Dravidian
a term applied to the vernacular tongues of the great majority of the inhabitants of southern India, and to the people themselves who must have inhabited India previous to the advent of the Aryans. The Dravidian languages are generally considered to belong to the Turanian class, and the family consists of the Tamil, Telugu, Canarese, Malayâlam, Tulu, Tuda, Gond, Rajmahal, Oraon, etc. Only the first four mentioned have a literature, that of the Tamil being the oldest and the most important.
DRAWBRIDGE. See BRIDGE.