Read the full article : http://controversialhistory.blogspot.com/2008/05/origin-of-vijayanagar-rulers.html

http://books.google.com/ebooks?id=qaMNAAAAQAAJ&num=14

Were they not two brothers who first served in the court of Firoz Tughlaq and, following the break-up of the Tughlak Empire, returned to South India and established their own Kingdom?

There is an interesting link between the major dynasties of the South. The double-headed eagle (Ganda Bherunda) is the common symbol in the dynasties of Kadamba, Hoysala, Vijayanagara and Wodeyars. The Ganda Bherunda insignia is carved in all the temples belonging to these dynasties!

@ Ms Satya: The twin headed eagle was the symbol of the Czars of Russia as well.The Wodeyars adopted the symbol from the other dynasties of the south. Their origin is in the north as they are essentially Chandravanshi Rajputs.....In fact the only Rajputs in south ....rest were all Kshatriyas.

@Asad uncle: You are right the founders of the vijainagar empire did indeed go from the north. The Tuglaq connection I will have to check though.

The problem arises as the new state boundaries are taken to be the homeland of the language.Consider the case of Thiagraja. All his compositions were in Telugu and his hometown is in heart of Tamil nadu as of now. The mix of language and its evolvement is often construed as my language is older than yours debate. i think a common language evolved with influence from the newcomers resulting in four principal languages in south.To call one of them older and root of others is absurd. Yes, one of them may show its classicism by age of recorded evidence - thats all. It does not prove anything. The divide and rule referred has worked so well that we have virtually nothing on history of south India whereas every small sultan whose rule extended from chandi chowk to palam gets a mention. Why can't the chauvinists be dumped in dustbin of history and and a genuine study of objective look into past without the lens of english or local bias take over ?

Well said MJ !

Mr Jayaram has a very valid point. Forgive me but I have never heard of classical Telugu or Kannada but yes I have heard of Classical Tamil which is certainly not to say that being older makes a language any greater.Sanskrit has been ruling the roost until well into the medieval times in the south unlike in the north. Loyalty to regional kingdoms is natural that is how we have evolved in the north too.In Rajasthan we are virtually on the brink of losing all our three principal languages (languages not dialects as rich literature exists in themall and they have a larger vocabulary than Hindi and precede Hindi by 700 years) only because: (a)the script of all the three is Devnagri. (b) We have not been able to decide which to adopt and recommend to the centre as a medium of instruction owing to this un-necessary squabling over which is superior and which has more influence. It saddens me that a province that does not even geographically exist in India (Sindh) has it's language recognised and is printed on our currency note but not Doondhari, Mewari or Marwari.This means that our heros from history remain un-sung and their sacrifices un-known to the public at large.The day we lose our language we lose 70 % of our culture.

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2004/06/09/stories/2004060903251500.htm The classical status of Tamil :)

Appreciate your comments, Amita Roy Puranadaradasa is the father of Karnataka classical music. He was born in 1484, much earlier to Tyagaraja, and his compositions were in simple Kannada. Other Dasa Gurus followed him and made compositions. While Tyagaraja was born in 1767 AD and his compositions were mostly in Telugu.

The whole discussion is now turning into classicism.To set matters right the definition of classicism was defined as over 3500 years ago and then revised to 2500 years to include other languages.there is even a public interest litigation on the subject as to why th definition was changed. Th only reason I mentioned classicism was to emphasize that study of history and languages etc are being distorted by regional chauvinists. For example the Pallavas and chalukyas seemed to have no other hobby than fighting each other.Yet in spite of all their feuds they were the main architects of south indian temple architecture with long standing granite and equivalent structure. the Pallave period in Tamil nadu is now conveniently divided into pre sanskrit and sanskrit.The pre sanskrit is telugu.Both the states now neglect the Pallava period .Why? Similarly Karnataka history is more of history of Mysore.The north of state gets ignored except for annual fests. On kerala the history books are silent. On a talk with a renowned history professor at bangalore recently we were talking about dravidian sculpture and culture (Before anyone draws any opinion let me clarify I refer to Dravidian as the southern peninsula of India and he DMK version) He gave a number of interesting points where ideas converged and diverged. At end of discussion he asked me not to reveal his name in current political stuation Last, Purandaradasa is the acknowledged father of Carnatic music.But look at the paradox --- North Karnataka border with Maharashtra has produced the maximum number of Hindusthani classical musicians.Carnatic music is more popular in south karnataka ,andhra and Tamil nadu - far away from purandaradasa's birthplace.reatness will transcend all human designed borders Let us look at unity ,let us learn to accept diversity.Let us understand the past

@Digvijay, that languages are dying is a big loss. Yet there is the constant national preference for education in the standard languages that each state seems to have settled on. Ethnologue reports that Dhundari has about 9 million speakers, and that there are 438 living languages in India: http://www.ethnologue.com/show_country.asp?name=IN