The Eight Anthologies, known as Eṭṭuttokai (Tamil: எட்டுத்தொகை) or "Eight Collections" in the literature, is a classical Tamil poetic work that forms part of the Eighteen Greater Texts (Patiṉeṇmēlkaṇakku) anthology series of the Sangam Literature.^[1] The Eight Anthologies and its companion anthology, the Ten Idylls (Pattuppāṭṭu), is the oldest available Tamil literature.^[2] According to Kamil Zvelebil, a scholar of Tamil literature and history, dating these Eight Anthologies or their relative chronology is difficult, but the scholarship so far suggested that the earliest layers were composed sometime between the 1st century BCE and 2nd century CE, while the last layers were completed between 3rd and 5th century CE.^[3]

The Eight Anthologies consist of 2,371 poems varying from small stanzas of three lines in Ainkurnuru to stanzas of forty lines in Purananuru. The following poems form the Eight Anthologies:

• Ainkurunuru (ஐங்குறுநூறு)
• Akananuru (அகநானூறு)
• Purananuru (புறநானூறு)
• Kalittokai (கலித்தொகை)
• Kuruntokai (குறுந்தொகை)
• Natrinai (நற்றிணை)
• Paripatal (பரிபாடல்)
• Pathitrupathu (பதிற்றுப்பத்து)

This compilation of eight anthologies into the Ettuttokai super-anthology is historic. It is attested to in a mnemonic Tamil venpa stanza, likely composed sometime at a much later date after the 5th-century. The stanza is found in the colophons of many of the surviving palm-leaf manuscripts, and confirms the cherished status of this Sangam collection in the Tamil history. This stanza aid reads:^[4]

Original Tamil:

நற்றிணை நல்ல குறுந்தொகை ஐங்குறுநூறு
ஒத்த பதிற்றுப்பத்து ஓங்கு பரிபாடல்
கற்றறிந்தார் ஏத்தும் கலியோடு அகம்புறம் என்று
இத்திறத்த எட்டுத் தொகை

— Palm-leaf manuscript UVSL 885 (GOML R-5780) colophon

Translation:

Naṟṟiṇai, good Kuṟuntokai, Aiṅkuṟunūṟu,
even Patiṟṟuppattu, high Paripāṭal,
along with Kali, Akam, [and] Puṟam praised by learned
knowledgeable people, these parts [form] the Eṭṭuttokai

— Translator: Eva Wilden^[5]

Tamil tradition mentions academies of poets that composed classical literature over thousands of years before the common era, a belief that scholars consider a myth. Some scholars date the Sangam literature between c. 300 BCE and 300 CE,^[6] while others variously place this early classical Tamil literature period a bit later and more narrowly but mostly before 300 CE.^[7][8][9] According to Kamil Zvelebil – a Tamil literature and history scholar, the most acceptable range for the majority of Sangam literature is 100 BCE to 250 CE, based on the linguistic, prosodic and quasi-historic allusions within the texts and the colophons.^[10] Some of the later strata of the Sangam literature, including the Eight Anthologies, is approximately from the 3rd to 5th century CE.^{[11][note 1]}

There are 470 poets known either by their proper names or by causal names deduced from their works. The authors are unidentified in the case of a hundred stanzas. The poets belonged to different parts of Tamil Nadu and to different professions.

Some of them were very popular like Kabilar, Nakkirar and Avvaiyaar and some others are rarely remembered by their names. Yet a general harmony prevails throughout these eight anthologies. The tone and temper of the age is reflected in all their poems with a singular likeness. They were moulded according to certain literary conventions or traditions that prevailed in the Sangam age. Yet they reveal the individual genius of the poets who sang them.

The Sangam literature is categorized into two: love or inner (Akam) or public life or outer (Puram).

A verse from the 69th poem of Akanaṉūṟu :

"விண்பொரு நெடுவரை இயல் தேர் மோரியர் 

பொன் புனை திகிரி திரிதர குறைத்த

அறை இறந்து அகன்றனர் ஆயினும், எனையதூஉம்

நீடலர் வாழி தோழி!"

The verse speaks about the elegant chariots on which the Mauryans rode through mountains and valleys and are referred to as "moriyar". These anthologies are significant source of cultural and historic information about ancient Tamil Nadu and South India.

In general, the texts are non-religious, mostly about love, longing, bardic praise of the king, chieftain or patron and such topics. They occasionally mention reverence or include lines alluding to Hindu gods (particularly Murugan), goddesses, Vedas, Puranic legends and temples. The Paripaatal is a notable exception. This is a collection of devotional poems (bhakti), which are set to music and written primarily about Thirumal (Vishnu), Murugan and the river Vaigai.^[18]

• Eighteen Greater Texts
• Sangam literature