மலையகத் தமிழர்களின் புலப்பெயர்வு: ‘கண்டிச்சீமை’ ஆவண நாவலினூடான பார்வை

"Malaiyaga Thamizhargalin Pulappeyarvu: ‘Kandiseemai’ Aavana Naavalinoodaana Paarvai"

Abstract

This text outlines the historical trajectory of Tamil migration, with a specific emphasis on the labor-driven diaspora to the Sri Lankan hill country (Malaiyaham) during the colonial era. While Tamil migration is historically categorized into three distinct stages—the Sangam, Chola, and Colonial periods—the relocation of Indian-origin Tamils to the Kandy tea estates represents the first major Tamil migration of the modern era. The text explores how this diasporic experience has been chronicled in Tamil literature, evolving from early folk traditions to a distinct regional genre by the 1970s.

Crucially, it identifies a notable gap in traditional Malaiyaha literature: while most writers focus predominantly on the miseries of plantation life, they often neglect the grueling pre-migration experience. To address this, the text highlights Matale Somu’s novel Kandiseemai as a seminal work. Unlike his predecessors, Somu captures the comprehensive historical continuity of this migration. Relying on documentary evidence, the novel details the famine-induced displacement in Tamil Nadu, the deception of overseers (Kanganis), the perilous journey to Rameswaram, the tragic sea voyage, and the arduous trek to the plantations. Ultimately, the text positions the Malaiyaha Tamil diaspora as a profound labor migration, uniquely and thoroughly memorialized in Somu's fiction.