Sangam Polity

Sangam Polity

The Cheras

· The Cheras ruled over an area comprising north Travancore, Cochin and South Malabar.

· The site of Vanji, the Chera capital has been located by some scholars near Musiri (Cranganore) while many others identify it with the inland city of Karur on the Amaravati river in the Coimbatore district.

· The Cheras had the ankusha (elephant-goad) and the bow and arrow for their emblem.

· Musiri was their chief port, but there were many others e.g., Tondi (Kadalundi), Marandai, Naravu (Naura and Nitrias of the Greek writers) and Bakare (Porkad), etc.

· The information on the geneolgoical history of the Cheras largely comes from the Padirrupattu (ten tens).

· Some sundry information is also gathered from the Purananuru and the Silappadikaram.

· One of the earliest and better known Chera rulers was Udiyanjeral (130 AD).

· The titles Vanavaramban ‘one whose kingdom is bounded by the sky’ or ‘by the sea’, and Perunjoran Udiyan are applied to him by the poet Mudinagarayar in Puram literature.

· Udiyanjeral was famous for his lavish hospitality; and his kitchen had become a bye-word for sumptuous feeding.

· The commentator of Puraunanuru makes out that he supplied the rival armies at Kurukshetra with food.

· Silappadikaram also records this legend.

· The poet Mamulanar records in Aham (233) that the king gave a memorial offering to the spirits at the anniversary of the Mahabharata war, in which the heroes from whom he traced his descent, had died.

· Udiyanjera I’s royal kitchen was at Kulumur (Ptolemy’s Kourellour) which may have been the original capital of the Cheras.

· He was married to Nallini, the daughter of Veliyan Venman, later known as Porvaikko-Perunarkilli Chola.

· Udiyanjeral was succeeded by his son Nedunjeral Adan (AD 155) who is said to have subjugated the ‘Kadambu’ clan and conquered seven kings.

· He is also praised as having set his bow on the slope of the Himalyas so that his power was known from Cape Comorin to the Himalayas.

· This is why he is known as Imayavaramban.

· The Yavanas are said to have been punished in a strange way.

· Their arms were pinioned behind their back and ghee was poured on their head.
· The poet of Patirrupattu was rewarded with the free gift of 500 villages in Umbark Kadu (elephant forest) and the revenue for 38 years from the southern province of the kingdom, by this king who ruled for 58 years.

· His capital is called Marandai and he fought a war with his contemporary Chola king in which both the monarch lost their lives and their queens performed sati.

· Next in line was Pal-Yanai Selkelu-Kuttuvan or ‘Kuttuvan of many elephants’, a brother of Nedunjeral Adan.

· A fierce warrior who was the worshipper of Korraivai changed over to Brahmanism and accepted Nedumbaratayanar as his preceptor.

· He later entered the title of Dharmaputra.

· Kuttavan was succeeded by his nephew, a son of Nedunjaral Adan known as Kalankaik Kanni Narmudijera (the Chera with the Kalangay festoon and the fibre crown) who is said to have defeated the Atiyamanas.

· The other son of Nedunjeral Adan was Senguttuvan, ‘the righteous Kuttuva’ (AD 180).

· He was the greatest early Chera king, also known as Pirakottiya Senguttuvan or red Chera, and was a contemporary of the poet Parnar, one of the most celebrated and longest-lived poets of the Sangam era.

· He is the hero of the fifth decade of the Patirrupattu and the real of Silappadikaram, the Tamil epic by the Chera Prince Ilango Adigal.

· He is said to have conquered vast regions from Cape Comorin in the South to the Himalayas in the north ‘where the gods dwell’.

· From the Himalayas, he is supposed to have got a stone to make an idol of the goddess Kannagi.

· Early in his reign, he is said to have subjugated the chieftain of Mogur known as Palaiyan as well as the chief of Kongar.

· He won a great naval victory and got the title ‘Kadal-Pirakkottiya’, i.e., who destroyed the efficacy of the sea as a refuge.

· It was because of this naval victory that Musiri became a safe port and in Guttuvan’s days, Yavana ships called in large numbers.

· The Mogur chief Nannan Palaiyan again rose in revolt with assistance from the Chola and Pandyan rulers, sometime late in his reign.

· Senguttuvan repressed this revolt and, as a trophy, he wore on his chest the crest of jewels of seven ruling princes.

· He is also said to have participated in the civil strife in the Chola kingdom, helped Parum-Killis or Nalam-Killi, who was his brother-in-law, and placed him on the throne by defeating the rival at Nerivayil.

· The insignia that his royal decrees bore consisted of the bow, the fish, and the tiger.

· According to Silappadikaram, this monarch was the founder of the famous Pattini cult related to the worship of goddess of chastity.

· This function was attended by king Gajabahu of Sri Lanka.

· Senguttuvan was a great patron of arts and letters and was particularly fond of Kuttu or dancing and the drama which he patronized liberally. This great Chera king reigned for 55 years.

· Senguttuvan was succeeded by his half-brother Perunjeral (or Perumcheral) Adan (AD 180) known to Patirrupattu as Adu-Kotpattu Charalatan.

· He was the contemporary of the great Chola king Karikal.

· We learnt from the poems Puram and Aham, that while fighting against the Cholas in the battle of Venni, Perunjeral Adan received a wound in the back and expiated the disgrace by starving himself to death on the battlefield with his swords in hand.

· The sixth decade in which this king is discussed was composed by Naccellaiyar and was married to this king.

· All together, seven monarch of the line of Udiyanjeral are mentioned in the Patirruppattu while there is evidence of another line of Cheras in the same Sangam literature.

· Establishment of this line was the result of the expansion of the Chera kingdom towards with the north and placement of a viceroy with headquarters at Tondi.

· Olval-Ko-Perum-Cheral Irumporai may be regarded as the first of their viceroys as he is said in the Colophone to have gone to reign at Karuvur.

· The kingdom seems to have started with Anduvan Ceral Irumporai who died along with the Chola king Prunarkilli in the battle of Por.
· Anduvan was succeeded by his son Selvakkadungo Vali Adan was succeeded by his son Perum Cheral Irumporai, a great warrior in whose phase Arisil Kilar has sung the eighth decade of Patirrupattu.

· Like his father, he is also said to have performed a Yajna Ali Adan.

· It is recorded that this king won a victory over the combined forces of the Cholas and Pandyas.

· He was renowned for his overthrow of the stronghold of Tagadur, the seat of the power of the Adigaiman chieftains.

· He is also said to have subjugated a rebellious shepherd leader named Kaluvul and captured his fortress.

· The last king of this dynasty was the son of (or cousin of) Irumporai called Ilam-Cheral Irumporai, the hero of the ninth decade of Patirruppattu.

· He is said to have fought a battle against ‘the two big kings’ (Pandya and Chola).

· Another Chola Prince of the northern line deserving mention is Yanaik-Kat-Sey Mandaranjeral Irumporai, i.e., ‘Sey of the elephant look’ (AD 210).

· He was captured by his Pandya contemporary Nedunjeliyam, but regained his freedom in time to prevent his enemies at home from deposing him.

· Another important Chera king was Kanaikkalirumporai who punished Muvan, a chief, by having his teeth pulled out and fixed on the gate at Tondi as warning.

· This king was some time later captured by the Chola king Sen-Kanan and later released on request of the poet Poigaiyar but died without water in the Chola prison itself.

· The famous Chera port Musiri or Muziris was a great centre of indo-Roman trade.

The Cholas

· Col. Gerini connected the word Chola with Sanskrit kala (black) and with kola which in the early days designated the dark-coloured pre-Aryan population of southern India in general.

· Bhandarkar connected it with Sanskrit ‘Chora’ (thief) while it has been connected with ‘Colam’ which means millet in Tamil.

· Killi, Valavan and Sembiyan are the other names of the Cholas.
· The Cholas adopted the tiger as their crest while figured on their banner.

· The Chola dominion came to be known as Tondaimandalam or Cholamandalam in early medieval times with the capital at Uraiyur in Tiruchirapalli dist and subsequently at Kaveripattinam or Puhar founded by the Chola king Perunjeral Adan.

· In the middle of the 2nd Century BC, it seems that a Chola king called Elara conquered Sri Lanka and ruled over it for nearly 50 years.

· Karikala, the foremost among the Sangam Cholas, was the son of Ilanjetcenni.

· Karikala means ‘the main man with the charred legs’.

· In later times, under Sanskritic influences, the name was explained as death (kala) to ‘kali’ or death to (‘enemies’) elephants.

· Karikala Chola was a very competent ruler and a great warrior.

· He fought a great battle at Venni in which the Pandyas and the Cheras both suffered crushing defeats. In this battle eleven minor chieftains were also uprooted.

· He again defeated a confederacy of nine minor chieftains in a battle at Vakaipparandalai.

· Karikala maintained a powerful navy, which he used to conquer Sri Lanka, from where he brought a large number of prisoners of war whom he used for building a huge embankment of 160 km to tame the Kaveri river.

· This was built with the labour of 12,000 slaves brought as captives from Sri Lanka.

· He made Puhar or Kaverippumapattinam an important port and an alternative capital of the Chola kingdom.

· The poet of Pattinappalai gives an account of the port of Puhar, state of industry and commerce under Karikala, who also promoted the reclamation and settlement of forest land, and added to the prosperity of the country by multiplying irrigation tanks.

· He is also credited with converting the Oliyar community from nomadism to a settled life.

· Two sons of Karikala ruled from two different capitals – Nalangilli from Puhar and Nedungilli from Uraiyur.

· The consequent civil war ended with the death of Nedungilli.

· After Nalangilli, Killivalavan came to the throne who captured Karur, the Chera capital.
· He seems to have died in a battle with the Pandyan forces.

· Another renowned Chola king was Kopperunjolan who also ruled from Uraiyur.

· There was a serious quarrel between Kopperunjolan and his two sons and the king ultimately committed suicide, along with his friend and poet Andai.

· Perunarkilli was another Chola king who is the only one among the Sangam kings who performed the Rajasuya sacrifice attended by Chera Mari Venko and Pandya Ugra Peruvaludi.

· Koccenganam come next as Chola king. He is generally known for his religious zeal.

· Another Chola king was Ilanjetcenni who captured two fortresses (Seruppali and Pamulur) from the Cheras.

· Senganan, the Chola king famed in legend for his devotion to Siva, figures as the victor in battle of Por against the Chera Kanaikkal Irumporai.

· The Chera king was imprisoned and later released.

· Senganan Chola is said to have built 70 fine temples of Siva.

· With the rise of Pallavas, the Cholas became only a marginal force in South Indian history.

The Pandyas

· The Maduraikkanji refers to Nediyon or Vadimbalamba Ninravan as the first Pandya king.

· He is credited with bringing the Pahruli river into existence and organizing the worship of the sea.

· The same text mentions Pasalai Mudukudumi as the second ruler who is mentioned as the first king in the Velvikkudi grant.

· Palsalai Mudukudumi or Mudukudumi Peruvaludi is praised by three poets in five short poems.

· A description of the way he treated conquered territory, ploughing it with white-mouthed ass and refers to the many big sacrifices he performed, hence the title Palsalai meaning ‘of the many (sacrificial) halls’.

· The third ruler mentioned in Maduraikkanji was one Nedunjelian, distinguished by the title Ariyappadaikadanda meaning “he who won a victory against an Aryan army”.

· A short poem (Puram 183) ascribed to him, puts learning above birth and caste.

· He is said to have died of broken heart when the innocence of Kovalan was proved to him by Kannagi. This story is the main theme of the epic Silappadikaram.

· His viceroy at Korkai and perhaps his son and successor was Seliyan, called Verri Verceliyan or Ilanjelian, who wrecked terrible vengeance on the goldsmiths by sacrificing a thousand of them in one day to appease the great goddess who had been Kannagi.

· The only other figure that stands out from the rest, the victor of Talaiyalanganam, was later than the rulers mentioned in the silappadikaram and is known as Nedunjelian (different from Nedunjelian Ariyappadaikadanda).

· He came to the throne as a youth and at the very beginning of his reign he had to face a hostile combination of his two neighbouring monarchs aided by five minor chiefs at a place called Palaiyalanganam.

· In this campaign, Mandaram Cheral Irumporai, the son of the Chera king of the elephant look was captured.
· He is said to have performed a Vedic sacrifice.

· Ilvandikaippallittunjiya Nanmaran have pilloried in song for his liberality.

· Another king Ugrapperuvaludi subdued the chieftain of Kanapper.

· Himself a poet, he is said to have caused the Ahananuru to be made.

· Bhutappandiyan took Ollaiyur and his queen is well known by her song on the occasion of her sati.

· Under the Pandyas their capital Madurai and the Pandyan poet Korkai were great centers of trade and commerce.

· The Pandyan dominion was very wealthy and prosperous on account of the brisk indo-Roman trade.

· The Pandyan kings sent embassies to the Roman emperor Augustus and Trojan.

The Sangam Government

· Clues in the texts points point more or less to a chiefdom level society with three categories of political powers:

· Kilar (village headman), velar (hill chiefs) and Ventar (lowl and chiefs).

· An Ur-Kilar of the pristine type was a clan based headman with kinship ties with his people.

· Velir were the hill chiefs who sometimes subjugated the neighbouring Ur-Kilar for predatory exaction, but were confined to their respective hills.

· The Ventars were the biggest chiefs who held control over larger areas through the subordination of the Kilar who fought for and shared the booty with them.

· The Chera, Chola and Pandya, constituting the Muventar (three crowned kings), owed their superiority to controlling the rice-producing plains and the transmarine trade set them apart from the less fortunate chiefs called Vels, Velars or Kurunilaimannar.

· The kings in the Sangam texts are known by terms like Kon, Ko, Mannan, Vendan, Korravan or Iraivan, etc.

· Ko is shortened form of Kon which means cowherd and it is also used as a general term for ‘god’.

· Courts were known as Avai (a corrupt form of Sabha), Arasavai, Olakkam or Irukkai.

· The crowned kings acquired many titles.

· The Cheras were known by Vanavar (celestials), Villavar (hunters and bowmen), Kudavar, Kuttuvar (westerners), Poraiyar, Malaiyar (rulers of mountain land), Puliyar (rulers of Puli Nadu), etc.

· The Cholas were known as Sennis (leaders), Sembiyam (descendants of Sibi), Valavan (rulers of the fertile land), Killi (the chief) etc.

· The Pandyas were known as Minavar (fisherman), Kavuriya (related to the Kauravas), Panchavar (related to the Pandavas), Tennar (Southerners), Sliyar (of the fertile land), Marar (Southerners), Valudi etc.

· The term Vendan was used only for the three supreme kings and rest were lesser kings who did not wear a regular crown.

· The place of the king and the place of the god were both called Koyil (the adobe of Ko).

· Arasan, a general term referring to a king was Tamilized form of Rajan.

· The king’s birthday is celebrated every year and the day was called Perunal (the great day).

· The royal emblem (viz. the tiger of the Chola, the bow of the Chera and the carp of the Pandya) was inscribed on the outer gate of the palace.

· The eldest son of the reigning king generally succeeded to the throne by right and this was known as Murai Mudal Kattil.

· The crown Prince was known as Komahan while the younger ones were known as Ilango, Ilanjeliyan, Ilanjeral etc.

· The right of succession was called Tayam (a general term for securing a property).

· The coronation ceremony was known as Arasu Kattil Erudal or Mudi Suttu Vila.

· The king’s power was restricted by five councils which were known as the ‘five great councils’, also known as Aimperunkulu.

· The ‘group of five’ was a recognized body of people, composed of five divisions and constituting a council.

· These five consisted of:

1. ministers (armaichchar)
2. priests (purohitar)
3. army chiefs (senapatiyar)
4. envoys or ambassadors (dutar)
5. Spies (orrar).

· There was another institution called Enperayam which consisted of:

1. karanattiyalavar (accountants)
2. karumakarar (executive officials)
3. kanakasurram (treasury officials)
4. kadaikappalar (palace guards)
5. nagaramandar (elderly persons in the city)
6. padaittalaivar (chiefs of the infantry)
7. yanai virar (chiefs of the elephantry)
8. ivuli maravar (chiefs of the cavalry)

· The kings bestowed titles and honours on their subordinates in recognition of their performance.

· These honour were called Marayam and were of three categories viz. Etti (conferred on leading merchants, the Vanigars), Kavidi (conferred on personal attendants who got tax-free holdings), and Enadi (to be conferred on distinguished soldiers).

· Some other officials of the Sangam age included Mandirakkanakkar (scribes in-charge of royal correspondence and were also known as Mandira Olai), Arakkalattu Andanar (judicial advisers), Tandira Vinainar (executive officials doing odd clerical job), dharma Vinainar (discharging religious duties) and Ayakkanakkar (incharge of revenue collection).

Municipal and Village Administration

· The village was the fundamental unit of administration and in connection with the management of village affairs we come across the terms: Manaram, Podiyil, Ambalam and Avai.

· The Manaram, the Podiyil and the Ambalam seem to be synonymous terms denoting a place where the village assembly (Avai) met to transact local business.

· The entire kingdom (big or small) was called Mandalam.

· Nachchinarkkiyar speaks of the four divisions of Tamilaham: Chera, Chola, Pandya and Tondai Mandalams.

· Below the Mandalam a major division was Nadu and we also hear of a unit called Kurram.

· According to V.R.R. Dikishitar, Nadu was a subdivision of Kurram and According to U.V.S. Iyer, Kurram was the subdivision of Nadu.

· The Ur was a town which variously described as a big village (Perur), a small village (Sirur) or an old village (Mudur).

· Cheri was the suburb of a town or village, while Pakkam was a neighbouring area.

· Salai was the trunk road and Teru the street in a town.

· Pattinam was a term for a coastal town and Puhar was a general term for harbour area.

· Kaverippumpattinam was the Pattinam par excellence of Tamilaham and was generally known as Pattinam only.

· Many towns have been mentioned in the texts but the major ones were Puhar (the famous Chola port and coastal capital), and uraiyur (the Chola inland capital also known as Koli and Varanam: it was a strongly defended city and its outskirts had burial grounds which were full of stones and hence ‘there were many obstacles to easy movement’.

· This description is strongly suggestive of the existence megalithic burials;

· The classical writers describe the place as noted for its cotton textiles-argaritic derived from Argaru or Uraiyur, Korkai (the Pandyan coastal capital, situated on Tamraparni river;

· It was reputed for its pearl fisheries where the Paradavar (fisherman) dived for pearls), Kaval (meaning salt pans, situated near Korkai;

· The Periplus talks of Colchi (Korkai) and its pearl fishiers worked by condemned criminals), Madurai (the Pandyan inland capital), Musiri (the Chera port) and Vanji or Karur (the Chera capital), Kanchi (also known as Kacci, Kaccimurram and Kacchippetu) the capital of Tondainadir, was another major city.

· Arikamedu was known to the Sangam literature as Virai (modern Viram Pattinam). It was one of the velar strongholds known to Sangam literature.
· Virai, described as a harbour was probably one of the coastal town like Sopatinam (modern Marakkanam), of the Oy clan of Velir.
· It was also the capital of the Velir chieftain Virai Veliyan Venman.

Military Organization

· Defending fortresses (Inji, Purisai or Ahappa) well developed.

· High battlement walls – Nayil

· Moat – Ahali or Kidangu

· Towered gates – Parvgal

· The fortress of Kanapper had on additional fence of impenetrable forest.

· The sufferings of a beleaguered fortress from the subject of a poem by kovur kilar.

· The traditional four fold army – Padai.

· Chariots were drawn by oxen or horses.

· Sword (Val) and shield (Kedaham or Kiduhu) were used in close combat, and the Tomaram is mentioned, evidently as a missiles to be thrown at the enemy from a distance.

· Body-armour (tol) made of tiger-skin for the protection of the body, and a cover of leather for the forearm were in use.

· Generally the war started with a well-known incident, viz., cattle lifting known as Atandombal in the Tolkappiam.

· The warriors wore the heroic anklet called Virakkalal on which the heroic deeds of the wearer were inscribed.

· In the army the van (Tusi) and the rear (Kulai) were distinguished besides the flanks (Pakkam).

· The war drum was worshipped as a Diety and crows and kites ate the bali offered.

· Before marching, the sword was taken into a procession and umbrella and drum were sent in advance as a token of march towards the battlefield. This was known as the ceremony of Nalkol.

· The slain soldiers were believed to attain the ‘heaven of heroes’ (Virasvarga) and were often honoured by the erection of memorial stones (Virakkal or Nadukal).

· An institution peculiar to the Sangam Tamils was the Kavalmaram.
· The kings – sovereigns as well as the feudatories – maintained with great care a tree in the courtyard of their palaces or near the Manaram or some central place in the town or at some convenient or well-protected spot.

· It was a totemic symbol and was believed that the tree had the power to protect the town; it was therefore, called ‘Tutelary tree’, a Kadimaram or Kavalmaram.

· Senguttuvan destroyed Palyan’s Vembu (Margosa) and tree and transported it in a huge vehicle drawn by elephants which were yoked to the carriage by strong ropes made of the twisted hair of the women of the enemy land.

· Kalangaikkanni Narmudi Cheral defeated the chieftain Nannan (the rules of Puli land) and cut down his Vahai (Albizzia Lebbek) tree.

Revenue Administration

· Land tax was called Irai or Karai.

· Tributes paid by the feudatories and war booty collected from recently conquered foes were Irai;

· Tolls and customs duties were Ulugu or Sungam.

· The duties to be paid to the king were generally known as Kadamai or Padu, and Paduvadu.

· Vari was also a generic term meaning income.

· Extra demands or forced gifts were called Iravu.

· A well known unit of territory yielding tax was a Variyam and the tax collecting authority was a Variyar.

· The rate of revenue was 1/6 of the produce.

· Kural states that the king’s revenues were derived from:
1. Uru Porul (treasure-troves and escheats or land revenue according to K.A. Nilakanta Shastri).
2. Ulgu Porul (customs and tolls).
3. Onnartteru Porul (war-booty and tributes).

· Tamilakam had an extensive trade with Rome, Egypt, Myanmar (Burma), Kadaram (Malaya) and Java (Yava) and Ulgu was collected on all items.
· Other than Variyar (land tax collector) we hear of Alumbil Vel (assisted by Ayakkanakkar – revenue accountant), Kavidi (finance minister), Karanattiyalavar, Ayakkarar (toll collectors) etc, as tax collecting authorities.



Weights and Measures

· Kanam was a measure of gold, very small in size.

· Pons referred to perhaps the same measure as Kanam.

· Kasu was a kind of coin of the size of a margosa fruit and of the shape of lotus bud.

· Kasu generally meant a small copper coin.

· Silver was called Velli and rarely Ven Pon.

· Iron was also known as Pon.

· The grain from the field was measured in Ambanam.

· The Padirrupattu commentator equates Ambanam with a Marakkal.

· Nail was a much smaller measure equal to one Ulakku or two Alakkus.

· Nalikai was a measure of time.

· Usually, the grain measure was called nail and the time measure Nalikai.

· Tuni and Padakku were also cubic measures used for measuring horse gram and other grains.

· A smaller measure of a weight was a Todi which was an equivalent of a Polam.

· Kalanju was a unit of measuring gold.

  · Popular unit of distance was a Kuppidu.