L. Swamikannu Pillai
இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: எல். சாமிக்கண்ணு பிள்ளை
L. Samikannu Pillai (L.D. Samikannu Pillai) (Louis Dominick Samikannu) (February 11, 1865 – September 10, 1925) was a nineteenth-century Tamil researcher and scholar cited by historians. He predicted the era of Tamil literature according to astronomical planets. Multilingual Scholar, Astronomer, Historian, Writer, Essayist, Orator, Translator, State Secretary and Politician. He was the head of Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly and the Madras Provincial Chief Secretary.
Birth, Education
His full name was Louis Dominic Samikannu Pillai. Samikannu was born on February 11, 1865 to Gnanaprakasam Louis Pillai and Siluvai Muthamma of Somanur Taluk in Kongunadu. Lewis Pillai, a French-speaking Catholic, was a clerk in the revenue department. Lewis Pillai's wife did not like his son being baptized in the Revivalist Christian Church, so she brought Samikannu Pillai to the family to Kongunadu with the help of her brother Rayappan.
Samikannu studied in Ooty with the help of his uncle. Lewis was a spendthrift and was in debt, so the Nagapattinam Sesu Sabha took over the responsibility of Samikannu's studies. Samikannu studied metriculation in Nagapattinam Soosaiyappar School and completed College with F.A., B.A. degrees eventually completing his studies in 1881. At that time he mastered English, French and Italian languages. He tudied M.A. in English and Latin. After completing law course from Madras University, he also passed the LLB exam conducted by London Institute.
Personal Life
Samikannu moved to Trichy from Nagapattinam in 1883 and joined St. Joseph's College as the first English lecturer and worked there for 4 years. He married Ratna Chironmani in 1888. She died in child labor in 1892 and he married Rose Ammaiyar in 1893. A total of 16 children were born to Samikannu from two wives. ([Lewis Dominic Swamikannu Pillai, M.A, L.L.B (LON), I.O.S, C.I.E (c.1865 - c.1925) - Genealogy]). His daughter Isabel Swamikannu became Mary Stanislaus. (Jeni).
Governance and Politics
Although Samikannu Pillai failed the Civil Services Examination in 1890, he was selected as Joint Collector in 1891 on the basis of his marks and general intelligence. He served as Registrar (1893), Departmental Assistant Secretary (1895), Secretary (1906) in the Chennai Government Secretariat and became District Collector of Nellore in 1917 at the age of 52. During his tenure as Deputy Collector in Kurnool, he quelled the communal riots by negotiating without firing a shot. It is said that in 1903, when Samikannu Pillai was working in the revenue department, he met the Pope in Rome when he went to European countries on behalf of the government and spoke to the Pope in Latin and Hebrew.
In 1920 Samikannu Pillai was promoted as Secretary to the Madras Rajdhani Government and in 1921 as Assembly Secretary. He went to England in 1922 to implement the development of the Madras Assembly and implemented the experience gained in the Madras Assembly. He was responsible for the creation of today's big library in the Tamil Nadu Assembly. During 1920-25 he served as the Chief Secretary to the Madras Provincial Government. In 1924, Perungavalur Rajagopalachari, who was the Speaker of the Madras Provincial Legislative Assembly, resigned, and an election was held for the Speaker's post. Samikannu, who contested on behalf of the Justice Party, won and became the speaker from February 1925 to September 10, 1925. Samikannu Pillai was the first Speaker to be elected by election. He created the Legislative Library during his tenure as Speaker. He died while in office.
Literary Life
Lewis Dominique Samikannu is multilingual, primarily a translator. Samikannu Pillai did not study Tamil literature properly. While researching the Indian Almanac, he also studied Tamil literature in a situation where he had to study the history books of Tamil Nadu. His research articles, epigraphical and linguistic studies have been cited and used by Tamil scholars. He is considered to be one of the foremost predictors of the eras of Tamil literature. His Indian Panchangam is an important Tamil Research book.
Books
Samikannu Pillai has written 17 English books and more than six translated books and many articles in St. Joseph's College, Trichy.
Realizing the need for English shorthand to record assembly speeches and public meetings, he published "Phonetic Shorthand" for easy reading by students and the police. It came out in five volumes in 1908. It is notable for not having the difficulty of learning Pitman's text. Books like Indian Chronology, Solar Lunar and Planetary (1911), Indian Ephemeris (1922) on Indian Almanac are works worth mentioning.
Language Proficiency
Samikannu Pillai has learned more than 16 languages. Not only in English, Latin, French, German but also in Sanskrit. He was fluent in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and Gujarati languages. Able to read and understand Greek, Hebrew, and language books.
Translations
Samikannu Pillai was the interpreter of the Madras Assembly. He wrote Latin songs while a student. He became Professor of Latin at the Royal College, Chennai. In the Assembly he did the work of translating from French and Latin into English.
At the request of the Perayar of Tamilnadu, Samikannu Pillai translated Arch Bernard's poem 'Soluvaiyil Esunathar' written in Latin into English. Samikannu assisted in the translation of the French book 'The Hindu Manners and Customs' by Abu Dube into English.
Samikannu Pillai translated religious texts from French and Italian into English at the request of Catholic religious workers. In 1909 he translated the Italian book The Secret of Memory and in 1910 he translated the French book Catholic Action.
Time based Research on Tamil Literature
Vaiyapuri Pillai scientifically predicted and brought back the era of Tamil literature at a time when there was a literary politics which believed that by advancing the era of Tamil literature, the entire Tamil culture would gain universal respect and a unique status among Indian languages. Vaiyapuri Pillai cites the vernacular historian Winternitz for his scientific chronology and Samikannu Pillai who predicted the period of literature according to astronomical planets.
Astronomical Research
Encouraged by his friend Ambrose, Samikannu Pillai was active in studying astronomy during the period 1875-1900. In 1900, his article in the Indian Review magazine about Tithis and Nakshatras introduced him as a researcher.
Indian Panchangam
In 1910, his speech at the S. Subramania Pillai Memorial Lecture at the University of Madras on the title Vedanta Sothida Panchangam first introduced him to the Tamil scholars of Madras. As the University of Madras requested him to research and publish the Indian Panchangam in detail, he wrote a book called Indian Ephemeris with more than 3000 pages in the years 1919-22. Almanac for 1300 years is predicted in this book. It contains a chronological reference to 60 years of Vikrama, Kali, etc. in India. It was helpful to the historians of the period and to the translators of the inscriptions. The Panchangam of India identified Samikannu Pillai as a Tamil scholar or an important prognosticator of Tamil literature.
In 1914, Samikannu's speech on behalf of the history department of St. Joseph's College, Trichy was published in a magazine that year. He predicted and spoke about some of the twelve Alvars, like Kulothungan II and the later Pandyas, and their eras based on weather planets.
When he started predicting periods based on reports of planetary movements in literature, he started reading inscriptions in print. Jatavarman Srivallabhan ascended the throne in 1291 based on the information about planetary movements in the Pandya inscriptions. He also concluded that Pandyan Kulasekaran was crowned on July 26, 1166.
Paripadal Research
When Abraham Pandit of Thanjavur published only the 11th canto of the Paribadal and published the astrological note in it, Subramanya Shastri, a Sanskrit scholar of Thanjavur, wrote in a journal that the Tamils had no knowledge of astrology. For this Samikannu took the 11th song of Paripadal for his study. For this he cited the book published by U.Ve.Sa. (1918).
The news about the planetary movements comes where the paribadal mentions that there was a flood in Madurai. It is told in 14 lines. In the morning of Lunar Eclipse when Karthika Natchathiram was at its peak in the sky, and when Sevvai and Guru were in Mesham and Meenam respectively, when Sani moves moves Danusu to Magaram, Sukiran stood in Idabam and Buthan stood in Mithunam, it is stated in Paripadal that Vaigai got flooded. Parimelazhaka, the narrator of the Paripadal, wrote the text for these lines on mere speculation. Samikannu explained that he did not predict this era respective algorithm. He stated according to the almanac, Madurai was flooded on the 17th of June 634 A.D. (full moon) at 6 am on Friday.
A translation of this prophetic message about time appeared in Senthamiz (Volume 22). In this article he argues with reasons that the Tamils learned astronomy from the Jains and that the Tamil system of mathematics is older than that of other parts of India.
Literary Place
In 1890 Samikannu's papers on chronology based on time were discussed at Oxford University (Trichy St. Joseph College). During the lifetime of Samikannu Pillai, he was not noticed by Tamil Nadu scholars. Samikannu, a scholar who did not study Tamil properly but who did not write in Tamil, is quoted by researchers and historians. He came to Tamil research from other fields.
Awards
- In 1905 Samikannu Pillai was awarded Rao Bahadur Pattam by the Madras government for his administrative skills.
- In 1909, the Madras government conferred the title of Dewan Bahadur in recognition of administrative skills.
- In 1924, he was placed in the Order of the Indian Empire of Britain.
Demise
He died on 10th September 1925 at Rayapuram, Chennai, after contracting rheumatism while in government service at the age of sixty.
Autobiography
Leo Proserpio :L.D. Swamikannu Pillai: A Biographical Study
Creations
- Panchang and Horoscope
- An Indian ephemeris, A. D. 1800 to A. D. 2000 -1922
- Indian Chronology -1911.
- Solar Lunar and Planetary
- Phonetic Shorthand - 1908
Translations
- Siluvaiyil Esunathar - From Latin to English
- The Secret of Memory (1909) - Italian to English
- Catholic Action - French to English
References
- A.K. Perumal - Book of Tamil Scholars
- L.D. Samikannu Pillai's Birthday today...! - Arasiyal Today
- Periyar's Views: Dravidan 01.06.1917 came out in it's first edition
- Lewis Dominic Swamikannu Pillai, M.A, L.L.B (LON), I.O.S, C.I.E (c.1865 - c.1925) - Genealogy
- L.D. Swamikannu Pillai: A Biographical Study - Leo Proserpio - Google Books
