Dravida

Dravida
Is this an identity? A Culture? A society? Or just a word?

When we refer to the Wikipedia, its says that Dravida is a group of people who speak Dravidian Language. So what is Dravidian Language? Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Kannadam are the Dravidian language. So in other words, Dravidian People actually consist of Tamilians, Telugus, Malayalis, and Kannadigas. The population of these speakers are mainly in southern part of India. The Dravidian states are Tamil Nadu, Andra Pradesh, Kerala, and Karnataka. Many scholars have stated that Dravidians originated from The Indus Valley Civilization. Indeed recent genetic studies also reveals that these Dravidians are the origins of India.

Where It Begun?

So where did the word Dravida came from? Many have studied this and came up with their theories. The main theory is the word Dravida originated from Sanskrit, where the word Dravida bring the meaning Tamil. Some have stated that the Tamil word itself have evolved from the word Dravida. Dravida->Dramila->Tamizha->Tamil.
Also exist some other theories that saying the word Dravida comes from Drava which means sea or water. Since the early civilization of these Dravidians begun at Indus Valley and their life was associated with water and river, Dravidians might bring a meaning of people stay near water or sea. Also the southern part of India is surrounded by sea in its 3 sides also might be the cause the people who were at southern part of India known as Dravidians.

Researchers believe that the Dravidas originated from Indus Valley Civilization till the invasion of the Aryans. The invasion of Aryans had caused the Dravidians to move out from the Indus Valley and move towards the southern part of India. They have discovered that the people at Indus Valley had the same cultural and socio life aspect as the current Dravidas.

Language

The Language had played a great power in the Dravidan culture evolution. The best-known Dravidian languages are Kannada (ಕನ್ನಡ), Malayalam (മലയാളം), Tamil (தமிழ்) and Telugu (తెలుగు). Furthermore it is also being said that Tamil is the mother of all these Dravidan Language.

Aadi Dravida & Dravida

The term Aadi Dravida refers to the Dalit ethnic, where these people were from the lower caste. These term of Aadi Dravida was created by Thanthai Periyar. He was one of the main activist who worked against casteism and division among the people based on castes. It is also being said that Aadi Dravida’s are the original Dravidans and the are the native people of Indian Subcontinent.