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THE ANTI-INDIA TRIO OF INDIANS, Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Dr. Farookh Khan and Faooq Kathwari| By Govinda Yati on Thursday, March 23, 2006 - 09:19 pm: |
Tamil: An Exotic And Extraordinary Language From
Kumari Kantam: The Serpent Continent Of The Pacific
Ocean
By Dr. Subhadra Ramachandran, Canada
Language is many things - a system of communication,
a medium of thought, a vehicle for literary
expression, a social institution, a matter for
political controversy and a catalyst for nation
building. But no language is as mysterious in its
origins, as rich in history, as ancient in form and
as copious in literature as Tamil is. Each of us,
then, has a stake in understanding something about
the nature and use of this language. In the first
part of this exposition, I will try to provide some
interesting facts about this (according to linguists)
exotic language, its origins and history. In the
second part, I will discuss in more detail the
structure, writing system and grammatical traditions
of the language.
A Brief History of the Language
Francis W. Ellis, a British civil servant, first
recognised the Dravidian languages in 1816 as an
independent family, not tied to the Indo-Aryan
languages that were mainly spoken north of the
Vindhyas. However, the actual term Dravidian was
first used by Robert A. Caldwell, in his epoch-making
A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South
Indian Family of Languages (1856)- still an important
resource for linguists working on Tamil. Of the 23
languages in the Dravidian family, the four literary
languages are Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu -
with Tamil bearing the longest tradition. The
earliest records date from inscriptions from around
200 BC. Three stages appear in the written records:
ancient (200 BC to 700 AD), medieval (700 AD - 1500
AD) and modern (1500 AD to the present). Sometime
between 800 AD and the turn of the last millennium,
Malayalam, a very closely related Dravidian language,
branched off and became a distinct language. Tamil
has its own indigenous grammatical tradition,
independent of that of the ancient Sanskrit
grammarians. The earliest text, which describes the
language of the classical period, is the Tolkappiyam
(dating from around 200 BC).
It may be of interest to note that a number of South
Dravidian words, almost all of them geographic and
dynastic names, occur in such Greco-Roman sources as
the Periplus maris Erythraei ("Circumnavigation of
the Erythraean Sea") of about 89 AD and in the
writing of Ptolemaeus of Naukratis of the 2nd century
AD. It is
even more intriguing that some researchers believe
that Western-language terms for "rice", (compare
Italian riso, Latin oryza, Greek oryza) and "ginger"
(compare Italian zenzero, German Ingwer, Greek
zingiberis) are cultural loans from Old Tamil, in
which they are arisi and iËËiver, respectively. Most
researchers believe that the Tamils were indigenous
to the south of India and the Tamil land was roughly
divided into five regions or tiNai. They are given as
follows: 1) Kurunji, hilly country 2) Paalai, dry,
desert-like land 3) Mullai, wooded land between
highlands and lowlands 4) Marudam, lower courses of
rivers and 5) Neydal, land around the sea-board. The
people who lived near the sea were also called the
Paradavar, who were fishermen, boat-builders and
traders. Extant texts suggest that the Paradavars
were adventurous sea-farers who were probably the
ones responsible for ancient Tamil influences on
other geographically distant languages, among other
things. All these conjectures about etymology and
source lead to the next logical question about what
really are the origins of the language.
Hypotheses about the Origins of Tamil
The subcontinent of India today has two major
language-families of speakers: the Indo-Aryan and the
Dravidian. However, the circumstances of the advent
of Dravidian speakers in India are shrouded in
mystery. There are several hypotheses surrounding
this question. There are references in ancient Tamil
literature to the submerged southern continent in
what is now the Indian Ocean, as the original home of
the Tamils and as the land where the first two of the
three ancient Tamil academies of literary fame
existed. There exist bark writings that tell of a
gigantic southern part of India, which once connected
Australia, cataclysmically sinking incrementally over
a long period of time. This legendary piece of land
is referred to as Lemuria by Western scientists and
as "Kumarikkantam" in ancient Tamil texts. The otter
and the black swan, frequently described in ancient
Tamil poems, are now said to be found in Tasmania,
which once formed a part of Lemuria. One subtle, but
perhaps an important piece of evidence, is in the
indigenous names of places in Australia which have -
oor (Tamil "town") as suffix.
Another hypothesis posits a movement of Dravidian
speakers from the northwest to the south and east of
the Indian Peninsula, a movement originating possibly
from as far away as Central Asia. It's possible that
a Dravidian-speaking people that can be described as
dolichocephalic (long-headed from front to back)
Mediterraneans mixed with brachycephalic (short-
headed from front to back) Armenoids and established
themselves in northwestern India during the 4th
millennium BC. Along their route, these immigrants
may have possibly come into an intimate, prolonged
contact with the Ural-Altaic speakers, thus
explaining the striking linguistic affinities between
the Dravidian and Ural-Altaic language groups
(Hungarian, Finnish Turkish, Mongol, to name a few).
This hypothesis, about a migration of peoples from
various regions of the world, is scoffed at by
purists who, perhaps justifiably, believe that the
ancient Tamil homeland was where it is today and that
it was untouched by any outside influence until the
first intrusion of Sanskrit culture that arrived at
around the time of Agattiyanar's grammar (posited 1
B.C.). The purists also believe that the
Sanskritization of the Tamil language, when the Aryan
culture blended with the Dravidian, has inexorably
altered the language. It is believed that the
uniqueness of the Tamil culture was affected by the
inflow of the exotic groups such as the Brahmins, the
Buddhists and the Jains, all from the North. Their
influence became very much perceptive during the
period of the Pallavas (600 A.D.-850 A.D) who were
enthusiastic pro-Sanskritists. So the indigenous way
of life was affected by the interaction with these
new influences that brought in new ideas. The broad
and receptive mind of the Tamils, echoed in the
saying "Every place is our place and everbody is our
next of kin", (Purananuru, 192), welcomed these new
ideas. As a result the Tamil religion and society
underwent a marked change.
The school of thought that Dravidian spread beyond
the confines south of the Vindhyas (where it is now
mainly spoken) has been further substantiated by the
fact that a Dravidian language called Brahui is still
spoken to this day in parts of Baluchistan, Pakistan
and Iran. Brahui is the only member of the Dravidian
family, which is spoken outside the Indian
subcontinent and linguists have not been able to
discover the link between the Brahui and the other
speakers of Dravidian languages who live thousands of
miles away in southern India.
Yet another hypothesis claims that there are
linguistic and cultural ties with the peoples of the
Indus Valley civilization, particularly the Sumerians
(H.R. Hall's Ancient History of the Near East, P.T
Srinivasa Iyengar's History of the Tamils). In the
1920s, the British colonists began to concede the
antiquity and "copiousness" of Tamil, and its status
as a "cultivated" language. Until that time Dravidian
languages and its peoples were considered to be
"uncivilized" and inferior to the Indo-Aryan
languages and peoples as gleaned from this
unflattering 1893 Census report.
This was a race black in skin, low in stature, and
with matted locks; in war treacherous and cunning; in
choice of food, disgusting, and in ceremonial,
absolutely deficient. The superior civilisation of
the foreigner [the Aryan] soon asserted itself, and
the lower race had to give way. . . . The newcomers
had to deal with opponents far inferior to themselves
in civilisation, and with only a very rudimentary
political organisation, so that the opposition to be
overcome before the Arya could take possession of the
soil was of the feeblest.
(Government of India 1893: 123)
Dravidian speakers of today, the Census of 1931
admitted, have "a culture of very great antiquity[;]
. . . speakers of Dravidian languages [were] the
ancient inhabitants of Mohenjadaro and perhaps the
givers of culture to India" (Government of India
1933: 454-55). The Census was here alluding to the
recently discovered archaeological remains of the
Indus Valley in Mohenjadaro and Harappa, which
pointed to a sprawling prehistoric urban civilization
rivalling Mesopotamia and Egypt. To the delight of
many a Tamil devotee, this prehistoric civilization
was declared to have been possibly Dravidian by some
colonial archaeologists.
Having provided in this part, a summary of
assumptions and surmises of the origins of the Tamil
people, we will continue to look at some of the
linguistic features of the Tamil language in our next
issue of Marina, until which time the reader will
have had a long enough respite to absorb all of these
facts, hypotheses and information. However, whether
the Tamils were indigenous to South India or not,
suffice it to say that they certainly have a very
interesting history, well worth a much more detailed
study.
| By xxx on Wednesday, March 22, 2006 - 01:31 pm: |
KABUL, Afghanistan - An Afghan man facing a possible death penalty for converting from Islam to Christianity may be mentally unfit to stand trial, a state prosecutor said Wednesday.
ADVERTISEMENT
Abdul Rahman, 41, has been charged with rejecting Islam, a crime under this country's Islamic laws. His trial started last week and he confessed to becoming a Christian 16 years ago. If convicted, he could be executed.
But prosecutor Sarinwal Zamari said questions have been raised about his mental fitness.
"We think he could be mad. He is not a normal person. He doesn't talk like a normal person," he told The Associated Press.
Moayuddin Baluch, a religious adviser to President Hamid Karzai, said Rahman would undergo a psychological examination.
"Doctors must examine him," he said. "If he is mentally unfit, definitely Islam has no claim to punish him. He must be forgiven. The case must be dropped."
It was not immediately clear when he would be examined or when the trial would resume. Authorities have barred attempts by the AP to see Rahman and he is not believed to have a lawyer.
A Western diplomat in Kabul and a human rights advocate — both of whom spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter — said the government was desperately searching for a way to drop the case because of the reaction it has caused.
The United States, Britain and other countries that have troops in Afghanistan have voiced concern about Rahman's fate.
| By Govinda Yati on Tuesday, March 21, 2006 - 05:46 pm: |
Frankly i am apalled at this Forum as there are so
many racists. People go on about Black Austroloids
and Tamil Dravids with horrendous racist language and
shame on the Webmaster of the India Culture Forum is
seems to be a racist and more than likely a South
Asian American residing in Silicon Valley in
California.
All this Aryan, Indo-Aryan, White Asian, Brown Asian
and now Black American crap is so boring. Go to any
Scientific Website, go to Scientific American, Nature
Magazine or New Scientist.
Black Negroids are 900 Percent in difference, yes
that is right 900 Percent in difference in their
Chromosomes than Black Austroloids, who like White
Europeans and White Asians, Brown South Asians and
White and Brown Mongoloids, are all only 20 Percent
in difference in their Chromosomes.
Please read Zulu stories of Aliens called the
Abbenakki, who are the Sky Lizard People who seeded
the Genetics and DNA of Black Africans on Earth
around 250,000 BCE. The Whitey created the BS
surrounding White Science to arselick the Negro while
the White Freemasons raped Africa and enslaved and
destroyed millions and millions of Black People
there.
Black Tamil Dravids are nothing to do with the
Genetics of Negroes. It is scientifically and
genetically proven through DNA Testing. Only the
Black Aborigine Australians have any Genetic and DNA
similiarities between themselves and the Black Tamil
Dravid Austroloids of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and the
Gujarat of Bharat.
We Tamils came from Kumari Kantam [Serpent
Continent] that existed where the Indian Ocean and
South East Asian Island Nations like Indonesia,
Borneo, Australia and New Zealand are today on Earth.
The Aryan Invasion Theory is factual and the White
Devils with their Bright Blue Eyes invaded our Sacred
Land and enslaved over 170 million Black Tamil
Dravids who then became a hybrid race controlled
through the Bharata Hindu Varna that destroyed the
Jain Religion and replaced with Hindu Puja that has
wrecked Bharat. The Black Tamil Dravid comes from
the Dragon Land where the Serpent Cult of Kumari
Kantam or Kumarikhenda was our Dream and the
Aryan Demon then wrecked Bhogavata and Mohenjo
Daro and the whole of the Lemurian Harappan
Civilization. These Bharata Arya came from Phoenicia,
where Lebanon is today and also from the Sumeria Iraq
region and then migrated into Bharat to kill off and
enslave the Black Tamil Dravid.
All this Black Negro rubbish is a racist insult by
Western Whites and Token Blacks brainwashed with
racial inferiority and childish behaviour from
Scottish Rite Freemasons who are all Aethists and
White Homosexuals and Paedophiles. I cannot stand
this Aryan Aethists as they always stir it and cause
problems in Bharat.
These Anti-Indians can go away and die quietly.
Traitors to Bharat are lovers of White Aethistic
American Burger Culture!
| By Chopra on Monday, February 20, 2006 - 11:22 pm: |
:The anti-Indians Indians who are extremely mediocre and were propped up to be used are dazed. This trio Dr. Ghulam Nabi Fai, Dr. Farookh Khan and Faooq Kathwari are dazed. Now that a great democracy India is being engaged by another great democracy the U.S., this trio does not know where to go. It is over for all anti-India elements and terrorists.
All these are traitors