In India's farther south are three ancient…

In India's farther south are three ancient Tamil kingdoms—Chera (on the west), Chola (on the east), and Pandya (in the south)—frequently involved in internecine warfare to gain regional supremacy.

They are mentioned in Greek and Ashokan sources as lying at the fringes of the Mauryan Empire.

A corpus of ancient Tamil literature, known as Sangam (acad-emy) works, including Tolkappiam, a manual of Tamil grammar by Tolkappiyar, provides much useful information about their social life from 300 BCE to CE 200.

There is clear evidence of encroachment by Aryan traditions from the north into a predominantly indigenous Dravidian culture in transition.