Tamil - A historical and linguistic
perspective –Part 1
'Tamil' is placed linguistically and ethnically in the same group as a
Malayalee or a Telugu or a Kannadiga. Yet the strong linguistic and cultural
identity exhibited by a Tamil has often times not been understood in a proper
perspective. This is an attempt to cast some light from a historical and
linguistic perspective, such that the Tamil ethos can be understood a little
better.
The history of the Tamils start well before 2000 Years. There are epigraphical
evidences to these assertions. The history has also been documented in the
works and poems of Tamil writers, not necessarily in any structured continuity.
In the same time era when the North was dominated by the Mauryan and Gupta
empires, and other medieval dynasties, the deep souths history was being carved
by the Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava dynasties. The Pandyas and the Cheras
dominating from pre christian era to about the 3rd century CE, the Pallavas
from the 5th to the 8th and the Cholas between 9th and 12th century. The
grandest of them all was the Chola kingdom, reaching their zenith in the 10th
Century, with perhaps the first Naval fleet of any Indian king.
The Tamil kingdoms were a product of their times and was warring in nature. Yet
they were great patrons of fine art and culture. Music and Dance flourished
even during early Tamil Kings of the Sangam period. 'silapadikAram', written by
the prince poet Ilango, in a narrower perspective, can potentially serve as an
encyclopedia of then existing system of music built on 'pann' (loosely
equivalent to Ragas ??), various dance forms and plethora of musical
instruments. The roots of todays 'Carnatic music' and 'bharatha Natyam' can be
traced to these beginnings as expounded in this great Tamil epic
'silapadikAram'. The Temple gopurams all over Tamil Nadu and the stone edifices
that challenge the shores at Mamallapuram, are standing testimony to the Tamils
mastery of fine artistic sculptures. The bronze works that were produced by the
Cholas are national treasures now and coveted with intensity by international
art community. Yet the biggest contribution of Tamil Culture, to the colorful
diverse Indian heritage, is the rich linguistic traditions of the Tamil
language.
Tamil is one of the two classical traditions of India, the other being
Sanskrit. Tamil is the oldest living language in India. Madurai, the capital of
Pandyas, is usually associated with fostering and developing the language, more
than any other, due to the traditions of the Tamil Sangams (an academic
gathering for the poets and the writers) that was hosted in Madurai. Although
there is this tradition of three Tamil Sangams having existed in different time
eras, there has been no works that has come to us from the first Tamil Sangam.
The only work, if any, to have come to us from the second Tamil Sangam, which
is placed just before the Christian era, is the Tamil Grammar 'tolkAppiyam'.
There is another school of thought, which dates 'tolkAppiyam' around 5th to 6th
century CE. The third Tamil Sangam works, which is placed around 1st to 3rd
century CE, is the one that is traditionally referenced as Sangam Literature.
This is a rich compilation of poems from multitude of poets, giving us a
glimpse of daily life and thoughts, as it was about 2000 years ago.
The crown jewel of Tamil Literature is 'thirukuRaL', also known as the 'kuRaL',
which is placed anywhere from 1st to 5th century CE. Authored by the saintly
Thiruvalluvar, these are a collection of 1330 couplets, divided into three
sections. 'kuRaL' can be viewed as a code of ethics, that is secular in nature.
Very few works are eternal, not constrained by the world you live in and the
time era that is reflected. 'kuRaL' is one such. 'kuRaL' is an eternal gem with
a universal message.
Tamil has five great epics, the most famous and the first being
'silapadikAram', which is placed around 1st to 6th century CE, chronologically
after 'kuRaL'. Couple of the epics are not complete, with some works having
been lost in time.
It would be accurate to say that the Bhakthi Movement and the devotional spirit
of the Indian psyche was inspired by the 63 Nayanmar saints and the 12 Azhvar
saints of Tamil land, who lived from 6th to 11th century CE. These are the
saints who gave us 'thEvAram', 'thiruvAsagam' and 'diviyaprabandam'.
Tamils have their own rendering of 'ramAyanam' by 'kampan' of 12th century CE
and of 'mahAbhAratham'. Tamil 'ramAyanam' is known for its sheer poetic beauty.
There have been some Europeans who have contributed to the richness of Tamil
literature. The most famous among them being a Christian missionary who gave us
'thEmbAvani'. Finally the pre-modern era has given us saint Ramalingars
'thiruarutpA', Bharathiyars nationalistic poems and Bharathidasans song with a
social conscience.
Even with all these treasures ingrained in it, Tamil richness is barely
recognised outside its sphere of usage. With this rich heritage, a Tamil is
eager to contribute to the kaleidoscope that is India and share with the world
community that is a just a global village.
Tamil speakers make up the majority of the population of Tamil Nadu state and
also inhabit parts of Kerala, Karnataka, and Andhra Pradesh states, all
situated in the southernmost third of India. Emigrant Tamil may be found in
some parts of the Malagasy Republic, the Malay Peninsula, Myanmar (Burma),
Indochina, Thailand, eastern Africa, South Africa, the Fiji and Mauritius
islands, and the West Indies.
The Tamil area in India is a centre of traditional Hinduism. Tamil schools of
personal religious devotion (bhakti) have long been important in Hinduism,
being enshrined in a literature dating back to the 6th century AD. Buddhism and
Jainism were widespread among the Tamil in the early Christian era, and these
religions' literatures predate the early bhakti literature in the Tamil area.
Although the present-day Tamil are mostly Hindus, there are Christians,
Muslims, and Jains among them. In the recent past, the Tamil area was also the
home of the Dravidian movement that calls for the desanskritization and
debrahmanization of
Tamil culture, language, and literature.
The Tamil have a long history of achievement; sea travel, city life, and
commerce seem to have developed early among them. Tamil trade with the ancient
Greeks and Romans is verified by literary, linguistic, and archaeological
evidence. The Tamil have the oldest cultivated Dravidian language, and their
rich literary tradition extends back to the early Christian era.
The Chera, Chola, Pandya, and Pallava dynasties ruled over the Tamil area
before the Vijayanagar Empire extended its hegemony in the 14th century, and
these earlier dynasties produced many great kingdoms. Under them the Tamil
people built great temples, irrigation tanks, dams, and roads, and they played
an important role in the transmission of Indian culture to Southeast Asia.
The Chola, for example, were known for their naval power and brought the Malay
kingdom of Sri Vijaya under their suzerainty in AD 1025. Though the Tamil area
was integrated culturally with the rest of India for a long time, politically
it was for most of the time a separate entity until the advent of British rule
in India.
Tamil, language spoken by tamilians, inhabitants
of Tamil Nadu. Tamil is among the four oldest languages in the world apart from
Greek, Latin, and Sanscrit. Founder of the language Sage Agasthiya came down to
Earth to spread this beautiful language, on the request of Lord Shiva. He wrote
first Tamil grammar book Agathiyam. It was the first grammar book written for
any language in the world. Unfortunately, no copy of this book is known to
exist now. The version written by Agasthiya's disciple, Tholkaapiyar, nearly
5000 years ago, still exists, and is accepted as the oldest grammar book in any
language. This book is called Tholkaapiyam, after its author. Thirukkural a
tamil book on philosophy and life in general, was written by Thiruvalluvar, a
sage and philosopher, about 2000 years ago. It is one of the greatest and most
succinct books ever written, by popular and critical opinion. After Bible, the
Thirukkural is the book which has been translated into the most number of
languages.
Tamil grammar has remained the same, probably for 3000 yrs, maybe more. (Also,
many of the words that were used a long time ago are still used today, making
Tamil a living ancient language. Tamil is still spoken the same way it was
spoken a long time ago. I don't think any other language can claim that. Not
Chinese, not Latin, not Sanskrit, not Greek, not Hebrew.)
Tamil is a major member of the Dravidian family of languages, which, in terms
of their recorded history at least, are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent
-though affinities with languages spoken elsewhere have, with some degree of
plausibility, been suggested. In modern times, Dravidian speakers are
concentrated in the four southernmost states of India - Karnataka, Andhra
Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu - though there are significant pockets of
Dravidian speech as far north as Bihar (Malto), Nepal (Kurux) and Pakistan
(Brahui). Second to Telugu with respect to its number of speakers, Tamil is of
particular importance as being the member of the group with the longest
continuous written history, the earliest extant literature belonging to the
beginning of the Christian era or earlier, and as being in certain respects the
most typically Dravidian, in that with respect to historical change both
autonomous and through contact situations Tamil can be shown to be more
conservative than any genetically related language.