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A popular hand-book to the history, from original sources, of the Tamil people has been a want. In these essays an attempt has been made for the first time to put together the results of past researches, so as to present before the reader a complete bird's-eye view of the early history of Tamil culture and civilisation. The several topics have been treated from the standpoint of modern criticism, traditions and legends being discarded or utilized with great caution. They are based chiefly upon materials, which have been gathered in the course of my study of Tamil literature, ethnology and epigraphy begun while working under Sir Harold Stuart and Mr. W. Francis, both of the Indian Civil Service, in connection with the Madras Censuses of 1891 and 1901 and the revision of District Gazetteers. Some of the theories explained here might be open to corrections and alterations in the light of further discoveries and