01-17-2007, 10:00 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-ramana+Jan 17 2007, 11:03 AM-->QUOTE(ramana @ Jan 17 2007, 11:03 AM)<!--QuoteEBegin-->The key to understand caste composition in South India is the fact that most of South India accepted the Lord Buddha and Mahavira's message and were their followers from 250BC to 750 AD (~ 1000 years).<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Ramana you may need to reconsider your hypothesis -- the earliest Tamil works like Tolkappiyam, Purananuru, Agananuru show a strong Hindu rather than jaina or bauddha component. So the HIndu presence was always strong in TN from the earliest records we have of Tamil literature. We also see that the Tamil elite of that era kShatriyas and brAmaNas were performing vedic rituals as per these Tamil texts. In the silapadhikaram the main protagonist Kolvalan was a jaina vaishya. His wife Kannagi appears to have been based on a local South Indian goddess Pattini Ammal.
Ramana you may need to reconsider your hypothesis -- the earliest Tamil works like Tolkappiyam, Purananuru, Agananuru show a strong Hindu rather than jaina or bauddha component. So the HIndu presence was always strong in TN from the earliest records we have of Tamil literature. We also see that the Tamil elite of that era kShatriyas and brAmaNas were performing vedic rituals as per these Tamil texts. In the silapadhikaram the main protagonist Kolvalan was a jaina vaishya. His wife Kannagi appears to have been based on a local South Indian goddess Pattini Ammal.