Editor | Rev. Dr. Hermann Gundert |
---|---|
First issue | June 1847 |
Final issue | December 1850 |
Company | Basal Evangelical Mission society (BMS) |
Country | India |
Based in | Illikkunnu |
Rajyasamacharam or Rajya Samacharam was the first Malayalam journal published in Kerala. [1] Its first issue came out in June 1847. [2] Hermann Gundert, the editor of the journal, was a religious propagator from the Basel Evangelical Mission society. Rajyasamacharam started publication from Illikkunnu, Thalassery, in the Kannur district of Kerala. It was published as eight cyclostyled sheets in demy octavo size produced from a litho press. The pages were without columns or cross heads and was in simple language. [3] It was distributed free of cost. [2]
It helped in formulating the Malayalee reader's viewpoints against caste distinction and related injustices. [1]
It ceased publication in December 1850 [2] and a total of 42 issues were published.
In October 1847, Gundert started another publication called Paschimodayam . It was also cyclostyled. It carried articles on history, natural science, geography and astrology. The other works of Gundert were Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam, a Malayalam grammar book, and the first Malayalam English dictionary. He also translated the Bible into Malayalam. [4]
Malayalam is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was designated a "Classical Language of India" in 2013. Malayalam has official language status in Kerala and Puducherry (Mahé), and is also the primary spoken language of Lakshadweep and is spoken by 34 million people in India. Malayalam is also spoken by linguistic minorities in the neighbouring states; with a significant number of speakers in the Kodagu and Dakshina Kannada districts of Karnataka, and Kanyakumari and Nilgiris district of Tamil Nadu. It is also spoken by the Malayali Diaspora worldwide, especially in the Persian Gulf countries, due to the large populations of Malayali expatriates there. They are a significant population in each city in India including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Delhi, Kolkata, Pune etc.
The Malayalam Calendar is a sidereal solar calendar used in Kerala. The origin of the calendar has been dated to 825 CE, the beginning of the Kollam Era.
Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puduchery, is one of the six classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written in Malayalam, a South-Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala. The first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam Varthamanappusthakam, written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. Malayalam literature has been presented with 6 Jnanapith awards, the second-most for any Dravidian language and the third-highest for any Indian language.
Thalassery, formerly Tellicherry, is a municipality and commercial city on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district, in the state of Kerala, India, bordered by the districts of Mahé (Pondicherry), Kozhikode, Wayanad, Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karnataka). Thalassery municipality has a population just under 100,000. Thalassery Heritage City has an area of 23.98 square kilometres (9.26 sq mi). Thalassery has an altitude ranging from 2.5 to 30 metres above mean sea-level.
Hermann Gundert was a German missionary, scholar, and linguist, as well as the maternal grandfather of German novelist and Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse. Gundert is chiefly known for his contributions as an Indologist, and compiled a Malayalam grammar book, Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam (1859), in which he developed and constricted the grammar spoken by the Malayalis, nowadays; a Malayalam-English dictionary (1872), and contributed to work on Bible translations into Malayalam. He worked primarily at Tellicherry on the Malabar coast, in present day Kerala, India. Gundert also contributed to the fields of history, geography and astronomy.
Malayalam journalism encompasses journalism published and broadcast in the Malayalam language. Modern Malayalam journalism can be traced to the publication of the Raajyasamaachaaram and the Pashchimodhayam under the direction of Hermann Gundert in June 1847. Kerala has the highest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainly English and Malayalam.
St. Thomas' College (Autonomous), Thrissur, is a government aided college located in Thrissur, Kerala, India. It is founded by Mar Adolph Medlycott in 1889. It is the oldest college in the Erstwhile Princely State of Cochin and present day Thrissur district. It is the second private college to be recognised as a first-grade college under the University of Madras. It is the first Catholic college in Kerala and is conducted by the Syro-Malabar Catholic Archdiocese of Thrissur.
The college is affiliated with the University of Calicut. The college attained Autonomous status in 2014 and was recognised as College with Potential for Excellence by University Grants Commission in 2016. The college was accredited with A++ grade in its fourth cycle of National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) accreditation, scoring CGPA of 3.70 on a four-point scale in October 2022.
Kottayam is a city in the Indian state of Kerala, flanked by the Western Ghats on the east and the Vembanad Lake and paddy fields of Kuttanad on the west. It is the district headquarters of Kottayam district, located in south-west Kerala. Kottayam is located in the basin of the Meenachil River at an average elevation of 3 metres (9.8 ft) above sea level, and has a moderate climate. It is located approximately 155 kilometres (96 mi) north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
Dr. K. Ayyappa Paniker, sometimes spelt "Ayyappa Panicker", was a Malayalam poet, literary critic, and an academic and a scholar in modern and post-modern literary theories as well as ancient Indian aesthetics and literary traditions. He was one of the pioneers of modernism in Malayalam poetry, where his seminal works like Kurukshethram (1960), is considered a turning point in Malayalam poetry. Many of Ayyappa Paniker's poems and his several essays were an important influence on later generations of Malayalam writers.
The city of Thiruvananthapuram has been the centre of cultural activities of Kerala (India) from the time it was made capital of Travancore in 1745. The capital city is a major intellectual and artistic center. The Thiruvananthapuram Museum and Thiruvananthapuram Zoo were started during the reign of Swathi Thirunal (1813–1847) and are one of the oldest of their kind in India. The city's libraries include the Trivandrum Public library, which was started in 1829. The Swathi Thirunal College of Music and 'College of fine arts' are the leading institutions related to music and arts.
Vakkom Mohammed Abdul Khader Moulavi, popularly known as Vakkom Moulavi was a social reformer, teacher, prolific writer, Muslim scholar, journalist, freedom fighter and newspaper proprietor in Travancore, a princely state of the present day Kerala, India. He was the founder and publisher of the newspaper Swadeshabhimani which was banned and confiscated by the Government of Travancore in 1910 due to its criticisms against the government and the Diwan of Travancore, P. Rajagopalachari. He was an avid reader of Rashid Rida’s Islamic magazine, Al-Manar. Vakkom Moulavi is known as the father of Islamic renaissance in Kerala.
Nettur is a village segment which comes under the jurisdiction of Thalassery municipality, in the state of Kerala, India. It is situated in North Thalassery en route to Kannur via NH 17. The Anjarakandi-Thalassery state Highway passes through Nettur. Nettur is picturesquely nestled between the Kuyyali and Anjarakandi rivers.
Translation of the Bible into Malayalam began in 1806. Church historians say Kayamkulam Philipose Ramban, a scholar from Kayamkulam, translated the Bible from Syriac into Malayalam in 1811 to help the faithful get a better understanding of the scripture. The Manjummal translation is the first Catholic version of the Bible in Malayalam. This is the direct translation from Latin. The four Gospels and the Acts of the Apostles were translated by the inmates of the Manjummal Ashram, Fr. Aloysius, Fr. Michael and Fr. Polycarp. The Pancha Granthy came out from Mannanam under the leadership of Nidhirikkal Mani Kathanar in 1924. The Catholic New Testament was published in full in 1940. and has influenced development of the modern language.
Rev. George Mathan, a.k.a. Rev. George Matthan, Rev. George Mathen, Geevarghese Kathanar or Mallapallil Achen (Malayalam: ജോർജ്ജ് മാത്തൻ, was a Saint Thomas Anglican priest, Malayalam grammarian and writer of the 19th century Kerala.
Old Malayalam, inscriptional language found in Kerala from c. 9th to c. 13th century CE, is the earliest attested form of Malayalam. The language was employed in several official records and transactions. Old Malayalam was mostly written in Vatteluttu script. Most of the inscriptions were found from the northern districts of Kerala, those lie adjacent to Tulu Nadu. The origin of Malayalam calendar dates back to year 825 CE.
Choorayi Kanaran (1812-1876) was the first Deputy Collector of India. He was born into a prominent family. He was also the first Municipal Chairman of Kerala.
Scaria Zacharia was an Indian linguist, professor and researcher. He was a member of numerous significant research initiatives that received global notice and collaborated with many linguists and cultural experts from other nations. He played a key role in recovering the archival knowledge and Malayalam manuscript from the University of Tubingen in Germany. Later he published the digital versions of the architects. In 2022, Thunchath Ezuthachan Malayalam University and Mahatma Gandhi University honoured him with honorary D lit. Scaria Zacharia is the winner of Kerala Sahitya Akademi’s Lifetime Achievement award. He died on 18th October 2022 due to age related issues.
Gundert Museum is a heritage museum located at Thalassery, Kerala. It was originally the residence of Hermann Gundert, a German missionary who is remembered for his contributions to the Malayalam language. It was known as Gundert Bungalow before turning into a museum and was constructed in the 1800's. In 2022, it was converted into a museum by the Kerala Government as a tribute to Gundert. It was from this bungalow that Gundert published the first language dictionary in Malayalam and the first Malayalam dailies Rajyasamacharam and Paschimdodayam. The museum houses the Hermann Hesse Library, a collection of rare books, the Julie Gundert Hall, the Gundert Statue and the Digital Book Archive.
Paschimodayam was the second Malayalam magazine published in Kerala. Its first issue came out in October 1847. The owners of the journal were the Basel Mission Society. The structure of Paschimodayam was similar to Rajyasamacharam, the first Malayalam magazine. But in addition to Christian contents, there were articles published on science, history, astronomy, and geography.