Tamil Nadu 6th Tamil Book

[Cecila Dammrich]

Locatedon the south-eastern coast of the Indian peninsula, Tamil Nadu is straddled by the Western Ghats and Deccan Plateau in the west, the Eastern Ghats in the north, the Eastern Coastal Plains lining the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait to the south-east, the Laccadive Sea at the southern cape of the peninsula, with the river Kaveri bisecting the state. Politically, Tamil Nadu is bound by the Indian states of Kerala to the west, Karnataka to the northwest, Andhra Pradesh to the north, and encloses part of the union territory of Puducherry. It shares an international maritime border with the Northern Province of Sri Lanka at Pamban Island.

The name is derived from Tamil language with nadu meaning "land" and Tamil Nadu meaning "the land of Tamils". The origin and precise etymology of the word Tamil is unclear with multiple theories attested to it.[6] In the ancient Sangam literature, Tamilakam refers to the area of present-day Tamil Nadu, Kerala and parts of Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. Tolkāppiyam (2nd to 1st century BCE) indicates the borders of Tamilakam as Tirumala and Kanniya Kumari.[7] The name Tamilakam is used in other Sangam era literature such as Puṟanāṉūṟu, Patiṟṟuppattu, Cilappatikaram, and Manimekalai.[8] Cilappatikaram (5th to 6th century CE) and Ramavataram (12th century CE) mention the name Tamil Nadu to denote the region.[9][10][11]

Archaeological evidence points to the region being inhabited by hominids more than 400 millennia ago.[12][13] Artifacts recovered in Adichanallur by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) indicate a continuous history from more than 3,800 years ago.[14] Neolithic celts with the Indus script dated between 1500 and 2000 BCE indicate the use of the Harappan language.[15][16] Excavations at Keezhadi have revealed a large urban settlement dating to the 6th century BCE, during the time of urbanization in the Indo-Gangetic plain.[17] Further epigraphical inscriptions found at Adichanallur use Tamil Brahmi, a rudimentary script dated to 5th century BCE.[18] Potsherds uncovered from Keeladi indicate a script which is a transition between the Indus Valley script and Tamil Brahmi script used later.[19]

The Sangam period lasted for about eight centuries, from 500 BCE to 300 CE with the main source of history during the period coming from the Sangam literature.[20][21] Ancient Tamilakam was ruled by a triumvirate of monarchical states, Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas.[22] The Cheras controlled the western part of Tamilkam, the Pandyas controlled the south, and the Cholas had their base in the Kaveri delta. The kings called Vendhar ruled over several tribes of Velala (peasants), headed by the Velir chiefs.[23] The rulers patronized multiple religions including vedic religion, Buddhism and Jainism and sponsored some of the earliest Tamil literature with the oldest surviving work being Tolkāppiyam, a book of Tamil grammar.[24]

The kingdoms had significant diplomatic and trade contacts with other kingdoms to the north and with the Romans.[25] Much of the commerce from the Romans and Han China were facilitated via seaports including Muziris and Korkai with spices being the most prized goods along with pearls and silk.[26][27] From 300 CE, the region was ruled by the Kalabhras, warriors belonging to the Vellalar community, who were once feudatories of the three ancient Tamil kingdoms.[28] The Kalabhra era is referred to as the "dark period" of Tamil history, and information about it is generally inferred from any mentions in the literature and inscriptions that are dated many centuries after their era ended.[29] The twin Tamil epics Silappatikaram and Manimekalai were written during the era.[30] Tamil classic Tirukkural by Valluvar, a collection of couplets is attributed to the same period.[31][32]

Around the 7th century CE, the Kalabhras were overthrown by the Pandyas and Cholas, who patronised Buddhism and Jainism before the revival of Saivism and Vaishnavism during the Bhakti movement.[33] Though they existed previously, the period saw the rise of the Pallavas in the sixth century CE under Mahendravarman I, who ruled parts of South India with Kanchipuram as their capital.[34] The Pallavas were noted for their patronage of architecture: the massive gopuram, ornate towers at the entrance of temples, originated with the Pallava architecture. They built the group of rock-cut monuments in Mahabalipuram and temples in Kanchipuram.[35] Throughout their reign, the Pallavas remained in constant conflict with the Cholas and Pandyas. The Pandyas were revived by Kadungon towards the end of the 6th century CE and with the Cholas in obscurity in Uraiyur, the Tamil country was divided between the Pallavas and the Pandyas.[36] The Pallavas were finally defeated by Chola prince Aditya I in the 9th century CE.[37]

The Cholas became the dominant kingdom in the 9th century under Vijayalaya Chola, who established Thanjavur as Chola's new capital with further expansions by subsequent rulers. In the 11th century CE, Rajaraja I expanded the Chola empire with conquests of entire Southern India and parts of present-day Sri Lanka and Maldives, and increased Chola influence across the Indian Ocean.[38][39] Rajaraja brought in administrative reforms including the reorganisation of Tamil country into individual administrative units.[40] Under his son Rajendra Chola I, the Chola empire reached its zenith and stretched as far as Bengal in the north and across the Indian Ocean.[41] The Cholas built many temples in the Dravidian style with the most notable being the Brihadisvara Temple at Thanjavur, one of the foremost temples of the era built by Rajaraja, and Gangaikonda Cholapuram, built by Rajendra.[42]

The Pandyas again reigned supreme early in the 13th century under Maravarman Sundara I.[43] They ruled from their capital of Madurai and expanded trade links with other maritime empires.[44] During the 13th century, Marco Polo mentioned the Pandyas as the richest empire in existence. The Pandyas also built a number of temples including the Meenakshi Amman Temple at Madurai.[45]

In the 18th century, the Mughal empire administered the region through the Nawab of the Carnatic with his seat at Arcot, who defeated the Madurai Nayaks.[53] The Marathas attacked several times and defeated the Nawab after the Siege of Trichinopoly (1751-1752).[54][55][56] This led to a short-lived Thanjavur Maratha kingdom.[57]

Europeans started to establish trade centres from the 16th century along the eastern coast. The Portuguese arrived in 1522 and built a port named So Tom near present-day Mylapore in Madras.[58] In 1609, the Dutch established a settlement in Pulicat and the Danes had their establishment in Tharangambadi.[59][60] On 20 August 1639, Francis Day of the British East India Company met with the Vijayanager emperor Peda Venkata Raya and obtained a grant for land on the Coromandel coast for their trading activities.[61][62][63] A year later, the company built Fort St. George, the first major English settlement in India, which became the nucleus of the British Raj in the region.[64][65] By 1693, the French established trading posts at Pondichry. In September 1746, the French captured Madras during the Battle of Madras.[66] The British regained control of Madras in 1749 through the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle and resisted a French siege attempt in 1759.[67][68] The British and French competed to expand the trade which led to Battle of Wandiwash in 1760 as part of the Seven Years' War.[69] The Nawabs of the Carnatic surrendered much of their territory to the British East India Company in the north and bestowed tax revenue collection rights in the South, which led to constant conflicts with the Palaiyakkarars known as the Polygar Wars. Puli Thevar was one of the earliest opponents, joined later by Rani Velu Nachiyar of Sivagangai and Kattabomman of Panchalakurichi in the first series of Polygar wars.[70][71] The Maruthu brothers along with Oomaithurai, the brother of Kattabomman, formed a coalition with Dheeran Chinnamalai and Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, which fought the British in the Second Polygar War.[72] In the later 18th century, the Mysore kingdom captured parts of the region and engaged in constant fighting with the British which culminated in the four Anglo-Mysore Wars.[73]

By the 18th century, the British had conquered most of the region and established the Madras Presidency with Madras as the capital.[74] After the defeat of Mysore in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War in 1799 and the British victory in the second Polygar war in 1801, the British consolidated most of southern India into what was later known as the Madras Presidency.[75] On 10 July 1806, the Vellore mutiny, which was the first instance of a large-scale mutiny by Indian sepoys against the British East India Company, took place in Vellore Fort.[76][77] After the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the British Parliament passed the Government of India Act 1858, which transferred the governance of India from the East India Company to the British crown, forming the British Raj.[78]

After the Independence of India in 1947, the Madras Presidency became Madras state, comprising present-day Tamil Nadu and parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Kerala. Andhra state was split from the state in 1953 and the state was further re-organized when states were redrawn linguistically in 1956 into the current shape.[84][85] On 14 January 1969, Madras state was renamed Tamil Nadu, meaning "Tamil country".[86][87] In 1965, agitations against the imposition of Hindi and in support of continuing English as a medium of communication arose which eventually led to English being retained as an official language of India alongside Hindi.[88] After independence, the economy of Tamil Nadu conformed to a socialist framework, with strict governmental control over private sector participation, foreign trade, and foreign direct investment. After experiencing fluctuations in the decades immediately after Indian independence, the economy of Tamil Nadu consistently exceeded national average growth rates from the 1970s, due to reform-oriented economic policies.[89] In the 2000s, the state has become one of the most urbanized states in the country with a higher Human Development Index compared to national average.[90]

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