Introduction: Rev. Bartholomaus[ Bartholomew] Ziegenbalg of Danish Halle Mission translated the New Testament and some Books up to the Book of Ruth in the Old Testament into Tamil for the first time and thereby had secured a predominant place in the history of translation in India. Rev. Ziegenbalg began the translation work of the Bible into Tamil by the end of 1708 and completed the translation of the New Testament in 1711. And then he began the translation of the Old Testament and on account of his death in 1719 he could not translate beyond the book of Ruth in Old Testament. Rev B. Schultze a successor of Ziegenbalg completed the translation of the remaining books of the Old Testament and the Apocrypha in 1725 [ [i] G. Samuel Iyer, corrected by his son Rev.S. Gnanamonickam, History of the Tranquebar Mission in Tamil, A.D. 1706- 1955. The Tranquebar Printing & Publishing House, Vepery, Madras, 1955, pp. 205 & 206. [ii]. J. Ferd Fenger, History of the Tranquebr Mission, Tranquebar, Evangelical Lutheran Mission Press, 1863, pp 132 -133 ]. A concise study about the translation history of the First Tamil Bible and the Translator will be really useful to the readers, Church historians and present-day Christians.
Rev. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg
Rev. B. Ziegenbalg's Parents and His Birth: Long time ago there lived a gentleman in Pulsnitz, Saxony State, Federal Republic of Germany, by name Mr. Batholomaus Ziegenbalg Sr [ 1640--1694] with his wife Mrs Maria nee Bruckha [ 1646--1692] and this couple gave birth to Rev. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg on 24th July, 1683 at Pulsnitz. Both of his parents had intellectual family heritage. Mrs Maria guided her son Rev. B. Ziegenbalg to understand that the Bible is the best treasure in the world.
Rev. B. Ziegenbalg's Educational Track: Following the death of his mother and father, young B. Ziegenbalg was left under the care of his eldest sister who kept him with kind concern and sent him to School regularly and guided him to read the bible ardently [ J.Fred Fenger, op. cit. p. 16]]. In 1698 he attended a School in Gorlitz. In April 1702 Ziegenbalg attended F. Werder High school in Berlin under Rev, Joachim Lange and learned Hebrew Greek and Latin and returned to his native place Pulsnitz in June 1702 with stomach ailment. In 1703 he visited Leipzig, Wittenburg, and Jena. In the year 1704 he pursued his higher education at the University of Halle under pietist August Herman Franke. He was sent to tutor first at Merseburg and then at Erfurt. In October 1705 he finished his interim pastoral work in Berlin. [ [i] 2019 Concordia historical Institute. THE MELIM ONLINE PROJECT. Faces of Lutheran Missions in India, [ii] J. Ferd Fenger, op. cit. p 20].
Danish Fort at Tranquebar
Ziegenbalg Reached Tranquebar in Tamil Nadu as a Danish Halle Missionary: Due to sickness Ziegenbalg wanted to abandon Theology but his academic teacher [ probably Francke] advised and convinced Ziegenbalg not to abandon the study of Theology. Ziegenbalg also decided not to give up Theology, but he was soon obliged to leave Halle on account of his sickness and occupied himself in teaching first at Merseburg and then at Erfurt for a short time. Then he spent a year in Pulsnitz with his sister and then went to Berlin ,[J. Ferd Fenger, p. 20]]. However, during 1704- 1705 Ziegenbalg had the privilege to give sermons in the Churches in the absence of regular Pastors. [ G. Samuel Iyer, corrected by his son Rev. Sa. Gnanamonickam, Op. cit. pp.7-8] While he was in Berlin he came across Lutken's letter asking for Missionaries to be employed by the King of Denmark Frederick IV. This Call was proposed to him and after some initial hesitation Rev. Ziegenbalg accepted the Call. It was a great pleasure to Ziegenbalg that his School and University friend Heinrich Plutschau decided to go with him. In October 1705 Rev. Ziegenbalg and Rev. Heinrich went from Berlin to Copenhagen and were kindly received by the king and Dr. Lutkens and were ordained by Dr. Bornemann, Bishop of Zealand. [J. Fred Fenger, Op. cit. PP. 20&21].. On the 29th of November 1705 Heinrich Plutschau and Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg under the good Providence of God and upon the gracious command of His Royal Majesty of Denmark and Norway King Frederick IV. left Copenhagen for the East Indies [ India] as the first Protestant Christian missionaries to proclaim the Gospel of Christ to the Non-Christians on the Coromandel Coast. It would be useful to the readers and Church historians to read the Royal declaration and instructions given by Frederick IV to the First Missionary B. Ziegenbalg " We Frederick IV etc., do hereby made known to all concerned that we in Our Royal favour have engaged and appointed, and do herewith engage and appoint Mr Bartholomew Ziegenbalg, to go as Missionary from here to eastern India, and there to apply himself with all diligence to instruct the heathens who dwell within Our territory and on the borers thereof, in the holy doctrine, as set forth in God's Word and professed in the Symbolic Books of this realm agreeing to the Augsburg Confession, and to bring them to the knowledge of salvation , according to the further terms of the Instructions. which We in Our Royal favour shall for that purpose communicate to him. Out Greetings etc. Dated Copenhagen, 17, Nov, 1705'. A Royal letter worded like this was written for Mr. henry Plutschau on the same day. Rev. Ziegenbalg and Rev Heinrich arrived at Tranquebar in Tamil Nadu on the 9th of July 1706. [J. Ferd Fenger, Op.cit. pp.221&22 and p. 309].
Rev Ziegenbalg Worked hard to learn Tamil: Rev. Ziegenbalg understood the importance of having a fluency in Tamil language to communicate and attract the Non-Christian Tamils into Christian fold. Rev Ziegenbalg and his colleague found practical difficulty to find a suitable person to teach them Tamil. After some months they found a Malabar [Tamil ] School Master and requested and invited that 70year old Hindu Teacher into their residence with his little School The missionaries were very anxious to know how the children were taught in his School and so they become students of this Hindu teacher. Rev. Ziegenbalg and Rev Heinrich sat amidst the young students on the sand and learned to write and pronounce the Tamil Alphabets and words. But the aged teacher was unable to translate the words into Portuguese. Hence the missionaries searched and found out another Indian translator by name Aleppa who was a Tamil man and was proficient in Portuguese, Danish, German and Dutch. Ziegenbalg learned Tamil from Aleppa and mastered Tamil with great effort and relentless hard work within a remarkably shot time of 8 months. Aleppa could not teach Tamil language in line with grammatic rules but he explained words and helped these two Danish Missionaries to understand the Tamil Books. Slowly Ziegenbalg and Heinrich gained an insight into the difficult Tamil grammar. [ Dr. S. Nagarajan Professor & Head, Department of Tamil Studies in Foreign Countries, Tamil University, TAMILS ABROAD: NON-ASIAN COUNTRIES, Tamil University, Thanjavur 1995, pp. 426 & 427 ]..After having learned Tamil and read some classic Tamil Books Rev Ziegenbalg said about Tamil " They possess authors on almost all sciences and are expert in many trades and handicrafts. and Ziegenbalg also said that Most Christians in Europe, suppose the Malabarians to be a very barbarous people but this arises from the Europeans who have been amongst them not understanding their language, so that they have not been able to read their books but have drawn their conclusion from outward appearances / [Fred Fenger, Op. cit. P.25] .These sentences of Ziegenbalg speaks about his correct and high opinion about the Tamil language, books and Tamil authors.
Rev. Ziegenbalg began to Translate the New Testament into Tamil: In line with his visionary goal and determination Rev. B. Ziegenbalg began to translate the 'New Testament" into Tamil language on the 17thOctober 1708. Though his enthusiastic translation work was blocked by his unjust imprisonment, he continued his translation work as soon as he was released from the prison and completed the translation of all the books in the New Testamen on the 21st of March 1711. Rev. Ziegenbalg translated it from Greek, Latin, German, Danish and Portuguese; more over he referred many Bible commentary books. As soon as he completed the translation of the New Testament into Tamil, he said " All the books of the New Testament are now translated, this is a treasure in India, which surpasses all other Indian treasures. Like his mother Rev. Ziegenbalg also called the New Testament as a Treasure. [ [i] G. Samuel Iyer, Op.cit, p. 205. [ii] J. Ferd Fenger , Op.cit. pp 80 &81]. As soon as the translation of the New Testament was completed by Rev. B Ziegenbalg, the Rev. William Stevenson, Chaplain of the Fort St. George spontaneously appreciated Rev. B. Ziegenbalg in the following words, " We congratulate you, most worthy gentleman, on Account of the Translation of the New Testament into the Damulian Tonge, designed for the use of the Heathen World ".[ Propagation of the Gospel in the EAST. Being the Collection of LETTERS from the Protestant Missionaries, and other worthy Persons in the EAST- Indies, & Co. Part. III. London, 1718. p.116]. When the Translation of the New Testament had been carefully revised, a Printing Press with Tamil letters received in Tranquebar, they proceeded to print the New Testament in Two parts. The First part covered the four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles and was printed at the Mission- press in Tranquebar and the printing work was completed on 25th September 1714. The Second Part embraced the remaining books of the New Testament and was printed in small letters on account of want of papers and its Printing work was completed on 18th July 1715. [ [i]J.Ferd. Fenger, Op.cit. p 82 and [ii] G. Samuel Iyer, Op.cit, p. 206].
Rev. B. Zigenbalg's Wife and Children ; In Halle, in 1715, Rev. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg married Ms Maria Dorothea Salzmann who was his pupil at Merseburg, where her father was a government secretary. [ J. Ferd . Fenger, op.cit .p 99] Rev. Ziegenbalg and Mrs. Maria Dorothea Ziegenbalg couple gave birth to three children and out of this 2 died early. The eldest was afterwards served as Professor of Mathematics in Copenhagen and then for a time worked as Director of the Danish factory of Frederiksnagar [Ibid. p 312].
Rev. B. Ziegenbalg Began to Translate the Old Testament into Tamil: As soon as Rev. Ziegenbalg had completed the translation of the New Testament into Tamil language. He began the translation of the books of the Old Testament one by one .and systematically. In 1714 even during his journey to Europe he continued his translation work assiduously. As soon as he returned from Europe to Tranquebar he continued his translation work of the Old Testament. But his translation work was interrupted by his demise in 1719. Until the time of his death he had translated the first five books of Moses and books up to the book of Ruth. They printed 400 copies of the Tamil New Testament translated by Rev. Ziegenbalg in Tranquebar, in 1720 [ Ibid, p. 83, [ii] G. Samuel Iyer, Op. cit, P.206]
Rev. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg' Grave in Tranquebar
Conclusion: Rev Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg lived in this world for a short span of 36 years only [ 1683- 1719] but by his exemplary life and extraordinary accomplishment he lives in our minds.in his books. and in the institutions that he built. Rev. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg died at Tranquebar on 23, February 1719 and was buried next day in New Jerusalem Church, at Tranquebar. He was blessed with the gift of learning foreign languages very easily. Even though he lost both of his parents at an early age he did not lose hope and grit to face challenges in life. He mastered Tamil language within a very short span of time. He had not only translated New Testament and some books of Old Testament into Tamil but also had authored some praiseworthy and useful books. Ziegenbalg ardently studied Tamil words and their meaning during a short span of two years. He collected 20000 Tamil words and to collect these words Rev Ziegenbalg read books on Theology, History, Philosophy, Medicine and Phi logy. and complied his famous Malabar Dictionary {Tamil-- German Dictionary] after 4 years this lexicon had grown to 40000 words and expressions. This Malabar Dictionary was arranged according to Tamil alphabet. Rev. Ziegenbalg complied a poetical Dictionary of 17000 words out of all kinds of poetical writings, under the guidance of some experienced Tamil poets. Ziegenbalg considered his Dictionaries as great treasures and hoped that with God's blessings they would become invaluable [ [J. Fred. Fenger, op.cit, p 34. [ii] Dr. S. Nagarajan, op.cit. p 428]. Rev Ziegenbalg correctly understood the power of Music in Worship Services and Rev Ziegenbalg's one of the notable contributions was the compilation of a Tamil Christian Hymn Book. This Hymn book contained the translations of classic Lutheran Hymns and original compositions that reflect the theological and cultural context of the Tamil Christians. Rev. Ziegenbalg was a great educationist, actually he opened Charity Schools/ Free Schools in Tranquebar and laid the foundation for Free Education policy of the present-day Governments. Boldly, delightfully and gratefully we can say that Rev. Bartholomaus[ Bartholomew] Ziegenbalg was the Founder of the Protestant Christianity in India. It is not possible to accommodate all the important and glowing chapters of his sacrificial life within the space of this Blogpost and so I will end this Blogpost with the following sentence. " Dear and respected Rev. Bartholomaus Ziegenbalg I thank and praise God for you, and proud of you ".
END.
By. P. Babu Manoharan, M.A,.[ All the rights are reserved. This Blogspot will be modified, enlarged or corrected later if needed].
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