01-14-2005, 03:34 AM
The terms Dravidian and Dravidianist must be distinguished. The former is a very benign term used in the geographical sense. <b>It was originally used to denote the Brahmins of the South, the Pancha Dravidas, just as those of the North were called Pancha Gaudas. Later on, during the medieval times, this term was used to refer to all Southern people.</b>
In the mid 19th century, this term acquired a linguistic connotation when Bishop Caldwell classified the Southern languages as belonging to the Dravidian family. It was in the year 1886 AD that the upper caste non-Brahmin students of the University of Madras were told by a British governor, Mountstuart Grant-Duff that they belonged to the Dravidian race. That was when this term acquired racial connotation. The next 2 decades was spent in searching for a pedigree for this newborn race! V. Kanakasabhai Pillai proposed a Tibetan Homeland of the Dravidian race! This race was to include only the upper caste non-Brahmins and was to exclude the Brahmins, the Backwards and the Harijans.
Blended with the divisive AIT, the notions of the Dravidian race were used by E. V. Ramaswami Naicker, to further his political career by spewing hatred on the Brahmins. He often thundered that he would physically eliminate the Brahmins from Tamilnadu. He declared that the Brahmins were outsiders. To date, the Marxist historians feed such hate campaigns. So, the Dravidianists are those who usurped the term Dravidian, gave it a political and racist connotation, and used it for their hate agenda against the original Dravidians!
In the mid 19th century, this term acquired a linguistic connotation when Bishop Caldwell classified the Southern languages as belonging to the Dravidian family. It was in the year 1886 AD that the upper caste non-Brahmin students of the University of Madras were told by a British governor, Mountstuart Grant-Duff that they belonged to the Dravidian race. That was when this term acquired racial connotation. The next 2 decades was spent in searching for a pedigree for this newborn race! V. Kanakasabhai Pillai proposed a Tibetan Homeland of the Dravidian race! This race was to include only the upper caste non-Brahmins and was to exclude the Brahmins, the Backwards and the Harijans.
Blended with the divisive AIT, the notions of the Dravidian race were used by E. V. Ramaswami Naicker, to further his political career by spewing hatred on the Brahmins. He often thundered that he would physically eliminate the Brahmins from Tamilnadu. He declared that the Brahmins were outsiders. To date, the Marxist historians feed such hate campaigns. So, the Dravidianists are those who usurped the term Dravidian, gave it a political and racist connotation, and used it for their hate agenda against the original Dravidians!