Pariahs of southern India are the descendants of the ancient rulers of southern India. Their physical resemblance to the tribes that were encountered by the first foreign invaders of India also bear out this conclusion. They were dark-skinned, flat-nosed, short, as described in the literature of those that conquered them.

That the Dravidians had attained a certain level of civilization and culture is proved indeed by the progress attained in their civilization and culture within later times, as instanced in the language and literature of the Tamils and in the splendid specimens of Dravidian architecture. Such a bright summer must have been preceded by a genial spring. This fact is equally plain, however, from the accounts left us by those that overpowered them. One source of such accounts is to be found in the Vedic hymns, especially the Rig Veda. These are full of references to the existence of the ancient Dravidians and prove their advancement in the arts of life. The "hundred castles" of Sambara, the magnificent cities of the Gandharvas, the "wealth of Anas," the riches of Vritras-all these tales betoken a civilization which the invaders coveted but could not claim for themselves. The writings of these ancient times attribute even bravery and superior architectural skill to the Asuras and the Nagas.

Nor were these ancient Dravidian peoples merely civilized and cultured. They were not lacking in the more manly military qualities. No people, not even the ancient Hebrews, prayed so fervently and frequently for the coveted success in battle as did the conquerors and settlers who eventually succeeded against them. The prayers that they addressed to Indra and Agni must have been wrung from hearts stricken with anxiety and minds depressed by the prospect of possible failure against a terrible foe. Across the ages, the Vedic hymns and the epics of the Ramayana and the Mahabharata which speak of the terrible Savaras still palpitate with the fear and terror of a people who had ventured from their homes and had counted on an easy settlement in fertile territory. In their despair the Vedic peoples invented even charms, spells, and sacrifices, such as are found in the later books of the Vedas, and pressed them into service to defend themselves. It was a people akin to their own tribes that formed the famous Dravidian kingdoms of the south whose course in historical times we shall soon traverse.

II. Early South India.

The Tolkaappiyam, the earliest Tamil work available which most Tamil scholars ascribe to the pre-Christian era (circa 3 c. B.C.), provides