Ganesh

Sectional President's Address: TRANSITIONS IN EARLY TAMIL SOCIETY: A HYPOTHESIS
ON THE FORMATION OF TAMIL REGION

Author(s): K.N. Ganesh
Source: Proceedings of the Indian History Congress , 2013, Vol. 74 (2013), pp. 23-47
Published by: Indian History Congress
Stable URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/44158796
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Section I: ANCIENT INDIA
Sectional President's Address
TRANSITIONS IN EARLY TAMIL SOCIETY: A

HYPOTHESIS ON THE FORMATION OF TAMIL
REGION
K.N. Ganesli
At the outset, allow me to express my sincere thanks to the Indian History Congress o
inviting me to preside over the Ancient India Session of the Indian History Congress being
held at Cuttack. It is indeed a great honour for someone who has written most of his work
in his mother tongue, and has only published a few papers in English. I have chosen in thi
address to pursue a theme in South Indian History that has occupied my attention for th
past decade that of analyzing the Early Tamil te>Āļts and corroborating the information an
insights from the texts using evidence from other Sources on Tamil History.
Early History of South India has received considerable scholarly attention in recent
years. This is because South India has witnessed processes of social and cultur
transformation different from the historical processes elsewhere in India. These processe
have included the emergence of a distinct group of Dravidian languages, formation o
linguistic communities based on them, as well as emergence and transformation of distinc
social, economic and cultural forms. These features were stressed by British colonial
administrators, scholars and Missionaries, who posited the term 'Dravidian culture' as
generic term for South Indian society and culture.1 Efforts in understanding this cultur
distinctiveness, along with the discovery of substantial amount of archaeological, epigraphical
and literary sources, facilitated research on History of South India in general and earl
History of Tamil country in particular as the prime source of 'Dravidian culture'. A survey
of the enormous literature that has been published on the early History of south India is no
intended here, and is also beyond the capabilities of the present writer.2 Tamil country o
Tamilakam that has included the present states of Kerala and Tamilnadu has long been
recognized as the region that has played the significant role in the distinctiveness of Sout
Indian society. Research on the history of early Tamilakam or Tamil country has generated
interesting debates and insights that have contributed substantially to our understanding o
the emergence of a regional identity in the context of the social transitions taking place i
the Indian subcontinent as a whole. Our attempt is to examine some of these formulation
and insights on the basis of the available evidence in order to arrive at a possible hypothesi
on the formation of the Tamil region.
Transitions in early Tamil Society: The existing formulations

The Tamil speaking region or Tamilakam is referred to in early Sangam texts.3 They refer t
a territory from Venkatam (Tirupati hills) to Kumari (Cape Comorin) where Tamil languag
was spoken.4 Asokan inscriptions refer to various chiefdoms, but do not refer to them a
inhabiting a common cultural region.5 Greek accounts show familiarity with Pandyas and
Cholas6. Periplus of the Eritrean Sea refers to a region called damirike7 and Ptolemy refer
to the same region as Lymiricke8, showing that a composite region was being indicate
from the early centuries of the Common Era among the people mentioned as keprobothras
Keralaputras) and Pandyas9. By 5th century, the term Dravida and dramila begins to appea

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24 IHC: Proceedings , 74th Session, 20Ì3
more frequently as shown by the reference to the Dravida sangha founded by the Jaina
monk Vajranandi10. Thus by 5,h century terms like Dravida, Dramila or Tamil, with which
tenns like damirike can be identified, had come into being as denoting a separate region11.
The actual extent of the region is not altogether free from ambiguity. Periplus of the
Eritrean Sea refers to damirike as the region to south of the Daksinabades( daksinapatha-
Deccan), which can be reached from the sea with the ports of Naura and Tyndis12. Naura has
not been identified and Tyndis is probably the same as Tondi, one of centers of the Cheras.
This means that damirike begins from the area now part of northern Kerala. However, early
Tamil texts refer to Oonurn( Koonur in Nilgiri hills), Pazhi14, Punnad15 and Erumeyur16
which can all be located in the area around Nilgiri hills including Northern Kerala and
probably southern Karnataka. Similarly, the reference to Ilantiraiyan indicates the territory
of the later Paliavas17. All these are referred to as part of the region of the Tamil speakers,
with the speakers of other languages treated as Molipeyar Desam '* . This means that Damirike
of the Greco- Roman texts should be treated as a linguistic region.
Such a formulation is capable of generating a major debate and it has done so. One
major feature of the debate has been a question of precedence. Tamil scholars have argued
that the formation and spread of Tamil literature and culture, as revealed in the early Tamil
texts have been preceded by the emergence of Tamil language and grammar19. There have
been two versions of this argument. Some scholars inspired by Tamil 'patriotism' have
evoked the story of the three Sangams as narrated in the early medieval Tamil text Iraiyanar
ahapporul , and have maintained that the two grammarians Akattiyar and Tolkappiyar have
already been referred to in the itaichankam( middle sangam) period, that is, before the
present corpus of early Tamil songs appeared20. Others, less persuaded by Tamil Patriotism,
have maintained that Tolkappiyar, the grammarian whose text is available to us in full, have
been influenced by Sanskrit Grammarians Panini and Patanjali and possibly the jain text,
Aindra Vyakarana21. Still, they would argue for the precedence of the grammar to literature,
and some have maintained that Tolkappiyam was composed at a date not later than 500
BC22. Even those who would accept a later date for the currently available text of Tolkappiyam
have argued that an original text existed, compiled sometime in 200BCE".
There were also a few dissenting voices. They have argued that while our information
on a text by Akattiyar have been few, fragmentary and unreliable.Tolkappiyam should be
taken as the text indicative of the genesis of Tamil language. Even a cursory examination of
Tolkappiyam would assure us that the text attempts to theorize and systematize the already
existing practices of Tamil language on the basis of possibly Paninian and aindra traditions24.
Hence, it has been argued that the linguistic and grammatical works in Tamil were composed
after the emergence of the early Tamil songs, and marked the development of the formal and
structural aspects of language25. Here also, it has been maintained that the formulations in
Tolkappiyam have been directly adapted from Sanskrit grammatical traditions26. Arguments
to the contrary that the effort by Tolkappiyam was to systematize the indigenous Tamil
expressions rather than impose an alien structure upon Tamil, has also been made27.This
argument is ,of course, based on the assumption that the oral tradition has been anterior to
the linguistic systematization of the Tamil language.2*
The problem of the emergence of Tamil language implies the emergence and spread of
the population speaking the language. Earlier ethnographic studies discussed the possibility
of a migrant 'Dravidian' population intermixing with indigenous population, although there
is no concrete evidence for such a suggestion. Linguists have pointed to the language of the
Todas in the Nilgiris as preserving the archaic form of Tamil similar to Sangam Tamil29. A
large number of loan words from Prakrit and Pali were incorporated into this archaic Tamil,
showing that the language was being modified by migrants from different parts of India30.
Classical Tamil, as it emerged by the early medieval period, incorporated a number of

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General President 's Address 25
Sanskrit words also, thus demonstrating that the formation of

the instance of the migration and incorporation of population
dramila simply denoted the linguistic integration of this populat
The process of transformation of this population has been a m

The earlier historians, working within the conception of the duality
attempted to postulate two stages of this transformation. The tr
forming their settlements in the Tamil country. They were engaged
fishing and probably shifting agriculture. They worshipped Gods
and were also engaged in warfare among themselves, for cattle an
Their war chiefs became velir, who became the first form of politica
Later, the valleys of the major rivers like Kaveri and Vaigai wer
who developed there became the first kings or ventans. Ventans r
(muvar or muventar), the Cheras, cholas and Pandyas33. Early Ta
geographies depicted the process of social evolution from huntin
and agriculture leading to the formation of early kingdoms14.
This picture of the social and political changes in early Tamil cou
citing various reasons. It has been pointed out that the Ttnais wer
by the early Tamil singers, and they referred to literary spatiality
to real geographies. The Tina' geographies were not representing
modes of production that co-existed and interacted with one ano
who sustained themselves by conducting predatory cattle raids u
warriors. Early Tamil poetry consisted of heroic songs intende
warriors involved in such raids36. The Cheras, Cholas and Pandy
conventional sense, but only chiefs who acquired more power
other chiefs and assuming control of the riverside littoral region
Tinai geographies have been approached from a different pers

been considered to be zones of ecological adaptation where diff
were being adopted by population on the basis of the environme
different geographical tracts18. People of the tinai were kinship
their subsistence with the help of the resources that can be mobi
Organization of kinship groups into familial units or kudis p
distribution of settlements, which has been testified by the distribu
Political regions , according to this perspective, was formed o
economies, that gave rise to pre-state formations based on the
resources and unequal distribution of social wealth39.
The process of transition from tribe to state has also been deb
early historians have focused on the 'Aryanisation' process th
migrations and the performance of Vedic sacrifices by several
rulers40. The introduction of Dharmic and Shastraic elements in the
in the Tamil country has been stressed in the recent studies also41.
to the formation of nadu in early historic period, which has bee
type of political formation42. A persuasive set of arguments have
to the impact of the Greco-Roman trade on the emerging kingdom
The Greco-Roman trade resulted in the export of spices, textiles,
pearl from Tamilakam and import of bullion, which encou
commodities and the development of major ports of trade and int
rulers of the rivers valleys who were in a position to control bot
process of trade, developed into the early states. Thus the Cheras co
and Mucin, Cholas Uraiyur and Puhar, and the Pandyas, Madu

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26 I HC : Proceedings , 74th Session , 2013
meant that there were deliberate efforts by the ventans to extend their sway to the coastal
regions where important maritime ports were located45.
The arguments regarding the emergence of'state and kingship have also been contested.
The Chera-Chola-Pandya triad were little more than chiefdom states that depended on kinship
structures and dependent warriors, with the additional resources for their conquests coming
from surplus produce of the marutam and neytal regions46. Stray references to sacrifices in
early Tamil texts are insufficient to show that a Dharmic and shastraic concept of kingship
had consolidated. The Roman trade, believed to have facilitated the state formation, was
little more than unequal exchange between an Empire and a group of tribal chiefdoms47.
The spread of Roman coin hoards did not imply monetization of the economy and the
resulting consolidation of surplus in the hands of chiefs, which would have provided stable
financial foundations for the emergence of state. It is possible that the Roman coins were
not used as money, but as luxury articles hoarded by the members of the ruling kinship
groups or traders48.
Similar debates are occurring regarding the transition processes during and after the
early historic period. Early historians predisposed towards the dynastic concept of political
processes postulated an intervening period between the early historic "kings' and the later
emergence of Pandya and Paliava states. This period called 'Kalabhra interregnum' was
presumably from 3"1 to sixth centuries CE, when the Tamil country was believed to have
been overrun by Northern invaders , called 'kalabhras'49. The kalabhra rule particularly that
of the king referred to in the Buddhist chronicles by the name Accuta Vikkanta was regarded
as a period of Buddhist domination50. The interregnum was succeeded by the Pandya-Pallava
kingship which also saw the emergence of Brahmanas as the dominant social and ideological
force. This argument is, in effect, a continuation of thee thesis of 'Aryanisation' where the
transformation of Tamil society occurred because of the intervention of the migrants and
invaders from the north. The transformation was also the result of the growth and expansion
of the agrarian economy of Tamil country, which provided the basis for the new political
structure. The transition might have also been facilitated by the decline of Roman trade,
which contributed to the growth of the early historic political formations.
The Kalabhra argument has been revived in another form, by characterizing them as
'Kaliyarasar '. The term has been linked to the depiction of the 'kali Age' by the Brahmanas,
which was considered as a period of social crisis51. The social crisis of the early Tamil
society has been depicted as the period, in which the tribal society underwent transformation.
New social divisions between the higher and lower strata appeared and systems of exploitation
and plunder began to emerge. Kaliyarasar presumably referred to the political power
exercised by such exploiting groups. The breakdown of tribal society and the emergence of
stratified and exploitative social order, made the growth of a new state form necessary, and
this was made possible by the Brahmanic 'discourse of social differentiation and
stratification'52.
It can be seen that despite the differences in emphasis on the processes of social
stratification and state formation, a general argument emerges on the processes of social
transition in early historic Tamil society. Early historic Tamil society was a tribal society
that was undergoing changes due to three identifiable processes. The first was the conflicts
for resources and wealth, specifically cattle raids that resulted in the formation of chiefdoms;
the second was occupation of riverside agricultural tracts and the growth of overseas and
internal contacts with other parts of India and the world that contributed to the formation of
early states. The third was a period of crisis that led to 'the breakdown of the tribal society
and the emergence offa class divided society characterized by stratified agrarian order, and
the social and ideological dominance of the Brahmanas53. There are of course dissenting
views such as the denial of the role of overseas contacts and the emergence of a state form

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General President s Address 27
in the early historic period. There is no difference regarding the g

from the early historic to the formation of early medieval state
century AD.54
The argument does not answer the prime question of the forma
The transition from early historic was not simply a process of tran
from tinai geographies to the territory of the Paliavas, Pandyas
the period when the territory of the Tamil speaking people wa
own social and cultural features. It is this question that we propose
parts of this presentation.
Formation of Tamil region

Human occupation of the present Tamil region has been dated
Paleolithic discoveries from Attirampakkam, Mesolithic rem
country, Neolithic finds in Aticchanallur, Paiyampalli and the T
Tamilnadu, provide evidence on the human occupation of the re
substantial traces for human occupation during the megalithic phas
The question of continuity or discontinuity of human occupation is
there is some evidence for the existence of Mesolithic remains in t
burial sites57. Discovery of a large number of megalithic sites al
expansion of human settlements during the first millennium BC
of the Deccan plateau provides evidence for human settlement thro
of Neolithic sites, and expansion through megalithism. This exp
of Iron Age technology and substantial transformation of the en
processes, including transition to agriculture58. Expansion of me
country which has yielded far lesser number of Neolithic sites
This may signify population movements of some kind during th
Era59. One cannot hazard any generalization regarding suc
archaeologists discover more habitation sites. At present our info
is limited to the recent excavations at Kotumanal and Poruntal60
and commercial centers such as Karur, Uraiyur and a few port cent
for habitation sites may add to our information on population m
Information from megalithic burials demonstrates both comm

among human population that have left behind these artifacts. B
has been discovered from South as well as eastern India62 and Ru
been discovered fror. à Andhra and Tamil country63. Passage cha
been discovered in Karnataka64, while urn burials have been fou
the coastal region. Memorial stones are similarly distributed i
India. Some such stones, such as kodakkals ('Umbrella stone') a
appear to be 'externalities' as they are found in overseas sites65
burials display features of common culture called Iron Age meg
the authors of this culture is far from certain. It is possible that
to a period when regional identities had not yet taken shape
without cultural or political barriers was possible during the fir
The distribution of burials and the nature of grave goods fro

elements of distinctiveness. Studies and mapping of the burial si
largest number of burial sites is found in the hilly regions and o
been shown that clusters of megalithic burials have been found
with the Velir chiefs mentioned in the literary sources67. Grav
included apart from pottery, iron implements that could have been

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28 IHC: Proceedings, 74th Session, 2013
sites in the river valleys, sometimes adjacent to but distinct from hilly and tableland regions
have yielded evidence for habitation, trade goods and coins68. Although it is difficult in our
present state of information to form definite conclusions about temporal or cultural sequences,
it appears possible to postulate that sedentarism, regular production and exchange practices
developed among the megalithic people when they occupied river valleys. It is there that
regular habitations also could emerge. However, the monument production of the megalithic
people shows common features, cutting across geographical variations. They include pit
burials, use of cists, cairn circles and occasionally multiple chambers, evidence for fractional
burials in urns, distribution of grave goods that share a common, but stratified material
culture69. It is to this common cultural pattern that we find trade goods such as precious
stones, extraneous pottery and coinage added in river valley or port sites70.
Sharing a particular mi/ erial culture by the hill and the river valley people would
imply that goods that would be utilized for the making of the culture would be transported
from one geographical space to the other. Thus the clay for the making of pots, and the
potters themselves would travel from place to place, and iron for making a weapon or an
implement would move from a hill slope to a river valley. Beryl and rock crystal from the
nearby hills thus reached a trade centre at Kotumanal71 and the pepper and spices from the
mountains reached the ports in the West coast. Russetted Coated ware and its technology
moved to several parts of South India. Entire grave technologies could have also travelled,
as in the rock cut passage chamber tombs in Karnataka, which are found in North Kerala
also72. These movements show the circulation of people, technology and culture, the process
by which the occupants of different geographical places become interrelated. Thus the hills
that compose the Western and Eastern Ghats, the hill slopes and table lands that are distributed
in Northern Tamilnad, areas proximate to the Western Ghats, and Kerala, where the megaliths
are distributed form a circulation zone linked to the various river valleys in the adjacent
regions73. Population can move from the hills to the valleys and vice versa.
- Evidence for such movements is found from the early Tamil songs. Tina is of the early
Tamil songs not only depict different geographical regions or eco-zones, but also definite
relations among these regions. The akam songs among the early Tamil poetry deal with
separation of lovers, the women pining for the beloved who has gone far away, or the man
rushing home to join the beloved. Separation involves movement, which is indicated as
actual movement along the pathways (aruselmakkal)14 or across mountain passes (Curam
iraintor) 75or the imagined hazards faced by the lover in an unknown land or enemy territory
(Onnar teyam)16. Songs also refer to the movements of bards (panar) and traders (vanikar)
as well as the appearance of strangers (vanpalar) along major pathway7^. Such movements
show that definite forms and paths of movement had become established by the time of
composition of the songs. Such movements are stated to be across crossroads (kavalai) and
streets (mamku)1*. They must have crossed forests also.79 Such movements linked different
tinai geographies and settlements, including the residences of the chiefs.
Movements of the bards are significant here. The panas survived by eulogizing the
heroes and also presumably acted as collectors and disseminators of information that saw
or heard on the way. The information they gathered could be mythical and real, referring to
both the present and the past in the time frame of the bard, as well as proximate and distant
in the spatial configuration. The bards moved only in the real space of the kudis, tinais and
the abodes of their heroes, but their narratives incorporated allusions to lands tljey probably
never saw such as Imayam (Himalayas) and patali (pataliputra)80. In a society of multiple
economies and geographies, the movements of the panas were facilitated by the language of
communication. A linguistic community was formed, which distinguished itself from- the
other linguistic territories or Molipeyar teyam or colpeyar teyam .SI Linguistic community
thus transcended the tribal segments of kinship (kilai' habitat (kut i), settlement (Ur) and

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General President 's Address 7.9
human ecology (tinai) and developed the composite concept of tin

not surprising that within a linguistic community, real geographies b
and literary formulas become the organizing form of social p
allusions, such as from venkatam to Kumari, simply indicate the spac
community.
A linguistic community is not chronological, although it may have an adequate

conception of space and time. Spaces are decided by natural characteristics like mountains
and seas and time by cycles of days and nights, as well as seasons. Events become memories
reported and narrated by bards. Such events cannot be located in conventional historical
time except with direct corroborative evidence, from written or inscribed texts83. Thus the
Tamil linguistic community, which was formed as combination of tribal segments and
represented in the bardic tradition, becomes chronologically located with the appearance of
written texts of the Tamil Brahmi labels. Although there haye been arguments that the Tamil
Brahmi script antedates the Ashokan inscriptions, evidence points to the appearance of
labels from 2nd Century BCE and they have continued up to 6th century CE when vattezhuttu
became widespread84. Brahmi script moved with the movement of populations or population
segments using the script, which meant that the Tamil linguistic region was visited by other
linguistic groups. This is indicated by the references to vadakar or vatukar "(northerners)
and vanpalar , and also to invading groups like Moriyar m and religious groups like maraiyor
(Brahmanas) and cavakar or amanar (sramanas)87. Brahmi script thus moved into Tamil
country and became indigenized as Tamil Brahmi88.
Indigenization of a script is important in the evolution of a linguistic community. A

script emerges when a linguistic community acquires a powerful social impetus to write or
inscribe things, names, memories, events and traditions. While the oral society communicates
things or events as narratives, writing renders such narratives into inviolable records or
texts. Orality concretizes things and events by naming them, such as the shift from vadakar
to Moriyar , or Molipeyar teyam to konkanam. Writing records the names and events and
thus preserves the individuality of the name or the event89. This process can be seen in the
Tamil Brahmi labels on memorial stones, caves or pottery that names the person inscribed,
or records the grant or gift along with the name90. Such writing or rather inscribing (ezhuttu)
distinguishes or individuates the name or an event among a medley of names and events, so
that they can be memorized and event or practice inscribed can be conserved. Such
individuation requires that multiplicity of names, and practices have already come into
existence and that individuation becomes necessary to achieve distinction from other
practices. Thus a wealthy merchant who makes a donation or a chief who dies fighting a
war or wins a war becomes a name worth being inscribed and their acts become a tradition
(marapu) to be preserved91. It has been argued that the compilation of the songs of an extant
tradition in a later period indicates the emergence of a social formation signified by the
content of the songs compiled.92
Writing also implies that the linguistic community has become complex enough to
accommodate concepts and practices that require distinction and individuation. This is done
in two ways. First, the society becomes complex enough to develop new labor practices and
technologies, cultural practices, ideas and concepts. Second is the growth of a flexible
linguistic form that accommodates new words and symbols that could render these practices,
concepts and ideas within the linguistic framework. The first is demonstrated by the expansion
of internal and overseas trade, circulation of commodities and expansion of agriculture that
facilitated river valley settlements. The latter is demonstrated by the incorporation of a
large number of words from Prakrit, Pali, Sanskrit, and even from foreign languages into
Tamil. The emergence of Vattezhuttu, attributed to 4,h-6,h centuries AD show that writing
had become exclusively based on the Tamil oral form. Such changes also indicate that
Tamil region was evolving into a political territory.

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Tamil region as a political territory

Bardic poetry has been termed 'heroic poetry' and heroes were created by conflicts ove
forms of wealth or 'cattle' (inam). Such conflicts provided the themes (turai) of the pur
songs and the moments of the conflict were formed as purattinaiP The heroes were
warriors or 'destroyers' (Maravar) and their leaders were the vels . The vels receive
prestations (tirai) from the settler people (kudimakkal) for the protection of their cattl
wealth94. The defensive process was also a redistributive process, which was celebra
through feasting (undattu, perunchoru) and festivities95. The kin group of the vel as wel
the warriors participated in the redistributive process (pakarna), %and the panar who s
and the viraliyax who danced in the festivities also received their gifts (kotai)97. T
kudimakka' , the warriors and the kin group of the vel that were involved in the redistributi
process formed the earliest political segment within the tribal society. The places denoted
the early Tamil texts as the residences of the vels are also places with clusters of megalit
sites, indicating that they served either as battlefields or clusters of settlements9X.T
redistributive process involving the vels also indicated the process of war and protectio
with Ve' as the protector-hero sung by the bards. The vels of Parambumalai, Kollima
Kutiraimalai, piranmalai, Potiyilmalai eulogized by the bards were the instances of su
political segments99.
The bardic heroes did not represent sustained political authority over a region. The
is no reference to a territory controlled by a Vel , except the hill residence and the kin gro
and kudimakkal who were involved in the redistributive process. Many Vels did not lea
heirs who took over the control of their residence, with the possible exception of Potiyilma
The conflicts over wealth and resources increased as the concepts of wealth underwe
change. This was the result of growing access to resources and their circulation that facilitat
the development of agriculture and trade. 100 Emergence of not only the three ventan
chera, chola and Pandya, but also other plain chiefs (Mannans) like Atiyamans, a
Ilantiraiyan of Thondai, as well as the coastal chief Nannan of ezhilmalai will have to
traced to such processes.
Circulation of resources is possible through the movement of people, resources and

technologies. Increasing conflicts over wealth stimulates such movements as the settlers
driven out of one area or come under the protection of a chief. More important reas
appears to the increase of sedentary population, who need resources for their livelihood
This is indicated by the number of named settlements mentioned in the early Tamil poem
apart from general terms like mutur and s i rur. m Ur becomes a settlement where majority
the population undertake tasks corresponding to the respective tinai geography, where t
Ur appears102. The settlers also exchange their surplus goods with others through exchan
(notai or rto/w//örl).Exchange took place in exchange centers and streets (maruku, ceri
""adjacent to the Ur and also in places where pathways intersected (kavalai, mun
Exchange of fish and paddy, meat and paddy, supply of milk and curd are examples
simple exchange104. We also find movement of settlers in the Ur such as smiths, weave
and potters as well as other artisans105, apart from the settlement of drummers (paraiyar an
tudiyar) dancers (viraliyar and Koothar) singers (panar) and oracles (velar) for t
festivities106. References to the settlement of takadur under Atikaiman Anji and his so
Ezhini show the growth of an Ur as an exchange and craft centre107. Chiefs who cou
control such Urs had better access to the circulated resources and technologies than the
hill chief counterparts.
Growth of the Urs has several features. Urs in the early Tamil texts appear a
agglomerations of habitat ( kudi ), located proximate to the production or livelihood spac
They also appear as centers to which goods are transported across pathways (aru) an
acquired or gathered ( pandam)m . Urs also contain public spaces (potiyil, Manram, Kalam

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General President 's Address 3 1
where public gatherings, festivities and deliberations of chiefs too

the Ur took place with the construction of mud-walls (Jnayil, eyil
and finally large scale fortifications (aran)112. Such procedures sho
transcend the habitat formation of the Tinai. Urs became exchange an
and this meant that the wealth being assembled in the Ur should b
also susceptible to plunder and destruction. The puram tinais of kar
themes ( turáis ) associated with it, specifically narrate this process
and conquest show that battles were no longer conducted for the a
the acquisition of wealth along with the sites where wealth is located,
not only destruction of enemy forces, but enemy bastions also. Th
not only acquisition of wealth but conquest as well.114
This demonstrates the significance of the allusions to the conqu

chiefs. The conquests of takadur (takadurerinta) by Peruncheral ir
Mokur by Chenkuttuvan116, destruction of kazhumalam by a chol
Even the exchange centre of karuvur (karur) might have been simi
chief (Karuvueriya Olvalko Perucheral Irumporai)118. Such conq
acquisition of resource centers but also control over the pass
transportation of goods and movement of population. Frequent re
people along the pathways and incidence of robbery of goods a
pathways showed that chiefs were considered responsible for the m
This meant that the geographical limits (munai) of the pathways ca
to Ur, and which were under the protection (kati, kaval) of the
between chiefs, or between chiefs and marauding groups119. Plund
and Urs repeatedly mentioned in the palai songs1 2W, and the tirai
chiefs for protection signified the process by which settlements ca
of a powerful chief, that is, a chief who commanded sufficien
protection121.
The incidence of resource mobilization by the chiefs indicated the changes taking
place in the society and economy of the region. The tinai geographies had facilitated the
exchange among resource regions in various exchange centers. Once exchange centers and
settlements came under the protection of the chiefs, negotiations and conflict among the
chiefs resulted not only in further conquests by the chiefs but also in further interactions
among settlements and resource regions. This is indicated in two ways in the texts. One is
the reference to chiefs as 4 sovereigns' (porunan)1 22 of more than one centre, such as the
chera being the porunan of karur and tondi, the pandyan controlling kutal(Madurai) and
korkai, Chola controlling urantai (uraiyur) and Puhar1". Both the places controlled by the
respective chiefs were exchange centers, but the passage from one to the other would also
be controlled by the chief. This is seen in the case of cheras, when the centers of kotumanam
(kotumanal) and panthar (not identified) are mentioned together124. Cheras are mentioned
as controlling the resources of the sea (katalam) and the mountains (rock s-kallam)115, and
also were overlords of konkav and puzhiyar. m Over lordship over knocker ensured the
supply of precious stones (konkar mani)127 and puzhiyar that of forest produce. Cholas are
controlling the resources around Kaveri River, and the Pandyas controlled resources of
Vaigai and the corals and sands near korkai. This means that the patterns of conquest indicated
in the puram songs and narrated more exclusively for Cheras in Patirrupattu, ensured control
of the chiefs over resource regions and labor processes, transcending the tinai geographies.
Such control facilitated traffic and exchange of goods. They were not restricted to
exchange of tinai goods but also resources from mountains, table lands and seas, including
precious stones, metals, clothes, corals, beads and spices. The movement of such goods is
indicated by traders specializing such goods or vanikar128. Salt was presumably the first

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32 IHC: Proceedings, 74th Session , 2013
such commodity transported by Umanar and their practice, Umanachattu , facilitated similar
trading activity iiļ other commodities also129. Goods were transported using wheeled carts
(cakatu)1™, which transformed the pathways into regular routes. Vanikar were not restricted
to the tinai geographies but came from other parts also and spoke different languages131.
This clearly indicated movement of people and traffic in goods from other parts of India,
and also overseas.
It is difficult to chronologically determine the emergence of such movements of

population and goods. Overseas contacts were made with the South Indian coast during
first millennium BCE and port centers developed152. Stray migrants from North India might
have come down, and hence, the region was not unknown to the North Indians133. Clear
evidence for North Indian contacts with region and subsequent movements of population
and goods appears from the second half of first millennium BC, specifically from the Mauryan
times. The Prakrit foundation of the Tamil Brahmi labels should be seen as continuity from
the spread of Ashokan inscriptions, as the labels addressed presumably a population familiar
with both Prakrit characters initially and later understood Tamil language134. This shows
not only that migrations of the period consisted mainly of merchants, and Sramana, sravakas
and monks, who were being indigenized in the later centuries.135 Brahmanas did migrate,
but they probably did not establish the dominance of the mercantile sravakas, and were
restricted to performance of sacrifices and rituals at the behest of the chiefs136. Both these
groups were indigenized though their acceptance of the Tamil language. The movement of
merchants is indicated by references to nigamcim ( hiyamam ), indicated in the Brahmi labels
and the bardic tradition137. Movement of monks, Buddhist and Jaina is attested by the allusions
to them in bardic tradition, monuments and Brahmi labels138. The activity of the migrant
traders is also attested to archaeologically by the incidence of precious-stones like carnelian,
amethyst, chalcedony and diamond, and the presence of the rouletted ware, and the indication
that gangetic nard was exported from ports, apart from punch-marked coins139. There has
been sufficient literature on the Greco-Roman contacts with South India to demonstrate the
significance of their activity and the extent of the maritime contacts that South India had
with the red sea region. This is supported by the evidence from different Roman ports of
trade, Pattanam in the West Coast being the latest site excavated. The extent of their mercantile
activity is also attested by the Roman coin hoards as well as the evidence from Karur regarding
the presence of Roman merchandise in the interior regions14".
The impact of the mercantile activity on the Tamil region is a matter that requires
careful examination. Exchange within the tinai geographies were in essential commodities,
including rice, fish, meat, salt, milk ghee and honey, grass mats, herbs, pots, toddy, wood
and metal goods. The goods exchanged by vanikar included clothes, gold, rice and grains,
ornaments and precious stones. Tinai exchange did not involve coins. Some of the goods
exchanged by vanikar such as stones (mani), beads ( muthu ), pepper (kari), sandal (chanthu,
aaram) and other spices were produced, or rather gathered from the Tamil country itself41.
However, gold and metals (pon), clothes ( kacchai , kalinkam142) and precious stones were
not only indigenous products, but came from different parts of India and were not part of the
local exchange processes. They were part of the exotica exchanged in festivities or among
the kin groups of the chiefs143. The medium of exchange was punch-marked coins from the
north and some of the chiefs like the Cheras and pandyas produced lead coins much in a
similar vein144. Roman coins were hoarded, but there is little concrete evidence that they
were internally circulated in the early historic period.. There is little to show that Roman
trade had a significant impact on the livelihood and labor processes of the population of the
Tamil country. For example, although Cheran Chenkuttuvan is supposed to have engaged
the yavanas in the sea and probably occupied Muciri, there is little evidence that Muciri
remained in the hands of the Cheras145. The gold brought by the Romans went to the cargo-

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suppliers and the chiefs146. It is possible that the Roman ports rem
by migrant merchants and craftsmen, who had little contact with th
except by trade147. It was only with the decline of the Roman trade
migrants began14*. Similarly, evidence for local chiefs occupying o
ports is also very little. Romans might have traded with the local
evidence also of local traders navigating the oceans. All this, along w
the northern merchants and vanikar points to the growth of an
developed from the multiple livelihood processes including hunti
produce, fishing and collection of rare items from the sea, collect
stones, and also preliminary craft and artisan production. Such a
transcend the tribal segmentation, but did not eliminate the tinai ge
the tinais were integrated in an exchange framework regulated by t
of the chiefs, and the settlements and resource regions involved in t
became the political territory of the chief. Some of the Vels did
position came to be acquired by the chiefs who had the better sh
overseas exchange processes, the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas, w
ventans. In order to retain their control over the exchange econom
acquire and retain control over the various regions, earlier determ
They along with the vels formed a new group of political territori
Tamil region.
Formation of such a political Tamil region is narrate

Sirupanarrupatai.149 The genre called arrupatai is different from
While the earlier songs were composed by singers and poets w
arrupatai songs were composed by often down and out panar who
a chief from someone else and set out to eulogize him. This indicat
established and a political territory had been formed. Sirupanarru
sense that it describes the political formation of a region in terms
chiefs. Thus the chembiyans (the cholas) become the protector
land ( kuna pulamY*' cheliyans become the protectors of the sout
and the kuttuvans are the protectors of the Western land ( kutapulam
northern land is not specifically mentioned, but kuttuvan is men
bow ( vánku vil poritta) in the Himalayas, and hence, the norther
have been protected by the kuttuvan153. The same song also ment
the seven chiefs of the hills154. In spite of the allusion to Himal
three ventans and the valíais is firmly grounded in the earlier
somewhat fuzzy notion of a territory from Venkatam to kumar
with the postulation of a peninsular region surrounded in three di
boundary to the north was fixed through a probably imagined Im
story of the bow. It shows that the notion of a territory, bound b
was coming into being.
The integration of the areas controlled by three ventans and

political region was, of course a difficult process. The texts never re
as controlling the entire Tamil region. Sirupanarrupatai never refers
sovereigns of the entire region. However, early texts refer to some
the rest of the ventans and valíais such as the victory of nedunje
and karikalvalavan at venni. Details of these battles are not mentione
nor do they correspond to the literary conventions followed in the n
or siege warfare. Instead, the conqueror is simply referred to as hav
foes and acquired the garland {Malai) and umbrella (venkutai) fro
that it was more in the nature of a ritual combat for supremacy

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34 I HC: Proceedings, 74th Session, 2013
resources or surplus produce1 v' Thus integration of the region was achieved through 'the
political supremacy, of any of the ventans, much in the pattern of a digvijaya137.
Tamil region as hegemonie landscape

Sirupanarrupatai also indicates elements of transition in the conception of the Tamil region.
One is the concept of the chief as conqueror ( vertían ) already referred to. Second is that the
song is addressed to a chief nelliyakotan of Oymanatu in the nakar of mavilankai, indicating
the combination of natu and nakar'5*. The third is the term tamilnilai referred to in connection
with the pandiyas159. We shall take up the three indications by starting with the last, as it
refers to the question of linguistic territory.
Sirupanarrupatai describes the streets (maruku) of Madurai as immersed in the glory

and tradition of Tamilnilai. Tamil thus becomes a language and a theme position that forms
part of the tradition of Madurai, that is, it forms part of the Madurai culture. This reference
indicates the powerful cultural tradition that makes Madurai as the centre of the sangam
poets. The cultural tradition itself is the product of the work Iraiyanar akapporul composed
during the early medieval period (c. 12,h century)160. But the idea of Madurai as the centre of
Tamil probably dates back to 5,h century, when Vajranandi, a Jaina monk, is believed to
have founded the Dravida (Tamil) Sangha. Here the term Dravida, Dramila or Tamil not
only refers to a language but the theme position of the language. This idea is further
strengthened by the reference in Tolkappiyam, which can also be dated to 5lh century, to the
places that compose Sentamil (pure Tamil)161. Commentators of Tolkappiyam have attempted
to define sentamil land as between Kaveri and vai gai rivers and between Karur in the West
and Maruvur (Puhar) in the East162. Tolkappiyam states that pannirunilam (twelve spaces)
exist surrounding the sentamil region163. Commentators such as Naccinarkiniyar and
Cenavarayar have identified pannirunilam with twelve nadus164. Commentators have also
added that the sutra also signifies the nadus around the Tamil region which do not speak
pure Tamil. Such a distinction is the result of an attempt to distinguish the Tamil region
from the non-Tamil regions territorially, and also to establish pure Tamil, as distinguished
from vulgar or kotuntamii both as linguistic and cultural entity165. An early medieval text,
nannul by pavananti, also repeats this distinction between Tamil and non-Tamil regions ,66.This
distinction is further being stressed in Tolkappiyam itself, when the northern language (which
can be interpreted contextually as Sanskrit) is a language where speech and writing is
integrated167. Sanskrit is a written language, whereas Tamil has several dialects with a pure
form (sentamil), which was also written. Sentamil was already considered as an upper class
language16". Here the attempt to elevate Sentamil to the status of the Northern language can
also be seen.
This reorganization of the linguistic region of the Tamils is taking place during the
time when the political territories consolidate. The consolidation is taking place with the
emergence of the Nadus as the Tamil region. Even the linguistic territory is conceived in
terms of nadus. The term nadu already appears in the early Tamil songs as several chiefs,
particularly in the Kurinci tinai are referred to as nadan169. The term appears more frequently
in the later songs, and by the early medieval period, the entire Tamil region was conceived
in terms of Nadus. Nadus were conceived of as provinces and even as identical with
janapadas, but there is now a consensus that nadus referred to clusters of agrarian
settlements170. Spread of agriculture in the river valleys was already indicated in the marutam
songs. Tolkappiyam still referred to nilam to denote spaces. But by the time the commentaries
of Tolkappiyam were composed nadus had become the central territorial entity of the Tamil
country and nilam referred to in Tolkappiyam was rendered in terms of nadu by the
commentators. This shows that the landscape of Tamil country was transforming during the
middle of first millennium C E. when Tolkappiyam took its present shape, and nadus or

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prototypes of nadus were emerging as the result of the growth o

Sentami 1 region became the land of the core nadus that spoke wh
Tamil.
The sutras of Tolkappiyam also indicate that a complex form of

region was coming into use. It refers to four forms of speech (co
quantitative or material (tiricol), spatial or ecological (tisaicol) a
north (vatacol)171 . It is also asserted that the correct, accurate usa
in the sentamil lands and the surrounding lands have inaccurate ex
the linguistic conventions172. Correct usage implied a clear corr
linguistic expressions and the material practices signified by the ex
and the object, the agency of the speaker and the various resources an
human beings that are the objects of speech, should correspond fu
territory, This was achieved in the Sentamil territory and les
kotuntamíi( corrupt or vulgar Tamil) regions. It should be noted that,
there were several attempts to provide a comprehensive structure to
works on various aspects of Tamil language and literature, includin
on poetics were composed in the succeeding centuries173. This pro
the formation of the separate Tamil script through vattezhuttu that
same different from earlier Tamil Brahmi174. This systematization of
provided the basis for the expansion of Tamil literature during th
Such consolidation of the Tamil linguistic identity was a facilit
factors. The growth of political territories implied that major c
bards and heroic individuals, who gained respect as Pulavar and
Chanror included Brahmana and Sramana migrants, who gradu
influence in the court as knowledgeable persons176. Such influence
of some chiefs as having performed Vedic sacrifices ( Palyagasalai M
Rajasuyam vetta Perunarkili, Karikalvalavan). Several chiefs are
(tunciya) in abodes that are presumably Jaina centers ( Jlavantika
Kur a pall i Tunciya Perntirumavalavan, cikkarpalli tunciya valiyat
of fasting unto death (sallekhana) was performed by some chiefs
political, moral and legal practices brought by the migrants also i
some of them began to claim that they were defenders of
arivu(wisdom)179
Such claims showed not only the impact of the migrants, but a
chiefs to maintain their political territories. In a situation when the p
divided and several chiefs fought one another, it was clear that th
conqueror (ventan) and overlord of conquered people (ko or kom
sustain the territory. It was necessary to develop a system of politica
in the purattinai, kanci. The devices for enforcing authority would
advice, sanctions and moral restrictions180. These injunctions form
(aram) that ensured political authority and warded off the destabili
(maram). This process is visible in the case of the Chera chie
Patirrupattu. The earlier chiefs addressed in the text were eulogize
the later rulers, from Celvakatunko were addressed as overlords of
responsible for the maintenance of the aram. 181
Aram , along with porul (wealth) and inpam (desire) formed the
from the four purusharthas of the North Indians, with one importan
deliverance ( moksa , veedu, turuviyal). Thus the purusharthas were
of a moral economy, not only for the different political territorie
entire Tamil linguistic region. This intent is clear in the foremo

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emerge from Tamil country during the middle of first millennium CE, Mappal (Kurai) by
Val lu var IX2. The text obviously attempted to create a moral order for the entire Tamil society
to which all sections of society from chiefs to laboring classes were bound. It also recognized
the emerging social stratification183. Similar prescriptions for a moral order emerged in later
texts like naiadi nanuru , and those works included in the category of kilkanakku1X4.
Prescriptions for a moral economy, now based more clearly on lana and Buddhist philosophy,
appeared in the longer texts modeled on Sanskrit kavyas, like Chilappatikaram , Manimekalai,
Jivakachintamani and Neelikesi. Such social and moral prescriptions were discussed also
in texts like Porulatikaram of Tolkappiyam, where the interpretation of meaning in language
was related to the material and moral features of the society that spoke the language. Linguistic
expressions were explicitly related to the spatial, temporal, and material factors that formed
the setting for the speech acts1*5. Again, it has been argued that the linguistic prescriptions
in Tolkappiyam have been strongly influenced by Jaina thought1*6.
Scholars have pointed to the powerful Brahmanic and Sramanic influence in structuring
of South Indian society and culture, and they have used concepts like 'Aryanisation' 'Great
and little traditions', and 'secondary state formation1*7'. As indicated above, the Brahmanic
and Sramanic influences in Tamil culture after the Ashokan invasions cannot be rejected,
but it is possible that the scholars may have overstressed the impact, particularly of the
Brahmanas in the early historic period. The influence of the migrant Brahmanas and the
Sramanic monks and sravakas cannot be ignored, but there role will have to be set in the
background of the changes taking place in the Tamil society. Growth of the exchange
ccofcomy. outlined earlier, and the spread of wetland paddy agriculture, as indicated by the
reference to the nadus showed that the tinai geographies were transforming, and Urs were
being located in the specific productive landscapes (pulam '^.Redistribution processes were
also transforming, with the resources and surplus produce being gathered, utilized and
exchanged in the major political centers of the chiefs, such as karur, Uraiyur and Madurai.
This gave rise to the distinction between Uyarntor or Me lor and the laboring (linai gnar,
Vinaivalar) and downtrodden ( Tiyavan , kadaisiyan) groups1*9. As the political territory of
the Ven tans expanded, the congregation of resources and goods into major centers also
increased, thus creating a non-laboring group of the kin group of ventans, and their
dependents, warriors and scholars that subsisted on the resources ( pe rumak kal , perunkuti).m
Major merchants, singers and dancers were also part of this upper class. It is these groups,
who subsisted on the basis of the growing agriculture and trade that were influenced by the
culture and ideas of the northern migrants. It is also important that the existing traditions of
the linguistic community and political territory in turn influenced the theory and practice of
the migrants. This can be illustrated in the way in which a typical Jain text like
chilappatikaram is influenced by the moral economy developing in the period that a king
who is not just must be destroyed. Similarly the moral universe of the Tamils depicted in
Muppal, is based on the Tamil cultural practice already developed in early Tamil texts, and
not a code imposed from above in the typical pattern of the Dharm ashastra 191 . More important
is the way by which the Sramanic traditions, including Buddhism, Jainism, and that of
Ajivikas were rendered into Tamil, and made part of the linguistic and material culture of
the Tamils192.
It is the moral economy envisioned by scholars and poets influenced by the Sramanic
tradition that provided the foundation of the political authority emerging in the river
valleys.Cilappatikaram, with Jaina sympathies was probably authored by a junior Chera
chief and Buddhism was patronized by the Cholas.mNaladi nanuru, a Jaina text belonging
to the kilkannkku collection, was probably composed under Muttarayar, the chiefs of Kaveri
basin194. Early Tontai (Paliava) rulers ''*also patronised Buddhism and were probably
responsible for the Buddhist monuments at Kanci. Sramana influence over the Paliavas
continued up to the period of Mahendra varman, when the Sramana orders declined under

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the impact of Saivism.,% Numerous Buddhist and Jaina centers in

have also been attested to. 197 They were built by the gifts made
already indicated by the Tamil Brahmi labels. It is probably th
gave rise to the story of the kaliyarasar mentioned in the Velvik
Neduncadaiyan (7,h century CE),y' These were probably groups that
and Andhra the region of the northerners or vadukar. The Budd
Vikkanta, who patronized Buddhist monks and scholars, also sho
this shows that instead of talking about a 'kalabhra period', we
transitional phase, when external migrants, mainly Sramanas and
the material and cultural processes in the Tamil region.1''9
This shows that the image of the chief as conqueror and destro
political territories was being complemented by the image of th
emerging moral economy. The combination of these two funct
growth of functionaries who executed these functions as the wi
rise to the early state in the Tamil society. However, the rise of
protector did not result in the integration of the linguistic and c
problem was compounded possibly by political interventions from t
kingdoms of Deccan.200 This was achieved when Tamil country b
divine landscape, and a deity who was conceived as the protect
inhabited by the Tamils. A noted earlier, the attempt to demarca
from the lands where vulgar Tamil was spoken was already takin
was to identify the linguistic core area as a divine landscape inh
under the protection of their deity. It is also possible that the entire
was a narrative developed as a ruse to establish the credibility of
tamilnilax and the Pandya patronage of the Tamil cankam wo
patronage of Tamil as such201.
The concept of a divinity as spatial protector already exists

different deities are mentioned as divinities of the tinai geograph
have no specific residence, and they are believed to be pervad
geography.202 Murukan is the deity pervading kurinci tinai. Th
the later Tirumurukarrupatai is completely different203. The form o
in the early Tamils songs is replaced by the worship of an anthr
mentioned as the son of Siva204. He is also made the son of Korrav
of conquest and victory205. He was supposed to reside in six
They are Tiruppuramkunram (to the West of Madurai), Tirucchen
the Southeast coast), Tiruvavinaankuti (Palani in Dindigul Distr
delta), Palamuticholai (Alakarmalai), and kunrutoratal (Tiruttan
six pataiveedus of murukan marks the territory that included t
basins and the south East coast, extending upto Tiruttani in the nor
being the Palani hills. Thus the entire Konku region (Salem, Erod
of Tamilnadu) and the western lands have been completely left ou
of the six pataiveedus of murugan thus pervaded the territory of th
of Pandyas, Muttarayar succeeded by the Cholas and the Paliavas
confined to the conventional Tamil linguistic territory of venkat
seen that the landscape corresponds broadly to the SentamiX l
Vaigai rivers. A few more territories were included, creating a la
Tiruccendur and from kaveri delta to Palani. This landscape was t
political and socio-cultural transformation of the Tamils in the la
The significance of the six pataiveedus of Murukan and th

reorganizes the Tamil linguistic and cultural region on a new basi

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38 l HC: Proceedings, 74th Session, 20 1 3
and economies of the early historic Tamil region get replaced by the eastern coastal plain
that forms the landscape of Tirumurukarrupatai. The coastal plain is bordered by the highlands
of the Western and Eastern Ghats and the Bay of Bengal. Thus the riversides littoral becomes
the central s geographical space of the new landscape, and paddy agriculture becomes the
central livelihood form and the vellala landholders emerge as the major landowning class to
which Brahmanas who received land grants from the emerging chiefs come to be added.
Other livelihood patterns that were part of the earlier Tinai geographies became peripheral,
and it became imperative on the rulers of the river valleys conduct raids on the bordering
regions mobilize additional resources. The political authority of such region should have
both the means of controlling and regulating agricultural production. Chiefs do not simply
collect tirai and control resources and people, but control land as the resource and means of
production as well as the people who are the producers207. The role of the protector becomes
the role of the sovereign (Ko and koman )208. Sovereignty becomes legitimized through
invoking the divine as the almighty, who becomes the protector of the sovereignty as well as
the land*w. Thus the political territory of the Paliava and Pandya chiefs became the hegemonic
landscapes of the emerging state, legitimized by the divine. The hegemonic landscape also
ensured the legitimation of the emerging division between the non-producing and producing
-distributing classes and facilitated the introduction of 'Puranic religion" and Brahmanic
ideology as powerful stabilizing forces.210 It also incorporated the classical Tamil language
and literature in its organized, pure form and developed it as part of the emerging court
culture .The dominance of Tamil language oral and written and inscribed forms ensured
that the emerging landscape will be a Tamil landscape. The original linguistic community
built upon the confluence of spatial and temporal dimensions, material culture and linguistic
expressions was replaced by the embeddedness of the 'perfect' Tamil language on the
hegemonic landscape of the divine and the profane. Such a landscape also removed all the
kotuntamil forms and regions where such forms continued to exist, including the people of
the Western Ghats and the West Coast. However, these regions were subject to raids and
conquest by the sovereigns of the East, Pandyas, Paliavas and later the Cholas. Cheras, who
were originally part of the linguistic and political territory, were also excluded from the
landscape and developed in a different direction forming a landscape of their own. Others
continued a peripheral, marginal existence, destined to be absorbed as the labour force in
the hegemonic landscape or retaining their tribal characteristics, being called ' Adivasis' in
later literature.
The argument so far developed can be summed up as follows. During the first
millennium BCE, the people who built the Iron Age megalithic burials in different parts of
South India were also interacting among themselves through processes of booty capture,
warfare over resources and products, exchange and cultural communication. In the region
referred to as tamilakam (which is here referred to as the Tamil country), multiple economies
and livelihood patterns existed, this came to be expressed as the tinai geographies. The
processes of cultural interaction resulted in a common linguistic form that came to be called
Tamil. The linguistic form itself may have had similarities with some other languages in
India and elsewhere now referred to as Dravidian languages. The embedded character of the
linguistic form on the Tinai geographies and the development of a corresponding linguistic
expressions, codified in texts like Tolkappiyam provided it with a cultural distinctiveness
not shared by others who spoke a similar language, and thus a Tamil linguistic community
was born. Warfare, internal and external migrations and expansion and diversification of
forms of production and exchange resulted in the growth of an exchange economy in which
people following different livelihood patterns participated, and which also facilitated further
migrations as well as internal and external trade. Chiefs who developed through booty capture
and warfare began to carve out political territories within the linguistic region, and some
were also involved in interaction and warfare with chiefs in the non-Tamil region also.

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Some of these chiefs, who could control maximum resources, c

conquerors and victors ( Vendons ). Carving out such political terr
reorganization the original linguistic and cultural region. New
bases had to be found, which was located in the wetland paddy cult
rivers like kaveri, vaigai, Tamraparni, and Palar. As the coastal pl
came under cultivation on a large scale, new regular resources coul
sustain landowning and trading class, the vellalar and vanikav. They
of sovereign political power s around the river valleys such as kave
period. The sovereign power would need a social organization t
which was provided by the moral economy, bequeathed by scholar
inspiration which was developed by the Brahmanas. They also d
Tamil language (sentamil) that would be distinct from the vulgar Tam
land was born, with its linguistic and cultural specificities. A s
earlier spirit deity Murukan, Siva and victory goddess Korrav
developed to provide divine legitimacy to the emerging landscape.
became the hegemonic Tamil region, which also could sustain a
culturally and materially.
It is difficult to map these processes on a chronological basis. Su

changes took place over a millenium from the middle of the first
middle of the first millenium CE. Nor did the Tamil regional map
the period. The fuzzy borders of the region that was emerging dur
BCE more or less acquired stability during the next millennium ar
the present Tamilnad. Later, the Bhakti movement and the growt
relations and caste divisions would alter social and political proc
they were all built on the powerful foundations of a hegemonic T
and early Tamil bardic poems were preserved to provide a poetic gene
NOTESAND REFERENCES
1 . Thomas Trautmann, Languages and nations: The Providian proof n Colonial Madras , Delhi, Yoda
2006; Idem, The Clash of Chronologies: Ancient India and the modern world , Yoda Press, 2009, Chap
5to7.
2. For a general overview of the recent researches, see Rajan Gurukkal, 'The beginnings of the His
Period; The Tamil South( up to the end of the fifth century AD), Romila Thapar(Ed), Recent Perspec
in Early Indian History, London, Sangam Books, 1995.
3. Akananunx (Hereafter AN) 227; Purananuru (HereafterPN) 19, 35,168.
4. Panamparanar, one of the disciples of Tolkappiyar, has characterised the Tamil country as ' the prosp
world between venkatam in the north and kumari in the south where Tartiil language is spoken' ( Vatavenk
tenkumari ayitai tamilkurunallulakam ), quoted in Ra.Raghava Iyengar, Tamil Varalanx, Annam
University, 1979 p.26
5. For example, Thirteenth rock edict refers to 'keralaputo satiyaputa' and (Chodapamda tambapan
keralaputras (cheras), satyaputras (atiyamans), cholas, Pandyas and Tainrapanriyas, who could be pe
of Ceylon) but there no reference to Dramila, although Andhra is mentioned. E.Hultszch (ed), 'Inscrip
of Asoka, Corpus Inscriptorum Indicarumyoll, Archaeological Survey Of India, 199 preprint.
6. V.Kanakasabhai Pillai, Tamils eighteen hundred years ago , Madras,! 906, pp.24-5;37-8
7. Me Crindle J.W, Commerce and navigation of the Erythrean sea and Ancient India as describe
Ktesias, the À77/í//an, Amsterdam, 1 973.
8. McCrindle J.W.. Ancient India as described by Ptolemy , London, 1927, facsimile reprint, Kolkata. P.
The term is found in Periplus of thee Erythrean sea also.
9. McCrindle, Commerce and Navigation , p. 1 32.They were called kerobothas by Ptolemy and Caelobot
by Pliny.
10. Siripunijja padasiso davidasanghassa kargovuttho namena vaļjanandi patudavodi mahasaiho pancasae
chavisa vikkamarayissa maranaputihassa'dakhina mahurajado davidasangho mahamoho, Kainil Zvelebil,
The Smile of M u rugan, Hague, 1973, p.48 footnote 2.
1 1 . There is an interesting debate on the genesis of the word 'Tamil' in which scholars have tried to derive the
word from Sanskrit, the term referring to sweetness, mystical properties of thee word ctc. See for a
discussion, K.N.Sivaraja Pillai, 'Derivation of the word Tamil' (1936, reprinted in Tamil A'vu, Perasiriyar
ke. En.SivarajaPillai Nurrantu Ninaivu Malar , University Of Madras, 1 979, pp.25-34.

106.194.117.105 on Sun, 22 Oct 2023 06:21:17 +00:00
40 I HC: Proceedings, 74th Session, 20 J 3
1 2 . McCrindle, C ommerct and navigation, p. 1 24 ; 1 3 1 .

13. AN, 220.
14. AN 152.372
IS. AN 1 55.Nanan of Ezhilmalai is mentioned as capturing punnatu.The place is probably the same as pounata
listed by Ptolemy
16. AN Só.Erumeyuran was a chief defeated by Pandya chief Nedunjeliyan in the battle of talaiyalankanam.
The pace is not referred to in other contexts, and could be the pastoral regions beyond the Nilagiri hills..
17. AN 213.Venkatam was controlled by Tontaiyar, which indicates the location of this chieftain.
18. AN 31,67,127,205,211.295,349
19. P.T. Srinivasa Iyengar, History of the tamils from the Earliest Times to 600 A D , Madras, 1929, Asian
Educational Services Delhi reprint, 1983; N. Subramanian, Sangam PolityAdministration and Social Life
of the sangam tam Us, Bombay, '966, Idem, Tam il Social History Vol. I, Chennai, Institute of Asian
Studies, 1997
20. Iruyanar Ahapponil, composed probably in 1 1 *-1 2* century, and Thiruvilayudal pu rana m , composed
probably in 1 3* century, narrate the story of the three Sangams and the submergence of the part of the tamil
land under the sea. The story has been revived in a big way by tamil, scholars like M.P.Sivagnanam, and
M.S.Pumalingam Pillai and recently the narrative has been 'interpreted' in terms of the theory of plate
tectonics and the movement of the so-called Gondwanaland or Lemuria,. The story of the three Cankains,
is believed by such scholars to portray an indigenous past for the Tamilians, a hallmark of Tamil identity.
See for a discussion, Sumathi Ramaswamy, Fabulou s (¡agraphias and Marvellous histories, Delhi, 2007.
21. P.T.Srinivasa Iyengar, Op.Cif, M. Ragliava Aiyangar ,Some Aspects of Tamil and Malayalam
A/7mm//v,Trivandr'iin,1950; Idem, Arayci 7»¿i//i(tamll), Second edition, Chennai, 1 964 ;V.R.Ramachandra
Dksitar, Studies in tamil Literature and History , madras, 1 936; Idem, The origin and Spread of
/afli/7.v,Madras, 1 947;K. A.Nilakantha Shastri, The History and Culture of the Tamils, Calcutta, 1964.
22. M. Ragliava Aiyangar, for example, traces the references to tamilsin Mahabharata and Ramayana, and
builds thee theory of the genesis of tamil language and grammar on the basis of sanskrit influence, See his
Araycci Tokuti, Chapters Ito 6. V.R.R.Diksitar traces Sangam to Sanskrit, and argues that sangliata is
simply a classification of poetry influenced by Sanskrit.See his Studies, pp2 1-4.
23. Kamil Zvelebil, Op.Cit , p.40
24. S.Vaiyapuri Pillai, Tamizh Chutar manikal (tamil), Chennai,! 949, 1968, pp. 1 7-54
25. Ibid., pp 42-54;S. VaiyapiiriPillai,///.v/«rv of Tamil Ixinguage and Literature, Madras, 1956; pp.65-73
26. S. VaiyapuriPillai himself points to the' utterly artificial, or at best, conventional character of the treatment'
¡hid, pp.69-70
27. K. Zvelebil ( )p.Cit,pp . 141-2
28. An argument t the contrary has been made by Herman Tieken, who has suggested a later date for the
composition of the Sangam poetry. Herman Tieken, Kavya in South India: Old Tamil Cankam
/Wr^, Groningen, Edgbert Forsten, 200 1 . However, Tieken 's argument may be valid in so far as the
compiltion of the poems, as the compilers like Peruntevanar have been given a later date, and not on the
compoisitions themselves, which, like any oral composition, are not easily datable .Further, there is always
the possibility that tlie the poems could still depict the social formation from the period of their composition
to their compilation. The point has been discussed in K.Sivathamby, Tamil Jlakkiya Varalaaru ,3rd edition,
New Century Book House, Chennai, 20 10.
29. M.D.Emeneau, Collected PapersfonDravidian lingusitcs, ethnology and folktales), Department of
Linguistics, Annainalai University, Annamalainagar, 1 967. Eineneau has argued that the language of the
Todas has clear pre-sanskritic elements that is also seen in the early tamil language. Emeneau's arguments
have proved aa powerful supplement to the early theories by Ellis and Caldwell on the Tamil laneuaue.
30. Vaiyapuri Pillai, ( Op.Cit , pp.4 1-3) gives a list of such loan words from Pali in the footnote.
31. Apart from Indian languages. Ra. Ragliava Iyengar gives a list of loan words in Tamil from east African
and West Asian countries. Ra. Ragliava Iyengar op.Cit, Appendix.
32. K. A.Nilakantha Shastri, A Historry of South India: from earlist limes to Vijayanagar Oxford University
Press, 1958. The book summarises this perspective in Chapters 2 and 3.
33. N.Subrahmanian, sangam Polity, Op.Cit. The book provides the standard version on the early tamil polity.
34. K.N.Sivaraja Piillai. Cmnology of the Early tamils, Madras, 1932; K.GSesha Iyer, Chera Kings of the
Sangam Period, Luzac &Co, 1937.
35. K.Sivathamby.Early Indian society and Economy: The Tinai Concept, Social scientist, Vol.29, 1 974,pp.20-
37
36. K.Kailasapathy, Tamil Heroic Poetry, Oxford, The Clarendon Press, 1968
37. Rajan Gumkkal, Forms of Production and forces of Change in Early Tamil Society^/uJ/e.v in History n.s
vo IV No.2 July-Deceinber,1989 pp. 159-76. Gurukkal has later called the early tamil polities as 'chiefdom
states'.
38. Seneviratnc S, 'Pre-State Societies and State Socieities: Transformations in the Political Ecology of South
India with Special reference to Tamil Nadu, Seminar on State in Pre-Colonial South India, Jawaharlal
Neliru University, new delhi, 1 989

106.194.117.105 on Sun, 22 Oct 2023 06:21:17 +00:00
39. Seneviratne S, From Kudi to Nadu: A suggested framework for the study of p
in Early Iron Age South India' L.K.Srinivasan and S.Nagaraju(ed), Sri Naga
rao Festschrift , Dr.M.S.Nagaraja rao Felicitation Committee, Bangalore, 1 995
40. For example, K.A.Nilakantha Shastri, Development of Religion in South I
pp. 12-5.
41 . M.GS. Narayanan, Vedic -Puranic-Shastraic Elements in Tamil Sangam Culture' in Foundations of South
Indian society and Culture, New Delhi, 1992 pp. 132-47.
42, Seneviratne, from Kudi to nadu Op.cit
43 . Clarence Maloney, The beginnings of Civilisation in South India' Journal of Asian Studies , xxix, No.3, 603-
16,1970;Richard S Kennedy, The King in Early South India: As chieftain and Emperor' Indian Historical
review, Volili, No,. 1, July, 1976.
44. See for a discussion, R.Champakalakshmi, Trade, Ideology and Urbanisation: South India 300BC to AD
1300 , Oxford University Press, 1996, Chapters 2and 3.
45. This is shown by the activities of the Chera chiefs nedunceralatan and Cen Kuttuvan in the western seas
, fighting against the yavanas( Patirrupattu, second aand fifth pattu).
46. Rajan Gurukkal 0/?.07; Gurukkal refers to the 'blending zones' between tinai that facilitated production
and exchange, that played a significant role in the growth of surplus appropriation and redistribution
processes that sustained the chiefdom states of the ventans.
47. The point has been strongly raised in Rajan Gurukkal, 'Classical Indo-Roman Trade: A Misnomer in
Poltical economy' Economic and Political Weekly,V ol.XLVIII Nos,26&27, June29-July6 2013,pp.67-78.
48. S.Suresh has argued against the claim that the roman coins were used as ornaments, by pointing out the
very few perforated Roman coins have been discovered. S. Suresh, Symbols of Trade: Roman and Psedo-
Roman Objects in South India, Delhi, 2004.
49. The term 'Kalabhra Interrugnum' has been coined by K.A.Niilakantha Shastri, and has almost gained
canonical status in Tamil Historiography. Detailed studies on the period itself, have been very few. One
example is M.Arunachalam,for/o/>Arav in the pandya Country and threir Impact on the Life and
Letters, Madras Uniiversity,1979.
50. Buddhadatta, who wrote a commentary on Vinayapitaka , termed Vinayaviniccaya, states that he wrote
when Accuta Vikkanta was ruling over the Cola Kingdom.
51. The argument regarding kali age as a period of social crisis was raised by B.N.S.Yadava in his article ,
'The Account of the Kali Age and Social Transition from the Antiquity to Middle Ages', Indian Historical
review. Vols 1 and 2, 1978-9. The argument was incorporated into his own thesis on Indian feudalism by
R.S.Sharma:,'The Kali Age: A Period of Social crisis' in B.N.Mukherjee(ed), History and Thought:
Essays in honour of A. LBasham , Calcutta, 1982. The argument has been sought to be used in the case of
Tamil country also on the basis of the reference to kaliyarasar in Velvikkudi grant.(K.K.Pillay, A Sociaal
History of the tamils Vol.1, University of Madras, 1975, p.509)
52. Rajan Gurukkal, 'Towards a New Disocurse: Discursive processes in Early South India', Social formations
of early South India' Oxford University Press, 20 1 0,pp. 1 82-20 1 .
53. Another version of the transition is provided by Rajan Gurukkal, 'Social formation from ancient to medieval'
, in Gurukkal, Social formations ,,pp205-23
54. It is not intended to suggest chronology of the early Tamil texts, as the composition of the texts and the
compilaron of thee texts along with commentaries could be in different periods. For a discussion of the
periodisation of early Tamil texts K.Si vathamby, Tamizhil Ilaakkiya Varalaru, Chenna, 20 1 0 pp 1 32- 1 40;2 1 0-
40.
55. Shanti Pappu, 'Reinvestigation of the pre-historic Archaeological Record in the Kortallayar
Basin, Tamil nadu', Man and Ziwv//wwie/i/,21:pp. 1-23, 1996; B. Narasimhaiah, Neolithic and megalithic
Cultures in iimiłnadu, Delhi, 1980; K. Rajan, The Archaeological Gazetteer ofTamilnadu, Tanjavur, 1 997.
56. A number of w orks on megalithic culture in south India is available. B.K.Guniraja rao, Megalithic Culrure
in South India, Prasaranga, University of Mysore, 1972; L.S.Leshnik, South Indian Megalithic Burials :
The Pandukal Complex, Wiesbaden, 1974; A.Sundara , early passage Chamber tombs in South India,
dellii,1975; B.Narasimhaiaih, 0/?.O7;U.S.Moorti, Megalithic Cultures in South India: Socio-economic
Perspectives, Varanasi,1994; See for the details of megaliths in Tamil region( except Kerala) K. Rajan ,
V.P.Yathees Kumar and S.selvakumar, Catalogue of Archaeological remains in Tamilnadu, 2 vols,
tanjavur,2009.
57. Mesolithic artifacts, including microliths were found in the exacavation of megalithic burials recently
conducted(2008) in Anakkarai, Bharatappuzha basin, Kerala state by Rajan Gurukkal and his team..
58. Hie significance of technological variability and labour process is emphasized by R.Brubaker', Aspects of
mortuary variability in the South Indian iron Age' Bulletin of the Tteccan College Post-Graduate and
research studies, 60-6 1,2001, pp. 253-302; See also Andrew M Bauer, 'Towards a Political Ecology of
Early South India: Preliminary Considerations of the Socio-politics of Land and Animal Use in the Southern
Deccan, Neolithic through early Historic periods, Asian Perspectives, Vol.46, No. 1 .Spring 2007 pp.3-35
59. An interesting possibility has been suggested by K.Sivathamby, when he pointed out that Mullai Tinai in
Sangma texts indicated the space of transition from pastoralism to agriculture, and also a transition from

106.194.117.105 on Sun, 22 Oct 2023 06:21:17 +00:00
42 IHC : Proceedings, 74th Session, 2013
movement to sedentarism ( wives staying at home while the men are away tending cattle. The tmai might
signify an actual process of movement from hills to valleys. We have not had many studies that have
seriously looked into this process. K.Sivathamby, An Anthropological Analysis of the Economic Activities
and Conduct codes ascribed to Multai Tinai' , Studies in Ancient Tamil Society , Chennai,1998.
60. K.Rajan, Archaeology of Tamil nadu(Kongu Country), New delhi, 1 994; Idem, Iron and gem Stone Industries
as revealed from Kodumanal excavations, Puratattva , No. 20, pp. 11 - 2,1989-90. Recent excavations in
Kodumanal and Ponintal being conducted by K.Rajan and V.P,Yathees kumar have going on for the past
two seasons.
6 1 . The sites excavated include Roman trade centres, Arikainedu( M.Wheeler, A.Ghosh and Krishna deva, 1
Vimal Begley( 1 989-92,Report, 1 996),Alagankulam(R. Nagasamy and Abdul Majeed, 1 970), and the ongoin
excavation of Pattanam(2007-13).0thers are Korkai( R. Nagasamy, 1970), Karur (Nagasamy, 1974)
Kaveripattanam(K.V.soundararajan, 1 963-73, Report, 1 994) Uraiyur (Indian archaeological Repoits, 1964-
5; 1965-6).
62. H.N.Singh, History and Archaeology of Black and red Pottery(chalcolithic People), Delhi, 1982.
63. K.Rajan, Startigraphical Position of Russetted Coated Painted Ware' in C.Margabandhu et. al (edj Indian
Archaeological Heritage: K.V.Soundararajan Festschrift , Delhi, 1991.
64. AĚ Sundara, Op.Cit. Passage chambers have been found in the northern part of Kerala also. K.J .John,
Rock Cut cave tombs at Chitrari: Some new light on the rock cut cave tombs of malabar', Journal of
Kerala Studies, 1(4), 1974, pp.383-387.
65. Argument has been advanced for the diffusion of megalithic culture from beyond the Hindu kush, Thus
contacts with West Asia. Also, rock cut passage-passage porthole chambers that cover most of the laterite
beds of Kerala were 'local adaptations of th models reached by the sea probably from Ethiopia that has
parallels for the types'( Rajan Gurukkal and Raghava Varier, Cultural History of Kerala,
Thiruvananthapuram,1999 p. 124.
66. Leshnik Op.Cit , has argued that the authors of the megaliths were nomadic pastoralists.However, the
forms of labour and technology required for building the megaliths would suggest a semi-sedentary
population, but without the concept of a territory. Increase in population and diversification of labour
processes, for example, potmaking, iron tools and mat could also facilitate and search for resources and
settlement adjacent to resource he regions. Leshnik himself approvingly uses the identification by fergusson
and Walhouse that the megaliths were created by Kurumbas( Leshnik, p.l44,93).However, the
ethnoarchaeology of the movement and settlement of kurumbas( or kurumas) have not been worked out.
67. R.Champakalakshmi, 'Archaeology and Literary Tradition' Puratattva, Vol. Viii, 1975, pp.1 10-122.
68. Excavations at Karur is an example. R.Nagasamy, 'Karuvur-Vanji, Capital of the sangam Ceras', Jourrnal
of Kerala studies, Vol.1, Part iv, December, 1 974, pp.395-402.
69. Gururaja rao Op Cit, Leshnik Op.Cit. Moorti, Op.Cit. Stratification appears in the construction of the
burials , from pit to multiple chamber burials, and the distribution of grave goods within the burial type.
Geographical variation appears in the resources used in the production of grave goods or structures, as in
the case of the use of laterite in Kerala or the choice of clay for potmaking.
70. Incidence of beiyl, carnelian, and other beads, gold, Roman amphora and roulette ware in the presence of
coins in the Pattanam site along with standard megalithic grave goods in pattanam site is an example.
71. K.Rajan, Iron and gem stone industries, Op.Cit.
72. Rajan Gurukkal and Raghava Varier(Gen.Ed) Cultural History of Kerala, Vol.1, Trivandrum,1999 p.l 19
73. Maps prepared by the Historical Atlas of South India project, French Institute , Pondichery, show the
predominance of distribution of megalithic burials along the Western Ghtas and te hillsolps and table lands
surrounding them. However during the period from 300-600 AD and 600-1300 AD the habitation sites
shift to the river valleys. The maps can be accessed at hatlas@ifpindia.orp.
74. AN 11 9, 121 (Aruselmakkal Chorupothi venkutai : wayfarers carrying packed rice and umbrella),
AN 1 75,343(^4 ruselvanpaiax- Stangers on the road), AN2Al(Arupalaneenth'~mo''ng though several roads)
75. AN 7,35, 103,1 19, 129, 169,3 13etc ref.to Curam iraintor or Malai iraintor
76. AN338
77. AN95, 1 07, 1 1 3, 1 75, 1 9 1 ,277,289,343;PN 78,79 etc.The frequency of these references show
movement along cong the pathways, where known and unknown people travelled, demonstrat
movement of people and goods during the period of composition of the songs.
78. AN 35( Arunkavalaiya pulavu naru arunatram)AN 1 47f kavalai neri patu neelampa neellitai). Also
streets are connected to different passes, AN 361(vew eru mauku viyancuram iranthanan).
79. AN245 ( kal netunkavalai kanam neenthi)
80. AN 1 2 1 , 1 75,399 PN 35,39 (imayam), AN 265(patali)
81 . AN349 states that in order to reach the area of nannan , one has go through ways where peop
other languages inhabit( Colpeyar teyattu curam /ra/7//wr)People like kosarfOmw mozhi kosar)
from another linguistic region(c olpeyar teyam) and vatukar (kalla neenmozhi kathanay vatuk
speaking other languages. Vatukar were speaking a crude language(Aa/;fa neenmozhi)
82. This is seen in the use of turais( called by Kailasapathy as 'themes' but look more like poetic entr
inearly tamil poems, where this form of interplay between real and literary spatialities ta
K. Kailasapathy, Tamil Heroic Poetry, w 191-228

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83. For a discussion, Rajan Gurukkal,' Writing , literacy and Social formation
formations ,pp. 1 66- 181.
84. The chronology adopted by Iravatham mahadevan in his study of the tainil Br
here. 1. Mahadevan, Early Tamil Epigraphy: From the earliest times to ó'* cent
and the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University,2003 Ta
85. AN 107,375,378
86. AN 69 PN 175
87. There are several songs which show clear Jaina influence , for example PN 1 82( sung by Ilamperovaluti), 1 92(
sung by kaniyan Poonkunran). AN 181 refers to Juan Murai mutunul 'the concealed old knowledge' of
the Brahman as.
88. The indigenization has been attempted to be interpreted on the basis of archaeological evidence by K. Rajan,
Situating the early Historical Times in Tamilanadu: Some issues and reflections'. Social Scientist Vol.36,
1-2, 2008.
89. This is shown in the distinction between Akappeyar and purappeyar prescribed in Tolkappiyam
Porulatikaram. Thus the sutra in Akattinaiiya'$l forbids the names beyond the general names in A kam
songs and also Sutra 58 also states that proper nouns of purattinai should not be used in akattinai. Thus
the transition from common to proper nouns would signify the transition from a narrative to recording an
event, be it space, time, resources, or fonns of human practice. See for a discussion, K.N.Ganesh, Space-
time, event and expression in early Tamil texts: Historicising Tolkappiyam, Indian Historical review ,
38(1), 2011 pp. 1-22
90. Y.Subbarayalu, Visaki and Kuviran: Historical implications of names in Tamil-Brahmi Inscriptions'
K.Indrapala(ed), Early Historic tamilnadn , Chennai,2009,pp 95-122. Subbarayalu points to the existence
of Prakrit speakers, some of them from Srilanka, among those who inscribed tha names on potery or in
caves. The names in sangam literature shows more standardization , which may be the result of more
scholarly attempts those who compiled the anthologies. However, it may also show the process of
indigenization of the Prakrit speaking people.
91 . It has been argued that the system of inscribing involved the non-traditional rights and privileges in thee
society for validation( Rajan Gurukkal, Writing, Literacy and Social formations, Op.Cit). The use of the
Brahmi script is related also related to the state formation during the early Historic period ( K. Rajan,
Damili Graditi and Cave rcords: The Brahmi Script in Tamilnadu' K.Indrapala, 0/?.c/7,pp.57-94. Limitation
of writing to names and deeds appear to be an effort to preserve traditions of individual acts of benediction
or valour, different from group practice. This process of indivuation might have been creation of migrants,
including prakrit speakers, and indicated the breakup of tribal identity.
92. K.Sivathamby has argued that such a process might have place in the Tamil country indicating the process
of social formation during the periods in which the Sangam songs were composed and the period in which
the songs were compiled. K.Sivathamby, Thamizhil Ilakkiya Varalaru, Third Edition, Chennai, 20 10 pp.5 1 -
57.
93. For the standard discussion, Kailasapathy Op.cit, Chapter V

94. AN 33A(natu tiraikonta) íJatirmpattu(hercafterPP ) VI. 3 (vaia yanar tirai kotuppa - tirai from newly
produces)
95. AN2 1 9PN 1 8,257,297,33 1 ( I indatm) AN86, 233, 266, 275, PN2, 220, 261 (I'erunchoru).
96. PP, III.2.1I.9-10 (.amartunai pirivatu pathuntumakkal)
97. R. Champdkahkshmi, Trade, Ideology, I ¡rhanisat ion, p.97.
98. Seneviratne, Front Kudi to nadii.O/rC /7, Table! showing the confluence of chiefs and megalithic sites
99. For a discussion of early historic political authority, K.Sivathamby,' Organisation of Political authority in
Early Tamilm.du',tn Sivathamby, Studies , pp.26-57.
100. Sivathamby identifies the growth of concept of territory with the the emergence of Mannam. Ibid , p.46
101 . Akananuru, which generally gives common names such as Sirur and Mutur, also gives proper names such
as Mokur, kazhuinalam, Naravu, vem pi, Velur, Kuzhumur, Korkai, Kainur, Pazhi, Kovalur, Azhumpil,
Oonur, Amur, Talaiyani, Itaiyaru, Viyalur, Cellur, Vilankil etc. Such proper names indicate regular settlements
with mercantile, political or ritual importance.
102. References to Ur in AN310(neital).AN3l6(artisan settlement) AN394(grazing lands), An56(riverside
waterfront) AN203( hills) shows that such settlements had cut across tinai geographies.
1 03. AN 1 5, 1 65, 1 89,266, for ceri.marukii and tern associated with I V.
1 04. AN 60,6 1 ,83,340,PN343etc. simplp exchange never involved coinage, but paddy appeared to have been a
common equivalent.
105. AN 81 (irumpu oothu kit ru kin-iron smelting), ANI (Cira karot an-ÍQñ'Uer worker), Thotuthol paraiyar
(slipper makers), AN202 (Venkai naruvee kollan- smith) AN224 ( kayiru i//wo//v>a-ropemaking)
PN 1 9( Atom. //-plough), PN23 (Navivam paythahl-axe) PN206 (maran kol taccan-mason)
106. AN222,232,352,PN 51, Narrinai(hereafter Nar.)288,328etc.
107. This is shown in the number of songs sung by poetess Auvaiyar, majority of which are addressed to the
chiefs of takadur, and others like Pemnchittiranar. PN208, 230, 23 1, 232, 235, 286, 290, 295, 31 1, 315etc
108. PN 90,102

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44 JHC : Proceedings , 74th Session , 20/5
109. AN25, 25 1,287, 322, 373, 377PN 51, 89, 128 (Potivi!), AN 1 57, 158, 232, 321 PN 35, 76, 135 ( Manram ),
AN232, 82 PN28, 78 (kalam)
110. PN350 ,3 5 5 (/m/y//) AN84,PP.1I:6,V1:8( man eyil). Larger walls were called matil, made of
nuid( nctumaiil)PN 3 8
111. AN61, 93, 1 62, 176,253,3 10. Stone walls were also referred to as inci (AN35, PN341). Larger stone and
metal structures, surrounding towns were called netunakar , such as the netunakar of
Uranthai(Urayur)AN385,Potinai AN 61.
112. PN 92 X)nnar kaiimatil aran pala kalania aiiyaman anci ( who captured several protected walls and
fortifications of the enemies)
113. Tolkappiyam Porulalikaram, Purattinai iyal, Sutras 66,67,68,69
114. This is shown by the example given by llampuranar(tlie commentator of Tolkappiyam) for explaining the
turai lokainilai of ulinaiitinai, I'aiirrupatiu V:3 which is a direct narration of siege warfare and conquest.
115. Zvelebil, Op.Cit, 174
116. PP.V.4.LI.10-17
117. AN 44,270
1 1 8. Zvelebil Op.Cit, pp. 163-4
119. AN2 (tanta i a runka ti kavalar ), AN 122 ( tunca kannar kavalar ) Protection groups called katiyar and
katikaiyar are mentioned (AN32,35,PN 202)
120. AN21, 75, 77,297, 371etc.
121. AN54,84, 127,334
1 22. Porunan also referred to a singer and has been used as such by Kaiiasapathy( 0/?.C/7,pp.98-100). However,
the temi also clearly denotes a chief who is treated as the overlord of nadu and Ur, thus acquired sovereign
position.For example, Tankatarpatappai nannaltuporuna(P P VI. 5.3-6)
123. Ko, Porunan, ventan were terms that have been used in the texts to denote such control, and since, the
texts refer specifically to such centres their control signified the extent of the power and territory of the
chief. Other tenus are also used such as Er( kuttuvar Er), meymarai(puzhiyar mevmarai) cf. PP.IX, 1 0,LI.25-
30
124. PP.VII.8.1-4;VIII, 4,2-5.
125. PP.11, 5, 16-24.
126. PP.IX, 10,25-30
127. AN36&(konkar mani arai yaitu marukil alum u/livizhavu-llllivizha when (people) danced in the streets
tying konkar mani in their hips)
128. There are references to several types of traders like ponvanikan(meta',go'á) artivaivanikan( clothesO
kulavanikan( grain).There is also reference to ' w //¿ac/;« ////(bargaining trading groups AN39).
1 29. AN 1 59, 1 73,3 1 0 ctc.bargaining was called kollai calti , from which terms like umanar caliti , vanikar caitu
appear to have emerged.
130. ANI9I, PN90, 102, 256.
131. One example is the reference to kosar, who are coming from a place that spoke another language and their
settlement is called a niyamam(Ms 90). The tenu is the same as nigama, trade settlement found in other
parts of India.( Mahadevan Op.Cit 3.2(Mangulam)) see also pp 548-9)
132. For a discussion of the early contacts, R.Chempakalakshini, Trade, ideology and Urbanisation, pp. 1 1 4-7
133. Although Panini does not mention any region to the south of Kalinga, Katyayana, (c.4* century BC)
speaks about Chola and Pandya. K-KPiHay, Social History of the Tamils , University of Madras, 1973,
p. 1 19.
1 34. K.Rajan, on the basis of kodumanal evidence, has strongly argued that the Brahmi inscriptions go back to
pre-Asokan times(( K.Rajan, Situating early Historical times, pp.23-9. He also discusses the possibility of
Prakrit speakers taking Brahmi script to Srilanks and the possibility of script migrationg from Srilanka.
Recent discoveries from Kodumanal possibly substantiates such migrations from the North.( K.Rajan and
V.P.yathees Kumar, New evidence on scientific dating ofTamil Brahmi script as revealed in Kodumanal
and Porunthal excavations, Pragdhara , No.2l-22,20l3,Pp.278-295), Rajan has suggested that dates for
Tamiil Brahmi script should be taken back to 5Ul century BC.Although this argument is worth serious
consideration, it does not offset the general argument that the Tamil south carne under frequent and regular
contact with the northerners from the latter half of first millennium BC
1 35. One indication of this prevalence of Sramanas could be the references to the term pali (palli-hermitage) in
Tamil Brahmi inscriptions. The temi already occurs frequently in the inscriptions catalogued by Mahadevan
among the early inscriptions (Mahadevan Op.Cit , Nos 1,2,10,15,34,52.). A comparable Brahmanical
term does not occur in the inscriptions of the same period. Indigenisation is shown by the use ofTamil in
the labels.
1 36. Apart from the reference to the sacrifices indicated earlier, there is reference to 'rappirappalat (twice
born) and muihee( three sacrificial fires) PN, 367. PN224 refers to the Vedic sacrifice and the fire emanating
from the yupa, again demonstrating the dominant function of the Brahmana..PN 166 refers to Punjattur
Parppan kauniyan Vinnan Tayan,. Avur Mulankilar, the poet, also mentions Vedic sacrifices.
137. Mahadevan Op.Cit , 3.2,6.4 refer to Vel arai nikamam; Also PP II.6;III. 10; VIII. 5.

106.194.117.105 on Sun, 22 Oct 2023 06:21:17 +00:00
138. Integrated discussion on the Buddhist and Jaina presence in Tamilnad

Venkatasami, Baudhamum lami Inni, 3rd edition, Chennai, 2006; Idem, sama
Chennai, 2006. For the Jaina monuments, see P.B.Desai,./¿//7>/.sw in South Ind
ShoIapur,1957.
139. R.Chempakalakshmi, Trade , Ideology and Urbanisation , pp. 181-196
140. S.Suresh, Symbols of Trade , Vimala Begley and R.D.dePuma (ed), Ro
Trade , University of Wisconsin Press, Madison, 1992; R.Champakalakshmi, Trad
Chapter 2.
141. PN 377 states the sources of some of the goods: Malai payainta maniyum( stones from the hills)
kalarttpayainta ponnum( gold from the sea-Roman gold?) It also states that beads are coming from the
sea.
142. Kalinkam is referred to in PN393,398.

1 43. PN 398 refers to kalinkam as puraiyan meni pootthtikil kalinkamfkalinkam covering the body of pur
144. Krishnamurthy K.Sangam Age Tamil Coins, Madras, 1997.
145. There are 22 songs in the sangain texts referring to Tondi, which the author of Periplus describes
'fishing village', whereas there are* only seven songs addressing Mucin, and they do not consistently s
that Mucin was occupied by the Cheras.
146. Rajan Gumkkal , Classical Indo-Roman Trade: A Misnomer, p.75
1 47. Rajan Gurukkal has called the Roman centres foreign merchant camps rather than ports of trade. Ibid, pp
1
148. The references by Kosmas Indikopleustus on the Christian settlements in the West Coast appear after the
decline(535AD).There were also Christian migrations from West Asia, led by Thomas of Cana, and by
Mar Sapor and Mar Prot. Evidence for jews and Arabs also appear after 4"' century. Rajan Gurukkal and
Ragliava Varier, Cultural History of Kerala, pp268-9
149.. According to the colophon, Sirupanarrupatai(hereafter SAP) has been sung by Idakkazhinattu Nallur
Nathathanar and addressed to the chief Nalliyakkotan of Oymanatu, who held the nakaram of Mavilankai.
It is part of the ten songs (pattupattu) believed to have been composed later than the bardic songs of
ettutokai.
150. SAP li. 78-82
151 . SAP62-66.Ccliyan is also called korka i koman showing the control over the coastal port.
152. SAP47
1 53. SAP 48-50. The bow is the symbol of the Cheras. Vanci is also refened to in association with the n
1 54. The seven chiefs are Pekan( Avivar peruinakan perunkal natan Pekan), Pari (parampil koman), kari (
Malaiyainan tirumudikari in other texts), Ay, Atikan (probably atikaman), Nalli (naiimalai natan) and
The list appears to be an assortment of chiefs, probably a matter of literary convention rather than signif
an actual chronological consonance. However, the convention helps us to understand the extent of
Tamil political territory. Katai ezhuvallal appears in the colophon.
1 55. AN56 describes Nedunceliyan as defeating cerai, cempiyan(Cholan), Titiyan, Elini, Erumeyuran,Irunk
and Porunan. However, the purpose of the battle is not clear, nor the way in which the chief fought so m
enemies (including Erumeyuran and Irunkovel coming from a distance, probably Karnataka region) in
battlefield. .Similarly PN 66 refers to the defeat of the other ventans and the vatakkirikkal of on
them(Chera?). Again the context is not clear, even from literary conventions.
156. PN 24,76. Ritualisation of warfare is shown by the convention of the chief having to defeat s
enemies, which was supposed to have been done by netunjeliyan,Imayavarainban netuncheralat
Narmudicheral, Cenkuttuvan and Atiyaman Anci(Kailasapathy, Op.Cit, p.226). Not to be outdo
Karikalvalavan defeated eleven at Venni(Narrated in Porunararnipatai)
1 57. The heroic exploits of Tinunavalavan( identified with karikalvalavan), the chola king, as sung in Pattinapp
bu Uruttiran kannanar, has the character of a digvijaya.
158. The poet also belonged to another nadu, Idakkazhinadu, showing that nadu terminology had come i
parlance.
' 59. Tamizhnilai perra tankam marapin Makizhnanai marukin maturai (SAP66-7)
160. Iraiyanar Akapfwrul, wi'U commentary by Chenturai Mutthu, Chennai, 1 970
161. Chentamilnilatlu vazhakkotu civanithamporul vazhamai isaikkum cholle, Tolkappiyam, collatikaram,
398.
162. Naccinarkiniyar's commentary to Collatikaram, 398.
163. Tolkappiyam, Collatikaram, 400.
1 64. Naccinarkiuniyar mentions twelve natus: Ponkamatu, Olinatu,tenpantinatu, kuttanatu, kutanatu, Panrinatu,
karkanatu, ceetanatu, puzhinatu, inalatanatu, aruvanatu, aaivavatathalainatu. 12 natus surrounding them
are added to the list, They are Cinkalain(srilanka),Palaintivu, kollam, koopain, konkanam, tulu,
kutakam,karunatain, kutain, vatuku, telungu, kalinkam. Cenavarayar Changes the list somewhat by including
venatu and punnatu instead of Ponkamatu and olinatu.
i 65. The vulgar forms are already indicated in the above sutra as tisaicol, and examples are provided by the
commentators, conesponding to what came to be known as kotuntamil usages.

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46 IHC : Proceedings, 74th Session, 2013
166. Pavananti refers to 12 lands that are adjoining the centanni region and 18(17 according to commentator
Mayilainathar)lands that do not speak tamil fAfa/?/?u/,cołlatikaram, Nurpa,273).
167. Tolkappiyam,Co''atìkaramAO' .
1 68. Tolkappiyam , Ponilatikaram, Marapiyal,97 clearly states that any tradition (vazhi) is dictated by the head
of the group(inutalvan). Thus sentami! traditions ( vazhakku ) is decided by the ruling class usages.
169. The term nadan appears for several chiefs referred to in Sirupanarrupadai.Perunkal natan(Pekan),
Nalimalainatan(Nalli), Kuurumporai nannatu(ori)
1 70. Kesavan Veluthat, The Role of nadu in the Socio-political structure of South India(c.600-1 200) ,D.N.Jha(ed)
The leuda! Order: Stale, Society and Ideology in Early Medieval India , Delhi, Manohar, 2000 pp. 1 79-
196
171. Tolkappiyam, Collatikaram,397.

172. Ibid, 398. Naccinarkiniyar makes this point clear.. See also note 162.
173. This is preserved by the tradition of Pantirupatalam, the twelve disciples of the sage Agattiyar, the
traditional(Brahinanical) seer of Tamil grammar. See the discussion on Tolkappiyar in S. Vaiyapuripillai,
tamizhcutarmanikal , pp. 1 7-54.
174. I Mahadevan, Op.Cit , pp.2 1 1-2
175. K. Kailasapathy Op.Cit pp. 11 2-4; 229-30. Kailasapathy describes chanror as heroic warriors, but later
poems show that ihey gained respect as invokers of justice, as pointed out by Kailasapathy elsewhere. See
K.Kailasapathy/ Aramum Arasiyalum', Pantaithamizh vazhvum Vazhi pa tum, Chennai, 1966, 1978,pp.l32-
150.
176. Several Tamil poets have Brahamanical Gothra names, such as Kaushikanar, Palai Gauthamanar, and
markandeyanar and there is reference to Kauniyan(Kaundinya Gothra). Others have clear Srainanic
names, like Ilampotiyar. Many od the poems in the Kilkanakku set of poems , as pointed out earlier, have
been clearly composed under Sramanic influence, including Kural and naiadi nantira.
177. PN 66 (Kurapalli Thunciya -considered to be the same as karikalvalavan) PN 196, 198 (Ilavantikaipalli
Tunciya nanmaran) PN14,387(Cikkarpalli tunciya valiyatan)
178. PN 66, 230,231.
179. PP VII, VIU, IX provide examples for Celvakatunko, perunceral and Ilaceral being addressed with these
epithets.
180. Tolkappiyam , Porulatikaram, 76.77.
181. The colophon for Celvakatunko states:
Natupathi patuttu nannarotti
Veruveru tnaiytu ceruppala katantu
h'thal chanra i tanu te velvi
Akkiya pozhuiin arathurai poki
Thus Celvakatunko is not only credited with driving away enemies, but building his own
territory(natu), conducting sacrifices and administering justice(aram),PP VI I, pat i kam.
182. Muppal, famous as Tirukkural to the Tamil people, is a kilkanakku text , and contains three parts dealing
with aram( ethics or law), /wrul(wealth) and lnpam('o'e). There are several commentaries to Muppal, the
famous being that of Parimelalagar.There are several contemporary evaluative works on kural available.
For example, M.Varadarajan,7i/rva//t/var, allathu vazhkai vilakkam , Chennai, 1979, V.S.Manikkam ,
Valluvam , 1953,1976. For a social critique, S.Ramakrishnan, Tirukkural, oru samuthaya parva i ,
Madurai, 1980.
183. S.Ramakrishnan///>/i/, Chapter IV), points to the significance of Oozh in Muppal. Oozh is a principle
roughly equivalent to karma, which is both the capacity for labour as well as the moral principle, guiding
human activity and leads to social stratification
1 84. Naiadi nanuru also deals only with the three Aram, Inpam and Poru' and excludes deliverance. It, however,
goes into a detailed classification of the different forms, and is much more a prescriptive text..
1 85. For a discussion, Kamil Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan, Op. cit, ChapterIX, see also K.N.Ganesh, Op.Cit.
1 86. S. Vaiyapuri Pillai, History of Tamil Language , pp.65-73. He has provided a detailed defense of his position
in Tamizh chutarmanikal, that is convincing.
187. 'Great and little traditions' is the concept introduced by Robert Redfield , Primitive World and its
transformations , Oxford, 1961. The secondary state formation, a concept put forward by Claessen and
Skalnik, is discussed in the context of South India by S.Seneviratne, 'Kal inga and Andhra: The process of
secondary state formation in Early India' The Indian Historical Review , Vol.7 ; 1-2, 1980-81, pp.54-69
188. Rajan Gurukkal, Eraly Iron Age Economy: Problems of Agrarian Expansion in Tamilakam' in Social
formations, Chapter 7. The importance of Ur has not been brought out by Gurukkal .An attempt has been
made in K.N.Ganesh, Lived Spaces in History: A Study in Human Geography in the context of the Sangam
Texts, Studies in History Vol.xxv, no.2, August, 2009 pp. 152-1 95
1 89. K. Sivathamby, Development of Aristocracy in Tamilnadu- A study of the beginnings of Social Stratification
in Early Tamilnadu, Studies, 0/?. C/t, pp. 58-9 1 ¡Kailasapathy, To/n/V Heroic Poetry, pp.258-63
1 90. The prefix 'peru' indicated exalted status, and indicated stratification, such as Olaiyur peruncattan(,Pitavur
kilan Peruncattan, Vaiyavi kopperumpekan, kantirakko perunalli and son. Karikalvalavan is called

106.194.117.105 on Sun, 22 Oct 2023 06:21:17 +00:00
penintirumavalavan, Cerais are termed as Perncerals and Pantiyas as Peruv

be 'Ilan', junior..
191. This is shown by the way in which the Muppal, supposedly a Jain inspired
(middle position or 'way') inspired by Buddhism. Ramakrishnan, op. cit, pp. 108
in the background of the expansion of agriculture and trade, and increase in
192. A major text in this genre is Neelikesi.
193. R .C ham pakal akshmi, Religion, Tradition and Ideology: Pre-colonial
Press,20U)p.360
194. S.Vaiy apuri Pillai, Tamil Language, pp.88-9
195. Champakalakshmi,/te//g/w7, Tradition.., pp.343-4
1 96. K. A.Nilakantha Sastri, Development of religion, pAQ
197. See lists given by M.S.Venkatasamy, Op.cit, and P.B.Desai Op.Cit. Another
provided by R. Champlakalakshmi, Religion, Tradition. ,,ppAQ3-4 1 0
1 98. For a discussion of the grant with reference to kaliyarasar, M. Arunachala
country, University of madras, 1979.
1 99. It should also be noted that evidence regarding the Kalabhras are limited to th
which were emerging as the core of the sentami! lands. See t
M. Arunachalam, Language and Religion of the Kalabhras, in Kalahhras in Th
of Madras, 1979.. The evidence appears fom Tondainadu, Cholanadu and Pan
part of the territory of the Pataiveedus.
200. This is shown by the imagery of the vatukar, and later kaliyarasar, men
Tolkappiyam identify the vatukar more clearly as telungar, kanikar and karunata
text, Yapperunkalavirutti also compares the linguistic expressions of telugu
distinction between linguistic regions. For an early discussion, M.Raghava Iy
Araycci Tokuti, Op.Cit, pp.3 11-338
201 . It is possible that the entire story of the three sangams was unknown to the
and was possibly created in later centuries, particularly from the time of the P
Iriyanar Akapporul and Tinivilaiyadal puranam are later works that emerged fr
Adiyarkku Nallar, author who discusses the story again comes from the s
Cilappatikaram provide indications of the submergence of the Pandyan territor
before 6*-7* centuries AD, and there is no authentic tradition within bardic po
a reference in the Srilankan text Rajavaliyam to a submergence during the time
possible the story might have migrated from srilanka, but that does not again
References in the Velvikkudi grant and larger and smaller Sinnamanur plates cl
tried to establish their genealogy from the Sangam Pandya chiefs, and this e
incorporate the story of the submergence. (See K. A.Nilakantha Shastri, Pand
& CO, 1929 passi m.)Hence, the story can be conceived as a mythical narrat
the Pandya chiefs as the patron of Tamilnilai and the territory around Madurai
however been argued that the story of the three Sangams is the work of the S
the Saivite tradititon appear in the names listed for the Sangams.(K.Sivathamby
pp. 5 8-9) it is possible that Saivite tradition did influence the myth, as Irai
was Siva, but the myth in itself glorifies the Pandyas and legitimizes the Pandy
202. Tolkappiyam , Akattinai Iyal,5
203. Tirumurukarrupadai(hereafterTMP), composed by Nakkeerar, the son
arrupadai song addressed to a deity and not a chief. Its later date is beyon
called a 'devotional'(kaikkilai) song, but the purpose of including this in a co
any other devotional songs need clarification.
204. Alkezh katavul puthalva TMP LL.2S6
205. Verrivelpor korravai ciruva TMP 11.258
206. For a discussion of the pataiveedus R.Chempakalakshmi, 'Secred geogr
Religion, Tradition pp. 197-211.
207 . A typical description is the conquest of Kazhumalam by Chenganan(one of
by Poykayar in Kalavali Nar padu, a Kilkanakku poem.
208. Pandya king koccadaiyan Ranadhira, assumed the title Kongarkoman,( Sha
The title, with the prefix ko- already used by some sangam chiefs appears to
209. Throughout TMP, Murugan is never addressed as ko or koman, although o
neduvel, and Iravalan are used. There is a clear distinction between prof
sacred authority wielded by Murugan.
210. R. Champakalakshmi, 'Puranic religion and the evolution of tamil Saiva Tr
pp.87-120

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Sectional President's Address: TRANSITIONS IN EARLY TAMIL SOCIETY: A HYPOTHESIS

ON THE FORMATION OF TAMIL REGION

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Sectional President's Address

TRANSITIONS IN EARLY TAMIL SOCIETY: A

Transitions in early Tamil Society: The existing formulations

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Sanskrit words also, thus demonstrating that the formation of

The process of transformation of this population has been a m

Tinai geographies have been approached from a different pers

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in the early historic period. There is no difference regarding the g

Formation of Tamil region

Information from megalithic burials demonstrates both comm

The distribution of burials and the nature of grave goods fro

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human ecology (tinai) and developed the composite concept of tin

A linguistic community is not chronological, although it may have an adequate

Indigenization of a script is important in the evolution of a linguistic community. A

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Tamil region as a political territory

Circulation of resources is possible through the movement of people, resources and

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where public gatherings, festivities and deliberations of chiefs too

This demonstrates the significance of the allusions to the conqu

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It is difficult to chronologically determine the emergence of such movements of

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Formation of such a political Tamil region is narrate

The integration of the areas controlled by three ventans and

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Tamil region as hegemonie landscape

Sirupanarrupatai describes the streets (maruku) of Madurai as immersed in the glory

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prototypes of nadus were emerging as the result of the growth o

The sutras of Tolkappiyam also indicate that a complex form of

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the impact of Saivism.,% Numerous Buddhist and Jaina centers in

The concept of a divinity as spatial protector already exists

The significance of the six pataiveedus of Murukan and th

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Some of these chiefs, who could control maximum resources, c

It is difficult to map these processes on a chronological basis. Su

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1 2 . McCrindle, C ommerct and navigation, p. 1 24 ; 1 3 1 .

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93. For the standard discussion, Kailasapathy Op.cit, Chapter V

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138. Integrated discussion on the Buddhist and Jaina presence in Tamilnad

142. Kalinkam is referred to in PN393,398.

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171. Tolkappiyam, Collatikaram,397.

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penintirumavalavan, Cerais are termed as Perncerals and Pantiyas as Peruv