Here are the units from the early classical period of southern India. Bakuel's own description:
On Southern India and the Sangam Period.
Spoiler :There is some small literary/legendary evidence of smaller bands of Indo-Aryanian clans slowly making their way southwards and intermarrying with local nobility, but large scale migrations were stopped at the Deccan. Still by the Sangam period, Hinduism had already traveled south and taken root in southern India and merged with local beliefs as Hindu deities are mentioned in the literature.
The Sangam period of southern Indian history is between 300 BC and 500 AD and is marked by a collection of 2381 poems by almost 500 different Dravidian Tamil poets. Though I have read a lot of varying accounts on the actual dates of the poetry. Some say they were written between 600 BC and 300 AD, some say 300 BC to 300 AD, there seems to be a bit of controversy there but it's all in the same ball park. Give or take a couple of centuries.
These poets came from all walks of society and included both nobles, warriors, common people, men and women. Most of the literature is secular and is primarily concerned with the everyday life of people thus serves as a contrast to the Vedic hymns in a way. These poems were written in Old Tamil.
The Sangam period is generally thought of as the golden age of Tamil people, and there is some archeological evidence to back up this view as it seems maritime commercial activity expanded immensely at this time. Especially with the west via the Red Sea. A dig at Kodumanal in Tamil Nadu showed evidence of furnaces, steel and iron making as well as copper, bronze, silver and gold, dye tanks, wharfs, and a vast amount of other economical activities as well as wharfs and stone anchors. Many of the artifacts that have been found are foreign and mostly Roman, while many of the native artifacts are very similar to artifacts found in Arikamedu and Palatine Hill in Rome, showing a vast amount of imports and exports.
http://ceramica.wikia.com/wiki/Sources_of_ancient_Tamil_history
There is also the site of Muziris, which was a major port.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/4970452.stm
A potshard with Tamil inscriptions was found in a ancient Roman settlement on the Red Sea coast of Egypt, dating from the first century BC, while in the east another Tamil potshard has been found in modern Thailand dating from the second century AD.
http://archaeologyindia.com/tamilinscriptions.asp
Going into the literature of this period, Yavanas or Roman, ships are mentioned "coming laden in gold and returning with pepper." Pandya Nan Maran, "is praised for drinking wine daily in a gold cup, filled by beautiful damsels. The deliious wine was supplied by the Yavanas in well made jars." The Romans served as body guards of the king and they "had by nature very sturdy bodies, which they covered with shields, giving a fearful appearance. They also carried a whip, to drive their horses, which they covered with their lower garments." The literature also mentions a colony of Yavanas near the mouth of the Kaveri river. All of these quotes are from a online book on the Romans in Tamil Nadu,
http://www.tamilartsacademy.com/books/roman karur/chapter15.html
Now, politically Southern India was divied between the three main famous Tamil dynasties, the Chera, the Pandya, and the Chola as well as some minor kings and chieftains known as the Velirs. According to legend the Vellirs originally came from the north and were formally apart of the Yadu Kshatriya clan (in other words, a noble warrior caste), but like many such origin stories, no one knows for sure. They would intermarry within the three dynasties and later they would form the Vellalar. Despite the fact that these three dynasties and small states warred with each other all the time, they are all generally referred to together as Tamilakam, as during this time Tamil was the main language and they shared the same culture.
A lot of these units are based off of traditional dress and art found at Mahabalipuram and the Ajanta Caves as a auxiliary source, seventh sixth and century AD monuments respectively. Since there are not a lot of images of warriors from the golden age of Tamil, I had to use these. However, it is unlikely that dress and costume changed *that* much and I think the images at Mahabalipuram can be used. Still it is why I put the unit pack timeline as 300 BC - 600 AD.
Without further ado,
The Tamil Sagam Period Pack, 300 BC - 600 AD!
Spoiler :Tamil Archer (Traditional Tribesman Dress)
Tamil Light Horseman (Traditional Tribesman Dress)
This archer is just wearing the basic loincloth, the lion cloth shows up in plenty of Indian art including depicting warriors. Most probably the most basic Indian ancient Indian garment. This unit itself is based on a Tamil tribesmen, since I already made several basic generic Indian archers, I decided to go with something different for this one. "highland" tribesmen, probably from the Deccan and further south, were said to serve in Mauyran armies and they were probably dressed similar. The normal light horseman uses the same model and is very similar to many horsemen pictured in Indian temples. We do know the Tamil Kingdoms fielded cavalry (probably of questionable quality, much like ancient northern India), but what it looked like no one seems to be certain. The earliest temple is from Mahabalipuram (700 AD), and I couldn't find any pictures of cavalry from it. I do have a image of a fresco, however, which was stated to be from ancient Tamil which features cavalry dressed in simple lioncloths. But it is from a questionable source.
Tamil Spearman (Traditional Dress)
Tamil Light Swordsman (Traditional Dress, DBA online, Ajanta Caves)
Tamil Light Horseman (Pants), (Traditional Dress, DBA online, Ajanta Caves)
These units are also based on common Tamil Nadu dress. The Spearman features a Munidi, while the Swordsman and Horseman's model has pants as well. I'm not sure what period pants began to come into use in Southern India, however, in the Ajanta Caves, located in the Deccan, a fresco from around the 6th century shows cavalry wearing simialer pants, and given the Tamil Kingdom's contacts with the west and use of mercenries, it would not be surprising if their horsemen wore some form of trousers. Think of it as a alternative to the light cavalry wearing a loincloth.
Tamil Axeman, (Mahabalipuram, Ajanta Caves)
Tamil Swordsman (Curved Sword) (Coin, Mahabalipuram, Ajanta Caves)
Tamil Swordsman, (Coin, Mahabalipuram, Ajanta Caves)
Tamil Cavalry, (Mahabalipuram, Ajanta Caves)
The short padded jacket of the Tamil Axeman and the Tamil Swordsman (Curved Sword) comes from the images at Mahabalipuram and the Ajanta Caves. The Axeman's turban is however, based on Mauryan and Sunga turban styles, since the Tamil kingdoms were in contact with them, it isn't that far fetched. The Swordsman (Curved Sword)'s bronze helmet/cap is from a coin.
The other Swordsman is wearing the basic Indian scale backed by leather or padded armor, but his helmet is based off a image from a Chera coin which is clearly roman inspired with a Hellenic crest.
The cavalry's helmet is based on one of the fancy helmets worn in Mahabalipuram and Ajanta Caves. Some people believe that they never *really* existed, while some think that they did. In my opinion, the basic shape of the helmet's really aren't that different from similar helmet's found in South-East Asia and China, so I made one. This way all the bases are covered and one can choose whichever he thinks best.
Tamil Roman Mercenary Cavalry, (Trajan's Column, Image of Eastern Helmet)
This unit represents the Roman mercenaries described in Sangam literature,. The Romans of Sangam literature were probably Egyptians, Syrians, Greeks and other eastern peoples and descendants of mostly sailors and tradesmen, though it is not impossible that people with military training also made it into these colonies. This unit is in chainmail and has a roman cavalry shield, the helmet is based on the type generally given to eastern troops such as Syrian Archers, following types found on Trajan's Column. Basically, I didn't want to make it look like a imperial Rome cavalryman but instead a ragtag cavalryman equipped with Roman armor and weapons. Sangam literature mentions that the Romans made fine weapons, so it is not at all possible that people from Roman colonies could acquire such equipment before entering the king's service. Of course, native dress was probably also used.
