Tamilakam

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Tamiḻakam (Tamil தமிழகம்) is a Tamil word meaning the Tamil country or the Tamil home. The term has several different connotations:

  • In Old Tamil, the term referred to the whole of the Ancient Tamil country, as distinct from the many kingdoms that existed within its boundaries.
  • In modern Tamil usage, the word is generally another name for the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu.
  • In an academic context, the word is sometimes used to refer to a cultural area comprising of the two southern Indian states of Tamil Nadu and Kerala and the northeast of Sri Lanka, all of which are, culturally speaking, descendants of the ancient Tamil people.