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CONCLUSION

A dark cloud descended on the Tamil country and shrouded Tamil. During this age Tamil literature was veritably stagnant. Tamilnad stopped growing politically, economically and socially. With the arrival of European scholars, a new awakening was heralded. Their interest began slowly to seep through the thick cloud of apathy and a revival of literary interest commenced.

The reigning notion prevalent in the south at that time was to trace the origin to Tamil to Sanskrit. It was steadfastly believed that apart from Sanskrit, she could never have an independent existence. Europeans however, got acquainted with Tamil sooner than with Sanskrit and the reason is obvious, since Tamil was a living language unlike Sanskrit. Their early studies based on Latin and Greek models revealed the baseless assumptions of the origin of Tamil. Many South Indian languages were taken up for individual study and research. Later, a comparison of such studies followed which culminated in the stupendous but admirable work by Dr. Caldwell. It was Caldwell who diligently proved beyond doubt, the independent origin and existence of Tamil. She was declared to possess a vast and rich ancient literature. A Dravidian family of languages was asserted by these studies which consisted of cultivated and uncultivated languages of which Tamil was the eldest sister. A comparative and historical study of the affiliated languages also commenced. Dr. Caldwell’s works inspired many successive studies and to this day, they are venerated.

In the field of lexicography, the work of European scholars has left an ineradicable influence. The distinguished genius of Beschi stands foremost. He deviated from the traditional method and compiled his dictionaries adopting western ways. The difficult task of compiling did not hamper several scholars at different periods to strive for perfection.