Sangam Age: Origin, Location and Literature

 Meaning confluence, the word ‘Sangam’ finds acceptance in the context of early South Indian history. An English lexicon equivalent would be ‘an assembly’, ‘a college’, or ‘an academy of learned people’, sponsored by the Pandyan kings, who greatly admired literature and the fine arts. This assembly was voluntary and they produced the finest literary works.

Period of Sangam Literature

Various controversies exist among scholars regarding the chronological sequence of the Sangam age. This is mainly due to the lack of unity regarding the age of the Sangam works as these works are of high historical worth for Sangam age’s study.

Sangam age is placed roughly in the 600 years from 300 BC to 300 AD, after corroboration of the literary sources and archeological data.

• The Tradition of the three Sangams

• It is suggested that the three Sangams were consecutive and not contemporary. Iraiyanar Akapporul’s traditional reports suggest that the three Sangams were flourishing at persistent intervals. These were attended by 8,598 scholars
• Sage Agastya was the founding father of the Sangams and these Sangams or academies were supported by 197 Pandyan kings
• The first two Sangams date back to prehistoric eras. All three events took place in the capital of the Pandyan Kingdom
• The first Sangam was headquartered in old Madurai, and the second Sangam was held in Kapatapuram, as the capital was changed from time to time
• During consecutive floods, the sea had washed away both of these centres. The third Sangam was then held in Madurai, which is now a part of Tamil Nadu

The Corpus of Sangam Literature  

A great deal of information about the Tamilakam’s early history is present in the Sangam works. Topics of eminent historical importance are considered in Sangam Literature. The literature can be divided into two, narrative and didactic

• Narrative texts included poetry glorifying war and often mentioned the endless wars and cattle raids
• In the early centuries of the Vedic era, a code of conduct for the king, his court, and various social groups and occupations are covered in Didactic Texts

The oldest existing written work in Tamil, Tolkappiyam was created in the course of the second Sangam. It is a thesis on Grammar and Poetry. The oldest Tamil poetry is believed to be the Sangam poetry which was likely written at some time in the final Sangam.

Modern scholars use the term ‘Sangam Literature‘ for only those works in verse, which are comprised in the Pathinenkilkanakku (The Eighteen Minor Works), Pattupattu (Ten songs), Ettuthogai (Eight collections), and which were likely produced in that order during AD 150-250.

The alleged Five Epics include Silappadikaram, Kundalakesi, Manimekalai and, Jivakachintamanii, and Valayapathi. These are believed to have been written on much later dates. The last two are not extant works of the Sangam Age.

Of the three great poems, Silappadikaram and Manimekalai are called the ‘twin epics’ because they form a continuous narrative of a single family. Silappadikaram was written by Ilango Adigal.

Sathanar produced Manimekalai mainly to propound the Buddhist doctrine among Tamils. With their focus on the cities like Puhar, Kanchi, Madurai and Vanji, these poetical works describe the social, religious, economic, and political conditions of Tamilakam

In terms of subject, Sangam poems can be divided into two categories. The ‘Agam’ is a term used to describe love and domestic life. In Agam poems, there is a lovely convention of not using any titles. As a result, these poems could be attributed to anybody at any time. The poem creates a strong emotional resonance for the reader.           

The other branch discusses people’s public lives, kings’ courage and generosity, and wars. This is known as ‘Puram. The names of several kings are also mentioned in Puram poetry, either specifically or implicitly. As a result, all Sangam poems can be classified as Agam or Puram.

The Agam poems are divided into five landforms:

• Kurinji denotes the mountains and contiguous lands
• Mullai denotes the forests and contiguous lands
• Marutham denotes the plains and contiguous lands
• Neithal denotes the sea and contiguous lands
• Palai is not a distinct landform, but it refers to the drought-stricken Kurinji and Mullai lands. These lands were referred to as ‘Nadunilai,’ which means ‘in-between.’ Commentators invented the word ‘Palai’ later on