You’ve got it wrong, guv, Caldwell’s work on Dravidan Language is seminal

Recently, comments made by Tamil Nadu governor RN Ravi have invited attention to the 18^th century writer and philologist, Robert Caldwell. An Irish missionary who belonged to the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel, Caldwell spent over five decades in Tiruneveli and authored a number of books on South India. He was largely forgotten in Tamil Nadu except for the perfunctory snippet in secondary school textbooks. However, this controversy has resurrected considerable interest in understanding the seminal Caldwell thesis and its importance in shaping the ethno-linguistic architecture of this region. Fort its impact on the history, literature and grammar of the Dravidian language tree, Caldwell’s work in this area is as important as any other; and the Government of Tamil Nadu would be well served by recognising the legacy of this pioneering linguist.

The Dravidian Nomenclature

Governor Ravi, while speaking at an event commemorating the birth of social reformer Ayya Vaikundar, had alleged that Caldwell was recruited by the then British Government to evangelise India and further claimed that his seminal book – A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages – was “fake”. These remarks are at best ill-informed and at worst, carefully orchestrated attempt to manipulate empirically established basis for the Dravidian Movement. 

The book was originally published in 1856 and has since been considered an extraordinary and original research work in the study of philology. Such was the impact of this book that Historian M.S.S. Pandian hailed its contribution to the “cultural awakening of the region” as “unmatched”. While Caldwell is credited with studying and identifying the Dravidian Family of Languages, it is perhaps less known that it was him who first socialised the term ‘Dravidian’ to classify this linguistic group. In his book, Caldwell justifies the use of the word ‘Dravidian’, the adjectival form of Dravida, a word which was first used by Sanskrit philologists and even found in the Laws of Manu. Though, European writers preferred using the word ‘Tamulian’ or ‘Tamulic’ to classify this family of South Indian languages, Caldwell chose Dravidian to include languages other than Tamil and to mitigate any ambiguity. Caldwell explains that by adoption of the term Dravidian to denote this family of languages, “the word Tamilian has been left free to signify that which is distinctively Tamil”.

Linguistic Analysis

Early works on linguistic analysis by philologists in the Indian subcontinent during the 18th and 19th century led to a paradigm shift in how the majority of its inhabitants came to visualize their linguistic and ethnic history. For long, it was believed that all the languages in the Indian subcontinent drew sustenance from Sanskrit, even leading some to argue that the language had a  divine status. Such beliefs first came to be empirically challenged by the works of Francis Whyte Ellis in his “Note to the Introduction” to Alexander Duncan Campbell’s Grammar of the Teloogoo Language (1816), where the seed for the idea that south Indian languages were unrelated to the Indo-Aryan language family was first sowed. 

The foundational thesis of the Caldwell book rests on the enumeration of Dravidian Languages. Caldwell classifies six languages – Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu, Canarese (Kannada), Tulu and Kudagu (Coorg) – as cultivated dialects of this Dravidian Language family. Caldwell also cautions the reader that though he uses the term dialects, he does not infer that these languages are variations of one another. He is quick to point out that no two of these languages are similar and moreover, Tamil, Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada have distinct and independent literary culture; whereas, Tamil, Malayalam and Telugu have a system of written characters which are peculiar to each language. 

Tellingly, by undertaking a comprehensive analysis of comparative syntax, pronouns, numerals and verbal inflexions, Caldwell was able to establish that the Dravidian Languages were “originally and radically different from Sanskrit”. Additionally, his works enthused the speakers of Dravidian languages to recover their culture bereft of Sanskritic influences. In the recently published book ‘The Indians: Histories of a Civilization’, the article on Dravidian Language Family authored by K. Rangan reiterates the distinct features of Dravidian Languages. Rangan postulates, that among the Dravidian languages, Tamil, “could dispense with Sanskrit words altogether from its lexicon and, if need be, it could not only stand alone but flourish without its aid”. 

The Caldwell Effect

The post-Caldwell period witnessed generations of philologists and researchers unearth authenticated pieces of evidence to confirm the Dravidian language theory. Thomas Burrow and Murray B. Emeneau put together The Dravidian Etymological Dictionary (1961) which, Rangan regards to be a monumental work in this field. Together, these works and many others, have established the unique Dravidian language family through a meticulous study of comparative linguistics, but the impact of Caldwell turns out to be much more. 

As M.S.S. Pandian mentioned, the Caldwell thesis unleashed a socio-political awakening. Building on the uniqueness of the Dravidian language family, many social reformers including Athipakkam Venkatachala Nayagar, Ayotheethasar Pandithar and Manonmaniam Sundaram Pillai articulated early Dravidian ideology from the perspectives of race theory and cultural imperialism. These theses, evolved from careful observation of the languages, culture, folklore, alongside deeper study of the incomplete canon of works from the past available to them, helped develop the early Dravidian Movement which was infused with a high degree of caste-critique and increased self-awareness of the history of Tamil.    

Socio-Political Movement

The diffusion of these views onto the socio-political arena led to a cultural and political renaissance in the popular imagination of the past, which was well reflected in the historic Spur Tank Speech delivered by Dr. T. M. Nair, one of the pioneers of the Dravidian Movement and leaders of the ‘Justice Party’ in October 1917. In this speech, Dr. Nair visualized a Dravidian past of Indian subcontinent, which was not restricted to lands which are in south of Vindhyas, but which includes the populations with Dravidian past in Gangetic plains, like that of Rajputs, Kurmis, Bhumihars.   

Political leaders celebrated Sangam literature and particularly Thirukkural, which spoke of a casteless society and started to reclaim an egalitarian past, devoid of societal divisions. This narrative and the concomitant assertive tone of “Tamil” found its audience in written and musical performances, championed by Maraimalai Adigal’s “Thanith Tamil Iyakkam” (Pure Tamil Movement), Raja Annamalai Chettiar’s “Tamizhisai Iyakkam” (Tamil Music Movement). When the iconic movie “Parasakthi” was released in 1952, the protagonist spoke chaste Tamil, bereft of Sanskritic influence and triggered a revolution in Tamil cinema. These movements cumulatively formed the basis for the Dravidian Ideology. Building on the growing popularity of the Dravidar Kazhagam and the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, Dravidian Ideology – which was comprised of pride in Tamil antiquity, denouncement of caste discrimination, rationalist thinking, and the philosophy of self-respect – took shape across Tamil Nadu. Over the years, this ideology has served as a counter-force to hegemonic tendencies, authoritarian regimes and cultural imperialism. 

Underscoring the importance of Caldwell, within a year of DMK forming government in the state of Tamil Nadu in 1967, a bronze statue of Bishop Robert Caldwell was erected on the Marina Beach. Under the statue, the words inscribed read “the pioneer Dravidian linguist”. But, today we are able to recognize that Caldwell’s contribution to the state of Tamil Nadu and defining Tamil consciousness is much more. A fitting tribute to the legacy of Caldwell would be to make substantive investments into the study of Dravidian languages, its unique cultural history and the consequent socio-political movement that has emerged in the state. 

Manuraj Shunmugasundaram and Jeyannathann Karunanithi

(Manuraj is a Media Spokesperson for Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and Advocate, Madras High Court)

Link to the Article: https://epaper.indiatimes.com/timesepaper/publication-the-times-of-india,city-delhi.cms