Sangam literature is one of the main sources used for documenting the early history of the ancient Tamil country.

 

The Sangam literature is one of the earliest works of Tamil literature. It refers to a body of classical Tamil literature collected and composed between the years 600 BCE to 300 CE. Sangam was an association or academy of Tamil poets held under the patronage of the kings or the feudal gods. These Sangams were established by the Pandya kings.

 

Sangam literature is primarily secular dealing with everyday themes in a Tamilakam context. These works deal in subjects ranging from love, war, governance, and trade. The literature contains a corpus of poems and songs praising the achievements of numerous kings and princes. The Tamil language reached a level of maturity and began to serve as a powerful medium of literary expression.

 

Do you know, that the Sangam literature is divided into two groups? Well, the Sangam literature can be roughly divided into groups, and these groups are:

Melkannakku or the Eighteen Major Works, which are essentially narrative.
Kilkanakku or the Eighteen Minor Works, which are essentially didactic.

 

The poems belonging to the Sangam literature were composed by the Dravidian Tamil poets. The poets of this period used the grammar composed by scholars like Agastya and Tolkappiyar. These poems also throw light on the history of Tamil Nadu, Buddhism, its position during that period, contemporary arts and culture, and the customs of that time.

 

Besides these texts, the following literary works of the period have also survived:

 

Tolkappiyam � a work on phonetics and Tamil grammar
Tirukkural � A work on philosophy, written by Thiruvalluvar
Silapadikaram and Manimekalai � two Tamil epics written by Adigal and Saathanar respectively.

 

Tolkappiyam is one of the earliest works in Tamil and it is a book on phonology, grammar, and poetics. It is the most ancient Tamil grammar text and the oldest surviving work of Tamil literature. The surviving manuscripts of the Tolkappiyam consist of three books, each with nine chapters with a cumulative total of 1612 sutras.

 

Tirukkural was perhaps written during the late Sangam period. It consists of 1330 couplets (kurals) organized into 133 chapters. Each chapter contains 10 couplets. The text has been translated into many other languages.

 

Silapadikaram is considered the brightest gem of early Tamil literature. It has wealth of information about various art forms such as music and dance of that period. It also provides great details of the lifestyle of the people, landscape, religious practices, and myths.

 

The other epic Manimekalai is a continuation of Silapadikaram, with the central character Manimekalai being the daughter of Kovalan, who later renounces the world and becomes a Buddhist. Both these epics tell us a lot about the social and economic life of the people of the times.

 

One summarizes we find that Sangam literature gives details regarding the nature of polity, economy, society, and the physical features of Tamilagam. According to Sangam literature there existed five ecozones which consisted of forest, hills, deserts, coastal regions, and fertile plains.

 

All these regions had a different pattern of economic and social life are there existed uneven development. The poems were based on different contexts such as love and wars which were the most prominent. What do these love poems indicate? Well, these love poems actually indicate the primitive marriage and family system in South India.

 

The Sangam literature gives the picture of primitive society and the transformation of this primitive society into a developed one.

 

MCQs

 

1. Melkannakkuis also known as the :
a. Eighteen Minor Works
b. Nineteen Major Works
c. Nineteen Minor Works
d. Eighteen Major Works

 

2. Which of the following is considered the brightest gem of early Tamil literature?
a. Tolkappiyam
b. Tirukkural
c. Manimekalai
d. Silapadikaram

 

3. Tirukkural consists of _____ couplets organized into ____ chapters.
a. 1333,130
b. 1300,113
c. 1331,131
d. 1330,133

 

4. The Sangam literature is divided into how many groups?
a. Three
b. Four
c. Five
d. Two

 

5. Which of the following was written during the late Sangam period?
a. Tolkappiyam
b. Silapadikaram
c. Manimekalai
d. Tirukkural