According to Prof Velupillay the Tamils can be defined as people having Tamil as their mother tongue. Tamil language is a member of the Dravidian family of languages. The name given to the family came from a very early reference in Regveda, where the Sanskrit word “Dravida” was used to refer to one of the languages namely Tamil – which has the oldest written records of the family.
The Dravidian languages have remained as an isolated family without demonstrable connection with Indo European tongues or any other languages. The Dravidian languages are the mother tongues of about quarter of Indian population and 80% of the speakers are found within the borders of four south Indian states. However a number of Dravidian languages have been identified in other parts of south Asia for example the tribal languages of central India, those in isolated settlements of Nepal and Pakistan, and Brahui speakers found in the hills of Baluchistan. The Dravidian family is a south Asian family in one sense.
Following professor Leakey’s find of ancient man in olduvai gorge there had been two large migrations in world history. Homeoerectus a million and half years ago started the Negritoid wave, and still later the Australid wave through the same route. After a long gap of time about 20000 years ago we catch up with the proto Dravidians belonging to Homeosapiens group who had reached Mediterranean through wanderings in the quest for food and shelter. They cannot be called ‘civilized’ even though they were in group hunting animals, communicating by gesture and had found fire.
The old island of “Cos” near MINAS was abode of these proto Dravidians as attested by the old Egyptian historian Hiridotus. “Cos” disintegrated through volcanic eruption during 4th milinium BC and the inhabitants got scattered and entered the southern Mesopotamia area called sumer. The belief that the Sumerians were Dravidians comes from the following text. The Sumerian language has a remote relationship with the Dravidian languages like spoken by Tamils in south India. Sumerians were responsible for the first monumental temples and founding of the first city state and for the invention of writing.
The linguistic and cultural affinities between Sumerian and Tamils are evident in similarities like temple worship, worshipping moon god in artificial hillock called “Ziggerat”.
From SUMER Dravidians started moving through North west corner of India to reach Indus valley where they were not to remain long. They were attacked by Indo Aryan tribes and driven south, where they remain ever since.
The fact of migration is clear from out of the following details
Literary evidence – in some cases writings cannot be deciphered eg. Indus valley civilization.
Language speaking people left enroute (Bhahui in Pakistan)
Racial characteristics in Genes which are race specific. DNA of the genes carry race specific diseases which affect only the Mediterranean races. Otosclerosis etc.,
HLA typing of DNA – dendogram – already done (Madurai Kamaraj University)
Thus we see that this great race has a continuous history of existence through centuries of persecution but has kept flag flying.
Source: Kameswaran, S. in “TAMILS THEIR ORIGIN AND LONG JOURNEY”
URL: http://www.thehindu.com/multimedia/archive/00151/WCTC_Souvenir_-_Par_151107a.pdf | Read or download this article in the backup file (PDF, 1,2 MB)
Date visited: 16-4-12
Thus the generally accepted view now is that the original inhabitants of India were not the Dravidians but the pre-Dravidian Munda aborigines whose descendants now live in parts of Chotanagpur (Jharkhand), Chhattisgarh, Orissa, West Bengal, etc., the Todas of the Nilgiris in Tamil Nadu, the tribals in the Andaman Islands, the Adivasis in various parts of India (especially in the forests and hills), for example the Gonds, Santhals, Bhils, etc.
Source: Supreme Court of India Bench (judgment delivered on 5 January 2011) quoted by The Hindu in “India, largely a country of immigrants” |Particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTG) | Learn more about India’s original inhabitants >>
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Contributors
Source: “WCTC Souvenir” (PDF 1,2 MB), courtesy The Hindu (Date Visited: 16 April 2012)
Aaron J. Paige, Ajmal Khan, P.M., Alexander M. Dubyanskiy, Amutha Pandian, Anaivaari R. Anandan, Andreas L. Katonis, Armstrong, S., Arogyaswami J. Paulraj, Arokianathan, S., Aruldoss Kanthiah, Aruna Devi, P., Arunachalam, A., Arunachalam, R., Arunan Sriskandarajah, Arunan, E., Asko Parpola, Ayothi, V., Bagavandas, M., Balaji, P.D., Balakrishnan, M., Balakrishnan, R., Balasubramanian, G., Beulah Jeyaseeli, S., Bhageerathi, M.A., Buck, David C., Chandrasekaran, A., Chelladurai Albert, Chelva Kanaganayakam, Chevillard, Jean-Luc, Chinnammai, S., Christhu Doss, M., Cristina Muru, Daniel Jeyaraj, Daniel, D., Dayalan, D., Deivanayagam, G., Devaraj Vijayakumar, Durga, S.A.K., Eva Wilden, Ganesan, N., Ganeshram, S., Ganga Ramachandran (Bageerathi), Geetha, N., George Joseph, S. V., Gnanam, M., Gnanasundaram, V., Gopalakrishnan Naduvattom, Govind Raj, Govindarajan, N., Gowri Diwaker, Gregory James, Gurumurthy, S., Hazeena Begum, V., Irai Anbu, Jacob Vetha Raj Y. Mohamed Sathik M. and Senthamarai Kannan, K., Jakka Parthasarathy, Jaya Venkatesh J., Jayabalan M., Jayanthasri Balakrishnan, Jayasitalakshmi, B.R., Jaroslav Vacek, Kalai Selvi, S., Kameswaran, S., Kannan, P.P., Kandaswamy, S.N., Kanthasamy Nallusamy, Karthikesu Sivathambi, Karthikeyan, S., Kasirajan, R., Kavitha Nakulan, Keeni Gita, A., Kiran Kesavamurthy, Komala Varadan, Kothandaraman, D., Kothandaraman, R., Krishnammal, S., Krishnamurthy, R., Krishanamurthi, R., Krishnaswami, P., Lakshman Singh, M., Lakshmi Ramaswamy, Logamanian, T., Maari Maurya, Madhavan, A.D., Madhivanan, R., Mahadevan Iravatham, Mahadevan Kathir, Mahalingam, K., Manavalan, A.A., Manickavasagam, M.E., Manikumar, K. A., Manju Nair, Manoharan, S., Manonmani Rathnavel, M., Marudanayagam, P., Maruthamalai Murugan, Matthew H. Baxter, Menon, A.G., Mikiko Kondo, Murthy, Y.Y.S.S.N., Murugaiyan, A., Murugaiyan Punal, K., Murugarathanam, T., Muthu Francis, S., Muthukumara Swamy, R., Muthupandian Ashokkumar, Nadaraja Pillai, N., Nagaswamy, R., Nageswara Rao, P., Naidu Pushpalatha, Narainsamy Tiroumalechetty, Narayanan Kannan, Natanasabapathy, S., Natarajan, S., Palaniappan Thiagarajan, Palanisamy Iyyana Devan, Pandian, P., Pandiyaraja, P., Pandurangan, Parthasarathi, K., Parthasarathy, G., Parthiban, M., Perialwar, R. & Gnanasundaram, V., Poongundran, R., Prabhakaran, B., Purushothaman, V.P., Rajendran, N., Ramachandran, G., Ramanathan, P., Ramanujam, Kallapiran, T., Ramasamy, A., Ramasamy, V., Ramaswami, N., Rangan, K., Ravi Subramaniam, Ravindranathan, S., Rose Mary, A., Sabarinathan, S., Sabharathnam, S.P., Sadasivam, M., Sampath Kumar, M., Sampath, M.D., Sanmugadas, A., Santhalingam, C., Saraspedee Tiroumalechetty, Saraswathi Venugopal, Saravanan Raja, Raghunatha Rao, B. Rajavel, S., Selvakumar, P., Selva Shunmugam, P. & Deiva Nayagam, C.N., Semmal Manavai Mustafa, Senarath Wikramasinghe, E.A., Seshadri, N., Sethuraman, M. & Rajan, S., Shan Shanmugam, P.E., Shunmugam, P., Shanmugam, S.V., Shanmugayogini Ravindran, Sherfraz, Simon Schmidt, Singaravelu Sachithanantham, Siva Pillai, Sivagowri Sivagurunathan, Sivathanu Pillai A., Smriti Haricharan, Soibam Rebika Devi, Solomon Raj, D., Solomon Selvam, Sridhar, T.S., Srinivasa Varma, G., Srinivasan, S., Sriskandarajah Sellathamby, Subrahmanyam, C., Subramani Kannupelli, Subramani Kannupelli, Subramanian, K.S., Subramanian, S.V., Sujatha Vijayaraghavan, Sukumar Rajagopal, Sunder Ganesan, G., Sundaresh, Gaur A. S, Vora K.H, and Sila Tripati, Suresh, V. & Nakkeeran, K.S., Swarna Sirisena, N. R., Tamil Selvi, Thajudeen, A.S., Thayyalnayaki, Thilakavathy, M., Thillainayagam, Thirumoorthy, G., Thiruvalluvan, V., Thomas Lehmann, Ulrike Niklas, Vanangamudi, P., Vasanthakumari, T., Veena Mushrif & Rajan, K., Veerapandian, S.A., Velmurugan, R., Velusamy, N., Venkatesan, P., Venkatesan, R., Vijaya Ramaswamy, Vijayalakshmi, V., Vijayaraghavan, R., Vijayaraghavan, R., Vijayavenugopal, G., Vinesh Yogindranathsingh Hookoomsing, Vridhachalem Subramaniam, Waradet Mesangrutdharakul, Will Sweetman
Table of the number of endangered languages with the states that they are spoken in according to India Today | Learn more >>
| Indian states | No. of languages | Endangered Languages |
| Andaman and Nicobar Islands | 11 | Great Andamanese, Jarawa, Lamongse, Luro, Muot, Onge, Pu, Sanenyo, Sentilese, Shompen and Takahanyilang |
| Manipur | 7 | Aimol, Aka, Koiren, Lamgang, Langrong, Purum and Tarao |
| Himachal Pradesh | 4 | Baghati, Handuri, Pangvali and Sirmaudi |
| Odisha | 3 | Manda, Parji and Pengo |
| Karnataka | 2 | Koraga and Kuruba |
| Andhra Pradesh | 2 | Gadaba and Naiki |
| Tamil Nadu | 2 | Kota and Toda |
| Arunachal Pradesh | 2 | Mra and Na |
| Assam | 2 | Tai Nora and Tai Rong |
| Uttarakhand | 1 | Bangani |
| Jharkhand | 1 | Birhor |
| Maharashtra | 1 | Nihali |
| Meghalaya | 1 | Ruga |
| West Bengal | 1 | Toto |
The Central Institute of Indian Languages, Mysore, has been working for the protection and preservation of endangered languages in India under a central scheme […]
Central Institute of Indian Languages (Official website): https://www.ciil.org
Source: International Mother Language Day: 42 Indian languages heading towards extinction, India Today, 21 February 2018
URL: https://www.indiatoday.in/education-today/gk-current-affairs/story/international-mother-language-day-42-indian-languages-heading-towards-extinction-1174384-2018-02-21
Date visited: 21 July 2020
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[*] Some clarifications on caste-related issues by reputed scholars
Understanding “caste” in the context of Indian democracy: The “Poona Pact of 1932”
“Mahatma Gandhi and BR Ambedkar differed over how to address caste inequities through the electoral system. Their exchanges led to the Poona Pact of 1932, which shaped the reservation system in India’s electoral politics. […]
Two prominent figures who have significantly contributed to this discourse are Mahatma Gandhi, Father of the Nation, and Bhimrao Ramji Ambedkar, Father of the Constitution. The two stalwarts of Indian politics, while revered equally by the public, had contrasting views on the caste system. Their subsequent debates have shaped the course of Indian society and politics. While Gandhi denounced untouchability, he did not condemn the varna system, a social hierarchy based on occupation, for most of his life. He believed in reforming the caste system through the abolition of untouchability and by giving equal status to each occupation. On the other hand, BR Ambedkar, a Dalit himself, argued that the caste system disorganised and ‘demoralised Hindu society, reducing it to a collection of castes’. […]
And yet, despite their differences, they developed an understanding to work for the betterment of the marginalised.” – Rishabh Sharma in “How Ambedkar and Gandhi’s contrasting views paved way for caste reservation” (India Today, 6 October 2023)
URL: https://www.indiatoday.in/history-of-it/story/ambedkar-gandhi-caste-system-poona-pact-1932-reservation-2445208-2023-10-06
~ ~ ~
“That upper caste groups should declare themselves to be OBCs [Other Backward Castes] and want to avail of the reservation policy is a pandering to caste politics of course, as also are caste vote-banks. It is partially a reflection of the insecurity that the neo-liberal market economy has created among the middle-class. Opportunities are limited, jobs are scarce and so far ‘development’ remains a slogan. There’s a lot that is being done to keep caste going in spite of saying that we are trying to erode caste. We are, of course, dodging the real issue. It’s true that there has been a great deal of exploitation of Dalit groups and OBC’s in past history; making amends or even just claiming that we are a democracy based on social justice demands far more than just reservations. The solution lies in changing the quality of life of half the Indian population by giving them their right to food, water, education, health care, employment, and social justice. This, no government so far has been willing to do, because it means a radical change in governance and its priorities.” – Romila Thapar (Emeritus Professor of History, Jawaharlal Nehru University) interviewed by Nikhil Pandhi (Caravan Magazine, 7 October 2015)
URL: https://caravanmagazine.in/vantage/discipline-notion-particular-government-interview-romila-thapar
~ ~ ~
“Casteism is the investment in keeping the hierarchy as it is in order to maintain your own ranking, advantage, privilege, or to elevate yourself above others or keep others beneath you …. For this reason, many people—including those we might see as good and kind people—could be casteist, meaning invested in keeping the hierarchy as it is or content to do nothing to change it, but not racist in the classical sense, not active and openly hateful of this or that group.” – Book review by Dilip Mandal for Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents (The Print, 23 August 2020)
URL: https://theprint.in/opinion/oprah-winfrey-wilkerson-caste-100-us-ceos-indians-wont-talk-about-it/487143/
~ ~ ~
“The theoretical debate on caste among social scientists has receded into the background in recent years. [However] caste is in no sense disappearing: indeed, the present wave of neo-liberal policies in India, with privatisation of enterprises and education, has strengthened the importance of caste ties, as selection to posts and educational institutions is less based on merit through examinations, and increasingly on social contact as also on corruption. There is a tendency to assume that caste is as old as Indian civilization itself, but this assumption does not fit our historical knowledge. To be precise, however, we must distinguish between social stratification in general and caste as a specific form. […]
From the early modern period till today, then, caste has been an intrinsic feature of Indian society. It has been common to refer to this as the ‘caste system’. But it is debatable whether the term ‘system’ is appropriate here, unless we simply take for granted that any society is a ‘social system’. First, and this is quite clear when we look at the history of distinct castes, the ‘system’ and the place various groups occupy within it have been constantly changing. Second, no hierarchical order of castes has ever been universally accepted […] but what is certain is that there is no consensus on a single hierarchical order.” – Harald Tambs-Lyche (Professor Emeritus, Université de Picardie, Amiens) in “Caste: History and the Present” (Academia Letters, Article 1311, 2021), pp. 1-2
URL: https://www.academia.edu/49963457
~ ~ ~
“There is a need for intercultural education. We all need to work together to bridge these divides not only between religions and castes but also regions. It is not correct to think that one part is better than the other. Some of the limitations of India as a whole are due to our common heritage, say the one that has restricted women from having a flourishing life for themselves.” – Prof. V. Santhakumar (Azim Premji University) in “On the so called North-South Divide in India” (personal blog post in Economics in Action, 13 April 2024)
URL: https://vsanthakumar.wordpress.com/2024/04/13/on-the-so-called-north-south-divide-in-india/
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See also
Colonial policies | Freedom Struggle | Independence
Linguistic diversity and multilingualism
Misconceptions | “Casteism” and its effect on tribal communities
Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes | SEED – Government scheme
Video | Tribes in Transition-III: “Indigenous Cultures in the Digital Era”