indigenous people. It was, however, certain that the Indo-Gangetic people were comparatively new and for a time when the Deccan Plateau was populated the Gangetic Plain was unfit for human habitation” - P.T.I - The Mail, 1st Sep. 1962.

     I˜aŒg†vadiga˜ the illustrious author of Silappadikƒram, an epic of the 2nd century A.D., refers in unequivocal and unmistakable terms to the submerged continent as the old territory of the Pandiya dynasty, at the southern extremity of which a gigantic mountain chain called Kumari and a huge river called PahŠu˜i were situated. 1.H.T.pp.39-42

     Adiyƒrkkunallƒr, the celebrated commentator of Silappadikƒram, explicitly mentions seven septenary groups of states which together with many others constituted the submerged continent, that lay north and south extending over a distance of about 2000 miles. The nature of the account is such that it ought to have been taken from a previous authentic record, and could not have been fabricated by the commentator.

     Tradition says that the Pandiya dynasty was the earliest, and that the other two, viz., Chola and Chera, were descended later from two brothers of a Pandiya king, who were appointed Vice-Roys of two Northern provinces, which became independent kingdoms in course of time.

     So, the submerged continent or a greater part of it was not only the ancient Pƒ–dinƒdu but also the original Tamil country.

     The 9th poem of Puranƒ‹‡Šu, an anthology of the 2nd century A.D., refers to one Nediy†‹, a pre-historic Pandiyan king of Kumarinadu, a portion of whose territory was watered by the river PahŠu˜i.

     The commentary on IŠaiya‹ƒr Agapporulபு, whose original form is attributed to Nakk…rar of the 2nd century A.D. and present form assigned to the 7th century A.D., gives the traditional account of the three ancient Tamil Academies of literary fame. It is a