The Ancient Tamil Tradition and the History of the Cheras
The Ancient Tamil Tradition and the History of the Cheras: The Light Shown by Sangam Literature
Primary Sources and Their Nature
The only sources available to us for reconstructing the history of the ancient Chera Empire are the literary works of the Sangam period. This is because extensive historical evidence about the Cheras is not available through inscriptions. Nevertheless, using Sangam literature, we can create only a brief historical outline; even the conclusions drawn from these sources provide us with only a provisional foundation.
For our present historical investigations, the most important Sangam literary works are Purananuru, Pathitrupathu, and Silappadikaram.
Purananuru is a collection of 400 poems composed by approximately 160 different poets. It received this name because it contains poems belonging to Puram, one of the two fundamental themes recognized in ancient Tamil grammatical and literary traditions.
Puram, or Purapporul, refers to events of public life, particularly the warfare, political activities, and achievements of kings. These poems are generally considered to be court poems composed in praise of the great kings and regional rulers of ancient Tamilakam.
However, unlike later poetry, which often displays excessive artificiality, these poems are direct and natural in both language and emotion. Furthermore, most of these poems were composed by poets who were contemporaries of the kings whom they praised. Therefore, it is easy to understand that the poems of Purananuru possess unparalleled value for historical research.
Pathitrupathu is a literary collection that specifically describes the military achievements and peacetime accomplishments of the great Chera kings. As its name suggests, the work originally consisted of ten sets, each containing ten poems. However, the first and the tenth decades have not survived.
Of the eight decades that are currently available, each describes the achievements and greatness of an individual Chera king. Furthermore, the poet of each decade was a contemporary of the king whom he celebrated. Therefore, it is evident that Pathitrupathu holds immense value for understanding the history of the early Cheras.
Silappadikaram is regarded as the first complete Tamil epic. Since its true central figure is the Chera king Senguttuvan, and since its author was a Chera prince (Ilango Adigal), it becomes an essential source for understanding the early Chera Empire.
In addition to these works, we also receive some assistance in reconstructing Chera history from Akananuru and Natrinai, the famous Sangam anthologies dealing with Akam, or themes related to love and personal life.
I consider all these sources to be contemporary records of the great kings whom they describe. According to the traditions of that period, they were poetic records that celebrated the achievements of kings who were worthy of being remembered as exemplary figures.
The concept of a biography, meaning a complete account of an individual’s life as it actually occurred, belongs entirely to the modern period. However, this fact alone does not reduce the value of these poems as reliable historical sources. Therefore, I have used these sources without hesitation in constructing my historical accounts.
At this point, it is appropriate to mention one important matter. In each section of Pathitrupathu, the information provided by the poet is sometimes expanded with additional details in supplementary notes known as Patikam (Epilogue), which are placed at the end of the work.
There is no doubt that these Patikams were added at a later period by someone other than the original poets of those poems.
Similarly, in order to properly evaluate the historical information provided by the poems of Purananuru, we must depend upon the additional notes attached at the end of those poems, known as colophons—including details such as the poetic category (thinai), subject (thurai), and the name of the poet.
We have no way of knowing exactly when or by whom these notes were added to the poems. However, there is no reason to doubt the antiquity of these Patikams and colophons. It is reasonable to consider that those who composed them gave a permanent form to the traditions of ancient Tamilakam that existed during their own period.
Tradition and Oral Testimony
Tradition, or oral transmission, is the testimony of people concerning events that occurred many centuries earlier. Like all human testimony, it may contain errors. However, this does not mean that such traditions should be completely ignored.
We cannot reject them unless we assume that ancient people had no ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood.
In reality, tradition represents a reputation formed through the agreement of various groups of people who may not have been connected with one another but who were nevertheless interested in preserving knowledge about a particular subject.
When reliable direct evidence is unavailable—especially in situations where personal bias has no significant influence—we must accept such traditions as a foundation for historical understanding.
From this perspective, I see no reason to doubt the accuracy of the information provided by the Patikams and colophons.
I fully accept the reliability of these extremely ancient records, which have been preserved for many centuries by the Tamil world and which no one, until recent times, felt the need to question. These records were created by individuals who had no personal motives or prejudices, and therefore they deserve to be accepted as valuable historical evidence.
Translation by Hari
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