[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Studies](https://indike.org/pramana/ins) › [General history and culture](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general) › [The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924) › c35.s1.2 # The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s1.2 The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s1.2 - **Language:** English ### [c35.s1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s1.2) Southern India, as distinguished from the plateau of the Deccan, from which it is separated by the Krishnā (Kistna) and Tungabhadrā rivers, has a character of its own, and a history generally independent of that of the rest of India. This extensive region may be described in modern terms as consisting of the Madras Presidency, excluding the ‘Northern Circars’ Districts of Vizagapatam and Ganjām, and with the addition of the native states of Mysore, Cochin, and Travancore. It is essentially the land of the Tamil race and speech, and accordingly the greater portion of it was known in ancient times as Tamilakam, or the Tamil country. The earliest tradition fixed the northern boundary of Tamilakam on the east coast at Pulicat, a little above Madras, and on the west coast at the White Rock near Badagara, to the south of Mahé, the frontier line between those two points passing round the hill of Venkata or Tirupathi, 100 miles to the north-west of Madras, and then inclining southwards to Badagara.¹ Later traditions extended the north-eastern boundary as far as Nellore on the N. Pennār river,² and the north-western limit to the Chandragiri river south of Mangalore.³ This chapter is concerned only with the Tamil states and the Pallava dynasty. The dynasties of Mysore have been treated in Chapter XV, being closely connected with the kingdoms of the Deccan plateau. - [Previous: c35.s1.1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s1.1) - [Next: c35.s1.3](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s1.3) - [Up: c35.s1](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s1) --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s1.2](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.general.smith-1924.c35.s1.2) · Pramāṇa