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JOURNAL, R.A.S. (CEYLON). [VOL. XXI. 



last Sangain, it is clear that its compilation dates as far back 

 as 1 , 800 years ago. Although no inscription of the Chalukkyas 

 of a date anterior to the fifth century a.d. has as yet 

 been discovered, the fact of their being mentioned in " Diva- 

 karam " 1 of the second century a.d. is to be considered a strong 

 proof of their earlier existence as a ruling race. By " Vel- 

 pulam " we ought to understand " Gurjara " and the ad- 

 jacent districts, which correspond more or less exactly to the 

 modern " Maharashtra," and it was, no doubt, because the 



Chalukkya rulers, it seems an easy conclusion that there were exten- 

 sive settlements of the Dravidian races in the peninsula of Guzerat 

 and in Saurashtra in very ancient times. The learned author of the 

 « 'Gazetteer of Mysore" has made the following interesting remarks, 

 namely : — 



" They (the Dravidians) may be identified with the Zend Turanians 

 ('an' signifying God in that language) and with the maritime traders 

 called ' Toursha ' and ' Tursene ' or < Tyrrhenians ' mentioned in 

 Egyptian and Greek records. Their first great trading port was 

 Dwaraka in the peninsula of Kathiawar, other exporting harbours being 

 Surparaka at the mouth of the Tapti and Barygaza at the mouth of 

 the Narmada. They made settlements at the holy island of Dilmun 

 in the Persian Gulf and at Eridu near the mouth of the Euphrates." 

 — Vide "Gazetteer of Mysore," p. 209. — V. J. T. 



1 " Divakaram,"the oldest Tamil lexicon now extant, was written by 

 a Tamil noble called Sendan, chief of a place called Ambal, The 

 popular opinion that it was written by one Divakaramuni, father of 

 Pingalar who composed the Tamil lexicon bearing his name, viz., 

 * ' Pingalandai , ' ' seems to rest on no solid foundation. The work is divided 

 into twelve chapters, at the end of each of which there is a stanza 

 praising the accomplishments and literary eminence of the author, 

 Sendan, and in one of these stanzas it is expressly stated that the 

 lexicon was composed by this learned noble. Not one of the twelve 

 stanzas refer to Divakaramuni as the author of the work, which is 

 very strange, and requires explanation if we are to suppose that he was 

 the real author who compiled the lexicon. These stanzas are obviously 

 later additions, and if we may assume that they were incorporated 

 with the work by Divakaran, who possibly revised and edited it, the 

 origin of the tradition associating his name with it is satisfactorily 

 explained. 



Pingalar was a son of one Divakarar, and wrote a lexicon which is 

 extant, known as " Pingalam " or " Pingalandai." The late Mr. Shesha- 

 giri Sastri, M. A., writes as follows as to the date of its composition, viz.: — 



" He (Pingalar) mentions the word 'Pallava ' among the synonyms 

 of 'the mean,' from which we have to understand that, after the 

 downfall of the Pallava kingdom at Kanchi, the Pallavas were so 



