Sri Lankan Tamils: Difference between revisions

| group            = Sri Lankan Tamils<br/>(Eelam Tamils)<br/>

| native_name      = இலங்கை தமிழர்<br/>(ஈழத் தமிழர்)<br/>

| region8         =  {{Flagu|Singapore}}

| region9         = {{Flagu|Australia}}

| pop9             = ~30,000

| ref9             = <ref name=Sivasupramaniam>{{cite web|last=Sivasupramaniam|first=V.|title=History of the Tamil Diaspora|url=http://murugan.org/research/sivasupramaniam.htm|publisher=International Conferences on Skanda-Murukan}}</ref>

| ref10            = <ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/sri-lanka/sri-lankan-tamil-diaspora-after-ltte|title=The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora after the LTTE|date=23 February 2010}}</ref>

| region11         = {{Flagu|Italy}}

| region12         = {{Flagu|Malaysia}}

| pop12           = ~24,436 (1970)

| ref12           = {{Sfn|Rajakrishnan|1993|pp=541–557}}

| region13         = {{Flagu|Netherlands}}

| pop13           = ~20,000

| ref13           = <ref name=Sivasupramaniam />

| region14         = {{Flagu|Norway}}

| pop14           = ~10,000 (2000)

| ref14           = <ref>{{cite news|last=Raman|first=B.|title=Sri Lanka: The dilemma|url=http://www.hindu.com/businessline/2000/07/14/stories/041455br.htm|newspaper=[[Business Line]]|date=14 July 2000|quote=It is estimated that there are about 10,000 Sri Lankan Tamils in Norway – 6,000 of them Norwegian citizens, many of whom migrated to Norway in the 1960s and the 1970s to work on its fishing fleet; and 4,000 post-1983 political refugees.}}</ref>

| region15         = {{Flagu|Denmark}}

| pop15           = ~9,000 (2003)

| ref15          = {{Sfn|Mortensen|2004|p=110}}

| religions        = '''Majority''': <br>[[File:Om.svg|15px]] {{hlist|[[Hinduism]] (mostly [[Shaivism]])|<br>'''Minority''':<br>[[File:Christian cross.svg|11px]] [[Christianity]] (mostly [[Catholic Church|Roman Catholic]])}}<ref name="22,254 Tamil Buddhists in SL">{{cite news|last1=Perera|first1=Yohan|title=22,254 Tamil Buddhists in SL|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/105937/-Tamil-Buddhists-in-SL|newspaper=Daily Mirror|access-date=31 March 2016}}</ref><br>[[Buddhism]]<ref>{{cite web|title=22,254 Tamil Buddhists in SL|url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking_news/-Tamil-Buddhists-in-SL/108-105937|access-date=2020-11-17|website=www.dailymirror.lk|language=en}}</ref>

| related          = {{hlist|[[Dravidian peoples|Dravidians]] (especially [[Tamils|Indian Tamils]] and [[Malayalis]])<br/>[[Sri Lankan Moors]]<br/>[[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]]<br/><ref>{{cite journal|doi= 10.1002/ajpa.1330450112|title=The legend of Prince Vijaya — a study of Sinhalese origins|year=1976|last1=Kirk|first1=R. L.|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=45|pages=91–99}}</ref>}}

'''Sri Lankan Tamils''' ({{Indic|lang=ta|indic=இலங்கை தமிழர்|trans=ilankai tamiḻar}} or {{Indic|lang=ta|indic=ஈழத் தமிழர்|trans=īḻat tamiḻar|showlang=false|showhelp=false}}),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Krishnan|first=Shankara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__6PDx2CyLkC|title=Postcolonial Insecurities: India, Sri Lanka, and the Question of Nationhood|publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]]|year=1999|isbn=978-0-8166-3330-2|page=172}}</ref> also known as '''Ceylon Tamils''' or '''Eelam Tamils''', are [[Tamils]] native to the [[South Asia]]n [[island state]] of [[Sri Lanka]]. Today, they constitute a majority in the [[Northern Province, Sri Lanka|Northern Province]], live in significant numbers in the [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern Province]] and are in the minority throughout the rest of the country. [[#Society|70% of Sri Lankan Tamils]] in Sri Lanka live in the Northern and Eastern provinces.<ref name=census12 />

The Sri Lankan Tamils are mostly [[Hindus]] with a significant [[Christian]] population. [[Sri Lankan Tamil literature]] on topics including religion and the sciences flourished during the medieval period in the court of the Jaffna Kingdom. Since the beginning of the [[Sri Lankan Civil War]] in the 1980s, it is distinguished by an emphasis on themes relating to the conflict. [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects]] are noted for their [[archaism]] and retention of words not in everyday use in [[Tamil Nadu]], India.

Since Sri Lanka gained [[Sri Lankan independence movement|independence]] from [[British Ceylon|Britain]] in 1948, relations between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil communities have been strained. Rising ethnic and political tensions following the [[Sinhala Only Act]], along with [[Riots in Sri Lanka|ethnic pogroms]] carried out by Sinhalese mobs in [[Gal Oya riots|1956]], [[1958 riots in Ceylon|1958]], [[1977 riots in Sri Lanka|1977]], [[Burning of Jaffna library|1981]] and [[Black July|1983]], led to the formation and strengthening of [[Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups|militant groups]] advocating [[Tamil Eelam|independence for Tamils]]. The ensuing [[Sri Lankan Civil War|civil war]] resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000&nbsp;people and the [[Enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka|forced disappearance]] and [[Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka|rape]] of thousands of others. The civil war ended in 2009 but there are continuing [[Alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan Civil War|allegations of atrocities]] being committed by the [[Sri Lanka Armed Forces|Sri Lankan military]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11393458|title=Q&A: Post-war Sri Lanka|date=20 September 2013|newspaper=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24849699|title='Tamils still being raped and tortured' in Sri Lanka|date=9 November 2013|newspaper=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/26/tamils-fear-prison-and-torture-in-sri-lanka-13-years-after-civil-war-ended|title='Tamils fear prison and torture in Sri Lanka 13 years after civil war ended|date=26 March 2022|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}} </ref> A [[Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka|United Nations panel]] found that as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in the final months of the civil war.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Darusman|first1=Marzuki|url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf|title=Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka|last2=Sooka|first2=Yasmin|last3=Ratner|first3=Steven R.|date=31 March 2011|publisher=[[United Nations]]|page=41|author-link1=Marzuki Darusman}}</ref> In January 2020, President [[Gotabaya Rajapaksa]] said that the estimated 20,000+ disappeared Sri Lankan Tamils were dead.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-01-20|title=Sri Lanka president says war missing are dead|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51184085|access-date=2020-06-08}}</ref> The end of the civil war has not fully improved conditions in Sri Lanka, with press freedom not being restored and the judiciary coming under political control.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa37/011/2012/en/|title=ASA 37/011/2012 Sri Lanka: Continuing Impunity, Arbitrary Detentions, Torture and Enforced Disappearances|date=30 October 2012|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|access-date=28 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/sri-lankan-press-freedom-under-attack-website-office-raids-and-online-content|title=Press Freedom Under Attack in Sri Lanka: Website Office Raids and Online Content Regulation|last=Kaiser|first=Katrina|date=30 July 2012|publisher=[[Electronic Frontier Foundation]]|access-date=28 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Jayasinghe|first=Amal|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hn9AglmnC6DNZxlKsgNw2snBfpnA?docId=CNG.5c69d36ecf59a5a931e1ea83f43326c5.5c1|title=Amnesty accuses Sri Lanka of targeting judges|date=2 November 2012|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]}}</ref>

One-third of Sri Lankan Tamils now live outside Sri Lanka. While there was significant migration during the [[British Empire|British colonial]] to Singapore and Malaysia, the civil war led to more than 800,000&nbsp;Tamils leaving Sri Lanka, and many have [[Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora|left the country]] for destinations such as Canada, United Kingdom, Germany and India as refugees or emigrants. According to the pro-rebel [[TamilNet]], the [[Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka|persecution]] and [[Policy of standardisation|discrimination]] that Sri Lankan Tamils faced has resulted in some Tamils today not identifying themselves as Sri Lankans but instead identifying themselves as either [[Eelam]] Tamils, Ceylon Tamils, or simply Tamils.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tamilculture.com/why-im-not-sri-lankan|title = Why I'm Not 'Sri Lankan'}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=38093|title=TamilNet}}</ref> Many still support the idea of [[Tamil Eelam]], a proposed [[independent state]] that Sri Lankan Tamils [[Vaddukoddai Resolution|aspired to create]] in the [[North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|North-East]] of Sri Lanka.<ref>Colombo Telegraph - Vaddukoddai Resolution: More Relevant Now Than Ever Before, https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/vaddukoddai-resolution-more-relevant-now-than-ever-before/</ref><ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/General%20Election%201977.PDF | title=Parliamentary Election - 1977 | publisher=Department of Elections Sri Lanka | access-date=March 14, 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110717002624/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/General%20Election%201977.PDF | archive-date=17 July 2011 | url-status=dead | df=dmy-all }}</ref><ref>Adrian Wijemanne, War and Peace in Post-colonial Ceylon, 1948-1991, 1996, p32 https://www.google.com/books/edition/War_and_Peace_in_Post_colonial_Ceylon_19/9EiToLETF5UC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PA32&printsec=frontcover</ref><ref>International Crisis Group - The Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora after the LTTE, p13-14 https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/113104/186_the_sri_lankan_tamil_diaspora.pdf</ref><ref>{{Cite web|title=Tamil National Alliance -A Sinking Ship|date=3 September 2018|url=https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/tamil-national-alliance-a-sinking-ship/}}</ref> Inspired by the [[Flag of tamil eelam|Tamil Eelam flag]], the [[tiger]] also used by the [[LTTE]], has become a symbol of [[Tamil nationalism#Sri Lanka|Tamil nationalism]] for some Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/eelam-tamil-flag-hoisted-valvettithurai|title = Eelam Tamil flag hoisted in Valvettithurai &#124; Tamil Guardian}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tamilguardian.com/content/tamils-across-london-hoist-tamil-eelam-flags-build-maaveerar-naal|title = Tamils across London hoist Tamil Eelam flags in build-up to Maaveerar Naal &#124; Tamil Guardian}}</ref>

During the protohistoric period (1000-500 BCE) Sri Lanka was culturally united with southern India,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30208096.ece |title=Reading the past in a more inclusive way - Interview with Dr. Sudharshan Seneviratne |work=Frontline (2006) |date=26 January 2006 }}</ref> and shared the same megalithic burials, [[Black and red ware culture|pottery]], iron technology, farming techniques and [[megalithic graffiti symbols|megalithic graffiti]].<ref name="Seneviratne">{{cite book |last=Seneviratne |first = Sudharshan|title=Social base of early Buddhism in south east India and Sri Lanka|date=1984 }}</ref><ref name="Karunaratne">{{cite book |last=Karunaratne |first = Priyantha|title=Secondary state formation during the early iron age on the island of Sri Lanka : the evolution of a periphery|date=2010 }}</ref> This cultural complex spread from southern India along with Dravidian clans such as the [[Velir]], prior to the migration of [[Prakrit]] speakers.<ref>Robin Conningham - Anuradhapura - The British-Sri Lankan Excavations at Anuradhapura Salgaha Watta  

Volumes 1 and 2 (1999/2006)</ref><ref>Sudharshan Seneviratne (1989) - Pre-State Chieftains And Servants of the State: A Case Study of Parumaka -http://dlib.pdn.ac.lk/handle/123456789/2078</ref><ref name="Seneviratne"/>

The [[Amaravati school]] was influential in the region when the [[Telugu people|Telugu]] [[Satavahana dynasty]] established the Andhra empire and its 17th monarch [[Hāla]] (20–24 CE) married a princess from the island. Ancient [[Vanniar (Chieftain)|Vanniars]] settled in the east of the island in the first few centuries of the common era to cultivate and maintain the area.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hellmann-Rajanayagam|first=Dagmar|title=Tamils and the meaning of history|journal=Contemporary South Asia|year=1994|volume=3|issue=1|pages=3–23|doi=10.1080/09584939408719724}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Schalk|first=Peter|title=Buddhism Among Tamils in Pre-colonial Tamilakam and Ilam: Prologue. The Pre-Pallava and the Pallava period|journal=Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis|year=2002|volume=19–20|pages=159, 503|publisher=[[Uppsala University]]|quote=The Tamil stone inscription ''Konesar Kalvettu'' details King Kulakottan's involvement in the restoration of Koneswaram temple in 438 A.D. (Pillay, K., Pillay, K. (1963). ''South India and Ceylon'')}}</ref> The [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni region]] flourished.<ref>{{cite book|last=Arumugam|first=S.|title=The Lord of Thiruketheeswaram, an ancient Hindu sthalam of hoary antiquity in Sri Lanka|year=1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7g4YAAAAIAAJ|publisher=Colombo|quote=Kulakottan also paid special attention to agricultural practice and economic development, the effects of which made the Vanni region to flourish; temples were cared for and regular worship instituted at these}}</ref>

In the 6th century CE, a special coastal route by boat was established from the Jaffna peninsula southwards to Saivite religious centres in [[Trincomalee]] (Koneswaram) and further south to [[Batticaloa]] ([[Thirukkovil]]), passed a few small Tamil trading settlements in [[Mullaitivu]] on the north coast.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Ismail|first1=Marina|year=1995|title=Early settlements in northern Sri lanka|quote=In the sixth century AD there was a coastal route by boat from the Jaffna peninsula in the north, southwards to Trincomalee, especially to the religious centre of Koneswaram, and further onwards to Batticaloa and the religious centre of Tirukovil, along the eastern coast. Along this route there were a few small trading settlements such as Mullativu on the north coast...  }}</ref>

The conquests and rule of the island by [[Pallava Dynasty|Pallava]] king [[Narasimhavarman I]] (630–668 CE) and his grandfather King [[Simhavishnu]] (537–590 CE) saw the erection and structural development of several ''[[Koil|Kovils]]'' around the island, particularly in the [[North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|north-east]]—these Pallava [[Dravidian architecture#Pallavas|Dravidian rock temples]] remained a popular and highly influential style of architecture in the region over the next few centuries.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Singhal|first1=Damodhar P.|year=1969|title=India and world civilization|volume=2|publisher=[[University of Michigan Press]]|oclc=54202}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Codrington|first=Humphrey William|title=Short History of Ceylon|page=36|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tqpdlaPiOyEC|isbn=9788120609464|date=May 1995}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|last=Maity|first=Sachindra Kumar|title=Masterpieces of Pallava Art|page=4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QgrqAAAAMAAJ|year=1982}}</ref> Tamil soldiers from what is now South India were brought to Anuradhapura between the 7th and 11th centuries CE in such large numbers that local chiefs and kings trying to establish legitimacy came to rely on them.<ref name=Spencer /> By the 8th century CE Tamil villages were collectively known as ''Demel-kaballa'' (Tamil allotment), ''Demelat-valademin'' (Tamil villages), and ''Demel-gam-bim'' (Tamil villages and lands).{{Sfn|Indrapala|2007|pp=214–215}}

In the 9th and 10th centuries&nbsp;CE, [[Pandya]] and [[Chola]] incursions into Sri Lanka culminated in the [[Chola rule in Sri Lanka|Chola annexation of the island]], which lasted until the latter half of the 11th century CE.<ref name=Spencer>{{cite journal|last=Spencer|first=George W.|title=The politics of plunder: The Cholas in eleventh century Ceylon|journal=[[The Journal of Asian Studies]]|volume=35|issue=3|page=408|publisher=[[Association for Asian Studies]]}}</ref>{{Sfn|de Silva|1987|p=46}}{{Sfn|de Silva|1987|p=48}}{{Sfn|de Silva|1987|p=75}}{{Sfn|Mendis|1957|pp=30–31}}{{Sfn|Smith|1958|p=224}} [[Raja Raja Chola I]] renamed the northern throne ''Mummudi Chola Mandalam'' after his conquest of the northeast country to protect Tamil traders being looted, imprisoned and killed for years on the island.<ref>{{cite book|title=Epigraphia Carnatica, Volume 10, Part 1|page=32|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bGmiLgEACAAJ|isbn=9781231192177|last1=Rice|first1=Benjamin Lewis|date=2012-05-10}}</ref> [[Rajadhiraja Chola]]'s conquest of the island led to the fall of four kings there, one of whom, Madavarajah, the king of Jaffna, was a usurper from the [[Rashtrakuta Dynasty]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Pillay|first=K.|title=South India and Ceylon|year=1963|publisher=[[University of Madras]]|oclc=250247191}}</ref> These dynasties oversaw the development of several Kovils that administered services to communities of land assigned to the temples through royal grants. Their rule also saw the benefaction of other faiths. Recent excavations have led to the discovery of a limestone Kovil of Raja Raja Chola I's era on [[Neduntheevu|Delft]] island, found with Chola coins from this period.<ref>{{cite news|last=Balachandran|first=P.K.|title=Chola era temple excavated off Jaffna|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/world/article257115.ece|access-date=12 March 2010|newspaper=[[The New Indian Express]]|date=10 March 2010}}</ref> The decline of Chola power in Sri Lanka was followed by the restoration of the [[Kingdom of Polonnaruwa|Polonnaruwa monarchy]] in the late 11th century CE.{{Sfn|de Silva|1987|p=76}}

The [[Caste system in Sri Lanka|caste structure]] of the majority [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] has also accommodated Tamil and Kerala immigrants from South India since the 13th century CE. This led to the emergence of three new Sinhalese caste groups: the ''[[Salagama]]'', the ''[[Durava]]'' and the ''[[Karava]]''.{{Sfn|de Silva|1987|p=121}}{{Sfn|Spencer|1990|p=23}}{{Sfn|Indrapala|2007|p=275}} The Tamil migration and assimilation continued until the 18th century CE.{{Sfn|de Silva|1987|p=121}}

The Tamils of the Trincomalee district have different social customs from their southern neighbours due to the influence of the Jaffna kingdom to the north.{{Sfn|Sivathamby|1995|pp=5–6}} The [[Indigenous peoples|indigenous]] [[Coast Vedda|Veddha]] people of the east coast also speak Tamil and have become assimilated into the Eastern Tamil caste structure.<ref name=Seligmann1911>{{cite book|last1=Seligmann|first1=C.G.|last2=Gabriel|first2=C.|last3=Seligmann|first3=B.Z.|year=1911|title=The Veddas|url=http://vedda.org/seligmann-coastal-veddas.htm|pages=331–335}}</ref> Most Eastern Tamils follow customary laws called [[Mukkuva laws]] codified during the [[Dutch period in Ceylon|Dutch colonial period]].{{Sfn|Thambiah|2001|p=2}}

 

Although Sri Lankan Tamils are culturally and linguistically distinct, genetic studies indicate that they are closely related to other ethnic groups in the island while being related to the Indian Tamils from South India as well. There are various studies that indicate varying degrees of connections between Sri Lankan Tamils, Sinhalese, and Indian ethnic groups.

 

 

 

 

[[File:Nallur Kandasamy front entrance.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Nallur Kandaswamy Kovil]], one of the main Kovil in Sri Lanka.]]

The dialect used in Jaffna is the oldest and closest to old Tamil. The long physical isolation of the Tamils of Jaffna has enabled their dialect to preserve ancient features of old Tamil that predate ''[[Tolkappiyam]]'',<ref name=Kuiper /> the grammatical treatise on Tamil dated from 3rd century BCE to 10th century CE.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Swamy|first=B.G.L.|year=1975|title=The Date of Tolksppiyam-a Retrospect|series=Silver|journal=Annals of Oriental Research|volume=Jubilee Volume|pages=292–317}}</ref> Also, a large component of the settlers were from the [[Coromandel Coast]] and [[Malabar Coast]] which may have helped with the preservation of the dialect.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4IdR9N9R7T4C&q=sri+lanka+tamils+malabar&pg=PA3|title=Ethnic Conflict and Reconciliation in Sri Lanka|last=Manogaran|first=Chelvadurai|date=1987|publisher=University of Hawaii Press|isbn=9780824811167|page=3|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02RKAQAAMAAJ&q=sri+lanka+tamils+coromandel|title=Pilgrimage and Traditional Authority in Tamil Sri Lanka|last=Pfaffenberger|first=Bryan|date=1977|publisher=University of California, Berkeley|page=15|language=en}}</ref> Their ordinary speech is closely related to classical Tamil.<ref name=Kuiper>{{cite journal|last=Kuiper|first=L.B.J|title=Note on Old Tamil and Jaffna Tamil|journal=[[Indo-Iranian Journal]]|volume=6|issue=1|pages=52–64|date=March 1964|doi=10.1163/000000062791616020<!-- at some point new publisher will have at https://brill.com/view/journals/iij/6/1/iij.6.issue-1.xml -->|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00157142|s2cid=161679797|jstor=24646759}}</ref> Conservational Jaffna Tamil dialect and Indian Tamil dialects are to an extent not mutually intelligible,<ref>{{cite web|last=Schiffman|first=Harold|title=Language Shift in the Tamil Communities of Malaysia and Singapore: the Paradox of Egalitarian Language Policy|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]]|date=30 October 1996|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/sparadox/sparadox.html|access-date =4 April 2008}}</ref> and the former is frequently mistaken for [[Malayalam]] by native Indian Tamil speakers. {{Sfn|Indrapala|2007|p=45}} The closest Tamil Nadu Tamil variant to Jaffna Tamil is literary Tamil, used in formal speeches and news reading. There are also [[Prakrit]] loan words that are unique to Jaffna Tamil.{{Sfn|Indrapala|2007|p=389}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Ragupathy|first=P.|title=Tamil Social Formation in Sri Lanka: A Historical Outline'|page=1}}</ref>

Sri Lanka became an independent nation in 1948. Since independence, the political relationship between the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil communities has been strained. Sri Lanka has been unable to contain its ethnic violence as it escalated from sporadic terrorism to mob violence, and finally to civil war.<ref name=Peebles /> The [[Sri Lankan Civil War]] has several underlying causes: the ways in which modern ethnic identities have been made and remade since the colonial period, rhetorical wars over archaeological sites and [[Sri Lankan place name etymology|place name etymologies]], and the political use of the national past.{{Sfn|Spencer|1990|p=23}} The civil war resulted in the death of at least 100,000 people<ref>{{cite news|last=Doucet|first=Lyse|title=UN 'failed Sri Lanka civilians', says internal probe|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20308610|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=13 November 2012|author-link=Lyse Doucet}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Peachey|first=Paul|title=Sri Lanka snubs UN as it bids for more trade links with the UK|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sri-lanka-snubs-un-as-it-bids-for-more-trade-links-with-the-uk-8795379.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sri-lanka-snubs-un-as-it-bids-for-more-trade-links-with-the-uk-8795379.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=2 September 2013}}</ref> and, according to human rights groups such as [[Human Rights Watch]], the [[forced disappearance]] of thousands of others (''see [[White van abductions in Sri Lanka]]'').<ref>{{cite news|title=S Lanka civilian toll 'appalling'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7243595.stm|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=13 February 2008|quote=Sri Lanka's government is one of the world's worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances, US-based pressure group [[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW) says. An HRW report accuses security forces and pro-government militias of abducting and "disappearing" hundreds of people—mostly Tamils—since 2006.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pathirana|first=Saroj|title=Fears grow over Tamil abductions|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5382582.stm|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=26 September 2006|quote=The image of the "white van" invokes memories of the "era of terror" in the late 1980s when death squads abducted and killed thousands of Sinhala youth in the south of the country. The [[Asian Human Rights Commission]] (AHRC) says the "white van culture" is now re-appearing in Colombo to threaten the Tamil community.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Denyer|first=Simon|title="Disappearances" on rise in Sri Lanka's dirty war|url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/09/14/disappearances_on_rise_in_sri_lankas_dirty_war/|access-date=7 July 2008|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=14 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529005905/http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/09/14/disappearances_on_rise_in_sri_lankas_dirty_war/|archive-date=29 May 2009|quote=The National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has recorded 419 missing people in Jaffna since December 2005.}}</ref> Since 1983, Sri Lanka has also witnessed massive civilian displacements of more than a million people, with eighty percent of them being Sri Lankan Tamils.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Newman|first=Jesse|year=2003|title=Narrating displacement:Oral histories of Sri Lankan women|journal = Refugee Studies Centre – Working Papers|issue=15|pages=3–60|publisher=[[Oxford University]]}}</ref>

Shortly thereafter, in 1973, the Federal Party decided to demand a [[Tamil Eelam|separate Tamil state]]. In 1976 they merged with the other Tamil political parties to become the [[Tamil United Liberation Front]] (TULF). <!--After the first National convention of TULF in 1976, the Ceylon Tamils moved towards a transformed nationalism, meaning they were now unwilling to live within a confined single island entity.-->{{Sfn|Wilson|2000|pp=101–110}} <!--Chelvanayakam and the Federal Party had always campaigned for a united country and thought, until 1973, that partitioning the country would be "suicidal". At that point, however, policies by the various governments that were considered to be discriminatory by the Tamil leadership modified the position of Tamil Nationalism.--><ref name=Peebles /><ref name=cstudy /> By 1977 most Tamils seemed to support the move for independence by electing the Tamil United Liberation Front overwhelmingly.{{Sfn|Gunasingam|1999|p=7}} The elections were followed by the [[Sri Lankan riots of 1977|1977 riots]], in which around 300 Tamils were killed.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Kearney|first=R.N.|year=1985|title=Ethnic Conflict and the Tamil Separatist Movement in Sri Lanka|journal=[[Asian Survey]]|volume=25|issue=9|pages=898–917|doi=10.2307/2644418|jstor=2644418}}</ref> There was further violence in 1981 when an organised Sinhalese mob went on a rampage during the nights of 31 May to 2 June, [[Burning of Jaffna library|burning down the Jaffna public library]]—at the time one of the largest libraries in Asia—containing more than 97,000 books and manuscripts.{{Sfn|Wilson|2000|p=125}}<ref>{{cite web|last=Knuth|first=Rebecca|title=Destroying a symbol|publisher=[[International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions]]|year=2006|url = http://www.ifla.org/IV/ifla72/papers/119-Knuth-en.pdf|access-date=20 March 2008}}</ref>

In August 2009, the civil war ended with total victory for the government forces. During the last phase of the war, many Tamil civilians and combatants were killed. The government estimated that over 22,000 LTTE cadres had died.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sri Lankan army and Tamil Tiger death tolls reveal grim cost of years of civil war|url=http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/eda17636-4733-11de-923e-00144feabdc0.html?nclick_check=1|access-date=30 May 2009|newspaper=[[Financial Times]]|date=23 May 2009}}</ref> The civilian death toll is estimated to be as high as 40,000 or more.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buncombe|first=Andrew|title= Up to 40,000 civilians 'died in Sri Lanka offensive'|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/up-to-40000-civilians-died-in-sri-lanka-offensive-1897865.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/up-to-40000-civilians-died-in-sri-lanka-offensive-1897865.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|access-date=23 May 2010|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=12 February 2010|location=London}}</ref> This is in addition to the 70,000 Sri Lankans killed up to the beginning of the last phase of the civil war.<ref>{{cite news|last=Buerk|first=Roland|title=Sri Lankan families count cost of war|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7521197.stm|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=23 July 2008|author-link=Roland Buerk}}</ref> Over 300,000 [[internally displaced persons|internally displaced]] Tamil civilians were interred in [[Sri Lankan IDP camps|special camps]] and eventually released. As of 2011, there were still a few thousand alleged combatants in state prisons awaiting trials.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sri Lankan introduces new 'anti-terror' legislation|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-14735405|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=2 August 2011}}</ref> The Sri Lankan government has released over 11,000 rehabilitated former LTTE cadres.<ref>{{cite news|title=Sri Lanka to release 107 rehabilitated LTTE cadres|url=http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-08/south-asia/41873495_1_vavuniya-ltte-tamil-tigers|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130913084852/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2013-09-08/south-asia/41873495_1_vavuniya-ltte-tamil-tigers|url-status=dead|archive-date=13 September 2013|newspaper=[[The Times of India]]|date=8 September 2013|agency=[[Press Trust of India]]}}</ref>

[[Bishop of Mannar]] (a northwestern town) [[Rayappu Joseph]] said that 146,679 people seemed to be unaccounted between 2008 October and at the end of the civil war.<ref>{{cite news|last=Senewiratne|first=Brian|title=The Life of a Sri Lankan Tamil Bishop (and others) in Danger|url=http://www.salem-news.com/articles/april072012/sri-lanka-priests-bs.php|access-date=28 July 2013|newspaper=Salem-News.com|date=7 April 2012}}</ref>

The Tamil presence in Sri Lankan politics and society is facing a revival. In 2015 elections the Tamil national alliance got the third largest number of seats in the Parliament and as the largest parties UNP and SLFP created a unity government TNA leader R. Sampanthan was appointed as the opposition leader.<ref>{{cite news|title=Lanka's main Tamil party TNA presses for Opposition status in Parliament|url=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/international/world-news/lankas-main-tamil-party-tna-presses-for-opposition-status-in-parliament/articleshow/48729413.cms|access-date=1 February 2017|newspaper=The Economic Times}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Sampanthan appointed Opposition Leader|url=http://www.adaderana.lk/news.php?nid=32205}}</ref> K. Sripavan became the 44th Chief justice and the second Tamil to hold the position.<ref>{{cite news|title=K. Sripavan sworn in as Chief Justice|url=http://www.adaderana.lk/news/29632/k-sripavan-sworn-in-as-chief-justice|access-date=1 February 2017}}</ref>

[[File:Templefest 6039446-49N1.jpg|thumb|right|Sri Kamadchi Ampal temple in [[Hamm]], Germany, built primarily by Sri Lankan Tamil expatriates<ref name=Baumann>{{cite web|last=Baumann|first=Martin|title=Immigrant Hinduism in Germany: Tamils from Sri Lanka and Their Temples|publisher=[[Harvard University]]|year=2008|url= http://www.pluralism.org/resources/slideshow/hindgerm/index.php|access-date=26 June 2008|quote=Since the escalation of the Sinhalese-Tamil conflict in Sri Lanka during the 1980s, about 60,000 came as asylum seekers.}}</ref>]]

The earliest Tamil speakers from Sri Lanka known to have travelled to foreign lands were members of a [[merchant]] [[guild]] called ''Tenilankai Valanciyar'' (Valanciyar from Lanka of the South). They left behind inscriptions in South India dated to the 13th century.{{Sfn|Indrapala|2007|pp=253–254}} In the late 19th century, educated Tamils from the Jaffna peninsula migrated to the British colonies of [[British Malaya|Malaya]] (Malaysia and Singapore) and India to assist the colonial bureaucracy. They worked in almost every branch of public administration, as well as on plantations and in industrial sectors. Prominent Sri Lankan Tamils in the Forbes list of billionaire include: [[Ananda Krishnan]],<ref>{{cite news|title=Who is Ananda Krishnan?|url=http://sundaytimes.lk/070527/News/nws14.html|access-date=2 August 2008|newspaper=[[The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)]]|date=27 May 2007}}</ref> [[Raj Rajaratnam]], and [[G. Gnanalingam]],<ref>{{cite news|title=#17 G. Gnanalingam|url=https://www.forbes.com/profile/g-gnanalingam/|access-date=2 December 2015|date=2 December 2015}}</ref> and Singapore's former foreign minister and deputy prime minister, [[S. Rajaratnam]], are of Sri Lankan Tamil descent.<ref>{{cite news|last=Chongkittavorn|first=Kavi|title=Asean's birth a pivotal point in history of Southeast Asia|url=http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/06/headlines/headlines_30043849.php|access-date=2 August 2008|newspaper=[[The Nation (Thailand)]]|date=6 August 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130614200718/http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/08/06/headlines/headlines_30043849.php|archive-date=14 June 2013}}</ref> [[C. W. Thamotharampillai]], an Indian-based Tamil language revivalist, was born in the Jaffna peninsula.<ref>{{cite news|last=Muthiah|first=S.|title=The first Madras graduate|url=http://hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/08/09/stories/2004080900190300.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041217093506/http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/mp/2004/08/09/stories/2004080900190300.htm|url-status=dead|archive-date=17 December 2004|newspaper=[[The Hindu]]|date=9 August 2004}}</ref>Before the Sri Lankan civil war, Sri Lankan Tamil communities were well established in [[Malaysia]], [[Singapore]], [[India]] and the [[UK]].

<!--    {{No more links}}