Bibliometric phenomenon of Tamil Publications in Sri Lanka in 2005

The Author

MAHESHWARAN, R

BA (Hons.)(Peradeniya), MLS (Colombo)

Senior Asst. Librarian, University of Peradeniya

History of Sri Lankan Tamil Literature

The inception of the modern Printing press in Tamil dates back to about 1830, when some Christian missionaries came out with a monthly journal in India. Somalay, (1955) stated that the first daily newspaper in Tamil – Swadesamitran - was founded in the last quarter of the 19th century in India and the editor was Mr. G. Subramaniam lyer. The first publication brought about in Sri Lanka was the Government Gazette in Tamil, Sinhala and English. It came out in 1802. The First English Journal 'Colombo Journal" was founded in 1832. Although India has influenced Sri Lanka in many ways, Sri Lanka has produced Tamil literary works, specifically Sri Lankan. India and Sri Lanka have different colonial experiences and this perhaps is the most significant reason why an identifiably Sri Lanka tradition in Tamil literature was born.

Ever since historic times, Sri Lanka has been contributing much to the growth of world Tamil language and literature. Poets from the Northern and Eastern parts of Sri Lanka, now known as Jaffna and Batticalo respectively, have tremendously contributed to Tamil Literature and Tamil language in Sri Lanka. Some researchers believe that the poet Ilatthu Puthanthevanar (Before 3rd Century AD) who composed seven verses in the Chankam anthology is believed from Sri Lanka. Scholars are of the opinion that the Chankam poet Iddaikkader also hailed from Ceylon. There is a village called by the name of Iddaikkaddu in the Jaffna Peninsula and there are some individuals who have the same name as Iddaikkader among the Sri Lankan Tamils. From Chankam period up to the time of Aryachakaravarthis (The Monarch of Aryar), there is a gap in the history of Tamil Literature in Sri Lanka. Even during this period, there is evidence to say that the Tamils occupied various parts of the Island from Point Pedro to Deventra Head, and from Puttalam to Trincomalee. From the time of Elala (Second century B.C) up to the last king Sankili who was killed in the hands of the Portuguese in 1621, Tamil kings have ruled over Ceylon. Some have ruled over the whole island and at other times over parts of the country. Tamil inscriptions have been discovered in various parts of the Island.
In thirteenth century, Aryachakaravarthis, who were great patrons of learning, established the Jaffna Kingdom. Many outstanding works were produced during the régime of Aryachakaravarthis, which are traceable from fourteenth century A.D. to modern times. Varatharajan. Mu (1988) in his publication stated that in the sixteenth century, the poet Aracakechari translated Kalidasa's Raguvamsam into Tamil, which is an epic containing 2,400 verses. There are so many minor works like thalapuranams (sacred places, ancient legend or traditional history), kõvai (Stringing, arranging, a kind of poem expressing the feeling of love), Ula (a poem about the hero arriving in Procession), Kalampakam (a poem of different kinds of stanzas), chatakam (a poem of hundred stanzas), Th&umacronthu (message, poem of message to;) and anth&amacronthi (composing stanzas in a way where the last part of the previous stanza becomes the beginning part of the next.) The conquest of the marine-provinces of Ceylon by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century and by the Dutch in the seventeenth century, leads to the arrested growth of Tamil literature. Even during this period, Gnanpragasar from Thinneveli, Jaffna went into exile in India. He was an erudite scholar in Tamil and Sanskrit and composed and wrote one of six commentaries on Sivgnana siddhiar. Varatharajan. Mu (1988) said that up to the eighteenth century Tamil was the language of bureaucracy in Sri Lanka and many Singhalese learnt it. Even in the recent past Singhalese chieftains signed treaties with the British in Tamil. &Amacron&rcedilleumuga N&amacronvalar (A.D. 1822-1889) occupies the pride of place among the Tamil scholars of Y&amacron&lcedillepp&amacron&ncedilleam. N&amacronvalar was instrumental in starting a printing press to bring out quality Tamil textbooks. He was in fact, the forerunner in printing Tamil textbooks without mistakes. In Nineteenth century, N&amacronvalar set the pace by writing chaste, faultless and simple Tamil. C.V Th&amacronm&omacrontharam Pillai's services as the first editor and publisher of old manuscripts written on palm leaves are remembered by the Tamil-speaking world even today. The poet Nav&amacronliy&umacronr C&omacronmacuntharam Pulavar composed more than 15,000 verses and became famous for his devotional poems on Lord Murukan, the presiding deity at Katirk&amacronmam, now known as lord of Katharagama and also wrote interesting poems on festival celebrated in the Tamil month of Adi (Month of July).
The establishment of the printing press in 1736, in Colombo created a new era in the literary history of Sri Lanka. Pulendran. G (1998) said that simple catechisms in Tamil and Sinhala languages were printed and distributed to schools, churches and other institutions. Christian missionaries came out with a journal in Tamil in 1841, which was referred to as 'Uthayatharakal'.

The maritime provinces of Sri Lanka passed into the hands of the Dutch from the Portuguese in 1658. The introduction of the western form of school system was due to the influence of Portuguese Missionaries, and they had used the schools to introduce the religion to the native children. During this period, one can see the emergence of standard Christian literature and some outstanding Tamil literary works were written by scholars like Poologasingha Mudaliyar, Koolankaithambiram, Francis Pillai etc. According to the Tamil Catholic literary Tradition of Sri Lanka (1998), Tellipalai was the centre of the Catholic literary activities. Civakurunathan (1993) wrote in his article as "Works of Hindu literature of very high standard, which could be compared with the compositions of Nayakka period in South India, emerged in Sri Lanka during this period. Some of these works centered around the lives of eminent individuals and temples, satisfied the needs of the people"

The pioneers among Tamil publishers in Sri Lanka were the missionaries. The First publishers were the Dutch, and the church missionaries followed. Henry Martin and Seth Sabasen were the editors of the first published journal in both English and Tamil languages in 1841 as a weekly magazine. Murugappa and Philippaiah were the editors of the Journal 'The Jaffna Catholic Guardian' (In 1876) and Eurrelu S.Savanamuthtu Pillai was the editor of the journal, Saiva Uthayabannu, which was published as Journal for Hinduism in 1916, Achuveli. S. Thampimuthtu chettiyar was the editor of Cannmarkapothani (1885), T.P.Sellaiah Pillai was the editor (1889) of 'The Hindu organ' and M.C.Sidhilebage was the editor of the 'Mulseelm Necen' (Muslim Friend 1882), Cannmarkapothani (1885).

The first printing press was brought to Sri Lanka, during Governor Willem Baron Van Imhoff period in 1736. Printing started in the press in 1737. By 1739 the first publication Samaya vinavidaium sebankalum was printed in the first press. As there was another printing press established little later, at the end of Governor Baron Van Imhoff period, more than twenty Tamil works were published. It was believed to be the first printing press established in the Northern region of Sri Lanka and Father Joseph Knight published 'Muttivali'. The establishment of the printing press resulted in the creation of eminent publishers among the natives in Sri Lanka. Navalar and C.V.Thamotharanpillai (1832 – 1901) were the most popular and eminent publishers in nineteenth century. It is worthwhile to mention the other prominent publishers, S. Thamppimuthup Pillai (1857-1934) and Valvai S.Waithilingam Pillai (1834-1900).

When Arumuga Navalar realized the advantages of the establishment of printing presses for Christians in Sri Lanka, he too established a printing press in Nallur in 1879. The First printing press was established in the name of 'Vittiyanupalanyantrira salai' as a native printing press in Northern Sri Lanka. Then the press was transferred to Vannarpannai. Through the printing press being established by natives in Jaffna, many newspapers and Journals were published in Tamil. There were so many weekly and monthly Journals published in Tamil and there were some papers and weekly journals published and the two Native Tamil Scholars were the editors of the publications. Many books were brought out to improve the Tamil language and the native religions.

Sri Lankan Tamil Publications

Christian Missionaries in Sri Lanka published the Christian Journal 'Chaththiya vetha paathukavalan' in 1859. The first publication in Sinhala 'Lankaloga' came out in 1860 and the editor was Rev. Dharamalangara Thero. The first journal of Tamil speaking Muslims was founded in 1882 in the name of 'Muslim Nechan' and the 'Mulseelm Necen' (Muslim Friend 1882) was brought about as in a manuscript form at the beginning and then the printed form came out. Only in 1948, the Tamils of Indian origin Tamil publication come out from Upcountry where they were continuously concentrated and settled. It was 'Bharathy' and the editors were K.Ramanathan and K.Ganesh. The first university journal published in Sri Lanka was the 'Elankathir' in 1948 and the first agricultural and scientific journal brought about was 'Kamatholzil velakkam', which has been published by the propaganda unit of the Agriculture Department in 1930. The present Daily newspapers 'Thinnakaran', 'Veerakeechary', 'Chuthanthiran' were founded weekly at the beginning and then converted as daily papers. Now, there are seven Tamil daily newspapers published in Sri Lanka.

Some translated books too were published despite the fact that there is controversy regarding the translation, whether it should be literal or literary. Perhaps Rev. H. Hoisington, who rendered the 'Sivagnanapotham', 'Tattuva Kaddalsi', and 'Sivapirakasam' into English in 1854, did the earliest known translation of Classical Tamil in Ceylon. It deserves to be mentioned that Rev. Issac Thambiah translated Sage Thayunanavar in the nineteenth Century. The first published translated book was Kalidasa's 'Raguvamsam'. In the sixteenth century, the poet Aracakechari translated Kalidasa's Raguvamsam into Tamil. K.Ganesh from upcountry translated the English Novel written by Mulrajah Ananth into Tamil and published before the year 1940. The English drama 'Pathmashanee' and 'Theayilai Thoddaththilae' ('In tea estates' Hill country'- essays), both written by C.V.Vellu Pillai were published during the same period. By 1950, So many publications were brought out from Upcountry, for instance 'Kankanee mahal", 'Oru thulii kanneer' etc.

The missionaries who came to Sri Lanka to work in Tamil, realized the importance of a Dictionary, and the scholar from Church missionary Rev. J Knight started the compilation of Tamil words into a dictionary. In 1842, the American missionary, published a Tamil Dictionary, containing 58,500 words. Later it was known as 'Jaffna Dictionary' and 'Mannipai Dictionary'. It was the first dictionary published in Tamil. In 1862, a Tamil-English dictionary was brought about with the cooperated work of Weerasamy Chetti, Vesaka Perumalayar, Ramanua Kavirayar and others under the purview of Rev. Vencillo. It contained 67,452 words and 979 pages. Other scholars who compiled and published dictionaries were Vaymen Kathiravet Pillai, Chunnakam Kumarasamy Pulavar, Navalar Kooddam Muthuthampi Pillai and Point Pedro Subramaniya Sasthiriyar.

The Tamil literary scholars, who could not find proper grant or financial assistance from Sri Lankan government or any type of Sri Lankan funding or grant and for other reasons, published their literary work in India due to the main reason of cheap production cost. It only means that it was the Sri Lankan original literary work that was published in India. These publications are also presently considered as Sri Lankan Publications.

Statement of Problem

Detailed studies have not been done on the history of Tamil publications in Sri Lanka. There is hardly any document on any comprehensive bibliography of Tamil publications. Due to the absence of bibliographical documents on Tamil publications or bibliography on Tamil printed publications, researchers who search for information on Tamil culture and literature face difficulties to trace suitable references, specially, information about publishers, printers, etc. Some scholars have mentioned about publications and the authors but there was hardly any information about the printers, press and publishers.
Tamil literary work done during the past has been destroyed or lost due to the war situation that prevailed in the North and East during the last 50 years. Furthermore, many publishers who had contributed immensely to Tamil culture and literature have also vanished from the scene. Therefore, researchers cannot find necessary bibliographic details for their research work.
It would be worthwhile to trace the prominent printing presses that contributed to bring out valuable Tamil literature. So, that the publishers and the editors have been rendered a valuable service to Tamil could be identified. Now the intellectuals have realized that the bibliography of publishers and editors would be useful to the future generations of Sri Lanka.

Literature Review

During the process of literary survey, it has been observed that various aspects of Bibliometric studies and the importance and use of Bibliometric study in various fields.
