Tamil Renaissance

Tamil Renaissance refers to the literary, cultural, social reform and political movements that took place in the Tamil-speaking districts of Southern India starting in the second half of the 19th century and lasting to the culmination of the anti-Hindi agitations of the 1960s.

The period was characterized by a literary revival, spearheaded by Tamil writers of two different factions. One preferred an increased mixture of Sanskrit words with Tamil, believing that such a fusion raised the quality of Tamil language. The other faction favored reducing Sanskrit words to the barest minimum, in the belief that Sanskrit-origin words made the Tamil language lose its individuality. Rapid propagation of Western ideas and formulation of the Dravidian civilization theory during the second half of the 19th century inculcated a sense of pride in educated Tamils, eventually leading to the birth of Tamil nationalism, which inspired the Dravidian movement. In its later stages, the renaissance also had a profound impact on Tamil cinema.

Tamil Nadu history begins in the 3rd century BC. From then until 14th centurry AD, the Tamil country was ruled by the Chera, Chola, and Pandya kings, who patronized Tamil language. The Pandya kings, especially, held regular sangams at Madurai, due to which this period is also called Sangam Age. However, when these kingdoms began to decline, Tamil arts, culture and literature suffered a temporary setback before rising to even greater heights under the Medieval and Later Cholas and the Later Pandyas. But when the Pandya kingdom was conquered by the Delhi Sultanate, many literary and artistic works were systematically destroyed and the indigenous Tamil culture relegated to secondary status. Though there was a partial revival under the Vijayanagar Empire, Tamil civilization never recovered its past glory.

When the British Crown took over the administration of the country from the British East India Company, there was a rapid rise in literacy levels in South India. Brahmins reaped huge advantages from the reward-for-merit policy of the British Raj and eventually emerged as the foremost elite group among the native Indians. By the beginning of the 20th century, the domination of Brahmins turned into a monopoly, as some favoured members of their own community over others in government appointments.

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