.> > > > there is a tamil Brahmin- Iyer community called "ashtasahasram" > > meaning "eight thousand".... > > > > the line of thought is that these brahmins were a community of > 8000 > > familes and the descendants of this community are > > called "ashtasahasram" iyers... > > >.
Diwakars info is correct. Tamil Thatha u.ve.sa has written about this in his "en sarithiram" his autobiography, in the very first few chapters..
Gowthama neelambaran in his novels has written about ennayiram.Earlier jains lived in ennayiram.when pandya king's 'veppu noi' was cured by sambandar, jains and shaivites decided to test their religion.Losers were supposed to be put to death.They did 'anal vatham' and 'punal vatham'.Shaivites won it and according to the bet jains were killed.
It wasnt 8000 jains,claims gowthama neelambaran,but it was handful number of jain saints from ennayiram village,who lost the bet.Since kalvettu inscriptions called them as 'ennayiram samanargal',it was misunderstood as if pandiya king killed 8000 jains.But they were called ennayiram because of the village they came from and not because of their numbers.
Sambandar and pandiya king did not want to kill jains,but due to losing the bet jains wanted to keep up their word.They are known for strict physical punishments like pulling hair one by one etc.Thus because they failed in bet,they thought it as punishment given by their god and wanted to be put to death.
Orthodox hinduism was beginning to revive in tamilnadu by then.After kalapira rule, shaivism started to grow in tamilnadu,replacing jainism.Conversion of mahendravarman and pandyan nedumaran fuelled growth of shaivism.Saints like sambandar,appar,maniacka vasagar,adi shankarar and alwars spread bakthi movement in tamilnadu.
Bakthi movement was at its peak at chola time.Great epics like kamba ramayanam,silapathikaram,nalayiram all were sung during this period.Two great religions, visistathvaidha and advaitha were created during this period.