The Tamil diaspora refers to descendants of the Tamil immigrants who emigrated from their native lands in the southern Indian subcontinent (Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Sri Lanka) to other parts of the world. They are found primarily in Malaysia, Arab states of the Persian Gulf, South Africa, North America, Western Europe, and Singapore.
Early migrations
Tamils have a long tradition of seafaring and a history of overseas migration to foreign lands due to close proximity to the Indian Ocean throughout ancient and medieval times. Many of the Tamil emigrants who left the shores of Tamil Nadu before the 18th century mixed with other ethnicities in other regions. In the medieval period Tamils emigrated as soldiers, traders and laborers settled in Kerala (specially Palakkad), Karnataka, Maharashtra, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and intermixed well with local population, while few communities still maintain their language and culture. Many groups still claim descent from medieval-era Tamil emigrants such as the Thigalas, Hebbars of Karnataka who have resided in Karnataka for generations and even adopted Kannada as their mother tongue, Palakkad Iyer of Kerala, Kaikadis of Maharashtra, Chittys of Malaysia and some section of the Sri Lankan Tamils such as the Sri Lankan Mukkuvars, the Sri Lankan Chetties, the Bharatha people, the Karava-speaking Sinhalese, the Durava, the Demala Gattara and the Salagama castes of Sri Lanka.
An early emigrant group that is not well documented is the Tamil Muslims who emigrated in considerable numbers to the Sultanate of Malacca (in present-day Malaysia) and were instrumental in spreading Islam amongst the indigenous Malays. Some are descended from immigrants from Arabia (Middle East), though it is not known which part of the Arab world they were from.
British, French, and Dutch indentured workers and others
During this period British, Dutch, French, Portuguese and Danish colony administrators recruited many local Tamils and took them to their overseas colonies to work as laborers, petty administration officers, and in clerical and military duties.
In the 19th century, the Madras Presidency (of which the Tamil Nadu region was affected by severe famines, such as the Great Famine of 1876–78. Tamil Nadu was both politically and economically weak. The British thus made use of hungry Tamil workers for their plantations all over the world - Malaysia, Singapore, Myanmar, Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Fiji and also Sri Lanka (unrelated to Tamils who migrated to Sri Lanka before the 18th century).
Some of the Tamil groups (especially the Chettiyars, Pillais, Muslims) emigrated as commercial migrants. They then dominated the trade and finance in Myanmar, Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania and other places. The first Indian to own a merchant ship during the British times comes from this group.
These Tamilians integrated and assimilated well with their adopted countries, and became well integrated into local populations in Mauritius, South Africa, Guyana, and Fiji. On the other hand, Karnataka Tamils of Karnataka, Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka of Sri Lanka, and Tamil Malaysians of Malaysia were evolved into distinct communities of their own with unique multilingual sub-culture and identity.
Many also left to work in the possessions of the French Empire via its holdings in Pondichéry in Réunion and the French Caribbean islands of Martinique and Guadeloupe (see Malabars). A small group was hired by the Dutch colonial government in the Dutch East Indies (present-day Indonesia) to work in Sumatra (namely in Medan). Roughly about 40,000 (est.) descendants of these immigrants are still found in Medan.
Many independent Tamil merchant guilds, such as the Nagarathar, also left for these areas in an age-old tradition of their ancestors who had traded in these areas for the last 2,000 years. Britain also hired many Sri Lankan Tamils as clerical and other white-collar workers, especially in Malaysia and Singapore. All these different streams have combined to create vibrant Tamil communities in these countries.
Also, many Tamils from India and Sri Lanka migrated to the Crown colony of Singapore and British Malaya as laborers, army clerks and merchants.