Ponniyin Selvan Varalaatru Peravai

1465 to 165 BCE: over one thousand years of sangam period fromHathikumba edicts For over 1,300 years and 49 generations, the three ancient Tamil kingdoms had an agreement of understanding. The basis of this agreement was based upon the literary creation Tolkappiyam��s Purathinai.
The ancient Hathikumba inscription, its message on the Tamils the great king of Kalinga Karavela tells in his Hathikumba inscription (Elephant cave): "All the Tamil kings were bound by an united alliance", when he had visited these parts of Tamil country during 165 BCE. and states that this alliance had been in force for 1,300 years, "and these kings acted cohesively". He feels that if this agreement continued to exist, it will be an impending danger even to his empire.

It was at this time the Cheraputra Anthuvan defeated the Kongu country king at Karuvur and captures it. As per the existing agreement, the King sows decayed seeds in the fertile paddy fields and ploughs them with asses.

However, Karavela induces the Cheraputra King to expand his kingdom by not relieving his captured territory, thereby enticing him to break the treaty which had lived over the ages.

The inscription of Hathikumba was fully deciphered by J.P. Jayaswal MA Barister, Patna and Professor R.D. Banerjee, MA Banaras Hindu University. They were of a doubt whether this alliance or agreement of the three ancient Tamil kingdoms could have lasted 1,300 years. Hence, they had interpreted that the total number of years could not be 1300 years and decided it as 113 years.

Though there are no inscriptions in Tamil Nadu that such agreements existed, it is true that such an agreement existed throughout the Sangam Period. To carryout such a treaty, it is a necessity to have a sort of control document. Hence, to implement such an agreement, these guidelines and rules were framed in into the famous book of Tolkappiyam which is considered a literary and legal bible of the Tamils. This could be found in Purathinai of Tolkappiyam. Just like a legal document, the Purathinai which comprises of the five divisions (Kurinji, Mullai, Marudham, Neidhal and Paalai), contains all the legal guidelines for this agreement. And this should have been done when Tolkappiam was formulated in its early ages. In a similar manner to Purathinai, Agathinai should also have been scripted together with Purathinai and created during its nascent stage.

In the olden age, the rules formed by the Tamil literary books had not been created by any one scholar. Each rule must have been created by one scholar (Pulavar) or by a group of learned men after considerable research. It was then created into an organized structure of rules and regulations. Most of the rules/regulations stated in Tolkappiyam ends with "enba" or "Mozhiba". For example:
"Nunnithinayadhor kandavarae", "Yenmanaar Pulamayoerae", "Enba Unarumoerae", "Enba arichandinoerae"
are some verses of Tolkappiyam.

It can be inferred that these verses have been created and large volumes of regulatory/ legal books of Sangam literature have been created by means of conducting conferences (Tamil Sangam) of Tamil scholars during that age.

Cooperative treaty between three kings There was a cooperative treaty which gradually evolved from a single prince into ultimate formation of three kingdoms.
1. Rule by Small Grouping: When this was decided, there was only one crown prince of the Pandya King who along with his two brothers divided the country into Chera, Chola and Pandya and ruled the entire kingdom. Later the 12 velirs divided the country into smaller areas and ruled with greater interaction with the common people. Even during ages when good transportation facilities did not exist, there existed such kings who can be called upon any time. This way of rule which existed so long ago in Tamil country has a special reputation on its own.

2. Way of working of these Kings: ��Kudi purangathombi kutrangadithal vendhan thozhil�� �� this means the kings�� duty is to do service to his country men, render justice, carry out punishments for criminals, maintain an army to safeguard the country. He himself undergoes a lot of training regarding warfare.
3. Three countries and the Three Kings: The three kings were praised profusely for their rule. The many velirs in each of these kingdoms were a sort of subordinates to these kings. The geographical contours of these kingdoms were used to create the symbols of these kingdoms and these symbols were minted in their coins. The symbols and flags were individualistic for each of these three kings. Velirs did not have such symbols or flags.

4. Relationships �� Friendships and enmity: Among the velirs and kings, relationships were maintained through marriages and this was maintained ancestrally like a rule or a regulation . This can be inferred from Kabilar��s visit along with Paari��s daughters for trying to engage these girls with Velir��s sons (Puram: 200, 201, 202). For any grudge/ disagreements, there were conflicts only among these velirs or kings. These conflicts were only among the 3 kings + 12 velirs and their relations and strictly as per the rules and guidelines of the literary legal books.

5. Capture of Territories: If war was conducted as per Purathinai, even if a king captures several countries, there will be no change in the state of the kingdoms. Only the bravery of the war was looked upon and praised. The books tell about the direct involvement of the kings in the war and their brave deaths. However, the three kingdoms always existed as separate entities and secured as per the common law. For the bravery of the warriors, symbols of bravery called ��Ninaivu chinnams�� (small buildings) were only created. There were no kings who had thought about inscriptions to show his pomp or pride.
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