The Tamil literary works, written during the period after the epoch of Eṭṭuttokai and Pattuppāṭṭu, are referred to as post-Sangam works or Patiṉeṇ Kīḻkkaṇakku (18 minor works). Among the eighteen works of Kīḻkkaṇakku, eleven are of didactic content, six deal with akam love and one by name Kaḷavaḻi Nāṟpatu describes a battlefield. Nālaṭiyār, Nāṉmaṇikkaṭikai, Iṉṉā Nāṟpatu, Iṉiyavai Nāṟpatu, Tirukkuṟaḷ, Tirikaṭukam, Ācārakkōvai, Paḻamoḻi Nāṉūṟu, Ciṟupañcamūlam, Mutumoḻik Kāñci and Ēlāti are the eleven ethical works belonging to Patiṉeṇ Kīḻkkaṇakku. The six akam works are Kārnāṟpatu, Aintiṇai Aimpatu, Tiṇaimoḻi Aimpatu, Aintiṇai Eḻupatu, Tiṇaimālai Nūṟṟaimpatu, Kainnilai.

Nālaṭiyār, also known as Nālaṭi, Nālaṭi Nāṉūṟu and Vēḷāṇ Vētam, is a great ethical work belonging to the post-Tirukkuṟaḷ period. Nālaṭiyār and Tirukkuṟaḷ have all along been considered equal in terms of the ethical, humanistic significance. The sayings of ‘ālum vēlum pallukkuṟuti; nālum iraṇṭum collukkuṟuti’ and ‘paḻakutamiḻc collarumai nāliraṇṭil’ (The couplets and quatrains add to the strength of Tamil letters) testify to their pairing. Nālaṭiyār contains four hundred quatrains (exclusive of invocation) in veṇpā metre.

Since there are four lines in each stanza in this composition, it is called Nālaṭiyār. The suffix ‘ār’ in Nālaṭiyār is honorific. Nālaṭiyār was composed not by one poet but by many. Patumaṉār who is the editor of Nālaṭiyār has divided the work into three parts known as Aṟattuppāl, Poruṭpāl and Kāmattuppāl following the divisions of Tirukkuṟaḷ. Aṟam consists of 13 chapters, Poruḷ 26 and Kāmam only one. This ethical work has two commentaries, viz. those of Tarumar and Patumaṉār and an English translation by Dr. G.U. Pope.