I pass on to a brief consideration of the languages of Southern India. According to Mr. G. A. Grierson36 “the Dravidian family comprises all the principal languages of Southern India. The name Dravidian is a conventional one. It is derived from the Sanskrit Dravida, a word which is again probably derived from an older Dramila, Damila, and is identical with the name of Tamil. The name Dravidian is, accordingly, identical with Tamulian, which name has formerly been used by European writers as a common designation of the languages in question. The word Dravida forms part of the denomination Andhra-Drāvida-bhāshā, the language of the Andhras (i.e., Telugu), and Dravidas (i.e., Tamilians), which Kumārila Bhatta (probably 7th Century A.D.) employed to denote the Dravidian family. In India Dravida has been used in more than one sense. Thus the so-called five Dravidas are Telugu, Kanarese, Marāthi, Gujarāti, and Tamil. In Europe, on the other hand, Dravidian has long been the common denomination of the whole family of languages to which Bishop Caldwell applied it in his Comparative Grammar, and there is no reason for abandoning the name which the founder of Dravidian philology applied to this group of speeches.”

The five principal languages are Tamil, Telugu, Malayālam, Canarese, and Oriya. Of these, Oriya belongs to the eastern group of the Indo-Aryan family, and is spoken in Ganjam, and a portion of the Vizagapatam district. The population speaking each of these languages, as recorded at the census, 1901, was as follows:—

In the preparation of the following brief summary of the other vernacular languages and dialects, I have indented mainly on the Linguistic Survey of India, and the Madras Census Report, 1901.

Savara.—The language of the Savaras of Ganjam and Vizagapatam. One of the Mundā languages. Concerning the Mundā, linguistic family, Mr. Grierson writes as follows. “The denomination Mundā (adopted by Max Müller) was not long allowed to stand unchallenged. Sir George Campbell in 1866 proposed to call the family Kolarian. He was of opinion that Kol had an older form Kolar, which he thought to be identical with Kanarese Kallar, thieves. There is absolutely no foundation for this supposition. Moreover, the name Kolarian is objectionable, as seeming to suggest a connexion with Aryan which does not exist. The principal home of the Mundā languages at the present day is the Chota Nagpur plateau. The Mundā race is much more widely spread than the Mundā languages. It has already been remarked that it is identical with the Dravidian race, which forms the bulk of the population of Southern India.”

Gadaba.—Spoken by the Gadabas of Vizagapatam and Ganjam. One of the Mundā languages.

Kond, Kandhī, or Kui.—The language of the Kondhs of Ganjam and Vizagapatam.

Gōndi.—The language of the Gōnds, a tribe which belongs to the Central Provinces, but has overflowed into Ganjam and Vizagapatam.

Gattu.—A dialect of Gōndi, spoken by some of the Gōnds in Vizagapatam.

Kōya or Kōi.—A dialect of Gōndi, spoken by the Kōyis in the Vizagapatam and Godāvari districts.

Poroja, Parjā, or Parjī.—A dialect of Gōndi.

Tulu.—The language largely spoken in South Canara (the ancient Tuluva). It is described by Bishop Caldwell as one of the most highly developed languages of the Dravidian family.

Koraga.—Spoken by the Koragas of South Canara. It is thought by Mr. H. A. Stuart37 to be a dialect of Tulu.

Bellera.—Spoken by the Belleras of South Canara, and regarded as a dialect of Canarese or Tulu.

Toda.—The language of the Todas of the Nilgiri hills, concerning which Dr. W. H. R. Rivers writes as follows.38 “Bernhard Schmid,39 who wrote in 1837, appears to have known more of the true Toda language than any one who has written since, and he ascribes two-thirds of the Toda vocabulary to Tamil, and was unable to trace the remaining third to any other language. Caldwell40 believed the language of the Todas to be most closely allied to Tamil. According to Pope,41 the language was originally old Canarese with the addition of a few Tamil forms, but he has included in his vocabulary words which have probably been borrowed from the Badagas.”

Kota.—A mixture of Canarese and Tamil spoken by the Kotas of the Nīlgiri hills.

Badaga.—The language of the Badagas of the Nīlgiri hills. Said to be an ancient form of Canarese.

Irula.—Spoken by the Irulas of the Nīlgiris, and said to be a dialect of Tamil. According to Mr. Stuart, Kasuba or Kasuva is another dialect of Tamil spoken by the sub-division of the Irulas which bears the same name.

Kurumba.—Spoken by the Kurumbas of the Nīlgiri hills, Malabar, and Mysore, and regarded as a dialect of Canarese.

Konkani.—A dialect of Marāthi, spoken almost entirely in the South Canara district by Sārasvat and Konkani Brāhmans and Roman Catholic Christians.

Marāthi.—In the Tanjore district, the descendants of the former Marātha Rajas of Tanjore speak this language. It is also spoken in the Bellary district, which was formerly under Marātha dominion, by various Marātha castes, and in the feudatory State of Sandūr.

Patnūli or Khatri.—A dialect of Gujarāti, spoken by the Patnūlkārans who have settled for the most part in the town of Madura. They are immigrants from Saurāshtra in Gujarāt, who are said to have come south at the invitation of the Nāyak kings of Madura.

Lambādi.—The language of the nomad Lambādis, Brinjāris, or Sugālis. It is described by Mr. W. Francis42 as a patois “usually based on one of the local vernaculars, and embroidered and diversified with thieves’ slang and expressions borrowed from the various localities in which the tribe has sojourned. Cust thought that Lambādi was Semi-Dravidian, but the point is not clear, and it has been classed as Indo-Aryan.”

Korava or Yerukala.—A dialect of Tamil spoken by the nomad caste bearing these names. Like the Lambādis, they have a thieves’ slang.

Vadāri.—Recorded as a vulgar Telugu dialect spoken by a wandering tribe of quarrymen in the Bombay Presidency, the Berars, and elsewhere. They are doubtless Oddēs or Wudder navvies, who have migrated from their home in the Telugu country.

TABLE A.

Head Measurements.

C. = Canarese. M. = Malayālam. Tam. = Tamil. Tu. = Tulu. J. = Jungle Tribe. Mar. = Marāthi. Tel. = Telugu.

TABLE B.

Stature and Nasal Index.