The
Dravidian race is the name sometimes given to the peoples of southern and central
India and northern
Sri Lanka who speak
Dravidian languages. They are so called for purely linguistic reasons; the peoples are of varying racial types. Some believe that Dravidian-speaking peoples may have been spread throughout the
Indian subcontinent before the invasions of the
Aryans.
The British exaggerated differences between northern and southern Indians, beyond anything scientific evidence supports, to help sustain their control of India, and all discussion of Aryan or Dravidian "races" remains highly controversial.
See also: Badagas