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Eelam
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Eelam or Eela Naadu is a Tamil name for Sri Lanka. It is also spelled also as Eezham, Ezham, Iizham and Ilam. Tamil Eelam is the name given by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam to the independent state to which they aspire in the Northern and Eastern portions of Sri Lanka.
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Some believe the word is a Tamil derivation of Sinhela or Simhela an ancient Sinhalese name for the island nation where as others believe its derived from the Tamil term for Toddy. It is also believed that perhaps this word dates back to Ila the daughter of Manu, the founder of humanity. The entire Indian Plate (India and Sri Lanka) is known as Ilavarta and so Ilam or Eelam could have originated from Ila.[2] Furthermore, this word means mother and hence the peoples of the first Hindus labelled this entire land as the Mother Land.
It is a controversial subject as each partisan point view is supported by nationalists on both the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamil point of view.
The word is attested in the Sangam era name of a poet supposedly from Sri Lanka as Eelattu Poothanthevanar or Poothan Thevan from Eelam. Thus chronologically, the word Eelam is attested prior to Simhela or Sinhela in Sri Lanka. It is also is attested in place names in Chola era inscriptions both as a guild of Toddy tappers and in place names in Tamil Nadu and Kerala for settlement of Toddy tappers.
Even today one can find Eelacherry or settlement of Eelas in Kerala. It still survives as name of a prominent caste in Kerala associated with Toddy tapping.
Ilam Kadungo is also the name of Chera dynasty king.
- Ezhavas a traditionally toddy tapping caste of Kerala
- Tamil Eelam A term traditionally reserved for Northeast of Sri Lanka.