Paṭṭiṉappālai

Paṭṭiṉappālai (

The poem is an important and rich source of historical information about the ancient Chola kingdom and its capital city. The Pattinappalai mentions the city's music and dance traditions, cock and ram fights, the thriving alcohol and fisheries business, the overseas and domestic trade among the Indian peninsular port cities.[3]^[2] There is a mention of goods coming from Burma, Ceylon, northern India, and the River Ganges valley.^[11][17] The section on the Chola king describe the king's initial struggles to gain his throne because neighboring kingdoms had invaded the Chola territory when he was a child. The poem then describes the wars he won, the slaves he took, his return to the throne, his generosity to his people, the artists and the bards.^[2]

The Pattinappalai gives a window into the ethical premises that were idealised by the ancient Tamil society in the Chola kingdom. The peaceful lives of the people is thus described, according to JV Chellaih:^[18]

Quite free and happy are their lives
Amidst their multiplying kin
They know no foes; the fishes play
Near the fishers' quarters unafraid,
And cattle multiply untouched
In butchers haunts.
The merchants thus
Condemn the taking of these lives,
They tolerate not thieving vile,
They do their duties by the gods,
Oblations offer, tend with care
Fine bulls and cows, exalt the priests
That teach the

Vedas

four, they give
Their guests food cooked and uncooked too
Unstintingly they dispense alms
And live a life of gracious love

— Pattinappalai 227–241^[18]

For the merchants plying their trade, some of the lines in this poem state:

They speak the truth and deem it shame
To lie. For others' good they have
The same regard as for their own
In trade. Nor do they try to get
Too much in selling their own goods
Nor give too little when they buy
They set a fair price on all things.

— Pattinappalai 245–251^[18]

The borders of the city with great fame
are protected by the celestials. Swift
horses with lifted heads arrive on ships
from abroad, sacks of black pepper arrive
from inland by wagons, gold comes from
northern mountains, sandalwood and akil
wood come from the western mountains,
and materials come from the Ganges.

The yields of river Kāviri, food items from
Eelam, products made in Burma, and many
rare and big things are piled up together on
the wide streets, bending the land under.

— Pattinappalai 183-193^[19]

This ancient poem regained popularity during 9th to 12th century CE, the later Chola empire, when the court poets used it glorify the ancient heritage and success of the dynasty centuries ago.^[2] It is quoted in Tamil literature and temple inscriptions composed during the 11th and 12th century.^[2] The Pattinappalai is notable for its mention of the early Chola kingdom as a cosmopolitan region, where Hindu and Jain monasteries and communities co-existed.

According to scholars such as Miksic, Yian, Meenakshisundararajan and others, the Pattinappalai is an early textual evidence of the significance of overseas trade that economically and culturally linked Tamil regions with southeast Asian communities in Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia.^[20][21][22] One of the trade destinations "Kadaram" in this poem has long been proposed to be the same as modern Kedah in Malaysia, starting with the proposal of K A Nilakanta Sastri in his History of Sri Vijaya.^[23][24] The poem is also an early record attesting to the cultural practice of dedicating memorial Hero stones in South India (lines 88–89).^[25][26]

See also

• Eighteen Greater Texts
• Sangam literature

Notes

References