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Tamil literature from the Sangam age to the present: Sangam works, Dravidian languages, Bhakti literature, the Tamil renaissance

By TNPSC Guide editorial team · Last updated:

Key numbers

Sangam works and epics: the lists

Ettuththogai (eight)Natrinai, Kurunthogai, Paripaadal, Pathitruppaththu, Ainkurunooru, Kaliththogai, Agananooru, Puranaanooru
Paththuppaattu (ten)Thirumurugaatruppadai, Porunaraatruppadai, Perumpaanaatruppadai, Sirupaanaatruppadai, Mullaippaattu, Nedunalvaadai, Madhuraikkaanchi, Kurinjippaattu, Pattinappaalai, Malaipadukadaam
Five great epicsSilappathikaram, Manimekalai, Seevaka Chinthamani, Valaiyaapathi, Kundalakesi

The twelve Thirumurai

1, 2, 3 (Thevaram)Sambandar
4, 5, 6 (Thevaram)Appar
7 (Thevaram)Sundarar
8Manikkavasagar
12Sekkizhar's Periya Puranam (Chola age; lives of the sixty-three Nayanmars)

Key years

Caldwell's Comparative Grammar1856 (class 9 Tamil, page 3)
Thambiran Vanakkam, Goa1578 (class 10, page 125)
Ziegenbalg's press; the Kural in print1709; 1812 (class 10, page 125)
College of Fort St George (Ellis)1816 (class 10, page 125)
U.V. Swaminatha Iyer's editions1887, 1889, 1892, 1894, 1898 (class 10, page 125)
Sangeetha Vidya Mahajana Sangam; first Tamil Isai conference1912; 1943 (class 10, page 131)
Tamil a classical language2004 (class 10, page 259)
Eighth Schedule languages14 at first, 22 now (class 10, page 259)
Indian languages and familiesmore than 1300; four families (class 9 Tamil, page 2)

Easy to confuse

Melkanakku / keezhkanakkuPaththuppaattu, Ettuththogai (older); the ethical works including the Kural
Ellis / Caldwellproposed the separate family, college of 1816; proved it in 1856
Kumarila Bhatta / Father Herasfirst used the word Dravida; traced Tamil to Dravida
Nathamuni / Nambiyandar NambiDivya Prabandham (end of 9th century); Thirumurai (end of 10th century)
C.W. Damodaram / U.V. Swaminatha IyerTholkappiyam, Kaliththogai; Chinthamani, Silappathikaram, Puranaanooru, Manimekalai
Thambiran Vanakkam / Ziegenbalg's press1578 Goa; 1709 Tharangambadi
Parithimar Kalaignar / Maraimalai Adigalfirst argued for classical status, sonnet; pure Tamil movement
The full note

Tholkappiyam and the Sangam works

Tholkappiyar's Tholkappiyam is the oldest Tamil grammar; its first two parts give the grammar of language, the third the grammar of social life. Paththuppaattu and Ettuththogai are the melkanakku works, older than the keezhkanakku; the eighteen keezhkanakku works give ethics for life, Thirukkural the foremost. Sangam poems divide into akam (love, family) and puram (war, valour) and are arranged by thinai. The Class 9 Tamil book's table dates Sangam literature 5th century BCE to 2nd century CE and Tholkappiyam to about the 3rd century BCE; the history book gives another range, so compare the options carefully.

The Dravidian language family

India's more than 1300 languages fall into four families: Indo-Aryan, Dravidian, Austro-Asiatic and Sino-Tibetan. S. Agathiyalingam called India a museum of languages. Kumarila Bhatta first used the word Dravida; Father Heras traced Tamil to Dravida through Thamizhaa, Thamilaa, Dramilaa, Dhramilaa, Thraavidaa and Dravidaa. Francis Ellis first held that Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam form a separate family and named them South Indian languages; Caldwell's Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages (1856) established that they differ from the Aryan family. The family has South (Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam...), Central (Telugu...) and North (Brahui...) branches; Erukala, Thanga, Kurumba and Sozhiga are also said to be Dravidian.

Tamil among the Dravidian languages

Dravidian verbs show class, gender, number and person; only Malayalam lacks gender suffixes. Tamil has the least influence from other languages, and most of India's oldest inscriptions are in Tamil. Kannada's oldest work is Kavirajamarga (9th century CE), Telugu's Bharatam (11th century), Malayalam's Ramacharitam (12th century). Tamil appears on currency notes of Mauritius, Sri Lanka and other countries.

Sanskrit literature in the Pallava age

The Pallava king Mahendravarman I wrote Mattavilasa Prahasana in Sanskrit. Bharavi's Kiratarjuniya and Dandin's Dasakumaracharita set the standards of South Indian Sanskrit; Dandin, author of the poetics work Kavyadarsa, was at the Pallava court.

The Bhakti movement and its literature

The Tamil Bhakti movement was strong from the 6th to the 9th century CE, built on the songs of the Nayanmars and Alvars. The twelve Alvars and sixty-three Nayanmars came from many social groups; Andal was an Alvar; Karaikkal Ammaiyar and Mangaiyarkkarasiyar were women Nayanmars. The Thevaram, Naalaayira Divya Prabandham, Thiruththondar Thogai, Manikkavasagar's Thiruvasagam and Periya Puranam are key sources. Nathamuni, priest of the Srirangam temple, compiled the Alvars' four thousand songs at the end of the 9th century. Periyalvar lived at Srivilliputhur in the 9th century; Nammalvar of Kurugur (Alvarthirunagari), the greatest Alvar, wrote four works including Thiruvaaymozhi. Nambiyandar Nambi compiled the Nayanmar songs as the Thirumurai at the end of the 10th century.

Print and editing

Tamil was the first non-European language in print: Thambiran Vanakkam, Goa, 1578. Ziegenbalg set up a full press at Tharangambadi in 1709; the Kural was printed in 1812. F.W. Ellis (1777-1819) founded the College of Fort St George in 1816. C.W. Damodaram (1832-1901) edited Tholkappiyam, Veerasozhiyam, Iraiyanar Agapporul, Ilakkana Vilakkam, Kaliththogai and Soolamani from palm leaves. U.V. Swaminatha Iyer (1855-1942), pupil of Meenakshi Sundaranar, edited Seevaka Chinthamani (1887), Paththuppaattu (1889), Silappathikaram (1892), Puranaanooru (1894) and Manimekalai (1898).

The Tamil renaissance

The invocation to Tamil in P. Sundaranar's (1855-1897) play Manonmaniyam shows renaissance thought. Parithimar Kalaignar (V.G. Suryanarayana Sastri, 1870-1903) first argued that Tamil is a classical language, not a regional one, and brought the 14-line sonnet into Tamil. Maraimalai Adigal (1876-1950), born Vedachalam, founded the pure Tamil movement and is called the father of Tamil linguistic purism; his Gnanasagaram became Arivukkadal and his Samarasa Sanmarga Sangam became Pothunilaik Kazhagam; his daughter Neelambigai compiled a dictionary of Tamil equivalents for Sanskrit words. Thiru.Vi. Kalyanasundaram, Parithimar Kalaignar, Maraimalai Adigal, Subramania Bharathi (1882-1921), S. Vaiyapuri and Bharathidasan (1891-1964) shaped the renaissance.

The Tamil music movement

Abraham Pandithar (1859-1919) wrote on Tamil music history and founded the Sangeetha Vidya Mahajana Sangam at Thanjavur in 1912, the seed of the Tamil Isai movement; the first Tamil Isai conference met in 1943.

Classical languages and the Eighth Schedule

In 2004 the Government of India created the category of classical language: Tamil (2004), Sanskrit (2005), Telugu (2008), Kannada (2008), Malayalam (2013), Odia (2014). The Eighth Schedule had 14 languages at the start; the textbook says 22 are now recognised.

Source: சமூக அறிவியல், ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு, தமிழ் வழி (Social Science, Standard IX, Tamil medium; Samacheer Kalvi) (9ஆம் வகுப்புச் சமூக அறிவியல், வரலாறு அலகு 3, பக்கம் 35-36, 40; 9ஆம் வகுப்புத் தமிழ், இயல் 1 (திராவிட மொழிக்குடும்பம்), பக்கம் 2-6; 11ஆம் வகுப்பு வரலாறு, அலகு 9 (தென்னிந்தியாவில் பண்பாட்டு வளர்ச்சி), பக்கம் 140, 144-145; 10ஆம் வகுப்புச் சமூக அறிவியல், வரலாறு அலகு 10, பக்கம் 125-126, 131, குடிமையியல் அலகு 1, பக்கம் 259)

PYQ (2012-2025 papers)

Provisional key: until TNPSC publishes the final key; the answer may change.

Free questions

  1. Question 1

    Which is NOT among the four recently identified languages said to be Dravidian?

    1. A. Erukala
    2. B. Thanga
    3. C. Cholika
    4. D. Brahui
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: D. Brahui

    Erukala, Thanga, Kurumba and Cholika are the four recently identified Dravidian languages; Brahui is a known North Dravidian language.

    Source: தமிழ், ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு (Tamil, Standard IX; Samacheer Kalvi) (இயல் 1 உரைநடை உலகம் (திராவிட மொழிக்குடும்பம்), p. 4 (PDF p. 14))

  2. Question 2

    Which is the oldest grammar of Tamil?

    1. A. Nannool
    2. B. Tolkappiyam
    3. C. Veerasoliyam
    4. D. Ilakkana Vilakkam
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: B. Tolkappiyam

    The Tolkappiyam by Tolkappiyar is the oldest Tamil grammar; its first two parts deal with language and the third with the grammar of social life.

    Source: சமூக அறிவியல், ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு, தமிழ் வழி (Social Science, Standard IX, Tamil medium; Samacheer Kalvi) (வரலாறு அலகு 3 தொடக்ககாலத் தமிழ்ச் சமூகமும் பண்பாடும், p. 35 (PDF p. 41))

  3. Question 3

    Which works make up the Pathinen Melkanakku (eighteen major works)?

    1. A. The five great epics
    2. B. The Thirukkural and Naladiyar
    3. C. Pathuppattu and Ettuthogai
    4. D. Thevaram and Thiruvasagam
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: C. Pathuppattu and Ettuthogai

    Pathuppattu and Ettuthogai are the eighteen major works; they are older than the minor works.

    Source: சமூக அறிவியல், ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு, தமிழ் வழி (Social Science, Standard IX, Tamil medium; Samacheer Kalvi) (வரலாறு அலகு 3 தொடக்ககாலத் தமிழ்ச் சமூகமும் பண்பாடும், p. 35 (PDF p. 41))

  4. Question 4

    Which of these is one of the Ettuthogai works?

    1. A. Nedunalvadai
    2. B. Kurinjippattu
    3. C. Malaipadukadam
    4. D. Paripadal
    Answer and explanation

    Correct answer: D. Paripadal

    The Ettuthogai works are Natrinai, Kurunthogai, Paripadal, Pathitruppathu, Ainkurunooru, Kalithogai, Akananooru and Purananooru.

    Source: சமூக அறிவியல், ஒன்பதாம் வகுப்பு, தமிழ் வழி (Social Science, Standard IX, Tamil medium; Samacheer Kalvi) (வரலாறு அலகு 3 தொடக்ககாலத் தமிழ்ச் சமூகமும் பண்பாடும், p. 35 (PDF p. 41))

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