Weaving, pearl fishing, smithy and ship building were some of the prominent industries of the ancient Tamil country. Tamil kings had for centuries been deeply involved in ship building, and voyages to the Malaysian peninsula, and further east to far away Java, Sumatra and Bali in present day Indonesia. Even to this day we see a strong influence of Tamil language, culture, worship, food and the arts in the Indonesian islands and Malaysia. It is a fact that during none of these great voyages to the east did any Tamil king desire or act to defeat, conquer or subjugate the peoples of foreign lands. Their sole purpose was to trade with them and show them Tamil way of life and worship. It was the people in those foreign lands that took up Tamil arts, cuisine and dance which they mixed with their own. The Tamil have a long history of achievement; sea travel, city life, and commerce seem to have developed early among them. Tamil trade with the ancient Greeks and Romans is verified by literary, linguistic, and archaeological evidence. The Cholas were a Tamil dynasty that ruled the south of India till the 13th century. Indian maritime history records extensive overseas venture in the south of India under the Chola dynasty. The Cholas encouraged sea trade by developing harbours and providing quarters, warehouses and workshops for Roman sailors and merchants. Trading relations in the south were improved and they had long trading correspondence with the west through trans-shipments at the Northern ports.

Tamils have travelled all over the world and have lived there many centuries keeping their traditions and culture live. You must come to tamilnadu to see the links to peruian and other culture. Ancient Cholas discovered South America long before Columbus did and that the Inca Sun Worshippers of Peru are none but the descendants of "our Chola ancestors" (vide Neelakanta Sastri-History of S. India and M. Monohan’s "Chola’s in America 1976" – pp11-20).
Source(s):
http://www.harrisburgtamilsangam.com/tamilnewsletter2009july%20augustfinal....

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