The Tamils ( ), also known by their
endonym
An endonym (also known as autonym ) is a common, name for a group of people, individual person, geographical place, language, or dialect, meaning that it is used inside a particular group or linguistic community to identify or designate them ...
Tamilar, are a
Dravidian ethnic group
An ethnicity or ethnic group is a group of people with shared attributes, which they collectively believe to have, and long-term endogamy. Ethnicities share attributes like language, culture, common sets of ancestry, traditions, society, re ...
who natively speak the
Tamil language
Tamil (, , , also written as ''Tamizhil'' according to linguistic pronunciation) is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the longest-surviving classical languages in the world,. "Tamil is one of ...
and trace their ancestry mainly to the southern part of the
Indian subcontinent
The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...
. The Tamil language is one of the longest-surviving
classical languages, with over two thousand years of
written history, dating back to the
Sangam period
The Sangam literature ( Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' ( Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ''), connote ...
(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
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
and the
union territory
Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...
of
Puducherry. They also form significant proportions of the populations in
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
(15.3%),
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
(7%) and
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
(5%). Tamils have migrated world-wide since the 19th century CE and a significant population exists in
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
,
Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
, as well as other regions such as the
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...
,
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
,
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
and parts of the
Western World
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...
.
Archaeological evidence from Tamil Nadu indicates a continuous history of human occupation for more than 3,800 years. In the Sangam period,
Tamilakam
Tamilakam () also known as ancient Tamil country as was the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, La ...
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
The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...
(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
The Jaffna kingdom (, ; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally t ...
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.
Due to its long history, the Tamil culture has seen multiple influences over the years and have developed diversely. The Tamil visual art consists of a distinct
style of architecture, sculpture and other art forms. Tamil sculpture ranges from stone sculptures in temples, to detailed
bronze icons. The ancient Tamil country had its own system of music called
Tamil Pannisai. Tamil performing arts include the theatre form
Koothu,
puppetry Bommalattam,
classical dance Bharatanatyam
''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...
, and various
other traditional dance forms.
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
is the major religion followed by the Tamils and the religious practices include the veneration of various
village deities and
ancient Tamil gods. A smaller number are also
Christians
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...
and
Muslims
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
, and a small percentage follow
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
and
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
.
Tamil cuisine
Tamil cuisine is a generic term used to describe culinary practices among Tamil language, Tamil-speaking populations, originating from Southern India and neighboring Sri Lanka. It encompasses several distinct styles of cuisine or cooking reper ...
consist of various
vegetarian
Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the Eating, consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, insects as food, insects, and the flesh of any other animal). It may also include abstaining from eating all by-products of animal slau ...
and
meat
Meat is animal Tissue (biology), tissue, often muscle, that is eaten as food. Humans have hunted and farmed other animals for meat since prehistory. The Neolithic Revolution allowed the domestication of vertebrates, including chickens, sheep, ...
items, usually spiced with
locally available spices. Historian
Michael Wood called the Tamils the last surviving classical civilization on Earth, because the Tamils have preserved substantial elements of their past regarding belief, culture, music, and literature despite the influence of
globalization
Globalization is the process of increasing interdependence and integration among the economies, markets, societies, and cultures of different countries worldwide. This is made possible by the reduction of barriers to international trade, th ...
.
Etymology
''Tamil'' is derived from the name of the
language
Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
. The people are referred to as in Tamil language, which is etymologically linked to the name of the language. The
origin and precise etymology of the word Tamil is unclear with multiple theories attested to it.
Kamil Zvelebil suggests that the term ''tamiz'' might have been derived from ''tam'' meaning "self" and "-iz" having the connotation of "unfolding sound". Alternatively, he suggests a derivation of ''tamiz'' < ''tam-iz'' < ''*tav-iz'' < ''*tak-iz'', meaning "the proper process (of speaking)".
Franklin Southworth suggests that the name comes from ''tam-miz'' > ''tam-iz'' meaning "self-speak", or "our own speech".
It is unknown whether the term ''Tamila'' and its equivalents in
Prakrit such as ''Damela'', ''Damila'', or ''Tamira'' was first used as a self designation or by outsiders. The
Hathigumpha inscription from
Udayagiri in
Eastern India dated to the second century BCE, describes a ''T
mira samghata'' (Confederacy of Tamil rulers), which was in existence for the previous 113 years. Epigraphical evidence from the second century BCE mentioning ''Damela'' or ''Dameda'' from
ancient Sri Lanka have been found. In the
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
Jataka
The ''Jātaka'' (Sanskrit for "Birth-Related" or "Birth Stories") are a voluminous body of literature native to the Indian subcontinent which mainly concern the previous births of Gautama Buddha in both human and animal form. Jataka stories we ...
texts, there is a mention of a ''Damila-rattha'' (Tamil dynasty).
Greek historian
Strabo
Strabo''Strabo'' (meaning "squinty", as in strabismus) was a term employed by the Romans for anyone whose eyes were distorted or deformed. The father of Pompey was called "Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo, Pompeius Strabo". A native of Sicily so clear-si ...
(first century BCE) mentions that the
Roman Emperor Augustus
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (), was the founder of the Roman Empire, who reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in A ...
received an ambassador from ''Pandyan of Dramira''.
An inscription from
Amaravati
Amaravati ( , Telugu language, Telugu: ) is the capital city of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is located in Guntur district on the right bank of the Krishna River, southwest of Vijayawada. The city derives its name from the nearby his ...
dated to third century CE refers to a ''Dhamila-vaniya'' (Tamil trader).
History
In India
Pre-historic period (before 4th century BCE)
Archaeological evidence suggests the region was first inhabited by hominids over 400 millennia ago. Artifacts recovered in
Adichanallur by the
Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) indicate
megalithic urn burials, dating from back to 1500 BCE., which are also described in early Tamil literature.
Neolithic
The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...
celts
The Celts ( , see Names of the Celts#Pronunciation, pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples ( ) were a collection of Indo-European languages, Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient Indo-European people, reached the apoge ...
with the
Indus script dated between 15th and 20th century BCE indicate the use of early
Harappan language. Excavations at
Keezhadi have revealed a large urban settlement, with the earliest artefact dated to 580 BCE, during the time of urbanization in the
Indo-Gangetic plain
The Indo-Gangetic Plain, also known as the Northern Plain or North Indian River Plain, is a fertile plain spanning across the northern and north-eastern part of the Indian subcontinent. It encompasses North India, northern and East India, easte ...
. Further epigraphical inscriptions found at Adichanallur use
Tamil Brahmi, a rudimentary script dated to 5th century BCE. Potsherds uncovered from Keeladi indicate a script which might be a transition between the Indus Valley script and Tamil Brahmi script used later.
Sangam period (3rd century BCE–3rd century CE)

The
Sangam period
The Sangam literature ( Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' ( Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cāṉṟōr ceyyuḷ''), connote ...
lasted from 3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE with the main source of history during the period coming from the various
Sangam literature
The Sangam literature (Tamil language, Tamil: சங்க இலக்கியம், ''caṅka ilakkiyam''), historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones' (Tamil language, Tamil: சான்றோர் செய்யுள், ''Cā ...
. Ancient
Tamilakam
Tamilakam () also known as ancient Tamil country as was the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, La ...
was ruled by a
triumvirate
A triumvirate () or a triarchy is a political institution ruled or dominated by three individuals, known as triumvirs (). The arrangement can be formal or informal. Though the three leaders in a triumvirate are notionally equal, the actual distr ...
of monarchical states,
Cheras,
Cholas and
Pandyas. These kings are referred to as ''Vāṉpukaḻ Mūvar'' (Three glorified by heaven) in the Sangam literature. The Cheras controlled the western part of Tamilkam, the Pandyas controlled the south, and the Cholas had their base in the
Kaveri delta. They are mentioned in the inscriptions from the
Mauryan Empire dated to third century BCE.
Kalinga inscriptions from the second century BCE refers to a confederacy of the Tamil kingdoms. The three kings called ''Vendhar'' ruled over several hill tribes headed by the ''
Velir'' chiefs and settlements headed by clan chiefs called ''Kizhar''. The rulers of smaller territories were referred to as ''Kurunilamannar'', with ''
Purananuru'' mentioning the names of many such chieftains.
The Sangam period rulers patronized multiple religions including
vedic religion,
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
and sponsored some of the earliest Tamil literature with the oldest surviving work being
Tolkāppiyam, a book of Tamil grammar. ''Purananuru'' describes the public life and various unique cultural practices that existed during the period. The text talks about the
Vedic Sacrifices performed by the kings as described in the
Vedas
FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...
and the rituals performed for the dead.

Agriculture was an important occupation during the period, and there is evidence that networks of
irrigation
Irrigation (also referred to as watering of plants) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has bee ...
channels were built as early as the 3rd century BCE. The Sangam literature describe fertile lands and people organised into various occupational groups. The governance of the land was through hereditary monarchies, although the sphere of the state's activities and the extent of the ruler's powers were limited through the adherence to an established order.
The kingdoms had significant diplomatic and trade contacts with other kingdoms to the north and with the
Romans.
Roman coins and other epigraphical evidence from South India and
potsherds with Tamil writing found in excavations along the
Red Sea
The Red Sea is a sea inlet of the Indian Ocean, lying between Africa and Asia. Its connection to the ocean is in the south, through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait and the Gulf of Aden. To its north lie the Sinai Peninsula, the Gulf of Aqaba, and th ...
indicate the presence of
Roman commerce with the ancient Tamilakam. Much of the commerce from the Romans and
Han China were facilitated via seaports including
Muziris and
Korkai with
spices
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
being the most prized goods along with
pearls and
silk
Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...
. There is evidence of emissaries sent to the Roman Emperor Augustus by the Pandya kings.
An anonymous Greek traveler's account from first century CE, ''
Periplus Maris Erytraei'', describes the ports of the Pandya and Chera kingdoms in ''
Damirica'' and their commercial activity in detail. It also describes that the chief exports of the ancient Tamils were
pepper,
malabathrum,
pearl
A pearl is a hard, glistening object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle (mollusc), mantle) of a living Exoskeleton, shelled mollusk or another animal, such as fossil conulariids. Just like the shell of a mollusk, a pear ...
s,
ivory, silk,
spikenard,
diamonds,
sapphire
Sapphire is a precious gemstone, a variety of the mineral corundum, consisting of aluminium oxide () with trace amounts of elements such as iron, titanium, cobalt, lead, chromium, vanadium, magnesium, boron, and silicon. The name ''sapphire ...
s, and
tortoiseshell.
Medieval era (4th–13th century CE)

From the fourth century CE, the region was ruled by the
Kalabhras, warriors belonging to the
Vellalar community, who were once feudatories of the three ancient Tamil kingdoms. The Kalabhra era is referred to as the "dark period" of Tamil history, and information about it is generally inferred from any mentions in the literature and inscriptions that are dated many centuries after their era ended. Around the seventh century CE, the Kalabhras were overthrown by the Pandyas and Cholas. Though they existed previously, the period saw the rise of the
Pallavas in the sixth century CE under
Mahendravarman I, who ruled parts of
South India with
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...
as their capital. The Pallavas were noted for their patronage of architecture.
Throughout their reign, the Pallavas remained in constant conflict with the Cholas, the Pandyas and other kingdoms of
Chalukyas of Badami and the
Rashtrakutas
The Rashtrakuta Empire was a royal Indian polity ruling large parts of the Indian subcontinent between the 6th and 10th centuries. The earliest known Rashtrakuta Indian inscriptions, inscription is a 7th-century copper plate grant detailing th ...
. The Pandyas were revived by
Kadungon towards the end of the sixth century CE and with the Cholas in obscurity in
Uraiyur, the Tamil country was divided between the Pallavas and the Pandyas. The area west of the
Western Ghats became increasingly distinct from the eastern parts. A new language
Malayalam
Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...
evolved from Tamil in the region and the socio-cultural transformation was altered further by the migration of
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
-speaking
Indo-Aryans from Northern India in the eighth century CE.

The Cholas were revived in the ninth century CE by
Vijayalaya Chola and the last Pallavas ruler
Aparajitavarman was defeated by the Chola prince
Aditya I. After the defeat of the Pallavas, the Cholas became the dominant kingdom with the capital at
Thanjavur. The Chola influence expanded subsequently with
Rajaraja I conquering the entire Southern India and parts of present-day
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...
and
Maldives
The Maldives, officially the Republic of Maldives, and historically known as the Maldive Islands, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in South Asia located in the Indian Ocean. The Maldives is southwest of Sri Lanka and India, abou ...
, and increased Chola influence across the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...
in the eleventh century CE. Rajaraja brought in administrative reforms including the reorganisation of Tamil country into individual administrative units. Under his son
Rajendra Chola I
Rajendra I (26 July 971 – 1044), often referred to as Rajendra the Great, was a Chola Empire, Chola Emperor who reigned from 1014 to 1044. He was born in Thanjavur to Rajaraja I. His queen was Vanavan Mahadevi and he assumed royal power as ...
, the Chola empire reached its zenith and stretched as far as
Bengal
Bengal ( ) is a Historical geography, historical geographical, ethnolinguistic and cultural term referring to a region in the Eastern South Asia, eastern part of the Indian subcontinent at the apex of the Bay of Bengal. The region of Benga ...
in the north and across the Indian Ocean. He defeated the
Eastern Chalukyas and the
Chola navy invaded the
Srivijaya Empire in South East Asia.
The Cholas had trade links with the Chinese
Song Dynasty
The Song dynasty ( ) was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 960 to 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song, who usurped the throne of the Later Zhou dynasty and went on to conquer the rest of the Fiv ...
and across Southeast Asia. The Cholas built many temples with the most notable being the
Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur.
The latter half of the eleventh century saw the union of Chola and
Vengi kingdoms under
Kulottunga I
Kulottunga Chola I ('; Middle Tamil: Kulōttuṅka Cōḻaṉ; Classical Sanskrit: Kulottuṅgā Cōḷa; 1025–1122) also spelt Kulothunga (), born Rajendra Chalukya (Telugu language, Telugu: Rājēndra Cāḷukyuḍu), was a Chola empire, C ...
. The Cholas repulsed attacks from the
Western Chalukyas and maintained its influence over the various kingdoms of Southeast Asia. According to historian
Nilakanta Sastri
Kallidaikurichi Aiyah Nilakanta Sastri (12 August 1892 – 15 June 1975) was an Indian historian who wrote on South Indian history. Many of his books form the standard reference works on the subject. Sastri was acclaimed for his scholarship and ...
, Kulottunga avoided unnecessary wars and had a long and prosperous reign characterized by unparalleled success that laid the foundations of the empire for the next 150 years.
The eventual decline of Chola power began towards the end of
Kulottunga III's reign in the thirteenth century CE.
The Pandyas again reigned supreme under
Maravarman Sundara I and defeated the Cholas under
Rajaraja III. Though the Cholas were revived briefly with the aid of
Hoysalas, civil war between Rajaraja and
Rajendra III weakened them further. With the Hoysalas later siding with the Pandyas, the Pandyas consolidated control over the region. The Pandya empire reached its zenith in the thirteenth century CE under
Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I after he defeated the Hoysalas, the
Kakatiyas and captured parts of Sri Lanka. The Pandyas ruled from their capital of
Madurai
Madurai ( , , ), formerly known as Madura, is a major city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the cultural capital of Tamil Nadu and the administrative headquarters of Madurai District, which is ...
and expanded trade links with other maritime empires.
Venetian explorer
Marco Polo
Marco Polo (; ; ; 8 January 1324) was a Republic of Venice, Venetian merchant, explorer and writer who travelled through Asia along the Silk Road between 1271 and 1295. His travels are recorded in ''The Travels of Marco Polo'' (also known a ...
mentioned the Pandyas as the richest empire in existence. The Pandyas also built a number of temples including the
Meenakshi Amman Temple at Madurai. In the fourteenth century CE, the Pandyan empire was engulfed in a civil war and also faced repeated invasions by the
Delhi Sultanate
The Delhi Sultanate or the Sultanate of Delhi was a Medieval India, late medieval empire primarily based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for more than three centuries. . In 1335, the Pandyan capital was conquered by
Jalaluddin Ahsan Khan and the short-lived
Madurai Sultanate was established.
Vijayanagar and Nayak period (14th–17th century CE)
The
Vijayanagara kingdom was founded in . The Vijayanagara empire eventually conquered the entire Tamil country by and ruled for almost two centuries. In the sixteenth century, Vijaynagara king
Krishnadeva Raya was forced to intervene in the conflict between their vassals, the Cholas and the Pandyas. The
Nayak governor under Raya briefly took control of Madurai before it was restored to the empire. The Vijayanagara empire was defeated in the
Battle of Talikota in 1565 by a confederacy of
Deccan sultanates. The Nayaks, who were the military governors in the Vijaynagara empire, took control of the region amongst whom the
Nayaks of Madurai and
Nayaks of Thanjavur were the most prominent. They introduced the
palayakkararar system and re-constructed some of the temples in Tamil Nadu including the Meenakshi Temple in Madurai.
Later conflicts and European colonization (17th to 20th century CE)
In the 18th century, the
Mughal empire
The Mughal Empire was an Early modern period, early modern empire in South Asia. At its peak, the empire stretched from the outer fringes of the Indus River Basin in the west, northern Afghanistan in the northwest, and Kashmir in the north, to ...
administered the region through the
Nawab of the Carnatic with his seat at
Arcot, who defeated the Madurai Nayaks. The
Marathas
The Maratha Empire, also referred to as the Maratha Confederacy, was an early modern India, early modern polity in the Indian subcontinent. It comprised the realms of the Peshwa and four major independent List of Maratha dynasties and states, Ma ...
attacked several times and defeated the Nawab after the
Siege of Trichinopoly (1751-1752). This led to a short-lived
Thanjavur Maratha kingdom
The Thanjavur Maratha kingdom ruled by the Bhonsle dynasty, Bhonsle dynasty was a principality of Tamil Nadu between the 17th and 19th centuries. Their native language was Thanjavur Marathi dialect, Thanjavur Marathi. Vyankoji Bhosale was the ...
. Europeans started to establish trade centres from the 16th century along the eastern coast. The
Portuguese arrived in 1522 followed by the
Dutch and the
Danes
Danes (, ), or Danish people, are an ethnic group and nationality native to Denmark and a modern nation identified with the country of Denmark. This connection may be ancestral, legal, historical, or cultural.
History
Early history
Denmark ...
. In 1639, the
British East India Company
The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
obtained a grant for land from the Vijayanager emperor and the
French established trading posts at
Pondichéry in 1693. After several conflicts between the British and the French, the British established themselves as the major power in the eighteenth century CE. The British regained control of Madras in 1749 through the
Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and resisted a
French siege attempt in 1759.
The British East India Company demanded tax collection rights, which led to constant conflicts with the local Palaiyakkarars and resulted in the
Polygar Wars
The Polygar Wars or Palaiyakkarar Wars were wars fought between the Polygars (''Palaiyakkarars'') of the former Tirunelveli Kingdom in Tamil Nadu, India and the British East India Company's Madras Regiment between March 1799 to May 1802 or Jul ...
.
Puli Thevar was one of the earliest opponents, joined later by
Rani Velu Nachiyar and
Kattabomman in the first series of Polygar wars. The
Maruthu brothers along with
Oomaithurai, formed a coalition with
Dheeran Chinnamalai and Kerala Varma
Pazhassi Raja, which fought the British in the Second Polygar War. In the later 18th century, the
Mysore kingdom captured parts of the region and engaged in constant fighting with the British which culminated in the four
Anglo-Mysore Wars. By the late eighteenth century CE, the British had conquered most of the region and established the
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency or Madras Province, officially called the Presidency of Fort St. George until 1937, was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India and later the Dominion of India. At its greatest extent, the presidency i ...
with Madras as the capital. On 10 July 1806, the
Vellore mutiny, which was the first instance of a large-scale mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company, took place in
Vellore Fort. After the
Indian Rebellion of 1857, the
British Parliament passed the
Government of India Act 1858, which transferred the governance of India from the East India Company to the British crown, forming the
British Raj
The British Raj ( ; from Hindustani language, Hindustani , 'reign', 'rule' or 'government') was the colonial rule of the British The Crown, Crown on the Indian subcontinent,
*
* lasting from 1858 to 1947.
*
* It is also called Crown rule ...
.
Failure of the summer monsoons and administrative shortcomings of the
Ryotwari
The ryotwari system was a land revenue system in Company rule in India, British India introduced by Thomas Munro, 1st Baronet, Thomas Munro, which allowed the government to deal directly with the cultivator ('ryot') for revenue collection and gav ...
system resulted in two severe famines in the Madras Presidency, the
Great Famine of 1876–78 and the
Indian famine of 1896–97 which killed millions and the migration of many Tamils as bonded laborers to other British countries eventually forming the present
Tamil diaspora. The
Indian Independence movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
gathered momentum in the early 20th century with the formation of the
Indian National Congress
The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party, or simply the Congress, is a political parties in India, political party in India with deep roots in most regions of India. Founded on 28 December 1885, it was the first mo ...
, which was based on an idea propagated by the members of the
Theosophical Society movement after a Theosophical convention held in Madras in December 1884. Various Tamils were contributors to the Independence movement including
V. O. Chidambaram Pillai,
Subramaniya Siva and
Bharatiyar. The Tamils formed a significant percentage of the members of the
Indian National Army (INA), founded by
Subhas Chandra Bose
Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...
.
Post Indian Independence (1947–present)
After the
Independence of India
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
in 1947, the Madras Presidency became
Madras state, comprising present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
,
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
and
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
. The state was further re-organised as a state for Tamils when the boundaries were redrawn linguistically in
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
into the current shape. On 14 January 1969, Madras state was renamed Tamil Nadu, meaning "Tamil country". In 1965, Tamils
agitated against the
imposition of Hindi and in support of continuing English as a medium of communication which eventually led to English being retained as an official language of India alongside Hindi. After experiencing fluctuations in the decades immediately after Indian independence, the
Human Development Index
The Human Development Index (HDI) is a statistical composite index of life expectancy, Education Index, education (mean years of schooling completed and expected years of schooling upon entering the education system), and per capita income i ...
of the Tamils have consistently improved due to
reform-oriented economic policies and in the 2000s, the region has become one of the most urbanized states in the country.
In Sri Lanka
Pre-Anuradhapura period (before fifth century CE)

There are various theories from scholars over the presence of Tamil people in Sri Lanka. Historian
K. Indrapala states that Tamil replaced a previous language of an indigenous mesolithic population, who later became the Eelam Tamils and the cultural diffusion happened well before the arrival of
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese people (), also known as the Sinhalese or Sinhala people, are an Indo-Aryan peoples, Indo-Aryan ethno-linguistic group native to the island of Sri Lanka. They are the largest ethnic group in Sri Lanka, constituting about 75% of ...
in Sri Lanka. Eelam Tamils consider themselves lineal descendants of the aboriginal
Naga and
Yaksha people of Sri Lanka. A
cobra totem known as ''Nakam'' in the Tamil language is still part of the Tamil tradition in Sri Lanka. Remains of settlements and megalithic burial sites of people culturally similar to those of present-day Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu in modern India have been excavated at Pomparippu on the west coast and in
Kathiraveli on the east coast of the island. These epigraphical evidence have been dated to a period between fifth century BCE and second century CE. Cultural similarities in burial practices in South India and Sri Lanka were dated by archeologists to the beginning of the
Iron Age
The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...
in the region around twelfth century BCE. There were specific migration routes that extended from South India to the island. These people moved further to the South of the island, and intermingled with the existent people.
Anuradhapura period (4th century BCE to 10th century CE)
Black and red ware potsherds found in Sri Lanka from the early reign of
Anuradhapura kingdom, indicate a similar cultural connection with the people of South India.
The
Tamil Brahmi inscriptions on them indicate Tamil clan names such as ''Parumakal'', ''Ay'', ''Vel'', ''Utiyan'', ''Ticaiyan'', ''Cuda'' and ''Naka'', which points to the presence of Tamils in the region. Excavations in
Poonakari in the north of the island have yielded several inscriptions including the mention of ''vela'', a name related to ''velirs'' of the ancient Tamil country.
Epigraphical evidence of people identified as Damelas (the Prakrit word for Tamil people) from the second century CE have been found in
Anuradhapura
Anuradhapura (, ; , ) is a major city located in the north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central Province, Sri Lanka, North Central Province and the capital of Anuradhapura District. The city lies north of the cur ...
, the capital city of the northern
Rajarata region.
Historical records mention that the three Tamil kingdoms were involved in the island's affairs from second century BCE. Chola king
Ellalan captured the Anuradhapura Kingdom from 205 BCE to 161 BCE. Tamil soldiers from Tamilakam came to Anuradhapura in large numbers in the seventh century CE with the local chiefs and kings relying on them.
In the eighth century CE, various Tamil villages collectively known as ''Demel-kaballa'' (Tamil allotment), ''Demelat-valademin'' (Tamil villages), and ''Demel-gam-bim'' (Tamil villages and lands) were established. In the ninth and tenth centuries CE, Pandya and Chola incursions started in the island which culminated with the Chola annexation of the island.
Polonnaruwa and Jaffna kingdom (11th–15th century CE)

The Chola influence lasted until the latter half of the eleventh century CE and the Chola decline was followed by the restoration of the
Polonnaruwa monarchy.
In 1215, following Pandya invasions, the Tamil-dominant
Aryacakravarti dynasty established the
Jaffna Kingdom
The Jaffna kingdom (, ; 1215–1619 CE), also known as Kingdom of Aryachakravarti, was a historical kingdom of what today is northern Sri Lanka. It came into existence around the town of Jaffna on the Jaffna peninsula and was traditionally t ...
on the
Jaffna peninsula and in parts of northern Sri Lanka. In the fourteenth century CE, the Aryacakaravarthi expansion into the south of the island was halted by
Alagakkonara, who belonged to a feudal family from
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...
that migrated to Sri Lanka in the previous century and converted to Buddhism. He served as the chief minister of the Sinhalese king
Parakramabahu V (1344–59 CE) and his descendant Vira Alakeshwara briefly became the king later before the
Ming admiral
Zheng He overthrew him in 1409 CE after which the influence of his family declined. The
caste structure of the Sinhalese also accommodated Hindu immigrants from South India, which led to the emergence of new Sinhalese caste groups such as the ''
Radala'', the ''
Salagama'', the ''
Durava'' and the ''
Karava''.
Later conflicts and European colonization (16th–20th century CE)
The Aryachakaravarthi dynasty continued to rule over large parts of northeast Sri Lanka until arrival of the Europeans on the island in the sixteenth century CE. Portuguese traders reached Sri Lanka by 1505 CE and the Jaffna kingdom came to the attention of Portuguese due to its presence as a logistical and strategic base for accessing the interior ruled by the
Kandyan kingdom.
King
Cankili I resisted contacts with the Portuguese and repelled
Parava Catholics who were brought from India to the
Mannar Island to take over the lucrative pearl fisheries from the Jaffna kings. The wrested Mannar during the
first invasion in 1560 and killed king
Puvirasa Pandaram during the
second expedition in 1591. After the conflicts, the Portuguese
secured the kingdom in 1619 from the unpopular
Cankili II, who was helped by the Thanjavur Nayaks. English sailor
Robert Knox arrived in the island in 1669 and described the Tamil settlements in the ''
An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon'' published in 1681.
The
Dutch captured the island later and ruled for more than a century. Following the
1795 invasion of the British and the
Kandyan Wars, the island came to the control of the British in the early nineteenth century CE. Upon arrival in June 1799,
Hugh Cleghorn, the island's first British colonial secretary, wrote to the British government: "Two different nations from a very ancient period have divided between them the possession of the island. First the Sinhalese, inhabiting the interior in its Southern and Western parts, and secondly the Tamils who possess the Northern and Eastern districts. These two nations differ entirely in their religion, language, and manners." Irrespective of the ethnic differences, the British imposed a unitary state structure in
British Ceylon
British Ceylon (; ), officially British Settlements and Territories in the Island of Ceylon with its Dependencies from 1802 to 1833, then the Island of Ceylon and its Territories and Dependencies from 1833 to 1931 and finally the Island of Cey ...
for better administration. During the British colonial rule, Tamils held higher positions in the government and were favoured by the British for their qualification in English education. In the northern highlands, the lands of the Sinhalese were seized by the British and
Indian Tamils were settled there as plantation workers. Tamils who migrated in the nineteenth century CE to work on tea plantations were later termed as the
Indian Tamils.
Post Sri Lankan independence (1948–present)

Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948 and after the colonial rule ended, ethnic tension rose between the Sinhalese, who constituted a majority, and the Tamils.
In 1956, the
Sinhala Only Act designated
Sinhala as the only official language of Sri Lanka, which forced many Tamils to resign as civil servants because they were not fluent in the language. The Tamils saw the act as linguistic, cultural and economic discrimination against them.
Anti-Tamil
pogrom
A pogrom is a violent riot incited with the aim of Massacre, massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe late 19th- and early 20th-century Anti-Jewis ...
s in
1956
Events
January
* January 1 – The Anglo-Egyptian Sudan, Anglo-Egyptian Condominium ends in Sudan after 57 years.
* January 8 – Operation Auca: Five U.S. evangelical Christian Missionary, missionaries, Nate Saint, Roger Youderian, E ...
and
1958 resulted in deaths of many Tamils and further escalated the conflict.
More than a million Indian Tamil plantation workers were made stateless after Sri Lanka refused citizenship to them. In 1964, the
Sri Lankan and
Indian governments entered into an agreement, based on which, about 300,000 would be granted Sri Lankan citizenship and about 975,000 Tamils would be
repatriated to India over a period of fifteen years.
A new
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed.
When these pri ...
enacted in the 1970s further discriminated against the Tamils and various state-sponsored schemes led Sinhalese settlers into Tamil populated areas. The
1977 anti-Tamil pogrom was followed by a crackdown against the Tamils, which curtailed their rights. Following the declaration of state of emergency in 1981, state-backed Sinhalese mobs turned on Tamils, which led many Tamils to leave the country as refugees resulting in an exodus more than half a million to India and other countries.
By the 1970s, initial non-violent political struggle for an
independent Tamil state in the
north
North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating Direction (geometry), direction or geography.
Etymology
T ...
and
east
East is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from west and is the direction from which the Sun rises on the Earth.
Etymology
As in other languages, the word is formed from the fact that ea ...
of Sri Lanka, developed into a violent secessionist insurgency. This led to the bloody
Sri Lankan Civil War for more than three decades. The conflict resulted in the deaths of at least 100,000 Tamils in the island and led to the flight of over 800,000 refugees. The war ended after the
Sri Lankan military offensive in 2009. Since the end of the civil war, the Sri Lankan state has been subject to much global criticism for violating
human rights
Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...
as a result of committing
war crimes
A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...
through bombing civilian targets, usage of heavy weaponry, the
abduction and
massacres of Sri Lankan Tamils and
sexual violence.
Geographic distribution
India

As per the
2011 Census, there were 69 million Tamil speakers, constituting about 5.7% of the Indian population. Tamils formed the majority in the
South Indian state of
Tamil Nadu
Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
(63.8 million) and the
union territory
Among the states and union territories of India, a Union Territory (UT) is a region that is directly governed by the Government of India, central government of India, as opposed to the states, which have their own State governments of India, s ...
of
Puducherry (1.1 million).
There were also significant Tamil population in other states of India such as
Karnataka
Karnataka ( ) is a States and union territories of India, state in the southwestern region of India. It was Unification of Karnataka, formed as Mysore State on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, 1956, States Re ...
(2.1 million),
Andhra Pradesh
Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
and
Telangana
Telangana is a States and union territories of India, state in India situated in the Southern India, south-central part of the Indian subcontinent on the high Deccan Plateau. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, ele ...
(0.7 million),
Maharashtra
Maharashtra () is a state in the western peninsular region of India occupying a substantial portion of the Deccan Plateau. It is bordered by the Arabian Sea to the west, the Indian states of Karnataka and Goa to the south, Telangana to th ...
(0.5 million), and
Kerala
Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile ...
(0.5 million).
Sri Lanka
Tamils in Sri Lanka are classified into two ethnic groups by the
Sri Lankan government:
Sri Lankan Tamils
Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province, form the pluralit ...
, also known as Eelam Tamils, and
Indian Origin Tamils, who accounted for 11.2%, and 4.1% of the country's population, respectively, in 2011.
The Sri Lankan Tamils (or Ceylon Tamils) are the descendants of the Tamils of the old Jaffna Kingdom and east coast chieftainships called
Vannimais. The Indian Tamils (or Hill Country Tamils) are descendants of laborers who migrated from Tamil Nadu to Sri Lanka in the 19th century to work on tea plantations. Most Sri Lankan Tamils live in the Northern and Eastern provinces and around
Colombo
Colombo, ( ; , ; , ), is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. The Colombo metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of 5.6 million, and 752,993 within the municipal limits. It is the ...
, whereas most Indian Tamils live in the central highlands.
Historically, both the Tamil ethnic groups have identified themselves as separate communities, although there has been a greater sense of unity since the 1980s.
There also exists a significant
Tamil Muslim population in Sri Lanka. However, they are listed as a separate entity under the
Moors
The term Moor is an Endonym and exonym, exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslims, Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages.
Moors are not a s ...
by the government.
However, genealogical evidence suggests that most of the Sri Lankan Moor community are of Tamil ethnicity, and that the majority of their ancestors were also Tamils who had lived in the country for generations, and had converted to Islam from other faiths.
Tamil diaspora

Significant emigration from Indian subcontinent began in the late 18th century, when the Tamils went as
indentured labourers and established businesses in other territories under the control of the British empire such as
Malaya,
Burma
Myanmar, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar; and also referred to as Burma (the official English name until 1989), is a country in northwest Southeast Asia. It is the largest country by area in Mainland Southeast Asia and ha ...
,
South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
,
Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
,
Mauritius
Mauritius, officially the Republic of Mauritius, is an island country in the Indian Ocean, about off the southeastern coast of East Africa, east of Madagascar. It includes the main island (also called Mauritius), as well as Rodrigues, Ag ...
, and the
Caribbean
The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...
. The descendants of these Tamils continued to live in these countries, and practice their original culture, tradition and language. They form significant proportion of the population in
Malaysia
Malaysia is a country in Southeast Asia. Featuring the Tanjung Piai, southernmost point of continental Eurasia, it is a federation, federal constitutional monarchy consisting of States and federal territories of Malaysia, 13 states and thre ...
(7%) and
Singapore
Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
(5%).
A significant population also exists in South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, as well as other regions such as the Southeast Asia and the Caribbean.
However,
subsequent generations might not speak the language as a
mother tongue, but instead as a
second
The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...
or
third language.
There is a small
Tamil community in Pakistan, notably settled since the
partition in 1947. Since the 20th century, Tamils have migrated to other regions such as
Middle East
The Middle East (term originally coined in English language) is a geopolitical region encompassing the Arabian Peninsula, the Levant, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, and Iraq.
The term came into widespread usage by the United Kingdom and western Eur ...
and the
Western World
The Western world, also known as the West, primarily refers to various nations and state (polity), states in Western Europe, Northern America, and Australasia; with some debate as to whether those in Eastern Europe and Latin America also const ...
for employment.
A large emigration of Sri Lankan Tamils began in the 1980s, as they sought to escape the ethnic conflict there.
The largest concentration of Eelam Tamils outside Sri Lanka is found in
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...
.
Culture
Language

Tamil people speak
Tamil, which belongs to the
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian languages are a language family, family of languages spoken by 250 million people, primarily in South India, north-east Sri Lanka, and south-west Pakistan, with pockets elsewhere in South Asia.
The most commonly spoken Dravidian l ...
and is one of the oldest
classical languages. According to epigraphist
Iravatham Mahadevan, the rudimentary
Tamil Brahmi script originated in South India in the 3rd century BCE.
Though the old Tamil preserved features of
Proto-Dravidian language, modern-day spoken Tamil uses
loanword
A loanword (also a loan word, loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language (the recipient or target language), through the process of borrowing. Borrowing is a metaphorical term t ...
s from other languages such as
English. The existent Tamil grammar is largely based on the grammar book ''
Naṉṉūl'' which incorporates facets from the old Tamil literary work ''
Tolkāppiyam''. Since the later part of the 19th century, Tamils made the language as a key part of the Tamil identity and the language is personified in the form of ''Tamil̲taay'' ("Tamil mother"). Various
varieties of Tamil is spoken by the Tamils across regions such as
Madras Bashai,
Kongu Tamil,
Madurai Tamil,
Nellai Tamil, Kumari Tamil and various
Sri Lankan Tamil dialects such as Batticaloa Tamil, Jaffna Tamil and Negombo Tamil in Sri Lanka.
Literature
Tamil literature
Tamil literature includes a collection of literary works that have come from a tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the T ...
is of considerable antiquity compared to the contemporary literature from other Indian languages and represents one of the oldest bodies of literature in South Asia.
The earliest epigraphic records have been dated to around the 3rd century BCE. Early Tamil literature was composed in three successive poetic assemblies known as
Tamil Sangams, the earliest of which destroyed by floods. The Sangam literature was broadly classified into three divisions: ''iyal'' (poetry), ''isai'' (music) and ''nadagam'' (drama). The early Tamil literature was compiled and classified into two categories: ''
Patinenmelkanakku'' ("Eighteen Greater Texts") consisting of the ''
Ettuttokai'' ("Eight Anthologies") and the ''
Pattuppattu'' ("Ten Idylls"), and the ''
Patinenkilkanakku'' ("Eighteen Lesser Texts").
The Tamil literature that followed in the next 300 years after the Sangam period is generally called the "post-Sangam" literature which included the
Five Great Epics.
Another book of the post Sangam era is the ''
Tirukkural
The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' (), or shortly the ''Kural'' (), is a classic Tamil language text on commoner's morality consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or Kural (poetic form), kurals, of seven words each. The text is divided into three books wit ...
'', a book on ethics, by
Thiruvalluvar
Thiruvalluvar commonly known as Valluvar, was a Tamil poet and philosopher. He is best known as the author of the '' Tirukkuṟaḷ'', a collection of couplets on ethics, political and economic matters, and love. The text is considered an e ...
. In the beginning of the
middle age
Middle age (or middle adulthood) is the age range of the years halfway between childhood and old age. The exact range is subject to public debate, but the term is commonly used to denote the age range from 45 to 65 years.
Overall
This time span ...
,
Vaishnava and
Saiva literature became prominent following the
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of Bhakti, devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6t ...
in 7th century CE with hymns composed by
Alwars and
Nayanmars.
Notable work from the post-Bhakti period included ''
Ramavataram'' by
Kambar in 12th century CE and ''
Tiruppugal'' by
Arunagirinathar
Arunagirinathar (', ) was a Tamil language, Tamil Shaivism, Shaiva saint-poet who lived during the 14th century in Tamil Nadu, India. In his treatise ''A History of Indian Literature'' (1974), Czechs, Czech Indologist Kamil Zvelebil places Aru ...
in 15th century CE. In 1578, the Portuguese published a Tamil book in old Tamil script named ''Thambiraan Vanakkam'', thus making Tamil the first Indian language to be printed and published. ''
Tamil Lexicon'', published by the
University of Madras
The University of Madras is a public university, public State university (India), state university in Chennai (Madras), Tamil Nadu, India. Established in 1857, it is one of the oldest and most prominent universities in India, incorporated by an ...
between 1924 and 1939, was amongst the first comprehensive
dictionaries
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged Alphabetical order, alphabetically (or by Semitic root, consonantal root for Semitic languages or radical-and-stroke sorting, radical an ...
published in the language. The 19th century gave rise to
Tamil Renaissance and writings and poems by authors such as
Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai,
U.V.Swaminatha Iyer,
Damodaram Pillai,
V. Kanakasabhai and others. During the
Indian Independence Movement
The Indian independence movement was a series of historic events in South Asia with the ultimate aim of ending British Raj, British colonial rule. It lasted until 1947, when the Indian Independence Act 1947 was passed.
The first nationalistic ...
, many Tamil poets and writers sought to provoke national spirit, notably
Bharathiar and
Bharathidasan.
Art and architecture
According to Tamil literature, there are 64 art forms called ''
aayakalaigal''. The art is classified into two broad categories: ''kavin kalaigal'' (beautiful art forms) which include architecture, sculpture, painting and poetry and ''nun kalaigal'' (fine art forms) which include dance, music and drama.
Architecture
Dravidian architecture is the distinct style of architecture of the Tamils. The large ''
gopurams'', which are monumental ornate towers at the entrance of the temples form a prominent feature of
Hindu temples of the Dravidian style.
They are topped by ''
kalasams'' (
finials) and function as gateways through the walls that surround the temple complex. There are a number of early
rock-cut cave-temples established by the various Tamil kingdoms. The
Group of Monuments at Mahabalipuram, built by the
Pallavas in the 7th and 8th centuries has more than forty rock-cut temples, monoliths and
rock reliefs.
The Pallavas, who built the group of monuments in
Mahabalipuram and
Kanchipuram
Kanchipuram (International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration, IAST: '; ), also known as Kanjeevaram, is a stand alone city corporation, satellite nodal city of Chennai in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu in the Tondaimandalam region, from ...
, were one of the earliest patronisers of the Dravidian architectural style.
These gateways became regular features in the
Cholas and the
Pandya architecture, was later expanded by the Vijayanagara and the
Nayaks and spread to other parts such as Sri Lanka. There are more than 34,000 temples in Tamil Nadu built across various periods some of which are several centuries old. The influence of Tamil culture had led to the construction of various temples outside India by the Tamil dispora. The
Mugal influence in medieval times and the
British influence later gave rise to a blend of
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
,
Islamic
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
and
Gothic revival
Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...
styles, resulting in the distinct
Indo-Saracenic
Indo-Saracenic architecture (also known as Indo-Gothic, Mughal-Gothic, Neo-Mughal) was a Revivalism (architecture), revivalist architectural style mostly used by British architects in India in the later 19th century, especially in public and gov ...
architecture with several institutions during the British era following the style. By the early 20th century, the
art deco
Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
made its entry upon in the urban landscape. In the later part of the century, the architecture witnessed a rise in the
modern concrete
Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...
buildings.
Sculpture and paintings

Tamil sculpture ranges from stone sculptures in temples, to detailed
bronze
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals (such as phosphorus) or metalloid ...
icons. The bronze statues of the Cholas are considered to be one of the greatest contributions of Tamil art. Models made of a special mixture of
beeswax and
sal tree resin
A resin is a solid or highly viscous liquid that can be converted into a polymer. Resins may be biological or synthetic in origin, but are typically harvested from plants. Resins are mixtures of organic compounds, predominantly terpenes. Commo ...
were encased in clay and fired to melt the wax leaving a hollow mould, which would then be filled with molten metal and cooled to produce bronze statues. Tamil paintings are usually centered around natural, religious or aesthetic themes.
Sittanavasal is a rock-cut
monastery
A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...
and temple attributed to Pandyas and Pallavas which consist of
frescoes and
mural
A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage.
Word mural in art
The word ''mural'' ...
s from the 7th century CE, painted with vegetable and mineral dyes in over a thin wet surface of lime plaster. Similar murals are found in temple walls, the most notable examples are the murals on the
Ranganathaswamy Temple at Srirangam and the Brihadeeswarar temple at Thanjavur. One of the major forms of Tamil painting is
Thanjavur painting
Thanjavur painting is a classical South Indian painting style, originating from the town of Thanjavur (anglicized as Tanjore) in Tamil Nadu. The art form draws its immediate resources and inspiration from way back about 1600 AD, a period when t ...
, which originated in the 16th century CE where a base made of cloth and coated with
zinc oxide
Zinc oxide is an inorganic compound with the Chemical formula, formula . It is a white powder which is insoluble in water. ZnO is used as an additive in numerous materials and products including cosmetics, Zinc metabolism, food supplements, rubbe ...
is painted using dyes and then decorated with semi-precious stones, as well as silver or gold threads.
Music

The ancient Tamil country had its own
system of music called ''Tamil Pannisai''. Sangam literature such as the ''
Silappatikaram'' from 2nd century CE describes music notes and instruments. A Pallava inscription dated to the 7th century CE has one of the earliest surviving examples of Indian music in notation. The Pallava inscriptions from the period describe the playing of
string instrument
In musical instrument classification, string instruments, or chordophones, are musical instruments that produce sound from vibrating strings when a performer strums, plucks, strikes or sounds the strings in varying manners.
Musicians play some ...
veena as a form of exercise for the fingers and the practice of singing musical hymns (''Thirupadigam'') in temples. From the 9th century CE, Shaivite hymns ''
Thevaram'' and Vaishnavite hymns (''
Tiruvaymoli'') were sung along with playing of musical instruments.
Carnatic music
Carnatic music (known as or in the Dravidian languages) is a system of music commonly associated with South India, including the modern Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and southern Odisha.
It is o ...
originated later which included rhythmic and structured music by composers such
Thyagaraja,
Muthuswami Dikshitar, and
Shyama Shastri.
Villu Paatu is an ancient form of musical story-telling method where narration is interspersed with music played from a string bow and accompanying instruments.
Gaana, a combination of various folk musics is sung mainly in Chennai.
There are many traditional instruments from the region dating back to the Sangam period such as
parai,
tharai,
yazh, and
murasu.
Nadaswaram, a
reed instrument that is often accompanied by the
thavil, a type of
drum instrument are the major musical instruments used in temples and weddings.
Melam is from a group of
percussion instruments from the ancient Tamilakam which are played during events and functions.
Performance arts
Bharatanatyam
''Bharatanatyam'' is a Indian classical dance form that came from Tamil Nadu, India. It is a classical dance form recognized by the Sangeet Natak Akademi, and expresses South Indian religious themes and spiritual ideas of Hinduism and Jainism.< ...
is a major genre of
Indian classical dance that originated from the Tamils.
It is one of the oldest classical dance forms of India. There are many
folk dance forms that originated and are practiced in the region. Major folk dance forms include
Karakattam and
Kavadiattam which involve dancers balancing decorated pot(s) on their heads and arch shaped wooden sticks on their shoulders respectively while making dance movements with the body.
Kolattam and
Kummi are usually performed by women while singing songs. In dances like
Mayilattam,
Puravaiattam, and
Puliyattam, dancers dress like
peacocks,
horses and
tigers respectively and headdresses perform movements imitating the animals. Other traditional dance forms include the war dance
Oyilattam and
Paraiattam.
Koothu is a form of street theater that consists of a play performance which consists of dance along with music, narration and singing.
Bommalattam is a type of
puppetry that uses various
doll marionettes manipulated by rods and strings attached to them.
Martial arts
Silambattam is a
martial dance using a ''
silambam
Silambam is an old Indian martial arts, Indian martial art originating in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu. This style is mentioned in Tamil Sangam literature. The World Silambam Association is the official international body of Silamba ...
'', a long staff of about in length, often made of wood such as bamboo. It was used for self-defense and to ward off animals and later evolved into a martial art and dance form.
Adimurai (or Kuttu varisai) is a martial art specializing in empty-hand techniques and application on vital points of the body.
Varma kalai is a Tamil traditional art of vital points which combines alternative medicine and martial arts, attributed to sage
Agastiyar and might form part of the training of other martial arts such as silambattam, adimurai or
kalari
A kalari is a gymnasium or training space primarily associated with the martial art of Kalaripayattu. The word ''kalari'' comes from Tamil. In the past, village schools in Tamilnadu, typically run by the traditional astrologer families, were k ...
.
Malyutham is the traditional form of combat-wrestling.
Tamil martial arts uses various types of weapons such as
valari (iron sickle),
maduvu
The Maduvu, also known as a ''maru'' or ''madu'', is a weapon from India. It is one of the many weapons used in the Tamil martial art Silambam.
More commonly known as a madu, it is also referred to as a ''maan kombu'' after the deer horns fro ...
(deer horns),
vaal (sword) and
kedayam (shield),
surul vaal (curling blade),
itti or
vel (spear),
savuku (whip),
kattari (fist blade),
aruval (machete), silambam (bamboo staff),
kuttu katai (spiked knuckleduster),
kathi (dagger),
vil ambu (bow and arrow),
tantayutam (mace),
soolam (trident),
valari (boomerang),
chakaram (discus) and theepandam (flaming baton).
Wootz steel used to make weapons, originated in the mid-1st millennium BCE in South India. Locals in Sri Lanka adopted the production methods of creating wootz steel from the Cheras and the later trade introduced it to other parts of the world. Since the early Sangam age, war was regarded as an honourable sacrifice and fallen heroes and kings were worshipped with
hero stones and heroic
martyrdom
A martyr (, ''mártys'', 'witness' stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an external party. In colloqui ...
was glorified in ancient Tamil literature. Defeated kings committed ''
Vatakkiruttal
Vatakkiruttal (, 'fasting facing north'), also Vadakiruthal and vadakiruttal, was a Tamil ritual of fasting till death. It was especially widespread during the Sangam age. The Tamil kings, in order to save their honour, and prestige, were prepa ...
'', a form of ritual suicide.
Modern arts
The Tamil film industry nicknamed as
Kollywood and is one of the largest industries of film production in India. Independent Tamil film production have also originated outside India in Sri Lanka, Singapore, Canada, and western Europe. The concept of "Tent Cinema" was introduced in the early 1900s, in which a tent was erected on a stretch of open land close to a town or village to screen the films. The first silent film in South India was produced in Tamil in 1916 and the first Tamil talkie film was ''
Kalidas'', which released on 31 October 1931, barely seven months after the release of India's first talking picture ''
Alam Ara''.
Clothing
Ancient literature and epigraphical records describe the various types of dresses worn by Tamil people.
Tamil women traditionally wear a ''
sari'', a garment that consists of a drape varying from to in length and to in breadth that is typically wrapped around the waist, with one end draped over the shoulder, baring the midriff.
Women wear colourful
silk sarees on traditional occasions. Young girls wear a long skirt called ''pavaadai'' along with a shorter length sari called ''dhavani''.
The men wear a ''
dhoti'', a long, white rectangular piece of non-stitched cloth often bordered in brightly coloured stripes which is usually wrapped around the waist and the legs and knotted at the waist.
A colourful ''
lungi'' with typical
batik patterns is the most common form of male attire in the countryside.
People in urban areas generally wear tailored clothing, and western dress is popular. Western-style school uniforms are worn by both boys and girls in schools, even in rural areas.
Calendar
The Tamil calendar is a
sidereal solar calendar
A solar calendar is a calendar whose dates indicates the season or almost equivalently the apparent position of the Sun relative to the stars. The Gregorian calendar, widely accepted as a standard in the world, is an example of a solar calendar ...
. The ''Tamil
Panchangam'' is based on the same and is generally used in contemporary times to check auspicious times for cultural and religious events. The calendar follows a 60-year cycle. There are 12 months in a year starting with ''
Chithirai'' when the
Sun enters the first ''
Rāśi'' and the number of days in a month varies between 29 and 32. The new year starts following the
March equinox
The March equinox or northward equinox is the equinox on the Earth when the subsolar point appears to leave the Southern Hemisphere and cross the celestial equator, heading northward as seen from Earth. The March equinox is known as the ver ...
in the middle of April. The days of week (''kiḻamai'') in the Tamil calendar relate to the celestial bodies in the
Solar System
The Solar SystemCapitalization of the name varies. The International Astronomical Union, the authoritative body regarding astronomical nomenclature, specifies capitalizing the names of all individual astronomical objects but uses mixed "Sola ...
:
Sun,
Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...
,
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun. It is also known as the "Red Planet", because of its orange-red appearance. Mars is a desert-like rocky planet with a tenuous carbon dioxide () atmosphere. At the average surface level the atmosph ...
,
Mercury,
Jupiter
Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...
,
Venus
Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...
, and
Saturn
Saturn is the sixth planet from the Sun and the second largest in the Solar System, after Jupiter. It is a gas giant, with an average radius of about 9 times that of Earth. It has an eighth the average density of Earth, but is over 95 tim ...
, in that order.
Food and hospitality
Hospitality
Hospitality is the relationship of a host towards a guest, wherein the host receives the guest with some amount of goodwill and welcome. This includes the reception and entertainment of guests, visitors, or strangers. Louis de Jaucourt, Louis, ...
is a major feature of Tamil culture. It was considered as a social obligation and offering food to guests was regarded as one of the highest virtues.
Rice
Rice is a cereal grain and in its Domestication, domesticated form is the staple food of over half of the world's population, particularly in Asia and Africa. Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice)—or, much l ...
is the diet staple and is served with
sambar,
rasam, and
poriyal as a part of a Tamil meal.
Bananas
A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – berry (botany), botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa (genus), Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called pla ...
find mention in the Sangam literature and the traditional way of eating a meal involves having the food served on a
banana leaf, which is discarded after the meal. Eating on banana leaves imparts a unique flavor to the food, and is considered healthy. Food is usually eaten seated on the floor and the finger tips of the right hand is used to take the food to the mouth.
There are regional sub-varieties namely Chettinadu, Kongunadu, Nanjilnadu, Pandiyanadu and Sri Lankan Tamil cuisines.
There are both vegetarian and meat dishes with
fish
A fish (: fish or fishes) is an aquatic animal, aquatic, Anamniotes, anamniotic, gill-bearing vertebrate animal with swimming fish fin, fins and craniate, a hard skull, but lacking limb (anatomy), limbs with digit (anatomy), digits. Fish can ...
traditionally consumed across the coast and other meat preferred in the interiors. The Chettinadu cuisine is popular for its meat based dishes and generous usage of
spices
In the culinary arts, a spice is any seed, fruit, root, Bark (botany), bark, or other plant substance in a form primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices are distinguished from herbs, which are the leaves, flowers, or stems of pl ...
.
The Kongunadu cuisine uses less spices and are generally cooked fresh. It uses
coconut
The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family (biology), family (Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, ...
,
sesame seeds,
groundnut, and
turmeric to go with various cereals and pulses grown in the region.
Nanjilnadu cuisine is milder and is usually based on fish and vegetables.
Sri Lankan Tamil cuisine uses
gingelly oil and
jaggery
Jaggery is a List of unrefined sweeteners, traditional non-centrifugal cane sugar consumed in the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, North America, Central America, Brazil and Africa. It is a concentrated product of Sugarcane juice, cane jui ...
along with coconut and spices, which differentiates it from the other culinary traditions in the island.
Biryani is a popular dish with several different versions prepared across various regions.
Idli, and
dosa are popular breakfast dishes and other dishes cooked by to the Tamil people include
upma,
idiappam,
pongal,
paniyaram, and
parotta.
Medicine
Siddha medicine is a form of
traditional medicine
Traditional medicine (also known as indigenous medicine or folk medicine) refers to the knowledge, skills, and practices rooted in the cultural beliefs of various societies, especially Indigenous groups, used for maintaining health and treatin ...
originating from the Tamils and is one of the oldest systems of medicine in India. The word literally means perfection in Tamil and the system focuses on wholesome treatment based on various factors. As per Tamil tradition, the knowledge of Siddha medicine came from
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
, which was passed on to 18 holy men known as ''
Siddhar
The Siddhar (Tamil language, Tamil (romanized) ''cittar)'' in Tamils, Tamil tradition is a perfected individual who has attained spiritual powers called ''siddhi''.
Historically, Siddhar also refers to the people who were early-age wandering ...
'' led by
Agastya. The knowledge was then passed on orally and through palm leaf manuscripts to the later generations. Siddha practitioners believe that all objects including the human body is composed of five basic elements – earth, water, fire, air, sky which are present in food and other compounds, which is used as the basis for the drugs and other therapies.
Festivals
Pongal is a major and multi-day
harvest festival celebrated by Tamils in the month of
Thai according to the
Tamil solar calendar (usually falls on 14 or 15 January).
Puthandu is known as Tamil New Year which marks the first day of year on the
Tamil calendar
The Tamil calendar (தமிழ் நாட்காட்டி) is a Sidereal time, sidereal solar calendar used by the Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It is also used in Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry, and by the Tamil ...
and falls on in April every year on the
Gregorian calendar
The Gregorian calendar is the calendar used in most parts of the world. It went into effect in October 1582 following the papal bull issued by Pope Gregory XIII, which introduced it as a modification of, and replacement for, the Julian cale ...
. Other major festivals include
Karthikai Deepam,
Thaipusam
Thaipusam or Thaipoosam (Tamil language, Tamil: Taippūcam, ) is a Tamil Hindu festival celebrated on the first Purnima, full moon day of the Tamil calendar, Tamil month of Pausha, Thai coinciding with Pushya, Pusam Nakshatra, star. The festiv ...
,
Panguni Uthiram, and
Vaikasi Visakam.
Aadi Perukku is a Tamil cultural festival celebrated in the Tamil month of
Adi and the worship of
Amman
Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
and
Ayyanar
Aiyanar (, ) is a Village deities of South India, Tamil folk deity venerated in South India and Sri Lanka. His worship is prevalent amongst rural Tamils, Tamil people. Some studies suggest that Ayyanar may have also been worshipped in Southeast ...
deities are organized during the month in temples across Tamil Nadu with much fanfare.
Other festivals celebrated include
Ganesh Chaturthi,
Navarathri,
Deepavali
Diwali (), also called Deepavali (IAST: ''Dīpāvalī'') or Deepawali (IAST: ''Dīpāwalī''), is the Hindu festival of lights, with variations celebrated in other Indian religions such as Jainism and Sikhism. It symbolises the spiritual ...
,
Eid al-Fitr
Eid al-Fitr () is the first of the two main Islamic holidays, festivals in Islam, the other being Eid al-Adha. It falls on the first day of Shawwal, the tenth month of the Islamic calendar. Eid al-Fitr is celebrated by Muslims worldwide becaus ...
and
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...
.
Sports
Jallikattu is a traditional event held during the period attracting huge crowds in which a bull is released into a crowd of people, and multiple human participants attempt to grab the large hump on the bull's back with both arms and hang on to it while the bull attempts to escape. It has been practised since Sangam period with the aim of keeping people fit. Proficiency in the sport was considered a virtue while untamable bulls were held as a pride of the owner.
Kabaddi is a traditional contact sport that originated from the Tamils.
Chess
Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...
is a popular
board game
A board game is a type of tabletop game that involves small objects () that are placed and moved in particular ways on a specially designed patterned game board, potentially including other components, e.g. dice. The earliest known uses of the ...
which originated as
Sathurangam in the 7th century CE.
Traditional games like
Pallanguzhi,
Uriyadi,
Gillidanda,
Dhaayam are played across the region. In modern times,
Cricket
Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...
is the most popular sport.
Religion

As per the Sangam literature, the
Sangam landscape
The Sangam landscape (Tamil language, Tamil: அகத்திணை "inner classification") is the name given to a poetic device that was characteristic of love poetry in classical Tamil language, Tamil Sangam literature. The core of the devi ...
was classified into five categories known as ''thinais'', which were associated with a
Hindu
Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...
deity:
Murugan in ''kurinji'' (hills),
Thirumal in ''mullai'' (forests),
Indiran in ''marutham'' (plains),
Varunan in the ''neithal'' (coasts) and
Kotravai in ''palai'' (desert). Thirumal is indicated as a deity during the Sangam era, who was regarded as ''Paramporul'' ("the suprement one") and is also known as Māyavan, Māmiyon, Netiyōn, and Māl in various Sangam literature. While
Shiva
Shiva (; , ), also known as Mahadeva (; , , Help:IPA/Sanskrit, ɐɦaːd̪eːʋɐh and Hara, is one of the Hindu deities, principal deities of Hinduism. He is the God in Hinduism, Supreme Being in Shaivism, one of the major traditions w ...
worship existed in the Shaivite culture as a part of the Tamil pantheon,
Murugan became regarded as the ''Tamil kadavul'' ("God of the Tamils"). In Tamil tradition, Murugan is the youngest son of Shiva and
Parvati
Parvati (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, pɑɾʋət̪iː/), also known as Uma (, , IPA: Sanskrit phonology, /ʊmɑː/) and Gauri (, , IPA: /Sanskrit phonology, gə͡ʊɾiː/), is one of the principal goddesses in Hinduism, revered as the Devi, ...
and
Pillayar is regarded as the eldest son, who is venerated as the ''Mudanmudar kadavul'' ("foremost god").
The cult of the
mother goddess is treated as an indication of a society which venerated femininity. The worship of
Amman
Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...
, also called
Mariamman, is thought to have been derived from an ancient
mother goddess, and is also very common.
Kannagi, the heroine of the ''
Cilappatikaram'' is worshipped as a
goddess by many Tamils, particularly in Sri Lanka. In the Sangam literature, there is a description of the rites performed by the priestesses in temples. Among the ancient Tamils, the practice of erecting memorial stones (''
natukal'') was prevalent and it continued till the
Middle ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...
. It was customary for people who sought victory in war to worship these
hero stones to bless them with victory. In rural areas, local deities called
Aiyyan̲ār (also known as Karuppan, Karrupasami,
Muniandi), are worshipped who are thought to protect the villages from harm.
Their worship probably emanated from the hero stone worship and appears to be the surviving remnants of an ancient Tamil tradition.
Idol worship forms a part of the Tamil Hindu culture similar to the Hindu traditions.
During the Sangam period,
Ashivakam,
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
and
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
also had a significant following.
Jainism
Jainism ( ), also known as Jain Dharma, is an Indian religions, Indian religion whose three main pillars are nonviolence (), asceticism (), and a rejection of all simplistic and one-sided views of truth and reality (). Jainism traces its s ...
existed from the Sangam period with inscriptions and drip-ledges from 1st century BCE to 6th century CE describing the same. The
Kalabhra dynasty, who were patrons of Jainism, ruled over the
ancient Tamil country in the 3rd–7th century CE.
Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
had an influence in Tamil Nadu before the later Middle Ages with ancient texts referring to a
Vihāra in
Nākappaṭṭinam from the time of
Ashoka
Ashoka, also known as Asoka or Aśoka ( ; , ; – 232 BCE), and popularly known as Ashoka the Great, was List of Mauryan emperors, Emperor of Magadha from until #Death, his death in 232 BCE, and the third ruler from the Mauryan dynast ...
in 3rd century BCE and Buddhist relics from 4th century CE found in
Kaveripattinam.
Around the 7th century CE, the
Pandyas and
Pallavas, who patronized Buddhism and Jainism, became patrons of Hinduism following the revival of
Saivism and
Vaishnavism
Vaishnavism () ), also called Vishnuism, is one of the major Hindu denominations, Hindu traditions, that considers Vishnu as the sole Para Brahman, supreme being leading all other Hindu deities, that is, ''Mahavishnu''. It is one of the majo ...
during the
Bhakti movement
The Bhakti movement was a significant religious movement in medieval Hinduism that sought to bring religious reforms to all strata of society by adopting the method of Bhakti, devotion to achieve salvation. Originating in Tamilakam during 6t ...
led by Alwars and Nayanmars.
The Christian apostle,
St. Thomas, is believed to have preached
Christianity
Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion, which states that Jesus in Christianity, Jesus is the Son of God (Christianity), Son of God and Resurrection of Jesus, rose from the dead after his Crucifixion of Jesus, crucifixion, whose ...
to the Tamils between 52 and 70 CE.
Rowthers were Tamils who were converted to
Islam
Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...
by the Turkish preacher
Nathar Shah in the tenth century CE and follow the
Hanafi school. Other Muslim clans such as
Marakkayar,
Labbai, and
Kayalar originated as a result of the trade with the
Arab world
The Arab world ( '), formally the Arab homeland ( '), also known as the Arab nation ( '), the Arabsphere, or the Arab states, comprises a large group of countries, mainly located in West Asia and North Africa. While the majority of people in ...
. Majority of the
Tamil Muslims speak Tamil rather than
Urdu
Urdu (; , , ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in South Asia. It is the Languages of Pakistan, national language and ''lingua franca'' of Pakistan. In India, it is an Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of Indi ...
, which is spoken by Muslims in other parts of the Indian subcontinent. Mercantile groups introduced ''Cholapauttam'', a syncretic form of Buddhism and Shaivism in northern Sri Lanka and Southern India. The religion lost its importance in the 14th century when conditions changed for the benefit of
Sinhala and
Pali
Pāli (, IAST: pāl̤i) is a Classical languages of India, classical Middle Indo-Aryan languages, Middle Indo-Aryan language of the Indian subcontinent. It is widely studied because it is the language of the Buddhist ''Pali Canon, Pāli Can ...
traditions.
As of the 21st century, majority of the Tamils are adherents of Hinduism. The migration of Tamils to other countries resulted in new Hindu temples being constructed in places with significant population of Tamil people and people of Tamil origin, and countries with significant Tamil migrants. Sri Lankan Tamils predominantly worship Murugan with numerous temples existing throughout the island. There are also followers of
Ayyavazhi
Ayyavazhi (, ''Ayyāvaḻi'' , ) is a Hinduism, Hindu denomination that originated in South India during the 19th century.Tha. Krishna Nathan, ''Ayyaa vaikuNdarin vaazvum sinthanaiyum'', p. 62: "" (The day at which Vaikundar is given rebirth co ...
in Tamil Nadu, mainly in the southern districts.
Atheist,
rationalist, and
humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential, and agency of human beings, whom it considers the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humanism" ha ...
philosophies are also adhered by sizeable minorities, as a result of Tamil cultural revivalism in the 20th century, and its antipathy to what it saw as
Brahminical Hinduism.
Notable people
See also
*
List of languages by first written accounts
*
Kumari Kandam
*
Tamil population by cities
*
Tamil population by nation
Notes
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Tamils– ''
Encyclopædia Britannica
The is a general knowledge, general-knowledge English-language encyclopaedia. It has been published by Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. since 1768, although the company has changed ownership seven times. The 2010 version of the 15th edition, ...
'' entry
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tamil People
Tamil people
Dravidian peoples
Ethnic groups divided by international borders
Ethnic groups in India
Ethnic groups in Malaysia
Ethnic groups in Singapore
Ethnic groups in South Asia