Subrahmanya Bharathi’s Essays and Short Stories - Narasiah lecture

Narasiah spoke about காலம் கொன்ற விருந்து “A Feast that Defied Time”, a line in a poem by Subramania Bharati. It was organized by Swarnamalya Ganesh for Ranga Mandira, August 21, as part of their Madras Week activities and a set of programs whose theme was “Annihilation of Caste.”

“The Bharathi who added Beatuty to Prose”, (இயலுக்கு அழகூட்டிய பாரதி) waxed Narasiah talking of the poet’s lesser known short stories and English essays. Even Bharathi’s career as a Tamil journalist, for magainzes like Swadesamitran and a pioneer in the field, is barely known outside literary circles, for such is his towering reputation as a poet.

Satire

Annie Besant, who came to Madras attracted by the Theosophical Society in Madras, later joined the Indian National Congress and called upon Indians to rebel against British rule. In this instance, she called J Krishnamurthy a reincarnation of Krishna. This appalled Bharati and prodded him to write the satire about Besant, titled "The Fox with the Golden Tail," wherein he mocked her as a fox from the Land of the Bees and Ants (a pun on Besant) who introduced the Cult of FoxoBeesAntism. It was a huge hit and there was demand all over India and for a second edition. Ironically, this deeply saddened Bharati, because his Tamil epic poem Paanchali Sabatham (பாஞ்சாலி சபதம்) evoked no such popularity or acclaim. “I've been minting my hearts blood in Tamil poetry and no one to read it and here are these numskulls asking for a second edition of Fox essay,” lamented Bharati.

Editorial Courage

Another incident was the Ashe murder case, when an ardent nationalist and admirer of Bharathi, Vanchinathan killed Collector Ashe on June 17, 1911 at the Maniyachi railway station, and then committed shot himself. While others wept for Vanchinathan, Bharati condemned the assassination of Ashe : "An outrage to the Hindu religion. For the murdered had his wife by the side."

The police came to arrest Bharathi on suspicion of sedition, after the Ashe assassination, with a warrant against the Editor of the Swadesamitran magazine. But Bharathi was officially Assistant Editor, though he wrote fierce anti-British editorials, so the editor the police arrested was Mandyam Srinivasachar, also the publisher. 

Bharathi fled to Puduchery, which was held by the French (and so out of British jurisdictin) in 1908 on the advice of his friends. He stayed there until 1918 and this was the most productive period of his literary life, said Narasiah. He wrote letters in English to The Hindu newspaper, published out of Madras, which printed several of them.

Bharathi was not a blind Patriot but a nationalist was Bharati says Narasiah. The difference is that a blind patriot is an ideologue who supports his country, right or wrong, but a nationalist is someone who wants to build a nation, and shape its thoughts and culture, and is not afraid to voice his opinion even if its unpopular.

One of Bharathi’s letters to the Hindu published during the First world war, said: "We criticize England in peacetime but stand by her in trouble. We are lovers of Humanity."

Bharati's Short stories

He wrote 18 short stories in Tamil. He introduced a new form, he was very experimental. He used short crisp sentences. In a story Kaanthaamani (காந்தாமணி), characters uttered English phrases like “Never mind” (நெவர் மைண்ட்) - an avant-garde style. He was a strong critique of astrology and hypocrisy and domestic cruelty, and several of his stories reflected that.

Another short story, Railway Sthaanam (ரயில்வே ஸ்தானம்) spoke of the dilemma of a Muslim man who's in love with three women and would like to figure out whom he loves most. Quite an unusual plot.

His biographer Va Ra. In 1910, Va Ramaswami Iyengar, who later wrote a life of Bharati, met him. He went to meet Aurobindo in Puducherry and incidentally met Bharati. Bharati was shocked when Va Ra spoke in English. The episode as narrated in Va Ra’s book, is hilarious, and should be read in the original Tami. Bharathi then wrote Maravan Paattu மறவன் பாட்டு, lambasting Brahmins for forsaking Tamil and adopting English language and customs.

But Va Ra’s 1944 book is not a proper biography, said Narasiah. There are no dates or years, more a story. Mahadevan's book is a more proper biography of Bharati.

The Mahakavi Controversy

SS Vasan bought Ananda Vikatan from Bhuthi Vaidyanatha Iyer for Rs 200 in 1927. Kalki was introduced to Vasan by Parali Su Nellaiappar, and he joined Vikatan. The magazine which had struggled to sell under its previous owner, sold 15,915 copies in 1930, a testament to the managerial talent of Vasan. Kalki was a commercialy successful writer with outstanding marketing skills.

Other magazines like Manikodi, Gandhi, Sudandira Changu, Dinamani also came out at this period. Va Ra became editor of Manikodi, a landmark Tamil magazine, which developed Tamil literature in that early period. Manikodi was the nursery of several stalwart writers, like Chitti Sundararajan, CS Chellappa, Puthumaipiththan, Na Pichamurthy, Ku Pa Rajagoplan.

Manikkodi Stalwarts

In October 1934 Va Ra became editor of Veerakesari in Colombo. "Tamil grammar is a perfect example of tail wagging the dog," was a memorable epigram coined by Va Ra. Va Ra wrote that others' writings (such as those of Shelley and Shakespeare and Tagore ) were not equal to even one line of Bharati. Nellai Nesan, (a pseudonym of PC Acharya), opposing this, wrote that Bharati was a Kavi but not Mahakavi.

Kalki rebutted this, in an Ananda Vikatan editorial, that Valmiki Kamban Shakespeare Tagore etc who could be called Mahakavis (Great Poets) were writers crossing national boundaries. And that it was not fair to compare Bharati with them. Poets like Bharati and Shelley were National Poets of their time only. Kalki used a phrase “nirakshara kukshi” which means “illiterate” to describe Va Ra, which worsened the controversy.

But Kalki and Va Ra were much in admiration of each other and it was Kalki who collected funds for the Manimandapam for Bharati and a purse to help Va Ra, when the latter was in financial dire straits. There was no personal animosity between them.

Narasiah covered so many topics I couldn't keep up, I rather chose to enjoy the lecture.

In attendance were stalwarts like author Siddharthan, Nagupoliyan Balasubramanian Natarajan, Narasiah’s cousin Venu Sundar (son of Manikodi stalward Chitti Sundarrajan), the silent dynamo Mr Kannan, epigrapher Ramachandran, Gandhi Rajan, Santhanam, and Narasiah's wife and son.

PostScript I’ve had the pleasure of listening to "Nagupoliyan" Balasubramanian reading aloud several of Bharathi’s English essays and also brilliant short stories like Kudirai Kombu and the autobiographical Chinna Sankaran Kathai. His rendition of Paanchaali Sabatham is unparalleled.

Narasiah’s lecture evinced these aspects of Bharathi in a proper historical context.

___________

If you liked this, you may also like these other essays in my blog

1. Narasiah on Siddharthan’s book “Asoka”
2. ரா அ பத்மநாபன் அஞ்சலி
3. Tagore's poem on UVe Swaminatha Iyer
4. கோயிலும் கல்கியும் 1 - அறிமுகம்
5. கோயிலும் கல்கியும் 2 - சிவகாமியின் சபதம்
6. செக்கு இழுத்தவர்

மதராசபட்டினம் நூல் விமர்சனம்

காந்தி கல்வி நிலையம் நடத்தும், இந்த வார புதன் கிழமை (13.04.2016) கூட்டத்தில் “மதராசப்பட்டினம்" என்ற திரு. நரஸய்யா அவர்களின் புத்தகத்தை அறிமுகம் செய்து பேசுகிறேன். சென்னை தியாகராய நகரில் வெங்கட்நாராயணா சாலையில், தக்கர் பாபா பள்ளிக்கூடத்தில், (நந்தனம் சிக்னல் அருகே) காந்தி கல்வி நிலையம் பல வருடங்களாக புதன்கிழமைகள் தோறும் புத்தக கலந்துரையாடல் நடத்துகிறது.

நேரம்: மாலை 6.45 முதல் 7.45 வரை

ஒரு நகரத்துக்கும் வரலாறு எழுதமுடியுமா? எழுதினால் யார் படிப்பார்கள்? இந்தியருக்கும் தமிழருக்கும் வரலாற்று உணர்ச்சி ஏதும் இல்லை என்று மேற்கத்தியர் பலரும் கருத, நெடிய வரலாற்று நூல்களை படிக்கவே ஆளில்லாத போது, இந்த ஊரில் சொல்ல என்ன உள்ளது?

வரலாற்று பேராசிரியர்களோ மற்ற எழுத்தாளர்களோ எழுதாத போது ஒரு கப்பல் துறை பொறியாளர் ஏன் இந்நகரத்து வரலாற்றை எழுதவேண்டும்?

மதறாஸ்? சென்னை? ஆங்கிலேயர்  கட்டிய நகரமா இந்திய நகரமா தமிழ நகரமா? மதுரைக்கும் தஞ்சைக்கும் காஞ்சிக்கும் இல்லாத புகழ் ஏதோ சென்னைக்கு உண்டா?

கொல்கொத்தாவும் பம்பாயும் அல்லவா உலக புகழ் பெற்ற நவீன் மாநகரங்கள் – சென்னை எம்மாத்திரம்?

என்னத்தான் இருக்கிறது சென்னையை பற்றி எழுத? 

நூலில் நரஸய்யா சொல்லும் விவரங்களை புதன்கிழமை எடுத்துச்சொல்வேன்.

மதராசபட்டினம் வலைப்பதிவுகள்

ஐகோர்ட்டின்அலங்காரச்சிந்து

மயிலாப்பூரில்பல்லவர் இசை

போர்க்காலத்தில் சென்னை - இரண்டாம் உலகப்போர்

போர்க்காலத்தில் சென்னை - முதல் உலகப்போர்

ரா அ பத்மநாபன் அஞ்சலி

மென்பொருள்முகவர் முனைவகம்

Tagore on UVe Swaminatha Iyer

Chennai? China?

Erdos poem on Madras 

The Thames and the Couum

FW Ellis

An evening with Pam and John Davis

புத்தக விமர்சன வலைப்பதிவுகள்

உலக பொருளாதார வரலாறு

கப்பலோடிய ஆங்கிலேயர்

Guns Germs and Steel

காற்றை கறந்து எரு படைத்த மேதையர்

Harry Potter - Book review video

Samrat Asoka - Book release

Speaker : Chidambaram

"Much of American English is stylistic error. Much of Indian English, especially pulp fiction is not even English," said P Chidambaram at the book release of Siddharthan's Samrat Asoka. It was organized by Madras Book Club, at the Binny room of Vivanta by Taj, formerly called Hotel Connemara, on 13 February 2016. Mr Madhu compered the program.

“Many of you may know I have become a publisher in the last six months. We undertake to sell new authors' first books. We commit to sell 2000 books but we can barely sell a few hundreds.

In a way Kindle has killed books. I have a grand daughter who is a book worm. She stopped buying books after she got a kindle. I've nothing against the kindle, it is a library you can carry along.

I know Tamil writers who have given up writing because they can't publish and sell. Latin and Sanskrit are virtually dead. And Tamil is faced with death. Schools and colleges don't buy books anymore.

I'm glad there is a book club but depressed it has only 350 members. Teach your children and grandchildren to read and love books.

We love listening to the Ramayana over and over even though we know how it ends and what episode comes next. I don't think in any other country, the same story is told so many million times as the Ramayanam and Mahabharatha, in so many languages. I have forgotten the Greek stories of Theseus and Perseus that I learnt in school.

Asoka's story is almost as well known. I congratulate author

Siddharthan for rewriting his four volume Tamil book into English.

Clearly he is influenced by Kalki and acknowledges it.”

Speaker : Ramnarayan

“Talking after Chidambaram is like batting after Tendulkar,” said V Ramnarayan, editor of Sruti magazine. “I had the pleasure of listening to Mr Gauthama Neelambaran analyse the Tamil version of Asokan at Tamil Puthaga Nanbargal. We visited Mr Siddharthan later, and he sang for us. What an allrounder!

We live in an era of intolerance for the other voice. I suppose intolerance has become a bad word now. Asoka was the king who signified great tolerance, after his change of heart of Kalinga war. I congratulate Rishikesh who edited and Maniam Selvan who did the cover art. 

He wrote a book called Vaishali about a trade union leader and a book about the period when Pallava rule ended and Chola role began. 

Technology is the enemy of good editing and proof reading. In Era Murugan’s book Arasur vamsam, the word Ayyan had been changed to Ayyar just before printing and we had to go through it all over again.

Our club membership is mostly geriatric but hopefully we can encourage our children to read.”

L-R: Siddharthan's wife, Ramnarayan, Chidambaram, Narasiah. Siddharthan

Speaker : Siddharthan

Author Siddharthan, said “I came here only to listen; what I want to say I've written in the book. 

Sivakamiyin Sabatham had released when I was young and I was first to read every episode in my club. 

Historical writing is confined to a framework of history. Historians will jump on your mistakes. But the advantage is that the character can be different from the real person. The novel can suppress a historical character’s bad qualities and promote his virtues. 

I wanted to avoid writing about kings. I met writer Sivapadasundaram who had traveled Buddhist sites like Gaya. I was inspired to write about Buddha (whose original name Siddhartha I have used as pseudonym). Constantine was the Asoka of Christianity. Asokan period of Indian history was an international period of Indian history, not national or regional. As Nehru said, he sent missions to other countries, not as a superpower but in peace.

Kalki wrote about greatness of Tamil, arousing Tamil nationalism the before Independence. He exhausted the national movement also with Alai Osai. So I had to find a different era to write about.

We have assimilated so many cultures that conquered our nation. My elder sister Rajam Krishnan is my guru. She would go to the territory of her novel and move with the people before her books. I adopted that method. Many incidents in my novel are set in Kashmir. Srinagar was founded by Asoka. He visited Burma too, which he called Swarnapuri. 

I found Asoka the ideal hero for my book. I took five years to write the Tamil book two years to translate to English. I don't know if some one else could have translated as well so shortly though their English vocabulary may be better. 

Intolerance has always been there. But the majority of Indians are not intolerant. In every thing Buddha advices Madhyama maarga. Jains asked for fasting to clean up all sins. Buddha tried that but consuming Sujatha's offer of milk he chose a different path.. Middle way. Madhyama marga. This we have assimilated in our nation. Sober people will always be the majority and they will and have always chosen Madhyama marga

'Poorana jnanam pongiya naadu..Buddha piran puzhangiya naadu..' said Bharathi. 

There are all kinds of preachers emotional and extremist, but the middle way, best advocated by Buddha will prevail. Jai Hind," he finishes.

Speaker : Narasiah

KRA Narasiah  in his presidential address, said, “Fictionalisation of history and historisation of fiction are always competing. Kalki was perhaps more historical than Chaandilyan, but they both had lots of gray areas to deal with. To a sailor like me, who has travelled the oceans, Kadal Puraa is laughable, but others may enjoy it. But their books are still popular! Publishers tell me they are still best sellers at every book fair.

Siddharthan differs from them. He has taken Asoka, a difficult character. Who ruled 37 years, a quarter of the Mauryan era. Asoka's history is well recorded. We know Maurya history from the Nanda period well before Maurya era. Nanda hoarded treasure as he was greedy and Chanakya tried to distribute it to the people. In Kurnthokai, song 75 by Moosu Keeranar, a lady tells her friend, “If what you say about the hero is true, I will give you as much treasure as Nanda has.” In Agananooru song 265 by Mamoolanar also, the wealth of Pataliputra ruled by Nanda is mentioned. These songs may be 500 years after Nanda period. And in that period, history was recorded and preserved well and captured in literature.

Siddharthan did not have the freedom of Kalki and Chaandilyan, and he has kept sincerely to narration of Asoka. 

I knew Sivapadasundaram personally, friend of my uncle, the writer Chitti. The author has borrowed perhaps from Sivapadasundaram’s book Buddharin Adichuvattil. His Tamil is wonderful. He has written fairly well in English also. Very readable. As he said it was easy for him than any other translator, because he had to retell, not reconstruct.”

Speaker : Smt Siddharthan

Mrs Siddharthan, who gave the vote of thanks, said her husband has become tolerant and he forgave her when she made some mistake that nearly ruined a days work. She produly quoted VaVeSu, who quipped that the book will make any reader a better human being.

Footnotes

Mr Venu Sundar, son of author Chitti Sundararajan, introduced me to the author, after the event, and the latter invited me to visit!

Earlier, the pav bhaji was good, the brownies were better. At least one gentleman had his dinner and the next day’s breakfast too. Friends Muralikrishna, Bafna, Viswanathan, David Michaelangelo were also in attendance. 

Corrections (Feb 15, 2016)

1. I had wrongly listed Agananooru song as number 375, Mr Narasiah says it is 265, by the poet Mamoolanar.

2. I had written that "Kalingathu Barani also mentioned Asoka’s Kalinga war, a thousand years later." Mr Narasiah says that what he actually said was : "Continuity in reporting has been throughout, from Asoka's war to Chola's war" 

3. The right word is historisation not historification, Narasiah adds.

Related Links

1. Vaishali

2. Rajaji, the writer

3. Vai Mu Kothainayagi

4. ரா. அ. பதம்நாபன் அஞ்சலி

5. நூல் அறிமுகம் - Guns, Germs and Steel

6.  கோயிலும் கல்கியும் - 1 

Hitler’s son

My father, Rangarathnam, orator - perhaps at a Vivekananda College function.

 This was in June 2010.

“What books are those?” asked my father, Rangarathnam.

“Short stories by Indira Parthasarathy,” I replied. “He autographed them.” I was returning from a function at Tag Center, where Tiruppur Krishnan and three others performed public readings of four of the author’s short stories, from two volumes published by Kizhakku Pathippagam.

“We would sit on the same porch and he would tease me, you know,” said my father. He was suffering from dementia, and which was only diagnosed the previous year. He had some difficulties with new memories, but had excellent recollection of his earlier days. His eyesight and hearing had deteriorated, he rarely went out anymore, but at least he was off the terrible, twice daily, insulin injections, taking tablets instead.

We had not had a good conversation in a while. But something about Indira Parthasarathy triggered memories and he talked of several childhood memories, of school days in Kumbakonam (but almost never college life); of work as a lawyer in the Madras High Court, but rarely of earlier days in Madras.

This was the first time he had talked of childhood days with Indira Parthasarthy.

In October, my father passed away.

I met Indira Parthasarathy at the Tamil Teritage Trust’s Lecture Kacheri in Raga Sudha hall in December 2011, where I introduced myself as Rangarathnam’s son. “How is Rangarathnam?” he asked eagerly. “I’m sorry, he passed away last year,” I said. He was stunned into silence. After a few minutes, he said, “It’s always a shock to hear that one of your colleagues has passed away.”

In July 2012, Mr Narasiah invited me along with four others, to speak at Bharathi Illam, about Krittika’s  (pen name of Mathuram Bhuthalingam) book “Finger on the Lute” - a biography of Subramania Bharathi. You can imagine my numbness – being asked to talk about Bharathi at the house where he stayed! What an honour.

With Artist Gopulu

When I went there, I saw artist Gopulu and Indira Parthasarathi, seated side by side, socialising with admirers. Gopulu whose sketches adorned Krittika’s book, asked my name and delightedly(!!) said that his name was Gopu too! Then he autographed my book.

I turned to Indira Parthasarathi, sure that he would not remember me, and introduced myself, as “Rangarathnam’s son.” Without a beat he responded, “You have an identity of your own.”

That took my breath away. It was a reprimand, fatherly advice and a philosophical opinion, epigrammatically crisp in its phrasing. In every person’s life, there must come such a moment, better early than late. I also realized how sharp and mentally agile Indira Parthasarathi still was, in contrast to my father who had suffered from memory loss.

One of the great heroes of the Indian Republic, and architect of the Green Revolution of the 1960s, Dr MS Swaminathan, was in attendance. He is the son in law of Krittika and her daughter, Smt Mina Swaminathan, who had requested Mr Narasiah to arrange the evening’s program. I really wanted to meet him, but I had been thoroughly tongue-tied with Gopulu, and I knew I would have nothing to say to him either. When I was at Texas A&M university, I resolved many times to visit Norman Borlaug, who was an Emeritus Professor in the campus, but could never muster up the courage or overcome the diffidence to do so. It doesn’t matter, I would tell myself, just go around to his office, say “Thank you” and come back. But I could never do it.

Other celebrities like Rajumar Bharathi, the poet’s descendant, GnanaRajasekharan, the director of a Tamil movie on Bharathi were also present, as was Professor Swaminathan of Tamil Heritage Trust. Mr Narayanaswami, who had come from Palavakkam, was kind enough to take photos.

After our speeches were over, Prof Swaminathan gave me a thumbs up and a smile on his way out, Indira Parthasarathi had a word of praise (Veluthu vaangitteenga “வெளுத்து வாங்கிட்டீங்க”).

Gopulu, Narasiah, Rajkumar Bharathi on the dais

Gopu speaking about "Finger on the Lute"

“Your father and I acted in a college play,” he reminisced. “It was written by KK Pillai, the historian. The Second World War had ended, and the Nuremberg trials conducted. Several Germans and Japanese warriors were tried and convicted for war crimes. Pillai considered this “Victor’s Justice” – no justice at all, just a sham trial.

“Anyway we staged that play. I acted as a Public Prosecutor in that play. Your father also acted in it.

“He played the role of Adolf Hitler.”

Nothing, I thought, could top an evening where I had spoken on Bharathi at his house, to an audience of the poet’s family, and living legends like MSS, Gopulu and Indira Parthasarathy himself. But you can imagine how I must felt about this statement! Talk about a lightning bolts from a blue sky.

My father never told me about this. In fact, he had never spoken of his college days in Kumbakonam, never of having acted in any play, certainly not of dressing up as Der Feuhrer himself.

Me and Indira Parthasarathi at Bharathi Illam, Thiruvallikeni, Madras

This year, Indira Parthasarathi spoke on Silappadhikaram at Tamil Heritage Trust. I gave a brief introduction to our group, then mentioned this incident to the audience. At the end of his speech, I again asked him if he remembered me.

“How could I forget Hitler’s son?” he quipped. 

Mein Feuhrer!

Related Posts
1. Rangarathnam - Lady and Gentlemen
2. Teacher's Day
3. With Narasiah - Tagore and UVesa
4. என் அப்பாவுக்கு பிடித்த கவிதை

Trautmann on Francis Whyte Ellis

I have written recently about the Ellis inscription. My interest in Ellis was kindled by a speech by Prof Thomas Trautmann (University of Michigan) at Roja Muthiah Library in Madras. I was blown away that this true discoverer of the Dravidian languages and a man of several astounding accomplishments was practically forgotten, with credit going to Robert Caldwell, until the recent re-discovery by Trautmann.

In August 2013 I was invited by Mr Shankar of Madras Midtown Rotary Club to give them a talk on Ellis. Mr Narasiah forwarded this email biography of Ellis by none other than Trautmann himself, to help me prepare for this lecture. I had read his books Languages and Nations and The Aryan Debate, and I strongly recommend them. I wrote to Prof Trautmann who is "delighted that my talk encouraged your interest," and with his permission, publish this brief biography of FW Ellis.

Ellis,  Francis Whyte  (1777-1819), orientalist, grew up in Compton, Bedfordshire, and was schooled at The Academy, Burlington Street, London.

He became a writer in the East India Company's service at Madras in 1796. He was promoted to the offices of assistant under-secretary, deputy secretary, and secretary to the board of revenue in 1798, 1801, and 1802 respectively. In 1806 he was appointed judge in Tanjore, but was transferred the same year to the zillah (district) of Masulipatam, when he offended the raja, having incarcerated one of his servants for extorting rents by force. In 1809 he became collector of land customs in the Madras presidency, and in 1810 collector of Madras. 

College of Fort St George - DPI Campus, Egmore

He was largely responsible for planning the college of Fort St George to teach the languages of south India to the junior civil servants posted to Madras, and was senior member of the board of superintendence from its inception in 1812 until his death. He was a leading light of the Madras Literary Society, also begun in 1812. He died unmarried at Ramnad, Madras, of accidental poisoning on 10 March 1819 while on sick leave. His mother, Elizabeth Hubbard, was the main beneficiary of the will he made on his deathbed.

Ellis was a brilliant scholar of the south Indian languages, especially  Tamil, and vowed not to publish before the age of forty; because of his untimely death, he published little in his lifetime. Moreover, his private papers were all lost or destroyed; it was said they ended up in the kitchen of the collector of Madura, and were used by his cook 'to  kindle his fire and singe fowls'.

Ellis's most important accomplishment was the discovery of the  Dravidian language family, a proof of which appeared in 1816, forty years before Robert Caldwell's A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South-Indian Family of Languages (1856), which consolidated Ellis's finding, and forty years after Sir William Jones proposed the concept of the Indo-European language family.

The proof appears in an introduction to A. D. Campbell's A Grammar of the Teloogoo Language, published by the college of Fort St George for the use of its students. In it Ellis demonstrated that the Tamil, Telugu, and Kannada languages, although containing abundant loanwords from Sanskrit, are not descended from it, as are the languages of north India, but constitute a separate language family. He showed that the three languages have many cognate words that have no roots in Sanskrit, comprising a common core vocabulary of related words. 

He further asserted, correctly, that the south Indian languages now called Malayalam, Tulu, and Codagu, and Malto (a tribal language in north India) belong to the same family, but that Marathi and Sinhalese, though influenced by it, belong to the Sanskritic language family.The published proof began as a separate Dissertation on Telugu printed for the use of students, and Ellis intended to do the same for Malayalam and Tamil. The Dissertation on Malayalam was published after his death (1878), but the 'Dissertation on Tamil' probably was never printed, because his plans for it grew ever larger, judging from manuscript remains that include a very long treatise on Tamil prosody. 

Towards the end of his life the college press was printing his translation of the Tirukkural of Tiruvalluvar (c.1819), a Tamil classic, but he did not finish it. His contributions to the study of Tamil, had he lived, would have been considerable. 

Madras Literary Society, DPI Campus, Egmore

Two other works are of special importance. A treatise on mirasi (freehold) rights was written when he was collector of Madras and in collaboration with his sheristadar (chief clerk), B. Sancaraya, to explain the system of land tenure prevailing there through ancient legends and historical inscriptions, in response to a request for information from the board of revenue. It is notable for its attack upon the belief that oriental despotism (the ownership of all land by the sovereign) was the original constitution of India, arguing that private property in land was ancient in this region. It was first published by the government of Madras in 1818. 

Second, he wrote a long article dealing with the purported Veda called the Ezour Vedam , which had become famous in Europe through Voltaire, who, relying on its authenticity and antiquity, had used it as evidence that deism was the original and universal religion of mankind, against the claims of Christianity. Ellis's article, published in the Asiatic Researches in 1822, proved that the Ezour Vedam had been composed by Jesuit missionaries in India. 

Here is Mr Narasiah's article on Trautmann's lecture

Prof Trautmann adds:
You may know that recently Manu Francis found in a library in France the Tamil composition of Ellis, a treatise on the smallpox vaccination in the form of a colloquy between Shakti and Dhanvantari.  I had found Ellis' English translation of his own composition, and published it in my "Languages and Nations" book.  I could not have been more pleased that this Tamil original has now been found, which is what I hoped when I published the translation.

The introduction of vaccination in the Madras Presidency is another remarkable contribution of Ellis, and deserves to be commemorated.

Links (added June 28, 2020)

Ellis inscription

History essays

Madras essays

ஜார்ஜ் மன்னன் மெய்கீர்த்தி - More on Ellis Inscription

This is continuation of my earlier blog on the Ellis inscription, which dealt with the second half of his inscription. In this blog, I translate his poetic tribute to the British Empire, its mighty navy, its glorious rule and his colonial thought process. 

Here beginneth the inscription.

பாரெலா நிழற்று பரியரிக்குடையோன்

He, of Horse and Lion, under whose Umbrella (Protection)

வாரியுஞ் சிறுக வருபடைக் கடலோன்

ஆர்கடலதிர வார்ததிடுங்கப்பலோன்

மரக்கல வாழ்வின் மற்றொப்பிலாதோன்

தனிப்பெருங் கடற்குத் தானே நாயகன்

தீவுகள் பலவும் திதி பெறப் புரப்போன்

Whose Navy shrinks the sea

Which roar with rumbling of his Ships

He with no Equal in Seafaring life

Only Lord of Massive Oceans

And of Many Islands that pay tribute

தன்னடி நிழலிற் றங்கு பல்லுயிர்க்குந்

தாயிலுமினியன் றந்தையிற் சிறந்தோன்

Sweeter than a Mother, Better than a father

To Everyone under his Protective Shadow

நயநெறி நீங்கா நாட்டார் மொழிகேட்

டுயர் செங்கோலும் வழாமை யுள்ளோன்

மெய்மறை யொழுக்கம் வீடுறா தளிப்போன்

By the advice of Men of Righteous Way

Steadfast and by whose Noble Sceptre

Governs by the Book of Truth

பிரிதன்னிய சுகோத்திய விபானியமென்னு

மும்முடி தரித்து முடிவிலாத

Thrice crowned King of

Brittania Scottia and Ireland (Hibernia)

திக்கனைத் துந்தனிச் சக்கர நடாத்தி

யொரு வழிப்பட்ட வொருமையாளன்

வீரசிங்காதனத்து வீற்றிருந்தருளிய

சோர்சென்னு மூன்றாமரசற்கு 57ஆம் ஆண்டில்

Of Endless Realm, in every Direction

By Unity rules the Union

Seated on his Stately throne

Rules King George the Third in his 57^th Year

காலமுங் கருவியுங் கருமமுஞ் சூழ்ந்து

வென்றியோடு பொருள்புகழ் மேன்மேற் பெற்று

By Time, Power and Duty adorned

Enriched by Triumph, Tribute and Fame

கும்பினியார் கீழ்ப்பட்ட கனம் பொருந்திய

யூவெலயத் தென்பவ னாண்ட வனாக

சேர சோழ பாண்டி யாந்திரங்

கலிங்க துளுவ கன்னாட கேரளம்

பணிக்கொடு துரைத்தனம் பண்ணுநாளில்

While, The Company under Honorable

Hugh Elliot as Governor

With Chera Chola Pandya Andhra

Kalinga Tuluva Kannaada Kerala

Serving his command

செயங்கொண்ட தொண்டிய சாணுறு நாடெனும்

For the remaining portion see my earlier blog on this Ellis inscription.

Ellis’ skill at poetry, and his feel and understanding of the meikeerthi verse especially, is remarkable. It is a perfect combination of exaggeration and truth, loyalty and admiration, service and imperiousness. Referring to King George as Thrice Crowned (Mummudi thartiththa), equating England , Scotland and Hibernia (Ireland) with the 3 Tamil kingdoms and their Muventhars, is a masterstroke. Even the inscribed stone is his way of  integrating himself – as Collector, comparable to a feudatory King – and English rule, seamlessly into Tamil history.

The tone of  the inscription is proudly colonial, yet conscious:

• of duty – to relieve drought; hence Sceptre (செங்கோல்) and Truth (மெய்மறை யொழுக்கம்)
• of history and tradition, hence the reference to TirukkuraL and TiruVaLLuvar
• of literary style, hence an inscription in aaciriyappaa (ஆசிரியப்பா)
• of position and power, hence the list of subservient lands – Chera Chola Kannaada Andhra etc. under the Governor Elliot and the Company
• of glory and majesty, hence the reference to unequaled English Navy and All Conquering English rule (திக்கனைத்தும் தனிச்சக்கர நடாத்தி)
• of affection for people and respect for their cultural belief, hence auspicious day (சுபதினம்) and respect for cultural features like nakshatra, thithi etc. and Salivahana Saka calendar

What Indo-Saracenic architecture attempted to do, namely, impose upon India an architectural awareness of both the power and benevolence of British Rule, Ellis attempts here with a poem and inscription. I think he succeeds brilliantly, but events over took him, and he was forgotten until recently rediscovered by Thomas Trautmann.

I could not discover who U Velayath (யூவெலயத்) mentioned in the last few lines was. He is not in the list of Governors, or Governors-General or East India Company Chairmen Wikipedia lists. Mr KRA Narasiah to the rescue! He says, this was Hugh Elliot, Governor of Madras from 1814 to 1820, under whom Ellis worked as both Treasury Officer and Collector of Madras. Elliot’s name is included in HD Love’s book Vestiges of Old Madras.

Links (added June 28, 2020)

Ellis inscription - the remaining portion

History essays

Madras essays