Question

Which of the following Tamil literature was written by Ilango Adigal, brother of Senguvattan, a Chera King and who was a Jain monk is a highly regarded epic?
A. Kainnilai
B. Elathi
C. Silappatikaram
D. None of the above

Answer 1

Hint: For solving this question, we need to know the three important Tamil kingdoms during the Sangam Age which are named as Chera, Chola and Pandya. In addition to these three Tamil kingdoms, there were some local chieftains, artisans, blacksmiths, traders, goldsmiths, carpenters, cobblers, farmers, etc too.

Complete answer:
We need to dive deep into the Sangam Literature. During the Sangam Age, there were various works created in different languages such as Kannada, Sanskrit, Telugu and Tamil languages. Chamarasa's 'Prabhulinga Leela' is an important Kannada work of that time. Many books written in Kannada on human medical science, veterinary science, poetics, astrology and cookery were also published. Vidyaranya wrote 'Shankara Vijaya' and 'Sarvadarshansamgraha' in Sanskrit. There were eight famous poets termed as the Ashtadiggajas in Krishnadevaraya's court. At that time, one of the famous poets was Tenali Ramakrishna.
Silappatikaram was the Tamil literature which was written by Ilango Adigal, brother of Senguvattan, a Chera King and a Jain monk. The nature of the book is non-religious, narrative and has a moralistic undertone. It contains three chapters and a total of 5270lines of poetry. The epic revolves around Kannagi who having lost her husband to a miscarriage of justice at the court of the Pandaya king, wreaks her revenge on his kingdom. It has been dated to likely belong to the beginning of Common Era, although the author might have built upon a pre-existing folklore to spin this tale.

Hence, the correct answer is option (C).

Note:We have in mind that Silappatikaram has many references to historical events and personalities, although it has not been accepted as a reliable source of history by many historians because of the inclusion of many exaggerated events and achievements to the ancient Tamil kings. A copy of Silappatikaram was first found in Trincomalee by Tamil scholars.