Tamil Malaysians
| Total population | |
|---|---|
|
(More than 2,000,000) (>90% of Malaysian Indians)) |
|
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Peninsular Malaysia | |
| Languages | |
| Tamil, English and Malaysian | |
| Religion | |
| Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, Islam | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Tamil, Tamil Muslim, Indian Singaporeans, Sri Lankan Tamil, Dravidians |
(More than 2,000,000)
Tamil Malaysians, also known as Malaysian Tamils, are people of full or partial Tamil descent who were born in or immigrated to Malaysia. They make up over 90% of the Malaysian Indian populations in Malaysia. Although the bulk of the migration happened during the British colonial period, there were established Tamil communities spanning a millennium.
Relations between Tamils and Malaysia have existed for more than 2000 years. The ancient Tamil poetic work Paṭṭiṉappālai refers to the territory of modern Malaysia as Kaalagam (Tamil: காழகம்).
Tamil literature from the 10th and 11th centuries refers to the modern Malaysian state of Kedah as Kadaram (Tamil: கடாரம்)
Prior to British colonization, Tamils had been conspicuous in the archipelago much earlier, especially since the period of the powerful South Indian kingdom of the Cholas in the 11th century. The Pallava dynasty of Tamil Nadu spread Indian culture and the Indian script to Malaysia. The Tamil emperor Rajendra Chola I of the Chola dynasty invaded Malaysia in the 11th century.
The Malay Peninsula had a strong South Indian culture in the 11th century, and South Indian merchant guilds were established in several locations. By that time, Tamils were among the important trading peoples of maritime Asia. Although the bulk of these immigrants to South East Asia had assimilated with the majority Malay ethnic group, some communities such as the Malacca Chittys are remnants of the earlier migration history.
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