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of Tamil
DAMODARAM PILLAY. 83 literature but for the advent of the Jains and the Buddhists, more particularly of the former. In all probability, we would never have had those masterpieces of Tamil literature like Kural, Silappadikāram, Manimēkalai and Chintämani. We would certainly have had brilliant pieces of panegyric poetry composed by intelligent Brahmin bards. But literature of the kind that it is now the proud boast of the Tamils to possess, we could certainly not have had. Scholars have divided Tamil literature into Damodaram
Pillay's broad periods, according to the nature of classification influences that were predominant in particular literature. periods. It was Damodaram Pillay, the learned editor of Tolkāppiyam and other works, that first attempted a division of this kind. His division is as follows :
1. Pre-historic. 2. Alphabetic. 3. Grammatic. 4. Academic from 10150 B.C.-150 B.C. 3. Lethargic 150 B.C.–50 A.D. 6. Jain 50 A.D.-350 A.D. 7. Puranic 350—1150 A.D. 8. Monastic 1150-1850 A.D.
An improvement was made on this division Suryana " by the late Mr. Suryanarayana Sastri. His Classification
