All the Tamil speaking inhabitants of the southern districts do not belong to one and the same race. Any layman can easily distinguish the Dravidian Tamils from the Aryan Brahmans. The physical characteristics of the hill and forest tribes, such as the Kadars, the Soligas and the Kurumbas differ from those of the Vellalas and the Todas. Dr. A. H. Keane and other ethnologists recognise at least three distinct races in the population of Southern India. This hypothesis seems to receive some countenance and support from ancient Tamil literature and traditions. The well-known classification of rational beings (உயர் திணை) by the Tamil grammarians into makkal (மக்கள்), devar (தேவர்) and narakar (நரகர்) or nágar (நாகர்) points to the existence of three types of people in the Tamil land, namely, the Dravidian Tamils (Makkal), the Aryan-Brahmans (Devar) and the aboriginal tribes (Nágar). 'Nága' is a word loosely applied to all the aborigines who used to inhabit the forests, the low regions and other unknown realms (Narakam). Even so late as the eleventh century when the process of the capture and absorption of the aboriginal peoples by the superior Dravidians was going on, the more powerful of the Nága tribes seem to have struggled hard to maintain their sturdy independence and to preserve their racial integrity.[1] For
- ↑ With this compare the remarks of the Madras Government Epigraphist: "The mythical account of the Epic hero Arjuna marrying a Naga queen and similar stories current about the early Chola kings in Tamil literature, combined with what is stated of the Naga connections with the first Pallava kings ... confirm
