Dravid was named Man of the Match for scores of 81 and 68

They beat West Indies 1-0 after winning the fourth Test in Jamaica by 49 runs.

"We've always heard about the 1971 team and Anil (Kumble) was the only one born when India last won in the West Indies.

"For all of us growing up, that was a very significant series. Hopefully this will prove to be significant one as well," Dravid commented.

News conference: India captain Rahul Dravid

News conference: West Indies captain Brian Lara

Although they were outplayed 4-1 in the one-day internationals, winning the Test series was India's main focus for the tour.

And the victory was doubly important because it was the team's first against major opposition in a series outside the sub-continent for 20 years - they won in Zimbabwe in 2005.

"It's good for this team to be the one that changed that and the one which will be remembered. We had to work hard for it and I think it's been well deserved," said Dravid.

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He singled out his young seam attack for special praise: "I have seen some fine spells in my career for India, but this is the best I have seen throughout a series since 1996.

"They are young and inexperienced, and yet they did it. Munaf Patel and Shantha Sreesanth played most of the games here, Vikram Singh also did well, and Irfan Pathan did well when he played."

Dravid was named Man of the Match for scores of 81 and 68 in a game which only lasted three days.

"To win the series and for it to be such a close game, they would probably be among the most satisfying couple of knocks I've played," added Dravid, who passed 9,000 runs in Tests during the match.

I love dancing and this is the day for it Sri Sreesanth

Sreesanth and Anil Kumble were the match-winners on the final day with Sreesanth taking three top order wickets and leg-spinner Kumble sweeping away the tail for figures of 6-78.

It was the 33rd time Kumble has taken five wickets or more in a Test innings and helped finally banish the memories of India's last tour to the Caribbean in 2002 when he was hit in the face by the ball while batting in Antigua and had to return home with a broken jaw.

"This is my third trip to the West Indies, so I wanted to ensure I did well.

"Being the senior bowler in the team, it was important I did well," he said.

Ajit Wadekar, India's victorious captain in 1971, was among the first to pay tribute to Dravid and the current team's achievement, although he felt they should have won the series by a wider margin.

"It was the captain who led from the front. It was his effort, he shouldered the responsibility and pushed the boys," said Wadekar.

Kapil Dev, who led India to victory in England in 1986, hailed the series victory as "beautiful".

He added: "The boys have finally tasted the feeling of winning abroad. I am very happy."

India's Board of Control has added opening batsman Wasim Jaffer to its list of centrally contracted players after he scored 372 runs at an average of 53 in the series, including an innings of 212 in Antigua.