we find in the early Tamil works that the Nagas are described as a race of dark people with curly matted hair. The ancient Tamils were acquainted also with a tribe of naked nomads (நக்கசாரணர்), probably a section of the Nagas living in an eastern Island. They were cannibals and spoke an unknown language.
(1) வாடுபசியுழந்த நின்னிரும்பேரொக்கலொடு—P.A.
(With your starving, dark and large relations)
(2)வலிமுன்பின்வல் லென்றயாக்கைப் புலிநோக்கிற்
சுற்றமை வில்லர்சுரி வளர்பித்தையர்
அற்றம் பார்த்தல் குங்கடுங் கண்மறவர்—Kal.
(The cruel-eyed, curly-haired and able-bodied Maravas (robbers) with tiger-look and banded bows waiting on the roads to harass the travellers).
(3)வென்றிவேற் கிள்ளிக்கு நாகநாடாள் வோன்
றன் மகள் பீலிவளை தான்பயந்த
புனிற்றிளங்குழவி.—Mani.
(The tender infant which Pilivalai, the daughter of the ruler of Naganadu, bore for Killi (Chola) who wields the victorious lance).
From the first quotation we learn that the Pânans—the ancestors, or rather, a sub-caste of the modern Paraiyas—were an aboriginal tribe of dark men; from the second that the Maravas—not the present caste of that name—were a tribe of hunters and robbers with tiger-look and curly matted hair; while the third
the accepted belief that the Nagas were the original indigenous rulers of Southern India and that they were subdued in course of time by the powerful kings from the north, eventually losing their individuality by intermarriages with the foreigners". Report dated 28-7-1911.
