Sri Lankan Tamils: Difference between revisions

| caption = A postcard image of a Sri Lankan Tamil woman, 1910.

| ref7 = <ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.eda.admin.ch/countries/sri-lanka/de/home/internationale-zusammenarbeit/strategie.html#:~:text=In%20der%20Schweiz%20leben%20heute,Abteilung%20Menschliche%20Sicherheit%20des%20EDA | title=Strategie }}</ref>

| related = {{hlist|[[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]]<br/>[[Giraavaru people]]<br/>[[Dravidian peoples|Dravidians]] (especially [[Tamils|Indian Tamils]] and [[Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka]])<br/>[[Sri Lankan Moors]]<br/>[[IndianMalaysian MoorsTamils]]<br/><ref>{{cite journal|doi= 10.1002/ajpa.1330450112|title=The legend of Prince Vijaya — a study of Sinhalese origins|year=1976|last1=Kirk|first1=R. L.|journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology|volume=45|pages=91–99}}</ref>}}

'''Sri Lankan Tamils''' ({{Indic|lang=ta|indic=இலங்கை தமிழர்|trans=ilankai tamiḻar}} or {{Indic|lang=ta|indic=ஈழத் தமிழர்|trans=īḻat tamiḻar|showlang=false|showhelp=false}}),<ref>{{Cite book|last=Krishnan|first=Shankara|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=__6PDx2CyLkC|title=Postcolonial Insecurities: India, Sri Lanka, and the Question of Nationhood|publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]]|year=1999|isbn=978-0-8166-3330-2|page=172}}</ref> also known as '''Ceylon Tamils''' or '''Eelam Tamils''',<ref>{{Cite journal |lastlast1=Ranganathan |firstfirst1=M. |last2=Velayutham |first2=S. |date=2012 |title=Imagining Eelam Tamils in Tamil cinema |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10304312.2012.731261 |journal=Continuum |volume=26 |issue=6 |pages=871–881 |doi=10.1080/10304312.2012.731261}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Amarasingam |first=Amarnath |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdTZCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA92 |title=Pain, Pride, and Politics: Social Movement Activism and the Sri Lankan Tamil Diaspora in Canada |date=2015-09-15 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-4814-8 |page=92 |language=en}}</ref> are [[Tamils]] native to the [[South Asia]]n [[island state]] of [[Sri Lanka]]. Today, they constitute a majority in the [[Northern Province, Sri Lanka|Northern Province]], form the plurality in the [[Eastern Province, Sri Lanka|Eastern Province]] and are in the minority throughout the rest of the country. [[#Society|70% of Sri Lankan Tamils]] in Sri Lanka live in the Northern and Eastern provinces.<ref name=census12 />

The Sri Lankan Tamils are mostly [[Hindus]] with a significant [[Christian]] population. [[Sri Lankan Tamil literature]] on topics including religion and the sciences flourished during the medieval period in the court of the Jaffna Kingdom. Since the beginning of the [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]] in the 1980s, it is distinguished by an emphasis on themes relating to the conflict. [[Sri Lankan Tamil dialects]] are noted for their [[archaism]] and retention of words not in everyday use in [[TamilSouthern Nadu]]India. The cultures of the Sri Lankan Tamils are also very distinctive and unique, even though the cultural influence of modern South India has grown and become prevalent since the 19th century.<ref name=":2" />

Since Sri Lanka gained [[Sri Lankan independence movement|independence]] from [[British Ceylon|Britain]] in 1948, relations between the majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil communities have been strained. Rising ethnic and political tensions following the [[Sinhala Only Act]], along with [[Riots in Sri Lanka|ethnic pogroms]] carried out by Sinhalese mobs in [[Gal Oya riots|1956]], [[1958 riots in Ceylon|1958]], [[1977 riots in Sri Lanka|1977]], [[Burning of Jaffna library|1981]] and [[Black July|1983]], led to the formation and strengthening of [[Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups|militant groups]] advocating [[Tamil Eelam|independence for Tamils]]. The ensuing [[Sri Lankan Civilcivil Warwar|civil war]] resulted in the deaths of more than 100,000&nbsp;people and the [[Enforced disappearances in Sri Lanka|forced disappearance]] and [[Sexual violence against Tamils in Sri Lanka|rape]] of thousands of others. The civil war ended in 2009 but there are continuing [[Alleged war crimes during the final stages of the Sri Lankan CivilTamil Wargenocide|allegations of atrocities]] being committed by the [[Sri Lanka Armed Forces|Sri Lankan military]].<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-south-asia-11393458|title=Q&A: Post-war Sri Lanka|date=20 September 2013|newspaper=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24849699|title='Tamils still being raped and tortured' in Sri Lanka|date=9 November 2013|newspaper=[[BBC News]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2022/mar/26/tamils-fear-prison-and-torture-in-sri-lanka-13-years-after-civil-war-ended|title='Tamils fear prison and torture in Sri Lanka 13 years after civil war ended|date=26 March 2022|newspaper=[[The Guardian]]}} </ref> A [[Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka|United Nations panel]] found that as many as 40,000 Tamil civilians may have been killed in the final months of the civil war.<ref>{{Cite book|last1=Darusman|first1=Marzuki|url=https://www.un.org/News/dh/infocus/Sri_Lanka/POE_Report_Full.pdf|title=Report of the Secretary-General's Panel of Experts on Accountability in Sri Lanka|last2=Sooka|first2=Yasmin|last3=Ratner|first3=Steven R.|date=31 March 2011|publisher=[[United Nations]]|page=41|author-link1=Marzuki Darusman}}</ref> In January 2020, President [[Gotabaya Rajapaksa]] said that the estimated 20,000+ disappeared Sri Lankan Tamils were dead.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2020-01-20|title=Sri Lanka president says war missing are dead|language=en-GB|work=BBC News|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-51184085|access-date=2020-06-08}}</ref> The end of the civil war has not fully improved conditions in Sri Lanka, with press freedom not being restored and the judiciary coming under political control.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa37/011/2012/en/|title=ASA 37/011/2012 Sri Lanka: Continuing Impunity, Arbitrary Detentions, Torture and Enforced Disappearances|date=30 October 2012|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|access-date=28 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2012/07/sri-lankan-press-freedom-under-attack-website-office-raids-and-online-content|title=Press Freedom Under Attack in Sri Lanka: Website Office Raids and Online Content Regulation|last=Kaiser|first=Katrina|date=30 July 2012|publisher=[[Electronic Frontier Foundation]]|access-date=28 July 2013}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Jayasinghe|first=Amal|url=https://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hn9AglmnC6DNZxlKsgNw2snBfpnA?docId=CNG.5c69d36ecf59a5a931e1ea83f43326c5.5c1|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202194945/http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hn9AglmnC6DNZxlKsgNw2snBfpnA?docId=CNG.5c69d36ecf59a5a931e1ea83f43326c5.5c1|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 February 2014|title=Amnesty accuses Sri Lanka of targeting judges|date=2 November 2012|agency=[[Agence France-Presse]]}}</ref>

During the [[Protohistory|protohistoric period]] (1000-5001000–500 BCE) Sri Lanka was culturally united with [[South India|Southern India]],<ref>{{cite web |url=https://frontline.thehindu.com/other/article30208096.ece |title=Reading the past in a more inclusive way - Interview with Dr. Sudharshan Seneviratne |work=Frontline (2006) |date=26 January 2006 }}</ref> and shared the same megalithic burials, [[Black and red ware culture|pottery]], iron technology, farming techniques and [[megalithic graffiti symbols|megalithic graffiti]].<ref name="Seneviratne">{{cite book |last=Seneviratne |first = Sudharshan|title=Social base of early Buddhism in south east India and Sri Lanka|date=1984 }}</ref><ref name="Karunaratne">{{cite book |last=Karunaratne |first = Priyantha|title=Secondary state formation during the early iron age on the island of Sri Lanka : the evolution of a periphery|date=2010 }}</ref> This cultural complex spread from southern India along with Dravidian clans such as the [[Velir]], prior to the migration of [[Prakrit]] speakers.<ref>Robin Conningham - Anuradhapura - The British-Sri Lankan Excavations at Anuradhapura Salgaha Watta

The [[Amaravati school]] was influential in the region when the [[Telugu people|Telugu]] [[Satavahana dynasty]] established the Andhra empire and its 17th monarch [[Hāla]] (20–24 CE) married a princess from the island. Ancient [[Vanniar (Chieftain)|Vanniars]] settled in the east of the island in the first few centuries of the common era to cultivate and maintain the area.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hellmann-Rajanayagam|first=Dagmar|title=Tamils and the meaning of history|journal=Contemporary South Asia|year=1994|volume=3|issue=1|pages=3–23|doi=10.1080/09584939408719724}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Schalk|first=Peter|title=Buddhism Among Tamils in Pre-colonial Tamilakam and Ilam: Prologue. The Pre-Pallava and the Pallava period|journal=Acta Universitatis Upsaliensis|year=2002|volume=19–20|pages=159, 503|publisher=[[Uppsala University]]|quote=The Tamil stone inscription ''Konesar Kalvettu'' details King Kulakottan's involvement in the restoration of Koneswaram temple in 438 A.D. (Pillay, K., Pillay, K. (1963). ''South India and Ceylon'')}}</ref> The [[Vanni (Sri Lanka)|Vanni region]] flourished.<ref>{{cite book|last=Arumugam|first=S.|title=The Lord of Thiruketheeswaram, an ancient Hindu sthalam of hoary antiquity in Sri Lanka|year=1980|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7g4YAAAAIAAJ|publisher=Colombo|quote=Kulakottan also paid special attention to agricultural practice and economic development, the effects of which made the Vanni region to flourish; temples were cared for and regular worship instituted at these}}</ref>

Eastern Tamils are an agrarian-based society. They follow a [[Caste in Sri Lanka#Eastern Castes|caste system]] similar to the South Indian or [[Dravidian people|Dravidian]] [[kinship]] system. The Eastern Tamil caste hierarchy is dominated by the [[Mukkuvar]], [[Sri Lankan Vellalar|Vellalar]] and [[Karaiyar]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mw5cbpeFsvcC&q=eastern+tamils+caste&pg=PA96|title=Matrilineal Communities, Patriarchal Realities: A Feminist Nirvana Uncovered|last=Ruwanpura|first=Kanchana N.|date=2006|publisher=University of Michigan Press|isbn=978-0-472-06977-4|pages=96|language=en}}</ref> The main feature of their society is the ''kudi'' system.{{Sfn|Yalman|1967|pp=282–335}} Although the Tamil word ''kudi'' means a house or settlement, in eastern Sri Lanka it is related to matrimonial alliances. It refers to the [[exogamous]] [[matrilineal]] [[clan]]s and is found amongst most caste groups.{{Sfn|Sivathamby|1995|pp=5–6}} Men or women remain members of the ''kudi'' of their birth and be brother or sister by relation. No man can marry in the same ''kudi'' because woman is always become sister to him. But, a man can only marry in one of his ''sampantha'' ''kudi''s not in the ''sakothara'' ''kudi''s. By custom, children born in a family belong to mother's ''kudi''. ''Kudi'' also collectively own places of worship such as [[Hindu temple]]s.{{Sfn|Sivathamby|1995|pp=5–6}} <!--The ''kuti'' system is also found among the Tamil speaking Muslims of Batticaloa.<ref>{{cite news|last=Hussei|first=Asiff|title=Nindavur: The land of the matri-clans|url=httphttps://wwwarchives.sundayobserver.lk/2003/06/29/fea22.html|access-date=24 June 2008|newspaper=[[Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka)]]|date=29 June 2003|quote=It is more likely as suggested by M.Z. Mohideen in his contribution on the Kudi Maraikayars to the Souvenir of the Moors Islamic Cultural Home (1965) that the kudi is probably Mukkuvar in origin. The Mukkuvar Tamils of Batticoloa South, he notes also have the kudi form of social organization. In an adjacent Mukkuvar village, for example, there can be a Mukkuvar kudi bearing the same name as the Muslim kudi. Folk tales, as recited by village elders, tend to indicate a Mukkuvar origin for the Muslim kudis.}}</ref> (need to find appropriate citation that is not copy vivo)--> Each caste contains a number of ''kudis'', with varying names. Aside from castes with an internal ''kudi'' system, there are seventeen caste groups, called ''Ciraikudis'', or imprisoned ''kudis'', whose members were considered to be in captivity, confined to specific services such as washing, weaving, and [[toddy tapping]]. However, such restrictions no longer apply.

Western Tamils, also known as [[Negombo Tamils]] or Puttalam Tamils, are native Sri Lankan Tamils who live in the western [[Gampaha District|Gampaha]] and [[Puttalam District|Puttalam]] districts. The term does not apply to Tamil immigrants in these areas.<ref name=RD>{{cite court|litigants=Fernando v. Proctor el al|vol=3|reporter=Sri Lanka|opinion=924|court=District Court, Chilaw|date=27 October 1909|url= http://www.lawnet.lk/docs/case_law/nlr/common/html/NLR12V309.htm|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120206033637/http://www.lawnet.lk/docs/case_law/nlr/common/html/NLR12V309.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref> They are distinguished from other Tamils by their dialects, one of which is known as the [[Negombo Tamil dialect]], and by aspects of their culture such as [[Custom (law)|customary laws]].<ref name=RD />{{Sfn|Gair|1998|p=171}}<ref name=Bonta>{{cite journal|last=Bonta|first=Steven|title=Negombo Fishermen's Tamil (NFT): A Sinhala Influenced Dialect from a Bilingual Sri Lankan Community|journal=International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics|date=June 2008|volume=37}}</ref> Most Negombo Tamils have assimilated into the [[Sinhalese people|Sinhalese]] ethnic group through a process known as [[Sinhalisation]]. Sinhalisation has been facilitated by [[caste]] myths and legends.<ref name=Foell>{{cite web|last=Foell|first=Jens|title=Participation, Patrons and the Village: The case of Puttalam District|publisher=[[University of Sussex]]|year=2007|url = http://www.sussex.ac.uk/development/archive/papers/fr.html|access-date =25 June 2008|quote=One of the most interesting processes in Mampuri is the one of Sinhalisation. Whilst most of the Sinhala fishermen used to speak Tamil and/or still do so, there is a trend towards the use of Sinhala, manifesting itself in most children being educated in Sinhala and the increased use of Sinhala in church. Even some of the long-established Tamils, despite having been one of the most powerful local groups in the past, due to their long local history as well as caste status, have adapted to this trend. The process reflects the political domination of Sinhala people in the Government controlled areas of the country.|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611140511/http://www.sussex.ac.uk/development/archive/papers/fr.html|archive-date=11 June 2008}}</ref> The Western Tamils caste hierarchy is principally dominated by the maritime [[Karaiyar]]s, along with other dominant groups such as the [[Bharatha people|Paravars]].<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=50igCgAAQBAJ&q=negombo+paravar&pg=PA55|title=Historical Dictionary of Sri Lanka|last=Peebles|first=Patrick|date=2015|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|isbn=9781442255852|page=55|language=en}}</ref>

There are several worshipped deities: [[Ayyanar]], Annamar, [[Bhairava|Vairavar]], [[Kali]], [[Ganesha|Pillaiyar]], [[Murugan|Murukan]], [[Kannaki Amman]], [[Rama]], [[Sita]] and [[Mariamman]]. Villages have more Pillaiyar temples, which are patronised by local farmers.{{Sfn|Sivathamby|1995|pp=34–89}} Kannaki Amman is mostly patronised by maritime communities.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yI4cAAAAMAAJ|title=Early Settlements in Jaffna: An Archaeological Survey|last=PhD Ragupathy|first=Ponnampalam|date=1987|publisher=Thillimalar Ragupathy|location=University of Jaffna|pages=217|language=en}}</ref> Tamil Roman Catholics, along with members of other faiths, worship at the [[Shrine of Our Lady of Madhu]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Harrison|first=Frances|title=Tamil Tigers appeal over shrine|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7336855.stm|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=8 April 2008|author-link=Frances Harrison}}</ref> Hindus have several temples with historic importance such as those at [[Ketheeswaram]], [[Koneswaram]], [[Naguleswaram]], [[Munneswaram temple|Munneswaram]], [[Tondeswaram]], and [[Nallur Kandaswamy temple|Nallur Kandaswamy]].{{Sfn|Manogaran|2000|p=46}} [[Kataragama]] temple and [[Adam's Peak]] are attended by all religious communities.

Sri Lankan Tamils predominantly speak Tamil and its Sri Lankan dialects. Thesewhich dialectsare aremore differentiatedconservative bythan the phonologicaldialects changesspoken andin soundIndia.<ref shiftsname=oldtamil in/> theirThese evolutiondialects frompreserve classicalfeatures orof old[[Old Tamil|Old]] (3rdand century[[Middle BCE–7thTamil|Medieval centuryTamil]] CE)which have been lost in their Indian counterparts. TheIn spite of this, both Sri Lankan and Indian Tamil dialects formretain a groupdegree thatof ismutual distinctintelligibility.<ref fromname=oldtamil>{{cite thebook dialects|last=Steever |first=SB. |date=2008 |editor-last=Woodard |editor-first=RD|title=The Ancient Languages of Asia and the modernAmericas|publisher=Cambridge TamilUniversity NaduPress and|pages=50–75 Kerala|chapter=Old statesTamil of|isbn=}}</ref> India.Sri TheyLankan Tamil dialects are classified into three major subgroups: the Jaffna Tamil, the Batticaloa Tamil, and the [[Negombo Tamil dialect]]s. These dialects are also used by ethnic groups other than Tamils such as the Sinhalese, [[Sri Lankan Moors|Moors]] and Veddhas. Tamil loan words in Sinhala also follow the characteristics of Sri Lankan Tamil dialects.<ref name=Kuiper /> Sri Lankan Tamils, depending on where they live in Sri Lanka, may also additionally speak [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] and or [[English language|English]]. According to the 2012 Census 32.8% or 614,169 Sri Lankan Tamils also spoke Sinhala and 20.9% or 390,676 Sri Lankan Tamils also spoke English.<ref name="Census2012">{{cite web |title=Census of Population and Housing 2011 |url=http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=FinalPopulation&gp=Activities&tpl=3 |website=www.statistics.gov.lk |publisher=Department of Census and Statistics |access-date=14 November 2018 |archive-date=16 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416015917/http://www.statistics.gov.lk/PopHouSat/CPH2011/index.php?fileName=FinalPopulation&gp=Activities&tpl=3 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

The dialect used in Jaffna is the oldest and closest to old Tamil. The long physical isolation of the Tamils of Jaffna has enabled their dialect to preserve ancient features of old Tamil that predate ''[[Tolkappiyam]]'',<ref name=Kuiper /> the grammatical treatise on Tamil dated from 3rd century BCE to 10th century CE.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Swamy|first=B.G.L.|year=1975|title=The Date of Tolksppiyam-a Retrospect|series=Silver|journal=Annals of Oriental Research|volume=Jubilee Volume|pages=292–317}}</ref> Also, a largesignificant component of the settlers were from the [[Coromandel CoastKerala]], andwhich [[Malabarcontributed Coast]]to whichthe maydistinctiveness haveof helpedthe withdialect from the preservationTamil ofNadu the dialectdialects.<ref>{{Citecite book |urllast1=https://booksIndrapala |first1=K.google.com/books?id=4IdR9N9R7T4C&q=sri+lanka+tamils+malabar&pg=PA3 |title=Ethnic ConflictKerala and ReconciliationSri inLanka SriHistory, Mythology, Folklore, Rituals and Law* Lanka|last=Manogaran|first=Chelvadurai|date=19872018 |publisher=UniversityPrimus ofBooks. Hawaii Press|isbnlocation=9780824811167New Delhi |pagepages=3|language=en285–320}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Pfaffenberger |first=Bryan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=02RKAQAAMAAJ&q=sri+lanka+tamils+coromandel |title=Pilgrimage and Traditional Authority in Tamil Sri Lanka|last=Pfaffenberger|first=Bryan |date=1977 |publisher=University of California, Berkeley |page=15 |language=en}}</ref> Their|quote=As ordinaryKearney puts it, the influence of the early Malabar migrations, as well as long residence in Ceylon and interaction with the Sinhalese, speechleft isthe closelyCeylon relatedTamils toas classicala unique group of Tamil-speaking people, differentiated in customs, speech, and social organization from the Tamils of South India.}}</ref><ref name=Kuiper>{{cite journal|last=Kuiper|first=L.B.J|title=Note on Old Tamil and Jaffna Tamil|journal=[[Indo-Iranian Journal]]|volume=6|issue=1|pages=52–64|date=March 1964|doi=10.1163/000000062791616020<!-- at some point new publisher will have at https://brill.com/view/journals/iij/6/1/iij.6.issue-1.xml -->|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00157142|s2cid=161679797|jstor=24646759}}</ref> Conservational Jaffna Tamil dialect and Indian Tamil dialects are to an extent not mutually intelligible,<ref>{{cite web|last=Schiffman|first=Harold|title=Language Shift in the Tamil Communities of Malaysia and Singapore: the Paradox of Egalitarian Language Policy|publisher=[[University of Pennsylvania]]|date=30 October 1996|url=http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/~haroldfs/540/handouts/sparadox/sparadox.html|access-date =4 April 2008}}</ref> and the former is frequently mistaken for [[Malayalam]] by native Indian Tamil speakers. {{Sfn|Indrapala|2007|p=45}} The closest Tamil Nadu Tamil variant to Jaffna Tamil is literary Tamil, used in formal speeches and news reading. There are also [[Prakrit]] loan words that are unique to Jaffna Tamil.{{Sfn|Indrapala|2007|p=389}}<ref>{{cite book|last=Ragupathy|first=P.|title=Tamil Social Formation in Sri Lanka: A Historical Outline'|page=1}}</ref>

By the time Sri Lanka became independent in 1948, about sixty percent of government jobs were held by Tamils, who formed barely fifteen percent of the population. The elected Sinhalese leaders of the country saw this as the result of a British stratagem to control the majority Sinhalese, and deemed it a situation that needed correction by implementation of the [[Policy of standardization]]<!-- expand more on this -->.<!-- that was implemented strained the already tenuous political relationship between the communities and is believed to be one of the main causes of the [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]].-->{{Sfn|Pfaffenberg|1994|p=110}}{{Sfn|Ambihaipahar|1998|p=29}}

Sri Lanka became an independent nation in 1948. Since independence, the political relationship between the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil communities has been strained. Sri Lanka has been unable to contain its ethnic violence as it escalated from sporadic terrorism to mob violence, and finally to civil war.<ref name=Peebles /> The [[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]] has several underlying causes: the ways in which modern ethnic identities have been made and remade since the colonial period, rhetorical wars over archaeological sites and [[Sri Lankan place name etymology|place name etymologies]], and the political use of the national past.{{Sfn|Spencer|1990|p=23}} The civil war resulted in the death of at least 100,000 people<ref>{{cite news|last=Doucet|first=Lyse|title=UN 'failed Sri Lanka civilians', says internal probe|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-20308610|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=13 November 2012|author-link=Lyse Doucet}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Peachey|first=Paul|title=Sri Lanka snubs UN as it bids for more trade links with the UK|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sri-lanka-snubs-un-as-it-bids-for-more-trade-links-with-the-uk-8795379.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220524/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/sri-lanka-snubs-un-as-it-bids-for-more-trade-links-with-the-uk-8795379.html |archive-date=24 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|newspaper=[[The Independent]]|date=2 September 2013}}</ref> and, according to human rights groups such as [[Human Rights Watch]], the [[forced disappearance]] of thousands of others (''see [[White van abductions in Sri Lanka]]'').<ref>{{cite news|title=S Lanka civilian toll 'appalling'|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/7243595.stm|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=13 February 2008|quote=Sri Lanka's government is one of the world's worst perpetrators of enforced disappearances, US-based pressure group [[Human Rights Watch]] (HRW) says. An HRW report accuses security forces and pro-government militias of abducting and "disappearing" hundreds of people—mostly Tamils—since 2006.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Pathirana|first=Saroj|title=Fears grow over Tamil abductions|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/5382582.stm|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=26 September 2006|quote=The image of the "white van" invokes memories of the "era of terror" in the late 1980s when death squads abducted and killed thousands of Sinhala youth in the south of the country. The [[Asian Human Rights Commission]] (AHRC) says the "white van culture" is now re-appearing in Colombo to threaten the Tamil community.}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Denyer|first=Simon|title="Disappearances" on rise in Sri Lanka's dirty war|url=http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/09/14/disappearances_on_rise_in_sri_lankas_dirty_war/|access-date=7 July 2008|newspaper=[[The Boston Globe]]|date=14 September 2006|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090529005905/http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2006/09/14/disappearances_on_rise_in_sri_lankas_dirty_war/|archive-date=29 May 2009|quote=The National Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka has recorded 419 missing people in Jaffna since December 2005.}}</ref> Since 1983, Sri Lanka has also witnessed massive civilian displacements of more than a million people, with eighty percent of them being Sri Lankan Tamils.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Newman|first=Jesse|year=2003|title=Narrating displacement:Oral histories of Sri Lankan women|journal = Refugee Studies Centre – Working Papers|issue=15|pages=3–60|publisher=[[Oxford University]]}}</ref>

The individuals belonging to this younger generation, often referred to by other Tamils as "the boys" (''Podiyangal'' in Tamil), formed many militant organisations.<ref name=cstudy3 /> The most important contributor to the strength of the militant groups was the [[Black July]] massacre, in which between 1,000 and 3,000<ref>{{cite web|last=Kumaratunga|first=Chandrika|author-link=Chandrika Kumaratunga|title=Speech by President Chandrika Kumaratunga at the 21st Anniversary of 'Black July', Presidential Secretariat, Colombo, July 23, 2004|publisher=SATP|date=24 July 2004|url=http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/document/papers/BlackJuly2004.htm|access-date =8 September 2008|archive-date=19 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120419180506/http://www.satp.org/satporgtp/countries/shrilanka/document/papers/BlackJuly2004.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name=BBC230703>{{cite news|last=Harrison|first=Frances|title=Twenty years on – riots that led to war|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3090111.stm|newspaper=[[BBC News]]|date=23 July 2003|author-link=Frances Harrison|quote=Indeed nobody really knows how many Tamils died in that one week in July 1983. Estimates vary from 400 to 3,000 dead.}}</ref> Tamils were killed, prompting many youths to choose the path of armed resistance.<ref name=cstudy3 /><ref name=BBC230703 /><ref>{{cite web|last=Marschall|first=Wolfgang|title =Social Change Among Sri Lankan Tamil Refugees in Switzerland|year=2003|url = http://www.research.unibe.ch/abstracts/A_66584590.html|publisher=[[University of Bern]]|access-date =22 December 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071205014602/http://www.research.unibe.ch/abstracts/A_66584590.html|archive-date=5 December 2007}}</ref>

After the start of the conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]], there was a mass migration of Tamils trying to escape the hardships and perils of war. Initially, it was middle class professionals, such as doctors and engineers, who emigrated; they were followed by the poorer segments of the community. The fighting drove more than 800,000 Tamils from their homes to other places within Sri Lanka as [[internally displaced person]]s and also overseas, prompting the [[United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees]] (UNHCR) to identify them in 2004 as the largest asylum-seeking group.<ref name=Acharya>{{cite web|last=Acharya|first=Arunkumar|title=Ethnic conflict and refugees in Sri Lanka|publisher=[[Autonomous University of Nuevo Leon]]|year=2007|url=http://www.ujaen.es/huesped/rae/articulos2007/acharya0907.pdf|access-date=1 July 2008|archive-date=10 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120210055448/http://www.ujaen.es/huesped/rae/articulos2007/acharya0907.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa37/004/2006/en/|title=ASA 37/004/2006 Sri Lanka: Waiting to go home – the plight of the internally displaced|access-date=22 April 2007|publisher=[[Amnesty International]]|date=28 June 2006}}</ref>