The Linguistic Map of India- i could spend hours pouring over it, and making  connections. I have suddenly re-discovered my fascination with maps, and how they are so brilliant at explaining most things. Yesterday i was giving a talk on Indian culture and diversity, and what makes up that diversity, had the chance to play with lots  of maps. This one is among the most fascinating.

(Linguistic Diversity Map of India – some expert has pointed out that the map is not 100% accurate – i am not surprised. there are so many languages, and dialects, and so little data, that it would be difficult for this to be 100% accurate. This looks like a labour of love, and immense curiosity about the country. ).

There is also a completely engrossing conversation on reddit around the Linguistic Diversity Map. I knew that the linguistic diversity in India was immense, but it is when one sees it plotted out on a map, that the number itself strikes you.

Look at the language Saurashtra (aka Sourashtra), smack in the middle of Tamil Nadu. It is spoken in a fair few places. This is not random individual family migration from Gujarat, but whole communities moving geographies.

Tamil Nadu state: North Arcot, Chengai-Annai, Dindugul, Madurai, Ramanathapuram, Salem, Thanjavur, Tiruchchirappalli, and Tirunelveli districts; Chennai, Deccan, Madurai, Salem, and Thanjavur cities; Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka states.

Most are weavers. it is weaver community that has moved.

So, i searched more for who are these people, and why did they move down south. i skimmed through an interesting conversation on Quora. Multiple theories abound. The first is the constant attacks by Mohammed of Ghazni, led the weavers to flee south. But, why only the weavers, my mind asked, why not other professions too. The second theory answers that –

.. the Nayakars ruled the South as part of the empire with Madurai as their capital. During that period a few families from the Saurashtra region were called into Madurai to be the “Royal Weavers” for the Nayakars. This would explain very high concentration of Sourashtrians still today around the Thirumalai Nayakar Mahal, the Nayakar’s Palace. Since Sourashtrians are Silk Weavers by profession it would also disprove the theory that they came with Shivaji.

This migration wasn’t at one go. The community left Saurashtra, settled in Devagiri (modern Daulatabad), and then moved further down south near Hampi (Vijayanagaram Empire) and finally to Madurai. Boloji, has a piece on this migration, and linguistic influences on Saurashtra (the language, not the geography).

And finally, in good faith, this from wikipedia

Sourashtra or “Patnūlkarar” refers to a community of people who speak the Saurashtra language. They had their original homes in Gujarat and migrated to Madurai and other places of Tamil Nadu. The origin of the name date backs to the time when the ancestors of these people inhabited the kingdom of Sourashtra in Gujarat.^[1] The Tamil name by which these people is known in Southern India is Patnūlkarar, that is silk-thread workers or weavers who speak “Pattunuli” or “Khatri”, a dialect of Gujarati

Finally, what is most fascinating, is that people have managed to maintain their language and tradition after almost a millenia of being away from where they originated. The tendency of modern migrants to lose their ‘mother’ tongue, is immense. Usually, you hear this about Tamil Nadu, that everyone ends up being a Tamil, when they live there. Somehow this community has managed to retain its language, culture, and yet assimilate with the larger population

I wish i learned history and geography like this, not as a set of dates and data points. but, i am guessing, never too late.