evidence on the origin of Sinhalese in Sri Lanka had faced a similar dilemma of measuring the Emperor’s nose without touching him. Scholars (full-fledged as well as half-baked) have described the origin of Sinhalese from Mahavamsa mythology, epigraphical evidences, travelogues told by foreigners who visited the island, folk history, extant Sinhalese literature and what not. However, all these results are akin to the method adopted by the Chinese Poo Bahs of measuring the Emperor’s nose without touching it.  

The Sri Lankan equivalent of the Emperor’s nose is the origin of contemporary Sinhalese themselves. Until recently, researchers had ignored directly studying the genetic frame of Sinhalese individuals - looking for markers which can tell the route of migration of their ancestors. The reason is obvious; none of the historians, archeologists, literati and diplomats-turned quasi-genealogists in Sri Lanka have never had formal professional training in bio-medical research and could distinguish neither leukocytes from erythrocytes nor magnesium and manganese. Full-fledged practitioners of medical anthropology as a discipline in Sri Lanka hardly existed, even when I was learning my first steps in scientific research in the late 1970s. The situation has not changed even now, after 25 years. 

This background is needed to evaluate the significance of Dr.Nages Nagaratnam’s thought-provoking review which appeared in the Hemoglobin journal in 1989. It was entitled, ‘Hemoglobinopathies in Sri Lanka and their anthropological implications’. Dr.Nagaratnam, currently residing in Australia, served as a consultant physician at the Colombo General Hospital and is a recognized medical researcher for over the past 35 years. His peer-reviewed scientific publications, as indexed in the U.S. National Library of Medicine database, exceeds 80. Thus, unlike a marked proportion of Sri Lankans who express their half-baked views on the Sinhalese heritage, Dr.Nagaratnam has international scientific credibility. Dr.Nagaratnam sent me a reprint of his 1989 paper, after reading my critical review of Mudaliyar Rasanayagam’s book Ancient Jaffna, which first appeared in the Tamil Times (April 1990, pp.19-21). And he had granted permission for me to place his review in the web.  

This review paper is medically-oriented; those who are unfamiliar with the medical terms can rush through the clinical descriptions and read the section ‘Anthropological implications’ for benefit. However, for those interested in learning some interesting medical findings on Sri Lankans, I would suggest the clinical descriptions need not be rushed, if few basic details on hemoglobin are grasped.  

Hemoglobin (commonly abbreviated as Hb), the theme of Dr.Nagaratnam’s review, is the iron-containing blood protein found in the red blood corpuscles which circulate in the blood. Its main function is to transport oxygen from the lungs to the body tissues; in addition, it also transports some waste carbon dioxide from the body tissues to the lungs. Hemoglobinopathy is a genetic defect which leads to abnormal structure of hemoglobin in the blood. Thalassemia, about which reference is made in the review, is an inherited cause of hypochromic anemia known to be due to deficient synthesis of hemoglobin. So as not to distort the relevance, I provide the complete text of Dr.Nagaratnam’s paper and had added my postscript at the end. 

Hemoglobinopathies in Sri Lanka and their anthropological implications 

by N.Nagaratnam

Blacktown Hospital, Blacktown, N.S.W. 2148, Australia.

[source: Hemoglobin, 1989; vol.13, no.2, pp.201-211]

Origins of the Population of Sri Lanka (Ceylon): The Mahavamsa (a Sinhalese historical chronicle) mentions the Nagas and the Yakkas as the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka. The Nagas as a civilized group were found throughout India and form a branch of a prehistoric, probably Dravidian race, which colonized South India and the northern and western parts of Sri Lanka. The Yakkas were an earlier group than the Nagas and the modern representatives are the Veddahs. Sri Lanka now has a mixed population of Veddahs, Sinhalese, Tamils, Moors, Burghers of Dutch and Portuguese descent, and minor groups of tribal stock. The Veddahs came from India in 6,000 – 3,000 B.C., now numbering a few hundred, live in scattered communities in the North Central, Uva and Eastern Provinces. The Sinhalese and Tamils trace their ancestry to India, and the Moors to Arabia and India. Needless to say, there has been intermarriage between the various communities. The Sinhalese probably came from India in about 500 B.C. The Tamils came to Sri Lanka about the time of the Dravidians in South India, in the 3^rd and 4^th centuries B.C. or earlier¹, and settled in the present Northern and Eastern Provinces, but at intervals held sway in the southern part of Sri Lanka². Another Tamil population, of more recent introduction, are the descendants of laborers brought from South India by the British to work in the tea plantations in Central Sri Lanka. Arab shipping and merchants were established at the port of Colombo as early as the 10^th century A.D.³ There is a band of Kaffirs in the East Coast who bear witness to the entry of mercenaries from Mozambique with the Portuguese. There are also descendants of the Malays who were once employed by the Dutch. 

Inherited traits, phenotypes and gene frequencies are useful in the study of the migration of human populations and of gene flow among human groups. In Sri Lanka, genetic information is meager, though several studies have been made of the human blood group, isoenzyme systems, hemoglobins (Hbs), and some other genetic characteristics. The closeness of India explains why the majority of Sri Lankans are of Indian origin and their gene frequencies for some characteristics are very similar to certain Indian populations. Dronamraju⁴ postulated a relationship between the ancestral populations of Sri Lanka and of northeast India on the basis of a higher frequency of hairy pinnae among Sinhalese and Bengalese. 

Important and most readily available genetic determinants are associated with the blood groups. Roberts et al.⁵, in  study of the ABO and MNS blood groups, found the Tamils were homogeneous, the Sinhalese heterozygous, and the two groups to be distinct. As suggested earlier by Kirk et al.⁶, they felt that some Sinhalese have attained an intermediate genetic composition by intermixture with the Tamils. 

Papiha⁷ drew attention to the similarity of the frequency of genes in the haptoglobin system in Sinhalese and Punjabis, and suggested that this indicated a closer similarity of the Sinhalese with North Indian populations. Kirk⁸ compared the information available on the frequencies of genes in the ABO, MN, Rh red cell antigen systems, and in the haptoglobin, transferrin and red cell enzyme systems of the Sinhalese and five Indian groups. He concluded that the modern Sinhalese population is closer to the Tamils and Keralites of South India and the upper caste groups of Bengal, than they are to populations in the Gujerat or the Punjab. 

Abeyaratne et al.⁹ found a high frequency of the G6PD deficiency gene [Note by Sri Kantha: G6PD refers to Glucose 6 phosphate dehydrogenase – an enzyme] in the North Central Province of Sri Lanka. The frequency was higher in the ancient villages (7.0 – 29.0%) than in the recently colonized areas (3.5 – 3.7%), with significantly higher frequency among the Sinhalese (5.2%) and Ceylon Moors (5.0%), as compared to the Tamils (0%). Nagaratnam et al.¹⁰ found a frequency of 1.06% among the Sinhalese in the Kegalle district. 

Hemoglobinopathies: The different ethnic groups vary in the incidence of abnormal Hbs and thalassemia. Most of the available information is based on case reports and family studies. Such surveys as have been made probably give truer population estimates of the various disorders. HbE, first described by Graff et al.¹¹, is common in the Veddahs. According to Lehmann¹², HbE has a variable frequency between 4 to 10%. It is also found in the Sinhalese^13,14. Blackwell et al.¹⁵, in a survey of 19,000 blood samples from all  common ethnic groups (except the Veddahs) in west Ceylon (in and around the city of Colombo), found HbE in Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Malays. In an earlier study of 2,060 individuals in Colombo, Wickremasinghe and Ponnusamy¹⁶ found only normal adult Hb. Thambipillai et al.¹⁷ in a study of 1,338 Tamil children in north Ceylon found eight with abnormal Hbs (0.6%), three of which had HbD and five HbE. 

Wickremasinghe et al.¹⁸ reported HbS in unrelated families in a village in the Eastern Province. In another village, approximately 50km away, de Silva et al.¹⁹ studied three generations of a family in which eight had sickle cell trait, five thalassemia trait, and one HbE trait. The villages which these families came from were situated near an old military fort which had Negro soldiers in the 16^th century. Nagaratnam et al.²⁰ described a Sinhalese family from Hambantota which had HbS-D disease. A survey of three villages in the same area indicated an appreciable frequency (5%) of HbS²¹ although the Muslim group there gave normal results. HbD has been found in the same localities (less than 1%) (21). 

On several occasions b-thassemia (thal) has been found in the Sinhalese ^22,23,24 and once in a Muslim²⁵. HbE-b-thal has been found in two Muslim families of Moorish descent¹³. Only two cases of HbH disease have been reported, indicating that a-thal may be rare²⁴. The clinical, hematological and biochemical expression of db-thal in the heterozygous and in the homozygous state were studied in a Tamil family of Indian origin²⁶. These data indicate that the most frequent hemoglobinopathies are HbE, HbS and thalassemia. The Veddah populations has a high frequency of HbE. 

Geographical Distribution: HbE and b-thal occur in the Central Province, Uva, Kurunagala, and northern and eastern divisions of the Matale district. HbS and HbD are found in the Hambantota district in south Sri Lanka²¹ and in the Eastern Province¹⁹. The occurrence of Hbs E, D, S and thalassemia seems to be confined to the areas which have been endemic or hyperendemic for malaria for several hundred years. 

Hb Analysis: Blackwell et al.¹⁵, in a study of 43 Hb variants with the electrophoretic mobility of HbE, found all of them to have the structure b26(B8)Glu→Lys. Others have reported HbE only on the basis of electrophoretic mobility. The HbD in Sri Lanka is of the Punjab or Los Angeles type²⁰. The HbF level in sickle cell anemia was found to be 11%²¹, lower than that found in the Arabs (18.9%)^27,28 but higher than in the Negro. In b-thalassemia major, HbF was usually 40-60% but occasionally as high as 99%.HbA₂ was elevated only in some cases. In one series the most common was heterozygous high A₂-b-thal²⁹. In db-thal, HbF levels of 10.5-15.0% in heterozygotes is similar to the Greeks (11.5%), while in Negroes it is 25.5%³⁰. There is one report of a patient with an unstable Hb²⁹. 

Clinical Manifestations: Carriers of the HbE trait have no clinical effects, and their blood picture reveals little morphological abnormality other than a slight hypochromia and a few target cells. No HbE homozygotes have been described. Patients with the HbS trait are little affected. The homozygous HbS state is usually associated with severe hemolytic disease. However, a 25 year-old student who had 11% HbF ²¹ had a relatively benign course and an occasional ‘crisis’, somewhat akin to the benign sickle cell disease of Arabs in which HbF amounts to 18.9%^27,28. In HbD trait, the clinical state and the hematology are normal. The homozygous state has not been described. 

The patients with b-thalassemia major were usually severely affected with jaundice and splenomegaly from early childhood. In b-thalassemia minor the clinical findings varied from severe anemia,similar to that of the homozygous state, to normal clinical and hematological findings. The two patients with HbH disease were severely affected²⁴. db-thal in the carrier state showed very slight hematological changes or none at all. The homozygous state was associated with clinical severity akin to thalassemia intermedia during childhood and with gradual improvement with increasing age²⁶. In HbE-b-thal the clinical picture varies widely in severity and closely resembles thalassemia major¹⁴. HbS-D disease was associated with jaundince and anemia²⁰. 

Ngaratnam et al.³¹ described a family with elliptocytosis, thalassemia, and a variant D antigen in the Rh system. The basic anomalies in b-thal and elliptocytosis are entirely different. The corresponding genes appear to be non-allelic, and in the double heterozygous state they produce no additional unfavorable effect³¹. 

Radiological studies of 20 patients with congenital hemolytic anemias revealed that only three of the 11 cases of b-thal had bone changes³². These patients were severely affected as their clinical, hematological and HbF levels indicated. This is contrary to the experience of others³³ who found the bone changes more conspicuous in the less severe and milder forms of thalassemia major. All six patients who had HbE-b-thal showed similar changes and in two these were very extensive. In none of them was the skull involved. As reported from Indonesia³⁴ the bone changes in thalassemia major are more pronounced in other parts of the boy than in the skull. All our patients with HbE-b-thal showed bone changes, whereas in a series of 17 cases from Thailand, only one showed changes and two others had suggestive findings³⁵. Radiological changes occur in early life and tend to regress as the child grows. The propositus with HbS-D disease had aseptic necrosis of his left hip joint ²⁰. 

Anthropological Implications: Thalassemia has a widespread geographical distribution. It has been postulated that a thalassemia gene originated in Central Asia³⁶. According to Flatz et al.³⁷ HbE is characteristic of the autochthonous (Mon-Khmer) population of Southeast Asia. A high incidence of HbE (similar to that of heterozygous b-thal has been recorded in Bengal³⁸. HbE also has a high incidence in West Malaysia where, among the primitive population, the Veddah have a high frequency, as do the Senoi, the Mongoloid pygmoids of Malaysia, linking the Veddah firmly with the proto-Malays in Southeast Asia³⁹. 

The sickle cell gene is found in parts of India, East and West Africa, the West Indies, and among American Negroes. It is not confined to the colored races as it has also been found in parts of Greece³⁹. The finding of sickling among the aboriginals of South India links them with the Middle East. Sickling was first demonstrated in India among the aboriginal tribes of the Nilgiri Hills in South India, and in varying degrees among the Badagas, Irulas, and Tolas^{40, 41}. It was not found in the Dravidian populations (Tamils, Malayalees, Canarese and Telugus) of the region. According to Chatterjea⁴² it is extremely rare in the Bengalee but is particularly common in tribal populations in different parts of the country. The studies by Graff et al.¹¹, based on blood grouping and Hb typing, indicate that the Veddah are more closely related to the Tolas and the Kothas of South India than the Vedoids of India. 

HbD has a fairly wide distribution and has been reported from various parts of the Indian subcontinet with a high incidence in East Punjab. It has been reported in th Gujerati Indians domiciled in Uganda⁴³ and in the Indians in Malaysia⁴⁴. 

Factors which may effect the genetic structure of a population include mating patterns, mutation, migration and natural selection. It is likely that migration and/or natural selection led to the observed allele frequencies here. A particular beneficial aberrant gene generally occurs as the only alternative to the normal gene product. Natural selection is less likely to maintain two mutants of the gene in addition to the normal, and only rarely supports two alleles at the same gene locus. The presence of four variants at the b-globin chain locus in Sri Lanka, namely Hbs E, D, S and b-thal, is therefore unlikely to be a reflection of natural selection in single breeding populations, and suggests that their presence is more likely to be due to migrations into Sri Lanka of different groups who remained isolated from each other in the genetic sense. 

Many of the families studied revealed a high degree of consanguinity and inbreeding. The juxtaposition of the communities increase the probability of isolated cases of abnormal Hbs in different groups in some areas and also the occurrence of uncommon combinations such as HbS-D. 

There is historical evidence of several migratory movements to Sri Lanka. The early tribes, Negroids and Australoids, were evidently the first to find their way and were followed by the Mediterranean type. The most conspicuous of the number of tribal groups found here is the Veddah; a blend of Australoid and Mediterranean races⁴⁵. According to Raghavan⁴⁶, the Negro character of the Veddah is steadily diminishing. Long before the arrival of Vijaya, who led the band of settlers, there were five recognized places of Siva worship in Sri Lanka⁴⁷; Pieris¹ is of the opinion that the whole country had by then been occupied by the Dravidian races. It is likely that when Sinhalese history began, the early settlers (who, according to the Mahavamsa, came from Vanga which is now identified as Bengal in Northeast India) may have intermarried with the early Veddah inhabitants. Vijaya first married one of the original inhabitants, later discarded her, and married a princess from Madhura in South India. Another interpretation of this legend is that Vijaya was born in Ladha, but the legend confuses Ladha with Lata which is in Northwest India⁸. 

Paranavitana⁴⁸ says that Vijaya came from a region in the north of the Malaysian peninsula which is known as Lankasuka, and not from India. He also states that certain Chinese authorities claim that Vijaya came from the Malaysian peninsula. He based his information on the Parampara pustaka (Book of Lineages), said to have been written in the reign of Vikramabahu (1111-1132 A.D.) by Badra, a pupil of Sthavira, head of the Sangha of Svarnapura, Sri Vijaya. Paranavitana⁴⁸ further suggests that the period between the demise of Parakrama Bahu I and the accession of Parakrama II be known as the Malay period of Ceylon history. Another historical document, Rajavamsa Pustakaya by Maha Budharakhita, a monk who preached Buddhism in the Punjab and came to Ceylon during the time of King Mahasena (275-303 A.D.), says that the Sinhalese royal dynasty was founded by Sinhalu, the son of a merchant named Purna from Punjab. Thus, according to this document, the early settlers came from the Punjab. 

The highest incidence of the HbS gene in this country is in the Hambantota district in South Ceylon. The town, Hambantota by the sea is the eastern end of the Southern Province. The first part of the word occurs in the phrase ‘Hambankaraya’, the Moorish sailor from the sea coast of India. A fair number of Moors live in this district, and in recent years many Sinhalese have settled in that area. According to Raghavan ⁴⁶, Sir Alexander Johnstone refers to the tradition that the first Mohamedans of Ceylon are descendants of Arabs of the house of Hashim, who were driven from Arabia in the early part of the 8^th century by the tyranny of the Caliph, Abdul Malik ber Minour. Those who came to Ceylon formed eight settlements, at Trincomalee, Jaffna, Mannar, Mantota, Coodamalle, Puttalam, Colombo and Barbareen at point de Galle. The presence of Hbs S, E and thalassemia in the inhabitants of nearby Maldives has been reported⁴⁹, and migratory movements can explain the observed prevalence of abnormal Hbs in that country. 

Whether migration or natural selection is the more important agent that led to the observed allele frequency is not possible to say. The unifying factor may be malaria. A number of b-mutant chain variants appear to provide an unfavorable environment for the parasite; carriers of HbS trait are more resistant to malaria.Wherever HbE and thalassemia are quite frequent, the highest frequencies are generally correlated with endemic malaria. This is so in Sri Lanka. Livingstone⁵⁰ has suggested that the duration of these alleles can be correlated with the spread of agriculture. He attributed this to the ‘slash and burn’ agriculture which provided the enviornment for the mosquito to live. In Sri Lanka too, the highest incidence of the abnormal Hbs are found in areas where agriculture of this sort (‘chena cultivation’) has taken place. 

Conclusions: The different ethnic groups in Sri Lanka vary in the incidence of abnormal Hbs. Historical evidence indicates several migratory movements to Sri Lanka. Migration and natural selection are the most reasonable explanation for the distribution of the aberrant Hbs in Sri Lanka. Natural selection has made HbS and the thalassemias reach their highest frequencies among the populations who live in malarial environments, and the isolation and inbreeding has confined them to certain localities. It is by the intermixture resulting from several migratory movements that the Sinhalese nation arose, and the Sinhalese are a heterogeneous race. 

The author was formerly consultant physician at the General Hospital in Colombo, Sri Lanka. 

References 

1.     Pieries, P.E. Ceylon Daily News, February 22, 1919.

2.     Codrington, H.W. [In] A Short History of Ceylon, page 84, Colombo, 1939.

3.     Nicholas, C.W. and Paranavitana, S. [In] A Concise History of Ceylon, page 11, Ceylon University Press, Colombo, 1961.

4.     Dronamraju, K.R. Nature, 190: 653, 1961.

5.     Roberts, D.F., Papiha, S.S. and Abeyaratne, K.P. Am. J. Hum. Genet. 24: 181, 1972.

6.     Kirk, R.L., Lal, L.Y.C., Vos, G.H., Wickremasinghe, R.L., and Perera, D.J.B. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 20: 485, 1962.

7.     Papiha, S.S., Hum. Hered. 23: 147, 1973.

8.     Kirk, R.L. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 45: 91, 1976.

9.     Abeyratne, K.P., Premawansa, I., Rajapakse, I., Roberts, D.F. and Papiha, S.S. Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. 44: 135, 1976.

10.  Nagaratnam, N., Leelawathie, K. and Weerasinghe, W.M.T. Ind. J. Med. Res. 51:569, 1969.

11.  Graff, J.A.E., Ikin, H.W., Lehmann, H., Mourant, A.E., Perkin, D.M. and Wickremasinghe, R.L. J. Physiol. 127: 41, 1955.

12.  Lehmann, H. J. Clin. Pathol. 9: 180, 1956.

13.  de Silva, C.C., Johnxis, J.H.P., and Wickremasinghe,R.L. [In] Hemoglobinopathies in Ceylon, Abnormal Haemoglobins, edited by J.H.P.Jonxis and J.F. Delafresnaye, page 340, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, 1959.

14.  Nagaratnam, N., Wickremasinghe, R.L., Jayawickreme, U.S. and Maheson, V.S. Br. Med. J. i: 866, 1958.

15.  Blackwell, R.Q., de Silva, P.E., de Silva, W.A.S., Nagaratnam, N., Warnasuriya, N., Abeyaratne, D.D., Ogren, N.D. and Weng, M.I. Trop. Geogr. Med. 26: 214, 1974.

16.  Wickremasinghe, R.L. and Ponnusamy, N.E.L. Spolia Zeylan. 30: 149, 1963.

17.  Thambipillai, S., Seneviratne, B. and Abeyaratne, N. Proc. Cey. Assn. Adv. Sci. 13: 49, 1974.

18.  Wickremasinghe, R.L., Ikin, E.W., Mourant, A.E. and Lehmann, H. J. Roy. Anthrop. Inst. 93: 117, 1963.

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20.  Nagaratnam, N., de Silva, D.P.K.M., de Silva, S.P. and Attapattu, A.M.P. Spolia Zeylan. 33: 507, 1975.

21.  Nagaratnam, N. J. Cey. Coll. Physicians, 17: 59, 1984.

22.  de Silva, C.C. and Weeratunge, C.E.S. Arch. Dis. Child. 26: 230, 1951.

23.  Parameswaran, N. Cey. Med. J. 12: 18, 1967.

24.  Nagaratnam, N. and Sukumaran, P.K. Acta Haematol. 38: 209, 1967.

25.  Nagaratnam, N. Trans. Cey. Coll. Physicians, 1 & 2: 61, 1969.

26.  Nagaratnam, N. and Ramachandra, V. presented at the Annual Session of the Sri Lanka Medical Association, 1983.

27.  Ali, S.A. Br. J. Haematol. 19: 13, 1970.

28.  Perrine, R.P., Brown, M.J., Clegg, J.B., Weatherall, D.J. and May, A. Lancet, ii: 1163, 1972.

29.  Nagaratnam, N. Unpublished Observations.

30.  Zelkowitz, L., Towes, C., Bhoopalan, N., Yakulio, U.J. and Heller, P. Arch. Intern. Med. 129: 972, 1972.

31.  Nagaratnam, N., Siripala, K.A., Attapattu, A.M.P., Undevia, J.V. and Sukumaran, P.K. Acta Haematol. 46: 232, 1971.

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33.  Astaldi, G., Tolentino, P. and Saccheti, C. Helv. Paediatr. Acta, 6: 50, 1951.

34.  Lie-Injo, L.E. Acta Haematol. 19: 263, 1958.

35.  Wasi, P., Sookanek, M., Pastrakul. S., Na-Nakorn, S. and Suingdurong, M. Br. Med. J. ii: 31, 1967.

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38.  Chatterjea, J.B., Swarup, S.K., Ghosh, S.K. and Ray, R.N. Bull. Calcutta Sch. Trop. Med. 5: 159, 1957.

39.  Lehmann, H. and Huntsman, R.G. Man’s Haemoglobins, North-Holland Publishing Co, Amsterdam, 1966.

40.  Lehmann, H. and Cutbush, C. Br. Med. J. i: 404, 1952.

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42.  Chatterjea, J.B. Bull. Wld. Hlth. Org. 35: 837, 1956.

43.  Jacob, G.F., Lehmann, H. and Raper, A.E. East Afr. Med. J. 33: 1, 1956.

44.  Vella, F. J. Ind. Med. Assoc. 3: 207, 1959.

45.  Spittel, R.L. Vanished Trails, the Last of the Veddahs, Oxford University Press, London, 1950.

46.  Raghavan, M.D. India in Ceylonese History, Society and Culture, Asia Publishing House, New Delhi, 1964.

47.  Pieris, P.E. J. Cey. Branch Asiatic Soc. 26: 17, 1917.

48.  Paranavitana, S. [In] Artibus Asia Essay, edited by C.K.Luce, 1: 207, 1964.

49.  Nagaratnam, N., Sinnadorai, S., Hunt, C.S. and Sukumaran, P.K. Medicos, 3: 13, 1978.

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 Post script by Sachi Sri Kantha in 2003 

Some additional comments on the dubious quality of archeological research conducted by Senarat Paranavitana (1896-1972), not included by Dr.Nagaratnam, is relevant to note. Though Paranavitana is anointed with the accolade ‘Father figure of Sri Lankan archeology’ in the gullible Colombo press, that he was not without bias and blindsight in his research excavations and interpretations have been recognized since mid 1960s in Sri Lanka.  

In my opinion, Paranavitana also had a blinding fetish – on demonstrating the Sinhalese origin from Southeast Asia rather than India. Disregarding the geographical proximity of the Indian landmass, and its convincing relevance to the easy crossing of humans by catamarans [the English word itself was derived from kattu+maram in Tamil, acknowledging the pioneering marine navigational skills of Tamils] in ancient times, Paranavitana wanted to demonstrate badly that the original Sinhalese had nothing with India, especially the Tamil Nadu; thereby, he vainly tried to hide the Dravidian (especially Tamil) connection - in culture, linguistics and anthropology - which runs deep in Sinhalese. But, as one can put it, Paranavitana couldn’t change the genetic composition of the Sinhalese ‘blood’ (literally). As Dr.Nagaratnam has analyzed the medical evidence present in the hemoglobin of Sinhalese ‘blood’, it becomes apparent how much the Sinhalese as ethnics had derived from the Dravidian Tamils. 

Prof. Kingsley M. de Silva, in an appendix to chapter 6 of his book, A History of Sri Lanka [C.Hurst & Co, London, 1981, pp.77-78] has recorded that Paranavitana’s theory of Malaysian origin of the Kalinga dynasty [in Ceylon] “has been comprehensively demolished by a number of scholars”. According to de Silva, those who have rebutted Paranavitana’s views include historians and epigraphists - R.A.L.H.Gunawardene, K.Indrapala, S.Kiribamune, S.Nilakanta Sastri and W.M.Sirisena. Whereas Nilakanta Sastri and Indrapala are Tamils, Gunawardene, Kiribamune and Sirisena are Sinhalese. Among these, Sirisena’s quoted 1971 criticism on Paranavitana states, 

‘Paranavitana has claimed to have discovered some interlinear inscriptions the contents of which confirm his theories. So far no epigraphist other than Paranavitana has been able even to see any such interlinear writing.’ 

Then, Prof. K.M.de Silva has inferred as follows: ‘These interlinear inscriptions may be described as being at best a bizarre invention of a fertile but declining imagination, at worst an unscrupulous hoax deliberately devised to discomfit a set of persistent critics.’ Translated into simple English, K.M.de Silva has called the scholarship of Paranavitana as nothing but fraud. A repetitive condemnation by K.M. de Silva of Paranavitana appears again (in page 577) with reference to the book A Concise History of Ceylon [Colombo, 1961] authored by C.W.Nicholas and S.Paranavitana. de Silva had noted, [this] ‘is a study of Ancient Lanka. Its usefulness is vitiated by the authors’ proclivity for fanciful theories on some aspects of the island’s history.’