Curiosity about the Dravidians

Dragon Mood? -- what else but curious?

As a naturally curious person, history is always a field of enormous appeal to me. So many things to be curious about, so many questions to ask!

Have you ever heard of the Dravidians? I read Gore Vidal's novel, "Creation," a while back, which mentions the name. I was talking with one of my favorite history teachers about this book (set at a crossroads in time -- including the historical personages, Zoroaster, Xerxes and the Persian king, Darius) and I asked her who the Dravidians were? She replied they were an ancient people from southern India.
So, I've returned to this topic with more curiosity and found this:

The most basic division of the Indian society is of Aryans and Dravidians. According to this division, nearly 72% of Indians are Aryans and 28% are Dravidians. The north Indians are the descendants of Aryans and the south Indians are Dravidians.

According to general Indian legend, the Aryans arrived in north India somewhere from Iran and southern Russia at around 1500 BC. Before the Aryans, the Dravidian people resided in India.

The Dravidians originate from the Mediterranean and they were the largest community in India.

That sounded a bit simplistic, so I dug down a little further in Google's lists and found this:

There is general agreement among ethnologists that the Dravidian population is a branch of the Mediterranean race, or at least a closely allied one. While the Mediterranean race is white, the Dravidians are much darker, ranging from the dark Greek and Italian complexion to black. There is also a wide range of difference in the shape of the skull, the color and texture of the hair, the color of the eyes, and the shape of the nose. These deviations can be explained with a probable interbreeding between the Dravidians and Mundas, as it is still taking place in the Chotanagpur region between the Dravidian Oraons and the neighboring Mundas.

The Dravidians entered India before the Aryans, before 2000 B.C., after passing through Mesopotamia, Iran, and Baluchistan where the Brahuis, a Dravidian race, still live. On grounds of cultural affinities such as inheritance through women, snake cults, organization of society, and structure of temples, some historians connect the Dravidians with the Elamites and Mesopotamians. The evidence of Indian skulls from the Indus Valley indicates that the Mediterranean stock became established in north India before the Harappab Civilisation came into existence around 2000 B.C.

Of particular significance is archeologist B. B. Lal's contention that the Dravidians probably came from Nubia, Upper Egypt. This theory would give them among other things their Mediterranean features and dark complexion. Lal writes:

"At Timos the Indian team dug up several megalithic sites of ancient Nubians which bear an uncanny resemblance to the cemeteries of early Dravidians which are found all over Western India from Kathiawar to Cape Comorin. The intriguing similarity extends from the subterranean structure found near them. Even the earthenware ring-stands used by the Dravidians and Nubians to hold pots were identical."

According to Lal, the Nubian megaliths date from around 1000 B.C.

More to come on this . . .