Page:An introduction to Dravidian philology.djvu/83

Rh as the Vindhyas are crossed, we should postulate a complete contrast in civilization and culture? What was it that prevented the Aryan—speaking people who could overrun the whole of Northern India and a good portion of the South to do likewise in the so called Dravidian area? Or, is it that the original inhabitants of South India and their languages had been absorbed or fused into or probably superseded by the Aryan races and languages as in the North of India? If you postulate xtra-Aryan influences in the Prakrit languages, why not credit the Dravidian languages also with a Prakritic character? Is the extra-Aryan character of the South Indian languages greater in proportion to that found in the North Indian idioms? I hope all this will not turn out to be the airy musings of an unsubstantial imagination. I am sure that this line of inquiry will bear good fruit and serve to establish