Tamil Nadu

Six thousand years ago, the Dravidians-the original people of India and the architects of the Indus Valley civilization-inhabited many areas of the Indian subcontinent. When Aryans from the north began to gain power around 1500 B.C., however, the Dravidians were driven south into what is now Tamil Nadu. There they remain to this day.

Tamil Nadu is known as the "Land of Temples," where life revolves around religious practices. Hindus represent 88 percent of the population, and the caste system is strictly observed. In 2002, Tamil Nadu enacted an anti-conversion law that made changing one's religion illegal. Aimed at preventing the Dalits (the so-called Untouchables) from leaving Hinduism, the law illustrates the powerful hold of casteism on Tamil society.

Of the 65 million people in Tamil Nadu, 87 percent speak Tamil, one of the oldest languages in India. The rest speak Telugu, Urdu (used by the Muslim population), Kannada, Malayalam and tribal languages.

Most people in Tamil Nadu are involved in agriculture. Rice is the main crop, producing two or three harvests a year in the most fertile areas. Other crops include sugar cane, cotton, coffee, tea, rubber and chilies. On the coast, fishing is a major industry. As an exporter, Tamil Nadu sends leather goods, cotton, tea, coffee, spices and tobacco around the world.

The first Christian missionary to Tamil Nadu was the Apostle Thomas, who was martyred near the modern city of Chennai (formerly Madras) in A.D. 72. In 1504, Portuguese fleets brought priests and friars. The East India Company came to Chennai a century later, setting the stage for Great Britain to rule the nation. In 1901, Irish missionary Amy Carmichael began her work of rescuing temple children from prostitution. Today nearly six percent of the population is Christian.