Greater Tamil civilization
What if history had gone a different way and India had developed the industrial revolution before the British? Specifically if the coastal kingdom of Tamil Nadu had sparked such a beginning. In actual history being on the coast helped Tamils. They were able to use sailing ships to go all over south east asia, to reach Malaya and Indonesia well before the Brits. In fact in Indonesia the island of Bali is Hindu majority and many of those Hindus came from [தமிழ்நாடு].
This is a good map of Indianization. It gives the cultural reach of India deep into south east asia. It leaves out the feeding of Buddhism into China, Korea and Japan. You can see the greatness of India made firm!
भारत भारत भारत!!!
So just like Britain being a small island helped them in the Industrial Revolution by turning them outwards to Europe and the rest of the world, [தமிழ்நாடு] had a similar background.
The problem for Tamils and the Indonesians was that they ended up where they are today. Some ventured south to the Australian continent according to some evidence. But only slightly and they found little to get them to stay and make port towns. Yes to be honest when the Brits go to Sydney they were essentially the first major foreign power.
Now go in and look at this map for a closer look at north Australia. From Indonesian east Timor it is an easy southern run that gets you to Australia. Easy in a sailing ship. It is a historical puzzle why the Indonesians or Tamils never did this in force centuries before the Brits in Sydney. Check Darwin in the map. It is not shown, sorry, but if you go south east from east Timor then you get to Darwin.
Below is a close up of Australia around Darwin. Do not be misled by all the towns in the map. An Indonesian friend who live in Darwin for years told me that he went on tours outside Darwin. By today’s asian standards, towns like Katherine or Timber Creek are tiny. Maybe 1,000 or less! Aussies are really lazy compared to asians. Even after 200 years they have barely populated a huge land.
This map below is closing in around Darwin. You have to squint but you can see “Darwin” written and look at the lower left at the 10 km scale. The map shows the reason why Darwin is the main deep water port for all of north Australia. The port has several outlets for the rivers feeding it year around. Today and centuries ago it could have been a port to rival San Francisco or Yokohama or for us Tamils Trincomalee.
Just suppose some intrepid band of Tamils in Indonesia had found Darwin and named it something else of course! [தமிழ் ஈலம்] maybe? Because the big idea here is that if the Tamils had reached and settled Darwin it would have given Tamils and by extension Indians all Australia over time. Ok to be fair the Indonesians would have gotten in the Aussie land also.
Once you start settling into and building up Darwin, there is a vast hinterland of resources to gain, without needing or assuming a modern industrial tech. There are no major mountain ranges to hem Tamils in. The land is a little swampy. But some livestock from asia would have no problem. This happened actually. The Brits brought in water buffalo and let them loose. They thrived. Sure Hindu Tamils don’t eat beef but they will eat buffalo.
South of Darwin in those swamps are flocks of migratory birds from asia. Good eating! Rice can be grown.
This is how a Darwin province of Tamils could have grown. But that is just a start, just like the Brits started in Sydney and conquered a continent. They started in the southwest. Tamils would have started from the north. Using Darwin as a port base Tamils just can hug the coast going east and west from Darwin.
Going east gets you into the Bight (silly aussie names). Still little there today. You can see how the first asian explorers might have been discourages. But the Tamils kept going east far enough they would reach the tip of the massive cape York peninsula and head south along the Barrier Reef. The coast there has several good ports — Cairns, Townsville (another silly name), Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Brisbane. Queensland is so big. If you’re an American reading this, Queensland is twice the size of Florida but today still only 4 million people.
Check out closely the map. See all the little towns on the coast? Unlike the other parts of Australia, Queensland is pretty spread out. Huge room for early Tamils to settle in with a tropical monsoon season just like Mother India. Queensland is a big prize — so big and empty with just some natives here and there. Not like India which was and is so crowded. If Queensland today was an Indian state it might have 50 million, not 4 million!
Now when the Tamils go west from Darwin it also gets interesting. Small ports can be started at Broome and Derby and Carnarvon. Eventually the Tamils get to the Swan river and that is a big score. A big deep water port (called Perth by Brits). Perth would be like Trincomalee and maybe even greater.
Also check out the Pt Hedland. Most aussies never heard of it but by tonnage it’s the 2nd biggest in Australia after Sydney. Today huge amounts of iron ore come from the north of the state to Pt Hedland and then to Japan and China. Of course back in the middle ages no one knew of the vast iron deposits in the north. For a Tamil civilization Australia is indeed glitter gold. Remember what the Brits called India in their empire? The jewel. Indeed for Tamils Australia would have made them a superpower.
What I did here was show how by a slight twist Australia could have been colonized but in opposite order to how the Brits did it. We start in Darwin.
All this does not assume a might explorer like the European Cook or Magellan but some hardy Tamils with so so boats. Just stay close to land and by the time the Brits arrive, the continent will be taken. Not that this would stop the filthy Brits but hey that’s another story. If you read history fiction or science fiction this essay is alternate history. Imagine now a civilization of Tamils dug in in every aussie deep port would have given the Brits a run for the money as they like to say. We my brothers would have been a harder thing than the pathetic sad abos who were squashed simply by the Brits.
If things had turned slightly different continents would be owned differently. A [வலிமைமிக்க தமிழ்] civilization dug in all over Australia. The Indian ocean might live up to its name!
And the Sinhala would be like nothing [බාලයි සිංහල]
