After decline of the Chola power in Sri Lanka, different rulers ruled Sri Lanka, the Arya Chakaravarthi dynasty from 1215.Thou the name says Arya chakravarthi it is a debate that their surnames says SANGILI which is a pure Tamil origin name of Tamil root. The Arya Chakaravarthi dynasty ruled over large parts of northeast Sri Lanka until 1619. By this time the Portuguese and the Dutch won many areas of Sri Lanka. However, in 1796, the British won entire Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka became part of the British Empire..
During the British Raj, the British combined all Tamil lands and gave them a new name, the Madras Presidency. The Madras Presidency became a part of the British Raj. Similarly, the British combined Tamil lands of Sri Lanka and other regions of Sri Lanka in 1802. This became the Ceylon colony, also a part of the British Empire. When India became independent in 1947, Madras Presidency became a part of India. Ceylon became independent in 1948, and the Tamil lands remained a part of independent Ceylon, now called Sri Lanka.
After India’s independence in 1947, Madras Presidency became Madras State. It covered the areas of present-day Tamil Nadu, coastal parts of Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, northern Kerala, and the southwest of Karnataka. The Government of India rearranged (1956) the boundaries of many states of India based on language. Thus, the present day state of Tamil Nadu came into existence.
At the beginning, there was a demand for an independent country for the Tamil people. However, the constitution of India gave major rights to the states, and protected the speakers of regional languages from compulsory speaking and use of Hindi. This satisfied most of the Tamil people, and presently there is no demand for a separate country for Tamil people outside the federal system of India.
However, in Sri Lanka, the government did not give sufficient rights to people who spoke Tamil language. During 1970s, this led to a demand for independence of Tamil people and the Sri Lankan Civil War.
Tamil people live in many geographical regions. Sections below describe them.
Most of the Tamil people of India live in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Most of the people living in Pondicherry of India are also Tamil people.
Tamil people have been traditionally living in some other parts of India - for examples, Hebbar and Mandyam Tamils of southern Karnataka, the Tamils of Palakkad in Kerala, and the Tamils of Pune, Maharashtra. For last one hundred years or so, Tamil people went to many other parts of India for jobs or business. Some of them settled in these places.
Presently, there are two groups of Tamils in Sri Lanka. The first group is Sri Lankan Tamils. They are descendants of the Tamil people who lived in the old Jaffna kingdom or who migrated to the East coast. The second group is Hill Country Tamils. They descended from the Tamil people who went to Sri Lanka from India as laborers in the 19th century-early 20th century. The first group mostly lives in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka. The second group mostly live in the central highlands.
In 1949, some political developments in Sri Lanka were adverse for Tamil people of Sri Lanka. Many Tamils people lost their citizenship of being citizens of Sri Lanka. Under an agreement between the governments of India and Sri Lanka, about 40% of these Tamils could get back their citizenship. Many others had to shift to India. These developments brought the two groups of the Tamil people of Sri Lanka closer. By 1990s, most of the Tamil people had got back their citizenship.
Beginning from the 18th century, many poor Tamil people went as laborers to many countries of the British Empire. Some of these countries were Malaya, South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius and the Caribbean. At the same time, many Tamil businessmen also went to places in Burma and East Africa. Many Tamils still live in these countries.
Special mention may be made of Singapore. The government has made Tamil language as one of the national languages although only 4.2% of the people speak Tamil language in Singapore.
By 1980s many Tamil people of Sri Lanka were facing ethnic conflicts. Many of them fled to Australia, Europe, North America and Southeast Asia. Today, the largest concentration of Tamils outside southern Asia is in Toronto, Canada.
In recent years, many young Tamil professionals from India (particularly computer programmers) have gone to Europe and the United States.
Tamil people call their language as "the Tamil mother." They identify themselves based on their language.
Tamil language, like other languages of south India, is one of the Dravidian languages. It is not related to the Indo-European languages of the north India. Although modern speakers of Tamil language use a number of words of Sanskrit and English, Tamil language has maintained its original classical character. The Government of India has recently recognized Tamil language as one of the classical languages of India.
Classical Tamil literature is varied. For example, they cover poetry and lyrics; works of ethics and philosophy; and many other types of literary works. Notable works in classical Tamil literature include the Tirukkural by Thiruvalluvar, The Five Great Epics of Tamil Literature and the works of Auvaiyar. Over many centuries, the written Tamil has changed very little. Thus, even modern Tamil people are able to read and enjoy these classical literary works.
Modern Tamil literature is also varied. It has many aspects: for example, Indian nationalism, historical romanticism, and social realism. In recent years, many works of Tamil language in Sri Lanka describe the tragedy of ethnic conflict and civil war. Tamil people living in many other places have also produced literary works.
Some of the note-worthy poets are Bharathiyar, Barathidasen, etc... of end of 19th century who depicts the originality of Tamil culture and India, penned several notarary poems on Tamil and National interest.
Tamil visual arts have three main forms: architecture, sculpture and painting. The theme is generally religious, showing aspects of Hinduism.
Tanjore painting is the most important form of painting of Tamil people. The painting originated in a place named Tanjore (modern name: Thanjavur). This style of painting originated in the 9th century. In this style of painting, the painter paints on a piece of cloth. Sometimes, the painter also decorates the painting with threads of gold and silver, and precious gems. There is one other type of important painting style. Painters make paintings on the walls of temples. Tamil paintings use rich colors and show minute details.
In their sculpture, artists use bronze. Several pieces of sculptures are found throughout Tamil Nadu, particularly in temples. Most of them are very old, dating from the 7th century onwards. The sculptures show very minute details, including details of ornaments and dress. Many sculptures also show movement with fine details. Two important examples of such sculptures are: the cave sculptures at Mamallapuram and Nataraja statue at Chidambaram.
There are many temples in the lands of Tamil people. The gates of these temples, called Gopuram, are higher than other parts. Earlier Gopurams were simple in construction. From 13th century onwards, they became bigger and have engravings and paintings. The engravings and paintings show scenes and characters from Hindu mythology. Temples at Thanjavur. Chidambaram and Srirangam are very big and fine examples of temples of Tamil people.
Tamil art is an important tradition of Indian art.
The Tamil people have many performing arts. The classical Tamil literature has many details of these performing arts.
Classical music of Tamil people is carnatic music. The classical Tamil literature records details about the carnatic music. This is a vocal music with use of musical instruments. Carnatic music is completely religious.