For other usage of this term see the disambiguation page Sri Lanka Tamils Shortcut: WP:D or WP:DAB Disambiguation in Wikipedia and Wikimedia is the process of resolving the conflict that occurs when articles about two or more different topics have the same natural title. ...

The Sri Lanka Tamils of Indian origin or Hill Country Tamils, Up-country Tamils or Indian Tamils are descended from indentured workers sent from South India to Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in coffee, tea and rubber plantations. Indetured servitude is when a persons passage to America is payed for an American Colonist and then the foreigner must work for the american for a certain amount of time (usually 7 years) and then the person is free to do what they please. ... A map of South India, its rivers, regions and water bodies. ... Coffee in beverage form. ... Tea leaves in a gaiwan. ... Rubber is an elastic hydrocarbon polymer which occurs as a milky emulsion (known as latex) in the sap of a number of plants but can also be produced synthetically. ...

These Tamil-speakers live in the central highlands, also known as the Malayakam or Hill Country. Although they are all termed as Tamils today, some also have Telugu and Malayalee origins as well as diverse South Indian caste origins. Tamil (தமிழ் ) is a classical language and one of the major languages of the Dravidian language family. ... Telugu may refer to: TELUGU PORTAL Telugu language Telugu script Telugu people This is a disambiguation page: a list of articles associated with the same title. ... Malayalee is the Malayalam word used to denote a person belonging to Kerala. ... Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social stratification. ...

Sri Lanka's distinct Tamil speaking communities

Sri lanka also has two other Tamil speaking communities. They are the native Sri Lanka Tamils and Sri Lankan Muslims. Hill Country Tamils differ from these native communities by their dialect, culture and socio economic conditions. But due to the discriminatory nature of Sri Lanka's politics towards its minority communities, Hill Country Tamils have been migrating to traditionally Tamil speaking regions in the Northern province. Further after the Black July pogrom of 1983, Sri Lankan Tamil and Hill Country Tamils have come together in refugee and resettlement camps and differences are slowly melting away. Many Hil Country Tamils have intermarried with other communities including Sri Lankan Tamils and generally mark them as Sri Lankan Tamils in the an annual census. It should be noted that historically the upper castes (see Vellalar) amongst Sri Lankan Tamils had discriminated against many Hill country Tamils based on caste prejudices. But it is no longer observed. A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος, dialektos) is a variety of a language used by people from a particular geographic area. ... The definition of a minority group can vary, depending on specific context, but generally refers to either a sociological sub-group that does not form either a majority or a plurality of the total population, or a group that, while not necessarily a numerical minority, is disadvantaged or otherwise has... Black July is the commonly used name of the pogroms starting in Sri Lanka on July 23, 1983. ... Vellalars are a dominant caste of agriculturalists of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Sri Lanka. ... Caste systems are traditional, hereditary systems of social stratification. ...

History

Initial recruitment

Although there is evidence of various Sri Lankan monarchs and Portugese and Dutch colonial authorities recruiting workers from India, the current Hill Country Tamils derive their origins from a British colonial era project. Many South Indian recruits who came prior to the British effort have assimilated as part of the Sinhalese or the native Sri Lankan Tamil communities (See Salagama) The word Portuguese can mean: From or related to Portugal The ethnic Portuguese people, see list of Portuguese people The Portuguese language Portuguese Creole Portuguese sidewalk Elizabeth Barrett Browning, who was nicknamed My little Portuguese by her husband Robert Browning. ... In general, the word colonial means of or relating to a colony. In United States history, the term Colonial is used to refer to the period before US independence. ... South India is a geographic and linguistic-cultural region of India. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Salagama (Halagama, Haali or Chaliya) is a Sri Lankan cinnamon peelers caste found mostly in Southern coastal areas, especially in the villages around Hikkaduwa and Balapitiya in Galle district. ...

According to Professor Bertram Bastianpillai workers around the Tamil Nadu cities of Thirunelveli, Tiruchi, Madurai and Tanjore were recruited by Governor Sir Edward Barnes on the request of George Bird, a pioneer planter. Tamil Nadu (தமிழ் நாடு, Land of the Tamils) is a state at the southern tip of India. ... Tirunelveli is a city in Tamil Nadu state of southern India. ... Tiruchirapalli (also spelled Tiruchchirappalli, commonly known as Tiruchi or Trichy, formerly known as Trichinopoly under British rule) is a city situated on the banks of the Kaveri river, centrally located in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. ... Madurai (மதுரை in Tamil) is situated on the banks of Vaigai River in Tamil Nadu, a southern Indian state. ... Thanjavur, also known as Tanjore, is a city in Tamil Nadu, in southeastern India. ... HI A governor is also, a monkey who is smart and can fly like a penguin is a device that regulates the speed of a machine. ...

Social structure

The social structure of the Plantations strongly resembles the South Indian rural social structure. This community is rigidly bound by caste system. In a Plantation the Tea factory is the center of activities. It stands majestically in the central Part of the plantation. A plantation is an intentional planting of a crop, on a larger scale, usually for uses other than cereal production or pasture. ... Tea leaves in a gaiwan. ...

The office adjoins this and these are surrounded by the quarters of the Staff Members such as clerks, tea makers, conductors, petty accountants or Kanakkupillais, and supervisors. The Bungalows of the planter and his assistants are in an isolated but peaceful area. These will be in close proximity to the office. The dwellings of the workers called Line Rooms are situated a little further away from the factories. A row of bungalows in Virginia A bungalow is any single story house. ...

Caste orientation of a plantation

Those who are considered to be of higher castes such as Vellalas, Kallar, Agamudaiyar, Maravar, Naidus, Reddiars and Nairs occupy the first row of line rooms. They perform respectable jobs such as factory work and grinding of Tea. They work as minor employees too. Even though they belong to the labour category they are influential among conductors, tea makers, Kanganies or supervisors and other officials. It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into vellalar. ... This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ... Reddiars or Vanniars are a jati or caste of people originating in South India. ... // Introduction Nair is the name of a caste in the Southern Indian state of Kerala. ...

The workers considered low castes live in the dwellings that are away from the center and these dwellings are called distant or lower Lines. This group consists of Pallar, Paraiyars, Sakkiliar, Washers and Barbers. The yard sweepers and changers of clothes are in the lowest rank. Pallar are a caste of upwardly mobile agriculturalists and agricultural workers of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka. ... Paraiyar also Parayar, Paraya, Pariah, Berava or Sambavas are a social group found in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and in Sri Lanka. ... Sakkiliar also Chakilli, Sakkili and Arunthathiyar are one of the most marginalized social groups or castes from Tamil nadu and Sri Lanka. ...

Survival of customs

Even today they receive very meager facilities from the Management. These groups follow the customs, traditions, and festivities of the South Indian Tamil ancestors. The traditional musical instruments such as Thappu and Parai are used. Folk Dances such as Kavadi, Kummi and Karaga Attam are performed. An ancestor is a parent or (recursively) the parent of an ancestor (i. ...

Folk dramas called Koothu in its various forms such as Ponnar Koothu, Sangaran Koothu, Arujunan Thabas, Kaman Koothu are still prevalent among them along with Silambadi as an important feature.

This community is eternally poverty stricken, continuously exploited, penalized by humiliations and cruelly afflicted by communal violence. Still amongst all these difficulties, they uphold their traditions, heritage and arts as fervently as possible. It is said that the plantation labourers are born in debts, live and die in debts. They cherish their cultural aspects and religious believes and preserve their distinctness.

Religious patterns

Mostly they use Hindu believes to guide their day to day lives. They have built temples and places of worship for their deities in estates, villages, town and whichever place they migrated within Sri Lanka. A Hindu (archaic Hindoo), as per modern definition is an adherent of philosophies and scriptures of Hinduism, the predominant religious, philosophical and cultural system of the Indian subcontinent and the island of Bali. ...

At first under a spreading banyan or Bo tree they instituted a triangular shaped stone or planted a figure or a spear or a trident or a sword and worshiped it. The main deities worshiped by these people are Shiva, Parvathi, Vishnu, and Luxmi. Saraswathie, Murugan, Valli, Theivanai and Pillayar. They worship not only these figures but also the incarnations of these deities. This article is about the tree. ... Bo or BO may be: Baltimore and Ohio Railroad (AAR reporting mark BO) Belarus, FIPS Pub 10-4 and obsolete NATO digram (BO) Bouraq Indonesia Airlines IATA code(BO) Bo is the evil aspect of Voodoo practice Bo is a common Scandinavian forename (male) meaning to live or stay and... This article is about the Hindu God Śiva. ... For other uses of the name Vishnu, see Vishnu (disambiguation). ... In Hinduism, Kartikeya (also Murugan, Subrahmanya, Skanda, Kumaran, Swaminanda) is a deity born out of a magical spark created by Shiva. ... Lord Ganesha In Hinduism, Ganesha (Sanskrit: गणेश or श्रीगणेश ( (help· info)) (when used to distinguish lordly status) (or lord of the hosts, also spelled as Ganesa and Ganesh, sometimes also referred to as Ganapati) is one of the most well-known and venerated representations of God (Brahman). ...

When these migrant workers were brought from Thalai Mannar port via Kurunagela to Kandy, they were kept in quarantine camps at a town called Matale for a week to observe for diseases such as cholera and malaria and were inoculated against them. In such a camp they instituted a stone as Mariamman under a Vilva tree. This worship which began in 1820 lead to the building of the famous Matale Sri Muthumariamman Temple in 1852. Category: ... The Temple of the Tooth in Kandy Kandy ( கண்டி in Tamil) is a city in the centre of Sri Lanka. ... Quarantine, a medical term (from Italian: quaranta giorni, forty days) is the act of keeping people or animals separated for a period of time before, for instance, allowing them to enter another country. ... Matale is a town in the hill country of Sri Lanka, 96 miles from Colombo. ... Cholera (also called Asiatic cholera) is a water-borne disease caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae, which are typically ingested by drinking contaminated water, or by eating improperly cooked fish, especially shellfish. ... Red blood cell infected with Malaria, derived from male aria (Italian for bad air) and formerly called ague or marsh fever in English, is an infectious disease which causes about 350-500 million infections with humans and approximately 1. ... Mariamman This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ...

Another deity specifically worshiped as Kathirasen an aspect of Murugan. The trading community of the Nattukotai Chettiars introduced the worship of Lord Kathiresan and consequently built the Kathiresan temple at Matale. The annual festival of this temple is celebrated in the month of July. Devotees of the plantation sector walk from their hometowns to Kathirkamam a place of worship for for Murugan in the down south of Sri Lanka. The Nagarathars are a Chettiar Community that originated in Cauvery Poompatinam under the Chola kingdom of India. ... Kataragama also Katharagama,and Katirkamam (Tamil கதிர்காமம்) is a regionally popular place of pilgrimage to Buddhist, Hindu, Muslim and indigenous Vedda communities of Sri Lanka and South India. ...

Deepawali, Pongal, Tamil New Year are celebrated as festivals by them. Diwālī or Dīpāvali (also transliterated Deepavali; Sanskrit: row of lights) is the Hindu Festival of Lights. Diwali festival symbolizes the victory of good over evil and the lamps are lit as a sign of celebration and hope for mankind. ... Pongal (பொங்கல் in Tamil), also called Sankranti in Karnataka (ಸ೦ಕ್ರಾ೦ತಿ in Kannada), is an Indian harvest and a thanksgiving festival. ...

Folk deities

Each caste has its own deity based on caste predecessors and are worshiped by these descendants as guardian angels. Example the Kallar cast had Nallananpillai Perumal as their guardian angel. They make vows and sacrifices to this deity. They submit offering on a particular date at a particular time annually. Mostly the night before Deepavali is set aside for worshiping the predecessors. For other uses of the name Vishnu, see Vishnu (disambiguation). ...

Deities such as Madasamy, Muniandi, Kali, Madurai Veeran, Sangili Karuppan, Vaalraja, Vairavar, Veerabathran, Sudalai Madan, Nagaphooshani Ammann and Roda Mini are also worshiped. Muniandi a regional Tamil deity who is popular amongst the least Sanskritized social groups of South India specifically Tamil nadu. ... A common scene depicting Kali standing over Shiva. ... Madurai Veeran is a great good knight believed to be lived when Nayaks of Andhra (South India) ruled certain parts of Tamilnad. ... Bhairava (भैरव) is a name of the fearsome aspect of the god Shiva. ... Location of Amman Amman (Arabic عمان ʿAmmān), the capital of the Kingdom of Jordan, is a city of more than 1. ...

Temple socities

There are 104 Registered Hindu Temples in the Nuwara Eliya District, 153 in Kandy region and 62 in Matale. Religious schools or Araa Nerri Padasaligal are conducted throughout the Central Province and Registered schools of such nature are, Nuwara Eliya 22, Kandy 54 and Matale 11. A considerable number of Hindu associations and Institutions have been established and are functioning actively. But there is a serious effort at conversions too. Many have converted to Christianity, Catholicism and Islam. Hindu Organizations such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad tries to stem the tide of conversions. Christianity is a monotheistic religion centered on Jesus of Nazareth, known by Christians as Jesus Christ, and the New Testament accounts of his life, teachings, and actions. ... This article considers Catholicism in the broadest ecclesiastical sense. ... Islam (Arabic: ; ( ), submission (to the will of God) is a monotheistic faith and the worlds second-largest religion. ... The Vishva Hindu Parishad (Sanskrit for World Hindu Council), widely recognized by its initials VHP, is a Hindu nationalist organization in India, an offshoot of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. ...

Community Development

This community was a closed community confining themselves to the plantations. While it actively contributed and contributes to the Economic well being of this country their own social economic conditions are amongst the worst in the country. Being isolated and ghettoed within the heartland of Sri Lanka and also linguistically isolated from the Sinhalese villagers who live in the valleys. They were the classic example of captive labour whose life in its entity was decided by the employers. Any social relationship or cultural ties they had were only among themselves or with India. In the 1940's the trade union movement had galvanized the plantation workers into a militant working class. They joined hands with the Lanka Sama Samaja (or Socialist) Party, which carried the message of a working class struggle for liberation from the exploitation by plantation companies mostly of British Origin. With the dawn of the Independence things began to change drastically for the Plantation workers. They were the first community marked out for discrimination by the incipient state of Sri Lanka in 1948. In the elections to the first parliament of Ceylon seven Indian Tamil representatives were returned to Parliament. The plantation workers voted either for Indian Tamil candidates or for Lanka Sama Samaja Party candidates. Dr.N.M.Perera was the leader of the opposition in the 1st parliament and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was the second largest party after United National Party. The Lanka Sama Samaja Party (literally Ceylon Equal Society Party, in Sinhala: ලංකා සම සමාජ පක්ෂය, in Tamil: லங்கா சமசமாஜக் கட்சி) is a trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka. ... The United National Party (UNP, Sinhalese:(pronounced Eksath Jathika Pakshaya), Tamil: ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி) is a political party in Sri Lanka. ...

Disfranchised Indian Tamils

The first Prime Minister D.S.Senanayake saw the strong possibilities of a Marxist take over government and commenced the task of annihilating the Marxist Parties and their associate organizations. He introduced the Ceylon Citizenship act of 1948. The Indian Pakistan Citizenship act of 1947 and amended the parliamentary elections act and disfranchised the Indian Tamils. Sir Robert Walpole, the first Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. ...

As they had no means of electing any one to the Parliament they ceased to be the concern of parliamentary politicians. The plantation workers were thus forgotten from 1948 - 1964. Their lives were in ruins. They did not profit by any progressive legislation of the Independent Sri Lanka. The Housing, health and Education of the Plantation workers were in total neglect. Infant mortality was highest among them. It became the dying community of Sri Lanka.

Since the introduction of Universal franchise in 1931 strong traditions of social welfare in Sri Lanka have given the Island very high indicators of Physical well being. Impressive national statistics tended to hide the existence of deprived pockets within the population and the most deprived population group has been the plantation labour. It has been economically, politically and socially deprived.

Cheap captive labor for cash crops

Based on the cultivation of cash crops, it is even today dominant in the countryís economy. It is a major earner of Foreign exchange and the largest employer. Cheap labour is one of the essential ingriedients of its success. Hence these immigrants were bonded and under paid. In 1921 workers were inpowered to break this bonds of indebtedness tying them to the estates. The minimum wages ordinance was extended to plantation labour in 1927 marginally raising the wages that had not changed since the 19th Century.

This daily wages was 41 Cts. in 1933. Owing to trade union activities it was raised to Rupees 17/83 in 1983, Rupees 72/24 in 1993 and became Rupees 101 in 1998. The wages of female workers was lesser than the male worker but was equalized since 1984. Even though there is an increase in the wages, the living wages are not sufficient to meet their day to day ends and they are always indebted. Hence they are poverty stricken. Socially backward, politically neglected and communally terrorized. The plantations were nationalized under the 1972 land reform law and its 1975 amendment. The state owned plantations are managed by the Sri Lanka Plantation Corporation & Janatha Estate Development Board. The nationalization did not result in any basic change on the plantation sector. The state has been forced to take a greater interest in the health, housing and general well being of the labourers. Hence estate schools were nationalized and brought into the general educational system with the grant of Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) many schools were built. This helped the slight growth of literacy rates. The educated youths are more. More incorporated in teaching profession. As unemployment increased in the plantation sector youths looked for other avenues. A considerable number of Indian Tamale girls are employed in garment factories. Some seek greener pastures in the Middle East as housemaids. So we could observe the Indian Tamils not only towards urban areas but foreign nations too.

Repatriation and rebirth

Even though Srima Shasthri pact of 1964, Indira Sirimavo supplementary agreement of 1974 paved the way for the repatriation of 6,00,000 of persons of Indian origin to India another 3,75,00 persons were to accepted as citizens of Sri Lanka which made them enter the Polity. Still these repatriation agreements were the harbingers of the distruction of this community, which had evolved into a composite group with a distinct culture of its own. In the fifties and sixties this community was clamoring for education and recognition of its distinctive culture. This brought in the emergence of a community consciousness and the artesian of a distinct community. An educated middle class comprising of teachers, trade unionists and other professional began to make its appearance.

There was a vigorous compaign for social anneliorations and increased educational facilities. There was a growing spirit of resistance. People destroyed Indian passports and refused to go to India. Repatriation was resisted and cries that fundamental rights cannot be smothered were raised. International opinion was canvassed against deprivation of Citizenship rights. The plantation people who built the prosperity of Sri Lanka were not prepared to leave this land they created as destitute. They were prepared to fraternise within the Sinhalese and accept Sri Lanka Leader ship in the Trade Union movement. They eschewed separate state as a political solution. In The General Election of 1977 they were able to elect 11 candidates.

This helped the emergence of the plantation people as a political force but were faced with communal violence in 1977 and 1983, In 1984/5 to stop India intervening in Sri Lankan affairs the U.N.P. government eventualy granted citizenship right to all stateless persons. It should be noted that the willy politician late Saumyamurthy Thondaman was instrumental in using this electoral strength in assuring the socio economic conditions of Hill Country Tamils to improve.

References

• ↑ Socio economic conditions of Indian origin Tamils by V. Radhakrishnan

External links

• Plantation Tamils – The Oppressed People of Sri Lanka by By S. Makenthiran
• Plight of repatriated Hill Country Tamils in India

Prominent Hill Country Tamils

• Muthiah Muralidaran - Sri Lankas prominent Cricketer and world record holder
• Saumyamurthy Thondaman - Post Independence Politician
• MG Ramachandran - Sri Lankan born Indian Politician
• Natesa Iyer - Pre-independence Politician
• Arumugam Thondaman - Sri Lankan Politician
• P Chandrasekaran - Sri Lankan Politician