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Sangam literature

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• Indianetzone - Sangam Literature of Tamil Nadu
• RootsWeb - Ancient Tamil society as reflected in Sangam literature

Sangam literature , the earliest writings in the Tamil language , thought to have been produced in three chankam s, or literary academies, in Madurai , India , from the 1st to the 4th century ce . The Tolkappiyam , a book of grammar and rhetoric , and eight anthologies ( Ettuttokai ) of poetry were compiled— Ainkurunuru, Kuruntokai, Narrinai, Akananuru, Kalittokai, Patirruppattu, Purananuru, and Paripatal . A ninth anthology, Pattupattu, consists of 10 idylls that present a picture of early Tamil life.

Sangam writings are possibly unique in early Indian literature , which is almost entirely religious. The poems are concerned with two main topics: those of the first five collections are on love ( akam ), and those of the next two are on heroism ( puram ), including the praise of kings and their deeds. Paripatal , the eighth collection, contains poems of both types. Many of the poems, especially on heroism, display great freshness and vigour and are singularly free from the literary conceits of much of the other early and medieval literatures of India. Since they deal almost entirely with nonreligious subjects, these poems are also free from the complex mythical allusions that are such an outstanding feature of most Indian art forms. There are nonetheless some instances of religious works in sangam poetry. Paripatal , for example, is believed to be a collection of 70 poems, of which only 22 remain in full today. It contains, among others, poems about Tirumal, Murugan , and the river Vaiyai (personified as a goddess).

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• Sangam Literature

Sangam Literature - UPSC Ancient Indian History (Art & Culture)

Sangam literature is the name given to the earliest available Tamil literature. The Sangam age roughly extends between 300 BC and 300 AD*, although most of the work is believed to have been composed between 100 CE and 250 CE.

The word ‘Sangam’ literally means association. Here, it implies an association of Tamil poets that flourished in ancient southern India. The Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agastyar is traditionally believed to have chaired the first Tamil Sangam in Madurai. This period is known as the Sangam Period . The three chief Tamil kingdoms of this period were the Cheras, the Cholas and the Pandyas.

The term Sangam was coined by later scholars. In this article, you can read relevant information about Sangam Literature for the IAS Exam . In total, there are about 2300 poems that are attributable to 473 poets.

Sangam Literature – UPSC Ancient Indian History Notes (Art & Culture):-  Download PDF Here

Sangam Literature Classification

There were mainly three Sangams called Muchchangam. The chief sources of information for this age are archaeological sources, literary sources and foreign accounts.

Sangam Literature – Three Sangams

As mentioned before, Tamil legends talk about three Sangams:

• Kapadapuram
• Thenmadurai

All the works of the first two Sangams except Tolkappiyam (2nd Sangam work) are lost. Only the works of the third Sangam survives.

Sangam Literature – Tolkappiyam

• Composed by Tolkappiyar.
• Oldest extant Tamil work till date.
• Dated between 4th and 5th century CE.
• Offers information on social life, human psychology, political and economic conditions during the Sangam Age.
• Also discusses Tamil grammar.
• The work is divided into three sections, each section further divided into nine chapters.
• Contains a total of 1612 sutras which are extensive in their range.
• Sanskrit influence on this work is peripheral and very little.

Third Tamil Sangam

The compositions of the third Sangam are classified into eight anthologies known as Ettuttokoi /Ettuthokai and ten idylls known as Pattuppattu .

It consists of the following works:

• Ainkurunuru (composed by Gudalur Mar)
• Pathitrupathu
• Ahanuru (compiled by Rudrasarman)

Pattuppattu

• Thiru Murugatrupadai (composed by Nakkirar)
• Sirupanarruppadai
• Perumbanarruppadai
• Pattinappalai
• Maduraikkanji
• Porunararrupadai
• Kurinchippattu
• Nedunalvadai
• Malaipadukadam
• Mullaippattu

The third Sangam saw the Patinenkilkanakku. They mainly deal with moral values. The most important among them is the Thirukkural, also simply called the Kural. Other important works are Palamoli (by Munrurai Araiyar) and Acharakkovai (contains a description of the daily life of an orthodox Hindu, shows the influence of the Sanskrit Shastras).

Sangam & Thirukkural

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

Post-Sangam Period

This period lasted from 200 to 600 CE. This age saw the composition of five great epics in Tamil:

• Silappadikaram
• Manimekalai
• Jivaka Chintamani
• Valaiyapati and
• Kundalakesi.

There are also five minor works authored by Jain writers.

Sangam & Silappadikaram

• Composed by Ilango Adigal.
• The story revolves around an anklet. The name literally means the tale of an anklet.
• Author Ilango Adikal is supposed to be an ascetic-prince and the younger brother of Cheran king Senguttuvan.
• A chief character is Kannagi, who seeks revenge on the Pandya kingdom for her husband who was wrongly put to death.
• The poem gives a lot of insight into contemporary Tamil society, polity, values and social life of the people.

Sangam & Manimekalai

• Composed by Chithalai Chathanar, also spelt Sattanar.
• It is a sequel to Silappadikaram.
• 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.

To know the political history of the Sangam Period , aspirants can follow the linked article.

Important Facts about Sangam Age for UPSC

There are important facts stated in Tamil Nadu state board books of class 11th & 12th which aspirants sometimes miss. Read the table below to get those facts:

There are a few topics important from ancient Indian history perspective, which are linked in the table below:

Frequently Asked Questions on Sangam Literature

Q 1. what are the types of sangam literature, q 2. what is sangam literature, q 3. when was sangam literature composed, q 4. how is sangam literature important.

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Sangam Literature, History, Major Works and Significance

Sangam Literature was historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones'. Read all about Sangam Literature, History, Major Works & Significance for UPSC Exam.

Table of Contents

Sangam Literature

Sangam Literature, also known as “the poetry of the noble ones,” refers to the ancient Tamil language and is the earliest known literature from South India. The oldest available Tamil literature is Sangam literature. The Sangam Period is roughly between 300 BC and 300 AD, with the majority of the work produced between 100 CE and 250 CE. This article will explain the Sangam Literature, which will be useful in preparing for the important Ancient History section of the UPSC Syllabus .

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Sangam Literature History

Sangam literally translates to ‘association.’ It is a term that describes a group of Tamil poets who flourished in ancient southern India. The Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agastyar is thought to have presided over the first Tamil Sangam at Madurai from the first to fourth centuries CE. Sangam texts are unusual in early Indian literature, which is almost entirely religious.

Sangam Literature was contributed by 473 poets, 102 of whom were anonymous. The poets came from a variety of backgrounds, including royalty, businessmen, and farmers. Women made up at least 27 of the poets. These poets emerged in a context in which Tamil (Dravidian) civilization had previously engaged and inextricably fused with north Indians (Indo-Aryans), and both sides shared mythology, morals, and literary norms.

Many of the poems, particularly those about heroism, have a great deal of freshness and vitality and are strikingly devoid of the literary conceits that pervade most of India’s other early and mediaeval literature. They deal almost entirely with nonreligious issues, and they lack the rich legendary references that distinguish most Indian art forms. Nonetheless, religious compositions can be found in Sangam poetry. Poems about Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, and Murugan, for example, may be found in Sangam Literature.

Sangam Literature Classification

Sangam literature is classified into two types: akam and puram. Emotions and sentiments in the context of romantic love, sexual connection, and sensuality are central to Akam poetry. Puram poetry is concerned with exploits and heroic achievements in battle and public life settings. Three-fourths of Sangam poetry is akam-themed, with the remaining one-fourth puram-themed.

Sangam literature is divided into seven minor genres known as tinai, which include akam and puram. This minor genre focuses on the poetry’s setting or scenery. Kurinci denotes mountainous regions, mullai pastoral woods, marutam riverine agricultural land, neytal coastal regions, and palai arid regions.

For akam poetry, in addition to landscape-based tinais, ain-tinai (well-matched, mutual love), kaikilai (ill-matched, one-sided), and perunthinai (unsuited, big genre) categories are used. An example of reciprocal love poetry is the Ainkurunuru, a collection of 500 short poems. Vetchi (cattle raid), vanchi (invasion, preparation for war), kanchi (tragedy), ulinai (siege), tumpai (battle), vakai (victory), paataan (elegy and acclaim), karanthai, and pothuval are examples of tinais used in puram poetry.

The akam poetry uses metaphors and images to create atmosphere; it never contains names of people or places, and it frequently omits context, which the community would fill in and understand given their oral history. Puram poetry is more direct, employing names and locations.

Sangam Literature Major Works

The period of Sangam literature is still debated because the three major epics of the time, Silappathigaram, Dipavamsa, and Mahavamsa, show that Gajabhagu II of Sri Lanka and Cheran Senguttuvan of the Chera dynasty were contemporaries. In addition, coins struck by the Roman Emperor in the first century can be found in large quantities in various parts of Tamil Nadu.

Furthermore, Greek authors like Megasthenes, Strabo, and Pliny claimed trade routes between the West and South India. Inscriptions from the Ashokan Empire described the Cheras, Chola, and Pandya monarchs to the south of the Mauryan Empire. The Sangam literature has been dated between the third century B.C. and the third century A.D. based on literary, archaeological, and foreign evidence.

Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku, and the two epics Silappathikaram and Manimegalai are among the Sangam literature. During the postmodern era, Elango Adigal’s Silappathigaram and Sittalai Sattanar’s Manimegalai were both published. These works contain critical information about the Sangam political system and society.

The Kalugumalai inscription contains information about Tamil Brahmi writing from the 15th century. The Tirukkovalur inscription mentions both local chieftains and the tragic fate of Tamil poets. The first of these works, written by Tolkappiyar, contains information about the social, economic, and political situations of the Sangam Age, as well as Tamil grammar. The eight Anthologies, each with eight pieces, were Ettutogai. Ettutogai and Pattuppattu were divided into two major groups: Aham (love) and Puram (valour).

Silappathikaram

Silappatikaram is the first Tamil epic. It’s a 5,730-line poem almost entirely written in akaval (aciriyam) metre. In Tamil tradition, Ilango Adigal is credited with creating Silappatikaram. He is said to be a Jain monk and the younger brother of Chera king Senguttuvan, the family and rule of whom is described in the Fifth Ten of the Patiuppattu, a Sangam poem.

The epic’s protagonists are Kannaki and her husband Kovalan, who tell the sad love story of an ordinary couple. Kannaki and other characters from the story appear in Sangam literature such as the Naiai and later works such as the Kovalam Katai, implying that the Silappathikaram has deeper roots in the Tamil bardic tradition. It is said to have been written by Iak Aika, a prince-turned-monk, in the 5th or 6th century CE.

Manimegalai

Manimekalai, also known as Manimekhalai or Manimekalai, is a Tamil-Buddhist epic written most likely in the sixth century by Kulavika Seethalai Sataar. It’s a “anti-love narrative,” a sequel to the “love story” in the first Tamil epic Silappadikaram, with some of the same characters and descendants. The epic is divided into 30 cantos and has 4,861 akaval lines. Manimekalai is also the name of Kovalan and Madhavi’s daughter, who is a Buddhist nun and dancer like her mother. The story is told in epic manner.

Tolkappiyam

Tolkappiyam is the oldest extant Tamil grammar text as well as the oldest extant lengthy work of Tamil literature. Some believe Tholkapiyam was written by a single author named Tholkappiyar, a disciple of the Rigvedic sage Agastya. In the extant manuscripts, the Tolkappiyam is divided into three volumes (athikaram), each with nine chapters (iyal), for a total of 1,610 sutras in the nurpa metre.

This comprehensive grammar work includes sutras on spelling, phonology, etymology, morphology, semantics, prosody, sentence structure, and the importance of context in language. It is impossible to date the Tolkappiyam. According to some Tamil scholars, the passage is from the mythological second sangam, which dates from the first millennium BCE or earlier.

The Eight Anthologies, also known as Ettuttokai or “Eight Collections,” is a great Tamil literary work that is part of the Eighteen Greater Texts (Patinen-melkanakku) anthology series published by Sangam Literature. The earliest Tamil works are the Eight Anthologies (Pattuppattu) and its companion anthology, the Ten Idylls (Pattuppattu). Ettuthogai consists of eight works: Aingurunooru, Narrinai, Aganaooru, Purananooru, Kuruntogai, Kalittogai, Paripadal, and Padirruppatu (Eight Anthologies).

Pattuppattu

The Ten Idylls, also known as Pattupattu or Ten Lays, is a collection of ten longer poems from the Sangam period of Tamil literature. They range in length from 100 to 800 lines, and the collection includes Nakkirar’s well-known Tirumurukarruppaai. The Pattupattu collection dates from the second to third centuries CE, the middle layer from the second to fourth centuries CE, and the last layer from the third to fifth centuries CE.

The Pattupattu  (Ten Idylls) consists of ten works: Thirumurugarruppadai, Porunarruppadai, Sirupanarruppadai, Perumpanarruppadai, Mullaippattu, Nedunalvadai, Madurai Kanji, Kurinjippatttu, Pattinappalai, and Malaipadukadam.

Pathinenkilkanakku

The Pathinenkilkanakku, also known as the Eighteen Lesser Texts in literature, is a collection of eighteen poetry compositions, the majority of which were composed after the Sangam period (between 100 and 500 CE). Pathinenkilkanakku contains eighteen texts on ethics and morality. The most important of these texts is Tirukkural, written by Thiruvalluvar, a well-known Tamil poet and philosopher.

The poems in this collection differ from those in the Eighteen Greater Texts, the oldest known Tamil poetry collection, in that they are written in venpa metre and are very brief. Naladiyar, a single anthology in this collection, has been sung by 400 poets.

Sangam Literature Significance

There were three major Tamil kingdoms during this time period: the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas. The Sangam literature documents the indigenous literary growth in South India parallel to Sanskrit, as well as the classical rank of Tamil. While there is little evidence for the first and second mythological Sangams, the surviving literature attests to a group of intellectuals based in ancient Madurai (Maturai) who influenced the “literary, academic, cultural, and linguistic life of ancient Tamil Nadu.”

The Sangam literature reveals details about ancient Tamil society, secular and religious ideas, and individuals. Sanskrit loan words are found in the Sangam literature, implying ongoing linguistic and literary collaboration between ancient Tamil Nadu and other areas of the Indian subcontinent. Sangam poetry is about culture and people. Except for the occasional reference to Hindu gods and more significant allusions to numerous gods in the shorter poems, it is almost entirely non-religious.

Sangam Literature UPSC

Sangam is a Sanskrit word that means “association.” It refers to Tamil Sangam, a Tamil poets’ organisation in ancient South India. From the first to fourth centuries CE, the Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agastyar is thought to have presided over the first Tamil Sangam in Madurai. Sangam’s writings are possibly unique in early Indian literature, which is almost entirely religious in nature. This article has all the details related to Sangam Literature, for more details related to the UPSC Examination; students can visit the official website of StudyIQ UPSC Online Coaching .

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What is Sangam literature?

The Sangam literature was historically known as 'the poetry of the noble ones'. Sangam literally means 'association,' and Sangam literature is literature that refers to ancient Tamil literature. It is the earliest known literature from South India.

What were the main features of Sangam literature?

Sangam writings may be unique among early Indian literature, which is almost entirely religious. The poems are divided into two collections: the first five are about love (akam), and the next two are about heroism (puram), including praise for kings and their deeds.

What are the three Sangam literature?

Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku, and two epics named Silappathikaram and Manimegalai are among the Sangam literature.

Who is the founder of Sangam literature?

Sangam is a Sanskrit word that means "association." It refers to Tamil Sangam, a Tamil poets' organisation that existed in ancient South India. From the first to fourth centuries CE, the Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agastyar is thought to have presided over the first Tamil Sangam in Madurai.

What is the importance of Sangam literature?

One of the primary sources for documenting the early history of the ancient Tamil country is Sangam literature. Numerous kings, princes, and poets are mentioned in the ancient Sangam poems, the existence of some of whom has been confirmed by archaeological evidence.

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Vistas of Bharat : Indian Culture

Exploring the golden age of tamil literature: the sangam period.

Sangam Literature is the oldest form extant Indian Literature. It shapes the rich Indian cultures and society present today.

The vast Indian literature marks Indian history. When we think about literature, what inherently comes to our attention is English and its various literary eras. In this bias, what we’ve left behind is the richness of Indian literature and its historical descent. This literature is the leading force of the evolved Indian society today. 

Tamil, one of the oldest languages to exist today, has vast literature dating back to the 3rd century BC. The Sangam period spanned 600 years from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD. Historians and scholars regard it as the golden period of Tamil literature. 

Sangam Literature

Literally, “ Sangam ” means confluence. In Tamil literature, the term “Sangam” refers to a school of arts and letters. It was founded and patronized by Pandya, Chola and Chera, the three crowned monarchs of the Tamil land. The Pandyan monarchs, who had a deep appreciation for literature and the arts, specifically fostered this. Both history and Tamil traditions recognize The Pandyan capitals as the academy’s permanent home.

The Sangam academy was pivotal in defining the Tamil people’s literary environment throughout the Sangam period. The academy had a unique role as an educated community of literary critics. The critics mandated that any new literary work, regardless of the author’s social rank—prince or peasant— be subject to clearance before publication. The academy enforced stringent rules and guidelines, requiring every book to obtain approval before publication and ensuring that only highly regarded works received acknowledgment as authoritative. Due to this meticulous procedure, the academy was able to reject subpar works and instead provide the public with literary masterpieces of the greatest kind. 

These writings which were considered the first examples of Dravidian literature, not only reflected the rich cultural diversity of the era but also laid the groundwork for the long history of Tamil literature. According to Tamil legends, the Sangam initially acquired members through co-option. However, thereafter, Lord Siva accomplished membership through a miraculous scheme.

The Three Sangams

Tamil tradition states that three Sangams, known as Muchchangam, joined together in ancient South India to mark the beginning of the Sangam period. According to the ancient stories presented in Iraiyanar Ahapporul, there were three Sangams that existed for an amazing 9990 years at different times, with participation from 8598 academics. The sage Agastyar is considered the literary tradition’s founder.

The Pandya capital hosted all three Sangams, with Old Madurai functioning as the first Sangam’s centre. A gathering of ancient sages and gods is said to have taken place in Old Madurai during the First Sangam. However, no works of literature from this Sangam survived.

Kapatapuram hosted the second Sangam. The only surviving work from this era that deals with Tamil grammar is Tolkappiyam . Unfortunately, both the first and second Sangams were drowned by seawater during repeated deluges.

There is a more material legacy of the third Sangam, which is located in present-day Madurai. Several Tamil literary works from this era have survived and are important resources for piecing together the Sangam era’s history. The Sangam poetry, the oldest collection of Tamil poetry to exist, is said to have started during the third Sangam.

Given the circumstances, it is more probable to determine the date of the third Sangam. According to scholars, it happened somewhere in the first two centuries of the Christian era—possibly even the century before. This period corresponds to both the trade with the Indo-Roman world and the modern Imperial Rome. Greek writers at the time offered proof of offshore commercial activity between the Mediterranean area and the Tamil peninsula. This is also documented in Sangam literature. Consequently, the third Sangam era saw the prolific production of a great number of works that are still in existence. This exhibited a literary and cultural shine amid a time that witnessed significant political and commercial exchanges.

Tolkappiyam: The Second Sangam

Tolkappiyar’s Tolkappiyam is the first known literary classic and a seminal work in Tamil literature. Tolkappiyam is mostly a work on Tamil grammar, but it also provides insightful information on the social and political climate of the period. The Royal Academy’s careful study of this highly regarded work serves to highlight its relevance. Adangodu Brahman was sent by King Nilandaru Tiruvira Pandya to evaluate the work, according to the introduction of Tolkappiyam. However, Tolkappiyar showed his expertise by emphasizing the significance and relevance of the works contained in the Tamil Sangam.

Literature In Verses: The Third Sangam

As we go into the present day, academics refer to the poetry included in the Ettutogai (eight collections), Pattupattu (ten songs), and Patinenkilkanakku (the eighteen minor works) as Sangam Literature. According to historians, these pieces date back to a time between 150 and 250 A.D. The poem’s duration served as a critical foundation for its categorization into three major categories. The lengths of the poems in the “Eight Collections” vary from three to thirty-one lines, and the poems in the “Ten Songs” range from 103 to 782 lines. The ‘Eighteen Minor Works’ comprise didactic and ethical literature, such as the well-known Tirukkural , which is mostly arranged in stanzas with two to five lines each.

The ‘Five Epics’— Jivakachintamani , Silappadikaram , Manimekalai , Valayapathi , and Kundalakesi —have an established place in Sangam literature. Sathanar and Ilango Adigal’s Silappadikaram and Manimekalai, are notably referred to as the “twin epics”. This is because they narrate the continuous story of Kovalan, Kannagi, and Madhavi. With an emphasis on Madurai, Puhar, Vanji, and Kanchi, Silappadikaram , a poem written by Ilango Adigal, and other poetry works depict the social, religious, political, and economic circumstances of Tamilakam. These literary works capture the spirit of the Sangam age and present Tamil history and culture.

Sangam Literature Vs. Sanskrit Literature Vs. Tamil Literature

Academics find the Sangam period controversial due to its historical significance, primarily because the dating of the Sangam works’ writing remains unclear. Establishing a consensus on the age of these works is a challenge since they are essential to understanding the Sangam era. Various scholars have presented opposing viewpoints. 

While some suggest the influence of Sanskrit grammarians on Tolkappiyar, others contend that Tolkappiyam was influenced by Katantra , a Sanskrit grammar work written by Sharvavarman under the Satavahana dynasty. Due to the lack of conclusive proof, many scholars also suggest that the similarities between Katantra and Tolkappiyam may indicate mutual influences between Sangam and Sanskrit writers.

The term “Sangam” originates from the Tamil translation of the Sanskrit word “Sangha.” The term “Sangha” refers to any kind of organization or group that adheres to a shared interest, but the Tamil Sangam has a particular purpose. The religious connotation connected to Buddhism and Jaina Sanghas is completely different from Sanghata, a kind of poetical production by a single author on a certain selected theme. 

The aim of the Tamil. Sangattamil, a unique compositional style distinguishes Sangam Literature from Tamil Literature. This style has its derivation, interpretation, and distinctive syntax, meter, and grammar. As a result, it is regarded as a classic.

Contemporary Relevance of Sangam Literature

There are 2279 poems in the present Sangam collections, ranging in length from 3 lines to over 800 lines. Some poets have contributed to certain works, like the Naladiyar , while a single author has written other works. 473 poets—about half of them women—wrote more than 30,000 lines of Sangam poetry, along with 102 anonymous authors. As an example of the Sangam period’s historical impact and cultural significance, the Sangams are comparable to contemporary European establishments. This includes the French Academy as they both share a dedication to upholding language purity and literary standards.

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Shadow puppetry is an ancient art form of storytelling. It uses flat articulated cut-out figures called shadow puppets.

Asia, although highly neglected by Western conformities, has always had a rich heritage of art and literature. This is majorly evident in the folktales that have managed their way into contemporary art. Shadow puppetry is one such ancient art form of storytelling. It uses flat articulated cut-out figures called shadow puppets. These puppets are held between a source of light and a translucent color screen. It has been an ancient art and a living folk tradition in China, India, Iran Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Cambodia and many more.

According to historians, the shadow puppets of southern India enjoyed the patronage of several dynasties, such as the Rashtrakutas, Pallavas, Kadambas, Chalukyas and Hoysalas, as well as the support of the rulers of Vijayanagara and Mysore. Imperial patronage was also extended to the Killekyata community, the traditional performers of the puppetry form. Records of this are found via an award granted to them in 1520 AD in the Bijapur Sultanate.

Tholu Bommalata from Andhra Pradesh

Tholu Bommalata is the ancient traditional shadow theater of Andhra Pradesh. Literally, “atta” translates to “dance” and “Tholu Bommalu” refers to “leather puppets”. According to historical literature and records, the use of these puppets dates back to 200 B.C. under the Satavahana dynasty. The major works that fall under this storytelling tradition are the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. Additionally, other sacred Hindu texts that are no longer commonly narrated in contemporary times. These old texts have been replaced by more relevant social and environmental themes, such as reforestation or the domestic lives of ordinary people. While anyone can manipulate the puppets, only a skilled sutradhar can bring them to life. Traditionally, the sutradhar is the head of the family, with each member performing a specific role: dancer, singer, narrator, and actor. 

Tholu Bommalu are the largest shadow puppets in India. The puppets are made of leather, and the origin of the leather holds significant importance. Previously, deer leather represented gods, goat leather for saints or common people, and buffalo leather for demons. Today, however, goat skin is the primary material used. Considering the spiritual value attached to the gods and the impure means of sourcing the leather, numerous rituals are performed to purify the puppets before they are used to represent the spiritual deities. The puppets are highly regarded, and a proper funeral is conducted, where they are released into the waters of the Ganga River. Unfortunately, Tholu Bommalata is a dying art form. Only 9 active troupes today, compared to over 180 troupes active in 30 different Indian districts just fifty years ago.

Togalu Gombeyaata from Karnataka

Togalu Gombeyaata is a form of shadow puppetry practiced in Karnataka. It draws on epics, folktales, coarse humor, and high drama, as well as song and prose in its puppet plays performed through the night. Togalu Gombeyaata also shares historical and communal roots with Tholu Bommalata.

The Killekyata community derives its name from the eponymous character of a Togalu Gombeyaata performance, who provides an element of coarse comedy during a play. The community’s roots are traced to the present-day region of southern Maharashtra, from where groups of performers migrated to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, and Tamil Nadu.

The Togalu Gombeyaata figures are made of cattle skin and cast shadows on the screen during a play. Once the hide has been cleaned and tanned, it is chiseled along the outline of characters to create individual and composite puppets with rich details. A bamboo split, attached vertically along the center of the puppet, is used for manipulation. Traditional puppets, made of a single piece of deerskin, did not have articulated parts, demanding more skill and imagination from the puppeteer, which influenced the performance; the introduction of a principal character was accompanied by a detailed narration describing its physical features and attributes.

The repertory of Togalu Gombeyaata draws on the epics Ramayana and Mahabharata, the Puranas, and local folktales called Janapada Kathegalu. A performance is held between 10 pm and dawn of the following morning, beginning with an invocation to Ganesha and Saraswati. Songs and dialogues, often witty, are used alternatively, and musicians accompany the puppeteers on the flute, dhol, cymbals, mukhavina, pungi, and ektari. An overnight Togalu Gombeyaata performance requires at least fifty puppets, including figures depicting birds, animals, and scenes.

Togalu Gombeyaata, like other puppet art forms, is in decline. The number of active troupes has decreased, and the tradition is being preserved by a few generational puppeteers. T Hombaiah, Bellagallu Veeranna, and Gunduraju are master puppeteers who have performed nationally and internationally and received recognition from central and state organizations. Veeranna, who also practiced the folk theater form of Bayalata, has expanded the repertoire of Togalu Gombeyaata while maintaining the traditional aesthetic. He has introduced themes based on social issues, India’s independence struggle, and biographical plays on figures like Mahatma Gandhi and Shivaji Bhonsle I. Gunduraju, whose family has a 200-year legacy in Togalu Gombeyaata, has established a research and training center to preserve the related shadow puppet forms in Karnataka, Telangana, and Andhra Pradesh.

Tholpavakoothu from Kerala

Tholpavakoothu is a traditional shadow puppet play performed in Bhadrakali temples across the Palakkad, Malappuram, and Thrissur districts of Kerala. This art form, which originated in the 18th century, is also known as Pavakoothu or Nizhalattam. The performances take place on a special stage called a Koothumadam, located within the temple courtyard. The Tholpavakoothu art utilizes puppets crafted from deer skin to depict characters from the Kamba Ramayana. The show begins late at night and continues until daybreak, narrating the events from Lord Rama’s birth to his coronation as the King of Ayodhya. The language used is a blend of Malayalam and Tamil dialects.

The puppets, representing both noble and evil characters, are meticulously manipulated behind a white curtain lit by wick lamps. The chief puppeteer, known as the ‘Pulavan,’ leads the captivating performance. Today, Tholpavakoothu is primarily confined to the Ottapalam and Kavalappara regions of the Palakkad district.

Kerala’s rich cultural heritage is beautifully reflected in this art form, which seamlessly integrates Aryan and Dravidian cultural elements. Tholpavakoothu, performed along the banks of the river Nila, utilizes approximately 160 puppets for a full performance, which can last between 7 and 71 days, depending on the temple’s traditions. The puppeteers, often led by a Pulavar, undergo intensive training in both puppetry and the languages involved. The art form is preserved and promoted by dedicated troupes. Koonathara, founded by the renowned Tolpava Koothu artist, the late Guru Krishnan Kutty Pulavar is one such art form.

Chamdyacha Bahulya from Maharashtra

Chamdyacha Bahulya is a classic shadow puppet theater art from Maharashtra, India. In the local Marathi language, “bahulya” means “figure” and “chamdyacha” means “leather.” The village of Pinguli, where this art thrives, is known for its skilled puppeteers from the Thakur/Thakar Adivasi community. These folks are mostly fishermen and farmers by trade. Each puppet show involves a puppeteer-storyteller, an assistant, and two musicians playing the dholak and pakawatch, as well as the jodiwala and wata, while also providing vocals.

The full puppet set has 65 figures carved from colorful buffalo leather. These figures typically lack moving parts, except sometimes having a single movable arm attached by a leather pin. The puppeteer controls the figures by manipulating a wooden or bamboo rod running through them. The characters, like kings and gods, are depicted in the Mughal artistic style, with features like mustaches, beards, and baggy pants.

Performances start with a dancer figure at the court of the god Indra. This is followed by the storyteller Haridas who begins the tale in Marathi. The main puppeteer sings scenes from the Ramayana, Panchavati, and Ravana Badha in Tamil or Kannada. The musicians provide the spoken dialogue. These puppet shows take place on a permanent stage in the village, expanded around temples or sacred sites during religious festivals or major fishing/harvest events. Today, troupes and traditional families in Pinguli continue this Chamdyacha Bahulya art. Some master puppeteers are recognized for their important contributions both locally and nationally.

Ravanachhaya from Odisha

In the Indian state of Odisha, there exists a unique shadow puppet tradition called Ravanachhaya. As the name suggests, it tells stories from the Ramayana epic. This tradition was especially popular in the Dhenkanal and Talcher regions during the 19th and early 20th centuries. It even enjoyed the support of the local royal family. The origins of Ravanachhaya are somewhat mysterious. Some scholars believe it dates back to the 3rd century BCE. On the other hand, some link it to the Indonesian wayang kulit tradition, which is even older. There is also speculation that the name might reflect influences from Jain and Buddhist texts, which sometimes portray the villain Ravana in a more sympathetic light. However, the puppeteers themselves say the name was chosen because the hero Rama is believed not to cast a shadow. Even though earlier regional texts do not explicitly mention Ravanachhaya, they do refer to shadow puppetry more broadly.

Traditionally, Ravanachhaya was performed by the nomadic Charan people, who were traveling performers entertaining wealthy families. Despite its religious themes, it was not confined to temples and was a popular folk theater style. In the 20th century, the Vichitra Ramayana by Odia poet Vishwanath Kunthia became the main source text for Ravanachhaya performances. This blended classical and folk music. There is limited information prior to this record. A typical Ravanachhaya show might feature many different puppet characters, scenes, animals, and composite figures. It may go up to 700 puppets to tell the entire Ramayana story.

Kinnera – a musical instrument from Telangana is a symbol of the rich culture of the state. Dive deeper into its beats with us.

Kinnera – an instrument buzzing with surs and taals of the south Indian state of Telangana, is a stringed Veena like instrument carved out of bamboo and dried bottle gourd. With twelve steps mounted with strings producing sounds of different frequencies, this instrument has an intriguing physicality. With different variations, a kinnera can have seven, nine, twelve or thirteen frets. It is curated using organic materials – the body is made with bamboo and sun-dried and hollowed bottle gourds form the resonators. The larger instruments come with three resonators while the smaller ones come with just two. The frets are generally made up of pangolin scales and honey wax is used to bind them. Earlier, the strings were made out of women’s hair, animal nerves and horses’ tail hair, but now metallic strings have replaced them. 

Origin of Kinnera 

As per legends and beliefs of scholars and poets like Jayadhir Tirumala Rao, the origin of Kinnera dates back to around 4th century AD. It is native to the tribes residing in the Deccan Plateau. It is believed that the members of the Chenchu tribe who lived in the Nallamalla Forest would play the instrument alongside singing and narrating ballads. Another belief that is considered to hold true for the origin of Kinnera is the Dakkali tribe of Mahbubnagar performed it around the start of the 12th century. 

The tribes that played the instrument also used to recite ballads and folk tales along with it. These accompanying ballads would be generally derived from historical incidents, heroic stories of warriors, lives of local heroes and songs from the Jamba Puranam. The Jamba Puranam is one amongst the 40 Puranas in Telugu and it is different from the Sanskrit Puranas. The Telugu Puranas contain content that is specific to a local community of the south Indian regions. Simple, short and often dramatic monologues would also form a part of the ballads recited while playing kinnera. The variations in the mood of the song would drive a change in the tone of the voice, facial expressions and body language of the players. 

Maestros of the Instrument

Dakkali Balamma

She was the only woman performer of Kinnera until her death at the age of ninety in December 2018. During her early age, she would ride around on a horse and sing. At that time, her voice had a vigour, it was powerful and impressive. Her performances on the instrument were kindly received by people. She would be showered with love, appreciation and money. The Madigas, who were the patron class of Kinnera, would provide her with food and clothes as a reward for her performance. But the good times did not last long, misfortune knocked at her door as the instrument faced a drastic decline in its popularity. The result was such that when Balamma died in December 2018, she was penniless. The villagers cremated her by pooling in money for her rites. 

She is still remembered for her last performance at the age of 86 years, when she had sat down with her Kinnera on the ground outside her home in Mambapur village of Telangana. Though her voice had turned hoarse with age, her knowledge of pitch, laya and beat was strong. And she was bestowed with a rich applause by her audience. 

Darshanam Mogilaiah

The only living Kinnera maestro, the Padma Shri awardee, now fondly known as Kinnera Mogilaiah is one amongst the ones who are still making people hum to the beats of their Kinnera. Born in 1951, he is an artist from the Nagakurnool district of Telangana who learned the art of playing the instrument from his father Yellaiah. Living a life full of instability and hardships, he has worked as a construction site worker and labourer for more than 14 years in cities like Mumbai, Adilabad, Karimnagar and Warangal. He belongs to a family of pioneers of Kinnera as an instrument. Mogilaiah is also appreciated for being the first man to create a twelv- stair kinnera. Consequently, he has been conferred with the Padma Shri Award by the Government of India. 

But the deeply saddening ground reality is triggering. These honors and awards do not make any significant difference to the lives of these maestros. They are forced to survive on the bare minimum. Remunerations are not stable, performances are reducing and they are surviving only on the doles of the Madigas tribe. 

Decline of Kinnera 

There are many significant reasons for the decline of the patronage of this instrument. One narrative is that the tribals believe that once a woman was so engrossed in the music of Kinnera that she accidentally cut her baby along with the vegetables she was cutting. Another reason and the likelier one, is the lack of raw materials. With mass deforestation and forest fires, it has become difficult for the tribals to obtain the right variety of gourds and pangolins. Thirdly, the dwindling remuneration and declining patronage of the instrument is another reason that follows. Most importantly, the technicalities of making and playing the instrument are very special. Thus its non-mainstream nature has led to its decline. 

Revival of Kinnera

The government of Telangana has been making significant revival attempts to protect the heritage and culture of the state. The state is organising festivals and encouraging performances of Kinnera artists. They also plan to introduce the instrument as a part of the curriculum at music colleges and universities. Specialised faculty for the same would be appointed but this move is solely dependent on the response of the students towards learning the art form. A documentary film on the life of Darshanam Mogulaiah has also been made to let his story reach the masses. 

The remuneration, pension and living conditions of the artists is also being keenly taken care of. Also the Dakkalis are being made familiar with their lost culture and heritage once again. The state of Telangana is all set to revive the art form and bring back kinnera as a mainstream musical instrument with Ballama smiling from heaven.

Glove Puppetry: The Simple Art of Puppetry In India

Glove puppetry is an art form that holds significant cultural value to Indian culture. Let’s dive deeper into this art form.

The art of puppetry is very old and rich. But what’s more fascinating is the regional connotations attached to it. Glove puppetry is probably one of the oldest and simplest forms of puppetry that has existed. Given its simplicity, its prevalence in various states of India is highly out of the ordinary. However, the way each region has its own version of glove puppetry and glove puppets is what makes this form of art all the more interesting . Do you remember waking up at 6-7 in the morning to catch the latest episode of Gali Gali Sim Sim or Sesame Street as a kid? That is a perfect example of the use of glove puppets, as it uses a mix of glove puppetry and rod puppetry in popular media.  Let’s dive deeper into the world of glove puppets and glove puppetry in India.

Sakhi Kundhei Nach: Odisha

The glove puppet form popular in Odisha is called Sakhi Kundhei Nach. Although it is spread out across the art majority of the puppeteers are concentrated in Cuttack. The puppeteers hold the belief that they used to belong to the warrior caste (rajputs) and used to live in Vrindavan (the birthplace of the Hindu god Krishna) before they migrated to Odisha almost two centuries ago. The puppetry acts that they execute using the glove puppets highlight this past as most of the act centres around the many adventures of Lord Krishna.

The characters that the glove puppets represent include Krishna, Radha, and the cow herder girls or gopis . Further, the puppet representing Radha is also called Chandra Badani (Face-like-the-moon) with little circlets of bells under her skirt and around her wrist that ring as she moves. All the puppets are lavishly dressed and the puppeteer operates them manually with one hand and plays an instrument such as dhol with the other hand. As the puppets enact the adventures of Krishna, the puppeteer sings Odia songs that are derived from medieval poetry to complement the episode that is being enacted. Today, there are troupes and traditional families who have mastered this form of glove puppetry and are recognised for their talent locally and nationally.

Benir Putul: West Bengal

The glove puppet form popular in West Bengal is called Benir Putul. The name “Benir Putul” also refers to the “braiding of the hair” in the Bengali language which symbolises the twist and turn of the puppet that is similar to the movement of braiding hair. The puppeteers who practice this form of glove puppetry belong to the lower caste and are often palanquin porters, hand-rickshaw pullers, cycle-rickshaw drivers or landless villagers.

Measuring up to 25 centimetres with baked clay heads and wooden arms the puppets are dressed in long cotton skirts. The glove puppeteers expertly make use of their hand dexterity to convey the conversation between the two puppets. The theme of most of the puppet shows is based on the jatra (popular Bengali legends) and the main characters in the puppet shows are majorly Krishna and Radha (used mostly in Bhakti songs) or Madan and Puti, a husband and wife pair who are constantly fighting with each other. Today, there are troupes and traditional families who have mastered this form of glove puppetry and are recognised for their talent locally and nationally.

Gulabo Sitabo: Uttar Pradesh

The glove puppetry form popular in Uttar Pradesh, this form of glove puppetry derives its name from the two main characters of the play; i.e., Sitabo, the over-worked spouse and Gulabo, the bright mistress of the same man. Most of the puppet show is semi-improvised, wherein the puppeteer makes use of acapella narration to accompany the act with salacious jokes, local humour and songs that befit the situation the characters or puppets are facing. During festivals, few puppeteers travel from place to place performing this form of glove puppetry in Lucknow but this form of art has been on the decline.    

Pavakathakali: Kerala

The glove puppetry form popular in Kerala, Pavakathakali is a glove puppet form that came into existence after the birth of the dance form Kathakali . Majorly popularised by the Andipandaram community, which lives in Paruthippuly village in the Palghat region of Kerala, this form of puppetry involves the puppets being dressed in lavish kathakali costumes. The size of the puppet is around 40-60 centimetres in height and they are manipulated by the puppeteer by his/her/their fingers. The index finger manipulated the head and the thumb and middle finger manipulated the arms, this form of puppetry requires the puppeteer to be highly dextrous. The puppets are adorned with various accessories like small metallic golden ornaments, cowrie shells, etc. 

The minimum number of people required to put up this form of glove puppet show is around six as it involves musical instruments used in kathakali such as chenda (drum), chengila (gong), illetalam (cymbals) and shankh (mother of pearl conch shell), and one or two singers to bring the show to live. In the past, no special stage or podium was constructed for the puppet show and the puppeteers would enact it in the courtyard of the house and get paid for their performance. The major themes it covered are from the extracts of Mahabharata . Since the 1940s the art form was in decline but was revived by the director of Sangeet Natak Akademi, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay in 1981 and today has received global recognition.

Chinni Patti: Karnataka

The form of glove puppetry popular in Karnataka is known as Chinni Patti. This art form derives its name from the dolls that are used for the puppet show which are called Chinni Patti or “little doll” made out of wood and rice straw. Mostly practised by beggars who put these small puppet shows on the streets accompanied by small cymbals, this art form can be traced back to the aborigines of the Karnataka social system which used similar dolls for tribal rituals. The major theme of this art form includes the daily adventures of tradesmen who have been fooled, of worthies taken for a ride, and of cuckolded husbands.

Pava Koothu: Tamil Nadu

Popular in Tamil Nadu, Pava Koothu is majorly performed during festivals, and the major theme of the puppet show is demonstrating the victory dance of goddess Lakshmi after her victory over the demons. The puppets are small in size and made out of rice straw and paper, and they require simple manipulation and musical instruments to go with them. This art form was in decline until recently when it was brought to life by Tamil intellectuals.  

Glove puppetry is an art form that holds significant cultural value in Indian culture. And hence, efforts must be made to preserve the same.  From ancient times to today’s contemporary, puppet shows and the art of puppetry highlight the evolution of storytelling that is deeply ingrained in our culture. The few ways in which we can ensure the preservation of this art form include educating ourselves and others about the same and its significance.

Rod Puppetry: A Dying Art

Let’s dive deep into the world of rod puppetry to find out what makes it so unique and why is it slowly dying out.

Different kinds of puppetry have taken over different parts of India. In fact, many of these kinds of puppetry such as glove and shadow puppetry are still very much famous among the masses as puppeteers find it easy to recreate. But one such puppetry exists which despite having a rich history and being pretty distinct, is showing a decline. And that is rod puppetry. Practised mainly in West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar this form of puppetry is slowly getting erased from the mind of the people. Let’s dive deep into rod puppetry and rod puppets to discover what makes it so unique and why it is slowly dying out.

How Does Rod Puppetry Work?

Rod puppetry is considered an extension of glove puppetry but the key difference is the usage of rods over gloves. Normally three rods are used to manipulate these rod puppets. The main rod which balances the head is attached at the neck and the two other rods that manipulate the hands are attached to the main rod at the shoulder joints. The legs or the lower body of the puppets are hidden with the clothes of the puppet. Depending on the region in India they are based on they can be huge in size or small. The three states of India in which this form of puppetry is famous include; West Bengal, Odisha and Bihar.

West Bengal

Known as Putul Nach which literally translates to “Dancing Dolls”, rod puppetry takes the form of a huge human-like structure going as tall as 3-4 feet in certain regions. These huge rod puppets are dressed like the actors in Jatra . What’s interesting about the rod puppetry form in West Bengal is how the puppeteers manipulate them. Unlike traditional puppets where the puppeteers stay in one place and manipulate the puppets, here the puppeteers are hidden behind a head-high curtain and dance or move along the huge rod puppets to impart the same moves to the puppet. The entire process that the puppeteers follow is pretty theatrical. Normally it’s the puppeteers who voice out the dialogue and sing for the puppet but sometimes they are accompanied by a group of musicians who sit on the side of the stage.

The rod puppetry form in Odisha is a bit different from its Bengali counterpart just like its Rasgullas. The rod puppets in Odisha are not as big as the ones found in West Bengal they range from 12-18 inches. The shoulders of these rod puppets are connected to the main body with the help of strings, not rods. Thus, this form of rod puppetry uses a mix of strings and rods, giving a different dimension to their rod puppets. The puppeteers in this case squat on the ground and behind a scene to manipulate the rod puppets. Most of the dialogues are sung to tunes of classical Odissi music. Rod puppetry is also known as Kathi Kandhe in Odisha.

Known as Yampuri, the rod puppetry form in Bihar has its own uniqueness. For starters unlike its Odia and Bengali counterparts, these rod puppets are made out of wood and don’t have joints. Hence, it requires the puppeteer to be very flexible in their approach and be highly dexterous when handling these rod puppets.

How Can We Conserve Rod Puppetry?

Living in the era of the 5G internet it’s not surprising that why these traditional art forms such as puppetry are dying out. Rod puppetry being a tough speciality in the world puppetry makes it even more susceptible to cultural extinction. Plus the added burden of creating these huge rod puppets and having barely any audience to cheer them on due to the rise of electronic media also contributes to its low popularity. One way to conserve this beautiful art form is by incorporating it in electronic media such as broadcasting it on YouTube to help increase its reach and ensure that it continues to entertain and teach the future generation.

The foreign travelers who documented Indian history also delved into the analysis of Indian cultures and traditions in their works, providing valuable insights into the intricacies of this ancient land.

India has long been a center of exploration for various foreign travellers, leading to the creation of a vast body of travel literature that we are familiar with today. These literary works, often considered factual accounts of Indian history and culture, have been written in numerous European and Asian languages, reflecting diverse perspectives on India’s rich heritage. The foreign travellers who documented Indian history also delved into the analysis of Indian cultures and traditions in their works, providing valuable insights into the intricacies of this ancient land.

Persian travellers made significant contributions to the understanding of Medieval Indian history and offered unique socio-cultural perspectives during their extended stays in the country. The medieval period in India witnessed remarkable developments in cultures, languages, religion and art. A large number of Persian records of the medieval period also contain varieties of information on economic development, agricultural production, trade and commerce, etc. Two renowned Persian travellers played a pivotal role in contributing to the understanding of the flourishing of Indian history during this era.

Al Beruni (1024-1030 A.D.)

Al Beruni was born in 973 AD in the Khwarezm region, which is located in Kath, the capital of the Afrighid dynasty of Khwarezm in Central Asia (present-day Uzbekistan). He dedicated twenty-five years to studying and excelling in astronomy, mathematics, chronology, physics, medicine, mineralogy and history. Additionally, he was proficient in several languages including Turkish, Persian, Sanskrit, Hebrew, Syriac and Arabic. In AD 1017 Mahmud of Ghazni traveled to India with a group of scholars. This group included Al Beruni when he was forty-four years old. During his thirteen-year stay in India, during this time, Al Beruni devoted himself to observing, questioning and conducting detailed studies about Indian culture and science.

During his time in India, he produced the monumental commentary on Indian philosophy and culture known as Kitab fi tahqiq ma li’l-hind . He read the major Indian religious and astronomical texts, highlighting parts of the Gita, the Upanishads, Patanjali, Puranas and the Vedas, as well as scientific texts by Nagarjuna and Aryabhata. Additionally, he documented some of Mahmud of Ghazni’s most egregious plundering incidents at Mathura and Somnath. While he couldn’t explicitly denounce these actions in his text, a definite sense of lament is evident. He wrote that Mahmud “utterly ruined the prosperity of the country…”. 

Beruni’s Kitab al –Hind

Beruni’s Kitab al-Hind is a respectable and valuable source of Indian culture even today. Although the data provided is generally accurate, the compilation data of his work from around 1030 A.D. is still subject to doubt. This is because Beruni rarely makes mention of where his visits took place or when they did and secondly his book, Kitab al-Hind is lacking in positive evidence. Moreover, due to the insurmountable texts written on this figure and his life, difficulty arises in distinguishing the historical events from the legendary ones.

In his book, Al-Beruni mentioned several obstacles that he incurred while understanding India. The language was the one of the most important of these. He found Sanskrit highly different from Arabic and Persian so much so that the ideas and cultural aspects of each could not be inter-translated. He also found religious beliefs and practices to be different from what he was familiar with. The third challenge he faced was the local community’s self-centeredness, which resulted in isolation. Knowing these challenges, Al Beruni derived his knowledge from the Brahmanical works such as Vedas, Puranas, Bhagavad Gita, Patanjali, Manusmriti, etc. to understand Indian society as a whole.

Al Beruni’s Views on Hindu Lifestyle 

Beruni’s book is an in-depth exploration of Hindu religion, science, literature, philosophy, social organization, geography, astronomy, life, customs, festivals, etc. He touched on almost all the aspects of Hinduism. Based on his studies and observations in India between 1017 and 1030, his book provides a comprehensive survey of Indian life. It can also be said that his work was perhaps the first major exposition of Hindu thought and life by an Islamic scholar. 

It also sheds ample light on the Hindu society which was otherwise facing an existential challenge from Muslim invaders. Al Beruni was also aware of the deep differences between Hindu and Islamic lifestyles. These differences were all over the languages, manners and customs. In his work, he also defended the natural aversion Hindus had against Muslims due to the atrocious activities of Mahmud.

However, Beruni also wrote about how Hindus were narcissistic in many ways. They believed that “there is no country but theirs, no nation like theirs, no king like theirs, no religion like theirs, no science like theirs.” He also stated that Hindus were so arrogant that they simply considered foreign scientists and scholars liars if they were to excel better than Hindus in any way. Although he critiqued the arrogance of Hindus, he also mentioned that this could be improved if Hindus started intermingling with people from foreign lands. He believed that this would change their perspective.

Issues In Indian Society

During his time in India, Al Biruni extensively studied the caste system or varnas . He concluded that the Brahmana were the highest caste, followed by the Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra. Al-Biruni sought to explain the caste system by identifying parallels in other societies. However, he also observed that within Islam all men were considered equal, differing only in their observance of piety. Despite accepting the Brahmanical description of the caste system, Al-Biruni disapproved of the concept of pollution. Moreover, only the Brahmans had the right to attain salvation. Al Biruni found the Brahmanical system highly misleading. He believed that Indians possessed rich knowledge but succumbed to superstitions within this system, thus diluting their wisdom. 

He also criticized various harmful practices in Hindu society. These were child marriage, prohibition of widow marriage, ‘Sati’ and ‘Jauhar’. Additionally, although he did not mention the dowry system specifically, he wrote about Stree Dhan . Stree Dhan was similar to dowry which was presented by the relatives of the girls to her in-laws. Furthermore, Al Biruni observed how the entire country was divided into small states that frequently quarrelled among themselves with jealousy and constant fighting. Prominent states like Malwa, Sindh, Kannauj and Kashmir engaged in regular conflicts. Overall, there was a notable absence of nationalism among Indians at that time

Abdur Razzak (1443-1444 A.D.)

Abdur Razzak, born on November 7, 1412 in Herat (Afghanistan) to Jalaj-ud-Din Ishaq was another important Persian traveler in medieval India. His father, Jalal-ud-din Ishaq was the qazi and imam of Shah Rukh’s court who was the ruler of Persia. After his father’s death, Abdur was appointed as the new qazi of the court. During his tenure as the Qazi, he prospered as a legal courtier, trustee and ambassador. His ambassadorial missions brought him to various places across Asia, including his most important mission in India.

Abdur Razzak’s Observations of India

Upon arriving in the Indian subcontinent, Razzak’s first stop was the court of the Zamorin of Calicut in southwest India. His initial encounters with the natives of Calicut left him unimpressed, as he found them to be scantily clad and practising polyandry, which differed from his own customs. Later on, he received an invitation from the Vijayanagar King to visit his kingdom. To reach Vijayanagara, Razzak passed through Mangalore and Belur before finally reaching his destination.

During his time in the court of King Deva Raya II, Abdur Razzak’s accounts provide a grand and opulent depiction of India. He describes the vast reach of Deva Raya II’s dominion, stretching from the shores of Ceylon to Gulbarga and from Orissa to Malabar. Additionally, he mentions the monarch’s majestic attire and lavish aesthetics. Razzak himself was also graciously accommodated with lavishly provided amenities by the king’s court, highlighting the grandeur of India. Furthermore, he notes that Vijayanagara was a prosperous land with significant military strength. This was evident through bustling markets, fortified walls and a formidable force comprising thousands of warriors.

Hampi Through The Lenses of Abdur Razzak 

Razzak was truly impressed by the Royal Center of Hampi. He especially found the network of rivulets and streams flowing through channels of cut stone remarkable. He considered it a true testament to the engineering skills and architectural genius of that time. Despite all this grandeur, Razzak’s journey was also quite risky and challenging. After a whole year of adventure, going from Mangalore to Kalahat in India and facing a tough seventy-five-day journey by sea, Razzak had to leave India. However, his trip was full of amazing experiences and difficulties he had to overcome. It was a fitting conclusion to an adventurous year.

Issues Faced By Abdur Razzak During His Travel

Razzak’s journey was filled with wonderful sights, but it also had its share of perilous moments. After a year-long travel from Mangalore to Kalahat in India, he embarked on a challenging 75-day sea voyage across the Arabian Sea. Unfortunately, personal tragedy and political upheaval cut short his exploration aspirations. His brother passed away at sea due to an illness, and he narrowly avoided getting entangled in political turmoil sparked by local unrest. These events led him to make a solemn vow never to embark on another trip again. This highlighted the risks associated with venturing into new territories.

Cultural Outlook of Medieval Indian Society

The presence of Turkish rulers and Sufi saints in India brought about significant cultural and socio-economic changes. New establishments like madrasas , karkhanas , dar al shifas and thānās played a crucial role in shaping medieval Indian society. This information is extensively recorded in Persian sources from the Delhi Sultanate and Mughal Empire.

Along with political accounts, there are non-political literary works such as poetry, mystic records, geographical accounts and autobiographies that provide insight into this period. The Persian archives contain a wide range of documents including royal orders ( farmans ), imperial decrees ( parwanas ), deeds related to personal property, hortation, wakf properties/live stocks/produce, gift etc., commands nishans that are well-maintained across various archives in the country.

Economic Condition of Medieval Bengal

A wealth of historical texts written in Persian is a lasting legacy of Muslim rule in India. Over three centuries, Muslim power extended across Bengal. The port towns of Satgāon , Sunārgāon and Chittagong were pivotal in connecting Bengal to distant parts of the world through sea trade. During this time, these ports were bustling centers for maritime trade with several parts of the world. These included China, Sumatra, Maldives, Sri Lanka, the Middle East and East Africa. They traded primarily in pearls, silk, muslin, rice, bullion and horses. 

Bengal was self-sufficient in agricultural produce and also rich in non-agricultural products manufactured to meet local needs. Some surplus items were exported. Contemporary literature, both Persian and Bengali, as well as accounts of foreign travellers, shed light on the quality and demand for non-agricultural products within India and abroad. Bengal had a long tradition of textile manufacturing, with Persian chroniclers and foreign travellers praising the quality and quantity of cloth produced there. During the Sultanate period, Bengal was one of the three major textile-producing regions along with Coromandel and Gujarat.

Other prominent occupations in the region were centered around metal works, including blacksmiths and goldsmiths. These occupations had a long-standing tradition and high regard. Abul Fazl noted that iron-miners were located in the sarkār of Bazuhā . The goldsmiths of Bengal were renowned for crafting various utensils, jewelry and ornaments from gold and silver. These were highly sought after in both local and foreign markets. Pre-Mughal times saw Bengali ships playing a crucial role as a mode of communication and transportation. They carried out trade activities with distant lands as well as within Bengal itself.

This prosperous province maintained strong economic and cultural ties with other parts of the world through its flourishing maritime trade. Agriculture was not only essential for livelihood but also supported industries rooted in agricultural practices during this period.

Exploring Medieval Indian history through the Persian lenses offers a multifaceted perspective on the rich Indian history and culture . Their accounts provide insights into various aspects of Indian society. These include religion, philosophy, socio-political structures and architecture and enrich our history. Despite facing linguistic and cultural challenges, these travellers meticulously documented their observations. These allow us to gain a deeper understanding of India as a whole. Their writings enhance our appreciation for India’s diverse heritage. Additionally, they highlight the lasting impact of cross-cultural encounters in shaping historical narratives.

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Sangam Literature: These Tantalizing Tales Offer a Window into Ancient Tamil Life

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 “In their antiquity and in their contemporaneity, there is not much else in any Indian literature equal to these quiet and dramatic Tamil poems. In their values and stances, they represent a mature classical poetry: passion is balanced by courtesy, transparency by ironies and nuances of design, impersonality by vivid detail, austerity of line by richness of implication. These poems are not just the earliest evidence of the Tamil genius.”

- Indologist Kamil Zvelebil quoting A. K. Ramanujan discussing the Sangam Literature

Sangam (spelled also as cankam, chankam, or shangam) literature is the earliest corpus of texts written in Tamil, one of the major languages of southern India. This collection of Tamil writings is believed by some to have been produced between the 1st and 3rd centuries AD. Others, however, are of the opinion that it was created at an earlier date, i.e. between the 3rd century BC and the 3rd century AD. In any case, the significance of Sangam literature lies in the fact that it provides us with a picture of everyday life in Tamilakam (the geographical region inhabited by the ancient Tamil people) during that time. Sangam literature is also one of the main sources employed for the documentation of the early history of that region.

Three Groups of Works

The word ‘sangam’ is derived from the Sanskrit word ‘sangha’, which may be translated to mean ‘a group of persons’, or ‘an association’. As a matter of fact, the ‘sangam’ in Sangam literature is a reference to the literary academies (in particular the third one) that produced these works. It is believed that there were three different academies, each flourishing at a different place and time. It has also been claimed that these academies were patronized by the kings of the Pandyan Dynasty, one of the three Tamil dynasties (the other two being the Chola and the Chera Dynasties).

Manikkavacakar, Minister of Pandya king Varagunavarman II (c. 862 – 885). ( Public Domain )

The first Sangam had its seat in Thenmadurai, a mythological city, and is believed to have been attended by the gods and legendary sages. No works produced by this Sangam are known to have survived. The next Sangam was located in Kapatpuram, another legendary city. Although this Sangam produced a large volume of works, only the Tolkappiyam has survived till today. This is a work that dealt with early Tamil grammar and rhetoric. The last Sangam was hosted in Madurai, a city in the modern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, and a capital of the Pandyan Dynasty. This Sangam was responsible for almost the entire body of Sangam literature that we have today. Be that as it may, it has been claimed that the extant works are but a fraction of that produced by this Sangam.

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Apart from the Tolkappiyam that was mentioned earlier, the other works that make up the corpus of Sangam literature are eight anthologies of poetry collectively known as Ettutogai (Ainkurunuru ,  Kuruntokai ,  Narrinai , Akananuru ,  Kalittokai ,  Patirruppattu ,  Purananuru , and  Paripatal ), another anthology of 10 idylls ( Pattupattu ), 18 minor works ( PadinenkilkanakkuI ), and two epics ( Silappadikaram and Manimekalai ).

Ilango Adigal, author of ‘ Silappadikaram.’  (Kasiarunachalam/ CC BY SA 3.0 )

What is Sangam Literature About?

Sangam literature deals mainly with secular topics, such as government and war, and therefore provides the reader with a picture of everyday life in Tamilakam during the time when these works were being created. Nevertheless, religious themes may be found in Sangam literature as well, as the Paripatal , for instance, contains poems about the gods.

Sangam literature has also been used as a source of information for the early history of Tamilakam. Diverse aspects of that age, including the trade and commerce, society, and administration are known through these writings.

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A page of a palm leaf manuscript held at the U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Libary in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. It contains the Ciṟupañcamūlam, a work of late-classical Tamil literature. ( CC BY SA 3.0 )

A Sangam Story

This may be seen, for example, in the Silappadikaram (which translates as ‘The Tale of an Anklet’ or ‘The Jeweled Anklet’). This tale is about Kannagi, the wife of Kovalan, the son of a wealthy merchant from Puhar. After Kovalan falls in love with Madhavi, a dancer, Kannagi is neglected. Eventually, Kovalan realizes his mistake, and returns to his wife. The couple then start their life afresh in Madurai. One day, Kovalan enters the city to sell one of his wife’s ruby anklets, so that they could start a business. At the same time, the royal goldsmith had stolen one of the queen’s pearl anklets and used Kovalan as a scapegoat. The merchant’s son is executed by the king, and his wife, bent on proving her husband’s innocence, goes to the king’s palace, avenges her husband, and becomes a goddess.

Although the main characters of the epic are Kovalan and Kannagi, many historical figures and places are mentioned, which provide information about Tamilakam during that time.

Kannagi statue in Marina Beach, Chennai. (Balamurugan Srinivasan/ CC BY 2.0 )

Top Image: Agastyar, Father and Chairman of first Tamil Sangams, Madurai, Pandiya Kingdom . ( CC BY SA 2.5 ) Detail of ancient Tamil script found on the temple walls of the Tanjore Bragadeeshwara temple. (Symphoney Symphoney/ CC BY 2.0 )

By: Wu Mingren  

Aggarwal, M., 2018. Sangam Period: Literature, Administration and Economic Condition. [Online] Available at: http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/sangam-period-literature-administration-and-economic-condition-during-sangam-period/739

Drishti IAS, 2015. Sangam Literature. [Online] Available at: http://www.drishtiias.com/upsc-exam-gs-resources-SANGAM-LITERATURE

Josh, J., 2014. The Sangam Literature. [Online] Available at: https://www.jagranjosh.com/general-knowledge/the-sangam-literature-1398238526-1

Priyadarshin, S., 2018. Sangam Literature of the Ancient Kingdoms of South India. [Online] Available at: http://www.historydiscussion.net/history-of-india/sangam-literature-of-the-ancient-kingdoms-of-south-india/2539

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2016. Sangam literature. [Online] Available at: https://www.britannica.com/art/shangam-literature

Thanks for this post.

<a href=" https://www.ramanasriias.com/manipuri-literature">Manipuri Literature Syllabus</a>

I have photographed a Sangam temple (no doubt, it has a bronze plaque so stating it’s name “Sangam”) in Thailand’s Kamphaeng Phet:   https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g775407-d2715847-Reviews-Kamphaeng_Phet_Historical_Park-Kamphaeng_Phet_Kamphaeng_Phet_Province.html#photos;aggregationId=101&albumid=101&filter=7&ff=157728797

I don’t recall any information in the adjacent museum about these being of Tamil culture...not that I doubt it...these folks sailed up the rivers, speading their culture.

Another excellent article. I’m impressed by the depth of your knowledge. Your articles are always well researched and you provide excellent references. I’ve never heard of Sangam but I plan to research it. Hope some of your references provide English translations

Wu Mingren (‘Dhwty’) has a Bachelor of Arts in Ancient History and Archaeology. Although his primary interest is in the ancient civilizations of the Near East, he is also interested in other geographical regions, as well as other time periods.... Read More

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An Overview of Sangam Literature சங்க இலக்கியம்

by R Shanmugananthan, Sydney, September 2, 2022

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When I was reading about Arumuganavalar and C W Thomotharam Pillai, I found that they have done pioneering work in rediscovering Sangam Poetry even before U Ve Saminatha Iyer. Their work appears not to have been given credit. That led me write this overview. — by the author

Introduction

Sangam Literature is the earliest available Tamil literature.  Earliest of these poems are more than two thousand years old. Most scholars suggest that the creation of these Sangam poems spanned from about 300 BCE to 300 CE . But the well known scholar of Tamil literature and history Kamal Zvelebil suggests that the most acceptable period for creation of Sangam poems is between 100 BCE to 250 CE.

Sangam means gathering or academy of noble poets. Legends  say that there were three such academies and all were held in the Pandian kingdom. Earliest gathering was the  first Sangam, then the second Sangam and the last academy was the third Sangam. Post Sangam period followed Sangam period.  All the Sangam literature available to us now belong to the third Sangam period and Post Sangam period.

Preservation, Discovery and Printing   

Sangam literature fell into oblivion during the second millennium CE. Fortunately, the poems and other works were preserved mostly in Saiva Aatheenams near Kumbakonam and Tamil scholarly families as palm leaf manuscripts. The palm leaves which decay in about fifty years must be replaced before they decay. It was done by writing them down on new palm leaves.

All that changed in the nineteenth century. In 1812 Thirukural was edited and printed from manuscripts by Francis Whyte Ellis. He was working as a Collector in the Madras Presidency when he published the Thirukural .

In 1851 Arumuganavalar edited and printed – from palm leaf manuscripts – the Sangam literature Thirumurugatrupadai . He published a commentary on Tholkapiyam in 1868

W. Thamotharampillai printed edited band published the following literatures which include Sangam literature.

• Viracoliyam in 1881
• Iraiyanar Ahapporul in 1883
• Tolkapiam – Porulatikaram in 1885
• Kalittohai – the first of the Eight Anthologies ( Ettuttohai ) in 1887

Together with U Ve Saminatha Iyer he printed and published with scholarly commentaries the following ancient Tamil works.

• Tholkappiyam Senavariyar urai (1868),
• Cilappatikaram (1889),
• Pattupattu (1889),
• Purananuru (1894),
• Tholkapiam (1895),
• Nachinarkiniyar urai (1895),
• Manimekalai (1898),

Tamil people must thank U Ve Saminatha Iyer for editing  and publishing the rest of the classical Tamil literature we now have. He edited and published (from manuscripts) over 90 classical Tamil literary works starting with Ceevaka Cintamani  in 1887 followed by Sangam literature Pattupattu . With Pillai he edited and published Pattupaattu in 1889. U Ve Sa dedicated his life for this work and collected over 3,000 manuscripts, and notes related to the classical Tamil literature. It should be emphasised that without his dedication we would not have recovered many of the classical Tamil literature available to us now.

Thiruvavaduthurai Aadheenam – The repository of ancient manuscripts

During his visit to the Thiruvavaduthurai Aadheenam (twenty kilometers northeast of Kumbhakonam,) in 1883, U Ve Sa requested the monastery head Subrahmanya Desikar for access to its large library of preserved manuscripts. Desikar granted him permission to study and publish any manuscripts he wanted. He discovered a major source of palm-leaf manuscripts of Sangam literature there. Together with other Tamil scholars he collected and catalogued these manuscripts. Many of them were edited and printed during the next few years.

Classification

Sangam writings are broadly divided into those on love (Akam), and those on heroism (Puram), including the praise of kings and their deeds. They are predominantly Akam themed. Most of the Sangam poems are free from literary conceits. They generally dealt with nonreligious subjects.

Sangam poems can also be subdivided into genres based on landscape and location. These are: Kurici – mountainous regions; Mullaitivu – pastoral forests; Marutam – riverine agricultural land; Neythal – coastal regions; and Palai – arid region.

The following is yet another classification by Tamil scholars; It is the division based on Iyal, Isai and Nadagam. Iyal, is the creation of poetry by poets (Pulavar), Isai is the music added to the poetry by musicians (Paanar), and Nadagam (Drama -play) was created for the poems by Koothar (actors)

Classification of Sangam poems have also been done based on kinds of love and war.  

Some Sangam poetry are about the Gods. For example Thirumurugatrupadai and Paripaatal contains poems about Muruga, Vishnu, Siva and Durga.  Post Sangam works generally deal with morals and ethics. They don’t generally fall into the above classification.

Compilation and Categorisation

Sangam literature was categorised and compiled during the 10th century CE. Available earliest Sangam poetry Tolkapiyam deals with Tamil grammar. It appears to have been revised periodically over the years. Rest of the Sangam poetry is generally divided into two groups; Eighteen Greater Texts, known as Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku (பதினெண்மேல்கணக்கு) created during third Sangam period and Eighteen Lesser Texts, known as Patiṉeṇkeelkanakku (பதினெண்கீழ்கணக்கு) which were created during post Sangam period.

Eighteen Greater Texts ( Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku )

The Eighteen Greater Texts contain 2381 poems. Most poems in Eighteen Greater Texts are divided into two groups; Eight anthologies ( Ettutohai ) and Ten Idylls ( Pattupaatu )

Ettutokai (Eight Anthologies ) comprises of the following:

• Naṟṟiṇai (a text on musicology),
• Kuṟuntokai (an anthology of 402 Tamil stanzas),
• Aiṅkuṟunūṟu (an anthology of love lyrics),
• Kalittokai (an anthology of 150 stanzas in kali metre describing the erotic emotions and five tracts of land),
• Akanānūṟu (an anthology of 400 love lyrics belonged to the 3rd or the 2nd century BC).
• Puṟanānūṟu (an anthology on the external world),
• Patiṟṟuppattu (an anthology of ten sections, each of them in praise of a Chera king),
• Paripāṭal (an anthology of 70 stanzas of songs).

Pattup āṭṭu (the Ten Idylls) comprises:

• Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai (a poem in honour of Murukan by Nakkirar),
• Porunarāṟṟuppaṭai (a guide poem for war-bards to Chola king Karikāla by Mudattama Kanniar),
• Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai (an idyll by Nallur Nattattanar on the chief Nalliyakōtan of Oymānāṭu),
• Perumpāṇāṟṟupaṭai (a guide poem for bards with large lutes praising Toṇṭaimān Ilantiraiyan by Rudran Kannanar),
• Mullaippāṭṭu (anthology on the jasmine country and the theme of a woman by Nappūtanār)
• Maturaikkāñci (Mankuti Marutanar praises the valour of the Pandya king Netunceliyan)
• Neṭunalvāṭai (a blend of love & war poem about Pandian Kingby Nakeerar ),
• Kuṟiñcippāṭṭu (the song of the mountains: the tactful conversation of the confidant by Kapilar),
• Paṭṭinappālai (a poem on Chola king Karikāla by Rudran Kannanar),
• Malaipaṭukaṭām (a poem on the theme of a dancer also called Kuttarāṟṟuppaṭai by Peruṅkunṟūr Peruṅ kaucikanār).

Eighteen Lesser Texts ( Patiṉeṇkeelkanakku )

The Eighteen Lesser Texts ( Patiṉeṇkeelkanakku )contains the following works. (Eighteen Lesser Texts were created during post Sangam period (100 CE – 500 CE)). These works generally deal with morals and ethics.

• Naaladiyaar
• Naanmaniktikai
• Inna Naatpatu
• Iniyavai Naatpatu
• Kar Naatpatu
• Kalavali Naatpatu
• Aintinai Aimpatu
• Tinaimoli Aimpatu
• Aintinai Elupatu
• Tinaimoli Nootru Aimpatu
• Tirikatukam
• Acaarakovai
• Palamoli Naanuru
• Cirupancamoolam
• Mutumolikaanci

Great Epics and Bakti literature

Five great epics: Silappathikaram, Manimekalai, Civaka Cintamani, Valayapathi and Kundalakeci and Devotional (Bakti) literatures Thevaram, Divya Prabantham and Thirumurai are not part of Sangam literature.

Sangam works are two thousand years old. It is the historic evidence of literary developments of Tamil  in parallel to Sanskrit. The surviving literature attests to a group of scholars belonging to an academy gathered in ancient Madurai who shaped the literary, academic, cultural and linguistic life of ancient Tamil Nadu.

The people and rulers of a geographic area roughly encompassing modern day Tamil Nadu and Kerala are covered in the Sangam literature. It mentions Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas as the main rulers. Cheras were in control of an area which covers large part of today’s Kerala State. Cholas controlled northwestern parts of Tamil Nadu and Pandyas controlled the Middle and Southern parts of Tamil Nadu.  Maturaikkāñci   and Neṭunalvāṭai praises the Pandyan king Netunceliyan. Paṭṭinappālai praises the Chola king Karikal Valavan. Patiṟṟuppattu   has ten chapters each with ten poems and talks about ten Chera rulers. The first chapter and the last chapter are not available now. Glory of Senguttuvan’s father Neduncheralathan is covered in one of these chapters. Many other chieftains were praised for their bravery and kindness in the Sangam literature. These chieftains ruled under the suzerainty of Cheras, Cholas or Pandyas.

Sanskrit and North Indian religions had already made inroads into Sangam era regions. Sanskrit words had made inroads into Tamil language.  Patiṟṟuppattu has the minimum infusion of Sanskrit with twelve words. Others have more. Some of the Sangam poets were Brahmins. Poems like Thirumurugattrupadai indicate that North Indian religious practices had made inroads into Tamil area.

There is evidence that Jainism and Buddhism were being patronised by all three kings. Given that the five epics were written by Buddhist and Jain authors during post Sangam period, it’s reasonable to assume that these religions may have made inroad into Tamil Nadu during Sangam era.

In general Sangam poetry was little affected by the external religious thoughts. Most people still prayed to local gods Seyon, Maayon, Kottravai, Venthan, and Varunan (Kadalon).

Most of the Sangam poetry was about love and heroism. That Tamils were able to produce beautiful literature shows that Tamil had already become a well developed language during Sangam era.

Sangam Tamil was able to be read by the current Tamil scholars indicating that literary Tamil had not changed much over the last two millennia.

Chera Nadu of Sangam literature roughly covers present day Kerala State where the people now read, write and speak Malayalam. Though Malayalam and Tamil are sister languages, the Malayalam language scholars generally don’t have the ability to read and understand the Sangam literature.

Sangam literature has described the valour of many Chera rulers including Nedum Cheralathan father of ‘ Silapathikaram ’ fame Senguttuvan and Ilango Adikal. He patronised Buddhism and Jainism. People of Kerala can be proud of the valour of their ancient  kings. Ancestry of present day Malayalis is a complicated one because of the ethnic mingling that occurred in Kerala. Though ethnic mingling had occurred in all linguistic groups in South Asia, it probably happened on a larger scale in Kerala. Only the scholars in Kerala will be able to clarify this matter.

The earliest known reference to Onam is found in ‘ Maturaikkañci ’. It mentions that Onam festival was being celebrated in Madurai temples. It is now an important festival for the Malayalis.

Sangam literature offers a window into the ancient Tamil culture, people and their beliefs. These poems also allude to historical incidents, ancient Tamil kings, the effect of war on loved ones and households.  It is generally nonreligious except for occasional mention of Gods.

From Wikipedia:  “On their significance, Zvelebil quotes A K Ramanujan, “In their antiquity and in their contemporaneity, there is not much else in any Indian literature equal to these quiet and dramatic Tamil poems. In their values and stances, they represent a mature classical poetry: passion is balanced by courtesy, transparency by ironies and nuances of design, impersonality by vivid detail, austerity of line by richness of implication. These poems are not just the earliest evidence of the Tamil genius. The Tamils, in all their 2,000 years of literary effort, wrote nothing better.”  

References :

• Downloadable classical Tamil literatures – TamProject Madurai – https://www.projectmadurai.org/pmworks.html
• Introducing Tamil Literature,  Kamil Zvelebil. 1968
• Prehistory of Tamil literature,Kamil Zvelebil. 2010
• The Pandyan Kingdom, K N Neelakanda Sastri. 1929
• Studies in Cola History and Administration, K N Neelakanda Sastri.1932
• Ettu Thohai – The Eight Anthologies of Sangam literature – an introduction in Tamil by M Narayanan Velupillai – 2000
• Pattupaatu – The Ten Idylls of Sangam literature – an introduction in Tamil by M Narayanan Velupillai – 2000
• Pattinapaalai – poems and descriptions in Tamil by K A Gunasekaran – 2015
• History of Chera Kings in Tamil by Auvai Thuraisamipillai – 2020
• SANGAM LITERATURE- that Brings the Spotlight on the CHOLA KINGS, Dr Uday Dokras -2020
• Tha:Mo:Tharam, A collection of prefaces, C W Thamotherampillai 1971
• Wikipedia – Sangam Literature. [Accessed presumably August 2022 – ed]

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• Archaeological Sites Plundered
• How English Ruined Indian Literature
• Jaffna: The Past, The Present, and The Future

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The Sangam Age: Literature, Polity, and Society in Ancient South India | Sociology UPSC | Triumph IAS

Table of Contents

The Sangam Age

(relevant for historical section of general   studies paper prelims/mains).

The period roughly between the 3rd century B.C. and 3rd century A.D. in South India (the area lying to the south of river Krishna and Tungabhadra) is known as Sangam Period. It has been named after the Sangam academies held during that period that flourished under the royal patronage of the Pandya kings of Madurai.

As per Tamil legends, the ancient South India witnessed three Sangam (Academies of Tamil poets) collectively known as Muchchangam:

• The First Sangam , traditionally said to have taken place in Madurai, was attended by gods and legendary sages. Unfortunately, no literary works from this Sangam have survived to this day.
• The Second Sangam convened at Kapadapuram, and from it, only Tolkappiyam has endured as a literary work.
• The Third Sangam, also held in Madurai, left behind a few Tamil literary compositions that serve as valuable sources for understanding the historical context of the Sangam period.
• These academies were instrumental in compiling Sangam literature, which includes Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku, and two epic poems known as Silappathikaram and Manimegalai . These literary treasures offer insights into the socio-political landscape of the era.

Sangam Polity and Administration:

• The form of government during the Sangam period was hereditary monarchy.
• Each dynasty in the Sangam age had its own royal emblem, such as the tiger for the Cholas, carp or fish for the Pandyas, and bow for the Cheras.
• The king was supported by various officials organized into five councils: ministers (amaichar), priests (anthanar), envoys (thuthar), military commanders (senapathi), and spies (orrar) .
• Military administration was well-structured, with each ruler having a regular army at their disposal.
• The primary source of state revenue was land revenue, supplemented by custom duties on foreign trade.
• The royal treasury was also enriched through the capture of spoils during wars.
• Roads and highways were maintained and protected to prevent robbery and smuggling.

Sangam Society:

• Tolkappiyam categorized the land into five divisions: Kurinji (hilly tracks), Mullai (pastoral), Marudam (agricultural), Neydal (coastal), and Palai (desert).
• The society comprised four main castes: arasar (Ruling Class), anthanar, vanigar (engaged in trade and commerce), and vellalar (Agriculturists).
• The Sangam period was home to ancient primitive tribes like Thodas, Irulas, Nagas, and Vedars.

Position of Women during Sangam Age:

• Women enjoyed respect and were permitted to engage in intellectual pursuits. Notable women poets like Avvaiyar, Nachchellaiyar, and Kakkaipadiniyar thrived during this era and made significant contributions to Tamil literature.
• Women were allowed to choose their life partners, although the lives of widows were often difficult.

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

Sample Question for UPSC Sociology Optional Paper:

Question 1: What insights do Sangam literature offer about the social hierarchy in the Sangam Period? Answer: Sangam literature such as Tolkappiyam reveal a society comprising four main castes—arasar (Ruling Class), anthanar, vanigar (engaged in trade and commerce), and vellalar (Agriculturists).

Question 2: What was the role of women in Sangam Age? Answer: Women enjoyed considerable respect and were permitted to engage in intellectual pursuits. Notable women poets like Avvaiyar made significant contributions to Tamil literature.

Question 3: How did the governance structure function during the Sangam Age? Answer: The Sangam Age featured a hereditary monarchy supported by five councils of ministers, priests, envoys, military commanders, and spies.

Question 4: What were the sources of state revenue during the Sangam Age? Answer: The primary source of state revenue was land revenue, supplemented by custom duties on foreign trade and the capture of spoils during wars.

Question 5: What led to the decline of the Sangam period? Answer: The Sangam period witnessed its decline towards the end of the 3rd century A.D., followed by the Kalabhras’ occupation, which was termed as the ‘dark age’ by historians.

To master these intricacies and fare well in the Sociology Optional Syllabus , aspiring sociologists might benefit from guidance by the Best Sociology Optional Teacher and participation in the Best Sociology Optional Coaching . These avenues provide comprehensive assistance, ensuring a solid understanding of sociology’s diverse methodologies and techniques.

Sangam Age, Tamil Literature, Pandya Kings, Sangam Academies, Ancient South India, Tolkappiyam, Silappathikaram, Manimegalai, Social Structure, Political Governance, Position of Women, Ancient Tribes, Sangam Society

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To master these intricacies and fare well in the Sociology Optional Syllabus , aspiring sociologists might benefit from guidance by the Best Sociology Optional Teacher and participation in the Best Sociology Optional Coaching . These avenues provide comprehensive assistance, ensuring a solid understanding of sociology’s diverse methodologies and techniques. Sociology, Social theory, Best Sociology Optional Teacher, Best Sociology Optional Coaching, Sociology Optional Syllabus. Best Sociology Optional Teacher, Sociology Syllabus, Sociology Optional, Sociology Optional Coaching, Best Sociology Optional Coaching, Best Sociology Teacher, Sociology Course, Sociology Teacher, Sociology Foundation, Sociology Foundation Course, Sociology Optional UPSC, Sociology for IAS,

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Sangam Age and Literature

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The Sangam Age is a significant phase in the history of ancient South India, spanning roughly from the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE. It is also referred to as the period of Tamil Literature. The term "Sangam" refers to assemblies or gatherings of poets and scholars that took place in ancient South India. These gatherings were instrumental in nurturing a literary tradition that focused on various aspects of life, including love, war, ethics, politics, and nature.

The works composed by different poets during the Sangam age provide insights into the social, cultural, and political dynamics of the time. The Sangam age left a significant cultural legacy, influencing the region's history and heritage.

Sangam Literature

According to Tamil scholars, three sangams (academies of Tamil poets) existed in ancient Tamil Nadu, also known as Muchchangam . Under the Pandyan dynasty's royal patronage, these Sangam flourished. These Tamil literary works continue to be valuable resources for rewriting Sangam age history.

• First Sangam: Legendary gods and sages attended the first Sangam held in Madurai , although there are no recorded accounts of it.
• Second Sangam: It was held in Kapadapuram in Tamilnadu.Except for Tolkappiyam , none of the literary works written during this Sangam survived.
• Third Sangam: The third Sangam was established in Madurai by Mudathirumaran . Although many poets participated and created substantial work, only some persisted.
• Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku , and the two epics Silappathigaram and Manimegalai are among the works in the Sangam literature corpus.
• Pathinen Melkanakku includes Ettutogai and Pattuppattu .

Early Sangam Literature

The earliest Sangam literature provides invaluable insights into the social, cultural, and literary aspects of ancient South India. It incudes Agattiyam, Tolkappiyam, Ettuttogai and Pattuppattu.

Aham and Puram Concept

The use of the poetic form is an important aspect of Sangam literature. Tholkappiyam , an ancient Tamil treatise, divides poetry into two categories: Aham and Puram. These two are related in the sense that they are the polar opposites of each other while also complementing each other.

Agattiyam (Akattiyam)

Agattiyam was the earliest book on Tamil grammar according to Tamil tradition.

• This book was a non-extant text (not existing) , written and compiled by sage Agattiar (Agastya) during the First Sangam.

Tolkappiyam

It was written by Tolkappiyar and is considered the first Tamil literary work.

• First mentioned by name in Iraiyanar's Akapporul as an authoritative text on Tamil grammar.
• This was the most ancient Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant long work of Tamil literature.
• Arranged into three books – Eluttatikaram, Sollatikaram and Porulatikaram 
• Source : It also gives an insight into the political and socio-economic conditions of the time.

Ettuttogai is a classical Tamil poetic work consisting of eight works long and short, both or eight anthologies. It is included in the Pathinen Melkanakku (Eighteen Greater Texts).

Pattuppattu

It is an anthology of ten longer poems in the Sangam literature – the earliest known Tamil literature.

Later Sangam Literature

The Sangam age was a time of great literary achievement, where poets and scholars thrived, creating a vibrant literary tradition.

• The works produced during this era continue to be revered for their poetic excellence, imaginative storytelling, and cultural significance. 
• This includes mainly poetic work Patinen Kilkanakku , also known as the “The Eighteen Lesser Texts”, and five great epics, extensive narrative Tamil epics according to later Tamil literary tradition.

Patinen Kilkanakku (The Eighteen Lesser Texts)

It is a collection of eighteen poetic works created during the post-Sangam period. It mainly deals with morals and ethics.

Five Great Epics

Other Literary Sources of the Sangam Age

• The commercial ties between the West and South India are mentioned by Greek authors like Megasthenes, Pliny, Strabo, and Ptolemy.
• The Chera, Chola, and Pandya kings in the southern region of the Mauryan empire are mentioned in Asokan inscriptions.
• The Hathigumpha inscription of Kharavela of Kalinga also mentions Tamil kingdoms.

Art and Architecture During Sangam Age

Art and architecture during the Sangam Age in ancient South India were not as extensively documented as the literature. While physical remnants are rare, references in literature and archaeological findings provide insights into the art and architecture during the Sangam age.

Art of Sangam Age

• The Sangam age was characterised by the widespread popularity of poetry, music, and dancing. Kings, chieftains, and nobles lavishly bestowed gifts upon poets.
• Panar and Viraliyar, two singing bards, were common performers in the royal courts. They were experts at folk music and dance.
• Dance and music were both highly developed arts. The Sangam literature makes reference to a wide range of yazhs and drums .
• Kanigaiyar performed dances. Koothu was the most popular form of entertainment among the people.
• Sangam painters employed the painting guidebook Oviya Nul to direct their creative endeavours.

Architecture of Sangam Age

Information and documentation regarding the architecture of the Sangam ages are limited. It can, however, be deduced from literary references.

• The Hero Stone worship (Nadu Kal worship): During the Sangam age, Nadu Kal worship was important. The Hero Stone was erected to commemorate the warrior's valour in battle. Many hero stones with legends carved on them have been discovered in various parts of Tamil Nadu.
• Port cities: Pattinappalai refers to the seaport of Puhar . Other seaports during the Sangam period are Tondi, Musiri and Korkai.
• Building irrigation tanks: Karaikala built Kallanai across the Kaveri River and built a large number of irrigation tanks.

Keeladi Excavation

• It is a small village in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga district.
• These findings demonstrate the existence of an urban civilisation in Tamil Nadu during the Sangam age along the Vaigai River's banks.
• Excavations at Keeladi have pushed the Sangam age back about 300 years earlier than the previously believed third century BCE.
• The discovery of pottery heaps points to the existence of a pottery manufacturing industry.
• Findings of inscribed potsherds suggest the long survival of the script.
• Presence of the weaving industry: Spindle whorls, copper needles, terracotta seals, hanging stones of the yarn, terracotta spheres and earthen vessels to hold liquid.
• Dyeing industry and glass bead industry : There is evidence of the existence of a dyeing industry and a glass bead industry in the Keeladi finding.

PYQs on Sangam Literature

Question 1: Though not very useful from the point of view of a connected political history of South India, the Sangam literature portrays the social and economic conditions of its time with remarkable vividness. Comment. (UPSC Mains 2013)

Question 2: Which one of the following statements about Sangam literature in ancient South India is correct? (UPSC Prelims 2022)

• Sangam poems are devoid of any reference to material culture.
• The social classification of Varna was known to Sangam poets.
• Sangam poems have no reference to warrior ethics.
• Sangam literature refers to magical forces as irrational.

Answer: (b)

FAQs on Sangam Literature

What is the significance of the term "sangam".

The term "Sangam" refers to assemblies or gatherings of poets and scholars that took place in ancient South India, where literary discussions and creative exchanges played a pivotal role in nurturing a rich literary tradition.

What is the "Aham" and "Puram" in Sangam literature?

Sangam literature classifies poetry into two categories: Aham (interior) and Puram (exterior). Aham deals with themes like love and emotions, while Puram explores topics such as heroism, violence, and societal matters.

Which Sangam work mentions about the wealth of Nandas?

The “Ahananuru”, written by the poet Mamulanar says about the wealth of Nandas.

What are the "Five Great Epics" of Sangam literature?

The "Five Great Epics" of Sangam literature are Silappadikaram, Manimekhalai, Jivaka Chintamani, Valayapathi, and Kundalakesi. These extensive narrative poems cover various themes, from love to religion.

Who is the author of Silappathikaram?

Ilango Adigal is the author of the Tamil epic Silappadikaram. The romance between Kovalan and dancer Madhavi is portrayed in this book.

© 2024 Vajiram & Ravi. All rights reserved

Sangam Literature as a source of evidence on India’s trade with the Western World: Problems of methodology and interpretation

The corpus of poems known as Sangam literature was produced over six centuries, from around 300 BC to 300 AD, by Tamils from very diverse social backgrounds. It was compiled in anthologies several centuries later. These works provide insight into early Tamil culture and into trade relations between South India and the Mediterranean, West Asia and Southeast Asia. Due to its codified nature and to the impossibility of establishing a precise chronology, the heroic Sangam poetry constitutes a difficult source for historic research. New approaches to the interpretation of these poems have used more appropriate methodologies, but further progress needs to be made, especially concerning the study of trade relations. Thus, for instance, it is essential to contextualise Sangam literature and to link it to other sources.

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Last updated on October 7, 2023 by ClearIAS Team

Sangam age refers to the period between the 3 rd century BC to the 3 rd century AD in South India especially the area between the river Krishna and Tungabhadra.

It bears the name ‘Sangam’ because the kingdom of Pandya organized assemblies where poets, bards, and writers joined from various parts of South India and these assemblies were called ‘Sangamas’.

Eminent academics gathered at the sangams to serve as the board of censors, and the best writing was produced in the form of anthologies. The earliest examples of Dravidian literature can be found in these writings.

Table of Contents

Sangam Literature

Have you heard about “Silapathikaram” , the epic love story of Kannaki and Kovalan?

Silapathikaram is one of the masterpieces of Sangam literature .

Yes, Sangam literature is an introduction to Dravidian literature. And it reveals all the ancient roots of south Indian tradition.

This literature is a collection of works that contain approximately 2381 poems that have been attributed to 473 poets and there is a corpus of literature written by 102 poets that remains anonymous.

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The poets included men and women from different classes of society.

2 Major Schools

There are two major schools of Sangam literature:

• Aham/Agam:- The ‘inner field’ concentrates on the abstract discussion of human aspects like love, sexual relations, etc.
• Puram:- The ‘outer field’ which discusses human experiences like social life, ethics, valour, customs, etc

According to the Tamil legends, there were  three Sangams held in ancient South India popularly called Muchchangam .

There were three Sangams organized over a period of 600-700 years. However, a conclusive historical account of the first two Sangams is not available. The first and second Sangams are considered legends and myths by many scholars

Corpus of Sangam literature: Major Works

Famous works included in Sangam literature are Tholkappiyum, Ettutogai, Pattupattu, Pathinenkil kanakku, Thirukkural, and two epics called Silapathigaram and Manimeghalai.

• Tolkkappiyum:- Tolkkapiyum was written by Tholkkappiyar and is considered the earliest Tamil literary work. It is a work on Tamil grammar and it also provides information about the socio-economic condition of that time.
• Ettutogai: Eight Anthologies consist of eight works, includes Aingurunooru, Narrinai, Aganaooru, Purananooru, Kuruntogai, Kalittogai, Paripadal and Padirruppatu.
• The Pattuppattu :-Ten Idylls consists of ten works – Thirumurugarruppadai, Porunararruppadai, Sirupanarruppadai, Perumpanarruppadai, Mullaippattu, Nedunalvadai, Maduraikkanji, Kurinjippatttu,Pattinappalai and Malaipadukadam.
• Pathinenkilkanakku : contains eighteen works dealing with ethics and morals .
• Thirukkural: Written by Thiruvalluvar .It is one of the greatest works of morality. This book is famous for its universality and secular nature.
• There are two epics called   Silappathikaram and Manimeghalai written by Elango Adigal and Sittalai Sattanar . They also provide important information about the Sangam society and polity.

Other major  Sources  that give information about the Sangam Period are :

• The Greek authors Megasthenes, Strabo, Pliny, and Ptolemy highlight the commercial trade links between West and South India as additional sources for information regarding the Sangam Period.
• The Ashokan inscriptions mention Chera, Chola, and Pandya monarchs in South India.
• Tamil kingdoms are also mentioned in Kharavela of Kalinga’s Hathigumpha inscription mentioned about Tamil kingdoms.

How Sangam Literature Reflects The Society And Economy of The Sangam Age?

The Sangam literature reflect the polity, society, and economy of the period.

Political History of the Sangam Age

• South India was ruled by 3 dynasties– Chera, Chola , and Pandya during the Sangam age.
• Patiruppattu provides the information of Chera Kings -Perumsorru Udhiyan Cheralathan,Imayavaramban Nedum Cheralathan and Cheran Senguttavan
• Elango Adigal, author of silapatikaram was brother of Cheran Senguttavan
• Pattinappalai portrays the life and military conquests of Chola king Karikala
• Battle of venni -Kariakala defeated Cheras, Pandyas, and minor chieftains, this event mentioned in many sangam poems
• Maduraikanji  describes the socio-economic condition of the  Pandya country including  the flourishing seaport of korkai
• The hereditary monarchy was the form of govt during the sangam age
• Land revenue served as the state’s primary source of income, and a customs levy was also imposed on international trade.
• To deter robberies and smuggling, the roads and highways were protected by guards.
• Land revenue was the chief source of the state s income
• custom duty was also imposed on foreign trade
• custom officials employed in the seaport of Puhar
• Booty captured in war, and also major income of royal treasury

Ruled over the central and northern portions of Kerala as well as the Kongu region of Tamil Nadu. Vanji as their capital and Musiri and Tondi as their ports on the west coast

• Royal emblem: Bow and arrow
• Pugalur inscription from the first century AD mentions about three generations of Cheras.
• Trade with the Romans was crucial to the Cheras’ development. There was also an Augustus temple constructed.

Senguttuvan, often known as the Red Chera or the Good Chera, was the greatest king of the Cheras who reigned during the second century A D.

• Royal emblem: Tiger
• Chola also had an efficient navy
• King Karikala was one of the well-known rulers of Chola dynasty
• Pattinappalai depicts his personal history and military victories.
• Central and northern parts of Tamilnadu were controlled by the Chola empire
• The Kaveri delta, later called Cholamandalam serves as the core area of their kingdom
• Uraiyur was their capital city, Puhar or Kaveripattanam was the primary port city and their alternative royal palace.
• Karikala’s military prowess at the time made him the region’s supreme ruler in the Tamil language.
• Trade and business grew significantly under his rule.
• He built a 160-kilometer embankment along the Kaveri River and developed the port city of Puhar, which is identical to Kaveripattinam

The Pandyas were in power at Madurai.

• Their principal port, Korkai, It was well-known for its diving and pearl fishing.
• The “Fish” served as their symbol.
• They patronized the Tamil Sangams and made it easier to compile the Sangam poems.
• Rulers maintained a standing army.
• Trade was thriving, and their pearls were well-known.
• Sati, caste, and idolatry were widespread. Widows received poor treatment.
• They embraced the sacrifice-based religion of the Vedas and supported Brahmin priests.
• Invasion by the Kalabhra tribe led to a decrease in their dominance.
• This dynasty declined after the Sangam Age for more than a century.

Social Structure of Sangam Age

• Tholkapiyam refers to the 5 fold division of lands

• Arasar-ruling class
• Anthanar-significant role in sangam polity and religion
• Vanigar-trade and commerce
• Vellar-agriculturalist
• Ancient primitive tribes like Thodas, Irulas, Nagas, and Vedars also lived in this period

Position Of  Women in Sangam Age

There is plenty of information in sangam literature to trace the position of women during the sangam age

• Women poets like Avvaiyar, Nachchellaiyar, and Kakkaipadiniyar flourished in this period and contributed to Tamil literature
• The courage of women also appreciated in many poems
• Karpu or chaste life was considered the highest virtue of women
• Love marriage was common practice
• Women were allowed to choose their life partners
• However, the life of a widow was miserable
• Practices of sati were prevalent in higher strata of society
• Class of dancers was patronized by kings and nobles

The Economy of Sangam Age

• Rice cultivation was the primary occupation, and the most popular handicrafts were weaving, metalworking, shipbuilding, and adornment-making using beads, stones, and ivory.
• When trade between India and the rest of the world peaked during the Sangam period, these were in high demand.
• The spinning and weaving of cotton and silk clothing were highly skilled. Particularly for the cotton clothing woven at Uraiyur, these were in high demand in the western world.
• Numerous gold and silver coins from the reigns of Roman emperors such as Augustus, Tiberius, and Nero have been discovered around Tamil Nadu, showing a thriving economy.
• Cotton garments, spices including pepper, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and turmeric, as well as items made of ivory, pearls, and precious stones, were among the main exports of the Sangam era.
• Horses, gold, and sweet wine were the main imports for the traders.

End of Sangam Age

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

Article Written by: Aryadevi E S

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Legacy of Sangam Literature and the Magnificent Sangam Era

The Sangam Age , from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD , marked a significant period in South Indian history. It was characterised by the rule of the Cheras , Cholas , and Pandyas , known as the Muvendar or three crowned kings, who governed the southern Indian peninsula. This era witnessed flourishing literary and cultural activities , with the Tamil Sangams playing a crucial role in preserving and promoting Tamil literature and poetry

Overview of Richness of Sangam Literature and the Sangam Age

A. sangam age.

• This period spans from the 3rd century BC to the 3rd century AD in South India and Sangams were also called Muchchangam.
• South India During Mauryan Times: Ashokan Rock Edict II (270-30 BC), for the first time, mentions the political picture of South India. According to it, Cholas, Pandyas, Keralaputras, and Satiyaputra existed as independent Tamil kingdoms.

B. Sources to Study Sangam Age

• Archaeological: Megalithic Burials of South India: Buried their dead in urns made of red pottery, which is different from cist burial. 
• Cist Burial: In this type of burial, a small stone-built coffin-like box is used to hold the bodies of the dead. These types of burials were completely underground. 
• Urn burial: After death, corpses are cremated, and the ashes are collected and put in an urn.
• Historic Ports & Capitals: like Arikamedu, Kodumanal, Uraiyur and Alagankulam.
• Buddhist Stupas and Chaityas: in Amaravati, Nagarjunakonda etc.
• Numismatic: Pre-Satavahana and Satavahana coins in Andhra-Karnataka, Coins of Cheras, Cholas, Pandyas, Sangam chieftains, Roman copper, silver, and gold coins.
• Epigraphic: Asokan, Tamil-Brahmi, Satavahana and Buddhist inscriptions, short inscriptions on pottery, rings, and stones in Tamil Nadu and international sites like Berenike and Quseir al Qadhim (Egypt)
• Tamil texts (Sangam, post-Sangam).
• Kautilya’s Arthasastra on economy, and statecraft.
• Puranas with Andhras/Satavahana genealogy.
• Buddhist Chronicles like Mahavamsa.
• Gatha Saptasati, a Prakrit text by Satavahana king Hala.
• Tolkappiyam (Tamil text) 5 epics belong to post-Sangam times (fourth to sixth century AD).
• Foreign Accounts: include The Periplus of Erythrean Sea, Pliny the Elder’s Natural History, Ptolemy’s Geography, Vienna Papyrus and a Roman Map called Peutingerian Table.

C. Three Crowned Kings

• The Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas ruled this age and are also known as the Muvendar or three crowned kings. They ruled the Indian peninsula south of the Krishna River and fought with each other as well as Sri Lanka. 
• The Pandyas are believed to have patronised the Tamil Sangams , facilitating the compilation of Sangam poems.

D. Three Sangal Assembly Over The Years

E. Sangam Texts

• The Classical Sangam corpus consists of Tholkappiyam, Ettuththokai (the eight anthologies), and Paththuppattu.
• Tholkappiyam: attributed to Tholkappiyar, is the earliest Tamil grammatical text, dealing not only with poetry but also with the society and culture of the times .
• Ettuthogai and Pathupattu: collections have about 2400 poems composed by Panar (wandering bards) and Pulavar (poets). 

• Women Poets of the Sangam: There were thirty women poets who composed more than 150 poems. The most prominent poet was Avvaiyar . Others include Allur Nanmullaiyaar, Kaakkaipadiniyar, Kavarpendu, Nalveliyaar, Okkur Masaathiyar, and Paarimakalir.

F. Post Sangam Text

• Patinen Kilkanakku (18 minor works): deals with ethics and moral codes. The most important of them are Thirukkural and Naladiyar.
• Silappadikaram deals with a love story in which a dignitary called Kovalan prefers a courtesan called Madhavi of Kaveripattanam to his wedded wife Kannagi from a noble family.
•   Manimekalai: deals with the adventures of the daughter born of the union of Kovalan and Madhavi.

The Sangam Age was a remarkable period in South Indian history, marked by the rule of the Cheras, Cholas, and Pandyas . The Tamil Sangams, consisting of three major assemblies , contributed immensely to the preservation and development of Tamil literature and poetry . Through archaeological findings, historical accounts , numismatic evidence , and literary works , we gain valuable insights into the vibrant cultural and literary landscape of ancient South India during the Sangam Age.

UPDATED :     

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Home » Ancient Indian History » Sangam Age

Introduction

• It was named after the famous Sangam academies of poets and scholars centred in the city of
• However, the most probable date of the Sangam literature has been fixed between third century B.C. to third century A.D., on the basis of literary, archaeological and numismatic evidences.
• Historians and Ideologists regard the Sangam period as the ‘classical age’ of the Tamils analogous to the age of the classics in Greece and Rome and to that of the Renaissance of later period in Europe.
• However, in the context of early South Indian history, this term can be rendered into English as an assembly, a college or an academy of learned people , held under the patronage of the Pandyan kings , who were great lovers of literature and the fine arts.
• It was similar to a Round Table Conference, which allowed sitting room only to an authentic poet.
• The first Sangam , held at then Madurai, was attended by gods and legendary sages but no literary work of this Sangam was available.
• The second Sangam was held at Kapadapuram, but the all the literary works had perished except Tolkappiyam .
• The third Sangam at Madurai was founded by Mudathirumaran . It was attended by a large number of poets who produced voluminous literature, but only a few had survived.

Sangam Literature

• As mentioned earlier, the Sangam works contain mines of information for the study of early history of Tamilakam .
• They reflect the matter of great historical importance.
• Tolkappiyam , a treatise on Tamil grammar and poetics, composed probably during the second Sangam, is the oldest extant literary work in Tamil.
• Aingurunooru
• Purananooru
• Paripadal and
• Padirruppattu
• Thirumurugarruppadai
• Porunararruppadai
• Sirupanarruppadai
• Perumpanarruppadai
• Mullaippattu
• Nedunalvadai
• Maduraikkanji
• Kurinjippatttu
• Pattinappalai and
• Malaipadukadam
• Pathinenkilkanakku contains eighteen works mostly dealing with ethics        and morals. The most important among them is Tirukkural authored by
• Ilango Adigal was the author of Silappadikaram
• Manimekalai was written by Sathanar mainly to propound the Buddhist doctrine among Tamils
• These poetical works describe about the social, religious, economic and political conditions of Tamilakam with the focus on the cities like Madurai, Puhar (Poompuhar/ Kaveripattinam), Vanji (Karur) and
• Also, the ‘Eighteen Minor Works ’ include the ethical and didactic literature. The didactic literature, which includes the world famous Tirukkural is mostly in stanza form.

Political History

• The political history of these dynasties can be traced from the literary references.
• The Cheras ruled over parts of modern Kerala.
• Their capital was Vanji and their important seaports were Tondi and Musiri
• Cheran  Senguttuvan belonged to 2nd century A.D. His younger brother was Elango Adigal, the author of Silappathigaram
• The Chola kingdom of the Sangam period extended from modern Tiruchi district to southern Andhra Pradesh
• Their capital was first located at Uraiyur and then shifted to Puhar.
• The Pandyas ruled over the present day southern Tamil Nadu. Their capital was Madurai.
• Maduraikkanji written by Mangudi Maruthanar describes the socioeconomic condition of the Pandya country including the flourishing seaport of Korkai
• The Pandyan rule during the Sangam Age began to decline due to the invasion of the Kalabhras.
• The minor chieftains played a significant role in the Sangam period.
• Although they were subordinate to the Chera, Chola and Pandya rulers, they were powerful and popular in their respective regions.

Sangam Polity

• The king had to take the advice of his minister, court-poet and the imperial court or avai .
• The Chola kings  assumed titles like Senni, Valavan and Killi
• The Pandya kings assumed titles like Thennavar and Minavar.
• Carp for the Pandyas
• Tiger for the Cholas
• Bow for the Cheras.
• The imperial court or Avai was attended by a number of chiefs and officials.
• They were ministers (amaichar), priests (anthanar), military commanders (senapathi), envoys (thuthar) and spies (orrar).
• Silappadikaram refers to the two types of councils — Aimperunkulu and Enperayam.
• The aimperunkulu or the council of five members was the council of the ministers.
• The enperayam or the great assembly (perayam) consisted of 8 members (government officers).
• This worked as an administrative machinery of the state. These two assemblies that of the Five and that of the Eight functioned as administrative bodies, though their function was generally advisory in character. However, their advice was rarely rejected by the king.
• Each ruler had a regular army and their respective Kodimaram (tutelary tree).
• The Pattinappalai refers to the custom officials employed in the seaport of Puhar.
• Roads and highways were well maintained and guarded night and day to prevent robbery and smuggling
• Also, of the three muventars (three crowned monarch) the Cholas controlled the fully irrigated fertile Cauvery (Kaveri) basin with their capital at Uraiyur , the Pandyas ruled over the pastoral and littoral part s with the capital at Madurai , and the Cheras had their sway over the hilly countr y in the west with Vanji (Karur) as the capital

Sangam Society

• Tolkappiyam refers to the fivefold division of lands.
• The people living in these five divisions had their respective chief occupations, as well as their Gods as follows:

• Arasar , which was the ruling class
• Anthanars ., which played a significant role in the Sangam polity and religion.
• Vanigars carried on trade and commerce
• Vellalas were agriculturists.
• Ancient primitive tribes like Thodas, Irulas, Nagas and Vedars lived in this period.
• The worship of Murugan has an ancient origin and the festivals relating to God Murugan was mentioned in the Sangam literature.
• Other gods worshipped during the Sangam period were Mayon (Vishnu), Vendan (Indiran), Varunan and Korravai.
• The Hero Stone was erected in memory of the bravery shown by the warrior in battle

Position of Women

• There is plenty of information in the Sangam literature to trace the position of women during the Sangam age.
• The courage of women was also appreciated in many poems.
• Karpu or Chaste life was considered the        highest        virtue of women.
• Love marriage was a common practice.
• Women were allowed to choose their life partners.
• The practice of Sati was        also prevalent in the higher strata of society.
• Also, the class of dancers was patronized by the        kings and nobles
• Poetry, music and dancing were popular among the people of the Sangam age.
• Liberal donations were given to poets by the kings, chieftains and nobles.
• They were experts in folk songs and folk dances.
• A variety of Yazhs and drums are referred to in the Sangam literature
• Dancing was performed by Kanigaiyar .
• Koothu was the most popular entertainment of the people.

Economy of the Sangam Age

• Rice was the common crop.
• Ragi, Sugarcane, Cotton, Pepper, Ginger, Turmeric, Cinnamon and a variety of fruits were the other crops.
• Jack fruit and pepper were famous in the Chera country.
• Paddy was the chief crop in the Chola and Pandya country.
• They include weaving, metal works and carpentry, ship building and making of ornaments using beads, stones and ivory.
• There was a great demand for these products, as the internal and external trade was at its peak during the Sangam period.
• Spinning and weaving of cotton and silk clothes attained a high quality.
• There was a great demand in the western world for the cotton clothes woven at Uraiyur.
• Merchants carried the goods on the carts and on animal-back from place to place.
• Internal trade was mostly based on the barter system.
• External trade was carried between South India and the Greek kingdoms.
• The port city of Puhar became an emporium of foreign trade, as big ships entered this port with precious goods.
• Other ports of commercial activity include Tondi, Musiri, Korkai, Arikkamedu and Marakkanam.
• Plenty of gold and silver coins issued by the Roman Emperors like Augustus, Tiberius and Nero were found in all parts of TamilNadu.
• They reveal the extent of the trade and the presence of Roman traders in the Tamil country.
• While Gold, horses and sweet wine were the chief imports.

Analysis of the Sangam Age

• Thus, the picture that emerges from the study of Sangam literature reflects that the period witnessed the conception of state for the first time in South India. However, it was still in the process of crystallization.
• Sangam polity was characterized by the patriarchal and patrimonial systems in which the administrative staff system and various offices were directly controlled by the rulers.
• But the acute class distinction , which appeared in later times, were lacking in Sangam age.
• Agriculture was the backbone of Sangam economy .
• The trading activities , especially trade relations with the Mediterranean World enriched their economy.
• The foreign elements also influenced the socio-economic and cultural life of people.
• Both, animism and idol worship, were followed during the Sangam age.

End of the Sangam Age

• Toward the end of the third century A. , the Sangam period slowly witnessed its decline .
• The Kalabhras occupied the Tamil country for about two and a half centuries.
• We have little information about the Kalabhra rule.
• Jainism and Buddhism became prominent during this period.
• Later, the Pallavas in the northern Tamil Nadu and Pandyas in southern Tamil Nadu drove the Kalabhras out of the Tamil country and established their rule.

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Sangam Literature - Ancient India History Notes

Amruta Patil

Jul 4, 2024

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Sangam literature, often known as "the poetry of the noble ones," refers to ancient Tamil language and is South India's earliest known literature. The earliest accessible Tamil literature is known as Sangam literature . The Sangam period is roughly between 300 BC and 300 AD, while the majority of the work is thought to have been created between 100 CE and 250 CE. This article will explain to you the Sangam Literature which will be helpful in Ancient History preparation for the UPSC Civil service exam.

Sangam Literature

• 'Sangam' literally means 'association.' It refers to a group of Tamil poets who flourished in ancient southern India.
• From the first through the fourth centuries CE, the Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agastyar is thought to have presided over the first Tamil Sangam at Madurai.
• Sangam texts may be unusual in early Indian literature, which is virtually completely religious.
• The Sangam literature was written by 473 poets, 102 of whom were anonymous. The poets came from a variety of backgrounds: some were from royal families, others were businessmen, and some were farmers.
• Women made up at least 27 of the poets.
• These poets arose in an environment in which Tamil (Dravidian) civilization had previously engaged and inseparably fused with north I ndians (Indo-Aryans), and both sides shared mythology, morals, and literary norms.
• Many of the poems, particularly those about heroism, have a great deal of freshness and vitality and are strikingly devoid of the literary conceits that pervade most of India's other early and medieval literature.
• They deal nearly solely with nonreligious issues, these poems are also devoid of the rich legendary references that distinguish most Indian art forms.
• Nonetheless, religious compositions may be found in sangam poetry. Poems on Vishnu, Shiva, Durga, and Murugan, for example, maybe found in Sangam Literature .

Sangam Literature - Classification

• Sangam literature is divided into two categories: akam and puram.
• Akam poetry is concerned with emotions and sentiments in the context of romantic love, sexual connection, and sensuality.
• Puram poetry is concerned with exploits and heroic achievements in the setting of battle and public life.
• Three-fourths of the Sangam poetry is akam-themed, while one-fourth is puram-themed.
• Sangam literature, including akam and puram, is divided into seven minor genres known as tinai.
• This minor genre is centred on the setting or scenery of the poetry.
• Kurinci refers to mountainous regions; mullai refers to pastoral woods; marutam refers to riverine agricultural land; neyta l coastal regions; and palai refers to arid regions.
• In addition to landscape-based tinais, ain-tinai (well-matched, mutual love), kaikilai (ill-matched, one-sided), and perunthinai (unsuited, big genre) categories are employed for akam poetry.
• The Ainkurunuru — a collection of 500 short poems – is an example of reciprocal love poetry.
• Simila r tinais apply to puram poetry as well; categories include vetchi (cattle raid), vanchi (invasion, preparation for war) , kanchi (tragedy), ulinai (siege), tumpai (battle), vakai (victory), paataan (elegy and acclaim), karanthai, and pothuval.
• The akam poetry employs metaphors and images to build the atmosphere; it never contains names of people or places, and it frequently leaves out context, which the community would fill in and comprehend given their oral history.
• Puram poetry is more direct and utilises names and locations.

Sangam Literature - Major Works

• The period of Sangam literature is still debated because the three major epics of the time, Silappathigaram, Dipavamsa, and Mahavamsa, show that Gajabhagu II of Sri Lanka and Cheran Senguttuvan of the Chera dynasty were contemporaries.
• Also, coins struck by the Roman Emperor in the first century may be found in considerable quantities in various parts of Tamil Nadu.
• Furthermore, Greek authors such as Megasthenes, Strabo, and Pliny claimed trading links between the West and South India.
• Inscriptions from the Ashokan Empire described the Cheras, Chola, and Pandya monarchs to the south of the Mauryan Empire.
• On the basis of literary, archaeological, and foreign evidence, the dating of the Sangam literature has been placed between the third century B.C. and the third century A.D.
• Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku, and the two epics Silappathikaram and Manimegalai comprise the Sangam literature.
• Elango Adigal's Silappathigaram and Sittalai Sattanar's Manimegalai were both published during the postmodern era.
• These works include important information on the Sangam political system and society.
• The Kalugumalai inscription provides information about Tamil Brahmi writing, which dates back to the 15th century.
• The Tirukkovalur inscription mentions local chieftains as well as the terrible fate of Tamil poets.
• The Tolkappiyam, written by Tolkappiyar, was the first of these works, and it contains information about the social, economic, and political situations of the Sangam Age, as well as Tamil grammar.
• Ettutogai were the eight Anthologies, each of which had eight pieces.
• Ettutogai and Pattuppattu were both separated into two major groups: Aham (love) and Puram (valour).

Silappathikaram

• The earliest Tamil epic is Silappatikaram. It's a 5,730-line poem written nearly entirely in akaval (aciriyam) metre.
• Silappatikaram is credited to Ilango Adigal in Tamil tradition.
• He is said to be a Jain monk and the younger brother of Chera king Senguttuvan, whose family and rule are detailed in the Fifth Ten of the Patiuppattu, a Sangam poetry.
• Kannaki and her husband Kovalan are the protagonists of the epic, which tells the sad love tale of an average couple.
• Kannaki and other characters from the narrative are addressed or alluded to in Sangam literature like the Naiai and later works such as the Kovalam Katai, indicating that the Silappathikaram has deeper roots in the Tamil bardic tradition.
• It is said to have been written in the 5th or 6th century CE by a prince-turned-monk named Iak Aika.

Manimegalai

• Kulavika Seethalai Sataa r created Manimekalai, also known as Manimekhalai or Manimekalai, a Tamil-Buddhist epic, most likely in the 6th century.
• It's a "anti-love narrative," a sequel to the "love story" in the first Tamil epic Silappadikaram, including some of the same characters and their descendants.
• The epic is divided into 30 cantos and contains 4,861 lines in akaval metre.
• Manimekalai is also the name of Kovalan and Madhavi's daughter, who follows in her mother's footsteps as a Buddhist nun and dancer. Her tale is told in the epic.

Tolkappiyam

• The oldest existing Tamil grammar text and the oldest extant lengthy work of Tamil literature is Tolkappiyam.
• Some believe Tholkapiyam was authored by a single author named Tholkappiya r, a disciple of Vedic sage Agastya , who is attested in the Rigveda.
• The Tolkappiyam consists of three volumes (athikaram), each having nine chapters (iyal), for a total of 1,610 sutras in the nurpa metre in the extant manuscripts.
• Sutras on spelling, phonology, etymology, morphology, semantics, prosody, sentence structure, and the importance of context in language are included in this comprehensive grammar work.
• It's impossible to put a date on the Tolkappiyam .
• Some Tamil scholars situate the passage in the mythological second sangam, which date to the first millennium BCE or earlier.
• The Eight Anthologies, also known as Ettuttokai or "Eight Collections," is a great Tamil literary work that is part of the Sangam Literature's Eighteen Greater Texts (Patinen-melkanakku) anthology series.
• The Eight Anthologies (Pattuppattu) and its companion anthology, the Ten Idylls (Pattuppattu), are the earliest Tamil works extant.
• Aingurunooru, Narrinai, Aganaooru, Purananooru, Kuruntogai, Kalittogai, Paripadal, and Padirruppatu are the eight works that make up Ettuthogai (Eight Anthologies).

Pattuppattu

• The 10 Idylls, also known as Pattupattu or Ten Lays, is a collection of ten lengthier poetry from Tamil literature's Sangam period.
• They include between 100 and 800 lines, and the collection contains the well-known Tirumurukarruppaai by Nakkirar.
• The Pattupattu collection is a later-dated collection, with the first layer dating from the 2nd to 3rd century CE, the middle layer from the 2nd to 4th century CE, and the last layer from the 3rd to 5th century CE.
• Thirumurugarruppadai, Porunarruppadai, Sirupanarruppadai, Perumpanarruppadai, Mullaippattu, Nedunalvadai, Madurai Kanji, Kurinjippatttu, Pattinappalai, and Malaipadukadam are the 10 works that make up the Pattupattu (Ten Idylls).

Pathinenkilkanakku

• The Pathinenkilkanakku, also known as the Eighteen Lesser Texts in literature, is a collection of eighteen poetry compositions, most of which were written during the 'after Sangam period' (between 100 and 500 CE).
• Eighteen texts on ethics and morality are included in Pathinenkilkanakku.
• Tirukkural, written by Thiruvalluvar, a renowned Tamil poet and philosopher, is the most important of these texts.
• The poems in this collection differ from those in the Eighteen Greater Texts, which are the oldest known Tamil poetry, in that they are written in venpa metre and are very brief.
• The single anthology in this collection is Naladiyar, which has been sung by 400 poets.

Sangam Literature - Significance

• During this period, there were three major Tamil kingdoms: the Cheras, the Cholas, and the Pandyas.
• The Sangam literature provides historical evidence of indigenous literary growth in South India parallel to Sanskrit, as well as the Tamil language's classical rank.
• While little evidence exists for the first and second mythological Sangams, the surviving literature attests to a group of intellectuals based on ancient Madurai (Maturai) who affected the "literary, academic, cultural, and linguistic life of ancient Tamil Nadu."
• The Sangam literature provides insight into various aspects of ancient Tamil society, secular and religious ideas, and individuals.
• The Sangam literature contains evidence of Sanskrit loan words, implying ongoing linguistic and literary collaboration between ancient Tamil Nadu and other areas of the Indian subcontinent.
• Sangam poetry is concerned with culture and people. Except for the odd reference of Hindu gods and more major allusions of numerous gods in the shorter poems, it is virtually exclusively non-religious.

Sangam is a Sanskrit term that translates as "association." It references Tamil Sangam, a Tamil poets' organisation that existed during South India's ancient history. The Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agastyar is considered to have presided over the first Tamil Sangam in Madurai from the first to fourth century CE. Sangam writings are perhaps unique in early Indian literature, which is almost entirely religious.

Question: What is the classification of Sangam Literature ?

Sangam literature is divided into two categories: akam and puram. Akam poetry is concerned with emotions and sentiments in the context of romantic love, sexual connection, and sensuality. Puram poetry is concerned with exploits and heroic achievements in the setting of battle and public life.

Question: Who is the author of Silappathikaram ?

Ilango Adigal was a poet, a Jain monk, and a Chera prince. He is widely regarded as the author of Silappatikaram, one of Tamil literature's Five Great Epics. He is considered to be one of Cheranadu's best poets.

Question: What do you mean by Sangam ?

Sangam is a Sanskrit word that means "association." It alludes to Tamil Sangam, an organisation of Tamil poets that flourished in South India's ancient history. These Tamil poets created the Sangam literature, and the period in which it was created is referred to as the Sangam Age.

Question: Which of the following statements is/are correct.

• The Sangam period is roughly between 300 BC and 300 AD.
• The first Tamil Sangam at Madurai is said to have been presided over by the Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agathiyar.

Select the correct answer

(c) Both 1 and 2

(d) Neither 1 nor 2

Answer: (c) See the Explanation

• The earliest accessible Tamil literature is known as Sangam literature.
• The Sangam period is roughly between 300 BC and 300 AD, while most of the work is thought to have been created between 100 CE and 250 CE.
• The Sangam Period is the name given to this time period. The Cheras, Cholas, and Pandyas were the three major Tamil kingdoms during this time period.

Therefore, option (c) is the correct answer.

Question: Manimekalai written by-

(a) Sittalai Sattanar

(b) Elango Adigal

(c) Tholkappiyar

(d) Thiruvalluvar

Answer: (a) See the Explanation

• The epic Manimekalai was written by Satthanar, a Tamil poet.
• Sathanar is credited with 11 poems in the Sangam literature, including verse 10 of the Thiruvalluva Malai.
• Kulavavika Seethalai Sataar created Manimekalai, also known as Manimekhalai or Manimekalai, a Tamil-Buddhist epic, most likely in the 6th century.

Therefore, option (a) is the correct answer.

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Sangam Period: Literature, Administration and Economic Condition

Till the second century B.C., the upland portions of the peninsula with the Kaveri delta as the nuclear zone were inhabited by people who are called megalith builders.

They are known not from their actual settlements which are rare, but from their graves called megaliths.

These are called megaliths because they were encircled by big pieces of stone which contained not only skeletons of the buried people but also pottery and iron objects.

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Tridents, which later came to be associated with Shiva, have also found in the megaliths. However compared to the number of agricultural tools that were buried, those meant for fighting and hunting is larger in number.

It shows that megalithic people did not practice an advanced type of agriculture. The megaliths are found in all upland areas of the peninsula, but their concentration seems to be in eastern Andhra and in Tamil Nadu.

Their beginnings can be traced to circa 1000 B.C., but in many cases the megalithic phase lasted from about the fifth to the first century B.C. The Cholas, Pandyas and Keralaputras (Cheras) mentioned in the Asokan inscriptions were probably in the late megalithic phase of material culture. By the third century B.C., the megalithic people had moved from the uplands into fertile river basins and reclaimed marshy deltaic areas.

Under the stimulus of contact with the elements of material culture brought from the north to the extreme end of the peninsula by traders, conquerors and Jaina, Buddhist and some Brahmana missionaries, they came to have social classes, they came to practice wet paddy cultivation and founded numerous villages and towns.

Cultural and economic contacts between the north and the Deep South known as Tamilakam or Tamizhakam became extremely important from the fourth century B.C. The route to the south called the Dakshinapatha was valued by the northeners because the south supplied gold, pearls and various precious stones.

Flourishing trade with the Roman Empire contributed to the formation of the three states respectively under the Cholas, Cheras and the Pandyas. These southern kingdoms would not have developed without the spread of iron technology which promoted forest clearing and plough cultivation.

The Sangam Period:

The Sangam Age in South India is a landmark in her history. The word sangam is the Tamil form of the Sanskrit word Sangha which means 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 Pandyan kings. It is believed that the first Sangam was attended by gods and legendary sages, and its seat was Ten Madurai. All the works of the first Sangam have perished.

The seat of the second Sangam was Kapatpuram, another capital of the Pandyas. It was attended by several poets and produced a large mass of literature, but only Tolkappiyam (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.

Sangam Literature:

According to Prof. K.A. Nilakanta Sastri, the Sangam literature which combines idealism with realism and classic grace with indigenous industry and strength is rightly regarded as constituting the Augustan age of Tamil literature. It 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, lllango Adigal, Sittalai Sattanar, Nakkirar, Kapilar, Paranar, Auvaiyar, Mangudi Marudanar and a few others are outstanding. Sangam literature consists of the earliest Tamil works (such as the Tolkappiyam), the ten poems (Pattupattu), the eight anthologies (Ettutogai) 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.

Earliest Tamil Works:

Tolkappiyam is the oldest extant Tamil grammar written by Tokkappiyar (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 Agattiyam (a work on grammar of letters and life) by Saint Agattiyar, Pannirupadalam and the Kakkipadiniyam.

Ten Poems Pattupattu:

Murugarruppadai (by Nakkirar), Sirupanarruppadai (by Nattattanar), Perumbanarruppadai, Maduraikkanji (by Mangudi Marudam), Pattinappalai (by Kannan), and other works, come in this category.

The poetry in the Pattupattu was 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).

Eight Anthologies Ettutogai:

1. Aingurunuru, compiled by Gudalur Kilar, consists of 500 erotic poems.

2. Agananuru, compiled by Rudrasarman, consists of love poems.

3. Narrinai comprises 400 short poems on love.

4. Kurunttogai has 400 love poems.

5. Purananuru consists of 400 poems in praise of kings. The Nandas and Mauryas are referred in one of the poems.

6. Kalittogaicomprises love poems.

7. Paripadal has 24 poems in praise of gods.

8. Padirrupattu is a short collection of 8 poems in praise of the Chera Kings.

The eight anthologies (Ettutogai) also are in two groups, the Aham and the Puram.

Eighteen Minor Works Padinenkilkanakku:

These works are called ‘minor works’ because the poems in these are shorter in form than those in the Ettutogai and Pattuppattu. The most important among these are the Tirukkural by Tiruvalluvar (known as the Bible of Tamil Land’, it is a compound of the Dharmasastra, the Arthasastra and the Kamasutra), the Naladiyar, the Palamoliby Munnururai Araiyar, the Acharakkovaietc.

The epics Silappadikaram (The Jewelled Anklet) and Manimekalai belong to the early centuries of the Christian era.

1. Silappadikaram was written by Mango Adigal (grandson of Karikala, the great Chola King) in the second century A.D. It is a tragic story of a merchant, Kovalan of Puhar who 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 Pandyan 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.

2. Manimekalaiwas written by poet Sattanar. It is the story of Manimekalai, the daughter of Kovalan, and Madhavi of 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 Puhar when 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

3. Sivaga Sindamani, written by Tiruttakkadevar a Jaina ascetic, is the story of Sivaga or Jivaka

Period of Sangam literature:

The earliest script that the Tamils used was the Brahmi script. It was only from the late ancient and early medieval period, that 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 in circa A.D. 300-600.

Sangam Polity :

From the earliest times Tamilham 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.

The Pandyas:

The Pandya territory occupied the southern-most and the south-eastern portion of the Indian peninsula, and it roughly included the modern districts of Tinnevelly, Ramnad and Madurai in Tamilnadu. It had its capital at Madurai. The Pandyas are rightly famous for patronising the poets and scholars of the Tamil Sangams.

The earliest known Pandyan ruler was Mudukudumi who is mentioned in the Sangam text as a great conqueror. The most reputed Pandyan ruler was Nedunjhelian, who ruled from Madurai and was a great poet.

According to Silappadikaram, Nedunjhelian, in a fit of passion, ordered without judicial enquiry the execution of Kovalan who 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 Pandyan kings profited from trade with the Roman Empire and sent embassies to the Roman emperor Augustus. The Pandyan port Korkai was a great centres of trade and commerce, another port was Saliyur. The brahmanas enjoyed considerable influence, and the Pandya kings performed Vedic sacrifices in the early centuries of the Christian era.

The Cholas:

The Chola kingdom which came to be called Cholamandalam (Coromandel) in early medieval times was situated to the north-east of the Pandyan territory, between the Pennar and the Velar Rivers. Their capital was first at Uraiyur, a place famous for cotton trade and later shifted to Puhar or Kaveripattiram.

It seems that in the middle of the second century B.C. a Chola king named Elara conquered Sri Lanka and ruled over it for nearly 50 years. A firmer history of the Cholas begins in the second century A. D. with their famous king 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.

He defeated the Chera king Perunjeral. One of his early achievements was the victory at Venni, 15 miles to the east of Tanjore; his victory meant the breakup of the widespread confederacy that had been formed against him.

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 capitves 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.

Under Karikala’s successors the Chola power rapidly declined. Two sons of Karikala ruled from two different capitals – the elder from Uraiyur and the younger one from Puhar. The last great Chola ruler after Karikala was Nedunjelian who successfully fought against the Pandyas and the Cheras both, but was ultimately killed in battle.

Their two neighbouring powers, the Cheras and the Pandyas, extended at the cost of the Cholas. What remained of the Cholas power was almost wiped out by the attacks of the Pallavas from the north.

The fortunes of the Cholas suffered a serious setback, when, according to a tradition recorded in Manimekalaia good part of the port town of Puhar was engulfed by the sea in terrific tidal waves, during the reign of the later Chola king Killivalavan.

The Cheras:

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 Christrian 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 Muziris identical with Cranganore in the Chera country to protect their interests. It is said that they also built there a temple of Augustus.

The history of the Cheras was marked by continuous fight with the Cholas and the Pandyas. One of the earliest and better known Chera rulers was Udiyanjeral (A.D. 130). The titles Vanavaramban and Perunjaran Udiyan are applied to him by the poet Mudinagarayar in Puram.

The son of Udiyanjeral was Nedunjeral Adan who won a naval victory against some local enemy on the Malabar Coast, and took captive several Yavana traders. He won victories against seven crowned kings, and thus reached the superior rank of the adhiraja.

He was called “Imayavaramban”, he who had the Himalayas as his boundary’. He fought a war with the contemporary Chola king in which both the monarchs lost their lives and their queens performed Sati.

According to the Chera poets their greatest king was Senguttuvan, the Red or Good Chera. He routed his rivals and established his cousin securely on the throne. It is said that he invaded the north and crossed the Ganga. But all this seems to be exaggerated. Pattini cult, that is the worship of Kannagi as the ideal wife, was started by him.

Senguttuvan was succeeded by his half-brother Perunjeral Adan (180 A.D.), who was a contemporary of the great Chola monarch Karikala. We learn from the poems Puram and Aham, that while fighting against the Cholas in the battle of Venni, Perunjeral Adan received a wound in the back and expiated the disgrace by starving himself to death on the battlefield.

After the second century A.D. the Chera power declined, and we have nothing of its history until the eighth century A. D. The fame of the Cheras lies in the liberal patronage to Tamil poets and promo­tion of trade with Romans. The Chera had a number of good ports along the western coast such as Tondi and Musiri or Muziris (Muziris was a great centre of Indo-Roman trade). The capital of the Cheras was Vanji.

Sangam Administration :

The king was the very centre and embodiment of administration. He was called Ko, Mannam, 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.

The royal emblem of the Pandyas was the carp (fish), the bow of the Cheras and of the Cholas was the tiger. 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:

(1) Amaichchar or ministers,

(2) Purohitas or priests,

(3) Senapati or military commanders,

(4) Dutar or envoys and

(5) Arrar or spies.

Provincial and Local Administration:

The entire kingdom was called mandalam. The Chola mandalam, Pandya mandalam and the Chera mandalam were the original major mandalam. Below the mandalam was a major division, nadu (province). The ur was a town which was variously described as a big village (perar), a small village (sirur) or an old village (mudur). Pattinam was the name for a coastal town and Puharwas 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.

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.

Military Administration :

Apparently out of the taxes collected from the peasantry, the state maintained a rudimentary army and it consisted of chariots drawn by oxen, of elephants, cavalry and infantry. Elephants played an important part in war. Horses were imported by sea into the Pandyan kingdom.

The institution of virakkal or nadukul (hero-stone), which was a practice of erecting monuments for the dead soldiers and worshiping them, was prevalent at that time. The institution of Kavalmaram or Kadimaram was also prevalent. Under it, each ruler had a great tree in his palace as a symbol of power.

Sangam Economy :

The Sangam economy was simple and mostly self-sufficient. Agriculture was the main occupation and the chief crops were rice, cotton, ragi, sugarcane pepper, ginger, turmeric, cardamom, cinnamon etc. Weaving, ship-building, metal working, carpentry, rope-making, ornament-making, making of ivory products, tanning etc were some of the handicrafts, which were widely practiced.

The market place was known as avanam. This period also witnessed the emergence of various towns like Puhar, Uraiyur, Vanji, Tondi, Muzuris, Madurai, Kanchi, etc. Industry and crafts was given a fillip by a rising demand in the foreign markets.

Trade, both inland and foreign, was well organised and briskly carried our throughout the period Internal trade was brisk, caravans of merchants with carts and pack-animals carried their merchandise from place to place, Barter played a large part in all transactions and salt was an important commodity of trade. The Sangam period witnessed the rise of maritime activity.

External trade was carried on between South India and Hellenistic kingdom of Egypt and Arabia as well as the Malay Archipelago. The author of the Periplus of the Erythrean Sea (75 A.D.) gives the most valuable information about the trade between India and the Roman Empire. He mentions the port of Naura (Cannanore) Tyndis (Tondi), Muzuris (Musiri, Cranganore), and Nelcynda as the leading ones on the west coast.

Other ports of South India were Balita (Varkalai), Comari, Colchi, Puhar (Khaberis of Ptolemy), Saliyur, Poduca (Arikamedu) and Sopatma (Markanam). A landmark in the development of communications was the discovery of the monsoon winds by the Greek sailor Hippalus in around A.D. 46-47.

This led to in­crease in volume of trade. Large vessels made up of single logs called Sangara and very large vessels, called Colondia made voyages. The Periplus of the Erythraen Sea, written by an anonymous Greek navigator, gives details of Indian exports to the Roman Empire. The main exports were: pepper, pearls, ivory, silk, spike-nard, malabathrum, diamonds, saffron, precious stone and tortoise shell.

It also mentions Argaru (Uraiyur) as the place to which were sent all the pearls gathered on the coast and from which were exported muslins called agraritic. Silk, which was supplied by Indian merchants to the Roman Empire, was considered so important that the Roman emperor Aurelian declared it to be worth its weight in gold.

The Roman need for spices could not be met entirely by local supply; this brought Indian traders into contact with south-east Asia. In return for her exports, India imported from the Roman empire such commodities as topaz, tin cloth, linen, antimony, crude glass, copper, tin, lead, wine, orpiment and wheat. The Romans also exported to India wine amphorae and red glazed Arretine ware which have been found at Arikamedu near Pondicherry. They also sent to India a large number of gold and silver coins.

Connected with the phenomenon of trade was the growth of money economy in the early centu­ries. The imported coins were mostly used as bullions. The large quantities of gold and silver coins struck by all the Roman emperors beginning from the reign of Augustus (and that of Tiberius) down to Nero (54-58 A. D.) found in the interior of Tamil land, testify to the extent of the trade and the presence of Roman settlers in the Tamil country.

Sangam Society and Religion :

The society in the southern kingdoms chiefly consisted of agriculturists or those who depended indirectly on the land. Besides, the peasants there were landless labourers, carpenters, gold-smiths, hunters and fishermen.

The Brahmanas came there much later form the northern India. But in the ancient times, they followed neither the Varna system nor the Ashram system. Broadly speaking, there were chiefly two classes of people in the early Tamil society – those who tilled the land them­selves and those who got it tilled by others. The latter were wealthier and this very fact introduced inequalities in the social system. Gradually, the Varna System also started.

The people lived chiefly in villages. Mostly they were poor who lived in huts and humbler struc­tures. The forest tribal were very poor. The rich lived in houses of bricks and mortar. The town-people were generally rich and they led happy and prosperous life. The towns were surrounded by a wall for protection from invaders. Forts were also built.

The women in the Tamil society were free. Polygamy was practiced, though on a limited scale. Prostitutes and dancing girls lived in towns. Dhoti and turban were the chief attire. Women were fond of ornaments. The chief diet consisted of meat and rice. They also drank wine.

In the beginning, Brahamanism grew popular in these kingdoms, though its influence was limited. The kings performed Vedic Yajnas and the Brahmanas held discourses with the Jain and the Buddhist scholars. The four chief deities worshipped by them were Shiva, Vishnu, Balram and Krishna. Marugan was the local God.

During Chandragupta’s reign Jainism spread in the South. In this period, the Buddhism was on the decline. The growing popularity of Shaivism and Vaishnavism, however, caused a setback to Jainism. The people were tolerant and the followers of the various religions lived together peacefully. The practice of cremating the dead had started.

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Sangam Literature: Origin, Classification & Major Works

Sangam (Cankam) Literature connotes the ancient Tamil literature which was formulated during the span of c. 300-BCE to 300-CE. This literature is a collection of works that contains approximately 2381 poems that have been attributed to 473 poets and a corpus of literature written by 102 anonymous poets.

Sangam literature has been considered a source material to study the trade relations between the Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asia, West Asia, and the Mediterranean.

Sangam Literature

Origin of Sangam Literature

Sangam literature, a cornerstone of Tamil literary tradition, refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between 600 BCE and 300 CE. This period, known as the Sangam period, is named after the Sangam academies, which were scholarly assemblies of Tamil poets and scholars believed to have been sponsored by the Pandyan kings of the ancient Tamil Kingdoms. These gatherings were held in the city of Madurai, a significant cultural and religious center in Tamil Nadu, southern India.

The origin of Sangam literature is deeply rooted in the ancient Tamil oral tradition, which encompassed poetry, folk songs, and worship practices dedicated to various gods, heroes, and ancestral spirits. This oral tradition laid the groundwork for the Sangam literature, characterized by its rich poetic nature, exploring themes such as love, valor, ethics, and the daily life of the people, along with the geographical beauty and wealth of the Tamil land.

Sangam literature is traditionally divided into two main categories: Agam (internal) and Puram (external). Agam literature focuses on themes related to love and personal relationships, while Puram literature deals with social, political, and heroic themes, including wars, governance, and trade.

The literature compiled during the Sangam era includes eight anthologies of poetry (Ettuthogai), ten long poems (Pathuppattu), and two didactic works (Tirukkural by Thiruvalluvar and Naladiyar), among others. These works are not only significant for their literary value but also for their detailed descriptions of the social, political, and economic conditions of the time, providing valuable insights into the ancient Tamil civilization.

Classification of Sangam Literature

Sangam means “fraternity, meeting, gathering, academy”. The Sangam poetry focuses on the culture and people. It has both narrative and didactic compositions, occasional mentions of the Hindu gods, and more substantial mentions of various gods in the shorter poems.

Sangam Literature- Three Sangam

The Tamil tradition and legends link it to three literary gatherings around Madurai (Pandyan capital): the first over 4,440 years, the second over 3,700 years, and the third over 1,850 years before the start of the common era, this Tamil tradition-based chronology has been considered by historian as being ahistorical and mythical. Historians have referred to the organization of three Sangams over 600- 700 years.

Sangam Corpus:

Sangam classification based on period of composition

The Early Sangam literature included Agattiyam, Ettuttogai, Tolkappiyam and Pattuppattu. The Early Sangam literature provides sources to study the social, literary, and cultural aspects of ancient Tamil kingdoms.

The Later Sangam Literature is mainly poetic work known as Patinen Kilkanakku (The Eighteen Lesser Texts), and five great epics, extensive narrative Tamil epics according to later Tamil literary tradition. Like the twin Sanskrit epics, the Ramayana and Mahabharata, even Tamil have two major texts written in the 5th and 6th century AD, i.e., Silappadikaram (Tales of an Anklet) by Ilango Adigal, and the Manimekalai (The Story of Manimekalai), written by Satan. These texts focus on Tamil society and the economic and political changes it was experiencing.

Sangam classification based on context and interpretation.

Sangam and tholkappiyam.

Tholkappiyam is an ancient Tamil treatise that has divided poetry into two categories: Aham (inner) and Puram (outer).

Sangam literature, both akam and puram, can be subclassified into seven minor genres called tiṇai. This minor genre is based on the location or landscape in which the poetry is set. Akam has five Tinas.

Puram Tinas:

Major Works in Sangam Literature

Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku, and epic Manimegalai are some of the major works of Sangam literature.

Silappathikaram

Silappatikaram is the first Tamil epic. It’s a 5,730-line poem almost entirely written in akaval (aciriyam) meter. The epic’s protagonists are Kannaki and her husband Kovalan, who tell the sad love story of an ordinary couple. Ilango Adigal is credited with creating this text.

Tolkappiyam

Tolkappiyam is the oldest extant Tamil grammar text as well as the oldest extant lengthy work of Tamil literature, it was written by a single author named Tholkappiyar. This text contains sutras on spelling, phonology, etymology, morphology, semantics, prosody, sentence structure, and the importance of context in language.

The Eight Anthologies is a great Tamil literary work that is part of the Eighteen Greater Texts (Patinen-melkanakku) anthology series.

Pattuppattu

The Ten Idylls, also known as Pattupattu or Ten Lays, is a collection of ten longer poems. The Pattupattu  (Ten Idylls) consists of ten works: Thirumurugarruppadai, Porunarruppadai, Sirupanarruppadai, Perumpanarruppadai, Mullaippattu, Nedunalvadai, Madurai Kanji, Kurinjippatttu, Pattinappalai, and Malaipadukadam.

Pathinenkilkanakku

The Pathinenkilkanakku, also known as the Eighteen Lesser Texts in literature, is a collection of eighteen poetry compositions, the majority of which were composed after the Sangam period. The most important of these texts is Tirukkural.

Manimekalai

Manimekalai also known as Manimekhalai or Manimekalai, is a Tamil-Buddhist epic written most likely in the sixth century by Kulavika Seethalai Sataar. It’s an “anti-love narrative,” a sequel to the “love story” in the first Tamil epic Silappadikaram

Post- Sangam Period (200- 600 C.E.)

The Post- Sangam Age is marked by the composition of five great Tamil epics, which consist of Manimekalai, Jivaka-cintamani, Valaiyapati, Kundalakesi, and Silappadikaram.

Silapadikaram

the earliest epic poem in Tamil, written in the 5th–6th century AD by Prince Ilanko Adikal. The Silappathikaram is a detailed poetic witness to Tamil culture, its varied religions, its town plans and city types, the commingling of Greek, Arab, and Tamil peoples, and the arts of dance and music.

The epic poem Manimekalai by Poet Sathanar, 2nd century A.D., is unique for the deep spirituality and mysticism it unfolds against the historical and geographical background of South India and adjacent Jaffna.

Jivakachintamani

The epic was written in the early 10th century by Tiruttakkatvar, a Madurai-based Jain monk. It tells the narrative of a prince who is the ideal master of all arts, warrior, and lover with many wives. The poet deftly blends the martial exploits of the ideal man with graphic intimate depictions of his affairs as well as lyrical interludes extolling his qualities such as benevolence, duty, sensitivity, and affection for all living creatures.

Valaiyapati

It is one of the five major Tamil epics, the major emotion is love, and its primary goal is to instill Jain values and philosophies. It revolves around the story of a man with two wives who abandoned his son.

Kundalakesi

Kundalakesi is a Tamil Buddhist epic authored by Nathakuthanaar about the 10th century. The epic is about love, marriage, becoming bored of one’s wedded partner, murder, and finally discovering religion.

Other path-breaking epics written during this period in Tamil include – Jivakachintamani or Mudiporultodarnilaiseyyul, Valaiyapati, and Kundalakesi. Apart from these Tamil literature, the Jain authors have also developed five minor works — Yasodhara-kavya, Chulamani, Perunkathai, Nagakumara-kaviyam, and Nilakesi.

Art and Architecture During Sangam Age

During this period, the Viman style of architecture flourished. Dwarpal and Gana were common in Chola temples. Pandya style of temple architecture existed during this period which consisted of Gopuram, Garbagriha, Prakaras, gateways, and Viman.

• (Nadu Kal worship) Hero Stone Worship: Various Hero Stone were erected to commemorate the warrior’s gallantry in battle. These stones have been excavated from various regions of Tamil Nadu with legends carved on them.
• Various texts like Pattinappalai have referred to port cities like Puhar. Other seaports during the Sangam period are Tondi, Musiri, and Korkai.
• Karaikala (Chola King) built Kallanai across the Kaveri River and built a large number of irrigation tanks.

Significance of Sangam Literature

The Sangam literature provides evidence of some aspects of the ancient Tamil culture, secular and religious beliefs, and the people. More than giving accounts of shaped power balance and foreign relations with other states, the Sangam period gave more importance towards hero- worship and exaggeration of victories and territories of the king. Sangam literature has been extensively used to trace back the history of the Cholas, Chera, and Pandya kingdoms and to understand the inception of Tamil literature dating back to 300 B.C.E.

Deccan Dynasties associated with the Sangam Literature.

The Sangam literature offers a window into some aspects of the ancient Tamil culture, secular and religious beliefs, and the people These poems also allude to historical incidents, ancient Tamil kings, and the effect of war on loved ones and households.

The Sangam literature arose in distant antiquity over three periods, each stretching over many millennia. The first has been associated with the Hindu deity Shiva, his son Murugan, Kubera, and 545 sages including the famed Rigvedic poet Agastya. The first academy, states the legend, extended over 4 millennia and was located far to the south of the modern city of Madurai, a location later “swallowed up by the sea”, states Shulman The second academy, also chaired by a very long lived Agastya, was near the eastern seaside Kapāṭapuram and lasted three millennia.

The Pandya kingdom has been referred to frequently in Sangam Literature. The Sangam age has been named after the various Sangam academies that were held during the period from 300 BCE. to 300 CE that flourished under the patronage of the Pandya kings of Madurai.

Important Facts about Sangam Literature

1. Sangam literature is important because Sangam literature provides historical evidence of the presence of indigenous Tamil literature in parallel to Sanskrit and provides literary sources to historians for constructing a history of ancient Tamil.

2. Sangam poem can be classified into two i.e., akam (inner) such as love, and sexual relations, and the puram (outer) heroism, customs, social life, ethics, and philanthropy. It represents two contradictory yet complementary themes of abstract emotions and heroic deeds.

3. Sangam literature includes 18 Major works (Pathinen Melkanakku), 8 Anthologies (Ettutokoi), 10 Long Poems (Pattupattu), Tolkappiyam (Grammar work) and two epics named – Silappathikaram and Manimegala.

Sangam literature reflects the conception of the state getting crystallized in the Deccan kingdoms. The Sangam literature provides evidence to trace back the history of Tamil and the Deccan kingdoms which dates back to 300 B.C.E. The Sangam literature provides historical evidence of the indigenous literary developments in Deccan parallel to Sanskrit and the classical status of the Tamil language.

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FAQ’s on Sangam Literature

Where were the three sangam held.

The First Sangam, traditionally said to have taken place in Madurai has no literary works from this Sangam that have survived to this day. The Second Sangam was convened at Kapadapuram, and from it, only Tolkappiyam has been considered as a literary work. The Third Sangam, also held in Madurai, left behind various literary compositions that serve as valuable sources for understanding the historical context of the Sangam period.

Who founded the Sangam literature?

The Ancient Tamil Siddhar Agastyar, from the 1st to 4th century C.E. is thought to have founded and presided over the first Tamil Sangam in Madurai.

What was the social structure that existed during the Sangam period?

During this period, the society was divided into four main castes i.e., arasar (Ruling Class), anthanar (priest), vanigar (engaged in trade and commerce), and vellalar (Agriculturists).

What is Sangam Literature?

The Sangam literature was known as ‘the poetry of the noble ones’. Sangam literally means ‘association,’ and it is a literature that refers to ancient Tamil literature.

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Indian History

Make Your Note

Tamil Literature: Sangam Period

• 23 Dec 2021
• GS Paper - 1
• Ancient Indian History

For Prelims: Sangam Period, Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, Tolkāppiyam, Ettuttokai, Pattuppattu, Nattrinai, Kuruntokai, Aignkurunuru, Pathittrupattu, Paripādal, Kalittokai, Akananuruand Purananuru, Silappathikaram, Elango Adigal, Manimegalai, Sittalai Sattanar

For Mains: Various facets of Sangam literature and their relevance as historical texts, History of Tamil Literature.

Why in News

Recently, the Minister of State for Education, released the Hindi translation of Tolkāppiyam and the Kannada translations of 9 books of Classical Tamil literature.

• Tamil literature goes back to the Sangam Era , named after the assembly (sangam) of poets.
• The period roughly between the 3 rd century B.C. and 3 rd century A.D. in South India (the area lying to the south of river Krishna and Tungabhadra ) is known as Sangam Period .
• It has been named after the Sangam academies held during that period that flourished under the royal patronage of the Pandya kings of Madurai.
• At the sangams, eminent scholars assembled and functioned as the board of censors and the choicest literature was rendered in the nature of anthologies.
• These literary works were the earliest specimens of Dravidian literature.
• South India, during the Sangam Age, was ruled by three dynasties-the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas.
• 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 a useful source to reconstruct the history of the Sangam period.
• Though it is a work on Tamil grammar, it also provides insights on the political and socio-economic conditions of the time.
• It is a unique work on grammar and poetics, in its three parts of nine sections each, deals with Ezhuttu(letter), Col (word) and Porul (subject matter).
• Almost all levels of the human language from the spoken to the most poetic lie within the purview of Tolkappiyar’s analysis as he treats in exquisitely poetic and epigrammatic statements on phonology, morphology, syntax, rhetoric, prosody and poetics.
• Ettutogai (Eight Anthologies): It consists of eight works – Aingurunooru, Narrinai, Aganaooru, Purananooru, Kuruntogai, Kalittogai, Paripadal and Padirruppatu.
• Pattuppattu (Ten Idylls) : It consists of ten works – Thirumurugarruppadai, Porunararruppadai, Sirupanarruppadai, Perumpanarruppadai, Mullaippattu, Nedunalvadai, Maduraikkanji, Kurinjippatttu,Pattinappalai and Malaipadukadam.
• The most important among these works is Tirukkural authored by Thiruvalluvar, the tamil great poet and philosopher.
• They also provide valuable details about the Sangam society and polity.

Source: PIB

• DOI: 10.7759/cureus.63954
• Corpus ID: 271060735

Group B Streptococcus Primary Pyogenic Ventriculitis in an Adult

• S. Sangam , Michael Xerras , +2 authors M. Dahdouh
• Published in Cureus 6 July 2024

10 References

Pyogenic ventriculitis secondary to streptococcus pneumoniae pneumonia, invasive streptococcus agalactiae causing meningitis, ventriculitis, and endocarditis in a non-pregnant adult, primary pyogenic ventriculitis caused by streptococcal pneumoniae in adults, life-threatening pyogenic ventriculitis, complicating endocarditis, presenting as sudden hearing loss, primary bacterial ventriculitis in adults, an emergent diagnosis challenge: report of a meningoccal case and review of the literature, primary pyogenic ventriculitis caused by neisseria meningitidis: case report and review of the literature, diffusion magnetic resonance imaging diagnostic relevance in pyogenic ventriculitis with an atypical presentation: a case report, imaging findings in pyogenic ventriculitis, ct and mr imaging features of pyogenic ventriculitis., diffusion-weighted mr imaging of pyogenic ventriculitis., related papers.

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The 1 00 Best Books of the 21st Century

New! 60 - 41

As voted on by 503 novelists, nonfiction writers, poets, critics and other book lovers — with a little help from the staff of The New York Times Book Review.

Many of us find joy in looking back and taking stock of our reading lives, which is why we here at The New York Times Book Review decided to mark the first 25 years of this century with an ambitious project: to take a first swing at determining the most important, influential books of the era. In collaboration with the Upshot, we sent a survey to hundreds of literary luminaries , asking them to name the 10 best books published since Jan. 1, 2000.

Stephen King took part. So did Bonnie Garmus, Claudia Rankine, James Patterson, Sarah Jessica Parker, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Elin Hilderbrand, Thomas Chatterton Williams, Roxane Gay, Marlon James, Sarah MacLean, Min Jin Lee, Jonathan Lethem and Jenna Bush Hager, to name just a few .

As we publish the list over the course of this week ( today: 60-41! ), we hope you’ll discover a book you’ve always meant to read, or encounter a beloved favorite you’d like to pick up again. Above all, we hope you’re as inspired and dazzled as we are by the breadth of subjects, voices, opinions, experiences and imagination represented here.

Be first to see what’s new. Every day this week, the Book Review will unveil 20 more books on our Best Books of the 21st Century list. You can get notified when they’re up — and hear about book reviews, news and features each week — when you receive the Book Review’s newsletter. Sign up here.

Tree of Smoke

Denis Johnson 2007

Like the project of the title — an intelligence report that the newly minted C.I.A. operative William “Skip” Sands comes to find both quixotic and useless — the Vietnam-era warfare of Johnson’s rueful, soulful novel lives in shadows, diversions and half-truths. There are no heroes here among the lawless colonels, assassinated priests and faith-stricken NGO nurses; only villainy and vast indifference.

Liked it? Try “ Missionaries ,” by Phil Klay or “ Hystopia ,” by David Means.

Interested? Read our review . Then reserve it at your local library or buy it from Amazon , Apple , Barnes & Noble or Bookshop .

How to Be Both

Ali Smith 2014

This elegant double helix of a novel entwines the stories of a fictional modern-day British girl and a real-life 15th-century Italian painter. A more conventional book might have explored the ways the past and present mirror each other, but Smith is after something much more radical. “How to Be Both” is a passionate, dialectical critique of the binaries that define and confine us. Not only male and female, but also real and imaginary, poetry and prose, living and dead. The way to be “both” is to recognize the extent to which everything already is. — A.O. Scott, critic at large for The Times

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Ann Patchett 2001

A famed opera singer performs for a Japanese executive’s birthday at a luxe private home in South America; it’s that kind of party. But when a group of young guerrillas swoops in and takes everyone in the house hostage, Patchett’s exquisitely calibrated novel — inspired by a real incident — becomes a piano wire of tension, vibrating on high.

My wife and I share books we love with our kids, and after I raved about “Bel Canto” — the voice, the setting, the way romance and suspense are so perfectly braided — I gave copies to my kids, and they all loved it, too. My son was in high school then, and he became a kind of lit-pusher, pressing his beloved copy into friends’ hands. We used to call him the Keeper of the Bel Canto. — Jess Walter, author of “Beautiful Ruins”

Liked it? Try “ Nocturnes ,” by Kazuo Ishiguro or “ The Piano Tuner ,” by Daniel Mason.

Men We Reaped

Jesmyn Ward 2013

Sandwiched between her two National Book Award-winning novels, Ward’s memoir carries more than fiction’s force in its aching elegy for five young Black men (a brother, a cousin, three friends) whose untimely exits from her life came violently and without warning. Their deaths — from suicide and homicide, addiction and accident — place the hidden contours of race, justice and cruel circumstance in stark relief.

Liked it? Try “ Breathe: A Letter to My Sons ,” by Imani Perry or “ Memorial Drive: A Daughter’s Memoir ,” by Natasha Trethewey.

Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments

Saidiya Hartman 2019

A beautiful, meticulously researched exploration of the lives of Black girls whom early-20th-century laws designated as “wayward” for such crimes as having serial lovers, or an excess of desire, or a style of comportment that was outside white norms. Hartman grapples with “the power and authority of the archive and the limits it sets on what can be known” about poor Black women, but from the few traces she uncovers in the historical record, she manages to sketch moving portraits, restoring joy and freedom and movement to what, in other hands, might have been mere statistics. — Laila Lalami, author of “The Other Americans”

Liked it? Try “In the Wake: On Blackness and Being,” by Christina Sharpe or “ All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley’s Sack, A Black Family Keepsake ,” by Tiya Miles.

Bring Up the Bodies

Hilary Mantel 2012

The title comes from an old English legal phrase for summoning men who have been accused of treason to trial; in the court’s eyes, effectively, they are already dead. But Mantel’s tour-de-force portrait of Thomas Cromwell, the second installment in her vaunted “Wolf Hall” series, thrums with thrilling, obstinate life: a lowborn statesman on the rise; a king in love (and out of love, and in love again); a mad roundelay of power plays, poisoned loyalties and fateful realignments. It’s only empires, after all.

Liked it? Try “ This Is Happiness ,” by Niall Williams or “ The Western Wind ,” by Samantha Harvey.

Zadie Smith 2005

Consider it a bold reinvention of “Howards End,” or take Smith’s sprawling third novel as its own golden thing: a tale of two professors — one proudly liberal, the other staunchly right-wing — whose respective families’ rivalries and friendships unspool over nearly 450 provocative, subplot-mad pages.

“You don’t have favorites among your children, but you do have allies.”

Let’s admit it: Family is often a kind of war, even if telepathically conducted. — Alexandra Jacobs, book critic for The Times

Liked it? Try “ Crossroads ,” by Jonathan Franzen.

Station Eleven

Emily St. John Mandel 2014

Increasingly, and for obvious reasons, end-times novels are not hard to find. But few have conjured the strange luck of surviving an apocalypse — civilization preserved via the ad hoc Shakespeare of a traveling theater troupe; entire human ecosystems contained in an abandoned airport — with as much spooky melancholic beauty as Mandel does in her beguiling fourth novel.

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The Days of Abandonment

Elena Ferrante; translated by Ann Goldstein 2005

There is something scandalous about this picture of a sensible, adult woman almost deranged by the breakup of her marriage, to the point of neglecting her children. The psychodrama is naked — sometimes hard to read, at other moments approaching farce. Just as Ferrante drew an indelible portrait of female friendship in her quartet of Neapolitan novels, here, she brings her all-seeing eye to female solitude.

“The circle of an empty day is brutal, and at night it tightens around your neck like a noose.”

It so simply encapsulates how solitude can, with the inexorable passage of time, calcify into loneliness and then despair. — Alexandra Jacobs

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Philip Roth 2000

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The Sympathizer

Viet Thanh Nguyen 2015

Penned as a book-length confession from a nameless North Vietnamese spy as Saigon falls and new duties in America beckon, Nguyen’s richly faceted novel seems to swallow multiple genres whole, like a satisfied python: political thriller and personal history, cracked metafiction and tar-black comedy.

Liked it? Try “ Man of My Time ,” by Dalia Sofer or “ Tomás Nevinson ,” by Javier Marías; translated by Margaret Jull Costa.

Hisham Matar 2016

Though its Pulitzer Prize was bestowed in the category of biography, Matar’s account of searching for the father he lost to a 1990 kidnapping in Cairo functions equally as absorbing detective story, personal elegy and acute portrait of doomed geopolitics — all merged, somehow, with the discipline and cinematic verve of a novel.

Liked it? Try “ A Day in the Life of Abed Salama: Anatomy of a Jerusalem Tragedy ,” by Nathan Thrall, “ House of Stone: A Memoir of Home, Family, and a Lost Middle East ,” by Anthony Shadid or “ My Father’s Fortune ,” by Michael Frayn.

The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis

Brevity, thy name is Lydia Davis. If her work has become a byword for short (nay, microdose) fiction, this collection proves why it is also hard to shake; a conflagration of odd little umami bombs — sometimes several pages, sometimes no more than a sentence — whose casual, almost careless wordsmithery defies their deadpan resonance.

Liked it? Try “ Ninety-Nine Stories of God ,” by Joy Williams or “ Tell Me: Thirty Stories ,” by Mary Robison.

Detransition, Baby

Torrey Peters 2021

Love is lost, found and reconfigured in Peters’s penetrating, darkly humorous debut novel. But when the novel’s messy triangular romance — between two trans characters and a cis-gendered woman — becomes an unlikely story about parenthood, the plot deepens, and so does its emotional resonance: a poignant and gratifyingly cleareyed portrait of found family.

Peters’s sly wit and observational genius, her ability to balance so many intimate realities, cultural forces and zeitgeisty happenings made my head spin. It got me hot, cracked me up, punched my heart with grief and understanding. I’m in awe of her abilities, and will re-read this book periodically just to remember how it’s done. — Michelle Tea, author of “Against Memoir”

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Frederick Douglass

David W. Blight 2018

It is not hard to throw a rock and hit a Great Man biography; Blight’s earns its stripes by smartly and judiciously excavating the flesh-and-bone man beneath the myth. Though Douglass famously wrote three autobiographies of his own, there turned out to be much between the lines that is illuminated here with rigor, flair and refreshing candor.

Liked it? Try “ The Grimkes: The Legacy of Slavery in an American Family ,” by Kerri K. Greenidge or “Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865,” by James Oakes.

George Saunders 2000

An ersatz caveman languishes at a theme park; a dead maiden aunt comes back to screaming, scatological life; a bachelor barber born with no toes dreams of true love, or at least of getting his toe-nubs licked. The stories in Saunders’s second collection are profane, unsettling and patently absurd. They’re also freighted with bittersweet humanity, and rendered in language so strange and wonderful, it sings.

Liked it? Try “ Swamplandia! ,” by Karen Russell or “ Friday Black ,” by Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.

The Emperor of All Maladies

Siddhartha Mukherjee 2010

The subtitle, “A Biography of Cancer,” provides some helpful context for what lies between the covers of Mukherjee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book, though it hardly conveys the extraordinary ambition and empathy of his telling, as the trained oncologist weaves together disparate strands of large-scale history, biology and devastating personal anecdote.

Liked it? Try “ Being Mortal: Medicine and What Matters in the End ,” by Atul Gawande, “ Do No Harm: Stories of Life, Death, and Brain Surgery ,” by Henry Marsh or “ I Contain Multitudes: The Microbes Within Us and a Grander View of Life ,” by Ed Yong.

When We Cease to Understand the World

Benjamín Labatut; translated by Adrian Nathan West 2021

You don’t have to know anything about quantum theory to start reading this book, a deeply researched, exquisitely imagined group portrait of tormented geniuses. By the end, you’ll know enough to be terrified. Labatut is interested in how the pursuit of scientific certainty can lead to, or arise from, states of extreme psychological and spiritual upheaval. His characters — Niels Bohr, Werner Heisenberg and Erwin Schrödinger, among others — discover a universe that defies rational comprehension. After them, “scientific method and its object could no longer be prised apart.” That may sound abstract, but in Labatut’s hands the story of quantum physics is violent, suspenseful and finally heartbreaking. — A.O. Scott

Liked it? Try “ The Rigor of Angels: Borges, Heisenberg, Kant, and the Ultimate Nature of Reality ,” by William Egginton, “ The Noise of Time ,” by Julian Barnes or “The End of Days,” by Jenny Erpenbeck; translated by Susan Bernofsky.

Hurricane Season

Fernanda Melchor; translated by Sophie Hughes 2020

Her sentences are sloping hills; her paragraphs, whole mountains. It’s no wonder that Melchor was dubbed a sort of south-of-the-border Faulkner for her baroque and often brutally harrowing tale of poverty, paranoia and murder (also: witches, or at least the idea of them) in a fictional Mexican village. When a young girl impregnated by her pedophile stepfather unwittingly lands there, her arrival is the spark that lights a tinderbox.

Liked it? Try “ Liliana’s Invincible Summer: A Sister’s Search for Justice ,” by Cristina Rivera Garza or “ Fever Dream ,” by Samanta Schweblin; translated by Megan McDowell.

John Jeremiah Sullivan 2011

When this book of essays came out, it bookended a fading genre: collected pieces written on deadline by “pulpheads,” or magazine writers. Whether it’s Sullivan’s visit to a Christian rock festival, his profile of Axl Rose or a tribute to an early American botanist, he brings to his subjects not just depth, but an open-hearted curiosity. Indeed, if this book feels as if it’s from a different time, perhaps that’s because of its generous receptivity to other ways of being, which offers both reader and subject a kind of grace.

Liked it? Try “ Sunshine State ,” by Sarah Gerard, “ Consider the Lobster ,” by David Foster Wallace or “ Yoga for People Who Can’t Be Bothered to Do It ,” by Geoff Dyer.

The Story of the Lost Child

Elena Ferrante; translated by Ann Goldstein 2015

All things, even modern literature’s most fraught female friendship, must come to an end. As the now middle-aged Elena and Lila continue the dance of envy and devotion forged in their scrappy Neapolitan youth, the conclusion of Ferrante’s four-book saga defies the laws of diminishing returns, illuminating the twined psychologies of its central pair — intractable, indelible, inseparable — in one last blast of X-ray prose.

Liked it? Try “The Years That Followed,” by Catherine Dunne or “From the Land of the Moon,” by Milena Agus; translated by Ann Goldstein.

A Manual for Cleaning Women

Lucia Berlin 2015

Berlin began writing in the 1960s, and collections of her careworn, haunted, messily alluring yet casually droll short stories were published in the 1980s and ’90s. But it wasn’t until 2015, when the best were collected into a volume called “A Manual for Cleaning Women,” that her prodigious talent was recognized. Berlin writes about harried and divorced single women, many of them in working-class jobs, with uncanny grace. She is the real deal. — Dwight Garner, book critic for The Times

“I hate to see anything lovely by myself.”

It’s so true, to me at least, and I have heard no other writer express it. — Dwight Garner

Liked it? Try “ The Flamethrowers ,” by Rachel Kushner or “ The Complete Stories ,” by Clarice Lispector; translated by Katrina Dodson.

Jon Fosse; translated by Damion Searls 2022

You may not be champing at the bit to read a seven-part, nearly 700-page novel written in a single stream-of-consciousness sentence with few paragraph breaks and two central characters with the same name. But this Norwegian masterpiece, by the winner of the 2023 Nobel Prize in Literature, is the kind of soul-cleansing work that seems to silence the cacophony of the modern world — a pair of noise-canceling headphones in book form. The narrator, a painter named Asle, drives out to visit his doppelgänger, Asle, an ailing alcoholic. Then the narrator takes a boat ride to have Christmas dinner with some friends. That, more or less, is the plot. But throughout, Fosse’s searching reflections on God, art and death are at once haunting and deeply comforting.

I had not read Fosse before he won the Nobel Prize, and I wanted to catch up. Luckily for me, the critic Merve Emre (who has championed his work) is my colleague at Wesleyan, so I asked her where to start. I was hoping for a shortcut, but she sternly told me that there was nothing to do but to read the seven-volume “Septology” translated by Damion Searls. Luckily for me, I had 30 hours of plane travel in the next week or so, and I had a Kindle.

Reading “Septology” in the cocoon of a plane was one of the great aesthetic experiences of my life. The hypnotic effects of the book were amplified by my confinement, and the paucity of distractions helped me settle into its exquisite rhythms. The repetitive patterns of Fosse’s prose made its emotional waves, when they came, so much more powerful. — Michael Roth, president of Wesleyan University

Liked it? Try “ Armand V ,” by Dag Solstad; translated by Steven T. Murray.

An American Marriage

Tayari Jones 2018

Life changes in an instant for Celestial and Roy, the young Black newlyweds at the beating, uncomfortably realistic heart of Jones’s fourth novel. On a mostly ordinary night, during a hotel stay near his Louisiana hometown, Roy is accused of rape. He is then swiftly and wrongfully convicted and sentenced to 12 years in prison. The couple’s complicated future unfolds, often in letters, across two worlds. The stain of racism covers both places.

Liked it? Try “ Hello Beautiful ,” by Ann Napolitano or “ Stay with Me ,” by Ayọ̀bámi Adébáyọ̀.

Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow

Gabrielle Zevin 2022

The title is Shakespeare; the terrain, more or less, is video games. Neither of those bare facts telegraphs the emotional and narrative breadth of Zevin’s breakout novel, her fifth for adults. As the childhood friendship between two future game-makers blooms into a rich creative collaboration and, later, alienation, the book becomes a dazzling disquisition on art, ambition and the endurance of platonic love.

Liked it? Try “ Normal People ,” by Sally Rooney or “ Super Sad True Love Story ,” by Gary Shteyngart.

Mohsin Hamid 2017

The modern world and all its issues can feel heavy — too heavy for the fancies of fiction. Hamid’s quietly luminous novel, about a pair of lovers in a war-ravaged Middle Eastern country who find that certain doors can open portals, literally, to other lands, works in a kind of minor-key magical realism that bears its weight beautifully.

Liked it? Try “ The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida ,” by Shehan Karunatilaka or “ A Burning ,” by Megha Majumdar.

Olive Kitteridge

Elizabeth Strout 2008

When this novel-in-stories won the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 2009, it was a victory for crotchety, unapologetic women everywhere, especially ones who weren’t, as Olive herself might have put it, spring chickens. The patron saint of plain-spokenness — and the titular character of Strout’s 13 tales — is a long-married Mainer with regrets, hopes and a lobster boat’s worth of quiet empathy. Her small-town travails instantly became stand-ins for something much bigger, even universal.

Liked it? Try “ Tom Lake ,” by Ann Patchett or “ Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage ,” by Alice Munro.

The Passage of Power

Robert Caro 2012

The fourth volume of Caro’s epic chronicle of Lyndon Johnson’s life and times is a political biography elevated to the level of great literature. His L.B.J. is a figure of Shakespearean magnitude, whose sudden ascension from the abject humiliations of the vice presidency to the summit of political power is a turn of fortune worthy of a Greek myth. Caro makes you feel the shock of J.F.K.’s assassination, and brings you inside Johnson’s head on the blood-drenched day when his lifelong dream finally comes true. It’s an astonishing and unforgettable book. — Tom Perrotta, author of “The Leftovers”

Liked it? Try “ G-Man: J. Edgar Hoover and the Making of the American Century ,” by Beverly Gage, “ King: A Life ,” by Jonathan Eig or “ American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer ,” by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin.

Secondhand Time

Svetlana Alexievich; translated by Bela Shayevich 2016

Of all the 20th century’s grand failed experiments, few came to more inglorious ends than the aspiring empire known, for a scant seven decades, as the U.S.S.R. The death of the dream of Communism reverberates through the Nobel-winning Alexievich’s oral history, and her unflinching portrait of the people who survived the Soviet state (or didn’t) — ex-prisoners, Communist Party officials, ordinary citizens of all stripes — makes for an excoriating, eye-opening read.

Liked it? Try “ Gulag ,” by Anne Applebaum or “ Is Journalism Worth Dying For? Final Dispatches ,” by Anna Politkovskaya; translated by Arch Tait.

The Copenhagen Trilogy

Tove Ditlevsen; translated by Tiina Nunnally and Michael Favala Goldman 2021

Ditlevsen’s memoirs were first published in Denmark in the 1960s and ’70s, but most English-language readers didn’t encounter them until they appeared in a single translated volume more than five decades later. The books detail Ditlevsen’s hardscrabble childhood, her flourishing early career as a poet and her catastrophic addictions, which left her wedded to a psychotic doctor and hopelessly dependent on opioids by her 30s. But her writing, however dire her circumstances, projects a breathtaking clarity and candidness, and it nails what is so inexplicable about human nature.

Liked it? Try “ The End of Eddy ,” by Édouard Louis; translated by Michael Lucey.

All Aunt Hagar’s Children

Edward P. Jones 2006

Jones’s follow-up to his Pulitzer-anointed historical novel, “The Known World,” forsakes a single narrative for 14 interconnected stories, disparate in both direction and tone. His tales of 20th-century Black life in and around Washington, D.C., are haunted by cumulative loss and touched, at times, by dark magical realism — one character meets the Devil himself in a Safeway parking lot — but girded too by loveliness, and something like hope.

“It was, I later learned about myself, as if my heart, on the path that was my life, had come to a puddle in the road and had faltered, hesitated, trying to decide whether to walk over the puddle or around it, or even to go back.”

The metaphor is right at the edge of corniness, but it's rendered with such specificity that it catches you off guard, and the temporal complexity — the way the perspective moves forward, backward and sideways in time — captures an essential truth about memory and regret. — A.O. Scott

Liked it? Try “ The Office of Historical Corrections ,” by Danielle Evans or “ Perish ,” by LaToya Watkins.

The New Jim Crow

Michelle Alexander 2010

One year into Barack Obama’s first presidential term, Alexander, a civil rights attorney and former Supreme Court clerk, peeled back the hopey-changey scrim of early-aughts America to reveal the systematic legal prejudice that still endures in a country whose biggest lie might be “with liberty and justice for all.” In doing so, her book managed to do what the most urgent nonfiction aims for but rarely achieves: change hearts, minds and even public policy.

Liked it? Try “ Locking Up Our Own: Crime and Punishment in Black America ,” by James Forman Jr., “ America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s ,” by Elizabeth Hinton or “ Caste: The Origins of Our Discontent ,” by Isabel Wilkerson.

Interested? Reserve it at your local library or buy it from Amazon , Apple , Barnes & Noble or Bookshop .

Sigrid Nunez 2018

After suffering the loss of an old friend and adopting his Great Dane, the book’s heroine muses on death, friendship, and the gifts and burdens of a literary life. Out of these fragments a philosophy of grief springs like a rabbit out of a hat; Nunez is a magician. — Ada Calhoun, author of “Also a Poet: Frank O’Hara, My Father, and Me”

“The Friend” is a perfect novel about the size of grief and love, and like the dog at the book’s center, the book takes up more space than you expect. It’s my favorite kind of masterpiece — one you can put into anyone’s hand. — Emma Straub, author of “This Time Tomorrow”

Liked it? Try “ Autumn ,” by Ali Smith or “ Stay True: A Memoir ,” by Hua Hsu.

Far From the Tree

Andrew Solomon 2012

In this extraordinary book — a combination of masterly reporting and vivid storytelling — Solomon examines the experience of parents raising exceptional children. I have often returned to it over the years, reading it for its depth of understanding and its illumination of the particulars that make up the fabric of family. — Meg Wolitzer, author of “The Interestings”

Liked it? Try “ Strangers to Ourselves: Unsettled Minds and the Stories That Make Us ,” by Rachel Aviv or “ NeuroTribes: The Legacy of Autism and the Future of Neurodiversity ,” by Steven Silberman.

We the Animals

Justin Torres 2011

The hummingbird weight of this novella — it barely tops 130 pages — belies the cherry-bomb impact of its prose. Tracing the coming-of-age of three mixed-race brothers in a derelict upstate New York town, Torres writes in the incantatory royal we of a sort of sibling wolfpack, each boy buffeted by their parents’ obscure grown-up traumas and their own enduring (if not quite unshakable) bonds.

Liked it? Try “ Shuggie Bain ,” by Douglas Stuart, “ Fire Shut Up in My Bones ,” by Charles Blow or “ On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous ,” by Ocean Vuong.

The Plot Against America

Philip Roth 2004

What if, in the 1940 presidential election, Charles Lindbergh — aviation hero, America-firster and Nazi sympathizer — had defeated Franklin Roosevelt? Specifically, what would have happened to Philip Roth, the younger son of a middle-class Jewish family in Newark, N.J.? From those counterfactual questions, the adult Roth spun a tour de force of memory and history. Ever since the 2016 election his imaginary American past has pulled closer and closer to present-day reality. — A.O. Scott

Liked it? Try “ Biography of X ,” by Catherine Lacey or “ The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family ,” by Joshua Cohen.

The Great Believers

Rebecca Makkai 2018

It’s mid-1980s Chicago, and young men — beautiful, recalcitrant boys, full of promise and pure life force — are dying, felled by a strange virus. Makkai’s recounting of a circle of friends who die one by one, interspersed with a circa-2015 Parisian subplot, is indubitably an AIDS story, but one that skirts po-faced solemnity and cliché at nearly every turn: a bighearted, deeply generous book whose resonance echoes across decades of loss and liberation.

Liked it? Try “ The Interestings ,” by Meg Wolitzer, “ A Little Life ,” by Hanya Yanagihara or “ The Emperor’s Children ,” by Claire Messud.

Mary Gaitskill 2005

Set primarily in a 1980s New York crackling with brittle glamour and real menace, “Veronica” is, on the face of it, the story of two very different women — the fragile former model Alison and the older, harder Veronica, fueled by fury and frustrated intelligence. It's a fearless, lacerating book, scornful of pieties and with innate respect for the reader’s intelligence and adult judgment.

Liked it? Try “ The Quick and the Dead ,” by Joy Williams, “ Look at Me ,” by Jennifer Egan or “ Lightning Field ,” by Dana Spiotta.

Ben Lerner 2014

How closely does Ben Lerner, the very clever author of “10:04,” overlap with its unnamed narrator, himself a poet-novelist who bears a remarkable resemblance to the man pictured on its biography page? Definitive answers are scant in this metaphysical turducken of a novel, which is nominally about the attempts of a Brooklyn author, burdened with a hefty publishing advance, to finish his second book. But the delights of Lerner’s shimmering self-reflexive prose, lightly dusted with photographs and illustrations, are endless.

“Shaving is a way to start the workday by ritually not cutting your throat when you’ve the chance.”

“10:04” is filled with sentences that cut this close to the bone. Comedy blends with intimations of the darkest aspects of our natures, and of everyday life. Who can shave anymore without recalling this “Sweeney Todd”-like observation? — Dwight Garner

Liked it? Try “ The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. ,” by Adelle Waldman, “ Open City ,” by Teju Cole or “ How Should a Person Be? ,” by Sheila Heti.

Demon Copperhead

Barbara Kingsolver 2022

In transplanting “David Copperfield” from Victorian England to modern-day Appalachia, Kingsolver gives the old Dickensian magic her own spin. She reminds us that a novel can be wildly entertaining — funny, profane, sentimental, suspenseful — and still have a social conscience. And also that the injustices Dickens railed against are still very much with us: old poison in new bottles. — A.O. Scott

Liked it? Try “ James ,” by Percival Everett or “ The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store ,” by James McBride.

Kiese Laymon 2018

What is the psychic weight of secrets and lies? In his unvarnished memoir, Laymon explores the cumulative mass of a past that has brought him to this point: his Blackness; his fraught relationship to food; his family, riven by loss and addiction and, in his mother’s case, a kind of pathological perfectionism. What emerges is a work of raw emotional power and fierce poetry.

Liked it? Try “ Men We Reaped ,” by Jesmyn Ward or “ Another Word for Love ,” by Carvell Wallace.

Jeffrey Eugenides 2002

Years before pronouns became the stuff of dinner-table debates and email signatures, “Middlesex” offered the singular gift of an intersex hero — “sing now, O Muse, of the recessive mutation on my fifth chromosome!” — whose otherwise fairly ordinary Midwestern life becomes a radiant lens on recent history, from the burning of Smyrna to the plush suburbia of midcentury Grosse Pointe, Mich. When the teenage Calliope, born to doting Greek American parents, learns that she is not in fact a budding young lesbian but biologically male, it’s less science than assiduously buried family secrets that tell the improbable, remarkable tale.

Liked it? Try “ The Nix ,” by Nathan Hill, “ The Heart’s Invisible Furies ,” by John Boyne or “ The Signature of All Things ,” by Elizabeth Gilbert.

Hua Hsu 2022

An unlikely college friendship — Ken loves preppy polo shirts and Pearl Jam, Hua prefers Xeroxed zines and Pavement — blossoms in 1990s Berkeley, then is abruptly fissured by Ken’s murder in a random carjacking. Around those bare facts, Hsu’s understated memoir builds a glimmering fortress of memory in which youth and identity live alongside terrible, senseless loss.

Liked it? Try “ Truth & Beauty: A Friendship ,” by Ann Patchett, “ The Best Minds: A Story of Friendship, Madness, and the Tragedy of Good Intentions ,” by Jonathan Rosen or “ Just Kids ,” by Patti Smith.

Nickel and Dimed

Barbara Ehrenreich 2001

Waitress, hotel maid, cleaning woman, retail clerk: Ehrenreich didn’t just report on these low-wage jobs; she actually worked them, trying to construct a life around merciless managers and wildly unpredictable schedules, while also getting paid a pittance for it. Through it all, Ehrenreich combined a profound sense of moral outrage with self-deprecating candor and bone-dry wit. — Jennifer Szalai, nonfiction book critic for The Times

Liked it? Try “ Poverty, by America ,” by Matthew Desmond or “ The Working Poor: Invisible in America ,” by David K. Shipler.

The Flamethrowers

Rachel Kushner 2013

Motorcycle racing across the arid salt flats of Utah; art-star posturing in the downtown demimonde of 1970s New York; anarchist punk collectives and dappled villas in Italy: It’s all connected (if hardly contained) in Kushner’s brash, elastic chronicle of a would-be artist nicknamed Reno whose lust for experience often outstrips both sense and sentiment. The book’s ambitions rise to meet her, a churning bedazzlement of a novel whose unruly engine thrums and roars.

Liked it? Try “ City on Fire ,” by Garth Risk Hallberg or “ The Girls ,” by Emma Cline.

The Looming Tower

Lawrence Wright 2006

What happened in New York City one incongruously sunny morning in September was never, of course, the product of some spontaneous plan. Wright’s meticulous history operates as a sort of panopticon on the events leading up to that fateful day, spanning more than five decades and a geopolitical guest list that includes everyone from the counterterrorism chief of the F.B.I. to the anonymous foot soldiers of Al Qaeda.

Liked it? Try “ Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001 ,” by Steve Coll or “ MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman ,” by Ben Hubbard.

Tenth of December

George Saunders 2013

For all of their linguistic invention and anarchic glee, Saunders’s stories are held together by a strict understanding of the form and its requirements. Take plot: In “Tenth of December,” his fourth and best collection, readers will encounter an abduction, a rape, a chemically induced suicide, the suppressed rage of a milquetoast or two, a veteran’s post-­traumatic impulse to burn down his mother’s house — all of it buffeted by gusts of such merriment and tender regard and daffy good cheer that you realize only in retrospect how dark these morality tales really are.

Nobody writes like George Saunders. He has cultivated a genuinely original voice, one that is hilarious and profound, tender and monstrous, otherworldly and deeply familiar, much like the American psyche itself. With each of these stories, you feel in the hands of a master — because you are. — Matthew Desmond, author of “Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City”

Liked it? Try “Delicate Edible Birds: And Other Stories,” by Lauren Groff, “ Oblivion: Stories ,” by David Foster Wallace or “ The Nimrod Flipout: Stories ,” by Etgar Keret, translated by Miriam Shlesinger and Sondra Silverston.

Alice Munro 2004

On one level, the title of Munro’s 11th short-story collection refers to a pet goat that goes missing from its owners’ property; but — this being Munro — the deeper reference is to an unhappy wife in the same story, who dreams of leaving her husband someday. Munro’s stories are like that, with shadow meanings and resonant echoes, as if she has struck a chime and set the reverberations down in writing.

Liked it? Try “ Homesickness ,” by Colin Barrett or “ The Collected Stories of Lorrie Moore .”

Train Dreams

Denis Johnson 2011

Call it a backwoods tragedy, stripped to the bone, or a spare requiem for the American West: Johnson’s lean but potent novella carves its narrative from the forests and dust-bowl valleys of Spokane in the early decades of the 20th century, following a day laborer named Robert Grainier as he processes the sudden loss of his young family and bears witness to the real-time formation of a raw, insatiable nation.

Liked it? Try “ That Old Ace in the Hole ,” by Annie Proulx or “ Night Boat to Tangier ,” by Kevin Barry.

Life After Life

Kate Atkinson 2013

Can we get life “right”? Are there choices that would lead, finally, to justice or happiness or save us from pain? Atkinson wrestles with these questions in her brilliant “Life After Life” — a historical novel, a speculative novel, a tale of time travel, a moving portrait of life before, during and in the aftermath of war. It gobbles up genres and blends them together until they become a single, seamless work of art. I love this goddamn book. — Victor LaValle, author of “Lone Women”

“‘Fox Corner — that’s what we should call the house. No one else has a house with that name and shouldn’t that be the point?’

‘Really?’ Hugh said doubtfully. ‘It’s a little whimsical, isn’t it? It sounds like a children’s story. The House at Fox Corner. ’

‘A little whimsy never hurt anyone.’

‘Strictly speaking, though,’ Hugh said, ‘can a house be a corner? Isn’t it at one?’

So this is marriage, Sylvie thought.”

“Her brilliant ear. Her humor. Her openness. Her peculiar gifts. Some of her books are perfect. The rest are merely superb.” — Amy Bloom

Liked it? Try “Light Perpetual,” by Francis Spufford or “ Neverhome ,” by Laird Hunt.

Hernan Diaz 2022

How many ways can you tell the same story? Which one is true? These questions and their ethical implications hover over Diaz’s second novel. It starts out as a tale of wealth and power in 1920s New York — something Theodore Dreiser or Edith Wharton might have taken up — and leaps forward in time, across the boroughs and down the social ladder, breathing new vitality into the weary tropes of historical fiction. — A.O. Scott

Be prepared for some serious mind games! Set in New York City in the 1920s and ’30s, the story of a Manhattan financier and his high-society wife is told through four “books” — a novel, a manuscript, a memoir and a journal. But which version should you trust? Is there even one true reality?

As we sift our way through these competing narratives, Diaz serves us clues and red herrings in equal measure. We know we are being gamed, but we’re not sure exactly which character is gaming us. While each reader will draw their own conclusion when they reach the end of this complex and thrilling book, what is never disputed is the ease with which money and power can bend reality itself. — Dua Lipa, singer and songwriter behind the Service95 Book Club

Liked it? Try “ This Strange Eventful History ,” by Claire Messud or “ The Luminaries ,” by Eleanor Catton.

The Vegetarian

Han Kang; translated by Deborah Smith 2016

One ordinary day, a young housewife in contemporary Seoul wakes up from a disturbing dream and simply decides to … stop eating meat. As her small rebellion spirals, Han’s lean, feverish novel becomes a surreal meditation on not just what the body needs, but what a soul demands.

“I want to swallow you, have you melt into me and flow through my veins.”

“The Vegetarian” is a short novel with a mysterious, otherworldly air. It feels haunted, oppressive … It’s a story about hungers and starvation and desire, and how these become intertwined.” — Silvia Moreno-Garcia, author of “Mexican Gothic”

Liked it? Try “ My Year of Rest and Relaxation ,” by Ottessa Moshfegh or “ Convenience Store Woman ,” by Sayaka Murata; translated by Ginny Tapley Takemori.

Marjane Satrapi 2003

Drawn in stark black-and-white panels, Satrapi’s graphic novel is a moving account of her early life in Iran during the Islamic Revolution and her formative years abroad in Europe. The first of its two parts details the impacts of war and theocracy on both her family and her community: torture, death on the battlefield, constant raids, supply shortages and a growing black market. Part 2 chronicles her rebellious, traumatic years as a teenager in Vienna, as well as her return to a depressingly restrictive Tehran. Devastating — but also formally inventive, inspiring and often funny — “Persepolis” is a model of visual storytelling and personal narrative.

Liked it? Try “ https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/19/books/review/martyr-kaveh-akbar.html '>Martyr! ,” by Kaveh Akbar or “ Disoriental ,” by Négar Djavadi; translated by Tina Kover.

Toni Morrison 2008

Mercies are few and far between in Morrison’s ninth novel, set on the remote colonial land of a 17th-century farmer amid his various slaves and indentured servants (even the acquisition of a wife, imported from England, is strictly transactional). Disease runs rampant and children die needlessly; inequity is everywhere. And yet! The Morrison magic, towering and magisterial, endures.

Liked it? Try “ Year of Wonders ,” by Geraldine Brooks or “ The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois ,” by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers.

The Goldfinch

Donna Tartt 2013

For a time, it seemed as if Tartt’s vaunted 1992 debut, “The Secret History,” might be her only legacy, a once-in-a-career comet zinging across the literary sky. Then, more than a decade after the coolish reception to her 2002 follow-up, “The Little Friend,” came “The Goldfinch” — a coming-of-age novel as narratively rich and riveting as the little bird in the Dutch painting it takes its title from is small and humble. That 13-year-old Theo Decker survives the museum bombing that kills his mother is a minor miracle; the tiny, priceless souvenir he inadvertently grabs from the rubble becomes both a talisman and an albatross in this heady, haunted symphony of a novel.

Liked it? Try “ Freedom ,” by Jonathan Franzen or “ Demon Copperhead ,” by Barbara Kingsolver.

The Argonauts

Maggie Nelson 2015

Call it a memoir if you must, but this is a book about the necessity — and also the thrill, the terror, the risk and reward — of defying categories. Nelson is a poet and critic, well versed in pop culture and cultural theory. The text she interprets here is her own body. An account of her pregnancy, her relationship with the artist Harry Dodge and the early stages of motherhood, “The Argonauts” explores queer identity, gender politics and the meaning of family. What makes Nelson such a valuable writer is her willingness to follow the sometimes contradictory rhythms of her own thinking in prose that is sharp, supple and disarmingly heartfelt. — A.O. Scott

Liked it? Try “My 1980s and Other Essays,” by Wayne Koestenbaum, “ No One Is Talking About This ,” by Patricia Lockwood or “ On Immunity ,” by Eula Biss.

The Fifth Season

N.K. Jemisin 2015

“The Fifth Season” weaves its story in polyphonic voice, utilizing a clever story structure to move deftly through generational time. Jemisin delivers this bit of high craft in a fresh, unstuffy voice — something rare in high fantasy, which can take its Tolkien roots too seriously. From its heartbreaking opening (a mother’s murdered child) to its shattering conclusion, Jemisin shows the power of what good fantasy fiction can do. “The Fifth Season” explores loss, grief and personhood on an intimate level. But it also takes on themes of discrimination, human breeding and ecological collapse with an unflinching eye and a particular nuance. Jemisin weaves a world both horrifyingly familiar and unsettlingly alien. — Rebecca Roanhorse, author of “Mirrored Heavens”

Liked it? Try “ American War ,” by Omar El Akkad or “ The Year of the Flood ,” by Margaret Atwood.

Tony Judt 2005

By the time this book was published in 2005, there had already been innumerable volumes covering Europe’s history since the end of World War II. Yet none of them were quite like Judt’s: commanding and capacious, yet also attentive to those stubborn details that are so resistant to abstract theories and seductive myths. The writing, like the thinking, is clear, direct and vivid. And even as Judt was ruthless when reflecting on Europe’s past, he maintained a sense of contingency throughout, never succumbing to the comfortable certainty of despair. — Jennifer Szalai

Liked it? Try “ We Don’t Know Ourselves: A Personal History of Ireland ,” by Fintan O’Toole, “ Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin ,” by Timothy D. Snyder or “ To End All Wars: A Story of Loyalty and Rebellion, 1914-1918 ,” by Adam Hochschild.

A Brief History of Seven Killings

Marlon James 2014

“Brief”? For a work spanning nearly 700 pages, that word is, at best, a winky misdirection. To skip even a paragraph, though, would be to forgo the vertiginous pleasures of James’s semi-historical novel, in which the attempted assassination of an unnamed reggae superstar who strongly resembles Bob Marley collides with C.I.A. conspiracy, international drug cartels and the vibrant, violent Technicolor of post-independence Jamaica.

Liked it? Try “ Telex From Cuba ,” by Rachel Kushner or “ Brief Encounters With Che Guevara ,” by Ben Fountain.

Small Things Like These

Claire Keegan 2021

Not a word is wasted in Keegan’s small, burnished gem of a novel, a sort of Dickensian miniature centered on the son of an unwed mother who has grown up to become a respectable coal and timber merchant with a family of his own in 1985 Ireland. Moralistically, though, it might as well be the Middle Ages as he reckons with the ongoing sins of the Catholic Church and the everyday tragedies wrought by repression, fear and rank hypocrisy.

This is the book I would like to have written because its sentences portray a life — in all its silences, subtleties and defenses — that I would hope to live if its circumstances were mine. It’s never idle, I guess, to be asked what we would give up for another. — Claudia Rankine, author of “Citizen”

Liked it? Try “ The Rachel Incident ,” by Caroline O’Donoghue or “ Mothers and Sons ,” by Colm Tóibín.

See you tomorrow for books 40 -21 . Every day this week, the Book Review will unveil 20 more books on our Best Books of the 21st Century list. You can get notified when they’re up — and hear about book reviews, news and features each week — when you receive the Book Review’s newsletter. Sign up here.

I haven’t read any of these books yet ...

If you’ve read a book on the list, be sure to check the box under its entry, and your final count will appear here. (We’ll save your progress day to day.)

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Keep track of the books you want to read by checking the box under their entries.

Methodology

In collaboration with the Upshot — the department at The Times focused on data and analytical journalism — the Book Review sent a survey to hundreds of novelists, nonfiction writers, academics, book editors, journalists, critics, publishers, poets, translators, booksellers, librarians and other literary luminaries, asking them to pick their 10 best books of the 21st century.

We let them each define “best” in their own way. For some, this simply meant “favorite.” For others, it meant books that would endure for generations.

The only rules: Any book chosen had to be published in the United States, in English, on or after Jan. 1, 2000. (Yes, translations counted!)

After casting their ballots, respondents were given the option to answer a series of prompts where they chose their preferred book between two randomly selected titles. We combined data from these prompts with the vote tallies to create the list of the top 100 books.

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Booktopia played an important role in supporting Australian authors, who are lamenting its collapse

Author Nicola Moriarty is surprised and saddened that Australian book retailer Booktopia has gone into voluntary administration.

"I don't know exactly how long it will be before it all finishes up or if there's still any chance of anybody sweeping in to save it," Moriarty told ABC News.

"I know my books are available in lots of other places, so I don't feel bad for myself.

"I just feel bad for the staff at Booktopia because they have always been so lovely, welcoming, supportive.

"It's nice to have an Australian-owned company as well.

"So, I'm more just sad for them, and because it built up over so many years from something quite small to start with to become such a huge operation. So, it's disappointing to see it go."

Moriarty had only just been at Booktopia's Sydney headquarters a month ago to sign hundreds of copies of her new book Every Last Suspect.

She's always enjoyed the experience of going in to sign books.

"They had homemade cookies, which was lovely, and it's nice to have all the books set up on the table piled up in a big display, and then they set up a bit of a production line to pass each book across for you to sign.

"It's always just felt like a fun experience.

"And then at the end, signing the Booktopia table as well, which makes you feel like you're part of something, because you can see all the names of other people who've been in to sign books on the table too."

If Moriarty's name is familiar, it's because she's part of a family of writers.

She's one of six siblings, three of whom are authors — including her older sister Liane, whose books Big Little Lies, Nine Perfect Strangers and Apples Never Fall have been adapted for screen.

"We're just very supportive of one another," Moriarty says.

"But we are competitive when it comes to who gets family anecdotes to include in our books."

Every Last Suspect opens with a woman lying face down on the floor, bleeding from the head. Knowing she hasn't got long to live, she decides to spend the time she has left trying to work out who has killed her.

The book is listed as one of Booktopia's bestselling books and is currently one of the top 10 bestselling titles by Australian authors in the country.

A tragedy for the Australian literary scene

Michael Brissenden is a name that will be familiar to ABC loyalists.

After more than 35 years with the broadcaster, the former North America correspondent now writes crime fiction.

His latest novel, Smoke, is also in the top 10.

"This one is set in California around a small town in the aftermath of a wildfire," Brissenden told ABC News.

"It's the story of an individual and a family and a community under pressure from climate change, from development activity, from corrupt councils, from all sorts of nefarious things going on in that town.

"But it was initially inspired by the big bushfires in NSW in 2019 and 2020. And my family has a little house on the south coast of NSW, which was the first place where the Currowan fire jumped the highway and ran to the coast."

Smoke opens with a body found in a shed. It looks like an accidental death, but further investigation suggests the fire was used as a cover for a crime.

Brissenden at first wanted to set the book in a fictional town in Australia.

"Everybody I was speaking to was still pretty traumatised … and I didn't want it to be an identifiable place … and then it just started to rain here, and it rained for about 18 months.

"And at the same time, there were big fires in California and big fires in other parts of the world, like Greece.

"And I had, as a correspondent, covered fires in California, big wildfires in California.

"So, I thought, well, this is a great opportunity to remove it completely from Australia."

Brissenden describes Booktopia's current situation as a tragedy for the industry as a whole.

"Booktopia has had a very important place in the Australian literary scene," Brissenden says.

"It's Australian-owned, and it supports Australian titles and Australian authors.

"And many authors have been supported by Booktopia over the years and have used the whole Booktopia experience as a valuable marketing tool."

He says Booktopia's collapse has come at a time when people are increasingly using online retail spaces.

"I always think it's worth in the first instance to try and support your local bookshop because I think local bookshops play a very important part in our community life.

"And we need to support them and keep them going.

"But they're shops, right? They don't carry the enormous range of books that are published every week, every month, every year.

"Whereas an online retailer like Booktopia has a massive warehouse space, and you're more likely often to find some of those titles there than you are at your local bookshop.

"It's a shame now that we don't have an Australian online outlet. Although a lot of the big chain stores in Australia do quite a lot of online retailing as well.

"So, it's better to do that, I think, than to give your money to a big international company like Amazon."

It poses an accessibility issue

Author, disability advocate and actress Hannah Diviney was shocked to hear about Booktopia's troubles.

Diviney's memoir I'll Let Myself In is described as a defiant coming-of-age story about a young woman coming to terms with all that she is — the good, the bad and the ugly.

"It's a hard market out there for books at the moment given the cost of living," Diviney told ABC News.

"Books aren't necessarily high on people's priority list in terms of purchases.

"But I always thought that Booktopia must have done a roaring trade.

"That was just an assumption I made based on how popular I knew the website was. And also, there's the variety of titles available.

"I was pretty shocked and then pretty confused because Booktopia is where I know a lot of people get their books from and without them, obviously, we will rely more on indie bookstores.

"But that kind of poses an accessibility issue."

Diviney, who uses a wheelchair, buys most of her books online.

"I find that easier than physically going to bookstores, whether it's because of the time and the organisation that that takes to have a carer come with me, or to figure that out.

"Or depending on the bookshop itself, it might not be super accessible because often bookshops will be quite narrow, so I might be able to get in the door. But once I'm in the door, I kinda can't move around too much without disturbing the books and creating chaos."

From an author's perspective, Diviney says it was easy to encourage readers to purchase from Booktopia, which she says had a great royalty and affiliate program.

She hopes someone will step in to resurrect the site.

"I'm wondering whether, with Booktopia seeming to shut down, whether someone will invent a new alternative that will spring up, or whether someone will purchase Booktopia … but, I guess, it just makes selling books in Australia a little bit harder when it was already looking a little grim out there."

With books being the genesis of many TV shows and movies, Diviney says access to books is crucial.

"It would destabilise pop culture in Australia and around the world entirely … if people stop being able to access books.

"It stops adaptations of things, but it also stops people from engaging with reading and the escapism that books provide, and all of that is really important."

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Australian online bookseller booktopia in freefall as administrators called in.

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Financing of public basic education and educational results: Review of foreign literature and reflections about the Brazilian context

With the objective of investigating the relationship between the financing of public basic education and educational results, this study analyzed a pre-selected set of foreign academic works and identified elements that can be used to encourage debate about the Brazilian model of educational financing. The study used the scoping review technique expanded by elements of the systematic literature of review to analyze the selected foreign studies. The study demonstrated that the availability of financial resources capable of providing an adequate set of inputs, accompanied by an efficient, responsible management process and subject to social control methods, is a crucial requirement for improving educational results and reducing the negative effects generated by low socio-economic status (SES). It was also observed that although socio economic status is an important predictor of educational results, it can be mediated by actions carried out inside or outside school. Additionally, this study demonstrates that educational results need to be measured by indicators other than those obtained through standardized tests, such as: access; school performance; frequency; evasion; student involvement; conclusion; progress between stages; improvement in social indicators/social mobility; compliance with the rights provided for in legislation, among others.

Author Biographies

Weber tavares da silva junior, universidade federal de goiás.

Doutorando em Administração (PPGADM/UFG). Professor da área Administração (IFG), Pesquisador do Centro de Estudos SOU_Ciência (UNIFESP).

Thiago Alves, Universidade Federal de Goiás

Doutor em Administração pela (FEA/USP). Professor da Universidade Federal de Goiás (UFG) e do Programa de Pós-Graduação em Administração (PPGADM/ UFG). Coordenador do Laboratório de Dados Educacionais (LDE – UFG/UFPR) e do projeto Simulador de Custo-Aluno Qualidade (SimCAQ) - www.simcaq.ufg.br.

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Creating Stability Is Just as Important as Managing Change

• Ashley Goodall

To do their best work, employees need to feel a sense of consistency — not constant upheaval.

When we think about change at work today, we tend to assume its inevitability and focus our attention on how to manage it — what methods and processes and technology and communication we need to put in place to have it move ahead more smoothly. Of course, some change is necessary, and some is inevitable. But not all of it. What the scientific literature on predictability, agency, belonging, place, and meaning suggests is that before we think about managing change, we should consider the conditions that people need at work in order to be productive. In this article, the author explains why we should cultivate a renewed appreciation for the virtues of stability, together with an understanding of how to practice “stability management.”

Imagine, for a moment, being on the receiving end of the sort of communication that typically heralds a change at work. An email, say, announces a reorganization to be carried out over the course of the next few months. The language is cheery and optimistic, and talks in upbeat terms about the many opportunities that will flow from the latest transformation or realignment.

• Ashley Goodall is a leadership expert who has spent his career exploring large organizations from the inside, most recently as an executive at Cisco. He is the coauthor of Nine Lies About Work , which was selected as the best management book of 2019 by Strategy + Business and as one of Amazon’s best business and leadership books of 2019. Prior to Cisco, he spent fourteen years at Deloitte as a consultant and as the Chief Learning Officer for Leadership and Professional Development. His latest book, The Problem with Change , is available now.

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Necrotizing laryngitis in patients with hematologic disease: the first case-report due to pdr acinetobacter baumannii and literature review.

1. Introduction

2. case description, 3. review of laryngeal infections in patients with hematologic diseases, 4. discussion, author contributions, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Tatouli, I.; Dedes, N.; Bozikas, A.; Melliou, S.; Pavlou, M.-M.; Kontogiannis, S.; Kyrodimos, E.; Kanioura, E.; Ntanasis-Stathopoulos, I.; Dimopoulos, M.-A.; et al. Necrotizing Laryngitis in Patients with Hematologic Disease: The First Case-Report Due to PDR Acinetobacter baumannii and Literature Review. Microorganisms 2024 , 12 , 1382. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12071382

Tatouli I, Dedes N, Bozikas A, Melliou S, Pavlou M-M, Kontogiannis S, Kyrodimos E, Kanioura E, Ntanasis-Stathopoulos I, Dimopoulos M-A, et al. Necrotizing Laryngitis in Patients with Hematologic Disease: The First Case-Report Due to PDR Acinetobacter baumannii and Literature Review. Microorganisms . 2024; 12(7):1382. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12071382

Tatouli, Ioanna, Nikolaos Dedes, Andreas Bozikas, Stamatoula Melliou, Maria-Markella Pavlou, Sofoklis Kontogiannis, Efthymios Kyrodimos, Eftychia Kanioura, Ioannis Ntanasis-Stathopoulos, Meletios-Athanasios Dimopoulos, and et al. 2024. "Necrotizing Laryngitis in Patients with Hematologic Disease: The First Case-Report Due to PDR Acinetobacter baumannii and Literature Review" Microorganisms 12, no. 7: 1382. https://doi.org/10.3390/microorganisms12071382

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