In the aftermath of Election 2019 that found Tamilnadu
standing outside the Modi wave, a message doing
rounds in social media says that Tamilnadu had historically been outside India.
That message in crisp terms is illustrated as below.
The first figure is from pre-common era while the
rest are from the last 800 years. The history of last 800 years is fairly known
to the general public as one ridden with foreign invasions both political and
religious. By comparing the current (2019) political absence of the BJP in
Tamilnadu (and even Kerala) with the other maps, an image is attempted to be
created that the Tamils have always resisted invasions, and much in the same way
rejected the Hindu(tva) invasion by rejecting the BJP.
The mistake in this illustration is that the creator
of this illustration had cleverly avoided the Indian
map between 1700 and 1947 when Tamilnadu was one with the rest of India
by coming under a single rule. With the rise of Tipu
Sultan in 1700s all of Kerala and part of Tamilnadu bore the onslaught
of jihadi religion and lost their own colour and character. This was followed by
British invasion that came along with another wave of displacement of native Hindu
religion with its own religion. Any map of this 250
year period would show Tamilnadu in unison with rest of India. So why
this big hullabaloo now that Tamilnadu cannot be ‘captured’ by others?
An analysis of the election results show that these
two States that once formed the land of the three Tamil kingdoms are continuing
to be in the grip of colonial
and Mughal hangover, in a brainwashed state of following their political
ideology (Dravidian) and (imported) religious identity, while the rest of India
had voted through their brains! No one can deny the
fact that the only people who prayed en masse for the defeat of Modi were the
Christians and Muslims of Tamilnadu. Only these people have resurrected
the fallen princes, Rahul Gandhi in Kerala and Stalin in Tamilnadu. They were the descendants of a people
who were very much Hindu but converted by word or sword. These descendants are trying to perpetuate the agenda of the invaders
even after they were defeated or sent out.
Until 1699, the Hindu rulers of these two States had
kept the Mughals under bay. Though there were periodic incursions, they were repelled
and status quo restored. But once they fell to Tipu and then the British, there
was complete surrender to the foreigners and proliferation of foreign religions.
With the tacit support of the Constitution of India and overt support of secular
parties Independent India is seeing phenomenal growth of foreign religion in our soil to the extent
that their combined number seems to have reached a threshold level in Tamilnadu
as to reverse the original character of Tamil lands. The so-called resistance
to the ‘outsider’ BJP is by the same people, enslaved to foreign religions. Is
this something to gloat about? Is this the same as how ancient Tamil kingdoms
remained free from invasions?
If aversion to Modi is because he is an outsider,
then substantial part of Tamil population are outsiders
as their ancestors were also from Modi’s land. The Tamil Sangam texts testify
the migration of 18 kings coming in the lineage of Krishna of Dwaraka, 18 groups
of people called Velirs and Aruvalars to Tamil lands including Kerala of those
times. The 18 groups include skilled workers in different fields and agriculturists.
Nalliyakkodan praised in Sangam text ‘Siru Panarru padai’ was from one such group called ‘Oviyar’ Perhaps they were skilled in painting. Adhyaman Neduman Anji whose name is mentioned in
Ashokan edict was also an outsider coming from Gangetic plain but ruled the Tamil
lands. All the seven philanthropists known as “Kadai
ezhu vallal” in Tamil sangam age were from this group that came from
Dwaraka.
Perhaps they were from northern plains with whom the
northern dynasties had kept up good relations, the Mauryan
extent was limited to regions outside these Velir kings who occupied the
boundaries of Tamil kings. The first map in the above illustration shows Ashokan Empire though the time period mentioned in the
map refers to the previous regime, i.e., Ashoka’s father. The filial connection
with the kings perhaps stopped the northerners to invade Tamil lands at that
time. One must remember there was no event of war with northern kings before
the Common Era. This was possible due to family and friendly connections between
Tamil and northern kings. The reference to Moriyar
crushing the people of Mogur in Sangam texts is
interpreted by some as an invasion by Mauryas. But it is not true and to know why,
click this link.
Around the beginning of Common Era the Chera king Senguttuvan faced no resistance on his way to the
Ganges and Himalayas but was aided by the Satakarnis.
The Chera forces had joined with Satakarni forces in trouncing Yavanas somewhere near North West Himalaya, perhaps the
Berber region called as Paruppadam in Tamil. (Amarnath is likely to be Paruppadam). This is an
evidence of fraternity and friendship between Tamil kings and north Indian kings.
To the information of those Tamils who detest Modi and Hinduism, this Chera
king had gone to the river Ganga along with his widowed mother to offer ancestral
worship to his father. This king had even done Soma
yaaga in his kingdom, says Silappadhikaram.
All these had happened 2000 years ago. So Tamil lands were Hindu and Vedic –
call whatever, at the time of ancient Tamil dynasties.
Go farther back in time, and you get to know that Krishna of Dwaraka had married a girl of Tamil lands. The
marriage with the Tamil girl Nappinnai finds
mention in many texts including a Sangam poem by Nalkoor
Velviyar and in Jeevaka Chinthamani
composed by a Jain monk. So there is scope to deduce that movement of people between
Tamil lands and Dwaraka or even Mathura had happened at Krishna’s time itself.
Krishna’s time is when Mahabharata war happened. Puranauru tells about a Chera king as having fed the
armies of both Pandavas and Kauravas. A Pandyan king
had fought on the side of Pandavas but got killed by Asvattama. A complete chapter of Mahabharata describes
the valiant fight done by this Pandyan king. So is there any truth in the claim
that Tamils had a separate identity and history away from rest of India?
Talking on Aswattama, how many Tamils and slaves of
foreign religion know that north Tamilnadu was under the grip of descendants on
Aswattama in recent history? How many of them know that Pallavas who ruled the very place that is now the capital city of
Tamilnadu were the descendants of Aswattama, the son of Dronacharya, a
Brahmin whom the illustrator of the above image would like to identify as an
Aryan?
Pallavas encouraged stone works. It was only in the
Pallava period we see sudden spurt in stone architecture in Tamilnadu. The
workers must have come from outside and could not have been native to Tamil
lands. By now their lineages must have merged well throughout Tamilnadu. Did the
ancient native Tamils resist their merger? No scope to say so. Such merger could be possible only if the migrants were also
following the same culture and religion. Compare this with the behaviour
of the present day Tamils
enslaved to migrant religions. They don’t merge
with mainstream Hindus and India but claim exclusivity from the native religion
and the country. So
who is outsider to this land?
All the incidents cited above propose an unstated
message that merger and migrations were possible within and outside Tamil lands
only because of a common culture that springs from a common religion. There may
have been resistance to specific rulers at times but none were against the
common culture that is HINDU
culture. How many Tamil chauvinists are ready to accept this?
Go back further in time to chola beginnings. They
first chola was the son of none other than Bharata,
son of Dushyanta and Shakuntala. The chola ancestry given in inscriptions such
as the one found in Tiruvalangadu traces its
roots to Ikshvaku dynasty of Rama! Virarajendra, the son of Rajendra
Chola I goes a step further and claims in his Kanyakumari inscription
that Rama was his ancestor!
How many in Tamilnadu know this information?
The Epic heroes Rama and Krishna worshiped with
reverence by Hindus were not aliens to Tamil lands. One
can be called as son of the soil while the other is the son-in-law of the soil.
Both have visited the Tamil lands during their life time. Both have left their
presence through their descendants. Both were part of Tamil history.
Unanimity in historical, cultural and religious
spheres promotes friendship and fraternity among different regions of India
including Tamil lands. But many regions were at war with each other in the past.
One could say commerce was the driving force behind invasions.
People wanted to get hold of more riches available at other places. This was
the basis of war between Pandavas and Kauravas
which developed into pan-Indian proportions in course of time as each side had
control over one each of the two important transit centres for commerce of that
time. The Kauravas had control over Gandhara which
gave access to West Asia and Central Europe. The Pandavas were in control of Dwaraka / ports in Gujarat coast that offered access
to sea routes to Middle East. The victor would have control over both. This led
to most kingdoms of that time to side with one of the warring groups.
Of all the kings, the Chera
king preferred to stay away but offered to supply food to both the
armies, for he was not dependant on any of those centres due to geographic
advantage of having his own ports on the west coast. Only the warring brothers
were in need of his assistance for using his ports and he in turn benefited by
friendly relations with them. The same advantage was not there for the Pandyan king and therefore had no option other than
taking sides. Thus one can make out the dynamics of mutual benefit among the
different regions of India. The ancient Tamil kings were great statesmen in
keeping cordiality with others around them for the benefit of prosperity of
their kingdoms.
When cultures were the same, friendship and bonding
is developed and commerce is promoted to the benefit of all the players
involved. Sangam literature is replete with instances of Tamil people travelling to far off places such as Pataliputra and beyond on the eastern sector and crossing the desert to go to West Asia. Unless peace
and cordiality was maintained in the regions that one has to cross, such
expeditions that have annually happened from Tamil lands could not have taken
place.
Presence of common culture enabled peaceful movement
of people for commerce. There is mention of collection of
toll for the traders in a Sangam text which reveal that highways and
highway patrol were maintained by respective kings of the regions. The entire
eastern sector known as Coromandal (corrupted
from Cholamandala) ran from the southern tip of India to Patna. It was only
around 1000 CE we come across wars in this regions by the Cholas to gain
control or to keep the kingdoms on the way under their check.
In the first millennium CE many kingdoms came under
the influence of Jains and Buddhists. When religion changes the culture also
changes. With the advent of Jainism and Buddhism in Tamilnadu newer strains
appeared, but ultimately the Tamil dynasties remained steadfast on native Vedic
religion only.
The Tamil chauvinists are raking up newer issues
such as claiming that ancient Tamils were not Hindus but worshiped Shiva,
Vishnu etc. These deities in addition to four others are part of native
religion of entire India and named as Shanmata later. They were accepted
in Tamil lands and worshiped by ancient Tamils. Just a cursory look at Mullaik kali verses of Kalithogai
would reveal this truth. The Shanmata is for entire India. If anyone is
averse to the word Hindu, let them call the culture as Shanmata culture, but never should they
think that Tamil culture was different from the rest. Never could they claim
that the foreign religions were part of Tamil land. And never can they claim
that Tamil’s past was different from the rest of India.
