Robert Caldwell

Bishop Robert Caldwell (1814 -1891) was an orientalist who pioneered the study of the Dravidian languages with his work "Comparative Grammar of Dravidian Languages" (1856; revised edition 1875).

Early life

Robert Caldwell was born on May 7,1814 to Scottish parents. Initially self-taught and religious, young Caldwell graduated from the university of Glasgow and was fascinated by the comparative study of languages. At 24, Caldwell arrived in Madras on January 8, 1838 as a missionary of the London Missionary Society and later joined the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel Mission (SPG).Caldwell was married in 1844 to Eliza Mault (1822-99), by whom he had seven children. She was the elder daughter of the veteran Travancore missionary, Reverend Charles Mault (1791-1858) of the London Missionary Society. For more than forty years, Eliza worked in Travancore and Tirunelveli in the cause of female education and the empowerment of women in India. [Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell", pp. 59-60, 112, 117-131, 279.] Caldwell realised that he had to be proficient in Tamil to preach to the masses and he began a systematic study of the language.

Classification of Dravidian languages

He proposed that the South Indian languages of Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Kannada formed a separate language family, which he named the Dravidian languages, affirming their antiquity and literary history, and their independence from Sanskrit and the Indo-Aryan languages. [Y. Vincent Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell: A Scholar-Missionary in Colonial South India", Delhi: ISPCK, 2007, pp. 148-49.] He speculated that speakers of the proto-Dravidian language entered India from the northwest. Thomas Trautmann writes of this book: Quote|"Caldwell showed the full extent of the Dravidian family, and demonstrated the relations among the languages in a richness of detail that has made it a classic work, still in print. The real significance of what Caldwell accomplished was not the first conception of the Dravidian family, but the consolidation of the proof." [Thomas Trautmann, 'Inventing the History of South India', in David Ali (ed.), "Invoking the Past: The Uses of History in South Asia", New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002, p. 41. Also cited in Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell", p. 147.]

Archeological research

Caldwell served as the Bishop of Tirunelveli (along with Bishop Sargent) and did much original research on the history of Tirunelveli. He studied palm leaf manuscripts and Sangam literature in his search, and made several excavations, finding the foundations of ancient buildings, sepulchral urns and coins with the fish emblem of the Pandyan Kingdom. [ Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell", p. 157. See also D. Sugantharaj, "Man of Vision", Sunday Standard, 1968.] This work resulted in his book "A Political and General History of the District of Tinnevely" (1881), published by the Government of the Madras Presidency. According to Robert Eric Frykenberg, this quote|"book, drawn from archaeological, epigraphic and literary sources, was perhaps his most comprehensive single work”. [Robert Eric Frykenberg, "Robert Caldwell", cited in Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell", p. 156, note 58.]

Caldwell’s mission lasted more than fifty years. The publication of his research into both the languages and the history of the region, coupled with his position in both Indian and English society, gave stimulus to the growth of the Non-Brahmin movement. [Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell", p. 280.]

Meanwhile, on difficult ground for evangelism, Caldwell achieved Christian conversion among the lower castes. He had adopted some of the methods of the Lutheran missionaries of earlier times, having learned German purely in order to study their practices. [Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell", p. 23. See also J.L. Wyatt (ed.), "Reminiscences of Bishop Caldwell", Madras: Addison & Co, 1894, p.149.]

In summary, Caldwell the Tamil language scholar, Christian evangelist and champion of the native church, [Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell", pp. 277-278.] remains today an important figure in the modern history of South India. He is still remembered there, and his statue, erected eighty years after his death, stands on the Marina Beach at Chennai. [Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell", p. 281.] The Indian historian Dr M.S.S. Pandian, Visiting Fellow at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies in Delhi, recently commented that Caldwell’s "contribution to both Christianity in South India and the cultural awakening of the region is unmatched during the last two hundred years". [Dr M.S.S. Pandian, cited on back cover of Kumaradoss, "Robert Caldwell".]

Criticism

Charles E. Gover, in his book, "The Folk Songs of South India" heaps criticism on Caldwell and exposes some glaring mistakes in his deductions. Gover, in particular, refutes Caldwell's theory that Tamils are a Turanian people. Folk Songs of Southern India, Introduction, Pg vi] He says that recent researches conducted by German writers have proved this theory wrong. He also wrote that how most of the Tamil words, which Caldwell, in his book, asserts to be of Scythian origin, had Indo-Aryan roots.Folk Songs of Southern India, Introduction, Pg vii] He gives the example of the Dravidian root "pe-" from which the Tamil word "Pey" meaning "devil" is derived,Folk Songs of Southern India, Introduction, Pg xi] which Caldwell proclaims to be independent of Sanskrit, and shows how it is related to the Sanskrit "pisacha".Folk Songs of Southern India, Introduction, Pg xiii]

Even while acknowledging that Sanskrit was never a spoken language and that Brahmins in different parts of India spoke the local vernacular,cite book | title=Reorienting Orientalism| last= Niyogi| first= Chandreyee| authorlink= |coauthors=| year=1871| pages=231| publisher= SAGE| location=Madras| id=ISBN 0761934472, ISBN 9780761934479] Caldwell asserts at another place that all Brahmins descended from the same racial stock which spoke Sanskrit.cite book | title=Reorienting Orientalism| last= Niyogi| first= Chandreyee| authorlink= |coauthors=| year=2006| pages=232| publisher= SAGE| location=Madras| id=ISBN 0761934472, ISBN 9780761934479] Throughout his book "Comparitive Study of the South Indian or Dravidian family of Languages", Caldwell accusses Brahmins of spreading lies and of not practising what they preach.cite book | title=Castes of Mind: Colonialism and the Making of Modern India| last= B. Dirks| first= Nicholas| authorlink= |coauthors=| year=2003| pages=137| publisher= Orient Blackswan| location=| id=ISBN 8178240726, ISBN 9788178240725]

Notes

References

Primary Reference in English
* Kumaradoss, Y. Vincent, "Robert Caldwell: A Scholar-Missionary in Colonial South India", Delhi: ISPCK, 2007. ISBN 9788172149581

Other Modern References in English or Tamil
* Christudoss, DA, "Caldwell Athiatcher" (Tamil), Danishpet: Bethel Publications, 1980.
* Dirks, Nicholas B, 'Recasting Tamil Society: The Politics of Caste and Race in Contemporary Southern India', in C J Fuller (ed.), "Caste Today", New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1996.
* O'Connor, Daniel (ed.), "Three Centuries of Mission – The USPG", London and New York: Continuum, 2000.
* Ravindran, Vaitheespara, 'The Unanticipated Legacy of Robert Caldwell and the Dravidian Movement', "South Indian Studies", 1, Jan-June 1996.
* Sethupillai, RP, "Caldwell Iyer Saritham" (Tamil), Chennai: Palaniappa Brothers, 1964.
* Sivathamby, K, 'The Politics of a Literary Style', "Social Scientist", 6.8, March 1978.
* Trautmann, Thomas R, 'Inventing the History of South India', in David Ali (ed.), "Invoking the Past: The Uses of History in South Asia", New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2002.
* Faith and Family in South India (2007) http://www.britishempire.co.uk/article/faithandfamily.htm
* cite book | title=The Folk songs of Southern India| last= E. Gover| first= Charles| authorlink= |coauthors=| year=1871| publisher= Higginbotham & Co.| location=MadrasEarly References in English:
* Hermitage Day, E, "Mission Heroes", London: SPCK, 1896.
* Pascoe, CF, "200 Years of the SPG" 1701-1900, London: SPG, 1901
* Sharrock, JA, "Bishop Caldwell: A Memoir", Calcutta 1897. [Rev Sharrock was a close colleague of Caldwell and his Memoir is almost the only reference with personal reminiscences of him.]
* Smith, George, "Twelve Pioneer Missionaries", London: Thomas Nelson & Sons, 1900.
* Wyatt, JL (ed.), "Reminiscences of Bishop Caldwell", Madras: Addison & Co, 1894.