INTRODUCTION
Kuṟuntokai is one of the eight anthologies called Eṭṭu-t-tokai which form part of the earliest extant literary works in Tamil, namely Sangam Literature. According to the ancient commentators and some of the modern eminent scholars, Kuṟuntokai has a very important and significant place among these anthologies. Of the four hundred stanzas in this collection, two hundred and thirty six stanzas have been either quoted or referred to or explained in comparison, in the ancient commentaries of the classical works. This book is a critical study of such an important literary work.
The first chapter deals with the classification of Sangam literature comprising of Pattu-p-pāṭṭu and Eṭṭu-t-tokai and a brief account of each of them has been given therein. The age of Kuṟuntokai has been discussed in detail in the second chapter taking into consideration the different opinions of the scholars in the fields of South Indian History and Tamil Literature who have hitherto thrown light on the Sangam age. The next chapter is an estimate of the literary merit of this anthology and its place of importance in Sangam Literature. Different works that have quoted Kuṟuntokoi as well as the various references found in this anthology have been studied and analysed in this chapter. Kuṟuntokai has also been studied as a representative work of the age and the special features of Sangam literature have been set forth in the fourth chapter.
This collection also serves as a source of early South Indian History as there are thirty four stanzas with interesting historical settings. A critical but brief study of them has been made in the fifth chapter. Chapter VI dwells upon the social life of the people of the age as depicted in
