Tamil may be said to be very fortunate and lucky in having 'Tolkappiyam' and Cankam Classics which are the extant old Tamil literature truly representing the bulk of ancient Tamil works lost for ever. 'Tolkappiyar' whose age is generally placed in the 5th century B.C. gives us a lot of information for tracing the heritage of the Tamils.

It is no exaggeration to say that the kinds of Tamil literature we come across in the medieval and modern periods were mostly in existence in pre-Tolkappiyam age.

The age of Tolkappiyam :

Tolkappiyam one of the greatest works that the world has ever produced is the oldest extant treatise in Tamil. Its survival against vicissitudes is a wonder. Books literary and grammatical prior to it were completely lost. No works have reached us for the three centuries subsequent to Tolkappiyam. We notice a big interregnum between Tolkappiyam and the 'Sangam' literature. The influence of is felt on all the periods of Tamil literary history in various degrees. Earlier a work, greater is its impact.

The earliest extant literature of the Tamils is called Sangam literature and it is dated between 500 BC. and 200 A.D. Though a considerable part of the early poetry has been lost, some of the bards and patrons decided to preserve apart of it in certain anthologies (about 4th century A.D.). These are the Ten Idylls (Pattuppattu) and the Eight Anthologies (Ettuttohai). Four hundred and seventy three poets, of whom thirty are women, have been identified. These are mainly classified into two. Akam or esoteric dealing with love and Puram or exoteric dealing with war.

The age of Tirukkural :

The second great work with 1330 couplets written by an individual author is Tirukkural.

'Tiruvalluvar' who is also a follower of 'Tolkappiyam' made a new approach to Ceyyliyal and gave a concrete shape to some of the ideas contained in that chapter in Tolkappiyam.

The age of Silappathikaram :

The third outstanding work in old Tamil is Silappathikaram. It is also an embodiment of the ideas of the earlier three great works.

The age of Tamilised Epic :

In the true Tamil epoch, characters in literature are not described as belonging to any faith. Religions did not play the least role in the ancient literature proper. But in the second epic period, heroes and heroines and other minor characters are shown as the devoted followers of certain religious faiths by birth. This significant difference between the Tamil literature that came into existence after the 4th century A.D. and the Tamil literature existing before that century should be borne in mind when we study the circumstances which are responsible for the many sided developments in the history Tamil.

Modern Literature :

It is very difficult to find out the cultural heritage of the Tamils in the Modern Literature. The historic march of literature in Tamil began with the pre-Christian era. For the major division of "Silappathigaram" the first epic of Tamilnadu. In this epic Tamil Kings were given due respect at proper places.

"Tamil and Tamilnadu" are magic words to the Tamils to raise them as one man to do their duties at critical times in our history. This cultural aspect has been predominant in our Modern Literature.

The movement of Reform under the leadership of Periyar E.Ve.Ramasamy tried to reestablish the ideals of 'Kural' among the Tamils. They wanted to use it as a shield of "Aram" against the social evil and ignorance.

Matavaiyya, Bharathi, Va.Ra.Sithanantha Bharathi and C.N.Annadurai attacked the caste system mercilessly. Gandhian movement touched the very heart of the people. Many nationalists, Socialists and Communists wrote stories, novels, poems and dramas againsts this evil system. Certain social reformers criticized the attitude of the religious institutions which tried to convert innocent people from other religions to their religions. Rajaji, Pudhumaipithan and Vintan have written on such themes.

Ancient Tamils discouraged gambling and dicing which seem to have been somewhat common in those days. According to Thiruvalluvar gambling destroys property, teaches falsehood, puts an end to benevolence and brings in misery.

Twentieth century has produced many talented men of letters in various fields, Poetry, Prose, Drama, Novel, Biography, Short Story etc. Dr. Swaminatha Iyer unearthed many literary works and edited them. Swami Vadachalam, Thiru V. Kalyanasundera Mudaliar and V. O. Chidambaram Pillai are great writers of the modern period. However, the greatest poet of modern Tamil is Subramania Bharati whose patriotic poems have inspired thousands of readers in his time. Personal freedom, national liberty and the fundamental equality of all men find eloquent expression in his verses. In some of his poems like Kuyilpattu (Song of the Cuckoo) Kannanpattu (Poems on Lord Krishna) or Panchali Sapatham (The Vow of Panchali) we notice a religious perception at work.

In the post-Independence period several writers have come to the fore. Among poets, the names of Kulothungan, Ka-Na Subramanyam and C. S. Chellappa may be mentioned. And in fiction the outstanding names are Akilan, jayakanthan, Neela Padmanabhan, Sundararamaswamy, Ashokamitran and Indira Parthasarathy.