Manuscripts, memory and history: Classical Tamil literature in colonial India 9789382993049, 9382993045, 9789382993629, 9382993622

Citation preview

1

Introduction

Literature in History

Writing the history of literature is a paradoxical activity that consists in placing it in historical time and then showing how literature gradually tears itself away from this temporality, creating in its turn its own temporality, one that has gone unperceived until the present day. It is true that there is a temporal imbalance between the world and literature, but it is literary time that allows literature to free itself from political time. In other words, the elaboration of a properly literary temporality is the condition of being able to create a literary history of literature (by contrast with – and by reference to – what Lucien Febvre called the ‘historical history of literature’). Hence the necessity of reestablishing the original historical bond between literature and the world – a bond that, as we have seen, is primarily political and national in nature – in order to show how literature subsequently managed, through a gradual acquisition of autonomy, to escape the ordinary laws of history. By the same token, literature may be defined – without contradiction – both as an object that is irreducible to history and as a historical object, albeit one that enjoys a strictly literary historicity. What I have called the genesis of literary space is this process by which literary freedom is invented, slowly, painfully, and with great difficulty, through endless struggles and rivalries, and against all the extrinsic limitations – political, national, linguistic, commercial, diplomatic – that are imposed upon it. Pascale Casanova1

Pascale Casanova, The World Republic of Letters, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2004, pp. 350.

1

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

2

Manuscripts, Memory and History

There is a major shortcoming in most of the publications in Tamil on Tamil literary history and researches on literature. It is the inability to enquire into the relationship between the socioeconomic processes and literary potentialities. Although few literary historians have handled the periodization like the Age of Pallavas, Age of Cholas, Age of British rule, they have failed to look into and demonstrate the extent to which the socio-economic conditions, processes, movements, contradictions have impacted the literary potentialities of the respective ages or the extent to which the literature of those ages have maintained relationship with those processes.…To be precise, it does not even strike the scholars that historical sensibility and the sociological approach is necessary for researches on literature. K. Kailasapathy2

I This book is about the social and cultural history of the reproduction and reception of classical Tamil literature, namely, the Sangam anthologies – Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu. It attempts to chart the ways in which the socio-cultural factors of the Tamil-speaking districts of the colonial Madras presidency played a role in the reproduction and reception of classical Tamil literature. While historical sensibility dictates the chapters in this book, it also oscillates between literary history, literary cultures in history and socio-cultural history. In other words, this work attempts to mediate the three different possibilities offered by three modes of enquiries dictated by historical sensibility. The concern to broaden the enquiry into the socio-cultural history of the reproduction and reception of classical Tamil literature arose out of two reasons: (a) the problems with or the limitations of Tamil literary history with all its continuities and discontinuities in literary tradition and (b) the identification of the historiographical problems of the subject. As a way of highlighting the necessity of the present study, it is K. Kailasapathy, ‘Munnurai’ (introduction) to Iyakkamum Ilakkiya Pokkukkalum (Movements and Literary Trends), by Ko. Kesavan, Chennai Book House, Chennai, 1982, pp. v (translation mine). This introduction by Kailasapathy is reproduced in K. Kailasapathy, Kailasapathy Munnuraikal (introductions of Kailasapathy), Kumaran Puthaga Illam, Chennai, 2007, pp. 169–81. 2

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

3

pertinent to substantiate the problems or limitations of Tamil literary history as written by scholars. The contention of Sheldon Pollock that in the last fifty years there has been a dwindling interest in the literature and the literary histories of the subcontinent due to the diminishing of vernacular intellectuals may not be true for the region of Tamil Nadu where continuing interest in writing the histories of Tamil language and literature has been taken up by Tamil scholars.3 M. Arunachalam’s (1909–92) multivolume, century-wise history of Tamil literature from the ninth century onwards, Tamil Ilakkiya Varalaru (1969 to 1977) was in fact published between 1969 and 1977; its revised editions have been published by a Tamil publisher a few years ago. The importance of Arunachalam’s study lies in being for the first time a comprehensive and an exhaustive attempt to conceptualise the ‘totality’ of Tamil literary past, at least from the ninth century, though it is doubtful whether the volumes have achieved their objective. The series was so exhaustive that even a critical reviewer, while commenting on the part dealing with the sixteenth century, argued that no other work in the language can match the efforts of Arunachalam.4 As part of the Sahitya Akademi series on the literary histories of the regional languages of India, a history of Tamil literature was written by M. Varadarajan (1912–74) in 1972 titled Tamil Ilakkiya Varalaru. The author of this work studied and taught Tamil at Pachaiyappa’s College in Chennai from 1939 to 1961 and later headed the Tamil Department at the University of Madras. The works of Tamil scholars such as S. Vaiyapuri Pillai (1891–1956) and T.P. Meenakshisundaram (1901–80) contributed significantly to our understanding of the Tamil literary past but stopped short of providing us the ‘total’ history of Tamil literature integrating a variety of source materials and methods deriving from 3 See Sheldon Pollock, ed., introduction to Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003, pp. 3–4.

M. Arunachalam, Tamil Ilakkiya Varalaru Nurrantumurai 9 Mutal 16 Varai, The Parker, Chennai, 2005. The histories of both ninth- and twelfth-century Tamil literatures consist of two volumes. The sixteenth-century history consists of three volumes. For a critical review of the series, see P. Velusamy, “Ilakkiya Kalattil Uyarcatik Kuttani: Mu. Arunacalatin Tamil Ilakkiya Varalarru Nulkal – Oru Virivana Parvai,” Kalachuvadu, Issue 80, August 2006, accessed on December 21, 2012, http://www. kalachuvadu.com/issue-80/nool.htm.

4

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

4

Manuscripts, Memory and History

disciplines such as archaeology, epigraphy, history and anthropology.5 What emerges in their writings appear as a series of episodes on Tamil literature. The effort to write the history of Tamil literature by these scholars was not a sudden development. The writing of Tamil literary history has been a subject of interest for scholars in the language even before Independence. From the beginning of the nineteenth century, missionaries, Orientalists and colonial administrators made an attempt to comment on the history of Tamil literature based both on the literary works available to them and the information gathered from teachers in this language. By the midnineteenth century, Christian Tamil scholars such as Simon Casie Chitty and Arnold Sadasivam Pillai had begun to compile the life histories of Tamil poets and arrange them in chronological order. At the beginning of the twentieth century, with the publication of Sangam literature, a series of writings from indigenous intellectuals contested the views of Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators on the question of dating the beginning of Tamil literature. Despite the existence of the modern Tamil intellectual tradition, that made a continuous attempt to write the history of the literature, there is a sense that a ‘unified’ and a ‘total’ history of Tamil literature – one that could integrate a variety of source materials and methods deriving from disciplines like history – has not been realised. The writing of Tamil literary history has long been the subject of interest only for scholars of Tamil literature. Historians rarely ventured into the discipline and at the most treated ‘literature’ as a source for history. It does not even strike the historians that the research questions and problems around the history of Tamil literature that are faced or addressed by scholars of Tamil literature are in fact equally the problems of history for the historians.6 If literary activities and literary See S. Vaiyapuri Pillai, History of Tamil Language and Literature, New Century Book House, Chennai, 1956; T.P. Meenakshisundaram, A History of Tamil Literature, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, 1965. In recent years the collected works of T.P. Meenakshisundaram has been published by Kavya Pathippagam in Tamil. 5

The debate between Noboro Karashima, and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, David Shulman, and Velcheru Narayana Rao is symptomatic of the rather forced historiographical divide on the relationship between history and literary studies. See Noboru Karashima, “Whispering of Inscriptions,” in Structure and Society in Early South India, ed., Kenneth Hall, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001, pp. 44–58;

6

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

5

representations, as Sheldon Pollock argued, are the sites of power and culture in pre-modern India as much as anywhere else, then it is necessary that historians bring the problems of literature into the orbit of history.7 The possibility of a unified and narratable history of Tamil literature spanning two millennia of continuous literary production encapsulating the ‘totality’ is a sheer impossibility within the field of ‘literary history’ or ‘history of literature’ given the elasticity of the literary field that was all the more interactive with other forces subject to change, continuous and discontinuous. This is not a problem confined only to Tamil language and literature alone. The problems and limitations in reconstructing the literary history of the languages of the Indian subcontinent have forced scholars to move away from this much vitiated field of literary history to the enquiries on the literary cultures in history.8 The shift in enquiry is paradigmatic of scholarly acknowledgement of the limitations with the field of literary history or the history of literature.9 The potentialities of the enquiries on the literary cultures in history, contrary to literary history or history of literature, are far reaching and palpable. They provide possibilities to come to terms with the elasticity of the literary field and a scope to inquire into the means or criteria by which literary traditions have been interpreted, judged and evaluated across historical conjunctures whereas literary history or the history of literature sought to evade these important questions. They also provide an avenue to inquire into the historical conjunctures in which literary traditions are invoked, as indeed the social embedding of these processes. Highlighting the limitations of literary history does not mean that as a field of enquiry it is dated. The creative redefinition of literary history Sanjay Subrahmanyam, “Whispers and Shouts: Some Recent Writings on Medieval South India,” Indian Economic and Social History Review 38(4), 2001, pp. 453–65. Sheldon Pollock, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture and Power in Premodern India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2007), pp. 2.

7

8

Sheldon Pollock, ed., Literary Cultures in History, 2003.

The possibility of a literary history of India for the nineteenth century has been attempted by various scholars recently. See Stuart Blackburn and Vasudha Dalmia, eds, India’s Literary History: Essays on the Nineteenth Century, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2004.

9

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

6

Manuscripts, Memory and History

is necessary whereby it can accommodate the fluidity of literary field; indeed, by bringing the discipline within the orbit of historiography one such study in the Tamil context has yielded a significant research.10 This book does not abandon the possibilities offered by literary history or the history of literature. It attempts to extend this field of enquiry so as to accommodate or come to terms with the elasticity of the Tamil literary field. Do the enquiries on the literary cultures in history offer a prospect of unified and narratable history of Tamil literature? Norman Cutler had chosen three distinct moments in the genealogy of Tamil literary culture and showed how three different historical periods have influenced or informed the ways in which the literature has been produced, understood, judged, interpreted and evaluated.11 However, the historical forces that lead from one distinct moment to the other have been left unexplored by him. It is thus one of the shortcomings of the enquiry on the literary cultures in history. The unified and narratable history of Tamil literature encapsulating the ‘totality’ is impossible if we confine our enquiries to literary cultures in history. The enquiry into the literary cultures in history is contingent upon time and place; if the literary field is not uniform and remains discontinuous then it becomes even more problematic to capture the ‘totality’ of the literary field.12 If literatures and literary cultures exist in the world of concrete history then they do not have a history altogether their own, and their attempts to provide themselves with one are only a part of the story of what has happened. There is thus a need to go beyond the literary history and the literary cultures in history without violating either of them when one attempts to seek a unified and narratable history of Tamil literature. The relationship between the cultural processes and Karthigesu Sivathamby, Literary History in Tamil: A Historiographical Analysis, Tamil University, Tanjavur,1986.

10

Norman Cutler, ‘Three Moments in the Genealogy of Tamil Literary Culture,’ in Sheldon Pollock ed., Literary Cultures in History, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003, pp. 271–322.

11

For example, Norman Cutler himself was aware of the limitation in theorizing the literary history of a period based solely on U.V. Swaminatha Iyer’s autobiographical account. He does point in his essay to the existence of literary cultures outside the orbit of his enquiry and thus point to the non-uniformity of the literary field. See ibid., pp. 287–88.

12

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

7

the literary potentialities with a historical and sociological sensibility that Kailasapathy13 called for becomes all the more relevant if one were to reconstruct Tamil literature in history. Highlighting the autonomous literary space that Pascale Casanova14 referred to must proceed from reestablishing the original historical bond between literature and the world. Such exploration becomes possible not only by the study of literary history or literary cultures in history but also by including the study of socio-economic and cultural histories. This book on the reproduction and reception of classical Tamil literature, then, attempts to mediate at three levels – literary history, literary cultures in history and socio-economic and cultural history. The oscillation from one to the other is visible in the chapters, though not at equitable levels. The aim, however, is to seek the unified and narratable history of Tamil literature, more specifically, the history of the reproduction and reception of classical Tamil literature in colonial Tamil Nadu. The historiographical problem revolves around the ways in which the nineteenth-century scholarly understanding of the recovery and publishing of classical Tamil literary works were influenced by the privileging of a particular set of source materials – the editorial prefaces of the printed classical Tamil literary works written by the editors of the classics and the autobiographical account of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, one of the foremost editors of classical Tamil literary works. It is the use of the latter source material that has largely determined the ways in which the scholarly community has understood the processes of the reproduction of classical Tamil literature, from manuscript tradition to print forms. However, the problem rests not with the sources but in the way in which historians of Tamil literature interpreted it. In other words, the self-perception of editors of Tamil classics has been reproduced as representing the history of nineteenth-century Tamil literature, especially the history of the ways in which the classics were brought to print. The discomfort felt in the historiography is also one of the reasons here for inquiring into the historical processes leading to the transformation of classical Tamil literature from manuscripts to their printed forms and its simultaneous reception. 13

Kailasapathy, ‘Munnurai’, Iyakkamum Ilakkiya Pokkukkalum

14

Casanova, The World Republic of Letters.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

8

Manuscripts, Memory and History

II The story of literary classics in the modern period is part of a larger history of printing and book publishing. The advent of the printed book in history has been a subject of scholarly research for sometime now. The formation of the Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing in 1993 and subsequently the publication of the journal Book History in 1998 have provided a network for historians of printing, publishing and the book to share their research findings from different regions of the world. Since the establishment of this society, studies on print and publishing culture has become a distinct field of enquiry. French scholars such as Lucien Febvre, Roger Chartier and American historian Robert Darnton have done extensive research on the history of modern printing and publishing industry in Europe and more particularly addressed the cultural uses of printing. The transition from scribal culture to print culture has been viewed as a ‘communication revolution’ by scholars working on the history of the book in Europe.15 Print technology has been seen as possessing ‘preservative power’ and as such considered an ‘agent of change’.16 It has been argued that print capitalism gave a new fixity to language which in turn enabled to build the image of antiquity in the course of imagining national communities. In other words, print capitalism is considered an important constitutive factor in the emergence of national consciousness in Europe.17 Without lending any substantive meaning to one particular factor, Eric Hobsbawm has argued that the emergence of the nation is not only a product of history but also must be situated at the intersection of politics, technology and social transformation.18 Lucien Febvre and Henri-Jean Martin, The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450–1800, Verso, London, 1976. 16 Elizabeth Eisenstein, The Printing-press as an Agent of Change: Communications and Cultural Transformations in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980. 17 Benedict Anderson, Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Verso, London, 1983/1991, pp. 37–46. For a critique of Benedict Anderson, see Partha Chatterjee, The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Post Colonial Histories, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1993, pp. 3–13; and more so in his other book Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse, 2nd impression, Zed books, London, 1993, pp. 19–22. 18 Eric Hobsbawm, Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990, pp. 9–10. 15

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

9

In his study of the emergence and impact of print technology in early modern England, Adrian Johns underlines the greater importance of culture-specific understanding of print history vis-à-vis a substantive one leading to generalisation across cultures. He argues that much of early printing in England was carried more on the basis of unauthorised printing and piracy than of the reliability of book trade and credibility of knowledge based on the printed book. Arguing that his book is an attempt to portray ‘print culture in the making’, Johns critiques that ‘what we often regard as essential elements and necessary concomitants of print are in fact rather more contingent than generally acknowledged’.19 The culture-specific understanding of transmission of knowledge and communicative practices has been underlined by Brian V. Street. He emphasises on the practice of literacy in a culture-specific context as opposed to the acquisition of literary skills and its related consequences. Street critiques the latter method of understanding the communicative practices as an ‘autonomous model’ where as his own method came to represent ‘new literacy studies’ and an ‘ideological model of literacy’.20 Recent studies on the history of printing and publishing in India have significantly contributed to our understanding of the cultural uses of printing. Ulrike Stark’s An Empire of Books: The Naval Kishore Press and the Diffusion of Printed Word in Colonial India is a major study that explores book history to analyse the impact of printing in nineteenth-century north India. Through a case study of the Naval Kishore Press of Lucknow she investigates the impact of commercial book trade on the diffusion and laicisation of knowledge and on the processes of intellectual formation, modernisation and cultural renaissance in northern India. Stark examines a range of issues related to the emergence of printing, such as constitution of a new readership, relationship between the

Adrian Johns, The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1998, pp. 2–3, 58–186.

19

20 Brian V. Street, Literacy in Theory and Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985; Brian V. Street, ed., Cross-Cultural Approaches to Literacy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993; see also ibid., ‘What’s “new” in New Literacy Studies? Critical Approaches to Literacy in Theory and Practice,’ Current Issues in Comparative Education 5(2), pp. 1–14.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

10

Manuscripts, Memory and History

printing press and the colonial state, publishers’ engagement with Hindi literature and literary tradition.21 Stuart Blackburn has done a useful survey of the history of print in Tamil context in his Print, Folklore, and Nationalism in Colonial South India. He studies the convergence between printing and folklore in particular and the emergence of new literary practices in nineteenthcentury Madras in general. Blackburn attempts to unravel the complex history of folklore in print which began with the missionaries and was carried on by the native Protestants and later, during the initial period of emergent nationalism, by the nationalists. Folklores were printed to construct an authentic past in order to claim the nation, only to be condemned later, quite paradoxically, as something too native or traditional to be suitable for the modern nation.22 Abhijit Gupta and Swapan Chakravorty have edited a volume titled Print Areas: Book History in India that discusses some significant regional studies on the cultural uses of print in regions as diverse as Bengal, Banaras and Maharashtra by scholars such as Anindita Ghosh, Francesca Orsini and Veena Naregal.23 In the context of colonial Bengal, Anindita Ghosh’s Power in Print: Popular Publishing and the Politics of Language and Culture in a Colonial Society, 1778–1905 explores the narrative of dissent, struggle and conflict among different social groups in the sphere of printing and knowledge production and forces the debate on the limits of the cultural experience of the educated middle class in nineteenth-century colonial Bengal. Ghosh argues that with the proliferation of print culture popular genres from the lower segments of society emerged, contesting the aspirations of the Western educated middle class.24 Her work is a significant contribution to the social and cultural uses of printing in colonial India. Ulrike Stark, An Empire of Books: The Naval Kishore Press and the Diffusion of Printed Word in Colonial India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2007.

21

Stuart Blackburn, Print, Folklore, and Nationalism in Colonial South India , Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2003.

22

Abhijit Gupta and Swapan Chakravorty, eds, Print Areas: Book History in India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2004.

23

24 Anindita Ghosh, Power in Print: Popular Publishing and the Politics of Language and Culture in a Colonial Society, 1778-1905, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

11

Vasudha Dalmia’s Nationalization of Hindu Traditions demonstrates the relation between the politics of language and nation. Here Dalmia underlines an important fact that the consolidation of Hindi as a national language of the Hindus was shaped by the processes of working and reworking of the Hindi language by the colonial administrative officials. It was intimately connected with the imagination of Banaras as the sacred city of the Hindus. The three important developments that took shape at the hands of the colonial administrative officials – dichotomisation, standardisation and historicisation – and reproduced by nationalists led to the identification of Hindi with the Hindus. In tracing the growth of this identification and consolidation, Dalmia focuses on the work of Bharatendu Harischandra of Banaras (1850– 85), which constitutes one significant but ‘cellular’ response in the construction of Hindu tradition in north India. Although Harischandra is primarily known as the father of modern Hindi literature and most of the studies on him focus on his literary credentials, Dalmia gives equal significance to his role as a publicist. She works within a conceptual framework which makes it possible to integrate the literary and the socio-historical approaches, which have hitherto remained somewhat mutually exclusive. In this study the socio-political process that evolved during the late nineteenth century is viewed neither as renaissance nor as revival but as a complex tissue of assimilation and welding, as also of antagonism and resistance. Dalmia considers not just explicitly literary writing but a range of new modes of writing, such as editorials, letters to the editor, social and political essays, and religious tracts as constituting literary activity in the public sphere which emerged during the late nineteenth century. She also makes use of a range of texts such as dictionaries, grammars, primary school books, official reports and documents, and colonial archives for her study.25 Veena Naregal’s Language Politics, Elites and the Public Sphere traces the complex history of Marathi language under colonialism, especially during the nineteenth century in the Bombay-Pune region of western India. The potential for the emergence of a homogenous Marathi (vernacular) public sphere was made possible by colonial intervention, especially through Orientalist, missionary scholarship in the promotion Vasudha Dalmia, Nationalization of Hindu Tradition: Bharatendu Harichandra and the Nineteenth-century Banaras, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1997.

25

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

12

Manuscripts, Memory and History

of vernacular language and literature. However, after the introduction of English education, official patronage to the Marathi language declined. Naregal argues that the colonial state and the newly English-educated elite privileged English at the expense of the Marathi language. The latter was articulated by men in the public sphere whose education remained at school level; hence the development of Marathi took a turn more conservative than the radical possibilities made possible during the early nineteenth century. The proliferation of printing and publishing culture in Marathi was constrained by the colonial economic conditions and only the elite could participate in the market. Naregal argues that the same social group was at the forefront in provincial and later nationalist politics. The elite not only claimed to represent the masses but also the right to articulate on behalf of the modern Marathi literate community. Despite too much of reliance on the colonial records and English sources, Naregal’s work is a significant contribution to studies on the relationship between the developments of regional languages, the print culture and politics.26 Francesca Orsini’s The Hindi Public Sphere 1920–1940 not only documents the history of Hindi language and literature during the inter-war years but more importantly situates it at the intersection of colonial knowledge forms, articulations of the subordinate groups and nationalism. Drawing inspiration from Jurgen Habermas’ theorization of public sphere, Orsini demonstrates how the development of the Hindi public sphere was shaped by the interaction between the local agency and the colonial knowledge forms. The claim that Hindi represents the national language of India was but an ideological construct that undermined Urdu, Braj and other local languages and traditions. The work consists of a series of sections – ‘Language and the Literary Spheres’, ‘Language, Literature and Publicity’, ‘The Uses of History’, ‘Women and the Hindi Public Sphere’ and ‘The Hindi Political Sphere’ – each of which is in itself a topic of research. However, what binds them together is not only the simultaneity of processes in time but also a narrative that deals with the shaping of a culture that continues to have an enduring impact on the life of northern India. In that sense, Orsini’s study is a valuable addition to the work of Vasudha Dalmia on Veena Naregal, Language Politics, Elites and the Public Sphere: Western India under Colonialism, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2001.

26

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

13

the making of Hindi language and literature during the modern period in relation to other social factors.27 In the context of colonial Madras, apart from Stuart Blackburn’s Print, Folklore, and Nationalism, A.R. Venkatachalapathy has contributed to the understanding of the relationship between printing, publishing and the making of modern Tamil literary canon.28 He has argued that under colonial modernity, the Tamil literary canon was reconstituted along secular lines as opposed to the largely religious canon of the premodern period. He has questioned any attempt to attribute eternal and omnipresent meaning to literary canon as a taken-for-granted category and showed how literary canons, like any other human artifact, are contingent upon historical times.29 However, what animates as literary history of the nineteenth century in the writings of Venkatachalapathy is largely the self-perception of eminent editors of classical Tamil literature such as U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and C.W. Damodaram Pillai. While this was the case with his earlier essays, in a recent publication The Province of the Book: Scholars, Scribes and Scribblers in Colonial Tamilnadu, Venkatachalapathy has reconstructed the social history of printing and publishing in colonial Tamil Nadu. He locates the history of reproduction of Tamil classics in the period of what he calls the ‘The Age of Patronage’ which ‘persisted’ (from the pre-1850) and stretched till World War I. The ‘material basis of literary production’ and ‘class composition’ was captured through the study of the ritual of arangettram (staging of a literary work), the sirappu payiram (the prefatory poem) and the title page. What emerges out of the ‘material basis’ and ‘class composition’ analysis of nineteenth-century history of printing and publishing is the persistence and decline of the traditional forms of patronage and the shift to the subscription system where ‘pre-colonial Francesca Orsini, The Hindi Public Sphere 1920–1940, Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002.

27

A.R. Venkatachalapathy, ‘A Social History of Tamil-Book Publishing, c. 1850– 1938’ (PhD diss., Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, 1994); ‘ ‘‘Enna Prayocanam’’: Constructing the Canon in Colonial Tamilnadu,’ Indian Economic and Social History Review 42(4), 2005, pp. 535–53.

28

Ibid., ‘In Print, On the Net: Tamil Literary Canon(s) in the Colonial and Post Colonial Worlds,’ in eds, Suman Gupta et al., Indian in the Age of Globalisation: Contemporary Discourses and Texts, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, 2003, pp. 135–54.

29

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

14

Manuscripts, Memory and History

and early colonial classes’ slowly lost out to the social transformation effected by colonialism in its early industrial-capitalist phase.30 Tamil scholars have written extensively in the Tamil language on the history of printing and publishing in Tamil Nadu. Foremost among them are Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy and Ma. Su. Sambandam.31 However, much of the research on print and publishing in Tamil has been carried out by Tamil scholars on the basis of specific literary and grammatical works. There is a rich corpus of literature on the history of Tholkappiyam and Nannool publications in Tamil.32 In recent years attempts have been made to investigate the articulations of subordinated castes in the sphere of printing and publishing in colonial Tamil Nadu.33

III After the official declaration of Tamil as a classical language by the Government of India, efforts have been made to list the classical Tamil literary works in order to come out with ‘sempathippu’ (critical editions). The Central Institute of Classical Tamil founded in 2008 plans, among others things, to prepare critical editions of forty-one classical Tamil texts and a corpus of classical Tamil literary works.34 Despite the promising enterprise of the institute, it has to be admitted that not much research has been done on how these classical Tamil literary works have been transmitted into the Tamil literary tradition. Given A.R. Venkatachalapathy, The Province of the Book: Scholars, Scribes and Scribblers in Colonial Tamilnadu, chapter 1, ‘The Age of Patronage’, Permanent Black, Ranikhet, 2012, pp. 20–49.

30

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy, Pathampotam Nurrantut Tamil Ilakkiyam, Santhi Noolagam, Chennai, 1962, also Saradha Manicham Pathipagam, Chennai, 2003.; Ma. Su. Sambandam, Accum Pathippum, Tamilar Pathipagam, Chennai, 1980. 31

Pa. Ilamaran, Pathippum Vacippum: Tamil Nulkalin Pathippu Marrum Ayivu (Publishing and Reading: Research and Publishing in Tamil), Chennai, 2008. See also ‘The World of Tamil Books,’ Puthiya Puthagam Pesuthu; Puthiya Puthagam Pesuthu Sirappu Malar, April 2009.

32

Stalin Rajangam, Theendapadatha Noolgal, 2nd edition, Azhi Pathipagam, Chennai, 2008; D. Ravikumar, ‘The Unwritten Writing: Dalits and the Media,’ in ed., Nalini Rajan, 21st Century Journalism in India, Sage, New Delhi, 2007; see also V. Geetha, ‘Dalit Murasu: Surviving a Difficult Decade’ in the same volume.

33

The plans have been outlined in Semmozhi, the newsletter of the Central Institute of Classical Tamil.

34

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

15

the fact that the Tamil language has a continuous literary production for two millennia and a vibrant commentarial intellectual tradition from the medieval times, classical Tamil literary works were constantly invoked and reinvoked in history. An enquiry into how the classics were handed down in the Tamil literary tradition is of importance. With the proliferation of printing technology during the nineteenth century in the Tamil-speaking districts of the Madras presidency, classical Tamil literary works were collected in the form of palm-leaf manuscripts and attempts were made to print them for the first time. Thus, beginning with the publication of one of the chapters of the ancient Tamil grammatical work Tholkappiyam in 1848 by Malavai Mahalingaiyar, all the classical texts were published before 1920. The period from 1840 to 1920 constitutes one of the important phases in the history of modern Tamil literature during which, for the first time, the classics were printed and thrown open to the ‘wider public’. The story of how the recovery and publication of classical Tamil literary works was made possible and carried out has not been told by historians. The subject is as much a matter of importance for the historian as it is for the scholar of Tamil literature.

IV The present volume is organised into six chapters, including the Introduction and the Conclusion. Chapter 2 inquires into the making of classical Tamil literature in a long-term historical perspective. It identifies the historical conjunctures related to the production, anthologisation and the transmission of Sangam literature and critically examines the junctures at which the classics were invoked. This chapter begins with questioning the received wisdom in historiography that there was no place for Sangam literature in the Tamil literary canon of the pre-modern period and that it had to be dramatically ‘rediscovered’ during the second half of the nineteenth century. Questioning the ‘rediscovery’ of the classical Tamil corpus argument then necessitates an enquiry into its transmission during the pre-modern period. The meanings or the implications of invoking the classical literary texts in various historical periods since the time of their production are sought here. An attempt is made to probe the historical reasons for the preservation and transmission of classical Tamil literature in the Tamil literary tradition. Drawing from Pierre Nora’s definition of the memory, it has been tried to show how the memory of Sangam in Madurai had an Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

16

Manuscripts, Memory and History

enduring presence in the collective consciousness of the Tamil scholarly community of the pre-modern period. This chapter also deals with the collections of Colin Mackenzie and ends by raising questions in relation to the received wisdom in historiography. Chapter 3 explores the social history of reproduction of classical Tamil literature within the larger history of printing and publishing in nineteenth- and early-twentieth- century colonial Madras. It provides an overview of the printing and publishing history of nineteenthcentury Tamil Nadu by identifying and marking three distinct phases. This three-phased history evolved its own set of rules and conventions that changed slowly over a period of time in the sphere of publications related to literature and grammar. The first phase is marked by the activities of the College of Fort St George; the second with the revival of Saivism and its literature by the activities of Arumuga Navalar in Jaffna in response to the spread of Christianity; the third by the publishing activities of the foremost editors of classical Tamil literature, C.W. Damodaram Pillai and U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. The reproduction of the Tamil classics from manuscripts to their printed forms was not a linear process, as secondary literature on the subject would want us to believe. In a competitive colonial environment, where access to printing technology was available to the indigenous population across the Tamil region from the mid-nineteenth century onwards, printing of classics met with competition. The proliferation of printing presses across Tamil Nadu created competition among the printer-publishers and authors of literary works. The urge for fame and money drove individuals to author works of literature and publish the old texts. The editors widely advertised the books and the literary texts to be published well in advance in newspapers and journals. It was a strategy employed by the editors to create market. This chapter tries to examine the social history of the publication of Tamil classics. The relationship between the printing and publishing history of Tamil literature and the writing of literary histories is sought in Chapter 4. The publication of Tamil classics in the late-nineteenth-and the earlytwentieth-century Tamil Nadu paved the way for the emergence of the writing of literary histories as a new genre of practice. There was a shift from the synchronic understanding of literature to the diachronic one and also from the cyclical notions of time to the linear one. The Western

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

17

educated, indigenous intellectuals of the late nineteenth century were the first to inaugurate the writing of literary histories. The published classical Tamil literature was rigorously interpreted in the light of Western scientific tools and methods. Attempts were made to periodise Tamil literary history and the publication and interpretation of Tamil classics pushed the chronology of Tamil literature backwards in time. The indigenous intellectuals contested the theories and views on the history of Tamil literature advanced by the Madras School of Orientalists and the colonial officials. The histories of Tamil literature written by the indigenous intellectuals were not homogenous but rather reflected the tensions of the colonial society. This chapter studies critically the literary histories written by the colonial administrators, the missionaries and the English educated indigenous Tamil intellectuals, and the implications of this for the subsequent history of the Tamil region. More importantly, it tries to demonstrate how the literary history written in the nineteenth century was shaped by the history of Tamil printing and publishing, especially the publication of Tamil literary works. In Chapter 5, one would find a study of the pre-Caldwellian legacy of Orientalist and missionary scholarship in Madras that emphasised the independence of Tamil from Sanskrit and placed the ‘Brahmin’ as an immigrant to Tamil society. It is argued that Robert Caldwell’s theorisation of the ‘Dravidian’ family of languages as distinct from IndoAryan languages in 1856 must be seen as a culmination of a Madras scholarship that actually begun half a century ago. This chapter also attempts to study the popularisation of classical Tamil literature following its publication. The three factors together – the growth of journalism, institutionalisation of classical Tamil literature as part of the BA syllabus of the University of Madras and the emergence and growth of language promotion associations – created conditions for the popularisation of the classical literary heritage. This chapter also deals with the articulations of Tamil by the South Indian Liberal Federation or Justice Party founded in 1916 and the Indian National Congress. It shows that the concerns of the Justice Party were different from those of the Indian nationalists in their articulations of Tamil. While the Justice Party was using Tamil classical heritage to contest the Brahmins in the public sphere, the Congress nationalists used it to critique the colonial state. The writings of nationalists such as V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, V.V.S. Iyer and Subramania Bharathi are discussed in this chapter, and it is pointed out how their Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

18

Manuscripts, Memory and History

engagement with the classical Tamil literary work Thirukkural was dictated by their participation in the nationalist movement.

V Sources The research for this volume has involved a range of sources from the following libraries and archives: British Library, London; Bodleian Library, Oxford; Francke Foundation Archives and Library, Halle; Kern Institute Library; University of Leiden Main Library, Leiden; Tamil Nadu State Archives; Roja Muthiah Research Library, Chennai; Maraimalai Adigal Library, Chennai; U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library; Connemara Public Library; Government Oriental Manuscript Library, Chennai; Nehru Memorial Museum and Library; National Archives of India; Jawaharlal Nehru University Library, New Delhi; and National Library, Kolkata.

Primary Sources The sources consulted can be classified into primary and secondary ones. The primary sources include government records; private unpublished papers of Orientalists, government administrators, missionaries and indigenous Tamil scholars. The government records consulted at the Tamil Nadu State Archives consists of the proceedings of educational department from 1860 to 1920, native newspaper reports from 1878 to 1920, extracts from the report on English newspapers from 1905 to 1910, Fort St George Gazette from 1880 to 1920, annual administrative reports of the Madras presidency from 1890 to 1920 and the volumes of Tanjore District Records pertaining to the early nineteenth century. For early nineteenth century Madras, the primary sources consulted at the British Library, London, are the records of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India related to the College of Fort St George from 1814 to 1822 and the Annual Report of the Board of Superintendence of the College of Fort St George for the years 1817– 18, 1827–28 and 1829–30. Contemporary English and vernacular newspapers such as Madras Mail (1896–99, 1901–05), Swadesamitran (1887–1908) and The Morning Star (1848–55); journals such as Asiatic Researches (1795–1810) and The

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

Introduction

19

Indian Antiquary (1872–1920) and magazines such as Magazine of the Madras Christian College (1885–1908) were consulted in various places such as Chennai, Delhi, Leiden and London. The Danish missionary correspondences between Tranquebar and Halle were published in London as early as 1720; these can be counted as a primary source to understand the early-eighteenth-century Tamil society. These missionary records were consulted at the Francke Foundation Archives and Library, Halle and the University of Leiden Main Library. The private unpublished papers of administrators such as Francis Whyte Ellis, Colin Mackenzie, Walter Elliot and Thomas Munro and of missionaries such as G.U. Pope, Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg and C.J. Beschi were consulted at the British Library, London; Bodleian Library, Oxford and Francke Foundation Archives, Halle. The private letters of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer remain unpublished so far and are preserved at U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai. These letters have been consulted from the four volumes (A–D) titled Tamil Karuvoolam.

Secondary Sources The secondary sources include published books, both in English and Tamil. The editions of classical Tamil literature have been consulted at the Roja Muthiah Research Library Chennai; Maraimalai Adigal Library, Chennai; U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai; Sentamil College Library, Madurai; National Library, Kolkata and Francke Foundation Archives and Library, Halle.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:12:54, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.001

2

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’ and an Enquiry into the Transmission of Sangam Literature during the Pre-modern Period

It has been argued that nineteenth-century Tamil literary history witnessed the displacement of the pre-nineteenth-century notions of ‘literary canon’ which are supposed to have constituted largely of religious and didactic literature with the printing of classical Tamil literary works. Under colonial modernity the displacement of the pre-nineteenth-century notions of Tamil literary canon was supposed to have been accompanied by a new mode of appraising time and a secularisation of Tamil society.1 Revolving largely around the selective individual narratives of pre-modern literary and hagiographical works and also of middle-class men in colonial Tamil Nadu, this view rarely takes into consideration for enquiry the literary works that were in circulation in Jain Mutts of the early modern period, missionary documents and the early colonial records like Mackenzie’s collections, Board’s collections of the College of Fort St George and the quantitative history of book production in British India. An enquiry into the latter sources will offer the possibility of an alternative understanding of Tamil literary history of the nineteenth century. There is another baggage that weighs heavy in historical writings on the nineteenth-century Tamil society that requires interrogation. It is about ‘Tamil renaissance’ and ‘rediscovery’ of classical Tamil literature under colonialism. Both ‘Tamil A.R. Venkatachalapathy, ‘”Enna Prayocanam” Constructing the Canon in Colonial Tamilnadu’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 42(4), 2005, pp. 535–53. One can add the essay of A.K. Ramanujan for a similar understanding; see Ramanujan, ‘Classics Lost and Found’, in Vinay Dharwadker, ed., The Collected Essays of A.K. Ramanujan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999, pp. 184–96.

1

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

21

renaissance’ and ‘rediscovery’ of classical Tamil literature serve as one of the background causes in most writings on colonial Tamil society for the emergence of the non-Brahmin political movement in the early decades of the twentieth century. Recently, the ‘Tamil renaissance’ argument has been put forward again with a renewed interest in colonial philology and the history of Tamil printing.2 The nineteenth-century ‘rediscovery’ of classical Tamil (Sangam) literature argument assumes as if these texts were lost or not considered to be a part of Tamil literary tradition in the pre-modern period. Isolated examples were cited like those of the views of the eighteenth-century Tamil scholar Swaminatha Desigar (author of the early modern grammar book Ilakkana Kothu) whose contempt for Sangam literature has been taken as a yardstick to argue that this literary corpus was not part of the Tamil literary canon. Moreover, the ‘rediscovery’ argument fails to adequately inquire into the transmission of the classical Tamil literature during the pre-modern period. My attempt in this chapter is to investigate into the transmission of what is today called Sangam literature – the eight anthologies (Ettuthogai) and ten songs (Pathuppattu) – in Tamil literary tradition from the time of its production, compilation, down to the early modern period. I take as my point of departure the nineteenth-century colonial setting, where efforts were made to collect and retrieve the Tamil literary texts in manuscript form and transform them into the print medium.3 While writing the prefaces (pathippurai) for the first printed editions of Pathuppattu and some of the individual anthologies of Ettuthogai, C.W. Damodaram Pillai and U.V. Swaminatha Iyer had outlined the Thomas R. Trautmann, Languages and Nations: The Dravidian Proof in Colonial Madras, Yoda Press, New Delhi, 2006, pp. 202–08. Stuart Blackburn, Print, Nationalism and Folklore in Colonial South India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2003, pp. 87–88.

2

For a comprehensive account of such a view in Tamil, see Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy, Pathampotam Nurrantut Tamil Ilakkiyam, Santhi Noolagam, Chennai, 1962, also Saradha Manicham Pathipagam, Chennai, 2003; Ma. Su. Sambandam, Accum Pathippum, Tamilar Pathipagam, Chennai, 1980; K. Kailasapathy, Navalar Parri Kailasapathy, Kumaran Puthaga Illam, Chennai, 2005; K. Sivathamby, ‘Tamilil Ilakkiya Pata Mitpu’ in Perumal Murugan, ed., U. Ve. Sa. Panmuka Alumayin Perruvam, Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, Nagercoil, 2005, pp. 103–39. However the writings in English rarely acknowledge this larger effort but rather start the narrative with the recovery of Sangam corpus as though it represents a distinct and unique moment in nineteenth-century literary history. See A. R. Venkatachalapathy, ‘Enna Prayocanam’, 2005, pp. 535–53.

3

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

22

Manuscripts, Memory and History

contingencies involved in the recovery of texts in manuscript form and faithfully documented the individuals and institutions who gave copies of the manuscripts. The preservation, transmission and existence of the Sangam texts in the manuscript form with the individuals and institutions that C.W. Damodaram Pillai and U.V. Swaminatha Iyer documented raises questions regarding the validity of the label that we often lend to the process of reproducing the Sangam texts, namely the ‘rediscovery’. In a lecture delivered in 1927 in Chennai, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer observed that forty or fifty years back, only a few who were trained in the traditional pedagogy understood the meaning of Sangam texts, whereas most others merely knew only of the word ‘Sangam’ and did not bother to understand its meaning or what literary texts it constituted.4 It is my contention that the ‘rediscovery’ concept has been overemphasised while engaging with the question of the reproduction of Sangam corpus in the late nineteenth century, and it is essential to understand how the texts were preserved and transmitted in the Tamil literary tradition before it was put into print. It is pertinent to take a long-term historical understanding of this process which then necessitates an enquiry into the canon formation and anthologisation. In the following pages I shall make an attempt in this direction and show how certain historical factors created conditions for the preservation and transmission of Sangam literary texts in the Tamil literary tradition. By taking a long term historical approach I attempt to highlight the complexities of pre-modern Tamil literary cultures and their transformation under colonialism. This chapter is divided into three sections in which a systematic chronological division is made beginning with the early modern period and then into the early historic phase back to the medieval period. Both primary and secondary sources were consulted to explain the Tamil literary history, especially the process of the transmission of classical Tamil literature in Tamil literary tradition. However the chapter is not purely a literary inquiry but a historical investigation where socioeconomic and religio-cultural factors interplay. The lectures delivered by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer in the months of November and December 1927 at Chennai Sarvakala Sangam have been compiled and published under the title Sanga Tamilum Pirkala Tamilum, Chennai, 1929. See the first lecture “Tamil Sangam,” pp. 1–22.

4

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

23

The classical Tamil literary works that we are dealing with in this chapter have been used as footnotes by modern historical researchers, thus pointing to their status as sources of history. The footnote has been used within modern historical methodological framework as though it is devoid of its theoretical and ideological milieu. It is well recognised that without the support of these footnotes historical narratives would be mere imaginary journeys into the past. If the drama of history unfolds itself on the stage of the source such as the footnote, it is necessary that historians begin an interrogation of the nature of the sources, particularly when they are rooted in multiple perceptions of the past. The junctures at which these perceptions meet historical explanations must necessarily be dialogical, and hence we must begin to locate the source not only in its socio-economic but also in its ideological context.5 The classical Tamil literary works we have taken up for study have long been invoked and reinvoked in Tamil literary tradition at various historical junctures, the implications of which have not been studied by historians. It is imperative that we study these historical conjunctures as well as periods of silences. Studies on memory and orality have been significant to understand the pre-modern forms of textual and oral communicative practices. Mary Curruthers’s work on medieval Western scholarship has thrown light on the importance of memory in traditional pedagogy.6 Pierre Nora while making a distinction between history and memory argued that ‘memory is life, always embodied in living societies and as such in permanent evolution, subject to the dialectic of remembering and forgetting, unconscious of the distortions to which it is subject, vulnerable in various ways to appropriation and manipulation, and capable of lying dormant for long periods only to be suddenly reawakened’.7 Yet the memory is not homogenous but multiple as there are different social groups. Drawing on from Maurice Halbwachs’s study of collective memory, Pierre Nora has underlined the paradoxes of memorial traditions – namely that Anthony Grafton, The Footnote: A Curious History, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1997.

5

Mary J. Carruthers, The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture, Cambridge University Pres, New York, 1990.

6

Pierre Nora, Realms of Memory: Rethinking the French Past, English language edition edited and with a foreword by Lawrence Kritzman, translated by Arthur Goldhammer, Columbia University Press, Columbia, 1996, p. 3.

7

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

24

Manuscripts, Memory and History

‘memory is by nature multiple yet specific; collective yet plural’. It is this ambivalence and fluidity that we come across in the understanding of Sangam in Tamil literary tradition at different historical junctures. The memory of the origins of Tamil literature was embedded in the Tamil literary scholarship of the pre-modern period. Many literary works explicitly dealt with the story of literary academy in Madurai and its relation to the origins of Tamil literature though we do not find uniformity in them. How does the memory concerning the origins of Tamil literature relate to the textual transmission of classical Tamil literature? Does the invocation of the legend concerning the origins of Tamil literature by the literary and grammatical works of medieval and early modern period necessarily mean the possession of manuscripts of classical Tamil literary works by the authors of those literary and grammatical works? Did the commentators transmit the manuscripts of what we today call Sangam literature? What is the role of Saiva and Jaina monasteries in the transmission of classical Tamil literature? Tamil pundits associated with the Thiruvavaduthurai Mutt during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries have written commentaries to grammatical works like the Nannool, and in them referred to the verses from Sangam literary works. Did these commentators took recourse to the mulam (original) of Sangam literary works or merely borrowed the verses from previous commentators? When did the Thiruvavaduthurai Mutt acquire the manuscripts of Sangam literary works? I attempt to answer some of these questions in this chapter by taking recourse to varieties of sources ranging from Mackenzie’s collections to the early modern commentaries to the medieval grammatical work Nannool. An inquiry into the transmission of classical Tamil literature is as much a research problem for the historian as it is for the scholar of Tamil literature. This is especially so in a society where linguistic and literary productions were closely intertwined with political formations and their legitimisation. It has been rightly argued by Sheldon Pollock that ‘it was in the activities of literary culture and the representations of literature, as much as anywhere else, that power and culture came to be constituted as intelligible facts of life’ in pre-modern India.8 Tamil, being one of the classical languages of India with two millennia of continuous literary Sheldon Pollock, The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture and Power in Premodern India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2007, p. 2.

8

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

25

tradition, is not an exception to the statement of Pollock concerning the relationship between literary production, power and culture.

Manuscripts of sangam literature in the nineteeth century Including the ancient Tamil grammar text Tholkappiyam, Sangam literature constitutes the eight anthologies or Ettuthogai and the ten songs or Pathuppattu. There is disagreement among scholars whether to include the latter work as part of Sangam literature because the commentary to an early medieval grammar book Iraiyanar Kalaviyal mentions only the Ettuthogai and the grammar book Tholkappiyam as the works of third Sangam in Madurai along with few other works, but not Pathuppattu.9 The eight anthologies or Ettuthogai are Narrinai, Kurunthogai, Aingurunuru, Pattirruppathu, Agananuru, Purananuru, Kalithogai and Paripadal. The ten songs or Pathuppattu constitutes Tirumurugarrupatai, Porunarraruppatai, Sirupanarruppatai, Perumpanarruppatai, Pattinappalai, Malaipatukatam, Mullaippattu, Kurinchippattu, Nedunalvadai and Maturaikkanchi. Except Tirumurugarrupatai, Kalithogai and Paripadal, the rest of the literary works in the list were dated by historians and scholars of Tamil literature to the first three centuries of the Common Era.10 These literary works were for the first time printed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries until when they were being circulated in the palm-manuscripts form. Beginning with the publication of one of the eight anthologies, namely Kalithogai by C.W. Damodaram Pillai in 1887, all the Sangam literary works were printed before 1920. It was during this period that classical Tamil literary works were made accessible to the ‘wider public’ beyond the tiny scholarly community and outside the orbit of religious sectarian monasteries. The social history of the publication of Sangam literature will be taken up in the next chapter. Here an attempt shall be made to trace the ‘manuscript’ copies of Sangam literature prior to its printing. John Ralston Marr, The Eight Anthologies: A Study in Early Tamil Literature, Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai, 1985, pp. 7–9.

9

Kamil Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1973. For discussion on the chronology of Paripadal see Francois Gros, Deep Rivers: Selected Writings on Tamil Literature, edited by M. Kannan and Jennifer Clare, translated by M.P. Boseman, Department of Indology, French Institute Pondicherry and Department of South and South-East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2009, pp. 57–122.

10

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

26

Manuscripts, Memory and History

In his preface to the first printed edition of Kalithogai in 1887, C.W. Damodaram Pillai documents the number of palm-leaf manuscript copies he used for printing the literary work. It is appropriate to quote Pillai here: It is extremely difficult to gather the hand written manuscripts before one involve[s] in researching and printing a literary work. If a literary work is old and difficult to comprehend, it then disappears into oblivion without scribes and readers. It is not possible to explain the difficulties I underwent when I started looking out for the manuscript copies of Kalithogai. The first copy I saw of the work was that of Puthuvai Nayanappa Mudaliyar. The manuscript was incomplete without the head and tail of the work. Moreover, I abandoned my effort of reading the work in frustration due to broken letters in each line of a poem. Then, when I was researching on Tholkappiyam I found a copy of Arumuga Navalar which I added. Realizing the importance of Kalithogai through this copy I took a vow that this work should be printed for the benefit of the world and wrote to heads of the Adheenams (monasteries). Sargurunatha Swamigal of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam sent me a copy of Kalithogai belonging to the monastery with an assurance of two more copies of manuscripts from the southern country … I have not received the response from the rest of the monasteries … I continued communicating to [a] number of places to find out the availability of manuscripts of Kalithogai. Kanakasabhai Pillai, son of Mallagam Viswanatha Pillai of Jaffna[,] gave his manuscript copy of Kalithogai along with that of Tirumanam Kesava Subbaraya Mudaliyar and Mayilai Ramalinga Pillai. At the Oriental Manuscript library in Chennai and at Tanjore Saraswasthi Mahal there were few manuscripts woven together with a title Kalithogai. I found these copies useless but decided to go ahead with printing the work with whatever manuscripts I collected … I was reminded of a copy of Kalithogai I saw at the house of Shanmuga Upadhyayar of Kutalur and Sokkalinga Pillai of Nellithope around thirty-five years ago when I reached here from Jaffna … when I visited the house of [the] latter I witnessed the sorry state of manuscripts left uncared. I was happy though that I found a copy of Neytal Kali portion of Kalithogai in them. Subsequently I found a copy at Tindivanam in which I also found the section on Neytal Kali …11 See preface of C.W. Damodaram Pillai, Nallantuvanar Kalithogai, Scottish Press, Madras, 1887. Unless otherwise stated all the translation from Tamil are mine.

11

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

27

Damodaram Pillai further added that he also heard about a manuscript copy of Kalithogai from Saravanapperumalaiyar’s collections and that his copy was sent to Coimbatore. Pillai tried to get Saravarnapperumalaiyar’s copy but only in vain. With the available ten manuscript copies in hand, he ventured into the printing of the work. It is significant to note that the manuscript copies of Kalithogai were part of the collection of Tamil pundits of the early nineteenth century. Puthuvai Nayanappa Mudaliyar (1779–1845) was a Tamil pundit at the College of Fort St. George. He was also a close associate of Thandavaraya Mudaliyar, a scholar who served as the headmaster of Tamil at the College of Fort St. George in the early decades of the nineteenth century. Similarly, Saravanapperumalaiyar along with his brother Visakapperumalaiyar published Tamil literary and grammatical works from their printing press Kalvivilakka Accukkudam in the first half of the nineteenth century. It is not clear whether these pundits ever read Kalithogai from their collection. Similarly, a copy of Kalithogai was held at Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam and at the request of Damodaram Pillai, the head of the Adheenam could identify the copy and send it back to Pillai. The information provided by Damodaram Pillai points to a manuscript copy of Kalithogai with a commentary held by Arumuga Navalar. In fact, in his edition of Thirukkovaiyar published in 1860, Arumuga Navalar made an advertisement of publishing Kalithogai Urai along with innumerable other works. What was the function of the manuscript of Kalithogai among pundits and institutions like Adheenams during the early nineteenth century? At what point in time were the copies made and how long were they in their possession? Did the manuscript change hands or remain dormant? At the present state of Tamil scholarship on the nineteenth century, we do not have sufficient answers to these pressing questions.12 Similarly, while printing Purananuru, another work of eight anthologies, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer recounted that he consulted sixteen manuscripts. The collection included five manuscripts—Thiruvavaduthurai An attempt to study the life histories of the early nineteenth century Tamil pundits has been made by A.R. Venkatachalapathy. See Venkatachalapathy, ‘“Grammar, the Frame of Language”: Tamil Pundits at the College of Fort St. George’, in Thomas R. Trautman, ed., The Madras School of Orientalism: Producing Knowledge in Colonial South India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2009, pp. 130–47.

12

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

28

Manuscripts, Memory and History

Adheenam, Tiruttanikai Saravanapperumalaiyar, Yalpanattu Nallur Sadasivam Pillai, T. Kanakasundaram Pillai, Yalpanam V. Kanakasabhai Pillai and Tirumayilai Shanmugam Pillai—of Purananuru verses with no commentaries. The manuscripts with commentaries for Purananuru included one each from Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Ambalavana Desigar, Tayavalantirta Kavirayar of Alvarttirunagari, Sirrambalak Kavirayar of Mitilaippatti, Tirupparkatanatha Kavirayar of Tirunelveli, Subbaya Pillai of Tenkasi and Kumarasamy Pillai of Tuticorin.13 How did the Purananuru manuscripts survive in the collections of kavirayars (poets)? Did the poets ever read the manuscripts, or simply possess them in their collection without bothering to read them? Just like in the case of Kalithogai, Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam donated two copies of Purananuru to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. We also find the manuscript of Purananuru in Saravanapperumalaiyar’s collections. It was again in the Thirukkovaiyar edition of Arumuga Navalar of 1860 that we find Navalar making an advertisement for printing, among other works, Purananuru with the commentary. In his translation of Thirukkural into English, Francis Whyte Ellis made a reference to two verses from the Purananuru. These examples lead us to pose a pressing question: were literary works like Purananuru totally absent from scholarly attention before Swaminatha Iyer published them? Iyer provides information about the functional value of these works only in a literary culture that he participated in, namely in and around Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam.14 We do not get any information from Iyer regarding the literary practices of Kavirayars’ who gave the manuscript of Purananuru. In his autobiography U.V. Swaminatha Iyer details his first encounter with ‘Sangam’ poems in the chapter on ‘Sintamani Araichi’(research on Seevakacintamani, one of the major Tamil epics): When I was researching on Sintamani, I found difficulty in identifying the Ceyyul (poems) from unknown literary works See preface of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Purananuru Mulamum Uraiyum, V.N. Jubilee Press, 1894.

13

For an interesting account of the literary culture that U.V. Swaminatha Iyer participated in, see Norman Cutler, ‘Three Moments in the Genealogy of Tamil Literary Culture’, in Sheldon Pollock, ed., Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003, pp. 271–322; A.K. Ramanujan, ‘Classics Lost and Found’, 1999, pp. 184–96.

14

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

29

employed by Naccinarkkiniyar as citation. I only identified the sutras of Tholkappiyam. Sections from Thirukkural and Thirukkovaiyar were cited as examples by him. I identified them as well. For the rest of the citations it appeared to me as if I was let into a forest with eyes closed with no clue of the name of the literary work or the context in which they were cited. When I was thinking of compiling old Tamil literary works, I realized the collection of manuscripts at the library of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. On a weekend holiday I went to Thiruvavaduthurai and expressed my desire to Subramania Desigar, the head of the Adheenam. He said, ‘We have given permission to you earlier to see our collections and now take what is required.’ I started identifying the old palm manuscripts from the library of Adheenam. The manuscripts were very old … In one of them it was written by Kumaraswamy Tambiran as ‘Ettuthogai’ and ‘appear as Sangam poems’. When I opened the manuscript, I identified them as Sangam works like Narrinai … The verses of the individual anthologies were written together except that of Paripadal and Kalithogai … I found few more manuscripts collected by Pillai Avargal along with that of ettuthogai. In his days he used to take it out for drying in sun once in a while. In the first manuscript it was titled ‘Porunarruppatai’. When I asked my teacher, ‘What is this work?’ he replied stating that it is an arruppatai like Tirumurugarrupatai. It was never felt in those days to check what other works were included in them.15

It is clear from the account of Swaminatha Iyer that manuscripts of Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu were part of the collection of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. At what point in time the Adheenam acquired the manuscripts and who copied them remains a speculation. It is necessary to pose the question whether the knowledge of the life of Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai as we gather from Swaminatha Iyer’s biography is comprehensive. Definitely we cannot place an authority on Swaminatha Iyer’s biography of his teacher to make a value judgement on the early nineteenth century Tamil literary culture or for that matter in understanding the life history of the teacher himself. The biography or an autobiography is not a total history and hence the source value of them is limited. However the literary histories of nineteenth-century U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, En Charitram, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Madras, seventh reprint, 2008, pp. 555–56.

15

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

30

Manuscripts, Memory and History

Tamil Nadu written by scholars continue to revolve around the persona of Swaminatha Iyer and his perceptions. U.V. Swaminatha Iyer published Pathuppattu in 1889, two years after the publication of the Jain epic Sivakacintamani. He held two palm-leaf manuscript copies of Pathuppattu before he ever thought of printing the work. In the preface to the first edition of Pathuppattu, Iyer provides the information on the manuscripts he consulted. He collected manuscripts of Pathuppattu from Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Kumaraswamy Iyer (Vellore), Kumaraswamy Pillai (Arumugamangalam), Kavirajar Nellaiyappa Pillai and Kavirajar Iswaramurthy Pillai (Tirunelveli), Tirupparkatanata Kavirayar (Vannarappettai), Devarpiran Kavirayar (Alwar Tirunagari), Sivan Pillai (Pollachi), Dharmapuram Adheenam, Tiruvambala Tinnamutam Pillai (Triplicane), Annaswamy Upadhyayar (Tirumayilai), V. Kanakasabhai Pillai and the Oriental Manuscript Library (Chennai).16 In his autobiography, Swaminatha Iyer has written about his visit to the house of two traditional poets at Tirunelveli (Kavirajar Nellaiyappa Pillai and Kavirajar Iswaramurthy Pillai) in search of the manuscripts of Pathuppattu. It is appropriate here to quote Iyer. On the morning of the next day I started looking at the manuscripts at the house of the two brothers. There was a private library at the house of Iswaramurthy Pillai. It was their ancestral home. They opened the door of their private library for me. I was taken by surprise when I saw it. ‘Did the Tamil Sangam in those days maintain the manuscripts in this fashion?’ I wondered. The manuscripts were arranged and maintained in an order. Even the individual manuscripts were tied properly. There was no dust. No insect. Manuscripts never struck with each other. The room appeared like a temple for Tamil goddess.17

Swaminatha Iyer then informs us that he was able to find in their collection a copy of five songs in Pathuppattu apart from innumerable other literary and grammatical works. Having found only five songs in Pathuppattu, Swaminatha Iyer felt disappointed with such a huge 16 See preface of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Pathuppattu Mulamum Madurai Aciriyar Bharatvasi Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, Dravida Ratnakara Accukkudam, Chennai, 1889. 17

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, En Charitram, seventh reprint, 2008, p. 637.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

31

collection of Nellaiyappa Pillai and Iswaramurthy Pillai. However, Nallaiyappa Pillai clarified to Iyer that there were a number of houses of poets (kavirayars) in their locality and in places like Srivaikundam where thousands of manuscripts could be found. Nelliyappa Pillai took Iyer to the house of Tirupparkatanata Kavirayar in whose personal collection Aiyar found a copy of the Pathuppattu. This particular manuscript, according to information found in it, was exchanged for Tholkappiyam by a kavirayar in Srivaikundam some 150 years ago.18 Swaminatha Iyer provides information about the collection of manuscripts from a number of other Kavirayars whose everyday literary practices remains obscure. The literary history of nineteenth-century Tamil Nadu written by scholars rarely ventured into the life histories of the kavirayars from many of whom the manuscripts of Sangam literature were collected. What animates the literary history of nineteenth-century Tamil Nadu in the writings of scholars is largely the life and activities of ‘well known’ or ‘famous’ Tamil pundits and institutions like Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. Unless a shift in inquiry takes place, we have to contend with stereotypes like the ones we have inherited from the scholars of Tamil literary history, namely religious sectarianism being a cause for sidelining Sangam literature during early modern period and well into the early nineteenth century. It is possible to extend the same argument with reference to other works of Sangam literature like Kurunthogai, Narrinai, Aingurunuru, Agananuru, Paripadal and Pattirruppathu. It is, however, also necessary to shift our analysis from manuscript availability of Sangam literature to the tradition of memory concerning the origins of Tamil literature.

From manuscripts to memory The legend associated with the production of classical Tamil literature can be found in the commentary to the grammar on love, Iraiyanar Kalaviyal, dated to the eighth century ce. This grammar on poetics and its commentary is a subject of scholarly investigation for sometime now.19 18

Ibid., p. 641.

For a translation of Iraiyanar Kalaviyal and its commentary, see David C. Buck and K. Paramasivam, The Study of Stolen Love: A Translation of Kalaviyal Enra Irayanar Akapporul with Commentary by Nakkiranar, Florida University Press, Florida, 1997; Kamil Zvelebil, ‘The Earliest Account of the Tamil Academies’, Indo-Iranian Journal, 15(2), June 1973, pp. 109–135.

19

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

32

Manuscripts, Memory and History

The commentary states that the Pandya kings established three literary academies in the past attended by gods and poets in which the literary works presented and approved at the first two academies were said to be lost. The details of the grammar, its commentary and its implication to understand the social history of Tamil society of the early medieval period will be discussed later.20 In the present context, it is necessary to understand how the legend of literary academy (Sangam) in Madurai of ancient times that is related to the origins of Tamil literature went into the Tamil scholarly memory so that even during the early modern period we find the legend circulating among Tamil scholars. One of the important sources to understand the local history of early modern period of south India is the collection of Colin Mackenzie who served as the first surveyor general of India. The history of Mackenzie’s collection is well documented by historians of south India, though the volume of his collections has not yet been exhausted for historical researches on early modern south India.21 Mackenzie’s collection titled ‘Local History’ is found in Walter Elliot papers at the British Library. It remains unclear how a few texts from Mackenzie’s collection landed in Elliot’s private papers. However, in this collection we discovered few catalogues of Tamil literary works compiled by the collector himself from palm-leaf manuscripts. One such catalogue was titled ‘List of Eminent Tamil authors and of Books which were formerly composed by celebrated Gyananool (or sages), Dravida authors or kavisars’. It contains eleven sections in which a detailed list of Tamil literary and grammatical works is presented with short description of each work. It appears that Mackenzie was drawing this For the implications of the Iraiyanar Kalaviyal grammar and its commentary for the canonisation of Sangam literature, see V. Rajesh, ‘The Making of Sangam Literary Canon and Tamil Identity’, in R. Cheran, Darshan Ambalavanar and Chelva Kanaganayagam, eds, New Demarcations: Essays in Tamil Studies, Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc, Toronto, 2008, pp. 133–48. 20

Nicholas B. Dirks, ‘The Textualization of Tradition: Biography of an Archive’ in Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2003, pp. 81–106. For a theoretical issue concerning the history of Mackenzie’s collection see Rama Mantena, ‘The Question of History in Precolonial India’, History and Theory, 46 (3), October 2007, pp. 396–408. See also Velcheru Narayana Rao, David Shulman and Sanjay Subrahmanyam, Textures of Time: Writing History in South India 1600–1800, Other Press, New York, 2003.

21

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

33

information from a poetic work, Gyananool, itself presented in the form of a catalogue in Tamil. It is necessary to quote the work as handwritten by Mackenzie himself: 1. Teru Valluva Nayenar composed the Cooral Pare-Malalakur & some others composed the Uore, a commentary on the Cooral. He also composed the History of Ghiana Vutteyan & c. 2. Aviar composed the Books 1. Auty Choody 2. ConraVendun 3. Cunnoom Maty 4. Culveya Rolokum 5. Auva Palamoly 6. Mootory 7. Nulvaly & c. 3. The Sunkatar of 49 sages, who resided at Madura composed the Books of viz. Jevakarum (Tivakarum) in the Ellacanum language Soolamoonnee Negantoo Aukaraty & c There were also composed among the Ghiananool Nauladeyar Nanmany Kadeky Moommony Corvei Yennarputto & c. 5. Kapelur the Brother of Aviar composed the Capelur Aukavul. ... 8. The Palamooly or Proverbs were composed by former people which are now abridged & made into Books of a little more or less than 2000 proverbs each by Vedanayaga Vedagama Geromani. II 1. Camban composed the Ramayanam in verse & its commentaries. 2. Ootta Cootun. ...

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

34

Manuscripts, Memory and History

8. Pattanattu Pillai 9. Pamboo Sidden 10. Manika Vasager was the Muntree to the Pandia Raja & composed the Teru Vauchakam & Tevarum in the Siva Pooranum. In the book of Ghiananool he is also called 1. Manika vasaka Ghianatalesy 2. Teerughiana Vemba 3. Vaba Dassa Vemba 11. Siva Veukyar composed the Sieva Vaukium. 12. Arunageery Naadur composed the books Cunden Aunupoody Teeru pookul.22

There are in total eleven sections in the list and it is exhaustive with various headings and includes works like Tholkappiyam, Nannool, Tonnul, Kuravanjis, Ammanais, Natakams, Kalampakams, Kadhais and Puranams. There were also medical tracts mentioned in the list. There are no details concerning the author of the work Gyananool, the period of composition or its provenance. The mentioning of innumerable medieval genres and works like Tonnul certainly indicate that the work should have been composed in the second half of the eighteenth century. The legend of Sangam was not totally lost although the understanding of the literary academy at Madurai would have been derived from a different source and not necessarily from the commentary to the early medieval grammar the Iraiyanar Kalavaiyal. The work is a representative of Tamil literary consciousness during the eighteenth century in which a wide array of literary and grammatical works was invoked. It can be supplemented with other sources of the eighteenth century to underline the fact that the legend associated with the production of classical Tamil literature was not totally lost from Tamil scholarly memory. Mackenzie’s collection also included a work titled Madurai Sangattar Charitram found at the Government Oriental Manuscript Library, ‘List of Eminent Tamil Authors and of Books Which Were Formerly Composed by the Celebrated Gyananool (or Sages), Dravida Authors or Cavisars’, Walter Elliot Mss Eur F 48, Local History (Mackenzie Manuscripts) III, pp. 159–69, British Library, London.

22

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

35

Madras. While describing the manuscript, Rev William Taylor observed: Sanghattar Charitra, tale of the Professors. This is a very imperfect fragment of a work relative to the formation of a college at Madura; in which there were forty-nine professors of the Tamil balles letters. Its formation took place in the time of Vangisha (or rather Vamsa) Sec’hara Pandiyam. The account of Tiruvalluvar, of his Cural; and of the destruction (as alleged) of the professors, in consequence, are narrated in the work; though only partially contained in this fragment. For the rest, though a little touched by insects, it is in good preservation; and is comparatively recent copy.23

The language of Madurai Sangattar Charitram is sanskritised Tamil. It is about the story of Meenakshi Sundareswarar teaching a lesson to the so called forty-nine poets of the third Sangam supposed to have been patronised by Vamgusha Sekara Pandyan. The work draws the story from the late medieval work Thiruvilayatal Puranam and Thiruvalluva Nayanar Charitram. Among the forty-nine poets of Sangam, Kallatar is included and his work Kallatam is supposed to have been read by everyone. The date of the work Madurai Sangattar Chartiram should probably be late seventeenth or the beginning of the eighteenth century. The palmleaf manuscript copy of the work found at the Government Oriental Manuscript Library in Mackenzie’s collection indicates that it was copied from an earlier manuscript. The collection of Mackenzie from Jain Mutt at Sittamur is important for our discussion. ‘A Catalogue of Jain Books in possession of the head of Jain Mutt of Sittamur’ details the literary works that were preserved in Jain institution. Collected by one J.N. Appavoo from whom Mackenzie seems to have obtained a copy of the catalogue, it gives the list of Tamil literary and grammatical works. Literary works like Sivakacintamani, Thirukkural, Naladiyar, Kalingattupparani, Nilakesi, Sudamani, Udayana Kumara Kaviyam and Yosatara Kaviyam were included in the list.24 In another catalogue of Mackenzie’s collection titled ‘List of ancient poets and their works of Dravida Country’ found at the Government Oriental Rev. William Taylor, A Catalogue Raisonne of Oriental Manuscripts in the Government Library, vol. III, Madras, 1862, p. 163.

23

‘A Particular List of the Jain Books Which Are in the Possession of Jains Collected by J.N. Appavoo’, Mackenzie’s Collection, M 65, D. No. 3125, Government Oriental Manuscript Library, Madras.

24

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

36

Manuscripts, Memory and History

Manuscript Library, works like Nannool, Thirukkural, Sivakacintamani, Naladiyar and Kalingattupparani were included.25 Contrary to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer’s response to Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar that he never read the Sivakacintamani before, as if pointing to the fact that this Tamil epic was totally out of scholarly attention, we find that Sivakacintamani, among other works, was read and maintained in Jain institutions of the early modern period. In Walter Elliot papers at the British Library we find few other catalogues and works collected by Mackenzie like the ‘Rough copy of an account of Tamil Literature with list of various works’, ‘The Birth and History of Auvaiyar: The Legend of Poetess’s Birth’ which requires a detailed enquiry along with Mackenzie’s papers at the Government Oriental Manuscript Library in Madras.26 The significance of Mackenzie’s collection to reconstruct early modern history has received attention among scholars of literature and historians like Sanjay Subrahmanyam, David Shulman and Velcheru Narayana Rao. It is necessary that historical researches explore Mackenzie’s collection in detail because the potentialities offered by his collection to reconstruct early modern south India are far-reaching and significant. The catalogues and works we referred to do not provide any information beyond a mere list of literary and grammatical works apart from few legends. Author, chronology and provenance of the manuscript are totally absent except for catalogues like the one found at Sittamur where at least we know that it is taken from the Jain institution. The fact that Mackenzie collected them indicates that it was in circulation by the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. The catalogues invoke a variety of Tamil literary and grammatical works. Establishing the connection between the literary cultures as represented in the works of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and that of the manuscripts collected by Mackenzie is difficult.

‘List of ancient poets and their works in Dravida Country’ Mackenzie’s collection, D 3127, Government Oriental Manuscript Library, Madras.

25

‘Rough Copy of an Account of Tamil Literature with Lists of Various Works’, Walter Elliot Mss Eur F 48, Local History (Mackenzie Manuscripts) III, pp. 485–87, British Library, London; ‘The Birth and History of Auvaiyar’, by Sreenivassia 1802. Legend of the Poetess’s birth.” Ibid, pp. 155–57.

26

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

37

It is pertinent to enquire whether the collections of Mackenzie were used by scholars like F.W. Ellis to comment on Tamil literature. This possibility cannot be entirely ruled out given the fact that the board of superintendence of the College of Fort St. George corresponded on more than one occasion with the government of Madras regarding the disposal of Mackenzie’s collection from their library which are not of immediate utility to the institution. Thus a letter from A.D. Campbell, secretary to the board of superintendence of the College of Fort St. George, to chief secretary to the Government of Madras dated 14 August 1816 stated: Sir, Colonel C. Mackenzie being about to dispose of many valuable works/duplicates of others in his possession and most of them being Oriental works required for the use of the College, the Board of Superintendence, with the view of obtaining such as were required for the institution, treated with the Colonel for the purchase of the whole at prime cost, intending afterwards to dispose of the few works among them not immediately connected with the studies of the Junior Civil Servants or of the Native students of the English language. Colonel Mackenzie having consented to this arrangement, the books were purchased by the Board, under the authority granted to them by government under date the 8th December 1812, and I am now directed to submit the enclosed Bill for the amount, being Star Pagodas 426, 30, 23, for the payment of which sanction is solicited; the Board likewise request permission to dispose of such of the books as may not be required for the College. Of several of the works received from Bengal, there are more copies in the College Library than are required for the purposes of the institution. To such individuals in the company’s Civil or Military Service as applying to the College for copies of these works, the Board recommended that they may be permitted to dispose of them at prime cost, and with the proceeds of the sale of such books, as well as of the books purchased from Colonel Mackenzie proposed to be sold, they suggest the propriety of purchasing such new works as may be required for the College submitting from time to time an account of this money for the information of government. Should the right Honorable the Governor in Council deem this arrangement unobjectionable authority is requested for carrying it into effect.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

38

Manuscripts, Memory and History

I am directed to take this opportunity to report that a considerable number of Tamil, Teloogoo, and Sanscrit manuscripts, comprising some of the most valuable and scarce works in these languages have been collected by a Native attached to the College, and employed for that purpose, in the districts south of the Coleroon. The three Head Masters were directed to examine and select such as were required for the use for the institution and the value of those thus selected has been estimated by them at Pagodas 191.2.6. The Board deeming it of importance that these books should be bought for the College, beg leave to request authority from government for the payment of this sum.27

It is clear that as early as 1812 the Mackenzie’s collections from Bengal were transported to Madras for the pedagogical purposes of the College. However by 1812, F.W. Ellis must have completed writing his work on Tamil prosody where there is a discussion on Sivakacintamani. In one of the letters to his friend William Erskine, dated 20 August 1808, Ellis outlined his plan of a dissertation on Tamil prosody, a draft of which he readied for ‘final arrangement and revision’ before sending it for publication.28 Ellis also corresponded with Mackenzie where he described the importance of Sivakacintamani and ethical literature of the Tamils. In any case it is not impossible to think that Mackenzie’s collection served as a source for some of the Englishmen who commented on Tamil language and literature. The knowledge of Sangam and the literature it constituted was articulated by H. Stokes, a civil servant in Madras, in his translation of Nitinerivilakkam of Kumara Guruparar in 1830. In the preface to the translation, Stokes described the Ilakkanam (grammar) and Ilakkiyam (literature) of the Tamil language. Among the grammars, he noted the general perception of Tamil scholars that Tholkappiyam, Nannool, Karigai, Agapporul and Purapporul were considered supreme. Commenting on Ilakkiyam (literature), Stokes observed that ‘the most celebrated are called Sangacceyyul, the college verses, because supposed to have received the sanction and approval of the celebrated College Records of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, Board’s Collections IOR/F/4/541/13148, Purchase of Books by the College of Fort St. George from Colin Mackenzie, British Library, London.

27

MSS. Eur. D. 30, Indian History and Manners MS, Erskine, pp. 127–41, in Sir Walter Elliot Collection, British Library, London.

28

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

39

of Madura’.29 The principal of the literary works of Sangam are the eighteen minor works or Kilkanakku, according to Stokes. In the preface he thanked Ambalavana Kavirayar and Muttukumara Swami Kavirayar of Tirunelveli, Thandavaraya Vathiyar and Muthusami Pillai of the College of Fort St. George for assistance provided in publishing the work. The knowledge about Sangam literature was not totally absent during the 1830s contrary to the contention of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer that Sangaceyyul was little known before it was printed. Before we discuss the implications of the catalogues prepared by Mackenzie for understanding the Tamil literary culture especially concerning the preservation and transmission of Tamil literary works, it is necessary to deal with another important source of the eighteenth century, namely Christian missionary records.

Missionary records At the beginning of the eighteenth century, the German Protestant missionary Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg (1682–1719) produced a catalogue of Tamil manuscripts titled Bibliotheca Malabarica which he sent to Europe.30 There are 119 titles of Tamil literary and grammatical works mentioned in the catalogue as found in the copy of the Bibliotheca Malabarica at the Francke Foundation archives at Halle. The catalogue is significant in understanding the Tamil literary cultures of the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries. However Ziegenbalg’s collections did not include only those literary works mentioned in his Bibliotheca Malabarica. He continued to collect even after compiling the master catalogue that he sent to Europe in 1708. Many of his collections after 1708 are supposed to have been destroyed or damaged. Some of the important grammatical and literary works found in his catalogue H. Stokes, The Nitinerivilakkam of Cumara Gurupara Tambiran: A Hundred and Two Stanzas on Moral Subjects with an English Translation, Vocabulary and Notes, Illustrative and Explanatory, Vepery Mission Press, Madras, 1830, pp. viii–ix. 30 The literature on Ziegenbalg’s life and missionary work are not many. See Will Sweetman, ‘The Prehistory of Orientalism: Colonialism and Textual Basis for Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg’s Account of Hinduism’, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 6(2), 2004, pp. 12–38; ‘Heathenism, Idolatry, and Rational Monotheism among the Hindus: Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg’s Akkiyanam (1713)’, in Y. Vincent Kumaradoss, Andreas Gros and Heike Liebau, eds., Halle and the Beginnings of Protestant Christianity in India, 3 volumes, Halle, 2006, pp. 1249–275. 29

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

40

Manuscripts, Memory and History

are Tholkappiyam, Karigai, Nannool, Tivagaram, Nigandu, Thiruvasagam, Thiruvalluvar kural, Thiruvalluvar Urai, Sintamani, Villiputurar’s Bharatam, Bharata Urai, Kandapurana Urai, Kalingattupparani, Thiruppugal, Abirami Antathi, Devaram, Atticcuti, Konraivendan, Ulaganiti and Thiruvilayatal Puranam.31 Ziegenbalg did not seem to have read works like Tholkappiyam or Sivakacintamani in its entirety as he repeatedly emphasised that they were ‘difficult books’ or ‘hard beyond all measure’. There are notable absences in his collection, namely the works of the twelve Vaisnava alvars, the Nalayira Divya Prabhantam. There is no mention of what we today call Sangam literature, namely the Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu, although there is a reference to Tholkappiyam. In his writings Ziegenbalg nowhere mentioned the legend of Sangam in Madurai although he refers to literary works like Thiruvilayatal Puranam where the legend is found. It has been argued that in Malabarisches Heidenthum, Ziegenbalg summarises thirty sports of Siva at Madurai.32 Obviously, he was drawing the story from Thiruvilayatal Puranam though it is puzzling that we could not find the legend of Sangam in his writings. It is possible that Ziegenbalg would have heard of the story of the literary academy in Madurai but must have felt too mythical to accept. He was contemptuous of the mythical accounts of Tamil poets. For example, commenting on Kandapuranam Ziegenbalg observed: … hundreds of gods are mentioned in this book, all of them implicated in this war. Though it is one of their oldest books, even some of the Malabaris realise that one can not possibly believe everything that is written therein; still, most of them say that since it all happened in a previous world it might well be true. People were quite different in those days. They do not understand that for this reason the author is even more at liberty to tell lies; since it all happened in the previous world, nobody can now go and make inquiries. Such arguments prove absolutely nothing and the whole story is in fact only a tale. But up to the present day the poor Malabaris have always allowed themselves to be cheated and deceived by their clever poets.33 Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg, Bibliotheca Malabarica, notebook dated 1708, Francke Foundation Archives, Halle. 32 Will Sweetman, ‘Reading the “Other”: An 18th Century Missionary Library of Tamil Manuscripts’, Paper presented at the Fourth Annual Tamil Studies Conference ‘Home, Space and the Other’, University of Toronto, May 2009. 33 Albertine Gaur, ‘Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg’s “Verzeichnis der Malabarischen 31

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

41

Ziegenbalg’s criticism that literary works like Kandapuranam are mere tales and that poets of Tamil language have always cheated the people clearly underscore his approach to the Tamil literary universe. The reason for not referring to the legend of literary academy in Madurai relating to the origins of Tamil literature by Ziegenbalg could well be due to his contempt for the ‘tales’ of Tamil poets. In his master catalogue Bibliotheca Malabarica, Ziegenbalg refers to Gnanapottagam for which he commented that it is a book that contains the teachings of wisdom. Scholars have not securely identified many of Ziegenbalg’s titles mentioned in Bibliotheca Malabarica except the familiar ones. We have already referred to a catalogue of Tamil literary works in Mackenzie’s collection found in the private papers of Walter Elliot. We noticed that the title of the catalogue ‘List of Eminent Tamil authors and of Books which were formerly composed by celebrated Gyananool (or sages), Dravida authors or kavisars’ might have been derived from the work Gyananool. It is necessary that we make an attempt to corroborate Gyananool of Mackenzie’s collection with the Gnanapottagam mentioned by Ziegenbalg. Both works were referred to as a book of wisdom and it can be a possibility that both titles refer to the same work. The Gyananool in Mackenzie’s collection consisted of wide-ranging literary and grammatical works which Ziegenbalg refers to separately. In the Gyananool of Mackenzie’s collection can be found the legend of Sangam and the literary works supposed to have been presented by the forty-nine poets. If the Gyanapottagam and the Gyananool were the same work with slightly different phonetic expressions, then it is possible that Ziegenbalg would have been aware of the literary academy in Madurai and the works presented at the academy. However, more research needs to be carried out before we establish this connection with certainty. Pierre Nora’s contention that memory is subject to the dialectic of remembering and forgetting, unconscious of the distortions to which it is subject, vulnerable in various ways to appropriation and manipulation, and capable of lying dormant for long periods only to be suddenly reawakened is a valid point that needs to be emphasised here.34 The memory concerning Bucher”’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 3(4), October 1967, p. 71. 34

Pierre Nora, Realms of Memory, 1996, pp. 3–12.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

42

Manuscripts, Memory and History

the origins of Tamil literature, especially its association with the three literary academies in Madurai, was subjected to distortions that resulted in the diversification of legend in various forms in the Tamil literary tradition. In some of the medieval and early modern literary works in Tamil we find the legend of the Tamil academy in Madurai and its association with the origins of Tamil literature undergoing multiple forms. Thus, according to Gyananool, the Sangam works were Sudamani Nigandu, Divagaram and Agaraty. Norman Cutler has argued that there existed a literary culture in Tamil by the fifteenth century that can be characterised as trans-sectarian or nonsectarian based on his study of an anthology of ethical work Puratthirattu. The compilation of literary works found in the anthology Puratthirattu, according to Culter, was informed by larger literary consciousness or specific literary heritage.35 To what extent should works like the Gyananool (Gyanapottagam in Ziegenbalg’s catalogue) that are considered as books of wisdom be treated as representing a continuity of a literary culture that existed in fifteenth-century Tamil society? The literary works included in the Gyananool ranged from the ancient Tamil grammar book Tholkappiyam to the medieval prabhanda genres. Memories concerning the origins of Tamil literature in relation to the establishment of Sangam in Madurai were embedded in the compilation of the Gyananool. Another missionary who contributed to the Tamil language and literature during the eighteenth century is C.J. Beschi (1680–1747), known also as Veeramamunivar. Born in Italy, Beschi, a Jesuit, was sent to the Madurai Mission in 1711. Upon his arrival in Madurai, Beschi learnt Tamil and started writing extensively on religious and secular subjects. Beschi translated the first two sections of Thirukkural into Latin and showed a mastery of literary works in Tamil in the works he composed. He wrote an epic poem, Tembavani, that stands as a testimony to Catholic devotion in Tamil. He also wrote prose works like Vediyar Olukkam, Veda Vilakkam, Petakamaruttal, Gyanam Unartal and Tiruccapai Kanitam, most of which are responses to the Lutheran missionary activities at Tranquebar. Beschi’s grammar of Kodun Tamil (spoken Tamil) and Shen Tamil (high literary dialect) were written in Latin, the translation into English of which was held in high esteem throughout the nineteenth century. The protestant missionary press at Tranquebar printed the 35

Norman Cutler, ‘Three Moments in the Genealogy’, 2003, pp. 271–322.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

43

grammar of Father Beschi in 1738. In the grammar of Shen Tamil, Beschi showed acquaintance with Tamil grammatical and literary works like the Tholkappiyam, Nannool, Viracoliyam, Iramavataram of Kamban, Silappatikaram, Sivakacintamani, Karigai, Naitatam, Bharatam in Tamil, Tantialankaram, the moral sayings of Auvaiyar and the innumerable prabhanda literatures. Commenting on Beschi’s knowledge of Tamil language and literature, Benjamin Guy Babington observed that ‘Beschi seems to have had a more perfect acquaintance with Tamil literature, than any foreigner who ever undertook the study: perhaps, than any native of modern times.’36 In a fragmentary handwritten manuscript of Veda Vilakkam found at the Francke Foundation archives at Halle there is an interesting appendix titled ‘Tamil Posthakankalutaya Attavanai’ (catalogue of Tamil books) where there is a list of thirty-one literary works in Tamil. It was copied by Schultze, a Tranquebar missionary with a catalogue of Tamil, Telugu and Portuguese works in 1751 in Halle. It provides us an additional source to understand the Tamil literary and grammatical works acquainted by foremost missionaries like Beschi and Ziegenbalg, although some of the works mentioned here are found in their other works. The following are the works appended by Schultze in a fragmentary copy of Beschi’s Veda Vilakkam: 1. Nigandu 2. Tiruvalluvar 3. Madurai Tiruvilayatal 4. Panchatantira Kathai 5. Anumar ammanar 6. Aruvatinalu Tiruvilayatal 7. Tirunallaru Puranam 8. Kamalavacakam 9. Paramarciya Malai 10. Tirikalacakkaramapuvana Cakram

Benjamin Guy Babington, A Grammar of the High Dialect of the Tamil Language Termed SHEN-TAMIL to Which Is Added an Introduction to Tamil Poetry by the Reverend Father C.J. Beschi, The College Press, Madras, 1822, pp. i–ii. 36

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

44

Manuscripts, Memory and History

11. Ramayana Urai 12. Tirikatukam 13. Teruruntavacakam 14. Cammanta Puranam 15. Koyil Puranam 16. Nalvali 17. Narayana Satakam 18. Piramotirakantam 19. Paraparattuvamattuva Nilai 20. Devaram 21. Nitivenpa 22. Tamilarivar Katai 23. Ponnina Kanapati 24. Motirai 25. Ampiya malai 26. Parppattattuvam 27. Apirami Antati 28. Vetalakkatai 29. Curaparama Katai 30. Konrai Ventan 31. Eluvakai Kottam37 Like Ziegenbalg, Beschi was acquainted with the Thiruvilayatal Puranam and certainly must have learnt the stories concerning the origins of Tamil literature, the legend of Sangam at Madurai and the literary and grammatical works presented at the academy. It becomes apparent in a letter dated 4 October 1731 that Beschi wrote. 37 Beschi’s Vedavilakkam (final pages of the Vedavilakkam handwritten manuscript of Beschi with an appendix titled ‘Tamil Posthakankalutaya Attavanai’ by Schultze, Francke Foundation Archives, Halle. I thank Will Sweetman for clarifying my doubt regarding the authorship of the handwritten catalogue.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

45

To a great extent the remainder among the Samaner (Jains) who were primarily devoted to literature, had as well set up an academy, to which those who had been admitted were known as Sangatar, from the noun Sangam, which among other things was understood as gathering, and to which they have left us many monuments of their talent. Among these is Tolkappiyan, a noun which is to be pronounced Tolgapien and not Tolkapien, as the Danes would have it; it means ‘ancient author’. Besides him, Pavanandi, the author of the book entitled Nannul, a book of elementary grammar, was also of this sect, and Amurdasagaren, the author of the book entitled Caraguei, about Tamil prosody, and almost all the authors who wrote the rules of the poetry and prose of the language called Sentamil, and who gave many dictionaries and word-lists, that is, Nigandu, Divagaram, Pincalandei, Urichol, etc; almost all were produced by the Samaner. From this sect came Tiruvalluven and the authors of the poem Sindamani, and the epigrams Naladiyar and many more works of this sort.38

It is also necessary to quote Beschi from his introduction to the grammar of Sen Tamil where he details his understanding of the Tamil literary tradition. The first person who wrote a grammatical treatise on this dialect, and who is therefore considered as its founder, is supposed to have been a devote[e] named Agattiyan, respecting whom many absurd stories are related. From the circumstance of his dwelling in a mountain called Podiamalei, in the south of the Peninsula, the Tamil language has obtained the name of Tenmozhi, or Southern, just as the Grandonic is termed Vadamozhi, or Northern, from the supposition that it came from the northward. A few of the rules laid down by Agattiyan have been preserved by different authors, but his works are no longer in existence. After his time, the following persons, with many others, composed treatises on this dialect, viz. Palacayanar, Ageiyanar, Nattattanar, Mayesurer, Cattiyanar, Avinayanar, Cakkeippadiniyar. The works of all these writers have perished, and we know that they exited only by the frequent mention of their names in books which are now extant. One ancient work, written by a person called Tolcappiyanar (ancient author), is still to be met with; but, from Letter dated 4 October 1731of Constanzo Giuseppe Beschi. The translation of the letter was done by Will Sweetman. I thank Will Sweetman for sharing the letter with me that he consulted in Paris.

38

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

46

Manuscripts, Memory and History

its conciseness, it is so obscure and unintelligible, that a devotee named Pavananti was induced to write on the same subject. His work is denominated Nannul, a term that corresponds exactly to the French belles letters, and the Latin litterae humaniores. Although every one is familiar with this title, few have trod even on the threshold of the treatise itself … Pavananti not having completed his design, his Nannul comprises only the two first heads, viz. Letters and Words; on each of which he has treated at considerable length. On his death, a person, named Narccaviraja Nambi, took up the subject, and wrote on the third head, or matter. A devotee called Amirdasagaren (sea of nectar), composed a treatise on the fourth head, or versification, which he entitled Carigei; and lastly, a person named Tandi wrote on the fifth head, or Embellishment; his work was called from him Tandiyalancaram; the word alancaram being the same as ani … I shall frequently adduce examples from the most esteemed authors; with a view, as well of illustrating the rules which I may lay down, as of initiating the student into the practice of the language. As many of these examples will appear without the name of the author being annexed, it becomes necessary to explain, that the Tamil writers do not usually prefix them to their compositions; and although the names of some have been handed down to us by their commentators, yet the number of commentaries which have been written on poetical works, is small; and even in these the author’s name is not always mentioned. For instance, the commentator on the poem Chintamani speaks in terms of praise of its author, whom he styles the master of all the learned. He may indeed with justice be called the prince of Tamil poets, but of his name the commentator does not inform us. Nor are we to suppose that the work itself is called after its writer; Chintamani being only an appellation bestowed on the hero of the poem, whose name is Sivagan. In like manner, we learn that the poet so well known under the name of Tiruvalluven, who has left us a work containing 1330 distichs, was of a low tribe of Paraya, but of his real name we are ignorant; for although he had no less than seven commentators, not one of them has mentioned it. Valluven, is the appellation by which soothsayers, and learned men of the Paraya tribe are distinguished; and Tiru here signifies divine, in the sense in which we say the divine Plato. Such is the origin of this honorary title, which has now come to be used as the real designation of the person to whom it is applied. Again, we have a collection of moral sentences, worthy of Seneca himself, written by a woman, who, if we may believe tradition, was a sister to the last Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

47

mentioned author; and her real name also is unknown, although she is always called Auvaiyar, a title which is appropriated to aged matrons. There is another work which I shall occasionally quote, and the title of which is Naladiyar, which contains 400 epigrams on moral subjects. The origin of this name is said to be as follows: eight thousand poets visited the court of a certain prince, who, being lover of the muses, treated them with kindness, and received them into favour: this excited the envy of the bards who already enjoyed the royal patronage, and in a short time they succeeded so completely in their attempt to prejudice their master against the new comers, that the latter found it necessary to consult their safety by flight; and, without taking leave of their host, decamped in the dead of night. Previous to their departure, each poet wrote a venba on a scroll, which he deposited under his pillow. When this was made known, the king, who still listened to the counsels of the envious poets, ordered the scrolls to be collected, and thrown into a river, when 400 of them were observe to ascend, for the space of four feet, naladi, against the stream. The king, moved by this miraculous occurrence, directed that these scrolls should be preserved; and they were accordingly formed into a work, which, from the foregoing circumstance, received the name of Naladiyar.39

It appears that Beschi and Ziegenbalg participated in a shared literary culture. In fact, the Lutheran missionaries in Tranquebar collected the Tamil literary works compiled by Jesuits. Neither Ziegenbalg nor Beschi seemed to have communicated with Saiva monasteries which were not far from the places they operated. What is the relation between the literary cultures of the nineteenth century and that of the eighteenth that we mapped from the beginning of this chapter? The literary cultures we understand from the writings of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer do not relate to the picture we get from Mackenzie, or for that matter from missionaries like Beschi or Ziegenbalg. This is largely due to the nature of sources which underline different understanding of Tamil literary cultures.

Quoted in Brief Sketch of the Life and Writings of Father C.J. Beschi, or Vira-Mamuni, Translated from the original Tamil by A. Muttusami Pillai, Manager of the College of Fort St. George, and monshee to the Tamil translator to the government, Madras, J.B. Pharoah, MDCCXL.

39

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

48

Manuscripts, Memory and History

NaNNool: Commentaries Verses from what we today call Sangam literature continued to be invoked in Tamil literary tradition even during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as is evident if we study the commentary of Sankara Namachivayar, Sivagnana Munivar and Kulankai Tambiran to the medieval Tamil grammar text Nannool. Scholars of Tamil literary history have argued that Sangam literature was sidelined during the early modern period due to the religious sectarian bias of Tamil pundits. Commenting on the neglect of non-sectarian literary works in Tamil by scholars of the eighteenth century, A. K. Ramanujan argued: In the eighteenth century, Hindu scholars, devout worshippers of Siva and Visnu, did not wish to read so-called non-religious poems and would not teach them to their pupils. The epics Cilappatikaram and Manimekalai were non-Hindu; the latter was clearly Buddhist. So, even the finest Tamil scholars of the time ignored these breathtaking epics and the anthologies of early Tamil; most didn’t even suspect their existence and gave their nights and days to religious and grammatical texts, many of which were of minor importance.40

Similarly, A.K. Ramanujan observed in another essay: The great Cankam texts of classical Tamil literature, including the Eight Anthologies of love and war poetry and the Cilappatikaram were entirely inaccessible to most scholars all through the early nineteenth century, though they were well known and commented upon in the early eighteenth. The eighteenth-century Saivite and Vaisnavite scholars apparently tabooed as irreligious all secular texts which included the earliest and the greatest of Tamil literary texts; they disallowed from study all Jain and Buddhist texts, which included the great epic Cilappatikaram. Under this intellectual taboo, a great scholar like Caminataiyar had to give his nights and days to secondrate religious and grammatical texts of the medieval period.41

Drawing on the writings of A.K. Ramanujan, Kamil Zvelebil made a similar observation on the literary culture of eighteenth-century Tamil Nadu. He A.K. Ramanujan, ‘Classics Lost and Found’, in VinayDharwadker, ed., The Collected Essays of A.K. Ramanujan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999, p. 186.

40

A.K. Ramanujan, ‘Language and Social Change: The Tamil Example’, in Vinay Dharwadker, ed., The Collected Essays of A.K. Ramanujan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999, p. 103

41

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

49

argued that Kalladam, a poem in hundred stanzas imitating the classical akam genre, was probably the last literary work that exhibited intimate knowledge of the classical Tamil literary conventions that belonged to the tenth century ce. Commenting on the availability of the manuscripts of Kalladam during the early modern period Zvelebil observed: There were only a few scattered here and there in Tamilnadu who indeed had studied the text. Even these pandits would most probably not have understood the early classical texts composed in Tamil on which Kallatam was modeled; however, they were not aware of their very existence.42

However, as we have shown from Madurai Sangattar Charitram of Mackenzie’s collection, Kalladam was said to have been read by Tamil pundits. Citing the isolated example of Swaminatha Desigar’s contempt for the classical Tamil literature, Zvelebil argued that Brahminical Hinduism was responsible for suppressing ‘all the best achievements of Tamil literature’!43 Referring to Swaminatha Desigar’s commentary to an aphorism from the Ilakkana Kothu, Zvelebil contend that literary works like the Cintamani, Silappatikaram, Manimekalai, Sangappattu, Pathuppattu, Ettuthogai, Patinenkilkkanakku, Iramankatai, Nalankatai, Arriccantiran Katai were condemned as unnecessary.44 However, it has to be emphasised that Swaminatha Desigar had much difference of opinion with fellow Brahmin Vaithyanatha Desigar concerning the importance of the medieval grammar text Nannool with Mayilainathar’s commentary. Swaminatha Desigar had profound respect for Mayilainathar’s commentary to Nannool and disagreed with Vaithyanatha Desigar’s dismissal of the work. In the commentary to Nannool, Mayilainathar made citations of verses from Sangam literature which Swaminatha Desigar must have read. There was a story circulating in Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam that it was at the instance of Swaminatha Desigar’s advice that his student Sankara Namachivayar wrote a commentary to Nannool with a Saivite bias. It was further believed that the necessity for Sankara Namachivayar to write a commentary to Nannool was to overcome the Jaina bias of Mayilainathar’s commentary. 42 Kamil Zvelebil, Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, Leiden, 1992, pp. 146–47. 43

Ibid, p. 147.

44

Ibid.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

50

Manuscripts, Memory and History

In his well-researched edition of Nannool which is considered to be a standard edition, A. Damodaran clarifies the myth surrounding Swaminatha Desigar’s contempt for Mayilainathar’s commentary to Nannool. The story of Swaminatha Desigar’s contempt for Mayilainathar’s commentary to Nannool was first stated by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer in his edition of Nannool with Sankara Nammachivayar’s commentary published in 1925.45 It was uncritically accepted by subsequent Tamil scholars like Mu. Vai. Aravindan, T.V. Gopala Iyer, Ka. Pa. Aravanan, K. Nachimuthu and Ilankumaran in their research.46 Damodaran argues that there is no textual evidence in Ilakkana Kothu of Swamintha Desigar for his contempt for Mayilainathar’s commentary, but instead the author of Ilakkana Kothu refuted the views of his fellow Brahmin Tamil scholar Vaithyanatha Desigar.47 The central issue that emerges out of this scholarly and literary relationship is the extent of sectarianism/non-sectarianism of early modern Tamil literary world. If Swaminatha Desigar expressed respect for the Mayilainathar’s commentary of Nannool with all its Jain grandeur, then to what extent can we attribute sectarianism with his worldview? Mayilainathar in his commentary to Nannool cited verses from Sangam literature as examples. During the seventeenth century, Sankara Namachivayar, a student of Swaminatha Desigar, wrote another commentary to Nannool in which he cited a number of verses from Sangam literature. These citations of verses from Sangam literature by Sankara Namachivayar is considered to be a mere adaptation or copy from Mayilainathar’s commentary. Unless a comparative study of Mayilainathar’s and Sankara Namachivayar’s commentary to Nannool is made, it is not possible to come to any conclusions. It is necessary to provide information about the citation of verses from Sangam literature by Sankara Namachivayar in his commentary to Nannool. For 202 and 222 sutras of Nannool, Sankara Namachivayar cites U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Nannool Mulamum Cankara Namaccivayar Uraiyum, Commercial Press, Madras, 1925, p. 20. 46 Mu. Vai. Aravindan, Uraiyaciriyarkal, Chennai, 1995, p. 555; T.V. Gopala Iyer, Ilakkana Vilakkam Elluttatikaram, Tanjore, 1971, p. 97; Ka. Pa. Aravanan, Elunuru Antukalil Nannool, Chennai, 1977, pp. 84–99; Ki. Nachimuthu, Dr. U. Ve. Sa. Ilakkana Pathippukkal, Chennai, 1986, pp. 51–52; Ira. Ilankkumaran, Ilakkana Varalaru, Chennai, 1988, p. 295. 47 A. Damodaran, Nannool Mulamum Sankara Namaccivayar Ceytu Civagnana Munivaral Tiruttappatta Puttamputturai ennum Viruttiuraiyum, International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai, 1999, pp. 22–23. 45

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

51

verses from the Agananuru (poem numbers 80 and 384), Silappatikaram, and the second poem from the Kurunthogai respectively. For sutra 183 of Nannool, Sankara Namachivayar cites a line from the Porunarruppatai and the first poem of the Purananuru. He also cites a half line of Purananuru 93 as reference to sutra 163 of Nannool. There is thus plenty of examples that one can cite from the commentary of Sankara Namachivayar for his acquaintance to the verses of Sangam literature and epics like the Silappatikaram. It is our contention that Sankara Namachivayar did take recourse to the original of Sangam literature before writing the commentary for Nannool or in other words, by the time he composed the commentary for Nannool, Sankara Namachivayar was well acquainted with the Tamil literary texts ranging from Sangam literature to epics like Silappatikaram.48 These were the very literary works that were supposed to have been sidelined during the early modern period according to the views of scholars like A.K. Ramanujan and Kamil Zvelebil. Similarly, during the eighteenth century, Sivagnana Munivar of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam made changes to the commentary of Sankara Namachivayar by adding and illustrating a few verses. The literary culture that Sivagnana Munivar participated in was not different from the one Sankara Namachivayar had participated in the seventeenth century. Did the manuscripts of Sangam literature that U.V. Swaminatha Iyer retrieve from the library of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam used during the times of Sivagnana Munivar and Sankara Namachivayar? Were these manuscripts in the possession of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam even before the days of Sankara Namachivayar? At the present state of Tamil scholarship it is difficult to answer these questions, but the very fact that the verses from Sangam literature were cited as examples to explain the grammatical verses during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries by scholars associated with Saiva Mutt points to the possession and transmission of these texts during those times.

Passages from antiquity to the medieval Before we deal with the transmission of classical Tamil literature from post-Chola times to the late medieval period, it is necessary to trace the For the list of literary and grammatical works from which Sankara Namaccivayar cites verses as examples, see appendix I in A. Damodaran, Sankaranamaccivayar, International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai, 2003.

48

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

52

Manuscripts, Memory and History

history of classics prior to the tenth century ce. An attempt is made here to enquire into the making of the Sangam literary canon—Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu—which has been used as a source by historians for the reconstruction of early Tamil history. While engaging with the question of canon formation in South Asian literary cultures, scholars have invariably focused on the modern period, thus paying very little attention to the dynamics of pre-modern literary cultures and its continuities/ transformations in the modern period.49 Rather than taking for granted the literary canon as an object of historical enquiry it is necessary to understand the process of canon formation or, in other words, the canonisation of a literary text needs to be studied. The canonisation of a literary text is a long-term historical phenomenon which involves selection, compilation, redaction, codification, preservation and transmission. I argue that certain historical factors created the need to preserve Sangam texts in the Tamil literary tradition which otherwise would have been lost with no societal concern. By historical I mean the emergence of new ruling elites claiming a legitimate lineage from the past; of social stratification as a result of land rights, division of labour; the formation of classes; and the resultant class struggles and class conflicts which directly relate to modes of securing legitimacy and authority. These historical factors necessitated the preservation of the memory of the ancient Tamil literary academy in Madurai and the literary works supposed to have been presented and approved. The Sangam literature consists of the Ettuthogai (eight anthologies) and the Pathuppattu (ten songs) dated to the first three centuries of the Common Era. Some scholars are averse to including the latter as a part of The collection of papers in Sheldon Pollock’s edited work on South Asian literary cultures is an exception, although some of them in it are not directly related to the question of canon formation. See Sheldon Pollock, ed., Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003. In the Tamil context, R. Champakalakshmi’s article on the relation between ritual singers of Saiva devotional hymns and the making of the Saiva literary canon, and Karthigesu Sivathamby’s historiographical analysis of the literary history in Tamil are also exceptions. See R. Champakalakshmi, ‘Patikam Patuvar: Ritual Singing as a Means of Communication in Early Medieval South India’, Studies in History, 10(2), 1994, pp. 199–215; K. Sivathamby, Literary History in Tamil: A Historiographical Analysis, Tamil University, Tanjore, 1986. For an exclusive focus on the nineteenth-century context emphasising a complete break from the pre-modern period, see the articles in the special issue of Indian Economic and Social History Review, 42(4), December 2005.

49

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

53

Sangam literature, since the tradition itself did not sanction it.50 Sangam means an assembly. The first detailed account of the existence of the assembly of poets and their works in Tamil tradition emerges in eighthcentury commentary on the grammatical work Iraiyanar Agapporul. The commentary states that the ancestors of the Pandya kings established three literary academies where poets, gods and sages participated and contributed poems. The claims made for the number of years for each academy was enormous, going beyond the comprehension of modern historical understanding.51 The works of the first two academies were said to be lost, and for the third the commentary outlines the following: Netuntokainanuru, Kurunthogainanuru, Narrinainanuru, Purananuru, Aingurunuru, Patirruppathu, Nurraimpatu Kali and Elupatu Paripadal. As can be seen above, the commentary outlines only the individual anthologies of the Ettuthogai among other texts, with a grammatical authority, Tholkappiyam, as the third Sangam work, but does not include Pathuppattu. Some of the poets who composed poems in Ettuthogai were the authors of the works in Pathuppattu. In that sense, it is enigmatic as to why the eighth-century commentary must include the former as works of the third Sangam while leaving out the latter. Was the Pathuppattu not available to the eighth-century commentator? According to K.N. Sivaraja Pillai, the commentary to Iraiyanar Agapporul was orally transmitted for ten generations, and it was one Nilakantan of Muciri who had actually put it down in writing in the eighth century ce.52 Though the names of the individual anthologies were mentioned as part of Sangam literature, nowhere in the poems of the anthologies do we find any evidence of the assembly of poets and the concomitant production of literature. The term Sangam, as Zvelebil argues, was appropriated from the Jains who founded the Dravida Sangam in 470 ce at Madurai.53 Togai means anthology, which presupposes a selection, collection and compilation. Thus Ettuthogai means eight anthologies. Each of the collections in the Ettuthogai can be understood as an anthology. 50

John Ralston Marr, The Eight Anthologies, 1985, p. 7.

Thus the first Sangam is said to have lasted for 4,440 years and the second 3,700 years while the third Sangam for 1,850 years. See K.R. Govindaraja Mudaliyar and M.V. Venugopala Pillai, ed., Kalaviyal Ennum Iariyanar Akapporul Mulamum, Nakkiranar Uraiyum, 1939, pp. 5–7.

51

52

K.N. Sivaraja Pillai, Chronology of Early Tamils, University of Madras, Madras, 1932, p. 19.

53

Kamil V. Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan, 1973, p. 48.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

54

Manuscripts, Memory and History

Togai in Kurunthogai means an anthology of 400 short poems. Thus, in Kurunthogai, we have 400 lyrical love poems in the aciriyam meter composed by 203 poets. The tradition has preserved, apart from the names of the poets who composed the poems, the names of the compilers and the patrons.54 Thus Purikko compiled the Kurunthogai, and tradition also informs us that the poems were compiled based on the number of lines. For example, the poems of the Kurunthogai were compiled on the basis that the poems were of 4–8 lines. Similarly, Narrinai comprises poems of length between Kurunthogai and Agananuru, that is 9–12 lines. The name of the compiler of this anthology is not known, but tradition informs us that it was commissioned by Pannatutanta Pantiyan Maran Valuti. Agananuru means 400 poems on ‘akam’. Urutirra Canmar compiled it under the patronage of Pantiyan Ukkirap Peruvaluti. The length of the poems ranges from 13 to 31 lines. There is a debate among scholars on whether the Sangam poems are written or oral in nature. The poems, written and recited from the first century ce onwards, were compiled around the third century ce.55 According to Kamil Zvelebil, ‘the first compilation was not much removed in time from the stage of actual composition of some of the poems: it may even have been contemporaneous with it’.56 The following table outlines the names of the patrons and the compilers of some of the anthologies: Sl. no Anthology

Compiler

Patron

Chronology ---

1.

Agananuru

Maturai Uppurikutikilan Makan Uruttiracanman

Ukirapperu Valuti

2.

Aingurunuru

Pulatturai Murriya Kutattur Kilar

Yanaikkatcey Circa Mantaranceral 210–320 ce Irumporai

By tradition we mean the information or accounts provided by the texts themselves as it came down to us. Thus, each of the anthologies at the end contains the names of the patrons and compilers which the early editors of the anthologies retained while printing them. 55 For a substantive account of this view and the critique of historiography, see V. Rajesh, ‘The Written and the Oral in Early Tamil Society’, Proceedings of the 66th session of the Indian History Congress, Santiniketan, 2007, pp. 102–10. 56 Quoted in K. Sivathamby, Literary History in Tamil, 1986, p. 32. 54

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

Sl. no Anthology

55

Compiler

Patron

Chronology ---

3.

Kurunthogai

Purikko

Not known

4.

Narrinai

Not known

Pannatutanta Circa Pandyan 215 ce Maran Valuti

We do not have any evidence regarding the compilation of the Purananuru. The Patirruppathu is exclusively a panegyric to the Chera chiefs, and in all probability it must have been compiled under their patronage.57 Although, according to tradition, the Kalithogai and Paripadal are a part of the eight anthologies, it is now fairly well established among scholarly circles that the two anthologies were the works of single authors of the post-Sangam period. The main reason that scholars treat these two anthologies as later works is that they contain more Indo-Aryan loanwords, with thought and content alien to the rest of the anthologies.58 Thus, six of the eight anthologies must have been compiled around the third century ce. The language, meter, content and thematic unity of these six anthologies also points to the fact that it represents simultaneity of production and compilation. To what extent can we rely on the tradition that informs us of the names of the patron and compilers of the anthologies? Commenting on the reliability of this tradition J.R. Marr observes that if such traditions are accepted, one is led to ‘conclude that these anthologies were collected together during the period when these kings lived, and possibly even during the lifetime of many of the personages who figure in the poems of these three akam collections and puram’.59 Even if this tradition is considered authentic, it is pertinent to enquire into the reasons for compiling the poems into anthologies. Why did the lineage chiefs of the early historic period extend their patronage to compiling the poems into anthology? Sivathamby attributes it to the disappearing tribal chieftaincies and, consequently, the consolidation of the literary gains of the past. Further, he argues, For an account of the compilation of Patirruppathu and its Patikams, see Ti. Vai Sadasivapandarathar, Ilakkiyamum Kalvettukkalum, Manivasagar Pathipagam, Chennai, 2003, pp. 117–26.

57

58

Kamil Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan, 1973, pp. 121–30.

59

John Ralston Marr, The Eight Anthologies, 1985, p. 331.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

56

Manuscripts, Memory and History

since Sangam poems are oral poems, with the spread of literacy, the oral poems, which were in a state of extinction, were selected, compiled and put down into writing.60 It must be emphasised that it was the highest political authority in early Tamilakam, namely the ventans and aracans, who commissioned the compilation of the poems into anthologies. An enquiry into the organisation of political authority in early Tamilakam shows the coexistence of a number of political heads in the following ascending order with marginal overlaps—Irai, Ko/Kon, Kilavan, Velirs, Mannan, Ventar and Aracan. This political arrangement also accounts for the uneven nature of economic development, which is typified in the concept of the tinais with its conventions and stereotypes.61 Tinai has multiple meanings in Tamil. It can be a particular economic zone, poetical mode or theme. Scholars working on early Tamil history are divided on the question of characterising early Tamil polity. It has been argued that early Tamil polity represents a largely pre-state chiefdom-level society with the absence of rights in land, and this is taken as the yardstick in the assessment of the Sangam poems. Thus, Rajan Gurukkal, while referring to the language of the Sangam poetry, observes that ‘the language of the heroic poems has often been considered quite scholarly and highbrow, a view that makes little sense in the case of oral compositions’62 (emphasis mine). That Marx himself considered the possibility of the unequal relationship of the development of material production to artistic production in his reflections on classical Greek art and epic did not occur to the protagonists of the social formation model, who have taken for granted the nature of Sangam poems based on their understanding of the material conditions of early Tamilakam. Commenting on the power and aesthetics of classical Greek art and epic, Marx observed 60

K. Sivathamby, Literary History in Tamil, 1986, p. 32.

K. Sivathamby, Studies in Ancient Tamil Society: Economy, Society and State Formation, New Century Book House, Chennai, 1998, pp. 1–57.

61

62 Rajan Gurukkal, ‘Writing and Its Uses in Ancient Tamil Country’, Studies in History, 12(1), 1996, p. 71. For an assessment and critique of the various views on the question of the basis on which the early Tamil polity has been characterised, see Ganapathy Subbiah, ‘Daksinapatha: Where Does the Path Lead Us?’, Sectional Presidential Address, Ancient India Section, Proceedings of the 67th Session of the Indian History Congress, Calicut, 2007, pp. 49–81.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

57

that ‘the difficulty lies not in understanding that Greek art and epic are bound up with certain forms of social development. The difficulty is that they still afford us artistic pleasure and that in a certain respect they count as the norm and as an unattainable model.’63 Taking a cue from Marx himself, it must be emphasised that though the productive forces in early Tamilakam were undeveloped, production in the sphere of literature, with emphasis more on ‘quality’ than ‘quantity’, far outweighed the material conditions; this then subsequently counted as the norm and as an unattainable model in the Tamil literary tradition. Kailasapathy has shown how medieval scholars consistently maintained the classical Sangam poems as ‘canror ceyyul’ or the poetry of the noble ones. The semantic shift of the word canror from referring to the chiefs of the heroic age to the classical poets in the medieval period amply underscores the case that the poets who composed the classical poems were held in high esteem by the medieval commentators.64 The literary conventions that we find in the akam and puram poetry of the Sangam corpus were systematically appropriated by the Pulavans who formed a distinct group of poets from the bardic tradition which faithfully recorded the local practices and belief systems of the communities represented in the poems. The compilation of the poems composed by Pulavans into anthologies at the end of the third century ce is a systematic effort on the part of lineage chiefs to consolidate these local practices and give it a definite form, a prerequisite for extending control over them. The fact that the highest political authority commissioned the Pulavans to compile the poems into anthologies attests to the urge to dominate and extend control over the divergent local practices of the communities represented in the poems. Commenting on the motive for compiling the poems into anthologies, Sivathamby observes that ‘the compilation of the Cankam poems is thus a matter of literary historical interest’.65 It needs to be underlined that the compilation was not just merely a matter of literary historical interest; rather it was a matter of Lee Baxandall, ed., Marx and Engels on Literature and Art, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1976, pp. 83–84; See also Karl Marx, Grundrisse, translated by Martin Nicolaus, Penguin Books (reprint), Harmondsworth, 1993, p. 111.

63

For more analysis of the words canror and canror ceyyul see K. Kailasapathy, Tamil Heroic Poetry, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1968, pp. 229–30.

64

65

K. Sivathamby, Literary History in Tamil, 1986, p. 33.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

58

Manuscripts, Memory and History

extending control over resources or, in other words, material necessity dictated that the poems be compiled into anthologies. What precisely is the material necessity that caused the highest political authority in early Tamilakam to commission the Pulavans to compile the poems into anthologies? There existed a symbiotic relationship between the poet and the patron in early Tamilakam. The patron was expected to give gifts to the poets; the inability or failure to do so would result in the poets being cursed. The invocation of cultural concepts like nan, aram and pali or shame, virtue and blame by poets bestowed order and created at times fear among the patrons. Gifts to poets ranged from elephants, gold and precious stones to clothes and food. The word pankatan, or duty or obligation towards the poets that emerges in the poems, amply underscores the case that it was the duty of the patrons to give gifts to the poets. The muventars— Chera, Chola and Pandya—or lineage chiefs, mobilised their resources through plunder raids and redistributed as gifts to bards. As no proper bureaucratic machinery had evolved, and as this was coupled with the absence of landed property, it has been rightly asserted that this was a pre-state chiefdom society.66 Those lineage chiefs also made attempts to participate and control trade with the Mediterranean, as is clear from their efforts to issue coins bearing their names.67 In this socio-economic structure, it was imperative for the lineage chiefs of the riverine tracts to control the resources of the peripheral regions. This was done through plunder raids, and minor chiefs often acted in the service of the Ventars. The forging of matrimonial alliances with the minor chiefs by muventars was another method of controlling the resources of peripheral regions like Kongu. Such control was necessary so that the lineage chiefs of the riverine tracts could gift bards and poets, as failure to do so would result in violation of duty and of the obligation they owed to poets, the implication of which was loss of legitimacy. The love and war poems of the Sangam corpus reflect these tendencies: the highest political Rajan Gurukkal, ‘Forms of Production and Forces of Change in Ancient Tamil Society’, Studies in History, 5(2), August 1989, pp. 159–75.

66

67 R. Krishnamurthy, Sangam Age Tamil Coins, Madras, 1997; R. Champakalakshmi, Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India 200 B.C. to A.D. 1200, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1996.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

59

authority in early Tamilakam commissioned its poets to compile poems filled with the ideology of war, heroism and love into anthologies. Alternatively, it is possible to argue that the poems were compiled into anthologies due to the fear of the Kalabhra raids. There are divergent interpretations among scholars regarding the period and the nature of Kalabhra rule in the Tamil country.68 The anxiety of external invasion could have been a factor for compiling the poems into anthologies, as literary production was intimately tied to the politics of chieftain legitimacy. As we have already noted, the commentary to Iraiyanar Agapporul clearly mentions the Sangam anthologies, and if we go by tradition then we cannot extend the period of compilation even beyond the fourth century ce. Thus, by the end of the third century, the following anthologies had been compiled: Netunthogainanuru, Kurunthogainanuru, Narrinainanuru, Purananuru, Aingurunuru, and Patirruppathu. It is doubtful whether the Patikams of the Patirruppathu were composed at this time. The Patikams are a mixture of verse and prose and record the gift of land to the poets by the Chera chiefs. The Patikams must have been written in the post Sangam period, that is, after the third century ce. The story of the exploits of the Chera chiefs and the names of the poets who praised their exploits must have remained in popular memory and, while writing the Patikams, the individual recording the tradition must have included an element of fiction as well. Tradition gives us no information about the name of the compiler and the patron who commissioned the compilation of the Purananuru and Patirruppathu. In all probability, the Chera chiefs must have commissioned the compilation of the Patirruppathu and the Pandya/ Chola chief the Purananuru. Even the individual works of the Pathuppattu except Tirumurugarrupatai might have been composed during this period. However, what needs to be emphasised is that by this period the poems had been compiled into the individual anthologies (except Kalithogai and Paripadal), which in later centuries was re-anthologised into the super anthology, Ettuthogai. As already stated, it is in the eighth century commentary to Iraiyanar For a historiographical assessment of the Kalabhra period see Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy, Kalapirar Atchiyil Tamilakam, 1975, pp. 9–16.

68

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

60

Manuscripts, Memory and History

Agapporul that we get a detailed account of the existence of Sangam.69 According to the commentary the author of the grammar is Lord Siva himself. The commentary was written at a time when there was fervour of Saiva and Vaishnava bhakti in the Tamil land. Moreover, contestation against the Sramanic religion was endemic to the period under discussion. The commentary, according to K. Sivathamby, ‘attempts to take over an obviously Jaina and Buddhist institution (sanga) and give it a Hindu form and content’.70 However, here we attempt to read the secular implications of such efforts. The references to the existence of only the individual anthologies in the commentary—Netunthogainanuru, Kurunthogainanuru, Narrinainanuru, Purananuru, Aingurunuru, Patirruppathu, Nurraimpattukali and Elupathu Paripadal—indicate that these individual anthologies had not yet been collected together into the super anthology: the Ettuthogai. What is certain from the commentary is that the Kalithogai and Paripadal had been written by this time. The anthologisation of the texts was intimately connected to the politics of identity assertion, and hence it is pertinent to address the issues of legitimisation by the newly emerging ruling elite. The invocatory poems to five of the eight anthologies require considerable attention, as they may relate to the process of legitimisation. The Agananuru, Kurunthogai, Narrinai, Aingurunuru and Purananuru each contains an invocatory poem written by Bharatam Patiya Perundevanar. The subject matter of these invocatory verses is completely alien to the rest of the poems in the anthologies. The Agananuru and Purananuru have an invocatory poem in praise of Siva. The Narrinai and Aingurunuru have an invocatory poem in praise of Vishnu. The Kurunthogai alone contains an invocatory poem in praise of Murugan. John Ralston Marr has shown that these invocatory poems are alien in thought and content to the rest of the poems in the anthologies.71 The invocatory poem in the Patirruppathu is missing, and it can be speculated that it might have been written for this anthology too. The remaining two anthologies, the Kalithogai and Paripadal, do not contain any invocatory poems written by Perundevanar. The commentary is dated to around the eighth century ce because it alludes to the verses of the Pandikovai, a text extolling the virtues of early Pandyan King Maravarman Parankusan who ruled Madurai around 770 ce. 70 K. Sivathamby, Literary History in Tamil, 1986, p. 35. 71 John Ralston Marr, The Eight Anthologies, 1985, p. 71. 69

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

61

Whether the Kalithogai and Paripadal were composed or not at a time when Perundevanar wrote the invocatory poems for the rest of the anthologies is open to doubt. But there is a general agreement in scholarly circles that these two works are later than the rest of the anthologies. Marr has convincingly argued that Perundevanar must have been contemporaneous with or later than the ninth-century ce Pallava Nandivarman.72 M.G.S. Narayanan treats these invocatory verses as a part of the original anthology in outlining the Vedic, Sastric and Puranic elements in the Sangam period which is doubtful.73 The fact that even the anthropocentric nature of the Sangam anthologies was attributed a religious symbol during early medieval Tamilakam did not occur to him. The composition of the invocatory verses for the anthologies reflect the dominance of the bhakti ideology in early medieval Tamilakam. The historiography on Tamil bhakti in one way or another emphasises the connection between the Alvar, Nayanmar poetry and the Sangam poems in terms of the allusions and archetypes in the poems.74 The bhakti poets composed their songs based on the akam and puram conventions of the classical period, though with a quite distinct thought content. Some at least of the bhakti poets must have mastered the classical conventions, and this brings us back to the question of the availability of the classical texts during their period of existence. It has been argued in the nationalist historiography that the Kalabhra period in Tamil history is considered to be the ‘dark age’ (the late third to late sixth century ce). The Kalabhras patronised Jainism, and in the Pandya country there was a disruption in the production of texts rooted in the classical conventions. Ethical texts were produced during this period, which stressed on peace, virtue and morality.75 The 72

Ibid. p. 72.

M.G.S. Narayanan, ‘The Vedic-Puranic-Sastric Element in Sangam Society and Culture’, Proceedings of the Indian History Congress, 36th session, Aligarh, 1975, p. 78.

73

A.K. Ramanujan and Norman Cutler, ‘From Classicism to Bhakti’, in Vinay Dharwadkar, ed., The Collected Essays of A.K. Ramanujan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999, pp. 232–59; Indira V. Peterson, Poems to Siva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1989, p. 84; Friedhelm Hardy, Viraha-Bhakti: The Early History of Krisna Devotion in South India, Oxford University Press, Delhi, 1983, p. 276.

74

The eighteen kilkanakkus though contains ethical texts also include literary works following the akam conventions of the classical period. The Kar Narpatu, Aintinai Aimpatu, Aintinai Elupatu, Tinai Mozhi Aimpatu, Tinaimalai Nurraimpatu and Kainilai are some of the literary works in the kilkanakku anthology which follow the classical akam conventions. 75

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

62

Manuscripts, Memory and History

bardic tradition must have witnessed a break under the Jain-patronised Kalabhra rule, since music and songs were condemned by the Jains. M. Arunachalam has shown the disruption of bardic tradition during Kalabhra rule in the early Pandya country.76 There is a story in the commentary to the Iraiyanar Agapporul which states that the grammar was written by Lord Siva himself precisely because of the absence of poets in Madurai specialised in expounding the porul (poetics) of classical Sangam literature. The early bhakti poets were from outside the Pandya country where, according to the commentary, men specialised in col (orthography) and yappu (prosody) existed. The rationale for the legend is to legitimise the production of the Pandyapatronised commentary to the poetics associated with the classical Tamil poetry: the Iraiyanar Kalaviyal. It must be underlined that, according to the story, it was a Brahmin who discovered the grammar written by lord Siva himself in the king’s palace. In other words, the legend informs us that the newly emerging elite groups were appropriating tradition. It is essential to grasp the material background of the appropriation of the tradition by the newly emerging elites. The Kalabhra period witnessed the emergence of rights in land, and this is clear from the Pulankurichi inscription, dated to the early fifth century ce, which records the land donated to a Brahmin and probably a temple.77 The Kalabhras are often portrayed in the historical writings as hostile to Brahminism. The discovery of the Pulankurichi inscription dating to the Kalabhra period raises question regarding such an assumption. However, that the trading communities prospered under Kalabhra rule is clear from the rise of Jainism and Buddhism in the Tamil region. The fact that it was under the Kalabhras that Vijranandhi founded the Dravida Sangam in Madurai is also well known.78 The Kalabhras who seemed to have received support from the trading communities subdued the lineage chiefs of the Sangam period. Constant plunder raids by the lineage chiefs during the first three centuries of the Common Era created hostile conditions for trading activities. That the trading M. Arunachalam, The Kalabhras in the Pandya Country and Their Impact on the Life and Letters There, University of Madras, Madras, 1979, pp. 84–90.

76

R. Nagaswamy, ‘An Outstanding Epigraphical Discovery in Tamil Nadu’, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference Seminar on Tamil Studies, Madurai, 1981, pp. 67–71.

77

78

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy, Kalappirar Atchiyil Tamilakam, 1975, p. 76.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

63

communities donated cave beds and other gifts to the Jaina monks is also clear from the content of the Tamil-Brahmi cave inscriptions in and around Madurai, which are dated from the second century bce to the second century ce. In turn, the Jain monks preached non-violence and ethics, contrary ideas in a conflict-ridden Sangam society. The Kalabhra raids at the end of the third century ce witnessed the dissolution of the heroic society characterised by lineage polity. The period witnessed the growing influence of Jain and Buddhist thought in society. The emergence of new social formations in this period is clear from the emergence of rights in land as reflected in the Pulankurichi inscription. However, the proliferation of the landed class resulted in a conflict of interest with the trading communities who patronised Jainism and Buddhism. The landed class resorted to the idea of bhakti or personal devotion to god as a means to contest the ideas of Jainism and Buddhism. The flourishing of Jainism and Buddhism in the urban areas is clear from the support these religions had from the trading groups. The overthrow of the Kalabhras by Katunkon of the Pandyas and Simhavishnu of the Pallavas in the late sixth century ce was a starting point for the proliferation of new ruling elites with interest in landed property. The new agrarian order was characterised by the proliferation of land grants to Brahmins, which is known as Brahmadeyas, and to temples, known as Devadanas. The Pulankurichi inscription is the earliest available record which has documented the land granted to a Brahmin as Pirammataya.79 The material basis of the early Pandyas rested on the new agrarian order, characterised by the proliferation of Brahmadeyas and Devadanas. Associated with land grants to the Brahmins and the temple is the emergence of rights on land, namely the karanmai and miyatci and marked social stratification.80 The division The word ‘Pirammataya’ resemble the one used in the Patikams of Patirruppathu which leads one to think that the Patikams must have been written in the postSangam period when land grants to Brahmins started as a practice by the beginning of the early medieval period.

79

For an excellent account of the material basis of early Pandyas, see Rajan Gurukkal, ‘The Agrarian System and Socio-Political Organisation Under the Early Pandyas, ce 600–1000, unpublished PhD thesis, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1984.

80

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

64

Manuscripts, Memory and History

and the diversification of labour is one of the characteristic features of an economy centred on land and temple. The appropriation of the tradition, which is found in the commentary to the Iraiyanar Agapporul, makes sense only if situated in this material milieu. It has been argued that the commentary of the Iraiyanar Agapporul re-interprets the classical grammar on Akam conventions to the needs of the bhakti mode of worship. To lend legitimacy to the ideology of bhakti the commentator of Iraiyanar Agapporul appropriated the tradition and provided a medium of propagation. The commentator calls the Iraiyanar Agapporul ‘mutanul’, or primordial grammar, because Siva himself is said to have written it.81 The invocatory verses of the classical anthologies, the Sangam legend, and the deliberate stripping of some of the poems from the anthologies were the attempts of the newly emerging elite in early medieval Tamilakam. The contestation against the Jains and Buddhists is endemic from the newly emerging ruling class. The Buddhists and Jains did not remain passive, but countered these attacks by inventing traditions. Thus the Viracoliyam—its author was a Mahayanist—states that it was Avalokiteshwara who gave Tamil to Agasthya.82 There is an obsession with the praise of the Tamil language and its glory in the verses of Saiva and Vaishnava bhakti saints. In their criticism of Jains and Buddhists, the bhakti saints used language close to the hearts of the people. The increasing invocation of ‘Tamil’, ‘Tamil language’ and ‘Sanga Tamil’ in their verses was an attempt to forge a community of bhaktas to contest the Sramanic religions. In the material domain, the emergence of the new agrarian order characterised by the proliferation of Brahmadeyas and Devadanas created a marked social stratification; in the ideological domain attempts were made to cover up this division by appealing to the homogenous Siva/Vaishnava bhakta identity, invoking Tamil, the Tamil language and Sanga Tamil.83 81

Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy, Kalappirar Atchiyil Tamilakam, 1975, pp. 155–70.

82

K. Sivathamby, Literary History in Tamil, 1986, p. 36.

For the details of the praise of Tamil and invocation of its glory in the verses of Bhakti saints, see Pa. Krishnan, Tamil Nulkalil Tamil Moli Tamil Inam Tamil Nadu, Chidambaram, 2000, pp. 153–78.

83

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

65

The establishment and proliferation of this new agrarian order was not a smooth process. It faced contestation from the traditional occupants, and the copper plate inscriptions of early Pandyas allude to this contestation.84 The invocation of Sangam, patronage to Tamil, translation of the Mahabharata into Tamil by the Pandyan kings found in a Tamil inscription of the early Pandyas may well be taken as a response to the agrarian pressures in the form of resistance to the expansion of the new agrarian order. By appealing to Tamil language and the literature, the ruling class of the early Pandyan kingdom tried to secure legitimacy from the primary producers. In the Tamil portion of the Dalavaypuram copper plates of the early Pandyas, we find allusion to the establishment of a Sangam by the ancestors of the Pandyas.85 In the larger Cinnamanur plates, we find allusion to the establishment of a Sangam by the Pandyas; we also find a translation of the Mahabharata into Tamil.86 It has been argued that an inscription from the Ramnad district published in Madras Epigraphist’s Report [No. 334] alludes to the poet-ancestor of Etticatan, who sat on the Sangam bench.87 The Pandikovai, a literary text of the Kovai genre which extols the greatness of the early Pandyan king Maravarman Parankusan who ruled in the late eighth century, shows intimate knowledge of classical akam conventions. The Pallavas of Kanchi, though they used only Sanskrit in their copper plates, also resorted to Tamil in at least one literary text produced under their patronage. Nandikalampakam, a literary text extolling the virtues of the Pallava king Nandivarman, equates the king with Tamil and praises him for paying attention to the glory of Tamil.88 The author of this text also shows an intimate knowledge of the classical conventions. The marked tendency in the literary and epigraphical text of early medieval Tamilakam is the obsession with Tamil, the Tamil language 84 Rajan Gurukkal, The Agrarian System and Socio-Political Organisation, unpublished PhD thesis, Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1984, pp. 99–100. 85 Dalavaypuram Copper Plates, Tamil portion V. 97–98 in K.G. Krishnan, Inscriptions of the Early Pandyas c. 300 B.C to 984 A.D, Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, 2002, pp. 74–75. 86 Cinnamanur Plates V. 102–04, p. 102. 87 Kamil V. Zvelebil, Tamil Literature, Leiden, E.J. Brill, 1974, p. 59. 88 Pa. Krishnan, Tamil Nulkalil Tamil Moli, 2000, pp. 177–94.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

66

Manuscripts, Memory and History

and Sangam Tamil. The obsession is so marked that it has led a modern scholar to go the extent of arguing that the Sangam poems are an invention of the early Pandyas.89 The inability to understand the material basis of early medieval Tamilakam and the dynamics of legitimacy that the ruling class sought to secure by invoking and appropriating the tradition is responsible for such an argument. Both the literary and the epigraphical texts produced during early medieval Tamilakam represent a ‘sense of belonging’ to the classical Tamil literature. In thought, content and ideology, both the literature and the inscriptions of early medieval Tamilakam represent an ‘alienating distanciation’ from the classical Tamil literature.90 We have seen how certain historical factors created the need to preserve and transmit Sangam literary texts in the early historic and early medieval periods in Tamil history. The invocation of Tamil in a collective sense in relation to the making of a literary canon was intimately connected to the politics of kingship legitimacy by the newly emerging Pandyan kingdom. The early medieval period represents a distinct social formation with land as a dominant means of production. When inscriptions point to the marked social stratification, they also make a direct invocation of collective identity—Tamil. To what extent is the invocation of collective label ‘Tamil’ in inscriptions a response to agrarian pressures from below? Although we tend to assume inscriptions as social documents, they are in fact largely concerned with documentation of land grants or land transfers, and hence predominantly represent the aspirations of the upper strata of society. It is only by attending to the ‘whispering’ of inscriptions, as Karashima put it, or by suspicious reading that we can get a glimpse of the response from below.91 Both the Tamil and Sangam literary canon were artifacts through which kingship legitimacy was conferred during the early medieval period. Herman Tieken, ‘Old Tamil Cankam Literature and the So-Called Cankam Period’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 40(3), 2003, pp. 247–78.

89

‘Sense of Belonging’ and ‘Alienating Distanciation’ are the hermeneutical concepts employed by Paul Ricoeur in understanding texts and their relation to human action. See Paul Ricoeur, Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences, edited and translated by J. Thompson, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1981, p. 131.

90

Noboru Karashima, ‘Whispering of Inscriptions’, in Kenneth Hall, ed., Structure and Society in Early South India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001, pp. 44–58.

91

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

67

Poets, commentators and the transmission of classics The transition from the early medieval to the medieval period in south Indian history is intervened by the emergence of an empire of Cholas with a material base of the Cauvery delta. The nature of the Chola state in south Indian history is a much debated topic among historians.92 Saivism was a dominant ideological basis of the empire as evident from the canonisation of the devotional Tamil Saiva literature considered to be the sacred Veda (Tirumurai) and the composition of the hagiographic work Periya Puranam by Sekkilar which details the life histories of the sixty-three Saiva saints.93 According to Sivathamby, the canonisation of the bhakti hymns, both Saiva and Vaishnava, was patronised by the political set-up in order to claim legitimacy.94 Saiva devotional hymns were sung in the grand Saiva temples constructed by Chola monarchs and the images of Nayanmars , founding saints of Tamil Saivism, were worshipped. In the Periya Puranam we find Sekkilar filling the Tamil landscape with the all-pervading Saiva faith.95 We do not get any direct evidence from the work of Sekkilar of any reference to the verses from classical Tamil literature. Scholars have drawn parallels from classical Tamil literary conventions, especially the notion of violence as represented in puram poems with Sekkilar’s description of violence in the life histories of Saiva saints. Chandraleka Vamadeva, in her interpretation of Periya Puranam, argues that the concept of vannanpu (violent love) is central to the understanding of Sekkilar’s description of the Saiva saints’ devotion, especially in relation to the violent acts R. Champakalakshmi, ‘The State in Pre-modern South India: A Historiographical Re-Assessment’, Symposium paper for State in Indian History, Indian History Congress, 61st session, Calcutta, 2001.

92

See the essay ‘Peraracum Peruntatuvamum’, in K. Kailasapathy, Pantaittamilar Valvum Valipatum, Kumaran Publishers, Chennai, 1999, pp. 123–68. Also ‘Pulaippatiyum Kopuravasalum’, in K. Kailasapathy, Atiyum Mutiyum: Ilakkiyattir Karuttukkal, Kumaran Publishers, Chennai, 2001, pp. 259–354.

93

Kathigesu Sivathamby, Tamilil Ilakkiya Varalaru, New Century Book House, Chennai, 1988, p. 84.

94

For the appropriation of five-fold landscape as represented in the classical Tamil literary works by Sekkilar in relation to his description of Saivism and Tamil geography, see Anne E. Monius, ‘Purana/Puranam: Modes of Narrative Temporality in Sanskrit and Tamil’, in M. Kannan and Jennifer Clare, eds., Passages: Relationships between Tamil and Sanskrit, French Institute Pondicherry and Department of South and South East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2009, pp. 217–36.

95

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

68

Manuscripts, Memory and History

committed by the saints. Further, she draws parallels of vannanpu in classical Sangam literature where love and heroism were celebrated themes. In other words, according to her, Sekkilar projects the kingly role of the ancient Tamil country, as represented in the Sangam poems, onto the life histories of the Saiva saints.96 Indira Peterson, George Hart and David Shulman have also drawn our attention to the similarity in Sekkilar’s narration of violence in the life histories of the Saiva saints with classical Tamil literary notions of violence and sacrifice.97 In the narration of Tamil landscape in Sekkilar’s Periya Puranam, there is a sense that the author might have mastered the literary conventions of classical Tamil literature. With the absence of any concrete evidence it is impossible to argue whether Sekkilar read classical Tamil poetry. Anne Monius has argued that Sekkilar reconfigured the notions of anpu (love) and vira (violence) as a response to Thiruttakka Devar’s Sivakacintamani in which the excesses of both these notions were highlighted and used as a strategy to uphold Jain ideals. The reconfiguration of love and violence in Sekkilar’s narration of the life histories of Saiva saints, according to Anne Monius, is different from a mere appropriation of classical Tamil literary conventions.98 Such an interpretation forces us to inquire into the extent to which Sekkilar was influenced by classical Tamil literature. Kamban in his Iramavataram makes a reference to the existence of Tamil Sangam in Madurai. The reference comes from the mouth of Sukrivan who while directing Hanuman and others to southern Tamil Nadu cautions them not to forget their work while approaching the Chandraleka Vamadeva, The Concept of Vannanpu, ‘Violent Love’, in Tamil Saivism, with Special Reference to Periyapuranam, Uppsala Studies in the History of Religion, Uppsala University, Religious Studies, Uppsala, 1995, pp. 2–12.

96

Indira Peterson, ‘Tamil Saiva Hagiography: The Narrative of the Holy Servants (of Siva) and the Hagiographical Project in Tamil Saivism’, in Winand M. Callewaert and Rupert Snell, eds., According to Tradition: Hagiographical Writing in India, Khoj: A Series of Modern South Asian Studies, 5, Harrassowitz Verlag, Weisbaden, 1994, pp. 163–85; George L. Hart , ‘The Little Devotee: Cekkilar’s Story of Ciruttontar’, in M. Nagatomi, B.K. Matilal, J.M. Masson and E.C. Dimock Jr., eds., Sanskrit and Indian Studies: Essays in Honour of Daniel H.H. Ingalls, D. Reidel, Boston, 1980, pp. 217–36; David Shulman, The Hungry God: Hindu Tales of Filicide and Devotion, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1993, pp. 18–40.

97

Anne E. Monius, ‘Love, Violence, and the Aesthetics of Disgust: Saivas and Jains in Medieval South India’, Journal of Indian Philosophy, 32,(2-3), June, 2004, pp. 113–72.

98

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

69

Pothigai Mountain where Agastya’s Tamil Sangam exists. Kamban makes the character of Sukrivan warn Hanuman and others that if they end up in the Pothigai Mountain then they might drown in the Tamil literary world of Madurai Sangam and that it is only their duty to pay respect and move ahead beyond the mountains.99 Whether the dominant literary figures of the Chola period like Sekkilar, Kamban, Jeyankontar and Ottakkuttan played any role in the transmission of classical literary works remains unclear. What was the role of the Sangam literary works in the political legitimation of the Cholas? We have noted that claims to the establishment of Sangam, patronage to Tamil language and literature and the translation of the Mahabharata into Tamil played a role in the political legitimation of the Pandya dynasty of the early medieval period in Madurai. Compared to the early medieval Pandyan dynasty, the region that came under the Chola rule at its height (late tenth and the eleventh century) encompassed the whole of south India. Brahmin settlements or what is known in inscriptions as Brahmadeya and Caturvedimangalam increased during the Chola period. In the ideological sphere, the Chola kings derived legitimacy from the Puranic sources in the form of claiming mythical genealogies from the solar dynasty. The characteristic of Puranic conceptions of kingship is the dual classification of royal families into solar or suryavamsa and lunar or chandravamsa dynasties. In the postGupta period, the rulers of the regional dynasties in the subcontinent claimed genealogies either from the solar or lunar line. This pan-Indian historical process is visible in the Chola-dominated south India where a new wave of brahminic assertion took place. It has been rightly argued that royal eulogies found in the copper plate inscriptions of the Cholas must be read as the imperial histories.100 In his study of the royal genealogies of Chola monarchs, as seen from the copper plate grants issued by them, George Spencer has shown how Reference of this particular verse from Kamba Ramayanam is taken from the essay by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer on Subramania Bharathi. See U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, ‘Subramania Bharathiyar’, in Taktar U. Ve. Sa. Avarkalin urainatai nulkal, vol. 1, Dr U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai, 2005, pp. 220–21.

99

Daud Ali, ‘Royal Eulogy As World History: Rethinking Copper-plate Inscriptions in Cola India’, in Ronald Inden, Jonathan Walters and Daud Ali, eds., Querying the Medieval: Texts and the History of Practices in South Asia, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000, pp. 165–229.

100

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

70

Manuscripts, Memory and History

the Puranic element was a dominant feature with regional traditions playing a subordinate role.101 Although the genealogical constructs of the Chola monarchs of the Vijayala line were derived from a variety of sources, the Puranic element remained a hegemonic feature. The analysis of the genealogical portion of the Anbil copper plate grant of Sundara-Chola Parantaka II (956–73 ce), the larger Leiden plates of Rajaraja I (985–1014 ce), the Tiruvalangadu plates of Rajendra I (1012–44 ce) and the Kanyakumari inscription of Virarajendra (1063– 69 ce) by George Spencer has shown that sixty-eight unique names of kings were invoked. It is significant to note that out of the sixty-eight names, only the names of three kings figure in all the four records. The name of Karikala figure in all four records which brings us back to the legend of Karikala in the popular and scholarly Tamil memory. Commenting on the source from which the mythical genealogies were constructed, George Spencer observed that ‘the earliest names of gods and heroes can all be identified in the prestigious Sanskrit Puranas. Next, there appear names that are not to be found in those texts, but are extolled in regional tradition and can be identified readily in classical Tamil literature.’102 Did the authors of the copper plates and lithic inscriptional records read the classical Tamil poetry before constructing the genealogies of the Chola monarchs? The Brahmins who were the authors of these inscriptions with mythical genealogies were not all who came from north and settled in Kaveri delta. They must have either appropriated the widely circulating legend of the popularity of the ancient Tamil chief Karikala or must have read the classics like Pattinappalai in which Karikala was celebrated by the poet Katiyalur Urutirankananar. Karikala was invoked in Jeyankondar’s Kalingattupparani in a chapter on the genealogy (iracaparampariyam) of Kulotunga I (1070–20). In this account Karikala is supposed to have engraved the sign of the Chola family—the tiger—in the Himalaya Mountain. The divine sage Narada, according to this account, informs Karikala to inscribe the story of the birth of Vishnu as Abhayan (Kulotunga) in future in the lineage of the Cholas. He further informs that Karikala himself comes from the George W. Spencer, ‘Heirs Apparent: Fiction and Function in Chola Mythical Genealogies’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 21(4), 1984, pp. 415–32.

101

102

Ibid., p. 426.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

71

lineage of the solar dynasty.103 In other words, the story of Karikala takes a Puranic dimension in the narration of Jeyankondar similar to what we find in the inscriptions of the Cholas. Another evidence for the possibility of Chola connection with the Sangam literature comes from the inscription of Rajaraja found in the walls of the Virattanesvara temple at Tirukkoyilur. R. Nagaswamy, who studied the inscription, has drawn our attention to the similarity of the poetic narration of this inscription with the arruppatai poems of the Pathuppattu of Sangam literature. He further contends that the poem of the inscription should be called Tirukkoyilur Pattu similar to Mullaippattu and Kurincippattu of classical Tamil literature.104 The legend of the Sangam poet Kapilar persuading Malaiyaman, the ancient chief of Tirukkoyilur, to marry the daughters of Pari is mentioned in the inscription. Kapilar’s poems were called Teyvakkavitai (divine compositions) in the inscription. Based on this evidence, Nagaswamy has argued that the Sangam poetic tradition continued into the eleventh century. It has to be underlined that Rajaraja claimed lineage from his maternal side to ancient chiefs like Malaiyaman and Pari in the inscription which again points to the link between kingship legitimacy and the appropriation of classical Tamil literature. Other poets of the Chola period like Nambi Andar Nambi who compiled the Tirumurai is said to have had the knowledge of Sangam and the works of poets like Kapilar, Paranar and Nakkirar. In his work Tiruttontar Tiruvantati, Nambi Andar Nambi refers to forty-nine poets of Sangam and held Kapilar, Nakkirar and Paranar in high esteem. However, Sekkilar, the author of Periya Puranam, does not refer to the Sangam or any of the poets of classical age.105 Concomitant to this process during this period was the emergence of the practice of writing commentaries to the classical Tamil literary and grammatical works. The literary historians have characterised the period Daud Ali, ‘Violence, Gastronomy and the Meanings of War in Medieval South India’, The Medieval History Journal, 3(2), 2000, pp. 270–71.

103

R. Nagaswamy, ‘Sangam Poetic Traditions under the Imperial Cola-s’, in Eva Wilden and Jean-Luc Chevillard, eds, South-Indian Horizons: Felicitation Volume for Francois Gros on the Occasion of his 70th Birthday, Institut Francais De Pondicherry, Pondicherry, 2004, pp. 487–94.

104

105

R. Nagaswamy, ‘Sangam Poetic Traditions under the Imperial Cola-s’, pp. 492–94.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

72

Manuscripts, Memory and History

beginning with the Cholas till the fall of Vijayanagara as representing the Urai aciriyargal Kalam (the Age of Commentators). Commentary (urai) presupposes the existence of the original text (mulam). The cultural milieu of the commentators was different from that of the original text. In the process of comprehension of the meaning for certain verses the commentators disagreed. But there was an attempt by the commentators to systematise or consolidate the knowledge during the medieval period. Commentaries often carried the subjective bias of the commentators, since the commentators were associated with a particular sect. Despite a number of scholarly contributions to the understanding of the Chola and Vijayanagara periods, there has not been any attempt to present a holistic picture of the medieval Tamil society embracing a variety of source material available with us. The reason for this has to do with the selection (or privileging) of a particular source material over another in reconstructing medieval south Indian history. This kind of approach has led to debate among historians working on medieval south India.106 Leaving the earliest commentator Nakkirar (for Iraiyanar Kalaviyal) aside, the traditional commentators beginning with Ilampuranar from the eleventh century onwards started commenting extensively on the ancient Tamil grammar book Tholkappiyam. While commenting on the text, it is a common practice for a traditional commentator to cite examples from literary and grammatical works as a way of illustrating the meaning of verses. The traditional commentators were widely read scholars in the fields of literature, linguistics, astrology and grammar. It is beyond doubt that these commentators played a crucial role as transmitters of classical Tamil literature. The modernday editors like U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and C.W. Damodaram Pillai have acknowledged the importance of traditional commentaries in identifying and reproducing classical Tamil literary works of their own times.107 Swaminatha Iyer, while delivering the lecture on araichi (research), in the early twentieth century, stated that in his life as a researcher, he understood the existence of verses (mulam) from commentary (urai), and commentary (urai) from verses (mulam). Noboru Karashima, ‘Whispering of Inscriptions’, 2005, pp. 44–57; Sanjay Subrahmanyam, ‘Whispers and Shouts: Some Recent Writings on Medieval South India’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 38(4), 2001, p. 453–65.

106

107

U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, En Charitram, (seventh reprint 2008), pp. 555–57.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

73

The earliest of the commentators of Tholkappiyam is Ilampuranar who lived sometime during the eleventh century.108 Based on the close study of his commentary, scholars have argued that he is a Jain who is uniquely known as ‘uraiaciriyar’ (commentator) by subsequent commentators. Ilampuranar commented on the entire work of the Tholkappiyam. In a commentary to a section on Porulatikaram of the Tholkappiyam, Ilampuranar cited many examples from the so-called Sangam literary works—the eight anthologies and ten songs. Except Sirupanarruppatai, he referred to all the other seventeen literary works of Sangam literature. In his commentary he labelled the Sangam literature as canror ceyyul (poetry of the noble ones), though there is no reference made to the Ettuthogai or Pathuppattu in a canonised form.109 The citations of verses from Sangam literature as examples to illustrate the sutras of Tholkappiyam clearly underline the fact that he had mastered all the classical literary works before writing a commentary to the ancient Tamil grammar. Subsequent to the efforts of Ilampuranar, Senavaraiyar commented on the Sollatikaram section of the Tholkappiyam during the late thirteenth century. He is said to have lived in southern Tamil Nadu when the medieval Pandyas were ruling from Madurai.110 Unlike Ilampuranar who is a Jain, Senavaraiyar is a Saivite. In a commentary to the section of the Sollatikaram, Senavaraiyar quotes extensively from the Malaipatukatam, one of the ten songs (Pathuppattu) of Sangam literature, as an example to illustrate the sutras. Senavaraiyar did not comment on any other literary or grammatical work other than the Sollatikaram section of the Tholkappiyam. The reason for attributing Ilampuranar to the eleventh century ce is because he refers to the Yapparunkala Virutti in his commentary and that the author of Nannool who lived during the fourteenth century cites the commentary of Ilampuranar. Therefore, he is placed between Yapparunkala Virutti and Nannool. See Mu. Vai. Aravindan, Uraiyaciriyarkal, Manivasagar Pathippagam, Chennai, second edition, 2008, (first edition 1968), pp. 174–94.

108

For an analysis of the commentaries to Sangam literature during the medieval period, see A. Satish, Sanga Ilakkiya Uraikal, Adaiyalam, Tiruchi, 2008.

109

There is a direct reference to Senavaraiyar making donation to the temple at Arrur village in Tirunelveli district that is dated to the seventh regal year of Maravarman Kulasekara Pandyan which corresponds to 1275 ce. For more discussion on Senavaraiyar, see Mu. Vai. Aravindan, Uraiyaciriyarkal, 2008, pp. 194–99.

110

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

74

Manuscripts, Memory and History

The period between Ilampuranar, Senavairayar and Peraciriyar, Naccinarkkiniyar, is important in Tamil literary history though it has not received enough attention from scholars of Tamil literature. In the commentary to the last four chapters of the Porulatikaram section of the Tholkappiyam, Peraciriyar cites extensive quotations and examples from Sangam literature. The individual anthology of Sangam literature that we noticed in Iraiyanar Akapporul’s commentary, in the course of time, were collected together and made as a super anthology—the Ettuthogai. It was first mentioned, along with Pathuppattu (ten songs), in Peraciriyar’s commentary on the last four chapters of the Porulatikaram (Poetics). Zvelebil attributes the chronology of the commentary to around the thirteenth century ce.111 The second anthologisation of Sangam literature must have probably taken place between the period of Ilampuranar and Peraciriyar. Both Ilampuranar and Senavaraiyar never made any reference in their commentaries to the existence of the Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu in a collective sense, though they cited examples from the works that comprised these anthologies. The second anthologisation of Sangam literature must be studied in the context of the canonisation of the Saiva and Vaishnava bhakti hymns during the Chola period. I have drawn the attention of Nambi Andar Nambi’s knowledge of Sangam and the works of poets like Kapilar and Paranar. It has to be researched whether there is any political link to the second canonisation of Sangam literature i.e., in the process of transforming the individual anthologies into Ettuthogai (eight anthologies) and Pathuppattu (ten songs). The Chola monarchs were said to have derived legitimacy largely from the Dharmasastras, as is the case with the kingdoms of early medieval India. However, the regional elements have been ignored on the question of kingship legitimacy. To what extent the second canonisation of Sangam literature paid to the interest of the kingship legitimacy is unsure with available knowledge. As already stated, Peraciriyar commented on the last four chapters of the Porulatikaram section of the Tholkappiyam. He was widely read in classical Tamil literature and quotes extensively from Sangam literature. Along with Ilampuranar and Senavaraiyar, Peraciriyar played an important role in the transmission of Sangam literary works during the medieval period. It has been argued that Peraciriyar draws literary examples largely from 111

Kamil V. Zvelebil, The Smile of Murugan, 1973, p. 25.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

75

the classical Sangam anthologies for his commentary to the Tholkappiyam in contrast to the other commentaries of the period. The greatest of the medieval commentators was Naccinarkkiniyar. He commented on the Tholkappiyam, Pathuppattu, twenty poems in the Kurunthogai, Kalithogai, and the Sivakacintamani. He was a smartha Brahmin belonging to the Bharadwaja gotra. He seems to have lived in Madurai during the sixteenth century. He refers to previous commentators like Ilampuranar, Senavaraiyar and Peraciriyar. Since he refers to Sudamani Nigandu, a work composed during the period of Krishnadeva Raya, he must have lived during the sixteenth century.112 There is a commonality between Peraciriyar and Naccinarkkiniyar’s commentaries concerning the understanding of the origins of Tamil literature. Both seemed to have accepted the story presented in the commentary to Iraiyanar Kalaviyal about the three Sangams. It has been argued that Peraciriyar and Naccinarkkiniyar considered the ‘Pattum Togayum’ as testimony to Saiva antiquity and Tamil literature, as presented in the commentary to Iraiyanar Kalaviyal for the case of the eight anthologies and Tholkappiyam. The Jain commentators like Ilampuranar, Peruntevanar, Yapparunkala Viruttiuraiaciriyar and Kunasakarar did not uphold this tradition and hence rejected such understanding in their commentaries.113 In other words, even though the medieval commentators were widely read scholars in the field of literature, grammar and religion, their sectarian outlook determined their interpretation and transmission of classical Tamil literature. The medieval commentators systematised the knowledge of classical Tamil literature in their commentaries. It was not only a period of consolidation of literary gains from the past but also an attempt at systematising the knowledge of classical Tamil literature. The commentarial exercise was at the same time an attempt of transmission. The medieval commentators rendered the meaning for Sangam poems to the medieval audience but their sectarian affiliation cannot be denied. Attempts to theorise and define Tamil literature and literary tradition were a continuous process in the commentarial tradition 112

Mu. Vai. Aravindan, Uraiyaciriyarkal, 2008, pp. 238–39.

Pa. Ilamaran, Patippum Vacippum: Tamil Nulkalin Patippu Marrum Aivu, Sandhya Pathippagam, Chennai, 2008, pp. 88–95.

113

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

76

Manuscripts, Memory and History

beginning with the eighth century ce. In response to the development of new genres, poetic styles and variations, the commentators had to stick to the tradition at one level and was forced to define the innovations without violating the tradition at another level. Thus, as late as the seventeenth century, Vaithyanatha Desigar in the commentary to his own grammar Ilakkana Vilakkam, cited verses from akam poems of the Ettuthogai as examples. Evaluating the grammar book Ilakkana Vilakkam and its commentary of Vaithyanatha Desigar, Jennifer Clare observes: In both the Akattinaiyiyal and the Aniyiyal, the Ilakkana Vilakkam and its commentary consolidate the Tamil tradition of akam poetics and poetic figure through the integration of an authoritative later treatise with the ancient grammar Tolkappiyam. Whether as an illustration of the division of labor of two theoretical systems or as a standard corpus of examples associated with a particular verse, the literary examples reflect the Ilakkana Vilakkam’s acknowledgement of the important role played by both the classical literature associated with the Cankam corpus as well as literature from later Tamil traditions.114

Puratthirattu: compiler as transmitter? The Puratthirattu is an anthology of selected poems from various literary works compiled by an anonymous editor around the fifteenth century. The anthology deals with the theme of puram (exterior world) as opposed to akam (interior world), a distinction central to the organisation of Sangam literature. Understandably, the anthology has included 105 poems from the Purananuru, the earliest of the literary works in Tamil that deals with the theme of puram (exterior world). The anthology is organised or modelled on the basis of three sections— arattuppal, porutppal and kamattuppal—of the Thirukkural, a popular among the classical Tamil literary works although ironically there is not even a single couplet taken from it. The first printed edition of the Puratthirattu was published by S. Vaiyapuri Pillai in 1938. The importance of this medieval anthology is acknowledged by For an excellent study of the tension between continuity and change in the Tamil literary tradition as reflected in the Tamil commentarial tradition, see Jennifer S. Clare, ‘Canons, Conventions and Creativity: Defining Literary Tradition in Pre-modern Tamil South India’, unpublished PhD dissertation submitted to the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2011, p.127.

114

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

77

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, one of the foremost of the modern-day editors of classical Tamil literary works. In the preface to the first edition of the Purananuru, Swaminatha Iyer observed that he could able to make correct changes in the original (mulam) and commentary (urai) with the help of an anthology, Puratthirattu.115 He even said to Vaiyapuri Pillai once that Puratthirattu had served as an ‘eye opener’ for him.116 Despite an acknowledgement of the Puratthirattu by scholars like Swaminatha Iyer and Vaiyapuri Pillai, there has not been enough attention paid to study the anthology critically by historians of Tamil literature.117 According to Vaiyapuri Pillai, the Puratthirattu was compiled to satisfy the urge among Tamil people to get a grasp of the best of Tamil literature during the medieval period. He further informs that the Puratthirattu was called Prasankaparanam, meant for textual quotations during oral discourses. However, Vaiyapuri Pillai clarifies that the interpretation of the Puratthirattu as an anthology for the use of oral discourse is a later-day understanding.118 For Norman Cutler, the Puratthirattu represents the existence of a literary culture during fifteenthcentury Tamil Nadu independent of religious sectarianism. According to Culter, the anthology also represents a much greater consciousness of a specifically literary heritage in Tamil than the canonisation of bhakti or Saiva Siddhanta works. However, Cutler did not provide any historical reason for the compilation of such an anthology during the fifteenth century except reinforcing the argument of George Hart that literature in India is approached in moral terms and the Puratthirattu underscores such a tendency.119 How should we understand the anthology Puratthirattu? What was the reason for its compilation during the medieval period embracing as See preface of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Purananuru Mulamum Uraiyum, V.N. Jubilee Press, Chennai, 1894.

115

S. Vaiyapuri Pillai, Purattirattu, University of Madras, Madras, second edition, 1939 (reprint, 2001), p. lxiii.

116

Sivathamby makes a cursory reference to the Puratthirattu in his work Tamilil Ilakkiya Varalaru. See K. Sivathamby, Tamilil Ilakkiya Varalaru, 1988, pp. 86–87. For reading Puratthirattu as representing a distinct moment in the genealogy of Tamil literary culture, see Norman Cutler, ‘Three Moments in the Genaeology’, 2003, pp. 307–22.

117

118

S. Vaiyapuri Pillai, Purattirattu, 2001, p. xxv.

119

Norman Cutler, ‘Three Moments in the Genealogy’, 2003, p. 307, 311–12.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

78

Manuscripts, Memory and History

many as thirty-one literary works in Tamil? Out of the thirty-one works from which the selection of poems have been included in the anthology, ten literary works represent what is known as the Patinenkilkanakku (eighteen minor works). They are conventionally known as nitinul (didactic literature). In fact, the Puratthirattu itself was known in some circles as nitittirattu (an anthology of ethical texts), although Vaiyapuri Pillai clarifies that the majority of the manuscripts he discovered refer to the anthology only as Puratthirattu.120 What were the historical conditions that made possible the compilation of such an anthology called the Puratthirattu? Finding the reasons for the compilation of the Puratthirattu is not purely a problem of literature, or for scholars of Tamil literature alone. It is a problem of a historian that requires an understanding of the socio-economic and political conditions of medieval Tamil Nadu especially so when, as Sheldon Pollock rightly observed, literary production is associated with power and culture in pre-modern India. Before we get into the historical conditions during medieval Tamil Nadu, it is necessary to deal with the date of the Puratthirattu. According to Vaiyapuri Pillai, the Puratthirattu can be dated between the thirteenth and the sixteenth centuries. The latest work represented in the anthology is Kamban’s Iramavataram dated to the late twelfth century. Vaiyapuri Pillai informs us that he found few poems from a literary work called the Kurukai Manmiyam included in the Puratthirattu manuscript of the Madurai Tamil Sangam. The Kurukai Manmiyam is dated to the late sixteenth century although Vaiyapuri Pillai did not find the same poems in the other manuscripts of the Puratthirattu. Further, he argues that since the anthology included verses from works like the Kundalakesi, Valayapati, Muttolayiram, Takatur Yattirai and Sulamani, it must have been compiled when these literary works were available for Tamil scholars.121 Based on these evidences, the Puratthirattu is dated between the thirteenth and sixteenth centuries. Historians working on medieval south India have characterised the period between the decline of Cholas and the establishment of S. Vaiyapuri Pillai informs that the handwritten paper manuscript of the Puratthirattu found at the Government Oriental Manuscripts Library and the palmleaf manuscript of T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai refer to the anthology as the Nitittirattu and not Puratthirattu. See S. Vaiyapuri Pillai, Purattirattu, 2001, pp. xxxi–ii.

120

121

Ibid, pp. xxxvi–vii.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

79

Nayaka rule in Tamil Nadu as a period of constant warfare that brought misery to the life of the population. It was also a period when private landholding increased in non-Brahmadeya villages (refers to those lands where communal land holding was a dominant feature) leading to the emergence of powerful landlords. Commenting on the troubled times following the decline of Chola rule in Tamil Nadu, Noboru Karashima observed: The Chola rule in Tamilnadu ended in the latter half of the thirteenth century, and the period roughly extending from AD. 1250 to 1400 brought considerable hardship to the people. They experienced the effects of war among and rule by various dynasties such as the Pandyas, the Hoysalas and the Kakatiyas, and also the invading armies of the Delhi Sultanate from the north and the intrusion of Vijayanagar warriors into Tamilnadu. Conditions in the fifteenth century proved to be no less harsh and exploitative as is evidenced by the heavy and arbitrary burden of taxes imposed by the invading warriors. We have plenty of inscriptions which record the ‘running away’ of cultivators and artisans during this period.122

In a number of other essays on the historical conditions during the post-Chola period till the establishment of Nayaka rule, Karashima shared the concerns of other historians like Y. Subbarayalu that ‘the three centuries after the decline of the Chola central power’ represent ‘the transitional period, in which socio-economic changes were accompanied by conflicts and confrontations between the different sections of society’.123 Only with the establishment of Nayaka rule in Tamil Nadu during the sixteenth century did the consolidation of a new social order in the region take place. The compilation of the anthology Puratthirattu falls precisely during this transition period in which constant warfare and struggle against oppressive taxation was endemic. It has to be understood that the collection in the Puratthirattu deals with ethics, morality, discipline, humility, peace and non-violence. Sivathamby observed that literature of the past has present value and he cited examples from different 122 Noboru Karashima, ‘Nayaka Rule in North and South Arcot Districts’, History and Society in South India: The Cholas to Vijayanagar, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001, pp. 16–17. 123

Ibid., p. 155.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

80

Manuscripts, Memory and History

historical periods in Tamil Nadu to demonstrate how Tamil literary consciousness and heritage served the interest of contemporary times.124 The compilation of the Puratthirattu may be a political exercise than a mere scholarly one. The compiler of this anthology mobilised the best of literary productions in Tamil and carefully selected only those poems that deal with the theme of ethics, peace and morality. The anonymity of the compiler of the Puratthirattu also lends credence to an understanding that it is an anthology responding to the historical times. The compiler of the Puratthirattu must have had at his disposal a range of literary works in Tamil cutting across centuries. While compiling such an anthology as the Puratthirattu, the anonymous editor of the fifteenth century also played a role as a transmitter of classical Tamil literary works. The fact that Swaminatha Iyer considered the anthology as an ‘eye opener’ for his edition of the Purananuru and Pattirruppathu only underlines our contention that the anonymous compiler was also a transmitter of classical Tamil literature. The Puratthirattu is not an end point in Tamil literary history in which classical Tamil literature was invoked. Literary works like the Tamil Vidu Tutu (dated around the sixteenth or seventeenth century), and the Tiruvilayadal Puranam (sixteenth century) also reflect an awareness about Sangam anthologies—the Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu. In fact, the anonymous author of the Tamil Vidu Tutu explicitly mentions the names of the two anthologies along with innumerable literary works like the five epics (panca kappiyankal), namely the Silappatikaram, Sivakacintamani, Manimekalai, Valayapati and Kundalakeci, Pattinenkilkanakku (eighteen minor works), Thiruvasagam, Thirukkovaiyar, Thiruvaymoli and Kalingattupparani, and grammatical works like the Tholkappiyam and Iraiyanar Kalaviyal.125 Whether the anonymous author of the Tamil Vidu Tutu had in his possession these literary and grammatical works or did he ever read these works can never be answered with certainty by scholars of Tamil literature. The very fact that these works were invoked in praise of Tamil during the sixteenth or seventeenth century reflects the case that they must have formed part of the collective consciousness 124

Karthigesu Sivathamby, Literary History in Tamil, 1986, pp. 33–44.

For an interesting study of Tamil Vidu Tutu see Sumathi Ramaswamy, ‘Language of the People in the World of Gods: Ideologies of Tamil before the Nation’, The Journal of Asian Studies, 57(1), February 1998, pp. 66–92.

125

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

Interrogating ‘Rediscovery’

81

of Tamil scholarly community. Since works like the Tamil Vidu Tutu and Thiruvilayadal Puranam were intimately connected with Saivism, they must have been read by the scholarly community inside the Saiva monasteries. In the eighteenth-century literary work Kutralakkuravanji by Melagaram Tirikutarasappa Kavirayar, there is a reference to Sangam in Madurai. It emerges from the mouth of a Kuravanji woman fortune teller who in response to the heroine Vasantha Valli’s request explains her fame as fortune teller. The Kuravanji woman informs Vasantha Valli that she was praised in Madurai, among other places, where the Tamil Sangam sits.126 The idea of a literary academy in Madurai is endemic to the collective consciousness of the Tamil scholarly community in the pre-modern period. Ever since the Saivite interpretation of Sangam from the days of the commentary to the Iraiyanar Kalaviyal, the legend was circulating as part of the history of Saivism in Tamil land. Was Sangam literature not considered as part of the literary canon of the pre-modern period? I have tried to demonstrate in this chapter that the idea of Sangam (and the literary works it comprised) had an enduring effect in the consciousness of the Tamil scholarly community of the pre-modern period. The legend was circulating among the Tamil scholarly community during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. However, there appears no consensus regarding what constituted Sangam literature. The medieval commentators referred to them as Canror Ceyyul that comprised the Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu. For the commentator of the Iraiyanar Kalaviyal, the literary works presented in Sangam comprised Ettuthogai and the grammatical work Tholkappiyam among others. There was no reference to the Pathuppattu in the commentary to Iraiyanar Kalaviyal. In some of the catalogues of the Mackenzie’s collection during the early nineteenth century the literary works presented in Sangam comprised the Tivakaram, Sulamani Nigantu and Agaraty. The tradition was flexible and fluid in terms of the understanding of Sangam and the literary works presented in them. Pierre Nora’s contention that memory is subject to the dialectic of remembering and forgetting, unconscious of the distortions it undergoes, vulnerable in various ways For a brilliant translation of this literary work see David C. Buck, A Kuravanji in Kutralam: A Tamil Tale of Love and Fortunes Told, Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai, 2005, pp. 240–41.

126

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

82

Manuscripts, Memory and History

to appropriation and manipulation, and capable of lying dormant for long periods only to be suddenly reawakened is applicable to study the legend of Sangam in the pre-modern period of Tamil literary history. The flexibility or the fluidity of tradition concerning what constituted Sangam literature is replicated in the scholarly debates of the modern period after the publication of classical Tamil literature. J.R. Marr argued that the Pathuppattu cannot be considered as Sangam literary work based on his study of the commentary to the Iraiyanar Kalaviyal in which the Pathuppattu was not included. On the other hand, scholars like N. Subrahmanian considered even the eighteen kilkanakku works, the epics Silappatikaram and Manimekalai and the remnants of poems like the Takatur yattirai and Bharatam of Perundevanar as Sangam literature.127 The transmission of classical Tamil literature in Tamil literary tradition is a complex history. I have elaborated on the series of historical conjunctures in which classical Tamil literature was invoked. The printing of classical Tamil literature, yet another historical conjuncture, is altogether a different story that will be taken up in the next chapter.

N. Subrahmanian, Sangam Polity: The Administration and the Social Life of the Sangam Tamils, Asia Publishing House, New York, 1966.

127

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:19:01, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.002

3

Patrons and Networks of Patronage in the Publication of Tamil Classics

Works are produced within a specific order that has its own rules, conventions, and hierarchies, but they escape all these and take on a certain destiny in their peregrinations – which can be in a very long time span – about the social world … Thought of (and thinking of himself or herself) as a demiurge, the writer none the less creates in a state of dependence. Dependence upon the rules (of patronage, subsidy, and the market) that define the writer’s condition. Dependence (on an even deeper level) on the unconscious determinations that inhabit the work and that make it conceivable, communicable and decipherable.

– Roger Chartier1 In the scholarly writings on the reconstitution of the Tamil literary canon in nineteenth-century colonial Tamil society, a predominant emphasis has been placed on the life and activity of a Tamil scholar named Uthamathanapuram Venkatasubbaiyar Swaminatha Iyer, known widely as the grandfather of the Tamil language – Tamil thatha. His autobiography, En Charitram (The Story of My Life), written between 1940 and 1942, continues to remain a standard source for historians to understand the processes of the reproduction of classical Tamil literary works from manuscript form to print medium during the nineteenth century. Scholars also mention the role of Arumuga Navalar and Damodaram Pillai when it comes to what is called the ‘rediscovery’ of

Roger Chartier, The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the 14th and 18th Centuries, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1994, p. x.

1

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

84

Manuscripts, Memory and History

Sangam literature during nineteenth-century colonial Tamil Nadu.2 In most of the writings the ‘rediscovery’ of classical Tamil literature and the framing of the ‘Dravidian’ family of languages by Robert Caldwell figure as the background cause for the emergence of non-Brahmin political consciousness and movement. Such easy equations fail to understand the fact that there was a different social configuration that made possible the reproduction of Tamil classics during the nineteenth century that had less to do with the twentieth-century political vocabulary of Brahmin–non-Brahmin divide in the Tamil political landscape. In other words, the social history of the reproduction of Tamil classics from the manuscript form to the printed version in the nineteenth and the early twentieth century was dictated by a social project in which a segment of Brahmins, Chettiars, Mudaliyars, Pillais and Maravars were active participants, along with institutions like the dominant landholding Saiva Mutts and the Tamil Sangams under the hegemonic colonial economy. In this chapter I talk about the social history of the reproduction of Tamil classics in the nineteenth- and the early twentieth-century colonial Tamil society. I attempt to set in motion the lives of men like U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, C.W. Damodaram Pillai and Arumuga Navalar over a period of social change, and study how a pattern of relationships, ideas and institutions emerged. The printing of Tamil classical texts like the Thirukkural, Sivakacintamani, Silappatikaram, Manimekalai, Pathuppattu, Purananuru, Kalithogai, Aingurunuru, Pattirruppathu, Narrinai, Agananuru, Paripadal and Kurunthogai was part of a larger effort which began at the turn of the nineteenth century to transform the Tamil literary canon from a manuscript tradition into print form. It was neither a linear process nor For relying on U.V. Swaminatha Iyer’s autobiography to understand the reconstitution of nineteenth-century Tamil literary canon and literary culture, see A.R. Venkatachalapathy, ‘“Enna Prayocanam?”’ Constructing the Canon in Colonial Tamilnadu’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 42 (4), 2005, pp. 535–53; Norman Cutler, ‘Three Moments in the Genealogy of Tamil Literary Culture’ in Sheldon Pollock, ed., Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003, pp. 271–88. For placing the emphasis on U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and C.W. Damodaram Pillai for the ‘rediscovery’ of classical Tamil literature, see K. Nambi Arooran, Tamil Renaissance and Dravidian Nationalism 1905–1944, Madurai, 1980, pp. 15–20; Eugene F. Irschick, Politics and Social Conflict in South India: The Non-Brahman Movement and Tamil Separatism, 1916– 1929, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1969, pp. 281–82.

2

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

85

an effort by a few individual scholars, as the existing literature on the subject would want us to believe. In the competitive environment under colonialism, the printing of Tamil classical texts was met with competition. The success of the editor of classical texts depended on his ability to secure effective patronage. In this chapter, I shall describe how editors like Swaminatha Iyer, Damodaram Pillai and Arumuga Navalar succeeded in getting patronage for publishing the classical Tamil literary works. The existing studies on nineteenth-century history of Tamil printing are of a ‘documentary’ nature giving the list of the titles of published texts, the names of the authors, editors and printing presses. The social history of nineteenth-century Tamil printing is still, thus, in its initial stages despite the abundance of source material available in the colonial archives.3 A mere glance at the quarterly catalogue of books and periodicals printed and registered in each province of British India under the Regulation of Printing Presses and the Registration of Book Act of 1867 would inform us of the significance of such data for reconstructing the social history of printing in the nineteenth century. These quarterly catalogues, prepared by the Registrar of Books of each province and the Director of Public Instruction and the provincial government, after approval from the Home Department, were published as supplements to the gazettes of the respective province. There is no doubt that there were books and periodicals that escaped the registration as is evident from the periodic reports and letters submitted by the Registrar of Books and the Director of Public Instruction to the government. These periodic reports and letters emphasised the need to implement the law with utmost strictness so that no printer will evade the law by not sending copies of their publications to the government. These quarterly catalogues were so far used by the historians to reconstruct the quantitative history of book production in colonial India.4 Without Mayilai Seeni Venkatasamy, Pathampotam Nurrantut Tamil Illakiyam, Santhi Noolagam, Chennai, 1962, also Saradha Manicham Pathipagam, Chennai, 2003; Ma. Su. Sambandam, Accum Pathippum, Tamilar Pathipagam, Chennai, 1980. The only exception in English is the recent work of A.R. Venkatachalapathy. See A.R. Venkatachalapathy, The Province of the Book: Scholars, Scribes and Scribblers in Colonial Tamilnadu, Permanent Black, Ranikhet, 2012.

3

Robert Darnton, ‘Literary Surveillance in the British Raj: The Contradictions of Liberal Imperialism’, Book History, 4, 2001, pp. 133–76; ‘Book Production in British India: 1850–1900’, Book History, 5, 2002, pp. 239–62.

4

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

86

Manuscripts, Memory and History

undermining the importance of such quantitative history, I shall reconstruct the social history of book production in colonial Tamil society with particular attention to the classical Tamil literary texts. Prior to the Act of 1867, the colonial state did not initiate any such mandatory mechanism to register the printed word. For the period before 1867 we have to rely on the catalogues of printed texts in the vernacular languages produced by Christian missionaries like Rev. James Long and Rev. William Taylor.5 John Murdoch in his Classified Catalogue of Tamil Printed Books (1865) gives us a detailed list of books printed in Tamil prior to 1865. However, there are limitations with his catalogue too as there is no comprehensive information about the editor/printer for many of the works he had listed. Fortunately, the books printed at the College Press of the College of Fort St. George, initially under the able supervision of Francis Whyte Ellis, are still available and can be accessed. The annual administrative reports of the College of Fort St. George prepared by the Board of Superintendence of the College to the Madras government and the Court of Directors contain a list of books published by the College Press. These editions will inform us of the printing activity during the first half of the nineteenth century.6 There are also literary works edited by two printer–publishers based in Madras during the 1830s and 1840s, namely Saravanaperumalaiyar and Visakapperumalaiyar. As we shall see, in the second edition of the medieval Tamil grammar book Nannool, published in 1840 by Visakapperumalaiyar, there is an advertisement at the end of the book where the editor gives a catalogue of the books printed at the Kalvivilakka Accukkudam press. This catalogue also helps us to understand the nature of the Tamil literary works that were printed during the last two decades of the first half of the nineteenth century. On the basis of these sources, I attempt to reconstruct the social history of the printing of classical Tamil literature during the first half of the nineteenth century. For James Long’s catalogue as a valuable source for reconstructing the Bengali literature, see Tapti Roy, ‘Disciplining the Printed Texts: Colonial and Nationalist Surveillance of Bengali Literature’ in Partha Chaterjee, ed., Texts of Power: Emerging Disciplines in Colonial Bengal, University of Minnesota Press, Minnesota, 1995, pp. 30–62; Anindita Ghosh, Power in Print: Popular Publishing and the Politics of Language and Culture in a Colonial Society, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006. 6 For a history of the College of Fort St. George in the light of the development of Dravidian comparative philology, see Thomas R. Trautmann, Languages and Nations: The Dravidian Proof in Colonial Madras, Yoda Press, New Delhi, 2006, pp. 116–50. 5

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

87

There are, however, certain constraints which one needs to bear in mind when trying to write the social history of printing. The early editions of Tamil literary works published in the first three quarters of the nineteenth century did not have detailed prefaces with factual details of the editors. Instead, we find the conventional versification of prefaces as outlined in the medieval grammar book Nannool. This goes in the name of the payiram (foreword) in Tamil, which are further classified into the sirappuppayiram (special foreword) and the potuppayiram (general foreword). They are in poetic forms that are highly conventional in style and presentation. The special foreword may often contain sarrukkavi (poems in praise of the work and editor) by reputed pundits of the time and the general foreword may contain a poem written by the editor/publisher of the old literary work. The general foreword usually details the significance of the work. A special foreword, which may contain poems written by pundits of the time, helps us to understand the social standing of the editor among the circle of pundits and mutts. Sarrukkavi by reputed pundits to the special foreword also bestowed honour and prestige on the editor of the old Tamil literary works. In this sense, printing old Tamil literary works itself is an act of honour and prestige. As we shall see soon in detail, the traditional foreword by the editors in the poetic form often narrates how they had to print the old literary work due to the concern of pundits around them. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, the style of the preface of the editors changed. The editor/publisher no longer resorted to the conventional versification format but rather resorted to prose. The change in the style of prefaces by the editor/publishers of Tamil literary works points to the changing social conditioning of the history of print in the nineteenth century. The prefaces written in prose go by the name of mukaurai or pathippurai. Prefaces written in prose were often elaborate, detailing the work, their authors, their standing in Tamil literary tradition, manuscript provenance, different versions of it, mistakes and the idea of putting it into print. Most importantly, the prefaces in prose explicitly acknowledge the financial help rendered by an individual or a group of individuals or an institution for the printing of a literary work. A close study of the names of individuals and institutions will help us to understand the nature of patronage and its changing dimensions for the printing of classical Tamil literary works. The transformation of prefaces from the conventional payiram Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

88

Manuscripts, Memory and History

to the mukaurai itself points to the changing nature of print culture during the nineteenth century. In the quarterly catalogues of books printed and registered in the Madras Presidency prepared by the colonial state from 1867 onwards, there is useful information on the number of copies printed of each work. Examining the statistics of the number of copies printed of classical Tamil literary works and comparing them with the various editor/publishers will help us to examine the nature of patronage and the kind of nexus the editor/publisher maintained with the patrons. A close study of the title page of printed Tamil classics will also give us a direct reference to the nature of the patronage. The editors/publishers of the classics acknowledged the patrons in the title page mentioning that the work had been printed with the financial help of zamindars, the state, the Director of Public Instruction, etc.

Three phases of print and publishing history We can identify three broad phases in the history of the printing of Tamil literature in nineteenth-century colonial Tamil Nadu. The first phase begins with the founding of the College of Fort St. George in 1812. The college press was established where Tamil literary and grammatical works were printed with the active patronage from the East India Company. The college appointed native pundits well-versed in the languages of south India to teach them to the arriving civil servants. At the same time, they were also involved in editing and printing the native literature and grammar. Efforts were made to collect palm-leaf manuscripts from various parts of the Tamil country under the direction of the college. A number of native pundits of the College and their students were to play an important role in the shaping of Tamil literary culture of the nineteenth century. The second phase begins with the editorial and printing activities associated with the Saiva revival movement inaugurated by the Arumuga Navalar in Jaffna which had an impact in Tamil Nadu. In fact, Navalar established Saiva schools and printing presses in Tamil Nadu and maintained active links with the landholding zamindars of Ramanathapuram and Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, the largest landholding Saiva Mutt of the nineteenth century. Arumuga Navalar left such a legacy in the sphere of printing of Tamil literary works that Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

89

often his followers came to be regarded as belonging to the ‘Navalar’ school. Simultaneously, when Navalar was engaged in a polemical battle with Christian missionaries in Jaffna over the printing of Tamil literary works, there was a proliferation of the printing of Tamil literary works in Madras. It is typically represented in the printing activities of two of the foremost editors of Tamil literary works of the 1840s to the 1860s, namely Saravanapperumalaiyar and Visakapperumalaiyar. Basing their headquarters at Kalvivilakka Accukkudam, these two scholars who hailed from the Virasaiva community printed many Tamil literary works for two decades beginning in the 1830s. It was upon the foundation of the two phases that the third phase begun, which is represented in the editorial works of C.W. Damodaram Pillai, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and others. However, the third phase is important because the literary works brought out during the third phase were to radically alter the understandings of Tamil literature and its history. This phase begun roughly from the 1870s but became more transparent in the 1880s. For the next twenty years beginning from1880, three major Tamil epics, namely the Silappatikaram, Sivakacintamani and Manimekalai were printed in full for the first time. What is known widely as Sangam literature, namely the Pathuppattu, Purananuru and Kalithogai were printed before 1900; and subsequently, the Agananuru, Pattirruppathu, Paripadal, Narrinai, Aingurunuru and Kurunthogai were printed. All these literary works printed after the 1880s radically altered the understanding of Tamil language, literature and its history as never before. Hence, the third phase needs to be mapped more thoroughly in relation to the first two phases. The chronological distinction we made here of the three broad phases is not rigid or mutually exclusive but a phased understanding will help us to map the continuities and discontinuities.

College of fort st. george and tamil pundits The establishment of political power by the East India Company following the military conquest of the regions of south India in the late eighteenth century necessitated the establishment of an administrative mechanism. Learning the languages of south India then was a necessity for the junior civil servants (known then as writers) posted in Madras, the headquarters of south India. However, the junior servants arriving from Britain were trained at the College of Fort William at Calcutta, created Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

90

Manuscripts, Memory and History

in 1800, where the languages of south were taught as one of the modern languages. There were institutions in Bengal like the Asiatic Society formed in 1784 prior to the establishment of the College of Fort William. In fact, when the College of Fort William was established, the arriving civil servants were trained under the supervision of the Orientalists’ of the Asiatic Society for three years before being posted at various provinces. Three classical languages and six modern languages were taught. Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit were taught as classical languages while Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Marathi, Bengali and Hindustani were taught as modern languages. The idea that the College of Fort William would be the educational centre of entire India did not go well with the Court of Directors of the East India Company. The Court of Directors established the East India College in London in 1806, initially at the Hertford Castle and later moved to Haileybury. However Haileybury did not completely sideline the College of Fort William. It was decided that the first two years of training for civil servants would be held at the East India College and the remaining period would be held at the College of Fort William or Madras or Bombay. There was a need felt to establish a college of learning in Madras similar to the College of Fort William in Calcutta. The result was the founding of the College of Fort St. George in Madras (known as Chennai Kalvi Sangam) in 1812. Concomitant to this development was the process of relocation of literary cultures from traditional centres like Tanjore to Madras. When Madras became the headquarters of the colonial government in south India it displaced the traditional centres of literary productions. It was exemplified in the activities of the College of Fort St. George from 1812. The college, it has been argued, represented a new institutional patron of Indian literature and played an important role in the development of a print culture in Tamil and Telugu classics. Aptly described as a ‘marshalling yard’, the college brought together the British Orientalists, indigenous scholars and civil servants in the study of the languages and literatures of south India. It appointed headmasters to teach Indians English and Englishmen and junior civil servants the indigenous languages. The first Tamil headmaster appointed by the college was Chidambara Vathiyar, a pandaram (a follower of Saiva religion or a member of Saiva monastery). Apart from the instruction of languages of south India, the college also taught Hindu and Muhammadan law. It spearheaded the revival of letters by actively Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

91

promoting the learning and teaching of languages of south India and by the printing of grammatical and literary works. It formed a scholarly library that included both printed books and non-printed handwritten manuscripts. It recruited staff and entrusted them with the work of collecting palm-leaf manuscripts from various regions of south India. A. Muthusami Pillai, the manager of the College of Fort St. George, in his translation into English of the life of Jesuit missionary C.J. Beschi, gives a graphic account of his acquaintance with Orientalists associated with the College of Fort St. George like A.D. Campbell, Benjamin Guy Babington, Francis Whyte Ellis and Sir Walter Elliot. He also informs us that his expedition to south Tamil Nadu was motivated by Ellis’s desire to collect the works of C.J. Beschi. It is appropriate here to quote Muthusami Pillai where he details his experience of the southern tour. In 1822, at the instance of Mr. Benjamin Guy Babington, and under the direction of Mr. Richard Clarke, I undertook to prepare a brief history of Father Beschi’s life … In executing the task, I availed myself of the manuscripts, which in 1798 had been prepared on the same subject by Viduvan Saminada Pillei, an excellent Tamil poet, and the author of many Tamil works. In addition to the assistance derived from this source, I was in possession of many interesting and important facts regarding Father Beschi, which I gleaned during a tour through the South, from tradition[al] accounts, still preserved among the people. My journey to the south was undertaken at the desire of Messrs. F.W. Ellis, the then senior member of the College Board, and A.D. Campbell, the present senior member, for the purpose of procuring a collection of Father Beschi’s works, and I gladly embrace this opportunity to express my acknowledgement to these gentlemen for having confided to me a commission so honourable, and so congenial to my feelings. In truth, Mr. Campbell and Mr. Ellis are entitle to the gratitude of all, who take an interest in the preservation and spread of the oriental languages. They are the authors of many valuable oriental works. By their example and encouragement they have promoted the study of the native languages, and rescued these from the neglect into which they had fallen after the destruction of the Madura College. No longer sustained by that institution, which had flourished under the patronage of the ancient Pandyan kings, our vernacular languages creeping, if I may use the expression, as the vine without its support, would have rapidly degenerated, and

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

92

Manuscripts, Memory and History

sunk into a state of rudeness, had not the distinguished individuals whom I have just named, by their unremitting exertions, and the zealous co-operation of their colleagues, succeeded in establishing the Madras College, and thrown around it the light of their talents.7

Father Beschi’s works were in demand in Madras, especially the grammars of low and high Tamil, the Tembavani and the Latin translation of the Thirukkural. Muthusami Pillai narrates thus the meeting of Sir John Malcom with Ellis and his desire to have a copy of Beschi’s Tembavani: When Sir John Malcom visited the College of Madras in 1817, Mr. Ellis, in showing him a copy of the Tembavani, written on cadjan, dwelt largely on the merit of that work. Sir John not only expressed his great admiration of the work but also requested that, as Europeans so rarely acquire a perfect knowledge of Indian poetry, or compose poems of such extent and excellence, in any of the eastern languages, Mr. Ellis would procure him a copy of the Tembavani in cadjans, to take with him to England, for the purpose of placing it in Lord Spencer’s library. Accordingly a copy of it was made in cadjans, the two boards of which were ornamented with silver and gold. It was transmitted through the Government of Fort St. George, to Sir John Malcom, when he was Governor of Bombay, by the College Board of Madras.8

Muthusami Pillai also informs us that on his return to Madras from the southern country, he obtained Beschi’s own handwritten palm-leaf manuscript of the Tembavani from one Luz Naig, son of Bungaroo Naig, Beschi’s disciple. He also procured for Ellis Beschi’s translation of the Thirukkural’s first two sections – Aratuppal and Porutppal – into Latin. I am enabled to supply some information regarding this work. In 1816 I was sent by the late Mr. Ellis, and Mr. A.D. Campbell, to the South, to procure useful works for the College. In my search for books of that description, I found amongst several works of merit a Latin translation of the Cural, which I forwarded along with other manuscripts to Mr. Ellis. I beg to add an extract from that gentleman’s reply to a letter, which on that occasion I had the honour of addressing him, regarding the translation of the Cural.9 A. Muthusami Pillai, Brief Sketch of the Life and Writings of Father C.J. Beschi, or ViraMamuni Translated from the Original Tamil by A. Muttusami Pillai, J.B. Pharoah, Madras, MDCCXL, pp. 4–5.

7

8

Ibid, p. 11.

9

Ibid, p. 19.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

93

Muthusami Pillai then gives the excerpt of the letter written by Ellis to him after obtaining a copy of Beschi’s Latin translation of Kural: The books have arrived safe and I commend your diligence in collecting them. Viramamuni’s commentary on the Tiruvalluver Cural is exceedingly valuable, and you must use all your diligence in completing the copy and in endeavouring to bring the original with you to Madras, so that I may be able to compare them and to complete the correction of the copy. Should it be necessary for you to remain longer to the southward on this account, do so, as it is of great consequence that an entire copy of this excellent work should be procured for the College. Be diligent in enquiring after another work of Viramamuni and for any other books that may be use of to the College. Yours F.W. Ellis Madras, 27th September 181610

It is clear from the description of Muthusami Pillai that the college actively promoted the collection of palm-leaf manuscripts from various parts of south India, especially the works of Jesuit missionary C.J. Beschi. Muthusami Pillai says Beschi’s dictionary, The Sadur Agaradi, was printed by the College Press in 1824 and was reprinted by the Rev. J. Smith, a protestant missionary of the London Missionary Society, at the Church Mission Press at Madras, in 1835. He also mentions that the College Board printed Beschi’s Low Tamil Grammar in Latin in 1813. In 1738, the Protestant Missionary Press in Tranquebar published Beschi’s Low Tamil Grammar in Latin. From this copy, an English translation was published by Vapery Press in Madras. The idea of establishing a press for the college was on the agenda of the committee formed to establish the college. Accordingly, with the active involvement of Ellis, College Press was established in 1813 with English and Tamil fonts readily available. The college encouraged the headmasters to write books which the College Press could publish. According to Kamil Zvelebil, the College of Fort St. George in Madras had an important role to play in the early publishing of various books in Tamil.11 Even before the College Press was established in 1813, the Ibid. Kamil Zvelebil, Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1992, pp. 159–60.

10 11

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

94

Manuscripts, Memory and History

Madras government showed a keen interest in promoting the learning of languages of south India although it was unwilling to allot funds for it. It awarded cash prizes to civil servants showing proficiency in the study of native languages and announced an offer of a handsome amount as a prize to those who compiled a grammar of Tamil in common prose. Up until 1809, there were twenty-two civil servants who won cash prizes awarded by the government for demonstrating their proficiency in the languages of south India. There was a madrassah set up in Fort St. George where native staff were appointed to teach the languages of south India to the arriving junior servants of the company. Subbaraya Mudaliyar, a native registrar to the Zilla Court in Chingleput, made an unsuccessful attempt to impress the government by composing a simple grammar text Tamil Vilakkam, published in 1811. The author of Tamil Vilakkam held the view ‘that the Shanscrit is the mother of the Tamel language’, and this was against the prevailing view of Orientalists based in Madras who disagreed with the Calcutta Orientalists. It is not surprising then that the Tamil Vilakkam was rejected by the government and at the end, the author himself, through an unknown printer, published it. However he was recognized by the Madras government in 1817 with the gift of a golden snuffbox bearing an inscription that the company acknowledged the author’s ‘endeavors to promote a knowledge of the Tamel Language among their Servants’. The list of subscribers to Subbaraya Mudaliyar’s Tamil Vilakkam ranged from Lord William Bentinck to local zamindars and rajas.12 At the time of the establishment of the College Press in 1813, there existed a few printing presses in Madras. However, the College Press would soon overshadow the rest at least till the 1830s when it published some twenty-five books. In 1814, the works printed at the College Press were the following: 1. The Rev C.J. Beschi’s Latin Grammar of the Low Tamil. 2. A Tamil translation of Uttara Ramayana from the original Sanskrit, by Chidambara Pandaram, the head Tamil master at the college – a text for the use of the European students. 3. A Treatise on Tamil Grammar. 4. Rev. C.J. Beschi’s Latin Dictionary of Low Tamil. Stuart Blackburn, Print, Folklore and Nationalism in Colonial South India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2003, pp. 82–87.

12

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

95

5. Rev. C.J. Beschi’s Latin Dictionary of High Tamil. 6. Collection of Tamil Tales by Chidambara Pandaram. 7. A Tamil translation from the Sanskrit of the Mitacara or the ‘Commentary of the Vigneswara’ on the text of Yagna Valkya, a general treatise on Hindu Law by Perur and Chidambara Pandaram.13 The government patronage to these publications was considerable, although all of them were directly useful for the colonial administration. The headmasters of the college were encouraged to write books and the College Press printed them for pedagogical purposes. Most of the works printed at the College Press were grammars which had immediate utility for learning the language (see Table 1 to 3 at the end of chapter). The annual expenditure of the printing department of the college from 1812 to 1828 shows a marginal increase when compared to the expenditure of other departments (see Table 4 at the end). Except the printing of the translation of the Thirukkural by Ellis, the majority of the works printed at the college did not include any of the classical Tamil works. In other words, the Tamil literary works printed by the College Press did not in any way result in a new understanding of Tamil literary past. Thomas Trautmann argues that since the College of Fort St. George played a significant role in the collection of Tamil literary works in palm-leaf manuscripts from all over south India, the beginnings of Tamil renaissance should be traced to the early nineteenth century instead of the conventional understanding that it begun only during the late nineteenth century.14 The college also maintained a library but we could not unfortunately trace the nature of the collection. There is no catalogue available which can throw light on the nature of the book collection at the college library. Rev. William Taylor’s first volume of A Catalogue Raisonne of Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of the (Late) College Fort St. George, published in 1857, documents only Mackenzie’s collections deposited in the college library during September 1828. D.F. Carmicheal, Secretary to the Board of Examiners’ Office of Old College, Fort St. George, has written a detailed preface to the first volume of Rev. William Taylor’s Catalogue Raisonne. The preface informs us about the College Board’s Collection IOR/F/4/525/12538, pp. 158–61, Oriental and India Office Records (OIOR), British Library, London.

13

14

Thomas R. Trautmann, Languages and Nations, 2006, pp. 202–08.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

96

Manuscripts, Memory and History

history of the college collection which is solely Mackenzie’s collection. Carmicheal makes a reference to a pre-Mackenzie collection in the college library which contained some about 300 volumes. However, the history of these 300 volumes, he states, ‘cannot be particularly traced’.15 It was Mackenzie’s manuscripts in the college library that Rev. William Taylor catalogued systematically in his first volume of Catalogue Raisonne.

Dictionaries, grammars and the colonial state There was no systematic effort made by the colonial administrators to appraise the Tamil literary texts of historical time periods. The government’s effort was confined to extending patronage for the printing of grammars and dictionaries which suited their immediate necessity of training junior servants in learning the native language for the purposes of administration. Throughout the nineteenth century the production of Tamil grammars and dictionaries remained one of the concerns of the colonial state. Funded directly or indirectly by the state, these grammars and dictionaries remained an important source for the learning of Tamil language by the civil servants of the state as well as the missionaries. Native pundits collaborated with the missionaries and civil servants in the production of Tamil grammars and dictionaries throughout the nineteenth century. Robert Anderson, who served in the Madras Civil Service till 1819 and later taught Oriental languages at the East India Company’s college at Haileybury, published Rudiments of Tamul Grammar Combining with the Rules of Kodun Tamul or the Ordinary Dialect, an Introduction to Shen Tamul or the Elegant Dialect, of the Language in 1821 under the patronage of the Court of Directors of the East India Company. He was associated with the College of Fort St. George briefly before his departure to England due to illness. Before his departure, he obtained a translated copy of C.J. Beschi’s grammar of kotun Tamil (spoken Tamil) and cen Tamil (literary or high Tamil) from Benjamin Guy Babington out of which he wrote the rudiments of Tamil grammar.16 In 1822, the College Press published Rev. William Taylor, A Catalogue Raisonnee of Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of the (Late) College, Fort Saint George, vol. 1, Fort St. George Gazette Press, Madras, 1857, p. i–xxviii.

15

Robert Anderson, Rudiments of Tamul Grammar Combining with the Rules of Kodun Tamul or the Ordinary Dialect, an Introduction to Shen Tamul or the Elegant Dialect, of the Language, J.M. Richardson, London, 1821, pp. xv–xvii.

16

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

97

Benjamin Guy Babington’s translation of Beschi’s grammar of the high dialect of Tamil language with the title A Grammar of the High Dialect of the Tamil Language Termed SHEN-TAMIL to Which is Added an Introduction to Tamil Poetry by the Reverend Father C.J. Beschi. Babington observed in the preface to this work that ‘the present translation was undertaken with a view to facilitate the student’s labours. The style of the original is by no means elegant, and not unfrequently difficult; and although, among the students of the College, for whose use particularly these sheets are intended, many are, no doubt, sufficiently acquainted with Latin to read it, yet few could do so without some labours.’17 He also stated that the English translation of Beschi’s grammar of common Tamil is already in use among the students of the College of Fort St. George. It shows the extent to which the early nineteenth-entury colonial administrators were dependent on the works of Father C.J. Beschi. Babington observed that ‘Beschi seems to have had a more perfect acquaintance with Tamil literature, than any foreigner who ever undertook the study: perhaps, than any native of modern times. His voluminous works, both in prose and poetry, composed in Tamil, as well as his translations from it, are held in great esteem; and it is a singular fact, that one of the best original grammars of than language now extant, is the production of his pen.’18 A somewhat underestimation of Beschi’s grammar was made by C.T.E. Rhenius when he wrote a grammar of Tamil published as early as 1834. In the introduction to this grammar, Rhenius observes the difficulty in comprehending the works of Beschi and Ziegenbalg who also produced a grammar of the Tamil language. Although Rhenius acknowledges the importance of Beschi’s and Ziengalbalg’s contribution to the Tamil language and literature, according to him, they fail to provide the ‘real’ language of the people.19 In the same year when Rhenius published his Tamil grammar, Rev J.P. Rottler published the Dictionary of the Tamil and English. Rottler was a dedicated missionary from Tranquebar whose contribution to natural science and missionary activities is well known. He was offered a chair to teach Tamil at the Asiatic Society of Bengal which he declined due to his commitment to missionary work. His Dictionary of Benjamin Guy Babington, A Grammar of the High Dialect of the Tamil Language termed Shen-Tamil to Which Is Added an Introduction to Tamil Poetry by the Reverend Father C.J. Beschi, The College Press, Madras, 1822, pp. ii–iii.

17

18

Ibid, pp. i–ii.

19

C.T.E. Rhenius, Tamil Grammar, Palamcottah, 1834, p. i.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

98

Manuscripts, Memory and History

the Tamil and English was dedicated to William Bentinck, then Governor General and Commander in Chief of India. Although the Vepery Mission Press in Madras printed his dictionary, Rottler acknowledged the ‘valuable assistance’ afforded by the Madras government through their college in writing the work.20 The production of Tamil grammar and dictionary was clearly the agenda of the government since it directly suited their need. The College Press (re)printed Beschi’s grammar of Kotum Tamil in 1813 apart from extending patronage to B.G. Babington to translate Beschi’s grammar of high Tamil into English in 1822. Apart from this, the government also encouraged the native pundits appointed as headmasters of the college to publish simple grammars in Tamil. Thandavaraya Mudaliyar, who served as the headmaster of Tamil at the college, composed the Ilakkana Vinavitai, a grammar premier in prose, which was printed by the College Press in 1820. The College Press once again printed the revised edition of this grammar by the author himself in 1828. Together with Muthusami Pillai, Thandavaraya Mudaliyar edited Beschi’s Sadur-agaradi, a dictionary, which was printed in 1824. The College Press continued to print till 1833 after which it became defunct and non-existent. This did not however prevent the government from extending patronage to the printing of grammars and dictionaries. The second half of the nineteenth century saw the production of Tamil–English dictionary by the American Missionary Miron Winslow and Peter Percival. Winslow’s dictionary was printed at the American Mission Press, Madras, in 1862, titled A Comprehensive Tamil and English Dictionary. The Madras government took the share of 100 copies in the enterprise that was funded by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. The work for Winslow’s dictionary begun even before Rottler’s dictionary was printed in 1834. Rev. Peter Percival, who served as the Professor of Sanskrit and Vernacular Literature in the Presidency College, along with native scholars like Gabriel Tissera and other missionaries, ably assisted Rev. J. Knight in his initial efforts during the decade of the 1830s. On the death of Rev. J. Knight, American missionaries in Jaffna purchased his collections, and Rev. Levi Spaulding along with Rev. Samuel Hutchings developed it further before Winslow could take on the project and complete it in 1862. While giving the Rev. J.P. Rottler, Dictionary of the Tamil and English Language, vol. I, part I, Vepery Mission Press, Madras, 1834, p. 1.

20

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

99

final touches to the dictionary, Winslow was assisted by foremost native Tamil pundits of Madras like Ramanuja Kavirayar, Visakapperumalaiyar, Veerasamy Chetty and Viswanatha Pillai.21 The colonial state was concerned with the production of grammars and dictionaries in Tamil during the first half of the nineteenth century. It extended patronage not to the revival of classical Tamil literature but to the translations/reproduction of grammars, dictionaries and law texts. The attitude of the colonial state was well reflected by H. Stokes of the Madras Civil Service when he wrote the following in his introduction to the translation of Kumaraguruparar’s Nitineri Vilakkam published in 1830: It is remarkable that, although many Europeans are engaged, with activity and interest, in studying and writing the Tamil Language, the genuine classical literature of the Tamil people appears to receive scarcely any share of their attention. The study has not only been neglected by Europeans, but it has been discouraged among the Natives. The Tamil language has now been brought within the sphere of that mighty engine of literature, the Press; and it is evident that the literature of the country will take whatever direction those may give to it, by whom the Press is principally controlled. Hitherto this control has been almost entirely in the hands of Europeans, but with the exception of the extraordinary labours of BESCHI, and the more recent exertions of Mr. Ellis and Mr. B.G. Babington, scarcely a single effort has been made to recommend or facilitate the study of Tamil Classics either to the Natives or to Europeans. Such a neglect of Classical Tamil, or, as it is generally termed by Europeans, High Tamil, can only have arisen from a general impression, that an acquaintance with it is either unattainable or useless.22

However by creating a college in Madras for the learning of south Indian languages and literature, the state created an environment where literature and ideas could be exchanged. The civil servants interacted with the appointed Tamil pundits of the college and availed themselves S. Jebanesan, ‘The Development of Tamilian Thought in Nineteenth Century Sri Lanka (The Contribution of the Higher Educational Enterprise of the American Missionaries)’, PhD thesis submitted in Tamil at the University of Jaffna, 1987, translated into English by the author, pp. 173–74. This thesis is available at the archives of the United Theological College, Bangalore.

21

H. Stokes, The Nitinerivilakkam of Cumara Gurupara Tambiran: A Hundred and Two Stanzas on Moral Subjects with an English Translation, Vocabulary and Notes, Illustrative and Explanatory, Vepery Mission Press, Madras, 1830, p. iii.

22

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

100 Manuscripts, Memory and History with an opportunity to learn the literature of the land although there was no official patronage or an existing mandatory law for the learning of classical literature. Francis Whyte Ellis’s translation of the Thirukkural stands out as a sole classical Tamil literary work published during this first phase. In this work Ellis demonstrates a mastery over a wide array of Tamil literary works including classical works like the Purananuru, Patinenkilkanakku, Tholkappiyam, Silappatikaram and Tirumurugarrupatai, apart from works like the Sivakacintamani, Sudamani, Kamba Ramayanam, Thiruvasagam and numerous Puranas. The verses from these works cited by Ellis in his illustrative notes to the Thirukkural never appeared in print before.23 Obviously Ellis was drawing the verses from his study of these classical works in palm-leaf manuscripts. It is not known whether these palm-leaf manuscripts were part of the library collections of the College of Fort St. George. Ellis did not provide us any information regarding the provenance of the manuscripts he consulted for his notes to the Thirukkural.

Tamil pundits and the proliferation of printing presses in madras After the Act of 1835 was passed by Charles Metcalfe which allowed Indians to own printing presses, there was a proliferation of indigenous printing presses existing independently of government patronage. Between the 1830s and 1870s, the Tamil literary works were printed in presses like Laxmi Vilasa Accukkudam, Prabhakara Accukkudam, Viveka Vilakka Accukkudam, Kalvivilakka Accukkudam, Shanmuga Vilasa Accukkudam, Muttamil Vilakka Accukkudam, Saraswati Vilasa Accukkudam, Avvai Tamil Vilakka Accukkudam, Kalvikkatal Accukkudam and Vidyanupala Yantra Accukkudam. Among them an important role to print the Tamil literary works during the late 1830s and 1840s was taken up by Kalvivilakka Accukkudam owned by Saravanapperumalaiyar and Visakapperumalaiyar of Madras. Kandappaiyar, the father of Saravanapperumalaiyar and Visakapperumalaiyar, learned Tamil Francis Whyte Ellis, On Virtue (this volume is a translation of the first twelve chapters of the section on Aram by Ellis without title page and the year of publication that can be found in the Indian Institute Collection of the Bodleian Library, Oxford University, with shelf number 18 D 25). I thank Colin Harris and Gillian Evinson for providing me access to this work at Bodleian Library, Oxford.

23

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

101

language and literature under Kacciyappa Munivar of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. Hailing from Tiruttanikai, a village near Madras, the two brothers learnt Tamil under Ramanuja Kavirayar before taking up teaching and editorial work. Visakapperumalaiyar taught Tamil at the Sakala Sastra Kalvi Salai in Madras while simultaneously engaging himself with editing and printing Tamil literary works. Together the Perumal brothers established Kalvivilakka Accukkudam at Otterikucappettai near Madras, and printed the first book in 1834. Stuart Blackburn argues that together the Perumal brothers wrote or edited some twentyfour books till 1847, including works like the medieval Tamil grammar books Nannool, Thirukkural, Naitatam, Viralivitututu, Ciru Kuli, Perum Kuli and Kola Tipikai.24 This assessment of the printing output by the Perumal brothers by Blackburn appears to be an underestimation. It is probably likely that together they printed over seventy books including the Tirumurugarrupatai, later included in the Tamil Saiva canonical literature as well. Their printing of the Tirumurugarrupatai prior to 1839, more than a decade before Arumuga Navalar printed the same in 1851, requires a rethinking of our conventional understanding that it was Navalar who first printed the work.25 Apart from the Tirumurugarrupatai they also edited and published the Sangattuttirikatuka Urai before 1839. The source for our understanding of their prolific printing output comes from their second edition of the medieval Tamil grammar text Nannool, edited and published in 1839. In this second edition of medieval Tamil grammar, there is a useful advertisement at the end of the book where Visakapperumalaiyar gives detailed information to the readers of the books printed by them, works that were in print and texts they intend to print in future and a mention of the address in which the readers can purchase the editions.

Stuart Blackburn, Print, Folklore and Nationalism, Permanent Black, Delhi, 2003, pp. 104–05.

24

For a conventional understanding that it was Navalar who first printed Tirumurugarrupatai in 1851, see V. Arasu, ‘Sangam Literature: Reception and Reconstruction’ in M. Kannan and Carlos Mena, eds., Negotiations with the Past: Classical Tamil in Contemporary Tamil, French Institute, Pondicherry, 2006, p. 213.

25

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

102 Manuscripts, Memory and History Table 3.1: Books printed by Visakapperumalaiyar before 1839 Sl. no

Work

Price

1

Thiruvalluvar Kural Urai

--

2

Balapotavilakkanam

--

3

Kolatipikai

--

4

Nannurkantikai Urai

--

5

Illakanacurukka Vinavitai

--

6

Thiruvasagam

--

7

Thiruvilayatal Puranam

--

8

Thiruvatavur Purana Urai

--

9

Tayumana Swamy Padal Tirattu

--

10

Ariccantira Puranam

--

11

Vairakiya Catakaurai

--

12

Vairakiya Tipa Urai

--

13

Sivaprakaca Kattalai

--

14

Nannacivavatak Kattalai

--

15

Makavakkiyak Kattalai

--

16

Thiruvalavaik Kattalai

--

17

Upanitata Urai

--

18

Atticcuti Urai

--

19

Konrai Ventan Urai

--

20

Vakkundam Urai

--

21

Nanneri Urai

--

22

En Cuvati

--

23

Akavalya Navanitam

--

24

Sudamani Nigantu

--

25

Torkkattatam

--

26

Nilakkakitak Kattattam

--

27

Varunakulatittan Matal

--

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

Sl. no

Work

Price

28

Thiruvarunaik Kalampakam

--

29

Minatciammai Pillaittamil

--

30

Kumaresa Catakam

--

31

Panavitu Tutu

--

32

Arappalicuvara Catakam

--

33

Kulappanayakan Katal

--

34

Palamalai Antati, Centil Antati

--

35

Arunakiri Antati

--

36

Ratnacapapati Malai

--

37

Kovinta Catakam

--

38

Abirami Antati

--

39

Konacaila Malai

--

40

Thiruppukalur Antati

--

41

Tantalaiyar Catakam

--

42

Thirukkaruvaik Kalitturai Antati

--

43

Thirukkaruvaip Pattirruppattantati

--

44

Thirukkaruvai Venpavantati

--

45

Kantaralankaram

--

46

Kantarantati

--

47

Nalvarnanmani Malai

--

48

Soundarya Lakari

--

49

Ulakammai Antati

--

50

Nampiandar Nampi Antati

--

51

Thiruvitaimarutur Mummanikkovai

--

52

Thirumurugarrupatai

--

53

Kantaranuputi

--

54

Porrikkalivenpa

--

55

Thiruttanikai Anuputi

--

103

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

104 Manuscripts, Memory and History Sl. no

Work

Price

56

Thiruttanikai Murukar Talattu

--

57

Velamukam, Ulakaniti

--

58

Tuntivinayakar Viruttam

--

59

Kanapati Akaval

--

60

Thiruvannamalai Venpa

--

61

Sankattu Tirikatuka Urai

--

62

Manavala Narayana Catakam

--

Table 3.2: Books that were in print during 1839 Sl. no

Work

1

Naitata Urai

2

Venkaikkovai Urai

3

Nalatinanurrurai

4

Kuvak Kalampakam

5

Prapulinkalilaiurai

6

Aniyiyal Vilakkam

7

Karikaiurai

8

Matanavastara Malai

9

Thiruppukal

10

Illakkanakkotturai

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

105

Table 3.3: Books that Visakapperumalaiyar intended to print after 1839 Sl. no

Work

1

Prayoka Vivekaurai

2

Tolkappiyaccutiravirutti

3

Illakanavilakkaccuravali

4

Venkai Kalampakam

5

Maruturantati

6

Ekamparanatarula

7

Tirumurukarruppataiurai

8

Muttuttantavarpatam

9

Karacil

10

Cinentramalai

Visakapperumalaiyar mentions four addresses beneath the list of books for sending the orders. It included, apart from his own Kalvivilakka Accukkudam at Otterikuppam, Chennai, Muthuveerasamy Pillai of Puducherry, Subbaraya Iyer of Kutalur and Ramalinga Mudaliyar of Arcot.26 There is no doubt that Visakapperumalaiyar was one of the most prolific editors of Tamil literary works stretching the two decades from the mid-1830s. He taught Tamil at the Presidency College and helped scholars like Rev. Peter Percival and Miron Winslow in their projects on dictionaries. Yet, in all his editorial activities he was hardly encouraged or patronised by the Madras government. The government was concerned with encouraging the missionaries and civil servants in the production of Tamil grammars and dictionaries, and in this project ‘native’ pundits were made assistants. The printing of Tamil literary works did not receive enough attention among the missionaries and the British civil servants. In their writings on the history of Tamil language and literature, they relied on H.H. Wilson’s catalogue of Mackenzie’s Manuscripts and William Taylor’s A Catalogue Raisonnee of Oriental Manuscripts in the Government Library (3 volumes). See appendix in Visakapperumalaiyar, Nannool Mulamum Kantikai Uraiyum, second edition, Kalvi Vilakka Accukkudam, Madras, 1839. 26

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

106 Manuscripts, Memory and History

Arumuga navalar and the publication of saiva tamil literature The Saiva revival movement spearheaded by Arumuga Navalar (1822– 79) in Jaffna in response to the Christian missionary activities had an impact on not only Tamil Nadu but also on the history of printing in the nineteenth century. Born in a dominant landowning caste in Jaffna, Arumuga Navalar’s early educational experience at the Wesleyan Missionary School in Jaffna shaped his career as a Saiva polemicist, revivalist, author and editor of ancient Tamil literary and grammatical works.27 It has been argued that there was a much more favourable climate in Jaffna than in south India for educational and intellectual awakening due to the close relationship and inter-cultural exchange between the indigenous population and Christian missionaries. The large concentration of Saiva Vellala community in Jaffna as against their percentage in Tamil Nadu was also responsible for conversion of the dominant castes in Jaffna. This was a threat to Saivism as realized by Arumuga Navalar who initiated a Saiva revival movement in Jaffna beginning with his famous Pracankam (religious sermon) at Vannarpannai Sivan Koyil in 1847.28 At the Wesleyan Missionary School at the instance of Rev. Peter Percival, he taught students Tamil and English before working for a project of translating the Bible into Tamil. This early educational experience at the Wesleyan Missionary School initially as student/teacher and then as translator of the Bible brought him into contact with western education and the new media of print introduced by the Protestant missionaries. Navalar was to later put to use the rich experience he gained at the Wesleyan Missionary School in the composition of pamphlets and in the rendering of the Saiva religious texts in prose format for a ‘larger audience’ in his movement to revive Saivism against the so-called threat posed by Christian missionaries. There is a vast literature on Arumuga Navalar’s life and activities as a Saiva revivalist beginning with the conventional biographies like that of Upatiyayar Kanakarattina’s Arumuka Navalar Charittiram published in 1882 to a doctoral dissertation submitted at Harvard University by Darshan Ambalavanar titled ‘Arumuga Navalar and the Construction of a Caiva Public in Colonial Jaffna’ (2006).

27

S. Jebanesan, Development of Tamilian thought in the 19th century, PhD thesis submitted in Tamil at the University of Jaffna, 1987, translated into English by the author, p. 138. This thesis is available at the archives of the United Theological College, Bangalore. 28

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

107

Even when engaged with the Bible translation, Navalar realised the threat to Saivism due to Protestant missionary activities that included, apart from spreading the message of the Bible, the criticism of ‘native’ religion as well. After resigning from the Wesleyan Missionary School, Navalar established a Saiva school in Vannarpannai in 1848; and in 1849, he visited Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam where he was conferred the title of ‘Navalar ’(able-tongued). After purchasing a printing press, named subsequently as Vityanupalana Yantrasalai, from south India, he began his editorial activities that were to remain his prime occupation till his death. He authored and printed a series of textbooks for students of his school titled Balapatam beginning from 1851. Apart from these textbooks, Navalar also printed the Saundariyalakari, Periya Puranam, Thirukkovaiyar, Thirukkural, Tirumurugarrupatai and a number of provocative pamphlets. Despite his commitment to Saivism throughout his lifetime, Navalar had a larger Tamil literary consciousness and this is borne out from the list of books that he printed which included a number of non-Saiva works.29 Unlike other editors of Tamil literary works of his time, Navalar was concerned with printing the urai (commentary) wherever possible. It also attests to the fact that Navalar was engaged in popularising the Tamil classics during his lifetime instead of maintaining its classicality and archaic nature. A mere glance at his edition of Manikkavacakar’s Thirukkovaiyar, published in 1860, where at the end of the book he gives an advertisement containing a list of books he had published and intended to publish, would provide us a clue to the kind of project that Navalar was involved in. The list contained seventy-nine books out of which sixty-two remained in print. I shall reproduce below the list that Navalar provides us in the advertisement: Table 3.4: List of books printed by Arumuga Navalar before 1860 Sl. no

Literary work

1

Tiruccitrampalakkovai Naccinarkiniyar Urai

2

Nannool Viruttiurai

3

Thiruvasagam, Tirukkovai Mulam

K. Kailasapathy, Navalar Parri Kailasapathy, Kumaran Puthaga Illam, Chennai, 2005; K. Sivathamby, ‘Tamilil Illakiya Pata Mitpu’ in Perumal Murugan, ed., U. Ve. Sa. Panmuka Alumayin Perruvam, Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, Nagercoil, 2005, pp. 103–39. 29

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

108 Manuscripts, Memory and History Sl. no

Literary work

4

Vairakiyacatakaurai, Vairakiyatipaurai, Avirotavuntiyaurai

5

Periyapurana Vacanam

6

Koyirppuranam

7

Avirotavuntiyaurai

8

Vairakiyacatakaurai

9

Vairakiyatipaurai

10

Kolaimarutalurai

11

Tirumurukarruppatai Urai

12

Tiruccentinirottakayamakavantati Urai

13

Maraicaiyantati

14

Irantam Palapatam

15

Putviti

16

Vinayakarakaval, Tirucenturkkalivenpa

17

Porrikkalivenpa

Table 3.5: List of books that were in print during 1860 by Arumuga Navalar Sl. no

Literary work

1

Periyapurana Cucanam

2

Tiruvalluvar Parimelakaurai

3

Tarukacankirakam, Annampattiyam

4

Iraiyanarakkapporulurai

5

Tholkappiyam Ilampuranaurai

6

Tholkappiyam Senavarayarurai

7

Tholkappiyam Naccinarkinniyarurai

8

Tolkappiyaccutiravirutti

9

Pirayokavivekavurai

10

Illakanavilakkaccuravali

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

Sl. no

Literary work

11

Akapporul Vilakkavurai

12

Purapporulurai

13

Yapperunkalavurai

14

Navanikappatiyalurai

15

Citamparappatiyal

16

Pirapantatipam

17

Viracoliyaurai

18

Neminataurai

19

Kantapuranam

20

Upatesakantam

21

Kurmapuranam

22

Kacikantam

23

Vayucankitai

24

Cetuppuranam

25

Arunakiripuranam

26

Kancippuranam

27

Vinayakapuranam

28

Tiruttanikaippuranam

29

Vetaranyappuranam

30

Civaratirippuranam

31

Tiruppukalurantatiurai

32

Palamalaiantatiurai

33

Puliyuryamakavantatiurai

34

Maruturyamakavantatiurai

35

Irakuvamicam

36

Viliputturalvar Paratam

37

Patinorantirumurai

38

Kumarakuraparacuvamikal Pirapantattirattu

109

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

110 Manuscripts, Memory and History Sl. no

Literary work

39

Civananacuvamikal Pirapantattirattu

40

Civarattirikarpam

41

Kacciyappacuvamikal Pirappantattirattu

42

Comavarakkarpam

43

Urutirakkavicittam

44

Acaukatipai

45

Pirayacittacamuccayam

46

Paramatatimirapanu

47

Caturvetatarpariya Cankirakam

48

Civatattuvavivekam

49

Kallatavurai

50

Sivakacintamani Urai

51

Cilappatikara Urai

52

Manimekalai Urai

53

Valayapati Urai

54

Kalithogai Urai

55

Arunkalacceppurai

56

Nanmanikkatikai Urai

57

Cirupancamulaurai

58

Aranericcara Urai

59

Palamoli Urai

60

Karnarpatu Urai

61

Kalavalinarpatu Urai

62

Purananururai

The Thirukkovaiyar edition of Arumuga Navalar contained a special foreword by the foremost traditional Tamil pundits of the time. Mahavidwan Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, his students Thyagaraya Chettiar and Subbaraya Chettiar

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

111

wrote the Sirappuppayiram, praising the efforts of Arumuga Navalar and the work he edited, in a highly conventional poetic form. Apart from them, Thiruvavaduthurai Adheena Vidwan Thandavaraya Swamigal and Tiricirapuram Murugaiyappillai also wrote sarrukkavi in the special foreword.30 Similarly for the Thirukkural edition of Arumuga Navalar published in 1861, Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai, Thyagaraya Chettiar, Subaraya Chettiar and Jeyvanayakam Pillai wrote a special foreword (sirappuppayiram) in a conventional poetic format. Navalar was patronised by wealthy landlords who belonged to the Saiva faith.31 While in Tamil Nadu, Navalar was patronised by the zaminadars of Ramanathapuram and wealthy landholding mutts like Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. Muthuramalinga Setupati, father of Baskara Setupati, zaminadar of Ramanathapuram, was known for his Tamil learning and his ability to compose Tamil poems. Through his elder brother Ponnuswamy Devar, Muthuramalinga Setupati extended financial help for the printing of old Tamil literary works. He patronised Arumuga Navalar in the printing of the Thirukkural with the commentary of Parimelakar, Thirukkovaiyarurai, Setupuranam, Ilakkanakottu, Ilakkana Vilakkaccuravali and Tarukka Cankirakam.32 In his publication efforts, Navalar also mobilised money through subscriptions and the collection of signatures for the purchase of editions in advance before printing the work. Advertisements for printing the Tamil literary and grammatical works were published in The Morning Star. For printing Karigai, a grammatical work based on Tholkappiyam and Yapparunkalam, an advertisement was given in the paper as well. It stated that those who wanted to get a copy must send their signature and subscription money to Tiruttanikai Kandasamy Iyer of Kalvivilakka Accukkudam at Chennai. It is also stated in the advertisement that once enough signatures have been mobilised Arumuga Navalar, Thirukkovayar Mulamum Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, Muttamilvilakka Accukkutam, Madras, 1860.

30

31

Ibid.

The title pages of the editions of Thirukkovayar, Thirukkural and Setupuranam by Arumuga Navalar mentions the request made by Ponnuswamy Devar of Ramanathapuram Zaminadari for the printing of these works. Similarly, the title page of Arumuga Navalar’s Ilakkana Vilakka Curavali published in 1866 mentions the order of Subramania Desigar of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam to print the work. See also Pulavar Ira Ilankumaran, Maturai Nankam Tamil Cankam, Madurai Tamil Sangam, Madurai, 1987, pp. 27–28.

32

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

112 Manuscripts, Memory and History then the printing work would begin.33 A similar advertisement for the printing of the Sethu Puranam is also found. An advertisement for the printing of Thiruvilayatal Puranam and Periya Puranam commentaries in a press in Chennai appeared in The Morning Star. It stated that those who wished to get the copies of these works could send advance money and subscription to Arumugam, son of Kandar of Nallur, Jaffna. It also updated the progress of printing of these two works.34 Advertisements about the printing of Koyir Puranam commentary and Soundarya Lahari commentary appeared in the paper. It called for the advanced subscription of the copies and detailed the status of printing of those works. It was advertised by Arumugam, son of Kandar of Nallur.35 Arumuga Navalar published the Periya Puranam in 1852 for which he started advertising and collecting subscriptions in advance from 1846. In his edition of the Periya Puranam published in 1852, Navalar wrote a preface (mukaurai) describing the nature and importance of the work for the Saivites. However, he was not concerned about printing the work for the learned alone for he made explicitly clear that his editions were meant for commoners too. Since the Periya Puranam was held in high esteem by the Saiva Siddhanta teachers in the Tamil tradition, Navalar considered it as an important work. He critiqued the learned pundits (karravarkal) for not paying adequate attention to the Periya Puranam and hence his urge to edit and publish the work to not only for them but also for others (marravarkal).36 The Saiva literary works edited and published by Arumuga Navalar were prescribed as textbooks in the school that he started in Vannarpannay. This is evident from a series of polemical exchanges between Arumuga Navalar and the protestant missionaries published in the columns of The Morning Star. In a five-part article titled ‘Native Education’, a representative of a Protestant missionary wrote fiercely against Arumuga Navalar highlighting the way in which he had used the print and the educational institution against the missionary schools. 33

The Morning Star, 24 December 1846, VI (23), p. 184.

34

The Morning Star, 11 June 1846, VI (10), p. 80.

The Morning Star, 25 February 1847, VII (4), p. 16. Also see The Morning Star, 25 March 1847, VII (6), p. 24.

35

See Mukaurai (preface) in Arumuga Navalar, Periya Puranam, Vityanupalanayantra Salai, Chennai, 1852.

36

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

113

The author of the article argued that the syllabus prescribed in the Saiva school established by Navalar differed significantly from that of the missionary schools. By providing the details of the syllabus followed in the Saiva school established by Navalar, where his own published Saiva literary works were prescribed as textbooks, the author had shown the readers the extent to which Navalar deviated from the syllabus prescribed by the missionaries.37 For the first four classes of the students in the Saiva school, the following syllabus was prescribed: FIRST CLASS 1. Kural. This is a poetical work particularly on morals with Commentary. 2. History of Hindustan translated from English. 3. Geography of Hindustan. 4. *Nannool. This is a Tamil Grammar with amplified Commentary. 5. Faruku Sangeraham. This is a compilation and abridgement of Logic with Commentary translated from Sanscrit. 6. Vithana Malie. This is Hindu Astrology with Commentary. 7. Arithmetic. 8. Tiruviliadel Puranam. This is a part of Scanda Purana. SECOND CLASS 1.*Peria Puranam, in prose. This is the history of the Siva Saints. It was originally in poetry, and has later been converted into prose by the Petitioner. 2. Kolai Maruttal. This is an admonition given against the murdering of animal lives with Commentary. 3. Naladiyar. This is a poetical work chiefly on morals, with Commentary. 4. Kola Theepiky. This is an abridgement of Geography and Astronomy in prose. 5. Niroshdaka Yarmaka Anthathe. This work is in praise of the deity, called Canthaswamy. The Commentary on this work has been made by the Petitioner. 6. *Tiruvathavorer Puranam. This is the history of a Saint named Tiruvathavorer; it is in poetry. 7. Kamba Ramayanam. This is an epic poem recording the adventures of Rama the sovereign of Oude. 8. Arithmetic.

37 For first report titled ‘Native Education – I’ see The Morning Star, 9 June 1853, XIII (11), p. 46. For ‘Native Education – 2’ see The Morning Star, 23 June 1853, XIII (12), p. 49. For ‘Native Education – 3’ see The Morning Star of the same issue, p. 52. For ‘Native Education – 4’ see The Morning Star, 28 July 1853, XIII (14), p. 59. For ‘Native Education – 5’ see The Morning Star, 11 August 1853, XIII (51), p. 63. This series of articles represents the antagonism between Navalar’s school and the missionary initiatives.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

114 Manuscripts, Memory and History THIRD CLASS 1. *Negandu, a poetical vocabulary. 2. *Nethe Neri Vilakam a poetical work on morals with Commentary. 3. Peria Puranam. (See 2nd class.) 4. Paratham. An epic poem, narrating the war that occurred amongst the descendants of the Prince Paratha! 5. Arithmetic. FOURTH CLASS 1. Negandu. (See 3rd Class.) 2. Vakkoondam and Nalvally, both poetical works on morals, with Commentary. 3. Naidotham. The poetical history of the kind Nala. 4. Arithmetic. (*Those books which are marked by an asterisk, have been printed at the Petitioner’s Printing Press, and introduced into his school.)38

Arumuga Navalar even made a petition to the state appealing for financial help to run his schools. However, the petition was turned down but the school thrived due to the support from the organization founded by the wealthy residents of Vannarpannai.39 It is evident that Arumuga Navalar maintained active links with wealthy landlords and the Saiva mutts in sustaining his editorial ventures and Saiva revival movement against the Protestant missionaries. Saiva matams (monastery, a religious institution) in Tamil Nadu wielded enormous wealth, power and prestige during the nineteenth century. Commenting on the wealth of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Christopher Baker observes, ‘At the turn of 20th century, the Mutt held some 25,000 acres of Tinnevelly, 1000 acres of Madurai and 3000 acres of Tanjore. It controlled 130 subordinate mutts and possessed a library worth Rs. 30,000.’40 Similarly, Dharmapura Adheenam owned 25,000 acres in Tanjore district and some 12,500 acres outside of Tanjore, apart from controlling the affairs of twenty-seven temples. Baker has underlined the enormous power of temples and mutts in the localities in following terms: Temples and mutts wielded remarkable economic and social power in 38

‘Native Education – 3’, The Morning Star, 23 June 1853, XIII (12), p. 52.

There is a news report criticizing the initiative of Arumuga Navalar in starting a school at Vannarpannai. It argues that wealthy men of Vannarpannai formed an organization and started patronizing the school started by Arumuga Navalar. There is also a news report regarding the formation of the Vannarpannai organization by the residents of Vannarpannai. See The Morning Star, 23 June 1853, XIII (12), pp. 49–50.

39

Christopher Baker, ‘Temples and Political Development’ in C.J. Baker and David A. Washbrook, South India: Political Institutions and Political Change, 1880–1940, Macmillan, New Delhi, 1975, p. 73.

40

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

115

the locality. Owning lands, commanding vast incomes, often controlling markets and credit dispensing valuable jobs and contracts, organizing festivals, patronizing art and learning, maintaining charities and regulating social status, the temples surprisingly were drawn into local politics.41 Kathleen Iva Koppedrayer, in her study of the Vellala lineages of Thiruvavaduthurai, Dharmapuram and Tiruppanantal Adheenams observes, ‘Though the members of these centres are celibate ascetics, they control, through their institutions, vast wealth in land, immovable property, investments and so on. Much of this wealth is related to centres’ administration of a network of temples of South India.’42 Further, with the decision of the colonial state in 1863 to return the control and administration of religious institutions to the Indians, the power of these Adheenams was restored. However, as Koppedrayer clarifies, the Adheenams were managers of endowments even before British rule, at least from the time of their founding in the sixteenth century. Apart from controlling vast tracts of wet and dry lands in and around their location, Adheenams were patronised by the lay followers, especially the landowning class from the neighbouring Tinnelvelly region. Commenting on Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Koppedrayer notes: It should be mentioned that Thiruvavaduthurai also has a lay following. There is a network of Saiva Velala families who live mainly in the Tirunelveli District and who have had a hereditary affiliation with this centre.43

Similarly, the zamindars were involved in traditional modes of securing legitimacy in their localities which often involved a pompous show of wealth and redistribution of resources. The integration of zaminadari areas into the British revenue administration after the Poligari wars and the subsequent demilitarisation of the area resulted in the zamindars adopting traditional modes of securing legitimacy from the subjects of the locality. This involved spending enormous amounts of money for the purposes of rituals in temples, festivals and patronage to literature Ibid, p. 74. Kathleen Iva Koppedrayer, ‘The Sacred Presence of the Guru: The Velala Lineages of Tiruvavatuturai, Dharmapuram, and Tiruppanantal’, PhD thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, McMaster University, 1990, pp. 7–8. 43 Ibid, pp. 25–26. 41 42

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

116 Manuscripts, Memory and History and arts. In this context, it is not surprising to note that the zamindars of Ramanathapuram and other areas were involved in extending patronage to the printing of literary works. They extended patronage not only to Arumuga Navalar but also to the vidwans of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam.44

Patronage and the publication of classics The third phase in the history of the printing of Tamil literature roughly begins from 1880. For the first time three major Tamil epics, the Sivakacintamani, Silappatikaram and Manimekalai, were printed in full in the years 1887, 1892 and 1898 respectively by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. The Kalithogai and Purananuru, which were part of the Ettuthogai (eight anthologies), were printed in the years 1887 and 1894, respectively, by C.W. Damodaram Pillai and U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. Pathuppattu (ten songs) was printed in full for the first time with the commentary of Naccinarkinniyar in 1889 by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. Subsequently, other anthologies of the Ettuthogai, namely the Aingurunuru (1903), Pattirruppathu (1904), Narrinai (1915), Kurunthogai (1915), Paripadal (1918) and Agananuru (1918) were published by scholars like U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, V. Rajagopala Ayyangar, Pinnattur Narayanasamy Iyer and Sowriperumalarangan. These literary works published after 1880 were to radically alter the understanding of Tamil literary history, culture and civilization. Their antiquity was established by historical researches of scholars like P. Sundaram Pillai, S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar, K.G. Sesha Iyer and others. With this general outline of the third phase, let us get into the details of each of the publication of these classical texts. C.W. Damodaram Pillai, in his preface to the Kalithogai published on 30 November 1887 (500 copies were printed), mentions the following patrons for supporting his editorial work:45 Raja Sir T. Madhavarayar – 100 Sir C. Ramasamy Mudaliyar – 100 Pamela G. Price, ‘Raja-dharma in 19th Century South India: Land, Litigation and Largess in Ramnad Zamindari’, Contributions to Indian Sociology, 13 (2), 1979, pp. 207–39. See also her full length study of Ramanathapuram Zaminadari in Kingship and Political Practice in Colonial India, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996.

44

45

C.W. Damodaram Pillai, Nallantuvanar Kalithogai, Scottish Press, Madras, 1887.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

Honourable Justice A. Ramachandraiyer –

350

Honourable Rao Bahadur S.C. Subramaniaiyer – Honourable P. Senarayar –

117

50

10

Perur Zamindar Muthuvijaya Raghunatha Thumbaiyyasamy Thumbachi Naicker – 50 100

Urrumalai Zamindar Iruthalaya Maruthappa Devar – Kumbakonam Sub-court Judge D. Ganapathyaiyer –

20

Kumbakonam Sub-court Vakil S. Raghava Iyengar –

25

Kumbakonam College Principal J.P. Pilterpeg –

20

Kumbakonam College language teacher S. Seshaiyer –

50

Colombo Supreme Court Justice P. Kumarasamy Mudaliyar –

25

Colombo Supreme Court Advocate Honourable P. Ramanatha Mudaliyar – 25 Matturai District Court Judge P. Arunachala Mudaliyar –

25

Jaffna Valikamam West maniam A. Raghunatha Mudaliyar – Cikali Krishnasamy Mudaliyar –

20

Srimat. Tiruppanattalatinam Kumarasamy Tampiran – Vitya Vicaranaik Karutar K. Nakojirayar – Kavitalam Turaicamy Moopanar –

20

50

30

10

Rao Sahib Salem Ramasamy Mudaliyar –

20

One is struck by the occupational background of the patrons and the networks Damodaram Pillai maintained with these people. He had earlier edited and published grammatical works like the Tholkappiyam Sollatikaram with the commentary of Senavarayar, the Tholkappiyam Porulatikaram with the commentary of Naccinarkiniyar, and the Viracoliyam and Iraiyanar Agapporul. The copies of the printed texts remained unsold, and incurred him a loss of 3500. Pillai at one point almost thought of giving up his efforts of printing the literary works due to the loss he suffered. He wrote a letter in The Hindu appealing for help from Tamil scholars and traditional wealthy patrons, which yielded him no great result. However, he recounts that he could get back threefourths of the money of his loss.46 In his edition of the Sulamani, a minor 46

See preface, ibid.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

118 Manuscripts, Memory and History Tamil Jaina epic published in 1889, Damodaram Pillai tells us that Kamaraja Pandiya Nayakar, the zamindar of Bodinayakanur, promised to bear the full printing cost of the epic. However, he received money from Tamil enthusiasts in Rangoon including his own brother Ilaya Tambi Pillai for the printing of the Sulamani. Subramania Desikar, the head of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, encouraged Pillai to print the Sulamani by providing him with a copy of the palm-leaf manuscript donated to the library of the mutt by Malavai Mahalingaiyar. Pillai also seemed to have communicated with a number of people in Jain settlements in Tamil Nadu, apart from requesting his friends to send palm-leaf manuscripts from a Jain mutt like the Sittamur.47 For publishing the Tholkappiyam Eluttatikaram in 1892 with the commentary of Naccinarkinniyar, Pillai depended on the material help extended by M. Annamalai Pillai, a judge in a law court in Pudukkottai. Following his advertisement in The Hindu seeking material help from Tamil enthusiasts for his editions of Tamil classics, he received money from individuals of whom he acknowledged in the preface to the edition of the Kalithogai. In this edition of the Tholkappiyam, he refers to the advertisement he made in The Hindu and acknowledges the help of a few individuals. Pammal Vijayaranga Mudaliyar, K. Britto, Kanakasabai Mudaliyar, Chindamani Velu Pillai, and I. Chinnaswamy Pillai were some of those who extended patronage to the editorial ventures of Damodaram Pillai. These men were English-educated graduates employed by the colonial state. Further in this edition Pillai gives an advertisement about the availability of the editions that he had published before. The copies were made available at various places with the help of individuals like N. K. Sadasiva Pillai of Vidyanupalana Yantra Salai, U. Muthukumarasamy Chettiar of Kalaratnakara Accukkudam, K. Ponnuswamy Pillai of Chidambaram Saiva Prakasa Vidyasalai, A. Kumaraswamy Pillai of Jaffna, T. Tiruvengada Pillai of Tanjore and I. Onrayaka Gounder of Coimbatore.48 Such wide network attests to the distribution of books published by editors of classics like Damodaram Pillai to various printers, book distributors, Tamil scholars and patrons alike. Most importantly, Damodaram Pillai informed in the preface to this edition of the Tholkappiyam that he C.W. Damodaram Pillai, Sulamani, Vityanupalanayantra Salai, Chennai, 1889, pp. 1–12.

47

C.W. Damodaram Pillai, Tholkappiyam Eluttatikaramum Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, Vityanupalanayantra Salai, Chennai, 1892, pp. 2–6.

48

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

119

planned to publish the Purananuru and Paripadal apart from the other works of the Ettuthogai. He made an appeal to Tamil scholars to send him manuscript copies of the Paripadal and Pattirruppathu. Similarly, in the preface to the Ilakkana Vilakkam published in 1889, Damodaram Pillai acknowledges the financial help rendered by Balasubramania Ragunatha Tondaiman, the Prince of Pudukkotai. He also thanks Ambalavana Desiga Murthy, Subramania Desigar of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Tamil scholar T. Kanakasundaram Pillai and publisher N.K. Sadasivam Pillai.49 In the preface to the second edition of the Iraiyanar Akapporul published in 1899, Damodaram Pillai states that he is in the process of editing Agananuru. But it was never published by him in his lifetime. He informs the readers that an Englishman had promised to extend financial help for the printing of the Agananuru.50 The story of the difficulty in getting patronage for the printing of classical Tamil literature emerges in the prefaces of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, yet another successful editor of classical Tamil literary works. For instance, Swaminatha Iyer recounted his difficulty in getting patronage for the editing of the Sivakacintamani. Even before the printing of the Sintamani began, he secured market in the form of collecting signatures and money as a form of subscription. As early as 1881, that is six years prior to the printing of the Sintamani, Iyer collected signatures and money as advance for printing the Tamil epic. In a letter to Iyer by one M. Cevata Maraccayar dated 8 February 1881, we find him narrating his inability to find people who were ready to sign and offer money as advance for the printing of the Sintamani.51 In a preface to the first edition of the Sintamani (1887), Iyer acknowledged the financial help rendered by various individuals from places like Kumbakonam, Tanjore, Kottur, Tiricirapuram, Jaffna, Chennapattanam, Tirunelveli, Urrumalai and Colan Malikai.52 The second edition of the Sivakacintamani was Ibid., pp. 5–6. See preface, C.W. Damodaram Pillai, Iraiyanar Agapporul Nakkiranar Urai, second edition, V.N. Jubilee Press, Chennai, 1899. 51 Letter dated 8 February1881 from M. Cevata Maraccayar from Nagore to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. C, pp. 53–54. The compilation of the unpublished private correspondence of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer is found in four volumes A to D of the Tamilkkaruvoolam at U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library in Besant Nagar, Chennai. 52 U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Sivakacintamani Mulamum Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, Dravida Ratnakara Press, Chennai, 1887, pp. 1–3. 49 50

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

120 Manuscripts, Memory and History published in 1907 by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. In the preface to the third edition of the Sivakacintamani printed in 1922 by commercial printers, Iyer acknowledged the financial help received from the setupatis (a generic term for chieftains or ruling authority of the kingdom of Ramanathapuram) of Ramanathapuram, heads of the Madurai Tamil Sangam, and members of the Law Board. Iyer edited the Pathuppattu in 1889, two years after printing in full the first edition of the Sivakacintamani. The title page of the printed edition alludes to the nature of the patronage: ‘With the help of Sivagangai subdivision Siruvayal Zamindar Muthuramalinga Devar, V. Swaminatha Iyer publish his researched edition of Pathuppattu with the commentary of Naccinarkinniyar.’ Iyer maintained active communication with Muthuramalinga Devar even after the printing of the Pathuppattu. In response to two letters of Iyer, Muthuramalinga Devar sent a reply on 31 December 1890 encouraging him to print another Tamil epic, Silappatikaram.53 A year before the printing of the Pathuppattu, C.M. Swaminathan wrote to Iyer from Chennai stating that he had received a letter from Siruvayal Zamindar encouraging Iyer’s efforts in printing the Pathuppattu.54 A number of individuals seemed to have signed well in advance and paid for a printed copy of the Pathuppattu. Iyer acknowledged the following names in his preface to the first edition of the Pathuppattu as those who had signed and paid in advance for a printed copy of the book: Tirupatiriyur Sathu Seshaiyar, Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam Ambalavana Desigar, Madurai Deputy Collector M. Tillai Nayakam Pillai, Tanjore Jilla Court Vakil K.C. Srinivasa Pillai, Sivagangai subdivision Siruvayal Zamindar Muthuramalinga Devar and Colanmalikai Ratina Pillai. Apart from these names, Iyer also noted the fact that a number of others from Kumbakonam, Chennai, Madurai, Ramanathapuram and Letter dated 31 December 1890 from Muthuramalinga Devar to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, pp. 183–84. This is a reply from Muthuramalinga Devar for the two letters of Iyer dated 15 and 17 (month is not mentioned) in which Iyer communicated his intention to publish another Tamil epic Silappatikaram to Devar. 53

Letter dated 8 February 1888 from C.M. Swaminathan from Chennai to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. C, p. 131.

54

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

121

Tiruvananthapuram had also signed in advance for a printed copy of the Pathuppattu.55 After printing the first edition of the Pathuppattu in 1889, Iyer sent copies to his signatories and friends. The reviews of the printed editions were published in newspapers and magazines which further popularised to the public the news of the printing of Tamil classics. P.I. Chinnasamy Pillai wrote a review of the first edition of the Pathuppattu in The Hindu entitled ‘Historics’ on 13 March 1890. Two days after the review appeared, Chinnasamy Pillai wrote to Iyer informing him of the review and appreciating his efforts.56 Even before the printing of the first edition of the Pathuppattu in 1889, a considerable amount of publicity was given to it in the form of appeals for donation and support. Thus in a write-up dated 22 December 1888, Seshayar made an appeal to the public to support the printing of the Pathuppattu by Iyer. It was endorsed by P. Sivaramier, who was then serving as the Deputy Inspector of Schools, on 22 December 1888, P. Ranganatha Mudaliyar and V. Krishnamachariar on 1 January 1889, and M. Seshagiri Sastri on 2 January 1889.57 In a letter dated 31 August 1889, T. Lakshmanan wrote an acknowledgement letter from Tiruvananthapuram to Iyer of receiving eight copies of the Pathuppattu.58 Similarly, in a letter dated 10 September 1889, P. Kumaraswamy wrote an acknowledgement letter from Colombo to Iyer of receiving copies of the Pathuppattu.59 In another letter dated 28 October 1889, T. Kumaraswamy Chetty acknowledged the copies of the Pathuppattu sent by Iyer.60 These private letters received by Iyer are a testimony to the nexus he maintained with the westernised, educated middle-class intellectuals and wealthy, landed magnates.

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Pathuppattu Mulamum Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, Dravida Ratnakara Accukkutam, Chennai, 1889, pp. 1–8.

55

Letter dated 15 March 1890 from P.I. Chinnaswamy Pillai to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, pp. 220–21

56

57

Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, pp. 370–79.

Letter dated 31 August 1889 from T. Lakshmanan to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, pp. 134–36.

58

Letter dated 10 September 1889 from P. Kumaraswamy from Colombo to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, pp. 140–41.

59

Letter dated 28 October 1889 from T. Kumaraswamy Chetty to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, p. 147.

60

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

122 Manuscripts, Memory and History The second edition of the Pathuppattu was printed in 1918 after nineteen years of the printing of the first edition. What we find in the preface to the second edition on patronage is something totally different. We hear no longer of Iyer resorting to the strategy of getting signature and money well in advance for the printing of the second edition. His tone in the preface to the second edition of 1918 is loud and clear. He acknowledges the financial help rendered by the Setupatis of Ramanathapuram, heads of the Madurai Tamil Sangam and members of the Law Board.61 As stated earlier, in the third edition of the Sivakacintamani which was printed four years after the second edition of the Pathuppattu, we hear Iyer thanking the same group and institutions as he thanked in the second edition of the Pathuppattu. The temporal space between the first and the subsequent editions of the printing of the Tamil classics was also the period when Iyer expanded his network of relationships, thus adding to his reputation. The first edition of the Silappatikaram with the commentary of Atiyarkkunallar was printed in 1892 by Iyer, three years after the printing of the first edition of the Pathuppattu with Naccinarkinniyar’s commentary. In fact, in the preface to the first edition of the Pathuppattu, Iyer alludes to his intention of printing the Silappatikaram in the near future. The patronage was hard to come by then but for the case of the Silappatikaram, for which material help was promised by Kumaraswamy Mudaliyar of Colombo. The first edition was published in 1892 with the financial help of Kumaraswamy Mudaliyar and others like Thiruvavaduthurai Attenattu Ambalavana Desikar, Tiruvannamalai Adheenam Arumuga Desikar, Tirupanantat Kasimatatipati Swaminatha Ambiran, Kumaraswamy Mudaliyar of Colombo, K Kalyanasundara Iyer of Tanjore, Balasubramania Raghunatha Tondaiman of Pudukkottai, P.I. Chinnaswamy Pillai of Palakkad, V.L Ramanatha Chettiar of Devikkottai, V.L. Chinnaya Chettiar, A.A. Ramaswamy Chettiar, A.S.S. Subramania Chettiar, and V.V. Chandrinatha Chettiar. What is interesting to note is the role played by traditional mutts in extending patronage for printing classical texts.62 We have already U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Pathuppattu Mulamum Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, second edition, The Presidency Press and The Commercial Press, Chennai, 1918, pp. 1–4.

61

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Silappatikaram Mulamum Atiyarkkunallar Uraiyum, Jubilee Printers, Chennai, 1892, pp. 1–8. 62

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

123

noted that in a letter to Muthuramalinga Devar, Iyer referred to his intention of printing the Silappatikaram. We have also noted in the preface to the first edition of the Pathuppattu Iyer referring to his intention of publishing the Silappatikaram as early as in 1889. In a letter from T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai to Iyer dated 31 August 1889, there is a reference to Iyer’s effort to publish the Silappatikaram. T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai made a request to Iyer to allow him to print a grammatical work Yapparunkalam since the latter was involved in the publishing work of the Silappatikaram.63 There seems to have existed competition between T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai and U.V. Swaminatha Iyer regarding the printing of Tamil literary works as these letters show. However, they seemed to have negotiated through correspondence and helped each other to overcome the competitive urge. When the second edition of the Silappatikaram was printed in 1920 we hear from Iyer that patronage was extended by the Sethupatis of Ramanathapuram, Subramania Desikar of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, heads of the Madurai Tamil Sangam and members of the Madras Law Board.64 Iyer edited and published the Purananuru in 1894. The financial help for the printing of the Purananuru was extended by Siruvayal Zamindar Muthuramalinga Devar, A. Ramanatha Chettiar and K. Sundarama Iyer. Iyer consulted sixteen palm-leaf manuscript copies (for both the original verses and the commentary) and they included for the original verses a copy each from Subramania Desikar of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Tiruttanikai Saravanapperumalaiyar (which was made possible by C.W. Damodaram Pillai), Yalpanattu Nallur Sadasivappillai (through P. Vasudeva Mudaliyar from Chennai), Yalppanam V. Kanakasabhai Pillai and Tirumayilai Shanmugam Pillai (through P. Sundaram Pillai of Trivandrum). As far as the commentary for the Purananuru is concerned, Iyer consulted palm-leaf manuscript copies from Ambalavana Desikar, Alwar Tirunakari Tayavalantirta Kavirayar, Mitilaippatti Alakiya Cirrampalakkavirayar, Tirupparkatanata Kavirayar from Tirunelveli, Subbayappillai of Tenkasi, and Kumaraswami Pillai of Letter dated 31 August 1889 from T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, pp. 137–39.

63

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Silappatikaram Mulamum Atiyarkkunallar Uraiyum, second edition, Commercial Press, 1920, p. 16.

64

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

124 Manuscripts, Memory and History Tuticorin. In the first edition, there was also a note at the end of the book by the epigraphist V. Venkayya and V. Kanakasabhai Pillai on the historical dimension of the Purananuru verses.65 In his autobiography, Iyer provides us the details of his interest in the historical aspect of the verses. He seems to have written letters to Rao Bahadhur V. Venkkaya, Epigraphist of the Epigraphical Department of the Government, and V. Kanakasabhai Pillai (who then was writing a series of essays on ancient Tamil history using largely the classical Tamil literature), requesting them to provide him more information on the historical personages that appear in the verses of the Purananuru. In fact, Iyer was contemplating writing a work on the history of ancient Tamilakam when he was involved in printing the Purananuru. Thus, he wrote in his autobiography: Realizing the importance of Purananuru in the understanding of Tamil history, I began research on history. I had in possession the unprinted literary works in Ettuttokai and other works. Since I was involved in bringing them out in print, I was unable to enter into the researches in other fields. ‘I thought that if somehow I could bring out the literary works which are sources for history, then historians can make use of them in writing the histories.’ I articulated this idea in the preface I wrote to Purananuru.66

Iyer was not alone in printing the Purananuru at the end of the nineteenth century. In a letter received by Iyer from Krishnan on 20 April 1890, the latter alludes to Damodaram Pillai making efforts to print the Purananuru. He urged Iyer to print the Purananuru along with the Silappatikaram before Pillai could take up the work, although he feared about the cost of printing both works at a time when patronage was hard to come by.67 It appears from the private correspondence of Iyer with various individuals that Damodaram Pillai indeed made efforts to print the Purananuru at a time when Iyer too was involved in editing the text. This is clear from a letter that Damodaram Pillai himself wrote to Iyer on 12 May 1893 where Pillai requested Iyer to ask him U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, Purananuru Mulamum Uraiyum, V.N. Jubilee Press, Chennai, 1894, pp. 1–12.

65

U. V. Swaminatha Iyer, En Charitram, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai, 2004 (sixth reprint), p. 738. 66

Letter dated 20 April 1890 from Krishnan to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, pp. 210–11.

67

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

125

directly regarding the palm-leaf manuscript copy of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam instead of approaching him through the staff of the mutt. Pillai wrote the following to Iyer: I would be happy if you could approach me directly to get the Atinam manuscript copy of Purananuru instead of approaching me through the staffs of the Mutt. Did you fear that I would step back if you ask me? I don’t see any reason for such a fear.68

In yet another letter dated 14 August 1893, C.W. Damodaram Pillai wrote to Iyer about the palm-leaf manuscript copy of the Purananuru that belonged to Tiruttanikai Saravanapperumalaiyar.69 Even Kanakasabhai Pillai seems to have understood the competition that exited between Damodaram Pillai and Swaminatha Iyer. In a letter dated 19 August 1888, Kanakasabhai Pillai wrote to Swamintha Iyer requesting him to negotiate with Damodaram Pillai to come to a consensus regarding the printing of ancient Tamil literary works. He stated in the letter that both Iyer and Damodaram Pillai had requested him to send same manuscript copies of ancient Tamil literary works.70 After printing the Purananuru in 1894, Iyer sent copies to a number of wealthy individuals. On 14 November 1894, after receiving a printed copy of the Purananuru, Panditurai Devar, the zamindar of Palavanattam, wrote an acknowledgement letter to Iyer. In fact, a few weeks after sending this letter, Panditurai Devar visited Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. The head of the mutt, Ambalavana Desikar, informed Swaminatha Iyer to visit the mutt to meet Panditurai Devar. After enquiring about Iyer’s future ventures into the world of publications, Panditurai Devar left to Ramanathapuram Samastanam. On 17 December 1894, Iyer received from Panditurai Devar a letter with 500 as compliment. Ambalavana Desikar, the head of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, also offered 300 to Iyer after hearing from him the gift offered by Panditurai Devar. It was at the instance of Panditurai Devar that the Madurai Tamil Sangam was started in 1901.71 Letter dated 12 May 1893 from Damodaram Pillai to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, p. 231.

68

Letter dated 14 August 1893 from Damodaram Pillai to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, p. 235.

69

Letter dated 19 August 1888 from T. Kanakasabhai Pillai from Tirunelveli to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. C, pp. 155–56.

70

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, En Charitram, Dr. U.V. SwaminathaIyer Library, Chennai, 2004 (sixth reprint), pp. 740–42. 71

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

126 Manuscripts, Memory and History Swaminatha Iyer printed the first edition of the Manimekalai in 1898. The edition consisted of a thousand copies. The title of the edition reads the following: ‘With the help of Palavanattam Zamindar Ramanathapuram Sri Panditurai Devar, Swamintha Iyer, Tamil Pundit of Kumbakonam College has brought out Manimekalai authored by Kulavanican Cattanar, one of the poet of Kataicankam of Madurai.’ In the Mukaurai to the first edition of the Manimekalai, Iyer elaborates further on the financial help rendered by not only Panditurai Devar but also by Muthuramalinga Devar and Siruvayal Zamindar of Civakankai. Iyer also informs us that during his trips to Chennai for his editorial work of the Manimekalai he was provided lodging in the palatial house of U.V.K. Rajagopalachari, a vakil of the Madras High Court. There were ten palm-leaf manuscript copies of the Manimekalai in total that Iyer collected for the printing of the epic. It included a copy each from Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Ettayapuram Periya Aranmanai (which was brought by Ampalavana Desikar of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam), Cirrampalakkavirayar of Matilaipatti (Civakankai), Tiruampalattinnamutam Pillai of Tirumayilai, Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar, Kailacappillai of Yalpanam, Sundaramurti Pillai of Arumuga Mangalam, Shanmuga Pillai of the S.P.G. High School (Vepery), T. Muthukkumarasami Mudaliyar of Chennai, and the Government Library of Chennai. Iyer also communicated with Julien Vinson enquiring about the availability of manuscript copies of the Manimekalai in Paris. Iyer noted in his preface that it was Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar who gave the first palm-leaf manuscript copy of the Manimekalai to him.72 It is clear from Iyer’s autobiography that he was not alone in editing and printing the Manimekalai. In fact, in 1894, five hundred copies of the Manimekalai were printed by M. Shanmugan Pillai, a Tamil pundit from Tirumayilai, without any commentary. In 1894, Murugesa Chettiar printed the Manimekalai. T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai wrote a letter to Iyer criticizing the edition of M. Shanmugan Pillai by highlighting the errors in it.73 After Iyer brought out the first edition in 1898 with his own commentary, tributes poured in from various quarters. V.K. Suryanarayana Sastri, who then was serving as Tamil teacher at the U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Manimekalai Mulamum Swaminatha Iyer Arumpata Uraiyum, V. N. Jubliee Press, Chennai, 1898, pp. 1–10.

72

73

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, En Charitram, 2004 (sixth reprint), pp. 754–55.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

127

Madras Christian College, praised the efforts of Iyer. So too a review article on the Manimekalai published in the Viveka Tivakaran on 7 March 1899.74 Iyer brought out the second edition of the Manimekalai in 1921 for which he consulted two more palm-leaf manuscript copies of the epic, one from the Madurai Tamil Sangam library and the other from Parasuvanatha Nayanar of Chennai. Even for the second printed edition, the title page itself alluded to the nature of patronage. The Sethu Samasthanathipathis, the members of the Madurai Tamil Sangam and a member of the Madras Law Board, Rajarajeswara Sethupathi, patronised the second edition of the Manimekalai. The second edition of the Manimekalai consisted of a thousand copies just like the first edition. Iyer published 500 copies of the first edition of the Aingurunuru on 30 July 1903. Even before the edition of the Aingurunuru was published by Iyer, an advertisement was inserted in the Jnana Bodhini detailing the progress of the printing of the work. In the advertisement note, the editor informed the readers about the progress of publishing the Aingurunuru by Swaminatha Iyer. It makes an appeal to the Tamil scholarly community to get copies of the Aingurunuru once it is printed. The printed editions of Swaminatha Iyer, contended the editor, remained unsold and hence it was necessary to encourage Swaminatha Iyer by purchasing the copies of his editions.75 In the preface to the Aingurunuru, Iyer dedicated the work to Thyagaraca Chettiar who offered a teaching position to Iyer at the Kumbakonam Government College. In fact, Thyagaraca Chettiar was a student of Mahavidwan Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai at the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam before himself taking the position of teaching Tamil at the Kumbakonam Government College. The influence of Adheenam in securing jobs for its students even in secular educational establishments of the colonial state is amply clear from the appointment of Swaminatha Iyer as a teacher of Tamil at the Kumbakonam Government College. K. Sundarama Iyer, Lecturer of History at the Kumbakonam Government College, extended 74

Ibid., pp. 760–62.

75

‘Editorial Notes: Aingurunuru’, Jnana Bodhini, IV (4), November 1902, p. 155.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

128 Manuscripts, Memory and History financial help to Iyer for the printing of the Aingurunuru. Pinnatur Narayanaswamy Iyer who edited the Narrinai, ably assisted Iyer in the printing of the Aingurunuru, apart from a few other individuals whom Iyer simply refers to as Tamil enthusiasts. Iyer used four palm-leaf manuscript copies of the Aingurunuru for printing the work. He secured a copy each from Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, J.M. Veluppillai, Tirumayilai Vidwan Shanmugam Pillai and T. Lakshmana Kavirayar for comparison.76 Iyer printed the second edition of the Aingurunuru in 1920. The title page of the second edition indicates that Subramania Desikar, the head of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, patronized the edition. Apart from acknowledging Subramania Desikar in the title page itself, Iyer also acknowledged the financial help extended by the Sethupatis of Ramanathapuram, heads of the Madurai Tamil Sangam, the Madras Law Board and its member Rajarajeswara Sethupathi for the printing of ancient Tamil literary works.77 While Iyer printed the second edition of the Pattirruppathu in 1920, we find the same individuals and institutions—Subramania Desikar, the head of the Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam, Sethupatis of Ramanathapuram, heads of the Madurai Tamil Sangam, the Madras Law Board and its member Rajarajeswara Sethupathi—being referred to as patrons.78 The fact that Iyer acknowledged the financial help of the Madurai Tamil Sangam in the printing of the second editions of not only the Silappatikaram but also of the Sivakacinatamani, the Pathuppattu and many other works is not surprising given the importance of Tamil learning and activities that the Madurai Tamil Sangam sought to represent to the public. As early as in 1893, Baskara Setupati, son of Muthuramalinga Setupati, recorded in his personal diary his intention to start a Tamil Sangam in Madurai among others. His close associate, Panditurai Devar, son of Ponnuswamy Devar, showed a keen interest in the publication of old Tamil literary works. He extended financial help to Swaminatha Iyer in the printing of the Manimekalai and the Purapporul Venpa Malai which Iyer had recorded in the prefaces he wrote for those works and U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Aingurunurum Palaiya Uraiyum, Vaijayanti Press, Chennai, 1903, pp. 1–8.

76

77

Ibid., second edition, Ganesa Accukkutam, Chennai, 1920, p. 7.

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Pattirruppathu Mulamum Palaiya Uraiyum, second edition, Commercial Press, 1920, pp. 5–6.

78

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

129

in his autobiography. Baskara Setupati and Panditurai Devar were not new to this enterprise of Tamil enthusiasm from the Ramanathapuram zamindari area. Muthuramalinga Setupati, father of Baskara Setupati, was known for his Tamil learning and his ability to compose Tamil poems. Through his elder brother Ponnuswamy Devar, Muthuramalinga Setupati extended financial help for the printing of old Tamil literary works. He is known for patronising Tillaiampur Chandrasekara Kavirayar in the compilation of the scattered individual verses into an anthology called Tanippatal Tirattu. Most significantly, he patronised Arumuga Navalar of Jaffna in the printing of the Thirukkural (with the commentary of Parimelakar), the Tirukkovaiyarurai, Setupuranam, Ilakkanakottu, Ilakkana Vilakkaccuravali and the Tarukka Cankirakam. Patronage was one of the means through which the zamindars of Ramanathapuram sought to secure legitimacy for their control over the area. Ramanathapuram was made a zamindari revenue settlement by the East India Company in 1803 under the pact that the ruling lineage had to pay an annual revenue of 3,20,000 as peshkash (tribute) to the Company in return for the protection of their royalty by the Company. What followed was an intense family struggle among the Setupatis in claiming the control over the zamindari. Although the contenders for the zaminadari right resorted to the legal system introduced by the British in the form of filing series of court cases, they did not altogether leave out the traditional means of securing legitimacy which were profoundly local in character. Thus, as late as 1916, the Raja of Ramnad sought permission from the Director of Public Instruction to award 100 to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer for his contribution to Tamil language and literature on the occasion of the Dussehra festival celebrated at the royal house of the Ramanathapuram. In a letter dated 30 January 1916, the Raja of Ramnad wrote the following to the Director of Public Instruction: On my invitation, M.R. Ry. Mahamahopadyaya Pandit V. Swaminatha Ayyar Avl., of the Presidency College came to Ramnad during the last occasion of Dasara; and as I had decided first to abandon all the social functions relating to the Dasara owing to the present war – as I thought I should not indulge in merriment when the whole nation is engaged in war – I never thought I would be still obliged to celebrate the last 3 days of the Dasara alone as usual owing to religious significance. Of these 3 days, formed part of the Saraswati

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

130 Manuscripts, Memory and History Pooja Day, on which day it has been usual to reward scholars, musicians, artists, etc. It is for this function that I invited Mr. Swaminatha Ayyar. Himself having been good enough to respond to my invitation, could not be given any award or presents as I had not obtained the necessary permission before hand. Immediately after the function was over, about the first week of November, I wrote a letter to Mr. Allen, Principal of the Presidency College, requesting him to let me know whether he could permit me to give Rs. 100 to Mr. Swaminatha Ayyar, which amount I had set apart for the purpose. I felt my situation on the Saraswati Pooja day very awkward, as I had to give only pansupari to Mr. Swaminatha Ayyar whereas to others various kinds of presents were given. Mr. Allen wrote to me to say that I should get your permission for doing this, and I must confess my mistake in not having written to you earlier. I request you, therefore, to be good enough to permit me to give this amount to Mr. Swaminatha Ayyar for which kindness I shall always be grateful.79

The Dussehra festival was a grand occasion at the royal court of Ramanathapuram as scholars, pundits, musicians and artists were honoured with gifts. The colonial state too was conscious of this peculiar kind of local legitimacy that the Raja of Ramanathapuram sought in his zamindari by upholding the traditional rituals. Thus, while forwarding the above letter of the Raja of Ramnad by J.H. Stone, Director of Public Instruction, Madras, to the Secretary to the government of Madras, Educational department, an attention was drawn to a similar occasion five years back when the raja sought the permission of the government to award a pair of golden bangles and a shawl to Swaminatha Iyer on the occasion of the Dussehra festival at Ramanathapuram. J.H. Stone wrote: In this connection I beg to invite the attention of Government to their order No. 671 Educational Mis., dated 23rd September 1911 sanctioning the acceptance by the same Pandit of a pair of golden bangles and shawl from the above Rajah on a similar occasion.80

On 7 September 1911, J.H. Stone wrote the following to the Secretary to the Government of Madras, Educational department: The Rajah of Ramnad states that on the occasion of the Dussera celebrations every year it has been the custom in his principality 79

G.O. 163 (Miscellaneous), 15 February 1916 (Education Department).

The letter of J.H. Stone, Director of Public Instruction, Madras, to the Secretary to the Government of Madras, Educational Department, dated 9 February 1916, ibid.

80

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

131

from a remote past to invite to the Durbar in his palace well-known poets and eminent Pandits of high scholarship and to reward them suitably after holding discourses on topics of literary and dialectical interest, that he proposes to signify his appreciation of the splendid services of Pandit Mahamahopadhyaya Swaminatha Iyer, Tamil Master, presidency College, in the cause of Tamil literature on the appropriate occasion of the ensuing Dussera festivities this month by presenting him with Thodas (a pair of golden bangles) and a shawl and requests that the above Pandit may be permitted to accept the presents in question.81 (Italics mine).

In his autobiography, Swaminatha Iyer gives a graphic account of the Dussehra festival celebrated at the royal house of Ramanathapuram, and hence it is worth quoting in detail: On that year I received an invitation from Sri Baskara Setupati to attend the Navarathri festival. I took leave for ten days from the college and took a bullock cart to Ramanathapuram after getting down at Madurai. On the way there were vehicles carrying tons of goods. Unable to bear the weight wheels broke for many of them. I realized the importance of Navarathri celebration at Ramanathapuram after seeing the marching of vehicles in that direction. Hundreds of scholars from Tamilnadu and other places arrived for the occasion. It has to be said that not even a single scholar was left out in Tamilnadu. There was no place for the crowd. The price of commodities multiplied many times.82

The event represented the coming together of poets, patrons and people whose implications are manifold in the traditional political set-up. It is interesting to note how Swaminatha Iyer could use his relationship with reputed individuals to further his cause for printing the classics. A perfect example is the more-than-a-decade-long correspondence that he maintained with G.U. Pope. At the turn of the twentieth century, Swaminatha Iyer requested Pope to recommend him to the colonial state for a grant, which would help him overcome the financial loss suffered because of printing Tamil literary works in the past. This can be gathered from a reply letter that G.U. Pope wrote to Iyer on 8 November 1904. Pope wrote: 81

G. O. 671, 23 September 1911, Educational Department.

82

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, En Charitram, 2004 (sixth reprint), p. 720.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

132 Manuscripts, Memory and History I am writing by this mail to Mr. Mayhew, Inspector of Schools, who is a valued friend, and the son of valued friend of mine. It is possible that he may show the Director of Public Instruction what I have written. I am not personally acquainted with Dr. Bourne. You must not be discouraged by want of recognition for your works.83

It is clear from Pope’s account that Swaminatha Iyer sought grant from the colonial state through his recommendation. On more than one occasion Swaminatha Iyer seems to have written letters to the Director of Public Instruction seeking financial help to print Tamil literary works. In one undated letter found in his private papers, Iyer seems to have written a letter to the Director of Public Instruction G.H. Stuart. I quote below an extract from his letter: I have the honour to bring to your notice that for over twenty years past I have been engaged in collecting, collating and copying manuscripts of ancient Tamil works in Tamil literature and that I have already published annotated editions of CHINTAMANI, SILAPPADIKARAM, MANIMEKALAI, etc with helps in the shape of introductions, summaries, glossaries and memoranda, historical, philological, biographical and bibliographical. M. Julien Vinson in France has published abbreviated French translation of these works and Mr. G.U. Pope in England has been able to utilise them for various contribution on topics relating to the ancient Tamil land and its people. These publications have also been to some extent utilized by the Madras University in prescribing text-books for the various examination, and by various native writers in making contribution to the local periodical press, English and vernacular. Mr. Pope and Julien Vinson and many others have frequently written to me highly commending the work done by me and its usefulness to themselves and to the cause of progress. Besides the above publication, I have been engaged on various other standard work in Tamil, and while several of these are ready for publication, others are in a more or less advanced state of preparation. I am anxious to publish annotated editions of all these works as rapidly as I can, and I have also been engaged in preparing biographies of the poets and writers who have flourished in the Tamil land in ancient as well as recent times. I have also, in the course of my tours through the country for the collection of manuscripts gathered valuable historical information Letter dated 8 November 1904 from G.U. Pope to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, p. 359.

83

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

133

regarding ancient Tamil chiefs and principalities, and various topics relating to ancient Tamil society, and I have been engaged in putting these materials into form with a view to their publication at as early a date as may be practicable. I beg to bring to your notice that, though I have received some measure of public support and patronage in bringing out the works already published, it has been by means adequate to the sacrifices I have undergone and I have not only incurred some pecuniary loss in bringing out these works but I have spent almost all my salary and private means of travelling over the Tamil country for the collection of manuscripts and in the collation and copying of them. I have also incurred much expenditure of money in the attempts to gather information regarding Tamil authors, Tamil works, etc in the places visited by me in the course of my tours. I request you will be good enough to take these facts into your kind consideration and also to bring my labours past and present, to the notice of government so as to secure to me their support and patronage. It will be a great help and encouragement to me if government should be pleased to make a monthly grant towards the heavy expenses that have to be incurred for the collection, collation and copying of manuscripts, and for the publication of the works that have been and are under preparation. I also request permission to appeal for support to such enlightened gentlemen in the Tamil land as might feel an interest in my labours. Hitherto I have not made such an appeal, but as I cannot accomplish all the work. I have undertaken and that is on hand without availing of such support ...84

We also found a letter dated 13 March 1905 sent by Iyer to the Director of Public Instruction, A.G. Bourne, through the Principal of Presidency College, appealing for a financial grant. We quote the detailed letter below: 1.

I beg respectfully to bring the following to your kind and sympathetic consideration.

2.

I have been engaged for the past 25 years in making researches and editing valuable works in connection with ancient Tamil literature. I had the privilege of spending my youth in the

Letter from U.V. Swaminatha Iyer to G.H. Stuart, Director of Public Instruction (undated), Tamilkkaruvoolam, vol. D, pp. 260–64.

84

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

134 Manuscripts, Memory and History scholarly atmosphere of the Tiruvavatuturai Mutt for a long time, famous as a seat of Tamil learning, under the presidency of the late revered Subramanya Desikar Avargal and was there a pupil of the greatest Tamil scholar of the day, the well-known Minakshisundaram Pillai Avargal. At that time several of the great Tamil works belonging to the Kadaichangam, i.e., the last great school of poets at Madura, were known only by name and through quotations in commentaries on well-known books or citations in grammatical and other such treatises. Although I was not then able to see any of them in a complete form even after repeated efforts and inquiries I felt somehow convinced that there existed copies of these great works in cadjan (palm leaves) – in several parts of the Presidency in hidden and obscure corners perhaps – but discoverable by a sufficiently prolonged search and inquiry. I was also confident that with a sufficient number of manuscript copies of each such work, however mutilated and fragmentary they might be, a correct and complete text might be made out and that the several works when studied side by side would throw light upon each other in such a manner as to make the understanding and appreciation of them through and true. Acting under this strong persuasion I set to work and began a series of tours and set a foot a system of inquiries which have continued to this day. My labours in this direction such as they are have been crowned with a degree of success which has steadily encouraged me in putting more and more of energy into my task in reclaiming old and interesting literary works of value from imminent destruction by the timely acquisition of rare and very old cadjans, some of them in the last stages of preservation, in collecting them and in editing and publishing them. I have, in this manner, been able to bring out the first printed editions – in fact the first complete texts in any form – of the following classics: Purananuru (1894), Aingurunuru (1903), Patirruppattu (1904), Cicakacintamani (1887), Cilappatikaram (1892), Manimekalai (1898), Pattuppattu (1889), Purapporul Venpamalai (1895). 3.

Some account of these works will be found in very kind and appreciatory notices by Dr. Pope and others in the accompanying copy of opinions regarding me and my publications which I beg permission to submit for perusal.

4.

The editorial work, besides the scrutiny and repeated collation of

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

135

palm leaf manuscripts, comprises in each case, a bibliographical introduction, a summary or argument of the work, a glossary of all rare or difficult words and constructions, a table of the lines and stanzas quoted in standard commentaries and grammatical treatises, a table of the names of the personages and localities mentioned in the work with such light as can be thrown upon by them by references to the same personages and in other works, ancient or modern, to local tradition, etc., a table of the curious objects and customs pertaining to the domestic and social life of the time, a historical table showing the names of the contemporaneous princes chiefs in several regions of the Tamil land and their relations with each other, and in the case of Buddhist and Jain works like Manimekalai and Jivakachintamani, a careful account of the religious beliefs and the practices of these sects. 5.

The labour involved in the preparation of these tabulated has necessarily been arduous but has been greatly lightened for me by the consciousness that since the sacrifice must in any case be made by someone interested in Tamil literature if there was to be any real or widespread appreciation of the classics therein, it might as well be made by myself to whom the task had very special attractions in that it enabled me to apply the somewhat large mass of information, geographical, historical and philological, which I had gathered up in the course of my studies and literary investigation to the elucidation and interpretation of the texts that had to be rescued from oblivion and edited. Besides, the loyal help rendered to me by a number of assistants who in return for a very poor and inadequate remuneration have been reading out to me, coping out for me and labelling and arranging the several index materials collected and prepared by me has appreciably lightened my task which should otherwise have been impossible of accomplishment.

6.

Lovers of Tamil land and the readers of its literature will, I have reasons to hope, find in these works that I have succeeded in editing and bringing into full day light the facts necessary for a thorough comprehension of the life of a very interesting people at very interesting and very fruitful periods of their history in all the significant details of the court, the camp, the home, the street, the mart and the busy sea sides and river sides.

7.

As it is, it is gratifying to note that a learned savant of France, Dr.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

136 Manuscripts, Memory and History Julien Vinson, has made use of them for bringing out a abbreviated French translations of those Tamil classics. Dr. Pope of Oxford has also been able to utilize them or various contributions on topics relating to the ancient Tamil land its people. The University of Madras has used them to some extent in prescribing text-books for the several examinations. Various Indian writers also have drawn from them for writing articles to various journals and newspapers both in English and in Tamil. Messrs. Vinson and Pope have made ample and most gratifying acknowledgements in respect of the value of my labours, which recognition from them has been and is a great encouragement to me. 8.

I have with me now several rare Tamil works which are in more or less advanced state of preparation for publication. I am anxious to bring out annotated editions of them as rapidly as I can. I have been besides engaged these years in preparing biographies of the poets and writers who have flourished in the Tamil land in ancient as well as in recent times. I have also in the course of my tours through the country for the collection of manuscripts gathered valuable information regarding Tamil chiefs and principalities and various topics relating to ancient Tamil society. I am now putting the materials into form with a view to their publication at as early a date as may be practicable. With regard to the pecuniary aspect of my work I beg permission to state that I received some measure of public support and patronage in bringing out the works already published; but this has been by no means adequate. Therefore I have suffered loss in the printing and publication of the works edited by me, and have had to spend much of my salary and private means in travelling over the country for the collection of manuscripts, purchasing them sometimes and borrowing them for love or for money at other times and in the collation and copying of those manuscripts with the help of paid assistants, An inspection of my “workshop” with its apparatus of cadjans, note-book, memoranda, indexes, manuscripts, books, readers and copyists will give some idea of the nature and the amount of the work which I have already done as well as of that which yet remains to be done. Although I am not now in a position to furnish any thing like an account of the expenses undergone hitherto in connection with this labour of love on my part, I still feel that lack of means visibly circumscribes the scope of my efforts and otherwise retards the progress attainable under appropriately favourable circumstances. The following are the

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

137

heads of expenditure incurred excluding printing and cost of publication: (1) Wages for transcribing manuscripts. (2) Stationary, postage, etc. (3) Remuneration paid to assistants for comparing, etc. (4) Tour expenses. 9.

To enable me to carry out these literary objects I have so much at heart. I request you to obtain for me such help as may be possible from Government. Any help which the Government might be pleased to accord to me will be gratefully appreciated by me and will be a strong encouragement to me in the prosecution of the literary schemes I have in hand. In the hope that the authorities will consider it both just and legitimate to accord such help to me, I respectfully submit this humble representation through you and feel assured that your kindly interest in me and in my work will induce you to effectively support my application.85

This letter was accompanied by documents which included various opinions about Swaminatha Iyer’s editions by G.U. Pope, Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar, P. Kumaraswamy Mudaliyar, and reviews in The Hindu newspaper. However, for a colonial administrator, the recommendations of Pope and Julien Vinson were more important than that of the others. H.D. Taylor, while forwarding the above letter of Swaminatha Iyer to the Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department, stated the following: It is stated that Julien Vinson has made use of Swaminatha Aiyar’s works in bringing out abbreviated French translations of Tamil classics, that Dr. Pope of Oxford has also utilized them for various essays on topics relating to the ancient Tamil land and its people, that the University of Madras has prescribed some of them as examination text-books and that Professor Vinson and Dr. Pope have made ample and most gratifying acknowledgements of the value of Swaminatha Aiyar’s labours.86 Application letter from U.V. Swaminatha Iyer to the Director of Public Instruction through the Principal, Presidency College, dated 13 March 1905, G.O. 600–601, 06 September 1905, Education Department.

85

Letter from H.D. Taylor, Acting Secretary to Government of Madras, Education Department, to Secretary to the Government of India, Home Department, dated 6 September 1905, Ibid.

86

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

138 Manuscripts, Memory and History The colonial state did ultimately confer on him a grant of 1,000 as honorarium for his contribution to Tamil literature. What is interesting to note in this whole story is the central importance given to G.U. Pope by both the colonial state as well as Swaminatha Iyer himself. The fact that Iyer had to invoke Pope and Vinson in his request letter to the colonial state points to the importance they commanded in the minds of native scholars. However, in the context of nationalism this was not always the case. When the colonial state entrusted the compilation of a lexicon of Tamil to G.U. Pope with a huge sum of money in 1906, the nationalists opposed the proposal. The Swadesamitran carried an article condemning the colonial state for appointing a foreigner to compile a lexicon of Tamil at a time when there were accomplished Tamil scholars like Swaminatha Iyer.87 Iyer published the Kurunthogai and Paripadal. However, he was not the first to publish the edition of the Kurunthogai. A note that appeared in the Jnana Bodhini informs the readers that T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai has made research to publish the Kurunthogai edition. It also states that the printing of the Kurunthogai by T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai had begun. It informs that Damodaram Pillai had made research to publish the Agananuru, but unfortunately he passed away before publishing it. It makes an appeal to scholars that someone should come forward to complete and publish Damodaram Pillai’s unfinished Agananuru.88 We have detailed with evidence so far the presence of the ‘social’ in the history of the reproduction of classical Tamil literature during the nineteenth- and early twentieth-century colonial Tamil Nadu. However, the texture of the ‘social’ that we have mapped needs to be elaborated as a way of concluding the chapter. The military conquest and establishment of political rule in south India, with the administrative headquarters at Madras by the British East India Company at the end of the eighteenth century, reconstituted the Tamil literary culture and nature of patronage. The founding of the College of Fort St. George in 1812 and the appointment of Tamil pundits as headmasters of the college created not only a partial displacement of the literary culture from traditional centres like Tanjore and Madurai, but also ‘Putiyator Akarati’, Swadesamitran, 16 October 1906, p. 2. See also Native Newspaper Report, January–December 1906, pp. 345–46.

87

88

‘Editorian Notes’, Jnana Bodhini, V (10), May 1902, p. 400.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

139

formed a network between the administrative capital and traditional Mutts like Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam. Chennai Kalvi Sangam, as the college of Fort St. George came to be known in Tamil scholarly circles, was perceived by Tamil pundits of the time as a centre for the revival of Tamil learning on the model of the ancient Tamil Sangam. A. Muthusami Pillai, a Tamil scholar and manager of the College of Fort St. George, made an interesting contrast between the Madras Sangam founded by the Company and the Madurai Sangam founded in ancient times by Pandian chiefs, in his biography of Jesuit Father Beschi, which was translated into English as early as 1840. ‘Chennai Kalvi Sangattu Vidwan’ or ‘Chennai Kalvi Sangattu Tamil Pulavar’ was a title conferred to the Tamil headmasters of the college, and pundits like Thandavaraya Mudaliyar, Madurai Kantasamy Pulavar, Chidambara Pandaram and A. Muthusami Pillai were identified as such by their colleagues – pundits in other traditional centres. The colonial masters were perceived as ‘Mempatta Durai Avargal’ (esteemed masters) by the traditional Tamil pundits both inside and outside the college. Almost all Tamil pundits associated with the College of Fort St. George hailed from upper nonBrahmin castes. They maintained links with dominant landholding mutts like Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam and remained influential in Tamil learning circles. At the instance of Ellis, A. Muthusami Pillai was sent out to the southern districts to collect palm-leaf manuscripts for the college collection. A network was created between landholding Saiva Mutts like Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam and the college. Despite the coming together of the Company and the pundits, the intellectual activity was confined to the production and printing of grammars and dictionaries. Hardly any classical Tamil literary work was printed at the premises of the College of Fort St. George. The government patronage was extended to the printing of grammars and dictionaries which suited their immediate need. The second phase of the history of printing that stretched from the 1830s to the 1870s saw the proliferation of native printers in and around Madras who started printing Tamil literary works. The Virasaiva brothers – Visakapperumalaiyar and Saravanapperumalaiyar – basing their headquarters at the Kalvivilakka Accukkudam, printed Tamil literary works till 1860. They found readership in the city of Madras for their publications and widely circulated their printed works among the traditional scholarly community. Government patronage to the Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

140 Manuscripts, Memory and History indigenous printers was totally absent and it was through their own efforts that the printers ran their business. Maintaining contacts with Tamil pundits was very essential to sell books. The indigenous printers could successfully market their works through advertisements in the book itself. The indigenous printers/publishers published medieval grammars like the Nannool and literary works like the Thirukkural, Nalatiyar, Devaram, Nalayira Divya Prabhandam, Naitatam, Tirumurukkarruppatai, and innumerable medieval Puranas and prabhandams (anthology). None of the major Tamil epics were printed during this period although they were known and read widely in palm-leaf manuscript form. No Sangam work was printed except the Tholkappiyam Eluttatikaram by Malavai Mahalingaiyar in 1847. The Saiva revival movement that began in Jaffna against the activities of Protestant missionaries provided a major impetus to the printing of classical Tamil literature. It was exemplified in the life and activities of Arumuga Navalar. He was patronized by the wealthy landlords of the Vannarpannai region in Jaffna and also the Ramanathapuram zamindars and Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam in Tamil Nadu. Although Navalar printed a number of Saivite Tamil literature, he also planned to bring out a number of non-Saiva literary works, as is clear from the list of works he presents in the advertisement of the Thirukkovaiyar edition. However, the Saiva revival movement in nineteenth-century Tamil Nadu was not homogenous. Navalar had differences with Ramalinga Adigal, and the followers of the latter attacked the disciples of Arumuga Navalar. This was reflected in the sphere of printing history as well. C.W. Damodaram Pillai was contested by Narasingapuram Veerasamy Mudaliyar, Komalapuram Rajagopala Pillai and Toluvur Velayuda Mudaliyar in the printing of the Tholkappiyam Sollatikaram with a commentary by Senavarayar. The three Tamil pundits who contested Damodaram Pillai were the followers of Ramalinga Adigal. The tussle between the followers of Navalar continued with U.V. Swaminatha Iyer in the last two decades of the nineteenth century. The emergence of Tamil journalism provided a new avenue for the advertisement of printed Tamil literary works. Navalar advertised in The Morning Star about his publications, and so too C.W. Damodaram Pillai in the Dinavartanamani. The colonial state neither extended patronage to the indigenous printers nor published any Tamil literary works of classical merit. Henry Bower published a translation of the Nannool and a chapter of the Sivakacintamani in 1868 under the Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

141

patronage of the Director of Public Instruction. But apart from this rare instance, the state remained confined to the production and printing of Tamil grammars and dictionaries for pedagogical purposes. From 1870s, the Ramanathapuram zamindars, the Englisheducated indigenous middle class mostly working in the apparatus of the colonial state, and the traditional Saiva mutts started promoting the cause of printing classical Tamil literary works. In almost all the prefaces to the published classical Tamil literature, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and Damodaram Pillai acknowledged the financial help rendered by one or the other of this group. At the initial stage, these scholars faced the problem of getting patronage but they successfully overcame the problem by adopting strategies like securing advance subscriptions and establishing networks with wealthy individuals. In the published editions of classical Tamil literature the financial help rendered by the Ramanathapuram zamindars, Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam and the English-educated middle class was acknowledged. The patrons were wealthy individuals, mostly dominant landholders. They participated in this economy of literary production and printing under the collective category Tamil ulagam. At the end the success of an editor like U.V. Swaminatha Iyer depended not only on the quality of the editions of the classics he published but also on his ability to secure effective patronage. The private correspondence that Iyer maintained with a number of wealthy individuals amply underscores his ability to secure effective patronage for his editorial activities. There could have been no Tamil thaha (grandfather of Tamil) without the financial help from the Tamil ulagam (Tamil world) which largely comprised wealthy individuals.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

142 Manuscripts, Memory and History Table 3.6.a: Details of classical Tamil literary works by C.W. Damodaram Pillai Number of copies printed

Price per copy

30 Nov 1887

500

3.8.0

-do-

Aug 1883

500

1.8.0

-do-

-do-

Aug 1883

600

3.0.0

-do-

Vidyanupalana Yantra Salai, No. 300, Mint Street, Madras

30 June 1889

1,000

1.8.0

Literary work

Editor

Place of printing

Date of issue from the press

Kalithogai

C.W. Damodaram Pillai

Scottish Press, Popham House, Madras

Iraiyanar Akkapporul

-do-

Tanikai Puranam Tholkkapiyam Eluttatikaram with Naccinarkiniyar commentary

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

143

Table 3.6.b: Literary works edited by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Literary work

Editor

Place of printing

Name of the printer

Date of issue from press

Number of copies printed

Price per copy

Sivakacintamani

U.V. Swaminatha Iyer

Travita Ratnakaram Press, Avadam Papaier Street, Chulai, Madras

T. Kovinta Accari, Printer

15 October 1887

750

8.0.0

Pathuppattu with commentary

-do-

-do-

-do-

6 August 1889

1,000

2.8.0

Aingurunuru

-do-

Vaijayanti Press, Mount Road, Madras

Rai Bahadur Ananda Charalu

30 July 1903

500

1.8.0

Silappatikkaram

-do-

V.N. Jubilee Press, Madras

V.Venkataramaier, Printer

2 July 1892

1,000

5.8.0

Purananuru

-do-

-do-

15 October 1894

1,000

4.0.0

Thiruvavaduthurai Kavai

-do-

-do-

V. Srinivasa Charlu, Printer -do-

10 April 1903

750

0.8.0

Cikali Kovai

-do-

1 June 1903 10 July 1903

0.8.0

-do-

-do-do-

500

Viravana Puranam

-do-do-

500

1.0.0

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

144 Manuscripts, Memory and History Table 3.6.c: Literary works edited by Arumuga Navalar Literary Work

Editor

Name of Press

Printer

Date of Issue from Press

Edition

Thiruttontar Periya Puranam

Arumuga Navalar

N.C. Sadasiva Pillai

1 November 1884

5th edition

Periya Puranam

Arumuga Navalar

Vidyanupalana Yantra Sala, Madras Vidyanupalana Yantra Sala, Madras

N.C. Sadasiva Pillai

January 1885

2nd new edition

Koil Puranam

Arumuga Navalar

-do-

-do-

January 1885

2nd edition

1000

Saiva Vina Vidai

Arumuga Navalar Arumuga Navalar

-do-

-do-

January 1885

2nd edition

1000

-do-

-do-

July 1884

1st edition

1000

Arumuga Navalar

-do-

-do-

December 1879

1st edition

1000

Prayoga Vivekam Balapatam

No. of Copies 1000

700

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

145

Table 3.7: Works printed at the College Press from 1 January to 31 December 1825 Title of work Treatise on Mohamadan Law of Inheritance in Persian Tamil and Latin Dictionary Lignaneswarum in Tamil Tamil Grammar Tamil Stories Tamil Calendar for the Year 1826 Telugu Calendar for the Year 1826 Reeves English and Canarese Dictionary Astronomical Observations Two Treatise on the Hindoo Law of Adoption with a Synopsis Hanen’s Kala Sankalita Civil Regulations (Persian, Telegoo, Tamil,Canarese) Persian Anvaric Sohule Total estimate cost

Estimate price

Total estimate cost

Number of copies

Number of pages

500

12

250 100 500 1,000 150 150 500 100 200

8 94 148 44 19 20 104 232 251

4 4 3 2 5 5 3 7 1

32 376 444 88 95 100 552 1,624 251

300 400 each

553 57, 40, 42, 115, 252 252

2 4 each

1,106 228,160, 168, 460, 1,008 1,008 6,752

500

5

4

Remarks

60 In press -do-do-do-

-do-

-do-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

146 Manuscripts, Memory and History Table 3.8: Works printed at the College Press from 1 January to 31 December 1826 Name

Number of copies

Number of pages

Tamil Grammar

500

68

Tamil Stories

1,000

59

2

118

Tamil Pleasing Stories

1,000

87

1.5

130.5

Tamil Abridgement of Smriti Chandrika

600

215

3

624

Reeve’s English and Canarese Dictionary

500

208

3

624

Astronomical Observation

100

299

7

2093

Persian Unwari Soheelee

500

228

4

912

Civil Regulation (Persian, Telegoo, Canarese, Tamil)

400 each

11, 12, 12, 14

4 each

44, 48, 48, 56

Tamil Calendar for 1826/7

150

69

1.5

103.5

Teloogu Calendar for 1826/7

150

69

1.5

103.5

Total estimated cost

Estimated price/page 3

Total estimated cost 204

5129/ 50 p

Remarks In press

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

147

Table 3.9: Works printed at the College Press from 1 January to 31 December 1827 Name

Number of copies

Number of pages

Estimated price/page

Total cost

Remarks

Astronomical Observation

100

213

4

852

In press

Reeve’s English and Canarese Dictionary

500

192

3

576

Morris’s English and Telugu Dictionary

500

24

3

72

Brown’s Telugu Prosody

150

115

2

230

Abridgement of Smriti Chandrika in Tamil

600

122

2

244

Tandavaraya’s Tamil Grammar

500

80

2

160

Tamil calendar for 1827

150

66

1.5

99

Telugu Calendar for 1827

150

65

1.5

97.5

Hindustanee Grammar

50

32

1

32

Sanscrit Premier in Tamil and Grantham

250

76

1.5

127.5

Sanscrit Premier 2nd Book in Tamil & Grantam

250

76

1.5

114

Sanscrit Premier in Teloogoo

250

80

1.5

120

Tamil Primer

250

35

1.5

52.5

Tamil Primer 2nd Book

250

80

1.5

120

Tamil Primer 3 Book

250

64

1.5

96

rd

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

148 Manuscripts, Memory and History Name

Number of copies

Number of pages

Estimated price/page

Total cost

Remarks

Tamil Grammar for schools

250

8

1.5

12

In press

Brown’s English arithmetic

150

64

1.5

96

Murray’s English Spelling Book

250

15

.5

7.5

Civil Regulations (Persian, Telugu, Canarese, Tamil)

250 each

50, 114, 127, 126

3 each

150, 342, 381, 378

79

1 to 3

100

Reports, College Rules, Circulars, etc Total cost

4,459

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:35:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.003

Patrons and Networks of Patronage

149

Table 3.10 : Statement showing the actual expenses of the establishment of the College of Fort St. George from the year 1812 to the year 1825 inclusive Names

1812

1813

Secretary allowance 2,100 5,937

1815

1816

1817

1818

1819

1820

1821

1822

1823

1824

1825

6,300 6,300

1814

6,300

6,300

6,300

6,300 6,300

6300

4397

3737

3717

4200

2,264 3,800

716

2400

5329

3600

3600

4200

4200

4200

4200

4200

Sanscrit examiner House rent for the college

2,450 4,200

4,200 4,200

2,100

4,200

4,200

4,200 4,200

Headmasters

4,637 5,862

8,400 8,137

8,400

8,400

8,400

8,400 10,980 11182 12600 12600 12464 24922

Teachers

6,858 14,098 21,006 25,259 27,749 27,965 28,126 26,041 19,086 15873 15095 15813 16521 18342

Native students Office establishment

2,003 2,770

2,880 3,239

3,668

3,822

4,872

7,322

1,261 2,830

2,037 2,154

2,247

2,247

2,247

2,707 3,596

3982

4133

4299

4371

4371

Sade ward

213

420

420

420

420

420

420

420

210

210

332

420

420

1,676

332

498

1,177

1,487

1,489

1,237 1,268

1369

50

654

95

923

235

420

420

420

420

420

420

420

6330

6330

6330

6667

7108

5445

1680

357

5212

Contingent charges Native astronomers

297

420

Press department

357

Furniture types, stationary and books

14,152 2,759

Furniture for the college

1,562 560

Total expenses

33,596 42,015 47,339 56,050 63,582 57,256 58,298 65,439 57,880 50842 50061 53716 58279 70240

898

1,008 1,008

1120

1,344

1,344

1,344 6513

754

4,244

9,919

799

479

3,961 1,,534 259

588

481

36

820

83

224

4

From Reproduction to Reception: The Writing of Literary Histories

In an editorial preface to the revised third edition of Robert Caldwell’s A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages published in 1913, Rev. J. L. Wyatt and T. Ramakrishna Pillai wrote: We have decided to omit so much of Bishop Caldwell’s Introduction as relates to the History of Dravidian Literature. In doing so we have been guided by two considerations. An account of Dravidian Literature is not strictly germane to the main purpose of the book, as Bishop Caldwell himself candidly admitted. In the second place, some of the author’s conclusions as to the dates of the older books have been rendered obsolete by the researches of Indian scholars and the investigations of the Government Archaeological Departments. (Italics mine).1

In a convocation address to the graduates of the Madras University in 1879, Caldwell himself was making an appeal to the educated ‘natives’ to venture into the study of their history, literature and archaeology. He observed: The study of the history, ancient literature, and archaeology of the country will never reach anything like completeness of development or realize results of national importance, till it is systematically undertaken by the educated Natives. Learned Natives of Calcutta and Bombay, trained in European modes of thought, and vying with Europeans in zeal for historical accuracy, have already made Robert Caldwell, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, third edition, revised and edited by J.L. Wyatt and T. Ramakrishna Pillai, Trubner & Co Ltd, London, 1913, p. v; this edition was reprinted twice by the University of Madras in 1956 and 1961.

1

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

151

a promising beginning in this department of research. I trust that the Native scholars of the South will resolve that they will not be left behind in the race.2

Caldwell made a somewhat similar observation four years prior to his convocation address in his second revised edition of grammar published in 1875. Thus: I trust the interest taken in their language, literature, and antiquities by foreigners will not be without its effect in kindling amongst the natives of Southern India a little wholesome, friendly rivalry.3

The educated ‘natives’ indeed responded and the result of their efforts was the elimination of Caldwell’s writings on Dravidian literature from his book itself in the third revised edition of his grammar published in 1913. The story of how Caldwell’s writing on the history of Dravidian literature had been rendered obsolete by the researches of Indian scholars is a complicated one which involved arguments and counterarguments that have not been documented by historians. Recovering these arguments and counterarguments on the history of Dravidian literature by the educated Indians would throw light on the nature of intellectual awakening and cultural consciousness in colonial south India. I attempt to investigate in this chapter how with English education and historical reasoning, Tamil intellectuals of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century appraised their history of literature. What were the concerns of the educated Tamils who were involved in reconstructing their literary histories? What dictated them to venture into the reconstruction of Tamil literary history? What was the nature of Tamil literary scholarship when they were entering the scene? How does this engagement with Tamil literary past relate to larger issues of intellectual awakening and cultural consciousness and its implication for the emergence of sociopolitical movements? More importantly, I attempt to show that the writings on Tamil literary past were intimately shaped by the history Robert Caldwell, An Address Delivered to the Graduates Admitted at the Convocation of the Senate of the University of Madras Held on April 4, 1879, Lawrence Asylum Press, Madras, 1879. For an excerpt of the convocation address see ‘Educated Hindus and Scientific Research: From an Address to the Graduates of the Madras University by the Right Rev. Bishop Caldwell, D.D., LL.D.’, The Indian Antiquary, October 1879, pp. 292–93.

2

Robert Caldwell, A Comparative Grammar of Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages, second revised edition, London, Trubner & Co Ltd,1875, p. xiii.

3

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

152 Manuscripts, Memory and History of the printing of Tamil literature in the nineteenth century. The last quarter of the nineteenth century witnessed an interpretation of Tamil literary works from indigenous Tamil intellectuals that resulted in pushing the chronology of Tamil literary past backwards in time. The indigenous Tamil intellectuals had at their disposal a body of Tamil literary works that remained unpublished before. This also provided a scope for them to critique the European scholars’ understanding of the Tamil literary past for whom the beginnings of Tamil literature can be traced back to eighth century CE. Even after the printing of ancient Tamil literary works like the Silappatikaram, Pathuppattu, Purananuru, Kalithogai, Aingurunuru and Patirrupathu, the colonial administrators and civil servants were unwilling to interpret these texts and change their understanding of Tamil literary past. The writings on modern Tamil history have one way or the other emphasised the role played by colonial philological writings in the political articulations of the non-Brahmin movement.4 What has been less understood and has not been dealt with in detail at all is the way indigenous intellectuals contested certain aspects of colonial philological writings. By tracing the intellectual pursuits of the educated indigenous class I argue that the indigenous intellectuals at one level cooperated with the colonial philologists and at another level contested their writings. It is this cooperation and contestation that went hand in hand and which prepared the ground for the nationalist articulations in the Tamil speaking region and the emergence of non-Brahmin political articulations in the second decade of the twentieth century. The printing of Tamil classics like the Pathuppattu, Ettuthogai, Silappatikaram, Manimekalai, Sivakacintamani and Thirukkural, and grammars like Eugene F. Irschick, Politics and Social Conflict in South India: The Non-Brahman Movement and Tamil Separatism, 1916–1929, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1969; K. Kailasapathy, ‘The Tamil Purist Movement: A Re-Evaluation’, Social Scientist, 7(10), May 1979, pp. 23–51; K. Sivathamby, ‘The Politics of Literary Style’, Social Scientist, 6(8), March 1978, pp. 16–34; M.S.S. Pandian, ‘Notes on the Transformation of the “Dravidian” Ideology: Tamilnadu, c 1900-1940’, Social Scientist, 22(5/6), May 1994, pp. 84–104; V. Geetha and S.V. Rajadurai, Towards the Non-Brahmin Millennium: From Iyothee Thass to Periyar, Samya Publications, Calcutta, 1998. For a recent more comprehensive articulation of this trend, see Ravindran Vaitheespara’s ‘Caste, Hybridity and the Construction of Cultural Identity in Colonial India: Maraimalai Adigal (1876-1950) and the Intellectual Genealogy of Dravidian Nationalism’, Unpublished Ph.D thesis, University of Toronto, Toronto, 1999.

4

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

153

the Tholkappiyam and Viracoliyam from the mid-nineteenth century onwards was a crucial period which paved the way for discourse on Tamil identity and culture in the emerging colonial public sphere. It was also a period when colonial philological writings were at its climax with Robert Caldwell’s publication of a comparative grammar in 1856. The reproduction and interpretation of classical Tamil literature by indigenous Tamil intellectuals provided the literary dimension to the linguistic and, to an extent, ethnic dimension to the Dravidian question. This Tamil literary dimension to the Dravidian question coupled with the peculiarities of the social structure of Tamil society engendered by colonialism created conditions for the emergence and consolidation of non-Brahmin/Tamil identity confined to the Tamil speaking and not to the other regions of Madras Presidency.

European understanding of tamil literature Before we deal with the issue of how the English-educated indigenous intellectuals wrote the literary history of Tamil, it is necessary to deal with the way the missionaries, colonial administrators and Orientalists approached the history of Tamil language and literature. In other words, the nature of Tamil literary scholarship during the nineteenth century needs to be understood.5 At the beginning of the nineteenth century, European understanding of Tamil language and literature derived partly from the pre-nineteenth century European understanding of Tamil language and literature. It has been argued that the interaction of Europeans with Tamil society from the sixteenth century onwards inaugurated a range of cross-linguistic activities, which resulted in new ways of appraising Tamil language and literature by the natives. The production of interlingual grammars and dictionaries, the translation of the Bible into Tamil, missionary activities, the composition of Christian literary works in Tamil were hallmarks of European interaction with the Tamil society beginning from the sixteenth century.6 In the context of the scholarly activities of the college of Fort St. George during the Most of the existing studies deal only with Orientalists’ engagement with Tamil language and not with their engagement with Tamil literature. For a recent representative of such an understanding, see Thomas R. Trautmann, Languages and Nations: The Dravidian Proof in Colonial Madras, Yoda Press, New Delhi, 2006. 6 Stuart Blackburn, Print, Folklore and Nationalism in Colonial South India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2003. 5

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

154 Manuscripts, Memory and History early nineteenth century, much effort was made to reprint, translate the grammars, dictionaries and literary works of the pre-nineteenth century Europeans on Tamil language into English. In this sense the early nineteenth century scholarly initiatives on Tamil under the official patronage of the East India Company partly depended on the works done by European missionaries in the Tamil region during the prenineteenth century. However, there were serious differences too which need attention. Christian missionaries who operated in the Tamil region and who were well versed in the Tamil language hardly made an attempt to write the history of Tamil language or literature. They confined themselves to making catalogues of Tamil books as was, the case with Zieganbalg, or else were content with composing literary works in Tamil, as was the case with Beschi.7 However, the nineteenth century represents a break from this tradition of interaction. It inaugurated an enquiry into Tamil literary past with a new sense of historical consciousness. In other words, the diachronic element of appraising Tamil literary texts was a hallmark of nineteenth-century Tamil scholarship. Trained in Victorian rationality, the civil servants arriving in south India were the first to inaugurate the writing of literary and linguistic histories of south India along ‘scientific’ lines of enquiry. They, nonetheless, remained subjective, paying to the interest of the colonial state. It is necessary to document in detail the scholarly activities of Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators based in Madras and who were well versed in the languages of the south. Of course their scholarly activities in south India cannot be studied in isolation, as most often their works were responses to the knowledge productions from Calcutta.

Colin mackenzie, n.e. kindersley and rev. john Following the military conquest of various regions in south India by For studies on Ziegenbalg, see Will Sweetman, ‘The Prehistory of Orientalism: Colonialism and Textual Basis for Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg’s account of Hinduism’, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 6(2), 2004, pp. 12–38; ‘Heathenism, Idolatry, and Rational Monotheism among the Hindus: Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg’s Akkiyanam (1713)’, in Y. Vincent Kumaradoss, Andreas Gros and Heike Liebau, eds, Halle and the Beginnings of Protestant Christianity in India, 3 volumes, Franckesche Stiftungen, Halle, 2006, pp. 1249–75. For other missionary contribution to Tamil of pre-nineteenth century, see K. Meenakshisundaram Pillai, The Contribution of European scholars to Tamil, University of Madras, Madras, 1974.

7

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

155

the East India Company in the last decade of the eighteenth century, attempts were made to collect information of historical importance and write the histories of the conquered regions. It is exemplified in the life and activities of Colin Mackenzie who was appointed as the first surveyor general of India.8 The historical spirit in Mackenzie’s efforts is clear from a memorandum he had submitted to the Governor-in-council of Madras in 1808 for circulation among various officials of the East India Company in the province of Madras. The following is the order of the Governor-in-council containing the detailed contents of Mackenzie’s memorandum directed to the collectors of various districts: Major Mackenzie has for some time past through the good offices of his friends collected various materials that are supposed to convey considerable information on the ancient history, state and institutions of the south of India, but he finds several parts are still doubtful, which he believed might be yet illustrated by materials of various descriptions, in the hands of the natives, and which from then obscurity are liable to be neglected and lost but might be still recovered by the intervention of the gentlemen in the Diplomatic, Judicial, Revenue, and Medical Departments particularly. He has already derived much aid from the liberal support of such as he had the honor to be acquainted with, and doubts not but others would equally willing to forward a design presumed to be advantageous to the cultivation of this branch of general knowledge. In the southern provinces he is desirous of obtaining copies or originals of any native MS in any language, relating to the ancient government of the Pandyan and Chola kings or other Dynasties that have ruled in these countries, several accounts are already obtained, but they are still defective and it is supposed further considerable lights are procurable. At Madura and other ancient religious and establishments, some notices it is supposed are still preserved in the hands of the Bramins which may throw light on the ancient government, and colonies that are supposed to have migrated to the western and eastern parts of the coast as appears by traces in these provinces – accounts are also said to be preserved of the religious contensions, that took place between the Bramins, Jains and other sects. In the Tanjore For an assessment of Mackenzie’s efforts within the larger picture of colonialism, see Nicholas B. Dirks, Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2001.

8

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

156 Manuscripts, Memory and History country at Srivellore, Combaconum and other places, some notices of the same description are supposed to exist, and at Sreerungum, Chidumbrum, etc, etc and in the Tondamans country. In Tinnivelly, at Trichendore and other places also at Ramisveram, ancient Documents may exist exclusive of the Mahatyums or Legendary accounts of religious establishments. Regular historical narrations and tracts are seldom found among the natives, and such notices as exist, are generally preserved in the form of religious legends, and popular poems and stories. Yet exceptions appear the rare which induce an opinion that others may yet exist that have escaped the ravages of time and the troubles of the country, these appear under the description of Vamshavelly; or genealogies of the several dynasties and considerable families.9

The memorandum goes on to state the importance of collecting chronological registers and records, tales and popular stories, financial records and registers of the ‘ancient’ revenues and resources of the country, records of the temple institutions, sthala puranam, inscriptions, sculptures and ancient coins which are said to be found in various places of the Tamil region. However, the spirit of the memorandum remained at the level of collecting materials of historical value and did not translate into producing a history of south India. In other words, Mackenzie’s life-long collections did not result in the production of the history of south India by the collector himself. His collections were, however, catalogued by H.H. Wilson and Rev. William Taylor who used some of the collections of Mackenzie to comment on the history of south India. As we shall see soon, few of Mackenzie’s collection were considered authentic sources by Europeans to comment on the history of Tamil literature during the large part of the nineteenth century.10 One of the earliest Englishmen to comment on Tamil language, literature and its history at the end of the eighteenth century was N.E. Kindersley who served as a civil servant of the East India Company of the Madras establishment. In 1794, he published Specimens of Hindoo 9

Madurai District Record, volume number 1225, Tamil Nadu State Archives, p.118.

For a trajectory of Mackenzie’s collections under colonialism, see Nicholas B. Dirks, Castes of Mind, 2001, pp. 81–106; Rama Mantena, ‘The Question of History in Pre-colonial India’, History and Theory, 46(3), October 2007, pp. 396–408.

10

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

157

Literature in which he translated few chapters of the Thirukkural into English. He dedicated this work to the Court of Directors of the East India Company. The work contained four headings: ‘Introductory Remarks on the Mythology, Literature, & c. of the Hindoos, Extracts from the Teeroo-Vaulaver-Kuddul or the Ocean of Wisdom, The History of the Nella-Rajah; a Hindoo Romance and Explanation of the Engravings’. As he clarifies in the preface, the purpose of writing this work was not a result of his mastery over Hindu literature but the result of his cultivation of language of the region which he acquired for the purposes of administration. Staying in the city of Madras proved the acquisition of Hindustani to be unnecessary for Kinderseley. But there was a need to master Telugu and Tamil instead. However, this did not prevent Kinderseley from assuming that Sanskrit was the mother of all Indian languages, a view that would soon be dispelled with the emergence of the Madras School of Orientalism. Commenting on the nature and antiquity of Tamil language and literature, Kinderseley observed: Literature has long been deeply on the decline amongst the Hindoos, and this has consequently produced a corruption so great in the Tamoul dialect, that of those who can with fluency read and understand the language of the present day, very few comparatively can at all comprehend the books they possess (which are mostly of great antiquity), in the idiom in which they were originally written; this idiom, indeed, is conveyed in poetic measure, and thence called chentuamy; but though this circumstance might in time render the language somewhat obscure, yet it could never, without an extreme decay of letters, and great corruption of dialect, make it necessary to underline, as they do, their works, composed in the chentaumy, with a prose translation (if I may so call it), in the present vulgar tongue; without which assistance, indeed, these sheets would never have appeared, as I am totally unacquainted with the poetic branch of the Tamoul. This remarkable difference between the learned poetic Tamoul, and the vulgar dialect of the present day, is not only a proof that their language has been extremely corrupted, but likewise justifies the presumption (founded however on more substantial evidence), of the great antiquity of their works. The Mhabaurrat (with an episode from which Mr. Wilkins has favoured the public) claims an antiquity of three thousand years, as the Ramauyan does of more

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

158 Manuscripts, Memory and History than two thousand. The moral poem, with some extracts of which I have presented the reader, is understood to have been written fourteen hundred years since; and indeed, I found the very prose into which it is rendered, for the use of the generality of readers, extremely antique and difficult to understand.11

Kinderseley believed that the Thirukkural can be dated to 500 CE. On what basis the author arrived at this date remains unclear. However, he was aware of the legend of the Sangam or a literary academy in Madurai. In a section on the extracts from Thirukkural, he made the following argument about the author of the Thirukkural: The author of this work was a priest of the lowest order of the Hindoos (the pariar); and this cast have a tradition, that the writer having ventured to appear with his moral performance (though at a very respectable distance) before the sacred bench of Bramins at Madura, it happened, while they were perusing it with admiration, that the bench on which they sat, miraculously extended itself so as to admit another member, which the Bramins interpreting as a divine indication of the priest’s competency to fill the vacant seat, liberally overlooked his exceptionable cast, and placed him on it. The Bramins, however, deny this story.12

It is interesting to note how the idea of Sangam or the existence of a literary academy in Madurai in the distant past was very much alive in the Tamil literary tradition even during the early modern period. The fact that Kinderseley refers to the literary academy of Madurai in the Tamil tradition points to its survival both in the memory of indigenous Tamil pundits and literary works. The earliest to comment on Tamil literature by the beginning of the nineteenth century was Rev. Dr John, a Tranquebar missionary who contributed an article on the life of Auvaiyar in the Asiatic Researches in 1803. John also translated into English the works supposed to be written by Auvaiyar like the Konrai Ventan, Kalvi Olukkam and Atticcuti. He did not stay away from the question of dating the Tamil poetess to the ninth century CE. His understanding of the life of Auvaiyar is drawn from the medieval text Kantapuranam. He informs us that the N.E. Kindersley, Specimens of Hindoo Literature, W. Bulmer and Co, London, 1794, pp. 47–49.

11

12

Ibid., p. 53.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

159

works composed by Auvaiyar are famous in every traditional school in the Tamil region. ‘The Malabars, or more properly the Tamuls,’ writes Dr John, ‘boast of having produced the celebrated AVYAR, one of their ancient moral philosophers’.13 Drawing freely from the story of the Kantapuranam, he provides us the mythical story of Auvaiyar where her siblings Thiruvalluvar, Kapilar, Atiyaman, Uppay, Valli and Uruvay too figure. After narrating the mythical story of the poetess he ventures into translating her works with the following statement: The time in which she lived, is placed in the age when the three famous kings, SHOLEN, SHERON, and PANDIEN lived, which falls about the 9th century of the Christian era.14

There is no awareness in his account of the life history of Auvaiyar about the existence of Sangam or a literary academy in Madurai during the ancient period. This is understandable because he neither consulted nor was exposed to the Thiruvilayatal Puranam or Thiruvalluva Nayanar Caritram where at least there are references to the existence of Sangam in the Tamil literary tradition. However, as we shall see soon, the account of Dr John is in sharp contrast to the rest of the European understanding of Auvaiyar and Thiruvalluvar where they always figure with Sangam in the Tamil literary tradition. This shows how exposure to different Tamil literary texts of the pre-modern period by Europeans during the nineteenth century led them to different understandings of the Tamil literary past. On what basis Rev. John assigned the date of ninth century ce for the works of Auvaiyar remains unclear. How he arrived at the conclusion that the Cheras, Cholas and Pandyas ruled the Tamil regions by the ninth century ce also remains uncertain.

Francis whyte ellis, h.h. wilson and rev. william taylor An attempt to deal with the Tamil past was taken up by Francis Whyte Ellis (1778–1819), the collector of Madras and the founder of the College of Fort St. George in 1812. In an article published posthumously in the Transactions of the Literary Society of Madras titled ‘On the Law Books of the Hindus’, Ellis attempted to reconstruct the political history of the Rev. Dr John, ‘A Summary Account of the Life and Writings of Avyar, a Tamul Female Philosopher’, Asiactic Researches, vol. VII, 1803, p. 343.

13

14

Ibid, p. 349.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

160 Manuscripts, Memory and History Tamil region. The paper of Ellis was divided into three sections and in the third section titled ‘The books which are of highest authority in the schools of southern India’, there is an attempt made to outline in historical time periods the major kingdoms of southern India. Ellis argues that in order to understand the law books used in southern India, there is a necessity to deal with a short political history of south India from ancient times: The earliest governments established in the southern part of peninsula of India, of which there now remains any distinct memorial, were the three Tamil principalities called Shozham, Sheram, and Pandiyam, which names are usually united with the words Naddu country, or Mandalam, circle as Shozha-nadu, Shera mandalam &c. These three governments included all those countries, of which the Tamil and the Malayalam are now the spoken languages … These governments must have been established in very remote times. Ptolemy notices them all, and assigns to them their relative situations. Pliny and other ancient European writers mention them and of three governments there still remain long lists of kings who reigned before the Christian era.15

Ellis believed that the Sivakacintamani is the earliest of the Tamil literary works extant in the Tamil language. In a well-written manuscript on Tamil prosody which remained unpublished even after his death (till date it remains unpublished), Ellis argues that Sintamani ‘is a poem of the highest antiquity, written probably before ever the sects of the Brahmins had made any progress in Southern India; certainly long before the religion of Europe was heard of in this country’.16 At another place in the same work, he considers the Sintamani to be ‘the most excellent work in Tamil, it is probably more ancient than any and has the advantage, almost peculiar of being entirely original’.17 In a letter to Colin Mackenzie, Ellis again underlines the importance of the Sintamani in Tamil literary history. He states that the Tamil language though ‘abounding in Sanskrit translation possesses a great number of original productions of the first merit. On morals many which Beschi, F. W. Ellis, ‘On the Law Books of the Hindus’, Transactions of the Madras Literary Society, part I, London, 1827, pp. 1–25.

15

‘Ellis’s Tamil Prosody’, in Walter Elliot Manuscripts, MSS Eur D. 336, British Library, London, p. 62.

16

17

Ibid, p. 75.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

161

the Catholic apostle of southern India, emphatically declares to worthy even of those professing the faith of Christ one preeminent among these, the Chintamani, is the work of a Jaina, and is distinguished as much by its poetical as its moral excellence.’18 In his work on Tamil prosody, Ellis demonstrates his grounding in Tamil literary works like the Kamba Ramayanam, Thirukkural, Tholkappiyam, Sivakacintamani, Thiruvasagam, Karigai, Puranilai, the works of Father Beschi like the Tembavani and Tonnul, apart from medieval works that belong to the Prabhanda genres. Similarly, in his translation of the Thirukkural into English, Ellis shows his acquaintance with a wide array of Tamil literary works ranging from the ancient Tamil grammatical work Tholkappiyam to the medieval Prabhandams. At two places in his illustrative notes to the translated verses of the Kural, Ellis cites a verse each from one of the Sangam anthology, Purananuru. It is not clear from where Ellis got the palm-leaf manuscripts of the Purananuru. A. Muthusami Pillai, who was known as the manager of the College of Fort St. George, gives a graphic account of his acquaintance with administrators/Orientalists like Ellis, A.D. Campbell and Benjamin Guy Babington and also about his tours to the southern part of the Tamil country to collect the literary works of Jesuit Father Beschi. Whether the palm-leaf manuscript copy of the Purananuru was procured by Tamil pundits like Muthusami Pillai, Thandavaraya Mudaliyar, Kandasamy Pulavar or Chidambara Pandaram for Ellis remains unclear. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Ayothee Thass Panditar recounted that his grandfather gave a copy of the Thirukkural manuscript to Ellis. The citing of verses from the Purananuru by Ellis in his illustrated notes to the translated verses of the Kural promised a history of Tamil language and literature. However, the unpublished draft papers on Tamil literature found at the Bodleian library contains only preparatory notes to the Kural and some commentaries on medieval Prabhanda literature. Despite showing mastery over a wide-ranging literary works in Tamil, Ellis did not write a comprehensive history of Tamil literature. His reflections on the history of Tamil literature remained as a mere commentary, and here too he considered the Sivakacintamani as the earliest of the Tamil literary works. In his introduction to the descriptive catalogue of Mackenzie’s Ellis’s letter to Mackenzie found in Colin Mackenzie’s papers, Mack General vol. 40, British Library, London, pp. 253–58.

18

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

162 Manuscripts, Memory and History collections, Horace Hayman Wilson (1786–1860), the then secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal, discusses in detail the history of Tamil language and literature deriving in part from Francis Ellis and at the same time questioning some of the assumptions of Ellis. To quote him: The literature of the Jains is succeeded by the catalogue of books in the Tamil language which may be considered as the most classical of the languages of the peninsula. It is the speech of that part of the south of India known as Dravira, comprising the ancient kingdoms of Chola, Chera and Pandya and comprehending the districts of South Arcot, Salem, Coimbatur, Kumbhakonam, Tanjore, Trichinapali, Madura, Dindigal, Tinnivelli and great part of Mysur, in all which it is spoken, according to Mr. Babington, by more than five millions of people. According to that gentleman, and to the late Mr. Ellis it is a language not derived from Sanscrit, but of independent origin.19

After quoting Ellis at length from his introduction to Campbell’s Telugu Grammar and from his third dissertation on south Indian languages, Wilson again resorts to his own views on Tamil language and literature. To quote him again: The opinions of such competent authorities cannot be contested, and it must be admitted therefore that the base of the Tamul language has an independent origin. It is also evident from the character of its literature, as shown in the catalogue, as well as from the tradition, that it has been independently cultivated under unusual patronage, and has boasted of its own college, established by regal authority at Madura, and a number of able writers from every class of the population … There still remains therefore much to be explained regarding the history of the Tamul language and particularly how it happens, that the names of places of note, cities, mountains, rivers, temples, and shrines are Sanscrit, and have been so apparently from a period prior to the Christian era…..The Tamul language must have been but little cultivated, the districts must have been indifferently civilized, if the natural features of the country had no distinguishing denominations, until the Brahmans or Brahmanincal Hindus immigrated from the north, a political event which is recognized by all the traditions of the south of India. Although therefore we must grant that the Tamul language had H. H. Wilson, Mackenzie Collection: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts, and Other Articles Illustrative of the Literature, History, Statistics and Antiquities of the South of India, Asiatic Press, Calcutta, 1828, pp. xxvii–viii.

19

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

163

an independent origin, we can scarcely suppose with Mr. Ellis that it had an independent literature, prior to the introduction of Sanscrit. That the Tamil language was independently cultivated in a very high degree and from a period of some remote antiquity is unquestionable, but it seems to have been most successfully studied at a comparatively modern date, and subsequent to the dissemination of Sanscrit literature. This view of the case would coincide with that already taken of the early rudeness of Tamul, and is warranted by the traditions that relate to the Madura College, and the character of Tamul literature, as it appears from the catalogue. The college was founded it is said by Vamsasekhara Pandya Rajah of Madura, for the cultivation of Tamul, and this prince was long subsequent to the prevalence of the Saiva faith, at least according to the same authorities. The legend also asserts that the professors were compelled to admit the Tamul writer named Teruvalluvar into their ranks, and according to Dr. John, his reputed sister Avyar, the moral poetess flourished in the ninth century. Another very eminent Tamul writer Kamban, wrote at the close of same century, in which, therefore, we may infer the language was most widely and successfully cultivated. On referring to the list of Tamul books it will be found, that they furnish undeniable proofs of their having been written subsequently to the great body of Sanscrit composition, as they are in fact nothing but translations from Sanscrit. Thus the great work of Kamban is the translation of the Ramayana. We have also a translation of a great part of the Mahabharata and in the Mahatmyas, in which Tamul next to Sanscrit abounds; we have numerous legends translated from the Puranas. Many of the poetical and narrative works are translations from the classical dialect. We might also infer the later date, of such Tamul literature as is original, from its being the work in a great measure of sudras and of Jains, as if it had been part of an attempt to oppose and overthrow the predominance of the Brahmans to whose priority, therefore, it bears witness. That part of Tamul literature which is original, consists chiefly of histories more or less legendary of the Chola, Pandya and Chera countries, of moral and didactic poems, and of treatises on philology and medicine; of the former some are very recent compilations having been prepared for the use of Col. Mackenzie, but other are of reputed antiquity, and the Pandya Rajakal is ascribed to Narakira, Bana and Kapila, three of the original professors of Madura college.20 20

Ibid, pp. xxxi–iv.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

164 Manuscripts, Memory and History According to Wilson, although Tamil language had an independent origin, it lacked literature independent of Sanskrit influence. The beginnings of Tamil literature can be traced back to the ninth century CE when the Pandyas established the Madura College. A reprint of Wilson’s Descriptive Catalogue appeared in 1882 of which the editor of The Indian Antiquary wrote a review with the following observation: Wilson’s Mackenzie Collection was a valuable hand-book of information on Indian Literature and History fifty years ago, and it is still occasionally of use to a few scholars engaged in historical research, though much of the contents is now antiquated and superseded by more recent investigations.21

The review went on to praise the value of the introduction by Wilson to Mackenzie’s collection which contained useful information for civil servants working in the districts of the Madras Presidency. Wilson’s introduction was a standard reference for nineteenth-century European scholars on Tamil, especially pertaining to the dating of the Tamil literature. Wilson was not alone in dating the beginnings of Tamil literature to the ninth century CE. Robert Caldwell, who wrote the comparative grammar of the Dravidian family of languages in 1856, John Murdoch, who compiled a classified catalogue of Tamil printed books in 1865, Charles Gover, who wrote on the folk songs of southern India in 1871, and A.C. Burnell, who attempted to detail the elements of south Indian paleography in 1878, also subscribed to the view that the beginnings of Tamil literature can be traced to the ninth century CE, although they demonstrated and accepted that the Tamil language belong to a different family of languages from that of Sanskrit. They were aware of the three literary academies in the Tamil tradition but had no idea about what constituted the literary texts of the three academies and their respective dates. Rev. William Taylor in a supplementary note to the Mackenzie manuscripts detailed a text which formed part of Mackenzie’s collections – the Sanghattar Charitra. He made the following observation about the content and physical state of the manuscript Sanghattar Charitra: Sanghattar Charitra, tale of the Professors. This is a very imperfect fragment of a work relative to the formation of a college at Madura; in which there were forty-nine professors of the Tamil balles letters. 21

The Indian Antiquary, vol. XI, 1882, pp. 301–02.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

165

Its formation took place in the time of Vangisha (or rather Vamsa) Sec’hara Pandiyam. The account of Tiruvalluvar, of his Cural; and of the destruction (as alleged) of the professors, in consequence, are narrated in the work; though only partially contained in this fragment. For the rest, though a little touched by insects, it is in good preservation; and is comparatively recent copy.22

Rev. peter percival and rev. henry bower In 1854, Rev. Peter Percival, an American missionary, published The Land of the Veda, a work which included the text of a series of lectures he had delivered on the same subject at St. Augustine Missionary College at Canterbury. In chapter six on languages, he has an extensive portion on the Tamil language and literature in which he detailed his understanding of Tamil literary history. Percival argued that ‘Tamil people have an extensive literature’, as ‘the Ramayana, the Mahabharat, some of the Puranas, and other productions found in the Sanskrit, have been translated, in whole or in part, into the Tamil language. The Tamil is also rich in original authorship. Its works on grammar are voluminous.’23 Percival gives an account of Agastya’s legend in the Tamil literary tradition, his grammar Agattiyam, and his followers. He then gives a short introduction to Tamil grammars Tholkappiyam and Pavananti’s Nannool. Somewhat like F.W. Ellis, Percival considered the Sivakacintamani as the best literary work extant in Tamil literature. He observed that ‘the prince of the Tamil poets wrote an epic called Chinta-mani, which is one of the most masterly performances found in the language’.24 He then presented the life history of poets like Thiruvalluvar, Auvaiyar and detailed their works. A missionary approach to Tamil literary history was not without a communal tone as it was the missionaries who confronted the materiality of caste in their everyday work of conversion and preaching the Gospel to the indigenous people. Percival argued that ‘prior to the invasion of India by the Sanskritspeaking Brahminised conquerors, one common language prevailed Rev. William Taylor, ‘A Supplement to the Six Reports on Mackenzie Manuscripts Heretofore Printed in the Madras Journal of Literature and Science’, The Madras Journal of Literature and Science, no. 33, July–December 1847, p. 122.

22

Rev. Peter Percival, The Land of the Veda: India Briefly Described in Some of Its Aspects, Physical, Social, Intellectual and Moral, London, 1854, p. 99.

23

24

Ibid.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

166 Manuscripts, Memory and History throughout the country, which eventually issued in the polished Tamil in a region remote from the seats of Brahminical power’.25 He believed that Tamil was promoted as a rival to Sanskrit in the south and that it was cultivated by a secular class. Whereas the other languages of the south namely Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam contain an admixture of Sanskrit, Tamil was entirely free of Sanskrit. He argued that the purest Tamil works were almost free from Sanskrit vocabulary and thought and that language could be spoken without a word from the Brahminized vehicle of thought. It is important to bear in mind that indigenous scholars like Arumuga Navalar and C.W. Damodaram Pillai worked closely with Peter Percival, and his impact on these scholars in shaping the understanding of Tamil literature cannot be underestimated. In an article titled ‘Tamil Language and Literature’ published in 1855 in Calcutta Review, Rev. Henry Bower made a detailed review of the Nannool in which he also made some general observations on the Tamil language and literature. Drawing from the writings of Francis Ellis, Peter Percival and Beschi, he argued that Tamil is one of the ancient languages of India not only on par with Sanskrit but also distinct from it. His understanding of Tamil literature was derived largely from H.H. Wilson’s introduction to Mackenzie’s manuscripts. Commenting on the Ilakkiyam of the Tamil language, Bower observed: The Tamil language is rich in ethical writings. When Professor Wilson was lately asked to name some Sanskrit work that might be read with advantage by the European student, he could only refer to the Hitopadesha. But we have something better in Tamil. The productions of the elite in Madura college were chiefly of an ethical nature. In the reign of Vamsa Sekhara, probably in the third century of the Christian era, was founded the Madura College, for the cultivation of the Tamil language and literature. His son Vamsa Churamani completed his father’s design, and established the college on a proper footing. This was then most probably the most celebrated seat of learning in all Hindustan. If the court of Vikramaditya had its nine gems, the Madura college is reported to have had more than five times that number – of the forty-eight Sangattar or professors, Nakkirar, Panar and Kapilar, were chief.26 25

Ibid., p. 49.

Rev. Henry Bower, ‘Tamil Language and Literature’, The Calcutta Review, vol. XXV, July–December 1855, p. 181.

26

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

167

Bower then quoted H.H. Wilson in detail regarding the Sangam apart from explaining works like the Thirukkural, Naladiyar and ethical poems of Auvaiyar. It was Rev. Henry Bower who first printed the first chapter of the Sivakacintamani in 1868 under the active patronage of the Director of Public Instruction, which was subsequently institutionalised as syllabus for B.A. degree in Madras University. He made the following observation about Sintamani: The greatest original Tamil poem is the Chintamani, which is just being published at Madras. It is a moral epic of the highest merit. The commentator styles the author the master of all the learned. His name is not mentioned. He was a Jain of whom Beschi remarks that ‘he may with justice be called the prince of Tamil poets.’ Chintamani is an appellation of Sivagan, the hero of the poem. Many beautiful passages are quoted in Ellis’s Kural. Examples of rhetorical figures are generally given from it. From the specimen of the first part of the work, with a comment as learned as the text, which we have seen in print, we fear it will be tough reading.27

Thus, Bower’s observation on the Sintamani also reflects his acquaintance with the writings of Beschi and Ellis on the same work. Bower also touched upon the works of Saiva and Vaishnava Bhakti poets and held that the Thiruvaymoli and Thiruvasagam were popular in the temples of Vishnu and Siva respectively. The most popular religious book of the Vaishnavas is the Tiruvaymozhy, containing hymns of praise in honour of Vishnu, which are recited in the temples by the Tamil brahmans instead of the Sanskrit Vedic hymns. They are said to be composed by the twelve alwars, or disciples of Vishnu. They contain four thousand stanzas. The counterpart of this amongst the Saivas is the Tiruvasagam, consisting of hymns in praise of Siva, sung in his temple by Saiva Pandarams. It was composed by Manikkavasagar, the great champion of Saivism, who in the ninth century overcame the Jains. Both these popular works, according to their names, signify The Holy Word, or Sacred Scriptures.28

Bower ended the article with a call to revive Tamil learning in public schools. He argued that ‘though the Palmy days of Tamil literature are gone with the Madura Pandyas, yet the works that remain are standing monuments by which we may estimate the capabilities of Hindu 27

Ibid., pp. 191–92.

28

Ibid., p. 193.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

168 Manuscripts, Memory and History genius’.29 There was hardly any effort made by Henry Bower to situate the literary works of Tamil in history using textual criticism or historical method. On the question of dating the literary texts, he relied on H.H. Wilson or else speculated with no evidence to support. Henry Bower also published the translation of medieval Tamil grammar book Nannool into English in 1876. In a section on ‘advertisement’ Bower observed that the Nannool cannot be older than five hundred years. He believed that the Tholkappiyam was composed in the eighth century CE.30 These remarks concerning the date of Tamil literary works were made rather casually without historical inquiry. It is clear that Bower’s interest was more in translating the work into English than venturing into historical inquiry. We can observe the same attitude with scholars like G.U. Pope who was also reluctant to venture into historical inquiry.

Robert caldwell and john murdoch Robert Caldwell’s A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages was published in 1856. In it Caldwell included, apart from the comparative grammatical analysis of south Indian languages, sections on Dravidian literature and religion. Before publishing the grammar Caldwell studied the Tamil language for seventeen years. He observed in the comparative grammar that although his intention is to present the grammatical structure of each Dravidian language and dialect, it is his aim to throw light upon the structure of Tamil. He considered the Tamil language to be ‘undoubtedly the oldest, richest and most highly organized, of the Dravidian languages, in many respects the representative of the family’.31 His emphasis on the antiquity of the Tamil language however did not extend to his understanding of the antiquity of Tamil literature. ‘Notwithstanding the antiquity of Dravidian civilization,’ observed Caldwell, ‘the antiquity of the oldest Dravidian literature extant is much inferior to that of the Sanskrit. Indeed it is questionable whether the word ‘antiquity’ is a suitable one 29

Ibid., p. 194.

Rev. H. Bower, Introduction to the Nannul: The Tamil Text, and the English Translation, with Appendices of Notes and Grammatical Terms, Christian Knowledge Society’s Press, Madras, 1876, pp. iii–vi.

30

Rev. Robert Caldwell, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, London, 1856, p. 1.

31

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

169

to use respecting the literature of the Dravidian languages.’32 It is not surprising that when the third revised edition of Caldwell’s grammar was published in 1913, twenty-two years after the author’s death, the editors found a section on Dravidian literature by Caldwell outdated and hence removed the section from the third revised edition. From the publication of Caldwell’s second edition of Comparative Grammar in 1875 to the third revised edition of 1913, the intervening period saw the publication of classical Tamil literature and the emergence of critical scholarship in Tamil literature that challenged many of the earlier notions of the chronology of Tamil literature. However, Caldwell made a passionate enquiry into the chronology of Tamil literature in his first two editions of Comparative Grammar dating the beginnings of Tamil literature to the eighth century ce. Although he was aware of the Tamil literary academies in Madurai during the ancient period, he had no idea about the texts that were supposed to be presented at the academy. He considered the Thirukkural and Sivakacintamani as the finest of Tamil literary production, wholly ‘independent of the Sanskrit, and original in design as well as in execution’. Caldwell dated the Thirukkural and Sivakacintamani to the period of the influence of Jainism in Tamil region that extended, according to him, from eighth century ce to the twelfth or thirteenth century ce. To quote him: The period of the predominance of the Jainas (a predominance in intellect and learning – rarely a predominance in political power) was the Augustan age of Tamil literature, the period when the Madura College, a celebrated literary association, flourished, and when the Cural, the Chintamani, and the classical vocabularies and grammars were written.33

Commenting on the earliest extant written relics of the Dravidian languages, Caldwell argued the ‘Dravidian words which are contained in the Ramayana, the Maha-Bharata, and other Sanskrit poems of undoubted antiquity, are so few that they throw no light whatever upon the ancient condition of the Dravidian languages, prior to the eighth or ninth centuries ce, the earliest date to which any extant Tamil compositions can safely be attributed’.34 32

Ibid., pp. 81–82.

33

Ibid., p. 56.

34

Ibid., p. 61.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

170 Manuscripts, Memory and History Although Caldwell acknowledged the antiquity of the Tamil language, he placed the beginnings of Tamil literature to the eighth or ninth century ce. In this respect, Caldwell echoed H.H. Wilson but with one important difference. While H.H. Wilson contended that whatever literature Tamil language possesses is a direct imitation or translation from the Sanskrit, Caldwell highlighted the existence of literary works in Tamil independent of Sanskrit influence. In fact, the communal tone of Aryan/Brahmin/Sanskrit versus the Dravidian population was maintained throughout the book by Caldwell. He maintained that Brahmins never composed original works in the Tamil language. He argued that few Brahmins have written anything worthy of preservation in Tamil. For him the Tamil language ‘has been cultivated and developed with immense zeal and success by the native Tamilian sudras; and the highest rank in Tamil literature which has been reached by a Brahmin is that of a commentator. The commentary of Parimelaragar on the Kural of Tiruvallauvar (a Pariar but the acknowledged and deified prince of Tamil authors) is the most classical production which has been written in Tamil by a Brahmin.’35 After presenting the views of H.H. Wilson who observed that whatever Tamil literature that is extant is drawn from Sanskrit, Caldwell observed that it is the case with other Dravidian languages like Telugu, Kannada and Malayalam, and that the view is not true in the case of Tamil. Commenting on Wilson’s argument, Caldwell argued that, ‘this representation is not perfectly correct, in so far as the Tamil is concerned; for the compositions that are universally admitted to be the ablest and finest in the languages, viz., the CURAL and the Chinatamani, are perfectly independent of the Sanskrit, and original in design as well as in execution; and though it is true that Tamil writers have imitated – I cannot say translated – the Ramayana, the Maha-bharata, and similar works, they boast that the Tamil Ramayana of their own Kamban is greatly superior to the Sanskrit original of Valmiki’.36 When the second revised edition of Comparative Grammar was published by Caldwell in 1875, he retained the section on ‘Relative Antiquity of Dravidian Literature’ adding subtitles like Age of Telugu Literature, Age of Canarese Literature, Age of Malayalam Literature and 35

Ibid., pp. 33–34.

36

Ibid., p. 34.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

171

Age of Tamil Literature. In the section on the Age of Tamil Literature, Caldwell situated Tamil literary works in the broad chronological frameworks under (a) The Jaina Cycle (b) The Tamil Ramayana Cycle (c) The Saiva Revival Cycle (d) The Vaishnava Cycle (e) The Cycle of the Literary Revival, and (f) The Modern Writers. Caldwell dismissed the innumerable works attributed to Agastya thousands of years back by indigenous Tamil pundits as a myth. He argued that none of the works attributed to sage Agastya can be dated before tenth century ce.37 Caldwell considered the quotations contained in the Tholkappiyam to be the oldest specimens of the poetical style that are now extant. He further believed that many centuries of literary culture must have passed before the age of the Tholkappiyam, though nowhere he dated the earliest grammatical work in Tamil. Establishing a date for a literary work in Tamil remained an enigma for a missionary like Caldwell. He observed: Even when we come down to the later period, if it were really later, of the Kural and the Chintamani, when Tamil literature is supposed to have reached the summit of its perfection, we find that the exact age of even of those great compositions is unknown. We have not a single reliable date to guide us, and in the midst of conjecture a few centuries more or less seem to go for nothing. Tamil writers, like Hindu writers in general, hid their individuality in the shade of their writings. Even the names of most of them are unknown. They seem to have regarded individual celebrity, like individual existence, as worthless, and absorption into the Universal Spirit of the classical literature of their country as the highest good to which their compositions could aspire. Their readers followed in the same course, age after age. If the book was good, people admired it; but whether it was written by a man or by a divinity, or whether it wrote itself, as the Vedas were commonly supposed to have done, they neither knew nor cared. Still less did they care, of course, if the book were bad. The historical spirit, the antiquarian spirit, to a great degree even the critical spirit, are developments of modern times. If, therefore, I attempt to throw some light on the age of the principal Tamil works, I hope it may be borne in mind that, in my opinion, almost the only thing that is perfectly certain in relation to those works is, that they exist.38 37

Caldwell, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian Languages, pp. 126–27.

38

Ibid., p. 128.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

172 Manuscripts, Memory and History The Jaina cycle, according to Caldwell, extended probably from the eighth or ninth century ce to the twelfth or thirteenth century. During this period, the literary academy in Madurai flourished in which the Thirukkural and Naladiyar were presented. He refers to the eighteen works presented at the literary academy in Madurai but does not give us the names of the works. The reasons for assigning the date prior to tenth century for the Kural, according to Caldwell, are five. The fact that the Kural contains no trace of the distinctive doctrines of Sankaracharya, agamic (a collection of Sanskrit and Tamil scriptures constituting the rules of temple construction and rituals) or Saiva Siddhanta school, absence of puranic myths or bhakti, and the existence of Jaina philosophy in it, according to Caldwell, warrant pre-tenth century date for the work. He dated the Naladiyar, Sintamani, Divakaram and Nannool to the period of the Jaina cycle.39 Caldwell then went on to detail other subsequent periods in Tamil literary history. The first two editions of Comparative Grammar of Caldwell underline the case that comprehending Tamil literary history was a difficult task with the absence of any reliable date for any of the Tamil literary works. John Murdoch, who compiled the classified catalogue of Tamil printed books in 1865, did not stay away from commenting on the nature of Tamil language and its literature. His understanding of Tamil literature was derived from the writings of Beschi, H.H. Wilson, Henry Bower, Robert Caldwell, Rev. William Taylor and Simon Casie Chitty. It can be said that Caldwell’s influence was more dominant on Murdoch than on any other of the European writers. Citing Caldwell’s work of comparative grammar, Murdoch argued that the earliest specimens extant in Tamil literature are not older than the eighth century CE. He dismissed the Puranas, which promised to provide history from the earliest times, as childish legends. Although Murdoch accepted the existence of the Madura College and the patronage extended by the Pandyan kings towards Tamil language and literature, his dating of them was no different from Caldwell and the others. The Madura college exercised as great an authority over Tamil literature, as the academy of Paris in its palmy days in Paris … The Jaina period extended probably from the eighth or ninth century A.D., to the twelfth or thirteenth. In the reign of Sundara Pandya, 39

Ibid., pp. 130–33.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

173

which appears to synchronize with Marco Polo’s visit to India, the adherents of the religious system of the Jainas, were finally expelled from the Pandiya country. Consequently, all Tamil works which advocate or avow that system must have been written before the middle of thirteenth century A.D., and probably before the decandance of Jaina influence in the twelfth … The general opinion is that the grammar called ‘TOLKAPPAYAM’, or ancient composition, is the oldest work extant. Dr. Caldwell places it at the very commencement of the Jaina period, or about the 8th century A.D. It contains quotations which must belong to still earlier works.40

Drawing further from Caldwell, he dates the Thirukkural to the ninth century ce and the Sintamani to the tenth century.

charles e. gover and a.c. burnell Charles E. Gover’s The Folk-Songs of Southern India published in 1871 attempted to examine the popular literature of the Dravidians free from elitist biases. The author was very critical of Brahmins who distorted the radical texts of pre-modern period that challenged the very fabric of puranic Hinduism. According to Gover, there existed a difficulty in getting the ‘early Tamil books’ free from corruption and mutilation, a condition that was widespread in southern India. He was critical of Caldwell who argued that Tamils are Turanian in origin. Given the kind of high moral literature that Dravidians possess, Gover argued, they should be given the honour of omission from the Turanian family. Commenting on the literature of Tamils, Gover observed: There is a great mass of noble writing ready in hand in Tamil and Telugu folk literature, especially in the former. Total neglect has fallen upon it. Overborne by Brahmanic legend, hated by the Brahmans, it has not had a chance of obtaining the notice it so much deserves. The people cling to their songs still, and in every pyall-school the pupils learn the strains of Tiruvalluva, Auveiyar, Kapila, Pattunatta and the other early writers. To raise these books in public estimation, to exhibit the true products of the Dravidian mind, would be a task worthy of the ripest scholar and the most enlightened government. I would especially draw attention to the John Murdoch, Classified Catalogue of Tamil Printed Books, The Christian Vernacular Education Society, Madras, 1865, pp. xx–xxiii.

40

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

174 Manuscripts, Memory and History eighteen books that are said to have received the sanction of the Madura College, and are among the oldest specimens of Dravidian literature. Any student of Dravidian writings would be able to add a score of equally valuable books. If these were carefully edited they would form a body of Dravidian classics of the highest value.41

It is interesting to note that Gover was making an appeal to publish eighteen books of the Madura college although he did not mention anywhere in his book as to what constituted these eighteen books. He was aware of the Thirukkural, the moral treatises of Auvaiyar, Kapilar Akaval and Thiruvalluvar Charitra, the texts that Gover considers as ‘early books of Tamils’. A.C. Burnell, in his Elements of South Indian Paleography published in 1874, promised to provide the real history of south India through inscriptions from the fourth to the seventeenth century. He was of the opinion that through inscriptions a real history of south India can be attempted than using literature as source which he dismissed as ‘wearisome dry dogmatic treatises’. He argued that the earliest literary culture in the Deccan was purely Sanskritic and that compositions in the vernacular except in Tamil scarcely existed before the tenth century CE. His comments on the beginnings of Tamil literature emerges in the context of his discussion of the Vattelutu script. Commenting on the script he argued: It may, therefore, be termed the Pandyan character, as its use extended over the whole of that kingdom at its best period; it appears also to have been in use in the small extent of country below the ghats (south-Malabar and Coimbatore of the present day) which belonged to the Cera kingdom. As it was gradually supplanted by the modern Tamil character beginning about eleventh century under the Colas, it is, therefore, certain that the Tolkappiya, Kural and all the other early Tamil works were written in it, under the most flourishing period of the ‘Pandya’ (or Madura) kingdom, or before the eleventh century when it finally fell under the Colas … But though it is certain that the beginning of the Tamil literature may be safely put about the ninth century, there is nothing to show that there was in any way a literature before that time. The legend of Agastya’s settlement in the South is, of course, historically worthless, and though the three Dravidian kingdoms were undoubtedly Charles E. Gover, The Folk-Songs of Southern India, Higginbotham and Co, Madras, 1871, pp. xix–xx.

41

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

175

ancient, we have nothing about their condition till Hieuen-Thsang’ visit to the peninsula about 640 A.D.42

E.r. baierlein, a german missionary on tamil literature It was around the same time when A.C. Burnell’s work was published that a translation into English from the German titled The Land of Tamulians by J.D.B. Gribble of Rev. E.R. Baierlein, a missionary from the Evangelical Lutheran Society, was published. Baierlein had a chapter in this book titled ‘The People and their Literature’. A study of this chapter will also enable us to understand the fact that the German missionary understanding of Tamil literature and its history was no different from that of the colonial administrators. After detailing the history of three kingdoms of south India in ancient times with references from Greek sources, Baierlein argued that the cultivation of Tamil language and literature took place in Madura. He presents us a familiar story of the beginnings of Tamil literature that colonial administrators were repeating often. Madura was built by Kala Sekhara over the site of an old lingam said to have been placed there by Indra himself. In a short time there sprung up in this youthful and vigorous royal residence a High School with 48 academicians and it was here that the Tamil language, in contradistinction to Sanscrit dialects of the North, was cultivated and developed. In time however, the Professors began to swim with the stream, until just as the Tamil language was in danger of losing its purity, there came a Pariah priest and weaver from Mylapoor, not far from the present, then not existing, Madras. This new comer by name, by name Tiruvalloovan, succeeded in obtaining a hearing for his poem the Kural, written in the purest high Tamil, and in this way effected a kind of revolution in the language.43

Baierlein argued that King Kuna Sekhara lived around the ninth century when Jainism and Buddhism had made their mark in Madurai. He also argued that it was during this time that there was fierce conflict between the Jains and the Saivites. Thus for Baierlein, Sambandar converted A.C. Burnell, Elements of South Indian Paleography: From the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D., second edition, Trubner and Co, London, 1878, p. 47.

42

43 Rev. E.R. Baierlein, The Land of the Tamulians and Its Missions, translated from the German by J.D.B. Gribble, Higginbotham and Co, Madras, 1875, p. 18.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

176 Manuscripts, Memory and History King Kuna Sekara to Saivism by his magical act of curing the illness of the king.44

G.u. pope, walter elliot and julien vinson In terms of exposure to classical Tamil literature, G.U. Pope (1820–1908) and Julien Vinson (1843–1926) stand out in the nineteenth century among European scholars on Tamil. Both maintained communication with U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. In this sense it is necessary to deal with their writings to see whether there was any change in their perception of Tamil literary past over a period of time. First, let us detail the views of G.U. Pope and Walter Elliot and then get into the writings of French Tamil scholar Julien Vinson. As late as 1883, in A Hand-Book of the Ordinary Dialect of the Tamil Language, G.U. Pope mentions in a section on the history of language and literature only literary texts like the Thirukkural, Atticcuti, Konrai Ventan, Muturai, Sivakacintamani, Naladiyar and Kambaramayanam and not any of the Sangam works except the grammar book Tholkappiyam.45 Even by 1893, in the general introduction to the translation of the Naladiyar, G.U. Pope had expressed his unwillingness to get into a discussion on the chronological aspects of early Tamil literature. However this unwillingness did not stop him from making statements about the beginnings of Tamil literature. I am unwilling to enter here on any discussion of the date of this and other Tamil classics, since there are scarcely any ascertained facts or ancient inscriptions from which to reason. The discussion of these matters requires attitude, leisure and opportunity for archaeological research (and these I do not possess), in addition to a critical acquaintance with Tamil literature. The want of this last essential has rendered many otherwise profound researches almost valueless. A very careful consideration of many masterpieces of Tamil literature leads me to think that between A.D. 800 and 1200 the greatest of these works were composed. Internal evidence, as far as I see, is all we have to rely on.46 44 For a review of Rev E. R. Baierlein’s book, see The Indian Antiquary, vol. V, 1876, pp. 62–64. 45 G.U. Pope, A Hand-Book of the Ordinary Dialect of the Tamil Language, W.H. Allen and Co, London, 1883, pp. 4–6. 46 G.U. Pope, The Naladiyar or Four Hundred Quatrains in Tamil, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1893, p. x.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

177

To substantiate this statement he refers to a familiar story of Hiuen Tsang’s visit to south India which few Englishmen while writing Tamil literary past invoked. He argued: Hiouen-Thsang, the Buddhist pilgrim who visited the continent of India in 640 A.D., says that in Malakuta the people were not much addicted to the cultivation of literature, and only valued the pursuit of wealth; and mentions Jains as the prominent sect. Now this Malakuta must be = Malakota, Malainadu, Malaya, Malayalam, and seems to have included the whole southern part of the Madras Presidency: (Hultzsch, South-Indian Inscriptions, Vol. II, part. I, p.2 note): the Pandya and Cera kingdoms. The Jains were great students and copyists of books (Burnell, S.I. Paleography, p. 88). We may feel quite sure that the seventh century A.D. at the latest, saw the beginning of Tamil literature under Jain auspices.47

Pope was aware of the article of P. Sundaram Pillai that appeared in the Magazine of the Madras Christian College in 1891 where Pillai attempts to push the chronology of the Tamil literature backwards in time. He cites this particular article of Sundaram Pillai in the footnote to the general introduction to the Naladiyar, directing the readers to understand the latest attempts on the chronology of Tamil literary past.48 Despite this awareness, Pope was not only unwilling to enter into the discussions on the chronology of Tamil literature but also remained reluctant to accept the findings of Sundaram Pillai. His translation of the Thirukkural was published initially in the journal The Indian Antiquary from 1878 to 1881. In 1878, while translating the Thirukkural, Pope observed: There are no data whatever which may enable us to fix the period at which our poet flourished. I think between A.D. 1000 and 1200 is its probable date. The style is not archaic – far less so than that of the Sivaga Chintamani.49

When the English translation of the Thirukkural was published in full by G.U. Pope in 1886, he made a slight adjustment to the chronology of 47

Ibid.

In footnote, G.U. Pope writes: ‘To native scholars this field of research naturally belongs and any reader of Mr. P. Sundaram Pillai’s able papers in the Madras Christian College Magazine (1891) will see that one of them at least is zealously and ably working in it.’ Ibid, p. x.

48

G.U. Pope, ‘Notes on the Kurral of the Tamil Poet Tiruvalluvar’, The Indian Antiquary, vol. VII, 1878, p. 221. 49

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

178 Manuscripts, Memory and History the literary work. He argued that the Thirukkural can be dated between 800 and 1000 A.D.50 Even in his notes pertaining to the south Indian or Dravidian family of languages and in his translations of the ancient literary work Purananuru, Pope did not venture into the chronological aspect of early Tamil literary works. Wherever he did, he dated the beginnings of Tamil literature to the ninth century CE, similar to Robert Caldwell. Another Englishman who was interested in antiquarian researches in south India was Walter Elliot. Elliot was solely responsible for preserving and publishing the papers of Francis Whyte Ellis. Periodically he contributed articles relating to the history and culture of south India in a number of journals as early as the 1850s till the time of his death in 1887. The last of his article before his death is of much importance for our study because it is directly related to the classical Tamil literature. Titled ‘The Importance of Early Dravidian Literature’, Elliot made an announcement to the readers of the journal The Indian Antiquary that he received news from his native friend of Tamil regarding the publication of a long commentary to the Tholkappiyam, an ancient Tamil grammatical work. He further observed: My object in calling attention to this composition is, to suggest that a full translation will probably throw light on the ethnological condition of the early population of the South, particularly of that portion which I have designated as the predatory tribes.51

As evident from the passage quoted above, Elliot was more interested in ethnological importance of the work than the linguistic aspect. Reconstructing the history of settlements, inter-tribal warfare and marital practices received the attention of Elliot from the sections of the Tholkappiyam instead of poetic and linguistic prescriptions. He recalled his experience of noting the innumerable hero stones during his tours to various places in southern India and how this should be used for the interpretation of literary and grammatical works. He made an appeal to those scholars who were well grounded in Tamil language to study the archaic Tamil ‘so largely altered by later Aryan interference’. Further he observed: The author of the Tolkappiyam, Tiranadumagni, is represented to 50

G.U. Pope, The ‘Sacred’ Kurral of Tiruvalluva-Nayanar, London, 1886, p. xix.

Walter Elliot, ‘The Importance of Early Dravidian Literature’, The Indian Antiquary, vol. XVI, 1887, p. 159.

51

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

179

have been the principal disciple of Agastya, deriving his name of Tolkappiyanar from his native place, which caused him to employ it as the title of his great work. But it is by no means improbable that the Tolkappiyam is of older origin and is a remnant of an earlier Dravidian literature that flourished before the immigration of the Brahmanical missionaries from the north. In that case the Tolkappiyam and other contemporary archaic writings, would furnish a valuable mine of classical and ethnological lore. And my purpose in this communication is to express a hope that some of the alumni of the Madras University may be induced to explore its recesses, in the hope of throwing light on the normal literature, manner, customs, & c., of their own land; following the example of their distinguished countrymen in Bombay and Bengal. Attention is not now called to this object for the first time. Fifteen years ago Mr. Gover, supported by the authority of several competent judges, pointed out how great is the mass of early Dravidian, especially Tamil literature …52

Elliot then went on to quote Charles Gover’s appeal in his book Folk Songs of Southern India for recovering and printing the classical Tamil literary works. Julien Vinson’s (1843–1926) contribution to Tamil language and literature range from the French translation of Buddhist and Jain epics of Tamil to the compilation of a catalogue titled Manuel da la Langue Tamoule in 1903. He maintained communication with U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and followed the developments in the sphere of Tamil literary publications.53 In the introduction to his Manuel, Vinson summarises his ideas on Tamil literature. He was aware of P. Sundaram Pillai’s Some Milestones in the History of Tamil Literature and the articles of Thirumalaikkolundu Pillai published in the Siddhanta Deepika. He had also quoted from M. Seshagiri Sastri’s Essay on Tamil Literature published in 1897. Indigenous scholars like P. Sundaram Pillai, Thirumalaikkolundu Pillai and M. Seshagiri Sastri were challenging the 52

Ibid, pp. 159–60.

The scholarly communication between Swaminatha Iyer and Julien Vinson is found in an essay written by Iyer titled ‘Katalkatantu vanta Tamil’. See U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Taktar U. Ve. Sa Avarkalin Urainatai Nulkal, vol. I, Dr.U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai, 2005, pp. 29–38. In this essay, Swaminatha Iyer has reproduced the letters written by Julien Vinson to him in 1891. Iyer continued to communicate with Vinson till 1910.

53

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

180 Manuscripts, Memory and History contentions of European scholars on the question of dating the origins of Tamil literature in their publications. Despite the awareness of their writings, Julien Vinson did not accept their conclusions. He dated works like the Kalithogai, Silappatikaram, Manimenkalai, Naladiyar and Palamoli to what is today known as the medieval period although he believed that the Tholkappiyam is the earliest extant grammatical work in Tamil. Though Vinson maintained communication with Swaminatha Iyer, his interest soon shifted from Tamil to Basque language and general linguistics well before the outbreak of the First World War. The examples of G.U. Pope and Julien Vinson are testimony to the way Europeans were unwilling to change the periodization of Tamil literature despite their awareness of classical literature.

Robert o.d. asbury In 1886, Robert O. D. Asbury published A History of Tamil Literature in Jaffna in which an attempt was made to periodize Tamil literary history. Hailing from Jaffna with mixed ethnic parental background, Asbury was working as the headmaster of the Canadian Mission School in Indore when he published this fifteen-page work in the Tamil language. This work was published a year before the Kalithogai, a work considered to be part of the Sangam anthology in Tamil tradition, and was printed for the first time by C.W. Damodaram Pillai. The small but significant book of Asbury can be taken as a last publication on Tamil literary history before any Sangam literary work was printed. With the non-availability of any of the Sangam literary works in print, Asbury resorted to the reconstruction of Tamil literary history along the European line of dating the beginnings of Tamil literature to the eighth century CE. He was aware of the existence of a literary academy in Tamil literary tradition but assigned the age of the academy between 700 CE and 1100 CE. Asbury divided the Tamil literary past into ten broad periods, namely Adi Kalam (Earliest Age), Agastiyar Kalam (Age of Agastiya), Tholkappiyar Kalam (Age of Tholkappiyar), Sangattar Kalam (Age of Sangam), Kambar Kalam (Age of Kambar), Thondar Kalam (Age of Bhakti Saints), Pucciya Kalam (Age of Void), Ativiraraman Kalam (Age of Ativiraraman), Sittar Kalam (Age of Sittars) and Tar Kalam (Contemporary Age).54 54

Robert O.D. Asbury, A History of Tamil Literature, Jaffna, 1886, pp. 6–12.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

181

According to Asbury, Adi Kalam (Earliest Age) is devoid of any script for the Tamil language and hence it is not possible to assign a date to this period. Agastiyar Kalam is the period in which Agastya wrote a grammar for Tamil. There are 12,000 sutras assigned to Agastya. Asbury pointed to the existence of two schools of thought on the age of Agastya. The sage seems to have lived in 900 bce according to one school; and according to another school of thought, he lived during the reign of Kulasekhara. Asbury placed Tholkappiyar Kalam in between the age of Agastya and the age of the Madurai Tamil Sangam. Tholkappiyar is a disciple of Agastya according to Tamil literary tradition. The Tholkappiyam is the oldest of extant Tamil grammars. Asbury assigned Sangattar Kalam from 700 ce to 1100 ce. The author quotes a prose commentary which states that most of Sangam literary works were lost (like the Azhintuvittana). The Naladiyar, Sintamani, Divakaram, Nannool and Kural were considered Sangam works by Asbury. Foremost among Tamil literary works, according to Asbury, are the Kural, Naladiyar, Sintamani and Ramayanam. Asbury dated Kambar Kalam to the twelfth century ce. The Ramayanam, Erelupatu, Muturai, Catakopar Antati, Atticcuti and Konrai Ventan were composed during this time. Kamban, Ottakkuttan, Ramanujan, Auvai and Pukalenti lived during this time. Thondar Kalam, in Asbury’s account, stretches from 1200 ce to 1350 ce. It was the age of the sixty-three Saiva Bhaktas detailed in the Periya Puranam. It was the age of the great Saiva saints like Manikkavacakar, Appar and Sundarar. It was also the age of the twelve Alvars. Pucciya Kalam is from 1350 ce to 1500 ce. According to Asbury, it is not possible to trace the works and the authors of this period and hence Pucciya Kalam. Ativirarama Pandyan Kalam is from 1500 ce to 1600 ce. During this period works like the Naitatam, Kacikantam, Verriverkkai, Jnana Vacittam, Sivajnana Bodham, Bharatam, Linga Puranam, Kurma Puranam, Thiruvilayatal Puranam and Sudamani Nigandu were composed. 1600 to 1700 ce, for Asbury, represents the age of the Sittars. Tirumular, Bhadhragiriyar and Konganar lived during this period. Post 1700 ce can be considered, according to Asbury, as Tar Kalam. During this period works like the Prabhulinka Lilai, Nitineri Vilakkam, Pattanattuppillai Patal, Tayumanavar Patal, Tempavani, Panchatantiram and Bharata Vacanam were written.55 55

Ibid., pp. 7–14.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

182 Manuscripts, Memory and History

Indigenous response The first indigenous scholar whose view on Tamil literature differed from the European understanding was Simon Casie Chitty (1807–1860). Born in the coastal town of Karpitti in the north-western Puttalam district of Sri Lanka, Simon Casie Chitty was well versed in many languages at his young age while serving in the colonial bureaucracy. He contributed articles pertaining to the history of Tamil language and epigraphy in periodicals like The Colombo Observer, The Ceylon Magazine and The Ceylon Government Gazette.56 In 1848, Simon Casie Chitty prepared a catalogue of Tamil literary works published in the same year in the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society. He differed considerably on the question of dating the earliest Tamil literature. In a work titled The Caste, Customs, Manners and Literatures of the Tamils published in 1834, Simon Casie Chitty argued that the Tamil language is not only justly considered as one of the most copious and elegant in the Eastern hemisphere but also a language which has no resemblance to Sanskrit. He too was critical of those who held the view that Tamil was a dialect of the Sanskrit. To quote him: Some writers, amongst them Fra Bartolemmo, suppose it to be a dialect of Sanskrit, but this is obviously an error; for ‘peculiar structure, wholly dissimilar from Sanskrit, its deficiency in aspirated consonants, its possession of letters and sounds not found in Sanskrit, its division into dialects, one of which contains but few words of Sanskrit derivations and lastly, its locality at the Southern extremity of India would seem to indicate an independent origin, and one of at least equal antiquity with the Sanskrit itself’.57

It is clear from the passage that Simon Casie Chitty was deriving from an article published in the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society. Long before his well-known work The Tamil Plutarch was published, Simon Casie Chitty reflected on the nature of Tamil language and literature. Commenting on the antiquity of Tamil literature he observed: Agastya was the first who framed rules for concerning the Tamil For an excellent analysis of the life and scholarly activities of Simon Casie Chitty in Tamil, see Po. Pulokasingam, ‘Simon Casie Chety Avargal Tanta Tamil Pulavar Caritam’, in Tamil Ilakkiyattil Ilattarinyarin Peru Muyarcikal, Kumaran Puthaga Illam, Chennai, 2002 (reprint), pp. 1–29.

56

Simon Casie Chitty, The Castes, Customs, Manners and Literatures of the Tamils, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1988 (first print 1834), p. 135.

57

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

183

grammar, but in the lapse of time they have been lost; after his time several persons wrote on the subject, but their works have likewise perished, excepting the one by Tolkappiyen, who was one of the disciples of Agastiya. This, however from its studied brevity, has been rendered scarcely intelligible, which led Pavanandi Vidwan, at the request and during the reign of the King Siyagangan of Madura to write a commentary upon it under the title of Nunnool, i.e., Literae humaniores … It is a fact, attested by numerous works, still in existence, on the liberal and mechanical arts, that the Tamils had made considerable progress in literature in the earliest period of their history. From the fourth century before, to the eleventh century after Christ, establishments for learning were in high repute amongst them, and there was a college at Madura, in which every literary production was received and approved. The kings of the Chola and Pandiya dynasties who then reigned over the Peninsula were themselves men of great learning, and made it a point to cherish and distinguish every genius by particular acts of munificence.58

The antiquity of Tamil and its independent nature from Sanskrit has been well articulated here. For him such a period of pristine glory has passed and what is found at present was degeneration. The present generation, however, scarcely feel any desire to add to the stock, or improve upon it; and I doubt whether the Hindoo Literary Society of Madras by the mere printing and publishing of some MSS especially on Mythology, will ever be able to revive the national literature.59

What we find here is not only a mere reflection of Simon Casie Chitty on the nature of the Tamil language and the history of its literature but also a provocation that the period of glory has passed. These preliminary reflections were developed in his well-known work The Tamil Plutarch published in 1859. In the preface to The Tamil Plutarch Simon Casie Chitty observed that Tamil literature was patronised by the line of Pandyan kings who ruled Madurai from ninth century bce to fourteenth century ce. Few nations on earth can perhaps boast of so many poets as the Tamils. Poetry appears to have been the first fixed form of language 58

Ibid., pp. 136–38.

59

Ibid., p. 139.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

184 Manuscripts, Memory and History amongst them … The inducements held out to poets and the rewards bestowed on them by the long line of Pandiya kings, who graced the throne of Madura from the ninth century before to the fourteenth century afer CHRIST, were most liberal, and might have done honor even to the court of AUGUSTUS. These kings had three different Sangams, or Colleges established in their capital at three different periods for the promotion of literature, more or less corresponding in character with the Royal Academy of Sciences founded by Louis XIV at Paris, and made it a rule that every literary production should be submitted to their Senatus Academicus, before it was allowed to circulate in the country, for the purpose of preserving the purity and integrity of the language. It may be well imagined how favorably these Sangams operated on the talent and genius of the nation. From every part of Southern India poets crowded into the Sangamandapam, or college hall to recite their compositions and the successful candidate besides winning the smiles of the royalty was rewarded with something more enduring and substantial as will appear from Vamshasu da mani Pandiyen presenting a purse of gold to the poet Tarumi, and Kulesa Pandien honoring the poet Iddeikader by the gift of a young elephant and a horse besides gold, and fertile lands. Neither the kings of Chera and Chola backward in patronizing poets.60

Definitely the passage quoted from Casie Chitty demonstrates more knowledge of the Tamil literary past than that of the Europeans scholars on Tamil. In a preface to the edition of the Viracoliyam, C.W. Damodaram Pillai made an attempt to write the history of Tamil language and literature. The fact that Pillai had a deep knowledge of the Orientalists’ views on Indian languages and literature is clear from the way he attempted to review the then prevailing views in the preface to the Viracoliyam. He refutes the views of those who contend that Tamil was known in ancient times in the Indo-Aryan languages as Dravida, and goes on to argue that the term connoted only the region and not any language. Although his periodization of the Tamil literary history is without any concrete chronological framework, the fact that he tried to situate the literary Simon Casie Chitty, The Tamil Plutarch: A Summary Account of the Lives of the Poets and Poetesses of Southern India and Ceylon, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1982 (first published 1859), p. 1.

60

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

185

works of Tamil into broad historical periods underlie the urge in him to write the history of Tamil language and literature. The history of Tamil language and literature, according to Pillai, can be situated in the following broad periods of linear chronological sequence: apotakalam, asharakalam, illakanakalam, camutayakalam, anatarakalam, camanakalam, itikacakalam and atinakalam.61 Pillai’s approach to Tamil language and literature was influenced by his exposure to Western education at an early age in Jaffna. The fact that Pillai had close working relation with Arumuga Navalar is also very important to note since it has been contended that it was at the instance of Navalar’s advice that Pillai entered the field of publishing the ancient Tamil literary texts. Pillai’s first major publication of ancient Tamil text was the chapter on phonetics (Sollatikaram) of the grammar text Tholkappiyam with the commentary of Senavarayar. It was Arumuga Navalar who did the research by comparing the various manuscript copies and gave it to Pillai for publication. The influence of Arumuga Navalar on Pillai was considerable apart from the fact that he was also deeply influenced by Western education. It can be argued that this dual influence shaped Pillai’s career in the publishing industry. Although Damodaram Pillai made an attempt to situate the literary texts of Tamil in a broad chronological framework, there was a general lack of historical spirit in his writings.

P. sundaram pillai The first systematic attempt to date the classics was made by P. Sundaram Pillai (1855–97), the celebrated author of the Manonmaniam, who was then a professor of philosophy at the Maharaja’s College, Trivandrum. Born in a Vellala family with ancestral origins from Madurai, Sundaram Pillai earned an MA degree from Travancore. Before taking up the post of professor at the Maharaja’s College, he had a varied experience, having served first as the headmaster and subsequently as the principal of the Hindu College of Tirunelveli, apart from serving in the Travancore Revenue Department. He played an important role, among others, in the founding of the Saiva Prakasa Sabha at Trivandrum in 1885. In a review of the Pathuppattu that appeared in the Magazine of the Madras Christian College, Sundaram Pillai demonstrated with facts that the ten 61 See preface to C.W. Damodaram Pillai’s Virocoliyam Mulamum Peruntevanar Uraiyum, 1881.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

186 Manuscripts, Memory and History songs of Sangam literature can be dated to the first century of the common era. His faith in historical reasoning is clear from the following statement in the review: If the science of society were as advanced as the science of living organisms, it should not be impossible to reconstruct the Tamulian society of Madura, as it existed in the days of Nakkirar and Marutanar, from the scattered materials embedded in their works. Whatever insight future archaeological researches may afford us of that extinct kingdom, the historian will never be in a position to slight these still voices that speak from their urns.62

Taking Saiva saint Sambhandar as a reference point, Sundaram Pillai attempted to fix the relative date of Nakkirar who authored the Nedunalvatai of ten songs. Ascertaining the age of Nakkirar is a difficult task since a wide array of literary texts cutting across genres is attributed to his authorship by the Tamil literary tradition. Sundaram Pillai argues that if by any means the age of Sambhandar can be ascertained, then the relative date of Nakkirar can be fixed. However it is necessary to demonstrate first that these two poets lived in different time periods in history and it is this question that Sundaram Pillai takes up for enquiry in detail. For Sundaram Pillai there are six important reasons why Nakkirar should have lived earlier than Sambhandar: (1) There is such a difference in style and the vocabulary of the two authors that scarcely any doubt can be entertained as to the long interval that must have separated the age of Nakkirar from that of Sambandhar. (2) Nakkirar is best known as the President of the Madura College, of which scarcely any trace seems to have existed at the time Sambandhar visited that ancient seat of learning. (3) Sambandhar’s name is universally associated with the final downfall and disappearance of the Jains, while we find them flourishing in the days of Nakkirar and his fellow pundits, who make very prominent mention, as we shall see further on, of their churches and associations. (4) Sundara, the last of the apostles of Caiva, who is generally taken to have lived not long after Sambandhar, wrote of a famous song entitled ‘The Poets of true Piety’, and all his expounders, from Nambi Andar Nambi downwards, agree in thinking that Nakkirar is the poet chiefly referred to in that well-known hymn. (5) It is interesting to 62 P. Sundaram Pillai, ‘The Ten Tamil Idlyls – II’, The Madras Christian College Magazine, August, 1891, pp. 128–29.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

187

note that Nachinarkiniyar, the learned Caiva commentator, quotes not a line from Sambandhar in any of his elaborate annotations, while he scruples not to enforce his remarks by apt citations from Manikkavacagar, who, too, seems to have lived after the Madura college had become extinct. It is obvious, therefore, that in the days of Nachinarkiniyar, Sambandhar’s usage had not become sufficiently old to be authoritative. (6) The Madura Stala Purana, which though not strictly historical, cannot be said to be purely fictitious, mentions as many as twenty-six Pandiyas, between Vamsha Segara, in whose reign Nakkirar is said to have flourished, and Kun Pandiya, whom Sambandhar is claimed to have converted from Buddhism. This would leave an interval of at least four centuries, if we allow an average of fifteen years for each of the twenty-six Pandiyas.63

What is important to note in Sundaram Pillai’s method is that he is not totally averse to culling out information from traditional literary legends and accounts unlike the European scholars who dismissed such accounts and narratives as wearisome, dry dogmatic treatises. In fact, it is with considerable grounding in traditional accounts along with faith in modern historical reasoning that Sundaram Pillai could reconstruct the early history of Tamil literature. Thus based on the information from traditional accounts coupled with his analysis of the poetic and linguistic style and the knowledge of the then available history, Sundaram Pillai demonstrated that three or four centuries of time separated Nakkirar from Sambhandar. Although he arrived at this conclusion, he was yet to establish the absolute date of Sambhandar. Once the authoritative date for Sambhandar could be established, the relative date of three to four centuries prior to it could be taken as the date for Nakkirar. As far as the life history of Sambhandar was concerned, it was well known that he converted Kun Pandya to Saivism, which also marked the beginning of the decline of Buddhism in the Tamil country. So by either fixing the age of Kun Pandya or by finding the age of the decline of Buddhism in Tamil country, the age of Sambhandar could be arrived at. The colonial administrative writers placed the age of Kun Pandya somewhere between the latter half of the eleventh century and the end of thirteenth, with which Sundaram Pillai disagreed. Turning again to the literary tradition, he quotes a verse from Adi Sankara’s Soundarya Lahari P. Sundaram Pillai, ‘The Ten Tamil Idyls – I’, Tamilian Antiquary, 1(5), 1909, pp. 58–59.

63

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

188 Manuscripts, Memory and History where Sambhandar is referred to as ‘Dravidian infant of Parvathi’. The fact that Adi Sankara refers to Sambhandar in his verse for Sundaram Pillai meant that the latter should have lived earlier to the former and that the time interval separating them should have been considerable. Based on this conjecture he comes to the following conclusion: Now if Soundarya Lahari is accepted as a genuine production of Sankara Achariar, and it must be so assumed until very substantial reasons are shown to the contrary, the age of Sambandhar cannot but earlier than the period of Sankara. The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Telang adduces certain sound reasons for placing that period in the sixth century; but for our purposes, it is enough to assume the age usually assigned to him. viz., the eighth century. Allowing, then, an interval of two centuries, we arrive at the sixth century as the probable era of Sambandhar.64

Further, the age of Sambhandar, according to Sundaram Pillai, could be fixed beyond all question based on three more evidences – the fact that since Hiuen Tsiang who visited the Tamil country did not refer to the flourishing of Buddhism points to the fact that he must have arrived only after Saivism under Sambhandar had triumphantly overthrown the religion of Buddha; the fact that Sundara makes a reference to the last of Cheraman Perumal in his verse points to his period as eighth century and this event is consistent with the Kollam era tradition of Malabar; and finally, since the head of the Sambhandar Mutt at Madura claims to be the 114th successor from the original saint and that by allowing twelve years for each of the deceased for 113 heads, the age of fifth century can be arrived at. Before venturing into a detailed elaboration of each of the ten songs, Sundaram Pillai sums up his discussion on chronology in the following manner: On these grounds, we think it not unreasonable to assume that Sambandhar lived about the fifth century. At any rate, with the evidence before us, it is impossible to assign to him a period later than the seventh century. We may therefore take the fifth and seventh centuries as marking the limits of his probable age. Now if Nakkirar, as already shown, lived two or three centuries before Sambandhar, it would follow that the age of our poet cannot be later than the fifth century, while it is quite possible that he lived two or three centuries earlier. 64

Ibid., p. 61.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

189

But the age of Nakkirar is not the age of all the Ten Idlys. Probably most of them were in existence in his days. The allegorical use he makes of the form of poetic composition, known as attuppadai, would itself argue the later origin of his work. His attuppadai is most likely the last of the kind, and the collection of the Ten Idyls was perhaps made in his own time. We may therefore tentatively place the composition of the book of Idyls about the beginning of the Christian era.65

The pushing of the age of Sambhandar back in time that he arrived at in his review of the Pathuppattu was contested by his friends, and Sundaram Pillai was forced to demonstrate further with facts. As he inform us in his preface to the work titled Some Milestones in the History of Tamil Literature or The Age of Tirujnana-Sambandha, he was asked to support his statement of attributing higher antiquity to the Saiva saint Sambhandar in his review of the Pathuppattu that resulted in the writing of this work. Although it was published in 1895, it was substantially a reprint of the articles that appeared in the Magazine of the Madras Christian College at the end of 1891 under the title ‘The Age of Tirujnana Sambandha – A Question of South Indian Archaeology’. The work provides for readers a bird’s eye view of the sacred Tamil literature of the Saivas, and the preeminent position of Sambhandar in it. It also controverts the opinions of A.C. Burnell with regard to the antiquity and value of Tamil literature apart from demonstrating in detail the utterly unfounded nature of the hypothesis advocated by Robert Caldwell and Nelson with regards to the age of Sambhandar. In short, this work was a defence of Tamil literature against the dismissive writings of colonial administrators. Sundaram Pillai strongly believed that despite all the mythical accounts of the life history of Sambhandar in the Tamil literary tradition, he was a powerful historical figure. Commenting on Sambhandar, Pillai argued ‘it is impossible not to see in him a powerful historical personality’.66 It was with this historical spirit that he proceeded to outline the false premises on which European scholars on Tamil founded the age of Sambhandar. Commenting on the then prevailing confusion in fixing the age of Sambhandar by European scholars he argued: It is scarcely possible to conceive greater confusion than that which prevails with reference to the question of the age of Sambandha. 65

Ibid., p. 63.

P. Sundaram Pillai, Some Milestones in the History of Tamil Literature or the Age of Tirujnana-Sambanda, Pioneer Book Services, Madras, 1909 (first printed 1895), p. 8.

66

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

190 Manuscripts, Memory and History Mr. Taylor places Kun Pandya, and therefore Sambandha also, who converted him, about 1320 B.C, while Dr. Caldwell contends that he was reigning in 1292 A.D. Thus it would appear possible to assign Sambandha to 1300 B.C. or A.D. indifferently! This is certainly curious: and I am not sure whether we can find the like of it in the whole range of history. Indeed, it would seem that SouthIndian chronology has yet to begin its existence. We have not, in fact, as yet, a single important date in the ancient history of the Dravidians ascertained and placed beyond the pale of controversy. It is no wonder, then, that, in the absence of such a sheet anchor, individual opinions drift, at pleasure, from the fourteenth century B.C. to the fourteenth century A.D.! I am not sure whether even the conditions under which South-Indian chronology has to proceed have themselves been sufficiently attended to whatever else there exists or not of the ancient Dravidian civilization, there exists the Tamil language with its various dialects, including the classical dialect, now gone out of use, and the extensive literature written in that dialect. A critical study of this dialect and of this literature would certainly, under ordinary circumstances, be held as a prerequisite for conducting South-Indian antiquarian researches. But, unfortunately, for reasons that cannot be here explained, critical scholarship in Tamil has come to be regarded as not so essential to those researches. Hence absurdities that we sometimes meet with in the writings of those whose oracular utterances pass in certain quarters for axiomatic truths.67

Thus after exposing the shortcomings in the approaches of European scholars, he ventured on to reconstruct the age of Sambhandar. What is important to note in the works of Sundaram Pillai is the sense of historical reasoning and consciousness. His anxiety to establish the age of Sambhandar points to his attachment and commitment to Saivism. This commitment to Saivism with English education and historical reasoning begins with Sundaram Pillai and takes a more radical course with Maraimalai Adigal.

V. kanakasabhai and m. seshagiri sastri Another scholar who made an attempt to comprehend the early history of Tamil society through the printed versions of Tamil classics was 67

Ibid., pp. 9–10.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

191

V. Kanakasabhai Pillai. Kanakasabhai published a series of articles in the Madras Review between the years 1895 and 1901 which were subsequently collected together and published under the title The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago in 1905. In this work Kanakasabhai utilised both the printed and non-printed Tamil literary works for reconstructing the early history of Tamilakam. The European writings on Tamil literature and history had a profound impact on the minds of Tamil intellectuals of the late nineteeth and early twentieth century. Like other Englisheducated indigenous intellectuals he too had a profound knowledge of European writings on Tamil. To quote him: It is the general opinion of Western scholars that there was no Tamil literature before the ninth century A.D. But the fact appears to be that all that was original and excellent in the literature of the Tamils was written before the ninth century, and what followed was, for the most part, but a base imitation of Sanscrit works.68

It was imperative to demonstrate the antiquity of Tamil literature since it was widely felt that the European writers falsely painted the entire picture. Pushing the chronology of Tamil literature backwards in time bestowed cultural superiority and a sense of distinctness for Tamil society, an agenda that was taken up by the native Tamil intellectuals. According to Kanakasabhai, the age of Sangam classics can be ascertained by culling out information from the poems on religion and the social customs of the Tamil people, by corroborating the names of southern Indian ports and towns mentioned by the classical Greek writers with the poems, by attending to information provided by the Tamil literary tradition and comparing them with inscriptional evidence, and by comparing the allusions of events and personages mentioned in the poems with the Ceylonese and Sanskrit traditions. He substantiated each of these methods for dating the classics with examples. Commenting on religion and social customs of Tamil people as found in the poems, Kanakasabhai argued: … we find from them [poems] that there were Buddhists in the Tamil country, but they had set up no images of Buddha and had no priests; there were Nirgranthas who called the Buddhists, heretics, but who had not commenced the worship of their Saints or Tirthankaras; V. Kanakasabhai, The Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, Higginbotham, Madras, 1904, pp. 2–3.

68

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

192 Manuscripts, Memory and History there were temples dedicated to Siva, Vishnu and Subramanya, but there were also other shrines in which the worship of Indra and Baladeva was continued; there were Brahmins who wore sacred thread and called themselves the ‘twice-born’ but neither kings nor merchants sought this distinction; there were Tamils living in walled towns and cities, but in some parts of the country they still led the life of nomads and had no settled habitation.69

It is obvious from the passage quoted that Kanakasabhai included a wide array of texts ranging from the Ettuthogai to Silappatikaram and Manimekalai in his understanding of Sangam classics. There is no substantive evidence of the presence of Buddhists and Jains in the anthologies of the Ettuthogai and Pathuppattu, nor is there any evidence of temples for Siva, Vishnu or Subramanya. But such a grand statement and generalization from Kanakasabhai only underscore the fact that he included a range of texts comprising Sangam classics. Commenting on classical Greek writers’ references to south Indian ports and towns, Kanakasabhai argued: An additional proof of antiquity of the poems above mentioned may be adduced from the fact that the chief towns and seaports and the foreign merchandise of the Tamil country, as described in these poems correspond exactly with those given in the works of Pliny, Ptolomy and in the Periplus Maris Erythraei.70

Drawing on the translations of the Periplus’ Maris Erythraei and Ptolemy’s Geography of India and Southern Asia by McCridle, he attempted to fix the age of Sangam poems to the early centuries of the common era by comparing and corresponding the information provided by these authors with the allusions to the names of towns and ports found in the classical anthologies. Kanakasabhai also considered important the information provided by the Tamil literary tradition on Sangam, and by corroborating them with the inscriptional evidence the date of classical corpus can be arrived at. He first dated the commentary to the Iraiyanar Akapporul – which apart from referring to the literary academies of the past, praises the Pandyan King Nedumaran (Arikesari) as victor of the battle of Nelveli – to the eighth century CE. The fact that the commentary to the Iraiyanar 69

Ibid., pp. 3–4.

70

Ibid., p. 4.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

193

Akapporul mentions the Pandyan King Nedumaran as the victor of the battle of Nelveli is a very important information for Kanakasabhai. By reading the Udeyendram copperplate grant of Nandivarma I published then in the second volume of the Salem District Manual where the battle of Nelveli with the Pandyan King was mentioned, Kanakasabhai arrived at the conclusion that Nedumaran was a contemporary of Nandivarman I. Further, by taking recourse to the first volume of Dr Hultzsch’s south Indian inscriptions, Kanakasabhai argued that Nandivarman I was a contemporary of the Western Chalukyan king Vikramaditya II who reigned from 733 to 747 ce. Thus, by comparing and corroborating the literary allusions to the epigraphical references, he arrives at the following conclusion: Nilakandan the commentator, who praises Neduncheliyan the victor of Nelveli, should have flourished therefore in the earlier half of the eighth century. It appears from his commentary that the works of the Sangha poets were current during his time in the form of collections or anthologies, such as Akam, Narrinai, Kurunthokai and Pathirruppathu … I counted the names of more than 514 different poets in these collections taken together. The number of these authors is so large that we may safely assume that the oldest of them might have lived six or seven centuries before the age of Nilakandan. This would allow an average of about 100 authors per century, which is by no means a small number.71

Kanakasabhai also took recourse to Ceylonese Buddhist chronicles and Sanskrit literary traditions and corroborated them with the allusions to historical personages found in the Tamil epics. He argued that the author of the Silappatikaram, Illango Adigal, who was also a brother of the Chera chief Chenguttuvan, mentioned a certain festival conducted by the Chera chief where the king of Ceylon Gajabahu attended. He then corroborated this evidence with the Ceylonese Buddhist chronicle Mahavamsa where two Gajabahus were said to have ruled in two different periods in the history of Ceylon. His argument that Gajabahu I was a contemporary of the Chera chief Chenguttuvan rested on his critical assessment of Karikala Chola in the Tamil literary tradition. Karikala Chola was the grandfather of Chenguttuvan, and if this tradition is historical then the Tamil literary tradition and inscriptions 71

Ibid., pp. 5–6.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

194 Manuscripts, Memory and History especially relating to the Cholas places Karikala I as the most ancient of the Cholas. Citing references to early medieval literary works like the Kalingattuparani, Vikrama-Cholan-Ula, Kulotunga-Cholan-Ula and Raja-Raja-Cholan Ula and inscriptional sources like the copperplate grant (Leiden Grant) of the Cholas, he argued that these sources place Karikala as the oldest of the Cholas and hence should have been a contemporary of Chenguttuvan. The Gajabahu mentioned in the Silappatikaram should have been Gajabahu I of the Mahavamsa, and hence the classics were composed eighteen hundred years ago. Kanakasabhai also pointed out the significance of a reference to Satakarnin (Nurruvar Kannar) found in the Silappatikaram as one of the kings of Magadha whom Chengkuttuvan Chera had paid a friendly visit. Citing evidence from the Vayu, Vishnu, Matsya and Bhagavata Puranas on the chronology assigned traditionally to rulers of Magadha, he comes to the conclusion that Nurruvar Kannar found in the Silappatikaram was a ruler of Andhra country between 77 and 133 CE. The reign of this Satakarnin covers the entire period of the reign of Gajabahu, King of Ceylon, which lasted 12 years from A.D. 113 to 125 according to Mahawanso. Satakarnin, Emperor of Magadha, who is alluded to in the Chilappathikaram as the contemporary of Chenkudduvachera and Gajabahu, is therefore doubtless the first Satakarnin in the list of the Matsya Purana, who reigned from A.D. 77 to 133. The synchronism of the Puranas and the Mahawanso is perfect, at least from the reign of Chandragupta up to that of the first Satakarnin; and this coincidence is a strong proof of the general accuracy of the traditional history preserved in Puranic accounts and in the Mahawanso.72

Thus after setting up the foundation of chronology arguing for the Tamil literature eighteen hundred years ago, Kanakasabhai ventured to reconstruct political and social history of early Tamilakam within the conventional framework. A faith in historical reasoning is manifest in the inquiries made by another scholar M. Seshagiri Sastri who published Essay on Tamil Literature in 1897. Sastri argued in his introduction that his attempt in writing the book was part of his agenda to publish a series of pamphlets to supply a long-felt want of the students of Tamil literature. His aim was 72

Ibid., p. 8.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

195

to give reliable information about the works and authors of the ancient Tamil literature. It was a subject on which a number of other scholars have contributed but Sastri contends that they ‘contain much that is mythical and legendary and have no historical value’.73 The literary sources, according to Sastri, cannot be relied at their face value because ‘most of the ancient Tamil authors were more poets who wrote original poems or translations of the Sanskrit Puranas and cared more for poetic embellishments than for veracity’.74 For Sastri, many of the works written on ancient Tamil literature uncritically succumb to believing in mythologies. They remain uncritical because ‘the authors of which did not care for facts but took whatever was within their reach, whether traditions handed down from generation to generation, or the intentional fabrications of interested or selfish authors who created history not from real facts but from the depth of their own imaginations’.75 He argued that there is a need to put to use the researches in epigraphy and archaeology in order to reconstruct the literary history of Tamil. But the state of Tamil scholarship, Sastri contended, was too traditional to undertake such research. Thus, ‘among the majority of Tamil pundits and others studying Tamil literature there is not much difference between a real history on the one hand and traditions, myths and legends on the other, and Tamil poems are studied and taught with a ready credulousness which has been handed down from generation to generation; and the conservatism imbibed at the feet of the Tamil teachers forms a stronghold too impregnable to all the cannons of critical and comparative study’.76 For Sastri western education will pave the way for the disappearance of ‘false knowledge before the real knowledge’. Sastri wrote a series of essays titled ‘Observations on Tamil Literature by a Specialist’ in The Hindu from 1890. They were reprinted in his book with additions and modifications. He also hoped that Tamil scholars would find leisure to peruse ‘original researches’ in the vast field of Tamil literature. 73

M. Seshagiri Sastri, Essay on Tamil Literature, S.P.C.K. Press, Madras, 1897, p. 2.

74

Ibid.

75

Ibid., pp. 3–4.

76

Ibid., pp. 4–5.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

196 Manuscripts, Memory and History He stated the legend of the three Sangam as described in the Tamil literary tradition beginning with the Iraiyanar Akapporul and then refuted it with evidence. Commenting on the account of Tamil Sangams as outlined by the commentary to grammar book Iraiyanar Akapporul, Sastri observed that ‘with reference to the first two Sangams, I may say that the account is too mythical and fabulous to be entitled to any credit, and I do not think that any scholar who has studied the histories of the different countries of the world will be bold enough to admit such tales within the pale of real history’.77 Again, he argued regarding the commentary to the Iraiyanar Akapporul that ‘there may, however, be some truth in the above accounts as regards the government of the Madura kingdom by the Pandyas, but the number of the kings who are said to have ruled over the kingdom, namely 89 Pandyas who are connected with the first Sangam, and the 59 who are connected with the intervening Sangam, is not quite trustworthy, and, to accept it as a true fact, we require some further evidence’.78 He further argued that he ‘considered then three questions with regard to that Sangam viz., first, whether the Sangam was destroyed by the presentation of the Kural of Thiruvalluvar to it; the second, whether the forty-nine poets who are said to have constituted the Sangam were contemporaries; and the third, whether the authors of full poems, and anthologies of isolated verses, which were composed by them in honor of the kings of the Chera, Chola and Pandya and other countries, and are included in the Sangacceyyul, “works of the Sangam”, were contemporaries of those kings; and I arrived at a negative answer with regard to the first two of the above three questions wholly and with regard to the last partially.’79

S. krishaswamy aiyangar and v.r. ramachandra dikshidar S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar published a seminal essay ‘The Augustan Age of Tamil Literature’ in the Madras Review which was revised and published in the Indian Antiquary. From the Indian Antiquary it was 77

Ibid., p. 7.

78

Ibid., pp. 7–8.

79

Ibid., p. 38.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

197

subsequently reproduced in The Tamilian Antiquary in 1909. The sheer importance of the article is clear from the way it was reproduced from one magazine to the other. The fact that Krishnaswamy Aiyangar dealt with the printed versions of Sangam classics in explaining the Augustan age of Tamil literature is clear from the way he begun the article: Dreary as the prospect may well appear to the earnest student of Tamil literary history, as in fact does early South Indian history in general, there has, of late, been brought to light a considerable body of Tamil literature which throws a flood of light upon the much doubted, though often debated, period when literary activity in Tamil reached its high watermark.80

He made an attempt to prove that ‘there was an age of great literary activity in Tamil to warrant the existence of a body like the traditional Sangam, that the period of the greatest Sangam activity was the age when Chenguttuvan Chera was a prominent character in politics, that this age of Chenguttuvan was the second century of the Christian era and that these conclusions are in accordance with what is known of the later history of South India’.81 V. R. Ramachandra Dikshidar, while holding a research studentship at Madras University in 1923 for his research on Hindu Administrative Institutions, realised the importance of studying ancient Tamil literature. As he tells us in the prefatory note to the first edition of his work Studies in Tamil Literature and History published in 1930, he spent his leisure hours during his research studentship days at Madras University studying ancient Tamil literature. It resulted in his publication of a series of articles in The Hindu in 1924 and 1925 titled ‘Mystic Poets of the Tamil Land’. He also published articles titled ‘Art of War as Practiced in South India’ in the Annals of Bhandarkar Research Institute, Poona, ‘Tantrayukti’ in the Journal of Oriental Research, Madras and ‘Social Life of Tamils’ in the Hindu Illustrated Weekly. These stray publications were collected together and published as a monograph in 1930 titled Studies in Tamil Literature and History. After reviewing in detail the Sangam literary texts of which he included works like the Ettuthogai, Pathuppattu, Patinenkilkanakku, Silappatikaram and Manimekalai, he made the interesting observation: S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar, ‘The Augustan Age of Tamil Literature’, The Tamilian Antiquary, 1(5), p. 23.

80

81

Ibid., p. 24.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

198 Manuscripts, Memory and History A mere glance at these editions will convince everyone that there is a need for getting them well edited and their materials, some of them being very old, well exploited. It is now for an earnest student of Tamil culture to tackle this source of information. From what we know, none of them excepting the Kural and the Naladiyar has occupied the critique’s attention in such a degree as it should. It seems desirable and even imperative that a chronological study of these works should immediately be undertaken so as to utilize the materials for an authoritative study of the evolution of the Tamil people and the progress of their culture in a certain period of their history.82

For Ramachandra Dikshidar, the existence of three Sangam or literary academies as found in the Tamil literary tradition is a historical truth. The three literary academies reflect only the change of capitals by Pandya kings and hence they are not mutually distinct from one another. However Dikshidar argued that it is the fixing of the age of Sangam that is a difficult task. Based on information provided by texts like the Iraiyanar Akapporul and some of the poems of the Purananuru, he tried to fix the age of the literary academy from the eighth century BCE to the second century CE. If the number of years for each Sangam as provided in the commentary to the Iraiyanar Akapporul is taken, then the age of Sangam should be pushed to 9000 BCE which Dikshidar doubted. He argued that although the heyday of Dravidian culture is carried to fourth or fifth millennium BCE by the discovery of Harappa and Mohenjadaro, it is by no means an easy task to establish the link between these Dravidians of the Punjab and the Tamils of south India. Citing a verse from the Purananuru where a reference to the Cera chief feeding the army of the Pandavas and Kauravas is found, Dikshidar argued that this fact has been taken by scholars like Pundit M. Raghava Iyengar to date the origin of the first Sangam to the eleventh century BCE. However, he contended that if the same verses found in the Purananuru can be taken as a convention of poets to sing the glories of the past, then there is no historical validity to assign such an early date to the Sangam. Drawing on from an article of V. Rangachariar who dated the Thirukkural to the second century BCE, Dikshidar argued that the Tholkappiyam and Agathiyam must have been earlier to this date. V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar, Studies in Tamil Literature and History, Luzac & Co., London, 1930, p. 45.

82

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

199

Further he argued that the Tamil literary tradition refers to the story of how the Thirukkural was accepted in the academy after a debate. Considering the fact that the Tholkappiyam and Agathiyam were earlier than the Thirukkural, Dikshidar concluded that roughly the origins of the first Sangam should have been two or three centuries preceding the age of the Thirukkural.83 The rest of Dikshidar’s work was well within the conventional framework of history writing. We do not find in Dikshidar the rigour of Sundaram Pillai or Kanakasabhai Pillai on the question of dating the literary texts though his knowledge of Tamil and Sanskrit literary tradition was wide. The extent of the literary sources, both Tamil and Sanskrit, he cites was largely to support the existence of the institution of Sangam in the Tamil literary tradition. On the question of dating the texts, he seemed to have taken for granted without any fresh enquiry the findings of his predecessors. In ascertaining the dates of classical Tamil poets like Nakkirar, Kapilar, Paranar and Auvaiyar he relied on the findings of his predecessors. Thus for the age of Paranar who was a contemporary of Kapilar, Dikshidar directs the readers to the work of S. Krishnaswamy Aiyangar’s Beginnings of South Indian History. The writings on Tamil literary past throughout the nineteenth century depended on the availability of the printed literary works. Till the 1890s the colonial administrators, missionaries and Orientalists depended on ethical works like the Thirukkural, Naladiyar, verses of Auvaiyar, and medieval grammars like the Nannool. As we have noted, they dated the beginnings of Tamil literature to the eighth century ce. However after 1880, Tamil classics like the Purananuru, Kalithogai, Silappatikaram, Manimekalai, Sivakacintamani and Pathuppattu were published in full for the first time which resulted in an interpretation of Tamil literary past that was radically different from the earlier decades of the nineteenth century. This new interpretation, mostly carried out by the indigenous English educated middle class, pushed the chronology of Tamil literature to eight centuries backwards in time to the early centuries of the common era. Before we deal with the implications of this new interpretation for cultural consciousness and intellectual awakening, let us explain the nature of printed Tamil literary works that were available to the missionaries, colonial administrators and Orientalists for the reconstruction of the Tamil literary past. 83

Ibid., p. 21.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

200 Manuscripts, Memory and History In the early writings of the colonial administrators on Tamil literature, the Thirukkural was a prime source of inspiration. The first edition of this work was printed in 1812. Even before this, missionaries like Beschi translated it into Latin although it remained unpublished. The manuscripts of the Thirukkural were widely held by the indigenous Tamil pundits and European missionaries. We have noted how N.E. Kinderseley, who served as a civil servant of the Madras establishment of the East India Company, depended on the manuscripts of the Kural from the missionaries to translate it into English when he published the Specimens of Hindoo Literature in 1794. Similarly, Rev Dr. John depended on the manuscripts of the ethical works of Auvaiyar like the Konrai Ventan and Atticcuti when he published an article in the Asiatic Researches in 1803 on the life of Tamil poetess Auvaiyar. Both Kinderseley and Rev. John had a vague idea about the chronology of the literary works they translated. In the writings of Francis W. Ellis, we find a scientific interpretation of literature. In his translation of the Thirukkural Ellis had shown a mastery over a wide array of Tamil literary works in his illustrative notes and citations to each translated verse of the Kural. In ‘On the Law Books of Hindus’ published posthumously in the Transactions of the Literary Society of Madras, Ellis made an attempt to reconstruct the political history of south India, on the basis of which he dated the Tamil literary works. Ellis made an extensive reading of Tamil literature and inscriptions apart from mastering the works of Jesuit Father Beschi. This provided him a base for the critical appraisal of Tamil literature in scientific terms. However, he was unaware of the classical corpus except for Tamil epics like the Silappatikaram, Sivakacintamani and Purananuru, the verses of which he cites at two instances in his translation of the Thirukkural. While commenting on the history of Tamil literature in his introduction to the descriptive catalogue of Mackenzie’s collections, H.H. Wilson depended on the very same manuscripts that he catalogued as a source for his understanding. Despite his lack of knowledge of south Indian languages, Wilson remained firm in dating the beginnings of Tamil literature late. Though he accepted Ellis’s contention that Tamil language may have had an independent origin from Sanskrit, he argued that Tamil literature was a mere imitation of Sanskrit. The early missionaries, Orientalists and administrators had less printed Tamil literature at their disposal when they made enquiries or commented Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

From Reproduction to Reception

201

on the history of Tamil literature. Before 1835 only few literary works in Tamil were published and the majority of them remained in palmleaf manuscript form at the hands of Tamil pundits and at the libraries of Saiva and Jain mutts. From 1840, the printing presses owned by the Indians were in operation in and around Madras. Printing presses like Laxmi Vilasa Accukkudam, Prabhakara Accukkudam, Viveka Vilakka Accukudam, Kalvivilakka Accukudam, Shanmuga Vilasa Accukudam, Muttamil Vilakka Accukudam, Saraswati Vilasa Accukudam, Avvai Tamil Vilakka Accukudam, Kalvikkatal Accukudam, Kalvi Kalanciya Accukudam, Iyal Tamil Vilakka Accukudam and Vidyanupala Yantra Accukudam were active between the 1840 and 1870s and some of them continued well into the twentieth century. These printing presses began to publish the Tamil literary works. However, the colonial administrators, missionaries and Orientalists remained aloof to this proliferating printed Tamil literature. We now address the importance of writing Tamil literary histories by the indigenous English-educated Tamil intellectuals as a new practice to understand the nature of intellectual awakening and cultural consciousness under colonialism. Beginning with P. Sundaram Pillai, the English-educated Tamil intellectuals began to question the views of Europeans on the antiquity of Tamil literature. They dated the Tamil literary works in historical time periods with a sense of historical reasoning and consciousness along scientific lines of enquiry. The Englisheducated Tamil intellectuals, through their enquiries, systematically pushed backwards the antiquity of Tamil literature to eight centuries than what was widely assumed by European scholars. They argued that Tamil language was not only an ‘ancient’ language but also has an ‘ancient’ literature. Establishing the antiquity of Tamil literature by the indigenous English-educated Tamil intellectuals provided the literary dimension to the linguistic dimension by the colonial philologists on the Dravidian question. Beginning with the founding of Madurai Tamil Sangam in 1901, there was a series of organisations founded in Tamil Nadu which reinforced and widely advertised through periodicals and books the antiquity of Tamil literature. The printing of Sangam classics and the consequent creative reinterpretation of Tamil literary history bestowed cultural consciousness and pride. However the tensions of colonial society were reinforced in the understanding of Tamil literature as well. The Justice Party, founded in 1916, began to voice the Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

202 Manuscripts, Memory and History interest of upper-caste non-Brahmins in Madras Presidency. The uppercaste Tamil non-Brahmin aspirations were articulated in the Dravidan, a Tamil newspaper of the Justice Party. Advertisements were made in the Dravidan projecting the Sangam classics as ‘pre-Aryan and pre-Brahmin’ literature of Tamils. The politicization of Tamil literary past began with the writings of Ayothee Thass Panditar, a radical Buddhist intellectual of colonial Tamil Nadu who contested the Brahminical and Saiva Vellala interpretations. Similarly, when E.V. Ramaswamy (popularly known as Periyar) launched the Suyamariyadhai Iyakkam (Self-Respect Movement), he contested the glorification of Tamil literary past by individuals and institutions. However, we shall trace in more detail the political aspect of Tamil literature in the next chapter.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:28:29, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.004

5

Orientalism, Tamil Classics and the Organisational Politics

The period from 1856 to 1916 is considered a period of incubation for the emergence and consolidation of the Dravidian consciousness in the Tamil-speaking region of the colonial Madras Presidency.1 It corresponded with the spread of English education, the emergence of the new middle class trained in English education and the evolution of political organisations that began to play an active role in the presidency.2 The social formation engendered by colonialism took a consolidated form by the end of the nineteenth century in Madras Presidency. The story of Tamil Brahmin preponderance in the field of literacy, administration and the politics of the colonial Madras at the turn of the twentieth century is too well known and articulated to be repeated here.3 As we have detailed in the previous chapters, the persona of the Tamil Brahmin was not totally absent in the processes leading to the reproduction of classical Tamil literature from manuscript tradition to the print medium. It has to be studied how the ‘Tamil Brahmin’ was soon displaced as the ‘other’ in the regional politics of colonial Madras at the turn of the twentieth century. The classical Tamil ‘Sangam’ literature, beginning with the printing of the Kalithogai in 1887, was published before 1920. Confined K. Sivathamby, Understanding the Dravidian Movement: Problems and Perspectives, New Century Book House, Chennai, 1995.

1

R. Suntharalingam, Politics and Nationalist Awakening in South India, 1852–1891, University of Arizona Press, Arizona, 1974; K. Nambi Arooran, Tamil Renaissance and Dravidian Nationalism, 1905–1944, Koodal Publishers, Madurai, 1980. 2

Eugene F. Irschick, Politics and Social Conflict in South India: The Non-Brahman Movement and Tamil Separatism, 1916–1929, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1969, pp. 12–26.

3

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

204 Manuscripts, Memory and History earlier to the tiny circle of scholars, the Sangam literature was thrown open to the ‘wider public’ once they were printed. In this chapter I will investigate how the newly published classical Tamil literature from the last quarter of the nineteenth century was widely advertised in the English and vernacular newspapers and periodicals and thus created a cultural and literary consciousness among the wider public. As we have detailed in the second chapter, the printing of classical Tamil literature was largely the effort of the dominant castes with patronage from the wealthy zamindars and landholding sectarian mutts. Caste was a dominant feature in the everyday life of Tamil society. Colonial modernisation did not uproot the traditional forms of social differences, especially the caste-ridden social structure. Instead, caste feelings and consciousness became more marked in colonial Madras at the turn of the twentieth century.4 I shall also attempt to describe in this chapter the missionary and colonial knowledge production in Madras, especially in relation to their understanding of caste and how a particular strand of such knowledge was appropriated by the segment of non-Brahmin communities in contesting the Brahmin domination in the public sphere of colonial Madras. The colonial forms of knowledge production represent a break in Indian history from that of the traditional precolonial one. The shaping of colonial knowledge production was intimately tied to the phases and forms of colonial exploitation or, in other words, the knowledge production during the colonial times was tied to the imperatives of the colonial governance.5 There are three broad trends in the historical writings that attempt to grasp the nature of colonial knowledge production. The constructivist approach emphasised the role of the colonial state in the production, supervision and articulation of the forms of knowledge production.6 David Washbrook, ‘The Development of Caste Organisation in South India 1880–1925’, in C. Baker and D. Washbrook, eds, South India: Political Institutions and Political Change, 1880–1940, Macmillan, Meerut, 1975, pp. 150–203.

4

Rosane Rocher, ‘British Orientalism in the Eighteenth Century: The Dialectics of Knowledge and Government’, in Carol A. Breckenridge and Peter van der Veer, eds, Orientalism and the Postcolonial Predicament: Perspectives on South Asia, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1993, pp. 215–49.

5

Representative of this approach is the work of Nicholas B. Dirks, Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2001. See also Ronald B. Inden, Imagining India, Basil Blackwell, Oxford, 1990. 6

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 205

As opposed to the constructivist approach, the essentialist approach stressed on the ‘texts’ for the understanding of India. There exists a tremendous amount of normative value in the works of the essentialists.7 The third is the ‘dialogic’ approach which argues that the colonial knowledge production is a result of a collaboration or dialogue with the ‘natives’.8 Other studies have come up with an understanding that differs from all three approaches, of the way in which the colonial knowledge forms created the possibility for the consolidation of multiple identities at the intersection of the elements of traditional social structures and the colonial social formation.9 The forms of political integration of the colony engendered by colonialism through the introduction of modern means of communication networks like roads, railways, telegraph, print and the forms of knowledge it produced created the conditions for the possibility of the emergence, consolidation and contestation of multiple identities. The implication of this process of colonialism on the colonized was far-reaching. The consequence of the appropriation of colonial forms of knowledge by the colonized ranged from the waging of anti-colonial nationalism to attempts to overthrow traditional forces of native domination. In the context of our discussion, it is necessary to deal with the missionary and colonial knowledge production on caste. Apart from dealing with the colonial knowledge production on language and caste and also with the popularization of classical Tamil literature, this chapter shall make an attempt to study how the organized politics in Madras Presidency dealt with Tamil language and the newly published classical Tamil literature. The formation of organized political activity among the colonized in Madras Presidency dates back to the mid-nineteenth century when a provincial political association The essentialist writings range from the works of the Orientalists beginning from the late eighteenth century. The variety of Indology-based scholarship in the Western academics is a present-day manifestation of such a trend. See Thomas R. Trautmann, Aryans and British India, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1997.

7

Eugene F. Irschick, Dialogue and History: Constructing South India, 1795–1895, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1994; Peter L. Schmitthenner, Telugu Resurgence: C.P. Brown and Cultural Consolidation in Nineteenth- century South India, Manohar, New Delhi, 2001.

8

Sumit Sarkar, Beyond Nationalist Frames: Relocating Postmodernism, Hindutva, History, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2002; V. Geetha and S.V. Rajadurai, Towards a NonBrahmin Millennium: From Iyothee Thass to Periyar, Samya Publications, Calcutta, 1998.

9

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

206 Manuscripts, Memory and History called Madras Native Association was formed. However it was led by the traditional groups unexposed to English education. The association existed only for a short period of time.10 In 1885, the Indian National Congress was formed in Bombay with representatives from all the provinces of British India. Early sessions were held in Madras though it was an annual affair. Socio-religious reform movements beginning from the early nineteenth century created a cultural consciousness and the spread of modern ideas with the exposure to English education for the Indians. English-educated middle class intellectuals began to appraise their history, culture and religion.11 It also led to the formation of a provincial political association leading to the formation of an all-India political organisation called the Indian National Congress in 1885. The South Indian Liberal Federation or Justice Party founded in 1916 was a representation of a dissent against Indian nationalist movement in Madras Presidency. Right from the beginning, the composition of the Justice Party included members who spoke the major languages of south India. The composition of the Telugu speakers was quite predominant and in that sense it will be interesting to study how ‘Tamil’ culture, history and literature figured in the politics of the party. Though non-Brahminism was a basis of their mobilisation strategy, the varying interests within the party existed right from the beginning. This was reflected at times when there was a struggle for power between dominant members of the party at the time of election. The raja of Ramnad, who played an important role in funding the project of the recovery and printing of Tamil classics along with other individuals like Pethachi Chettiar of Trichinopoly, spearheaded the efforts to organise a series of ‘Tamil Districts Non-Brahmin Conference’ in 1923 at a time when there was a power struggle within the party. The districts conference emphasised the demand for party constitution, highlighted that all ministers came from the Telugu-speaking region and pressed for the inclusion of a Tamil minister after the 1923 elections. The Tamil aspiration of non-Brahminism found its expression in the columns of the vernacular daily Dravidan right from its founding in mid-1917. Tamil R. Suntharalingam, ‘The Madras Native Association: A Study of an Early Indian Political Organization’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 4(3), 1967, pp. 233–53.

10

K.N. Panikkar, Culture, Ideology, Hegemony: Intellectual and Social Consciousness in Colonial India, Tulika, New Delhi, 1995.

11

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 207

scholars like T. Chelvakesavaraya Mudaliyar of Pachiappa’s College, M.S. Purnalingam Pillai, Swami Vedachalam Pillai (known popularly as Maraimalai Adigal) and P.R. Viswanathan published essays relating to Tamil language, literature and religion in the issues of Dravidan. I shall deal with the articles published in the Dravidan from June to December 1917 and detail how the Tamil non-Brahmin articulation reflected the views of colonial philologists, missionaries and Orientalists. I shall also attempt to show how the newly published classical Tamil literature was appropriated by the editors of the Dravidan of the Justice Party for the party’s political ends. The racial theory of Indian history propounded by the Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators was well internalized by the non-Brahmin ideologues, and the publication of classical Tamil literature provided them with literary evidence to highlight the supposed uniqueness and independence of the Dravidian civilization from Aryan Brahmins. The Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu were articulate Tamil scholars. Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar who encouraged U.V. Swaminatha Iyer to publish the Tamil classics was himself a moderate Congressman. Congress leaders like G. Subramania Iyer, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, V.V.S. Iyer and Subramania Bharathi spearheaded the cause of Tamil and stood for the anti-colonial Indian nationalism. The development of journalism and the growth of Tamil language associations provided impetus to the development of Tamil cultural consciousness. I shall also deal with the nationalist articulation of Tamil and explain how the concerns of the nationalists were different from the non-Brahmin ideologues of the the Justice Party. In dealing with the writings of Orientalists, missionaries and administrators in colonial Madras, I have consulted their writings directly wherever available from published books and from unpublished private papers. The popularization of classical Tamil literature and the growth of Tamil cultural and literary consciousness are examined from a variety of sources ranging from the vernacular dailies and periodicals to the colonial records like the Fort St George Gazettes, proceedings of the education department, government orders and the private correspondence of the editors of the classics. While engaging with the topic of the non-brahmin Justice Party and the nationalist articulations of Tamil, I have consulted periodicals, newspapers and the biographical accounts of political leaders and prominent individuals. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

208 Manuscripts, Memory and History

Independence of tamil language and brahmin as immigrant The idea that the Tamil language belongs to a different family of language from that of Sanskrit and that Brahmin in the Tamil country is an entrant from outside the geographical boundary of Tamilakam can be found in the writings of colonial philologists, administrators and missionaries during the nineteenth century. In fact, even before the nineteenth century, Beschi and Ziegenbalg seemed to have made a passing reference to the north/south divide in their discussion on the Tamil language. In an introduction to the grammar on classical Tamil (sentamil), Beschi argued that ‘the first person who wrote a grammatical treatise on this dialect, and who is therefore considered as its founder, is supposed to have been a devotee named Agattiyan, respecting whom many absurd stories are related. From the circumstance of his dwelling in a mountain called Podiamalei, in the south of the Peninsula, the Tamil language has obtained the name of Tenmozhi, or Southern, just as the Grandonic is termed Vadamozhi, or Northern, from the supposition that it came from the northward.’12 The Danish missionaries in Tranquebar communicated with a number of Brahmins in their missionary activities and had the first-hand experience of Brahminical exclusivity and caste order.13 In the Thirty Four Conferences between the Danish Missionaries and the Malabarian Bramans in the East Indies Concerning the Truth of Christian Religion translated from High Dutch into English by Philipps in 1719, we find interesting details about the perception of Brahmins by the Danish missionaries. In one of the conferences titled ‘Of the misery the Malabarians labour under, both as to their spiritual and temporal condition’, a Danish missionary engaged in a dialogue with a group of labourers. The missionary critiqued the Brahmins as being responsible for the miserable condition of the masses with the statement that, ‘your Quoted in Brief Sketch of the Life and Writings of Father C.J. Beschi, or Vira-Mamuni, translated from the original Tamil by A. Muttusami Pillai, Manager of the College of Fort St. George, and Monshee to the Tamil Translator to the Government, Madras, J.B. Pharoah, MDCCXL.

12

See several letters of the missionaries in Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg, Propagation of the Gospel in the East: Being an Account of the Success of Two Danish Missionaries, Lately Sent to the East-Indies, for the Conversion of the Heathens in Malabar. In Several Letters to Their Correspondents in Europe Rendered into English from the High-Dutch, third edition, printed and sold by Joseph Downing, London, 1718.

13

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 209

Brahmins don’t concern themselves with your Everlasting welfare’.14 There are plenty of examples in the correspondence of missionary contempt for brahminical orthodoxy and caste exclusivity. However, the criticism of Danish missionaries did not translate into their treatment of Brahmins as an outsider in the society of ‘Malabar’. Sir William Jones (1746–94), during the last quarter of the eighteenth century, argued that Sanskrit had affinity with ancient Greek and Latin and that all these languages would have been derived from a common source.15 The Aryans were supposed to have invaded the subcontinent and the Vedic texts were considered a testimony to the historic record of the coming of the Brahminical religion to India. Jones believed that four-fold division of the varna system was introduced by the Aryans into India from their west Asian homeland.16 This view had a profound impact on the subsequent scholarship on the ancient Indian history and culture. Being the custodians of Sanskrit and religious tradition, Brahmins were identified as representing the ‘pure’ Aryan race. It was at this time that Orientalists based in Madras were countering the scholarship emerging from Calcutta concerning the origins of south Indian languages. Francis Whyte Ellis (1777–1819), the main architect for the founding of the College of Fort St. George, argued that Tamil along with Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada represent a family of language that had no relationship with Sanskrit in his note to the introduction to A.D. Campbell’s Grammar of the Teloogoo Language. He believed that the Brahmins migrated to south India during the ancient period and invented the Grantham script to represent the Sanskrit phonetics. Commenting on the ancient Tamil literary epic Sivakacintamani, Ellis argued that ‘the Shintamani is a poem of the highest antiquity, written probably before ever the sects of Brahmins had made any progress in See Conference IV titled ‘Of the Misery the Malabarians Labour under, Both As to their Spiritual and Temporal Condition’, in Thirty Four Conferences between the Danish Missionaries and the Malabarian Bramans in the East Indies Concerning the Truth of Christian Religion, translated from the High Dutch into English by Philipps, printed for H. Clements, W. Fleetwood and J. Stephens, London, 1719, pp. 37–45.

14

William Jones, ‘The Third Anniversary Discourse, On the Hindus’, in Works of Sir William Jones, vol. 1, pp. 19–34.

15

Susan Bayly, Caste, Society and Politics in India: From the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999, pp. 113–14.

16

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

210 Manuscripts, Memory and History Southern India, certainly long before the religion of Europe was heard of in this country’.17 The Tamil teachers of the College of Fort St. George were mostly of higher non-Brahmin castes. It is a matter of speculation whether the views expressed by Ellis on Brahmins were shared by the Tamil headmasters of the college. In another context, Ellis observed, The Brahmans have ever in the Northern Countries been the Lawyers as well as the Priests: both these characters have, however, been disputed with them in Southern India, where they have never been able to establish the same mental dominion as in those parts where they would seem to have been originally seated. The higher classes of the ‘S’udras have here ever shared with them in ecclesiastic and legal power and in that education which has enabled them to mention their pretensions. Hence those works which in Northern India are considered so sacred as only to be perused by the select among the Brahmans themselves—even the Vidas—have been transferred into the Tamil and have a variety of writers, been commented, dispatched, and their authority often rejected. Many ‘S’udras, the Pandaram (those of the ecclesiastic order) especially, at the present day understand the Sanscrit as well [as] the Brahmans, in addition to their native Tamil of which few Brahmans have a competent knowledge.18

The contention of Ellis that few Brahmins have a competent knowledge of native Tamil in many ways expects a more virulent criticism of Brahmins by Robert Caldwell few decades later. The views of Ellis on the independent origin of the south Indian languages had a considerable impact on subsequent scholars before Robert Caldwell published his comparative grammar of the Dravidian family of languages in 1856. Orientalist administrators like Robert Anderson, Benjamin Guy Babington and A.D. Campbell worked closely with the College of Fort St. George. In 1821, two years after relinquishing the civil service in Madras, Robert Anderson published Rudiments of Tamil Grammar. He was then serving as an assistant professor at the Haileybury College Francis Whyte Ellis, ‘Memorandum Respecting Tamil Prosody’, in Walter Elliot Manuscripts, MSS Eur D. 336, British Library, London.

17

Madras Public Consultations, 21 June 1814. Quoted by A.R. Venkatachalapathy in his essay ‘“Grammar, the Frame of Language”: Tamil Pandits at the College of Fort St George’, in Thomas R. Trautmann, ed., The Madras School of Orientalism: Producing Knowledge in Colonial South India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2009, pp. 143–44.

18

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 211

teaching the Oriental languages. In one of the footnotes in his preface to the grammar, Anderson argued that ‘the introduction of Sanskrit terms is more limited in Tamul than in the other languages of Southern India.’19 The independence of Tamil from Sanskrit was a widely shared view among the scholars of the early nineteenth-century Madras. Benjamin Guy Babington (1794–1866), another civil servant in Madras, published translations of Beschi’s works. In 1822 he published the translation of Beschi’s Paramartaguruvin Katai titled The Adventures of the Gooroo Paramartan. In the preface to the translation, Babington observed that the Tamil language ‘is not derived from any language at present in existence, and is either itself the parent of the Teloogoo, Malayalam and Canarese languages, or, what is more probable, has its origin in common with these in some ancient tongue which is now lost, or only partially preserved in its offspring’ and that ‘it is wholly unconnected with the Sanskrit’.20 The legacy of F.W. Ellis, Babington, Anderson and Campbell culminated in Caldwell in 1856. The intervening period was not one of complete silence. Horace Hayman Wilson (1786–1860), who served as secretary to the Asiatic Society of Bengal and who is known for the translation of Kalidasa’s Meghaduta, published Mackenzie Collection: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts in 1828. Wilson wrote a detailed introduction to Mackenzie’s collection in which he reviewed the theories on south Indian languages advanced by the Orientalists based in Madras. Wilson too believed that Brahmins migrated to the Tamil country during the ancient period. Quoting extensively from Ellis’s works, Wilson observed the commonly shared view in Madras that the Tamil language was not derived from Sanskrit but was of independent origin.21 He argued that the ‘the Tamul language must have been but Robert Anderson, Rudiments of Tamul Grammar Combining with the Rules of Kodun Tamil or the Ordinary Dialect, an Introduction to Shen Tamul or Elegant Dialect of the Language, printed for J.M. Richardson, London, 1821, pp. xix–xx.

19

Benjamin Babington, The Adventures of the Gooroo Paramartan: A Tale in the Tamul Language Accompanied by a Translation and Vocabulary, Together with an Analysis of the First Story, J.M. Richards, London, MDCCCXXII, p. i.

20

H.H. Wilson, Mackenzie Collection: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts, and Other Articles Illustrative of the Literature, History, Statistics and Antiquities of the South of India; Collected by the Late Lieut.-Col. Colin Mackenzie, Asiatic Press, Calcutta, 1828, pp. 28–30.

21

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

212 Manuscripts, Memory and History little cultivated, the districts must have been indifferently civilised, if the natural features of the country had no distinguishing denominations, until the Brahmins or Brahminical Hindus immigrated from the north, a political event which is recognised by all the traditions of the South of India.’22 Orientalists based in Madras at the turn of the nineteenth century argued, based on their study of south Indian languages and society, that Sanskrit and Brahmins were immigrants from outside. Even a scholar like Wilson from Calcutta was compelled to accept the prevailing views in the Madras circle. William Taylor, a missionary who took up the task of cataloguing Mackenzie’s collection, published two volumes of Oriental Historical Manuscripts in the Tamil Language in 1835. There are discussions pertaining to the migration of Brahmins to southern India in the context of explaining some of Mackenzie’s collections in the second volume. Although not as forceful and provocative as the arguments of Wilson and Ellis, Taylor nevertheless discussed the historical background of Brahmin migration to south India.23 The idea that the Brahmin is an outsider on the subcontinent became firmly established in the philological and missionary writings after the comparative philological discovery of Sir William Jones in the late eightenth century. Rev. Peter Percival (1803–82), founder of the Jaffna Central College and a scholar missionary who translated the Bible into Tamil, published The Land of the Veda in 1854. In this provocative book he outlined the firmly held view among Orientalists and colonial administrators that Brahmins came into the subcontinent with Sanskrit anterior to the composition of the Vedas. He argued that ‘the Brahminised or Hindu population is of Caucasian origin; it sprang from Central Asia, the parent seat of population, of knowledge, of language and of arts’ and ‘when it entered India, bringing its own language, of which the Sanskrit is the most polished type, it found an aboriginal race in possession of the country’.24 While placing the 22

Ibid., pp. 31–32.

See the section ‘The Pandion Chronicle, Supplementary Manuscript, and Carnataca Dynasty, Connected’, in William Taylor, Oriental Historical Manuscripts in the Tamil Language Translated with Annotations, vol. II, Madras, 1835, pp. 51–95.

23

Peter Percival, The Land of the Veda: India Briefly Described in Some of Its Aspects, Physical, Social, Intellectual and Moral, George Bell, London, 1854, p. 28.

24

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 213

origins of Brahmins outside the geography of the subcontinent, Percival forcefully argued for the independence of Tamil. Commenting on the south Indian languages, Percival observed that the purest Tamil works are entirely free from any admixture of Sanskrit and that the language is capable of expressing itself without a word from the Brahminized vehicle of thought. Rather provocatively Percival argued: It would appear, therefore, that prior to the invasion of India by the Sanscrit-speaking Brahmanized conquerors, one common language prevailed throughout the country, which eventually issued in the polished Tamil, in a region remote from the seats of Brahmanical power. There are not wanting indications in this language of its having been cultivated in imitation of the refined Sanscrit; and it may be imagined that the learned among the Aborigines were impelled to effort as well by opposition as by rivalry. The fact that the Tamil has been mainly cultivated by the secular class, is not only apparent in the authors who have written on it, but has become proverbial.25 (italics mine)

Rev Henry Bower (1813–85), a Eurasian and translator of the Bible into Tamil, published an essay in Calcutta Review in 1855 titled ‘The Tamil Language and Literature’ in which he reviewed the medieval Tamil grammar text Nannool. He echoed the conclusions of Francis Whyte Ellis, Benjamin Guy Babington and Robert Anderson on the independence of the Tamil language from Sanskrit. He endorsed the views of Hoisington of the American Mission in Ceylon that Tamil was the original language of all India before the arrival of the Aryan Brahmins from the north-western borders.26 It has become an academic common sense to trace the origins of Dravidian nationalism to the Missionary–Orientalist scholarship in the writings of Robert Caldwell.27 As we have detailed here, the preCaldwellian legacy of Orientalist scholarship that emphasised the independence of Tamil from Sanskrit and the spatial exclusion of 25

Ibid., p. 49.

Henry Bower, ‘The Tamil Language and Literature’, The Calcutta Review, vol. XXV, July–December, 1855, pp. 158–96. 26

In particular see V. Ravindiran, ‘Discourses of Empowerment: Missionary Orientalism in the Development of Dravidian Nationalism’, in Timothy Brook and Andre Schmid, eds, Nation Work: Asian Elites and National Identities, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2000, pp. 51–82. 27

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

214 Manuscripts, Memory and History Brahmins from Tamil geography cannot be underestimated. In other words, Robert Caldwell’s writings, especially his comparative grammar of the south Indian family of languages, must be seen as a culmination of the missionary–Orientalist scholarship in Madras that actually begun half a century earlier. However, the importance of Robert Caldwell lies in the fact that he coined the word ‘Dravidian’ for the south Indian family of languages for the first time and thus provided a label to rally around. The equation of language with race provided a convenient means to pose ‘Aryan’ and ‘Brahmin’ as the other of ‘Dravidian’. Robert Caldwell by coining the new word ‘Dravidian’ to represent the south Indian family of languages provided a channel and thus streamlined the sentiments and views expressed on Tamil language by his predecessors in a new direction. It is necessary to deal with his missionary life and scholarly activities.28 After obtaining a BA from University of Glasgow, Robert Caldwell travelled to India in 1837 as a missionary of the London Missionary Society. He joined the Society for the Propagation of Gospel (SPG) in 1841. He spent his missionary life in Tirunelveli working mostly among the Shanars whose traditional occupation was toddy tapping. Caldwell seemed to have started learning Tamil immediately after arriving in Madras in 1837. It is not clear from whom Caldwell learnt Tamil language and literature. Whether his ideas were shaped by the interaction with his Tamil teachers remains unclear. Scholarly writings on Robert Caldwell remain silent on this question. Nevertheless, it is certain that Caldwell spent a considerable amount of time in scholarly activities aside from his missionary work. Caldwell published A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages in 1856. In it he aimed to examine and compare the grammatical principles and the forms of the various Dravidian languages in order to understand their primitive structure and distinctive character. In the long introduction to the book, Caldwell provocatively argued not only for the distinctive nature of the Dravidian family of languages but also for racial differences in India. He equated Sanskrit with the Brahmins, whom he considered as the descendents For a recent biography of Robert Caldwell, see Y. Vincent Kumaradoss, Robert Caldwell: A Scholar-Missionary in Colonial South India, Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK), New Delhi, 2007.

28

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 215

of ‘those Brahminical colonists of early times’.29 By considering the contemporary Brahmins as the direct descendents of the early Brahminical colonists of the subcontinent, he placed them as the ‘other’ and ‘migrants’ to south India. Caldwell is not the first to treat Brahmins as a migrant to the south of India. As we have shown in this section, there is a legacy of Orientalist scholarship beginning with Sir William Jones which treated Brahmins as a migrant to the subcontinent. While the predecessors of Robert Caldwell considered the indigenous inhabitants of the subcontinent as consisting of diverse tribes at the time of the migration of Indo-Aryan speaking population from northwestern frontiers, Caldwell considered them as Scythians. Among the Dravidian languages, Caldwell argued that Tamil ‘can dispense with its Sanskrit altogether, if need be, and not only stand alone but flourish without its aid’.30 The independence of Tamil from Sanskrit has been forcefully emphasised by Caldwell in the following terms: The ancient or classical dialect of the Tamil languages, called Shen Tamil (Sen-Damir) or correct Tamil, in which nearly all the literature has been written, contains exceedingly little Sanskrit; and differs from the colloquial dialect, or the language of prose, chiefly in the sedulous and jealous care with which it has rejected the use of the Sanskrit derivatives and characters, and restricted itself to the pure Ancient Dravidian sounds, forms, and roots. So completely has this jealousy of Sanskrit pervaded the minds of the educated classes among the Tamilians, that a poetical composition is regarded as in accordance with good taste and worthy of being called classical, not in proportion to the amount of Sanskrit it contains, as would be the case in some other dialects, but in proportion to its freedom from Sanskrit!31

Whatever Sanskrit that is found in the Tamil language, according to Caldwell, was introduced by the Brahmins. Caldwell further argued that Tamil language and literature was preserved not by the Brahmins, as was the case with other major Dravidian languages of the south, but by the ‘native Tamilians’. In Tamil, on the contrary, few Brahmans have written anything Robert Caldwell, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages, second revised edition, Trubner & Co Ltd, London, 1875, p. 2.

29

30

Ibid., p. 49.

31

Ibid.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

216 Manuscripts, Memory and History worthy of preservation. The language has been cultivated and developed with immense zeal and success by native Tamilians; and the highest rank in Tamil literature which has been reached by a Brahman is that of a commentator.32

Such provocative utterances made the Comparative Grammar appear as a national history of the Dravidian-speaking population of south India. Caldwell effectively equated Sanskrit with Brahmins and the rest of the population who spoke a language other than Sanskrit in south India with Dravidians. The legacy of treating Tamil language independent of Sanskrit and the posing of Brahmins as the ‘other’ of South Indian society did not stop with Robert Caldwell. Charles Gover, A.C. Burnell, John Murdoch, G.U. Pope and Walter Elliot echoed similar sentiments in their writings subsequent to the publication of Robert Caldwell’s Comparative Grammar. John Murdoch, a missionary agent of the United Presbyterian Church and an appointed Indian agent of the Christian Vernacular Educational Society in 1858, published a compilation titled Classified Catalogue of Tamil Printed Books in 1865. In a subsection on ‘Tamil Alphabet’, Murdoch contended that it was the Brahmin immigrants from the north during the ancient period who introduced alphabets in the Tamil country.33 Drawing extensively from Robert Caldwell’s Comparative Grammar Murdoch argued that the ‘old Tamil writers seem almost to have entertained a jealousy of Sanskrit, and restricted themselves as much as possible to pure Dravidian sounds, forms and roots.’34 Perhaps a militant critique of Brahminism was expressed by Charles Gover in his Folk Songs of Southern India published in 1871. He argued that songs that are close to the hearts of people in southern India are completely alien to Brahminism. The great epics and erotic chapters, argued Gover, are ‘purely Brahminic, entirely foreign to the Dravidian literature and mind’.35 He argued that there exists a great mass of 32

Ibid., p. 51.

John Murdoch, Classified Catalogue of Tamil Printed Books, The Christian Vernacular Education Society, Madras, 1865, p. vii. 33

34

Ibid., p. ix.

Charles E. Gover, The Folk-Songs of Southern India, Higginbotham and Co, Madras, 1871, p. xix.

35

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 217

Dravidian literature, especially Tamil literature, that remains neglected. It is appropriate to quote Gover here: There is a great mass of noble writing ready in hand in Tamil and Telugu folk literature, especially in the former. Total neglect has fallen upon it. Overborne by Brahmanic legend, hated by the Brahmans, it has not had a chance of obtaining the notice it so much deserves. The people cling to their songs still, and in every pyall-school the pupils learn the strains of Tiruvalluva, Auveiyar, Kapila, Puttunatta and the other early writers. To raise these books in public estimation, to exhibit the true products of the Dravidian mind, would be a task worthy of the ripest scholar and the most enlightened government. I would especially draw attention to the eighteen books that are said to have received the sanction of the Madura College, and are among the oldest specimens of Dravidian literature. Any student of Dravidian writings would be able to add a score of equally valuable books. If these were carefully edited they would form a body of Dravidian classics of the highest value. If the syndicate of the university could be persuaded to lend themselves to a task so noble, they could with ease ensure that publication should meet with a demand sufficiently extensive to pay for the cost of editing. In the Rev. P. Percival, Madras, has a scholar of remarkable powers who yet has vigor and leisure enough to accomplish a task so great.36

The Brahmins, Gover considered, are ‘foreigners, their doctrines or rather legends, as taught in temples, are repulsive or else vicious, and no man can rest a troubled heart in them’.37 The editor of The Indian Antiquary while reviewing the book of Charles Gover argued that The Folk-Songs of Southern India is ‘one of the most attractive and instructive books, relating to the social life of the people of India we have ever read.’38 Walter Elliot (1803–87), a civil servant in Madras and a great admirer of Francis Whyte Ellis, published ‘The Importance of Early Dravidian Literature’ in The Indian Antiquary in 1887. It was the last article he wrote before his death. In this article Elliot made an announcement 36

Ibid., pp. xix–xx.

37

Ibid., p. 11.

38

See The Indian Antiquary, vol. 1, 1872, p. 28.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

218 Manuscripts, Memory and History to the readers of The Indian Antiquary about the publication of the commentary to the ancient Tamil grammar Tholkappiyam in Madras. Commenting on the Tholkappiyam, Elliot observed that ‘it is by no means improbable that the Tolkappiyam is of older origin and is a remnant of an earlier Dravidian literature that flourished before the immigration of the Brahminical missionaries from the north’.39 The Sanskrit/Tamil dichotomy in scholarly writings went together with Aryan/Dravidian and Brahmin/non-Brahmin polarities. Such scholarly understanding was reproduced in the official governmental discourses as well. In the manuals of the Tamil districts produced by the English administrators, we find the same vocabulary of Sanskrit/Tamil and Aryan/Dravidian division operating. The governor of Madras, Mountstuart Elphinstone Grant-Duff, in the convocation address to the graduates of the Madras University in 1886, aroused the Dravidian/ non-Brahmin consciousness by reproducing the views expressed by missionary scholars like Robert Caldwell in the following terms: The constant putting forward of Sanskrit literature as if it were preeminently Indian, should stir the national pride of some of you Tamil, Telugu, Cannarese. You have less to do with Sanskrit than we English have. Ruffiantly Europeans have sometimes been known to speak of natives of India as ‘Niggers’, but they did not, like the proud speakers or writers of Sanskrit, speak of the people of the South as legions of monkeys. It was these Sanskrit speakers, not Europeans, who lumped up the Southern races as Rakshusas – demons. It was they who deliberately grounded all social distinctions on Varna, Colour.40

Such provocative speeches, among other Orientalist and missionary writings, laid the ideological basis for the emergence of the non-Brahmin movement in the early decades of the twentieth century. The later day Dravidian ideologues were fully aware of this tradition of Orientalist and missionary scholarship that emphasised the independence of Tamil from Sanskrit and the spatial exclusion of Brahmins from Tamil geography. Walter Elliot, ‘The Importance of Early Dravidian Literature’, The Indian Antiquary, vol. XVI, 1887, pp. 159–60.

39

Quoted by Eugene F. Irschick, Politics and Social Conflict in South India: The NonBrahman Movement and Tamil Separatism, 1916–1929, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1969, p. 280.

40

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 219

Publication of classical tamil literature It was in the context of the provocative writings of the colonial philologists, Orientalists and missionaries that the Sangam literature was printed for the first time beginning with the publication of the Kalithogai in 1887. The news of the publication of classical Tamil literature was widely advertised in the newspapers and the vernacular periodicals. The editors of the classics, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and Damodaram Pillai, were seeking patronage for their editorial activities through making advertisement in the periodicals and newspapers. The development of journalism, both English and vernacular, provided avenue for the editors of the classics to communicate with the public. Damodaram Pillai informs us in the preface to first edition of the Kalithogai (1887) that he made an advertisement in The Hindu appealing for material help.41 Similarly, when U.V. Swaminatha Iyer published the first edition of the Pathuppattu in 1889, The Hindu carried the review of the work by P.I. Chinnasamy Pillai on 13 March 1890 titled ‘Historics’.42 Before the publication of the Aingurunuru in 1903 by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, The Hindu carried the following write up: From our vernacular contemporary the Hindu Nesan, we understand that Pandit V. Swaminatha Aiyar of the Kumbakonam College is now engaged in editing Aingurunuru, a standard Tamil book of the good old Madura Sangam days. Mr. Swaminatha Aiyar is acknowledged Tamil scholar gifted with extraordinary patience and capabilities which stand him in good stead in making out the texts of old and worn out palm leaf manuscripts, to compare notes with copies obtained from different places, gather information regarding the same from his wide range of studies, and then edit them with his own explanatory notes which are always edifying and highly instructive. In these days when research in the literary direction is not a lucrative occupation that Mr. Swaminatha Aiyar should be devoting all his energy, time and money to edit and publish rare Tamil works, in a quiet and unostentatious manner, is indeed highly commendable. In this way, without any influential support from any quarter, he has already brought out very good editions of old Tamil books, and we Damodaram Pillai, ‘Mukaurai’, in Nallantuvanar Kalithogai, Scottish Press, Madras, 1887.

41

P.I. Chinnasamy Pillai to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, Letter dated 15 March 1890, in Tamil Karuvoolam, vol. D, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai, pp. 220–21.

42

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

220 Manuscripts, Memory and History believe that the public as well as government have already begun to appreciate the value of such arduous labour in the cause of Tamil literature. The book in hand Aingurunuru is being painted at the Vaijayanti Press, Madras, and the work is in active progress. So, we expect it to be issued very soon, and we sincerely trust that the Tamil public will not be slow to encourage such laudable undertakings.43

The editor of the Jnana Bodhini published a note on the printing of the Aingurunuru by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. In this note the editor informed the readers about the progress of the research done on the Aingurunuru by Iyer. It made an appeal to the Tamil scholarly community to get a copy of the Aingurunuru once it is published. The printed editions of Swaminatha Iyer, the editor of the Jnana Bodhini announced, remained unsold and hence appealed to encourage Swaminatha Iyer by purchasing the copies of his editions.44 Similarly, the Jnana Bodhini made another announcement that T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai had started the printing of the Kurunthogai, one of the eight anthologies constituting the Sangam literature. It also informed the readers of the unfinished edition of the Agananuru by Damodaram Pillai who before publishing the work passed away in 1901.45 The Swadesamitran was a widely circulating vernacular newspaper at the turn of the twentieth century with a readership based mainly in the city of Madras. It opened its column for the promotion of Tamil research and learning in the form of periodically publishing the articles pertaining to Tamil language, literature and history and at the same time publishing the advertisement of the Tamil literary works being printed. For the publication of the Thiruvilayatal Puranam, Sivakacintamani and Purananuru, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer put up advertisements in the Swadesamitran.46 The Light of Truth or Siddhanta Deepika was started in 1897 by J.M. Nallaswamy Pillai as editor. The first volume of the periodical announced its aim ‘to bring out translation of rare works in Sanskrit and Tamil, both literary and philosophical and religious, will devote its pages to a more critical and historical study of Indian religious systems, to develop a taste ‘A Rare Tamil Work’, The Hindu, 1 December 1902. See also G.O. Nos 600–601, Educational Department, 6 September 1905.

43

44

‘Ainkurunuru’, Jnana Bodhini, VI(4), November 1902, p. 155.

45

Jnana Bodhini, V(10), May 1902, p. 400.

46

Swadesamitran, 28 September 1906, p. 3; Swadesamitran, 7 January 1908, p. 2.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 221

for and to induce a proper and more appreciative cultivation of our Indian classical and vernacular languages, literature, to bring into Tamil all that is best and noblest in the literature and philosophy of the west, to supply to its deficiency in the field of science and history, ancient and modern’.47 Despite the announcement of such an ambitious aim in the first volume, the Siddhanta Deepika confined itself to the publication of essays pertaining to Saivism in the Tamil region. It also carried articles and the translation of the Sangam poems into English. A translation of the Kurinchippattu, one of the ten songs (Pathuppattu) into English with illustrative notes appeared in the first volume of the magazine.48 Periodically it updated the editorial activities of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and Damodaram Pillai. It made an appeal to the government to support the publication efforts of Swaminatha Iyer. Observing the untiring efforts of Swaminatha Iyer, an editorial carried a note: We have seen Pandit V. Swaminathier of Kumbakonam at work. Every moment he could spare from his hard drudgery at College, he devotes to his labour of love in recovering long lost works from almost a heap of debris of old cadjan leaves. The lines do not run together, the spelling is abominable, whose lines are wanting and to these, he is restoring sense and order and life. He squats on the bare floor over a simple stool of a desk and he is working away, day after day in a blazing atmosphere with no punkah over head and with no recreation and no enjoyment except those derived from his favorite task. Such a man in England would be honoured and respected; he would be furnished a sinecure appointment or the generous public would reward him with suitable encouragement. He would command ease, leisure and comfort to pursue his favourite study. Could not the Government raise his status at college, free him from his routine of work and make him more useful to his pupils and the public at large?49

A review of the Kalithogai, one of the eight anthologies (Ettuthogai), appeared in the editorial note of the Siddhanta Deepika. Titled ‘Cameos from Tamil Literature’, the review showered praise on Damodaram 47

The Light of Truth or Siddhanta Deepika, Monday, 21 June 1897, 1(1), pp. 14–15.

‘Kurinchipattu’, The Light of Truth or Siddhanta Deepika, 1(3), 1897, pp. 16–18, 67–69.

48

49

The Light of Truth or Siddhanta Deepika, 1(2), 1897, p. 43.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

222 Manuscripts, Memory and History Pillai for publishing the literary work.50 Similarly, in a review of the Mullaippattu, T. Chelvakesavaraya Mutaliyar observed: The collection, versification and publication of these long forgotten heirloom of literature would have paralysed the energies of many a literary giant. This task, however, was reserved for Mr. Swaminatha Aiyar of Kumbakonam College for accomplishment. His apprenticeship in editing other works previously and the publication of other accessories by other scholars have considerably lightened his task. Nevertheless he deserves the highest credit for the indomitable courage with which he has succeeded in the attempt. His masterly edition reveals his vast erudition and scholarship of a rare specimen. Scholars cannot too well thank him (and that other veteran, Mr. Damodaram Pillai) for the immense benefit conferred upon them.51

Well before the publication of the Manimekalai, a Buddhist epic in Tamil by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, an announcement was made in the editorial note of the Siddhanta Deepikai. The note appeared as an advertisement for the Manimekalai. ‘We look forward with great pleasure’, observed the note, ‘to the forthcoming publication by Pundit V. Swaminathier of his excellent edition of Manimekalai’, and after noting the details of the book it continued that the ‘book is almost ready for publication’.52 The announcement of the publication and the reviews of classical Tamil literary works in the vernacular periodicals created an awareness of the classical Tamil literary heritage to the wider public. It was not only through the English and vernacular newspapers and periodicals that advertisements were made of the printing of classical Tamil literary works. Associations for Tamil learning were formed at different places in the Tamil-speaking districts of the Madras Presidency from the last quarter of the nineteenth century, and it greatly helped in popularising the news of the publication of classical Tamil literature. Periodical meetings, special lectures and annual gatherings of these associations were held in which diverse topics ranging from Tamil teaching in the educational institutions to the ways to promote Tamil research were ‘Cameos from Tamil literature’, The Light of Truth or Siddhanta Deepika, 1(4), 1897, pp. 91–93.

50

51

The Light of Truth or Siddhanta Deepika, 1(6), 1897, p. 134.

52

Ibid., 1(4), 1897, p. 96.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 223

discussed. As early as in 1890, a Tamil Sangam was established in Madras at Tiruvetiswararpettai. It was called Tiruvetiswararpettai Tamil Sangam. On its inaugural session on 22 October 1890, Poovai Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar appealed to the members of the Sangam and the gathered public that Tamil associations must be started throughout the Tamilspeaking districts of the Madras Presidency for the promotion of Tamil learning and research.53 C.W. Damodaram Pillai participated in the meetings of this Tamil Sangam and made an appeal to the members to contribute to the publication of classical Tamil literary works.54 Similar to the Tiruvetiswararpettai Tamil Sangam, another Tamil Sangam named Tennattu Tamil Sangam was founded in Madras in 1890. However, despite the initial enthusiasm by Justice Sadasiva Iyer who founded the Sangam, it failed to make any headway.55 During this period, the Saiva Siddhanta religious associations functioned as the Tamil language promotion association. Saiva Siddhanta Sabhas were founded in the Tamil-speaking districts of Madras Presidency during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. Tamil Saiva literary works in particular were much revered by these associations. The culmination of the efforts to start a Tamil-language promotion association was the founding of the Madurai Tamil Sangam by Panditurai Devar, a zamindar of Palavanattam in September 1901. As early as in 1893, Baskara Setupati, son of Muthuramalinga Setupati, recorded in his personal diary his intention to start a Tamil Sangam in Madurai. Panditurai Devar was a close associate of Baskara Setupati and showed keen interest in the promotion of Tamil literature and learning. A meeting of Tamil scholars was convened by Panditurai Devar in June 1901 to announce his intention to launch the Tamil Sangam. Following the announcement, 4,000 per year was granted by the Setupati for the cause of the functioning of the Sangam. The meeting convened by Panditurai Devar and the announcement of the material help by Setupati for the Sangam was widely advertised in the vernacular newspapers.56 The reception to the news of the formation 53

Swadesamitran, 28 October 1890, p. 339.

54

Ibid.,17 April 1891, p. 109.

Ira. Ilankkumaran, Madurai Nangam Tamil Sangam, Madurai Tamil Sangam, Madurai, 1982, pp. 44–50. 55

56

‘Madurai Tamil Sangam’, Swadesamitran, 27 June 1901.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

224 Manuscripts, Memory and History of a Tamil Sangam in Madurai was overwhelming. V.K. Suryanarayana Sastri, who was the first to appeal for a classical language status to Tamil, wrote to the Swadesamitran extolling the intention of Panditurai Devar to start the Tamil Sangam in Madurai.57 Panditurai Devar made a tour throughout the Tamil districts mobilising material help and scholarly consent for the founding of the Madurai Tamil Sangam.58 From September 1901, the Tamil Sangam in Madurai started functioning with a press, a periodical (sentamil), a library and a school. At the inaugural function of the Madurai Tamil Sangam a number of Tamil scholars were present. Some of the prominent scholars present were U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, R. Raghava Iyengar, V.K. Suryanarayana Sastri, Solavantan Arasan Shanmuganar, Tirumayilai Shanmugam Pillai and Pinnatur Narayanaswamy Iyer. The aim of the Sangam was to establish a college for Tamil, to collect rare manuscripts, to print works to be made available for the wider public, to print, edit and publish rare Tamil literary works, to translate and publish rare literary works from the north Indian languages into Tamil, to launch a periodical and to conduct exams in Tamil and award degree and prizes to those who pass the exams. Organising a series of lectures on Tamil language and literature, bringing Tamil enthusiasts under one umbrella to foster research and to publish necessary commentaries to those literary works that lack commentary were the other aims of the Sangam.59 The Madurai Tamil Sangam played an important role in the publication of eighteen minor works (Patinenkilkanakku) in Tamil. Similar to the Madurai Tamil Sangam, another association called the Tanjore Karantai Tamil Sangam was started in 1914. A periodical titled the Tamil Polil was started in the mid-1920s which spearheaded the Tamil research along with the Sentamil of the Madurai Tamil Sangam. The Karantai Tamil Sangam was involved in mobilising popular support to promote and protect Tamil interests. The executive members of the Karantai Tamil Sangam had affiliation with the Justice Party. When 57

Ibid.,,28 June 1901, p. 3.

Panditurai Devar’s visit to Devakkottai to meet the ‘prominent individuals’ for the establishment of the Tamil Sangam in Madurai is reported in the Swadesamitran, 16 July 1901, p. 3.

58

Ira. Ilankumaran, Madurai Nangam Tamil Sangam, Madurai Tamil Sangam, Madurai, 1982, pp.37–38.

59

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 225

the demand for the setting up of a Tamil university emerged, the Karantai Tamil Sangam extended the support and participated in the campaign.60 A number of other Tamil Sangams was started during the first quarter of the twentieth century and they played an important role in the dissemination of the news concerning the publishing of the classical Tamil literature. A Tamil Sangam in Salem was started in 1907 by J.M. Nallaswamy Pillai when he was working in Salem. A series of meetings, lectures on literature and periodical gatherings constituted the activities of the Salem Tamil Sangam.61 Other Tamil associations founded during this period were the Madras Presidency Tamil Sangam, Kovai Tamil Sangam (1915), Puthuvai Tamil Sangam, Nagai Tamil Sangam and Thenninthiya Tamil Sangam. The publication of the Sangam literary works beginning from 1887 was widely discussed and advertised in these literary, languagepromotion associations. Journalism and associational life promoted the Tamil language and disseminated the news concerning the publication of classical Tamil literary works. A sense of cultural pride and Tamil consciousness was felt by the English-educated middle class during the last quarter of nineteenth-century Madras with the publication of the classical Tamil literary works that were earlier confined to a tiny scholarly community and within the orbit of sectarian monasteries. The printed classical Tamil literary works were institutionalized as part of the BA syllabus of the University of Madras. Separate editions of classics were printed for the purpose of university courses and examinations. The Memorial Press at the Thambu Chetty Street in Madras printed 350 copies of the Pukarkandam of the Silappatikaram edited by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer in 1894. The 350 copies were used for the BA examination of the University of Madras in 1896.62 An edition of the Sivakacintamani with a commentary by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer was published in 1899 by V.N. Jubilee Press, Madras. 60 Karantai Tamil Sangam Handbook for the Year 1999–2000; A. Chidambaranar, Tamil Cankankalin Varalaru, Amiltam Pathippagam, Madras, 2004; Karantai Tamil Sanga Ceyti Malar Cirappital, II(7), 1990, Tamil Polil, vol. 1, 1925, pp. 12–13, 180–85. 61

See the article titled ‘Salem Tamil Sangam, Sentamil, vol. III, 1908, pp. 90–91.

‘A Catalogue of Books Printed in the Madras Presidency during the Months of July, August and September (or the third quarter of) 1894’, Fort St George Gazette Supplement, 27 November 1894, pp. 58–59.

62

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

226 Manuscripts, Memory and History 350 copies of the Jain epic were printed for the purpose of the BA examination of 1900.63 Similarly, the Memorial Press printed 350 copies of the Purananuru, one of the eight anthologies of Sangam literature edited and published by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer for the purpose of the BA examination of 1900.64 Once again the Purananuru was published by Swaminatha Iyer with commentary and explanatory notes for the BA examination of 1904. 250 copies of this literary work were printed by the Presidency Press, Madras on 1 April 1904.65 The production of classical Tamil literary works as textbooks for the university examinations continued every year. As we have noted in this section, the awareness about the classical Tamil literary works spread at three levels – through advertisements, reviews in the English and vernacular dailies and periodicals, through language promotion associations or Tamil Sangams, and through the curriculum of the university examinations. By the first decade of the twentieth century the knowledge of classical Tamil literary works was widely known and discussed by indigenous English-educated intellectuals and Tamil pundits. The consciousness of the classical Tamil literary heritage was so profound that when Robert Caldwell’s third revised edition of A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages was published in 1913 by T. Ramakrishna Pillai and J.L. Wyatt, the editors decided to remove the views of Robert Caldwell on the Dravidian literature citing the reason that the dates given by the author ‘have been rendered obsolete by the researches of the Indian scholars and the investigations of the Government Archaeological Departments’66 (italics mine). Caldwell, while writing the history of Tamil ‘A Catalogue of Books Printed in the Madras Presidency during the Months of October, November and December (or the fourth quarter of) 1899’, Fort St George Gazette Supplement, 20 February 1900, pp. 130–31.

63

‘A Catalogue of Books Printed in the Madras Presidency during the Months of July, August and September (or the third quarter of) 1900’, Fort St George Gazette Supplement, 4 December 1900, pp. 96–97.

64

‘A Catalogue of Books Printed in the Madras Presidency during the months of April, May and June (or the second quarter of) 1904’, Fort St George Gazette Supplement, 23 August 1904, pp. 50–51.

65

Robert Caldwell, A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, third edition, revised and edited by Rev. J.L. Wyatt and T. Ramakrishna Pillai, Trubner & Co Ltd, London, 1913, p. v.

66

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 227

literature in his comparative grammar in 1856 and 1871, did not have at his disposal the classical Tamil literary works (the eight anthologies or the Ettuthogai and ten songs or Pathuppattu) that scholars during the last quarter of the nineteenth century had access to. These literary works were printed for the first time beginning with the publication of the Kalithogai in 1887.

The articulation of tamil by the justice party The story of the emergence and growth of the non-Brahmin political movement is beyond the scope of this chapter. It has been a subject of study for the historians of modern India for sometime now.67 Rather, I shall demonstrate in this section how the printed classical Tamil literature was appropriated by the non-Brahmin political movement represented in the activities of the South Indian Liberal Federation, known as Justice Party founded in 1916. As argued earlier, the Justice Party right from the beginning comprised multiple linguistic groups, and the Tamil sentiments were expressed by the vernacular daily Dravidan. Eugene Irschick observed that ‘perhaps the most important contribution of the Justice Party to South Indian life was its popularization of the greatness and validity of Dravidian past. Basing its attempts on the work of many scholars of Tamil over the previous seventy-five years, the Justice Party and its many auxiliary organizations sought to revive the fallen condition of the Dravidians.’68 He also argued that through the Tamil newspaper Dravidan the Dravidianist idea was disseminated most effectively. Commenting on the achievements of the Justice Party, Robert L. Hardgrave observed that apart from breaking the citadels of Brahmin power and exclusiveness, the non-Brahmin movement inaugurated a new sense of Dravidian self-consciousness and cultural pride.69 It is pertinent to study how the non-Brahmin Tamil aspirations were articulated in the Justice Party. The critique of the Brahmins by the Eugene F. Irschick, Politics and Social Conflict, 1969; for the recent study of the nonBrahmin movement, see M.S.S. Pandian, Brahmin and Non-Brahmin: The Genealogies of Tamil Political Present, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2008.

67

Eugene Irschick, ‘The Significance of the Justice Party’, in Justice Party Golden Jubilee Souvenir, Madras, 1968, pp. 69–70.

68

Robert L. Hardgrave, ‘The Justice Party and the Tamil Renaissance’, in Justice Party Golden Jubilee Souvenir, Madras, 1968, p. 74.

69

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

228 Manuscripts, Memory and History Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators based in Madras was well internalised by the non-Brahmin intellectuals at the turn of the twentieth century. They were also fully aware of the fact that the colonial bureaucracy, legal and educational institutions were dominated by the Tamil Brahmins. The Justice Party critiqued the Brahmin domination of the colonial bureaucracy and pressed for communal reservation. In their critique of the Brahmins, the Justice Party ideologues reflected the views of the Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators that Brahmins were alien to Tamil society and that when they migrated to the Tamil country they introduced the caste system. The articles published in the Tamil daily Dravidan from June 1917 clearly articulated the view that Brahmins were alien to south Indian society. In an article titled ‘Brahmins and the Origins of the Caste’, one Sundara Mudaliyar wrote that in ancient days no discrimination based on caste existed in south India. Speaking on behalf of the nonBrahmins, Sundara Mudaliyar observed that the ancestors of the present-day non-Brahmins (nammavargal) lived peacefully and carried on trade with Greece, Rome and Egypt. It was only with the coming of the Brahmins from the north, he argued, that the caste system was introduced. According to Sundara Mudaliyar, the ancient society of the non-Brahmins was egalitarian in character without caste differences.70 T. Chelvakesavaraya Mudaliyar (1864–1921), a Tamil scholar and teacher at Pachiappa’s College, and M.S. Purnalingam Pillai (1866– 1947), the author of many books on Tamil literature and history, contributed regularly to the columns of the Dravidan. In a series titled ‘The Civilization of Tamils’, T. Chelvakesavaraya Mudaliyar wrote about the ancient history of the Tamils using the newly published classical Tamil literary works as evidence. He argued that before the arrival of Aryans (Brahmins) from the north, the Tamils were a civilised population with a flourishing trade and material prosperity. He also argued that the caste system was alien to Tamil society during the ancient period. He mobilised evidence from literary works like the Purananuru, Pattinappalai, Silappatikaram and Mullaippattu to highlight his contentions.71 70

Dravidian, 11 June 1917, p. 3.

T. Chelvakesavaraya Mutaliyar, ‘Tamil Makkal Nagarigam’, Dravidan, 15 June 1917, p. 2; 16 June 1917, p. 2. 71

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 229

The Aryan Brahmin/Dravidian non-Brahmin dichotomy seems to have occupied the minds of a section of educated Tamils at the turn of the twentieth century. Newspapers and periodicals, both English and vernacular, were crowded with these categories. S.S. Arunagirinathan wrote an editorial in the Dravidian refuting the claims of Asalambikai Ammal whose article in ‘Hindu Nesan’ on the subordination of Tamils to Brahmins created a controversy. Citing a number of verses from Tamil literary works like the Silappatikaram, Pannirupatalam and Purapporul Venpamalai, Arunagirinathan refuted the views of Asalambikai Ammal and argued that Tamils were never subordinate to the Brahmins in their history.72 In another write up in the Dravidan titled ‘Adi Saiva Brahmanar’, the anonymous author argued that before the arrival of Aryan Brahmins from north, the Tamils lived without the caste system. The society was considered to be egalitarian and people lived in the five-fold landscape of Kurinci (mountainous region), Mullai (pastoral/forest region), Marutam (river valleys), Neytal (coastal regions) and Palai (dry region). The latter was obviously inspired from the landscape represented in the akam poems of Sangam literature.73 Sangam literature was considered as the product of Dravidian civilization uncorrupted by the Aryan/Brahmin influence. Advertisements were made in the Dravidan everyday beginning in August 1917 that Sangam literature (sanga nulkal) reflected the truth (unmai) of the egalitarian (samattuvam utaiyar), self-sufficient (suyatinar) and fraternal (sagotarar) lifestyle of the Dravidian people (Dravida makkal).74 There were a number of articles in which the contributors to the Dravidan invoked Sangam literature to uphold the civilization of the Tamils/Dravidians.75 72

Ibid., 22 June 1917, p. 3

73

Ibid., 4 August 1917, p. 3.

From August to September 1917 this advertisement continues without break. The advertisement was made in a highlighted box. For example see Dravidan, 9 August 1917, p. 6.

74

‘The Story of the Tamils’, Dravidan, 21 September 1917, p. 4; ‘The Rise of Dravidians’, Dravidan, 18 August 1917, p.6; ‘Did the Caste Differences Exist in the Olden Days?’, Dravidan, 10 July 1917, p. 6; ‘Mummurasam’, Dravidan, 3 July 1917, p. 7; Dravidan, 27 June 1917, p. 6.

75

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

230 Manuscripts, Memory and History The political leaders of the Justice Party made use of the racial theory propounded by the Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators in their criticism of Brahmins. P. Thyagaraja Chetti, while addressing the first Justice Party Confederation in Madras in 1917, spoke that the ‘genius of Dravidian civilisation does not recognise the difference between man and man by birth. The leaders of Dravidian thought, Thiruvalluvar, Avvai, Cumbar, do not claim to be born from the brain of the God-head.’76 The members of the Justice Party were sympathetic to the cause of promoting the vernacular languages. Although the composition of the party was dominated by the Telugu speakers, Tamils like Pethachi Chettiar, a landlord and raja of Ramnad, articulated the Tamil aspirations in the party. The zamindars of Ramanathapuram were liberal patrons of art and literature and held contacts with Tamil and Sanskrit scholars. They patronised the editorial activities of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer in the publication of classical Tamil literary works. The raja of Ramnad was in the forefront in the formation of the Madurai Tamil Sangam in 1901. They were not antagonistic to Brahmins in their locality. The Madurai Tamil Sangam was dominated by the Tamil Brahmin scholars. The raja of Ramnad also invested in the steam navigation company founded by V.O. Chidambaram Pillai. The material interest of the rajas of Ramnad dictated the kind of relationship they forged with different communities in and out of their locality. Pethachi Chettiyar also contributed 5,000 rupees to the Madurai Tamil Sangam. Other minor kingdoms like the raja of Pudukkottai, Ettayapuram, Sivagangai and Cerrur contributed money for the Tamil Sangam in Madurai. The Dravidan was critical of the Tamil Brahmin domination of the Madurai Tamil Sangam. It supported the cause of the Karantai Tamil Sangam instead and periodically published news concerning the special lectures, annual gatherings and scholarly meetings. S.S. Arunagirinathan criticised the Madurai Tamil Sangam for not subscribing to ‘Dravidan’ and ‘Justice’, the mouthpiece of the Justice Party, and argued that since the majority of the office bearers of the Sangam were Brahmins, they were reluctant to subscribe to the newspapers that stood for the interest T. Varadarajulu Naidu, The Justice Movement, 1917, Justice Printing Works, Madras, 1932, p. 139; the passage was also quoted by Eugene Irschick in Politics and Social Conflict, 1969, p. 289.

76

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 231

of the non-Brahmin community.77 In another write up titled ‘Madurai Tamil Sangam and the Non-Brahmins’, the author styled as ‘Lover of Tiruvalluvan’ criticized the Madurai Tamil Sangam for the dominant presence of Iyengar Brahmins and their discriminative practices. It defended the intention of Panditurai Devar for the starting of the Tamil Sangam for the benefit of Tamils without any discrimination. However, the write-up argued that once Iyengar Brahmins became office bearers they made sure that no non-Brahmin could enter the administration or the teaching profession in the Sangam. It cited two examples of nonBrahmins being expelled from the Sangam for no reason. The writeup frowned upon the Brahmins for the kind of treatment meted out to the two non-Brahmins and considered the action as a ‘conspiracy of the Brahmins’. The author made an appeal to give up the caste discrimination and adopt the egalitarian ethics in the functioning of the Sangam.78 Similarly, on another occasion, in an article titled ‘Brahmin Examiners in the Madras University’, the author criticized the proceedings of the Madurai Tamil Sangam meeting in which instead of speaking for the promotion of the Tamil language, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer seemed to have ended up praising Raghava Iyengar for an hour and the latter in turn ended up praising the former for an hour. It made an appeal to include non-Brahmin examiners in Madras University.79 Contrary to the critical stand taken on the Madurai Tamil Sangam, the Tamil aspiration of the Justice Party (Dravidan) played a more supportive role for the Karantai Tamil Sangam. The office bearers of the Karantai Tamil Sangam were mostly non-Brahmins. The Dravidan published a report on the sixth anniversary celebration of the Karantai Tamil Sangam. It reproduced the resolutions passed in the anniversary celebrations and announced that the function was headed by T. Chelvakesavaraya Mudaliyar.80 The Karantai Tamil Sangam in turn supported the political movement of the Justice Party. D. Pannerselvam, 77

S.S. Arunagirinathan, ‘Madurai Tamil Sangam’, Dravidan, 21 June 1917, p. 6.

Tiruvalluvar Anban, ‘Madurai Tamil Sangamum Brahmanar Allatarum’, Dravidan, 1 August 1917, p. 6.

78

Potunanmai Natuvon, ‘Brahmin Examiners in the Madras University’, Dravidan, 25 September 1917, p. 3.

79

Dravidan, 28 June 1917, p. 4. See also Dravidan, 18 September 1917, p. 6; Dravidan, 22 August 1917, p. 7. 80

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

232 Manuscripts, Memory and History Gopalaswamy Raghunatha Sethupathy Rajaliyar and Pettachi Chettiyar of the Justice Party were the chief patrons of the Karantai Tamil Sangam.81 It stood for the demand of establishing a Tamil university and passed a resolution of Tamil teachers addressing their grievances.82 The publication of classical Tamil literature and its popularisation through English and vernacular print media created a cultural consciousness among the Tamils. The racial theory of the Indian civilisation advanced by the Orientalists based on their comparative philological studies had a profound impact on the way Indians themselves perceived their history. The colonial knowledge forms, especially the missionary and Orientalist scholarship, combined with the growth of Tamil cultural consciousness created conditions for the non-Brahmin middle-class intelligentsia to articulate the identity politics in colonial Madras Presidency during the second decade of the twentieth century. The social formation engendered by colonialism at the turn of the twentieth century in Madras stood between the missionary, Orientalist scholarship and the processes that led to the growth of Tamil cultural consciousness. The non-Brahmin political movement inaugurated by the politics of the Justice Party took recourse to the legacy of the Orientalists, missionary knowledge forms in Madras that emphasised the independence of the south Indian family of languages from Sanskrit. The Tamil aspirations of the Justice Party built the politics around the growth of Tamil literary and cultural consciousness following the publication of classical Tamil literature.

Nationalists articulation of tamil The Indian National Congress founded in 1885 in Bombay had representatives from Madras Presidency right from the beginning. Many of the prominent Congress leaders from Tamil Nadu were themselves Tamil scholars. Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar, who encouraged U.V. Swaminatha Iyer constantly to carry out research and publish the classical Tamil literary works, was a moderate Congressman. After completing BA, BL, he was appointed as a district munsif before becoming advocate 81

Tamil Polil, vol. 1, 1925, pp. 11–13.

See the articles of C. Vedachalam titled ‘Tamilum Tamil Palkalaikkalagamum’, Tamil Polil, vol. 1, 1925, pp. 180–85; Tamil Polil, vol. VI, 1930, pp. 223–26.

82

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 233

at Madras High Court. When the general election was held in England in 1885, he was elected from Madras Presidency to visit England to observe the proceedings of the election. He served as a councillor of the Madras municipality and a member of the senate of Madras University. He extended scholarly and material help to Swaminatha Iyer to publish literary works like the Silappatikaram, Sivakacintamani, Pathuppattu, and Purananuru. He addressed a gathering in Cosmopolitan Club in Madras on the Sivakacintamani, a Jain epic in Tamil, and spoke highly of Swaminatha Iyer’s editorial activities.83 A number of Tamil scholars participated in a meeting convened at the death of Ramaswamy Mudaliyar and contributed poems in his memory. Justice Muthuswamy Iyer convened a special meeting in Cosmopolitan Club to condole the death of Ramaswamy Mudaliyar.84 The contribution of the Congress leaders to the Tamil language and literature not only enriched Tamil but also served the cause of nationalism. The loyalty of the nationalist leaders was twofold viz., the Indian nation and Tamil region. G. Subramania Iyer (1851–1921), founder of The Hindu and Swadesamitran, emphasised the need to communicate in the vernacular language. He founded a society called The Society for the Dissemination of Useful Knowledge as early as in 1883 to encourage the use of Tamil in scientific discourses. G. Subramania Iyer also published pamphlets in Tamil highlighting the aims of the Congress and the national movement. He also published pamphlets in question–answer format on Congress and its activities for the benefit of the masses.85 The vernacular newspaper Swadesamitran regularly carried articles on Tamil language and literature. It advertised the activities of the Madurai Tamil Sangam and lauded the efforts of those individuals and institutions who worked for the growth of Tamil language and The obituary note of Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar appeared in Swadesamitran. It contains his short biography. See Swadesamitran, 12 March 1892, p. 81. See also the letters received by U.V. Swaminatha Iyer from Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar in Tamil Karuvoolam, vol. C, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Madras, p. 106 and pp. 110–11. The autobiography of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer also contains interesting accounts of Salem Ramaswamy Mudaliyar; see U.V. Swaminatha Iyer, En Charitram, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Madras, seventh reprint, 2008.

83

84

Swadesamitran, 22 March 1892, p. 95.

85

G. Sundaram Pillai, G. Subramania Iyer Charitram, Madras, 1907.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

234 Manuscripts, Memory and History literature combined with the spirit of nationalism. When the colonial government entrusted the work to G.U. Pope with a grant of 30,000 rupees to compile a lexicon for Tamil, the Swadesamitran criticised the state for encouraging a foreigner without considering such indigenous Tamil scholars like U.V. Swaminatha Iyer.86 It regularly carried articles highlighting the discriminative attitude of the colonial state towards the Indians. The publication of advertisements and the review of classical Tamil literary works figured in the columns of the Swadesamitran regularly. The publication of the classical Tamil literature inspired the nationalists in the Tamil-speaking districts. They were inspired by the heroism and love represented in the Sangam poetry. A Tamil weekly India, edited by C. Subramania Bharathi, invoked the Thirukkural and criticised the colonial government for deviating from the path expounded by the author of the Thirukkural on the subject of state. It is appropriate to quote the invocation of the Thirukkural in the criticism of the colonial government by the editor of the India here: Tiruvalluvar, the great Tamil poet, has said: ‘The duties of a king are fourfold, viz, - 1) to increase his sources of income; 2) to accumulate the wealth acquired thereby, 3) to guard it from being taken away by others; and 4) to divide it equitably among his subjects’. Now let us see how far the British Government has been discharging these duties of a king. As for guarding its wealth against the inroads of others our Government is weakest here. Instead of the robbers taking its wealth by force, it will invite them and pay them any amount as tribute. This has been clearly illustrated by the recent Zakkakhal expedition and also by the way in which it is treating the Afridis who have till now committed countless robberies in Peshwar. Then again many of its countrymen, who are not fit for any work in their own country, are brought over here and paid high salaries. Though there are abler people here, they are not cared for by the government. Even if, per chance, some of them happen to be given higher posts, they are not paid the same salaries and they are not treated with the same respect as these foreigners. Moreover it confers the highest and most responsible appointments on youngsters coming out from England; but it does not trust the Indians with the same posts. Thus these 86

‘Putiator Tamil Akaraty’, Swadesamitran, 16 October 1906, p. 2.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 235

whites take away enough of money from the country, both openly and secretly. As if all this was not enough, the police, who have been employed to guard the wealth of the country, undo their master in iniquity. Whenever any dacoity or murder takes place, they quietly absent themselves from the place for a month and then leisurely step into wreak their vengeance on particular people for having refused to bribe them of any time. With regard to the last duty of dividing the wealth among its subjects, the government never does this. It always distrusts its subjects and so does not think it necessary to spend much on them. Even the few pleasure resorts built by it, apparently for the use of the public, are really intended only for the benefit of the whites.87

The Thirukkural was a revered literary work among the Congress nationalists in the Tamil-speaking region. Leaders like V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, V.V.S. Iyer and C. Rajagopalachari spent considerable time editing, translating and publishing the Tirukkural for the benefit of a larger audience. Their engagement with classical Tamil literature was dictated by their nationalist concerns. V.O. Chidambaram Pillai (1872–1936), hero of the Swadeshi movement in Tamil Nadu, a militant nationalist and the founder of the Swadeshi Steam Navigation Company, spent considerable time in editing and publishing classical Tamil literary works. He communicated with Tamil scholar S. Vaiyapuri Pillai from 1913 onwards when he came to know that the latter had in his collection the palm-leaf manuscript copy of Ilampuranar’s commentary to the orthography (Eluttatikaram) section of the Tholkappiyam. Together with Vaiyapuri Pillai, V.O. Chidambaram Pillai published the Tholkappiyam with the commentary of Ilampuranar.88 Chidambaram Pillai was concerned with popularizing the classics and he understood the simplicity of the medieval commentator Ilampuranar’s commentary to the Tholkappiyam. Chidambaram Pillai’s urge to democratize classical Tamil literature and grammar can be attributed to his involvement in the mass-based Indian nationalist movement. He also published the first section (arattuppal) of the Thirukkural with the commentary of Manakkudavar in 1917. While searching for the palm-leaf manuscript copies of Manakkudavar’s 87 ‘Four Fold Duties of a King’, taken from India, 25 April 1908, cited in Extracts from Report on English Newspapers, 1908, pp. 299–300.

V. Sarojini, Vaiyapuri Pillai Valkaikkurippukkal, Tamil Puthagalayam, Madras, 1957, pp. 80–81.

88

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

236 Manuscripts, Memory and History commentary to the Thirukkural, Chidambaram Pillai realised that one of the copies was in the collection of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. He wrote to Iyer requesting him to send the copy which yielded him a useful source. The democratising urge of Chidambaram Pillai can be found in the preface to his Thirukkural edition as well. He made an appeal that everyone (ellorum) should read the Thirukkural and scrutinise the work independently without the influence of anyone.89 A year before his death, Chidambaram Pillai published the Thirukkural with his own commentary for the first section (arattuppal).90 The preface tells us that he completed the work while living in Tuticorin. The research he did on the orthography (eluttatikaram) section of the Tholkappiyam with the commentary of Ilampuranar was published in 1928. In the preface to the grammar, Chidambaram Pillai underlined the uniqueness of the Tamil language and its grammatical conventions which are not found in the ‘Aryan languages’. Pillai observed that though the author of the Tholkappiyam introduced the ‘Aryan words, habits and ideology’ in the grammar, it nevertheless could be considered as a honest work in Tamil.91 The uniqueness of Tamil that Chidambaram Pillai found in the Tamil grammatical and literary tradition did not lead him to join the league of non-Brahmin Dravidian nationalism. His loyalty, like that of the other nationalist leaders of Tamil Nadu, was two-fold viz., to the Indian nation and Tamil. Similarly, V.V.S. Iyer, another militant nationalist belonging to the extremist wing of Congress, engaged in a close study of the Thirukkural. In 1915, he published a translation of the Thirukkural titled The Kural or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar. He studied the Thirukkural and started his translation while he was in Pondicherry as a refugee after the outbreak of the First World War. He begun translating the Thirukkural on 1 November 1914 and completed the task on 1 March 1915 while still a See preface in V. O. Chidambaram Pillai, Tiruvalluvar Tirukkural Manakkutavarurai Arattuppal, Perambur, Chennai, 1917. 89

Tevyappulamait Tiruvalluva Nayanar Tirukkuralum Tesapimani Va. Vu. Chidambaram Pillai Viruttiuraiyum, Mutarpakam Cirappuppayirattutan Aratuppal, 1935. It is to be noted that there is no mention of the publisher or the place of publication of this volume. Instead, it has been stated that the paper, ink, thread for binding were Swadeshi products.

90

V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Tholkappiyam Ilampuranam Eluttatikaram Patavurai, Victoria Printing Press, Tuticorin, 1941, p. 1.

91

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 237

refugee in Pondicherry.92 In the preface to the translation V.V.S. Iyer noted: In undertaking this translation, my object has been not only to spread a knowledge of Tiruvalluvar’s grand work as widely as possible in the world, but also to induce my own countrymen speaking other languages than Tamil to retranslate it into their different vernaculars, so that the words of a great moral teacher who intended his message for all the world and for all time, may not fail at least now to reach the ears of the poorest of the poor and the simplest of the simple of his own countrymen, and to sow in their hearts the seeds of a noble dignified, virtuous and manly life.93

The democratizing urge that we noted in V.O. Chidambaram Pillai’s scholarly ventures in Tamil can be found in the writings of V.V.S. Iyer as well in the passage quoted above. Though nationalists like V.O. Chidambaram Pillai and V.V.S. Iyer identified the unique elements in Tamil culture, they never resorted to the secessionism. The loyalty to the Indian nation remained while at the same time loyalty to the Tamil language and literature can be found in their writings C. Subramania Bharathi (1882–1921), an extremist Congress nationalist and a fiery Tamil poet who laid the foundation for the modern Tamil poetry, took inspiration from the heroism represented in the classical Tamil literary work Purananuru. He showered praise on U.V. Swaminatha Iyer for recovering and publishing rare literary works in Tamil. Bharathi infused the social message in his poems and fervently critiqued the colonial state for its exploitative nature. In one of his poems he paid a glowing tribute to the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1917 and described the fall of Czar (old regime) as a ‘collapsing wall’. His journalistic writings reflect his wide knowledge of contemporary history and world politics. Like the other Tamil scholars of Congress, Bharathi too underlined the uniqueness of Tamil. In one of the poems he wrote, ‘Of all the languages I know, I have not heard a sweeter language than Tamil’. Yet this underlining of the uniqueness of Tamil did not prevent him from forming a devotion and loyalty to the Indian nation which he described as ‘Bharatha Desam’. See the preface written by V.V.S. Krishnamurthy in V.V.S. Iyer, The Kural or the Maxims of Tiruvalluvar, third edition, V.V.S. Krishnamurthy and Co, Tiruchirapalli, 1952.

92

93

Ibid., pp. xlviii–lix.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

238 Manuscripts, Memory and History Unlike V.V.S. Iyer and V.O. Chidambaram Pillai, Bharathi invoked the Thirukkural and used the couplets to critique the colonial state. Bharathi also directed the criticism at colonial state in his essay titled ‘The Ancient Tamil Conception of a “State”’ published in the India. Citing a couplet from a chapter called ‘Nadu’ (the couplet reads ‘that it is a state which has no enemy, no hunger and no disease is a real state’), Bharathi argued that the colonial state was a direct anti-thesis of the Thiruvalluvar’s description of state. He argued that under British colonial rule, the population of the country was affected by diseases like cholera, plague and other communicable diseases. Further, he argued that the country was reeling under famines, a cause for widespread hunger and poverty due to the exploitative nature of the parasite state. The colonial state, according to Bharathi, had created both internal and external enemies due to its inept rule.94 Subramania Bharathi’s inspiration from Tamil literature did not stop with the Thirukkural. He wrote an essay praising the article of Mu. Raghava Iyengar on ‘Vira Taimarkal’ (Heroic Mothers) that appeared in one of the issues of the Sentamil in 1907. In the article on heroic mothers, Raghava Iyengar cited a number of verses from the Purananuru, one of the eight anthologies that constitute Sangam literature, to highlight the heroic qualities of mother in ancient Tamil Nadu. Bharathi took inspiration from the heroic qualities of mothers in ancient Tamil Nadu. The heroic mothers gave birth to men who waged wars, displayed valour, heroism and protected the Tamil population. The India not only reproduced the article of Mu. Raghava Iyengar but also showered praise on the scholar. Bharathi wrote a letter to Raghava Iyengar praising the ‘swadeshi’ spirit in the essay: Having felt extremely happy after reading your essay ‘Vira Taiymarkal’ that appeared in Sentamil, I decided to write this letter to convey my happiness to you. I did not come to praise your scholarship. The world knows about it. I only salute the new fire of ‘Swadeshi’ that has risen in your faultless heart. You have referred to the spinning of the wheel of time at the ‘Puratanat Tamilarkalin (Ennam) Rajyam Allatu “Natu’”, India, 22 June 1907, pp. 2–3. This essay is reproduced in Seeni Viswanathan, ed., Kalavaricaippatuttappatta Bharathi Pataippukkal, vol. 2, Chennai, 2001, pp. 1070–71. 94

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 239

end of your essay. Yes, the wheel of time is indeed spinning. From a low lying position of the wheel of ‘lumpen Bharatam’, the time has come for the birth of ‘great Bharatam’. The fire that has risen in your heart is one among the light that is showing the way to great Bharatam for the inhabitants of this country who are now sunken in the lumpen state. I salute that fire. Let the fire envelop. Om!95

Bharathi stood for the development of the vernacular (Tamil) language and literature in the Indian nationalist struggle. He criticized vehemently those indigenous intellectuals who encouraged English at the expense of the vernacular language. He wrote in the Bala Bharata that those who take genuine pride in the nation should make it a point to acquaint themselves with the spirit of the inherited language and culture and put forth their efforts towards the revival, improvement, purification and cultivation of the ‘mother literature’.96 After citing parallels from Bengal, Maharashtra and Andhra where the leaders had worked for the development of the vernacular languages, he criticized the Tamil people for their craze of English at the expense of Tamil. He highlighted the richness of the Tamil language and literature in the following words: About 20 centuries Tamilian literature and thought were so highly developed as to contest the palm of excellence with the Sanskritists or any other people in the world. A poet like Kamban and a teacher of humanity like Valluvar have found in the Tamil Language an efficient vehicle of their thoughts, dreams and heartthrobbings …97

Bharathi then made an appeal to the educated countrymen to work towards the development of national literature and culture. He paid a tribute to U.V. Swaminatha Iyer for constantly working towards the enrichment of Tamil language and literature at a time when the craze for English had gripped the population.98 95 Seeni Viswanathan, Kalavaricaippatuttappatta Bharathi Pataippukkal, vol. 2, 2001, p. 1117. The translation of the letter is mine.

Bala Bharata, January 1908, pp. 61–61. This article titled ‘Vernacular Literature’ is reproduced in Seeni Viswanathan, ed., Kalavaricaippatuttappatta Bharathi Pataippukkal, vol. 3, Chennai, 2001, p. 13.

96

97

Ibid., p. 14.

98

Ibid., p. 15.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

240 Manuscripts, Memory and History The contribution of the Congress leaders, as we have detailed in this section, to the development of Tamil language and literature is considerable but their engagement with the project was dictated by their participation in the Indian nationalist movement. They never felt discomfort with the dual loyalty, namely the loyalty to Tamil and the Indian nation. It is important to note that the Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu, like elsewhere, considered anti-imperialism and anti-colonial struggle as a primary struggle. They evaded the colonial knowledge forms that emphasised the ‘racial difference’ in India. The Congress leaders in Tamil Nadu, however, failed to criticise the racial theories advocated by the Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators. While the non-Brahmin Justice Party leaders took recourse to the ‘racial theory’ of the Orientalists, the Congress leaders evaded the issue as unimportant in the face of the anti-colonial struggle. It has to be underlined that the ‘caste’ question also did not figure in the writings of Congress leaders from Tamil Nadu which was taken up by the Justice Party. In this chapter we have traced the Orientalist and missionary scholarship in Madras from the turn of the nineteenth century that emphasised the independence of the Tamil language from Sanskrit and theorised the Brahmins as the ‘other’ and ‘immigrant’ to the south India. The pre-nineteenth century missionary critique of Brahmins has been highlighted in the context of the Danish missionary correspondence with the indigenous Brahmins. As we have argued, the historical writings placed great emphasis on the writings of Robert Caldwell in theorising the emergence of the non-Brahmin Dravidian nationalism. However, as we have detailed in this chapter, the preCaldwellian legacy of Orientalist and missionary scholarship that stressed the independence of Tamil from Sanskrit and the criticism of Brahmins cannot be underestimated. Beginning with the writings of Francis Whyte Ellis, we have highlighted the views of H.H. Wilson, Rev. William Taylor, Benjamin Guy Babington and Robert Anderson before Caldwell’s intervention. Caldwell’s writings, as we have described, must be seen as a culmination of a missionary–Orientalist scholarship that actually begun at the turn of the nineteenth century. In other words, the very foundation of colonial knowledge production in Madras, among other factors, has underwritten the Dravidian politics of the twentieth century.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

Orientalism, Tamil Classics 241

We have also detailed the emergence and growth of the Tamil cultural and literary consciousness following the publication of classical Tamil literature beginning with 1887. The dissemination of the news of the publication of classics took place through the development of journalism, both English and vernacular. The language promotion association that sprung up throughout the Tamil-speaking districts from the last decade of the nineteenth century greatly played a role in the process of awakening the cultural and literary consciousness of the Tamils. The colonial knowledge forms combined with the awakening of cultural and literary consciousness of Tamils, among other factors, created conditions for the emergence of non-Brahmin political consciousness at the turn of the twentieth century in colonial Madras. We have detailed how the Tamil aspirations were articulated in the Telugu-dominated Justice Party through the vernacular daily Dravidan. The relationship between the Orientalists, missionary and colonial administrators’ writings and the political articulation of those ideas of the Justice Party is well established. The classical Tamil literature provided ‘evidence’ to the non-Brahmin intellectuals for the supposed pristine Dravidian culture uncorrupted by the Aryan Brahmin influence. Simultaneously, we have also shown how the Congress leaders in the Tamil-speaking districts contributed to the growth of Tamil language and literature. It has been emphasised that their engagement with vernacular language and literature was dictated by their participation in the nationalist movement.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:16:26, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.005

6

Conclusion

I have addressed one of the emerging themes concerning modern Tamil socio-cultural history, namely the reproduction and reception of classical Tamil literature at the intersection of print/publishing history, social change and colonial modernisation. I attempt to provide the summary of chapters and highlight in particular the significant findings, questions that have been raised for future research and the limitations of the present study. The second and third chapters which formed the first portion of the book focused on the socio-economic and cultural history of the reproduction of classical Tamil literature. It dealt with the long-term historical understanding of how the classics were handed down or transmitted in Tamil literary tradition. The Tamil literary field of the pre-modern period was closely interacting with the other historical forces that necessitated moving away from purely literary history to enquiries on literary cultures in history and socio-economic and cultural history. The unified and narratable history of Tamil literature, especially the history of classics encapsulating the ‘totality’, was made possible by extending the field of enquiry to literary cultures in history and socioeconomic and cultural history. I have dealt with a variety of source materials ranging from the collections of Colin Mackenzie to the early modern commentaries to the medieval Tamil grammar book Nannool. The chapter pointed out that instead of reproducing the self-perception of the editors/publishers of classical Tamil literature during colonial Tamil Nadu as representing the ‘total’ history of the processes leading to the reproduction of classics from manuscript tradition to print forms, it is necessary to read their works critically. Thus, a suggestion was Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:24:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.006

Conclusion

243

made that it is necessary to study the everyday literary practices of the little known kavirayars (poets) from whom the manuscripts of Sangam literature was gathered during the nineteenth century before it was published. It also emphasised the necessity to enquire into the cultural factor, namely the memory of classical heritage that was circulating in the minds of Tamil scholars. The problem of discontinuity of classical Tamil literary tradition can be partially addressed if we pay attention to the literary practices of the little known kavirayars and the cultural factor of memory. There were a number of reasons for the preservation and transmission of classical Tamil literary works in Tamil history. The kingship legitimacy of early medieval Tamil polities is one of the reasons for the preservation and transmission of classics into the medieval period. The emergence of sectarian monasteries and the vibrant commentarial intellectual tradition institutionalised the classical literary works during the medieval period. The commentators played the crucial role of transmitters of classics as often acknowledged by the modern Tamil editor/publishers. By the early modern times, the consciousness of classical heritage and literary sensibility was deeply embedded in the Tamil scholarly memory only to be rejuvenated during the nineteenth century when print technology started proliferating in Tamil society. The third chapter situated the processes leading to the reproduction of classical Tamil literature within the larger history of the print/ publishing of the nineteenth century. As I have shown, the nineteenth century print and publishing history can be divided into three phases for the sake of clarity and understanding. The first phase began with the activities of the College of Fort St. George which played a crucial role in publishing the literary and grammatical works of the south Indian languages. The printing press was largely confined at this stage at the hands of the government and missionaries. After the 1835 Act, the indigenous population was allowed to own presses and it resulted in the growth of printing presses across Tamil-speaking districts though Madras continued to be the headquarters of the print and publishing industry. Some of the early printers were themselves the editors/ publishers of Tamil literary works. They were mostly Tamil pundits, and we have cited the example of the editorial/printing activities of Saravapperumalaiyar and Visakapperumalaiyar at their headquarters Kalvivilakka Accukkudam. The second phase corresponded with the Saiva revival movement spearheaded by Arumuga Navalar in Jaffna Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:24:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.006

244 Manuscripts, Memory and History against the activities of the Christian missionaries. The press was a vehicle through which Navalar attempted to revive Saivism in the form of printing and publishing the Tamil Saiva literature to the larger public. His efforts had reverberations in Tamil Nadu where attempts were made to publish the Tamil Saiva literary works. I have detailed the patronage nexus that Navalar maintained in his Saiva revival movement in Jaffna and its impact in Tamil Nadu. The landed elites and Saiva religious sectarian monasteries actively promoted the cause of Saivism in Jaffna and Tamil Nadu. It was upon the first two phases that the third phase in the history of print and publishing emerged during the late nineteenth century as exemplified in the editorial/publication activities of C.W. Damodaram Pillai and U.V. Swaminatha Iyer. The kavirayars who remained outside the orbit of the dominant literary cultures of nineteenth-century Tamil Nadu were never exposed to the print and publishing sphere. It has to be studied how despite the large collection of palm-leaf manuscripts of literary works, these little known kavirayars were unexposed to the print and publishing world. Were they localized and economically dependent on their locality that made them live isolated from the dominant literary cultures? It has to be underlined that it was from these kavirayars that editor/publisher of classics like U.V. Swaminatha Iyer and Damodaram Pillai collected copies of palm-leaf manuscripts. An anthropological study on the life histories of these kavirayars would throw interesting light on the nineteenth-century preservation and transmission of classical Tamil literary works. The publication of classical Tamil literature was actively encouraged, promoted and patronized by the English-educated indigenous middle class, landholding zamindars and mirasdars (individuals who controlled the rights of possession especially in land) and Saiva religious sectarian monasteries. It was due to the collaboration of these groups that the reproduction of classical Tamil literature from manuscript tradition to print form was made possible. The second portion of the book, which constitutes the fourth and fifth chapters, shifts from the reproduction to the reception of classical Tamil literature. I have dealt with the emergence of literary histories as representing a new practice following the publication of Tamil literature from the beginning of the nineteenth century. In this chapter I have shown the relationship between the understanding of Tamil literary history and the history of Tamil literary print/publishing. Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:24:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.006

Conclusion

245

In other words, the understanding of the history of Tamil literature was contingent upon the history of Tamil literary print and publishing. The Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators were the first to comment on the history of Tamil literature at the beginning of the nineteenth century. There was a shift from the synchronic appraisal of Tamil literature to a diachronic one which is one of the hallmarks of nineteenth-century Tamil literary scholarship. Trained in the principles of the Enlightenment and Victorian rationality, the arriving civil servants from England in Madras were the first to study the history of Tamil literature. They argued that the beginnings of Tamil literature can be traced to the eighth century ce, although they discovered and acknowledged that Tamil language is older and ‘independent’ of Sanskrit. The understanding that the beginnings of Tamil literature can be traced to the eighth century ce is largely due to the non-availability of classical Tamil Sangam literary works to the Orientalists, missionaries and colonial administrators. By the last quarter of the nineteenth century, this understanding came to be challenged by the indigenous English-educated middle-class intellectuals who started appraising their history and culture with a sense of historical consciousness. The question of the engagement with the past and the search for identity in it were profoundly shaped by the contemporary concerns of the day. The fourth chapter dealt with the relationship between the Orientalists, missionary knowledge production in Madras and the sociopolitical movements, more specifically the non-Brahmin Justice Party that emerged during the second decade of the twentieth century. The chapter also dealt with the popularisation of classical Tamil literature in Tamil society due to three factors: a) the growth of journalism, English and the vernacular, b) institutionalisation of classics as syllabus for BA examination in Madras University and c) the emergence and growth of language-promotion associations at the turn of the twentieth century. The three factors combined together greatly disseminated the news of the publication of classical Tamil literature. It created conditions for the growth of cultural and literary consciousness among the Tamil public. However, this domain is not without contestation. The landholding higher castes, mostly the Saiva Vellalars, were in the forefront articulating this cultural and literary consciousness. The lower segments of society claimed a distinct identity and found independent mobilisation from the activities of Ayothee Thass Panditar, the foremost critique of the Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:24:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.006

246 Manuscripts, Memory and History caste system and Brahminical Hinduism. The cultural and political articulation of the lower castes needs to be studied more thoroughly in relation to the assertion of upper castes in colonial Tamil Nadu. The lower-caste movements cannot be studied in isolation. The Buddhist interpretation of Tamil past that Ayothee Thass Panditar attempted was a response to the assertion of Brahmins and Saiva vellalars (dominant landholding caste in Tamilnadu) in the Tamil cultural realm. The rise and decline of the language of caste was endemic to the colonial period in which various segments of the population contended for culture and power. This chapter also dealt with the articulations of Tamil by the Justice Party and Congress nationalists. It attempted to show that the concerns of the Tamil leaders of the Justice Party were different from the Congress leaders in their articulations of Tamil. The loyalty expressed by the Congress nationalists were two-fold – to the Indian nation and the Tamil language whereas the Justice Party directed the criticism at the Brahmin hegemony in colonial bureaucracy. This work is marked throughout by the oscillation from literary to socio-cultural enquiries. The ‘literary field’ interacted with other forces, and hence the necessity to extend the enquiry from a purely literary one to the socio-economic and cultural one with a historical sensibility. The reproduction of art and literature during the modern period is a continuous process. The editions of the classical Tamil literature did not stop with the first, second or third editions alone. With the proliferation of the print and publishing industry in the twentieth century, new editions and reprints of the classics were published. The policy of the Tamil Nadu state to nationalize the literary works of Tamil scholars further opened up the avenue and, in fact, has created a new competition among the publishers to print and publish the nationalized works of Tamil scholars. With the arrival of computers and world wide web networks, the reproduction of classical Tamil literature has taken a new form. Project Madurai is one such ambitious effort to electronically (re)produce e-texts of literary works in Tamil. The question of uniformity, diacritical marks, the mode of arrangement of verses and their commentaries are debated by Tamil scholars and computer specialists when an electronic format of a classical Tamil literary work is prepared. Like reproduction of a work of art, the reception too is a continuous process in the modern period. This study, however, is limited to the first few printed editions of classical Tamil literature Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:24:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.006

Conclusion

247

during the colonial period. As stated at the beginning of the book, the period between 1848 and 1920 constitute one of the important phases in the history of modern Tamil literature during which for the first time the classics were brought to print and thrown open to the wider pubic. With the development of English and vernacular journalism which also played a role in popularising the news of the printing of classical Tamil literary works, a wider cultural and literary consciousness emerged for the first time in Tamil society. This book has studied only the social history of ‘high literature’ and not the popular folk genres. With the emergence and proliferation of print technology new genres like prose and novels emerged during the colonial period. This work is not concerned with the development of prose or the social history of novels. Rather, it only focuses on the classical Tamil literature namely the Sangam anthologies that are considered the oldest stratum of Tamil literature. Tamil language was given classical status by the Government of India after years of political pressure and scholarly activism. Today, the official patronage towards the development of Tamil language from the government is evident. Efforts are being made to publish (reproduce) the critical editions of classical Tamil literary works (Sempatippu), and in this context the present research assumes significance. It is necessary not only to investigate the processes through which classical Tamil literary works were handed down in Tamil literary history but also how these literary works were brought to print and created a wider cultural and literary consciousness among the Tamil public. This history cannot be reduced to a mere footnote or prefixed as a cause for the emergence of non-Brahmin political consciousness in the Tamil-speaking districts of Madras Presidency during the early decades of the twentieth century. In other words, the reproduction and reception of classical Tamil literature has its own history that deserves to be reconstructed. It is this history that my work has tried to reconstruct.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:24:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.006

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Universiteit Leiden / LUMC, on 23 Oct 2018 at 06:24:50, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.006

APPENDIX - I

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

Appendix-I 251

Title page of Kalithogai (1887) Editor: C.W. Damodaram Pillai Courtesy: RMRL

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

252 Manuscripts, Memory and History

Title page of Purananuru (1894) Editor: U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Courtesy: RMRL

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

Appendix-I 253

Title page of Aingurunuru (1903) Editor: U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Courtesy: RMRL Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

254 Manuscripts, Memory and History

Title page of Pattirruppathu (1904) Editor: U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Courtesy: RMRL Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

Appendix-I 255

Title page of Narrinai (1915) Editor: Pinnatur Narayanasamy Iyer Courtesy: RMRL Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

256 Manuscripts, Memory and History

Title page of Paripadal (1918) Editor: U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Courtesy: RMRL Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

Appendix-I 257

Title page of Pathuppattu (1889) Editor: U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Courtesy: RMRL Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

258 Manuscripts, Memory and History

Title page of Sivakacintamani (1887) Editor: U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Courtesy: RMRL Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

Appendix-I 259

Title page of Silappatikaram (1892) Editor: U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Courtesy: RMRL Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

260 Manuscripts, Memory and History

Title page of Manimekalai (1898)

Editor: U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Courtesy: RMRL Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:14, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.007

APPENDIX - II

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

Appendix-II 263

Information on palmleaf manuscript copies gathered from the preface of the first printed editions of Sangam Classics 1. Kalithogai (1887) Sl. no.

Copies of palm-leaf manuscripts used

Individuals who helped in securing the palm-leaf mansucripts

Place from where palmleaf manuscript copies were secured

Condition of Copies Copies the manuscript without with copy commentaries commentaries

Puducherry

Damaged copy

1

Copy of Puthuvai Nayinappa Mudaliyar

-

2

Copy of Arumuga Navalar

-

-

-

-

-

3

Copy of Sargurunatha Swaminagal of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam

-

Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam

-

-

-

4

Copy of Kanakasabai Pillai

-

Jaffna

-

-

-

5

Copy of Ramalinga Pillai

Mylapore, Chennai

-

-

-

6

Copy of the Oriental Mansucripts Library

-

-

Tirumanam Kesava Subbaraya Mudaliyar -

Chennai

Damaged copy 2 copies (Only Neytarkkali)

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

264 Manuscripts, Memory and History Sl. no.

7

Copies of palm-leaf manuscripts used

Copy of Saraswati Mahal Library

8

-

9

-

10

Copy of the Oriental Manuscripts Library

Individuals who helped in securing the palm-leaf mansucripts -

Family of Sokkalinga Pillai -

Place from where palmleaf manuscript copies were secured

Condition of Copies Copies the manuscript without with copy commentaries commentaries

Tanjore

Highly damaged copy (could not use for the edition)

Nellithope of Puducherry

Damaged copy except Neytarkkali

Tindivanam

Copy with only the first part of Neytarkkali

Triconamalle T. Chennai Kanakasundaram Pillai

Neytarkkali till 23rd ceyyul

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

Appendix-II 265

2. Pathuppattu (1889) Sl. Copies of palm-leaf no. manuscripts used

Individuals who helped in securing the palm-leaf mansucripts

Place from Condition of the Copies Copies where palmmanuscript copy without with leaf manuscript commentaries commentaries copies were secured

1

Copy of Mahavidwan Meenakshi Sundaram Pillai of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam

-

2

Copy of Kumarasamy Iyer of Vellore

-

3

Copy of Kumarasamy Pillai Ambalavana Arumuga of Arumuga Mangalam Desigar of Mangalam Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam

4

Copy of Kavirayar Nellaiappa Pillai and his brother Iswaramurthy Pillai of Tirunelveli

-

-

Vellore

Tirunelveli

-

-

-

-

The verses of Tirumuru karruppatai, Porunarruppatai were found -

-

-

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

266 Manuscripts, Memory and History Sl. Copies of palm-leaf no. manuscripts used

Individuals who helped in securing the palmleaf mansucripts

Copy of Tirupparkatanatha Tirunelveli Kavirayar Kavirayar of Tirunelveli Nelliappa Pillai, Kavirayar Iswaramurthy Pillai 6 Copy of Devarpiran Melakaram Kavirayar Tirikutaracappa Kavirayar 7 Copy of Vidwan Sivanpillai of Pollachi 8 Copy of Dharmapuram Adheenam Viswanatha Sastri 9 Copy of Tiruambala Tinnamutam Pillai of Tirunelveli 10 Copy of V. Kanakasabhai Pillai 11 Copy of Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai 5

Condition of the Place from manuscript copy where palmleaf manuscript copies were secured Tirunelveli -

Copies without commentaries -

Azhwar Tirunagiri

-

-

Pollachi

-

-

Dharmapuram

-

-

Tirunelveli

-

-

-

-

Chennai

The verses of Perum panarruppatai and Mullaippattu were found

Copies with commentaries

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

Appendix-II 267

Sl. no.

Copies of palm-leaf manuscripts used

3. Purananuru (1894) Condition of Individuals who Place from helped in securing where palm-leaf the manusmanuscript copies cript copy the palmleaf mansucripts were secured

Copies Copies without with commcommentaries entaries

1

Copy of Subramania Desigar of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam

Thiruvavaduthurai

1-400

-

2

Copy of Tiruttanikai C.W. Damodaram ThiruvavaSaravanapperumalaiyar Pillai of Jaffna duthurai

1-400

-

3

Copy of Nallur Sadasiva P. Vasudeva Pillai of Jaffna, T. Mudaliyar of Kanakasundaram Pillai Chennai Copy of V. Kanakasabhai Pillai of Jaffna

Jaffna

267-369

-

Jaffna

1-369

-

3-399

-

4

-

5

Copy of Tirumayilai Shanmugam Pillai

6

Copy of Subramania Desigar

-

Thiruvavadu1-260 thurai Adheenam

-

7

Copy of Ambalavana Desigar Copy of Tayavalantirta Kavirayar

-

Thiruvavadu1-107 thurai Adheenam Azhwar 1-261 Tirunagari

-

8

P. Sundaram Pillai Mylapore of Trivandrum

Subbaraya Mudaliyar of Sreevaikuntam

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

268 Manuscripts, Memory and History Sl. no.

9 10

Copies of palm-leaf Individuals who Place from Condition of Copies without Copies with manuscripts used helped in securing the where palmthe manuscript commentaries commentaries palm-leaf mansucripts leaf manuscript copy copies were secured Copy of Azhagiya Sirrambala Kavirayar Copy of Azhagiya Sirrambala Kavirayar

-

Mithilaippatti

1-266

-

-

Mithilaippatti

1-171

-

Vannarpettai of 1-260 Tirunelveli

-

11

Copy of Tirupparka- C.W. Damodaram Pillai of Jaffna tanata Kavirayar

12

Copy of Subbiah Pillai of Tenkasi

Melakaram Tirikutaracappa Kavirayar

Tenkasi

1-48

-

13

Copy of Subbiah Pillai of Tenkasi

Melakaram Tirikutara- Tenkasi cappa Kavirayar

1-57

-

14

Copy of Subbiah Pillai of Tenkasi

Melakaram Tirikutara- Tenkasi cappa Kavirayar

7-48

-

15

Copy of Kumarasami A. Sundaramurthy Pillai Tuticorin Pillai of Tuticorin of Arumuga Mangalam

1-216

-

16

Copy of Kumarasami A. Sundaramurthy Pillai Tuticorin of Arumuga Mangalam Pillai of Tuticorin

1-196

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

Appendix-II 269

4. Aingurunuru (1903) Sl. no.

1 2

Copies of palm-leaf Individuals who Place from manuscripts used helped in securing the where palmpalm-leaf mansucripts leaf manuscript copies were secured Copy of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam Copy of J.M. Velluppillai, F.M.U

-

Condition of Copies Copies with the manuscript without commentaries copy commentaries

-

-

-

Thiruvavadu thurai Adheenam -

-

-

3

Copy of Shanmugam Pillai of Tirumayilai

-

Mylapore

-

-

4

Copy of T. Lakshmana Kavirayar

-

Azhwar Tirunagari

-

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

270 Manuscripts, Memory and History 5. Patirruppathu (1904) Sl. no.

Copies of palm-leaf manuscripts used

1

Copy of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam Copy of Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, Madras Copy of T. Lakshmana Kavirayar

2

3

Individuals who Place from Condition of helped in securing the where palmthe manuscript palm-leaf mansucripts leaf manuscript copy copies were secured -

Thiruvavaduthurai Chennai

-

Azhwar Tirunagari

4

Copy of J.M. Veluppillai F.M.U

-

Azhwar Tirunagari

5

Copy of Shanmugal Pillai

-

Mylapore

6

Copy of T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai

-

Mylapore

In all these copies the invocatory verse, first ten and tenth ten or their commentaries were not found.

Copies Copies with without commentaries commentaries

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

Appendix-II 271

6. Kurunthogai (1915) Sl. no.

1 2

Copies of palm-leaf Individuals who Place from manuscripts used helped in securing the where palm-leaf palm-leaf mansucripts manuscript copies were secured Copy of the Govt. S. Muthurathna Chennai Library, Madras Mudaliyar Copy of the Madurai Tamil Sangam

-

Madurai

Condition Copies without Copies with of the commentaries commentaries manuscript copy -

-

-

-

-

-

7. Narrinai (1915) Sl. no.

Copies of palm-leaf manuscripts used

Place from Individuals who helped in securing the where palm-leaf palm-leaf mansucripts manuscript copies were secured

1

Copy of Government Swami Oriental Manuscripts Vedachalam Library, Chennai

2

Copies of U.V. Swaminatha Iyer

3 4

Condition Copies without Copies with commentaries commentaries of the manuscript copy

Chennai

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

Copy of the Madurai Tamil Sangam

-

Madurai

-

-

-

Copies of T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai

-

Chennai

-

-

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

272 Manuscripts, Memory and History 8. Paripadal (1918) Sl. Copies of palm-leaf no. manuscripts used

1 2 3

Copy of Thiruvavaduthurai Adheenam Copies of T. Lakshmana Kavirayar Copy of two single manuscripts with 5th verse only

Individuals who Place from Condition of helped in securing the where palmthe manuscript palm-leaf mansucripts leaf manuscript copy copies were secured -

Thiruvavaduthurai Azhwar Tirunagari Dharmapura Adheenam

Copies Copies with without commentaries commentaries

Badly damaged

-

Commentary for 19-38 lines only

-

-

Commentary for 2-22 lines only

-

-

-

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. Squire Law Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:06, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.008

Appendix-II 273

9. Agananuru (1923) Sl. no.

Copies of palm-leaf manuscripts used

Individuals who helped in secruing the palm-leaf mansucripts -

Place from where palmleaf manuscript copies were secured Chennai

Condition of the manuscript copy

Copies without commentaries

Copies with commentaries

-

-

-

1

Handwritten copied text from the copy of Oriental Manuscripts Library, Chennai

2

Handwritten copied text from the copy of Perumpazhanai manuscript

-

Perumpazhanai

-

-

-

3

Copy of Nellaiyappar Kavirayar

-

Tirunelveli

-

-

-

4

Copy of T.T. Kanakasubdaram Pillai

-

Chennai

-

-

-

5

Paper copy of T.T. Kanakasundaram Pillai

-

Chennai

-

-

-

6

Copy of K.R. Namachivaya Mudaliyar, Tamil Pundit of Queen Mary’s Collge

-

Chennai

-

-

-

7

Copy of Vidwan Shanmugam Pillai

-

Mylapore

-

-

-

8

Copy found by Sivan Pillai

-

Verses from 244 (13th line) to 292 (1st line) are missing

-

-

-

Select Bibliography A. Official records 1. Proceedings, Reports and Records Records of the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India Related to the College of Fort St. George 1814–1822, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London. Report of the Board of Superintendence of the College of Fort St. George 1817–1818, 1827–1828, 1829–1830, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London. Report of the Proceedings Connected with Collections Made by the Late Colonel Mackenzie in Illustration of Oriental Literature and History with an Appendix of Accounts, Volume I & II, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London. Proceedings of Education Department: 1860–1920., Tamil Nadu State Archives, Chennai. Native Newspaper Reports 1878–1920, Tamil Nadu State Archives, Chennai. Extracts from Report on English Newspapers 1905–1910, Tamil Nadu State Archives, Chennai. Fort St. George Gazette 1880–1920, Tamil Nadu State Archives, Chennai. Annual Administrative Report of Madras Presidency, 1890–1920, Tamil Nadu State Archives, Chennai. Tanjore District Record, Volume 3418–3511, Tamil Nadu State Archives, Chennai.

2. Private Papers Francis Whyte Ellis (The Ellis Papers given by the Rev. Dr G.U. Pope), Ms. Tam c. 19, Bodleian Library, Oxford. ‘Ellis’s Tamil Prosody’ in Walter Elliot Manuscripts, MSS Eur D. 336, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London. Sir Walter Elliot Papers, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

Select Bibliography 275

Colin Mackenzie Papers, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London. The Erskine Papers, Asia, Pacific and Africa Collections, British Library, London. Private Correspondence of U.V. Swaminatha Aiyar, Tamil Karuvoolam vol. A–D, U.V. Swaminatha Aiyar Library, Chennai.

B. Missionary records Bartholomau Ziegenbalg, Bibliotheca Malabarica, Notebook dated 1708, Francke Foundation Archives, Halle. Tamil Posthakankalutaya Attavanai, Appendix to C.J. Beschi’s Vedavilakkam, Francke Foundation Archives, Halle. Bartholomau Ziegenbalg, Nidi Wunpa Malabarische Sitten Legre, Francke Foundation Archives, Halle.

C. Newspapers and journals English The Hindu: 1900–02 Madras Mail: 1896–99, 1901–05 The Indian Antiquary: 1872–1920 Asiatic Researches: 1795–1810 The Calcutta Review: 1848–56 Magazine of the Madras Christian College: 1885–1908

Tamil Swadesamitran: 1887–1908 Utayatarakai: 1848–55. India: 1908 Sentamil: 1902–10 Jnana Bodhini: 1901–04 Siddhanta Deepika: 1897–1905 Dravidan: 1917

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

276 Manuscripts, Memory and History

D. Tamil books and articles Aloysius, G., ed. Ayotheethasar Cintanaikal, vol. 1–2, Nattar Valakkattriyal Ayivu Maiyam, Palayamkottai, 1999. . Ayotheethasar Cintanaikal, vol. 3, Nattar Valakkattriyal Ayivu Maiyam, Palayamkottai, 2003. Aravanan, Ka. Pa. Elunuru Antukalil Nannul, Chennai, 1977. Aravindan, Mu. Vai. Uraiyaciriyarkal, second edition, Manivasagar Pathippagam, Chennai, 2008 (first edition 1968). Arunachalam, Mu. Tamil Ilakkiya Varalaru Nurrantumurai 9 Mutal 16 Varai, The Parker, Chennai, 2005. Chidambaram Pillai, V.O. Tiruvalluvar Tirukkural Manakkutavarurai Arattuppal, Perambur, Chennai, 1917. . Tevyappulamait Tiruvalluva Nayanar Tirukkuralum Tesapimani Va. Vu. Chidambaram Pillai Viruttiuraiyum, Mutarpakam Cirappuppayirattutan Aratuppal, 1935. . Tolkappiyam Ilampuranam Eluttatikaram Patavurai, Victoria Printing Press, Tuticorin, 1941. Chidambaranar, A. Tamil Cankankalin Varalaru, Amiltam Patippagam, Chennai, 2004. Damodaran, A. Nannul Mulamum Sankara Namaccivayar Ceytu Civagnana Munivaral Tiruttappatta Puttamputturai Ennum Viruttiuraiyum, International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai, 1999. . Sankaranamaccivayar, International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai, 2003. Gowthaman, R. Ka. Ayotheethasar Ayvukal, Kalachuvadu, Nagercoil, 2004. Ilamaran, Pa. Pattippum Vacippum: Tamil Nulkalin Patippu Marrum Ayivu, Sandhya Pathippagam, Chennai, 2008. Ilankkumaran, Ira. Maturai Nankam Tamil Cankam, Madurai, 1987. . Ilakkana Varalaru, Chennai, 1988. Iyer, T.V.G. Ilakkana Vilakkam Elluttatikaram, Tanjore, 1971. Iyer, U.V.S. Sivakacintamani Mulamum Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, Dravida Ratnakara Press, Chennai, 1887. . Silappadikaram Mulamum Atiyarkkunallar Uraiyum, Jubilee Printers, Chennai, 1892.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

Select Bibliography 277

. Purananuru Mulamum Uraiyum, V.N. Jubilee Press, Chennai, 1894. . Pathuppattu Mulamum Maturai Aciriyar Bharatvasi Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, Dravida Ratnakara Accukkudam, Chennai, 1889. . Manimekalai Mulamum Swaminatha Aiyar Arumpata Uraiyum, V.N. Jubliee Press, Chennai, 1898. . Aingurunurum Palaiya Uraiyum, Vaijayanti Press, Chennai, 1903. . Pattirruppathu Mulamum Palaya Uraiyum, Vaijayanti Press, Chennai, 1904. . Nannool Mulamum Cankara Namaccivayar Uraiyum, Commercial Press, Chennai, 1925. . En Charitram, U.V. Swaminatha Iyer Library, Chennai (seventh reprint 2008). . Sanga Tamilum Pirkala Tamilum, (sixth edition) Kabeer Printing Works, Madras, 1929 . . Taktar U. Ve. Sa. Avarkalin Urainatai Nulkal, 4 vols, Dr U.V. Swaminatha Aiyar Library, Chennai, 2005. Kailasapathy, K. Kailasapathy Munnuraikal, Kumaran Puthaga Illam, Chennai, 2007. . Navalar Parri Kailasapathy, Kumaran Puthaga Illam, Chennai, 2005. . Pantaittamilar Valvum Valipatum, Kumaran Publishers, Chennai, 1999. . Atiyum Mutiyum: Ilakkiyattir Karuttukkal, Kumaran Publishers, Chennai, 2001. Kesavan, Ko. Iyakkamum Ilakkiya Pokkukkalum, Chennai Book House, Chennai, 1982. Krishnan, Pa. Tamil Nulkalil Tamil Moli Tamil Inam Tamil Nadu, Chidambaram, 2000. Mudaliyar, K.R. Govindaraja and M.V. Venugopala Pillai, ed. Kalaviyal Ennum Iariyanar Akapporul Mulamum, Nakkiranar Uraiyum, Chennai, 1939. Murugan, P., ed. U. Ve. Sa. Panmuka Alumayin Perruvam, Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, Nagercoil, 2005. Nachimuthu, Ki. Dr. U. Ve. Sa. Ilakkana Patippukkal, International Institute of Tamil Studies, Chennai, 1986 . Navalar, A. Periyapuranam Ennru Valankukinra Vityanupalanayantra Salai, Chennai, 1852 .

Tiruttontar

Puranam,

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

278 Manuscripts, Memory and History . Tirukkovayar Mulamum Naccinarkinniyar Uraiyum, Muttamilvilakka Accukkutam, Chennai, 1860. . Tirukkuran Mulamum Parimelakar Uraiyum, Vaniniketana Accukkutam, Chennai, 1861. Pillai, C.W.D. Virocoliyam Mulamum Peruntevanar Uraiyum, Vityavarttani Accukudam, Chennai , 1881. . Nallantuvanar Kalittokai, Scottish Press, Chennai, 1887. . Culamani, Vityanupalanayantra Salai, Chennai, 1889. . Tolkappiyam Eluttatikaramum Vityanupalanayantra Salai, Chennai, 1892.

Naccinarkinniyar

Uraiyum,

. Irayanar Akkapporul Nakkiranar Urai, second edition, V.N. Jubilee Press, Chennai, 1899. Pillai, S.V. Purattirattu, second edition, University of Madras, Chennai, 1939 (reprint 2001). Pulokasingam, Po. Tamil Ilakkiyattil Ilattarinyarin Peru Muyarcikal, Kumaran Puthaga Illam, Chennai, 2002. Sadasivapandarathar, Ti. Vai. Pathipagam, Chennai, 2003.

Illakiyamum

Kalvettukkalum,

Manivasagar

Sambandan, Ma. Su. Accum Pattippum, Tamilar Pathipagam, Chennai, 1980 . Satish, A. Sanga Ilakkiya Uraikal, Adaiyalam, Tiruchi, 2008. Sarojini, V. Vaiyapuri Pillai Valkaikkurippukkal, Tamil Puthagalayam, Chennai, 1957. Sivathamby, K. Tamilil Ilakkiya Varalaru, New Century Book House, Chennai, 1988. . ‘Tamilil Ilakkiya Pata Mitpu’ in Perumal Murugan, ed., U. Ve. Sa. Panmuka Alumayin Perruvam, Kalachuvadu Pathipagam, Nagercoil, 2005. Velusamy, Po. ‘Ilakkiya Kalattil Uyarcatik Kuttani: Mu. Arunacalatin Tamil Ilakkiya Varalarru Nulkal – Oru Virivana Parvai’, Kalachuvadu, issue 80, August 2006. Venkatasamy, M.S. Panttonpatam Nuntratil Tamil Illakkiyam, Manicham Pathipagam, Chennai, 1962. . Kalapirar Atchiyil Tamilakam, Chennai, 1975. Visakapperumalaiyar. Nannul Mulamum Kantikai Uraiyum, second edition, Kalvi Vilakka Accukkudam, Chennai, 1839 .

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

Select Bibliography 279

Viswanathan, S., ed. Kalavaricaippatuttappatta Bharathi Pataippukkal, vol. 1, Chennai , 1998. . Kalavaricaippatuttappatta Bharathi Pataippukkal, Seeni Viswanathan, Seeni Viswanathan, vols 2 and 3, Chennai, 2001.

E. English books Aloysius, G. Religion As Emancipatory Identity: A Buddhist Movement among the Tamils under Colonialism, New Age International, New Delhi, 1998. Anderson, B. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism, Verso, London, 1983 (revised edition 1991). Anderson, R. Rudiments of Tamul Grammar Combining with the Rules of Kodun Tamul or the Ordinary Dialect, an Introduction to Shen Tamul or the Elegant Dialect, of the Language, London, 1821. Arooran, N. Tamil Renaissance and Dravidian Nationalism, 1905–1944, Koodal Publishers, Madurai, 1980. Arunachalam, M. The Kalabhras in the Pandya Country and Their Impact on the Life and Letters There, University of Madras, Chennai, 1979. Babington, B.G. A Grammar of the High Dialect of the Tamil Language Termed SHENTAMIL to Which Is Added an Introduction to Tamil Poetry by the Reverend Father C.J. Beschi, The College Press, Chennai, 1822. Baierlein, E.R. The Land of the Tamulians and Its Missions, translated from the German by J.D.B. Gribble, Higginbotham, Chennai, 1875. Baxandall, L., ed. Marx and Engels on Literature and Art, Progress Publishers, Moscow, 1976. Bayly, S. Caste, Society and Politics in India: From the Eighteenth Century to the Modern Age, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1999. Blackburn, S. Print, Folklore, and Nationalism in Colonial South India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2003. Bower, H. Introduction to the Nannul: The Tamil Text, and the English Translation, with Appendices of Notes and Grammatical Terms, Christian Knowledge Society’s Press, Chennai, 1876. Buck, D. and K. Paramasivam. The Study of Stolen Love: A Translation of Kalaviyal Enra Irayanar Akapporul with Commentary by Nakkiranar, Florida University Press, Florida, 1997. Buck, D. A Kuravanji in Kutralam: A Tamil Tale of Love and Fortunes Told, Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai, 2005.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

280 Manuscripts, Memory and History Burnell, A.C. Elements of South Indian Paleography: From the Fourth to the Seventeenth Century A.D., second edition, Trubner and Co, London, 1878. Caldwell, R. A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, Trabner, London, 1856. . A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, second edition revised and enlarged, Trubner & Co Ltd, London, 1875. . An Address Delivered to the Graduates Admitted at the Convocation of the Senate of the University of Madras Held on April 4, 1879, Lawrence Asylum Press, Chennai, 1879. . A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages, third edition, revised and edited by Rev. J.L. Wyatt and T. Ramakrishna Pillai, Trubner & Co, London, London, 1913 . Carruthers, M. The Book of Memory: A Study of Memory in Medieval Culture, Cambridge University Press, New York, 1990. Casanova, P. The World Republic of Letters, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2004. Champakalakshmi, R. Trade, Ideology and Urbanization: South India 200 B.C. to A.D. 1200, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1996. . The State in Pre-Modern South India: A Historiographical Re-Assessment, Symposium paper for State in Indian History, Indian History Congress, 61st session, Kolkata, 2001. Chartier, R. The Cultural Uses of Print in Early Modern France, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1988. . Frenchness in the History of the Book: From the History of Publishing to the History of Reading: The 1987 James Russell Wiggins Lecture in the History of Book, American Antiquary Society, Massachusetts, 1988. . The Cultural Origins of the French Revolution (Bicentennial Reflections on the French Revolution), Duke University Press, Durham, 1991. . The Order of Books: Readers, Authors, and Libraries in Europe between the 14th and 18th Centuries, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1994. . Publishing Drama in Early Modern Europe (BRITL - Panizzi Lectures), British Library, London, 1999. Chaterjee, P. Nationalist Thought and the Colonial World: A Derivative Discourse, Zed Books, London, 1993. . The Nation and Its Fragments: Colonial and Post-Colonial Histories, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1993.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

Select Bibliography 281

Chitty, S.C. The Castes, Customs, Manners and Literatures of the Tamils, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1988 (first print 1834). . The Tamil Plutarch: A Summary Account of the Lives of the Poets and Poetesses of Southern India and Ceylon, Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1982 (first published 1859). Cohn, B. An Anthropologist among the Historians and Other Essays, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1990. . Colonialism and Its Forms of Knowledge, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1996. Dalmia, V. Nationalization of Hindu Tradition: Bharatendu Harichandra and the 19th Century Benares, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1997. Dharwadkar, V., ed. The Collected Essays of A.K. Ramanujan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999. Dikshitar, V.R.R. Studies in Tamil Literature and History, Luzac & Co., London, 1930. Dirks, N. Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2001. . The Hollow Crown: An Ethnohistory of an Indian Kingdom, University of Michigan Press, 1993. Ebeling, S. Colonizing the Realm of Words: The Transformation of Tamil Literature in Nineteenth-Century South India, State University of New York Press, Albany, 2010. Eisenstein, E. The Printing-Press As an Agent of Change: Communications and Cultural Transformations in Early Modern Europe, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1980. Febvre, L. and H.J. Martin. The Coming of the Book: The Impact of Printing 1450– 1800, Verso, London, 1976. Geetha, V and S.V. Rajadurai. Towards a Non-Brahmin Millennium: From Iyothee Thass to Periyar, Samya Publications, Kolkata, 1998. Ghosh, A. Power in Print: Popular Publishing and the Politics of Language and Culture in a Colonial Society, 1778–1905, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2006. Gover, C.E. The Folk-Songs of Southern India, Higginbotham and Co, Chennai, 1871. Grafton, A. The Footnote: A Curious History, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 1997. Gros, F. Deep Rivers: Selected Writings on Tamil Literature, French Institute of Puducherry, Puducherry, 2009.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

282 Manuscripts, Memory and History Gupta, A. and S. Chakravorty, eds. Print Areas: Book History in India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2004. Hardy, F. Viraha-Bhakti: The Early History of Krsna Devotion in South India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1983. Hobsbawm, E.J. Nations and Nationalism since 1780: Programme, Myth, Reality, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1990. Inden, R. Imagining India, Blackwell, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1994. Irschick, E. Politics and Social Conflict in South India: The Non-Brahmin Movement and Tamil Separatism, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1969. . Tamil Revivalism in the 1930s, Crea-A, Chennai, 1986. . Dialogue and History: Constructing South India, 1795–1895, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1994. Johns, A. The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1998. Kailasapathy, K. Tamil Heroic Poetry, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1968. Kanakasabhai, V. Tamils Eighteen Hundred Years Ago, Higginbotham, Madras, 1904. Karashima, N. A Concordance of Nayakas: The Vijayanagar Inscriptions in South India. Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2002. . South Indian History and Society: Studies from the Inscriptions, A.D. 850– 1800, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1984. . Towards a New Formation: South Indian Society under Vijayanagar Rule, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1993. Kindersley, N.E. Specimens of Hindoo Literature, W. Bulmer and Co, London, 1794. Krishnamurthy, R. Sangam Age Tamil Coins, Garnet Publications, Chennai, 1997. Krishnan, K.G. Inscriptions of the Early Pandyas c 300 B.C to 984 A.D., Indian Council of Historical Research, New Delhi, 2002. Kumaradoss, Y.V. Robert Caldwell: A Scholar-Missionary in Colonial South India, Indian Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (ISPCK), New Delhi, 2007. Manikumar, K.A. A Colonial Economy in the Great Depression: Madras (1929–1937), Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 2003. Marr, J.R. The Eight Anthologies: A Study in Early Tamil Literature, Institute of Asian Studies, Chennai, 1985.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

Select Bibliography 283

Marx, K. Grundrisse, translated by Martin Nicolaus, Penguin Books (reprint), Harmondsworth, 1993. Meenakshisundaram, T.P. A History of Tamil Literature, Annamalai University, Annamalai Nagar, 1965. More, J.B.P. Muslim Identity, Print Culture and the Dravidian Factor in Tamil Nadu, Orient Longman, Hyderabad, 2004. Murdoch, J. Classified Catalogue of Tamil Printed Books, The Christian Vernacular Education Society, Chennai, 1865. Naregal, V. Language Politics, Elites, and the Public Sphere: Western India under Colonialism, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2001. Nora, P. Realms of Memory: Rethinking the French Past, English language edition edited and with a foreword by Lawrence Kritzman, translated by Arthur Goldhammer, Columbia University Press, Columbia, 1996. Orsini, F. The Hindi Public Sphere 1920–1940: Language and Literature in the Age of Nationalism, Oxford University Press, New York, 2002. Pandian, M.S.S. Brahmin and Non-Brahmin: Genealogies of the Tamil Political Present, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2007. Panikkar, K.N. Culture, Ideology and Hegemony: Intellectual and Social Consciousness in Colonial India, New Delhi, 1995. Parthasarathi, P. The Transition to a Colonial Economy: Weavers, Merchants and Kings in South India, 1720–1800, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001. Percival, P. The Land of the Veda: India Briefly Described in Some of Its Aspects, Physical, Social, Intellectual and Moral, George Bell, London, 1854. Peterson, I. Poems to Siva: The Hymns of the Tamil Saints, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1989. Pillai, K.M. The Contribution of European Scholars to Tamil, University of Madras, Chennai, 1974. Pillai, A.M. Brief Sketch of the Life and Writings of Father C.J. Beschi, or Vira-Mamuni, J.B. Pharoah, MDCCXL, Chennai, 1840. Pillai, K.N.S. The Chronology of the Early Tamils, University of Madras, Chennai, 1932. Pillai, P.S. Some Milestones in the History of Tamil Literature or the Age of TirujnanaSambanda, Chennai, 1909 (first printed 1895). Pillai, S.V. History of Tamil Language and Literature, New Century Book House, Chennai, 1956.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

284 Manuscripts, Memory and History Pollock, S., ed. Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003. . The Language of the Gods in the World of Men: Sanskrit, Culture and Power in Premodern India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2007. Pope, G.U. The Naladiyar or Four Hundred Quatrains in Tamil, Clarendon Press, Oxford, 1893. . The ‘Sacred’ Kurral of Tiruvalluva-Nayanar, W.H. Allen & Co, London, 1886. Price, P. Kingship and Political Practice in Colonial India, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1996. Ramaswamy, S. Passions of the Tongue: Language Devotion in Tamil India (1891– 1970), University of California Press, Berkeley, 1997. . The Lost Land of Lemuria: Fabulous Geographies, Catastrophic Histories, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2004. Rao, V.N., D. Shulman and S. Subrahmanyam. Textures of Time: Writing History in South India 1600–1800, Other Press, New York, 2003. Rhenius, C.T.E. Tamil Grammar, Church Mission Press, Madras, 1836. Ricoeur, P. Hermeneutics and the Human Sciences, edited and translated by J. Thompson, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1981. Rottler, J.P. Dictionary of the Tamil and English Language, vol. 1, part 1, Vepery Mission Press, Chennai, 1834. Sarkar, S. Beyond Nationalist Frames: Relocating Postmodernism, Hindutva, History, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2002. . Writing Social History, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1998. Sastri, M.S. Essay on Tamil Literature, S.P.C.K. Press, Madras, 1897. Schmitthenner, P.L. Telugu Resurgence: C.P. Brown and Cultural Consolidation in Nineteenth-century South India, Manohar, New Delhi, 2001. Shulman, D. Tamil Temple Myths: Sacrifice and Divine Marriage in the South Indian Saiva Tradition, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1980. . The King and the Clown in South Indian Myth and Poetry, Princeton University Press, Princeton, 1985. . Songs of the Harsh Devotee: The Tevaram of Cuntaramurttinayanar, Department of South Asian Studies, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, 1990. . The Hungry God: Hindu Tales of Filicide and Devotion, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1993.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

Select Bibliography 285

Sivathamby, K. Literary History in Tamil: A Historiographical Analysis, Tamil University, Tanjore, 1986. . Studies in Ancient Tamil Society: Economy, Society and State Formation, New Century Book House, Chennai, 1998. . Understanding the Dravidian Movement: Problems and Perspectives, New Century Book House, Chennai, 1995. Stark, U. An Empire of Books: The Naval Kishore Press and the Diffusion of Printed Word in Colonial India, Permanent Black, New Delhi, 2007. Stokes, H. The Nitinerivilakkam of Cumara Gurupara Tambiran: A Hundred and Two Stanzas on Moral Subjects with an English Translation, Vocabulary and Notes, Illustrative and Explanatory, Vepery Mission Press, Chennai, 1830. Street, B.V. Literacy in Theory and Practice, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1985. , ed. Cross-Cultural Approaches to Literacy, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1993. Subbiah, G. Roots of Tamil Religious Thought, Pondicherry Institute of Linguistics and Culture, Puducherry, 1991. Subrahmanian, N. Sangam Polity: The Administration and the Social Life of the Sangam Tamils, Asia Publishing House, New York, 1966. Subramanian, P.R. Annotated Index to Centamil, the Journal of the Madurai Tamil Sangam, Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden, 1980. Suntharalingam, R. Politics and Nationalist Awakening in South India, 1852–1891, University of Arizona Press, 1974. Taylor, W. A Catalogue Raisonnee of Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of the (Late) College, Fort Saint George, vol. 1, Fort St. George Gazette Press, Chennai, 1857. . A Catalogue Raisonne of Oriental Manuscripts in the Government Library, vol. 3, Chennai, 1862. Trautmann, T. Aryans and British India, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1997. . Languages and Nations: The Dravidian Proof in Colonial Madras, Yoda Press, New Delhi, 2006. , ed. The Aryan Debate, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2008. Trawick, M. Notes on Love in a Tamil Family, University of California Press, Berkeley, 1992. Vamdeva, C. The Concept of Vannanpu, ‘Violent Love’, in Tamil Saivism, with Special Reference to Periyapuranam, Uppsala Studies in the History of Religion, Uppsala University, Religious Studies, Uppsala, 1995.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

286 Manuscripts, Memory and History Venkatachalapathy, A.R. The Province of the Book: Scholars, Scribes, and Scribblers in Colonial Tamil Nadu, Permanent Black, Ranikhet, 2012. Wilson, H.H. Mackenzie Collection: A Descriptive Catalogue of the Oriental Manuscripts, and Other Articles Illustrative of the Literature, History, Statistics and Antiquities of the South of India, Asiatic Press, Kolkata, 1828. Zvelebil, K. The Smile of Murugan: On Tamil Literature of South India, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1973. . Tamil Literature, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1974. . Companion Studies to the History of Tamil Literature, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1992. . Lexicon of Tamil Literature, E.J. Brill, Leiden, 1995.

F. Articles in edited books Ali, D. ‘Royal Eulogy As World History: Rethinking Copper-plate Inscriptions in Cola India’, in R. Inden, J. Walters and D. Ali, eds, Querying the Medieval: Texts and the History of Practices in South Asia, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2000. Arasu, ‘V. Sangam Literature: Reception and Reconstruction’, in M. Kannan and C. Mena, eds, Negotiations with the Past: Classical Tamil in Contemporary Tamil, French Institute, Puducherry, 2006. Baker, C.J. ‘Temples and Political Development’, in C.J. Baker and D.A. Washbrook, South India: Political Institutions and Political Change, 1880–1940, Macmillan, Delhi, 1975. Cutler, N. ‘Three Moments in the Genealogy of Tamil Literary Culture’, in S. Pollock, ed. Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia, University of California Press, Berkeley, 2003. Hart, G.L. ‘The Little Devotee: Cekkilar’s Story of Ciruttontar’, in M. Nagatomi, B.K. Matilal, J.M. Masson and E.C. Dimock Jr, eds, Sanskrit and Indian Studies: Essays in Honour of Daniel H.H. Ingalls, D. Reidel, Boston, 1980. Irschick, E. ‘The Significance of the Justice Party’, in Justice Party Golden Jubilee Souvenir, Shanmugam Press, Madras. 1968. Karashima, N. ‘Whispering of Inscriptions’, in K. Hall, ed., Structure and Society in Early South India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2001. Liebau, H. ‘Country Priests, Catechists, and Schoolmasters as Cultural, Religious and Social Middlemen in the Context of Tranquebar Mission’, in R.E. Frykenberg, ed., Christians and Missionaries in India: Cross Cultural Communication since 1500, RutledgeCurzon, London, 2003.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

Select Bibliography 287

Monius, A. ‘Purana/Puranam: Modes of Narrative Temporality in Sanskrit and Tamil’, in M. Kannan and J. Clare, eds, Passages: Relationships between Tamil and Sanskrit, French Institute Pondicherry and Department of South and South East Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2009. Nagaswamy, R. ‘Sangam Poetic Traditions under the Imperial Cola-s’, in E. Wilden and J.L. Chevillard, eds, South-Indian Horizons: Felicitation Volume for Francois Gros on the Occasion of His 70th Birthday, Institut Francais De Pondicherry, Puducherry, 2004. . ‘An Outstanding Epigraphical Discovery in Tamil Nadu’, Proceedings of the 5th International Conference Seminar on Tamil Studies, Madurai, 1981. Narayanan, M.G.S. ‘The Vedic-Puranic-Sastric Element in Sangam Society and Culture’, Proceedings of the 36th Session of the Indian History Congress, Aligarh, 1975. Peterson, I. ‘Tamil Saiva Hagiography: The Narrative of the Holy Servants (of Siva) and the Hagiographical Project in Tamil Saivism’, in W.M. Callewaert and R. Snell, eds, According to Tradition: Hagiographical Writing in India, Khoj: A Series of Modern South Asian Studies, vol. 5, Harrassowitz Verlag, Weisbaden, 1994. Rajesh, V. ‘The Making of Sangam Literary Canon and Tamil Identity’, in R. Cheran, D. Ambalavanar and C. Kanaganayagam, eds, New Demarcations: Essays in Tamil Studies, Canadian Scholars’ Press Inc., Toronto, 2008. . ‘The Written and the Oral in Early Tamil Society’, Proceedings of the 66th Session of the Indian History Congress, Santiniketan, 2007. Ramanujan, A.K. ‘Classics Lost and Found’, in V. Dharwadker, ed., The Collected Essays of A.K. Ramanujan, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999. Ravindiran, V. ‘Discourses of Empowerment: Missionary Orientalism in the Development of Dravidian Nationalism’, in T. Brook and A. Schmid, eds, Nation Work: Asian Elites and National Identities, The University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2000. Rocher, R. ‘British Orientalism in the Eighteenth Century: The Dialectics of Knowledge and Government’, in C.A. Breckenridge and Peter van der Veer, eds, Orientalism and the Postcolonial Predicament: Perspectives on South Asia, University of Pennsylvania Press, Philadelphia, 1993. Roy, T. ‘Disciplining the Printed Texts: Colonial and Nationalist Surveillance of Bengali Literature;, in P. Chaterjee, ed., Texts of Power: Emerging Disciplines in Colonial Bengal, University of Minnesota Press, Minnesota, 1995. Shulman, D. ‘Patrons and Poets in Tamil Literature and Literary Legend’, in

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

288 Manuscripts, Memory and History B.S. Miller, ed., The Powers of Art: Patronage in Indian Culture, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1992. Sweetman, W. ‘Heathenism, Idolatry, and Rational Monotheism among the Hindus: Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg’s Akkiyanam (1713)’, in Y.V. Kumaradoss, A. Gros and H. Liebau, eds, Halle and the Beginnings of Protestant Christianity in India, 3 vols, Franckesche Stiftungen, Halle, 2006 . Venkatachalapathy, A.R. ‘In Print, On the Net: Tamil Literary Canon(s) in the Colonial and Post-Colonial Worlds’, in S. Gupta, T. Basu and S. Chattarji, eds, Indian in the Age of Globalisation: Contemporary Discourses and Texts, Nehru Memorial Museum and Library, New Delhi, 2003. . ‘Grammar, the Frame of Language’: Tamil Pandits at the College of Fort St. George, in T.R. Trautmann, ed., The Madras School of Orientalism: Producing Knowledge in Colonial South India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2009. Washbrook, D. ‘The Development of Caste Organisation in South India 1880– 1925’, in C. Baker and D. Washbrook, eds, South India: Political Institutions and Political Change, 1880–1940, Macmillan, Meerut, 1975.

G. Articles in journals Ali, D. ‘Violence, Gastronomy and the Meanings of War in Medieval South India’, The Medieval History Journal, 3(2), 2000. Champakalakshmi, R. ‘Patikam Patuvar: Ritual Singing As a Means of Communication in Early Medieval South India’, Studies in History, 10(2), 1994. Darnton, R. ‘Literary Surveillance in the British Raj: The Contradictions of Liberal Imperialism’, Book History, 4, 2001. . ‘Book Production in British India: 1850–1900’, Book History, 5, 2002. Guar, A. ‘Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg’s “Verzeichnis der Malabarischen Bucher”’, Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 3/4, October, 1967. Gurukkal, R. ‘Forms of Production and Forces of Change in Ancient Tamil Society’, Studies in History, 5(2), 1989. . ‘Writing and Its Uses in Ancient Tamil Country’, Studies in History, 12(1), 1996. Kailasapathy, K. ‘The Tamil Purist Movement: A Re-Evaluation’ Social Scientist, 7(10), 1979.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

Select Bibliography 289

Mantena, R. ‘The Question of History in Precolonial India’, History and Theory, 46(3), 2007. Monius, A. ‘Love, Violence, and the Aesthetics of Disgust: Saivas and Jains in Medieval South India’, Journal of Indian Philosophy, 32, 2004. Pandian, M.S.S. ‘Notes on the Transformation of the “Dravidian” Ideology: Tamil Nadu, c 1900–1940’, Social Scientist, 22(5/6), 1994. Pillai, A.M. ‘Life and Writings of Father Beschi’, Madras Journal of Literature and Science, 11, 1840. Price, P. ‘Raja-dharma in 19th Century South India: Land, Litigation and Largess in Ramnad Zamindari’, Contributions to Indian Sociology, 13(2), 1979. Ramaswamy, S. ‘Language of the People in the World of Gods: Ideologies of Tamil before the Nation’, The Journal of Asian Studies, 57(1), 1998. Shulman, D. ‘The Tamil Flood-Myths and the Cankam Legend’, Journal of Tamil Studies, 14, 1978. . ‘First Grammarian, First Poet: A South Indian Vision of Cultural Origins’, The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 38(4), 2001. Sivathamby, K. ‘The Politics of Literary Style’, Social Scientist, 6(8), March 1978. Spencer, G.W. ‘Heirs Apparent: Fiction and Function in Chola Mythical Genealogies’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 21(4), 1984. Street, B.V. ‘What’s “New” in New Literacy Studies? Critical Approaches to Literacy in Theory and Practice’, Current Issues in Comparative Education, 5(2), 12 May 2003. Subrahmanyam, S. ‘Whispers and Shouts: Some Recent Writings on Medieval South India’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 38(4), 2001. Suntharalingam, R. ‘The Madras Native Association: A Study of an Early Indian Political Organization’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 4, 1967. Sweetman, W. ‘The Prehistory of Orientalism: Colonialism and Textual Basis for Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg’s Account of Hinduism’, New Zealand Journal of Asian Studies, 6/2, 2004. Tieken, H. ‘Old Tamil Cankam Literature and the So-Called Cankam Period’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 40(3), 2003. Venkatachalapathy, A.R. ‘“Enna Prayocanam”: Constructing the Canon in Colonial Tamil Nadu’, Indian Economic and Social History Review, 42(4), 2005. Zvelebil, K.V. ‘The Earliest Account of the Tamil Academies’, Indo-Iranian Journal, 15(2), 1973.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009

290 Manuscripts, Memory and History

H. Unpublished dissertations Ambalavanar, D. Arumuga Navalar and the Construction of a Caiva Public in Colonial Jaffna, Ph.D thesis submitted to the Harvard Divinity School, Harvard University, 2006. Gurukkal, R. The Agrarian System and Socio-Political Organisation under the Early Pandyas c – A.D. 600–1000, Ph.D thesis submitted to the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1984. Jebanesan, S. The Development of Tamilian Thought in Nineteenth Century Sri Lanka (The Contribution of the Higher Educational Enterprise of the American Missionaries), Ph.D thesis submitted in Tamil at the University of Jaffna, Jaffna, 1987. Koppedrayer, K.I. The Sacred Presence of the Guru: The Velala Lineages of Tiruvavatuturai, Dharmapuram, and Tiruppanantal, Ph.D thesis submitted to the School of Graduate Studies, McMaster University, Hamilton, 1990. Raman, B. Document Raj: Scribes and Writing under Early Colonial Rule in Madras, 1771–1860, Ph.D thesis submitted to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 2007. Clare, J.S. Canons, Conventions and Creativity: Defining Literary Tradition in Premodern Tamil South India, Ph.D thesis submitted to the Centre for South and Southeast Asian Studies, University of California, Berkeley, 2011. Vaitheespara, R. Caste, Hybridity and the Construction of Cultural Identity in Colonial India: Maraimalai Adigal (1876–1950) and the Intellectual Genealogy of Dravidian Nationalism, Ph.D thesis submitted to the University of Toronto, Toronto, 1999. Venkatachalapathy, A.R. A Social History of Tamil-Book Publishing, c. 1850–1938, Ph.D thesis submitted to the Centre for Historical Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, 1994.

Downloaded from https://www.cambridge.org/core. The Librarian-Seeley Historical Library, on 30 Dec 2019 at 00:07:09, subject to the Cambridge Core terms of use, available at https://www.cambridge.org/core/terms. https://doi.org/10.1017/9789382993629.009