under Timothy. The German interest for Tamil culture grew in such a way that Ziegenbalg was asked to prepare a Tamil grammar book using Latin grammatical structure called Grammatica Damulica3 Later on this grammar became a source book for several Indologists like the poet Frederick Rueckert (1788-1866. known for his translation of Gitägovinda). Moreover Francke was developing a "Cabinet of natural and artificial things" from many parts of the for education of his school children. As such there was a need to get as many Indian objects as he could to enrich his Cabinet. Some of the palm leaf documents were originally exhibited in this Cabinet. Likewise many interested people wanted to see the Tamil manuscripts and understand how the missionaries used the written medium to accomplish their purpose. From the very beginning the missionaries sent copies of their Tamil palm leaf manuscripts and printed materials to Halle. These valuable things of cultural importance are being preserved well in the Francke Foundation.
II. Translators and translated works
Most of the documents came from three Germans who worked as missionaries in Tranquebar and in Chennai. Ziegenbalg was one of the early Europeans to write on palm leaves. His observations how the Tamils used to write on the palm leaves were so real that his reader could make a mental picture of a Tamil sitting on the floor cross-legged, keeping the prepared palm leaf on his left hand and engraving it with an iron stylus held in his right hand. When he managed to get a printing press and paper in 1712 from the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge in London and the fonts from Halle/Saale he did not use the palm leave manuscripts. So his manuscripts date from 1707 till 1711. In these manuscripts one could find several translated portions of the Christian New Testament (TAM 13-22, 32); his first 26 sermons held in the Jerusalem Church built in 1707 (TAM 37:1-79, 67, 86, 94), the first Church songs (TAM 37:151-169), his works on theology (TAM 36, 85) and religion and his open letters to Tamils (TAM 37:207-220). It is interesting to note that he followed the religious approach taken by the Siddhas Civaväkkiyar and Kapiier.
3
Ziegenbalg, Bartholomäus: Grammatica Damulica, quæ per varia paradigmata. relugas & necessarium vocabulorum apparatum, viam brevissimam monstrat, qua Lingua Damulica seu Malabarica, quæ inter Indos Orientales in use est, & hucusque in Europa incognita suit, facile desci posit: in Usuum eorum qui hoc tempore gentes illas ab idolataria ad cultum veri Dei, falutemque æternam Evangelio Christi perducere cupiunt: In itinere Euopao, seu in nave Danica. Halle Saxonum, Litteris & impensis Orphanottopher MD CC XVI. In 1985 this grammar book was reprinted an Halle/Saale Cf. Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg Wissenschaftliche Beiträge 1985/44 (32), Halle (Saale), 1985.
காகிதச்சுவடி ஆய்வுகள்
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