Naṟṟiṇai

Naṟṟiṇai (Tamil: நற்றிணை meaning excellent tinai[1]), is a classical Tamil poetic work and traditionally the first of the Eight Anthologies (Ettuthokai) in the Sangam literature.[2] The collection – sometimes spelled as Natrinai[3] or Narrinai[4] – contains both akam (love) and puram (war, public life) category of poems. The Naṟṟiṇai anthology contains 400 poems, mainly of 9 to 12 lines, but a few with 8 to 13 lines each.[5][1] According to Takanobu Takahashi – a Tamil literature scholar, the Naṟṟiṇai poems were likely composed between 100–300 CE based on the linguistics, style and dating of the authors.[6] The Naṟṟiṇai manuscript colophon states that it was compiled under the patronage of the Pandyan king named Pannatu Tanta Pantiyan Maran Valuti, but the compiler remained anonymous.[1]

The Naṟṟiṇai poems are credited to 175 ancient poets.[1] Two of these poems are attributed to the patron king.[2] According to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar, this poetic anthology contains a few Sanskrit loan words and contains 59 allusions to historical events.[2] Many lines from these poems were borrowed into later Tamil works such as the famed post-Sangam Tamil works: Tirukkural, Silappatikaram and Manimekalai. The Tamil legend about Kannagi (Kannaki), one who tore of her breast to protest against her husband's unjust execution, appears in Naṟṟiṇai 312.[2][7]