Portal:Tamils

The Tamils portal

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 ethnolinguistic group who natively speak the Tamil language and trace their ancestry mainly to India's southern state of Tamil Nadu, 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, and Pallavas and a number of smaller states, all of whom were warring amongst themselves for dominance. The Jaffna Kingdom, 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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The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; Tamil: தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், romanized: Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, Sinhala: දෙමළ ඊලාම් විමුක්ති කොටි සංවිධානය, romanized: Damiḷa īḷām vimukthi koṭi; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka.

The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the northeast of the island, due to the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese-dominated Sri Lankan Government. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

General images

Image 1The golden Vimana over the sanctum at Srirangam midst its gopurams, its gable with Paravasudeva image. (from Tamils)
Image 2Two Tamil girls who follow Vaishnavaite Hinduism (from Tamils)
Image 3Basilica of Our Lady of Good Health in Velankanni, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 4Erwadi durgah in Ramanathapuram district is a major pilgrimage shrine of the Tamil Muslims. (from Tamils)
Image 5Celebrations of Murugan by the Sri Lankan Tamil community in Paris, France (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 6Distribution of Tamil speakers in South India and Sri Lanka (1981). (from Tamils)
Image 7Bharatanatyam dancers (from Tamils)
Image 8Expatriate Sri Lankan Tamil children in traditional clothes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 9Grey pottery with engravings, Arikamedu, 1st century CE (from Tamils)
Image 10Sage Agathiyar, one of the contributors of Old Tamil literature. (from Tamils)
Image 11 Map of ancient oceanic trade, and ports of Tamilakam (from Tamils)
Image 12One 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 13A Malbar temple in Réunion. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 14A 400 years old hero stone in Salem depicting bull-taming sport Jallikattu. (from Tamils)
Image 15The hall in front of Ranganayaki's shrine, Srirangam, where Kambar is said to have recited his works on Kamba Ramayanam (from Tamils)
Image 16The 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 17The Om symbol in Tamil script (from Tamils)
Image 18Meenakshi Amman temple, dedicated to Goddess Meenakshi, tutelary deity of Madurai city (from Tamils)
Image 19The Tamil Chola Empire at its height, 1030 CE (from Tamils)
Image 20Tamiḻakam during Sangam Period (from Tamils)
Image 21Tamil girls in Malaysia (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 22The Brihadeshswar Temple at Thanjavur, also known as the Great Temple, built by Rajaraja Chola I (from Tamils)
Image 23The Mahishasuramardhini cave bas relief at Mahabalipuram from 7th century CE (from Tamils)
Image 24Tamil people in Medan, Indonesia (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 25 Virampatnam jewelry from funerary burial, 2nd century BCE, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 26Katar, Tamil dagger which was popular throughout South Asia (from Tamils)
Image 27Sri Kandaswamy Temple, Brickfields, Malaysia. (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 28Terracotta statue of Lord Brahma from Arikamedu, Dated between 1st century BCE to 1st century CE (from Tamils)
Image 29 Souttoukeny jewelry, 2nd century BCE, Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 30Sri Kamakshi Ambaal temple in Hamm, Germany (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 31A 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 32Murugan Temple, Sydney (from Tamil diaspora)
Image 33Batu Caves temple built by Tamil Malaysians in c. 1880s. (from Tamils)
Image 34Megalithic sarcophagus burial from Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 35Tamil woman in traditional attire, c. 1880, Sri Lanka. (from Tamils)
Image 36Tamil girls dressed in traditional attire, ca. 1870, Tamil Nadu, India. (from Tamils)
Image 37Aiyanar, guardian folk deity of Tamil Nadu (from Tamils)
Image 38Krishna with his consorts Rukmini and Satyabhama and his mount Garuda, Tamil Nadu, India, late 12th-13th century (from Tamils)

Selected biography -

Ravichandran Ashwin (pronunciation) (born 17 September 1986) is an Indian international cricketer. He is a right-arm off spin bowler and a lower order batter. Widely regarded as one of the most prolific off spinners of all time, he represents the Indian cricket team and was part of the Indian team that won the 2011 Cricket World Cup and the 2013 Champions Trophy. He plays for Tamil Nadu and South Zone in domestic cricket and for Rajasthan Royals in the Indian Premier League (IPL).

Ashwin has taken more than 495 wickets in tests and is the fastest bowler to reach 300 wickets in terms of number of innings. He has won ten Man of the Series awards in tests, which is the highest by an Indian cricketer and the second most. As an all-rounder in test cricket, he bats down the order, has scored five test centuries and is one of the only three players to have scored 3000 runs and taken 450 wickets in tests. As of January 2024, Ashwin is the highest-ranked bowler in the ICC men's player rankings and the highest rated Indian bowler ever in tests. (Full article...)

List of selected biographies

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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WikiProject Tamil civilization
WikiProject Tamil Nadu
WikiProject Classical Tamil
WikiProject Chennai
WikiProject Pondicherry

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