The Vedic Order in Tamilakam: Sangam Literature, Dharma, and Kingship presents a bold and meticulously researched re-reading of early Tamil civilization (inspired by scholars like KA Nilakanta Shastri and Dr Nagaswamy). Drawing upon Sangam poems that refer to kings performing great Vedic sacrifices such as the Rajasuya and other yajñas and titles like Rājasüyam Vetta Perunarkilli, Professor Ramaswami Subramony demonstrates that ancient Tamilakam was deeply engaged in the wider Vedic world. Literary echoes of the Mahābhārata, references to dharmic kingship, and the celebration of sacrificial generosity reveal a shared ethical and political imagination across the subcontinent. The book further explores how texts like the Silappadikaram portray a distinctly Vedic lifestyle-ritual observances, Vedic settlements, sacred fires, and the performance of yajñas-embedded within Tamil social life. The presence of Chaturvedimangalams (settlements of scholars versed in the four Vedas), inscriptional evidence of Vedic patronage, and references to Brahmins well-versed in the Vedas confirm that Tamilakam was not peripheral but integral to India's sacred and intellectual traditions. Through close readings of poetry, grammar, ritual vocabulary, and historical sources, this study shows how Vedic concepts of yajña. dharma, kingship, and cosmic order were creatively reimagined within the Tamil tinai landscape and akam-puram poetics. Scholarly yet accessible, the work challenges divisive narratives and restores to ancient Tamil civilization its rightful place within the evolving continuum of Indian cultural unity.
| Title |
The Vedic Order in Tamilakam
|
| ISBN-13 |
9788168834804
|
| ISBN-10 |
—
|
| Publisher / Imprint |
Standard Publishers (Bharat)
|
| Academic Subject |
Sociology
|
| Binding |
Paperback
|
| Edition |
1st Edition
|
| Publication Date |
2026
|
| Number of Pages |
203
|
Table of contents is being compiled for this publication.
