From the Translation of the Author's Preface to the Original Work...
[see also the
Translator's Preface]
The hundred and fifty years that passed by between the time of
Kattabomman and that of
Mahatma Gandhi can be called "The - Era of
India's Fight for Freedom". This long period in the history
of our motherland is marked by a renaissance in various fields like
language, religion, art, political economy and society. However, no
r work seems to have so far come out giving the public a clear and
.. continuous account of this development. Only a few English books have been published giving us some idea of what happened at intervals here and there. Even those sundry details have not been found
in the form of any regular publication in Tamil. There is, however, no
doubt that our Tamilnadu had its share in India's fight for freedom. But
its contribution has not been properly or adequately
recognised in these English books.
As a result, even today, the situation continues in which we are not
able to know even something regarding the revolutions brought about and
sacrifices made by the Tamils during the period of the Indian Freedom
Fight. Many great men among the Tamils have worked hard to see a
renaissance in the Tamil language and allied arts taking place during
this fight for independence. But, so far, the people of Tamilnadu have
had no opportunity to learn about those things through any book.
It is
to make up this want that I have brought out this work, Viduthalai Poril
Tamil Valarndha Varalaru (The History of the Growth of Tamil during the
War of Independence) giving a historical account of how Tamil grew
during this period of freedom fight.
I got a few bits of information here and there from the writings of the
great poet, Bharathiar to give a beginning to this book. From "Thiru.
Vi. Ka. Valkkai Kurippukal" (the Biographical Notes of Thiru. Vi. Ka".)
also I obtained a few points. V. V. S. Iyer ran a monthly called 'Bala
Barathi'. From it too I gathered a few bits of information. A work
called `Madurai District Thiagigal Malar' was published soon after India
got her independence. From it also I came to know something about that
district.
In this way it was possible for me to get a few details from one or
two more books. The rest I took from my own experience. I knew
personally about many events connected with India's fight for freedom
since I had myself taken part in it for nearly twenty years. As I happen
to live in the capital of Tamilnadu I have the opportunity to know a lot
about the war of independence. I have written this book by using this
experience mainly.
I am yet to be satisfied that I have given a perfect rendering of the
history of the growth of Tamil during the period of the freedom
struggle. It may be that many events and the names of many great persons
and their rare achievements have failed to find a place in it. One of
the reasons for such a failure may be the failure of my memory here and
there. It may also be that the events described here are not given in
adequate details. Besides, some of the points found in this book may be
even wrong because they have been gathered from others. If my readers
write to me pointing out those mistakes and defects, I may be able to
make necessary corrections in my next edition.
Everybody knows that the later part of the freedom struggle, covering
about sixty five years, went on under the leadership of the great
organisation called the Congress. What is now known by the simple name
of 'Congress' was in the days of the war, "All India National Congress Mahasabha". In fact, the Congress of those days acted as the national
representative of all the people by fighting against the imperialism of
the foreigner. The Congress of those days revealed this noble national
spirit clearly through its thought, word and deed. Till the 15th of
August, 1947, when our freedom fight met with a successful end, the
Congress enjoyed the status of the only great national organisation of
the Indians as a whole. After the independence, however, this status
disappeared naturally and the Congress carne to be regarded as one of
the political parties which appeared before and after the attainment of
our freedom. Such a change was only a natural consequence of the
democratic political set-up that followed our independence.
If the All India National Congress Mahasabha had been dissolved soon
after India's freedom struggle came to an end, the sixty five year old
history of that famous organisation would not have met with any party
division and a situation would have come into existence in which it
would have continued to enjoy the unstinted praise of all the Indians.
Mahatma Gandhi also wished only such
a state of affairs. He even expressed this desire explicitly in the
paper called `Harijan'. However, he died just when he had got ready a
resolution for its dissolution. As a result, All India Congress,
Mahasabha, which ought to have been dissolved after our independence
continues to have a low political existence as a party, carrying on a
mean rivalry and fight with other political parties. We are facing, as a
consequence, a situation in which the past noble history of the Indian
National Congress Mahasabha before independence is darkened by later
party politics. Even those heroes, who had a share in the sacrificial
life of the National Congress, did not have the inclination to proclaim
enthusiastically to others the heroic life led by the organisation.
It is under these circumstances that I have brought out for my
readers this book on "The History of the Growth of Tamil during the War
of Independence."
I am not a member of the Congress party today. I am not also sure
whether I have even the good will of those who are now its leaders.
Whatever it may be, I still have love and affection for
the Congress of the pre-independence era. I have therefore, given in
this book a coherent account of the great services done by those who
belonged to this noble organisation to the growth of the Tamil language
during the freedom struggle. I can assure you that I have written this
book with the impartiality which should be found in a historian. I have
used my pen without yielding even a little to any party spirit.
It is my opinion that if, because of the rivalry and competition
shown today by the Congress party towards other political parties, the
past noble history of this party is hidden or forgotten, it will be a
great loss to India and to the Tamil people themselves. I have already
published such books as `Kappalottia Tamilan', `Swadandra Poril Tamilakam' (Tamilnadu during the Freedom struggle) and 'Tamilar Kanda
Gandhi' (The Gandhi seen by the Tamils) only because I did not want such
a loss to be sustained by us. This book comes out only as a continuation
of these three books. My idea is to publish many more works of this
kind.
I want, in this connection, to assert without any hesitation, that
among the various political parties of today, no one party can claim an
exclusive share in the noble task of promoting the growth of the Tamil
language. I say this having in mind also the Tamil Arasu Kazhagam which
acts under my guidance and which exists only for the development of the
Tamil language. The work of promoting the Tamil language has been going
on since the time it came into existence. It is the belief of the great
old Tamil scholars that even God has a share in this work.
Pandya kings helped the growth of Tamil by organising an association
or Sangam for it. We do not know anything about the period preceding
Tholkappiyar. However, after the time of Tholkappiyar till the day of
the great poet Subramania Bharathiar, there have been many noble souls
who have promoted Tamil by many ways like, (1) writing such great works
in Tamil as Thirukkural and
Silappathikaram, (2) producing such works as
Villi Bharatham and Kamba Ramayanam in imitation of original writings of
such forms in other languages, (3) writing commentaries for original
works, (4) gathering together in the form of two anthologies called
'Ettuthokai' and'Patthupattu', scattered pieces of great literature and
(5) editing in the modern form after the discovery of printing, what was
found written on old palm leaves after
mending and arranging them.
Among these great souls there have
been princes and paupers, scholars and patrons. There have been women
also who have done great service in this line. Not only those Tamil
scholars, whose spoken and national language was Tamil, have contributed
to the growth of Tamil, but also such great scholars as Annamalai
Reddiar, whose mother tongue was a foreign language, have taken a fair
share in this work.
Even such scholars as Beschi (Veerama Munivar),
G.U.
Pope and Caldwell, who were strangers not only to our language but to
our own law also, have done the same great service. They did not belong
to any of the parties of the present day. In fact, they belong to all
the parties of the present day India and to the whole population of the
country. If we examine the history of the growth of Tamil with this
modesty and a love of truth, we will realise how the services rendered
by us in this direction will not be enough even to serve as a cover to
what has been rendered by our fore fathers.
I have in this book dealt with all those noble men who have taken part
in the freedom struggle without showing either love or hatred for them,
irrespective of the party to which they belong now.
In chapters entitled `Mannarkal Sakaptam' (The Era of Kings) and
`Deseeya Ezhuchi' (National Awakening) I have tried to show that
selfless work of promoting Tamil has been going on even before the
advent of the National Congress. I have also pointed out the service
done for the growth of Tamil outside the Congress after its advent and
even the service done by other groups that were not friendly to the
Congress.
I have, besides, given in this book, in a connected form, the service
rendered for the growth of the Tamil language by the Labour movements
and the Communist party which were sympathetic supporters of the war of
Independence.
Even after the end of the freedom struggle many nationalists have
continued to work for the progress of Tamil. They continue even now to
carry on that work. I have not referred to them or
their work in this book elaborately. If I get the opportunity, I am
thinking of writing another book entitled "The History of the Growth of
Tamil after Independence."
The members of the "Tamil Arusa Kashakam," to which I belong, have a
special place among those who have in succession contributed to the
growth of Tamil after India's independence. The Tamil Arasu Kazhagam was
born even before the Sun of freedom had arisen. Therefore, conscious of
my duty as a historian, I had to speak, at least briefly, about that
Kazhagam in the last chapter of this book. Only to that extent I have
devoted a little space to the Kazhagam in the closing chapter.
It is a historian's duty, while examining things with an open and
impartial mind, not to hide any defects whether in individuals or in
political parties. I like to remind my readers, therefore, and to warn
them before they begin to read my book that, in obedience to that sense
of duty, I have here and there attempted a severe examination of things
and persons.
I have only got together a series of articles written by me on the
same subject in my journal entitled `Sengole' in the course of a year or
so. Therefore there I might have erred in the way of re peating myself
here and there. If such repetitions are pointed out to me, they shall be
removed in the next edition.
I feel very happy that Thiru Soma Swaminathan's Inba Nilayam, which
has been usually publishlng my writings, has offered to bring out this
book also in print.
I have hinted here and there at the growth of the languages of
different regions around Thiruvengadam during the period of the freedom
fight. My friend, Thiru P.S. Mani, helped me in collecting those details
from English books. My thanks are due to him.
In general, I thank God for enabling me to involve myself in
the holy service of writing a book by collecting details about these
patriots who have helped the growth of Tamil in our state. Long Live
Tamil!
16-6-1970
- M.P. Sivagnanam, Madras.
The Translator's Preface
The history of a nation's literature is the history of the soul of its
people. Dr. M. P. Sivagnanam's "The History of the Growth of Tamil
during the Indian War of Independence" is part of the story of a nation
reborn through the purifying flames of freedom fight. Freedom is not a
commodity to be bought or sold in the market. It is a quality of mind
and a way of life in which the soul of a people becomes conscious of its
own infinity of freedom. That is why any struggle for freedom becomes
more an aspiration and expansion than a struggle for expulsion, more an
inner awakening than vanquishing an outer foe.
The birth pangs of the New Indian soul also glow with a sacred
passion which resulted in the spontaneous overflow of great creative
writing in all the languages of India. It is all the more true of Tamil
because the Tamil culture is language-centred and Tamil is a symbol of
all the values of this culture. The War of Independence made Tamil
acquire a richer human content and a wider national identity. In the
days preceding the War of Independence Tamil had lost its moorings in
the realities of life, and only with the War of Independence we find a
simultaneous awakening of the Atman of the people and the blossoming of
literature; great literature can come only from the Atman of a people.
It is interesting to note that when the War of Independence became a
mass movement, Tamil Literature also became once again a literature of
the people.
Dr. M. P. Sivagnanam who himself is a symbol of this great confluence
of nationalism and Tamil renaissance has made a significant contribution
to both these causes through this scholarly study, to translate which
into English has been my privilege and pleasure. Dr. M. P. Sivagnanam is
one of those rare phenomena which only a culture like ours can produce
and I thought it was our duty to make his contribution available to the
rest of the world. There is a danger -of a translation in English
becoming the possession of an elite. But my aim is to make the nation
realise that a regional story is also a national story, and also to make
this story of Tamil literature merge with the mainstream of World
Literature.
I am immensely
grateful to Dr. M. P. Sivagnanam for having given me this opportunity to
associate myself with a work dealing with a holy war and a great
renaissance. By this we are paying our homage to Tamil and the New
India. There may be an irony in the fact that we have to use English as
the medium for this purpose, but the fact still remains that English was
also a catalyst in the search for new identity and therefore there is
some poetic justice in rendering this `story' into English. I am aware
of the limitations of my translation but I have tried my best to avoid
any deviation from the original. But if unwittingly the freshness of the
original had been lost anywhere, I would try to do my best to make
amends in future editions....
Dr. K. Chellappan
