Sangam Age

• It is a period when ‘Sangam poems’ were composed in South India.
• The Sangam Age was the period of the history of ancient Tamil Nadu and Kerala and parts of Sri Lanka spanning from the 6^th century BCE to 3^rd century CE.
• It was named after the famous Sangam academies of poets and scholars centered in the city of Madurai.

Sangam literature and books

• Sangam literature also referred to as Cankam literature connotes the ancient Tamil literature and is the earliest known literature of South India.
• Scholars consider this Tamil tradition-based chronology as ahistorical and mythical.
• Some of the scholars suggest the historical Sangam literature era spanned from 300 BCE to 300 CE, while others suggest it before 300 CE.
• Sangam literature arose over three periods, each stretching over many millennia.

Tradition

• According to Tamil legends, there were three Sangams held in ancient South India popularly called Muchchangam.
• The first Sangam is believed to be held at Madurai, attended by gods and legendary sages. No literary work of this Sangam is available.
• The second Sangam was held at Kapadapuram, only Tolkappiyam survives from this.
• The third Sangam was also held at Madurai. A few of these Tamil literary works have survived and are useful sources to reconstruct the history of the Sangam period.

Authors

• It was composed by 473 poets, some 102 anonymous.
• According to K.A.Nilakanta Sastri, the poets came from diverse backgrounds; some were from a royal family, some merchants, some Brahmins, some farmers.
• At least 27 of the poets were women.

• The Sangam literature includes Tolkappiyam, Ettuthogai, Pattupattu, Patinenkilkanakku, and two epics named Silappathikaram and Manimekalai.

Tolkappiyam(second Sangam) :

• Composed by Tolkappiyar.
• Oldest extant Tamil work till date.
• Offers information on social life, human psychology, political and economic conditions during the Sangam Age.
• Also discusses Tamil grammar.
• It is divided into three sections, each section further divided into nine chapters.
• Contains a total of 1612 sutras which are extensive in their range.

Third Tamil Sangam

The compositions of the third Sangam are classified into eight anthologies known as Ettuthogai and ten idylls known as Pattupattu.

Ettuthogai

It consists of the following works:

1. Narrinai
2. Kuruntokai

• Ainkurunuru (author - Ma Lokesvaran)

1. Patirruppattu
2. Paripatal
3. Kalittokai

• Ahanuru
• Purananuru

Pattupattu

It consists of the following works:

1. Tirumurukarruppatai(composed by Nakkiranar)
2. Cirupanarruppatai

• Perumbanarruppadai

1. Pattinappalai
2. Maduraikanchi
3. Porunararruppatai

• Kurincippattu
• Netunalvatai

1. Malaipatukatam
2. Mullaippattu

They mainly deal with moral values. The most important among them is the Thirukkural, also known as the Kural.

Tirukkural

• First Dravidian work for ethics.
• Comprises of 1330 couplets.
• It has been translated into many languages.
• It discusses epics, love, ad polity and governance.
• Authored by Thiruvalluvar.

Post Sangam Age

This period lasted from 200 to 600 CE. This age saw the composition of five great epics in Tamil namely, Silappathikaram, Manimekalai, Jivaka Chintamani, Valayapathi and Kundalakesi. There are also five minor works authored by Jain writers.

Silappathikaram

• Composed by Ilango Adigal.
• The epic is a tragic love story of an ordinary couple, Kannaki and her husband Kovalan.
• It is a story of love and rejection, happiness and pain, good and evil like all classic epics of the world.
• The poem gives a lot of insight into contemporary Tamil society, polity, values and social life of the people.

Manimekalai

• Composed by Chithalai Chathanar.
• It is a sequel to Silappathikaram.
• The author’s aim was to propagate Buddhism in South India as the work espouses the values of Buddhism over other religions of the time.

End of Sangam Age

• The Sangam Period slowly witnessed its decline towards the end of the 3^rd century AD.
• The Kalabhras occupied the Tamil country post-Sangam period between 300 AD to 600AD, whose period was called an interregnum or ‘dark side’ by earlier historians.