Sangam Age and Kalabhras

1. Sangam Age andKalabhras Period IV 300 BCE to 500 CE

2. Sources

3. Literary Sources • The Sangam literature chiefly consists of Tholkappiyam, Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu. • These works provide valuable information to know the history of the Sangam Age. • Among these Tholkappiyam was the earliest. • During the post-Sangam period, the PathinenKilkanakkuor the Eighteen Works was composed. • The twin epics - SilappathigaramandManimegalai- also belonged to the post- Sangam period. • All these literature help us to know the society, economy and culture of the ancient Tamils.

4. Archaeological Sources • The archaeological sources for the sangam period are limited. • They may be classified into: • (a) Material Remains • (b) Inscriptions and  • (c) Coins

5. Material Remains • Several monuments of this period have been brought to light by the excavations conducted at various places in Tamil Nadu. • Robert Bruce Foote conducted excavations at Adhichanallur where he had found a large number of articles made of iron, bronze and gold. • They depict the life of the ancient Tamils.

6. Dubreuil and Mortimer Wheeler also made excavations at Arikkamedu near Pondicherry. • Roman pottery, glass howls, gems and coins have been found there. • These findings confirm the commercial contacts between the Roman Empire and Tamil country during the Sangam Age.

7. A Buddhist Vihara was found at Kilaivur near kaveripoompattinam. It belonged to the post-Sangam period. • Other Important sites of excavations are Uraiyur, Kanchipuram, Kodumanal and Porunthal. • The under-water archaeology has also developed recently and excavations have been made under the sea near Poompuhar. A shipwreck has been found there. • These findings focus much light on the history of the Sangam period.

8. Inscriptions • Epigraphical information for the Sangam period is scanty. • The Asokan Edicts refer to the Chera, Chola and Pandya kingdoms. • The Hathikumba Inscriptions of the Kalinga king , Kharavela also mentions the three Tamil Kingdoms. • The Kalugumalai inscriptions help us to know about ancient Tamil scripts called Tamil Brahmi. (Tamili)

9. The Tirukkovalur inscriptions refer to the local chieftains and the tragic end of the Tamil Poet, Kapilar. • The inscriptions at Thirupparankundrum mention the gift of cave beds to the Jain monks. • The inscriptions found at Arnattar hills, near Pugalur belonged to the First Century A.D. and these inscriptions furnish information regarding the Chera kings.

10. Coins • The study of coins is called numismatics, We get useful historical information from the study of ancient coins. • The Tamil Kings of the Sangam period issued gold and silver coins but they are not found in large numbers. • However, Roman coins made of gold and silver are found all over Tamil country. • These coins further confirm the trade relations between Tamil country and Rome during the Sangam Age.

11. Foreign Accounts • In addition to the Sangam literature, foreign literary accounts remain useful sources for the study of the Sangam Age. • Greek and Roman writers had mentioned about the society and economy of the Sangam Tamils in their accounts. • Megasthanes in his book Indica also referred to the three Tamil Kingdoms. • Other authors such as Strabo, Pliny and Ptolemy provide valuable information regarding the Sangam Age. • The Ceylonese books - Mahavamsa and Dipavamsa- help us to fix the date of the Sangam.

12. Chronology of the Sangam Age • Chronology means the arranging of the historical events on the basis of the date of happenings. • It remains very difficult to find out the exact date of the Sangam period. • There are different opinions in fixing the date of the Sangam. • It is believed that there existed three Sangams. • The First Sangam had flourished at Then Madurai and the Second Sangam at Kapadapuram. • Since these two places were eroded into the Indian Ocean, the Pandyan kings had established the Third Sangam at Madurai.

13. Many scholars did not believe the existence of Three Sangams. • However, the Sangam literature, which we possess now, might have been composed during the period of the Third Sangam. • Hence, the Sangam Age that we come to know denotes only the Third Sangam. • Based on the literary, epigraphic and archaeological sources, it is established by scholars that the Sangam Age flourished from Third Century B.C. to Third Century A.D.

14. The Sangam Age • The Sangam Age in Tamil country is significant and unique for its social, economic, religious and cultural life of the Tamils. • There was an all round development during this period. • The Sangam literatures as well as the archaeological findings reveal these developments.

15. 'Sangam' is the Tamil form of Sanskrit word "Sangha" meaning a group of persons or an association. • The Tamil Sangam was an Academy of poets and bards, who flourished in three different periods and in different places under the patronage of the Tamil kings. • According to tradition, the first Sangam was founded by Sage Agastya and its seat was at Thenmadurai (South Madurai).

16. The seat of the second Sangam was Kapadapuram, another capital of the Pandyas. It was attended by several poets and produced a large mass of literature, but only Tholkappiyam (the early Tamil grammar) has survived. • The seat of the third Sangam was the present Madurai. It has also produced vast literature, but only a fraction of it has survived. It is this fraction which constitutes the extant body of Sangam literature. • The Age of the Sangam is the age to which the Sangam literature belonged. The Sangam literature constitutes a mine of information on conditions of life around the beginning of the Christian era.

17. Sangam Polity • From the earliest times Tamilaham had known only three major kingdoms • the Cheras, • the Cholas and • the Pandyas. The Pandyas were first mentioned by Megasthenes, who says that their kingdom was celebrated for pearls. He also speaks of its being ruled by a woman, which may suggest some matriarchal influence in the Pandya society. In the Major Rock Edict II Asoka mentions of the three kingdoms – Pandyas, Cholas and Cheras as neighbours. • The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavelea contains the early epigraphic reference to the kingdoms of the Tamil country, where he is said to have destroyed a confederacy of Tamil states – Tramiradesa Sanghatam. However, the chief source for the Sangam period is the Sangam literature.

19. The Sangam literature speaks highly of three South Indian kingdoms- • Chera • Chola and • Pandya • The three ancient kingdoms of the Cholas, the Pandas and the Chera combined with were known as Tamilakam, or Tamil realm or Tamil Country.

21. In addition to these three kingdoms, there were also local chieftains. • The most famous among the local chieftains were the Seven Patrons, popularly known as Kadaiyezhu Vallalgal. • They are • Pehan • Paari • Kaari • Ay (Andiran) • Athiyaman • Nalli • Ori

22. The Three Kingdoms of Sangam Age

23. Flag

24. Kingdoms with flags

25. The Cheras • The earliest reference to the Chera (Keralaputhra) kingdom is in the Ashokan inscriptions. • It comprised the modern districts of Malabar, Cochin and Northern Travancore. Its Capital was Vanji. • The greatest Chera king was Senguttuvan, the red or good Chera. He is credited with having invaded the north and crossed the river Ganga. • But all this seems to be exaggerated. Pattini cult, that is the worship of Kannagi as the ideal wife, was started by him.

26. Cont… • The Chera or the Kerala country was situated to the west and north of the land of the Pandyas. • It included the narrow strip of land between the sea and the mountains and covered portions of both Kerala and Tamilnadu. • In the early centuries of the Christian era, the Chera country was as important as the country of the Cholas and the Pandyas. It owed its importance to trade with the Romans. • The Romans set up two regiments at Musirisidentical with Cranganore in the Chera country to protect their interests. It is said that they also built there a temple of Augustus.

27. Bow and Arrow

28. Kingdom of the Cheras

29. The Cholas • The homeland of the Cholas was the Kaveri delta and the adjoining region of modern Tanjore and Tiruchirappalli. • They were the first to acquire ascendancy in the far east with kaveripattanam, or Puhar as their capital. Its inland capital was Uraiyur.

30. Cont… • It seems that in the middle of the second century CE. a Chola king named Elara conquered Sri Lanka and ruled over it for nearly 50 years. • The famous king of Cholas was Karikala which means, ‘The man with the charred leg.’ • He was a contemporary of the Chera king Perunjeral Adan. Karikala was a very competent ruler and a great warrior.

31. Cont… • He founded Puhar and constructed 160 km of embankment along the Kaveri River. • This was built with the labour of 12,000 slaves who were brought as captives from Sri Lanka. • Puhar was a great centre of trade and commerce, and excavations show that it had a large dock. • The Cholas maintained an efficient navy.

33. The Pandyas • The ancient kingdom of the Pandas, with its capital at Madurai, compromised the modern districts of Madurai, Ramnad, Tirunelveli and southern parts of Travancore. • The Pandyas were first mentioned by Megasthanese. According to the Magasthanse, the kingdom was once ruled by a woman. • According to Asoka edicts, the Pandyas were independent people living beyond the Southern border of the Mauryan Empire. • The greatest Pandya king was Nedunchezhian who defeated the Chera and Cholas.

34. Cont… • According to Silappadikaram, Nedunjhelian, in a fit of passion, ordered without judicial enquiry the execution of Kovalanwho was accused of theft of the queen’s anklet. • When Kovalan’s wife proved her husband’s innocence, the king was struck with remorse and died of shock on the throne. • The Pandya kings profited from trade with the Roman Empire and sent embassies to the Roman emperor Augustus. • The Pandya port Korkai was a great centre of trade and commerce, another port was Saliyur.

35. Coin of the Pandyas

36. Kingdoms of the Pandyas

38. Period of Sangam literature • The earliest script that the Tamils used was the Tamili script. It was only from the late ancient and early medieval period, they started evolving a new angular script, called the Grantha script, from which the modern Tamil is derived. • Some of the contents of the Sangam literature are corroborated by the writings of some Greek and Roman classical writers of the first and second century A. D, leading us to fix the period of Sangam age roughly between third century B.C. to third century A.D. • So most of the Sangam literature also must have been produced during this period. • The Sangam literature was finally compiled in its present form from 300 CE -600 CE.

39. Sangam Literature • The Sangam literature which combines idealism with realism and deals with secular matter relating to public and social activity like government, war charity, trade, worship, agriculture, etc. • Among the poets and thinkers of the Sangam age Tolkappiyar, Tiruvalluvar, lllangoAdigal, SittalaiSattanar, Nakkirar, Kapilar, Paranar, Auvaiyar, MangudiMarudanar and a few others are outstanding. • Sangam literature consists of the earliest Tamil works such as • the Tholkappiyam, • the ten poems (Patthupattu), • the eight anthologies (Ettuthogai) and • the eighteen minor works (Padinenkilkanakku), and • the three epics. • The chief merits of the Sangam works is their absolute devotion to standards and adherence to literary conventions.

40. Earliest Tamil Works • Tholkappiyam is the oldest extant Tamil grammar written by Tholkkappiyar (one of the 12 disciples of Saint Agastya.) • It is divided into three major parts, each consisting of nine iyals (sub-parts) and has a total of 1612 sutras. • Other earliest Tamil works were the Agasttiyam (a work on grammar of letters and life) by Saint Agasttiyar, Pannirupadalam and the Kakkipadiniyam.

41. Eight Anthologies (Ettuthogai) • Aingurunuru, compiled by GudalurKilar, consists of 500 erotic poems. • Agananuru, compiled by Rudrasarman, consists of love poems. • Narrinai comprises 400 short poems on love. • Kuruntthogai has 400 love poems. • Purananuru consists of 400 poems in praise of kings. The Nandas and Mauryas are referred in one of the poems. • Kalitthogaicomprises love poems. • Paripadal has 24 poems in praise of gods. • Padirrupatthu is a short collection of 8 poems in praise of the Chera Kings.

42. Ten Poems (Patthupattu) • The Patthuppattu or Ten Idylls consist of ten works – • Thirumurugarruppadai, • Porunararruppadai, • Sirupanarruppadai, • Perumpanarruppadai, • Mullaippattu, • Nedunalvadai, • Maduraikkanji, • Kurinjippatttu, • Pattinappalai and • Malaipadukadam

43. The poetry in the Patthupattu (Ten Idylls) and the Ettuthogai (eight anthologies) were divided into two main groups: • Aham (deals with matters strictly limited to one aspect of subjective experience viz., love) and • Puram (deals with matters ca­pable of externalization or objectification).

44. Eighteen Minor Works (Padinenkilkanakku) • These works are called ‘minor works’ because the poems in these are shorter in form than those in the Ettuthogai and Patthuppattu. • The most important among these are the • Thirukkural by Thiruvalluvar(known as the Bible of Tamil Land’, it is a compound of the Dharmasastra, the Arthasastra and the Kamasutra), • the Naladiyar, • the Pazhamozhiby MunnruraiAraiyar, • theAcharakkovai, etc.

45. The Epics • The twin epics Silappadikaram (The Jewelled Anklet) and Manimekalai belong to the early centuries of the Christian era. • 1. Silappadikaram was written by IlangoAdigal(grandson of Karikala, the great Chola King) in the second century A.D. • It is a tragic story of a merchant, Kovalan of Puharwho falls in love with a dancer Madhavi, neglecting his own wife, Kannagi, who in the end revenges the death of her husband at the hands of the Pandya King and becomes a goddess. • It marks the beginning of Kannagi cult or Pattini cult that is worship of Kannagi as the ideal wife. There is also a reference to the Ceylonese king Gajabahu being present on the occasion of the installation of a Kannagi temple, the Goddess of Chastity, by Chera king Senguttuvan.

46. Manimekalai • Manimekalai was written by poet Satthanar. • It is the story of Manimekalai, the daughter of Kovalan, and Madhaviof the earlier epic. • The main aim of this epic seems to be to expound the excellence of the Buddhist religion through the medium of the travails of Manimekalai consequent on the loss of the city of Puharwhen the sea eroded into the coast. • This epic is the only important ancient work which gives glimpse of the development of the fine arts in the Sangam age. • In both these epics, a good deal of social and historical information is found SivagaSindamani, written by Thirutthakkadevara Jaina ascetic, is the story of Sivaga or Jivaka

47. Administration • The king was the very centre and embodiment of administration. • He was called Ko, Mannan, Vendan, Korravan or Iraivan. • Though hereditary monarch was the prevailing form of government, disputed successions and civil wars were not unknown. • The court of the crowned monarch was called avai. • The ideal of the ‘conquering king’ (Vijigishu) was accepted and acted on. • The King’s birthday (Perunal) was celebrated every year. • Kings assumed several titles. For example, the Pandyas were known as Minavar, Kavuriyar, Panchavar, Tennar, Seliyar, Marar, Valudi.etc the Cholas called them­selves Sennis, Sembiyas, Valavan and Killi, and the Cheras had titles like Vanavar, Villavar, Kudavar, Kuttuvar, Poraiyar and so on.

48. Cont… • The sabha or manram of the king in the capital was the highest court of justice. • The king was assisted by a large body of officials, who were divided into five assemblies: • Amaichchar or ministers, • Purohithas or priests, • Senapathi or military commanders, • Dhuthar or envoys and • Orrar or spies.

49. Provincial and Local Administration • The entire kingdom was called mandalam. • The Chola mandalam, • The Pandya mandalamand • The Chera mandalamwere the major mandalams. • Below the mandalam was a major division, nadu (province). • The ur was a town which was variously described as a big village (perur), a small village (sirur) or an old village (mudur). • Pattinam was the name for a coastal town and Puhar was the harbour area. • The administration of nadus was generally carried on by hereditary chiefs. • The village was the fundamental unit of administration which was administered by local assemblies called manrams.

50. Revenue administration • The commonest and possibly the largest source of revenue was land-tax called Karai, but the share of the agricultural proudce, claimed and collected by the king,is not specified. • The ma and veli was the measure of land and kalam as measure of grain. • A well-known unit of territory yielding tax was a variyam (Vari meant tax) and an officer in-charge of collecting the tax from that unit of land was called a Variyar. • Tributes paid by the feudatories and war booty (irai) constituted a considerable part of royal resources. • Trade local and long-distance, constituted a very important source of royal revenue. • Tolls and custom duties were ulgu or sungum. • The duties to be paid to the king were generally known as Kadamai or Paduvadu.