Tall claims & Tamil boomerangs

by Simeon Mascarenhas

While carrying out research for an article on the Tamil Bell (MM, November 16th), I came across a publication (Adyar Library, 1947) titled Origin and Spread of the Tamils by Vish­nampettai R Ramachandra Dikshitar. Intrigued, I widened my search and uncovered some very interesting information about this person.

Ramachandra Dikshitar was born on April 1st, 1896 in the village of Vishnampettai, in the Thiruvaiyaru Tehsil of Than­javur District, Tamil Nadu. Like almost every boy in the area (excluding non-Brahmins, no doubt), he attended the Sir P.S. Sivaswami Iyer High School in Thirukattupalli, about 6 km away. From there he went to St Joseph’s College, Trichinopoly, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in history in 1920. In 1923, he gained a Master’s Degree in the same subject, and a diploma in Economics. Clearly, he was hedging his bets, the employment prospects for a history graduate as bleak then as they are now. Although it sounds cynical, he must have been unsuccessful in getting employment in an area of business since he went on to complete a Ph.D in 1927 from Madras University, presumably in history.

Dikshitar seems to have fallen on his feet soon after completion of his Ph.D, gaining employment as a lecturer in history at St. Joseph’s College, Trichy, in 1928. He must have been ambitious, as only a year later, he moved up to the position of lecturer in the Department of History and Archaeology at the University of Madras. He held this post until 1946, when he was made Reader, then Professor in 1947. He was to enjoy this success for only six years because he died on ­November 24, 1953.

There remains to his credit a number of books published ­between 1927 and 1952. One of his more intriguing titles is Kautilya and Machiavelli (1927). His abiding interests seem to have been Sanskrit, Religion and Tamil culture, but it is clear that his ultra-conservative bel­iefs took precedence over historical accuracy. An ISKCON publication of 2009 quotes from Dikshitar’s book:

V.R. Ramachandra Dikshitar

“No question can be more interesting in the present circumstances of the world than India’s contribution to the science of aeronautics. There are numerous illustrations in our vast Puranic and epic literature to show how wonderfully the ancient Indians conquered the air. To glibly characterise everything found in this literature as imaginary and summarily dismiss it as unreal has been the practice of both Western and Eastern scholars until very recently. The very idea indeed was ridiculed and people went so far as to assert that it was physically impossible for man to use flying machines. But today, what with balloons, aeroplanes and other flying machines, a great change has come over our ideas on the subject… the flying vimana of Rama or Ravana was set down as but a dream of the mytho­grapher till aeroplanes and Zeppelins of the present century saw the light of day. The mohanastra, or the ‘arrow of unconsciousness’ of old, was until very recently a creature of legend till we heard the other day of bombs discharging poisonous gases. We owe much to the scientists and researchers who plod persistently and carry their torches deep down into the caves and excavations of old and dig out valid testimonials pointing to the misty antiquity of the wonderful creations of humanity.”

You are tempted to wonder if Dikshitar had not read Jules Verne. But at least his command over the English language was good, if somewhat predictable in the idiom of his time. Remember that he came from a very traditional family in a very small village far from the noted academic centres of the day. This is a feat that few students of today achieve, even with a thousand and one educational aids literally at their fingertips. It only goes to show the sincerity with which the acquisition of language was approached, and the standard of English education at that time.

Like all religious myths, Dikshitar’s claims are a matter of faith. But history is a matter of fact. Dikshitar claimed that the continent of Australia and the island of Polynesia were known to early Tamils long ­before Portuguese and Dutch explorers went anywhere near them. Upon what bases his claims were made is a mystery. He had read an article on the Tamil Bell in the Museum of New Zealand and had drawn some very imaginative conclusions. He claims that the boomerang was invented in South India (by Tamils, of course) and that the idea was carried to Australia by Tamil traders or explorers. The truth is that every culture in the world has a throwing stick of some type. Frescoes in the pyramids of ancient Egypt contain numerous paintings of curved throwing sticks for bringing down birds – three thousand years before Christ. The Sumerians, who are widely held to have invented the first graphic system, had a symbol for the boomerang. A broken example turned up in Florida – 9000 years after its owner had discarded it. And a complete, beautifully carved boomerang, made from a mammoth tusk and unearthed in Poland in 1986, was dated to 23,000 years ago.

There was/is an Indian boomerang, however, it is the valai tadhi and was used in several parts of the subcontinent to hunt hares, deer and birds. It was also used as a weapon of war. It just did not migrate with Tamil traders thousands of years ago to Australia or North America or Poland or Egypt. Whatever this implement is called in different cultures, the (anglicised) term for it in universal usage is undeniably Australian.

If some of Dikshitar’s historical claims seem quite incredulous, then turn to his translation of the Silapathikaram and Thirukkural. The Bulletin of Oriental Studies, Vol 10, Issue 3, October 1940, includes an assessment of his translation of the Silapathikaram. He is credited with rendering the classic poem into Tamil that is accessible to a reader whose command over the original language is insufficient to grasp its full import and beauty. Dikshitar is commended for his decision to express the poem in prose, because it is almost impossible to preserve the beauty of the adhaval metre adequately in blank verse.

A photograph of Dikshitar shows a photogenic, kind face and warm reflective eyes. He certainly looks content. Probably the security of his position at the University of Madras enabled him to indulge his passion for writing. Whatever his claims were, the fact remains that Dikshitar was quite an industrious writer who produced a significant number of publications before his death at the age of 57. They probably lie, dusty and forgotten, in the many excellent but neglected libraries of Madras, until they are sold to the paperman.

There must be descendants of Ramachandran Dikshitar somewhere in India – or in the USA. Perhaps they can ensure that a collection of his publications remain available to the public.

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