The unspoiled children of nature Sri Lanka's aboriginal inhabitants, the Veddhas, are truly a fascinating people. Descended from the country's stone age inhabitants, these primitive folk cling tenaciously to their age-old life-style by living off the hunt and gathering the fruit of the land, despite the ongoing process of industrialization and modernization. The Veddhas are proud of their distinct sylvan heritage and call themselves Vanniyalette, Those of the forest .
The term Veddha by which their Sinhalese neighbours denote them, comes from the Sanskrit Vyadha meaning hunter with bow and arrow. The pure Veddhas, unlike the Sinhalese who speak an Indo-Aryan language and claim Aryan descent, are related to the Austro-Asiatic peoples found scattered today in many parts of southern Asia. These include the aboriginal tribes of Chota Nagpur in eastern India such as the Hos and Birhors, the Sakai of Malaysia, the Kubu of Indonesia and the Australian aborigines.