The book of essays explores the notion of early medieval in South India, probing questions relating to an ‘early medieval’ distinct from the preceding early historical formations there, the processes involved in the transition and the processes and structures characterising the early medieval period itself. Examining epigraphic and literary sources in South Indian regional languages, it takes up themes in three sections pertaining to Tamilakam, Kerala and Karnataka. It delves into the role of temples, sacredness of capital cities especially Makotai in Trichur district, Kerala, land rights pattern, nature of the State, landlordism, and emergence of regional identity in the South in its early medieval phase.