Swathi Thirunal as a Patron of Modern Science
Even though Swathi Thirunal is most well known for his contribution in music and literature, his leadership in other areas are also noteworthy. Swathi Thirunal was an Honorary Member of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland, and that the Journal of this society ran an obituary in 1847 which mourned that “the early death of this enlightened and princely patron of true science is a subject of just regret”. Swathi Thirunal took over as the king of the erstwhile state of Travancore at the age of 16 in 1829 and immediately brought in reforms which ushered in modernity to this part of India. The Trivandrum Observatory, The Trivandrum Public Library, The Trivandrum Zoo, The Government Press at Trivandrum, The University College at Trivandrum (earlier Maharaja’s Free School), The Charity Hospital, to mention just a few, all sprang up in their earliest forms during the reign of Swathi Tribunal.
The earliest form of the Oriental Manuscripts Library of the University of Kerala is also a contribution of Swathi Thirunal (this library now houses many of his original manuscripts, both palm leaves and paper). From the list of the above institutions itself, it is very obvious that he led the creation of scientific and educational institutions of the modern kind in Travancore which were the first of their kind in the small state.
Extracts from the British officer, Colonel James Welsh’s Military Reminiscences is an important pointer to basic training in modern science that Swathi had. James Welsh visited Trivandrum in 1819 and also 1825, and met Swathi on both occasions. By the time Welsh visited Travancore, the last attempt to overthrow British domination, Velu Thampi’s futile revolt had been quelled (Conel Welsh himself led the British troops in this fight) and the British were, for all practical purposes, the sovereigns of the state. The Travancore royalty had become a mere front-office for them. There was little reason for Welsh to paint an exaggerated picture about Travancore royalty. Travancore is described by him on one occasion as “… this Heathen country, where the basest superstition prevails, and where the Natives are taught nothing but vice and obscenity…”. In the extract that we are about to give also, the concluding, extra-ordinary praise goes side by side with frank critical remarks (on Swathi’s English).
“TREVANDERAM 1825
Being on a tour of inspection during the month of May and stopping to pass a few days at the Residency, with Colonel Newall, I had an opportunity of witnessing the studies of the young Rajahs in private, and forming an estimate of their progressive acquirements and abilities. On the morning of the 16th, at ten o’clock, I accompanied the Colonel in his gig, without attendants, to the fort, where we were immediately conducted to a room in the Palace, and found them, with their father, their sister, her husband, and their school-master ready to receive us. The elder boy, now thirteen [Swathi ], seemed greatly improved in mind though rather diminutive in person. He read a chapter of Malcolm’s Central India; the Governor-general’s Persian Letter, on the capture of Rangoon; a passage in Sanskrit; another in Malayalam, and seemed equally clever at each. He then took up a book of Mathematics, and selecting the forty-seventh proposition of Euclid, sketched the figure on a country slate; what astonished me most, was his telling us in English that geometry was derived from the Sanskrit, which was ‘jaw meter’ to measure the earth, and that many of our mathematical terms were also derived from the same source, such as hexagon, heptagon, octagon, decagon, dodecagon etc. His remarks were generally opposite, but their language was inelegant and ungrammatical. This is much to be lamented, because with so many studies on hand he can never read enough of English to correct his idiom; and the master, a very clever Tanjore Brahmin [Subba Rao who later became the Dewan] could not speak it much better himself. His Persian was pure and elegant; but of other languages I am too ignorant to offer an opinion. This promising boy is now, I conclude, sovereign of the finest country in India; for he was to succeed to the musnud the moment he had attained his sixteenth year. The younger brother gave us various specimens of his acquirements; somewhat inferior, of course, to those of the rising sun of the country, but still very fair.
The ‘inelegant English’ seems to have been either transient or a misunderstanding of the Indian accent. Journal of a visitation to the provinces of Travancore and Tinnevelly … 1840-1841 By Bishop of Madras George John Trevor Spencer, George John T. Spencer, Published by , 1842, p 96-97 says about Swathi’s English as follows: This morning I paid a visit of ceremony to the Rajah, to whom I was presented by the British resident, my hospitable host Colonel Cullen. The sovereign of this beautiful country is about twenty-six years of age, of a very pleasing countenance, and his manners are strikingly simple and gentlemanlike. He speaks English with perfect fluency, is an accomplished Persian and Arabic scholar, and is in other respects unusually well informed; having had the advantage of a much better education than commonly falls to the lot of oriental princes. The reference to the spoken English of his teacher Subba Rao is even more surprising. Subba Rao went on to publish a play in English in 1840, “Kishun Koovur. A tragedy in five acts”, published from Trivandrum and printed at the Government Press. What can be reasonably concluded is that the native accent of both the teacher and student would not have helped Welsh to grasp the language clearly, which could have led him to the remark that Swathi’s language was inelegant and ungrammatical and that the teacher could not speak it much better himself.
Welsh’s account gives us a revealing picture of Swathi Thirunal, the teenager student (of age to be in 8th standard, by today’s school system), who surprised the British visitor with his knowledge of mathematics, specifically Euclid’s geometry, and then astonished him with his knowledge of the etymology of the terms in Euclidean geometry. For a boy of 12 years of age, he seems to be a polyglot, widely read, and above all, he seems to be well acquainted with modern mathematics. The references to the breadth of his studies goes well with the latter hearsay about his general scholarship.
As an aside, what was the 47th proposition of Euclid that Swathi sketched on a slate? It happens to be the Pythagoras theorem which appears in Euclid’s geometry in the 19th century editions, as follows:
The Establishment of Rajah’s School in 1834
In 1834, Swathi Thirunal visited the Christian Seminary in Nagercoil where he met John Roberts. In the words of Agur [3]:In December 1834, His Highness the Rajah of Travancore travelled about in the Southern parts of his kingdom and paid a visit to the important Mission establishments. Messrs Mead and Mault spared no pains to make the Rajah’s visit as interesting as possible… His Highness’ visit to the Nagercoil English Seminary and the Mission Press produced important results to the State, for he was so much delighted with the working of these useful institutions, and so much impressed of their importance as civilising agents, that he very much regretted that his own capital could not boast of such establishments. When therefore His Highness requested the Missionaries to help him to establish a similar institution in Trivandrum, they heartily agreed. In consequence of this Mr. Roberts, the Headmaster was induced to go and start an English school at Trivandrum and workmen from the Mission Press were also sent to start the Sircar Press. Such was the origin of the Maha Rajah’s College, and the Government Press at Trivandrum. It may be noted here that the reference to the motivation for starting the Government Press at Trivandrum is only partially true, for his visit to the CMS Press at Kottayam in later years seems to have been equally motivating in this regard.
The school was founded in the land acquired by the state (this spot near the present Government Ayurveda College in Trivandrum). An archives’ record in 1837 cites a visit of Swathi Thirunal to the free school and gifting four golden rings to four selected students.
A slightly exaggerated report on the English schools in Travancore appeared in The Gardener’s Magazine of 1841 [6]. Some local toasts followed: then Sir David Brewster, who was received with loud cheers, proposed “The Health of his Highness the Rajah of Travancore, the great promoter of science in the East.” This prince was only twenty-eight years of age, and had not reigned more than ten years, yet, during that short period, he had caused himself to be distinguished by his accomplishments as well as by his’ liberality. They would, no doubt, be interested in learning that this prince was educated by his prime minister— a rare tutor for a sovereign. The prime minister was a Brahmin, from Tanjore, and, what was also remarkable, he had been educated by a man of science and a missionary, Elias Swartz, the well-known author of the “Flora Botanica.” … The Rajah had established schools within his dominions—he had established a mathematical school under English superintendence; but he had done more—he had done what, he was sorry to say, had neither been done in England, Scotland, nor Ireland—be had established a school in every village of his dominions— and be gave education to every child, male and female — he begged them to mark the word, female — a change in Indian customs that might lead to the happiest results.
Establishment of Trivandrum Observatory in 1837
Though Kerala has its own school of mathematics and astronomy and had perhaps an indigenous observatory in northern Kerala, the first reference to modern observatory in Kerala is found in Col Welsh’s writings, on the CMS college at Kottayam where he saw in 1824 a repository of scientific instruments. He specifically mentions “We visited the library and the observatory which occupied some hours”. However the observatory at CMS College is not seen mentioned in any after sources later and definitely not seen as having done original scientific work and publishing. It can be safely assumed that the observatory served to introduce basic astronomy to students of this college. Thus the observatory established at Trivandrum by Swathi Thirunal in 1837 can be argued as the first modern observatory in Kerala.
In 1832, at Alleppey [now Alappuzha], Swathi met the British Commercial Agent and amateur astronomer John Caldecott, whom he invited to Trivandrum to establish an observatory, which materialized in 1837. Caldecott later also became the chemistry tutor to Swathi’s younger brother who succeeded him. Here is an extract of a book by Caldecott, published in Madras in 1837 and in London in 1839 published during the lifetime of Swathi Thirunal himself [8] (This may also be helpful to clarify a confusion about Swathi Thirunal’s name, created during a short-lived controversy about him in 1980s. The argument was that the name “Swathi ” was not in vogue until the 1930s, when it was “invented”). The marble tablet referred to below is intact in the observatory building in Trivandrum, which is presently under the control of the University of Kerala:
“HIS HIGHNESS THE RAJAH OF TRAVANCORE, already celebrated for the munificence with which he promotes the education and mental improvement of his subjects, resolved in the latter part of last year on the establishment, at his capital, Trivandrum, of an Observatory of a superior kind; with the double view of affording his aid to the advancement of astronomical science, and of introducing by its means correct ideas of the principles of this science among the rising generation under his government; and having confided to me the superintendence of the institution as Astronomer, I take this early opportunity of introducing it to the notice of the public…On the north and south faces, and let into a panel, formed in the parapet wall, are to be placed marble tablets, bearing an inscription, as follows:-The Trivandrum Observatory, Founded by His Highness Sree Padmanabhadasa Vanchipala Sree Ramavarma Kulasekhara Kiritapati Manney Sultan Maharajah Raja Ramaraja Bahadur, Shamsher Jang, Maharajah of Travancore.
In a letter dated 4th January 1843, archived in Royal Society, London, Swathi Thirunal writes: Whenever Kristna Rao, who, you know, is a vulgar minded man and a total stranger to any learning at all, endeavored to persuade me that there is no utility by the continuance of the observatory establishment, I used to check him and at the same time express to him my sense of the high advantage derived from this establishment in a scientific point of view, as I am fully sensible that by reason of my patronizing it, my name, however, undeserving of any celebrity is favorably noticed even in distant regions, among the scientific personages of the present day.
The Athenaeum, Issues 584-635, p 927 of 1840 states: We have seen with not a little pleasure an astronomical ephemeris, printed at the press of the Rajah of Travancore, and calculated for the meridian of the …. recently established at Trivandrum the Capital of that state. Those who feel an interest in the intellectual progress of the people of India must be gratified to learn that the computations for the work were all made by native youths of Travancore, who received their education at the free school maintained by the Rajah. His Highness, who still retains an independent sovereignty, and who is celebrated in India for the munificence with which he promotes the mental improvement of his subjects came to a determination, in 1837, to establish at his capital an observatory of a superior kind; with the double view of affording his aid to the advancement of astronomical science, and of introducing the principles of this science among the rising generation under his government.
From all the above evidence, it is quite clear that the Trivandrum Observatory was an internationally acclaimed institution. It is also evident that Swathi Thirunal’s association was not merely nominal, as his letter to Caldecott clearly indicates. The respect that Caldecott held for Swathi echoes in his words spoken before the British Association for the Advancement of Sciences, as reported in The Literary Gazette of 1840 — ” In the beginning of the year 1837 it devolved on me to undertake the direction of an observatory then recently established at Trivandrum, in the south of India, by his highness the Rajah of Travancore (a young native prince of that country, of whom, for his liberal patronage of science, his munificent encouragement of education among his subjects, and or his beneficent rule, it is impossible to speak too highly)”
We must note here that the real contributor to modern science in Travancore was Caldecott himself.
The Trivandrum Government Press
In 1836, Swathi Thirunal visited the CMS Press at Cotym (Kottayam). Rev. Benjamin Bailey mentions he presented the Rajah with the sheets of his Malayalam Dictionary which was then passing through the press (“A dictionary of high and colloquial Malayalim and English ” was dedicated to Swathi Thirunal in 1846). At Ettumanoor, a place close to Kottayam, Swathi Thirunal is also known to have met ChavaraAchan, another pioneer in initiating printing in Travancore. Swathi Thirunal soon organized the Government Press at Trivandrum through Caldecott, and later John Roberts and Rev. Mead.
Memberships: Scholarly Societies
We now turn to Swathi Thirunal’s own association with scientific and literary societies. He was an honorary Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society. This society was founded in 1823 by the eminent Sanskrit scholar Henry Colebrook and a group of like minded individuals. It received its Royal Charter from King George IV in the same year ‘for the investigation of subjects connected with and for the encouragement of science, literature and the arts in relation to Asia’. .” From its incorporation, the Society has been a forum, through lectures, its journal, and other publications, for scholarship relating to Asian culture and society of the highest level. Throughout the course of the Society’s history many distinguished scholars have contributed to its work, including Sir Richard Burton (1821-90) the noted explorer and first translator of the Arabian Nights and Kama Sutra and Sir Aural Stein (1862-1943) the renowned archaeologist and explorer of the ‘Silk Road’. Swathi Thirunal seems to have been proposed as Honorary Member by the Vice-president of the Society Sir Alexander Johnston, as seen in the proceedings of the society. It may be noted that none else from India seems to have been given this membership.
It is also seen from The Asiatic Journal and Monthly Register for British and Foreign India, China, and Australia, Published by Parbury, Allen, and Co., 1835, p 237, that Swathi Thirunal was a patron of the Madras Literary Society.
In the proceedings of the 24th anniversary meeting of the Asiatic Society held on 8th May 1847, the first item was an obituary on Swathi Tribunal. His Highness the RAJA OF TRAVANCORE, who died at his palace of Trivandrum on the 27th of December last, an Honorary Member of this Society, was eminently distinguished among the princes of India as an enlightened patron of learning and science. To an extensive acquaintance with the languages and literature of Southern India, he added the knowledge of Sanskrit, Persian, and English. His early appreciation of the value of literary pursuits, and his freedom from the prejudices which might have operated unfavourably to the extension of researches in science conducted on European principles, may probably be traced to his early education under an enlightened Brahman, who had been a pupil of the celebrated Schwartz. His Highness ascended the musnud on attaining the age of 16, the period of majority according to the Hindu law, in 1829. A hospital, schools, and a printing establishment were among the early evidences of the liberal principles of his rule ; but the most noble proof of his desire to extend the practical benefits of true science was the erection of an Observatory at his capital, and the appointment of an able English Astronomer to the superintendence of this fine institution.
Here is another obituary fromAllen’s Indian Mail, and Register of Intelligence of British & Foreign India, China, & All Parts of the East, of 1847:
You will be grieved to learn about the demise of His Highness the Rajah of Travancore. Among the native princes of India, he was distinguished for his superior intelligence and extensive acquirements in oriental literature. He is not unknown to fame in the European world, for most of you must be aware that the deceased Rajah maintained an observatory at considerable expense, and that MR Caldecott was for a length of time, his highness’s astronomer. The ephemeris emanating from the Travancore observatory was a valuable contribution to astronomical science … The Rajah also supported an English school on a scale of liberality that perhaps has few precedents in other native states. He was a steady and staunch advocate of education, friend and patron of men of letters …
Promotion of Indigenous Science
Before we close, we need to add that Swathi Thirunal’s patronage was not confined to western science. Sankara Varman, one of last mathematicians of the traditional Kerala school, was a close friend of Swathi Tribunal. Commentaries of his work, Sadrathnamala available in the Kerala University Manuscripts Library attest to this fact. K V Sharma makes the following observation on their relation: “”Sankara Varman spent considerable time in the scholarly company of the princes of Travancore and was especially attached to Maharaja Swati Tribunal (1813-47).
Source: Swathi Thirunal- A Composer Born to a Mother by Dr. Achuthsankar S. Nair