Dravidian Gods in Modern Hinduism 9 



the Aryans came to India they were the domiciled inhabitants. 

 They have preserved no literature and left no monuments which 

 throw light upon their origin. 



There are two main theories with regard to the origin of the 

 Dravidians in India. ^ The one most commonly accepted is that 

 they came through the northwest passages in the Himalaya Moun- 

 tains at some time far earlier than the Aryan invasion. The 

 physiognomy of the Dravidians is very similar to that of the Cau- 

 casians, and has but little resemblance to the Mongolians. More- 

 over, their distribution in India would indicate that they once cov- 

 ered the entire land and were driven to the south and east by the 

 later invasion of the Aryans. 



The other theory is that the Dravidians have had a southern 

 origin. The hypothetical sunken continent in the Indian Ocean, 

 called Lemuria, is thought to have been their original home.* 

 Ceylon is certainly Dravidian, and the distribution of Dravidians 

 in India lends itself quite as well to the support of a southern 

 origin as of a northern. The negritic type which is so often ob- 

 served, especially in the Yanadis,^ has been attributed to this 

 southern origin, but it is probable that for centuries coasting trad- 

 ers have gone back and forth between India and Africa. The mon- 

 soon winds blowing steadily for many weeks every year from the 

 southwest to India, may also have brought shipwrecked Africans 

 or those who put out too far to sea and were unable to get back 

 to land. 



It is not the intention of this thesis to throw new light on the 

 question of the origin of the Dravidians. It is sufficient to point 

 out that when the Aryan invaders came to India they found 

 another race in possession of the land — a race which they grad- 

 ually subjugated, and to some extent assimilated. 



In South India the Aryans are now represented almost exclu- 

 sively by the Brahmans. It is usually understood that of the four 



3 For a full discussion of the origin of the Dravidians in India see The 

 Manual of Administration of the Madras Presidency, 1885, I, pp. 29 sq. 



^ See W. Crooke, The Northwest Provinces of India, London, 1897, PP* 

 198 sq. 



^Madras Government Museum, Bulletin, IV, no. 2, pp. 87 sq. gives a full 

 discussion of the probable origin of the Yanadis. 



