[6] Pandara Vanniyan married Kumarasinghe Maha Vanniya's family of present day Nuwara Wewa, who held the office of residential Governor and Custodian of the formerly Tamil area.

Vanniar chieftain, Pandara Vanniyan, appeared to have paid some tribute to the more powerful rulers in the region at that time, who had an independent spirit and a distinct culture and dialect of their own.

Furthermore, there is information on the Konesar Kalvettu and in the old 'Vya' song of sixty Vanniar coming from Madurai in South India, accompanying the royal bride for the king at Anuradhapura in the first century BC.

It has been noted that "The Dutch met nowhere a more determined resistance than from one of the native princesses, the Vannichi (widow) Maria Sembatte, whom they [carried] away as prisoner, and [detained] in captivity in the Fort of Colombo."

[7] Pandara Vannian captured the British cannons and overran the whole of the northern districts (Vanni), highlighting his boldness and ability to penetrate as far as Elephant Pass and into the Jaffna Peninsula.

From conventional warfare, Pandara Vannian resorted to guerrilla tactics, but was finally defeated by Lt. von Driberg when the (recently arrived) British organized a three-pronged attack from Jaffna, Mannar and Trincomalee in 1803.

[10] A granite stone monument commemorating Vanniyan's defeat was erected in the village Katsilaimadu in Vanni; it was placed in tribute by Lt. von Driberg, who had fought him in battle.

Tamil nationalists valourise Vanniyan as an epic hero, and his character has recently been appropriated and measured against Vellupillai Prabhakaran, the leader of the now dismantled LTTE.

The novel describes the mission of a friend of Veerapandiya Kattabomman (the last Poligar who resisted British rule in Tamil Nadu) to the Wanni jungles in Sri Lanka.

This part of the novel echoes the meeting of V. Gopalsamy MP (popularly known as Vaiko) and Vellupillai Prabhakaran (leader of the defunct LTTE) in the dense jungles of Wanni.