Page:Origin and spread of the Tamils.djvu/27



16 ORIGIN AND SPREAD OF THE TAMILS to speak of race. The racial characteristics of skin, colour and nose forms are due to climate and geographical influence. The Malayalis of today are generally fairer than the Tamils, while the Mangaloreans are fairer than Malayalis. Wherever the term Aryan is used, it is either a resident of Aryavarta who speaks an Aryan tongue or a nobleman, an honoured one. According to Ancient Indian Geography the whole of India was broadly divided into three territorial units-the Aryāvarta, Madhyadesa and Dakşiņāpatha or Dravida. The Aryāvarta or Aryanādu included Dandakāraṇyam according to the Padirruppattı. So also a Dravidian was a resident of Dravidadesa, who spoke a Dravidian language. There was no racial distinction as Aryan and Dravidian in Indian literature. Dravida was the home of the ancient Tamils. It is a name just like Anga, Vanga, or Magadha. Dravida or Dramida seems to be a development from an older expression Damila which is generally identified with Tamir or Tamil. In considering the origin of the Dravidians by which term we mean only the Tamil and Malayalam speaking people, we must take into account the traditions as embedded in the twin literature-Tamil and Sanskrit. Tamilakam as defined in the Tamil Literature is the country bounded by Tirupati hills on the north, and surrounded by sea on either side. This means that Andhrades'a or parts of Mysore and Kanara were not included in the Tamii nādu: The peculiar division of the whole Tamil land into five natural divisions