Southern South Asia#History

{{See also|History of South India}}

Southern South Asia was a hub of global trade in ancient times because of its position in the important Indian Ocean corridor.{{Cite web |title=Patrick Roberts Made National Geographic 'Explorer' |url=https://www.shh.mpg.de/1827734/patrick-roberts-nat-geo-explorer-grant |access-date=5 October 2023 |website=www.shh.mpg.de |language=en}} For example, a significant number of Roman products have been discovered in the region.{{Cite journal |last1=Hoppál |first1=Krisztina |last2=Bellina |first2=Bérénice |last3=Dussubieux |first3=Laure |date=7 September 2023 |title=Southeast Asia and the Mediterranean World at the Turn of the First Millennium ce: Networks, Commodities and Cultural Reception |url=http://real.mtak.hu/171384/1/southeast-asia-and-the-mediterranean-world-at-the-turn-of-the-first-millennium-ce-networks-commodities-and-cultural-reception.pdf |journal=Cambridge Archaeological Journal |language=en |pages=1–24 |doi=10.1017/S0959774323000264 |issn=0959-7743|doi-access=free }}{{Cite news |last=Dalrymple |first=William |title=Garum Masala {{!}} William Dalrymple |language=en |url=https://www.nybooks.com/articles/2023/04/20/garum-masala-indian-ocean-trade-in-antiquity-cobb/ |access-date=5 October 2023 |issn=0028-7504}}

Governments throughout Southern South Asia adopted Sanskrit for public political expression beginning around 300 CE and ending around 1300, resulting in greater integration into the broader South Asian cultural sphere.[http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-BJ001/bj001564378.pdf Comparing East Asian and Southeast Asian Buddhism: Looking at Traditional China from the Margins] http://buddhism.lib.ntu.edu.tw/ John R. McRae This significantly influenced the languages of the region, making all of the major Dravidian languages except for Tamil highly Sanskritised.{{Cite news |title=Setting the record straight |newspaper=The Economist |url=https://www.economist.com/johnson/2013/05/13/setting-the-record-straight |access-date=5 October 2023 |issn=0013-0613}}{{Cite news |title=Sanskrit is the mother of all Indian languages: Bhyrappa|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/sanskrit-is-the-mother-of-all-indian-languages-bhyrappa/article66350430.ece |issn=0971-751X |work=The Hindu |date=7 January 2023 |access-date=5 October 2023}}

Artisanal production of handicraft articles, metal-working (see Wootz steel) and cloth production were historically important features of the economy in Southern South Asia.{{Cite book |last=Mielants |first=Eric H. |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctt14bt31n |title=The Origins of Capitalism and the "Rise of the West" |date=2007 |publisher=Temple University Press |jstor=j.ctt14bt31n |isbn=978-1-59213-575-2}}

Tamil influence in the region is quite significant, with prominent empires such as the Chola dynasty taking Tamil culture to Sri Lanka and beyond South Asia, and Sri Lanka having an ancient Tamil minority and a Dravidian-influenced majority language of Sinhala.{{Cite web |date=31 August 2020 |title=The Sri Lankan Civil War and Its History, Revisited in 2020 |url=https://hir.harvard.edu/sri-lankan-civil-war/ |access-date=5 October 2023 |website=Harvard International Review |language=en}}{{Cite book |last1=Perera |first1=Sasanka |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xzBREAAAQBAJ&pg=PA99 |title=Against the Nation: Thinking Like South Asians |last2=Pathak |first2=Dev Nath |last3=Kumar |first3=Ravi |date=30 December 2021 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=978-93-89812-33-6 |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Kamalakaran |first=Ajay |date=23 March 2022 |title=How a unique Tamil dialect survived among a fishing community in Sri Lanka |url=https://scroll.in/magazine/1020026/how-a-unique-tamil-dialect-survived-among-a-fishing-community-in-sri-lanka |access-date=5 October 2023 |website=Scroll.in |language=en-US}} Chola innovations include various techniques for water resource management,{{Cite journal |last=Angelakis |first=Andreas N. |date=2014 |title=Evolution of Sanitation and Wastewater Technologies through the Centuries |url=https://www.academia.edu/26736892 |journal=Water Intelligence Online |volume=13 |doi=10.2166/9781780404851 |issn=1476-1777}} some of which are used today to restore lakes throughout India.{{Cite news |date=25 September 2023 |title='Lake Man' relies on ancient methods to ease water crisis |work=The Times of India |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/lake-man-relies-on-ancient-methods-to-ease-water-crisis/articleshow/103916870.cms?from=mdr |access-date=5 October 2023 |issn=0971-8257}} During British rule, Madras (now Chennai) became the center of the region, and a stability was created that benefitted Tamils throughout the region; Tamils were also favoured by the British in Sri Lanka over the Sinhalese people of the island. This laid the foundation for resentment and later ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka which lasted for decades.{{Cite book |last=Williams |first=Victoria R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OxnOEAAAQBAJ&pg=PT1502 |title=Indigenous Peoples: An Encyclopedia of Culture, History, and Threats to Survival, Volumes 1-4 |date=24 February 2020 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing USA |isbn=979-8-216-10219-9 |language=en}}

• South India
• Tamilakam
• Littoral South Asia
• Southwestern Coastal South Asia
• Southeastern Coastal South Asia
• Island South Asia

{{Reflist}}{{Geographic location|Centre=Southern South Asia|North=Central South Asia|Northeast=Bay of Bengal|East=Bay of Bengal|Southeast=Indian Ocean|South=Indian Ocean|Southwest=Indian Ocean|West=Arabian Sea|Northwest=West India}}{{South Asian topics}}

Category:Regions of South Asia