High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Tamil nationalism was an aspiration by some Tamils to establish, at minimum, self determination. The ideology of Tamil nationalism was to seek to preserve and modernize Tamil language and culture, unite Tamils across boundaries, eradicate caste discrimination within Tamils, emancipate and empower Tamil women, uplift the economic status of Tamils, and to securely establish Tamil identity in a globalized world. Although nationalism itself is a modern phenomenon, scholars such as Steever trace its origins to the "loyalty to Tamil" visible in Sangam literature. The poems of Sangam literature imply a consciousness of independence or separateness from neighbouring regions, which is significantly stronger than suggested by the archaeological evidence as to the material culture of the Tamil region.