Topic started by vaidyanathan (@ 219.65.110.53) on Thu Jul 31 17:08:35 .
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In 1706,the first German Protestant missionary named Ziegenbalgcame to Tamilnadu with the wrong notion that Tamils were barbarous. But soon he found goodenough reasons to change this view.On July 26, 1715 Malleiappen was given an audience by King Frederick IV of Norway, and the patron of Ziegenbalg. Malleiappen gave a resounding lecture in fluent German, and convinced the king of the breadth of Tamil culture. This remarkable young man must surely be the first Indian in northern Europe, if not in all of it!
He wrote to Europe to change this wrong notion, citing manyTamil heritage aspects with notes on Tamil literature like Aacharakkovai, Aathichuudi, KondreiVendhan, Needhi Venba, Thirukkural, etc. He wrote that many Tamil savants bequeathed a richcultural legacy. From then on, the Europeans changed their wrong notion and had high regard forTamil culture. much of these German observations had not beenbrought out for the reason that they were written in Tamil and old German languages andpreserved in the former eastern Germany, access to which was rather difficult for researchscholars in those days. Source materials in Germany:. Following this first German in 1706, for 250 years from thenon, hundreds of Germans came to Tamilnadu, as missionaries, travelers, academicians etc.,interacted with the native Tamils in different fields and wrote down in their diaries, travelaccounts, station registers, letters etc. all about the customs and manners, legends and fables,diseases and medicines, rites and rituals etc. and on many other indigenous cultural, literary,medical and socio-economic aspects. There are as many as 200, 000 Mss. on these topics besideshundreds of Tamil palmleaves too, now preserved in the Franckens archives in Halle/Germany. The Germans from the cold Europe, fell ill in the hot tropical Tamilnadu forthe first time here only and hence they knew nothing about tropical diseases and correspondingmedicines. When they were cured by the native Tamil Siddha medical doctors, they weresurprised at the high level of indigenous medical knowledge and almost all the Germans wrotedown in hundreds of their diaries about the tropical diseases and Siddha medical system and sentthem all to Germany in ships. A particular German missionary named Gruendler spent anunbroken period of 11 years, collecting Tamil medical palmleaves, translating them into Germanand sent them all in remarkable haste to Germany by the next available ship. Those Germansfound out to their pleasant surprise, that the Tamil medical men were experts in diagnosing thediseases by pulse, phlegm, urine, skin, tongue and eyes tests and prescribed proper medicines.As many as 4448 diseases - including certain special diseases for men, women and children wereidentified. Waguda Chuvadi, Udal kooru thathuvam, Sittar Aaruda Nondi Chindu, Malika SankaLitham are some of the medical books, which the Germans took away to Germany. Theimportance o'Nallennai' (gingili oil) in preparing many Siddha medicines had been widelyobserved. (a German diary).And now, about a very important medical note of the dreadful and
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______________________________________________________________________________Tamil Internet 2002, California, USA231as-yet-incurable disease Hydrophobia / Rabies: There is no medicine anywhere in the world, forcuring the chronic rabies patients. It is indeed a laudable aspect that 300 years ago, the Tamilsknew of the Siddha medicine to cure a dying rabies patient and this Tamil medical prescriptionwas also taken to Germany without leaving any copy of it in Tamilnadu. Some of the Germans were interested in Tamil language andliterature, some others in the Tamil Siddha medical system, a few more in the socio-economicaspects and another set of Germans, in the indigenous cultural aspects. But all of them praisedthe antiquity, richness of Tamil language and culture.
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