Ethnic groups of Tamil Nadu Ethnic groups of Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu is one of the 29 states of India. Its capital and largest city is Chennai (formerly known as Madras). Tamil Nadu lies in the southernmost part of the Indian Peninsula and is bordered by the States of Puducherry, Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. It is the eleventh largest state in India and the seventh most-populous state. As of 2001 census, Tamil is spoken as the first language by 88.43% of the population followed by Telugu by 5.65 percent, Kannada by 2.68 percent, Urdu by 1.51 per cent, Hindi by 0.64 percent, Malayalam by
Pathans of Tamil Nadu rule in the subcontinent. These traders were fewer in number and usually preserved their items of dress, culture and language. The Pathans of Tamil Nadu speak Dakhni Urdu as their mother tongue. Nearly all of them are conversant in Tamil. Knowledge of Arabic and Persian is considered a scholarly accomplishment. Pathans of Tamil Nadu The Pathans of Tamil Nadu are Urdu-speaking Muslims of Pashtun historically Pashtuns, now all Afghans ancestry who have migrated to and settled in the South Indian state of Tamil Nadu. Their migration to the Tamil country had occurred in three main waves - first during the