This ambush, along with the subsequent pogrom that resulted in the deaths of thousands of Tamil civilians, is generally considered the start of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

By then, the LTTE, which came to be known as the Tamil Tigers, controlled large swathes of land in the north and east of the country, running a de facto state with Prabhakaran as its leader.

[18] Peace talks eventually broke down, and the Sri Lanka Army launched a military campaign to defeat the LTTE in 2006.

Prabhakaran, who had said, "I would prefer to die in honour rather than being caught alive by the enemy",[19] was killed in a firefight with the Sri Lankan Army in May 2009.

[22] Prabhakaran's reported death and the subsequent ceasefire announcement by Selvarasa Pathmanathan, the Tigers' chief of international relations, brought an end to the armed conflict.

However, he is acknowledged to have created one of the most ruthless and sophisticated insurgencies of the modern era, with many of the tactics he pioneered influencing political militant groups globally.

[39] In the early 1970s, United Front government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike introduced the policy of standardisation which made the criteria for university admission lower for the Sinhalese than for the Tamils.

Prabhakaran, aged 15, dropped out of school and became associated with the Kuttimani-Thangathurai group (which evolved later into TELO) formed by Selvarajah Yogachandran (known as Kuttimani) and Nadarajah Thangathurai who both also hailed from Valvettithurai.

[41] Prabhakaran along with Kuttimani, Ponnuthurai Sivakumaran and other prominent rebels joined the Tamil Manavar Peravai formed by a student named Satiyaseelan in 1970.

[46] A member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party who was loyal to Sirimavo Bandaranaike, Duraiappah was seen as a traitor by the Tamil masses.

[47] Failing the attempt, Prabhakaran managed to shoot and kill Duraiappah who was on a visit at a Hindu temple at Ponnalai on 27 July 1975.

[52] With Prabhakaran being the most wanted man in Sri Lanka,[53] he had said in 1984, "I would prefer to die in honour rather than being caught alive by the enemy.

"[54] Prabhakaran held his first speech on 4 August 1987 at the Suthumalai Amman temple in front of over 100,000 people explaining the position of the LTTE.

[58][59] However, in a 2011 interview, Kumaran Pathmanathan, who was the Treasurer of LTTE and its chief arms procurer, apologized to India for Velupillai Prabhakaran's "mistake" of killing former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

In October 2010 the charges against Prabhakaran were dropped by the TADA Court after the Central Bureau of Investigation filed a report stating that he was dead and the case was closed.

"[66][67] When the Sri Lankan military rapidly advanced into the last LTTE held territory in the final days of 2008–2009 SLA Northern offensive, Prabhakaran and his top leadership retreated into Vellamullivaikkal, Mullaitivu.

[20] By noon that day, reports emerged that Prabhakaran was killed by a rocket attack while trying to flee the conflict zone in a captured ambulance and his body was badly burned.

This time, Sergeant Muthu Banda, attached to Sri Lanka Army Task Force VIII, reported to Ravipriya that a body similar to Prabhakaran's had been found.

[20] A dog tag marked 001, two pistols, a T56 rifle with telescopic sight, a satellite phone, and a canister filled with diabetic medicine were found along with the body.

[70] Prabakaran's identity was confirmed by Karuna Amman, his former confidant, and through DNA testing against genetic material from his son, who had been killed earlier by the Sri Lankan military.

[73][74][75] Despite the announcement of his death by both the Government and LTTE remnants, certain groups and media have claimed that Prabhakaran survived the war and managed to escape.

The claim was rejected by Sri Lanka which issued a statement stating that Prabhakaran's corpse had been confirmed by his close associates as well as DNA testing.

His rare interviews, his annual Tamil Eelam Heroes Day speeches and the LTTE's policies and actions can be taken as indicators of Prabhakaran's philosophy and ideology.

[95] Prabhakaran's parents, Thiruvenkadam Velupillai and Parvathi, both in their 70s, were found in the Menik Farm camp for displaced people near the town of Vavuniya.

[98][99] Prabhakaran had over the years built up the LTTE into a powerful movement running a shadow state and had acquired the status of being "Thesiya Thalaivar" (National Leader of the Land).

[100] He was called thambi, meaning "younger brother", by Eelam Tamil elders, which was also his pet name since he was the youngest in his family.

It is important to note that Prabhakaran was a controversial figure and his moniker as "Sooriyathevan" was symbolic rather than a religious or widely accepted title.