SOAS Research Online

Abstract

This thesis is a survey of early Tamil court poetry collectively known as Ettuttokai. Special reference is made to the two anthologies of Bardic Poetry, Purananuru and Patirruppattu. These are discussed in Chapters III to VIII. The tradition about the Cankam, a literary 'academy' at Maturai, is examined in the Introduction, Chapter II deals with the subject-matter of these poems, and the conventions observed both in love poetry and bardic poetry. Reference is also made to the other sections of Tolkappiyam, Porulatgikaram, and a general assessment of the extent of the influence of Sanskrit literary theory on that of Tamil as set out by Tolkappiyanar is made. While accepting the general conclusions of Siveraja Pillai as to the dating of the events described in Purananuru and Patirruppattu, it is felt that his Chronological Tables are somewhat rigid, and the need for a more tentative approach to any dating of the rulers mentioned in these poems is stressed. A similar conclusion is drawn concerning the Ceral kings who figure in Patirruppattu, discussed in Chapters VI to VIII. It is suggested that much of the material that has been used by Sesha Aiyar and others to construct a chronology for these kings must be regarded as secondary, consisting as it does of Patikams, metrical introductions to the decade-poems of Patirruppattu, and similar ancillary material for Cilappatikaram. The five anthologies of love poetry are described in Chapter IX, which concludes with a discussion of Paripatal, anomalous among these anthologies in including devotional poetry. The metre of these poems is discussed in Chapter X. Many of the detailed conclusions of this thesis are contained in the chapters on Purananuru and Patirruppattu, and the last chapter consists of general conclusions about this literature.