| Tamil
is the oldest of the living languages in the world. It is the progenitor
of all languages in the world. But, a dark cloud descended on the Tamil
country and shrouded Tamil. Tamil literature was veritably stagnant
at this period.
The advent of Europeans to Tamil Nadu heralded a new era in the annals
of Tamil Language and Tamil Literature. European scholars and missionaries
have made successful attempts to introduce the wisdoms of the Tamils to
the European World. The translation of Tirukural into Latin by Constantine
Joseph Beschi in 1730, gave a momentum to the study of Tamil Language and
Tamil Literature by the succeeding generations of European scholars
and missionaries.
The Europeans, by their strenuous efforts to understand and to appreciate
the philosophy of Tamil, they have drawn the attention of the world towards
the nuances of the wisdom of the Tamil and bought a new awareness to the
literature and cultural heritage of the Tamils Danish Missionary Ziegenbalg,
Jesuit Missionaries Robert-de-Nobili and Constantine Joseph Beschi, Anglican
Missionaries .Dr.Robert Caldwell and Dr.Rottler, Dissenters Hoisington,Rhenius
Dr.Winslow, Dr.G.U. Pope and many more scholars channeled their
attention towards the study of
Tamil.
This book , "THE WORLD HAILS TAMIL" is a modest attempt to trace the views
of the European and Indian scholars about Tamil language and Tamil Literature.
This modest attempt is to reveal the broader vision, luminous insight and
universality of outlook of the European scholars about Tamil Language and
Tamil Literature. |
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