Tribes in Ancient India c37.2

c37.2

The earliest mention of the Andhras as a tribe is to be found along with the Śavaras, Pulindas and probably also the Mūtibas, in the *Aitareya Brāhmaṇa* where all these tribes are referred to as dasyus or non-Aryans.¹ In the *Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa* also, the Andhras are mentioned along with the Puṇḍras, Śavaras, Pulindas and the Mūtibas.² Vincent Smith is of opinion that the Andhras were a Dravidian-speaking people and were evidently the progenitors of the modern Telegu-speaking people occupying the deltas of the Godāvarī and the Kṛṣṇa,³ while P.T.S. Iyangar also holds that the Andhras were originally a Vindhyan tribe that extended its political power from the west gradually to the east down the Godāvarī and the Kṛṣṇa valleys.⁴ That the Andhras were indigenous to the Deccan is attested to by both the epics; the *Mahābhārata* says that they were Dakṣiṇa-patha-janmānaḥ, while the *Rāmāyaṇa* connects them with the Godāvarī: