Ancient History
Evidence in the forms of documents and inscriptions do not appear often in the history of ancient South India. Although there are signs that the history dates back to several centuries BCE, we only have any authentic archeological evidence from the early centuries of the common era. The Kingdom of Pratipalapura (5th century BCE), identified with Bhattiprolu, in Guntur district of Andhra Pradesh appears to be the earliest known kingdom in South India. We also have an inscriptional evidence to show that king Kubera was ruling over Bhattiprolu around 230 BC followed by Sala Kings. The script of Bhattiprolu inscriptions was the progentor of Brahmi Lipi that diversified later into modern Telugu and Tamil scripts.
During the reign of Ashoka (304–232 BCE) the three Tamil dynasties of Chola, Chera and Pandya were running in the south, probably with late megalithic phase material culture. These areas (known as Tamilakam- "Land of Tamils"), while not part of Ashoka's empire, were in friendly terms with the Maurya Empire.
Read more about this topic: History Of South India
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