by Dr K Meenakshisundram (International Institute of Tamil Studies), University of Madras (1974):
“In the history of Tamil literature the advent of European interest is indisputably a landmark. This era can be considered as the initial beginning for the Tamil Renaissance. It was a reawakening of flagging interest and drowsy talent to the inexhaustible mine of literature and literary capacities.
Before the advent of European scholars into the domain of Tamil literature, prose in the language had been a mere rivulet compared to the vast ocean of Tamil
Tamil was exposed to the all-permeating influence of Sanskrit. Almost all was either attributed to her or to her dominating influence. She (Tamil) was entangled with Sanskrit and it was left to European scholars to detach her from that gnawing hold when creative Tamil literary activity had nearly reached an impasse and channel her in her own individual courses.
The ways that were paved for subsequent native following, the torches they lit to enlighten those ways, the western methods they profitably introduced and the long vistas opened up for future speculation and research by European scholars form a golden chapter in the history of Tamil literature….. Any study of Tamil literature is irremovably entwined with the perpetual stamps they have left behind. No study of it can be complete, devoid of an honest and candid appreciation of them. They retrieved for us the glories of our past literature, they reawakened in us the sparks of lively interest and they introduced us to the great scientific strides of the west….. Some Catholic Missionaries on arriving in India
History has never been a fertile soil for Indian minds. History was shrouded by legends and myths, and facts were distorted beyond recognition. It was only after European scholars commenced their labours that a taste for history developed. Their innumerable but regular letters have become the skeletons around which the history of Tamilnad was constructed. These letters depicted conditions prevailing in Tamilnad during those days. It was around these letters that many history books of Tamilnad were written like “The Nayaks of Madura”……” (p.1 -3)“…..
Torn by domestic quarrels and internal strife, perpetually threatened by theMoghuls and other northern forces, frequently ravaged by famine and diseases and devastated by daring robbers, the history of South India was one of turmoil and chaos from the 16th century onwards. In that era of vicissitudes and oscillating alliances, the foreign missionaries had to toil amidst great obstacles (to) advance their cause and to spread the Gospel……. Each force vying with the other to rule supreme and respectively trying to force their culture and language on the conquered was the order of the day. Tamil was over-ridden in turn by Telugu,Urudu, Marathi and last but not least by Sanskrit. There was a day when the bards of Tamilnad shied to write in their mother tongue. One is almost reminded of Bacon who preferred to write his books in Latin so as to preserve them for all posterity. Most of the earlier workds were in Olai (Palm leaves) and were inaccessible. The learned few, jealously guarded what they had. During this dark era, the work of several missions and the missionaries is the redeeming feature and their work ushered in a period of reawakening and enlightenment.
Their work is epoch-making history…….Though through Missionary efforts the printing press had been imported as early as1577, printing presses were installed both in Bombay and Madras
“A dark cloud descended on the Tamil country and shrouded Tamil. During this age Tamil literature was veritably stagnant. Tamilnad stopped growing politically, economically and socially. With the arrival of European scholars, a new awakening was heralded. Their interest began slowly to seep through the thick cloud of apathy and a revival of literary interest commenced.The reigning notion prevalent in the south at that time was to trace the origin of Tamil to Sanskrit.
It was steadfastly believed that apart from Sanskrit, she could never have an independent existence. Europeans, however, got acquainted with Tamil sooner than with Sanskrit and the reason is obvious, since Tamil was a living language unlike Sanskrit. Their early studies based on Latin and Greek models revealed the baseless assumptions of the origin of Tamil. Many South Indian languages were taken up for individual study and research. Later, a comparison of such studies followed which culminated in the stupendous but admirable work by Dr Caldwell.
It was Caldwell who diligently proved beyond doubt, the independent origin and existence of Tamil. She was declared to possess a vast and rich ancient literature. A Dravidian family of languages was asserted by these studies which consisted of cultivated and uncultivated languages of which Tamil was the eldest sister. A comparative and historical study of the affiliated languages also commenced. Dr. Caldwell’s works inspired many successive studies and to this day, they are venerated……The unique ideas embedded in Tamil were for the first time startlingly released to the western world by translations.
The various translations of the great Tamil works into the different tongues of the occident exhibited the peerlessness of the Kural, the exquisitiveness of the Tiruvacakam and other major works which had hitherto remained occult. Natives recognized the value of such translations and began to emulate their methods.The elusive nature of “floating literature” refused to baffle them. Proverbs andfolksongs were collected, edited and translated, saving them for subsequent research and posterity.A catalogue of the printed Tamil books showed the development and retardation of the language in each branch of literature.
It was an eye-opener to the natives.Manuscripts which would have perished but for the ceaseless efforts of European scholars like Tavarnier, Mackenzie and Brown were unearthed and edited adopting western methods of punctuation. They were later printed and many a work emerged into the limelight. Inscriptions were read by the scholars like Keilhorn, Fleet and Burnell with a historical sense for the first time. Then the scholars began to decipher and detect from them many an obscure historical facts.Prose literature was given a new impetus. Geography, science, history andshort stories found expression in Tamil. The mighty engine of literature, the presshastened the spread of literature and brought works until then inaccessible within easy reach.
Newspapers, dailies, magazines, periodicals etc., began to exert a remarkable influence. Methods of education changed and modern but advantageous changes followed…….Religious ideas belonging to their own Christian faith were remarkably introduced, garbed in Tamil. Here again, Beschi’s Tempavani has and will stand the test of time.The non-chalant native attitude towards Tamil and their indiscriminate attraction towards English was mercilessly denounced by these foreign scholars. They decisively showed that for cultural survival, native literature cannot be abandoned. Translating from English to Tamil and vice versa was profitably encouraged…….To sum up, we have to emphasize the facts that European scholars declared to the world the great culture inherent in Tamil and introduced a new scientific way of studying her. Through Tamil, the great scientific discoveries were introduced to her people and they were awakened from a long slumber to an era of activity and advancement. கன்னித் தமிழ் பாடி காலமெல்லாம் தமிழ் வளர்ப்போம் !” (p.336-338)
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