![]() Yet Tamil: A Biography succeeds at this remarkably well. To attempt to give a comprehensive vision of the language within the compass of a brief book intended for nonspecialists might seem an impossible task. It has served as a language of trade and statecraft, and as a medium for poetry, philosophy, linguistic science, visionary esotericism, and the expression of Hindu, Jain, Buddhist, Muslim, and Christian religious cultures over the past two millennia. It is also one of the world’s oldest languages, with a continuous history stretching back to at least the late centuries BCE. ![]() Tamil is spoken today by approximately 80 million people, mostly in India but also in Sri Lanka, Singapore, and Malaysia, and in an international diaspora. ![]() Mahabalipuram, Tamil Nadu, India, 1996 photograph by Raghu Rai
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