In which year Tamil language was declared as a classical language?

India is a multilingual country with numerous languages and dialects. There are approximately 1652 languages and dialects that belong to different language families.

Key Points 

• Languages that have a long history, whose grammar has been the subject of many studies and in which much literature has been written are referred to as classical languages.
• The classical languages are considered dead languages as they lose their importance in the modern world and their speakers shift to another language. A language becomes dead when the language has no more native speakers.
• Currently, there are six languages mentioned in the 8th schedule of the Indian constitution that enjoy the "Classical" status in India that are Tamil (declared in 2004), Sanskrit (2005), Kannada (2008), Telugu (2008), Malayalam (2013), and Odia (2014).
• As per the requirements set by the Government of India in 2004, a language is accorded the status of "Classical Language of India" if it fulfills the following criteria:
  • It should have a recorded history of existing for over a period of 1500-2000 years.
  • It would have an original literature tradition and would not borrow anything from any other language family.
  • It should have some ancient literature or epics in it.
  • The language should be different from its modern/later forms. 

Thus, it is concluded that in 2004, the Tamil language was declared as a classical language.