Encyclopedia of World Cultures Volume III - South Asia - T ppt

Linguistically andculturally relatedtothe Tamil- and Malayalam-speaking peoples of southern India, Sri Lankan Tamils have long resided in their traditional homelands thenorthernandeaster

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Tamil 275

who continuetolearnAyurveda,the Indian traditional

medi-cine that is stillwidespread inKerala

Death and Afterlife Many people prefer to bring their

critically ill relativesto theirfamilyhomes where apriestwill

administer thelast rites and last communion Afterdeath,

thebody is ritually washed, dressed up, andlaid on a bed in a

large room withlighted candles behind the head of the

de-parted Allclose relatives attend and sing hymns and read

passages from the Bible The funeral takes place within

twenty-fourhours Thebodyistakentothe church while

peo-ple singhymns After the burial, close relatives and friends

come to the house of the deceased for a simple vegetarian

meal In the caseof older people like parents, there will bea

memorial church service onthe fortiethday after death and

also anelaborate vegetarian lunchtowhich all relatives and

peopleinthe communityare invited

See also Nepali; Nyinba

Tamil

ETHNONYMS:Tamilar, Tamilian

OrientationIdentification Indian Tamilsarethose whospeak Tamil.Their homeland in India from ancienttimes was known as

"TamilNadu" (land) or "Tamil akam" (home),nowlargelycoterminouswith thestateofTamil Naduplusthe smallter-ritoryofPondicherry Tamilsarealso foundinSriLanka,Ma-

laysia, Fiji, Britain, andNorthAmerica I

Location Tamil Nadu is the southwesternmost state ofIndia, extendingfromMadras cityto thesouthern cape,be-tweenabout8° and 130 N and 76° and 80° E.Thestate is

130,058 squarekilometersin areaandwasformedalongwithother linguistic statesafter theindependence ofIndia It is

mostly a sunny plaindraining eastwardwith the KaveriRiver

basin in its center TheWesternGhatsare mountains ratingTamil Nadu fromKerala;theserise to2,400meters in

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sepa-two places, near the mountain towns of Ootacamund and

Kodaikanal The restof thestate istropicalandmoderately

hot, withvirtuallyno winter.Mostof theraincomeswith the

northeast monsoonbeginning inOctober,while the

south-west monsoonbeginsinJune Rainfallisroughly75

centime-tersper year, but withthehighevaporation andrunoff,much

of the state is semiarid, with large stretches of thom-tree

wasteland Thereis noapparentsourceofmore waterfor the

state'sagriculture, industry, andcities-nor isthereenough

water tosupport furtherpopulation growth-and shortages

are already occurring

Demography Thereare about60 million Indian Tamils

The 1991 census counted 55.6 million persons in Tamil

Nadu and 8 millioninPondicherry, andithadanundercount

of about 4 percent There are perhaps 5 million Tamils

aroundBangalore and elsewhereinIndia,andalesser

num-berofTelugus and other ethnic groupsinTamil Nadu The

statehas 1,024 males per 1,000 females, amarginal surplus

compared with all of India The density is461 persons per

square kilometer, compared with 267 for India as awhole

Literacy of persons above age 7 is 64 percent Annual

popula-tiongrowth has come down to 1.3 percent Tamils are about

38 percenturban, the highest such percentage of any major

ethnic group in India

Linguistic Affiliation Tamil belongs to the Dravidian

LanguageStock,which includes at least 21 languages mostly

insouthand central India andisaltogether different from the

Indo-Aryan languages of north India The four largest

Dravidian languages are spokeninthe fourlinguistic states

comprising south India The language and script of modern

Tamil are directly descended from the Tamil of more than

2,000 years ago,and because of high consciousness about the

purityof the language there has beensometendencyto resist

incorporation of Sanskrit or Hindi words The modern

re-gional spoken dialects of Tamil, including the Tamil of Sri

Lanka, do not differ widely, but standard literary Tamil as

taught in schools does differ grammatically Malayalam, the

language of Kerala, was consideredinthe ancient literature as

Tamil, but in medieval centuries it gained status as a separate

language

History and Cultural Relations Tamils consider their

language to be the 'most pure" of the major Dravidian

lan-guages Its roots are from western India,Pakistan,and further

westward Dravidian must have been spoken in the Indus

Civilization around 2500 B.C., diffusing through Maharashtra

tothe south, especially after 1000 B.C.with adoption of the

horse and iron and with the black-and-red pottery dating

from a few centuries B.C.There is no hint of the earlier

lan-guagesthat might have been spokeninsouthIndia by

cattle-keeping cultures or the hunters The ancient literature de

fines Tamil Nadu as reaching from Tirupati (a sacred hill

northwest of Madras) to CapeComorin Writing,

urbaniza-tion, classical kingship, and other aspects of complex Indian

civilization came to Tamil Nadu about the fifth to second

centuriesB.C.by sea, appearing on the southern coast in a pro

gression parallel to diffusion of those features from Gujarat to

Sri Lanka There are also legends of early cities, including an

ancient city of Madurai on the coast The earliest Tamil

in-scriptions are inBuddhist andJaincavesof about the second

century B.C The present Madurai, capital of the enduring

Pian.diyakingdom, had an academy that produced the Tamil

Sangamliterature,acorpus of uniquepoeticalbooksfrom thefirsttothirdcenturies A.D.thatmention seatrade withEuro-peans Other Tamilkingdomswere the ColasintheKaveriBasin, the CEras ofKerala, and from the seventh toninthcenturies the Pallavas at Kanchipuram near Madras TheC6las developed a magnificent civilization in the tenth tothirteenth centuries, and fora timetheyruledSriLanka,theMaldives, and large parts of Indonesia Tamilswere neverab-sorbedby anorth Indiankingdom, but from the sixteenthcenturythe landwasruledby Telugu.speaking dynastiesfromthe Vijayanagar Empire.The British built a trading center,Fort Saint George, in Madras in 1639 and ruled all TamilNadu from 1801 to 1947 The French, having lost to theBritish in southIndia,heldPondicherryandKarikal,nowad-ministered as aseparate UnionTerritory within India Theprocess ofSanskritization,partialassimilationintotheover-archingIndian pattern ofcivilization, progressedinlate medi.eval centuries.But inthe twentieth century thetendencyhasbeen to reject features ascribedtonorth India and toreem-phasize Tamilidentity inlanguage, deities, foods, andstatepolitics

SettlementsThe predominant settlement pattern is one of nucleatedunwalledvillages, often having 2,000 persons or even morethan 5,000, whiletraditionallyretaining avillage character.The layoutusually has well-defined streets, with sections forseparatecastes, each markedbyone or morelittle temples fortheir respective deities House types range from one-roomhuts of mudand coconut-leaf thatch of the laboring and lowcastes tolargerhouses with courtyards and two-story brickand tile houses of the higher castes or landowning families.Tamil villageslook relatively neat, with most houseswhite-washed.Early each morning the women of a house applycow-dung wash on the street before the front door and create apatterndesignontheground with chalklike powder A largevillage usually has several open wells, one large temple, acommonthreshing floor with big trees, a piece of land or twofor cremation orburials, and in many cases a catchmentreser-voir forirrigating its rice land Now nearly all villages haveelectricity, but only a minority of houses use it

EconomySubsistence and Commercial Activities Land is classi-fied intowet land growing mostly irrigated rice and dry landgrowing rain-fed or well-watered crops Large irrigation sys-tems were built from at least the second century B.C., espe-cially on the Kaveri River, and there was an elaborate politicaleconomy supporting agricultural productivity especially de,veloped by the medieval C61as Thekings also built catch-mentreservoirs for growing rice and gave them to the villages

to maintain, as recorded in temple inscriptions; there are40,000 such reservoirs in Tamil Nadu The main field cropsare rice,pearl millet and several other millets, sorghum, sev-eral types of pulses and oilseeds, coconuts, bananas, Indianvegetables, and condiments Mango and tamarind treesabound.The oxen plow and harrow, pull ox carts, draw buck-ets ofirrigation water, and turn oilseed presses, while cowsyieldmilk thatisgiventochildren and made into curds andbuttermilk A village may have chickens, buffalo, goats,sheep, and donkeys that carry the washers' clothes Fishing

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Tamil 277

castes occupy thelongcoast. Moneywas issuedby ancient

kingssothereis alongtradition ofmoneylending, capitalism,

and overseas trade; rural economic transactions became

monetizedinthe nineteenth century.Sincethe1960sfarmers

have installed many thousands of electric irrigation pumps

andhavetaken up commercial crops suchassugarcane,

cot-ton,and peanuts Butnowagricultural growthisbeginningto

lag comparedwith industries and urbanization

IndustrialArts Artisancastesstill make fineproductsof

clay, leather, reeds,cotton,wood,iron,brass, silver,andgold.

Oxcarts aresturdyand stillnumerous.Tamilsareknown for

their fine weaving,whicheventheancientRomansimported,

andtoday theyhave themostsuccessful handweavers'

coop-eratives inIndia, thoughpowerloomsaretakingover.Great

brasswatervesselsaregivenatweddings, though plasticsare

becoming popular Bricks, roofing tiles,cementartifacts,and

wooden furniture are now indemandeverywhere.

Trade The streets oflarge villages and towns are lined

withshops,and therearestill manyweeklymarkets.Complex

networks ofwholesalers,agents, and financiers deal with all

typesofproducts.Now auctions are commonfor moving

pro-duce, and the trucking industry is intensively developed.

Muslim traders are prominent intrade

DivisionofLabor Menplow, harrow,and handle therice

harvest,butwomendotransplantingandweedingfor which

theirdailywageisless than that of men, and theymay also

milkcows.Tools of trade suchas an oxcart,potter's wheel,

fishing net, or nowadaysa taxi are nothandledbywomen

Womendo kitchenwork, cleaning, washing, and child care,

butmenmayalso do all these tasks,andprofessionalcooks

and washers are men. Women nowmaybeteachers, nurses,

and office employees.

Land Tenure Landownership is well established with a

system of officialrecording Agriculturallandisincreasingly

heldby dominant farmer castes, while every village has its

cadre of landless low-caste laborers available for fieldwork

There are fewestates of great landowners, though temples

and mosquesstillown someland forincome.Sharecropping

and tenancyaremoderate, simplypart of thesocioeconomic

dynamics.Because ofpopulationpressure andspeculation,in

manyareasthe market value of landnowexceedsits

produc-tive economicvalue

Kinship

Kin Groups and Descent The Dravidiankinshipsystem

with its preference for cross-cousin marriage has been the

subjectof wideanthropological theorizing.The householdis

linkedbyanetwork ofkinalliances established through

mar-riage withinthecaste.Fictitiousexogamousclans (gotras)are

foundin only afew Brahmanized castes Lineagedepth

be-yond three generations is not important in most families

MostIndian Tamilsarepatrilinealandpatrilocal, though the

Dravidian systemequallyaccommodatesmatrilineal descent

as among some Sri Lanka Tamils, including Muslims, and

some castes in Kerala But patriliny is less strong than in

north India, and matrilateral links remain important A

woman isexpectedtogotoher natal homeforchildbirth,

es-pecially for the first child, and may remainthere for a few

months fornurturanceandtogainconfidence and trainingin

tweensuchkin,but the categoriesare sostronglymaintained

inthelanguagethat thekinshippatternisimposedonall

in-terpersonalrelations This has beenstructurally analyzedbyanthropologists.Louis Dumont sees it asessentiallyamatter

of affinities establishedbymarriage,inwhichwomen are

ex-changedamongfamilies that define the kinnetwork;thishaspoliticalandeconomicimplications Otherssee it asessen-

tiallyasystem of marriage rules thatis anidealor a mentalrepresentation Still othershave triedtoexplainit interms ofheritablebody substances andbiological ideas The systemhas also been analyzed in terms of Freudian psychology: a

manwillwant amarriageunionenablinghimto continuethewarmth and protection of hismother, namely, throughhismother's brothertogetherwithhisdaughter ForTamils, asThomasTrautman andothers show, the wholeconceptualstructureis asmuchinthelanguageas inthe actualbehavior

Arecentapproach proposed byMargaret Trawickisthat thepatternitselfissomething likeanartform that is perpetuated

asany form of expressiveculture; moreover, it createsings thatcan neverbefulfilled, and so it becomes a web of un-relieved tensions and an architecture of conflicting desiresthat are fundamental in the interpersonal relationships ofTamils

long-Marriage and Family

Marriage Marriages are arranged by elders, ideally by a

sisterand brother for their respective son and daughter A girl

is technically ableto marry soonafter the ceremony ofherfirst menstruation, but now her marriage may be postponed afew years, andboysoften do not marry untiltheir twenties.The marriageisperformedbyaBrahman priest orby a castepriestinthe home of the bride.Herfamily bears expenses andprovidesamodestdowry, though in some castes there is morebride-wealth given than dowry Recently among educatedclasses the expectation ofdowry has vastly increased, in linewiththecostsof education and thepresumed benefits of themarriage for thegirland herfamily Ideally a married couplesetsupits ownhouse, usually in the boy's village, but if neces-sarytheymaymove inwiththeboy'soralternatively the girl'sfamilyuntil thisispossible.Marriage isareligious ceremonyandonlyafew registeritwiththe state Divorce is quite diffi-cult forhighercasteswithstrictsocial expectations, but sepa-

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ration and new alliances or marriages are common among

casteswhose prestige is not sodamagedthereby Widow

re-marriageisforbiddenorrareamongcasteshaving Brahmanic

values, butnot among lowercastes.

DomesticUnit The average householdsize isfive tosix

people, withpreferenceforanextended nuclearfamily It is

notunusual foranold personorcoupletolivealone,

espe-ciallyiftheyhave fewassets.Occasionallytherearejoint

fam-ilieswhen thereislandorabusinesstokeepintact Most

in-fluential families also havealive-inservant or servantfamily

When Tamilmenmigrateto acityforwork,theytrytotake

theirwivesandchildrenalong,sothereis not a severedeficit

of femalesinTamil cities, but thismeansthaturbanized

fami-lies find their rural roots weakening

Inheritance Under Tamil Hindu tradition, sons divide

the land becausetheymayliveby cultivatingit, anddaughters

getthemother'sgoldandjewelseitherasdowryor as

inheri-tance,but therearemanyexceptionsandpeoplecanarrange

theirownwills

Socialization Tamilsare achild-friendlysociety, andthey

socialize childrenso that theygrow up with afirm senseof

well-being.Thereislesstensionthaninmany societies, and

hospitalityisoften genuine.Menand women play with small

childreneasily, pass themaround, and may takeinrelatives'

childrentemporarily or evenadopt them Several male gods

have important child forms whose pictures are in houses

everywhere, and Tamil literaturecreatesabundant images of

children Toilet trainingisearlyandseeminglynatural,with

little useofdiapers Thefirst rice is fed at about 6 months,

and weaningissudden afterayearor so.Givingof foodis

im-portantinrelationships,andamother mayfeedricewith her

hand toachild uptotheage of6 ormore.Adults frequently

treat children with benevolent deceit andverbal ambiguity,

and within thedynamicfamilycontextthe child learnsawide

range of verbal andemotional expression and body language

Childrenofschool age areoccasionally punished by tweaking

of the earorbeatings givenby thefather.Girlsareexpected to

help inhousehold work as soon as they are able, and boys not

inschool maydoagricultural activities or herd animals from

about age 10 Most villages have their own elementary

schools, and many now have middle schools also, so most

childrennowbecome literate Thereare noinitiationrites

ex-cept for high-caste boys at the time they put on the

Brah-manicsacredthread Girlshave an important life-stage

cere-mony atthetimeof their first menstruation; a feast is given to

relatives and friends, who bring presents At this time the girl

puts on a sariand istechnically marriageable This ceremony

is found associated withthe Dravidian kinship and marriage

system

Sociopolitical Organization

SocialOrganization Within a village, society is ordered

principally by caste Particular castes or blocks of castes

oc-cupy sectors of avillage, with the ritually lowest castes

some-times in satellite hamlets.Large villages or towns may have a

Brahman street withatemple at the end, formerly off-limits

to low castes, and in the past Brahmans would generally

avoid eating food not prepared at home Ritual pollution

andpurity differentiateawiderange ofhuman interaction,

though not as strongly as in the nineteenth century and

hardly at allnow inpublic lifeintowns.Village coffee shopsuntil the 1980shad benches for middle castes, lowseatsforthelowlaboring castes, and places on the floor for the low-estsweeper caste; there wereseparate cups for these threegroups Now rankby caste ascription is slightly decliningeven invillages, while themore numerousagriculturalcastesareincreasingtheirlandholdings and usingelectionstoen-hancetheirpolitical power Brahmans have for decades usedtheireducation to enter urban life, while many landlessla-boringcaste people also have migrated to citiesfor urbanlabor andservicejobs The urban educated class and govern-ment officers utilize English to preserve their power andprivileges, so now even insmall towns many Tamilsarede-manding that schools offer English-medium education fortheir children

Political Organization Traditionally many castes, or thelargerones, had castepanchayats (councils) that enforcedcastebehavioral norms, and sometimestherewereinformalvillagepanchayats In recentdecadesthe state governmenthassetup electedvillagepanchayats, whichweresupposed

totakeovervillage government and development But thesehave beenneglected because state politicians tended to viewthemas threatening Statewidepolitical parties competingfor people's votes have infiltrated most rural institutions,and in the main members of state-level parties espousingDravidianidentity are elected Dominant and landholdingfamilies manage to enhance their economic and politicalpowerthrough thesenewmechanisms,whiletherelative po-sitionof thelaboring and low castes remains about the same

asbefore

SocialControl Sources of tension in a village are familyand caste norms of behavior, castedifferences, and disputesoverland.Caste orvillage elders can pronounce embarrassingpunishment forviolators of behavioral norms, particularly insexual matters Caste conflicts sometimes erupt over scarceresources, such as the rights of certain castes to use wells intime ofwaterscarcity Families basing prestige on land mayengage inlonglitigation An individual who feels wrongedmaywield a sickle against another, which may be occasion tocall the police The lowest administrative level is the taluk,usuallycentered in a particular town, with offices for police,land registration, and electricity supply, a local court, andusually high schools for boys and girls The second level ofad-ministration is the district, of which there are twenty in TamilNadu; as throughout India, the district is headed by a collec-tor, who has wide powers The third level is the state, withMadras as itscapital

Conflict Tamils have no destructive conflict with centlinguistic or ethnic groups, nor do Hindus have muchconflict with the6percent Christian and 5 percent MuslimTamilminorities They tend to sympathize with the Sri LankaTamils in their struggle for political autonomy or indepen-dence Tamils are suspicious of the overwhelming numbersandpolitical power of north Indians and resent any attempts

adja-to'impose" Hindi on them, so Tamil Nadu does not requireteaching of Hindi in schools English is in fact favored overHindi.Themodem political system with its elections has pro-vided a newarena for verbal conflict

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Tamil 279

Religion and Expressive Culture

Religious Beliefs Village Hinduism isvibrant, as arethe

imposing, large,andancienttemplesinthecenterof all the

oldtowns.Villagebeliefsarefocusedonalargenumber of

de-ities, with most castes or social groups claiming a special

deity Female deities are more numerous andareworshiped

for their powerto intervene inhealing,fertility,and other life

situations.Male deitiesareprotectors anddominate the

land-scape, especially Murugan, whose image stands on many

stone hillocks and especially on Palani Hill, where people

makespecialpilgrimagestohimasprotector of Tamil Nadu

Bythe process of Sanskritizationover many centuries, most

local deitiesacquired linkagewith Sanskritic orBrahmanic

deities.AmongBrahmancastesthedistinctions between the

sectsof Shiva and Vishnuaremaintained,butnotalwaysin

village religion It is very common that a person needing

assistanceof the power of thedeitytosolvesomeproblemin

life will makea vow tobend the will of thedeity;forexample,

onemay promisethat if one'ssonpasses hisexamination, ifa

diseaseiscured,orifaninfertilewomangivesbirth,onewill

undertake some pilgrimage ormake some gift to the deity

Tamil Catholics make similarvows.Thereis astrongstream

of devotionalism(bhakti) inHinduliterature andinthe

prac-ticeofmodemHindus, Christians, and Muslims

Ceremonies Among themostimportantreligiousevents

invillages arethebirthdaysof the specialdeities, whichare

celebrated with processionsinwhichthedeityistaken from

the temple and carried around thevillage and with night

en-tertainment performances Festival days of the deities of

majortemples, asofMadurai orPalani, are regional Tamil

festivalsinwhich hundreds of thousands of pilgrims throng

thoseplaces Pongalis adistinctive Tamilfestival, inwhich

kin groups boil riceinfront of their special temple and eat it

communally This occurs in January, along with Mittu

Pongal,inwhichoxen arehonored, their horns painted red

andgreen,and garlanded North Indian festivals such as Holi

and Dassara arefar less important, though Tamils celebrate

Dipavali (Diwali), thefestival of lights The Tamil NewYear

iswidelycelebrated, in mid-April

Arts South Indian music, dance, and architecture were

enhanced in Tamil Naduinlate medieval centuries by royal

patronage,while north Indiawasunderthe Moguls Thereis

noquestionthatBharatanityam dance, preserved in the

tem-ples,along withsouthIndian classical instrumental and vocal

music, are among the highest classical art forms anywhere;

they are far too complextodiscuss here Tamil temples, im

mediately distinguishable by the soaring towers (g6puram)

above the gateways, are imposingliving institutions Large

temples havetanks,thousand-pillaredhalls of stone, passages

forcircumambulating the deity, and an infinite number of

sculpted images andfigures, all done according to ancient

ar-chitectural rule books In villages today, troupes are

commis-sioned toperform all-night musical narrations of epics such

as the Tamil version of the Ramayana, itinerant drama

troupes are popular, and there may be magicianentertainers,

transvestite dancers, and fortune-tellers

Medicine The medical systems are: Ayurveda, based on

Sanskrit texts; Siddha, a south Indian system using strong

chemicals and herbs; Unani, the Muslim system; and

Mantiraviti, theuseofmagical phrases (mantras) and herbal

medicine that are found in villages everywhere, whose tionersalso prepare amulets many people use toward off dis-ease.Allopathic (scientific) medicine is availablein townsingovernment hospitals and private clinics Disease etiologymay be analyzed as multiple, with proximate and ultimatecauses There are multiple possible cures including herbs,medicines, mantras, diet, psychological change, and divineintervention Tamils believethat bodily qualities should beinbalance, and theyclassify foods as "hot"or"cold."Vegetari-anism is widely practiced by upper and middle castes ongrounds of both religion and health

practi-Deadt and Afterlife The doctrine ofrebirth is not tively held by the majority of Tamils, though those who tend

ac-toorthodoxy are likely to assert that the doctrine istaught.Butaccordingtoanold belief orlonging,achild whodies has

asoul that will be reborninthe samehousehold, and fore on death burial may be under ornearthehome ManyTamilcastesburytheir dead, but those influenced by Brah-manic tradition cremate them At a burialina middle-rankcaste, the corpse is wrapped in a cloth andlowered into thegrave,whereupon the male relatives carrying pots of watercir-cumambulate the grave counterclockwise (an inauspiciousdirection), then break theirclay pots in the grave, while thewomen stand by watching Death pollution lasts for a number

there-ofdays that variesby caste; after that the house is cleansedandthere is special food For an important man, a brick struc-turemay mark thegrave, andthere is an annual ceremony ofoffering food on the death anniversary

See also Labbai; Tamil of Sri Lanka; Vellala

BibliographyClothey, Fred(1978) The Many Faces of Murukan: The His-toryandMeaning ofa South Indian God The Hague: Mouton.Daniel, E.Valentine (1987) Fluid Signs: Being a Person theTamil Way Berkeley: University of California Press.Dumont, Louis (1983) Affinity as Value: Marriage Alliance

in South India, with Comparative Essays on Australia cago: University of Chicago Press

Chi-Dumont, Louis (1986) A South Indian Subcaste Delhi: ford University Press

Ox-Trautmann, Thomas R (1981) Dravidian Kinship bridge: Cambridge University Press

Cam-Trawick, Margaret (1990) Notes on Love in a Tamil Family.Berkeley: University of California Press

Wadley, Susan, ed (1980) The Powers of Tamil Women.South Asian Series, no 6 Syracuse, N.Y.: SyracuseUniversity

CLARENCE MALONEY

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Tamil of Sri Lanka the 1978 constitution, Tamils nevertheless believe that Tamil

speakersaresubjecttorampantdiscriminationandcannotfectively participateinSri Lanka's national affairs

ef-ETHNONYMS:Tamilarkal (Tamil people),Tamilian

OrientationIdentification Linguistically andculturally relatedtothe

Tamil- and Malayalam-speaking peoples of southern India,

Sri Lankan Tamils have long resided in their traditional

homelands (thenorthernandeasternculturalregionsofSri

Lanka),and interacted with theneighboringSinhalese The

productsof their uniquegeographicalandhistorical

circum-stances are adistinct culture and society.Predominantly

Hin-dus, Sri Lankan Tamils call their traditional homelands

TamilEelam,a termthatoriginallymeant'TamilSriLanka"

but has now becomevirtuallysynonymous with the Tamils'

quest for a separate state in the predominantly

Tamil-speaking Northeastern Province Sri Lankan Tamils

distin-guish themselves from the so-called "IndianTamils,"whoare

Tamil-speaking descendantsof south Indian Tamil laborers

brought to Sri Lankatoworknineteenth-centuryBritishtea

plantations, aswell as fromthe indigenous, Tamil-speaking

Muslim population ofSriLanka,the Sri Lankan Moors, who

dwell in the eastern coastal region and in the central

highlands

Location SriLankaislocatedbetween5°55' and 9°51'N

and 79°41' and 81°53' E Sri Lankan Tamils traditionally

made their homes within the present Northern andEastern

provinces of Sri Lanka,within the dry zone The center of Sri

Lankan Tamilpopulation and culture is the densely

popu-latedJaffnaPeninsula of the extreme north; other Tamil

pop-ulation concentrations are found on the island of Mannar

and along the eastern coastal littoral, stretching from north

of Trincomalee to Batticaloa In recent times, many Sri

Lankan Tamils havemigratedtotheNorth Central Province

and to Colombo; almosthalfthe Sri Lankan Tamil

popula-tiondwells outside the group's traditional homelands

Signif-icant overseas communities of SriLankan Tamils in London,

Australia, and Malaysia maintainclose ties with families back

home;foreign remittances are a significant element in the Sri

Lankan Tamil economy

Demography In 1989the population of Sri Lanka was

es-timated at 17,541,000, with an average population density of

252 persons per squarekilometer and a growth rate of 1.8

per-cent per year SriLankan Tamils constitute approximately 11

percentof the island's population Many-perhaps as much

as 60 percentof the population-are refugees from nearly a

decade of fighting

Linguistic Affiliation The Tamil spoken by Sri Lankan

Tamils is a distinct regional dialect of mainland Tamil, but

the two are mutually intelligible; Sri Lankan Tamils consider

their dialect to be purer than that of the mainland They fear

that their language's survival isthreatened by a Sri Lankan

government that, in 1956, madeSinhala the sole official

lan-guageof government affairs and,in 1973, elevatedSinhala to

the status of the national language Although subsequent

measures weretaken to allow for the legitimate administrative

and educational use of Tamil within the predominantly

Tamil areas and Tamilwasalso madeanationallanguage by

History and Cultural RelationsThe unique culture of Sri Lankan Tamils tookondistinctive-nessearlyfrom its close proximity to theSinhaleseand fromwavesofimmigrationfrom diverse regionsof southernIndia.Manyfeatures ofSriLankan Tamilculture, including villagesettlement patterns, inheritance and kinship customs, anddomestic andvillage "folkreligion," standinsharpcontrast

tomainlandTamilcustoms.Onepossiblereason isthattheimmigrants who created the first Tamil settlements in SriLanka appeartohavecome notjustfrom the Tamil region ofsouth Indiabutfromthe Keralacoast aswell.It is notknownwhen Tamilsfirst settled in SriLanka; fishing folkdoubtlessvisited the coasts, seasonallyorpermanently, from anearlydate, either for theirownfishing needsor to engageinthepearltrade between SriLanka andRome.During theperiod

of the classical Sinhaladryzonecivilizations (aboutthe firsttwelve centuries A.D.), there isevidence thatTamil-speakingBuddhist merchants settled widely in the northern and east-ern seacoastregions,wheretheybuilttownsand shrines Bythethirteenthcentury,inthewake of the collapse of theSin-halesedry zone civilizations, a Tamil Hindu kingdom arose intheJaffna Peninsula, with a Hinduking and apalace ThePortuguese subdued the Hindu king in 1619, and as theirgeographic control was only over the coastal region, they lefttheir legacy in coastal Catholic communities that persisttoday In 1658, the Dutch followed the Portuguese TheDutch codified the traditional legal system ofJaffna,but insuch a way that theyinterpreted indigenous caste customs inline withRoman-Dutch definitions of slavery.Takingadvan-tage ofthe situation, agriculturalists of the dominant Vellalacaste turned to cash-crop agriculture using Pallar slavesbrought from southern India, andJaffnasoonbecame one ofthe most lucrative sources of revenue in the entire Dutch co-lonial empire In 1796, the British expelled the Dutchfromthe island During the first four decades of British rule, fewchanges were made with the exception ofgranting freedom ofreligiousaffiliation and worship, a move that was deeply ap-preciated by the Tamil population Slavery was abolished in

1844, but the change in legal status brought fewmeaningfulchanges to the status of Pallar and other low-caste laborers.Morethreatening to the structure of Tamil society was ased-ulous conversion campaign by Christian missionaries, whobuilt within the Tamil areas (especially Jaffna) what is gener-ally considered to be the finest system ofEnglish-languageschoolstobefoundinallof Asia during the nineteenthcen-tury Inresponse to a tide of Christian conversions, ArumukaNavalar(1822-1879), a Hindu religious leader, reformulatedHinduism in line with austere religious texts so that itomit-ted manypractices Christian missionaries had criticized as

"barbarous," such as animal sacrifice Navalar's movementwas resented by many Hindus who felt that sacrifice andotherpractices were necessary, but his reformed Hinduismstemmed the tide ofChristianconversions and gaveeducatedHindus access to a textual tradition of Saivism (calledSaivaSiddhanta) that gave them pride in their religious traditions.Benefiting from the missionaries' English-language schoolswithoutconverting to Christianity, many Sri Lankan Tamils

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TamilofSri Lanka 281

(exceptthose of low caste) turned awayfrom

agriculture-which became far less lucrativeasthe nineteenthcentury

ad-vanced-and toward governmentemploymentintherapidly

expanding British colonialempire Inthisadaptationtofor

eign rule, an accommodative, utilitarian culture arose that

stressed rigorous study in professional fields, such as

medi-cine, law, andengineering,togetherwithstaunch adherence

to Hindu tradition Family supportofeducational

achieve-mentled to extraordinarysuccess inthe Britishmeritocracy

buttodisasterlater afterSriLanka'sindependencein 1948,

manySinhalesecame tofeel that Tamilswere

disproportion-ately present in Sri Lanka's esteemed civil service,

profes-sions, judiciary, and business affairs In 1956, S W R D

Bandaranaikewon amassiveelectoral victoryby appealingto

thesesentimentsandpromisingtoimplementSinhalaasthe

sole official language ofgovernment affairs Tensions over

thelanguageactledtotheappalling1958riots,inwhich

Sin-halese mobs attacked Tamils living in Sinhalese areas. The

subsequentimpositionofuniversityandemploymentquotas

radicalizedTamilyouths; the first Tamilyouthorganizations

included many unemployed graduates. In 1974, the Tamil

politicalparties unifiedand called for the peacefulcreation,

thoughnegotiation,ofaseparateTamilstateinthe Northern

andEasternprovinces,butlargelybecause theColombo

gov-ernment made few concessions and political moderates

seemed content to wait the situation out, Tamilyouths

re-jectedtheirelders'politicsandbegana waveof violent

assas-sinations, mainlyaimedatTamils whoweresuspectedof

col-laborating with Sinh~alese organizations In 1981, Sinhalese

security forceswent on a brutal rampage inJaffna, burning

down Jaffna's library and terrorizing the population, which

came tothe conclusion thatonlytheyouthgroupscould

pro-tectthem The 1983 Colomboriots, whichappearedtohave

the unofficial guidance and supportofsome sectionsof the

government, effectively eliminated the Tamil business

pres-ence in Colombo and throughouttheSinhalese sections of

theisland,which further radicalized the Tamilpeople.After

almost a decade ofviolence, the Colombo government has

yet to make genuine concessions to the Tamil community

and apparently believes the Tamil militantscanbe defeated

by force In the meantime, manyTamils have become

refu-gees, hundreds oftemples and schools have beendestroyed,

the Tamil middle dlass and intelligentsia have fled abroad,

andtensof thousands ofinnocentshavedied,oftenin

massa-cres ofunspeakable brutality.

Settlements

Sri LankanTamilregions arepredominantly rural; eventhe

towns seemlikeovergrownvillages. Therural-urban balance

has not changed significantly in this century, thanks to Sri

Lanka's vigorous rural social service program and to an

al-most complete lack of industrial development. Traditional

villagesare nonnucleated andareinternallydifferentiatedby

hamlets,inwhich members ofasinglecastereside Theonly

obviouscenterof thevillage isthetempleof thevillage

god-dess Lanes wander chaotically through the village, and

homes arehidden behindstout,living fences (trees),which

providecopiousgreen manureforgardens. Landis

tradition-ally divided into three categories: house land, garden land,

and paddy land Traditional houses are made of mud and

thatch; wealthier villagers construct stucco houses roofed

with ceramic tiles Houses are situated within a private,

fenced,almostsecretivecompound,whichisusually planted

with mangoes, coconutpalms, and palmyras.

Economy

Subsistence andAgriculturalActivities Subsistencericulture, supplemented by marginal employment, character-izestheeconomiclife ofmostrural Sri Lankan Tamils.Asig-nificantsource ofincome formanyfamilies todayis foreignremittances Savein theeasterncoastalregion,whereirriga-

ag-tionproduces highriceyields,riceagricultureinTamilareas

is extensivebut rainfall-dependent andonly marginally

eco-nomic at best Under import restrictions following SriLanka's independence, Jaffnabecame amajorsourceofgar-

den crops, including tomatoes, chilies, onions, tobacco, gourds, pumpkins, okra, brinjal (eggplants), betel, potatoes,manioc, andavarietyofgrams andpulses. Traditional agri-

culturalpracticesmakeintensiveuseofgreenand animal

ma-nures, althoughtheuseofchemical fertilizers andpesticides

is increasingly common. In coastal regions with limestonebedrock (and particularly in Jaffna), groundwater is inten-sivelyused to supplement rainfall; irrigation is rare, save inthe eastern coastal region Domestic animals include cattleand chickens.Significantfoods of lastrecourseincludeman-

ioc andthe ubiquitous palmyra, which suppliesstarch fromseedlings, molasses, jam, and a mildly alcoholic beveragecalled toddy Rapid growthin theservice section (especially retailing,transport,communications,banking, publicadmin-istration, education, health services, repair, and construc-

tion) has createdsignificantnewemploymentopportunities.Industrial Arts Some members of the artisan castes

(goldsmiths, blacksmiths, carpenters, potters, and temple

builders) still create traditional goods, such as jewelry, ox

carts,hoes, andcookingpots,althoughsuchgoods face stiffcompetitionfromindustriallymanufacturedplastic andalu-minumgoods, sothat traditionalgoodsareincreasinglyusedonlyfor ceremonialpurposes.Veryfewindustrialenterprises

arelocatedinTamilregions,with theexceptionof theownedcementfactoryatKankesanthuraialongthe northerncoast,the chemicalfactoryatParanthan,andapaperfactory

state-at Valaichenei in the east. Private-sector ventures includemanufacturing or assembly ofgarments, toys, candies, bot-tledjuices, and soap But indigenous goodsare regarded asshoddyandreceivestiffcompetitionfromimportsandram-

itineranttraders andvillage cash-crop agriculturalists.

Trans-portisprovided bybullockcarts,tractorspullingflatbed

trail-ers,oldautomobiles, light trucks,and theubiquitous CeylonTransit Board (CTB), the nation'sbus service.

DivisionofLabor TraditionalSriLankanTamilsocietyis

male-dominated and patriarchal, with a strong division oflaborbysex, arrangedmarriages, andatendency todemeanfemale roles Female seclusionisaconcomitantoffamilysta-

tus, thus discouragingwomenfrom travelorwork withouta

constant chaperone. However, significant new employment

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andeducational opportunitiesforwomen cause many

fami-liestomoderate the traditional division of laborastheyseek

additionalincome Ingeneral,women areresponsiblefor

do-mestic affairs while men work outside the home in

agricul-ture, transport, industry, services, andgovernment

LandTenure Land isheldoutrightbutholdingstendto

be bothminute andgeographically fragmented. Bilateral

in-heritance, coupled with population increase, compounds

subdivision Landlessnessisincreasinglycommonanddelays

or prevents marriage because traditional dowry customs

re-quirethe married pairto be givenlands anda house

Kinship

Kin Groups andDescent The largest kin group is the

"microcaste" (called"our castepeople" inTamil), a section

ofalargercastecategorywithin whichpeoplerecognize

com-mondescent andasharedstatus.Themicrocaste isoften

dis-tributed among several hamletsorwards inadjoining (orin

some casesseparated) villages;within the hamletmicrocaste

memberscooperate in agriculture, ritual, trade, andpolitics.

In sharpcontrast to south Indian Tamilculture, descent is

fully bilateral, save intheeasterncoastal regions,where

ma-trilineal descent is common.

Kinship Terminology. Dravidian terms, which strongly

encourage symmetrical cross-cousin marriage, are used

Marriage and Family

Marriage Marriages among the "respectable" castes are

arranged byparentsandareaccompanied byalarge

dowry-which,againinsharpcontrast tothe mainland Tamilpattern,

includes lands andahouseaswellasmovables and cash.Boys

areexpectedtodelaymarriagesothattheycanhelptheir

par-ents accumulate enoughwealthto marry off theirsisters. A

girlistechnically eligibleto marryafterpubertybutmarriages

are increasingly delayed, often into awoman's mid- to late

twenties, owingtothe difficulties involvedinassemblingthe

dowryandfindingasuitablegroom.The idealgroomis an

ed-ucated, English-speaking, and government-employed man

fromagood, respectable familyof thesamemicrocaste;again

ideally, heisterminologicallya cross-cousinofthebride,but

thisisbyno meansnecessary.Thetraditional Hinduwedding

is alavish affair that proclaimsthe family's status. Formost

couples the marriage is strictly an unromantic relationship,

though it may grow intolovelater; a"goodwife" submitsto

her husband's authority and serves him humbly and

obedi-ently. Ifa boy's parents discover that he has fallen in love,

theytake offenseatthiserosionoftheirauthorityandtryto

breakuptherelationship;ifagirl'sparentsdiscover that she

has falleninlove, theyexpress their disdain for her and take

advantage of the situationbytrying to strikeamarriage deal

that involves little or no dowry. More rarely, broad-minded

parents may try toarrange whatappears to be a traditional

marriageevenif thepairare inlove Residenceaftermarriage

is neolocal, the determining factor being the availability of

lands and a house "Love marriages" are increasingly

com-mon. Poorer and low-caste families can afford neither the

dowrynortheceremony, sotheirmarriages arefarmore

cas-ual.Althoughwife abuseisthoughttobecommon, it is

pub-licly discouraged and, in strong contrast to India, women

haveamoderatedegreeofeconomic recourse inthatthey

re-tamnpropertyrightsundertraditional Tamil law (whichis heldinthe courts). Divorceisexceptionallyuncommonandquite difficult legally, but among the poor and lowercastes

up-desertion and new, casual relationships are common.

DomesticUnit The averagehouseholdis five or six

per-sons; amarriedcouple maybejoined by elderlyparentsafterthese parentsrelinquishtheir lands and homestoother chil-dren in aform ofpremortem inheritance

Inheritance In contrast to the mainlandTamil pattern,propertyisdivided equallyamong all children-ifany prop-erty isleft afterpaying dowry atthe going rates.

Socialization Small childrenaretreasuredbymostadults,who playwith them, tease them, andcreate homes that are

structuredaround their needs.A firstrice-feedingceremony

takes placeatapproximately6 months.Toilet trainingis

re-laxed anduntraumatic. Butthere is apronounced changeat

approximatelyage5,when theparentsbeginthe task of ing the childtotheir will.Atthisagetherebeginsanauthori-

bend-tarian relationship inwhich the parentsassume the rightto

determine the child's school interests, prospective career,

friends, attitudes,andspouse.Tradition-minded familiesmay

force girls to leave school atpuberty, followingwhich there

was formerly a ceremony (now done privately or not at all)thatdeclared the girlto be technically eligible for marriage;she dons a sariandis nolonger free to go aboutunchaper-oned Both the familyand school declareto children, inef-

fect,"Do whatwetellyou todo andwewill takecareofyouin

life."However,families and schoolsareincreasinglyunableto

deliver on this promise In the 1970s, Tamil youths foundthemselves receiving authoritarianpressure from their fami-lies to conform but faced bleak prospects; this double bindapparentlycontributedto atriplingof suiciderates,givingtheTamilareasof SriLankaoneof thehighestrecorded suicide

rates inthe world TheriseofyouthfulTamil militantgroups

is notonlyapolitical phenomenonbut alsoagenerationalvolt; Tamilyouths are rejecting notonlySinhalese rule butalso the moderate politics and social conservatism oftheirparents

re-Sociopolitical Organization

Sri Lanka is nominally a parliamentary democracy with apresident as the head ofstate.The two-party parliamentarysystem is, however, dominated by Sinhalese, and the SriLankan Tamils are not sufficiently numerous to affect the

outcomeofelections.As aresultmoderate Tamilpoliticianswho endorsed a parliamentary solution to Tamilgrievances

wereineffective andweresweptawayduringtheriseof Tamilyouthful militancy.

Social Organization. Sri Lanka's Tamil regions take on

their distinctivenessowingtothepresenceofadominant

ag-ricultural caste-theVellala intheJaffnaPeninsula and theMukkuvarintheeasterncoastalregion-on which theentire

castesystem is focused In contrast to the Tamil mainland,Brahmansare few, andalthough they are considered higherthan the dominant caste in ritual terms, they are generally

poorandservethe dominantcaste astemplepriestsortemple

managers. Traditional intercaste services focused on thedominantcasteandwereboth sacred andsecular; the sacredservices,suchastheservicesprovided bybarbers andwashers

atlife-cycleritesandby agriculturallaborersatsacrificial

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ritu-Tamil ofSri Lanka 283

als, served to define and regulate the low status ofserving

groups, while the secularonescreatedpatron-client linkages

that could endure forgenerations Oncebound to these

sa-cred and secularrelations,theartisan castesfreed themselves

by taking advantageof Britishliberalizations, theexpanding

service economy,and their urban residence The ruralservice

and labor castes remained intraditional relationships with

the dominant castes until the mid-twentieth century, when

theriseofa serviceeconomycreatednewmarginaleconomic

niches for thesegroupsatthesame timethatmechanization

rendered their laborunnecessary Coastalfishinggroupswere

neverincorporatedintothecompassofagriculturalcaste

soli-darity, andin consequence theyhavelong maintained their

independence and resisted the stigmaof lowstatus. Priorto

the twentiethcentury, caste statuses were upheld bya huge

variety ofsumptuary regulations, such as a rule prohibiting

low-castewomenfromcoveringtheupperhalfof their bodies

Castediscriminationinsuchmatters,including templeentry

and theuseofpublicfacilities andconveyances,is nowillegal

butpersistsinruralareas.Inthe face of the brutaloccupation

of TamilareasbySinhalesesecurity forcesintheearly1980s,

casterivalrydiminishedinintensityastheTamilcommunity

pulled together. Prominentin manyTamil militant

organiza-tionsareleaders from lowormarginalcastes;Tamilyouthful

militancyis thus arejection of traditional caste ideology as

well as a generational and ethnic revolt

PoliticalOrganization. The Sri Lankan state ispartly an

artifact of colonial rule:excessively centralized,it wasdevised

tosuppressregionalrebellionsasthe Britishwere

consolidat-ingtheirpower.Thefailure of thisoverlycentralizedpolitical

systemtodevolvepowertotheprovincesis oneofthereasons

for theriseof militantTamilseparatism Unableto win

con-cessionsfrom the Colombogovernment,Tamil

parliamentar-ians lost credibility andwerepushed outofthe Tamil

com-munity by militant youth groups, which were composed

mainly ofunemployed graduates as well as unmarried and

rootlessyouth.Fractiousand focusedon asingle,charismatic

leader, these groupscompetedwith each other-sometimes

violently-until the 1987 incursion by Indian troops under

theprovisionsofanaccord between Colombo andDelhi;the

Marxist-oriented groups, unlike other factions,

accommo-datedto the Indiansecurity forces, whose presenceand

ac-tions in the Sri Lankan Tamil communitywere resented as

muchasthose of the Colombo forces After thedeparture of

the Indian troops, those Marxist groups lost credibility. At

thiswritingthe LiberationTigersof TamilEelamn (LTTE), a

nationalist group, haseffectively eliminated-through

attri-tion, fear, assassination, and massacre-all other potential

sources ofpolitical leadership within the Tamilcommunity

Theyhavewonsupport amongpeasantfolkwho believe that

no one else can protectthem from the Sri Lankan security

forces, but expatriate Tamils frequentlyvoice concern that

LT1TE rule will amount to abrutal dictatorship.

Social Control Within traditional Sri Lankan Tamil

vil-lages gossip and ridicule were potent forces for social

con-formity.The familybackeditsauthoritarian controlthrough

threats of excommunication (deprivation oflands, dowry,

and family support). With growing landlessness and

unem-ployment, however, many families are unable to deliver on

their material promises and the threat ofexcommunication

has become increasingly empty Suicide and youthful

mili-tancyareboth manifestations ofageneralrejectionby youth

oftraditional forms of authoritarianism

Conflict Traditionally, conflicts occurred within familiesandbetweencastes.Interfamilyconflict oftenarosefrom sta-

tuscompetition,particularlywhenawealthywardattempted

to ceaserelations withits"poorerrelations"inpursuitofnew,

more lucrative ties with a similarly-endowed group standing grudgesand obsession with'enemies,"realorimag-

Long-ined, sometimeshave ledto violence Dominant castes tinelyused violenceto punishsubordinate groupsthatweretaking onhigh-caste life-style attributes (such as usingum-brellas),oftenby burningdown hutsorpoisoningwells.Sincethe late 1970s,the ineffectiveness of moderate Tamilpoliti-

rou-cianshas ledmanyTamilyouthstoconclude that theonlylutionto theirproblemsliesinviolence Theresult has beentherise,notonlyinTamilareasbutthroughoutSriLanka,of

so-aculture ofviolence,inwhichunspeakableactsofslaughterandmassacre arecommonplace. Ithasevenspilledover into

Indiawhere,in 1991,SriLankan Tamils assassinated the

for-merprimeminister, RajivGandhi Officialestimates arethatapproximately 20,000 have died in Sri Lanka's decade-oldcivilwarbut unofficialestimatesplacethe tollat two tothreetimes that figure.

Religion and Expressive Culture Religious Beliefs Sri Lankan Tamils are predominantly Hindus, but therearesignificantenclaves ofRomanCatho-lics and Protestants (mainly Methodists), who considerthemselvestobe full members of theSriLankanTamilcom-

munity.Discussed hereistheHinduism of TamilSriLanka,a

Hinduism that is at once utilitarian, philosophical, anddeeplydevotional Shivaisthe supremedeitybutisnot wor-shiped directly; Shivabestows hisgracebyrunningyourlife

so you aspire to nothingother than reunification with him.Theperspectivetaken toward the other deitiesisfranklyutili-tarian:theyareapproachedforhelpwith mundaneproblems,suchasillnesses,universityexams,job applications, conflicts, legal problems,orinfertility Commonly worshipeddeitiesin-

clude Shiva'ssons Murukan and Pillaiyar, the severalvillage goddesses (suchasMariyammanandKannakiyamman), and

a host ofsemidemonic deities who are thought to demandsacrifices Of all deities, most belovedis Murukan, who be-

stowsboonseven onthose whomaybeunworthy,to the

ex-tent thattheydevote themselves to him

Religious Practitioners In temples that conform to thescriptural dictates of the medieval temple-building manuals(called Agamas), thepriests are Brahmans.A smallcaste ofnon-BrahmantemplepriestscalledSaivaKurukkalsperformsthe rites at non-Agama temples, particularly shrines of thegoddessAmman.The officiantsatvillageandfamily temples,calledpucaris, areordinary villagerswith whom the temple's godhas established aspiritual relationship, often througha

form ofspirit possession Here and thereone finds templepriests whoopen ashrinetothepublicand trytosolvemedical, legal, andsocialproblemsfor allcomers,withoutregard

to caste. Theveryfew holymen are reveredbut may attract

more foreign thanindigenous disciples Astrologists are merous and are routinely consulted at birth, marriage, and

nu-timesoftrouble; Hindus believe that one's fateis"writtenon

one's head" (talai viti) andcannotbefully escaped, although

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sameintelligent finessingand divineassistance canhelpone

avoid someproblems orcalamities

Ceremonies Households celebratearichrepertoireof

ca-lendrical andlife-cycle ritualsthatbringthe family together

injoyous, festiveholidays Village templesoffer annual "car"

festivals,inwhich thedeityiscarried around thetempleatop

ahuge chariot;theseceremonies occur on amuchlargerscale

inregional pilgrimage,which usedto attractvisitorsfromall

overthe country

Arts With itsutilitarian ethos, Sri Lankan Tamil culture

does not encourage young people to pursue careers in the

arts. Evenso,youngpeople todaymay receiveinstructionin

traditional Tamilmusicordanceas a meansofimpressingon

themtheantiquityandgreatnessof Tamilculture;musicand

dancewere formerlyassociated with low-caste status.

Medicine There is a pronounced division of labor

be-tweenscientific medicine andAyurvedic medicine, whichis

thoughttobemoreeffective for mentalillness, snakebite,

pa-ralysis, and listlessness

Death and Afterlife Westernerswho believe Hindus are

focusedon abetter life afterreincarnationareinevitably

sur-prised bythe almostcompletedisinterest that Tamil Hindus

showinthe afterlife.It isthought, though,thatsomeonewho

dies withouthavingfulfilledagreatlongingwillremainto vex

theliving. Cremation is the norm andis followed, formost

castes,byaperiodof deathpollution lasting thirty-one days;

subsequently there is anannual death observance withfood

offerings. Forthe fewhighlyeducated Hindus familiar with

theSaivaSiddhantatradition, anoft-expressed goalof

after-life is reunification with Shiva

See also Moor ofSri Lanka; Vellala

Bibliog-raphy

Banks, Michael Y (1961). 'Caste in Jaffna." In Aspects of

Caste inSouthIndia, Ceylon,and North-WestPakistan,edited

by E R Leach, 61-77 Cambridge: Cambridge University

Press

Helleman-Rajanayagam, Dagmar (1988-1989). "The Tamil

Militants-Before the Accords and After." Pacific Affairs

61:603-619

Holmes,W.Robert (1980) Jaffna (Sri Lanka): 1980.Jaffna:

Jaffna College.

McGilvray, Dennis (1982). Caste Ideology and Interaction

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press

O'Ballance, Edgar (1989).TheCyanideWar:Tamil

Insurrec-tion inSri Lanka, 1973-1988 London: Brassey's.

Pfaffenberger,Bryan (1982).CasteinTamil Culture:The

Re-ligious Foundations ofSudra Domination inTamil Sri Lanka

Syracuse:MaxwellSchoolofForeignandComparative

Stud-ies, Syracuse University.

Schwarz, Walter (1988). The Tamils ofSri Lanka 4th ed

London: Minority Rights Group.

Skonsberg,Else (1982).ASpecialCaste? Tamil WomenofSriLanka London: Zed Press

BRYAN PFAFFENBERGER

Telugu

ETHNONYM: Andhra

OrientationIdentification Speakers of the Telugu language inhabitAndhra PradeshStateinsouth Indiaaswellasborderareasofthe neighboring states of Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Maha-rashtra, Karnataka,and TamilNadu Therearealso substan-tial numbers of Telugu speakers in the-interior of TamilNadu, especiallyinthe central andnorthernregions.Inaddi-

tion there are small Telugu communities in the UnitedStates, the United Kingdom,andcountries formerly partofthe British Empire-Fiji, Guyana, Malaysia, Myanmar (Burma), Mauritius, Singapore, and SouthAfrica

Location Andhra Pradeshis locatedintropical latitudes(between 12'and 19' N and76" and 86" E)similarto main-

landSoutheastAsiaorsouthern Mexico Importantfeatures

ofthe land includeapalmyra-dottedcoastalplain extending

960 kilometers along the Bay ofBengal, lush deltas of theGodavari and Krishna rivers, a strip offorested hillcountry

paralleling the coast, and arolling upland plainstrewnwitherodedrockyoutcrops The major rainfallissupplied bythesouthwestmonsoon, its winds prevailing betweenJune andSeptember.

Demography In 1981the populationof Andhra Pradesh

was 53,550,000, with an average densityof 195 persons per squarekilometer andadecennialgrowthrateof 23.1 percent.ThepopulationismainlyHindu (87 percent)butwithimpor-

tant Muslim and Christian minorities (8 and 4 percent,respectively).

LinguisticAffiliation The Telugu language is a member

of the DravidianLanguage Familyconcentratedinthe south

of the Indian peninsula. Otherrelated major languages are

Tamil, Kannada, andMalayalam Telugu possesses its own

distinctive,curvilinearalphabetandavoluminousand

vener-ableliterarytradition ItisalsotheprimarylanguageofSouthIndian classical music.

History and Cultural RelationsTwo millennia ago the Telugu country was a strongholdof

Buddhism,alegacyof theempireof Asoka (ca.250B.C.).TheAndhra Kingdom,withitscapitalinPaithan(nowinMaha-rashtra), followed Among the various dynasties that next

heldsway werethe Pallavas,the Eastern Chalukyas,the lingas,theKakatiyas,and theCholas TheMuslimperiodsaw

Ka-the establishment ofthe Bahmani Kingdomand its

succes-sor,, the sultanate of Golkonda Hindu Vijayanagar in the

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.Telugu 285

southernpartof the Telugucountrywasconquered by

Mus-linms in 1565 European traders-Dutch, French, and

English-attracted by textiles and spices began arriving on

thescene inthe sixteenthcentury.The Britishultimately

pre-vailedinthe eighteenth century, acquiring control from the

rulers of Golkonda over extensive tracts in the northeast

coastal belt of theTelugucountry.Latertheseterritorieswere

linked with thosethey acquired inthe southand ruled from

the city of Madras The northwestern part of the

Telugu-speaking lands remained in what became the state of the

NizamofHyderabad,whoseforeignaffairs and defensecame

tobe controlledbythe British

Political trends since Indian independence in 1947

in-clude three decades of dominance by the Congress party

Thiswasfollowedbytheascentoftheregional TeluguDesam

party, spearheaded by a former Telugu movie idol, N T

Rama Rao

Settlements Telugu villagesrangein sizefromseveral hundredinpopula-

tion to many thousand, with larger ones resembling small

towns. Frequentlyseveral "hamlets"areaffiliatedtogetheras

a single village. In some cases, the constituent settlements

have been designated avillage by thegovernment for

pur-posesof taxation,economicdevelopment,andpolitical

repre-sentation.Typicallythemainsettlement of thevillagehas the

widestvarietyofcastes(or jatis, endogamousgroupsoften

as-sociated with particular occupations), with a temple, small

shops, tea and drink stalls, a weekly market, a post office,

andavillageschool.Quartersof former Untouchablecastes

are traditionally segregated from the other houses of a

settlement

Telugu house types vary considerably even within the

samevillage. Differencesinconstructionmaterialsusually

in-dicate differing economic statuses. Dwellings range from

mud-walled, single-family houses with palm-thatched roofs

to houses made of brick and mortar-or stone in some

regions-with flat,cementroofs.Allhouses haveatleastone

innerroomwhere thefamilyvaluables arestored,ceremonial

brass vessels (dowry) aredisplayed,and deitiesareworshiped

at a small shrine Aroofed veranda with cooking nook lies

outside thisinnerroom.Forthehighestcastes,for whomit is

importantthatcookingtakeplace beyondthepollutinggaze

ofoutsiders, thecooking areais adjacent to the back of the

dwelling in awalledcompound.

Economy

Subsistence andCommercialActivities The foodgrain

held in highest esteem is rice, cultivated intensively in the

Krishna and Godavari deltas aswell asextensively

through-outother parts of the coastalzone andin scattered parts of

the interior. Away from streams irrigation is by reservoirs

known as tanks These are formed with earthen dams that

holdrainwaterinthewet season.Other foodgrains,grown on

nonirrigated lands, are also important Mung beans, lima

beans, andblack-eyed peas arewidely cultivated, as are

ses-ame seeds and peanuts for oil Popular garden vegetables,

grownfor homeuseand forsale,includetomatoes,eggplants,

onions, garlic, chilies, bitter gourds, pumpkins, okra, yams,

ginger,andcorn.Widelygrownfruits includemangoes,

tama-rinds, guavas,bananas, coconuts, custard apples, sapodillas,

limes, toddy-palm (palmyra, Borassus flabellifer), cashews,andpineapples. Turmeric root is also cultivated, as is mus-tard, fenugreek, coriander,and fennel.Inadditiontorice,im-portant commercial crops are sugarcane, tobacco, and cotton. Chilies are cultivated throughout the state for sale.Fishingisimportantalongthecoast aswellasininlandtanks.Cultivationismainly unmechanized,exceptforgasoline- powered pumps usedbywealthier farmers toaid irrigation.Bullocksor waterbuffaloareusedtopullwoodenplowsrein-forced with irontips Crops are harvestedbyhand

Inadditionto cattle andwaterbuffalo-whichareused

notformeatbut fordairy products-numerousother

domes-ticanimalsareraised These includechickens, ducks, turkeys,goats, sheep, and pigs Dogs are kept by some villagers forhunting.

IndustrialArts Telugu society with its Hindu caste

sys-temhasahighly developedtradition offamilytransmissionofmanufacturing and food-processingskills Among these areblacksmithing,carpentry,goldsmithing,cottonand silkweav-

ing, basketmaking,pottery, and oilpressing Many villagersweave their own baskets, make their own rope from palm fiber, and thatch theirown roofs

Trade Village markets selling fresh vegetables, meat,

spices, cloth, and bangles are typically held one day eachweek Generally one particularly large weekly market on a

mainbusroute serves as a magnetforanentireruralregion

Womenof farmercastesoftenbring producefrom their lies' farms,and theirhusbandsengageinpettytrading,offer-ingchickens for sale Potters and sellers ofbanglesandcloth-ing also offer their wares. Professional merchant castes

fami-maintainsmallprovision stores,which areopendailyinthevillages.

Division of Labor TO a great extent, women's time is

takenupwithchildrearing and foodpreparation However,amongthe middle and lowercastes womenengage instrenu-

ous physical agricultural labor such as transplanting riceshoots and harvesting. In towns, womenworkon construc-

tion sites, carrying heavy baskets with cement or bricks orbreakingrocks Butamongthehighercastesthereare restric-

tionson womengoingoutoftheir homesor evenappearing

inpublicunescorted

In Telugu society labor is most strikingly divided by

caste. Castes are economically interdependent endogamous

groups often associated with particular occupations orcrafts-barbering, washing, andoil pressing, for instance.LandTenure Landisheldbyhouseholds andpasses pa-trilineally alongthemaleline,inequalshares between broth-

ers. Landis notownedbyall families but rather heldmainly

bymembers of fannercastes,aswellasbymembers ofhigher

casteswho employlowercastes tocultivate it.Foodistionally distributed throughout the rural populationvia ex-change of grain or cash for services. Landless lower-castemembers ofsociety whocannotsupportthemselvesinthevil-lage economy frequently migrate to urban areas to work for

tradi-wages. They then usually maintain ties with their homevillage.

Kinship

KinGroups andDescent Anindividualis a memberofthe following groups: (1) a family residing in a household

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generally headedbythe eldestmale; (2) anendogamous

sub-clanorbranch of apatrilineage; (3)anexogamousclan

(shar-ingapatrilineallytransmitted family name);and (4) an

en-dogamouscastewith aparticularhierarchicalstatus,customs

ofdiet,prohibitionsonfoodexchangewith othercastes,and

oftena traditionaloccupation Descentispatrilinqal

KinshipTerminology Dravidiankinshiptermsareused;

theterminologyemphasizesrelative age Forexample, terms

differaccordingto theagesofthespeakerand theperson

spo-ken of; there are separate terms for "older brother" and

"younger brother." Theterminology also divides relativesinto

marriageable and unmarriageable categories On the one

hand, one callsone'sparallelcousins"brothers"and"sisters."

They are not considered to be potential spouses On the

otherhand, one's cross cousins aredesignated byterms

im-plying that they arepotentialaffines

Marriage and Family

Marriage Marriages are monogamous, polygyny having

been prohibited since Indian independence Marriages are

generally arrangedby parents andrelatives,though potential

mates may get to meet each other or may already be

ac-quainted ifthey are related or live in the same village As

mentioned, marriage withcross cousins is common, and a

man'smaternal uncleisviewed asapreferred donor of a wife

Wives areconsideredresponsible forthewell-being of their

husbands andarefelttobeatfaultiftheir husbands die

be-fore they do The theme of the inauspiciousness of

widow-hoodrecurs in manyritual contexts Marriages are generally

patrilocal The fission of individual households isagradual

process, beginningwithaman'ssonsmarrying andbringing

their wives to live with him and hiswife Eventually separate

hearths areestablished, followed laterbyadivision of lands

A sharing of tasks around agricultural field huts near their

lands is the last tie tobemaintained Different castes have

varying attitudes toward divorce The highest in status

pro-hibit it entirely Next downinthehierarchy are castes that

permitdivorceifnochildren have beenborn These are

fol-lowedby castes permitting divorce relatively unrestrictedly

Agreements are reachedregarding the return of marriage gifts

andproperty Formalwrittendocuments of release are drawn

up and exchanged by the parties, leaving them free to

remarry

Domestic Unit The basic unit is a nuclear family A

household, defined as those who share food prepared at a

common hearth, is led by a household head During the

course of its development, a household can include

addi-tional members-spouses and offspring of sons, or widows

and widowers

Inheritance Property, such as land, is divided equally

among brothers, though the less economically established

youngest son also often inherits thefamily home

Socialization Infants and smallchildren areraised by the

women of the household Older siblings and other cousins

also often tend children youngerthanthemselves Children

are encouraged to accompany their parents everywhere and

begin learningsex-specific tasks and caste occupations from

an early age

Sociopolitical OrganizationAndhra Pradesh, one of the largest statesintheRepublicofIndia, isledbya chiefminister and a governor and has anelected legislature Itscapital is Hyderabad

SocialOrganization The primary organizingprinciple ofTelugu society is hierarchy, based on age, sex, and socialgroup Eachendogamous caste group reckons its relationship

to othercastesaseither oneof superiority, equality, orority.While these relativerankings produceahierarchy, this

inferi-is in some cases a matter ofdispute To some extent thetivepositionsareperceivedtobe achievedonthe basisof mu-tual willingness to engage in various sorts of symbolic ex-changes, especially of food Caste members do not acceptfoodprepared by a castethey consider to be inferior to theirown Inaddition,castes maintain distinctivediets-the high-estrefuses to eatmeat,the nextlevel refuses to eat domesticpork orbeef, andthe lowest eats pork and beef There areclusters of castes of similar status-such as farmers-thataccept each other's food, as well as pairs of similar-statuscastes-such asthe two major former Untouchable castes-that reject eachother's food There is also a group of castes-thePanchabrahma, artisans in gold, brass, iron, and wood-that claimtobehigher than the highest Brahmans But whilethey refuse food from all other castes, no other castes acceptfoodfrom them

rela-PoliticalOrganization The state of AndhraPradesh isvided into twenty-one districts (zilla) Districts were tradi-tionallysubdivided into taluks until 1985 when a smaller sub-division, the mandal, was instituted by the Telugu Desamparty Themandal, whose leader is directly elected, serves as afunctionary of revenueadministration and of government de-velopment projects Towns with taluk headquarters are theseat of courts,police, and government health-care programs.The political culture of democracy among the Telugus ishighly developed, with frequent elections for state and na-tional representatives

di-Social Controland Conflict In timesof conflict the thority of elder males is respected A male household headruleson adispute within his household Next, an informallyconstituted group of elder males of the same caste arbitratesdifficult disputes within or between families in the caste.Cases involving members of different castes are often referred

au-to higher castes for settlement, in a pattern of ascendingcourts of appeal When conflicts begin there is often muchcommotion andshouting of accusations or grievances Thisattracts theparticipation of bystanders and triggers the proc-ess of arbitration

ReligionThevast majorityofTelugusareHindus.There are also someTelugu castes that have converted to Christianity and Islam.Each village hasits main temple-often dedicated to a greatHindu god,usually Rama or Siva-as well as small shrines tonumerous village deities, most of which are female Preemi-nent among theregional shrines in the Telugu country is thetemple of Sri Venkatesvara in the town of Tirupati, a majorpilgrimage center

ReligiousBeliefs Hinduism lacks a centralized tical hierarchy or unified authority officially defining doc-

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