Dravidian/Tamilian? (was Re: Etymon: paTTaN, pattan, patan)

[Jacob Baltuch]

>I hope in the last line you mean Dravidian rather than Tamilian. As somebody
>pointed out earlier on this list this appears to be due to the subconscious
>identification Tamil with Dravidian.

I was under the impression that the original poster was quoting Caldwell
himself. I thought the term Dravidian was coined by Caldwell in his com-
parative Dravidian grammar (1st ed. in 1856?) from (Sanskrit) draviDa,
which itself was somehow related to damila? Is that correct?

Incidentally is there a Dravidian term for Dravidian? Was the genetic link
of the dravidian languages traditionally perceived by their speakers before
Caldwell?