ogical type which is
known as the Dravidian. "The Dravidian race," says Sir H. Risley, "the
most primitive of the Indian types, occupies the oldest geological
formation in India, the medley of forest-clad ranges, terraced plateaus,
and undulating plains which stretches, roughly speaking, from the
Vindhyas to Cape Comorin. On the east and west of the peninsular area
the domain of the Dravidian is conterminous with the Ghats, while
farther north it reaches on one side to the Aravallis and on the other
to the Rajmahal hills."

This territory is the proper home of the race. A strong Dravidian
element can, however, also be traced in the population of northern
India. In Kashmir and Punjab, where the Aryans had already settled in
those prehistoric times when the Vedic hymns were composed, the
prevailing type is the Aryan one. The same is the case in Rajputana.
From the eastern frontier of the Punjab, on the other hand, and
eastwards, a Dravidian element can be traced. This is the case in the
valleys of the Ganges and the Jumna, where the Aryans only settled at a
later period. Anthropologists also state that there is a Dravidian
element in the population of western India, from Gujarat to Coorg.

It is thus probable that Dravidian languages have once been spoken in
many tracts which are now occupied by Aryan forms of speech. The
existence of a Dravidian dialect in Baluchistan seems to show that
Dravidian settlers have once lived in those parts. The tribe in
question, the Br[=a]h[=u][=i]s, are, however, now Eranians and not
Dravidians by race, and it is not probable that there has ever been a
numerous Dravidian population in Baluchistan. The Br[=a]h[=u][=i]s are
most likely the descendants of settlers from the south.

There is no indication that the Dravidians have entered India from
outside or superseded an older population. For all practical purposes
they can accordingly be considered as the aborigines of the Deccan,
whence they appear to have spread over part of northern India. Their
languages form an isolated group, and it has not been possible to prove
a connexion with any other family of languages. Such attempts have been
made with reference to the Munda family, the Tibeto-Burman languages,
and the dialects spoken by the aborigines of the Australian continent.
The arguments adduced have not, however, proved to be sufficient, and
only the Australian hypothesis can still lay claim to some probability.
Till it has been more