use of "draavi.da"?

[K S Arjunwadkar]

Date sent:              Wed, 4 Aug 1999 11:55:46 -0400
Send reply to:          Indology <INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK>
From:                   Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at UMICH.EDU>
Subject:                use of "draavi.da"?
To:                     INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK

> Hello,
>         Monier-Williams says that the Sanskrit word "draavi.da", among
> other things, collectively refers to the speakers of Telugu, Kannada,
> Tamil, Malayalam, and Tulu.  He does not cite any references for such a
> use from any classical source.  I would very much like to find out if
> anyone has come across such a use of this word either in Sanskrit or in
> Dravidian language sources? Of course, we often use this word in this
> sense in modern times, but was there such a collective single reference in
> pre-modern times?
>         Best,
>                                         Madhav Deshpande

Reply/August 4

Apte's Dictionary records this word (v.l. drAviDa) as occurring in
this sense in DaNDin's DazakumAracarita. BANabhaTTa also
describes a 'jarad-draviDa'.
KSA