Portal:Tamils
The Tamils portal
The Tamils (/ˈtæmɪlz, ˈtɑːmɪlz/ TAM-ilz, TAH-milz), also known by their demonym Tamilar, are a Dravidian ethnic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the Indian subcontinent. Tamil is one of the longest-surviving languages, with over two thousand years of written history, dating back to the Sangam period (between 300 BCE and 300 CE). Tamils constitute about 5.7% of the Indian population and form the majority in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu and the union territory of Puducherry. They also form significant proportions of the populations in Sri Lanka (15.3%), Malaysia (7%) and Singapore (5%). Tamils have migrated world-wide since the 19th century CE and a significant population exists in South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, as well as other regions such as the Southeast Asia, Middle East, Caribbean and parts of the Western World.
Archaeological evidence from Tamil Nadu indicates a continuous history of human occupation for more than 3,800 years. In the Sangam period, Tamilakam was ruled by the Three Crowned Kings of the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas. Smaller Velir kings and chieftains ruled certain territories and maintained relationship with the larger kingdoms. Urbanisation and mercantile activity developed along the coasts during the later Sangam period with the Tamils influencing the regional trade in the Indian Ocean region. Artifacts obtained from excavations indicate the presence of early trade relations with the Romans. The major kingdoms to rule the region later were the Pallavas (3rd–9th century CE), and the Vijayanagara Empire (14th–17th century CE). The island of Sri Lanka often saw attacks from the Indian mainland with the Cholas establishing their influence across the island and across several areas in Southeast Asia in the 10th century CE. This led to the spread of Tamil influence and contributed to the cultural Indianisation of the region. Scripts brought by Tamil traders like the Grantha and Pallava scripts, induced the development of many Southeast Asian scripts. The Jaffna Kingdom later controlled the Tamil territory in the north of the Sri Lanka from 13th to 17th century CE. European colonization began in the 17th century CE, and continued for two centuries until the middle of the 20th century. (Full article...) Selected article -The anti-Hindi agitations in Tamil Nadu have been ongoing intermittently in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu (formerly Madras State and part of Madras Presidency) since the early 20th century. The agitations involve several mass protests, riots, student and political movements in Tamil Nadu concerning the official status of Hindi in the state. The first agitation was launched in 1937, to protest the introduction of compulsory teaching of Hindi in the schools of Madras Presidency by the first Indian National Congress (INC) government led by C. Rajagopalachari. This faced immediate opposition by Soma Sundara Bharathiyar, E. V. Ramasamy (later known as 'Periyar') and the opposition Justice Party. The three-year-long agitation was multifaceted and involved fasts, conferences, marches, picketing and protests. Government crackdown resulted in the deaths of two protesters and the arrests of 1,198 persons (including women and children). After the government resigned in 1939, the mandatory Hindi education was withdrawn in 1940. After India's independence from the United Kingdom, the adoption of an official language for the (to be) Republic was a hotly debated issue during the framing of the Indian Constitution. Succeeding an exhaustive and divisive debate, Hindi was adopted as the official language of India with English continuing as an associate official language for a pre-set period of 15 years. After the new Constitution came into effect on 26 January 1950, many non-Hindi States opposed efforts by the Union government to make Hindi the sole official language after 26 January 1965. (Full article...) General imagesSelected biography -Ilaiyaraaja (born Gnanathesigan) is an Indian musician, composer, arranger, conductor, orchestrator, multi-instrumentalist, lyricist and playback singer popular for his works in Indian cinema, predominantly in Tamil in addition to Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi films. Regarded as one of the most prolific composers, in a career spanning over forty-nine years, he has composed over 5000 songs, provided film scores for nearly 1000 feature films in nine languages, and performed in over 20,000 concerts. He was one of the earliest Indian film composers to use Western classical music harmonies and string arrangements in Indian film music. He is nicknamed "Isaignani" (the musical sage) and is often referred to as "Maestro", the title conferred to him by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, London. In 1986, he became the first Indian composer to record a soundtrack with computer for the film Vikram. In 2013, when CNN-IBN conducted a poll to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema, Ilaiyaraaja secured 49% of the vote and was adjudged the country's greatest music composer. In 2025, he became the first-ever Asian, as well as Indian film composer to compose, record, and perform live a full Western classical symphony in London. He also composed and orchestrated Thiruvasagam in Symphony (2006) - the first Indian oratorio. (Full article...) CategoriesTopicsTamil People Countrywide: India • Sri Lanka • Canada • Malaysia • Singapore • South Africa • England Related Ethnic Groups: Brahui • Gond • Kannadiga • Khonds • Kodava • Oraon • Malayali • Telugus • Tuluvas Related indigenous Groups: Badagas • Toda • Kuruba
See also: List of Tamil people, Tamil script, Tamil Script Code for Information Interchange Related portalsWikiProjectsThings to do
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