The people, the main population of the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu (about 65 million people); also live in the North of Sri Lanka (3000 thousand people, where stand out Sri Lankan Tamils living here from the 8th-13th centuries., and Indian Tamils, appeared here since the mid – 19th century.) and in Singapore (110 thousand people). Tamils also live in the States of Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Karnataka, in all major cities of India, as well as in the Diaspora in many countries of the world.
The majority of Tamils – Hindus, Shaivites and Vaishnavas, there are Sunni Muslims) and Christians. Tamils originate from the ancient Dravidian peoples who inhabited the territory of South Asia from the 3rd Millennium BC and moved to the southern regions from the North-West. Protodravidian peoples formed a significant proportion of the population of the civilization of the Indus valley. However, there is very little information about the ethnic history of South India in 2 – 1 millennia BC.
The ancient state of Dravidian peoples of southern India – Choli, Cheri and Pandya existed since the beginning of BC To the late 1st – the early 2nd Millennium BC formed an independent Principality. In the late 18th – 19th centuries here a significant role is now played by the Europeans, emerged the French (Pondicherry) and the British settlement, there was a major commercial and industrial center Madras (Chennai). After India gained independence, the Tamil territory was transformed into the state of Madras, later renamed Tamil Nadu (Tamil Nadu).
Tamils are engaged in arable farming (grow rice, millet, oilseeds), work on tea and cotton plantations; they have highly developed crafts – weaving, blacksmithing (processing of copper, bronze), jewelry, making decorative sculptures, weaving baskets and mats, making utensils, art utensils, making musical instruments.
Man and nature should be together. We are accustomed to receive from nature everything we want – it’s enjoying the warm sunny weather, swimming in the ponds, delicious fruits, vegetables, nuts and seeds. Hunters kill wild animals for food and tasty meat, fishermen are caught in large lakes, rivers and seas of fish, forgetting that they are all living things.
It turns out the Tamils had such a developed culture at the time. Very unexpected information. She looked at the sculptures and jewelry of the time. The quality and ingenuity is simply amazing. Some figures on the method of manufacturing resemble Chinese porcelain. And that’s given the time difference!