Lingua Malabar Tamul
Encyclopedia
Malabar Thamozhi, known to Portuguese
as Malabar Tamul and as Malabar language to British
was a writing scheme adopted to print books in the spoken language of early indigenous Christians in Malabar
..Lingua Malabar Tamul or Malayalam-Tamil was a dialect of Tamil spoken by majority of people of Kerala prior to 1820s. Malayanma was another sister language of the Dravidian
Tamil language Malayalam-Tamil. Malayalam-Tamil was written with Tamil Script
while Malayanma
used Malayanma
script both had minimum Sanskrit
words compared to the present Malyalam.
on 11th Feb 1554 in Lingua Malabar Tamul.
and printed by Portuguese from Cochin in 1556 is the most famous book in this language scheme. Evolution of Malayalam Flos Sanctorum written by Henrique in 1578 was another work in Malabar language. Grantha Script, being the script of savarnas with Tulunadu Bunt (community)
ancestry who preferred to write with Tulu script
, Malabar language gave the Portuguese a convenient way to teach local Christians about religious doctrines.
Kerala's ancient rulers such as Early Pandyan Kingdom
, Ay kingdom
and Chera Dynasties were ethnic Tamils who promoted Tamil
Sangam Literature
. Tamil was the language spoken by masses during Tamil Sangams and many of the Sangam literature
in the ancient times. Ilango Adigal
a prince of Chera Dynasties wrote the book Silappatikaram from his palace situated at the estuary of the river Periyar River
in the 4th Century AD. Chera King Kulashekhara Alwar founder of Kulasekhara dynasty (Second Cheras)
wrote Periar Thirumozhi in Tamil in 825 AD.
The decline of Later Chera Kingdom was followed by the invasion of Malik Kafur
in 1310 AD. After the invasion of Malik Kafur
Tamil Kingdoms of Kerala declined and many subcastes of Tulu Bunt (community)
such as Samanthas, Nayara, Menava and Kurubas appeared as new rulers. The Nagas and Aryan Brahmins had migrated from Ahichatra
in Uttarpradesh to Karnataka during the rule of Kadamba king Mayuravarma used Sanskrit
/Prakrit
in language.Nambudiris originally related to Ahichatra
m Brahmins who migrated to Kerala brought Tulu Script
from Karnataka to Kerala. Nambudiris used Tulu Script
to write Manipravalam
after 14th century. However, the mass language of Kerala remained Tamil called Malayalam-Tamil which was called Lingua Malabar Tamul by Portuguese in which they printed books. Till the nineteenth century the word Malayalam meant only Malayalam-Tamil the Dravidian language of Malayalaees. The composed by Graham Shaw in 1779 was in fact, a Tamil-English dictionary. The Native Malayalam-Tamil written with Tamil Script
was removed by the British who in their attempt to consolidate their position started teaching the Christians of Kerala in 1815, the language of Nambudiris, the Tulu
Grandha Bhasa hitherto a minority language spoken only by people of Tulunadu and Ahichatra
m origin. The native Dravidian
Malayalam-Tamil was replaced with a Tulu Grantha Bhasa with 80% Sanskrit
words written with Tulu Script
. This move will make most of the Malayalees who had been using Malayalam-Tamil as illiterates and those who used Sanskrit
as literates till the end of 19th century. Most of the ancient books written in Malayanma, Malayalam-Tamil were neglected by British and thus most of the ancient records written in Thaliola (Palm leaf manuscripts) written in either Vatteluttu or Tamil Script
rotted and disappeared from History. As the British promoted Sanskrit
education among the Christians of Kerala along with Tulu Grantha Bhasa of Nambudiris they could undercut the Nambudiri power in Kerala. British further brought Tamil and Telugu Brahmin administrators from Madras, who were well versed in Sanskrit
to rule over Kerala. After the period of Monro Dewan (1820) Tulu Grantha Bhasa was called as Malaylam while Malaylam-Tamil was banned from usage.
Portuguese
as an Aryan tongue related to German
prompted German and Dutch priests such as Arnos Paathiri alias Johann Ernst Hanxleden
to study Tulu Grantha Bhasa in the Early 18th century.Grandha Bhasayde Vyagaranam (the Grammer of Grandha Bhasa)in 1699 AD , composed by Arnos Paathiri was the first Grammer book written in the Tulu
Grantha language of Nambudiris. Another German Missionary who promoted the Aryan tongue Sanskrit
based Tulu Grantha Bhasa was Hermann Gundert
. The German missionaries with their ideas of Pan-Aryanism and Aryan-Supremacist principles succeeded in removing the Dravidian tongue Malayalam-Tamil by mid 19th century.
CMS (Church Mission Society
) at Kottayam
started printing books in Grantha Malayalam when Benjamin Bailey a Anglican priest in 1821 made the first Malayalam types
. Grantha Malayalam gained widespread acceptance when Hermann Gundert
from Germany
started the first Malayalam newspaper, Rajya Samacharam in 1847 from Thalassery.
After the decline of East India Company
following Indian Rebellion of 1857
all the Dravidian
communities were allowed to study in British schools. By then these traditional Dravidian communities had no choice other than to accept Sanskrit
and Tulu Grantha Bhasa as Malayalam.
Portuguese people
The Portuguese are a nation and ethnic group native to the country of Portugal, in the west of the Iberian peninsula of south-west Europe. Their language is Portuguese, and Roman Catholicism is the predominant religion....
as Malabar Tamul and as Malabar language to British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
was a writing scheme adopted to print books in the spoken language of early indigenous Christians in Malabar
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
..Lingua Malabar Tamul or Malayalam-Tamil was a dialect of Tamil spoken by majority of people of Kerala prior to 1820s. Malayanma was another sister language of the Dravidian
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
Tamil language Malayalam-Tamil. Malayalam-Tamil was written with Tamil Script
Tamil script
The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...
while Malayanma
Malayanma
Malayanma script was a writing system used in Thiruvananthapuram. It was used to write the Malayalam language. Malayanma belongs to the same script family like Kolezhuthu and Vattezhuthu....
used Malayanma
Malayanma
Malayanma script was a writing system used in Thiruvananthapuram. It was used to write the Malayalam language. Malayanma belongs to the same script family like Kolezhuthu and Vattezhuthu....
script both had minimum Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
words compared to the present Malyalam.
Sample page
A page from Cartilha , Germano Galhadro printed in LisbonLisbon
Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...
on 11th Feb 1554 in Lingua Malabar Tamul.
Evolution
Doctrina Christam written by Henrique HenriquesHenrique Henriques
Henrique Henriques , was Portuguese Jesuit priest and missionary who spent most of his life and missionary activities in South India. After initial years in Goa he moved to Tamil Nadu where he mastered Tamil and wrote several books including a dictionary...
and printed by Portuguese from Cochin in 1556 is the most famous book in this language scheme. Evolution of Malayalam Flos Sanctorum written by Henrique in 1578 was another work in Malabar language. Grantha Script, being the script of savarnas with Tulunadu Bunt (community)
Bunt (community)
Bunt , previously spelled Bant, are a community of erstwhile nobility, feudatory and gentry from the region of Tulu Nadu in the south west of India which comprises the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in the Indian state of Karnataka and Kasaragod taluk of Kerala...
ancestry who preferred to write with Tulu script
Tulu Script
The Tulu script The Tulu script The Tulu script (Tulu: —written in Tulu script, is the original script of the Tulu language. It evolved from the Grantha script. It bears partial similarity to the Malayalam script, which also evolved from the Grantha....
, Malabar language gave the Portuguese a convenient way to teach local Christians about religious doctrines.
Kerala's ancient rulers such as Early Pandyan Kingdom
Early Pandyan Kingdom
The Early Pandyas of the Sangam period were one of the three main kingdoms of the ancient Tamil country, the other two being the Cholas and the Cheras. As with many other kingdoms around this period , most of the information about the Early Pandyas come to us mainly through literary sources and...
, Ay kingdom
Ay kingdom
The Ay was the earliest ruling dynasty of the southern parts of present-day Kerala, south India. The Ay kings claimed descent from Yadavas or Ayar....
and Chera Dynasties were ethnic Tamils who promoted Tamil
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
Sangam Literature
Sangam literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
. Tamil was the language spoken by masses during Tamil Sangams and many of the Sangam literature
Sangam literature
Sangam literature refers to a body of classical Tamil literature created between the years c. 600 BCE to 300 CE. This collection contains 2381 poems composed by 473 poets, some 102 of whom remain anonymous The period during which these poems were composed is commonly referred to as the Sangam...
in the ancient times. Ilango Adigal
Ilango Adigal
Ilango Adigal was a Tamil poet and a Jain monk, who was instrumental in the creation of Silappathikaram, one of the five great epics of Tamil Literature. Prince Ilango was the brother of Chera king Cheran Chenguttuvan , in South India. Ilango Adigal was born in the Chera dynasty that ruled parts...
a prince of Chera Dynasties wrote the book Silappatikaram from his palace situated at the estuary of the river Periyar River
Periyar River
Periyar is the longest river in the state of Kerala, India, with a length of 244 km. The Periyar is known as the lifeline of Kerala; it is one of the few perennial rivers in the region and provides drinking water for several major towns...
in the 4th Century AD. Chera King Kulashekhara Alwar founder of Kulasekhara dynasty (Second Cheras)
Kulasekhara dynasty (Second Cheras)
Kulasekhara or Later Chera dynasty was a classical Hindu dynasty founded by the saint King Kulashekhara Varman. The dynasty ruled the whole of modern Kerala state , Guddalore and some parts of Nilgiri district and Salem - Coimbatore region in southern India between 9th and 12th centuries AD...
wrote Periar Thirumozhi in Tamil in 825 AD.
The decline of Later Chera Kingdom was followed by the invasion of Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, General , or Chand Ram as his name was originally, was a slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat...
in 1310 AD. After the invasion of Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur
Malik Kafur, General , or Chand Ram as his name was originally, was a slave who became a head general in the army of Alauddin Khilji, ruler of the Delhi sultanate from 1296 to 1316 AD. He was originally seized by Alauddin's army after the army conquered the city of Khambhat...
Tamil Kingdoms of Kerala declined and many subcastes of Tulu Bunt (community)
Bunt (community)
Bunt , previously spelled Bant, are a community of erstwhile nobility, feudatory and gentry from the region of Tulu Nadu in the south west of India which comprises the districts of Udupi and Dakshina Kannada in the Indian state of Karnataka and Kasaragod taluk of Kerala...
such as Samanthas, Nayara, Menava and Kurubas appeared as new rulers. The Nagas and Aryan Brahmins had migrated from Ahichatra
Ahichatra
Ahichatra was the ancient capital of Northern Panchala, a northern Indo-Aryan kingdom mentioned in Mahabharata. The remains of this city has been discovered near Ramnagar village in Aonla tehsil of Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh state. The excavations have brought to life a brick fortification...
in Uttarpradesh to Karnataka during the rule of Kadamba king Mayuravarma used Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
/Prakrit
Prakrit
Prakrit is the name for a group of Middle Indic, Indo-Aryan languages, derived from Old Indic dialects. The word itself has a flexible definition, being defined sometimes as, "original, natural, artless, normal, ordinary, usual", or "vernacular", in contrast to the literary and religious...
in language.Nambudiris originally related to Ahichatra
Ahichatra
Ahichatra was the ancient capital of Northern Panchala, a northern Indo-Aryan kingdom mentioned in Mahabharata. The remains of this city has been discovered near Ramnagar village in Aonla tehsil of Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh state. The excavations have brought to life a brick fortification...
m Brahmins who migrated to Kerala brought Tulu Script
Tulu Script
The Tulu script The Tulu script The Tulu script (Tulu: —written in Tulu script, is the original script of the Tulu language. It evolved from the Grantha script. It bears partial similarity to the Malayalam script, which also evolved from the Grantha....
from Karnataka to Kerala. Nambudiris used Tulu Script
Tulu Script
The Tulu script The Tulu script The Tulu script (Tulu: —written in Tulu script, is the original script of the Tulu language. It evolved from the Grantha script. It bears partial similarity to the Malayalam script, which also evolved from the Grantha....
to write Manipravalam
Manipravalam
Manipravalam was a literary style used in medieval liturgical texts in South India, which used an admixture of Tamil and Sanskrit. Manipravalam is termed a mixture of Sanskrit and Tamil...
after 14th century. However, the mass language of Kerala remained Tamil called Malayalam-Tamil which was called Lingua Malabar Tamul by Portuguese in which they printed books. Till the nineteenth century the word Malayalam meant only Malayalam-Tamil the Dravidian language of Malayalaees. The composed by Graham Shaw in 1779 was in fact, a Tamil-English dictionary. The Native Malayalam-Tamil written with Tamil Script
Tamil script
The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...
was removed by the British who in their attempt to consolidate their position started teaching the Christians of Kerala in 1815, the language of Nambudiris, the Tulu
Tulu language
The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...
Grandha Bhasa hitherto a minority language spoken only by people of Tulunadu and Ahichatra
Ahichatra
Ahichatra was the ancient capital of Northern Panchala, a northern Indo-Aryan kingdom mentioned in Mahabharata. The remains of this city has been discovered near Ramnagar village in Aonla tehsil of Bareilly district in Uttar Pradesh state. The excavations have brought to life a brick fortification...
m origin. The native Dravidian
Dravidian languages
The Dravidian language family includes approximately 85 genetically related languages, spoken by about 217 million people. They are mainly spoken in southern India and parts of eastern and central India as well as in northeastern Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Iran, and...
Malayalam-Tamil was replaced with a Tulu Grantha Bhasa with 80% Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
words written with Tulu Script
Tulu Script
The Tulu script The Tulu script The Tulu script (Tulu: —written in Tulu script, is the original script of the Tulu language. It evolved from the Grantha script. It bears partial similarity to the Malayalam script, which also evolved from the Grantha....
. This move will make most of the Malayalees who had been using Malayalam-Tamil as illiterates and those who used Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
as literates till the end of 19th century. Most of the ancient books written in Malayanma, Malayalam-Tamil were neglected by British and thus most of the ancient records written in Thaliola (Palm leaf manuscripts) written in either Vatteluttu or Tamil Script
Tamil script
The Tamil script is a script that is used to write the Tamil language as well as other minority languages such as Badaga, Irulas, and Paniya...
rotted and disappeared from History. As the British promoted Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
education among the Christians of Kerala along with Tulu Grantha Bhasa of Nambudiris they could undercut the Nambudiri power in Kerala. British further brought Tamil and Telugu Brahmin administrators from Madras, who were well versed in Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
to rule over Kerala. After the period of Monro Dewan (1820) Tulu Grantha Bhasa was called as Malaylam while Malaylam-Tamil was banned from usage.
Portuguese
Decline
The decline of Malabar Thamozhi started with the rise of Dutch as colonial power. Unlike Roman Catholics, Protestant missionaries promoted Grantha Script.The Discovery that SanskritSanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
as an Aryan tongue related to German
Germans
The Germans are a Germanic ethnic group native to Central Europe. The English term Germans has referred to the German-speaking population of the Holy Roman Empire since the Late Middle Ages....
prompted German and Dutch priests such as Arnos Paathiri alias Johann Ernst Hanxleden
Johann Ernst Hanxleden
Johann Ernst Hanxleden , known as Arnos Paathiri was a German Jesuit priest, missionary in India and a Malayalam/Sanskrit poet, grammarian, lexicographer, and philologist.-Journey to India:After doing philosophical studies in his...
to study Tulu Grantha Bhasa in the Early 18th century.Grandha Bhasayde Vyagaranam (the Grammer of Grandha Bhasa)in 1699 AD , composed by Arnos Paathiri was the first Grammer book written in the Tulu
Tulu language
The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...
Grantha language of Nambudiris. Another German Missionary who promoted the Aryan tongue Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
based Tulu Grantha Bhasa was Hermann Gundert
Hermann Gundert
Rev. Dr. Hermann Gundert was a German missionary and scholar, who compiled a Malayalam grammar book, Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam , the first Malayalam-English dictionary , and translated the Bible into Malayalam. He worked primarily at Tellicherry on the Malabar coast, in Kerala, India...
. The German missionaries with their ideas of Pan-Aryanism and Aryan-Supremacist principles succeeded in removing the Dravidian tongue Malayalam-Tamil by mid 19th century.
CMS (Church Mission Society
Church Mission Society
The Church Mission Society, also known as the Church Missionary Society, is a group of evangelistic societies working with the Anglican Communion and Protestant Christians around the world...
) at Kottayam
Kottayam
Kottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative capital of the Kottayam district. Kottayam Kottayam (Malayalam: കോട്ടയം) is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, spread over an area of 55.40 km2. It is the administrative...
started printing books in Grantha Malayalam when Benjamin Bailey a Anglican priest in 1821 made the first Malayalam types
Malayalam script
The Malayalam script is a Brahmic script used commonly to write the Malayalam language—which is the principal language of the Indian state of Kerala, spoken by 36 million people in the world. Like many other Indic scripts, it is an abugida, or a writing system that is partially “alphabetic” and...
. Grantha Malayalam gained widespread acceptance when Hermann Gundert
Hermann Gundert
Rev. Dr. Hermann Gundert was a German missionary and scholar, who compiled a Malayalam grammar book, Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam , the first Malayalam-English dictionary , and translated the Bible into Malayalam. He worked primarily at Tellicherry on the Malabar coast, in Kerala, India...
from Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
started the first Malayalam newspaper, Rajya Samacharam in 1847 from Thalassery.
After the decline of East India Company
East India Company
The East India Company was an early English joint-stock company that was formed initially for pursuing trade with the East Indies, but that ended up trading mainly with the Indian subcontinent and China...
following Indian Rebellion of 1857
Indian Rebellion of 1857
The Indian Rebellion of 1857 began as a mutiny of sepoys of the British East India Company's army on 10 May 1857, in the town of Meerut, and soon escalated into other mutinies and civilian rebellions largely in the upper Gangetic plain and central India, with the major hostilities confined to...
all the Dravidian
Dravidian peoples
Dravidian peoples is a term used to refer to the diverse groups of people who natively speak languages belonging to the Dravidian language family. Populations of speakers of around 220 million are found mostly in Southern India. Other Dravidian people are found in parts of central India, Sri Lanka,...
communities were allowed to study in British schools. By then these traditional Dravidian communities had no choice other than to accept Sanskrit
Sanskrit
Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...
and Tulu Grantha Bhasa as Malayalam.