A Short History of South India

This book covers a vast canvas from the 4th Century A.D. which coincided with the rise of the Sathvahans, South of the Vindhyas and stretching up to the 16th Century A.D. which witnessed the decline of the Vijayanagara Kingdom. The objective of this book is mainly to focus attention on certain hitherto neglected areas of the South Indian history and exploding the myth that the presence of the Vindhyas, supposedly caused a North-South divide. The north remained mostly isolated from the culturally rich Southern peninsula. As a matter of fact, a very rich culture flowed in the south during the various dynasties, which existed during this stretch of period, culminating under the Cholas in the domain of Art, Architecture, Literature and various facets of economic activity including an extensive maritime trade with different parts of the world and a significant cultural expansion in the South-East Asia, often known as Greater India. All these activities cumulatively resulted in the assimilation and synthesizing of the Dravidian and Aryan culture patterns, which ultimately brought about a very strong unifying bond throughout the sub-continent thereby strengthening the fabric of Indian polity in all its manifestations.