Greater Tamil Nadu is an

irredentist Irredentism is usually understood as a desire that one state annexes a territory of a neighboring state. This desire is motivated by ethnic reasons (because the population of the territory is ethnically similar to the population of the parent st ...

and

nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: Th ...

concept of

Tamil nationalism Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses ...

that centers on forming a national homeland for the

Tamils The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...

by merging the Tamil speaking areas of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

proper (the "mainland") and Sri Lanka (the "island"). However such areas also include not only Tamils but also many other ethnic groups like

Malayalis The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. They are predomin ...

Kannadigas The Kannada people or Kannadigaru IAST">nowiki/>IAST:_Kannadadavaru_or_Kannadigas_(English_term).html" ;"title="IAST.html" ;"title="nowiki/>IAST">nowiki/>IAST: Kannadadavaru or Kannadigas (English term)">IAST.html" ;"title="nowiki/>IAST">nowik ...

Telugus Telugu people ( te, తెలుగువారు, Teluguvāru), or Telugus, or Telugu vaaru, are the largest of the four major Dravidian ethnolinguistic groups in terms of population. Telugus are native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh ...

and

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

. Greater Tamil Nadu was proposed by various Tamil groups such as Naam Tamilar led by S. P. Adithanar in 1958 and the Tamil Nadu Liberation Front (TNLF) and the Tamil National Retrieval Troops (TNRT) in the late-1980s.''Dynamics of Tamil Nadu Politics in Sri Lankan Ethnicity (2003)'' by Ganapathy Palanithurai, K. Mohanasundaram, p.44

Colonial Background

During the Colonial period, the British conquered Tamil territories and ends Tamil sovereignty on both side of

Palk Strait The Palk Strait ( ta, பாக்கு நீரிணை ''Pākku Nīriṇai'', si, පෝක් සමුද්‍ර සන්ධිය ''Pok Samudra Sandhiya'') is a strait between the Tamil Nadu state of India and the Jaffna Distri ...

. The Tamil areas on mainland became Madras Presidency and part of

British India The provinces of India, earlier presidencies of British India and still earlier, presidency towns, were the administrative divisions of British governance on the Indian subcontinent. Collectively, they have been called British India. In one ...

. The Tamil areas on island were merged with Sinhalese areas to form British Ceylon. The British colonist operated

and British Ceylon as separate colonies, laying so the foundations for two nations. After Sri Lanka and India achieved independence, Tamil peoples were separated by newly established national borders and became citizens of the respective nations.

References

Irredentism Tamil nationalism Nationalist movements in Sri Lanka India–Sri Lanka relations {{SriLanka-stub

Colonial Background

See also

References