The introduction and early development of printing in South India is attributed to missionary propaganda and the endeavours of the British East India Company. Among the pioneers in this arena, maximum attention is claimed by the Jesuit missionaries, followed by the Protestant Fathers and Hindu Pandits. Once the immigrants realized the importance of the local language, they began to disseminate their religious teachings through that medium, in effect ushering in the vernacular print culture in India. The first Tamil booklet was printed in 1554 (11 February) in Lisbon - Cartilha em lingoa Tamul e Portugues in Romanized Tamil script by Vincente de Nazareth, Jorge Carvalho and Thoma da Cruz, all from the Paravar community of Tuticorin; making Tamil the first Indian language to be printed.

These developments took place at a time when other locations such as Madurai were still confined to the use of copper plates and stone inscriptions. This book was printed earlier than the first printed and dated books of Russia (1563), Africa (1624) and Greece (1821).Karka...Nirka... Blog on Tamil Literature

Henriques and the sixteenth century

The appearance of Tamil in print, both in Roman transliteration and in its native script was the result of the convergence between colonial expansion and local politics, coupled with the beginnings of the Jesuit 'Madurai Mission' led, among others, by a Portuguese Jesuit priest, Henrique Henriques who arrived on the Fishery Coast (Tuticorin) in 1547. During his stay Henriques produced five different books in the Tamil script and language, printed at various Jesuit settlements on the west coast. He also compiled a Tamil Grammar and a Tamil Dictionary, which, though never printed, were widely used by other Europeans. Graham Shaw speaks of Henriques as, "the first great European Scholar of any Indian language" (Stuart Blackburn).

Around 1575 Henriques was relieved of his missionary duties on the east coast and moved to Goa where he began to prepare his texts. Henriques was there assisted by Father Pedro Luis, a local Brahman convert, who entered the Jesuit order in 1562. The stage was finally set when Tamil types were cast in Goa by João Gonçalves (perfected by Father João de Faria in Kollam), with the assistance of Luis.

In 1577 the first of the Henriques’ five books, Doctrina Christam en Lingua Malauar Tamul (Thambiran Vanakkam) was printed in Goa. The book was the first book printed with Indian type. Although some scholars refuse to consider this as a historical fact, Graham Shaw seems convinced that it was printed. The second printed Tamil book was only 16 pages long, but a third Catechism of 127 pages, a Tamil translation of the popular Portuguese text by Marcos Jorge, was printed again with new type in Cochin on November 14, 1579. Three Catechisms were printed with three sets of type, at three different locations on the west coast over the following three years. Henriques’ two other books printed at Punnaikayal were:

A Confessionary (Confessionairo) 1580 (214 pages) Lives of Saints (Flos Sanctorum), 1586 (669 pages)

Roberto De Nobili and the seventeenth century In the 17th century, Tamil books were printed at Ambalakad with type made in Rome. Only five in number and printed within a space of two years, these books might be called the second phase of Tamil printing. There were five books but only two texts. The first was Roberto De Nobili’s Catechism, Nanopatecam, printed posthumously in three volumes: Volume 1 in 1677 followed by Volumes 2 and 3 in 1678. The second text was Antem De Proenca’s Tamil-Portuguese Dictionary of 1679.

Unlike Henriques, Roberto de Nobili did not translate a Portuguese text into Tamil, instead he wrote his own manual, so that he might emphasize the hidden truths of the new faith.

Ziegenbalg and printing in Tranquebar Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg was the pioneer in the setup of a printing press at Madras. In South India the printing press had been established as early as 1578, but printing activities came to an end owing to a gradual decline in the religious zeal of successive generations of missionaries. Tamil printing stopped after 1612, as the numerous writings of Nobili and Manoel Martin lay unpublished in 1649 and 1660. There were some attempts to revive printing, but they proved short-lived. For instance, there is a reference to a Latin–Tamil grammar by Father Beschi, a Sanskrit scholar, having been printed at Ziegenbalg’s press.

Ziegenbalg explained in a number of letters that the books prepared in the Malabar language, to help in the propagation of the Christian faith, were initially written in Portuguese and then translated into the “Malabarick Language” with the help of Indian assistants. In the absence of a printing press the books that had been prepared up until then had to be transcribed by hand. This proved to be a slow, laborious and expensive process. With the objective of facilitating a wider and faster dissemination of Christian literature, Ziegenbalg in his letter of August 22, 1708, put forth a demand for a “Malabarick and Portuguese printing press”.A.K. Priolkar In the meantime, Ziegenbalg devoted considerable attention to collecting manuscripts of Indian literature, as this would help him to understand the old beliefs of the Hindus which he proposed to refute.

In a letter written in 1708, Ziegenbalg speaks of 26 sermons delivered by him at the church of Tranquebar and two vocabularies of Malabar language prepared by him. The first consisted of 26,000 words in common use, and had three columns, the first giving the word in Malabar characters, the second its transliteration and the third its meaning in German. The second contained words used in poetry. For this work Ziegenbalg was assisted by Indian scholars and poets who remained at his house for four months.

Ziegenbalg was keenly aware that to attain his object he needed a printing press. He made repeated demands for a press in his letters of April–June 1709. The Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, set up in the 1690s, came forward to help under the recommendation of the Rev. A. W. Boehme (the German chaplain to Prince George of Denmark). In 1711 the society sent the mission some copies of the Bible in Portuguese as well as a printing press with pica types and other accessories along with a printer to operate it. The ship was held up by the French near Brazil, and the printer Jones Finck was arrested but later released. Finck soon succumbed to fever near the Cape of Good Hope. The printing press reached India in 1712 unaccompanied by its operator. The press, however, started functioning with the help of a German printer–cum–compositor.

Malabar characters were obtained from Europe. A letter dated April 7, 1713, contains a list of 32 books in the Malabar language, original works as well as translations, and 22 books in Portuguese prepared by the missionaries. It is stated that the books in the Malabar language included a vocabulary written on paper and another written on palm leaves.

According to a letter of January 3, 1714, the work of printing the New Testament in Tamil had already begun. Another letter of September 27, 1714, states that, "The Four Evangelists and Acts of the Apostles" was already printed. Reportedly, this is the oldest Tamil book printed at Tranquebar, a copy of which is available at the Serampore College Library. From 1715 onwards with the completion of the New Testament, printing activity in Tamil commenced in full swing. In 1715 Ziegenbalg wrote a concise grammar of the Malabar language for use by Europeans and had it printed by 1716. A copy of this book also exists at the Serampore College Library. Ziegenbalg and his collaborators aimed at spreading their printed work all over India. Consequently, their marketing strategies cajoled them to produce almanacs which were quite scarce in the country. A Sheet Almanac was printed and sold on the coast of Coromandel as well as in Malabar and Bengal.

Constanzo G. Beschi

Parallel to printing efforts by the Protestant missionaries at Tranquebar or Tarangampãdi, the growth of the Jesuit missionary Constanzo Beschi (Viramãmunivar; Constantine Joseph Beschi 1680–1747) was equally significant in revolutionizing the face of Tamil print and literature. The difference in the Christian beliefs of the respective cults gave rise to rigorous disputes and theological debates, which on many occasions even led to violent conflicts resulting in injuries and death. These disputes were carried on by the Lutherans through "printed books and pamphlets",Stuart Blackburn (2006), Page 45 whereas Beschi (due to lack of a Jesuit-owned printing press) mainly concentrated on writing influential pieces of literature. Although printing in Tamil was introduced by the Jesuits, by the eighteenth century the scenario had changed and the domain of the press came to be majority controlled and cultivated by the Protestants. Beschi's efforts in a place populated with thousands of Lutheran converts (mainly Tanjore and Travancore), grew to become an "alarming", "arrogant" and "formidable" rival to the already sprawling missionary activities of the Protestant fathers. One particular reason for Beschi's popularity was, as Blackburn observes, his "Romanish compromises with local customs". In the books of Muttusami Pillai (Beschi's Tamil biographer), he is frequently portrayed as a traditional Eastern or Oriental king, adorned with ornate jewellery and chandan on his forehead.Stuart Blackburn (2006), Page 48 Beschi was reportedly favoured by the local rulers, especially Chanda Sahib whom he had served diwan to, thereby making it easier for him to master the language. He was intelligent enough to adopt such means which would undoubtedly benefit him in ways more than one.

Contrary to this image, Beschi has also been examined as a magical Indian "poet-saint" with extraordinary literary skills and persuasion prowess. Beschi's written works constituted the substructure of modern Tamil literary acculturation. According to sources, Beschi wrote more than twenty books :– dictionaries, epic poetry, prose collections, grammar, folklore. His major prose essay was Veta Vilakkam which ran to 250 pages. The first bilingual Tamil grammar printed in India is also credited to Beschi. He composed various interlingual dictionaries: Tamil-Latin, Latin-Tamil-Portuguese, and Tamil-French and most importantly the four-way lexicon Tamil-Tamil Catur-Agarati which comprised meanings, synonyms, rhymes, etc.A. Raman This book was not printed before 1824. Although it cannot be assumed that his works were well accepted and appreciated by the Protestants, as Blackburn comments, the rival camp unbiasedly “admired Beschi’s literary skills - they printed one of his grammars and another of his books (Vetiyar Olukkam, A Manual for Catechists) became standard reading for them by the nineteenth century…”.Stuart Blackburn (2006), Page 49 Beschi's Parramarta Kuruvin Kattai or Guru Simpleton was the first printed book of Tamil folktale.

Guru Simpleton