High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! The Wanniyala-Aetto, or "forest people", more commonly known as Veddas or Veddahs, are an indigenous people of Sri Lanka, an island nation in the Indian Ocean; they were never numerous and are now few in number. Human remains in Sri Lanka dating from as early as 18,000 BC show a genetic continuum with present-day Veddas. According to the ancient chronicle of Sinhalese royalty, the Mahavansa , the Pulindas (Veddhas) are descended from Prince Vijaya (6th-5th century BC), the founding father of the Sinhalese nation, through Kuveni, a woman of the "Yakkha" clan whom he had espoused.