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Ilango Adigal

Traditionally identified as the royal-born author of the Silappatikaram and a younger brother of Cheran Senguttuvan who renounced the throne to become a Jain/ascetic monk

Introduction

Traditionally identified as the royal-born author of the Silappatikaram and a younger brother of Cheran Senguttuvan who renounced the throne to become a Jain/ascetic monk

Family

Textual Notes

Note: Tradition (recorded in the epilogue verses of the Silappatikaram itself) holds that Ilango Adigal gave up his claim to the Chera throne on hearing a prophecy that he would become king, choosing renunciation instead; this identification of the poet as a prince is traditional rather than independently verified.

This article records a figure from Sangam-era and early medieval Tamil literature and dynastic tradition — the Chera, Chola, Pandya and Pallava royal lines, the legendary Kadai Ezhu Vallalgal patrons, and the Silappatikaram/Manimekalai epic cycle. Chronology and genealogy in this corpus are drawn from praise-poetry and literary narrative rather than administrative record, and are recorded here as attested textual tradition rather than settled history; the Pallava kings in particular postdate the classical Sangam corpus by several centuries, as noted in their individual entries.

Sources

  1. Padirruppattu (primary text)
  2. A History of South India: From Prehistoric Times to the Fall of Vijayanagar (scholarly)

This entry is independently written for myVamsam using the sources listed above. Where traditions differ, this entry identifies the relevant tradition rather than presenting one account as universally established fact.