The Eight Anthologies, known as Eṭṭuttokai () 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. The Eight Anthologies and its companion anthology, the Ten Idylls (Pattuppāṭṭu), is the oldest available Tamil literature. 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. Contents of the anthologies 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: Translation: Date 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, while others variously place this early classical Tamil literature period a bit later and more narrowly but mostly before 300 CE. 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. Some of the later strata of the Sangam literature, including the Eight Anthologies, is approximately from the 3rd to 5th century CE. Rediscovery The Ettuttokai along with other Sangam literature had fallen into oblivion for much of the 2nd millennium of the common era, but were preserved by and rediscovered in the monasteries of Hinduism, particularly those related to Shaivism near Kumbhakonam. These rediscovered palm-leaf (Tamil: olai, Sanskrit: talapatra) manuscripts were published by the colonial era scholars in late