Historical Dictionary of the Tamils The cultural heritage of the Tamils dates back two thousand years. As a language, Tamil has existed since the pre-Christian era, around the same time as the early classical languages Hebrew and Sankrit. The first book on Tamil grammar, the Tolkappiyam, was written around the fifth century BCE. Today, Tamil cuisine has captured the imagination of the vegetarian world, and Tamil cinema, with its heavy political allegories and opera style music, is popular across the globe. Not confined to their homeland of Tamil Nadu, the Tamils constitute a powerful diaspora in Sri Lanka (where they are fighting for their political rights), Singapore (where Tamil is one of the national languages), and Malaysia. The diaspora extends to places as far flung as the U.K., the U.S., and Australia. Tamil temples and cultural centers can be found everywhere from Pittsburgh to San Francisco and from Texas to Toronto. The Historical Dictionary of the Tamils presents a vivid picture of the Tamils' cultural and literary traditions, both the historic past and the vibrant present. This is done through a list of acronyms and abbreviations, a chronology, an introductory essay, a bibliography, black and white photos, maps, and over 500 cross-referenced dictionary entries covering Tamil history from the megalithic age to present day and Tamil personalities, economics, literature, music, politics, and cinema. This one-volume reference is an excellent entry point into a deeper understanding of the cultural milieu of the Tamils. |
Contents
| xiii | |
| xv | |
| xvii | |
| xxi | |
| xxiii | |
Introduction | xxxix |
The Dictionary | 1 |
Bibliography | 319 |
About the Author | 375 |
Other editions - View all
 |
 |
 |
Common terms and phrases
agricultural AIADMK Alvar Ammaiyar ancient Anna Dravida Munnetra Annamalai Arcot Auvaiyar became Bharati Brahmin British called Carnatic music caste century Chennai Chera Chetti Chettiar Chidambaram chief minister Chola Christian Coimbatore colonial Congress dance deity Delhi district Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam Dravidian dynasty E. V. Ramaswamy Naicker early elections film freedom struggle Hindu History inscriptions Iyakkam Iyengar Iyer Jayalalitha Justice Party Kanchipuram Karunanidhi Kaveri king Kongu Krishna M. G. Ramachandran Madras Government Press Madras present-day Chennai Madurai major MANDALAM medieval Murugan Muslim Nanuru National Nayak Nayanar NON-BRAHMIN MOVEMENT Pallava Pandya period Periyar Pillai poet Pondicherry Publisher not known region religion saint Sangam age Sanskrit Shiva Silappadikaram social South India Sri Lanka Srinivasa STRUGGLE IN TAMIL Subramanya TAMIL CINEMA Tamil country Tamil culture Tamil language Tamil Nadu Tamil Studies Tamizh Tanjavur temple Thyagaraja TINAI Tiruchirapalli Tirunelveli tradition University of Madras University Press Vaishnavite Veenai Vijayanagar women