The 'Pattupattu' : a historical, social and linguistic study

Abstract

The Thesis is a study of the Pattuppattu, a collection of ten Tamil poems, from a historical, social and linguistic point of view. References from the Ettuttokai, an Anthology of eight works belonging to the same period, are also given in support of the data gathered from the Pattuppattu. the material has been dealt with under various heads and the whole thesis is divided into four main parts, namely, Historical, Religious, Social and Linguistic. In the Introduction, besides a general account of the ten poems, the term Sangam, the works that may be called Sangam works, and how and when they were collected, have been discussed. In Part I, historical background and chronology of the period, kings and chiefs celebrated in Pattuppattu, kingship, administration, revenue etc. have been examined. Part II deals deals with the religion and religious cults of the period and includes an examination of the Aryan and Dravidian gods, religious practices, traces of Buddhism and Jainism, superstition and mythology etc. In Part III, social structure, influence of the Brahmans, life of the people of the different regions, occupations, industry and trade, marriage, fine arts etc. have been dealt with. Part IV is a linguistic study where the non Tamil words appearing in the Pattuppattu are examined, obsolete grammatical forms and words are discussed, the prosody of the poems is analysed and the points of difference between the Pattuppattu and similar Sanskrit poems with regard to subject matter, treatment etc. are worked out.