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தமிழர் | |
|---|---|
 Tamil bride and groom performing the ritual of metti anidal | |
| Total population | |
| 77 million Native speakers, worldwide | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
 India | 69,026,881 (2011)[1] |
 Sri Lanka | 3,135,770 (2012)[2] |
 Malaysia | 1,800,000[3] |
 United States | 238,699+[4] |
 Canada | 237,890 (2021)[5][note 1] |
 Singapore | 198,449 (2020)[6][7][note 2] |
| Other | See Tamil diaspora |
| Languages | |
| Tamil | |
| Religion | |
Majority: Hinduism Minority: | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| other Dravidians | |
| தமிழ் (Tamil) | |
|---|---|
| Person | தமிழர் Tamiḻar |
| People | தமிழர்கள் Tamiḻarkaḷ |
| Language | தமிழ் Tamiḻ |
| Country | தமிழ்நாடு Tamiḻ Nāṭu (hist.) தமிழகம் Tamiḻakam (hist.) ஈழம் Īḻam |
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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,[8] or simply Tamils (/ˈtæmɪlz, ˈtɑː-/ TAM-ilz, TAHM-),[9] 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,[10][11] 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 Tamil clans 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),[note 3] 7% in Malaysia, and 5% in Singapore.
From the 4th century BCE,[16] 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.
Tamils were noted for their influence on regional trade throughout the Indian Ocean. Artefacts marking the presence of Roman traders demonstrate that direct trade was active between Ancient Rome and Southern India, and the Pandyas were recorded as having sent at least two embassies directly to the Roman Emperor Augustus in Rome. The Pandyas and Cholas were historically active in Sri Lanka. The Chola dynasty successfully invaded several areas in southeast Asia, including the powerful Srivijaya and the city-state of Kedah.[17] Medieval Tamil guilds and trading organizations like the Ayyavole and Manigramam played an important role in Southeast Asian trading networks.[18] Pallava traders and religious leaders travelled to Southeast Asia and played an important role in the cultural Indianisation of the region. Scripts brought by Tamil traders to Southeast Asia, like the Grantha and Pallava scripts, induced the development of many Southeast Asian scripts such as Khmer, Javanese, Kawi, Baybayin, and Thai.
Tamil visual art is dominated by stylized Temple architecture in major centres and the productions of images of deities in stone and bronze. Chola bronzes, especially the Nataraja sculptures of the Chola period, have become notable symbols of Hinduism. A major part of Tamil performing arts is its classical form of dance, the Bharatanatyam, whereas the popular forms are known as Koothu. Classical Tamil music is dominated by the Carnatic genre, while gaana and dappankuthu are also popular genres. Tamil is an official language in Sri Lanka and Singapore. In 2004, Tamil was the first of six to be designated as a classical language of India.[19]
The vast majority of Tamil people are Hindus and many follow a particular way of religious practice that includes the veneration of a plethora of village deities and ancient Tamil gods.[20][21] A smaller number are Christians and Muslims, and a small Jain community survives from the classical period as well. A smaller number are Buddhists. Tamil cuisine is informed by varied vegetarian and non-vegetarian items, usually spiced with locally available spices. English historian and broadcaster 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.[22]
- ^ "Census of India 2011 - LANGUAGE ATLAS - INDIA". censusindia.gov.in.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing of Sri Lanka, 2012 – Table A3: Population by district, ethnic group and sex" (PDF). Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka.
- ^ Tamil at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)
- ^ ""Commuting Times, Median Rents and Language other than English Use"". Census.gov. 7 December 2017. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
- ^ Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (17 August 2022). "Knowledge of languages by age and gender: Canada, provinces and territories, census metropolitan areas and census agglomerations with parts". www12.statcan.gc.ca. Retrieved 12 October 2022.
- ^ "Basic Demographic Characteristics: Table 6 Indian Resident Population by Age Group, Dialect Group and Sex". Census of Population 2010 Statistical Release 1: Demographic Characteristics, Education, Language and Religion. Department of Statistics, Singapore. Archived from the original on 8 September 2013.
- ^ General Household Survey 2015 - Department of Statistics, Ministry of Trade & Industry, Republic of Singapore, Web.archive.org
- ^ Frank Rennie, Robin Mason, ed. (December 2008). Bhutan: Ways of Knowing. Information Age Publishing. p. 247. ISBN 9781607528241.
Tamilians, a group living in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
- ^ "Tamil, n. and adj". OED Online. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 24 January 2023.
- ^ Stein, B. (1977), "Circulation and the Historical Geography of Tamil Country", The Journal of Asian Studies, 37 (1): 7–26, doi:10.2307/2053325, JSTOR 2053325, S2CID 144599197
- ^ Steever 1998, pp. 6–9
- ^ "A2: Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012". Department of Census & Statistics, Sri Lanka.
- ^ Mohan, Vasundhara (1987). Identity Crisis of Sri Lankan Muslims. Delhi: Mittal Publications. pp. 9–14, 27–30, 67–74, 113–18.
- ^ "Ross Brann, "The Moors?"" (PDF). Drum.lib.umd.edu. Retrieved 15 December 2017.
- ^ "Analysis: Tamil-Muslim divide". BBC News World Edition. Retrieved 6 July 2014.
- ^ Lal, Mdohan, ed. (1992). Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot. Sahitya Akademi. p. 4283.
- ^ Nagapattinam to Suvarnadwipa: Reflections on the Chola Naval Expeditions to Southeast Asia by Hermann Kulke, K Kesavapany, Vijay Sakhuja p. 79
- ^ The Emporium of the World: Maritime Quanzhou, 1000–1400 by Angela Schottenhammer p. 293
- ^ "Front Page : Tamil to be a classical language". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 18 September 2004. Archived from the original on 3 March 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2010.
- ^ "Tamilar Madham - Contents Page". www.tamilvu.org. Retrieved 29 April 2021.
- ^ Cutler, Norman (1983). Clothey, Fred W.; Ramanujan, A. K.; Shulman, David Dean (eds.). "Tamil Religion: Melting Pot or Battleground?". History of Religions. 22 (4): 381–391. doi:10.1086/462931. ISSN 0018-2710. JSTOR 1062405. S2CID 162366616.
- ^ Wood, Michael (2 August 2007). A South Indian Journey: The Smile of Murugan. Penguin UK. pp. x, xiii, xvi. ISBN 978-0-14-193527-0.
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