Dravidian people refers to the population who speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. They are found largely in Southern India.

According to the Puranas, the Dravida people are the descendants of the Vedic Turvasha people. The vedic legends speak of battle between the Asuras and Devas. It is assumed that this was a reflection of actual battle for supremacy that took place when the Aryans started entering the Indian subcontinent. It is believed that the Asuras are actually the Iranians and the Devas are the Indo-Aryans.

The recognition of the Dravidians as a separate race arose in the 19th century. The Western scholars opined that there existed a group of people in South India, who spoke in a language different from the Indo- Aryan languages prevalent in north of the country. There are various theories regarding the early arrival of the Dravidians. Some linguists believe that the Dravidian speaking people were spread throughout the Indian subcontinent before the Aryans came and settled here. Some scholars were also of the view that the proto Dravidians of the Indian subcontinent, arrived from the Middle East and in some way related to the Elamites.

The known Dravidian languages are Tamil, Kannada , Malayalam and Tulu. There are three subgroups within the Dravidian linguistic family, North Dravidian, Central Dravidian and South Dravidian. Brahuis and the Kurukhs belong to the North Dravidian subgroups. Kannadigas, Tamils and the Telugu speaking people belong to the South Dravidian sub group.