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Tamil is a Dravidian language natively spoken by the Tamil people of South Asia. It is one of the two longest-surviving classical languages in India, along with Sanskrit, attested since c. 300 BCE. The language belongs to the southern branch of the Dravidian language family and shares close ties with Malayalam and Kannada. Despite external influences, Tamil has retained a sense of linguistic purism, especially in formal and literary contexts.
Iyers are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Brahmins. Most Iyers are followers of the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankara and adhere to the Smarta tradition. This is in contrast to the Iyengar community, who are adherents of Sri Vaishnavism. The Iyers and the Iyengars are together referred to as Tamil Brahmins. The majority of Iyers reside in Tamil Nadu, India.
Iyengars are an ethnoreligious community of Dravidian Language-speaking Hindu Brahmins, whose members follow Sri Vaishnavism and the Visishtadvaita philosophy learned and propounded by Ramanuja from his teacher Guru Yadava prakasha. Iyengars are divided into two denominations, the Vadakalai and the Tenkalai and live mostly in the Southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Kerala. The community belongs to the Pancha Dravida Brahmana classification of Brahmins in India.
Pillai or Pillay, meaning "Child of King" (Prince) or "Child", is a surname found among the Malayalam and Tamil-speaking people of India and Sri Lanka.
Kaarkaathaar is a subcaste of Vellalar Hindu caste in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
Eelam is the native Tamil name for the South Asian island now known as Sri Lanka. Eelam is also the Tamil name for the spurge, toddy and gold.
Mudaliar is a Tamil title and surname. As title, it was historically given to high-ranking officers, administrators and their descendants during the rule of Imperial Cholas. The surname is most prevalent among Tamils from Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. Descendants of Tamil migrants also bears variants of the name in countries such as South Africa, and elsewhere in the Tamil diaspora. List of Mudaliars
The caste systems in Sri Lanka are social stratification systems found among the ethnic groups of the island since ancient times. The models are similar to those found in Continental India, but are less extensive and important for various reasons. Modern times Sri Lanka is often considered to be a casteless society in south asia.
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an island country in the northern Indian Ocean which has been known under various names over time.
Vellalar is a group of castes in the Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. The Vellalar are members of several endogamous castes such as the numerically strong Arunattu Vellalar, Chozhia Vellalar, Karkarthar Vellalar, Kongu Vellalar, Thuluva Vellalar and Sri Lankan Vellalar.
Bharatha People also known as Bharatakula and Paravar, is an ethnicity in the island of Sri Lanka. Earlier considered a caste of the Sri Lankan Tamils, they were classified as separate ethnic group in the 2001 census. They are descendant of Tamil speaking Paravar of Southern India who migrated to Sri Lanka under Portuguese rule. They live mainly on the western coast of Sri Lanka and mainly found in the cities of Mannar, Negombo and Colombo.
Aiyanar is a Dravidian folk deity venerated in South India and Sri Lanka. His worship is prevalent amongst rural Tamil people. Some studies suggest that Ayyanar may have also been worshipped in Southeast Asian countries in the past. He is primarily worshipped as one of the village deities of Tamil Nadu. Temples to Aiyanar in the countryside are usually flanked by gigantic colourful statues of him and his companions riding horses or elephants.
Koviyar is a Tamil caste found in Sri Lanka. They are traditional agriculturalists and temple workers but also included merchants, landowners and temple patrons. Kattavarayan as caste deity is observed by the Koviar. They are reputed as a ritually dominant caste and regarded as the "cousin" caste of the more numerical dominant caste, Sri Lankan Vellalar.
Karaiyar is a Sri Lankan Tamil caste found mainly on the northern and eastern coastal areas of Sri Lanka, and globally among the Tamil diaspora.
Brahmin Tamil is the name of a dialect of Tamil traditionally spoken by Tamil Brahmins. The dialect, largely, uses Classical Tamil along with a heavy proportion of Sanskrit derivatives.
Sri Lankan Vellalar is a caste in Sri Lanka, predominantly found in the Jaffna peninsula and adjacent Vanni region, who comprise about half of the Sri Lankan Tamil population. They were traditionally involved in agriculture, but also included merchants, landowners and temple patrons. They also form part of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora.
Vanniar or Vanniyar was a title borne by chiefs in medieval Sri Lanka who ruled in the Chiefdom of Vavuni regions as tribute payers to the Jaffna vassal state. There are a number of origin theories for the feudal chiefs, coming from an indigenous formation. The most famous of the Vavni chieftains was Pandara Vannian, known for his resistance against the British colonial power.
The Naga people are believed by some to be an ancient tribe who once inhabited Sri Lanka and various parts of Southern India. There are references to Nagas in several ancient texts such as Mahavamsa, Manimekalai, Mahabharata and also in other Sanskrit and Pali literature. They were generally represented as a class of super-humans taking the form of serpents who inhabit a subterranean world.
Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses itself in the form of linguistic purism, linguistic nationalism, Social equality and Tamil Renaissance.
Kondaikatti Velaalar or Thondaimandala Mudaliar is a Tamil caste in south India. Historically, they were a caste of non-cultivating land-holders and some of them were administrators under various south Indian dynasties. Their original homeland was Thondaimandalam and from there they spread to other areas in south India and northeastern parts of Sri Lanka. Since they historically used the Mudaliar title, they are sometimes referred to as Thondaimandala Mudaliar. However, Kathleen Gough considers them to be a separate subcaste of the Thondaimandala Mudali, as does Susan Neild.
References
- ↑ Gough, Kathleen (1989). Rural change in southeast India: 1950s to 1980s. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-562276-8.
- 1 2 Béteille, André; Beteille, Professor Emeritus of Socio Logy Andre (1965). Caste, Class, and Power: Changing Patterns of Stratification in a Tanjore Village . University of California Press. pp. 89. ISBN 9780520020535.
- ↑ Leslie, Charles M. (1998). Asian Medical Systems: A Comparative Study. Motilal Banarasidass Publishers. ISBN 81-208-1537-8.
- ↑ Menon, T. Madhava; Linguistics, International School of Dravidian (2002). A handbook of Kerala. International School of Dravidian Linguistics. p. 764. ISBN 9788185692319.
- ↑ Sircar, Dineschandra (1967). Studies in the Society and Administration of Ancient and Medieval India. Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay. p. 109.
- ↑ General, India Office of the Registrar (1966). Census of India, 1961: Madras. Manager of Publications. p. 7.
- ↑ Murugan, Perumal; Lakshmi, C. S., eds. (2017). Black Coffee in a Coconut Shell: Caste as Lived Experience. SAGE Publishing India. p. 75. ISBN 978-9-35280-499-3.
- ↑ Sinha, BP (2003). Kayastha in making of modern Bihar. Patna: Impression Publisher. pp. 14–15.
- ↑ State), Madras (India; Baliga, B. S.; Bahadur.), B. S. Baliga (Rao (1999). Madras District Gazetteers: Tiruchirappalli (pt. 1-2). Superintendent, Government Press. p. 1447.
- ↑ David, Kenneth (3 June 2011). The New Wind: Changing Identities in South Asia. Walter de Gruyter. p. 189. ISBN 9783110807752.