சஙக இலககயததல ஆநர கவரதலம மடடலம: இனககழப பரளதர மரணகளன சமகவயல வளபபட: Cattle Raids in Sangam Literature: A Sociological Expression of Tribal Economic Conflicts

This paper investigates the socio-economic and anthropological dynamics of classical Tamil society as it transitioned from a clan-based pastoral community to early state formation. In Sangam literature, warfare in the Vetchi (cattle raiding) and Karanthai (cattle re-covery) thinai (ecocritical landscapes) differed fundamentally from the territorial, land-annexing conflicts of later feudal eras. Instead, these conflicts represented resource-centered economic struggles between tribal groups inhabiting the Kurinji (mountainous) and Mullai (pastoral) tracts. Through a sociological lens, this study analyzes the economic-anthropological back-ground where cattle—etymologically and culturally denoted by the word Maadu—served as the primary measure of non-monetized wealth and capital. The paper highlights the chivalric martial ethics (Poraaram) governing cattle raids, which functioned both as a pre-emptive economic strike and a protective measure to remove non-combatants and livestock from im-pending battlegrounds. The paper also examines the resulting Nadukal (Hero Stone) culture. Erected to commemorate fallen warriors who died protecting or capturing herds, these inscribed me-morial stones evolved from ancestral markers into shrines of border-guarding folk deities (Sirutheyvam). Ultimately, this paper demonstrates how cattle-centered conflict and hero-stone veneration reflect the socio-political evolution of early South Indian society from line-age-based pastoral clans to institutionalized monarchies.