About Tamils

[podalangai]

I was looking through the 1911 edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica a couple of days ago, and couldn't resist looking up their article on Tamils. It was rather.... interesting . You can see it was written in a time when people thought differently.

I reproduce below the second paragraph of the introduction for some light-hearted entertainment.

The Tamils proper are smaller and of weaker build than Europeans, though graceful in shape. Their physical appearance is described as follows: - a pointed and frequently hooked pyramidal nose, with conspicuous nares, more long than round; a marked sinking in of the orbital line, producing a strongly defined orbital ridge; hair and eyes black; the latter, varying from small to middle-sized, have a peculiar sparkle and a look of calculation; mouth large, lips thick, lower jaw not heavy; forehead well-formed, but receding, inclining to flattish, and seldom high; beard considerable, and often strong; colour of skin very dark, frequently approaching to black.

The Tamils have many good qualities - frugality, patience, endurance, politeness - and they are credited with astounding memories; their worst vices are said to be lying and lasciviousness. Of all the South-Indian tribes they are the least sedentary and the most enterprising. Wherever money is to be earned, there will Tamils be found, either as merchants or in the lower capacity of domestic servants and labourers. The tea and coffee districts of Ceylon are peopled by about 950,000; Tamils serve as coolies in the Mauritius and the West Indies; in Burma, the Straits, and Siam the so-called Klings are all Tamils.