Tamil is the classical language of ancient Tamil Sangam literature.
Sangam literature is a major body of early Tamil poetry and prose associated with the Tamil-speaking regions of southern India. Its surviving works include collections such as the Ettuthokai and Pattupattu, along with the Tolkappiyam, a foundational work on Tamil grammar and poetics.
The dating of Sangam texts is complex, but scholars generally place much of the surviving corpus in the early centuries of the Common Era, with some works possibly preserving older traditions. The literature covers love, war, kingship, ethics, landscape, and social life.
Tamil is one of India’s classical languages and remains a major modern language in India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, and worldwide communities. Sangam literature should not be confused with Sanskrit literature: both are important classical traditions, but they belong to different language families and literary histories.