https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?action=history&feed=atom&title=Tamil_South_AfricansTamil South Africans - Revision history2026-11-02T19:37:22ZRevision history for this page on the wikiMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tamil_South_Africans&diff=144684&oldid=previmported>Park3r: Remove Sri Lankan diaspora box. Add ethnic groups in South Africa infobox2021-03-14T10:24:31Z<p>Remove Sri Lankan diaspora box. Add ethnic groups in South Africa infobox</p>
<p><b>New page</b></p><div>{{Use South African English|date=May 2020}}<br />
{{Infobox ethnic group<br />
| group = Tamil South Africans<br />
| image = <br />
| caption = <br />
| population = 800,000{{Citation needed|date=October 2010}}<br />
| popplace = [[KwaZulu-Natal]]<br />
| langs = [[South African English|English]], [[Tamil language|Tamil]], [[Languages of South Africa]]<br />
| rels = [[Hinduism in South Africa|Hinduism]], [[Christianity in South Africa|Christianity]]<br />
| related-c = [[Tamil diaspora]], [[Indian diaspora]], [[Indian South Africans]], [[Malayalees]], [[Tamil people]], [[Telugu people]], [[Tulu people]], [[Kannada people]], [[Tamil Mauritian]], [[Tamil Malaysian]], [[Singapore Tamils]], [[Tamil diaspora#Guyana|Tamil Guyanese]], [[Tamil diaspora#Trinidad and Tobago|Tamil Trinidadian and Tobagonian]], [[South Indians in Fiji]], [[Dravidian people|Dravidians]]<br />
}}<br />
{{Tamils}}<br />
'''Tamil South Africans''' are [[Indian South Africans]] of [[Tamil people|Tamil]] descent. Tamil people form the majority of Indian immigrants who came from [[India]] to [[Colony of Natal|Natal, South Africa]], from 1860 onwards.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/indian-south-africans|title=Indian South Africans|last=sahoboss|date=21 March 2011}}</ref> After the expiry of their indentures most of these Indians moved to the cities, becoming established as a thoroughly urban population.<ref name=AD/><ref>{{cite web |url= http://scnc.ukzn.ac.za/doc/SHIP/caste.html |title= Caste and Religions of Natal Immigrants |author= K. Chetty |publisher=Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre |access-date=2007-11-19}}</ref><br />
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==Arrival in South Africa==<br />
{{see|Indian South Africans#History|Indian indenture system}}<br />
In 1833, the British Parliament passed the Act of Abolition, which banned slavery throughout the British Empire. The consequence of this was that many African slaves in the Colony of Natal decided to desert their former masters. The former masters, lacking sufficient labour force, persuaded the skeptical British authorities in India to implement the system of [[Indian indenture system|indentured labour]] in Natal. On November 16, 1860, 342 men, women and children arrived aboard the S.S. ''Truro'' in Port Natal (Durban).<br />
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==Apartheid==<br />
[[Apartheid]] alienated all Indians as disenfranchised ''non-whites'', and [[Hinduism in South Africa|Hinduism]] in particular was perceived by many whites as antithetical to [[Christianity]]. The imposition of apartheid system also curtailed the opportunities for improvement and included the forced removals program, causing great disruption and social hardship.<ref name=AD/><br />
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==Integration==<br />
Over the 150 years of residence in South Africa, participation in religion and its many festivals has brought devotees a valuable sense of identity and solidarity, especially in the light of their marginalization and the discrimination experienced under the apartheid system. A recent resurgence of interest in indigenous Tamil festivals seems to reflect a variety of religious, social and political concerns.<ref name=AD>{{cite conference | first = Alleyn | last = Diesel | title = Tamil Hindus in KawZulu-Natal (South Africa): History, Identity and the Establishment of Their Place in the New South Africa |book-title = Proceedings from the International Association for the History of Religions | publisher = International Association for the History of Religions (IAHR) | year= 2000 }}</ref> In South Africa, the Tamil community tend to refer to their religion as "Tamil", rather than Hindu, although this blurring of the distinctions between religion and language also occurs with other Hindu ethnic groups in South Africa.<ref name="Bongmba2012">{{cite book|author=Elias Kifon Bongmba|title=The Wiley-Blackwell Companion to African Religions|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JFRRl1vv0kwC&pg=PA393|date=21 May 2012|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-4051-9690-1|pages=393–}}</ref> Many [[Cape Coloureds]] with partial Indian ancestry are of Tamil South African descent.{{fact|date=March 2021}}<br />
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==Education==<br />
Tamil has been included as a high school subject for the South African Nationals Senior Certificate.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.jagranjosh.com/current-affairs/five-indian-languages-reinstated-as-official-subjects-in-south-african-schools-1395392591-1|title=Five Indian languages reinstated as official subjects in South African schools|date=21 March 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kzneducation.gov.za/Portals/0/Circuiars/General/2014/MERCURY%20(First%20Edition)%20-%20p.3%20-%2011%20Mar%202014.pdf|title=five indian languages - Kwazulu - Natal Education Ministry}}</ref><br />
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==Festivals==<br />
"Purataasi" is the Tamil month from mid-September to mid-October and is a period dedicated to Lord Vishnu.The entire period of Purataasi is observed with the abstention of meat, sexual pleasures and intoxicants. The main prayer in every Tamil-cultured home is held on any of the four Saturdays during the period and much effort is put into this.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ulwazi.org/index.php5?title=Purtuassi_in_Durban|title=Ulwazi - Top Product Reviews 2018|website=Ulwazi Wiki}}</ref><br />
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The Tamil Community in South Africa also observe the Mariamman Festival in the Aadi Month which falls between mid-July and mid-August. Due to the fact that Maize Meal forms a large part in the Mariamman worship this prayer is usually referred to as "Porridge Prayers" by the locals.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ulwazi.org/index.php5?title=The_Mariamman_Festival_in_Durban,_KwaZulu_Natal|title=Ulwazi - Top Product Reviews 2018|website=Ulwazi Wiki}}</ref><br />
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Kavadi is another famous festival among the Tamil community in South Africa. Such an example is the Melrose Sri Siva Subramaniar Alayam in Johannesburg that was first a steel temple dedicated to Lord Muruga and was built in 1890 and today attracts thousands of devotees during the [[Thaipusam|Thai Poosam]] festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ulwazi.org/index.php5?title=Kavady_Festival|title=Ulwazi - Top Product Reviews 2018|website=Ulwazi Wiki}}</ref><br />
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==See also==<br />
*[[Thai Poosam Kavady festival in South Africa]]<br />
*[[Thai Pongal]]<br />
*[[Tamil people]]<br />
*[[Tamil diaspora]]<br />
*[[Indian South Africans]]<br />
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==References==<br />
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{{Reflist}}<br />
*{{cite book |last = Bhana |first = Surendra |last2 = Panchai |first2 = Bridglal |title = A Documentary History of Indian South Africans (Black and White Perspectives on South Africa) |publisher = Hoover Institution Press |year = 1984 |page = [https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto00bhan/page/306 306] |isbn = 0-8179-8102-0 |url-access = registration |url = https://archive.org/details/documentaryhisto00bhan/page/306 }}<br />
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==External links==<br />
*[http://www.tamilsa.org/cms/scripts/culture1.php?pageNum=2 Tamil Federation of KwaZulu-Natal]<br />
*[http://scnc.ukzn.ac.za/ Gandhi-Luthuli documentary center]<br />
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{{Tamil Diaspora}}<br />
{{Ethnic groups in South Africa}}<br />
{{NRI-PIO}}<br />
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[[Category:Indian diaspora in South Africa]]<br />
[[Category:Tamil diaspora by country|South Africans]]<br />
[[Category:Tamil diaspora in Africa]]<br />
[[Category:South African people of Tamil descent| ]]</div>imported>Park3r