Elements of South-Indian Palæography, from the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D. c5.s3.2

c5.s3.2

But though it is certain that the beginning of the Tamiḻ literature may be safely put about the ninth century, there is nothing to show that there was in any way a literature before that time. The legend of Agastya’s settlement in the South is, of course, historically worthless[^2), and though the three Dravidian kingdoms[^3) were undoubtedly ancient, we have nothing about their condition till Hiouen-Thsang’s visit to the peninsula about 640 A. D. He says of the inhabitants of Mo-lo-kiu-tch’a (Malakūṭa)[^4): “Ils ne font aucun cas de la culture des lettres, et n’estiment que la poursuite du lucre”[^5). He mentions the Nirgranthas or Digambara Jains (ascetics)[^6) as the most prominent sect in the South, and this corresponds with the actual