This book re-examines and presents an alternative reading of the south Indian history. It explores the notion of 'early medieval' in south India. The book is divided into three sections. The first section is devoted to problems and history general to the whole of the deep South. A very important question that raises itself is concerning the transition to the 'early medieval'. What was the kind of economy, society, polity, etc. that existed in the South before that period? What were the forces, which rendered them obsolete or non-workable? What were the processes through which a transition to an alternative formation took place? The second section looks at the history of Kerala which has remained relatively less researched than that of the rest of south India. The last section discusses the Karnataka region and argues that the pattern observed in the rest of south India is seen in this case also, with reference to institutions typical of this period.