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Component-I (A) – Personal details: Component-I (B) – Description of module: Subject Name Indian Culture Paper Name Outlines of Indian History Module Name/Title The sangam age Module Id I C/ OIH/ 12 Pre-requisites Knowledge in early history of South India. Objectives To study the History and culture of the Sangam Age. Keywords Sangam / Chera / Chola / Pandya E-text (Quadrant-I): 1. Introduction The Sangam age constitutes an important chapter in the history of South India. Towards the end of the first millennium BCE, history of South India moved from pre-history to history. Literary Ashokan records reflected contemporary events. The advent of the early historic period in South India is generally dated to the 3rd Century BCE. Inscriptions refer to the people of South India as Cholas, Cheras, Pandyas and Satiyaputras-the crucible of the culture of Tamilakam. Tamilakam is the home of the Tamils-the land where Tamil was the language. The geographical limits of Tamilakam were Vengadam (i.e, the Tirupati Hills) in the north, Kumari in the south and the sea on the east and west. Kumari is said to refer, not to Cape Comorin, but to a river of that name, now lost in the Indian Ocean. This region comprised of the modern territories of Kerala, Tamilnadu and the Union territory of Pondicherry. 2. Sangam Literature Tamil is the oldest among the spoken literary languages of South India. The history of Tamil literature has to begin necessarily with an account of the ‘Sangams’ (Academy of Tamil poets) in ancient Tamil popularly called as Muchchangam. They flourished under the royal patronage of the Pandyas in Madurai. The ‘Sangam Age’ in Tamil literature was, a period of great literary glory. It saw the production of a colossal volume of Tamil poetry in its pristine purity. Works were produced in every department of knowledge. Most of them are now not available. The Sangam corpus is a collection of anthologies of poetry on themes popular among these early societies. The term Sangam was first referred to by Tirunavukkarasu Nayanar (Appar), the Saiva saint belonging to the early seventh century CE. The next reference is to be found in the commentary to the Iraiyanar Ahapporul belonging to the ninth century CE. This text talks about three successive Sangams i.e. first Sangam or Talai Sangam, middle Sangam or Idai Sangam and last Sangam or Kadai Sangam. The first Sangam had its seat in old Madurai now submerged in Indian ocean. It is believed that the first Sangam was attended by gods and legendary sages, but all works have perished, no less than 4,499 authors submitted their writings to the Sangam and obtained its approval. Eighty nine Pandyan kings, seven of them poets, patronised the first Sangam which lasted for 4400 years. The standard works of the first Sangam were Agattiyam, Paripadal, Mudanarai, Mudukuruku and Kalariavirai. The second Sangam had its seat in another submerged town called Kapatapuram. It was attended by 3700 poets, and received the support of fifty nine Pandyan kings and flourished in unbroken continuity for 3700 years. The works of the second Sangam are also now lost 2 except Tolkappiyam, the great Tamil grammar attributed to Tolkappiyar, one of Agastya’s twelve direct disciples. The third Sangam had its seat in Northern Madura founded by Mudatirumaran. Its membership totaled forty nine, but 449 poets submitted their works to it for approval. Forty nine Pandyan kings patronised it and continued for 1850 years. While many of the works produced in this Sangam are lost, some have fortunately survived to give modern readers an idea of the richness and variety of Sangam literature. 2.1 Important Sangam works Some of the principal works of the third Sangam have come down to us in the shape of anthologies. Of these three are famous. Pathuppattu (the ten Idylls), Ettuthogai (the eight Collections) and Padinenkilkanakku (the eighteen Minor Didactic Poems). Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu are the two major groups of texts included in the corpus of Sangam literature. The group Ettuthogai consists of 1. Narrinai 2. Kurunthogai 3. Aingurunuru 4. Padirruppattu 5. Paripadal 6. Kalithogai 7. Ahananuru and 8. Purananuru The group Pattuppatu includes: 1. Tirumurugarruppadai 2. Porunararruppadai 3. Sirupanarruppadai 4. Perumbanarruppadai 5. Mullaippattu 6. Maduraikkanji 7. Nedunalvadai 8. Kuringipattu 9. Pattinappalai and 10. Malaipadukanji. The Ettuthogai and Pattuppattu are together grouped as Melkanakku for they contain stanzas composed of meter which permits a larger number of lines. On the other hand the Padinenkilkanakku (eighteen minor works) are called ‘Minor Works’ not because their significance is minor, but because the poems in these are shorter in form than those in the Ettuthogai or Pattuppattu. One of these ‘minor’ didactic poems is the world famous classic, Tiruvalluvar’s Kural, which is indeed one of the cornerstones of Tamil literature. It is a touch stone of taste and an invaluable guide to the art of good living. 2.2 The Epics The five major epics are Silappadikaram, Manimekalai, Jivaka Chintamani, Valayapati and Kundalakesi. Of these, only the first three are now available. Silappadikaram and Manimekalai are considered as great accomplishments of Tamil poetry. 2.2.1 Silappadikaram It was the earliest and greatest of the epics of the Sangam Age. It was written by Ilango Adigal, the younger brother of the celebrated Cheran Senguttuvan, who became a monk in order to allay the fears of Senguttuvan, the reigning king. It is the tragic story of a merchant, Kovalan of Puhar who falls in love with a dancer, Madhavi, neglecting his wife Kannagi. However, Kannagi revenges the death of her husband in the hands of the Pandyan king and becomes a goddess. It marks the beginning of Kannagi cult or Pattini cult, the worship of the goddess of Chastity. It contains a great deal of social and historical information about the Sangam Age. 2.2.2 Manimekalai It was a sequel to Silappadikaram. It was written by Sittalai Sattanar of Madura. It deals with the adventures of the daughter born of Kovalan and Madhavi though this epic is more 3 religious than literary interest. She consecrated herself to the service of Buddha, Dharma and Sangha. It contained a good deal of social and historical information. It was the only important ancient works which throw light on the development of the fine arts during the Sangam age. It is claimed in the prologues to these two epics that the authors were the friends and contemporaries of the Chera king, Senguttavan. 2.2.3 Jivaka Chintamani It was the work of Tiruttakkadevar, perhaps a young Chola convert to the Jain faith. 2.3 Other sources Tamil literary works are sources to reconstruct the history of the Sangam age. In addition to the Sangam literature, the Greek authors like Megasthenes, Strabo, Pliny, Ptolemy, mention the commercial contacts between the West and the South India. Pandyas was the first of the South Indian kingdoms mentioned by Megasthenes. The Ashokan inscriptions mention the Pandya, Chola and Chera as neighbours on the south of the Mauryan empire. The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela refers to the kingdoms of the Tamil country. The excavations at Arikamedu, Poompuhar, Kudumanal, and other places reveal the overseas commercial activities of the Tamils. 2.4 Period of Sangam literature The chronology of the Sangam literature is still a debated topic. The sheet anchor of Sangam chronology lies in the fact that Gajabahu II of Srilanka and Cheran Senguttuvan of the Chera dynasty were contemporaries. This is confirmed by Silappadikaram as well as the Dipavamsa and Mahavamsa. Besides, Roman coins issued by the Roman emperors of first century CE were found in plenty in various places of Tamil country. Therefore, the most probable date of Sangam literature has been fixed between 3rd century BCE to 3rd century CE on the basis of literary, archaeological and numismatic evidences. 3. Political History The Tamil country during the Sangam age was ruled by three dynasties namely Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas. The political history of these dynasties is traced from the literary references. There was frequent conflict between the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas, which gave ample scope for compositions on war and love by the poets. 3.1. Cheras The Cheras ruled over parts of modern Kerala. Their capital was Vanji or Karur. The Pugalur inscription of 1st century refers to three generation of Chera rulers. Perum Sorru Udhiyan Cheralanathan, Imayavaramban Nedun Cheralanathan and Cheran Senguttavan were the famous rulers of the dynasty. One of the earliest and better known Chera rulers was Udhiyan Cheralanathan(Udiyanjeral). He had the title Vanavaramban – one whose kingdom is bounded by the sky or ‘by the sea’. He was succeeded by his son Nedun Cheralanathan ( Nedunjeral Aden). He is also praised as having set his bow on the slope of the Himalayas so that his power was known from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas. This is why he is known as Imayavaramban. The greatest ruler of this dynasty was Senguttuvan of second century BCE. He was known as Red Chera and was a contemporary of the poet Paranar, one of the most celebrated and longest lived poets of the Sangam age. He is said to have got a stone from the Himalayas to make an idol of the Goddess Kannagi. According to Silappadikaram he was the founder of the famous Pattini cult. This function was attended by king Gajabahu of Srilanka. Senguttavan was succeeded by his half brother Perunjeral Adan. He was the contemporary of the great Chola king Karikala. 4 3.2. Cholas The Chola kingdom of Sangam period extended from modern Tiruchy district to Southern Andhra Pradesh. Their capital was located first at Uraiyur and later shifted to Puhar (identified as Kaveripattinam).

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