About the Book: Coromandel: A Personal History of South India
COROMANDEL. A name which has been long applied by Europeans to the Northern
Tamil Country, or (more comprehensively) to the eastern coast of the Peninsula
of India. This is the India highly acclaimed historian Charles Allen visits in
this fascinating book. Coromandel journeys south, exploring the less well known,
often neglected and very different history and identity of the pre-Aryan
Dravidian south. During Allens exploration of the Indian south he meets local
historians, gurus and politicians and with their help uncovers some
extraordinary stories about the past. His sweeping narrative takes in the
archaeology, religion, linguistics and