The Early History of India, from 600 B.C. to the Muhammadan Conquest, including the Invasion of Alexander the Great c35.s2.22

c35.s2.22

The most remarkable characteristic of the Pāndya state in those times was the maintenance at Madura of a flourishing literary academy or Sangam, the members of which produced much literature of the highest quality. The famous *Kural* of Tiruvalluva—which lives in the hearts of the Tamil people—may be assigned to a time a little before or after A. D. 100. The interesting 'Epic of the Anklet' and the 'Jewel-belt' are a century or so later. It is impossible at present to write out a 'connected relation' of the story of the Pāndya kings during the early centuries of the Christian era, and the reader must be content with these few observations.²