Tamilakam

Tamilakam
3rd century BC–4th century AD
Tamiḻakam in the Sangam Period
Capital		Not specified
Government		Not specified
History
•	Established	3rd century BC
•	Disestablished	4th century AD
Today part of		India

Tamiḻakam or the Ancient Tamiḻ country refers to the Sangam period (3rd century BC - 4th century AD) territory of old South Indian kingdoms covering modern Tamil Nadu, Kerala and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka. Historians use the term synonymous with South India to refer to the Tamil-speaking regions of India, including Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Tamilakam was mentioned as Dravida in the ancient Sanskrit and Prakrit literatures.

Traditional accounts referred these territories as a single cultural area, where Tamil was the natural language and culture of all people. Archaeological data from protohistoric Kerala and Tamil Nadu "appears to challenge the notion of a separate culture region."

During the Sangam period Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamiḻakam.

Etymology

"Tamiḻakam" is a portmanteau of two words from the Tamil language, namely Tamiḻ and akam. It can be roughly translated as the 'homeland of the Tamils'. According to Kamil Zvelebil, the term seems to be the most ancient term used to designate Tamil territory in the Indian subcontinent. The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea referred it Damirica.

Sources

Until recently, the interpretation and understanding of India's past has largely been based on textual sources. According to Abraham,

In the southern portion of the peninsula--the region that corresponds roughly to the present-day states of Kerala and Tamil Nadu--the existence of a large documentary corpus, both indigenous and foreign, and the occurrence of inscribed coins and cave inscriptions, have given rise to the idea of a separate ethnic and linguistic region known as "Tamiḻakam".

The role of archaeology has often been secondary, as "a source of correlates for information gleaned from the texts", but challenges existing notions of Tamiḻakam which are primarily based on textual sources.

Territory and geographical boundaries

Classical era territory

See also: Sangam literature and Tolkāppiyam

The second or first century BC Tamil chronicle, the Tolkāppiyam, a work on the grammar of the Tamil language and the earliest extant work of Tamil literature, contains several references to centamil nilam, "land of refined Tamils"). According to the Tolkāppiyam, the limits of Tamiḻakam were between the hills of Venkatam in the north and Kanyakumari in the south. Tolkappiar, the writer of the Tolkāppiyam, does not mention a Tamil part of Sri Lanka.

According to the Tolkāppiyam, during this period of ancient Tamil country, Malayalam had not been in existence as a separate language and naturally Tamil, was spoken from the Eastern Sea to the Western Sea.

Modern use

The word Tamilakam is today used as synonym for Tamil Nadu.

Tamiḻakam kingdoms

Main article: History of Tamil Nadu

Approximately during the period between 350 BC to 200 AD, Tamiḻakam was ruled by the three Tamil dynasties: the Chola dynasty, the Pandyan dynasty and the Chera dynasty. There were also a few independent chieftains, the Velirs. During the time of the Maurya Empire in North India (c. 4th century BC — 3rd century BC) the Cheras, the Pandyas and the Cholas were in a late megalithic phase on the western coast of Tamiḻakam. The earliest datable references to the Tamil kingdoms are in inscriptions from the 3rd century BC during the time of the Maurya Empire.

The Pandyan dynasty ruled parts of South India until the early 17th century. The heartland of the Pandyas was the fertile valley of the Vaigai River. They initially ruled their country from Korkai, a seaport on the southernmost tip of the Indian Peninsula, and in later times moved to Madurai. The Chola dynasty ruled from before the Sangam period (3rd century BC) until the 13th century in central Tamil Nadu. The heartland of the Cholas was the fertile valley of the Kaveri. The Chera dynasty ruled from before the Sangam period (3rd century) until the 12th century over an area corresponding to modern-day western Tamil Nadu and Kerala.

The Vēḷir (Tamil: வேளிர்) were minor dynastic kings and aristocratic chieftains in Tamiḻakam in the early historic period of South India.

Nadus of Tamiḻakam

Tamiḻakam was divided into political regions called Perunadu or "Country".

Chera Nadu, Chola Nadu, Pandya Nadu,. There were two more political regions of Athiyaman ( Sathyaputha ) Nadu, Tamirabharani (Then Paandi) Nadu were existed later on absorbed into Chera and Pandya Nadu respectively by 3rd century BC. Tondai Nadu which was under Chola Nadu, later emerged as independent Pallava Nadu by 6th century ADE.

Again Tamilakam was divided into 12 socio-geographical regions called Nadu or "country". Each of this Nadu had their own dialect of Tamil.

• Thenpandi Nadu
• Panri Nadu
• Kuda nadu
• Punal nadu
• Puzhinadu
• Venad
• Aruva nadu
• Kakkanad
• Kuttanad
• Aruva Vadathalai nadu
• Sida nadu
• Malai Nadu

Nadus outside Tamiḻakam

Some other Nadus were also mentioned in Tamil literatures which were not part of Tamilakam, but the countries were Tamils traded with in ancient times.

• Īla Nadu (land of Īlavar)
• Naga Nadu
• Vengi Nadu
• Chavaka Nadu
• Kadara Nadu
• Kalinga Nadu
• Cinkala Nadu
• Tulu Nadu (land of the Tulu people)
• Vadugu Nadu
• Kannada Nadu
• Erumai Nadu
• Telunka Nadu
• Kolla Nadu
• Vanka Nadu
• Makatha Nadu
• Kucala Nadu
• Konkana Nadu
• Kampocha Nadu
• Palantipa Nadu
• Kupaka Nadu
• Marattha Nadu
• Vatuka Nadu

Culture

Cultural unity

Thapar mentions the existence of a common language of the Dravidian group:

Ashoka in his inscription refers to the peoples of South India as the Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas and Satiyaputras - the crucible of the culture of Tamiḻakam - called thus from the predominant language of the Dravidian group at the time, Tamil.

Yet, also according to Abraham,

... the archaeological data from protohistoric Kerala and Tamil Nadu is not so clear-cut and, in fact, appears to challenge the very notion of a separate culture region.

Cultural influence

See also: Sri Lankan Tamils and Sri Lankan Civil War

With the advent of the early historical period in South India and the ascent of the three Tamil kingdoms in South India in the 3rd century BC, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamiḻakam. In the 3rd century BC, the first Tamil settlers arrived in Sri Lanka. The Annaicoddai seal, dated to the 3rd century BC, contains a bilingual inscription in Tamil-Brahmi. Excavations in the area of Tissamaharama in southern Sri Lanka have unearthed locally-issued coins produced between the second century BC and the second century AD, some of which carry local Tamil personal names written in early Tamil letters, which suggest that local Tamil merchants were present and actively involved in trade along the southern coast of Sri Lanka by the late classical period. Around 237 BC, "two adventurers from southern India" established the first Tamil rule at Sri Lanka. In 145 BC Elara, a Chola general or prince known as Ellāḷaṉ took over the throne at Anuradhapura and ruled for forty-four years. Dutugamunu, a Sinhalese, started a war against him, defeated him, and took over the throne.

Tamiḻakam and Sri lanka

Various sources mention the Nagas, a group of Dravidian people who lived at Sri Lanka, and the existence of Naga Nadu. This may suggest the existence of early Dravidian settlements in the island.

Nagas code switched to Tamil

The Nagas may have been early Dravidian people migrated to Sri Lanka:

... some scholars [...] suggest [...] that the Yakshas and Nagas [...] in the prehistorical period dating back to 1000 BCE".

The Yakshas and the Nagas are depicted in the Pali epic Mahavamsa as the early inhabitants of the island when Vijaya arrived in the island in 500 B.C. According to Manogaran, some scholars also "have postulated that the Yakshas and Nagas [...] are the aboriginal tribes of Sri Lanka". Holt concludes that they were not Tamils, but a distinct group.

Naga Nadu

Main article: Naga people (Lanka)

The 2nd century AD Tamil epic Manimekalai speaks of the prosperous Naganadu or "land of Nagas", and of "the great Naga king Valai Vanan and his queen Vacamayilai, who ruled the prosperous Naga Nadu with great splendor." According to the Manimekalai, this region had a rich Dravidian Buddhist tradition.

See also

• History of Kerala
• History of Tamil Nadu