Village Verification Project
Thousands of Tamil indentured labourers travelled from villages in Tamil Nadu to Natal, South Africa, during the colonial period. TamizhConnect has mapped the South African Tamil indenture records to possible native villages and districts in Tamil Nadu. Now we're inviting two groups to help complete the story.
This is not a random prize draw and not a bounty on living people. Rewards are paid only after TamizhConnect verifies the evidence and the family connection is confirmed by the descendant.
Two invitations, one goal
If your Tamil family has roots in South Africa, your ancestor may appear in Natal indenture records.
- Search by name, father's name, ship, indenture number, or village
- Confirm whether the record belongs to your family
- Optionally claim your ancestor and start a family tree
- Give consent before any private family details are shared or contacted
If your village appears in the South African Tamil Roots list, you may be able to help identify historical family links.
- Identify historical families from the listed native village
- Submit evidence, not guesses
- Help verify whether a descendant's ancestor matches a family line
- Earn a reward only after TamizhConnect verifies the link
Evidence, not village gossip
A valid Tamil Nadu-side submission should include several of the following. We do not accept "I know this family" without proof.
Seven steps to a confirmed link
- 1Historical record listed
TamizhConnect shows ancestor, father, ship, year, indenture number, old village and district.
- 2South African descendant claims / links
The descendant says: "This is my ancestor." They provide family-tree context privately.
- 3Tamil Nadu contributor submits match
The contributor submits evidence from the native village — documents, kin names, oral history references.
- 4Admin review
TamizhConnect cross-checks name variants, father's name, village, district, kin, ship / year context.
- 5Descendant confirmation
The South African descendant confirms whether the proposed connection makes sense.
- 6Reward approval
Payment only after evidence + descendant-side confirmation + admin approval.
- 7Public update
Only a consented, non-sensitive summary is published: "This ancestral village link has been verified with family consent."
Two clear channels — one per audience
Pick a village from the roster, note the ancestor you can identify, and send us your evidence. Please include:
- Your name and a private contact (email or phone)
- The ancestor's name from the Natal record (and link to the /roots/tree page if possible)
- The village + district + any kin names you can match
- Photos or scans of documents where lawful
We review submissions within 14 days.
Search Natal records, find your ancestor, and click Save. Saving the record puts it in the verification pool — when a Tamil Nadu contributor submits matching evidence, we'll contact you privately to confirm whether the link fits your family memory.
- No new form to fill — just Save the record
- You control whether to confirm any proposed link
- Nothing about your family is shared with the contributor until you agree
Free to search. Sign-up takes 30 seconds.
Public seed pages show archival / deceased / historical records only. For living descendants, we use opt-in only. Please do not share phone numbers, exact addresses, ID documents, dates of birth, private family disputes, or unverified caste or community labels. Family information should be submitted safely through TamizhConnect.
Aligned with POPIA (South Africa), UK GDPR + PECR (United Kingdom) and DPDP (India). See the reward terms below for the full data handling rules.
£200 per verified link. Pilot cap: first 25.
Paid to the first contributor whose evidence leads to a descendant-confirmed match.
Capped at the first 25 verified links. Once the pool is exhausted, the pilot closes and any expansion will be announced separately.
We welcome sponsors to expand the reward pool
The £5,000 pilot pool is what TamizhConnect has committed. When sponsors step in — Tamil diaspora foundations, temples, ancestral associations, family trusts, or individuals — we can fund more verifications, reach more villages, and reunite more families.
Contribute any amount from £200 upwards — each £200 funds one additional verified ancestral link.
Pick a Tamil Nadu village from the roster and fund up to five verifications for descendants of families from that village.
Sponsors are named on the verified-links page unless they prefer to stay anonymous.
Already visited your family in Tamil Nadu?
If you have already met your Tamil Nadu family in person — through a temple visit, a wedding, or a village trip — you don't have to start from zero. Pick the path that fits.
Ask the Tamil Nadu family member you already met to submit the evidence under their own name. If the link is verified, the £200 goes to them.
One submission with both your contact and the Tamil Nadu contact. The reward is paid to the Tamil Nadu recipient (UK / India payment corridors only).
If you already have the evidence yourself (photos of your visit, an elder's recorded testimony) and want the link recorded without a payout, submit and note 'waive reward' — nothing is drawn from the £5,000 pool.
- Descendant is a minor: parent or guardian consents. The child is not contacted directly.
- TamizhConnect staff and immediate family are not eligible for the reward. Their submissions are still welcome and reviewed.
- Ancestor not yet in the roster: contact us first to request the record be added, then submit evidence.
- Descendant later declines the proposed link: the submission is marked rejected. No payment, no public record of the link.
- Sanctions and restricted jurisdictions: rewards are payable to UK and India only, and never to sanctioned countries even if the contributor is otherwise eligible.
South African Tamil Roots Village Verification Project — terms
Translated for accessibility. Switch language (top-right) to see the canonical English version referenced in any dispute.
- Promoter
- Tharviyan Limited, trading as TamizhConnect.
- Reward
- £200 per verified ancestral link between a South African Tamil descendant and a Tamil Nadu native village family line.
- Eligibility
- The reward is paid to contributors resident in the United Kingdom or India and 18 or older. South African descendants participate in the confirmation loop; the reward itself is paid to the person who supplied the verified evidence (typically a Tamil Nadu-based contributor). No purchase or membership required to participate or to receive a reward.
- Not a lottery
- This is a skill / evidence-based reward, not a random draw or prize competition. Rewards are paid only for verified matches under the criteria set out here. TamizhConnect makes the verification decision.
- What counts as a valid submission
- A submission must include enough of the evidence categories above (matching ancestor name / name variant, father's name, old village + district, oral history of migration to Natal, temple / kula deivam link where relevant, and documentary support where available) that cross-referencing with the archival record produces a plausible identification. Photos or scans of documents are encouraged where lawful.
- What does not count
- Guesses, hearsay without evidence, submissions that name living people without their consent, submissions that disclose ID documents / dates of birth / phone numbers / exact addresses in public, and duplicates.
- Duplicates
- Where multiple contributors submit evidence for the same ancestral link, the reward goes to the earliest valid submission on the record.
- Reward pool
- The pilot pool is capped at £5,000 — the first 25 verified ancestral links. Once the pool is exhausted, the pilot closes. Any expansion is announced separately.
- Review period
- Submissions are reviewed on a rolling basis. The pilot runs until the £5,000 pool is exhausted or 14 March 2027, whichever is earlier.
- Payment
- Paid within 30 days of final verification. United Kingdom recipients are paid in GBP by Wise transfer. India recipients are paid the GBP-INR equivalent by Razorpay payout at the prevailing rate on the transfer date. Any bank fees or currency conversion on the recipient side are the recipient's responsibility.
- Data and privacy
- Personal information about identifiable living people (including names of living family members, addresses, phone numbers, ID document references) will be treated as personal data under POPIA (South Africa), UK GDPR (United Kingdom) and DPDP (India). Nothing will be published publicly without explicit written consent. Descendants must consent before any TamizhConnect-facilitated introduction is made.
- Verification decision
- TamizhConnect's decision on whether a submission is verified is final. We may request additional evidence or contact submitters privately for clarification.
- Fraud
- Fabricated evidence, coerced consent, or attempts to game the reward will result in disqualification and, in serious cases, may be reported to the relevant authorities.
- Tax
- Any tax, duty, or withholding on the reward is the recipient's responsibility under the law of their country of residence.
- Right to pause
- TamizhConnect reserves the right to pause, amend, or end the pilot at any time in response to fraud, abuse, legal changes, or operational issues. Any unpaid but validly earned rewards up to the point of pause will be honoured.
Start here
Free to search. Evidence required for a verification reward. No public sharing of private family details.
Questions about a submission? Contact us — please don't share private living-person details in the message.