Tamil People

[Guest guest]

In India there is a great gap of knowledge between North and South.

People in North have little knowledge of people of south India. The

History books in North glorify the Muslim Rulers and pays scant

attention to South Indian traditions.

Here is a glimpse of out traditions.

Tamil People

The Tamil people are an ethnic group from Indian subcontinent with a

recorded history going back more than two millennia. The oldest Tamil

communities are those of southern India and northeastern Sri Lanka.

There are also a number of Tamil emigrant communities scattered around

the world, especially in central Sri Lanka, Malaysia, South Africa and

Singapore, with more recent emigrants found in Australia, Canada, the

United States, and Europe. There are an estimated 74 million Tamils

around the world.

Unlike many ethnic groups, Tamils were not governed by a single

political entity during most of their history; Tamilakam, the

traditional name for the Tamil lands, was politically united for a

brief period only between the 9th and 12th centuries under the Chola

Empire. The Tamil identity is primarily linguistic, with Tamils being

those whose first language is Tamil. In recent times, however, the

definition has been broadened to also include emigrants of Tamil

descent who maintain Tamil cultural traditions, even if they no longer

regularly speak the language.

Tamils are ethnically, linguistically and culturally related to the

other Dravidian peoples of Indian subcontinent.

History

The pre-classical period

The origins of the Tamil people, like those of the other Dravidian

peoples, are unknown, although genetic and archaeological evidence

suggest a possible migration into India around 6000 BCE.. Connections

with the Elamite people of ancient Iran have been suggested, but there

is little evidence to support this view. It has also been suggested

that the people of the Indus Valley Civilization were either Tamil or

another Dravidian people, but this theory is deeply controversial and

there is at present no academic consensus on the identity of the Indus

people.

The earliest clear evidence of the presence of the Tamil people in

modern Tamil Nadu are the megalithic urn burials, dating from around

1000 BCE and onwards, which have been discovered at various places in

Tamil Nadu, notably in Adichanallur. These burials conform to the

descriptions of funerals in classical Tamil literature in a number of

details, and appear to be concrete evidence of the existence of Tamils

in southern India during that period. Recent excavations at these

sites have also provided samples of early Tamil writing, dating back

to at least 500

The classical period

Around the third century BCE onwards, three royal dynasties—the

Cholas, the Cheras and the Pandyas rose to dominate the ancient Tamil

country. Each of these dynasties had its own realm within the

Tamil-speaking region. Classical literature and contemporary

inscriptions also describe a number of Velirs, or minor chieftains,

who collectively ruled over large parts of central Tamil Nadu. Wars

between the kings and the chieftains were frequent, as were wars with

ancient Sri Lanka. These wars appear to have been fought to assert

hegemony and demand tribute, rather than to subjugate and annex those

territories. The kings and chieftains were patrons of the arts, and a

significant volume of literature exists from this period. The

literature shows that many of the cultural practices that are

considered peculiarly Tamil date back to the classical period.

Agriculture was important during this period, and there is evidence

that irrigation networks were built. The economy, however, was

centered around trade, both internal and external. There is evidence

of significant contact with the ancient Rome. Large hoards of Roman

coins and evidence of the presence of Roman traders have been

discovered at Karur and Arikamedu. There is also evidence that at

least two embassies were sent to the Roman Emperor Augustus by Pandya

kings. Potsherds with Tamil writing have also been found in

excavations on the Red Sea, suggesting the presence of Tamil merchants

there An anonymous 1st century traveler's account written in Greek,

Periplus Maris Erytraei, describes the ports of the Pandya and Chera

kingdoms and the trade with them in substantial detail. Perplus also

indicates that the chief exports of the ancient Tamils were pepper,

malabathrum, pearls, ivory, silk, spikenard, diamonds, sapphires, and

tortoiseshell.

The classical period ended around the fourth century CE with invasions

by Kalabhra, referred to as the kalappirar in Tamil literature and

inscriptions. These invaders are described as evil kings and

barbarians coming from lands to the north of the Tamil country. This

period, commonly referred to as the dark age of the Tamil country,

ended with the rise of the Pallava dynasty.

The imperial and post-imperial periods

Although the Pallava records are found from the third century, they

did not rise to prominence as an imperial dynasty until the sixth

century. The dynasty does not appear to have been Tamil in origin

although they rapidly adopted Tamil ways and the Tamil language. The

Pallavas sought to model themselves after great northern dynasties

such as the Mauryas and Guptas. They therefore transformed the

institution of the kingship into an imperial one, and sought to bring

vast amounts of territory under their direct rule. The Pallavas were

initially Buddhists, but later converted to Hinduism. They encouraged

the Bhakti movement, which had risen to counter the growing influence

of Jainism and Buddhism. The Pallavas pioneered building large, ornate

temples in stone which formed the basis of the Dravidian temple

architecture.

The Pallava dynasty was overthrown in the 9th century by the resurgent

Cholas and Pandyas. The Cholas become dominant in the 10th century and

established an empire covering most of southern India and Sri Lanka.

The empire had strong trading links with China and Southeast Asia. The

Cholas navy conquered the south Asian kingdom of Sri Vijaya in Sumatra

and went on as far as Thailand and Burma. Chola power declined in the

12th and 13th centuries, and the Pandya dynasty enjoyed a brief period

of resurgence thereafter, but repeated Muslim invasions from the 15th

century onwards placed a huge strain on the empire's resources, and

the dynasty came to an end in the 16th century.

The western Tamil lands became increasingly politically distinct from

the rest of the Tamil lands after the Chola and Pandya empires lost

control over them in the 13th century. They developed their own

distinct language and literature, which increasingly grew apart from

Tamil, evolving into the modern Malayalam language by the 15th century.

No major empires arose thereafter, and Tamil Nadu was for a while

ruled by a number of different local chiefs, such as the Nayaks of the

present-day Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh regions. From the 17th

century onwards, European powers began establishing settlements and

trading outposts in the region. A number of battles were fought

between the British, French and Danish in the 18th century, and by the

end of the 18th century most of Tamil Nadu was under British rule.

Tamils in Sri Lanka

There is little consensus on the history of the Tamil-speaking parts

of Sri Lanka prior to the Chola period. Some Sinhala historians argue

that there was no organized Tamil presence in Sri Lanka until the

invasions from southern India in the 7th century, whereas many Tamil

historians contend that Tamils are the original inhabitants of the

island.

The historical evidence is not conclusive either way. A few poems from

the Sangam period are attributed to a poet called

" P & #363;tan & #818;r & #818;evan & #818; & #257;r from

& #299;l & #818;am. " Il & #818;am, also spelled Eelam, is an old Tamil name for Sri

Lanka,

and this is generally used by Tamils as evidence that there were Tamil

settlements in Sri Lanka at that time. Sinhalese historians, however,

do not accept that and claim that there is no archaeological evidence

of Tamil settlement in Sri Lanka during the Sangam period. Accounts

from that period, whilst not offering conclusive evidence either way,

demonstrate that Tamils fought wars against the Sinhalese kingdoms and

occasionally ruled over parts of Sri Lanka, and served as counselors

to Lankan kings from a fairly early date. It is, however, unclear

whether these Tamils came from India or were native to Sri Lanka.

The historical record does establish that the Tamil kingdoms of India

were closely involved in Sri Lankan affairs from a very early date.

There is evidence of Tamil traders in Anuradhapura from an early date.

Tamil adventurers invaded the island as far back as 75 BCE From the

seventh century onwards, the kingdoms of Tamil Nadu played a

significant role in Sri Lankan politics, and there is concrete

evidence of Tamil settlements in Sri Lanka during that period. Tamil

wars against Sri Lanka culminated in the Chola annexation of the

island in the 10th century, which lasted until the latter half of the

eleventh century.

The decline of Chola power in Sri Lanka was followed by the

re-establishment of the Polonnaruwa monarchy in the late eleventh

century. In 1215, the Arya Chakaravarthi dynasty established an

independent Jaffna kingdom in the Jaffna peninsula and parts of

northern Sri Lanka. The Arya Chakaravarthi expansion into the south

was halted by Alagakkonara, a Tamil in the service of the Sinhalese

monarch. Alagakkonara built a fortress at Kotte, and held the Arya

Chakravarthi army there while he defeated the invading fleet at

Panadura. A descendent of Alagakkonara (Tamil-Alagakonar) later became

King of the Sinhalese, but this line was deposed by the Ming admiral

Cheng Ho (Zheng He) in 1409.

The Arya Chakaravarthi dynasty ruled over large parts of northeast Sri

Lanka until 1619, when it was conquered by the Portuguese. The coastal

areas of the island were then taken by the Dutch, and in 1796 these

became part of the British Empire.

The modern period

The British colonists consolidated the Tamil territory in southern

India into the Madras Presidency, which was integrated into British

India. Similarly, the Tamil parts of Sri Lanka were joined with the

other regions of the island in 1802 to form the Ceylon colony. They

remained in political union with India and Sri Lanka after their

independence, in 1947 and 1948 respectively.

When India became independent in 1947, Madras Presidency became the

Madras State, comprised of present-day Tamil Nadu, coastal Andhra

Pradesh, northern Kerala, and the southwest coast of Karnataka. The

state was subsequently divided up along linguistic lines. In 1953 the

northern districts formed Andhra Pradesh. Under the States

Reorganization Act in 1956, Madras State lost its western coastal

districts. The Bellary and South Kanara districts were ceded to Mysore

state, and Kerala was formed from the Malabar district and the former

princely states of Travancore and Cochin. In 1968, Madras State was

renamed Tamil Nadu.

There was some initial demand for an independent Tamil state following

the adoption of the federal system. However, the Indian constitution

in practice granted significant autonomy to the states, and, protests

by Tamils in 1963 led to the government adopting a new policy called

the " three language formula " . This has led to Tamils in India becoming

increasingly satisfied with the federal arrangement, and there is very

little support for secession or independence today.

In Sri Lanka, however, the unitary arrangement led to the slow growth

of a feeling amongst Tamils that they were being discriminated against

by the Sinhalese majority. This resulted in a demand for federalism,

which in the 1970s grew into a movement for an autonomous Tamil

country. The situation deteriorated into civil war in the early 1980s.

A ceasefire in effect since 2002 broke down in August, 2006 amid

shelling and bombing from both sides