Telugu history

[jayabarathi]

At 10:48 PM 5/1/98 +0500, you wrote:
>At 07:33 AM 5/1/98 -0600, you wrote:
>
>Dear Mr.N.Ganesan,
>                        This is the limit I think. Do you really believe
>that God prefers Tamil to Sanskrit or for that matter any other language?
>Let not chauvinism deteriorate to arrogance.The moral of the story is
>that God prefers sincerity and simplicity to sophistication and arrogance
>of learning. Not that Tamil is the preferred language of Gods. Tamil
>arrogance is equally abhorring to God as is Sanskrit arrogance. Do you
>realise such postings can be annoying to list members?
>
>                        You quoted somebody to say that Sanskrit is a rough
>language. Do you know the name by which your language is known in Andhra?
>It is called "Aravam" , a voiceless language. This word is current
>in Andhra and it is in usage even before I was born.

        Dear Sir,

                I agree with you that Tamil is known as "Arava Basha"
        among the Telugu people. You have given the meaning of the
        word as "a voiceless language". May I be allowed to put in
        a few words about the real origin and the real meaning
        of that innocent word?
                Disclaimer: I am not raising a controversy and neither
        am I a Dravidian movement chauvinist.
                Far from that.
                The ancient Tamil Nadu was divided into 12 regions.
        The northern region bordering on Andra, was called the
        "Aruvaa Naadu" and "Aruvaa Vada Thalai Naadu" The tribe
        that lived in this region was known as the "Aravar".
               It is always customary for people to address another
        group of people with a region that is closest or most aquainted
        with them . It acts as a sort of common factor. One such word
        is the name "Hindu". Anybody coming from the region of Sindhu
        was a Hindu. But the name came to be applied to all the peoples
        of the sub continent.
                Likewise, for the Andras, two thousand years ago,
        any non-Telugu living in the south were "Arava Vaadu" .
        And their language was called "Arava Baasaha".
                Same thing with the Karnatakas. The adjoining
        Tamil region to Karnataka was Coimbatore/Salem area.
        This was known as the Kongu territory. So the Tamils
        to this day are known as "Konga" to the Kannadigas.
                Some people in South Travancore region in Kerala,
        call the Tamils as "Paandi", because they knew and interacted
        closely with the people of Pandiya Nadu, which is just across
        the Western Ghats.
                You know, the Tamils living in South East Asia
        are known to the Malays as "Keling" and the Chinese in the same
        region call them as "Keh-Lay-Ngah".
                This name comes from Kalinga. The sea ports
        of Kalinga Pattnam and Paluur were the nearest geographical
        points in the subcontinent. The shortest sea-distance is
        from there. And they are in the most suitable direction
        for the monsoon winds. So ships reach fast. So the traffic
        was heavy from Kalinga. So, to the Malays and Javanese,
        everyone from South India is a Keling.
                But later on, the term took on a derogatory meaning,
        so much so, that a member of the Malaysian Parliament once
        had to apologise.
                May be  now, the word  "Aravam" is having a derogatory
        meaning. But Sir, your ancestors, most certainly, had the
        least intention of insulting the Tamils, and had given
        only the direct meaning to the word, i.e.,"the people of Arava".
                Thank you for your patient reading.

        Regards

        Jayabarathi

                                                                What
>sounds as sweet to some people sounds as harsh or listless to other
>people. Do show some consideration for the feelings of other people on the
>list.
>
>regards,
>
>sarma.
>
>