Father Thani Nayagam
தEN
Tamil Research & Bibliographies·Conferences & IATR·1980·Readable

Research in Tamil Studies

Rev. Dr. Xavier S. Thani Nayagam Adigal

Bibliographic record

Open Library lists Research in Tamil Studies (1980) as the Thanthai Chelva Memorial Lecture. No public scan of that lecture text was found; this page hosts three related institutional / bibliographic Tamil Culture essays.

How to read

Three cleaned essays follow: This Journal of the Academy; The First Books Printed in Tamil; Tamil Manuscripts in European Libraries. Prefer the scan for footnotes and plates.

Research in Tamil Studies

No public scan of the 1980 Thanthai Chelva Memorial Lecture was located. On-site dossier: three Tamil Culture essays on the institutional and bibliographic side of Tamil research, re-OCR’d from Internet Archive page images (2026-08-11). Prefer the scan for footnotes and facsimile plates.

Contents

  1. This Journal of the Academy
  2. The First Books Printed in Tamil
  3. Tamil Manuscripts in European Libraries

Publication note

Open Library lists Research in Tamil Studies (1980) as the Thanthai Chelva Memorial Lecture. The essays below are the closest digitised research writings in that institutional/bibliographic vein.

This Journal of the Academy

Xavier S. Thani Nayagam · Tamil Culture, Vol. IV No. 1 (January 1955), pp. 1–11 · IA leaves 1007–1017

Tamil Culture in its fourth year of publication leaves the press as the organ of the Academy of Tamil Culture which has been recently constituted in Madras by representatives of every field of Tamil “scholarship and Tamil interest. The Memorandum of ‘Association and the rules and regulations of the Academy, extracts from which we publish elsewhere, are sufficient indication of the comprehensive aims and objectives of the Academy in promoting the study and development of the Tamil language and literature, the Tamil arts and sciences. As the journal of the Academy, this review. will in future have a wider scope and include within its pages the activities of the Academy of Tamil Culture and other allied and affiliated bodies.. This journal aims at reaching as wide a circle of readers as possible. It is being circulated in such a manner that it may come within easy reach of the teaching profession and student population, two categories of readers among whom the review has a mission to fulfil. For this purpose the Academy is also organising the publication.of a Tamil edition of the Review ‘which will present. to the Tamil reading world the results of modern scholarship and which will serve as a forum of exchange of views and of discussion among Tamil sangams and Tamil scholars. _ In its activities and functions, the Academy proposes to be directed by the high principles of scholarship and steer clear of partisan politics and sectarianism, which unfortunately so often invade the hallowed precincts of study and research. The Academy of Tamil Culture hence bids fair not only to become a rallying centre of the:Tamil renaissance at a period when all the resources and all the talent of Tamildom are neccessary to ward off dangers but also to contribute to the positive growth of the many aspects of Tamil culture.

  • Jt has been for along time the desire of many students and well-wishers of: Tamil literature and Tamil culture, that there be some journal in English through the medium of which these subjects may reach the non-Tamil world, and reach also that class of Tamil society which on account of various circumstances finds itself more proficient in English than in Tamil. Requests for such a review came during the writer's world tour five years ago when he met several scholars and persons of general culture who lamented the want of some means of contact with the Tamil world. In Japan, in the United States of America, in Ecuador, in Peru, in Chile, in Argentina and Brazil, in Europe, the necessity. of such a review was again and again impressed upon him, and having edited this journal for three years and circulated it amongst scholars and institutions round the world, he has come to know of more and more reasons why this journal should have a long lease of life and be wél€ established. The means of achieving these ends have beenfound in the Academy of Tamil Culture.: Nearly every generation during the last one hundred years has had a few. men in South India and Ceylon who realised the unique features of the Tamil language and literature and endeavoured to have their enthusiasm shared by others. A good number of these men were foreigners whose appreciation of Tamil culture was allthe more. precious because of their scholarship in Latin and Greek, and their acquaintance with European culture. The judgements of Walter Elliot, Stokes, Ellis, Gover, Winslow, Caldwell, Pope, Vinson, have been of a most enlightening nature even though they. did not have the benefit of recent editions and critical studies; but the complaints they voiced in their day concerning the neglect regarding Dravidian culture,in general and Tamil culture in particular, may very well be made even today. So little has been accomplished in the meantime; so vast is the field that is offered for research and:study. Dr. G.U. Pope wrote thus in 1910 of British neglect of Tamil literature: ‘Although the very ancient, copious, and refined Tamil language is inferior to none, it is regarded by most people as the (probably - barbarous) vernacular of a people living somewhere in a remote district of Great Britain’s imperial possessions. Neither does our Indian Government nor do our Universities fully recognize the value of Tamil: literature; and so those who spend their lives in the study of the great South Indian classics must resemble men seeking for pearls under water.”? 1 One wonders if these words may not be applied here in India and Ceylon to the neglect that Tamiliana and Tamilology suffer at the hands of those whose duty itis to protect and develop them. What W. W. Hunter said of philology is true also of many other fields of Tamil studies: _ ** Philology has hitherto concerned herself almost exclusively with Indo-Germanic and - SeItIC + speech; with speech that is at a single stage, and perhaps not at its most instructive stage. The study of the non-Aryan tongues of India is destined, I believe, to open the. door to the vast linguistic residue, and to furnish’ the basis of a new science of language, as the study of Sanskrit in India, eighty years ago, ‘afforded the foundation upon which the present system of philology has been reared.” 2. _ 1, The Tamilian Antiquary, No. 6, p. 3. idee A Comparative Dictionary of the languages of Asia. W. V’. Hunter. ‘There were a number of Tamils themselves who, roficient in the English language and familiar with ieaoneuss thought, sought through translations and critical studies to interest the rest of the world in their own literary and cultural. heritage. Kanagasabai Pillai’s ‘The Tamils Thousand Eight Hundred Years Ago’, Isaac Tambyah’s ‘ Psalms of a SaivaSaint’ Gnana Prakasar’s unfinished Lexicon, the various issues of that excellent journal The Tamilian Antiquary, not to mention the scholars of the South like P. T. Srinivasa Iyengar and J. M. Nallasamy Pillai have reminded students at home and abroad of the hidden wealth that yet remains to be discovered in Tamildom. Our Universities, particularly those of Annamalai and Madras, have periodically published works that are most useful to foreign students interested in Tamil studies. But it will not be sufficient to consign Tamil studies only to Universities. Private institutes and private agencies must as well take up the diffusion of Tamil Culture. And that diffusion cannot hope to achieve success unless the centres of Tamil research set before themselves the highest standards of scholarship? The more such scholarship embarks on comparative studies, the greater will be its benefit to the world at large. There is need for the disinterested and dispassionate activities of an Academy which will not relegate exclusively to Universities and the State the patronage of Tamil studies. There are dark and disconcerting obstacles in the way of a dispassionate appraisal of the Tamil contribution to the culture of India and Ceylon. An American scholar sent by the Rockfeller Foundation returned from India to America five years ago with the impression that the Government of India was not interested in any studies that would prove the non-Aryan origin of cultural trends and historical events in India. The activities of the Southern circle of the Department of Archzology have not been conspicuous in the Tamil country. Now that the Indus Valley has been lost to us (and that loss is probably more Tamil’s than that of any other language) one would expect more intense work in Adichyanallur, in Arikamedu, in Kaveripoompattinam, but the Archeological Department lacks either the will or the means, or possibly is deficient in both. Similar complaints have been made by scholars with regard to the neglect of Tamil antiquities and epigraphy in Travancore and Ceylon. The function of the research scholar is not to actas a partisan but to be a witness to the truth. It is fatal to scholarship when it is blinded by prejudice or made to serve the interests of a party. Ne sutor ultra crepidam. Let the petty politician keep his hands off culture and learning.

' The lot that has befallen ‘Tamil is happily not the lot of the Sanskrit language. This other great vehicle of Indian thought is an Indo-European tongue. Because of its affinities with Latin and Greek, and German and ‘ other modern languages, it has received recognition abroad. Since the days of Willian Jones, and more recently, since the days of Max Muller, scholars in the West have come to a better knowledge of the characteristics of the Sanskrit language and literature. Vedic Sanskrit definitely antedates Latin and Greek by many centuries, and displays the original Indo-European structure better than any other known tongue, with the exception of Lithuanian. On the other hand, there should be a better knowledge of Latin and Greek in India. Scholarship in our Universities, particularly in comparative philology, is woefully inadequate. Scholars in Tamil should be better conversant with the languages and literatures of the other “ cultivated” and “uncultivated ” Dravidian tongues, and of Sanskrit and English if they are to make their work truly worth while. Comparative studies in Dravidian languayes have not advanced far since Caldwell’s time. Because of its affinities with the North Indian languages, and because of the unique position it has held as a vehicle of religious and philosophic thought, Sanskrit holds a prominent place in Indian culture. Writers like Max Muller, Winternitz, Macdonell, and Keith have revealed to Indians themselves the treasures of the Sanskrit tongue. Tamil cannot expect the same amount of study or spontaneous interest on the part of non-Tamils for the want of such linguistic affinities.. No heed has been paid to the observation of Max Muller himself that “‘Tamil literature hitherto has been far too much neglected by students of Indian literature, philosophy and religion.” 3 Most of the pioneer work, therefore, that will cause interest in the rest of the world must proceed from the Tamils themselves. Some of them should be prepared, even at the cost of sacrifice, to acquire a literary profiiciency in foreign tongues so that they may translate the Tamil classics into other languages. So far no translation.of a Tamil classic seems to have been incorporated in any series of the world classics in English or in any other language, nor any extracts from Tamil poetry included in the anthologies of world poetry. The Academy of Tamil Culture proposes to sponsor the work of scholars who embark in making original research in the various fields of Tamil culture and will ‘‘ establish and maintain effective contact and collaboration with University or other academic organisations at home and abroad ”’. There is in European Universities a growing desire to examine the Dravidian contribution to Indian culture. It is a relief tofind that such research is popular among at least a few scholars in India. In the new series of ‘‘ History and Culture of the Indian people’, published by the Bharatiya Itihasa Samiti, the first volume entitled “The Vedic Age’? contains a study of particular interest, and that is, the study entitled “‘Race Movement and Prehistoric Culture ”, by S. K. Chatterji of the University of Calcutta. He says, ‘It has been generally admitted, particularly after a study of both the basis of Dravidian and Aryan culture through language and through institutions, that the Dravidians contributed a great many elements of paramount importance in the evolution of Hindu civilization, which is after all (like all other great civilizations) a composite creation, and that in certain matters the Dravidian and Austric contributions: are deeper and more extensive than that of the Aryans. The . pre-Aryans of Mohenjo-daro and Harappa were certainly in possession of a higher material culture than what the semi-nomadic Aryans could show.”’,;; Again, while estimating the Dravidian and other non- Aryan contributions he points out -tersely that *In culture, speaking in the Indian way, one may say that over twelve annas in the rupee is non-Aryan origin ”’, meaning that. more than three-fourth of Indian culture is non-Aryan and predominantly. Dravidian. He proceeds to show that Indian food, the Indian way of thinking, the Indian counting and computation, the Indian marriage and religious customs, and Hindu worship and ritual are mostly Tamil or Dravidian. It is clear that the néglect of studies and research concerning Tamil India can give room to gross errors #. The Vedic Age, pp. 151 - 165, London, 1951. and misleading judgements in the writing of Indian: history and the exposition of Indian culture and Indian literature. The peculiar characteristics of the Tamil language, its phonetics, its antiquity, its one and only declension and one and only conjugation, its classification of gender so unlike the Indo-European that attributes gender to inanimate objects, and even _ changes the gender of objects from century to century, its ancient and obsolete particles should arrest the attention of all those interested in the structure and the history of human speech. Tamil is as mucha classical language;with @ \classical literature as Greek or Sanskrit with this difference that while her ancient contemporaries have changed beyond recognition or been long regarded as “‘ dead”, Tamil continues to be one of the most vigorous of modern Indian languages, and perhaps offers the only example in history of an ancient. classical tongue which has survived to this day and yet remains young as it was two thousand years ago. “It is not perhaps extravagant to say that in its poctic form the Tamil is more polished and exact than the Greek, and, in both dialects, with its borrowed treasures, more copious than the Latin. In its fulness ' and power, it more resembles English and German than any other living language’.: During the last fifty years a number of ancient Tamil works have been edited in print by that prince of editors, the late Swaminatha Aiyer. Knowledge about these ancient literary anthologies has not yet reached those who contribute articles to books of reference in the West. Hence their studies generally are confined to the Kural and the Saivaite and Vaishnavite hymns. The love lyrics of the Tamils, their Nature poetry, the panegyric and ethical poetry of the. Puram anthology, the Tamil epics like Silapadikaram and Kambar’s Ramayanam have not been critically studied side by side with the other masterpieces of the world’s literature. There are few languages that can claim such a refined and classical love-poetry as Tamil. Few literatures in the world seem to contain such a large volume of ethical and devotional works. And no other language seems to have been the literary vehicle of the poetry of so many different religions, for in Tamil there are’ poetical works representative of the Jain, the Buddhist, the Saivaite, the Vaishnavite, the Catholic, the Protestant, and the Moslem faiths. The Kural, no doubt, holds a unique place in the literatures of the world. Suffice it to quote Albert Schweitzer, and his comparative comments on the Kural:: **What a difference between the Kural and the Laws of Manu... Whilst the Bhagavad-Gita in a forced and chilly manner gives as a motive for remaining in active life that it is in accordance with the order of the Universe, the Kural justifies it—what an advance!—by the idea of ethical activity...There hardly exists in the literature of the world a collection of maxims in which we find so much lofty wisdom...We already find here the knowledge that good must be done for its own sake...Maxims about joy in activity bear witness to the strength of the world and life affirmation present in the Kural...It has appropriated all the valuable ethical results of the thought of world and life negation. But in addition to this ethic of inwardness there appears in the Kural the living ethic of love’’. 5 ~ Just as the Kural merits even greater recognition, so does the Siddhanta philosophy, said to be the choicest product of the Dravidian intellect. The fine arts are also fields in which the achievements of the Tamils are conspicuous. In music, in dance, in painting and in sculpture, the Tamils have an inheritance which must be diligently studied in the interests of gracious living.

  • ‘ é The Tamils were also great traders and empirebuilders. Warmington has written an admirable work from Western sources but an equally valuable work remains to be written from Eastern and Tamil sources about South Indian commerce. The sea ports of the then Tamil country, which included all the Malabar coast as well, were busy ports of call into which ships from the West sailed with their gold, lamps, wine and goblets, to return home laden with pepper and silks and cotton and ivory, and with pearls of the Tamil seas. Teak from the Tamil country has been found in the ruins of Ur of the Chaldees, and peacocks and apes of the South were sold abroad as early as Solomon’s time. Yavanar, or men of the Graeco-Roman world, established colonies and trading stations in the Tamil kingdoms, and were even employed as engineers, bodyguards, palace-guards, and city-guards in the service of Tamil kings. Tamil Nad was perhaps the best known part of India to the countries of the West, and the Tamils developed a breadth of outlook as a result of their international trade. The sagas of the Tamil navies form inspiring records in Indian history since seafaring was not forbidden to the Tamil people. This expansiveness resulted in foreign conquests, in colonisation and in the establishment of empires, comparatively shortlived like all empires carved out by Indian dynasties, but of sufficiently long enough duration to admit of a permanent impress on the _ countries that were conquered. Ceylon, Burma, Malaya Siam and Indonesia have all their tales to tell of the “‘ Greater India ” that the Tamils established. Today the Tamils are found in many parts of the world outside of the Tamil country. In Malaya, in Burma, in Indonesia, in Mauritius, in Africa, in the Isles of the Martinique, in Jamaica, in Trinidad, and in other countries they have left the stamp of their language, their religion, their fine arts and of their enterprise. That the Tamil people are industrious and enterprising, and immigrated in modern times to different parts of the world to earn their bread by. manual work, need not lower them in the esteem of scholarship, or render study concerning their contribution to the world, fruitless. The superiority that intelligent men admit is that which is merited because of contribution to thought and progress and human happiness. By such standards the Tamil world may well be proud of its achievement, and in their long and unbroken history, the Tamils have deserved to be classed with the Egyptians, the Hebrews, the Greeks and the Romans. We need not insist further on the peculiar features of the culture, the language, the history, the literature, the fine arts and crafts that will form the subject matter of this Review. To bring these to light, to make them available to as many people-in the world as possible, is a duty that must be done in the interest of truth. To have had some glimpse of these hidden beauties and not to have shared them with others would be unpardonable selfishness. The Academy of Tamil Culture and its journal are therefore pledged to the noblest purposes and ends that can inspire Tamil speaking peoples. Fazit Deus.

Notes

Footnotes on this essay (IA leaves 1007–1017) are only partially recovered by OCR. Prefer the Internet Archive scan for full citations.

The First Books Printed in Tamil

Xavier S. Thani Nayagam · Tamil Culture, Vol. VII (1958), pp. 288–308 · IA leaves 2481–2505

The establishment of schools and the introduction of printing was part of the educational programme of the European missionaries who entered India and Ceylon in the sixteenth century. Many of the leading missionaries in the sixteenth century, like Francis Xavier, were scholars who had been educated at the universities of Europe, at Paris, Coimbra, Salamanca and Rome, and came from countries which had felt the impact of the Renaissance and the revival of learning; and hence we find them introducing into India and Ceylon educational methods and techniques which were current in the Europe of their day. Such, for instance, were the founding of schools, both for religious and secular instruction, and the recruitment, training and financing of catechists and teachers, and the language methods they adopted for mastering spoken and written Tamil. One of the pioneer foreign scholars, Henrique Henriques (1520-1600), the first known European to have initiated a scientific study of the Tamil language and to have written copiously in Tamil, even proposed the erection of a Tamil University at Mannar or Punnakayil as early as circa 1560.1 The work of these leading missionaries was not confined to exclusive educational methods; they made great use of the popular media of instruction that are the theatre and the printed word. Printing was one of their best allies in the propagation of the Gospel as well as in the spread of literacy, and in spite of what has been said at times to minimise the value * SG. PERERA, SJ, The Jesus tn Ceylon, pie De Nob of their contribution to Indian letters and to typography because their motive was religious preaching, the contribution of missionaries to educational methods, to linguistics and language study, to lexicography, and to literature has not been as yet adequately assessed in the overall history of learning in India and Ceylon.? Because their motive was the propagation and the preservation of a particular religion, their contribution to education and literature is not to be underestimated. ' The introduction of printing into India was itself of great educational and social significance. In 1556 the Jesuits in Goa opened the first printing press in India with Latin types brought from Europe.’ But during this period the Goa press did its printing in Latin and Portuguese. The first Tamil booklet, however, appeared in Lisbon in the year 1554, two years before the printing press was introduced into India. The Roman script was used throughout the booklet to reproduce Tamil texts. The first known Tamil types were cast in the year 1577 at Goa but they were obviously not satisfactory, and hence a second and satisfactory attempt at casting Tamil types was made in Quilon in the year 1578, and a book of prayers and catechetical instructions printed in Quilon on 20th October 1578. With this booklet of 16 pages entitled Doctrina Christam or Tambiran Vanakkam (gibi gresr asooréatd), Tamil became the first Indian and Ceylonese language in which books were printed.. The establishment of the printing presses and the publication of these books were occasions for a justifiable pride in the Tamil districts. The Tamil Christians of the Fishery Coast contributed very liberally to the establishment of the first printing presses,‘ and the first books were received with great wonder, and bought and treasured both by Christians and non-Christians. An Indian poet even celebrated in verse the achievements of the invention which printed and multiplied books.® These facts which are gathered from the Jesuit letters and Francisco de Sousa’s Oriente Conquistado find a singular confirmation in the Preface to the Tamm Doctrina Christam printed in Cochin in 1579. The Preface is written in the name of the missionaries of the Fishery Coast and addressed to the Christians of the Fishery Coast as well as to other Christians whose language 1s Tamil. “You have desired to have several books which will teach you and your descendants the path to heaven and therefore you have contributed large sums of money towards the press. Therefore we are giving you this book as a gift. Because you spent large sums of money and established a press you have gained respect and praise before the world”: Sf PEDMPHEM F FFIGHEGOGOETDES HS GUT ManH GUISES SSS UVUOUIT SSE mMEOT EAC Uy soorL_maceCasgeny Cer HACE Lpsresemor reser Reva SraCorwm anaes BSUIUT SSS PRG Hae Gor Qsrerrwmsarai_QmoGeora sro SyarH cor coAI55 56 Ave mensuymuer 56) Wyler Sr upsruTsudup ih ieOear The passage shows to some extent that punctuation and dots above mute consonants had not come into use, and the script reforms of Beschi were yet to be made The orthography of the period may be seen from the printed pages reproduced in the plates The non-Christians had not merely bought or admired the books; some of their learned men had collaborated with the European author m the revision of the language and style of this early Pioneer Christian literature in Tamil.®

  • FRANCISCO DE SOUSA, S 37 Ona ee PINTO, De famosa Arie op at, py ee ee on © See Preface to Doctring Chrstam, Cochin, 1579: “ “ sieop wer muDis Ra SAP Lor ar «dard Qsrax@ SOPSS aexep [Facsimile plates of early Tamil printed pages; prefer the scan.] The date of the introduction of printing in the Tamil country is rather significant when considered with other comparable dates. The first printing by Europeans in China was in 1584 and in Japan in 1590, in the Philippines in 1593 The first printed book which has come to light from the New World 1s a Doctrina in Spanish, Quichua and Aymara printed in Lima, Peru, in 1584, though a Doctrina in Aztec and Spanish of which no specimen has yet been found, 1s believed to have been printed in Mexico City in 1539 The first printing for an African language seems to have been done for Congolese in 1624 and on the same lines as the Tamil Brochure (CartiJha) printed 1n Lisbon in the year 1554 Russia printed its first book in 1563, Constantinople had its first press in 1727, and Greece in 1821 Thus the Tamil printed books of the 16th century seem to be the earliest samples of printing along Western lanes undertaken outside of the European continent and its immediate neighbourhood ” ### The Four Printed Copies There has been and continues to be a great deal of conjecture and confusion about the character and content of the first books printed im an Indian language and about the dates and the location of the first presses on Indian soil Now, however, after the finding and identification of four specimen copies of Tami] publications printed im the "Wardiadsda Aw arfeseroa Bigs Qsron@ Or peer arid #»GssQueorés Qsern.gert ", Preface to Flos Sanctorum 1586 “agora nuevamente en este ano di 86 se imprimio esto hbro di la vida de los sanctos las quales communiqu: con algunos naturales que saben y entienden bien esta lengua, y porque estas vidas saliessen bien apuradas gaste en las tresladar en esta lengua mas de tres anos” th ks quoted above of 7 ee eS CORTHE PINTO, Da fomosa Arte, and GEORG SCHURHAMMER and G W COTTRELL, The first printing tn Indic characters, o¢, cf S H STEINBERG, Five hundred years of Printing Penguins Ltd, Harmondsworth Middlesex (England), 1955 The Welsh Bible was printed in 1588 and the first book in Insh was published in 1571 sixteenth century more precise data is available regarding the place of printing, their authorship and the circumstan- ces of their composition.
  1. Cartilha: pp. 38, Germano Galhardo, Lisbon, 11th February, 1554. The entire title of the brochure as it appears in the title page is ‘‘Cartilha che conte breuemente ho q todo Christo deuce apreder pera sua saluasam, A qual el rey Dom Joham tercero deste nome nosso senhor mandou imprimir e lingoa Tamul c Portugues co ha decraracam do Tamul por cima de vermelho”. “ Brochure which contains in brief all that a Christian should know for his salvation and which our lord the King Dom John the third of that name ordered to be printed in the Tamil language and in Portuguese with the Tamil meaning printed above in red ”. This particular copy which is now kept in an iron safe of the Ethnological Museum of Doctor Leile de Vasconcellos at Belem, Lisbon, originally belonged to the Library of the Carthusian monastery of Scala Caeli of Evora. The copy was presented to the Library by the Jesuit Theotonio de Braganca (1536-1602) a distinguished scholar who was born in Coimbra, educated in Rome and Paris and who as Archbishop of Evora founded this Carthusian monastery of Scala Coeli in 1598. A handwritten note on the copy supplies the information that the copy was his gift to the Carthusian Library.* When later the monastery was disbanded this copy may have gone to the Torre do Tombo, for at the beginning of the twentieth century it was in possession of Jose Bastos, a former director of Torre do Tombo. In 1909 it was found in the hands of an illiterate person from whom Dr. Vasconcellos bought the copy for his Ethnological museum? B 4 oa. an Sala 2 CC eee SO Braganca, Archbpo de Evora, che fez Diario de Noticias, March 16. 1900, bo EER BO. in Bibtiogrs. Bos crops ——_ tr ba torre —_ C1103 ne $040, Agajanim bimium paradycuan Girapannin Lrco cw —— devs —— padre todo — poderofo —— anauane: pidduc tambirdne visyican. Huuandn cCriadoz d05 ceos 73 ———-— terra;——-£ on ——, ea nets fenhor_— Jefe. rfo —fen—_ tito, hs ennare cartiue iefit chrifto auuanaré ptirane on 3OU—— 7.90 ie —— yatco filbbp— fo —— Hance. Xuddamiua xitatinorea carunecénddu fenboz: au at for ———concebido ——py ipa fancto eracetido — fo7.—.— 93 viraem.— Mata. nacep 2 Gucrbam si: carilaftri mariatil perandenii: naceo————— e:narta ———- ————— vir gan—;—— Boe POLO mae PEC IG meee DONS me mendede —- sa. Padeteo—, fRontio pilato vidita vidicsndu’ vecena- PH xkccco—fob — poder de poucio plato foy —cruci- Pe cme 8 TUS fol —. he pEdurgdo morte: ne fepeicro poto — patti = criffimel equi retan: cull vditu < Scada —— morfo — 7 ————— fepu tado; ——— ge Rae e c) eo wm 4 % SoD eRe Ts he! Hg £5 OS » »& Ba cat E gebg peoerar: ed onccs Be 5 69 Dee ® eS Po \ 33; a8 ye oe: eeRh alts beotl Gs cae a Rika The Spunish Prologue (handwritten) of the Vatican C opy of the Flos Sanctorum. printed in Punnaikayil (7?) in 1586 In 1948 this copy received publicity by the prominence it received in a work on the history of printing in Portugal. Americo Cortez Pinto was gathering material for his work Da famosa Arte da Impressao when he happened to mention to Professor Manuel Heleno, the present director of the Ethnological Museum of Belem that he had not come across a rare sample of printing which was mentioned in ancient bibliographies like Innocencio da Silva's Bibliografia Lusitana but which even the ancient bibliographers had not seen Professor Heleno invited him to see the copy of a rare book he had in the iron safe of his museum and the identification was made Cortez Pinto has devoted a few pages to the description of this unique specimen and. has reproduced in colour four pages of this booklet A manuscript copy of this brochure 1s said to be in the municipal library of Oporto * The present writer examined the copy during a brief visit to Lisbon in June, 1954, but did not take very detailed notes since he expected photostats to be sent to him of the booklet for study So far he has not been successful in his attempts to obtain photostats or a microfilm of the copy. Even the reproductions in Cortez Pinto’s book do not do justice to the magnificent specimen of printing and language study that 1s the Tamil Cartilha of 1554 obtained a photostat copy of the booklet by courtesy of G. W. Cottrell Jr., Librarian at Harvard. This Harvard copy is the earliest example of printing in the characters of one of the languages of India and the earliest available example of printing executed in India in an Indian language. The copy was sent from India to Rome and received in November, 1579, presumably by Father Pedro de Fonseca, S.J. (1527-1599) who was in Rome (1578-81) as Assistant
  • for Portugal to the General of the Jesuit Order. A legend in ink reads “ Portata dall’India. Hauuta dal pre Fonseca del mese di Novembre M.D. LXXIX”. The copy seems to have been in one of the Jesuit Colleges of Siena until the suppression of the Jesuit Order in 1773, and then in the Fideikommissbibliothek in Vienna of the Princes of Liechtenstein. Recently it passed into the European and American book markets and was purchased in January 1951 for the Harvard College Library from William H. Robinson Ltd., of London.
  1. Doctrina Christam: AFASHwreoh asoréard, pp. 120, Collegio da Madre de Deos, Cochin, 14 November, 1579. This copy which was in the Library of the Sorbonne and bore the stamp “ Bibliotheque de l'Université de France”, was recorded by Fr. Robert Streit, O.M.I. in 1928.% Subsequently the copy has disappeared from the Sorbonne; it was probably misplaced or taken away during the second world war. Fortunately, while it was yet available at the Sorbonne, a photostat copy had been made for the Jesuit scholar, Fr, Georg Schurhammer, the authority on St. Francis Xavier and his times, and that photostat copy was presented by him to Bishop Francis ll URHAMME es. COTTRELI. dhe Fen Printing ‘on Falke character ne, eles a Janette ok thie T. Roche, S.J., of Tuticorin who in turn presented it to the present writer in 1951. It was this copy which was loaned to Harvard for purposes of study and microfilming in 1952 and now continues to be in the possession of the present writer. Copies of this Doctrina were found in circulation in South India as late as 1732, for Sartorius, the Danish missionary, in his Diary for 1732 mentions having seen a copy of this book at Pulicat and another at Tranquebar.*
  2. Flos Sanctorum o Libro de las vidas di algunos santos trasladas en lengua malavar, pp. 669, (Tuticorin or Punnaikayil), 1586. The present writer identified a copy of this book in June 1954 in the manuscript section of the Vatican Library. Various writers have given different dates for the Flos Sanctorum printed in the Fishery Coast, but from the ecclesiastical calendar given at the end of the book it may be reasonably supposed that it was printed in or before 1587. The Calendar which gives the dates for Ash Wednesday, Easter Sunday eic., begins with the year 1587 and continues on the same page for each successive year until 1614. The Spanish preface by the author leaves no doubt regarding the date since it clearly states that after having had some books (algunos libros) printed earlier, finally in the year ’86 was printed “ this book of the Lives of the Saints . The author also says in the same preface that he has been working in the Fishery Coast for 37 years. Henriques arrived at Goa in 1546 and at the Fishery Coast after a year or two. Hence if he had arrived at the Fishery Coast in 1548 or 1549, the evidence of the preface tallies. The intervening period between the Doctrina of 1579 and the Flos Sanctorum of 1587 would have given him sufficient time for the composition and printing of what was a monumental work for its time, a book of 669 pages. = ahanaaeneainienanaaantasiienncaie Maint ipaetiits Pain RC As Unfortunately the Vatican copy does not possess the title and introductory pages in Tamil which certainly should have been in the original copy and which would have given the precise dates and place of printing. Instead there is a brief introduction and a table of contents in Spanish written in ink. These hand-written pages may have been substituted in the specimen copy or copies which were despatched to Europe. The provenance of this Vatican copy is not exactly known. Fr. S. G. Perera, S.J., in his Jesuits in Ceylon when listing the works of Fr. Henrique Henriques says: “A copy in Tamil of his “ Vitae Christi Domini, Beatissimae Virginis et aliorum Sanctorum” sent to Rome in 1602 is now in the “ Bibliotheca Vaticana”’. Fr. S. G. Perera was not able to give me the source of this information nor were the Vatican Librarians aware of any such title. For certain reasons I am disposed to believe that the book mentioned by Fr. S. G. Perera is the Flos Sanctorum under a more descriptive title. There is a handwritten note on a fly-leaf of this Vatican copy of the Flos Sanctorum: “se dar alla biblioteca Vaticana ”,

Authorship

Ceylon in the middle of the sixteenth century. That Fra Joam was familiar with a Tamil milieu is evident from a multiplicity of circumstances. He travelled in the Tamil parts of Ceylon and India and kept up correspondence with missionaries in these parts. In a speech at the Court of Bhuvanaike Bahu (1521-1551), King of Kotte (Ceylon), Fra Joam cites the Tirukkural as one of the works with which the King and court and he are familiar." A Tamil Christian community among whom the Franciscans worked existed in Colombo in the sixteenth century. A Tamil-speaking Catholic poet living in Colombo composed a prose catechism to be chanted and some canticles to be sung under the inspiration of Fra Joam, and Fra Joam sent to Mannar from Colombo “a priest of the country well-versed in Tamil” to help Fr. Henriques in the earlier period of his Tamil studies. 2. The Doctrina Christam (gibiIgresr aeoréard) of 1577 was made, as a printed note in Portuguese, says in the booklet by Fr. Anrique Anriquez (same as Henrique Henriques) of the Society of Jesus and by Father Manuel of St. Peter. The latter was evidently a native secular priest since he is not designated as belonging to the Society of Jesus: Doctrina Christaa tresladada em linqua Tamul pello padre Anrique Anriquez de Copanhia de Jesu & pello padre Manoel de Sao Pedro. The Tamil title, however, bears the sole name of Father Henriques S.J. The omission of the name of the second author may have been merely because of the restricted space available below the block on the front page. The Tamil title reads: AarnueEerEsw 5 Fe amaievsoer ig Ha8u urAfurr sHyPde IpssupHer sodigneor sssvorssio MER, ‘Ceylon zu Zeit des komgs Bhuvaneka Bahu und Franz ce ge Co ere iritual Conquest ‘‘ ny Be Oa ae t.. Btiy Me ee cavarcuiant Press, 1930, 17S. G. PERERA, The Jesutts in Ceylon, 0.c., passim, In today’s characters and mode of writing it should read: AarbuGsehu Os Cee amauwled Sovorig Hs ur Hfwas Sse WSO sepHer sibUgrer aswréaebd No information other than that provided in the note on authorship is available about Fr. Manuel of St, Peter. He was obviously one of the Tamil-speaking secular priests who since the coming of the Portuguese were being trained at Goa and then sent back to their districts of origin. One of Father Henrique’s helpers in the study of Tamil and in the composition of his books was Father Pero Luis, S.J., the first Brahmin to become a Jesuit. His name, however, does not occur as a joint-author in any of the printed books which are available to us. It is suggested that this Quilon Catechism of 1578 is basically the Catechism which St. Francis Xavier had earlier prepared in Portuguese (1542) and in Tamil (1544) and which in turn had been prepared by St. Francis Xavier on the Doctrina published by Joam de Barros in Portugal (1539). If that be so, it should have been subject to extensive revision both by Francis Xavier and subsequently by Father Henriques.'® Father Henrique Henriques, S.J., the principal compiler of the Tamil books published in the 16th century was a student of law at the University of Coimbra when he joined the Society of Jesus in 1545 at the age of about 25. He reached Goa in 1546 and the following year was sent to the Fishery Coast. On the advice of Francis Xavier he set himself 1o the study of the Tamil language “ day and night” as he says. From his first days on the Fishery Coast (at Tuticorin and Punnaikayil) he commenced a systematic study of the Tamil language modelled on the Latin Grammar of Joam de Barros, and as early as 1552 compiled a Tamil Grammar in Portuguese which he sent ““} GEORG SCHURL —EOEEEEEEEEEE—ES to Rome with a request that it be printed. He was resident at Mannar from 1561 to 1564 and baptized a chieftain from Trincomalie whom the Portuguese intended to put on the throne of Jaffna. He took pleasure in meeting Hindus and Moslems and in discoursing with them on religious matters, as well as in consulting non-Christian learned men regarding the style and language of his Tamil manuscripts. Besides the three books mentioned in this article, he repeatedly says in his letters that he was compiling for print— (a) A Grammar of the Tamil language. : (b) A Vocabulary of Tamil words and terms. It is not yet precisely known how many of his books were printed in the 16th century. In his preface to the Flos Sanctorum he says that before 1586 “ algunos libros” (some books) had been published in Tamil.” 3. Doctrina Christam (&fASHwur@f suswréawd) Cochin, 1579. This book in the authentic style of a catechism with questions and answers is the translation into Tamil of the Portuguese work of Marcos Jorge, S.J., a very popular catechism which was first published in Lisbon in 1566 and which continued to be the standard of its type until it was supplanted early in the seventeenth century by the Doctrina of St. Robert Bellarmine. The Preface states that the learned Marcos Jorge of the Society of Jesus pub~ lished this catechism and since then Christians both in Portugal and other kingdoms have benefited by it to a great extent. That the Tamil-speaking Christians might derive the same benefits, this book was being published in Tamil. "—i® For particulars regarding Fr, Henriques, see Monumenta Historica Societatis Iesu, IOSEPHUS WICKI, Documenta Indica in which the letters of H, Henriques are rcproduced. See also XAVIER S. THANI NAYAGAM, Tamil Manuscripts in European Libraries, in Tamil Culture, Vol, HI (1954), pp, 219-220, and BSOAS, Vol. III, p. 147. This translation of Marcos Jorge came to be used very widely in India and Ceylon. Catechetical instruction was imparted in a very thorough manner by the Jesuits in Jaffna in the seventeenth century so that it was said that the children in the mission of Jaffna were ‘the best instructed in the whole of the East”. Copies of the Tamil catechism were obviously used there in 1644 when Figureydo wrote: “They are all so well instructed by our Fathers that there is scarcely a boy or a girl who does not know the catechism thoroughly, besides the whole book of Marcos Jorge which has been translated into their language ”’.”° 4. Flos Sanctorum, 1586: The handwritten preface in Spanish found in the Vatican copy of the Flos Sanctorum gives many interesting details regarding the authorship of this work. Since it was not necessary for this new community of Christians to have a very elaborate and complete “ Lives of Saints ah Father Henriques chose those lives which seemed most relevant to a new Christian community. Hence he trans- Jated part of the Flos Sanctorum of the Friar Diego del Rosario and part of the Flos Sanctorun: of Lipomani and the Lives of the Apostles by Perion. He also added, where it seemed relevant, reflections and observations suited to the readers. He had laboured 37 years among those who spoke Tamil and had written “ algunos libros ” which after approval had been printed. Finally in 1586 he was publishing the Flos Sanctorum after having worked at it for more than three vears. In revising it he had consulted “algunos naturales que saben y entienden bien esta lengua” (“some natives well-versed in this Janguage ”’). Details are available regarding the primary sources of the Flos Sanctorum. Friar Diego del Rosario published in Coimbra in 1577 a revised version of his Historia das vidas e feitos heroycos e obras insignes dos sanctos, com muitos "305, G, PERERA, The Jesuits in Ceylon, oc. p. 157. sermoes e praticas spirituais que servem a muytas festas do anno. This revised edition should have been available to Father Henriques. The second work which he used was the Sanctorum priscorum patrum vitae centum sexaginta tres, one of the first scientific volumes of hagiography. The author was Luigi Lippomano, an Italian, who published this work of eight volumes, first in Venice in 1551 and then in Rome in 1560. The third work he mentions in the Prologue is De rebus gestis vitisque Apostolorun liber compiled by the French Benedictine, Joachim Perion, and published in Paris in 1551.7"

Table Of Contents

  1. Cartilha of 1554. Page 1: Title page with the coat of arms of King Joam III. Pages 2-3: Prologue by the three Tami) Christians. Page 4: Indications regarding transliteration and the phonetic peculiarities to be observed in the pronunciation and accentuation of Tamil in Roman script. Pages 6-34: Per signum Sanctae Crucis, the Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Credo (Apostles Creed), The Ten Commandments, the Commandments of the Church, the Seven Capital Sins, the Seven Capital Virtues, the Confiteor, the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar and other important responses of the Mass (these last are printed only in Latin). End: “The present work was printed by order of the King Our Lord in the very noble and ever loyal city of Lisbon and seen by the holy inquisition: printed by Germano Galhardo, printer to His Highness. 2nd of February, 1554. Laus Deo.” The method employed in this brochure of a trilinear printing of the Romanised Tamil version, the Portuguese version, and a word to word Portuguese rendering corresponding to the Romanised Tamil version has been praised as the first introduction in print of such an effective method in foreign language study. Further, the printing in two colours in order to facilitate quick comprehension of the meaning of the Tamil version through the corresponding Portuguese words printed in red above the Tamil version is again a novel didactic introduction for its time —an anticipation of Comenius by a hundred years. The Romanised Tamil version is printed in black in large type; below the Romanised Tamil version is the Portuguese version in black but in smaller type, and above the Romanised Tamil version is a word for word Portuguese rendering of the Tamil text.
  2. The Doctrina Christam of 1578 is printed in Tamil and shows that doctrinal and liturgical material has been added to what was the content of missionary instruction about 1554. It consists of 16 pages of conventional octavo. Page 1: Title in Portuguese and Tamil ang woodcut of the Holy Trinity worshipped by saints and martyrs. Page 2: Note regarding authorship and transliteration of foreign words, Pages 3-14: Por signum sanctae crucis, Credo, The Ten Commandments, the Commandments of the Church, Pater Noster, Ave Maria, Salve Regina, Confiteor, The - Articles of Faith, The Capital Sins, Tho Works of Mercy (Corporal and Spiritual), The Five Senses, The Theological Virtues, The Cardinal Virtues, The Enemies of the Soul, The Last Things, The Eight Beatitudes. These different titles are prominently printed in Portugcuese. Page 15: Contains a note of typographical] interest. It is a type-specimen page of which the first lines reproduce specimens of Tamil types, 7 vowels, @ and 94 consonants, and vowel-consonants cast in Goa in 1557. The latter half of the page reproduces eight vowels, aj and 116 consonants, vowel-consonants, and double consonants. These consonants are followed by a line of Tamil numerals from one to ten and the symbols for one hundred and one thousand, soar eos cs Se ee a ee These types are said in the last page to have been cast in Quilon in 1579 and are the types used for this Doctrina Christam. The types cast in Quilon are executed with greater skill, are more numerous and more precise than the Goa types. The Quilon prefers “#” to “g@” which is found in the Goa type. No work, however, printed in the Goa type has come to light. This page shows the advance in technique made within a year in the art of casting Tamil types. 3. Doctrina Christam (AFAFDwre aewréad) of 1579 consists of 120 pages. The front page contains a large block of the traditional Jesuit Abbreviation of IHS with rays emanating from the circle containing the letters. The title has changed from Tambiran Vanakkam, (God worship) to Krisitiani Vanakikam (Christian worship) which is certainly an improvement. Page ii (unnumbered): Contains a note in Portuguese on the author, place of printing, etc. Pages iil-vi: Introduction. Chapter I: The significance of the name Christian, pp. 1-6. Chapter 11: The significance of the Holy Cross, pp. 6-12. Chapter lIl: The Pater Noster, pp. 12-22. Chapter IV: The Ave Maria, pp. 22-27. Chapter V: The Salve Regina, pp. 27-35, Chapter VI: The Credo, pp. 36-42, Chapter VII: The Articles of Faith, pp. 42-58. Chapter VIII: The Commandments of God, pp. 58-74. Chapter IX: The Commandments of Holy Mother the Church, pp. 74-86. Chapter X: The Scven Capital Sins, pp, 86-96. Chapter XI: The Seven Sacraments, pp. 97-103. Chapter XII: The Works of Mercy (Spiritual and Corpo- ral) and the Theological Virtues, Cardina) Virtues, The Eight Beatitudes, The Confiteor, pp, 103-12. The book ends with a square IHS Block around which are printed the words: @£5 semiorBevevr LwGlevr (15 55 SbOr_plar 4, Flos Sanctorum: While the other three publications limit themselves to the prayers and the articles of faith and the explanation of basic doctrines, the Flos Sanctorum represents the more ambitious attempt to publish in Tamil a sustained work of considerations of the principal mysteries and feasts, and the lives of the principal saints of the Church’s Calendar. As a single work of considerations on the principal feasts of the year, it does not seem that this work of 669 pages has been greatly surpassed in Catholic Tamil Literature during the last four hundred years. The Tamil title page and the contents in Tamil are not to be found in the Vatican copy. There are, however, four pages of a handwritten introduction in Spanish and the table of contents in Spanish. Since the first page of the Tamil text has the Arab numeral “8” printed in a corner, it is probable that seven Pages of printed introductory matter preceded the text. The following is a table of contents prepared by the writer from the titles and other data furnished in the book. Janwary: . The Feast of the Circumcision (pp, 1-6); The Feast of the Three Kings (7-12): Saint Sebastian (12-28): St. Vincent (28-34); St, Ignatius of Antioch (34-41), February: The Feast of the Purification of Mary (pp. 41-48); St Blasius (48-56); St. Agatha (56-63); St, Apollonia (63-66); St. Mathias, Apostle (67-69). March: St. Benedict of Nursia. 70-85); Annunciation (85-93), a OS AE eet April: Movable Feasts: Ash Wednesday and Lent (pp. 558-565); The Passion of Our Lord (566-608); The Resurrection (609-616); The Ascensian (616-622); Pentecost (623-636); Corpus Christi (636-645): Advent (645-651); The Last Judgement (652-661). List of Holy Days of obligation, and of days of fasting and abstinence (pp. 662-666); Calendar of Movable Feasts from A.D, 1587-1614 (666-669). Note: ‘The original has the Tami] numerals printed on each leaf in serial order, but not on cach page. The text of the handwritten Spanish prologue and table of contents in the Vatican ‘“ Flos Sanctorum". Prologo A] Lector. Porque en este libro se imprimyo’ para los christianos malavares, que estu’n en la Costa de la Pesqueri’a. se imprimio todo en su letra malavar, que los Jaman Tamul. Mas para que tambi’en los que no entienden esta lengua, sepan lo que se contiene en este libro, me parecio’ hezer esta breve declaracio’n en lingoaje, con los nombres de las fiestas principales de las quales en este libro se trata. Y cscogie’ronce e’stas, pareciendo que, pues no podi‘amos imprimir por agora todas, e’stas seri’an ma’s a prepo’sito para aquella neuva christiandad. Y translada’ronse, purte de Flus Sanctorum del R.“P.« Fray Diego del Rosario, y parte del R.™° Lipomano y de Joachi’n Perionio en las Vidas de Jos Apo’stoles, anadicndo, en algunas de Jas dichas fiestas, las concideraciones que me parecieron mejores para bien y provecho d’acuella christiandad, Y antes que este libro se imprimiesse fue examinado y aprovado por cl R.™°Obispo de Cochi’n? y de los senores Inquisidores, De treinta y siete anos a esta parte que la sancta obediencia me embio’ con otros Padres de la Compani/a, para doctrinar y sacramentar Ja dicha christiandad, hize muy grande studio en esta lengua con cl desseo que teni’a de ayudar los dichos chrislianos, y con mucho trabajo, por gracia de N.Senor, llegue’ a saberla muy bien, de manera que hize una arte en esta lengua. Y por parecer de} P. Provincial de la India? se procuro’ que se hisiesse la imprensa malavar por un Hermano de la Compani‘a* que antes de entrar en ella era muy grande official, la 1D. Mateus de Medina, consecrated bishop of Cochin in 1S77, 2A. Valignano, Provincial de Goa, 1583-1587, qual el hizo toda de su mano con mucho trabajo y diligencia. Y assi’ por orden del mismo Provincial me ocupe’ en componer algunos libros, los quales despues de aprobados se imprimieron en la dicha lengue. Agora nuevamente en este ano de 86 se imprimio este libro de la Vida de los Sanctos, las quales communique con algunos naturales que saben y entienden bien esta lengua. Y para que estas vidas saliessen bien apuradas gastc’ en las tresladar en esta lengua mas de tres anos, y assi por Jo que yo entiendo desta lengua, como por lo que disen los natu~ rales, y también otros Padres de la Compani‘a que hisieron grande studio en ella, creo que van sin yerro en la lengua y muy bien apuradas, de Jo qual sca gloria a N.Senor, como, en el imprimir este libro se pretacnde provecho para la misma christiandad, Con esto se ha de advertir que e! alfabeto desta lengua malavar cs muy differente de] nuestro y por esso la tabla de los dichos Sanctos y fiestas van en Ja imprencio’n malavar differente desta neustra. Vale Enrrique Enrriquez de la Compani’a de Jes’us. en lenguas malavar por cl P.* Enrrique Enrri- Libro de las vidasde algunos Sanctostransladadas quez de Ja Compani’a de Jesus en que van las vidus de los seguientes Sanctos. A Cc Advicnto de N. Senor Cathalina Andre’ apo’sto] Christina Augustino Christo’val. Adriano Cecilia Antonio Circuncicio’n de N. Senor Apolonia Comemoracio’n de }os defuncto Alexo Compacion de N.® Senora en la Angeles pasion de Christo Agatha D Acencio’n de N. Senor Asumpcio’n de N.* Senora Domingo E B Eustachio Blas Estevan Benito Eugenia Bernardo Epiphani‘a Bartholome’ apo’stol Encarnacio’n de N. Senor Felippe apo’stol Pedro apo’stol Francisco Pablo apo’stol Feli’citas con los siete hijos Paulino Purificacio’n de N.* Senora G Pacio’n de N. Senor Gero’nymo Q I Quaresma Juan apo’sto] y vangelista R Juan Baptista Invencio’n de la cruz Resurrectio’‘n de N, Senor Juizio final Santo Sacramento Ignatio Santiago mayor L s Lusi’a Lorenco Santo Sacramento Santiago mayor M Santiago menor Simonis y Judas Marti‘n Silvestre Mari’a Magdelena Spiritu Sancto Mari‘a egipsiaca Sebastia’n con sus hijas Margarita Siete Dormientes Mathi’as apo’stol Matheo apo’stol T Migucl Archa‘ngel Todolos Sanctos N Trinidad Nascimiento de N, Senor Saag: — Nascimiento de Ja Virgen N.* Senora Vv Nuestra Senora de las Nieves Nicola’s Vicente

Notes

Tamil Manuscripts in European Libraries

Xavier S. Thani Nayagam · Tamil Culture, Vol. III Nos. 3 & 4 (October 1954), pp. 219–228 · IA leaves 865–874

From time to time various scholars have suggested a complete cataloguing of the Tamil manuscripts and printed Tamil books available both in India and Ceylon as well as in foreign countries, but hitherto only some preparatory work necessary for the documentation of such literature has. been done here and abroad.¹ The present writer undertook a. tour of some of the more important libraries of Europe for pur-. poses of a preliminary survey of Tamil material available in. them, and for the short time he was able to devote to this work he has been more than amply. rewarded: He, therefore, sets down briefly his finds in the hope that this account not only will stimulate further research by.individual Tamil scholars visiting Europe, but also will lead to organised study sponsored by Universities with departments of Tamil and by literary and cultural associations dedicated to the furtherance of Tamil studies.

Portugal

: (1) The Biblioteca nacional da Lisboa hada Manustript (M. 3141) which was‘catalogued urider the same title as the m&nuscript itself “ Arte da lingua malabar”. It con- tained: 160 pages-of Tamil grammar wiitten-in the” Portuguese dinguage. It has been coniposed-nfter the: manner ‘of a Latin grammar and the contents showed the division of Tamil nouns into five declensions and of verbs into nine conjugations. Examples are often written.in Tamil but. more often transliterated in Roman characters, The grammatical rules are all given in Portuguese and often interesting comparisons are made with Portuguese and Latin grammars. For a better understanding of Tamil grammar, the student of Tamil is urged (page 7) to compare it with any Latin grammar, and he who is ignorant of Latin to compare it with the Portuguese grammar written by Joam de Barros.* In the examples given, the place Punnacayil is mentioned more than once e.g., Eu estou pera ir cedo a punicale (P¢rtuguese) Nan punicaligu curuku poga irugiren (Tamil). - Both from internal and external evidence, it is clear that this is a manuscript copy of the first Tamil grammar known to be compiled by a European, and is the work of the Jesuit missionary, Henrique Henriquez (1520-1600) who writing to St. Ignatius on the sixth of November 1550 from: Punnacayil, South India, mentions his having completed two books:— (a) Arte da grammatica da lingua malabar.. (6) ‘Vocabulario da mesma lingua.* (2) In the same biblioteca nacional da Lisboa was a copy (Res, 248) of the Tamil translation of the one hundred and fifty psalms -printed in Tranquebar in 1747. ‘The title page reads “ srefQ ser pair crapSer Grersa 5H OR6OL-L CUT SE, Qrewiob UMF50.....9g sraserurgs9e YFFY SEIN Lg.” 3 oo DE BARROS, Grammatica da Ungua portugueza, Lisbon, (3) In the same library (Biblioteca nacional) was a book in Malayalam printed in Rome in the year 1772 (Res. 499). Its title page was in Latin and read “ Compendiosa legis explanatio omnibus Christianis scitu necessaria malabarico idiomate”, That the copy came from India is evident from a note made in ink “Ex libris Archiepiscopi Granganorensis, Donum Congregationi missionis Lisboni ”. (4) The Museu etnologico di Belem, which as its name shows is only a museum of ethnology, has in its iron safe a copy of the earliest printed work in Tamil. This is a brochure of thirty-eight pages and contains “briefly all that a Christian should know for his salvation”. It was printed by order of King Joam III of Portugal in the year 1554 in Lisbon, The Tamil portion is printed in Roman characters with an interlinear word -to word Portuguese translation. It is a magnificent specimen of sixteenth century printing, and as such has a prominent place in the history of printing. in Portugal.5 A manuscript. copy of this same brochure is said to exist in the municipal library of Oporto. This brochure is, according to the. Prologue, the work of three Tamil-speaking Indians, Vincente de Nazareth, Jorge Carvalho and Thome da Cruz. The prologue also says that Fra Joam de Villa Conde (the Franciscan friar who laboured in Ceylon in the first half of the sixteenth century) supervised the work, The history of this particular copy should make fascinating reading.” (5) Arquivo historico do ultramar has two manuscript copies of the explanation of the Gospels in Tamil, aehiCre fsgicor written by J. Gonsalvez, Oratorian missionary in Ceylon. T See Diccionario bibliografico portuguez, Vol. II, p. 216; Vol. VII, pp. 433, 434; A. J. ANSELMO, Bibliografia das obras impresas em Portugal no sécolo XVI, Lisbon, 1926.

France

Paris and London are the two foreign cities which’ contain the largest number of Tamil literary manuscripts and rare printed books. The catalogue sommaire des manuscrites indiens de la bibliothèque nationale, (Paris, 1912) is now out of print. The reference copy in the Bibliothéque nationale contained a great number of corrections and more accurate entries which had been made subsequently by better-informed curators. There is, however, need for a complete revision of the catalogue, and for identifying the numerous palm-leaf Iaanus@gipts that have not yet been studied. (1) The catalogue contained the titles of several palm-leaf manuscripts of the Tolkappiyam, the Tirukkural, the minor didactic works, the Kambaramayanam, as well as titles like:— (a) “pos yssawb”, (b) * yan But aus Duis”, (c) “ygséCrAunwer Cue As sib”, (d) “Camens oor ry (ce) “wreésarsst Yerkn gs zp”, (f) rts Fiore. (g) “Csenrgsr Senders ship”, (h) “ 9q@jerdiur prea”, G) “QagsréQurr areaciur”, - (j) “nitio surPourcr sy5 50S)”, (k) “HB ome yoreebd”. (2) The Bibliothéque nationale contains a great number of manuscript dictionaries, published and unpublished, of incalculable value to the study of Tamil lexicography, The dictionaries compiled in Latin and Portuguese by Joseph Constantine Beschi for) the Jitgrary language and the collo- quial dialect are to be found in this library, as well as French translations of these dictionaries. Manuscript “Indien No. -225” is.a very valuable French-Tamil-Telugu Dictionary.® ' (3) Manuscripts “Indien 222” and “Indien 223” turned out to be two of the most interesting finds of the tour. They were entitled respectively “ Vocabulario Tamulico Lusi- tano” and “ Vocabulario Lusitano Tamulico ”. The first manu- script is a Tamil Portuguese dictionary of two hundred and twenty pages of folio size, each page divided into two columns, and has about seventy words per page. The second manuscript, a Portuguese Tamil dictionary, bore evidence of excellent penmanship and consisted of one hundred and twentyseven pages written in two columns, I was subsequently able to identify these manuscripts as copies of a Tamil-Portuguese. Portuguese-Tamil dictionary that was compiled by Fr. Antam . de Proenza and published at Ambalacadu, near Cochin, in the “year 1679.. A great number of rare printed books connected with tamil studies are to be found in the Library of the Ecole des langues orientales vivantes, in Rue de Lille, Paris. The following rare books of this library are among those which seem worthy of notice by scholars.. (1) Carolus Graul, Bibliotheca Tamulica, sive opera praecipua Tamuliensium, edita translata adnotationibus glossariisque énstructa, Leipzig, 1854-1865, 4 Vols. (2) Vocabulary of English Sinhalese and Tamil languages, 64 pp., Colombo, 1877. (3) Bunyan’s Pilgrim Progress in Tamil and English, Madras, 1826. . (4) R. Graul, Fndische Stnnpflanzen und Blumen, 1865. (5) E. Lamairesse, Poésies Populaires de Sud de I'Inde traduction et notices, 864 pp. Paris, Lacroix, 1867. (6) N. E. Kindersley, Specimens of Hindoo litera- “ture: consisting of translations from the Tamil language, pp. XIII, 335, London, 1794, (7) Le livre de Vamour de Tirouvalluva, traduet dé Tamoul par G. De Brrigue de Fointaineau, Paris, 1889. This book is a translation of the Kamattupal, and has a preface written by Julien Vinson. Professor Vinson states that about the year 1761, a complete French translation of the Kural made by a native of Karaikal was deposited in the Royal (now National) Library by a Colonel of the French Army. No trace has been found so far of this manuscript. VATICAN CITY. _ The manuscript section of the Bibliotheca Apostolica Vaticana contains some rare Tamil books which are not found ‘in other libraries of Europe. The manuscripts and books pertaining to India have not been catalogued with any precision, and hence it took time and a great deal of co-operation on the part of the staff to have access to some of the rare books treasured within the walls of the Vatican library. (1) Borgiano Ind. 12. This proved to be the printed copy of the manuscripts found in the Bibliothéque nationale, Paris, under “ Indien 222 and 223”. The title page read as follows: Vocabulario Tamulico com a significagam Portugueza composto pello P. Antam de Proenza da companhia de Iesu missionario da Missam de Madurey. Na imprensa tamulica da Provincia do Malabar, por Ignacio Aichamoni impressor della Ambalacatta em 30 de lulho, 1679 annos. The writer identified it as a copy of the famous dictionary printed at Ambalacadu in 1679 at the Tamil Press set up by the Jesuits. The ayjegr mentions in his preface a dictionary compiled by Fr. Ignacio Bruno (1579—1659) ‘in Jaffna, Within the covers of the dictionary is a manuscript of Tamil grammar entitled “ Arte Tamulica”® (2) Vat. Ind. 24. This turned out to be the’far-famed Flos Sanctorum by Henrique Henriquez published on the Fishery Coast’ in the year 1587. Though several authors on the missions have mentioned this work, this particular copy had remained unidentified. It contained a Spanish introduction that was hand-written and the title read “Libro do las vidas di algunos santos trasladadas en lengua malaor”. It is a magnificent volume of six hundred and sixty pages, and for the first attempts at Tamil printing it is a masterly achievement. It contains the lives of the important saints of each month and reflections on the chief feasts and -“mysteries celebrated during the year. It is the greatest attempt of the sixteenth century to express Christian thoughts through the medium of Tamil. }. (8) Borgiano Ind. 7. This is a copy of the New Tes- {ament printed in Tamil at Tranquebar in the year 1714. It consists of four hundred and ninety-four pages and is de- ® The Tamil Lexicon, University of Madras, 1936, in sstecdlictca Pp, xxXxvI, xxxvu, speaks of Fr. Antam de Proenza’s dictionary, as well as of three of Father Beschi’s dictionaries as being unavailable. The Kodumtamil — Latin dictionary is available with a number of persons. The present writer saw in 1945 at Jeast forty copies of the work at Bishop’s House, Trichinopoly. A copy with the present writer is entitled Vulgaris Tamulicae linguae dictionarium tamulico — latinum, auctore P. Constantio Josepho Beschio S.J., Trichinopoly, excudebat Pakkiam Pillay, filitus Veda Nayagam Pillay, Typis South India Times, dictis, 1882. D. FERROLI, The Jesuits in Malabar, Bangalore City, 1939, in a note on the first printmg presses in India, ibid. p. 470 quotes Bishop Medlycott as writing in the last century (the date of the note is not given): “In 1679 Fr. Anthony de Provensa printed at St. Paul’s College, Ambalacad, the first Portuguese-Tamil dictionary, possessing this peculiarity that the Tamil section was engraved on wooden blocks, while the Portuguese was printed in movable type. The appearance is smudgy, I saw a copy with my late secretary, Bishop Mgnacheri, at Trichur”, ~ dicated to Frederick IV of Denmark. The dedication is signed. by: Bartholomaeus Zigenbalg and Iohannes Ernestus Griindler. *; (4) Borg. P. F. Ind. 6. is an interesting poem entitled werafcs yorSruce Apgi. It is written in ink on thick white paper and probably belongs to the sixteenth ‘or seventeenth century. ~ (5) Borg. 29 and 30 are brochures printed at Tran-. quebar. Borg. 30 is a w@eFrmew of sixteen pages for the vear 1792, and was probably printed in 1791. Borg. 29 is a brochure of seventy two pages printed in the year 1772, and deals with the problem of the salvation of the gentiles. (6) Vat. Ind. 18 is a palm-leaf manuscript of the lives of the Twelve apostles in versé, and is a hitherto unknown composition. (7) The Library of the Congregation of the Propagation of the Faith had at one time several Tamil manuscripts and printed books which were sent later to the. Vatican Library. At present a copy of an English translation of the Nannool is one of the more rare books — “ #nglish translathons of the Nannool. Designed for use of University students by a Tamil graduate of the Madras University” 47 pp. 224 pp., Hobart Press, Madras, 1878. NOTANDA pected mostly in countries which have had political and religious connections with South India and Ceylon, such as’ Portugal, France, Italy, England, Holland, Denmark, and Germany. But so unpredictable are the. ways manuscripts travel that one should not be surprised if a manuscript of Tamil interest turned up at Oslo or Athens.: 3. The civil and ecclesiastical libraries, chiefly of Portugal, Italy and Holland contain documents of great value for the history of the Tamil language and culture during the Jast four hundred and fifty years. Examples of the earliest Tamil writing on paper exist. in documents that reached Portugal in the sixteenth century from such diverse places as Tuticorin, Malacca and the Court of the Sinhalese kings of Kotte. The vast correspondence of the Jesuits, the Franciscans and other religious orders, as well as of the other Europeans engaged in civil and military occupations in the Tamil country yet remains to be studied. In the first part of this century, it was believed that there remained no sample of Tamil printing of the sixteenth century. But a diligent search and research have brought to light four printed works of the sixteenth century." They are (a) The Cartélha of 36 pages printed in Lisbon in the year 1554; (b) The Doctrina Christiana of 16 pages by Henrique Henriquez and: Manuel de Sao Pedro printed in Quilon in the year 1578; (c) The Doctrina Christam of 120 pages by Henrique Henriquez printed at Cochin in the year 1579; and (d) The Flos Sanctorum of, six hundred and sixty pages’ by SS tent ‘Henriquez printed (probably at Punnaikayil on the Fishery Coast) in the year 1887. More important and interesting discoveries await the enterprising Tamil scholar that is prepared to work in European libraries.

Notes

Footnotes on this essay (IA leaves 865–874) are only partially recovered by OCR. Prefer the Internet Archive scan for full citations.