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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Panini mentioned some countries in his Ashtadhyayi
Kachcha (IV, 2.133) , Avanti (IV. 1.176), Kosala (IV. i.171), Kalinga (IV. i. 170) and Asmaka (IV. 1.173) He did not mention any countries in South India except for Asmaka .
Sutta Nipata , one of the oldest pali texts in Buddhist litt. speaks of a Brahmin guru called Bavarin from Sravasthi, Kosala who settled in a village on the Godhavari (R. Godavari) in the Assaka (Asmaka, today's Bodhan, Nizamabad dist) territory in the Dakkinaptha (South India) (Vs 976-7)
Bavarin sent his sixteen pupils to pay their homage to Buddha and confer with him. There is a big story why he sent his disciples but it is irrelevant here I think .
The route by which the disciples proceeded northwards is also described. (Vs 1011-3)
First , they went to Pattithana (Paithan) of Mulaka country , then to Mahissati (Mahismati of MP?)
To Ujjain, Gonaddha, Vedisa (Vidisha) and Vanasahvaya., Kosambi, Saketa and Savatthi (Sravastri,the capital of Kosala) ; to Setavya, Kapilavastu and Kusinara; to Pava, Vesali(capital of Magadha?)Â and finally to Pasanaka Chetiya where Buddha then was.
In the text of Sutta nipata edited by V Fausholl, the reading Alaka is adopted (Vs 977 & 1011) and the variant Mulaka was noted in the foot notes. There can however, be no doubt that Mulaka must be the correct reading. We know of no country of the name Alaka. Mulaka on the other hand, is well known.
Thus in the celebrated Nasik cave inscriptions of Vasisthiputra Pulumavi the Mulaka country has been associated with Asaka (Asmaka) exactly as it has been done in the Sutta Nipata (EI, VIII. 60)
The same country seems to have been mentioned as Maulika by Varaha mihira in Brht Samhita (XIV.8)
Further, considering that Godavari has been called Godhavari in the Sutta nipata, Gonaddha can very well be taken to stand for Gonadda-Gonarda, the place from which Patanjali , author of Mahabhashya, hailed. Sir RamaKrishna Bhandarkar has shown on the authority of the Mahabhashya that Saketa was situated on the road from Gonarda to Pataliputra (IA,II.7c) This is exactly in accordance with what the Sutta nipata says, for Saketa , according to the route taken by Bavarin's pupils was on the way from Gonaddha to the Magadha country. The native place of Patanjali was , there fore, in Central India, somewhere between Ujjain and Besnagar near Bhilsa.
The description of this route is very important in more than one ways.
In the first place, it will be seen that Bavarom's settlement was much to the south of Paithan, which is in Maharashtra, since Paithan was the principal town of Mulaka province to the south of which lies Asmaka, where Bavarin then was. Secondly, it is worthy of note that Bavarin's disciples went to North India , straight through Vindhyas. This disproves the theory of some scholars that Aryans were scared of Crossing Vindhyas and went southwards to the Deccan by an easterly detour around the mountain range.
From Paithan, the troupe reached Mahissati or Mahismati or Mandhata or Maheswari on the banks of Narmada, in MP, near Indore. Evidently, they must have passed to Mahismati through Vidharbha .
Unlike Panini, where Asmaka is the only country in South India to be mentioned by him, Katyayana who wrote aphorism called Vartikas to explain and supplement Panini and who has been assigned to the middle of 4th century B.c. goes beyond this.
To a Panini sutra : Janapada â Sabdat kshatriyad = an (IV. 1.168) , Katyayana adds a vartika or aphirms , Pandor = dyan , from which we obtain the form Pandya.
Again we have a sutra of Panini Kambojal = luk (IV.1.175) which lays down that the word Kamboja denotes not only Kamboja country but also the tribe and their king. But then there are other words which are exactly like Kamboja in this respect but which Panini has not mentioned. Katyayana is, there fore, compelled to supplement the above sutra with the vartika Kambojadibhyo = lug â vacahannam Choddyartham. This means that like kamboja, the words choda, kadera and Kerala denote not only the country , tribe but also the king. It will thus be seen that choda and Kerala were known to Katyayana but possibly, not to Panini.
However, Artha sastra mentions about Tamraparni river, in Srilanka and also speaks of pearls being found among other places in the Tamraparni river, in Pandya kavataka, and near the mt. Mahendra,all situated on the extremity of the Southern Peninsula. Kautilya's Pandya kavataka seem to be the same as Pandya vataka or Pandya vatabhava of the Brihat Samhita (80.2 and 6) Mahendra hills could be Travancore Hills (JRAS, 1894, 262)
It is possible that Pandyans are an "Aryan tribe"Â unlike Cholas. This surmise is sought to be proved as below:
1.   It is shown above that the word Pandya is derived from Pandu
2.   Pliny, on the authority of Megasthenes tells us that they were descended from Pandoea, The only daughter of Krishna. She went away from the country of Saurasena whose principal town were Mathura and Krishna Pura (Cleisobora) and was assigned by her father just" that portion of India which lies southwards and extends to the sea" (IA VI 249-50 and 344) While this could be taken as a combination of both truth and fiction, it lends credence to our theory
3.   Ptolemy speaks not only of the Kingdom of Pandion or Pandya but also of the country of Pandooui In Punjab. (IA, XIII, 331 and 349) these people could be Pandus.Â
4.    Varahamihira makes mention of a tribe called Pandus & places them in Madhya desa. (Brihat samhita XIV 3) Â
That Pandyans called their capital Mathura supports the above theories. This is quite in accordance with the practice of the colonists naming the younger towns after the older. However, we have to remember that there is a third Mathura in Srilanka and a fourth Mathura in the Eastern Archipelago.
The Arthasastra talks of a Bhoja king ruling Dandaka or Maharashtra. Bhojas must be a north Indian tribe who have migrated south to Maharashtra. Similarly, it can be argued, Paithan which is also in Maharashtra was named after Prathisthana situated near the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna, the same tradition of naming younger towns after older ones,as mentioned above, continuing here.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Another route by which Aryans seem to have gone to South India was by sea â from Indus to Kutch and from there, by sea coast to Saurashtra or Kathiawar. From Kathiawar, they went to Modern Broach , from where they proceeded to Sopara (Supparaka) in Thane district, Maharashtra.
After Mahabharata war, there was a declinein Aryan civilzation and there was a mix of various tribes, just as feared by Arjuna in the first chapter of Bhagavad Gita that there will be destruction of Varna Dharma and the women folk will become daring in their marriage with men from other Varnas.
Baudhayana in his Dharmasutras quotes a verse from the Bhallavan school fo Law, which tells us that
The inhabitants of Sindhu , Sauvira and Surashtra like those of Deccan were of mixed origin. It is possible that Aryans were recolonizing these parts, much time after Mbh. Towards the end of period of Dharma sutras, they seem to have advanced as far south as Sopara. Since no mention is traceable of any inland countries or towns between the sea coast and Deccan, it is clear that they must have taken a sea route.
Kittel in his Kannada English Dictionary gives a long list of Sanskrit words which seems to have been derived from Dravidian languages.
For eg., Matachi (Chandogya 1.10.1) occuring in the passage "matachi hateshu Kurushu atikya saha jayaya ushastir , ha chakrayana ibhya âgrame pradranaka uvasa"
The verse speaks of devastation of crops in Kuru country due to matachi, which is nothing but locusts(red colored winged creatures) (JRAS,1911, p 510), which is equivalent to midiche in Kannada or midatha in Telugu. (grasshopper or locust) It is astonishing that how a dravidian word is found in a purely north Indian Upanishad, which was supposed to have composed primarily in Punjab. That some explanations that Dravidian languages were present in NI prior to Aryanization, say as evidenced by the language of Brahuii does not explain this fact very well. This only can be explained by a) the antiquity of the Upanishads, taking them much before the times of IVC and b) the interaction between the NI and SI.
The Aryan words or langauge supplanting in a Dravidian country rather superficially can not be really argued because for eg., the names of even lowly goldsmiths or leather workers in Bhattiprolu and Amaravati inscriptions of early periods were totally sanskrit names and not dravidian, as evidenced by the early inscriptions. The names mentioned are Siddhartha, Vriddhika , Naga, Kanha and so on. One curious thing happens here that Kanha, an Aryan by name, calls himself a Damila (ASSI, I p 104) This shows that Damila is not a race distinct from Aryans.
Coupled this with the fact we find Pali inscriptions of much early periods show that Aryans were settled in South India for a very long time than that is being thought today. Pali was in fact continued to be the official langauge in "dravidian " kingdoms and this shows that Pali was not a which was supplanted at a later date must have been a natural langauge of the area. Here, we are talking of Malavalli inscriptions, Karnataka by Chutukalanamda satakarni of Kadamba dynasty , king of Vaijayanti or Banavasi of North canarese district, Karnataka. Another king connected to this dynasty is Mulanamda , both of who have issued coins. Jayavarman, Pallavan king of Kanchi issued copper plate grants in Pali language, as did Vijayadevavarman.
That fact that every one of these is a title deed and has been drawn up in Pali shows that this Aryan langauge must have been known not only to officials but also to literate and semi literate people, since these grants went even to villagers and guards and cowherds. By no stretch of imagination, you can think that these common people could understand a foreign language, thus making Pali a local and natural language in South India at that time.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Madhya desa is the most central of the earliest political provinces in India.
According to Manu, Madhya desa is the land between Himalaya in the north, the Vindhya in the South, Prayaga (Allahabad) in the east and Vinasana (the place where Sarasvati disappears) in the West. Evidently , this kind of description is traditional since it appears to be older than what we find in the Buddhist Pali canon. Pali canons describe the eastern tip of Madhya desa to be far to the east of Prayaga, unlike Manu. This  proves beyond doubt that Manu Smriti is composed earlier to Buddha.Â
The description of Madhya desa in Pali canons occurs in Vinaya Pitaka (Vin.i.197; DA.i.173; MA.i.316, etc.; AA.i.55, etc.; J.i.49; Mbv.12)in connection with Avanti Dakshinapatha country where the Buddhist monk Maha Katyayana was carrying on his missionary work. Avanti Dakshinapatha was , we are told, outside the Middle country and it appears that Buddhist had not made much progress there when Maha Katyayana began his work. He was the same monk who has converted King Asmaka or Assika of Bodhan in Andhra pradesh.  (We have already discussed about Asmaka desha earlier)
When a new member was received into the Buddhist Order, the necessary initiation ceremony had to be performed before a chapter of at least ten monks. This was the rule ordained by Buddha, but this was well nigh impossible in the Avanti Dakshina patha country as there were very few Bhihus there. Maha Katyayana , therefore sent a pupil of his to Buddha to get the rule relaxed. Buddha relaxed the rule and laid down that all provinces outside the Middle country (i.e. where Buddhism was prominent during the living days of Buddha) a chapter of four Bhikshus was quite sufficient. It was however necessary to specify the boundaries of the Middle country and this was done by Buddha with characteristic precision. To the east , was the town called Kajangala , beyond that lies Mahasala. To the south east is the river Salalavati , to the south is the town Setakanuika, to the west is the Brahman village called Thuna and to the north is the mountain called Ustraddhaja. Unfortunately, none of these boundary places here specified have been identified except one. This exception is the easterly point ie Kajangala.
Kajangala:
Kajangala , according to Prof Rhys Davids, is situated nearly 70 miles east of Bhagalpur. Kajangala must be spreading across an area what is now part of Birbhum district in West Bengal and Santhal paraganas in Jharkhand (Roy, Niharranjan, Bangalir Itihas, Adi Parba, (Bengali), first published 1972, reprint 2005, pp. 99-100, 81-93, Dey's Publishing, 13 Bankim Chatterjee Street, Kolkata,) This formed part of the Rarh region of later times, mentioned in Bhubaneswar stone tablet of Bhatta Bhabadev, a minister of King Harinbarmadev of 11th c . CE. Hiuen Tsang ( 640 CE)also had mentioned about Kajangala in his writings that he traveled from Bhagalpur or champa to Kajangala and then proceeded to Pundravardhana
Kajangala seems to be  a prosperous place where provisions could easily be obtained (dabbasambhárasulabhá) (J.iv.310) during Buddha's times . Once when the Buddha was staying in the Veluvana at Kajangala, the lay followers there heard a sermon from the Buddha and went to the nun Kajangalá to have it explained in detail (A.v.54f). On another occasion the Buddha stayed in the Mukheluvana and was visited there by Uttara, the disciple of Párásariya. Their conversation is recorded in the Indriyabháváná Sutta (M.iii.298ff). In the Milindapañha (p.10), Kajangala is described as a brahmin village and is given as the place of Nágasena's birth. In the Kapota Játaka mention is made of Kajangala, and the scholiast (J.iii.226-7) explains that it may be the same as Benares. According to the scholiast of the Bhisa Játaka (J.iv.311), the tree-spirit mentioned in that story was the chief resident monk in an old monastery in Kajangala, which monastery he repaired with difficulty during the time of Kassapa Buddha.
In the time of Buddha , therefore, the eastern limit of the Middle country had extended nearly 400 miles eastward of Prayaga which was its eastern most point in Manu's time. Now there can not be any doubt that Madhya desa was looked upon as a territorial division. Jataka tales make constant reference to it. Thus in one place we read of two merchants going from Utkala to the Middle country (Jataka tales I, 80) We also read there that Videha is a part of Middle country or Majjhima desa/ (Jat., III.364) Again, we hear of hermits fearing to descend from Himalayas to go into Majjhima desa because people there are too learned (Jat III, 115-6) Thus, it is clear that that Majjhima desa was a name not created by literary authors but was actually in vogue among the people and denoted a particular territorial division. It was with reference to this Middle Country that the terms Dakshina patha and Uttara patha seem to have come into use. Thus, it is possible that Dakshinapatha originally meant a country to the south not of Vindhyas but a country to the south of Middle country. This is clear from the fact that we find mention made of Avanti Dakshinapatha. (ie Southern Avanti ) It is worthy of note that Avanti was a very extensive country and that in Buddhist works we sometimes hear of Ujjeni and some times of Mahissati (or present Maheswari) as being its capital. While Ujjeni is the well known Ujjain, Mahissati must be the same as the Sanskrit Mahismati.
Mahismati:
Mahismati is variously identified but today, it is taken as the modern Maheswar, a town in the Khargone District in Madhya Pradesh (http://stable.toolserver.org/geohack/geo...N_75.58_E_)
Mahismati, popular as the capital of Heheyas , the dynasty to which Kartavirya Arjuna belongs, was mentioned in Mbh as well as in Ramayan. (Mbh 13:52) Karvavirya was a contemporary of Ravana , who has unsuccessfully attacked Mahismati. Sahadeva ,one of the Pandava brothers, also attacked Mahismati when king Nila was its ruler (Mbh 2:30) King Nila also fought on the side of Kauravas in the war of Kuruksetra.
It appears that Ujjain was the capital of the northern division of Avanti or Avanti country and Maheswar of the southern division , which was therefore called Avanti Dashkina patha. It is possible that the Southern Avanti included parts of Vidarbha which were to the south of Vindhya . Thus, the country of Avanti Dakshinapatha (Jat III. 463.16) was not exactly to the south of Vindhya as its upper half was to the north of Vindhyas and lower half to the south of Vindhyas. Yet if it was called Dakshinapatha, it is because it was lying to the south not so much of the Vindhyas but of the Middle country. The same appears to be the case with term Uttarapatha.
Uttarapatha:Â
One Jataka (II. 287.15) speaks of certain horse dealers as having come from Uttarapatha to Baranasi or Benares. Uttarapatha cannot here signify Northern India because Benares itself is in Northern India. Evidently it denotes a country at least outside and to the north of the Kasi kingdom whose capital was Benares. As the horses of the dealers just referred to are called Sindhava , it clearly indicates that they came from the banks of Indus (Sindh8). Indus is as much to the north as to the west of Saraswati and therefore must have been in the north west of Madhya desa also. It was thus with reference to the Middle country that the name Uttarapatha also was devised. In fact, Divyavadana clearly mentions that Taxila was placed in Uttarapatha. . We find that the term Uttarapatha was in this sense almost till 10th Century CE.Â
Thus, when Prabhakaravardhana, king of Sthaneswar , sent his son Rajyavardhana to invade Huna territory in Himalayas, Bana , the author of Harsacarita, represents him to have gone to the Uttarapatha.. As the Huna territory was thus placed in Uttarapatha, it is clear that Prabhakaravardhana's kingdom was excluded from Uttaraptha. As Thaneswar was on the eastern side of Saraswati, his kingdom was understood to be included in the Madhyadesa with reference to which alone the Huna territory seems to have been described as being in the Uttarapatha.
Similarly, the poet Rajasekhara (880-920 CE), in his Kavyamimansa attests that Uttarapatha lay to the west of Prithudaka (modern Pehoa) near Thaneswar in Haryana. Prithudaka lies on the banks of river Saraswati and is associated with the legendary king Prithu. Prithudaka literally means the pool of Prithu and is said to be place where Prithu is believed to have performed the Shraddha of his father. Hiuen Tsang also records the existence of the town Pehoa, named after Prithu, "who is said to be the first person that obtained the title Raja (king)". The town is referred as the boundary between Northern and central India and referred to by Patanjali.
Coming back to Kavyamimamsa, it further lists the Sakas, Vokkanas, Hunas, Kambojas, Keikayas, Bahlikas (Bactrian's), Pahlavas, Lampakas, Kulutas, Tanganas, Tusharas, Turushakas (Turks), Barbaras among the tribes of Uttarapatha (Kavyamimamsa Chapter 17).
It is therefore clear that the terms Dakshinapatha and Uttarapatha came into vogue only in regard to the Madhyadesa. It must, however, be borne in mind that the term Uttarapatha denoted different meanings in Northern and Southen Indias even at the time of Bana. In North India, it denoted the country north of Madhya desha. But in South India, it held a different meaning. It denoted the whole of North India even during times of Bana as mentioned above. Thus Harshavardhana, Bana's patron, has been described in South Indian inscriptions as Srimad Uttarapathadhipati i.e. sovereign of Uttaraptha which must here signify North India. (JBBRAS , XIV, 26; I.A., VIII, 46).<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Panini mentioned some countries in his Ashtadhyayi
Kachcha (IV, 2.133) , Avanti (IV. 1.176), Kosala (IV. i.171), Kalinga (IV. i. 170) and Asmaka (IV. 1.173) He did not mention any countries in South India except for Asmaka .
Sutta Nipata , one of the oldest pali texts in Buddhist litt. speaks of a Brahmin guru called Bavarin from Sravasthi, Kosala who settled in a village on the Godhavari (R. Godavari) in the Assaka (Asmaka, today's Bodhan, Nizamabad dist) territory in the Dakkinaptha (South India) (Vs 976-7)
Bavarin sent his sixteen pupils to pay their homage to Buddha and confer with him. There is a big story why he sent his disciples but it is irrelevant here I think .
The route by which the disciples proceeded northwards is also described. (Vs 1011-3)
First , they went to Pattithana (Paithan) of Mulaka country , then to Mahissati (Mahismati of MP?)
To Ujjain, Gonaddha, Vedisa (Vidisha) and Vanasahvaya., Kosambi, Saketa and Savatthi (Sravastri,the capital of Kosala) ; to Setavya, Kapilavastu and Kusinara; to Pava, Vesali(capital of Magadha?)Â and finally to Pasanaka Chetiya where Buddha then was.
In the text of Sutta nipata edited by V Fausholl, the reading Alaka is adopted (Vs 977 & 1011) and the variant Mulaka was noted in the foot notes. There can however, be no doubt that Mulaka must be the correct reading. We know of no country of the name Alaka. Mulaka on the other hand, is well known.
Thus in the celebrated Nasik cave inscriptions of Vasisthiputra Pulumavi the Mulaka country has been associated with Asaka (Asmaka) exactly as it has been done in the Sutta Nipata (EI, VIII. 60)
The same country seems to have been mentioned as Maulika by Varaha mihira in Brht Samhita (XIV.8)
Further, considering that Godavari has been called Godhavari in the Sutta nipata, Gonaddha can very well be taken to stand for Gonadda-Gonarda, the place from which Patanjali , author of Mahabhashya, hailed. Sir RamaKrishna Bhandarkar has shown on the authority of the Mahabhashya that Saketa was situated on the road from Gonarda to Pataliputra (IA,II.7c) This is exactly in accordance with what the Sutta nipata says, for Saketa , according to the route taken by Bavarin's pupils was on the way from Gonaddha to the Magadha country. The native place of Patanjali was , there fore, in Central India, somewhere between Ujjain and Besnagar near Bhilsa.
The description of this route is very important in more than one ways.
In the first place, it will be seen that Bavarom's settlement was much to the south of Paithan, which is in Maharashtra, since Paithan was the principal town of Mulaka province to the south of which lies Asmaka, where Bavarin then was. Secondly, it is worthy of note that Bavarin's disciples went to North India , straight through Vindhyas. This disproves the theory of some scholars that Aryans were scared of Crossing Vindhyas and went southwards to the Deccan by an easterly detour around the mountain range.
From Paithan, the troupe reached Mahissati or Mahismati or Mandhata or Maheswari on the banks of Narmada, in MP, near Indore. Evidently, they must have passed to Mahismati through Vidharbha .
Unlike Panini, where Asmaka is the only country in South India to be mentioned by him, Katyayana who wrote aphorism called Vartikas to explain and supplement Panini and who has been assigned to the middle of 4th century B.c. goes beyond this.
To a Panini sutra : Janapada â Sabdat kshatriyad = an (IV. 1.168) , Katyayana adds a vartika or aphirms , Pandor = dyan , from which we obtain the form Pandya.
Again we have a sutra of Panini Kambojal = luk (IV.1.175) which lays down that the word Kamboja denotes not only Kamboja country but also the tribe and their king. But then there are other words which are exactly like Kamboja in this respect but which Panini has not mentioned. Katyayana is, there fore, compelled to supplement the above sutra with the vartika Kambojadibhyo = lug â vacahannam Choddyartham. This means that like kamboja, the words choda, kadera and Kerala denote not only the country , tribe but also the king. It will thus be seen that choda and Kerala were known to Katyayana but possibly, not to Panini.
However, Artha sastra mentions about Tamraparni river, in Srilanka and also speaks of pearls being found among other places in the Tamraparni river, in Pandya kavataka, and near the mt. Mahendra,all situated on the extremity of the Southern Peninsula. Kautilya's Pandya kavataka seem to be the same as Pandya vataka or Pandya vatabhava of the Brihat Samhita (80.2 and 6) Mahendra hills could be Travancore Hills (JRAS, 1894, 262)
It is possible that Pandyans are an "Aryan tribe"Â unlike Cholas. This surmise is sought to be proved as below:
1.   It is shown above that the word Pandya is derived from Pandu
2.   Pliny, on the authority of Megasthenes tells us that they were descended from Pandoea, The only daughter of Krishna. She went away from the country of Saurasena whose principal town were Mathura and Krishna Pura (Cleisobora) and was assigned by her father just" that portion of India which lies southwards and extends to the sea" (IA VI 249-50 and 344) While this could be taken as a combination of both truth and fiction, it lends credence to our theory
3.   Ptolemy speaks not only of the Kingdom of Pandion or Pandya but also of the country of Pandooui In Punjab. (IA, XIII, 331 and 349) these people could be Pandus.Â
4.    Varahamihira makes mention of a tribe called Pandus & places them in Madhya desa. (Brihat samhita XIV 3) Â
That Pandyans called their capital Mathura supports the above theories. This is quite in accordance with the practice of the colonists naming the younger towns after the older. However, we have to remember that there is a third Mathura in Srilanka and a fourth Mathura in the Eastern Archipelago.
The Arthasastra talks of a Bhoja king ruling Dandaka or Maharashtra. Bhojas must be a north Indian tribe who have migrated south to Maharashtra. Similarly, it can be argued, Paithan which is also in Maharashtra was named after Prathisthana situated near the confluence of Ganga and Yamuna, the same tradition of naming younger towns after older ones,as mentioned above, continuing here.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Another route by which Aryans seem to have gone to South India was by sea â from Indus to Kutch and from there, by sea coast to Saurashtra or Kathiawar. From Kathiawar, they went to Modern Broach , from where they proceeded to Sopara (Supparaka) in Thane district, Maharashtra.
After Mahabharata war, there was a declinein Aryan civilzation and there was a mix of various tribes, just as feared by Arjuna in the first chapter of Bhagavad Gita that there will be destruction of Varna Dharma and the women folk will become daring in their marriage with men from other Varnas.
Baudhayana in his Dharmasutras quotes a verse from the Bhallavan school fo Law, which tells us that
The inhabitants of Sindhu , Sauvira and Surashtra like those of Deccan were of mixed origin. It is possible that Aryans were recolonizing these parts, much time after Mbh. Towards the end of period of Dharma sutras, they seem to have advanced as far south as Sopara. Since no mention is traceable of any inland countries or towns between the sea coast and Deccan, it is clear that they must have taken a sea route.
Kittel in his Kannada English Dictionary gives a long list of Sanskrit words which seems to have been derived from Dravidian languages.
For eg., Matachi (Chandogya 1.10.1) occuring in the passage "matachi hateshu Kurushu atikya saha jayaya ushastir , ha chakrayana ibhya âgrame pradranaka uvasa"
The verse speaks of devastation of crops in Kuru country due to matachi, which is nothing but locusts(red colored winged creatures) (JRAS,1911, p 510), which is equivalent to midiche in Kannada or midatha in Telugu. (grasshopper or locust) It is astonishing that how a dravidian word is found in a purely north Indian Upanishad, which was supposed to have composed primarily in Punjab. That some explanations that Dravidian languages were present in NI prior to Aryanization, say as evidenced by the language of Brahuii does not explain this fact very well. This only can be explained by a) the antiquity of the Upanishads, taking them much before the times of IVC and b) the interaction between the NI and SI.
The Aryan words or langauge supplanting in a Dravidian country rather superficially can not be really argued because for eg., the names of even lowly goldsmiths or leather workers in Bhattiprolu and Amaravati inscriptions of early periods were totally sanskrit names and not dravidian, as evidenced by the early inscriptions. The names mentioned are Siddhartha, Vriddhika , Naga, Kanha and so on. One curious thing happens here that Kanha, an Aryan by name, calls himself a Damila (ASSI, I p 104) This shows that Damila is not a race distinct from Aryans.
Coupled this with the fact we find Pali inscriptions of much early periods show that Aryans were settled in South India for a very long time than that is being thought today. Pali was in fact continued to be the official langauge in "dravidian " kingdoms and this shows that Pali was not a which was supplanted at a later date must have been a natural langauge of the area. Here, we are talking of Malavalli inscriptions, Karnataka by Chutukalanamda satakarni of Kadamba dynasty , king of Vaijayanti or Banavasi of North canarese district, Karnataka. Another king connected to this dynasty is Mulanamda , both of who have issued coins. Jayavarman, Pallavan king of Kanchi issued copper plate grants in Pali language, as did Vijayadevavarman.
That fact that every one of these is a title deed and has been drawn up in Pali shows that this Aryan langauge must have been known not only to officials but also to literate and semi literate people, since these grants went even to villagers and guards and cowherds. By no stretch of imagination, you can think that these common people could understand a foreign language, thus making Pali a local and natural language in South India at that time.
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<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Madhya desa is the most central of the earliest political provinces in India.
According to Manu, Madhya desa is the land between Himalaya in the north, the Vindhya in the South, Prayaga (Allahabad) in the east and Vinasana (the place where Sarasvati disappears) in the West. Evidently , this kind of description is traditional since it appears to be older than what we find in the Buddhist Pali canon. Pali canons describe the eastern tip of Madhya desa to be far to the east of Prayaga, unlike Manu. This  proves beyond doubt that Manu Smriti is composed earlier to Buddha.Â
The description of Madhya desa in Pali canons occurs in Vinaya Pitaka (Vin.i.197; DA.i.173; MA.i.316, etc.; AA.i.55, etc.; J.i.49; Mbv.12)in connection with Avanti Dakshinapatha country where the Buddhist monk Maha Katyayana was carrying on his missionary work. Avanti Dakshinapatha was , we are told, outside the Middle country and it appears that Buddhist had not made much progress there when Maha Katyayana began his work. He was the same monk who has converted King Asmaka or Assika of Bodhan in Andhra pradesh.  (We have already discussed about Asmaka desha earlier)
When a new member was received into the Buddhist Order, the necessary initiation ceremony had to be performed before a chapter of at least ten monks. This was the rule ordained by Buddha, but this was well nigh impossible in the Avanti Dakshina patha country as there were very few Bhihus there. Maha Katyayana , therefore sent a pupil of his to Buddha to get the rule relaxed. Buddha relaxed the rule and laid down that all provinces outside the Middle country (i.e. where Buddhism was prominent during the living days of Buddha) a chapter of four Bhikshus was quite sufficient. It was however necessary to specify the boundaries of the Middle country and this was done by Buddha with characteristic precision. To the east , was the town called Kajangala , beyond that lies Mahasala. To the south east is the river Salalavati , to the south is the town Setakanuika, to the west is the Brahman village called Thuna and to the north is the mountain called Ustraddhaja. Unfortunately, none of these boundary places here specified have been identified except one. This exception is the easterly point ie Kajangala.
Kajangala:
Kajangala , according to Prof Rhys Davids, is situated nearly 70 miles east of Bhagalpur. Kajangala must be spreading across an area what is now part of Birbhum district in West Bengal and Santhal paraganas in Jharkhand (Roy, Niharranjan, Bangalir Itihas, Adi Parba, (Bengali), first published 1972, reprint 2005, pp. 99-100, 81-93, Dey's Publishing, 13 Bankim Chatterjee Street, Kolkata,) This formed part of the Rarh region of later times, mentioned in Bhubaneswar stone tablet of Bhatta Bhabadev, a minister of King Harinbarmadev of 11th c . CE. Hiuen Tsang ( 640 CE)also had mentioned about Kajangala in his writings that he traveled from Bhagalpur or champa to Kajangala and then proceeded to Pundravardhana
Kajangala seems to be  a prosperous place where provisions could easily be obtained (dabbasambhárasulabhá) (J.iv.310) during Buddha's times . Once when the Buddha was staying in the Veluvana at Kajangala, the lay followers there heard a sermon from the Buddha and went to the nun Kajangalá to have it explained in detail (A.v.54f). On another occasion the Buddha stayed in the Mukheluvana and was visited there by Uttara, the disciple of Párásariya. Their conversation is recorded in the Indriyabháváná Sutta (M.iii.298ff). In the Milindapañha (p.10), Kajangala is described as a brahmin village and is given as the place of Nágasena's birth. In the Kapota Játaka mention is made of Kajangala, and the scholiast (J.iii.226-7) explains that it may be the same as Benares. According to the scholiast of the Bhisa Játaka (J.iv.311), the tree-spirit mentioned in that story was the chief resident monk in an old monastery in Kajangala, which monastery he repaired with difficulty during the time of Kassapa Buddha.
In the time of Buddha , therefore, the eastern limit of the Middle country had extended nearly 400 miles eastward of Prayaga which was its eastern most point in Manu's time. Now there can not be any doubt that Madhya desa was looked upon as a territorial division. Jataka tales make constant reference to it. Thus in one place we read of two merchants going from Utkala to the Middle country (Jataka tales I, 80) We also read there that Videha is a part of Middle country or Majjhima desa/ (Jat., III.364) Again, we hear of hermits fearing to descend from Himalayas to go into Majjhima desa because people there are too learned (Jat III, 115-6) Thus, it is clear that that Majjhima desa was a name not created by literary authors but was actually in vogue among the people and denoted a particular territorial division. It was with reference to this Middle Country that the terms Dakshina patha and Uttara patha seem to have come into use. Thus, it is possible that Dakshinapatha originally meant a country to the south not of Vindhyas but a country to the south of Middle country. This is clear from the fact that we find mention made of Avanti Dakshinapatha. (ie Southern Avanti ) It is worthy of note that Avanti was a very extensive country and that in Buddhist works we sometimes hear of Ujjeni and some times of Mahissati (or present Maheswari) as being its capital. While Ujjeni is the well known Ujjain, Mahissati must be the same as the Sanskrit Mahismati.
Mahismati:
Mahismati is variously identified but today, it is taken as the modern Maheswar, a town in the Khargone District in Madhya Pradesh (http://stable.toolserver.org/geohack/geo...N_75.58_E_)
Mahismati, popular as the capital of Heheyas , the dynasty to which Kartavirya Arjuna belongs, was mentioned in Mbh as well as in Ramayan. (Mbh 13:52) Karvavirya was a contemporary of Ravana , who has unsuccessfully attacked Mahismati. Sahadeva ,one of the Pandava brothers, also attacked Mahismati when king Nila was its ruler (Mbh 2:30) King Nila also fought on the side of Kauravas in the war of Kuruksetra.
It appears that Ujjain was the capital of the northern division of Avanti or Avanti country and Maheswar of the southern division , which was therefore called Avanti Dashkina patha. It is possible that the Southern Avanti included parts of Vidarbha which were to the south of Vindhya . Thus, the country of Avanti Dakshinapatha (Jat III. 463.16) was not exactly to the south of Vindhya as its upper half was to the north of Vindhyas and lower half to the south of Vindhyas. Yet if it was called Dakshinapatha, it is because it was lying to the south not so much of the Vindhyas but of the Middle country. The same appears to be the case with term Uttarapatha.
Uttarapatha:Â
One Jataka (II. 287.15) speaks of certain horse dealers as having come from Uttarapatha to Baranasi or Benares. Uttarapatha cannot here signify Northern India because Benares itself is in Northern India. Evidently it denotes a country at least outside and to the north of the Kasi kingdom whose capital was Benares. As the horses of the dealers just referred to are called Sindhava , it clearly indicates that they came from the banks of Indus (Sindh8). Indus is as much to the north as to the west of Saraswati and therefore must have been in the north west of Madhya desa also. It was thus with reference to the Middle country that the name Uttarapatha also was devised. In fact, Divyavadana clearly mentions that Taxila was placed in Uttarapatha. . We find that the term Uttarapatha was in this sense almost till 10th Century CE.Â
Thus, when Prabhakaravardhana, king of Sthaneswar , sent his son Rajyavardhana to invade Huna territory in Himalayas, Bana , the author of Harsacarita, represents him to have gone to the Uttarapatha.. As the Huna territory was thus placed in Uttarapatha, it is clear that Prabhakaravardhana's kingdom was excluded from Uttaraptha. As Thaneswar was on the eastern side of Saraswati, his kingdom was understood to be included in the Madhyadesa with reference to which alone the Huna territory seems to have been described as being in the Uttarapatha.
Similarly, the poet Rajasekhara (880-920 CE), in his Kavyamimansa attests that Uttarapatha lay to the west of Prithudaka (modern Pehoa) near Thaneswar in Haryana. Prithudaka lies on the banks of river Saraswati and is associated with the legendary king Prithu. Prithudaka literally means the pool of Prithu and is said to be place where Prithu is believed to have performed the Shraddha of his father. Hiuen Tsang also records the existence of the town Pehoa, named after Prithu, "who is said to be the first person that obtained the title Raja (king)". The town is referred as the boundary between Northern and central India and referred to by Patanjali.
Coming back to Kavyamimamsa, it further lists the Sakas, Vokkanas, Hunas, Kambojas, Keikayas, Bahlikas (Bactrian's), Pahlavas, Lampakas, Kulutas, Tanganas, Tusharas, Turushakas (Turks), Barbaras among the tribes of Uttarapatha (Kavyamimamsa Chapter 17).
It is therefore clear that the terms Dakshinapatha and Uttarapatha came into vogue only in regard to the Madhyadesa. It must, however, be borne in mind that the term Uttarapatha denoted different meanings in Northern and Southen Indias even at the time of Bana. In North India, it denoted the country north of Madhya desha. But in South India, it held a different meaning. It denoted the whole of North India even during times of Bana as mentioned above. Thus Harshavardhana, Bana's patron, has been described in South Indian inscriptions as Srimad Uttarapathadhipati i.e. sovereign of Uttaraptha which must here signify North India. (JBBRAS , XIV, 26; I.A., VIII, 46).<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->