{"id":2469,"date":"2025-05-02T13:48:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-02T08:18:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/?p=2469"},"modified":"2025-05-02T13:48:45","modified_gmt":"2025-05-02T08:18:45","slug":"q-which-one-of-the-following-statements-about-sangam-literature-in-ancient-south-india-is-correct","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/upsc\/q-which-one-of-the-following-statements-about-sangam-literature-in-ancient-south-india-is-correct","title":{"rendered":"Q. Which one of the following statements about Sangam literature in ancient South India is correct?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list mcq\">\n<li>Sangam poems are devoid of any reference to material culture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The social classification of Varna was known to Sangam poets.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sangam poems have no reference to warrior ethic.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sangam literature refers to magical forces as irrational.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Answer:<\/strong>&nbsp;<strong>(b) The social classification of Varna was known to Sangam poets.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<h5 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sangam-age\">Sangam Age:<\/h5>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>era spanning from the 3rd century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D.<\/strong>\u00a0in South India, specifically the region south of the Krishna and Tungabhadra rivers, is denoted as the Sangam Period. The era spanning from the 3rd century B.C. to the 3rd century A.D. During the Sangam Age, South India was ruled by three dynasties \u2013\u00a0<strong>Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Traditionally, three Sangams or assemblies are believed to have been convened one after the other.\u00a0<strong>All the three Sangams took place at different places under the patronage of the Pandya kings of Madurai.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>According to Tamil legends, three sangams (gatherings of Tamil poets) were held in ancient South India, called\u00a0<strong>Muchchangam.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The first Sangam is believed to have been held in\u00a0<strong>Madurai.<\/strong>\u00a0Deities and great saints were involved in this confluence. No literary texts of this Sangam are available.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The second Sangam was held at\u00a0<strong>Kapatapuram<\/strong>, the only Tamil grammar text of this Sangam available in Tolkappiyam.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The third Sangam was also held in\u00a0<strong>Madurai<\/strong>, left behind a few Tamil literary compositions that serve as valuable sources for understanding the historical context of the Sangam period.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Sangam Literature:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The corpus of Sangam literature includes\u00a0<strong>Tolkappiyam, Ettutogai, Pattuppattu, Pathinenkilkanakku, and the two epics \u2013 Silappathigaram and Manimegalai.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Both Ettutogai and Pattuppattu were divided into two main groups \u2013\u00a0<strong>Aham (love) and Puram (valour).<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pathinenkilkanakku contains eighteen works mostly dealing with ethics and morals. The most important among them is\u00a0<strong>Tirukkural authored by Thiruvalluvar<\/strong>.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Silappathigaram written by Elango Adigal and Manimegalai by Sittalai Sattanar<\/strong>\u00a0also provides valuable information on the Sangam polity and society.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h6 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"sangam-society\">Sangam Society<\/h6>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Tolkappiyam refers to the\u00a0<strong>five- fold division of lands,<\/strong>\n<ol class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Kurinji (hilly tracks)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Mullai (pastoral)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Marudam (agricultural)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Neydal (coastal) and<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Palai (desert)<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>people living in these five divisions had their respective chief occupations as well as gods for<\/strong><strong>worship<\/strong>.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Kurinji<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 chief deity was Murugan \u2013 chief occupation, hunting and honey collection.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mullai\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 chief deity Mayon (Vishnu) \u2013 chief occupation, cattle-rearing and dealing with dairy products.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Marudam<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 chief deity Indira \u2013 chief occupation, agriculture.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Neydal<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 chief deity Varunan \u2013 chief occupation fishing and salt manufacturing.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Palai\u00a0<\/strong>\u2013 chief deity Korravai \u2013 chief occupation robbery.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>social classification of varna was known to Sangam poets<\/strong>. Tolkappiyam also refers to four castes namely\u00a0<strong>arasar, anthanar, vanigar and vellalar.<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The ruling class was called arasar.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Anthanars played a significant role in the Sangam polity and religion.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vanigars carried on trade and commerce.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The vellalas were agriculturists.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Other tribal groups like Parathavar, Panar, Eyinar, Kadambar, Maravar and Pulaiyar were also found in the Sangam society.<\/strong>\u00a0Ancient primitive tribes like Thodas, Irulas, Nagas and Vedars lived in this period.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The Brahmanas are also mentioned, some of them closely associated with the courts of kings and patronized by ruling elites. They are described as\u00a0<strong>performing yajnas, including ones on the battlefield, to ensure victory.<\/strong>\u00a0In the Padirrapattu, the sage Kapila advises kings that they should give important jobs such as those of advisers to Brahmanas.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Sangam poems contain several incidental references<strong>\u00a0to material culture<\/strong>, often as part of the poem\u2019s setting or in similes and allusions. There are references to\u00a0<strong>farming (rice and barley are mentioned), cattle rearing, and fishing.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>They also speak of the\u00a0<strong>Yavanas (foreigners)<\/strong>\u00a0coming in theri own vessels purchasing pepper with gold and supplying wine and women slaves to the natives. This trade is not known only from Latin and Greek writings but also from archaeological records.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>A\u1e47a\u1e45ku is a phenomenon of sacred power described in ancient Tamil literature<\/strong>\u00a0such as the Sangam literature.\u00a0<strong>This sacred magical forces were supposed to inhabit various objects, which eventually determined there association with the society.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>The\u00a0<strong>class of warriors was an important element in society during the Sangam age<\/strong>. Captains of the army were invested with the title of\u00a0<strong>\u2018enadi\u2019<\/strong>\u00a0at a formal ceremony. Civil and military officers were held under both the Cholas and the Pandyas by vellalas or rich peasants. The\u00a0<strong>ruling class was called arasar and its members had marriage relations with the vellalas.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Women during the Sangam age<\/strong>:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Women in the Sangam period appear to have been educated. This is testified by many poems contributed by women poets to the Sangam literature. Women are also described as engaged in various economic activities such as paddy plantation, cattle rearing, basket-making, spinning, etc.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>However, the cruel practice of Sati was also prevalent in Tamil society, and it was known as tippayadal. But it was not obligatory as there are references to widows present in society. However, their position was miserable as they were prohibited to decorate themselves or participate in any form of amusement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Answer:&nbsp;(b) The social classification of Varna was known to Sangam poets. Sangam Age: Sangam Literature: Sangam Society Women during the Sangam age:<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kad_blocks_custom_css":"","_kad_blocks_head_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_body_custom_js":"","_kad_blocks_footer_custom_js":"","_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1,3],"tags":[40,43],"years":[51],"class_list":["post-2469","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc","category-prelims","tag-ancient-history","tag-art-and-culture","years-51"],"acf":[],"taxonomy_info":{"category":[{"value":1,"label":"UPSC"},{"value":3,"label":"Prelims"}],"post_tag":[{"value":40,"label":"Ancient History"},{"value":43,"label":"Art and Culture"}],"years":[{"value":51,"label":"2022"}]},"featured_image_src_large":false,"author_info":{"display_name":"LotusArise","author_link":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/author\/team-lotusarise"},"comment_info":0,"category_info":[{"term_id":1,"name":"UPSC","slug":"upsc","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":1,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":0,"count":1269,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":1,"category_count":1269,"category_description":"","cat_name":"UPSC","category_nicename":"upsc","category_parent":0},{"term_id":3,"name":"Prelims","slug":"prelims","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":3,"taxonomy":"category","description":"","parent":1,"count":1251,"filter":"raw","cat_ID":3,"category_count":1251,"category_description":"","cat_name":"Prelims","category_nicename":"prelims","category_parent":1}],"tag_info":[{"term_id":40,"name":"Ancient History","slug":"ancient-history","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":40,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":108,"filter":"raw"},{"term_id":43,"name":"Art and Culture","slug":"art-and-culture","term_group":0,"term_taxonomy_id":43,"taxonomy":"post_tag","description":"","parent":0,"count":80,"filter":"raw"}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2469"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2469\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2469"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2469"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2469"},{"taxonomy":"years","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lotusarise.com\/qna\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/years?post=2469"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}