Page:Origin and spread of the Tamils.djvu/20



AUTHORS OF EARLY TAMIL CULTURE, theory is that of Pre-Dravidians, who were the authors of the paleolithic culture while the Dravidians came to the scene at the end of the neolithic times. The jungle and hill tribes represented by the Kurumbar, Irular, Todas, Veddhas of Ceylon-to mention only a few-are the remnants of the pre-Dravidian stock. There seems to be universal agreement as to Negro or Negrito element as present in the tribes of South India. It is believed that this Negrito element was not of the African or Australian influence but it came from Malaysia. Thurston seeks affinities with Sakais of Malaya Peninsula. The commercial intercourse between South India and Malaysia and Polynesia should have taken place from prehistoric times, and it is quite possible that peoples of these countries settled in South India and mingled freely with the then South Indian society. If we examine the languages of Malaysia, we find more words of Indian, especially South Indian, origin in these languages while Malaysian words in Dravidian languages are few and far between. This demonstrates that a large number of ancient Tamils settled in Malaysia and a correspondingly small number of Malaysians in South India.... Another theory points to the blending of the Dravidian and Munda languages and consequently of the tribal fusion. It is still an open question whether the Munda languages" ever had had their penetration to Tamil India proper. While one finds relics of the influences of these Munda languages up to the Godavari border, there is nothing tangible to