The Tamils can be defined as people, having Tamil as their mother tongue. Tamil language is a member of the Dravidian/ South Indian family of languages. The four southernmost states of India-Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, and Andra Pradesh-are predominantly linguistically Dravidian, each state carved out on the basis of predominance of the four major Dravidian languages. The Dravidian languages are mother tongues of about a quarter of the Indian population. South India and Sri Lanka have been homelands of the Tamils, from the beginning of recorded history. The region, roughly covered by the modern states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala are identified as ancient tamizakam up to about 10th century AD. Even though some evidence exists for Tamil influence, and Tamil presence in Sri Lanka is noticeable from very early times, strong Tamil presence and influence in Sri Lanka, from about the 10th century. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Tamils migrated to some British colonies in search of employment and thus there are substantial Tamil populations in Malaysia, Singapore, Mauritius, Fiji and South Africa.
Hinduism, Christianity and Islam are the major religions among the Tamils in that order: Hindus are counted as forming more than 80% of the population and the other religions are reckoned to be less than 20% of the population. The Tamil Christians include both Roman Catholics as well as the Protestants. The Muslims are mainly Sunni. Literary, epigraphically and archaeological sources exist for the study of religious traditions of the Tamils for about 2000 years. Tamil is one of the two classical languages of India, along with Sanskrit. There are Tamil literary texts and Tamil inscriptions, dated roughly, round about the beginning of the Christian era. As in most of ancient and medieval Indian texts, controversies exist on the exact dates of early Tamil records and documents. These volumes provide an extended introduction to the Tamils by discussing all important facets that make them so vibrant a society. The volumes arranged thematically provide a glimpse into their History, Culture, Politics, Language and Literature, the social progress. |
