Revision summary
Dravidian is a language family named in modern form by Caldwell, not a race. South Dravidian includes Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Tulu. South-Central includes Telugu and Gondi–Kui languages. Central includes Kolami and Parji; North includes Kurukh, Malto, and Brahui. Oraon and Gond speech show tribal members of the family without making Dravidian a tribal race.
Model answer
Introduction
Dravidian is a language family of South Asia, not a racial type. It has four commonly taught subgroups and a few northern outliers. Classification is comparative linguistics, not Risley’s “Dravidian race”.
Body
The family
- Robert Caldwell established Dravidian as a family separate from Indo-Aryan in the nineteenth century.
- Core geography is South India and Sri Lanka, with Brahui in Balochistan and Kurukh (Oraon) and Malto in the eastern-central belt as northern members.
- Tolkappiyam and later grammars document Old Tamil; inscriptions and loan history show long contact with Sanskrit and Prakrit.
Subgroups (standard teaching set)
- South Dravidian: Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, Tulu, Kodagu, and related tongues.
- South-Central (or South Dravidian II): Telugu, Gondi, Konda, Kui, Kuvi, Pengo, Manda.
- Central Dravidian: Kolami, Naiki, Parji, Ollari, Gadaba (the Dravidian Gadaba, not the Munda one).
- North Dravidian: Kurukh, Malto, Brahui.
Anthropological caution
- Speakers include caste peasants, city elites, and ST groups (Gond, Oraon, Toda in a Nilgiri setting). Language is not tribe.
- S. S. Sarkar already warned against matching one race to Dravidian speech. Genetics shows mixture, not a sealed Dravidian biological box.
Flow diagram
flowchart TD D[Dravidian family] --> SD[South Tamil Kannada Malayalam] D --> SC[South-Central Telugu Gondi] D --> CD[Central Kolami Parji] D --> ND[North Kurukh Malto Brahui]
Conclusion
Dravidian is four subgroups plus contact history. Tamil, Malayalam, Kannada, and Telugu are the large literary languages. Brahui, Kurukh, and Gondi show the family’s northern and tribal spread. Race labels should stay out of the note.
Quick related
Students also ask
-
"Siwalik deposits show a variety of Neogene fossil primates." Critically examine.
Next question on this syllabus topic (2023 · Q6(c)). View answer →
-
Are all Dravidian speakers one race?
No. Language family is not biological type. Risley’s Dravidian race is a discarded census box.
-
Is Brahui proof of a Dravidian India before Indo-Aryan?
It is an outlier that needs a historical explanation. It does not by itself date the whole family’s homeland.
PYQ trend
When UPSC asked this
Related PYQs from other years, newest first. Open a question to read it.
-
2023 · Q1(a) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Material culture and archaeology -
2023 · Q1(b) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Interface between Purushartha and Ashrama -
2023 · Q1(d) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Prehistoric rock arts from Uttarakhand -
2023 · Q2(b) · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
"Indus Valley was the first settlement of the big civilization." Comment critically. -
2023 · Q3(b) · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
Was Mesolithic culture the first step towards a sedentary way of life? Illustrate your answer by citing suitable examples. -
2023 · Q4(b) · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
Critically compare Risley's and Sarkar's approaches to the classification of peoples of India. -
2023 · Q5(a) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Scheduled areas -
2023 · Q5(c) · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Village as little republic
More from this topic
Q6(c) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Anthropology GS 2 · 15 marks
Trace the history and describe the methods of formulating the lists of OBCs, both at the State and National levels
Evolution of the Indian Culture and Civilization
Kalelkar listed; Mandal implemented 27 percent with social-educational-economic tests. Indra Sawhney added creamy layer and a 50 percent ceiling. 102nd Amendment constitutionalised NCBC; 105th restored state lists after the Maratha judgment. Rohini tries to sub-categorise Central OBCs; Ram Singh required data for Jat inclusion. Centre and states maintain separate lists; method is gazette politics under judicial review.
Q6(a) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Anthropology GS 2 · 20 marks
"The village was not merely a place where people lived; it had a design in which were reflected the basic values of Indian civilization." Who said this? Elaborate
Evolution of the Indian Culture and Civilization
The statement is from the Srinivas village-studies tradition: the village as a designed microcosm of Indian civilisation. Design includes caste ecology, agrarian rank, ritual calendar and factional politics. Values: hierarchy-with-interdependence, local dharma, jati marriage, sacred geography. Marriott, Dube and Bailey showed regional versions of the same idea. Land reform, migration, 73rd Amendment and PESA have rewritten the plan without erasing rank.
Q5(e) · UPSC Mains 2025 · Anthropology GS 2 · 10 marks
Lothal dockyard and international trade relations.
Evolution of the Indian Culture and Civilization
S. R. Rao identified a burnt-brick tidal basin at Lothal as a dock beside warehouses and bead workshops. Gujarat Harappan coastal sites together support craft export to the Gulf and Mesopotamia (Meluhha). Some archaeologists prefer a reservoir reading; geomorphology of the estuary is still discussed. Even without the word dock, Lothal is a water-edge trade and craft town. International trade here is Bronze Age Gulf networks, not a modern port trust.
Toppers' copies
Toppers' copies for this question will be uploaded soon.