A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c12.8
A History of South India from Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar c12.8
- Language
- English
c12.8
That a college (Sangam) of Tamil poets flourished for a time under royal patronage in Madura may well be a fact. But the earliest account of it, which occurs in the introduction to the commentary on the *Iraiyanār Agapporul* (c. A.D. 750), is enveloped in legend. It refers to three Sangams which lasted, at long intervals, for 9,990 years all together and counted 8,598 poets (including a few gods of the Śaiva persuasion) as members, and 197 Pāndyan kings as patrons. Some of the names of the kings and poets—such as Kadungōn and Ugrapperuvaludi—are found in inscriptions and other authentic records, showing that some facts have got mixed up with much fiction, so that no conclusions of value can be based on it.