Lesson - 5 : A05135

TAMIL DURING THE AGE OF
THE NAICKERS

From this lesson you can learn about the literary and grammatical works that appeared during the age of the Naickers. You can also learn of the changes in the sounds of the words, that took place during this time. The coming of the Europeans to Tamil Nadu caused changes in Tamil Prose. Veeramamunivar changed the forms of the letters in Tamil and wrote “A Grammar of the common Dialect of Tamil Language”.

    In the history of the Tamil language, the age of the Naickers may be said to mark a turning point. Sanskrit exerted a considerable impact on Tamil. A new kind of prose appeared at this time. There was a need to accept several changes in the sounds and grammar of the language.

    After the Cholas, the Pandyas ruled Tamil Nadu for some time. But disunity among the Pandyas led to the invasion of the Muslims. In 1538, however, Kumaara Kambannan defeated the Muslims and established the Naickers as rulers. The Naicker supremacy lasted 400 years in Madurai.

    The age of the Naickers can be called the age of Sittrilakkiyam in Tamil. Important changes were brought about in the sounds of vowels and consonants. Sounds like Sa, Sh and Ksha entered Tamil. It was during the age of the Naickers, that the European missionaries first came to Tamil Nadu. Notable among them were Veeramaamunivar, Seeganbalgu Iyer, and Pope Iyer. Among these, Veeramaamunivar sowed the seeds of a Tamil dictionary, wrote “A Grammar of the Common Dialect of Tamil Language” and brought about important reforms in Tamil letters.

    The sound ‘Ra’ was written like the Greek ‘pi’. ‘ா’; this could be confused with the letter used to indicate the ‘aa’ and the ‘o’ sounds.     Example: கா, கொ, கோ.. Veeramaaminivar changed this so that there would be no confusion between these two symbols. This change is useful to us and is in vogue even today.

    Literary works appeared in simple prose during this time. Folk songs became popular. The Europeans introduced printing machines into Tamil Nadu. Literary works, prose works, monthly journals and weeklies were printed. The English educational system was followed. Hence, text books were also printed. All these innovations took place during the age of the Naickers. You can learn all this in this lesson.