Knowledge Books Mistreat Tamil History

Satellite image of Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka, showing the Adam's Bridge reef, a remnant of the land bridge between extreme peninsular India and Sri Lanka. [Satellite Image courtesy: NASA, Visible Earth] Cētu or Adam's Bridge, linking the Paampan and Mannaar islands of India and Sri Lanka. [Satellite Image courtesy: Wikimedia Commons] Knowledge Books Mistreat Tamil History [TamilNet, Thursday, 03 July 2008, 07:34 G MT] The presentation of the History of Eezham Tamils, in some of the international reference material such as Britannica Concise Encyclopedia and The World Factbook by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), has become a matter of serious concern for Tamils all over the world. When the discipline of history itself is being deconstructed in the portals of knowledge of the postmodern era on one hand, these international sources of information are still harping on colonial brand of Orientalism, by basing history on myths. Culture Columnist Akazhaan Many readers have been emailing excerpts from such publications to TamilNet for quite sometime. Some of the relevant passages are cited below: Britannica Concise Encyclopedia: “The Sinhalese people are probably the result of aboriginal inhabitants mixing with Indo Aryans who began migrating from India c. the 5th century BC. The Tamils were later immigrants from Dravidian India, migrating over a period from the early centuries AD to c. 1200. Buddhism was introduced during the 3rd century BC. As Buddhism spread, the Sinhalese kingdom extended its political control over the island but lost it to invaders from southern India in the 10th century. Between 1200 and 1505, Sinhalese power gravitated to southwestern Sri Lanka, while a southern Indian dynasty seized power in the north and established the Tamil kingdom in the 14th century.” CIA, The World Fact Book: “The first Sinhalese arrived in Sri Lanka late in the 6th century B.C. probably from northern India. Buddhism was introduced in about the mid third century B.C., and a great civilization developed at the cities of Anuradhapura (kingdom from circa 200 B.C. to circa A.D. 1000) and Polonnaruwa (from about 1070 to 1200). In the 14th century, a south Indian dynasty established a Tamil kingdom in northern Sri Lanka. The coastal areas of the island were controlled by the Portuguese in the 16th century and by the Dutch in the 17th century. The island was ceded to the British in 1796, became a crown colony in 1802, and was united under British rule by 1815. As Ceylon, it became independent in 1948; its name was changed to Sri Lanka in 1972. Tensions between the Sinhalese majority and Tamil separatists erupted into war in 1983. Tens of thousands have died in the ethnic conflict that continues to fester. After two decades of fighting, the government and Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) formalized a cease fire in February 2002 with Norway brokering peace negotiations. Violence between the LTTE and government forces intensified in 2006 and the government regained control of the Eastern Province in 2007. In January 2008, the government officially withdrew from the ceasefire, and has begun engaging the LTTE in the northern portion of the country.”

Knowledge Books Mistreat Tamil History

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