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Who first used the term Dravidian?
Robert A. Caldwell
The actual term Dravidian was first employed by Robert A. Caldwell, who introduced the Sanskrit word dravida (which, in a 7th-century text, obviously meant Tamil) into his epoch-making A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages (1856).
Why Tamils are called Dravidians?
It was Francis Whyte Ellis, collector of Madras Province, who correctly identified that Tamil et al formed a linguistic group of their own that was apart from Sanskrit. He called it Dravidian. Research by Burrow and Emeneau identified Dravidian root words distinct from the Indo-Aryan family of languages.
When did the Dravidians start?
Recent linguistic analysis has found that the Dravidian language family is approximately 4,500 years old (2,500 BCE), which coincides nicely with the South Indian Neolithic period, a period after 3,000 BCE when archaeologists have noted the expansion of cattle rearing, lentil farming, and hilltop villages radiating out …
Who were Dravidians in India?
The Dravidians were the majority population across the Indian subcontinent before the second millennium. The evidence of early Dravidians comes from studying the Indo-Aryan culture, languages, and findings at many mounds, the preeminent of which are Mohenjodaro in Punjab and Harappa in Larkana District in Sind.
Who came first in India Dravidians or Aryans?
One of these ideas is that India is a land of two races – the lighter- skinned Aryans and the darker-skinned Dravidians – and that the Dravidians were the original inhabitants of India whom the invading Aryans conquered and dominated.”
What is the meaning of Dravidian languages?
Dravidian languages. The Dravidian languages are a language family spoken mainly in southern India and parts of eastern and central India, as well as in Sri Lanka with small pockets in southwestern Pakistan, southern Afghanistan, Nepal, Bangladesh and Bhutan, and overseas in other countries such as Malaysia, Philippines,…
How many people in India speak Dravidian languages?
There are around 245 million native speakers of Dravidian languages. They form the majority of the population of South India. Dravidian-speaking people are natively found in India, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal, the Maldives, and Sri Lanka.
What is the significance of Dravidian art in medieval India?
Medieval South Indian guilds and trading organisations like the “Ayyavole of Karnataka and Manigramam” played an important role in the Southeast Asia trade, and the cultural Indianisation of the region. Dravidian visual art is dominated by stylised temple architecture in major centres, and the production of images on stone and bronze sculptures.
Which is the largest Dravidian ethnic group in India?
The largest Dravidian ethnic groups are the Telugus from Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, the Tamils from Tamil Nadu, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Singapore, the Kannadigas from Karnataka, the Malayalis from Kerala, and the Tulu people from Karnataka. Badagas are found in Tamil Nadu .