Eight Anthologies
The Eight Anthologies, known as Eṭṭuttokai or "Eight Collections" in the literature, is a classical Tamil poetic work that forms part of the Eighteen Greater Texts anthology series of the Sangam Literature. The Eight Anthologies and its companion anthology, the Ten Idylls, is the oldest available Tamil literature. According to Kamil Zvelebil, a scholar of Tamil literature and history, dating these Eight Anthologies or their relative chronology is difficult, but the scholarship so far suggested that the earliest layers were composed sometime between the 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE, while the last layers were completed between 3rd and 5th century CE.
Contents of the anthologies
The Eight Anthologies consist of 2,371 poems varying from small stanzas of three lines in Ainkurnuru to stanzas of forty lines in Purananuru. The following poems form the Eight Anthologies:- Ainkurunuru
- Akananuru
- Purananuru
- Kalittokai
- Kuruntokai
- Natrinai
- Paripatal
- Pathitrupathu
Translation:
Date
Tamil tradition mentions academies of poets that composed classical literature over thousands of years before the common era, a belief that scholars consider a myth. Some scholars date the Sangam literature between c. 300 BCE and 300 CE, while others variously place this early classical Tamil literature period a bit later and more narrowly but mostly before 300 CE. According to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar, the most acceptable range for the majority of Sangam literature is 100 BCE to 250 CE, based on the linguistic, prosodic and quasi-historic allusions within the texts and the colophons. Some of the later strata of the Sangam literature, including the Eight Anthologies, is approximately from the 3rd to 5th century CE.Rediscovery
The Ettuttokai along with other Sangam literature had fallen into oblivion for much of the 2nd millennium of the common era, but were preserved by and rediscovered in the monasteries of Hinduism, particularly those related to Shaivism near Kumbakonam. These rediscovered palm-leaf manuscripts were published by the colonial era scholars in late 19th century.Authors
There are 470 poets known either by their proper names or by causal names deduced from their works. The authors are unidentified in the case of a hundred stanzas. The poets belonged to different parts of Tamil Nadu and to different professions.Some of them were very popular like Kabilar, Nakkirar and Avvaiyaar and some others are rarely remembered by their names. Yet a general harmony prevails throughout these eight anthologies. The tone and temper of the age is reflected in all their poems with a singular likeness. They were moulded according to certain literary conventions or traditions that prevailed in the Sangam age. Yet they reveal the individual genius of the poets who sang them.
Examples
The Sangam literature is categorized into two: love or inner or public life or outer.A verse from the 69th poem of Akanaṉūṟu :
"விண்பொரு நெடுவரை இயல் தேர் மோரியர்
பொன் புனை திகிரி திரிதர குறைத்த
அறை இறந்து அகன்றனர் ஆயினும், எனையதூஉம்
நீடலர் வாழி தோழி!"
The verse speaks about the elegant chariots on which the Mauryans rode through mountains and valleys and are referred to as "moriyar". These anthologies are significant source of cultural and historic information about ancient Tamil Nadu and South India.