Editing Vedda (section)

{{Short description|Indigenous people in Sri Lanka}}
{{About||the language|Vedda language|articles with similar titles|Veda (disambiguation)}}
{{Distinguish|Vedic people|Venda people}}
{{cleanup reorganize|date=March 2017}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}
{{Infobox ethnic group
| group = Vedda
| image = [[File:Vedda man and child, Sri Lanka.jpg|270px]]
| image_caption = Vedda man and child.
| population = Between '''2,500 - 6,600'''<ref name="encyclopedia.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/places/asia/sri-lankan-political-geography/vedda|title=Vedda &#124; Encyclopedia.com|website=www.encyclopedia.com|accessdate=26 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.ethnologue.com/show_language.asp?code=ved|title = Veddah}}</ref><br /> (less than 0.20% of the population) (2001)<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Portuguese Cultural Imprint on Sri Lanka |last=Jayasuriya |first=S. de Silva |publisher=Lusotopie 2000  |year=2000 |pages=255}}</ref>
| regions = Sri Lanka {{nbsp|6}} 2,500 (2002)
| region1 = [[Badulla District]]
| pop1 = 
| ref1 = 
| region2 = [[Polonnaruwa District]]
| languages = [[Vedda language|Vedda]], [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]], [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects|Sri Lankan Tamil]]
| religions = Traditional animistic beliefs with [[Buddhism]], [[Hinduism]]<ref name="encyclopedia.com"/>
| related = [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]], [[Tamil people|Tamils]]
| footnotes = 
| native_name = 
| native_name_lang = 
}}

The '''Vedda''' ({{langx|si|වැද්දා}} {{IPA|si|ˈvædːaː|}}; {{langx|ta|வேடர்}} (''Vēḍar'')), or '''Wanniyalaeto''',<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.shh.mpg.de/906627/forest-reliance-sri-lanka|title=Evidence for persistent forest reliance by Indigenous peoples in historical Sri Lanka|website=www.shh.mpg.de|language=en|access-date=2020-02-08}}</ref> are a minority [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]] group of people in [[Sri Lanka]] who, among other sub-communities such as [[Coast Veddas]], [[Anuradhapura Veddas]] and Bintenne Veddas,<ref name=":0"/> are accorded indigenous status. The Vedda minority in Sri Lanka may become completely assimilated.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://chandlersfordtoday.co.uk/sri-lanka-ancient-vedda-tribe-becoming-extinct/ |title = Vedda tribe becoming extinct, Chandler's Ford Today|date = 2014-09-06}}</ref> Most speak [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] instead of their indigenous languages, which are nearing extinction. It has been hypothesized that the Vedda were probably the earliest inhabitants of [[Sri Lanka]] and have lived on the island since before the arrival of other groups from the Indian mainland.<ref>{{Cite web | url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140126/plus/race-in-sri-lanka-what-genetic-evidence-tells-us-80911.html |title = Race in Sri Lanka: What genetic evidence tells us &#124; the Sundaytimes Sri Lanka}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |doi = 10.1038/jhg.2013.112|pmid = 24196378|title = Mitochondrial DNA history of Sri Lankan ethnic people: Their relations within the island and with the Indian subcontinental populations|journal = Journal of Human Genetics|volume = 59|issue = 1|pages = 28–36|year = 2014|last1 = Ranaweera|first1 = Lanka|last2 = Kaewsutthi|first2 = Supannee|last3 = Win Tun|first3 = Aung|last4 = Boonyarit|first4 = Hathaichanoke|last5 = Poolsuwan|first5 = Samerchai|last6 = Lertrit|first6 = Patcharee|s2cid = 41185629|doi-access = free}}</ref>

A 2024 genetics study using high-resolution [[Autosome|autosomal]] and [[Mitochondrial DNA]] found that the Veddas were genetically closer to the [[Santhal people|Santhal]], [[Juang people|Juang]], [[Irula people|Irula]] and [[Paniya people|Paniya]] tribes (as well as the [[Pallar]] caste) of India, than to the [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] and [[Sri Lankan Tamils]].<ref name="WeliVedda">{{cite journal |last1=Welikala |first1=Anjana |last2=Desai |first2=Shailesh |last3=Pratap Singh |first3=Prajjval |last4=Fernando |first4=Amali |last5=Thangaraj |first5=Kumarasamy |last6=van Driem |first6=George |last7=Adikari |first7=Gamini |last8=Tennekoon |first8=Kamani |last9=Chaubey |first9=Gyaneshwer |last10=Ranasinghe |first10=Ruwandi |title=The genetic identity of the Vedda: A language isolate of South Asia |journal=Mitochondrion |date=May 2024 |volume=76 |pages=101884 |doi=10.1016/j.mito.2024.101884 |pmid=38626841 }}</ref> The study concluded that the Veddas were "a genetically drifted group with limited gene flow from neighbouring Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil populations" and that the maternal [[Haplogroup M (mtDNA)|Haplogroup M]] mediated their initial settlement of the island.<ref name="WeliVedda"/> Other studies have shown the Vedda share genetic components with the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils as well as genetic affinity with the Irula, Kota and Mulla Kuruma of India, the [[Semai people|Semai]] and [[Senoi]] of Malaysia and tribal groups of [[Upper Myanmar]].<ref name="WeliVedda"/>

The Ratnapura District, which is part of the [[Sabaragamuwa Province]], is known to have been inhabited by the Veddas in the distant past. This has been shown by scholars like Nandadeva Wijesekera. The very name ''Sabaragamuwa'' is believed to have meant the village of the ''Sabaras'' or "forest barbarians". Place-names such as ''Vedda-gala'' (Vedda Rock), ''Vedda-ela'' (Vedda Canal) and ''Vedi-Kanda'' (Vedda Mountain) in the Ratnapura District also bear testimony to this. As Wijesekera observes, a strong Vedda element is discernible in the population of ''Vedda-gala'' and its environs.