page_title: Tamil Indonesians
section_title: Pre-colonial era
hierarchical_section_title: Tamil Indonesians / History / Pre-colonial era
caption_attribution_description: Nederlands: Repronegatief. Tamil-arbeiders uit India in Medan, Deli, Sumatra.
context_page_description: Tamil Indonesians are persons of Tamil ancestry living in Indonesia. Majority of them live in Medan in North Sumatra while there are small community in other parts of the country such as Jakarta, Aceh, Riau and Riau Islands. It is estimated that there are around 25,000 PIOs/NRIs living in Indonesia of which the Indian expatriate community registered with the Embassy and Consulate in Medan numbers around 30,000.
context_section_description: Tamils have a long history in Indonesia. After Rajendra Chola I's attack on Srivijaya Empire in 1024–1025, there was a noticeable increase in Tamil economic activity in Southeast Asia, including Indonesia. One of direct consequence of Chola invasion was the emergence of Kota Cina, an ancient trading town currently located in northern Medan.
  Their presence has been recorded in Lobu Tua Inscription dating from 1088 about Five Hundred Lords of Ayyanuruwar, a Tamil merchant guild in Barus, an ancient port town currently located in Central Tapanuli Regency, North Sumatra. The inscription itself is written in Tamil, and Barus was called Varocu by them. The Tamils residing permanently or temporarily in Barus were mainly traders or craftsmen by profession. Some of them were migrated to Karoland and Kota Cina, and assimilated with local Karo people. The clan (merga) Sembiring is believed to have a connection with the Tamils. Many of its sub-mergas, like Colia, Berahmana, Pandia, Meliala, Depari, Muham, Pelawi and Tekan, are clearly of South Indian origin. Some scholars cited that some aspects of Karo tradition are believed to have been influenced from Tamil culture, such as disposing of the dead and urung (village federation, thought to be influenced from medieval Tamil society).
  Another evidence of Tamil presence is the Suruaso Inscription, dating from the 14th century. The inscription was found in Tanah Datar Regency (West Sumatra), and written in two languages, Old Malay and Tamil. The Tamils were also assimilated with Acehnese people, and many of them has physical resemblance to that of Tamils. However, they do not practice Tamil culture or speak Tamil language anymore.
caption: A group of Tamil workers were brought from India by the Dutch for working on plantation sectors in Medan, 1920s.
exif: {}