The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s1.31

c35.s1.31

Such was the state of civilization in the three Dravidian or Tamil kingdoms of the South during the early centuries of the Christian era, when they are disclosed dimly to view in the pages of the ancient native literature and the scanty notices of Greek and Roman authors, as supplemented by a few archaeological and numismatic observations. With the exception of the Asoka edicts, the Bhattiprolu casket inscriptions, and a small number of other records, epigraphic testimony does not go back so far. General tradition recognized the existence of three important kingdoms, and only three, in the Tamil country—namely, the Pāndya, Chola, and Chera or Kerala. The poet sings: