Madapalli (Tamil: மடைப்பள்ளி, romanized: Maṭaippaḷḷi) is a caste found mainly in the northern part of Sri Lanka.
[1] Found today as a subcaste of the Sri Lankan Vellalar, the Madapallis were considered an independent caste until recently.
[9] After the fall of Jaffna Kingdom, sections of the Madapallis were converted to Christianity and drew closer to power under the Portuguese colonizers in the 16th century.
To counterbalance the growing power of the Vellalars, the Madapallis were removed from earlier suspicion and were equally appointed to the administrative office by the Dutch in the 1690s.
[13] Larger numbers of the Ceylonese Mudaliyars were drawn from the Madapallis who were constantly in rivalry with the Vellalars for political power.