Tamils have migrated world-wide since the 19th century CE and a significant population exists in South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji, as well as other regions such as the Southeast Asia, Middle East, Caribbean and parts of the Western World.

The Hathigumpha inscription from Udayagiri in Eastern India dated to the second century BCE,[16][17] describes a T[r]amira samghata (Confederacy of Tamil rulers), which was in existence for the previous 113 years.

[24][25] Artifacts recovered in Adichanallur by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) indicate megalithic urn burials, dating from back to 1500 BCE.,[26][27][28] which are also described in early Tamil literature.

[22] An anonymous Greek traveler's account from first century CE, Periplus Maris Erytraei, describes the ports of the Pandya and Chera kingdoms in Damirica and their commercial activity in detail.

It also describes that the chief exports of the ancient Tamils were pepper, malabathrum, pearls, ivory, silk, spikenard, diamonds, sapphires, and tortoiseshell.

[54] From the fourth century CE, the region was ruled by the Kalabhras, warriors belonging to the Vellalar community, who were once feudatories of the three ancient Tamil kingdoms.

[57][58] Though they existed previously, the period saw the rise of the Pallavas in the sixth century CE under Mahendravarman I, who ruled parts of South India with Kanchipuram as their capital.

[63] A new language Malayalam evolved from Tamil in the region and the socio-cultural transformation was altered further by the migration of Sanskrit-speaking Indo-Aryans from Northern India in the eighth century CE.

[76][77] According to historian Nilakanta Sastri, Kulottunga avoided unnecessary wars and had a long and prosperous reign characterized by unparalleled success that laid the foundations of the empire for the next 150 years.

[81] The Pandya empire reached its zenith in the thirteenth century CE under Jatavarman Sundara Pandyan I after he defeated the Hoysalas, the Kakatiyas and captured parts of Sri Lanka.

[103][104][105] In 1639, the British East India Company obtained a grant for land from the Vijayanager emperor and the French established trading posts at Pondichéry in 1693.

[110][111][112] The British East India Company demanded tax collection rights, which led to constant conflicts with the local Palaiyakkarars and resulted in the Polygar Wars.

[113][114] The Maruthu brothers along with Oomaithurai, formed a coalition with Dheeran Chinnamalai and Kerala Varma Pazhassi Raja, which fought the British in the Second Polygar War.

[131] After experiencing fluctuations in the decades immediately after Indian independence, the Human Development Index of the Tamils have consistently improved due to reform-oriented economic policies and in the 2000s, the region has become one of the most urbanized states in the country.

[137][138] Cultural similarities in burial practices in South India and Sri Lanka were dated by archeologists to the beginning of the Iron Age in the region around twelfth century BCE.

[139] Black and red ware potsherds found in Sri Lanka from the early reign of Anuradhapura kingdom, indicate a similar cultural connection with the people of South India.

[141] Excavations in Poonakari in the north of the island have yielded several inscriptions including the mention of vela, a name related to velirs of the ancient Tamil country.

[153][154] The Aryachakaravarthi dynasty continued to rule over large parts of northeast Sri Lanka until arrival of the Europeans on the island in the sixteenth century CE.

[167] By the 1970s, initial non-violent political struggle for an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka, developed into a violent secessionist insurgency.

[4][5] Significant emigration from Indian subcontinent began in the late 18th century, when the Tamils went as indentured labourers and established businesses in other territories under the control of the British empire such as Malaya, Burma, South Africa, Fiji, Mauritius, and the Caribbean.

[219] In the beginning of the middle age, Vaishnava and Saiva literature became prominent following the Bhakti movement in 7th century CE with hymns composed by Alwars and Nayanmars.

[261] Models made of a special mixture of beeswax and sal tree resin were encased in clay and fired to melt the wax leaving a hollow mould, which would then be filled with molten metal and cooled to produce bronze statues.

[263] Sittanavasal is a rock-cut monastery and temple attributed to Pandyas and Pallavas which consist of frescoes and murals from the 7th century CE, painted with vegetable and mineral dyes in over a thin wet surface of lime plaster.

[275][276] The Pallava inscriptions from the period describe the playing of string instrument veena as a form of exercise for the fingers and the practice of singing musical hymns (Thirupadigam) in temples.

[322][326] Tamil martial arts uses various types of weapons such as valari (iron sickle), maduvu (deer horns), vaal (sword) and kedayam (shield), surul vaal (curling blade), itti or vel (spear), savuku (whip), kattari (fist blade), aruval (mchete), silambam (bamboo staff), kuttu katai (spiked knuckleduster), kathi (dagger), vil ambu (bow and arrow), tantayutam (mace), soolam (trident), valari (boomerang), chakaram (discus) and theepandam (flaming baton).

[329][330][331][332] Locals in Sri Lanka adopted the production methods of creating wootz steel from the Cheras and the later trade introduced it to other parts of the world.

[359] The days of week (kiḻamai) in the Tamil calendar relate to the celestial bodies in the solar system: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus, and Saturn, in that order.

[380] Siddha practitioners believe that all objects including the human body is composed of five basic elements – earth, water, fire, air, sky which are present in food and other compounds, which is used as the basis for the drugs and other therapies.

[437] Rowthers were Tamils who were converted to Islam by the Turkish preacher Nathar Shah in the tenth century CE and follow the Hanafi school.

[453] Atheist, rationalist, and humanist philosophies are also adhered by sizeable minorities, as a result of Tamil cultural revivalism in the 20th century, and its antipathy to what it saw as Brahminical Hinduism.