Tamils

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The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar (Tamil: தமிழர், romanized: Tamiḻar, pronounced [t̪amiɻaɾ] in the singular or தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, [t̪amiɻaɾɡaɭ] in the plural), Tamilians, or simply Tamils (/ˈtæmɪlz, ˈtɑː-/ TAM-ilz, TAHM-), are a Dravidian ethnolinguistic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to India's southern state of Tamil Nadu, to the union territory of Puducherry, and to Sri Lanka. The Tamil language is one of the world's longest-surviving classical languages, with over 2000 years of Tamil literature, including the Sangam poems, which were composed between 300 BCE and 300 CE. People who speak Tamil as their mother tongue and are born in are considered Tamils.

Tamils constitute 5.9% of the population in India (concentrated mainly in Tamil Nadu and Puducherry), 15% in Sri Lanka (excluding Eelam Moors), 7% in Malaysia, and 5% in Singapore.

From the 4th century BCE, urbanisation and mercantile activity along the western and eastern coasts of Tamilakam -- what is today Kerala and Tamil Nadu -- led to the development of four large Tamil empires, the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Pallavas, and velirs and a number of smaller states, all of whom were warring amongst themselves for dominance. The Jaffna Kingdom, and vanni chieftaincies inhabited by Eelam Tamils, was once one of the strongest kingdoms of Sri Lanka and controlled much of the north of the island. (Full article...)

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There are literary, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic sources of ancient Tamil history. The foremost among these sources is the Sangam literature, generally dated to 5th century BCE to 3rd century CE. The poems in Sangam literature contain vivid descriptions of the different aspects of life and society in Tamilakam during this age; scholars agree that, for the most part, these are reliable accounts. Greek and Roman literature, around the dawn of the Christian era, give details of the maritime trade between Tamilakam and the Roman empire, including the names and locations of many ports on both coasts of the Tamil country. There are evidences as could be seen comparing standard forms of Sumerian literature and those recovered through present form of Tamil, for example the word for father in Sumerian transliteration is given as, "a-ia" that could easily be compared with Tamil word, "ayya". This also places ancient form of Tamil to early Sumerian period, say as ancient as 3500 BC.

Archaeological excavations of several sites in Tamil Nadu and Kerala have yielded remnants from the Sangam era, such as different kinds of pottery, pottery with inscriptions, imported ceramic ware, industrial objects, brick structures and spinning whorls. Techniques such as stratigraphy and paleography have helped establish the date of these items to the Sangam era. The excavated artifacts have provided evidence for existence of different economic activities mentioned in Sangam literature such as agriculture, weaving, smithy, gem cutting, building construction, pearl fishing and painting. (Full article...)

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General images

Image 1The Tamil Chola Empire at its height, 1030 CE (from Tamils)
Image 2Distribution of Tamil speakers in South India and Sri Lanka (1981). (from Tamils)
Image 3 Map of ancient oceanic trade, and ports of Tamilakam (from Tamils)
Image 4Murugan Temple, Sydney (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 5The Brihadeshswar Temple at Thanjavur, also known as the Great Temple, built by Rajaraja Chola I (from Tamils)
Image 6Meenakshi Amman temple, dedicated to Goddess Meenakshi, tutelary deity of Madurai city (from Tamils)
Image 7Sri Kamakshi Ambaal temple in Hamm, Germany (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 8Sri Kandaswamy Temple, Brickfields, Malaysia. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 9Batu Caves temple built by Tamil Malaysians in c. 1880s. (from Tamils)
Image 10Two Tamil girls who follow Vaishnavaite Hinduism (from Tamils)
Image 11The golden Vimana over the sanctum at Srirangam midst its gopurams, its gable with Paravasudeva image. (from Tamils)
Image 12A Malbar temple in Réunion. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 13Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 14Katar, Tamil dagger which was popular throughout South Asia (from Tamils)
Image 15Tamil woman in traditional attire, c. 1880, Sri Lanka. (from Tamils)
Image 16The Mahishasuramardhini cave bas relief at Mahabalipuram from 7th century CE (from Tamils)
Image 17Erwadi durgah in Ramanathapuram district is a major pilgrimage shrine of the Tamil Muslims. (from Tamils)
Image 18Celebrations of Murugan by the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Paris, France (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 19One of the most popular overseas branches of Chennai-based Saravanaa Bhavan, the world's largest Indian vegetarian restaurant chain, is located in Edison, New Jersey, U.S. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 20A 400 years old hero stone in Salem depicting bull-taming sport Jallikattu. (from Tamils)
Image 21 Souttoukeny jewelry, 2nd century BCE, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 22The Om symbol in Tamil script (from Tamils)
Image 23Sage Agathiyar, one of the contributors of Old Tamil literature. (from Tamils)
Image 24Tamil girls dressed in traditional attire, ca. 1870, Tamil Nadu, India. (from Tamils)
Image 25Grey pottery with engravings, Arikamedu, 1st century CE (from Tamils)
Image 26Tamil people in Medan, Indonesia (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 27Tamil girls in Malaysia (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 28Krishna with his consorts Rukmini and Satyabhama and his mount Garuda, Tamil Nadu, India, late 12th-13th century (from Tamils)
Image 29 Virampatnam jewelry from funerary burial, 2nd century BCE, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 30Bharatanatyam dancers (from Tamils)
Image 31Tamiḻakam during Sangam Period (from Tamils)
Image 32The New York City Metropolitan Area, including Central New Jersey, as well as Long Island and Staten Island in New York, is home to the largest Tamil American population. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 33The hall in front of Ranganayaki's shrine, Srirangam, where Kambar is said to have recited his works on Kamba Ramayanam (from Tamils)
Image 34Aiyanar, guardian folk deity of Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 35A Megalithic burial jar from north-western Sri Lanka, 5th-2nd century BCE, similar to South Indian and Deccan jars of the time. (from Tamils)
Image 36Megalithic sarcophagus burial from Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 37Expatriate Sri Lankan Tamil children in traditional clothes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (from Tamil diaspora)

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Madhavan in 2016

Ranganathan Madhavan (born 1 June 1970) credited as R. Madhavan, informally known as Maddy, is an Indian actor, writer, director, and producer who predominantly appears in Tamil and Hindi films. Over the course of his career, he has been a recipient of several accolades including one National Film Award, four Filmfare Awards South, two Tamil Nadu State Film Awards and five SIIMA Awards. Currently, he serves as the President of Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), Pune.

Madhavan gained recognition in Tamil cinema by starring in Mani Ratnam's romantic drama film Alai Payuthey (2000). He soon developed an image as a romantic hero with notable roles in two of the highest-grossing Tamil films of 2001, Gautham Vasudev Menon's directorial debut Minnale and Madras Talkies' Dumm Dumm Dumm. He had further box-office hits with films, such as Run (2002), Jay Jay (2003), Thambi (2006) and Rendu (2006). He also gained praise for his performances in Kannathil Muthamittal (2002), Anbe Sivam (2003), Nala Damayanthi (2003) and Aayutha Ezhuthu (2004). In the mid-2000s, Madhavan also actively pursued a career in Hindi films, by appearing in supporting roles in three highly successful productions, Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra's Rang De Basanti (2006), Mani Ratnam's biopic Guru (2007) and Rajkumar Hirani's comedy-drama 3 Idiots (2009), which went on to become the highest-grossing Indian film of all time at the time of its release. During this time, Madhavan also simultaneously continued working in Tamil cinema with the films Evano Oruvan (2007) and Yavarum Nalam (2009). (Full article...)

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Topics

Tamil People

Tamil People Countrywide: India • Sri Lanka • Canada • Malaysia • Singapore • South Africa • England

Related Ethnic Groups: Brahui • Gond • Kannadiga • Khonds • Kodava • Oraon • Malayali • Telugus • Tuluvas

Related indigenous Groups: Badagas • Toda • Kuruba

Tamil Nadu

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