It was my intention to write an introduction only on the completion of the entire work; but it occurred to me that, in a peculiarly technical and unique work like this, all the characteristic features show and the methods pursued in giving the meanings, furnishing explanatory notes here and there in the derivative origins and the like have all necessarily to be elucidated even at the outset without waiting for the whole work to be completed, so as to save all the possible difficulties of the users of this work; and it is this uncommon aspect of this work that has impelled me to offer this introduction even along with this first volume.
The original Home allotted to mankind by the Creator was in the temperate and fertile region of the East and pointedly in India. It is from here that the human race began its culture and career of its advance from the potent nucleus of science and art with which India was animated. India may therefore be safely stated as the first country from which human culture and civilisation originated and spread for and wide.As every tyro in Indian History knows that, prior to the Aryan migration, the dravidians were the first inhabitants of India of whom the Tamilians were the most prominent. The early history of the Tamil country and the earliest traditions of the Tamilians are still shrouded in obscurity. As a rule, whoever attempts to trace all the doings or actions of man in remote times and to mark the various steps of their progress in any activity gets mortified to find that the sources of their authentic history happen to be extremely limited.
Even if we had to push our investigation in the period preceding the historic era, we have been led to enter the region of conjecture and surmise. Into such hazardous task it is not my scope to venture or endeavour to conduct my readers. My investigations and researches will therefore be confined only to what is intimately connected with the scope of this work.
THE TAMILIANS
Many facts have been transmitted to us, which, when they are examined with proper care, clearly demonstrate that the Tamilians were not only the earliest civilized b but those who made more considerable progress in civilization than any other early people. I shall endeavor to mention these placing them in such a point of view that will both serve to throw light upon their arts, institutions, manners and customs and to satisfactorily account for the eagerness of the Aryans and other nations to assimilate the product of all their ingenious and remarkable activities, From the most ancient available accounts of the Dravidians in India, We learn that the distinction of social ranks according to profession - not to speak of castes and creeds, was thoroughly in vogue during those times. This is one of the undoubted proofs of a well ordered society considerably advanced in its progress. Prior to the records of authentic history and even perhaps prior to it in most remote eras to which their tradition aimed to reach, this separation of professions had not only existed amongst the institution of headman of the professions known as village head man which must be considered as the fundamental article in the system of their polity.
It is only after the Aryan immigration that they divided themselves into four castes. This method of separation is only an established scheme, but to say that it has proceeded from Divinity and as such to confound it would be deemed an act of daring impiety, is glaringly false as it does not appeal to one's faculty of reasoning.
The customs and conditions that exist amongst their descendants at the present day closely resemble in every way those that characterized them even from the earliest period when they were know as having flourished. The school of Siddhars and their works in various branches of knowledge are clear proof of their own high perfection in science.
THE DRAVIDIAN FAMILY OF LANGUAGES
As classified by Mr. Max Muller, the largest number of languages--not to speak of the ancient Chinese which belongs to a Radical stage--belong perhaps to the Terminational or Agglutinative stage and among them are included the Dravidian languages of India and the other languages such as Australian, Japanese, Turkish, Magyar, and Finnish as well. The Infectional or Amalgamating stage is best represented by the Semitic and the Aryan Languages.
The language of India are divided into two great classes - the Northern with sanskrit as the prepondering element and the Southern with the Dravidian languages as independent bases. The five popular dialects of Southern India are as every one knows- the Dravida or the Tamil proper, the Telings, the Karnataka, the Mahratta and the Gurjara. The last two are included in this enumeration as they possess certain features of resemblance to the languages of the South, which were probably derived from the same or similar source or sources.