VIII
PERIODS OF TAMIL LITERATURE
Among the Dravidian tribes of South India, the Tamils were the first to cultivate a literature. Their earliest poems, which are now extant, the Aga-aanuru, the Pura-nanuru and the anthologies of that kind show that they were, like the ancient Assyrians and the early Germanic tribes, a warlike race. Here is a type of the ancient Dravidian woman who in response to an enquiry about her son answered thus:—'I know not where my son is; but he will any-how suddenly appear on the battle-field, for (pointing to her belly) this is the cave that gave birth to that tiger.'
என்மகன்
யாண்டுள னாபினு மறியே னோரும்
புலிசேர்ந்து போகிய கல்லளைபோல
வீன்ற வயிறோ விதுவே
தோன்றுவன் மாதோ போர்க்களத்தானே.—Pur. 86.
The dignity they attached to military pursuits, the chivalrous attitude towards their women, their scorn for an uneventful life and natural death, and
