been proved to be false. Tolkapyar was a Brahman Rishi and belonged to the Jamadagni tribe ; and the contemporary scholar, Athangottasan who passed his work at the royal court of the Pandya king was also a Brahman deeply versed in the four Vedas.
In the Colophon to the Tolkapyain the author says that he has mastered the Sanskrit grammar of Indra.
ஐந்திரம் நிறைந்த தொல்காப்பியன்.
When the epoch-making work of Panini had long been considered the highest authority on the subject in Sanskrit, why Tolkapyar should study and follow Indra's work in his grammar of the Tamil language is inexplicable, unless it be that Panini was not known to the Southern Hindus of Tolkapyar's time. One of the sixty-four predecessors quoted by Panini in the field of grammatical science was Indra, and he should therefore have flourished before him. Thus, Tolkapyar must have lived anterior to B.C. 350 which is the date assigned to Panini by the best authorities.
Again, it will be seen from the following sutras that, at the time of Tolkapyar, there were in use some Tamil words in the middle of which letter combinations like (ல்ய) lya, (ள்ய) lya, (ஞ்ய) jnya, (ந்ய) nya, (ம்ய) mya, (வ்ய) vya and (ம்வ) mva, could occur.
லௗஃகான் முன்னர் யவவுந் தோன்றும். ஈ, 24.
ஞநமவ வென்னும் புள்ளி முன்னர்
யஃகானிற்றன் மெய்பெறன்றே. I, 27.
மஃகான் புள்ளி முன்வவ்வுந் தோன்றும். 1, 28.
