recognized Prakrits equally with the ‘Sauraseni' and as being, like it, the parent cf some of the present verna. culars of India
Even if we take 'Dravida' as the name of a set of people, we come to the same conclusion. Dravida, Karnata, Gurjjara, Maharashtra and Tailinga are alluded to as constituting the five Dravidian tribes and are brought in juxtaposition with the five Gauda tribes Kannoja, Gauda, Maithila, Utkala and Saraswata. If the Gurjjars and the Maharashtras have racial affinities with the five Gauda tribes, the connection between the Gaudas and the Dravidas also is established. Thus, racially and lingustically alike, ancient writers seem to have thought there were affinities with the modern Aryans of North India and the Dravidians of the South.
