different. These were generally known as Dravidasampradaya. So far as these habits of life, customs, practices and rituals tended to higher spirituality, they were adopted by the other Brahman communities of the peninsula-the Andhras, the Karnatakas, the Maharashtras and the Gurjaras. This accounts for peoples speaking Sanskritic dialects like Marathi and Gujarathi and people speaking nun-Sanskritic dialect like Tamil, Telugu and Kanarese being grouped together as Pancha Dravidas or the five Dravidas.
The Dravidas proper were the Tamil-speaking Brahmans. The use of the name for other Brahman communities is an instance of extension of its meaning and application. The term was extended to all Brahmans observing the Dravidâchârams, or Dravidasampradaya.
In North India the Brahmans, who did not
On the contrary in these matters the Gauda or northern • Brahmans are more lax, The Dravida Brahmans are generally very conservative and the strictness in the observance of the above customs is attributed to thieir natural desire to maintain the purity of their Aryan blood.
Among the Dravida Brahmans, the Nambudris of Malabar form an exception. They seem to have retained some of the original trans- Vindhyan or Gauda customs and resisted the healthy reforms of Sankara, Ramanuja and Ananda Tirtha. Their enforced polygamy, their free intercourse with the non-Aryans, and a few of their anucharus or unaryan customs raise some doubt as to the purity of their Aryan descent, a doubt which occurred to our minds in spite of the somewhat rigorous social customs obtaining among them to-day and their fair complexion, which are no doubt due to climatic conditions and their ways of living.
