Tamil settlement of Sri Lanka

Tamil settlement of Sri Lanka refers to the settlement of Tamils, or other Dravidian peoples, from Southern India to Sri Lanka.^[1] Due to Sri Lanka's close proximity to Southern India, Dravidian influence on Sri Lanka has been very active since the early Iron Age or megalithic period.^[2]

During the protohistoric period (1000-500 B.C.) Sri Lanka was culturally united with southern India,^[3] and shared the same megalithic burials, pottery, iron technology, farming techniques and megalithic graffiti.^[4][5] This cultural complex spread from southern India along with Dravidian clans such as the Velir, prior to the migration of Prakrit speakers.^[6][7][4]

Once Prakrit speakers had attained dominance on the island, the Mahavamsa further recounts the later migration of royal brides and service castes from the Tamil Pandya Kingdom to the Anuradhapura Kingdom in the early historic period.^[8]

Trade relations between the Anuradhapura Kingdom and southern India existed, very probably from an early time.^[9][10] Very early in its recorded history Sri Lanka has seen groups of Southern Indians enter the island as traders, mercenaries and occasionally as invaders, but their significance to the wider Prakrit speaking demographics of the island was only peripheral in these stages.^[11]

From the third century BC Tamil influence on the political affairs of Sri Lanka became more pronounced. There were attempts by Tamils to usurp power of the Anuradhapura Kingdom^{[note 1]} which appear to have been motivated by the prospect of influencing its external trade.^[9] From about the fifth century AD onwards, Tamil mercenaries were brought to the island, this became more common from the seventh century.^[9][11] It is from the 10th century that more permanent settlements of medieval Tamil speakers begin in Sri Lanka. These were not extensive settlements, but they would be important in the fact that they formed the nucleus for later settlements in Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka.^[11] Tamil settlements then became fairly extensive early in the 11th century AD following the Chola conquest.^[12]

Following the invasion of Kalinga Magha in 1215 AD, and the subsequent establishment of the Jaffna Kingdom and Vannimai chieftaincies in the east, Tamil settlements became predominant in these regions.^[13]

During the Crisis of the Sixteenth Century^{[note 2]} up until the end of the British colonial period^{[note 3]} many Southern Indian and Tamil speaking groups were transported or migrated to Sri Lanka, many of whom assimilated into the native Sri Lankan Tamil and Sinhalese populations.

Today the two major Tamil communities are the Sri Lankan Tamils, who came to the island in waves of migration starting from the 3rd century BC,^[14][2] and the more recent Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka, who were brought as indentured labourers by the British during the colonial period.^[15]

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