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L. Swamikannu Pillai

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இந்தப் பக்கத்தை தமிழில் வாசிக்க: எல். சாமிக்கண்ணு பிள்ளை ‎

L.D. Samikannu Pillai
Isabel Samikannu
An Indian Ephemeris by Samikannu Pillai

L. Swamikannu Pillai (L.D. Samikannu Pillai) (Lewis Dominic Swamikannu Pillai) (February 11, 1865 – September 10, 1925) was a nineteenth-century Tamil researcher and scholar cited by historians. He predicted the age of Tamil literary works based on astronomy. L. Swamikannu Pillai was a 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 Swamikannu Pillai. Swamikannu was born on February 11, 1865 to Louis Gnanapragasam Pillai and Siluvai Muthamma of Somanur Taluk in Kongunadu. Louis Pillai, a French-speaking Catholic, was a clerk in the revenue department. Louis Pillai's wife did not like that his son was baptized in the Revivalist Christian Church, so she brought the family to Kongunadu with the help of her brother Royappan.

Swamikannu studied in Ooty with the help of his uncle. Louis was a spendthrift and was in debt, so the Nagapattinam Jesuits took over the responsibility of Swamikannu's studies. Swamikannu studied matriculation in Nagapattinam Soosaiyappar(Joseph) 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 studied 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

Swamikannu 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 Rathnasiromani Ammal in 1888. She died during labor in 1892 and he married Rose Ammaiyar in 1893. A total of 16 children were born to Swamikannu 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. (Geni).

Governance and Politics

Although Swamikannu 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 Swamikannu 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 Swamikannu 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. Swamikannu, who contested on behalf of the Justice Party, won and became the speaker from February 1925 to September 10, 1925. Swamikannu 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 Dominic Swamikannu was multilingual, primarily a translator. Swamikannu Pillai did not study Tamil literature formally. 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 ages of classical Tamil literary works. 'Indian Panchangam' is an important Tamil research book by him.

Books

Swamikannu 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

Swamikannu Pillai has learned more than 16 languages. He had learnt not only English, Latin, French, German but also in Sanskrit. He was fluent in Malayalam, Telugu, Kannada, Hindi and Gujarati languages. Able to read and grasp books in Greek and Hebrew.

Translations

Swamikannu 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 Archbishop of Tamilnadu, Swamikannu Pillai translated St. Bernard's poem written in Latin (possibly 'O Haupt voll Blut und Wunden') into English. In Tamil it was titled Siluvaiyil Esunathar' (Jesus on the cross). Swamikannu assisted in the translation of the French book 'The Hindu Manners and Customs' by Abu Dube into English.

Swamikannu 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 forward the age of Tamil literature at a time when there was a literary politics which believed that by backdating 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 Swamikannu Pillai, who predicted the period of Tamil classical literature according to astronomical calculations.

Astronomical Research

Encouraged by his friend Ambrose, Swamikannu 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 Swamikannu Pillai as a Tamil scholar or an important prognosticator of Tamil literature. In 1914, Swamikannu'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 principle of weather.

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 Pandithar of Tanjore 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 Swamikannu 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 the river Vaigai was flooded. Parimelazhakar, the commentator of the Paripadal, had interpreted the lines speculatively and not by calculation. Swamikannu 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 Significance

In 1890 Swamikannu's papers on predicting or calculating age (based on astronomy) were discussed at Oxford University (Trichy St. Joseph College magazine says). During the lifetime of Swamikannu Pillai, he was not recognized by Tamil Nadu scholars. Swamikannu, a scholar who did not study Tamil properly, who did not write in Tamil, is now quoted by researchers and historians. He came to Tamil research from other fields.

Awards

  • In 1905 Swamikannu Pillai was conferred the title Rao Bahadur 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 Royapuram, Chennai, after contracting rheumatism while in government service at the age of sixty.

Autobiography

Leo Proserpio :L.D. Swamikannu Pillai: A Biographical Study

Works

  • 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

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