Wow Da! China Speaks Tamil

**The Chinese mentioned in this article refers to those of China and not those in the Chinese diaspora.**

Ever since the war in Tamil Eelam ended, I have been seeing a lot of pictures, news links and videos being shared in Facebook. It shows the Chinese as being interested in Tamil language.

Unknown to many people, the Tamil people had links with China since ancient times. There are also Tamil inscriptions about Hindu temples in China.

You can read about it here:

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/behind-chinas-hindu-temples-a-forgotten-history/article4932458.ece

However, the past relationship between the two giant civilizations of India-China, is not the same as the present situation.

The Indians (including Tamils) of the ancient world were of a superior class. We are nothing when compared with them. 

Ancient Tamils vs Modern Tamils

China has been showing interest to break India into smaller countries in order to reduce its regional power to zero. This process is known as Balkanisation. 

It has been happening since the Sino-Indian war which ended in 1962. In 1963, the China Radio International (CRI) started broadcasting in Tamil. 

You may ask me what Tamil language has got to do with breaking India?

India the country has states divided on linguistics line. The southernmost state which borders the Indian Ocean is Tamil Nadu.

China's actual long term plan is to control the Indian Ocean. For this to happen, they need to have strong influence in Southern India i.e Tamil Nadu. That can only happen if the southern states break away from India and bow down to China.

China already has its presence in East Africa, Maldives and lately Sri Lanka. China is a large military equipment supplier to Sri Lanka. 

This is one of the reasons why Sri Lanka won the war against the Tamil Tigers. We cannot deny that the Chinese has a dirty hand on the massacre of innocent Tamils. 

In exchange for this, Sri Lanka gave China oil exploration rights in their country. The Chinese are now setting up bases in Sri Lanka. They even had a joint military exercise known as Cormorant III in 2012.

Lately, the Chinese were spotted in Katchatheevu, an island which originally belonged to the king of Ramanathapuram and was given away by India to Sri Lanka in 1974. A very "intelligent" move by India.

Picture credit hosuronline.com

Naturally, anyone will feel excited when they see someone from another race speaking their language. But we Tamils, especially those from India need to also question if there are any hidden motives. 

This reminds me of the Malayan history before the Japanese occupation. Japan sent Japanese to learn local language and set up businesses in Malaya during the 1940s. One fine day, they showed their true colour.


While the chest thumping hardcore yet naive Tamils are spreading the "China loves Tamil" propaganda in Facebook, China cunningly moves its pawns in the regional chess board. 

A move which could some day cause the Indian civilization, including the Tamils to look at the Chinese and say "Yes Master".

You may think that this is a very crazy assumption of mine but keep in mind that you have been warned.

Jallikattu, Maatu Ponggal & Beef

Today is the 2nd day of Ponggal, the Tamil harvest festival. It is known as Maatu Ponggal (Cattle Ponggal) and it is dedicated to the cattles.

Many would have thought that the Tamils do not eat beef because of Hindu influence. That is not true. It is actualy the culture of the Tamils to respect these animals. Therefore, most Tamils will not eat beef.

The cattles have a very special place in the Tamil society. It helps farmers to plough the land, pull carts and its milk is an important element in the daily lives of the Tamil people. 

Back in the olden days, many women died of child birth. Furthermore, due to poor health condition, many new mothers do not lactate during the first few days after delivery.

In such cases, cow milk is used as a replacement for mother's milk to feed the newborn. So naturally, most Tamils will not eat them.

However, the taboo is not applied to everyone. Tamil clans who are involved with leather works or the make of percussion instruments actually eat beef. The cows are not holy for them as their skin is a source of income.

We also have our own bull taming sport. It is commonly known as Jallikattu. It usually starts on Maatu Ponggal and can last for several weeks.

Unlike the Spanish bullfight, the Tamil Jallikattu does not require the beast to be killed. The ultimate aim is to either subdue the bull or grab the price money which will be tied to its neck. There are several type of Jallikattu sport.

1. The bull will be tied to a pole with a very long rope. Participant (one at a time) have to wrestle and grab the price money.

2. Bulls will be released in a fenced arena or an open arena. Participants will try to wrestle with it in a group and subdue the bull or grab the price money.

Jallikattu is a violent sport. Many participants have been killed by the bulls with its own horns. Some also receive injuries because of being trampled.

Yet, the Tamils do not aim to kill the bull. In fact, the bulls will be venerated. But of course, there will be some rotten apples who abuse the bulls.

Jallikattu was originally practiced by the martial classes. Nowadays, it sees participation from various clans. Jallikattu event was also used as a good avenue to select potential bridegrooms.

Before each event, bulls are brought to the local Muniandy temples for blessings. Such bulls are also nicknamed as Muniandy Kaalai or Kovil Kaalai. Kaalai is the Tamil word for bulls.

The bulls are usually of the Kangeyam breed or the Pulikulam breed. The Pulikulam breed got its name from a village called Pulikulam in my ancestral district, Sivagangai. 

Long ago, there used to be a kulam (pond) in the Pulikulam forest. The local puli (tigers) come there to drink. These tigers were ferocious but the bulls were never afraid of them. Some will fight the tigers till death. So the courageous breed got its name from this place.

Jallikattu bulls are bred specially for the bull fight. They undergo vigorous training under their owners. Bulls will be brought to local water tanks for swimming. Bulls are also trained to ram their horns on thick piles of sands. These are all done to build the stamina and strength of the bulls.

Today's Jallikattu is different from its original form as practiced more than 2000 years ago. There are strict regulations enforced to ensure that both the participants and bulls are protected.

Tamil Surnames and Hypocrisy

Many Tamils will go berserk when we speak about surnames. This is because the surnames reflects the caste or clan. Most of the surnames we have are occupational surnames.

Each occupational surnames of the Tamil people has its own history and it is clan specific. This is mainly because those clans had their own hereditary occupation in the past. 

Take for example the surname Servai used in the Mukkulathor community. It refers to a person who's ancestors were Servaikarars (men who serve). These Servaikarars defended forts and worked inside the palaces. Some also served as royal bodyguards.

The Latin word for service is Servus. It is also used as a surname by Europeans who had the same function in the society as our own Servaikarars. Perhaps the Latin word Servus is a corruption of the Tamil word Servai or vice versa.

Are we Tamils the only ones who have occupational surnames?

Let's take a look at our very own modern Asian role models, the Japanese society and their surnames.

The Kaji were metal workers, the Inukai were dog breeders, the Akazome were dyers and the Hattori were weavers. The Wataribe or Watanabe were ferry service providers.

Japanese actor, Ken Watanabe

What about the European surnames?

The Bergers were shepherds, the Kellogg were animal slaughterers, Smith were metal workers, Schneider were tailors, Walkers shrunk woolen cloth, the Proctor collected tax and the Tyler made tiles.

Originally known as Walker's Kilmarnock Whisky, the Johnnie Walker brand is a legacy left by John "Johnnie" Walker after he started to sell whisky in his grocer's shop in Ayrshire, Scotland.

Not only does these European or Japanese surnames have occupational origins, the clans which used it also practiced endogamy in the past. Endogamy means they do not marry outside their clan and they keep their profession within the family. 

Isn't this similar to us Tamils and the rest of India? Our surnames too have occupational origins and our clans too practiced endogamy. Our ancestors too kept their profession within the family just like what the Europeans did in the past

India's billionaire, Shiv Nadar.

How different are these surnames from Tamil surnames like Asari (metal workers), Stapathi (stone masons and temple builders), Pattar (goldsmiths), Chettiar (merchants), Udayar (landlord), Padayachi (army man), Konar (shepherds), Kudumbar (Pallar village headman), Mudaliar (first ranked)?

I see no difference at all. Only the language used is different.

The Japanese and the European people do not live in denial of their heritage. But we are doing the exact opposite and we are still stuck in it.

We condemn our own race whenever we see Tamil people with these surnames. We also put the blame on Hinduism by claiming that it is a religion that promotes discrimination. 

Castes and occupational surnames are not a Hindu invention. Every society has its own clan divisions and its own list of surnames. Yet, we failed to realise that it is the same everywhere. 

We need to learn about other cultures and see the similarities with our own culture. Let's not live like a frog under the coconut shell.

(Picture taken from another blog)

Tamilakam

Pictures from Google

A short Tamil-Brahmi inscription has been discovered in the Edakal cave in Kerala's Wayanad district.

Tamil is an ancient language. It has a literary tradition of over 2,000 years. It is one of the few classical languages which has survived into the 21st century. Those who speak Tamil are known as Tamils. We call ourselves Tamilar in our language.

In 2004, Tamil became the first language to be declared as a classical language in India. Followed by Sanskrit in 2005. When the bar for classical languages was brought down from 2,000 years to 1,500 years, Telugu and Kannada were included in 2008.

Tamil belongs to a larger group of language family known to linguist as the Dravidian language family. The Ethnoloque claims that there are 84 languages in the Dravidian group. Tamil is the oldest among the 84. Perhaps even the mother language of this group.

There are almost 70 million people who has Tamil as their mother tongue. The total population of Dravidian speakers is about 220 million worldwide. Although the oldest Dravidian language, Tamil is not the largest. It is actualy the 2nd largest as there are more Telugu speakers than Tamil.

An early historic inscription in Tamil language and in Tamil Brahmi script, dateable to c.200 BCE, has been found in the archaeological excavations by a German team at Tissamaharama in the down south of the island of Sri Lanka

The origin of Tamil is shrouded in mystery. According to ancient Tamil literatures, there used to be a landmass south of the Indian subcontinent. It is called Kumari Kandam. The Westerners call it Lemuria although Lemuria is nothing more than the imagination of a few notable people. Kumari Kandam was perhaps a chain of islands which existed thousands of years ago. It went under the sea after a series of tsunami.

The Realm of The Tamil People is known as Tamilakam. The ancient sources has mentioned its boundaries. This was the remainder after a large part went under the sea.

The northern boundary is set at Venkata Hills. This is where the famous Tirupathi Balaji (Vishnu) temple is located. He is worshipped as Venkateswara, Lord of Venkata. It is currentlly in Chittoor District. Chittor District is part of the state of Andhra Pradesh. The eastern boundary is the Bay of Bengal while the western boundary is the Arabian Sea. Indian Ocean is its southern boundary.

Tamil inscription, from the Brihadisvara temple in Thanjavur, 11th century AD

If you look at modern map of South India, you can conclude that parts of south Karnataka, parts of south Andhra Pradesh, the whole of Kerala, Puducherry (Pondicherry) and the whole of Tamil Nadu was once Tamilakam.

The people who lived here spoke Tamil. Malayalam, the language of the present day Kerala did not exist 2,000 years ago. The western dialect of the Tamils fused with Sanskrit became a separate language called Malayalam few centuries later.

Tamil region in India during ancient times. Image taken from
Indian History (26th Edition 2010) Chief Editor V.K Agnihotri

This was the Tamilakam in the Indian subcontinent. The Tamils also have their homeland in parts of Sri Lanka.

The island of Sri Lanka has a rich history. Presently, the most dominant ethnic are the Sinhalese. They speak Sinhala. The origin of this ethnic is written in the chronicles of Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa. It is said that Prince Vijaya from the kingdom of Kalinga (Orissa) arrived here on a ship with few hundred followers.

The Galle Trilingual Inscription is a stone tablet inscription in three languages, Chinese, Tamil and Persian, that was erected in 1411 in Galle, Sri Lanka to commemorate the second visit to the island by the Chinese admiral Zheng He

He, Prince Vijaya was the first Sinhalese king of Sri Lanka. The date of reign is around 543 BC to 504 BC. The Tamils were already in the south even before his arrival. In fact, Tamil language is even older than the root language of Sinhala, which is Pali. If you have the time, do check Google earth. Take a look at the distance between Tamil Nadu-Sri Lanka and Orissa-Sri Lanka. You will realise that Tamil Nadu is much, much, much nearer.

A mere raft is enough for anyone to cross the sea to Sri Lanka from Tamil Nadu. Tamils known for their seafaring activities during ancient times would have definitely known the island before the Kalingans. Even the Tamil fishermen would have been more familiar with the island as they go out to the sea each morning. It is only wise to admit that Tamil settlements and kingdoms would have existed in the island before the arrival of any Sinhalese prince from Kalinga.

Sri Lanka districts

During the last 2,000 years, kingdoms expanded and shrunk. Wars were fought. Changes in climate would have happened. There were also many migrations of tribes.

There were invasions from the Muslim Mughals, Dutch, Portugese, French and the British. All these affected the demographics of the entire Tamilakam including that in Sri Lanka. The Northern Province of Sri Lanka is a Tamil majority province.

All these regions when put together becomes the modern Tamilakam.

Language : Tamil
Nationality : Tamilar
Population: approx 75 million
Size:  139,464 km²


Districts/States:

1. Ariyalur
2. Chennai
3. Coimbatore
4. Cuddalore
5. Dharmapuri
6. Dindigul
7. Erode
8. Jaffna
9. Kanchipuram
10. Kanyakumari
11. Karaikal
12. Karur
13. Kilinochchi
14. Krishnagiri
15. Madurai
16. Mannar
17. Mullaithivu
18. Nagapattinam
19. Namakkal
20. Nilgiris
21. Perambalur
22. Puducherry
23. Pudukottai
24. Ramanathapuram
25. Salem
26. Sivagangai
27. Thanjavur
28. Theni
29. Thirunelveli
30. Thirupur
31. Thiruvallur
32. Thiruvannamalai
33. Thiruvarur
34. Thoothukudi
35. Trichy
36. Vavuniya
37. Vellore
38. Villupuram
39. Virudhunagar