Purananuru
Topic: Sangam Age and Early South India · NCERT: Class 12, Ch 3 "Kinship, Caste and Class - Early Societies"
Meaning
The Purananuru is a Sangam anthology of 400 Tamil poems, dated c. first century CE. Its poems are puram poems, which means poems about war, kings, chiefs and public life. It is part of the Ettuthokai (Eight Anthologies). Its poems describe battles, gifts to bards (poet-singers), and the duties and generosity of rulers. This makes it one of the best sources on how chiefs and kings acted in early Tamilakam.
Example
In one Purananuru poem, a chief who is poor but generous meets hungry bards. He has nothing to give them, so he promises to win wealth for them with his spear, meaning through war. The poem shows that chiefs were expected to share what they had with those who depended on them.
Don't confuse with
- Akananuru: also has 400 poems and is also in the Ettuthokai, but its poems are about love (akam), not war and public life.
Related concepts
- Tamilakam
- Sangam age
- Sangam literature
- Tamil Sangams
- Akam and puram
- Tinai
- Ettuthokai
- Akananuru
- Pattuppattu
- Kapilar