சங்ககால மக்கள் தொகை

1968 இல் திரு.M. E. MANICKAVASAGAM PILLAI, எளிமையான முறையில் சங்ககால மக்கள் தொகையைக் கணக்கிட்டு, ஒரு கட்டுரையாக ஆக்கி, மலேசியாவில் நடந்த முதல் உலகத் தமிழ் மாநாட்டில் அளித்தார். இவ் எளிய கட்டுரை அற்றைத் தமிழரிடம் மிகப் பெருவலம் கொண்டதாய் அமைந்தது. (இற்றைத் தமிழர்தாம் பழையனவற்றைக் காப்பாற்றாது விட்டோம்.) 

இம்மாநாட்டில் மலேசியப் பேராளரில் ஒருவராய்க் கலந்து கொண்ட என் தந்தையார் முத்தமிழ்ச் செல்வர் ரெ.இராமசாமியின் வழி, 1966/67 இல் இக்கட்டுரையைப் படிக்கும் வாய்ப்பும் பெற்றேன்.  Proceedings of the first international conference seminar of Tamil studies: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Apeil 1966 நூலில் 346-349 பக்கங்களில் உள்ளது. மாநாட்டுக் கட்டுரைத் தொகுப்பின்  ஒரு படி எம் வீட்டிலும் இருந்தது. என் தந்தையார் மறைவிற்குப் பின் இக்கட்டுரையைத் தேடிக் கண்டு பிடிக்கமுடியாமல் பல்லாண்டு தடுமாறி, முடிவில் 2010களில், நண்பர் விருபா குமரேசன் உதவியோடு இக்கட்டுரையின் படியைப் பெற்றேன். 

இப்போது https://www.tamildigitallibrary.in/book-detail.php?id=jZY9lup2kZl6TuXGlZQdjZIdk0xy#book1/ வலைத்தளத்தின் வழி இருப்பதையும் தெரிவிக்கிறேன். உங்கள் வாசிப்பிற்கு ஒரு படி இணைத்துள்ளேன். 

படிக்கவேண்டிய கட்டுரை.

அவர் கட்டுரையை இங்கு கொடுத்தது போக,  கட்டுரைக்குள்ளே சில பெருக்கல்களில் இருந்த Logarithm பிழைகளைச் சரி செய்துள்ளேன். முடிவில் பெரிதும் மாற்றம் இல்லை.   

POPULATION OF TAMILAKAM DURING THE SANGHAM AGE*

M. E. MANICKAVASAGAM PILLAI

INTRODUCTION

In this paper an attempt is made to probe into the possibilities of reconstructing the population of Tamilakam during the Sangham period.Such an idea would strike the imagination of any one who finds the note of caution cited by the Demographical Year Book of the U.N.O. It mentions the future trends in the population of the world that would become three times greater by a.D. 2000, than what it was in A.D. 1950. If the future trends can be calculated, why would it not be possible for us to calculate backwards? Physical anthropologists have calculated the age of the first true men as 30,000 years{!}. But the number of the species who lived at that time is not known. At the same time the population of the world at the time of the birth of Christ is said to have been 200 millions{2}.

Regarding the population of any country in the present century, we are posted with sufficient information, thanks to the reports of the Census Commissions. Based on these figures, the future trends in population are calculated. Similarly the past trends in population also have to be calculated. The relationship between population and other aspects of culture deems it a necessity to formulate a method to calculate the past trends in population.

IMPORTANCE OF THE POPULATION ANALYSIS

In any country, a proper study of the population should precede the assessment of her economic prosperity. They are relative entities and none of them is absolute of the other. Therefore an analysis of the population of Tamilakam during the Sangham age is essential, if we have to evaluate fully her economic prosperity, as it is gleaned out from the Sangham literature, which does not help us in any way, as no clue is available to probe into the population figures. So a different method is to be adopted.

FORMULATION OF THE METHOD

It is possible to reconstruct the culture of the ancient phase on the basis of modern culture traits existing in cognate cultures within a culture area. A similar method should be formulated for calculating the past population also.

Let P be the population of a country at a given time and n be the number of decades before which R the population to be reconstructed existed. If r is the percentage of variation during a decade, then a formula can be arrived at as follows:

Let R be the population in the beginning, and r the % variation per decade.Then at the end of the first decade, the population will be: R+ R*X*r/100; 

i.e. = R*(1 + r/100). Then the population after n decades will be R (1 + 1/100)^n which is P.: So P= R (1 + r/100)^n 

CALCULATION OF  r

Using the above formula, r can be calculated, if the value of the other entities are known. If we accept the view that the population of the world during the time of Christ was 200 millions, r can be calculated as follows:

P = 1,500 millions in AD. 1900.R = 200 millions and n = 190 decades.By positing these values, we can calculate the value of r:

P = R*(1+r/100)"

ie. 1550 = 200*(1 + r/100)^!90

1550/200 = (1 + r/100)^190

Taking natural logarithm on both sides, 

190*ln (1 + r/100) = ln (1550/200) = ln 7.75 

Therefore, ln(1+r/100) = (ln 7.75)/190 = 0.010777330754554

i.e. (1+r/100) = 1.010835615379693

Hence, r = 1.0835615379693 % per decade.

RECONSTRUCTION OF THE POPULATION OF TAMILAKAM

The Tamilakam of the Sangham age and the modern Tamilnad are not the same. The former comprised the modern states of Kerala also within her area. So the modern Indian states of Kerala and Madras would roughly correspond with the Tamilakam of the Sangham age. The population of Madras according to the Census Report of 1911 was 20,902,616: while that of Kerala in that report was 7,147,673. Therefore the population of the modern area corresponding to the

ancient Tamilakam of the period in question (i.e.1910 the year) is (20,902 + 7,148) x 1,000 = 28,050 x 1,000. If the population of Tamilakam in the first decade of the beginning of the Christian Era is to be calculated, then n = 191 decades.

P = R*(1 + r/100)^191

ie. 28:05 = R*(1 + 1.0835615379693/100)^191

R = 28-05/[(1.010835615379693)^191]

  = 28.05/7.833976019192718 = 3.580557296994447 millions.

Tamil scholars and historians agree with regard to the age of the Sangham period, as the first three centuries of the Christian era. So if we

take up the upper limit of the Sangham period as AD 300, then the population figures can be calculated as follows:

P = R(l + r/100); P = 3.580557296994447 * (1.010835615379693)^30 = 4.942782225693111 millions.

Now we know the minimum and maximum limits of the population range in Tamilakam during the Sangham period. The range is between 3.581 millions in the beginning and 4-962 millions towards the close of that epoch.

FURTHER IMPLICATIONS

As we have calculated above, the population of Tamilakam during the entire Sangham period varied between 3-583 millions 4-951 millions respectively. This knowledge of the population of Tamilakam helps us to make a valid assessment of the economic structure of the ancient Tamil Society. We learn from the Classics that the land was fertile, agriculture flourished and great progress was made in the spheres of internal and international commerce.{4} Foreign ships loaded with gold visited the harbours of the Tamil states to exchange gold for the precious commodities like pepper and the spices.{5} As a consequence Tamilakam maintained a favourable balance of trade. All these aspects suggest that the people enjoyed a prosperous economy which, with a limited population might have maximised the intensity.In the political life of the country, the three crowned kings and the chieftains are said to have maintained a standing four-fold army, in addition to the militia, mobilised during occasions of war[6}. The population figures would explain this discrepancy. There might not have existed ample scope for maintaining a huge standing army with a limited population, for other economic activities also might have needed the services of the people in order to have a stable economy.

Literature does not mention more than one or two diseases and the stress seems to have been on administering curative medicines.Thus it is possible to establish the fact that a study of the population of ancient Tamilakam has great implications on the culture of the ancient Tamils {7)

Thus it is possible to establish the fact that a study of the population of ancient Tamilakam has great implications on the culture of the ancient Tamils.  

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References:

1 Krober’s Anthropology, pp. 23-27. 

2.The information is obtained from KUMUDAM, Tamil weekly published from Madras.

3 On the basis of the synchronization of the contents of the Sangham works with those of the foreign works of Pliny, Ptolemy and others, Profeason  S. Valyapuri Pillai and K. A. Nilakanda Sastri have fixed this date. The Roman coins un-earthed in different parts of Tamilakam also confirm this view.

4. Refer to the section ‘Economic Conditions’ in the author’s thesis “Culture of the Early Cheras”, pp. 254-314.

5 Ibid.

6 Ibid. “Political Conditions”, pp. 193-253.

7 Ibid. “Economic Conditions”, pp. 254-314.

SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY

Kroser, A. L., Anthropology — George G. Harrap & Company, Limited,London, 1923. 

MANICKAVASAGAM PILLAI, M. E., “Culture of The Early Cheras”, M. Litt.Dissertation (Unpublished) submitted to the University of Kerala, Trivandrum,1964.

The author is greatly indebted to Prof. V. I. Subramoniam, of the Kerala University. and Prof. Eliezer of the Department of Mathematics, University of Malaya, for their valuable suggestions in drafting this revised draft of the paper.