History of Mediaeval Hindu India (being a History of India from 600 to 1200 A.D.) v1.c16.s5.10

v1.c16.s5.10

All these facts are also admitted and recorded by V. Kanakasabhai in his "Tamils 1800 years ago." At page 29 he observes that the northern limit of Tamilicam was on the east Verkadu or Pulikat and that beyond was the country of the Vadukas. The King of Erami Nadu was also called the chief of the Vadukars. It is evident therefore that at this early period the people north of Tirupati and those who resided in Mysore (north) spoke one and the same language Vaduki. The Kanarese and the Āndhras thus in those ancient days spoke according to our view a northern language which was Mahārāshtri and were also related to the Mahārathis of the Deccan. The Nāyaks and the Reddis are descended from ancestors allied in race and language to the ancestors of the Marathas. The name Vadukar is even now applied to these and though Dr. Caldwell says that Vaduki meant old Telagu, the older language of the Vadukars and the Āndhras must have been an Aryan language. Mr. S. Krishnasvami Aiyangar expresses his opinion in connection with this subject as follows: "I have no doubt that the Āndhras of the Mahāraṭṭa country were spoken of by the Tamils as Aryans. That would only confirm the present day notion that the language Marathi is itself called Aryan."