A Problem of Ancient South Indian History

Summary

Tamil poets of the Sangam anthologies depict a society of warriors, merchants and bards long before the Pallavas and Cholas. Their poems describe bustling ports such as Musiri and Kāvirippūmpattinam where ships arrived from Rome and Southeast Asia, and they praise kings who rewarded generosity and heroism. Yet scholars disagree about when these works were composed. Some place them in the first century CE, noting allusions to Roman trade and references to Yavana settlements; others argue for the fourth to sixth centuries, pointing to the absence of Gupta influence and the dominance of iron weapons. This paper reviews the historical clues contained in the Akam and Puram corpora and compares them with archaeological finds. It notes that coins of the Roman emperor Augustus and Mediterranean amphorae have been excavated at Sangam sites, supporting an early date. On the other hand, the poems’ political geography mentions dynasties whose secure chronology begins only in the third century. The author suggests that the Sangam tradition may have spanned several centuries, with earlier layers reflecting the period of Indo‑Roman trade and later ones echoing the age of the Pallavas. He advocates greater use of interdisciplinary methods—combining numismatics, epigraphy and literary criticism—to establish firmer dates. The study underscores the importance of the Sangam literature for reconstructing South‑Indian history and calls for patience in resolving its chronological puzzles.