THE first materials of the following work were collected for purposes connected with my public duties, without the most. remote view to publication. Personal curiosity, and the increasing interest of the subject, induced me to pursue it, without any definite object, beyond that of rescuing from oblivion, before it should be lost forever, the information possessed by living characters; and the farther examination of written authorities followed as a. necessary and almost imperceptible consequence of what had already been done. The public is little interested to know the gradation of circumstances by which I have been induced to prepare for publication the substance of a mass of materials collected with so little of fixed design, and still less of literary skill: but I may be permitted to observe, that in their existing state they could have
been of little use if placed in abler hands, and that the task of translating, preparing, and arranging them for that purpose, would have been infinitely more laborious than that which I have undertaken.

South India is the area encompassing the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territories of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Lakshadweep, and Puducherry, comprising 19.31% of India's area (635,780 km2 or 245,480 sq mi). Covering the southern part of the peninsular Deccan Plateau, South India is bounded by the Bay of Bengal in the east, the Arabian Sea in the west and the Indian Ocean in the south. The geography of the region is diverse with two mountain ranges – the Western and Eastern Ghats – bordering the plateau heartland. The Godavari, Krishna, Kaveri, Tungabhadra and Vaigai rivers are important non-perennial sources of water.
Tourist Places to Visit in South India Bangalore, Coorg, Chikmagalur, Sakleshpur, Dandeli, Madikeri, Gokarna, Munnar, Wayanad, Cochin, Alleppey, Kovalam, Trivandrum, Ooty, Pondicherry, Coimbatore, Chennai, Mudumalai and many more best tourist places in south india.