Tamils
the name of a race which inhabits South India and Ceylon. The Tamils belong to the Dravidian stock of TAMILS the inhabitants of India, and are there- fore to be regarded as among the original inhabitants who occupied the country before the Aryan invasion from the N., but they adopted the higher civilization of the Aryans. The Tamil language is spoken not only in south India and Ceylon, but also by a majority of the In- dian settlers in places further E., as Pegu and Penang. There is an extendian settlers in places further E., as Pegu and Penang. There is an extensive literature, the greater part of it in verse. Among the chief works are the "Kural" of Tiruvalluvar, an ethical "Kural" of of Tiruvalluvar, an poem, and the Tamil adaptation of the Sanskrit "Ramayana." !