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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
[AUGUST, 1911.
THE DATE OF MADURAIKKANCHI AND ITS HERO.
BY K. V. SUBRAHMANYA AIYAR, B.A., OOTACAMUND.
Maduraikkânchi is one of the collection of ten stanzas or idylls which goes by the name of Pattuppâtțu1. The authors of these idylls are popularly regarded as belonging to the learned academy (sangam) of Tamil poets of Madura, and the work is, therefore, classed among the productions of that body of eminent scholars. This is gathered from the verse which mentions Pattupâṭṭu along with others of its kind.
The peculiar feature of this collection is that the stanzas contained in it are completely void of poetical embellishments, and display but little of the imaginativeness of the authors. Like the writings of the foreign travellers and ambassadors such as Fa Hian, Hiuen Tsiang, Megasthenes, Al Beruni and Nuniz, the poem under reference contains minute observations on the state of the country; the tribes and races by whom it was peopled; their ways, manners and customs; the various professions and occupations of the people; their religious rights, festivities, sports and pastimes; the products and manufactures of the territory; the chief imports and exports; the works of fortification raised by the ancient Dravidian kings round their capital cities against the attacks of enemies; the procedure adopted by them in war; the strength of their forces and such other interesting facts. It is thus an invaluable guide to the history of the times to which it relates.
The poem, like the rest of the collection, is written in chaste and high class Tamil. The author of it was Mângudi Marudanâr. Evidently Marudanâr was his name and Mânguḍi was the place whence he hailed. This place is perhaps identical with the village of the same name in the Tanjore districts. It may be noted that Marudanâr figures in the list of 49 posts of the last sangam whose names are preserved in the Tiruva-Unvamalai.
The poem is ably annotated by the veteran Tamil scholar, Nachchinârkkiniyâr. The time of both the author and the commentator is not indicated anywhere in their writings; but there is not the slightest doubt that the latter lived at a considerably later period, while the former could have almost been the contemporary of the king, in whose praise he composed the poem.
Maduraikkanchi was sung in honour of the Pândya king Neḍuñjeliyan, whose military exploits it records. He gained a victory at Talaiyalangânam against two great kings and five chiefs. He is also said to bave captured Nellûr. Among the king's ancestors are mentioned Vadimbalambaninra Pandiyan and Palyâgaśâlai-Muḍukumi Peruvaludi. The latter of these is considered to have won lasting fame by his adherence to men learned in ancient lore, whose wise counsel he always sought and followed, and by the performance of Vêdic sacrifices.
1 The names of the ten idylls are contained in the stanza:
Murugu Porunaru Pan-irandu Mullai Perugu-vala-Maduraikkañchi-Maruv-iniya Kola-Nedunalvadai Kol-Kurinji Pattina Ppalai Kadattoḍum pattu.
2 That Maradanår of Mânguḍi composed the poem is learnt from the note added at the end of the commentary of Nachchiparkkiniyår. It is worthy of note that Mangudi has supplied one of the flourishing sects of Tami! Brahmanas of Southern India.
This village is near Ayyampet Railway Station of the S. I. R.
He appears to have been a resident of Madura and to have belonged to the Bharadvaja-gitra.
Southern India appears to have been divided into three great dominions, viz., those of the Chera, the Chola and the Pandya. Five smaller principalities also existed. They were ruled by the Tidiya, the Irungovenman, the Porunan, the Erumaiyaran and the Elini.
This king is not mentioned by name in the poem, but it is the commentator that gives it.
This sovereign is also mentioned by other authors. The title Palydgasdlai, assumed by him, shows that already during his time, which must be placed about the 6th century A. D., Vedic sacrifices were largely performed in Southern India.
