Own script & cultural identity: Demand for official recognition to Tulu language gathers momentum on social media

Recently, a Twitter campaign demanding official language status for Tulu launched by various Tulu organizations received support from politicians and the public in the coastal belt.

The purpose of the campaign was to urge the state and neighboring Kerala governments to recognize Tulu as an official language and then include the language in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.

Backing the campaign, Dakshina Kannada MP and BJP State president Nalin Kumar Kateel tweeted in Tulu saying, Efforts and talks are on to include Tulu in the eighth schedule. A few technical issues need to be sorted out. All efforts will be made to announce Tulu as official language during our tenure itself.” Former MLC Ganesh Karnik, in his tweet, said, Lets all be proud Tuluvas with our distinct identity, our unique culture, our entrepreneurship and all our all-inclusive live and let live philosophy of co-existence with people speaking many languages.

Demand for separate tulu state

In April, Tulu organizations and Tulu speaking people living across the world came out with a demand for a separate Tulunadu state consisting of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, and Kasargod districts

Twitter campaigns under various hashtags such as #SaveTuluFirst, #TulunadState, and #StopKannadaimposition received a good response with several users slamming the state and central governments for neglecting the language, which is one of the Pancha Dravida languages.

Tulu organizations claim that it is time for Tulu-speaking people to stake claim to their own identity by seeking statehood and the government cannot ignore people of coastal districts  anymore. The further claim that Tulu is a different language and Tuluvas can’t be considered the same as people who speak Kannada. Tuluvas have their own script and cultural history too.

History of Tulu Nadu

The longest-reigning dynasty of Tulu Nadu was the Alupas (Aluvas). They have the distinction of a continuous dynasty for more than one thousand years.

They ruled until the Vijayanagara kings totally dominated the Tulu Nadu from 14^th to the 17^th centuries. The region became extremely prosperous during the Vijayanagara period with Barakuru and Mangaluru gaining importance.

After the decline of Vijayanagara Empire, the Nayaks of Keladi (Ikkeri), controlled much of Tulu Nadu and let it decline. At the end of 18th century, it was controlled by the Sultans of Mysore, Haider Ali and Tippu Sultan.

During the independence,  Tulu Nadu became part of Madras state and in the 1950s when the states were divided into linguistic states, Tulu Nadu became part of Karnataka.

Over the following many centuries, more ethnic groups migrated to the area. All these communities live in harmony in Tulu Nadu today. This has given it a diverse culture and society.

Tulu language

Tulu is a Dravidian language and its script is similar to Thigalaya script, which was one of the few earliest original scripts such as Persian and Latin.

It is spoken mainly in two coastal districts Dakshina Kannada and Udupi of Karnataka and Kasaragod district of Kerala.

In between 14th to 15th century the oldest inscriptions were available in Tulu. These inscriptions are in Tigalari script and it is found in Barkur  during Vijaynagar period

Tulu has a rich oral literature tradition with folk-song forms like paddana, and traditional folk theatre yakshagana

Today,  its ‘original script’ is not receiving the kind of attention it deserves and needs mediums such as films and festivals to remind people about Tuluvas’ history, customs, culture.