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Cilappatikāram, also referred to as Silappathikaram or Silappatikaram, is the earliest Tamil epic. It is a poem of 5,730 lines in almost entirely akaval (aciriyam) meter. The epic is a tragic love story of an ordinary couple, Kaṇṇaki and her husband Kōvalaṉ. The Cilappatikāram has more ancient roots in the Tamil bardic tradition, as Kannaki and other characters of the story are mentioned or alluded to in the Sangam literature such as in the Naṟṟiṇai and later texts such as the Kovalam Katai. It is attributed to a prince-turned-monk Iḷaṅkō Aṭikaḷ, and was probably composed in the 2nd century CE.
Tolkāppiyam, also romanised as Tholkaappiyam, is the most ancient extant Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant long work of Tamil literature. It is the earliest Tamil text mentioning Gods, perhaps linked to Hindu deities.
Ilango Adigal (Tamil: இளங்கோவடிகள், romanized: Iḷaṅkōvaṭikaḷ, was a monk and a poet, sometimes identified as a Chera prince. He is traditionally credited as the author of Cilappatikaram, one of the Five Great Epics of Ancient Tamil literature. He is one of the greatest poets from Cheranadu. In a patikam to the epic poem, he identifies himself as the brother of a famous Chera king Ceṅkuṭṭuvan. This Chera king, as stated by Elizabeth Rosen, ruled over his kingdom in late 2nd or early 3rd century CE. However, this is doubtful because a Sangam poem in Patiṟṟuppattu – the fifth ten – provides a biography of Ceṅkuṭṭuvan, his family and rule, but never mentions that he had a brother who became an ascetic or wrote one of the most cherished epics. This has led scholars to conclude that the legendary author Ilango Adikal myth was likely inserted later into the epic. In a 1968 note, Kamil Zvelebil suggested that, "this [Adigal claim] may be a bit of poetic fantasy, practised perhaps by a later member of the Chera Dynasty [5th or 6th century] recalling earlier events [2nd or 3rd century]".
The Chera dynasty, was a Sangam age Tamil dynasty which unified various regions of the western coast and western ghats in southern India to form the early Chera empire. The dynasty, known as one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam alongside the Chola and Pandya, has been documented as early as the 4th to 3rd centuries BCE. Their governance extended over diverse territories until the 12th century CE.
The Chola dynasty was a Tamil dynasty originating from southern India. At its height, it ruled over the Chola Empire, an expansive maritime empire. The earliest datable references to the Chola are from inscriptions dated to the 3rd century BCE during the reign of Ashoka of the Maurya Empire. The Chola empire was at its peak and achieved imperialism under the Medieval Cholas in the mid-9th century CE. As one of the Three Crowned Kings of Tamilakam, along with the Chera and Pandya, the dynasty continued to govern over varying territories until the 13th century CE.
The Purananuru, sometimes called Puram or Purappattu, is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the last of the Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature. It is a collection of 400 heroic poems about kings, wars and public life, of which two are lost and a few have survived into the modern age in fragments. The collected poems were composed by 157 poets, of which 14 were anonymous and at least 10 were women. This anthology has been variously dated between 1st century BCE and 5th century CE, with Kamil Zvelebil, a Tamil literature scholar, dating predominantly all of the poems of Purananuru sometime between 2nd and 5th century CE. Nevertheless, few poems are dated to the period of 1st century BCE.
Karikala, often referred to as Karikala the Great, was a Tamil Emperor of the Early Cholas of the Chola dynasty who ruled ancient Tamilakam from Uraiyur. He is credited with the construction of the flood banks of the river Kaveri and conquest of Tamilakam, Andhra and Sri Lanka. He is recognised as the greatest of the Early Cholas. In Thiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra Chola I, Medieval Tamil Cholas listed Karikala Chola as one of their ancestors.
The Sangam literature, historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones', connotes the early classical Tamil literature and is the earliest known literature of South India. The Tamil tradition and legends link it to three legendary literary gatherings around Madurai and Kapāṭapuram: the first lasted over 4,440 years, the second over 3,700 years, and the third over 1,850 years. Scholars consider this Tamil tradition-based chronology as ahistorical and mythical. Most scholars suggest the historical Sangam literature era, also called the Sangam period, spanned from c. 300 BCE to 300 CE, while others variously place this early classical Tamil literature period a bit later and more narrowly but all before 300 CE. According to Kamil Zvelebil, a Tamil literature and history scholar, the most acceptable range for the Sangam literature is 100 BCE to 250 CE, based on the linguistic, prosodic and quasi-historic allusions within the texts and the colophons.
Tamilakam was the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people, covering the southernmost region of the Indian subcontinent. Tamilakam covered today's Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Puducherry, Lakshadweep and southern parts of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. Traditional accounts and the Tolkāppiyam referred to these territories as a single cultural area, where Tamil was the natural language and permeated the culture of all its inhabitants. The ancient Tamil country was divided into kingdoms. The best known among them were the Cheras, Cholas, Pandyans and Pallavas. During the Sangam period, Tamil culture began to spread outside Tamilakam. Ancient Tamil settlements were also established in Sri Lanka and the Maldives (Giravarus), prior to the migration of Prakrit speakers.
The Eight Anthologies, known as Eṭṭuttokai or "Eight Collections" in the literature, is a classical Tamil poetic work that forms part of the Eighteen Greater Texts (Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku) anthology series of the Sangam Literature. The Eight Anthologies and its companion anthology, the Ten Idylls (Pattuppāṭṭu), is the oldest available Tamil literature. According to Kamil Zvelebil, a scholar of Tamil literature and history, dating these Eight Anthologies or their relative chronology is difficult, but the scholarship so far suggested that the earliest layers were composed sometime between the 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE, while the last layers were completed between 3rd and 5th century CE.
Kalittokai is a classical Tamil poetic work and the sixth of Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature. It is an "akam genre – love and erotic – collection par excellence", according to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar. The anthology contains 150 poems and was compiled by one of the authors named Nallantuvanar. The collection has a different tone, metre and style than earlier Sangam literature, evidence that it is a late Sangam work, likely from the 3rd-century CE or after. Naccinarkiniyar, a Tamil scholar who lived during the 14th-century CE, has commented on this work.
The Patiṟṟuppattu is a classical Tamil poetic work and one of the Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in Sangam literature. A panegyric collection, it contains puram poems. The Chera kings, known as the Cheramal, are the centre of the work. Its invocatory poem is about Mayon, or Perumal (Vishnu).
The Early Cholas were a Tamil kingdom of the Chola dynasty - pre and post Sangam period. It was one of the three main kingdoms of Tamilakam. Their early capitals were Urayur or Tiruchirapalli and Kaveripattinam. Along with the Pandyas and the Cheras, the Chola history goes back to the period when written records were scarce.
CheranChenkuttuvan, literally 'the Alluring Kuttuvan Chera', identified with Katal PirakottiyaVel Kezhu Kuttuvan, was the most celebrated Chera dynasty ruler of the early land of Tamilnadu in early historic South India.
The region of Tamil Nadu in the southeast of modern India, shows evidence of having had continuous human habitation from 15,000 BCE to 10,000 BCE. Throughout its history, spanning the early Upper Paleolithic age to modern times, this region has coexisted with various external cultures.
Porunarāṟṟuppaṭai is an ancient Tamil poem and the second lay of the Pattuppattu anthology in the Sangam literature. It contains 248 lines, mostly in the akaval meter. It is one of five arruppatai genre poems, possibly the oldest one, aimed as a guide to other bards seeking a patron for their art. Set in the early Chola kingdom, describes about Uraiyur, the capital of Cholas and the Powerful King of early cholas Karikala Cholan, his early life and how he brought up the King of Chola Kingdom. It was composed by Mutattamakkanniyar sometime around 180–190 CE, states Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature scholar.
The Early Pandyas of the Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the Tamilakam, the other two being the Cholas, and Cheras dynasty. As with many other kingdoms around this period, most of the information about the Early Pandyas come to modern historians mainly through literary sources and some epigraphic, archaeological and numismatic evidence. The capital of the Early Pandyan kingdom was initially Korkai, Thoothukudi and was later moved to Koodal during the reign of Nedunjeliyan I.
There are literary, archaeological, epigraphic and numismatic sources of ancient Tamil history. The foremost among these sources is the Sangam literature, generally dated to 5th century BCE to 3rd century CE. The poems in Sangam literature contain vivid descriptions of the different aspects of life and society in Tamilakam during this age; scholars agree that, for the most part, these are reliable accounts. Greek and Roman literature, around the dawn of the Christian era, give details of the maritime trade between Tamilakam and the Roman empire, including the names and locations of many ports on both coasts of the Tamil country.
Visvanatha Kanakasabhai Pillai (1855–1906) was an Indian lawyer, historian and Dravidologist of Sri Lankan Tamil descent. He was the first person to attempt a chronology of ancient Tamil Nadu. He was also one of the first people to deduce the references to a long-submerged legendary continent, Kumari Kandam, in texts such as Silappadhikkaram.
Ramayana is one of the ancient Indian epics. According to Robert P. Goldman, the oldest parts of the Ramayana date to the mid-8th century BCE. The story is narrated by the saint poet Valmiki and tells the tale of Prince Rama of the city of Ayodhya, who is banished into the forest, accompanied by his wife Sita and half-brother Lakshmana. During the exile, Sita gets kidnapped by the king Ravana of Lanka, and Rama, with the help of a vanara army, rescues Sita from Lanka. The original set in Sanskrit consists of 24,000 verses, and there are several variations in the story narrated in South Asian and South East Asian cultures, across the Indian subcontinent, Thailand and Indonesia, with several versions re-written in various Indian and other Asian languages.
References
- ↑ V., Kanakasabhai (1997). The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago. Asian Educational Services. ISBN 81-206-0150-5.
- 1 2 Zvelebil, Kamil (1973). The smile of Murugan: On Tamil literature of south India. Brill Academic Publishers. pp. 37–39. ISBN 90-04-03591-5.
The opinion that the Gajabahu Synchronism is an expression of genuine historical tradition is accepted by most scholars today
- ↑ Pillai, Vaiyapuri (1956). History of Tamil Language and Literature; Beginning to 1000 AD. Madras, India: New Century Book House. p. 22.
We may be reasonably certain that chronological conclusion reached above is historically sound
- ↑ P. T. S. Iyengar in his "History of the Tamils"(p335) advances the theory that Kayavaku ought to be read as Kaval
- ↑ V. Kanakasabhai, pp 6 - 7.
- ↑ V. Kanakasabhai, The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, Asian Educational Services, pp 6 - 9.
- ↑ V. Kanakasabhai, pp 7.
- ↑ Tieken, Herman Joseph Hugo. 2001. Kavya in South India: old Tamil Cankam poetry. Groningen: Egbert Forsten.