There is an 18th-century palm-leaf manuscript, titled Mattakkallappu Purva Carittiram, recording a group of people bearing the title of Pataiyatchi during the medieval period in Batticaloa. According to anthropologist Dennis B. McGilvray, the document is "a bewildering list of royal names, events and social groups which has yet to be systematically corroborated" but he notes that the title is "often associated with the Palli or Vanniyar caste of Tamilnadu". These people were present in the Vanni region of Sri Lanka around the 13th century until displaced by the Mukkuvars but whether they constituted an actual caste or a line of chiefs is uncertain because of the ambiguity of the document's use of the word kulam, which can mean either of those things.[1][a]
Information derived from data produced by the Election Commission of India[2] except where noted. Reserved constituencies for candidates from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC / ST) were defined in 2007 by the Delimitation Commission.[3]