Question

Which of the following poets of the Sangam age has referred to a Mauryan expedition against a Tamil chieftain?
A) Paramar
B) Avvaiyar
C) Ilango Adigal
D) Mamulanar

Answer 1

Hint: The Sangam period, also known as the third Sangam period, spans the history of ancient Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and parts of Sri Lanka between the 6th and 3rd centuries BCE. It was named after the illustrious Madurai-based Sangam academies of poets and scholars.

Complete answer:
The term Tamilakam referred to the entire ancient Tamil-speaking area, roughly corresponding to what is now known as southern India, and included the present-day Indian states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, parts of Andhra Pradesh, parts of Karnataka, and northern Sri Lanka, also known as Eelam.

Let us analyze the given options:
Option A) Paramar: Between the 9th and 14th centuries, the Paramara dynasty ruled Malwa and its surrounding areas in west-central India. The dynasty was founded in the 9th or 10th centuries, and its early rulers were most likely vassals of the Manyakheta Rashtrakutas. Gujarat has the earliest extant Paramara inscriptions, which were issued by the 10th-century ruler Siyaka.

Option B) Avvaiyar: Avvaiyar was the name of several female poets who lived during various periods of Tamil literature. They were some of Tamil literature's most well-known and influential female poets. According to Abidhana Chintamani, there were three female poets named Avvaiyar.

Option C) Ilango Adigal: Ilango Adigal was a poet, a Jain monk, and a Chera prince. Silappatikaram, one of Tamil literature's Five Great Epics, is said to have been written by him. He identifies himself as the brother of a famous Chera king Cekuuvan in a patikam to the epic poem.

Option D) Mamulanar: Manulanar was a Brahmin caste member. Mamulanar has written about the Ganges' destruction of the Pataliputra. Manulanar was a poet of the Sangam age who has referred to a Mauryan expedition against a Tamil chieftain The fire of Patalipura in the first century CE, on the other hand, was not mentioned. Mamulanar lived no later than the 1st century BCE, according to these findings. Some have concluded that the Podiyil hill, which adjoins the Tirunelveli and Madurai districts (Tamil Nadu) to the west, was the farthest limit of the Mauryan invasion in the south, based on references to Mauryas in Sangam literature (in five Sangam poems, three by Mamulanar).

Therefore the correct answer is option ‘D’.

Note: Thiruvalluva Malai, literally "Valluvar's Garland," is an anthology of ancient Tamil paeans containing fifty-five verses written by various poets praising the Kural and its author Valluvar. The poets' time spans centuries, beginning around the 1st century CE, and the collection is thought to have reached its current form by the 11th century CE.