It is conventionally believed that the warriors and bards in early Tamil society were mutually exclusive social groups. A closer examination of the Classical Tamil texts reveals that this does not seem to be true. Consider the word ‘maḷḷar’. It is usually interpreted as denoting warriors.

 

But Akam.189 and Aiñk. 371 reveal that the maḷḷar were also bards. In Akam.189, elephants which carry jack fruits using their raised trunks are compared to maḷḷar who go to participate in a viḻavu (festival) in a different land carrying the concert percussion instrument, muḻavu. Indeed Perumaḻaippulavar, the modern commentator glosses ‘maḷḷar’ in this poem as ‘kūttar’.

 

That maḷḷar also functioned as performing artists is inferred from Aiñk. 371.1 too, where a peacock is supposed to dance to the percussion by maḷḷar. UVS glosses ‘maḷḷar’ in this poem as ‘vīrar’ (warriors). He also glosses ‘koṭṭu’ as beating the paṟai drum. Another commentator, Perumaḻaippulavar, interprets this poem as referring to warriors beating the war drum (pōr muracam). Because they have interpreted ‘maḷḷar’ here as warriors, the commentators have missed the mark completely.

 

One can expect peacocks to get scared of war drums rather than dance to their sound. In other poems, a peacock’s dance is compared to viṟali’s dance performed to the accompaniment of the concert drum ‘muḻavu’. (See Akam. 82.4-9). ‘Muḻavu’ playing is associated with the festival ‘viḻavu’ in many poems as in Akam. 206.11.

 

It is this performing aspect of maḷḷar that is intended in Kuṟ. 31 in which maḷḷar gathering in a viḻavu is mentioned in a poem which describes the heroine searching for her hero amidst the festival gathering. Here maḷḷar could be players of muḻavu or dancers. In this poem the females are supposed to perform the tuṇaṅkai dance. Tuṇaṅkai dance is performed to the accompaniment of muḻavu drum. (See Akam. 336.16.) Going by the colophon of Kuṟ. 31, we can say Akam 222.4-7 is related to the event mentioned in Kuṟ. 31. Here the hero is supposed to dance in the festival. (The very name of the hero, Āṭṭaṉ Atti, indicates he was a dancer. Indeed he exemplifies the dual nature of the maḷḷar.) It is because of his performing background, the heroine searches for the hero among the gathered maḷḷar and tuṇaṅkai performers. But the commentators simply interpret ‘maḷḷar’ in Kuṟ. 31 as warriors. Although ‘maḷḷar’ are depicted as warriors in other poems, in the poems mentioned above they are performers. Akam 189 also indicates that the maḷḷar went from place to place to perform in the festivals just like other bards did.

 

Similar to Akam. 82.4-9, in Akam. 352.4-7, the dance of a peacock is compared to the performance by a viṟali, who dances to the percussion of muḻavu by bards called kōṭiyar. The associations revealed by the poems such as those given above argue for considering maḷḷar to be both bardic performers as well as warriors.

 

Similar to ‘maḷḷar’, we also have the word ‘porunar’ which can indicate warriors as well bards. Maturaikkkāñci 98-104 describes porunar as having ‘muḻavu’ like arms (which is a description characteristic of warriors) and receiving gifts such as elephants and lotuses made of gold (which are typical gifts given to bards)!

In Porunarāṟṟuppaṭai (the guide poem of porunar), the porunaṉ is also called the leader of ‘kōṭiyar’. In Ciṟupāṇāṟṟuppaṭai which is a guide poem of pāṇar bards, in describing the welcoming nature of the city of the hero, the poet says the gates of the city are open for porunar bards, poets, and brahmins which suggests pāṇar and porunar are essentially equivalent. Thus one is led to believe that the bards and warriors differed only on the basis of the activities they engaged in and not in terms of any social origins.