STUDIES

IN

TAMIL LITERATURE AND HISTORY

WORKS BY THE SAME AUTHOR;
1.

2.
3.

Hindu Administrative The Mauryan Polity.

Institutions.

4.
5.

Some Aspects of the Vayu Purana. The Matsya Purana: A Study.
Silappadikaram (in the Press).

First Published

..

..

J930

MUHTED AT

TE

ICADIAS

LAW JOUNAL MESS, icYLAfOUi

MAOA

PREFACE.
'Studies in Tamil Literature and History* was first published in 1930 by Messrs. Luzac & Co., London. The book went out of print in the beginning of

In view of this and also of the fact that it is prescribed for study by candidates taking Tamil at the Intermediate Arts examination at the University of London, the Secretary, External Department, University of London, wrote to me asking whether I am reprinting this year.

the book.

made me approach

JMis and the increasing demand for the book the University of Madras with the to help me in the request publication of a second of the book. And the University has been kind edition enough to undertake to reprint it, for which I express my

grateful thanks.

In this edition I have added in an Appendix some notes which are the results of further studies on the subjects discussed in the book.
V. R.

RAMACHANDRA DIKSHITAR,

UNIVERSITY OF MADRAS,
14th December, 1936

PREFATORY NOTE TO THE FIRST EDITION.
To the earnest student of Indian History and particularly of South Indian History, a deep and critical study of ancient Tamil literature is
I

of the utmost importance.'

The

necessity for such study

in 1923

when

came hlome to me strongly was nominated to a Research Student1

ship of the University of Madras, in the course of the investigation on the subject of Hindu AdmuMstratitip Institutions I felt more and more the need for an intensive study of the priceless literary treasures of Tamil. Hence I devoted my leisure 'hours to a study of Tamil literature, and the results of such study were a series of six articles on the Mystic Poets of the Tamil Land which appeared in the Hindu during 1924 and 1925, one article on the Art of War as practised South! India in the Annals \of Bhandark&r Rese&rdH Institute, Poona, one on Tantrayukti to the Journal of Oriental

m

Research, Madras and three on Tamil Social Life in the Illustrated Weekly. Lastly on the suggestion of Professor P. T. Srinivasa Ayyangar, I prepared a monograph on a comparative study of the Tirukkwral and Sanskrit literature, of which, a portion has appeared in his History \of the Tamils.

Hindu

The present volume is a collection of (Jiese stray writings together with the results of further studies on the subject. The first chapter is devoted to an examination of the Satigam age, and of the Saiigam works soI have attempted to prove that the Sangam is called. not a myth- In the second and third chapters a biographical sketch of some of the celebrated Sangam poets and Mystic poets is attempted. The fourth chapter is a study of the life and times of the author of the Tirukhufut, and the latter portion of it is devoted to an examination of the parallel icteas to be found in the works. Sanskrit

*&

PREFATORY NOTE chapters of the book deal with the organization of the ancient Tamil Land as can be gathered from the literature itself. The first chapter is on Administrative Institutions such as kingship, council, administration of taxation and justice. Though the materials are too meagre to attempt anything like a history of the institutions, still 1 have endeavoured to make the best use of them. The next chapter is on the institution of war, organization of the army and navy, and international relations, as the materials available for such study are ample. The last chapter is on the life of the people their urban and rural last three political The

and

social

their chief pastimes, their skill in and appreciation of, the fine arts such as music and dancing, their marriage customs, and their simple festivals. In the examination of these details in respect of social and political organizations, I have confined myself to the Sangam works, and whenever a reference is made to later works like the Tevamm or the Divyapratomdam, it is only to show how tradition persists in this ancient land. life, thanks are due to the editors of the Hindu and the Anwtis of Bh(mdarkar Research Institute for permitting me to utilize the articles which have appeared in their columns, to Sriman K. Ramaratna Ayyar, B.A. and Pandit M. Raghava Ayyangar for suggesting several improvements in the manuscript, to Professors K. A. Nilakanta Sastri and V. Rangacharya for going through the manuscript and giving me much valuable advice, to Mr.

My

Filial, Reader in Tamil, Madras Mr. S Vaiyapuri Pillai, Editor of the Tamil University, Lexicon and Dr. P. S. Subramaniya Sastri, Assistant

S Anavaratavinayagam
.
.

Editor for offering useful suggestions when the work was in the press, and to the Syndicate of the University of Madras for having kindly permitted me to publish this book.

V. R.
MADRAS,
'

RAMACHANPRA DIKSHITAR.

September 25,1920.

CONTENTS
PAGES

PREFACE PREFATORY NOTE TO THE FIRST EDITION
CHAP.

v vii-viii L THE SANGAM

II.

III.

Appar Svamigal, Sundaramurtisvamigal and Mftnikkavasakar
Section
iii.
. .

88-103

The

Samayacaryas NammalvSr, Kulafiekara AlvSr, Tirumangai Alvir and An^il
-.

Vaisnava

.

103-1 16

CONTENTS
CHAP.
Section iv. PAGES

Other

Mystic

Poets

Tirumular,

Tayumanavar
Section
v.

and

Ramalinga116-123

svamigal Conclusion

123-124

IV.

TlRUVALLUVAR
125-126 126-132
132-135 135-139

140-150

150-176

176

V.
177
178-180
181-182

183-189
189-203

204-208 208-214 214-222 222-226
VI.

227-229
229-231 231-233

233-237 237-239 239-242

242-246

246
246-248 248-250 250-254 254-258

VIL

SOCIAL LIFE IN TAMIL
Section
i.

LAND Towns and Town

Life

259-266

CONFENTS
CHAP.
Section Section ii. xi

PAGES

The

Village Life
. .

Marriage and Marriage Customs iv. Section Dancing, Music, and Other Amusements v. Section Some more Customs of the Tamils APPENDIX Additional Notes BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX iii. 266-270 270-288

288*300 300-308 309-322 323-328 329-336

NOTE ON TRANSLITERATION AND DIACRITICAL MARKS
Generally the phonetical method is followed in transliteration

Long vowels d }

are indicated thus

:

a,

e

c represents

% t 5F,

W

*

*

n n n n r CHAPTER
Sec.
I.

I

THE SAtf GAM
INTRODUCTORY
IT is evident that an invaluable mine of information is

huge mass of Dravidian and Tamil literature for reconstructing the history especially of the ancient Tamil land. And there is also evidence to demonstrate that this plant of Tamil literature shot up, of course gradually, into a huge tree with various branches containing fruits and flowers, under the sympathetic and buried in the distinguished patronage of the kings of those good old It is claimed by the supporters of tradition that days. the institution of an Academy designated in later literature
\

found

as

Sangam

in the capitals of the

flourished for thousands of years with its seat Pandya country, the latest of which

was Madura. the Colas

direct assistance rendered

Under such distinguished auspices as the by all the Tamil kings including
!
'

and the Ceras, the fruitful literature of classical type grew and grew to a lofty extent. The geographical region where the Tamil literature continued to flourish is furnished to us by

many of to the commentators of
1

this testimony that According territory was bound by the river Vaigai in the south, the river Marudam in the north, Karuvur in the west and Maruvur in the east. Put briefly, this would include portions of not only the Pandya kingdom but also portions of the Cola and the Cera kingdoms. Need there be, then, any doubt for the conclusion that the Tamil literature

the

Tolkappiyam.

was

richly patronized

by the then South Indian Kings? on 1 See the gloss of Hampfiragar, Seg5varaiyar, and NacdcSrkkiniyar the rttra 398, Solladikfrom.

2

STUDIES IN TAMIL LITERATURE
Sec. II.

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

The

daief source of information is the continuous

embodied in the Tamil literary works of an original character. The next source covers the vast field of commentaries, some of which are well authenticated. There are also other sources, which are, however, secondary in character inasmuch as they refer to incidents but not connected with this particular institution, Under this head come, the accounts of directly. Western geographers some of whom visited this land and recorded their observations. There were others who have left records compiled from such notes and observatradition as tions left

by such

visitors.

Among

these

figure

the

invaluable works like the Periplus, Ptolemy's Geography and that of Pliny. Again the Ceylon tradition as embed-

ded in the Mtihavamsw, the Rajavali and the Rdjaratnakari 1 come under this category. The inscriptional evidence is also to be treated as a secondary source of information inasmuch as the information is meagre. Last but the reference in contemporary and postcontemporary Sanskrit literature. Thus the sources of information are jixjn number. While the first two alone

not

least,

is

are valuable

inasmuch as they transmit

tradition,

the

other lines of evidence are useful only so far as they corroborate, to some extent, the legendary names and places. Twnil Literary Works. Among the Tamil literary works which make mention of the term Sarigam in the sense

of

a

lay

royal

academy*

prominently

Puranam. The extant Tiruvifaiyfldal figures Timvilaiyfakd Pfaranams are two in number, the older and the later. The authorship of the older work is the 1

See Sanded Books of Ceylon,

vols,

i

and

ii

(London).

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

3

attributed to Perumbarrappuliyur Nambi and the work may be chronologically fixed in the twelfth century A.D.

the composition of Paranjotimunivar and may roughly date from the sixteenth century. It may be noted in passing, that another version of this later is

The

work

work

also exists in Sanskrit called

HalasyaMah&tmya.

a number of stories containing miracles attributed to Lord Siva enshrined in the temple at Madura. Though the work is a composition of much
This work contains later times, still much of

the matter

it

contains, especially

the legendary portions, seems to have been current in much earlier times, at least earlier than the sixth century
A.D.

We

shall

work

in the

revert to the legend contained in this sequel. The other literary works which

mention the term Sangam in the technical sense of 'an assembly of the classical school' are the Tevarom (seventh' century A.D.) where Appar swamigal refers to one poor

Darumi who won a prize in the Academy. 1 The very fact that the great Saiva Samayacarya 2 and Vaisnava acaryas like Tirugfiana Sambandar Tirumangai Alvar in the Periyatirumoli (iii. 4-10 and 8 9-10) and Andal the great Vaisnava mystic poetess in the Tiruppavai* speak of $ahga-t-tamil, shows tiSat by the time of these acaryas, roughly from the commence-

ment of the sixth century, the sun of the classical school of Tamil had set. The Tamil langiuage entered on a new phase ispsearss 9

Ttvaram, p. 1179 Here the term Madwaittokai (i*gJ&>ffpQfitres>&)\& translated as stmgha by Sekkilar, Periya Pr*f f&spjg!T@u>is a significant one and is an unimpeachable reference to the members of the three Academies. Any other construction will be untenable. (See Tolkappiyatfi, ed. by Diwan Bahadur S. Bavanandam Pillai, vol. iv p. 589 and ff) ; contra V. Narayana Ayyar Jour. Orient. Research April, 1928. Article on "The Sangam
:

t

Literature.

9

THE LEGEND the 7

Here there is a valuable, though reference to the establishment of the Sangam as casual, an organized institution. Most of the inscriptions now
Pandya
king.

1

available date

from roughly

A.D.

600 by which time

it is

probable that the Sangam as an active institution had ceased to exist. Hence they had no occasion to mention it

and did not mention
Sec.

it.

HI THE LEGEND proceed to

We and see

shall

now

narrate

the

legends

contained in the above

works with regard to the.Sangam how far they are supported by other records such

as the Ceylonese books, the evidence of travellers, etc. The following is an account as contained in the

Pandyas commentary on Iraiyantir Ahapponvl. The founded three Sangams or Academies, the first Academy, the middle Academy and the last Academy. It is said that members who constituted the first Sangam were
549 beginning* with Agattiyanar (Agastya in Sanskrit). Among others were God Siva of braided hair who burnt the three cities, Murugan the Hill-God, Mudinagarayar of Muranjiyur and Kubera, the Lord of Treasure. They say that as many as 4,449 persons composed a number of poems including the Paripddal, Mwdtunarai, Mtidukurugu and Kalariyavirai. The above persons continued to be

members

of the

Sangam

for 4,400 years.

They

were patronized by eighty-nine kings commencing with KaysinaValudi to Kadungoti. It is also said that seven of these kings were themselves poets. The meetingplace of this Academy was Madura which was afterwards swallowed by the sea. followed by them.

Agattiyam was the grammar

The members of the second (middle) Sangam were fifty-nine and some of them were Agastya, Tolkappiyanar, i5././., vol. iii, pt. iv, p.

454.

STUDIES IN TAMIL LITERATURE
Inrndaiyur-Karuiigoli,

pandarangan,

VeUurkkappiyanar, SiruTiraiyanmaran the King of Tuvarai
Mosi,

(Dvaraka,) and Kirandai. It is said that 3,700 persons composed poems including Kali, Kurugw, Vendali and Viy&lamahi Akaval. The Agattiyam, the Tolkappiyaw, the M&pur&nam, Ifainunukkam, and BMapuranam were their grammars. The duration of the period of

Sangam was 3,700 years. It is said that fifty-nine Pandyan kings commencing with Vendersejiyan and endthis

ing with Mudattirumaran were

its

were

five

poets.

The Sangam

patrons. Among these was located at Kavata.

puram.

This also was perhaps swallowed by the sea last Sarigam consisted of forty-nine members of Siru Medaviyar, endambudanar, Ilam Tirumaran, Perunkunrurkkilar, Arivudayanar Marudan IlanagaNallanduvanar, the Madura scholiast, Here were Schoolmaster's son. nar, Nakkirar the

The

and consisted

Some of them were Neduntogai (Ahananupu), Kurunbogai Nanuru (four hundred), Nwrrinai N&nuru (four hundred), Pumnanilru, Aingufwium (five hundred) P\adirrupp\atPu, K\ali (one presented poems of 449 poets. hjundred and fifty),
Sirrisai

Paripadal (seventy), Ktittu, V\ari, They followed the grammars known This Sangam as the Agattiyam and the Tolk&ppiyam. were the kings who lasted for 1,850 years. Forty-nine this Academy commencing with Mudattirupatronized

and

Perisai.

maran who last established his capital at Madura when a The portion of his kingdom was devoured by the sea.

Academy was Ukkirapperuvaludi The meeting place of the Sangam was the Uttara Madura (North Madura, the modern city of Madura) The Legend Examined. In a brochure of his, entitled Essay on T&ml Literature? the late Prof. Sesagiri patron of this
.
.

*Pp. 7-8

THE LEGEND
Sastri

9 to remarked:

'With

reference

the

first

two

Sanganis I may say that the account is too mythical and! fabulous to be entitled to any credit and I do not think that any scholar who has studied the histories of the

world will be bold enough to admit such tales_within the pale of real history. There may have been some truth in the above account as regards government of the Madura kingdom by the Pandyas, but the number of the kings who are said to have ruled over the kingdom, viz., eighty-nine Pandyas who are connected with the first Sangam and fifty-nine who are connected with the intervening Sangam is not quite trustworthy and to accept it as a true fact we require some further evidence/ An examination of the legend shows that the late lamented professor was There is such observations. justified in making first, such

the introduction of _Gpds of the Hindu Pantheon, as, Siva, Muruga, Kubra, as members of the

Sarigam thus introducing the element of the supernatural. Secondly these Gods are associated with human poets and poetesses with no distinction whatsoever. Thirdly there is the abnormally lengthy duration of the periods of the Sarigam besides the extraordinarily long reigns of the Pandyan kings. Fourthly, there is the mention of artificial figures which impair very much

For example, it is the authenticity of these accounts. said that the first Sangam lasted for 4,440 years and consisted of 4,449 poets. The second covered a period of 3,700 years and the poets of the period were also 3,700., The third Sangam covered a period of 1,850 years and had on its rolls 449 members. Artificiality is evident in its is

symmetry. The length of the period of each SaAgam a multiple of 37 and the total duration is 37 X (120 +'
Fifthly, there is the anachronistic confusion
p. 232.

100+ SO). 1
1

See P. T. SrinivSsa Ayyangar, History of the Tamils, 2

10

STUDIES IN TAMIL LITERATURE

of assigning one and the same author to different
Satigams.

As an

illustration,

we may

yanar this is

is

mentioned in the

first

point out Agattitwo Academies. Either

wrong or the Agattiyanar in the second Sangam was a member belonging to the family of the original
This alternative explanation would be valid

Agastya.

two Sangams as separate insti1 tutions is proved. But this is an improbability. Sixthly, no works mentioned in the accounts relating to the first two Sangams have come down to us except perhaps the Tolkappiyam which tradition assigns to the second Academy. Lastly while the commentator menif the theory of the first

Pandyas as poets of the last Sangam, the extant Sangam works refer to nine Pandyan kings besides six Cola chieftains. Thus, what the late Sesagiri Sastriar remarked about the first two Sangams It is however is largely triue of the third Academy also. to note that members of the Hindu Pantheon significant tions only three

are

not

identified

with

human

poets

in

the

third

1

Academy, and most of the works and names found in the account are authentic as is seen from the extant angam works The latest writer on the subject, Mr. P. T. Srinivasa Ayyangar has drawn attention to some inaccurate statements in the commentary on Ahapporul from which he has concluded that the commentator is an un2 reliable 'witness. Let us state them categorically and to examine them seriatim. then proceed (1) Numerous poets must have flourished before the age of Agattiyanar for him to compose a grammar of literary Tamil and there
.

first

similar instance is that a poem of Mucjinagarayar a member of the Academy, finds a place in the Puram a composition of the third Academy. The same is also true of Vanmlkiyar, Markandeyanar, and Gdtamanar.
*

1

A

History of the Tomtits, pp. 233-5.

THE LEGEND is 11

no reference to the existence of these poets in the commentary. (2) Some poems of the Puram (31, 33) and other collections of the third Sangam bestow lavish praise on the success of the Cola kings and the defeat of

Would such poems be included in the anthologies authorized to be made by the kings of Madura? (3) The kings were so often fighting with each other that it must have been impossible for the Madura the Pandyas.

king to attend to this. (4) The idea of an organized Academy is a very modern one and it is surely a violent anachronism to transfer it to many hundreds of years ago. In regard to the first argument, it may be urged that the commentator on the Ahapporul is engaged in giving an account of the Sangam and not a description of the

No preliminary survey conditions prior to the Sarigam. of the literary activity before the alleged Sangam period is attempted. From the facti of the mention of an authoritative grammar, it is taken, for granted that a body of literature existed before Agastya composed his work on grammar. The absence of reference to the previous works will not detract from the value of the account. In regard to the second and third arguments, as has been already said, though

the

headquarters of still it

the

Academy was patronized by and the Ceras. that it

at the all Pandyan is capital,

was

richly

the Tamil chieftains including the Colas

There sole It

no proof to

state authoritatively

was

the

Pandyan kings. were stated whether it would be acceptable to the The poets of those days always sitting monarch or no. enjoyed the rare privilege of entering any Court and facts and exclusive privilege of the was then a common Academy where

tendering advice to the chieftains whenever they erred from the right path Would it be too much to assume that Madura was the centre of the then University life to
.

12

STUDIES IN TAMIL LITERATURE

the growth of which the Colas and the Ceras contributed not a little/ Thie fowrth argument that an organized Academy was an impossibility in ancient times, is not convincing. p&risads of the Upanisads and the earlier Dharmflsutras where learned pandits assembled and entered into discussions. Sometimes these parisads were presided over by kings of the land. It may be originally there was no Sangam

know from Sanskrit literature that became common institutions of the epoch

We

Hall us such there and wherever the king held his Court, the Sangam. Possibly the institution gained in course of time more importance and a need was felt for a separate establishment. Perhaps it got a perma-

was

nent footing much later a recognized body.

than

its

commencement

as

That an Academy acted as a literary censor of new poems is evident in the case of the Tolkappiyaim and the or prefatory verses to the TolkUppiyam, Panambaranar, a friend of Tolkappiyanar, refers to an assembly of a Pandyan king Nilandaru

Timkfouml.

In the

Payimm

Tiruvir Pandyan, where the author of the Tolkappiyam presented his work and got it accepted. It is said that

a certain to Brahman versed in Vedic lore of the village of 8 Adangodu sat in judgment over the work. According
Pandyan king under whose supervision Tolkappiyanar got the imprimatur was Makirti and that this Adangodu Brahman put the work
Naccinarkkiniyar
the

criticism against all of which Tolkappiyanar defended his work. easily Another instance of a publication in a royal Court was that of the Tirukkural. According to a legend the

to

severe

* ^u9Q*(g>Li-/D p*#Q*iretiQ*i*QpPuram,S&.ThiB ode is attributed to KSvirip-Pumpattiaam KarikkaijoanSr and celebrates the alliance of both the CBia and the Pfc? ^ffT^uu/rtlL.ff'aPar' What is more remarkable is that the Stiappadik&ram and the Matiimtkalai refer to the patfimandapam (Mom., canto i, 1. 61, Sttap., v, 1. 102). The commentator of the interprets the term as Vidy&wanfapcKm, Olakkamanfapain.

THE AGE OF THE TAMIL SAtfGAM

19

cleavage between the first and the second Academy; or even between the second and the third Academy. That

same king Mudattirumaran saw the fall of the second at Kavatapuram and founded the third in modern Madura demonstrates only transfer of capital and the consequently transfer of headquarters of the Academy. The evidence for the Sangam as three separate institutions is too meagre to build anything like a theory.

The term enba which the Kalaviyal is occurs in the commentary of

a significant expression in early Tamil literature meaning what the French phrase 'on dif means. In other words the expression points out that the current traditions were universally believed and The author of the commentary on the accepted. Iraiyanar Ahapporul then shared the popular belief in traditional three Sangams. One explanation can be that three different stages marked onit the growth of the Academy, though we have not much proof of this progressive evolution. It is obvious that a new stage in the history of the Sangam begins witih the epoch of the Nayanmars (Saiva devotees) and Alvars (Vaisnava devotees) and continues to the present day under the kind patronage of the Raja of Ramnad. It is therefore reasonable to conclude that there early times which continued its

was an Academy from existence unbroken. But able to

when

it

originated,

we are not

say with" any

definiteness.
Sec. VII.

THE AGE OF THE TAMIL SA&GAM is But what

more

difficult is to fix

Emits to the different stages of the Academy.

the chronological If we are

to give credence to the legend in the commentary of the 'Ahapporuf, the commencement of the Academy must fcJe

placed somewhere in 9000 B.C.

Though

the heyday of

30

STUDIES IN TAMIL LITERATURE is Dravidian culture millenniums B.C.

carried to the fourth

and the

fifth

by recent archaeological discoveries in the Mohenjodaro and Harappa, still it is by no means an easy task to establish a connection between these Dravidians of the Punjab and the Tamils of the South
India. Consequently it is difficult to accept a very ancient date for the prevalence of what we now understand as University life. It would be too bold to accept

sjuch

an early

date.

From

the fact that

Gotama

the poet

(396) and another 1 poet Mudinagaraya to the Cera King Udiyan Ceralatan who fed the Pandava and Kaurava forces in the refers in the to Yudhisthira
Greiat

Purwm

Mahabharata war

it

can be assumed that these

poets lived in the epoch following the According to the legend contained in

Mahabharata war. the gloss of the

Kalaviyal, these

while third from these two poets belonged to the first Academy their poems figure in an anthology ascribed to the Sangam. This inaccuracy considerably detracts the value of the legend for historical purposes. But two poems in the Puram seem to throw some light

on the chronological problem of the Sangam. The references take us to the epoch of the Mahabharata war. The battle at Koiruksetra is generally believed to

have taken

Therefore it is argued place in the eleventh century B.C. that somewhere about the eleventh century B.C./ or a little later the this it

Sangam must have come

into being.

But against

may be argued that there was a poetic convention according to which a poet of very much later times might sing of the glories of his patron's far-famed ancestors.
1 P.

If there is

any force

in this

argument the theory of

T. Srinivasa Ayyangar thinks that it refers to the celebration of the death of the Kauravas by Udiyan by distributing food to people (History of
In Pa$dit RSghava Ayyangar's opinion contemporaneous with the events of the epics. the first

Sangam was

THE DESIGNATION

SAtfGAM'

21

the tenth or the eleventh century B.C. as the

commenceIf

ment of the epoch of the Sangam goes

to the wall.

tfie author of the Tirukkuf^l could be proved to hav* 1 lived in the second century s.c. then there is warrant for

the assumption that the Tolkappiyam is a much earlier work at least one or two centuries earlier than the second century
B.C. have seen already that according to the P&yirwm to the Tolkappiyam the latter was presented to the Academy and won its approval. If this account has any significance it We

compels us to qonclude that prior to the days of Tolkap-

piyanar the Sangatn existed as an institution and the Grammarian did what the scholars of his time did. It must be also borne in his mind that the grammar of Tolkappiyanar or
2

predecessor Agattiyanar presupposes a body of literary works. Roughly then a date like the fifth century B.C. may be assigned in regard to the origin illustrious of the Sangam.
Sec. VIII.

THE DESIGNATION is 'SAttGAM'

The expression Sarigam Sanskrit word Stmgha. The a form of the early poem where there is the Tamil is reference to this institution

the

Mddwr&ikk&nci.*

word became popularized by the Jaina and Bauddha Sanghas which were religious associations and the term came into popular use
It is generally believed that the

after the establishment of a Dravida

Sangha by Vajra

1 Professor V. Rangacariar's researches have led him to this conclusion. See Educa. Review, October, 1928. According to the Professor the eleventh

century B.C. is impossible, for the first Sahgam presupposes the existence of the Brahmanical civilization in the South and as the advent of the Aryans into the Dekhan took place about 700 B.C, some centuries must have elapsed before an expert body of literary censors was formed. Hence he would From this it has a assign 300 B.C when the first Sahgam was organized. continuous life until A.D. 800. Ibid.
2

Pan$t Swaminatha Ayyar Sangattamilum
1.

Pirkcilattamifam, pp.

see T. R.
3

e?a Ayyangar, Dravidian India, pp. 81-2.

762

22

STUDIES IN TAMIL LITERATURE in A.D.

The a Jaina organization. mgkafai refers to a certain Sangha as distinct from the Bauddha Sangha. In the first instance the term means an assembly of poets. 8 If it is granted that the Tamil Sangha or Sangam is an imitation of the Bauddha Sangha, there is the possibility of
Nandi

470
31

1

being known to the South Indians in the third and the fourth: centuries before Christ, since history teaches us the advent of the Buddhists into the South of India and its Ceylon

during

no
It

alien

word

these early centuries. Further it is to the Sianskrit literature of this time.

and general sense in and Arthatastras. There is the Dh&rmafastras, Epics no force in the wgumentwm silentmm, namely, that the

was used

both, in its technical

designation does not find mention in the Sangam literature so-called. The Sangam works do not mention the

term Sangha but mention terms like tokai, kudal, avai, kalakam which mean Sangam. In the Manimekalai the term Sangam, as we have already seen, is used in the sense of an assembly. Granting again that the term came into use long after the commencement of the
Saftgam as a literary Academy, like still

the existence of in institutions,

call

it

what you

will

centuries

before Christ cannot be questioned in the face of a strong tradition which is almost the only source of information of undated history.

Recently an attempt has been made to interpret the term in quite a different light utterly disregarding voluminous data in the shape of tradition. 4 the

The
*

suggestion

amounts
p.

to

this:

that

the

term

See History of tte Tomtit

247.

*L.
*
*

XXX, 11.

3-4.

ipriftjri* em*u> Qu/TdjQarir Journal of Oriental Research,

&>y>m* canto vol. ii,

vii,

114.

pt.

11,

pp. 149-51.

THE DESIGNATION SA&GAM'
'

23

means a

a group, an anthology and that the was {adopted in a curtailed Sanskrit word 'Sangba' form as a 'Sanga' or it was a Sanskrit variant for collection, 1

term is translated as tokainilaP Tamil Dandi Alaiikarom. No simply doubt the interpretation is ingenious and sets aside the learned views of the great scholars commencing from the commentator of the Kalaviyal down to the present
'Sanghata'.

This

or

tokai

in

day.

Unfortunately it. there
8

is

not sufficient proof to

support

The

verse

in the

Kavyadars

means

'there

Muktaka, and Sanghata; but it is not mentioned Kulaka, Kosa, here as it is included within sarga-bandha (or composition in cantos).'*

exists that detailed classification of poetry, into

In commenting
5

on

the

term

'Sanghata' Taruna