The history of Tamilnadu goes well before the Christian era, which could be traced through the archeological evidences and ancient Tamil literatures. The ancient Tamil region was segregated into five geographical regions like Mullai, Kurunchi, Marutham, Neythal and Paalai. According to the ancient Tamil literatures, the total Tamil land was ruled by more than 300 chieftains and small kings. But three famous kingdoms namely, Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas, are mentioned all over the body of ancient Tamil literatures. An inscription of Emperor Ashoka, along with the above three kings also mention Satyaputras, identified as the celebrated sangam age king Adiyaman neduman anji.
The ancient Tamil literatures like Sangam
literature, Tirukural, silapathikaram, manimegalai etc threw light, not only on
the geography, society, economy of the ancient Tamil people, but also on the
politics of the land. The ‘ancient Tamil political thought’ was idealistic in
many respects as it searched for a good and ideal way of polity. But at the
same time the political thought also depicted the exact political situation of
the Tamil land. Sangam literature is a body of Tamil poems written during 5th
BC to 2nd AD and which was compiled by the third Sangam (date of
which is unknown). These sangam literatures are considered as the oldest Tamil
thought which depicts the ancient Tamil life. Thirukural are short poems
written by Thiruvalluvar, approximately dated close to the start of Christian
era. Thiruvaluvar was an idealist and he wrote extensible on the attributes of
the state and king. He detailed the elements of the state and also preached the
best way of governance. The impact of Thirukural in the ancient Tamil life could
be very evident, as the literatures written after Thirukural like
silapathigaram, Manimegali, seevagasinthamani reiterated the values of the
social and political life preached by Thiruvalluvar. The political thought
mentioned in these above body of literatures is compiled as the ancient Tamil
political thought.
Sangam Political
Thought
The sangam age was characterised by
small kings and chieftains fighting among themselves for supremacy. War was an
essential part of the life of a typical sangam age man. But at the same time,
the feeling of ‘brotherhood’ and ‘oneness’ was also present among the Tamil
people during those times. One of the oldest Tamil grammer books ‘Tholkapium’
mentions ‘vada venkatam then kumari aayidai Tamil koorum Nal uzhagathu’, that
is, ‘the region between vengata mountain in the north and kanyakumari in south
is Tamil speaking land’[1].
It clearly shows that even though the kings and chieftains in the ancient Tamil
land were fighting among themselves, they had a feeling of the ‘Tamil nation’.
This literary finding is also substantiated by a stone inscription of Kalinga
King Kharavela (BC 165), who claims to have destroyed a ‘Tamil federation’
which existed for 113 years[2].
Similarly such a Tamil federation of kings to fight foreign invasion is also
mentioned in ‘Agananooru’, a sangam literature. Hence, today’s Tamil
nationalism is not a new one or a product of colonialism, but has its roots in
a typical ‘Tamil psyche’ which could be traced even in the sangam age.
The concept of state was not
developed during the Sangam age, in fact the state was in its formation during
the sangam age. The sangam literatures however throw some light on how small
chiefdoms were captured by kings like Pandyas, Cholas, Cheras, Adiyas
(according to Aganananooru, Adiya kingdom was much bigger than Pandya kingdom
during Mouryan times) and was made as a big kingdom and how statehood formed.
Earlier Sangam poems did not mention about taxation as a source of income for
small kings and chiefs. But, the chronologically later sangam poems (Pattinappaalai)
speak about different types of taxations like customs duty, income tax, toll
tax etc as a specific source of income to the King. It is pertinent here to
note that, the ruler of the state – ‘king’ is not separate from the concept of
state in sangam political thought as monarchy is the only form of government
which finds its mention in sangam literatures.
The whole body of sangam literature
preaches some ideal political principles worthy to be followed kings. They are
summed up as follows
1.
A kingdom should have a good fort to protect its people from invasions
(puranaanooru even speaks about forests as forts on all four sides).
2.
A good king is the one who fights and conquers his enemies[3]
3.
Justice is an essential element in a king’s rule. A good king should never
forgo justice and should always do good deeds, which will bring him everlasting
fame[4].
4.
The major work of the king is to secure food to all the poor in his country and
remove their hunger[5].
5.
A king is a king only as long as he enjoys people’s support and he loses
legitimacy if he loses their support.
The sangam political thought gives lot of
importance to war and its nature, as war is considered as an essential element
of Ancient Tamil life. Hence in sangam political thought, a king should be a
person who fights his enemies with courage and never escapes a battlefield.
Even if a warrior dies in battle field with a wound in his back, is considered
derogatory in ‘Sangam’ thought[6].
Lots of good practises of war find its mention in sangam literatures.
Purananooru, a sangam literature, hails a Pandyan king who announces all the
women, children, sick people, cattles, childless people to go to safety zone
before invading a country. Similarly the institution of ‘spy’ is considered a
necessary institution in sangam thought, for maintaining peace in the state.
Hence many poets preach the kings to keep good spies to be efficient.
Slavery was an accepted institution
in Sangam times. The king is measured with the number of efficient slaves he
has. Kings are known to have built their country with the help of the captured
slaves during invasions. But the institution of slave trade is absent in Sangam
times and slaves are transferred only by gifts.
The sangam age also throws some
light on the status of sangam women. Women are highly respected in the sangam
society and they had their rights to choose their partners. In sangam
literature we find contributions of 26 female poets, the most famous one being
‘Avvaiyar’. Avvaiyar was an idealist philosopher who wrote many ethical
doctrines and was respected by all three major sangam powers, namely, Chera,
Chola and Pandya. She even functioned as a diplomat during the war times
between these three kingdoms. This shows not just that women’s words were
respected in the sangam society but also how the institution of ‘diplomacy’ played a major role in
maintaining regional peace.
[1] http://www.geotamil.com/pathivukalnew/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1678:2013-08-24-03-32-41&catid=56:2013-09-02-02-58-06&Itemid=73
accessed on 04-09-2019
[2] Padmaja, R, Purushothaman, V.P
(2000). Sanga Kaala Mannargalin Kaala
Nilai. Volume 1. International institute of Tamil Studies: Chennai. Pg 43
[3] 400th verse of puranannoru….. See ‘Purananooru,
moolamum thelivum, manimegalai presuram, pg 228
[4] 367th verse of
puranannoru….. See ‘Purananooru, moolamum thelivum, manimegalai presuram, pg
172
[5] 400th verse of puranannoru….. See ‘Purananooru,
moolamum thelivum, manimegalai presuram, pg 228
[6] 278th verse of
puranannoru….. See ‘Purananooru, moolamum thelivum, manimegalai presuram, pg 82
