Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Contents
Henriques and the sixteenth century
Roberto De Nobili and the seventeenth century Thambiran Vanakkam
Kirisithiyaani
Ziegenbalg and printing in Tranquebar
Vanakkam
Constanzo G. Beschi
Guru Simpleton
Printed oral tales in Tamil
Printing by Pundits
Arumuka Navalar
Madras School Book Society
Printing in Sri Lanka
Vepery Press
Notes
References
In 1577 the first of the Henriques’ five books, Doctrina Christam en Lingua
Malauar Tamul (Thambiran Vanakkam) was printed in Goa. The book
was the first book printed with Indian type. Although some scholars refuse
to consider this as a historical fact, Graham Shaw seems convinced that it Doctrina Christam - Kirisithiyaani
Vanakkam.1579 AD
was printed. The second printed Tamil book was only 16 pages long, but a
third Catechism of 127 pages, a Tamil translation of the popular
Portuguese text by Marcos Jorge, was printed again with new type in Cochin on November 14, 1579. Three Catechisms
were printed with three sets of type, at three different locations on the west coast over the following three years.
Henriques’ two other books printed at Cochin were:
Unlike Henriques, Roberto de Nobili did not translate a Portuguese text into Tamil, instead he wrote his own manual,
so that he might emphasize the hidden truths of the new faith.
Ziegenbalg explained in a number of letters that the books prepared in the Malabar language, to help in the
propagation of the Christian faith, were initially written in Portuguese and then translated into the “Malabarick
Language” with the help of Indian assistants. In the absence of a printing press the books that had been prepared up
until then had to be transcribed by hand. This proved to be a slow, laborious and expensive process. With the objective
of facilitating a wider and faster dissemination of Christian literature, Ziegenbalg in his letter of August 22, 1708, put
forth a demand for a “Malabarick and Portuguese printing press”.[2] In the mean time Ziegenbalg devoted
considerable attention to collecting manuscripts of Indian literature, as this would help him to understand the old
beliefs of the Hindus which he proposed to refute.
In a letter written in 1708, Ziegenbalg speaks of 26 sermons delivered by him at the church of Tranquebar and two
vocabularies of Malabar language prepared by him. The first consisted of 26,000 words in common use, and had three
columns, the first giving the word in Malabar characters, the second its transliteration and the third its meaning in
German. The second contained words used in poetry. For this work Ziegenbalg was assisted by Indian scholars and
poets who remained at his house for four months.
Ziegenbalg was keenly aware that to attain his object he needed a printing press. He made repeated demands for a
press in his letters of April–June 1709. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, set up in the 1690s, came
forward to help under the recommendation of the Rev. A. W. Boehme (the German chaplain to Prince George of
Denmark). In 1711 the society sent the mission some copies of the Bible in Portuguese as well as a printing press with
pica types and other accessories along with a printer to operate it. The ship was held up by the French near Brazil, and
the printer Jones Finck was arrested but later released. Finck soon succumbed to fever near the Cape of Good Hope.
The printing press reached India in 1712 unaccompanied by its operator. The press, however, started functioning with
the help of a German printer–cum–compositor.
Malabar characters were obtained from Europe. A letter dated April 7, 1713, contains a list of 32 books in the Malabar
language, original works as well as translations, and 22 books in Portuguese prepared by the missionaries. It is stated
that the books in the Malabar language included a vocabulary written on paper and another written on palm leaves.
According to a letter of January 3, 1714, the work of printing the New Testament in Tamil had already begun. Another
letter of September 27, 1714, states that, "The Four Evangelists and Acts of the Apostles" was already printed.
Reportedly, this is the oldest Tamil book printed at Tranquebar, a copy of which is available at the Serampore College
Library. From 1715 onwards with the completion of the New Testament, printing activity in Tamil commenced in full
swing. In 1715 Ziegenbalg wrote a concise grammar of the Malabar language for use by Europeans and had it printed
by 1716. A copy of this book also exists at the Serampore College Library. Ziegenbalg and his collaborators aimed at
spreading their printed work all over India. Consequently, their marketing strategies cajoled them to produce
almanacs which were quite scarce in the country. A Sheet Almanac was printed and sold on the coast of Coromandel
as well as in Malabar and Bengal.
Constanzo G. Beschi
Parallel to printing efforts by the Protestant missionaries at Tranquebar or
Tarangampãdi, the growth of the Jesuit missionary Constanzo Beschi
(Viramãmunivar; Constantine Joseph Beschi 1680–1747) was equally
significant in revolutionizing the face of Tamil print and literature. The
difference in the Christian beliefs of the respective cults gave rise to
rigorous disputes and theological debates, which on many occasions even
led to violent conflicts resulting in injuries and death. These disputes were
carried on by the Lutherans through “printed books and pamphlets",[3]
whereas Beschi (due to lack of a Jesuit-owned printing press) mainly
concentrated on writing influential pieces of literature. Although printing
in Tamil was introduced by the Jesuits, by the eighteenth century the
scenario had changed and the domain of the press came to be majority
controlled and cultivated by the Protestants. Beschi's efforts in a place
populated with thousands of Lutheran converts (mainly Tanjore and
Travancore), grew to become an “alarming”, “arrogant” and “formidable” Tamil Bible Printed in 1715 at
Tharangambadi
rival to the already sprawling missionary activities of the Protestant
fathers. One particular reason for Beschi’s popularity was, as Blackburn
observes, his “Romanish compromises with local customs”. In the books of Muttusami Pillai (Beschi’s Tamil
biographer), he is frequently portrayed as a traditional Eastern or Oriental king, adorned with ornate jewellery and
chandan on his forehead.[4] Beschi was reportedly favoured by the local rulers, especially Chanda Sahib whom he had
served diwan to, thereby making it easier for him to master the language. He was intelligent enough to adopt such
means which would undoubtedly benefit him in ways more than one.
Contrary to this image, Beschi has also been examined as a magical Indian “poet-saint” with extraordinary literary
skills and persuasion prowess. Beschi’s written works constituted the substructure of modern Tamil literary
acculturation. According to sources, Beschi wrote more than twenty books :– dictionaries, epic poetry, prose
collections, grammar, folklore. His major prose essay was Veta Vilakkam which ran to 250 pages. The first bilingual
Tamil grammar printed in India is also credited to Beschi. He composed various interlingual dictionaries: Tamil-
Latin, Latin-Tamil-Portuguese, and Tamil-French and most importantly the four-way lexicon Tamil-Tamil Catur-
Agarati which comprised meanings, synonyms, rhymes, etc.[5] This book was not printed before 1824. Although it
cannot be assumed that his works were well accepted and appreciated by the Protestants, as Blackburn comments, the
rival camp unbiasedly “admired Beschi’s literary skills - they printed one of his grammars and another of his books
(Vetiyar Olukkam, A Manual for Catechists) became standard reading for them by the nineteenth century…”.[6]
Beschi’s Parramarta Kuruvin Kattai or Guru Simpleton was the first printed book of Tamil folktale.
Guru Simpleton
Beschi’s Guru Simpleton (which occupies a status similar to The Arabian Nights or The Panchatantra in Tamil culture)
is a blend of the oral tradition of Tamil folklore and the European story form, wrapped in the author’s imaginative
faculty. Although Beschi had completed its composition (along with a preface) by 1776, the book was not published
singularly until 1822 in London. Records show that Beschi wrote the Tamil version first and later translated it into
Latin. Although Beschi claimed that the sole purpose of the book was to disseminate amusement and humour among
both locals and missionaries, Blackburn mentions that the author was most probably yearning for something more
than that – “this was a plea for a Jesuit patron, somewhere outside India, to underwrite the publication of his
dictionary and folktale”,[7] as print was a more reliable medium to “demonstrate correct spelling” than local scribes
and copyists.
Printing by Pundits
A number of early Tamil print publishing houses were set up by the pundits in the 1830s in Madras. These
establishments played a significant role in the consolidation of the commercial printing world. They were also involved
in public–politics, the anti–missionary movement in Georgetown, for instance. Pundits who were educated at the
College Fort of St George and some who were not, used the text-making skills they learned from the Europeans in
setting up of their own presses at Madras.
The rise of the pundit - presses saw growth during the 1830s with Kalvi Vilakkam, the joint venture of
Charavanaperumal Aiyar and Vichakaperumal Aiyar in 1834. The press functioned till the 1850s producing more than
50 books. This was followed by the Sarasvati Press (1835) of Tiruvenkatachala Mutaliar, and Kalvi Kalanchiyam set up
in 1839 by Umapati Mutaliar and his three brothers.[9] These presses quickly became associated with movements in
deflecting the missionaries as they started voicing the sentiments of certain sections of the Hindu community.
Arumuka Navalar
Arumuka Navalar spearheaded the Saivism cult both in Sri Lanka and in Tamil Nadu. He was the guardian of pure and
pristine Saiva tradition. He established a number of schools for Tamil and Saivism and printing presses at Jaffna,
Chidambaram and Madras. He was the most fluent Tamil speaker and writer of his generation. At the age of 27,
Arumugam was conferred the title of “Navalar”, the eloquent.
In the context of printing, Arumuka Navalar or Arumuga Navalar was an editor of old Tamil texts. Among his editions
the most important are Mantalapurutar’s lexicon cutamani nikantu with commentary (first printed in 1849), the
standard medieval grammar Nannūl with a commentary (1851), the early devotional poem Tirumurukāṟṟuppaṭai,
Manikkavacakar’s great devotional poems Tiruvacakam and tirukkovaiyar, the text of Tirukkuṛaḷ with
Parimelazhagar’s detailed gloss in 1861.[10]
Arumuga Navalar apparently introduced few novel features in the area of Tamil editing. He was probably the first to
use punctuation marks like the semicolon, the question mark and the exclamation mark. He produced the first “split”
complex sandhi forms to facilitate reading and comprehension.
The publications of the Madras School Book Society being chiefly used in Government Schools such that religious
sentiments were adapted accordingly. The committee of the Madras Tract Society issued some books with Christian
elements intended specially for mission schools[11] Classified catalogue of Tamil printed books,with introductory
notices. Though reading books of the Madras School Book society were prepared with special reference to the
government schools, the committee was not restricted to non–Christian publications. The Rev. A.R. Symonds
suggested that the society should make an effort to provide wholesome and attractive literature. Prizes were also
offered for the best translation of Robinson Crusoe.
Vepery Press
Madras was the foremost seat of printing among the “colonial metropolises”. The Society for Promoting Christian
Knowledge (SPCK) was set up at Vepery (situated just outside Madras) in 1726 by Benjamin Schultz. This new venture
(Vepery mission) was just an extension of the Tranquebar mission. Earlier in 1712, a printing press enabled with Tamil
and Telegu typefaces was provided by the SPCK for publishing activities at Tranquebar, on repeated appeals by
Ziegenbalg. This press mostly dealt with smaller publications like A General Description Of Malabar Heathendom,
Four Gospels And Acts, and Accursed Heathendom which were usually antagonistic to Hindu beliefs and principles. It
also printed the translated version of the New Testament in 1715. When the English army under Sir Eyre Coote
attacked the French colony of Pondicherry in 1761 they seized the printing press from the governor’s house along with
its typefaces (which were a “prize catch” for them [13]) and the printer, Delon and transferred it to Madras.
Nonetheless Johann Phillip Fabricius, a well-known Tamil scholar convinced Coote to hand over the press, only on
agreement that the printing demands of Fort St. George would be given maximum importance. In 1762 itself, the
SPCK press published a calendar and several Tamil books, “pre-dating the books printed in Calcutta and Bombay at
least by a decade”.[14]
By 1766, Vepery got its own press supplemented with its own print
equipment. Therefore, the presses confiscated from Pondicherry were
returned to Fort St George, which led to the establishment of the
Government Press in Mount Road. The Vepery Press was renamed as the
SPCK Press; Johann Philipp Fabricius being its managerial head, who
composed and printed a Tamil book on Catechism (1766) with typefaces
cut in Germany (Halle). By the next decade typecases were produced by the
SPCK Press itself and they lasted until the 1870s. Books printed included
Fabricius’s Translation of the New Testament (1772); his Dictionary of
Tamil and English, based on Ziegenbalg’s Malabar English
Dictionary(1779) which came out 100 years after Antão da Proença’s
Tamil-Portuguese Dictionary of 1679; and Oru Paratecyin Punyacaritram
(a translation of Bunyan’s Pilgrims Progress (1793). This press was sold to
the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions (the American
Board Mission or ABM) in Çintadaripet in the mid 19th century. When the
Catechism book printed in
ABM left India in 1886 the press was reacquired by the SPCK–Diocesan
Pondicherry Mission Press. 1841
committee and renamed the Diocesan Press that still exists today, almost
A.D
250 years later, as the CLS Press.[15]
Notes
1. Karka...Nirka... (http://karkanirka.wordpress.com/2010/04/14/first_tamil_book/) Blog on Tamil Literature
2. A.K. Priolkar
3. Stuart Blackburn (2006), Page 45
4. Stuart Blackburn (2006), Page 48
5. A. Raman (http://newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/article226490.ece)
6. Stuart Blackburn (2006),Page 49
7. Stuart Blackburn (2006), Page 66
8. Stuart Blackburn (2004), Page 122
9. Rimi B. Chaterjee
10. Stuart Blackburn(2006). Page 125
11. John Murdoch, 1865
12. S.H.M. Jameel (1994). 'Suwadi Aatruppadai'
13. J.B. Prashant More, Page 80
14. Stuart Blackburn(2006) Page 58
15. A. Raman
References
Stuart Blackburn (2004). "The Burden of Authenticity" (https://books.google.com/books?id=2N046vzK824C&pg=P
A310&dq=19th+century+essays+blackburn&hl=en&ei=-DWGTO3MKoSycOr7ycwP&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=re
sult&resnum=1&ved=0CCgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false),India's Literary History: Essays on the Nineteenth
Century
Stuart Blackburn (2006). "Beschi and the Lutherans" (https://books.google.com/books?id=y-BxrNKdwPMC&pg=P
A43&lpg=PA43&dq=beshchi+and+the+lutherans&source=bl&ots=wQx2mjXCgX&sig=_VdqOHJecpjEreO0Jyymv2
r_w7w&hl=en&ei=g-yFTIWsFs6DcM2N7Z4I&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v
=onepage&q&f=false),Print Folklore and Nationalism in Colonial South India]
A.K. Priolkar. The Printing Press in India
J.B. Prashant More (2004). Muslim Identity, Print Culture and the Dravidian Factor in Tamil Nadu (https://books.go
ogle.com/books?id=11FYACaVySoC&printsec=frontcover&dq=j.b.+prashant+more&hl=en&ei=MjyGTICOHNePcM
Pq9Z4I&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q&f=false)
Rimi B. Chatterjee. "Outlines of a Discipline : Book History in India" (https://books.google.com/books?id=I0MnAQ
AAIAAJ&q=rimi+b.+chatterjee+-+outlines+of+discipline&dq=rimi+b.+chatterjee+-+outlines+of+discipline&hl=en&ei
=6UWGTI-BPIarcc6YxZ4I&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CC8Q6AEwAA) Paradise: new
worlds of books and readers (2007)
J. Murdoch. Classified Catalogue of Tamil Printed books, with introductory notes (https://books.google.com/book
s?id=YaY-AAAAcAAJ&pg=PA218&dq=MADRAS+SCHOOL+BOOK+SOCIETY&hl=en&ei=iWGGTLZtwZ5xgJ7Fng
g&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=MADRAS%20SCHOOL%2
0BOOK%20SOCIETY&f=false) (1865)
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