The book, comprising the four gospels, was finally published in 1811. There was even an Urdu version of the book in the 18th century, with the translation being out in 1743.įor the first Malayalam version, Malayalam type was specially cast at a press in Bombay (Mumbai) to print this manuscript. The Bible was translated into Tamil as early as 1714. It was at this meeting that Buchanan, who wanted to translate the Bible into several Indian languages, was gifted an old Syriac Bible (which is now in the possession of the University of Cambridge). In 1806, Scottish Theologian Claudius Buchanan visited Kerala and met Mar Thoma VI (Mar Donysius), the head of the Malankara Church, at Angamaly. Given the deep religiosity that was a part of European culture, it was Christian texts that got priority when it came to being published in the first couple of centuries of the printing age.īy the early 19th century efforts were on to get the Bible translated to Malayalam. It would take the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th century for a new revolution that gave people access to religious and scientific literature. Ancient Hindu texts and mantras were passed down through oral memorisation as well as writings on palm leaves. Followers of other religions in Kerala would also have to depend on their leaders. The earliest followers of Christ in India had to depend on priests and church leaders who had scrolls in different languages such as Latin, Syriac and Old Greek. The first Bible was translated and published in Tamil in Tranquebar in the year 1715.Christianity has been a part of Kerala’s rich heritage right from the first century, but it took almost 17 centuries after the arrival of St Thomas to the region before the Bible was personally available to common Malayalis. Philip Fabricius, also a German, spent twenty four years on the translation of the Bible which was published in 1777. The remaining work was completed by another German missionary, Benjamin Schultze, and published in Tranquebar in 1728.
He had completed the translation of the New Testament within five years of his arrival in the Tamil area it was published in 1714, and by 1719, the year of his death, he had finished the Old Testament up to the Book of Ruth. He had a remarkable gift for languages and he was tireless in diligence and made rapid progress. The history of Bible translation into Tamil begins with the arrival of Bartholomew Ziegenbalg (German missionary) at the Danish settlement of Tranquebar in 1706. Planting of the Roman Catholic Faith in Pearl Fishery Coast (India) Christianity in ancient India. The funding for the press came from the Parvar community of Tuticorin. Cardila was printed at Lisbon by the command of the Portuguese government with the motivation by the visits of three Paravars Vincent Nasareth, Joj Kavalko and Thomas Cruz from Tuticorin, India to Portugal. This was even before the first printing machine arrived Goa, India in 1556. The Tamil Bible, 'Cardila', was printed in 1554 and made Tamil the first language into print for any Indian language. Their spiritual, cultural and literary excellency brought out the first Tamil book to modern print media. Paravas converted to Christianity in the mid 16th century. Seventy years after Fabricius, at the invitation of Peter Percival a Saiva scholar, Arumuka Navalar, produced a "tentative" translation, which came to be known as the "Navalar version," and was largely rejected by Tamil Protestants. Johann Philipp Fabricius, a German, revised Ziegenbalg's and others' work to produce the standard Tamil version. The history of Bible translations into the Tamil language commences with the arrival of Bartholomäus Ziegenbalg at Tranquebar in 1706. The first Bible to be Translated in India : Published by Evangelical Lutheran Mission Press, Tranquebar, - 1863 Published in Danish and translated into English from the German of Emil Francke History of the Tranquebar mission worked out from the original papers by J.