Telugu Historyతెలుగు చరిత్ర

Printing and Telugu books, 1806–1961

How Telugu moved from palm leaf to print: the first Telugu types at the Serampore mission in Bengal, the mission and government presses of Madras, Bellary and Vizagapatam, C. P. Brown's printed editions, the Indian printers and publishers who followed, among them the Vavilla press of Madras, and the publishing societies of the early twentieth century. Government book registers show the numbers growing, from 85 Telugu books in 1872–73 to 642 in 1960–61.

Printing in Telugu began about 1806, and at first it was done mostly by Christian missions.1 By the end of the century Indian printers in Madras and in the Telugu towns were turning out hundreds of Telugu books a year.12 In 1928 P. Chenchiah and Raja M. Bhujanga Rao wrote that the printing press had moved the power of patronage “from the king and the zamindar to a reading public”.3

About the sources. The early history of Telugu printing comes mainly from the Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency (1885), from G. A. Grierson’s list of the Serampore mission’s publications (1903), and from the British Museum’s catalogue of Telugu books (1912).145 The numbers of books come from the government’s registers of books, printed in the Madras education reports.67 For Telugu newspapers, see Telugu newspapers and journals. For libraries, see The library movement, and for schools, Schools, colleges and universities, 1800–1956.

The first printed Telugu, 1806–1830

The Manual of 1885 says printing in Telugu began about 1806, but little was done until 1830.1 The Gospel of St. Luke was printed in 1810, and eight years later the Serampore missionaries printed their Telugu New Testament.1 Serampore was the mission of William Carey, who had come to India in 1793.4 Between 1801 and 1832 its press printed books in forty languages, and cut new types for many of them.4

Grierson summarised the mission’s yearly reports on this work. Its first report, known from an abstract printed in 1809, says a Telugu New Testament was being translated.4 A fire at Serampore on 11 March 1812 destroyed much of the press.8 The report of 1813 says that new Telugu types had been cast, because the old ones were lost in the fire.8

The same report says a Telugu grammar had been printed.8 This was William Carey’s A Grammar of the Telinga Language, whose title page names the Mission Press, Serampore, and the year 1814.9 By 1816 the New Testament was more than half printed.10 The report of December 1820 says the Telugu New Testament had come out two years earlier.11 After the Old Testament books then in the press, the mission handed its Telugu work to the Madras Auxiliary Bible Society.11

C. P. Brown did not think much of this Bible. Writing in 1857, he said the Serampore version of 1818 was “in some parts tolerably good”.12 Other parts, he thought, were written by an Englishman who knew little of Telugu grammar.12 The history of Telugu grammars in print is told in Telugu grammar.

Mission and government presses, 1819–1860

After Serampore, the work moved to the Telugu country and to Madras. The Manual of 1885 lists the main steps:1

  • in 1819 the Madras Religious Tract Society began its series of Telugu tracts1
  • in 1825 the London Mission set up a press at Bellary, which printed in Telugu and Kannada1
  • later, P. R. Hunt of the American Mission Press at Madras had a larger set of Telugu types cut there, which gave Telugu printing much of its good style1
  • by 1885 the press of the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge had made a very small Telugu type, called brevier1

Mission presses printed more than Christian books. The British Museum has an Andhra-nama-sangrahamu, a Telugu book of words with the same meaning, printed at the Mission Press at Visakhapatnam (then Vizagapatam) about 1840.5

The government also helped. The Madras School Book Society, formed in 1820, prepared cheap books for schools.13 Later it published general books in Telugu and other languages, and a Tamil and Telugu monthly called the Janavinodini.13 It was also nearly finished with a large Telugu dictionary.13

C. P. Brown’s printed editions

Brown printed old Telugu poems so that learners could read correct texts. In 1829 the College Press at Madras printed his edition of the verses of Vemana, with an English translation.14 William Taylor noted in 1857 that several editions had since been printed without the translation.15

Taylor’s list of Brown’s printed works also includes:15

  • the Manu Charitra and the Vasu Charitra, classical poems, with a commentary in Telugu15
  • the tales of Nala and Harischandra in Telugu couplets15
  • several volumes translated into Telugu for educational societies15

The British Museum’s catalogue shows how Vemana spread in print. Besides Brown’s edition, it lists about ten other editions of his verses printed between 1892 and 1909.14

Indian printers and publishers, 1860–1900

By 1885, the Manual says, Madras city had about sixty printing offices, most of them owned by Hindus.1 They printed forms and bills for firms, Hindu religious books and the works of popular authors.1 In the last fifteen years, iron presses had taken the place of the old wooden ones.1

The Manual names four kinds of Indian publishers.113 Some were relatives of earlier Tamil scholars, and some were workmen who had learned the trade in European presses.1 Others were Tamil and Telugu pandits (scholars), and a few people published books without owning a press.113 Books were cheap: a story or play of about 100 pages, half bound in cloth, sold for about two and a half annas.13 Hawkers carried books through the towns and to the big temple festivals.13

From 1867 the law (Act XXV of 1867) made every printer send copies of each new book to the government.13 The registers kept under this law show the Telugu share growing:67216

YearPublications registered in the Madras PresidencyIn Telugu
1872–7338785
1892–93928188
1894–95928260
1895–96932238

In 1872–73 most books were printed at Madras.6 Only a few came from the Telugu towns: seventeen from Visakhapatnam, five from Kakinada (then Cocanada) and four from Machilipatnam (then Masulipatam).6

Publishers of the new century

Telugu publishing houses grew in Madras. One of them was Vavilla Ramaswamy Sastrulu and Sons.17 In 1911 this firm reissued Brown’s English translation of Vemana.18 In 1921 it published Basavaraju Venkata Appa Rao’s Andhra Kavitva Charitramu, a history of Telugu poetry, printed at its own “Vavilla” press in Madras.1719

Societies also published books in Telugu. The Vignana Chandrika Mandali, founded by Komarraju Lakshmana Rao, brought out novels and books on history, physics, chemistry and other sciences.2021 K. Sitaramaiya names others that followed its model:2122

  • the Andhra Bhashabhivardhini Samgham of Machilipatnam21
  • the Andhra Pracharini Grandhamala of Tanuku and Nidadavolu, which published many novels, some translated from Bengali22
  • the Ramavilasa Grandhamala of Chitrada, whose greatest book was a history of Telugu literature22

The Andhra Sahitya Parishat, founded at Madras in 1911, printed old Telugu works.2324 Jayanti Ramayya Pantulu edited several of them, and also its large Telugu dictionary, the Suryaraya.24

Printing in Hyderabad State

In the Nizam’s state, printing was watched by the government. Its report for 1932–33 says it allowed eight new presses that year, and that the state had 123 working presses.25 Of 560 books published in 1932–33, 369 were in Urdu and only 39 in Telugu.25

Telugu publishers there worked against this. G. Venkataramarao writes that in 1939 Veldurti Manikya Rao and others started the Ana Grandhamala, which sold a book for one anna.26 Its first book, a translation of the Nizam’s constitutional reforms, had to be printed twice.26 A later book about the troubles of farmers was banned by the government.26 Vattikota Alwar Swamy carried his Desoddharaka Granthamala books in a bag and sold them himself.27

After 1947

The new state printed far more. Andhra Pradesh had 654 printing presses at work in 1957–58, and 832 in 1960–61.28 In 1960–61, 838 books were registered: 124 in English and 714 in Indian languages, of which 642 were in Telugu.28

Where the sources disagree

Carey’s grammar. The Serampore report of 1813, as Grierson summarises it, already says that a Telugu grammar had been printed.8 The title page of Carey’s Grammar of the Telinga Language gives the year 1814.9

The Desoddharaka Granthamala. Venkataramarao dates the founding of Vattikota Alwar Swamy’s series to 1941.27 On the same page he says that it published books from 1938.27 Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao (1988), followed on the page on Vattikota, dates the founding to 1938.29

Footnotes

  1. C. D. Maclean (ed.), Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1885), p. 550, notes 1–3 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16

  2. Report on Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency for 1894–95, p. 84, in the bound volume for 1891–95 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  3. P. Chenchiah and Raja M. Bhujanga Rao, A History of Telugu Literature (1928), p. 119 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  4. G. A. Grierson, “The Early Publications of the Serampore Missionaries”, The Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXXII (1903), p. 241 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  5. L. D. Barnett, A Catalogue of the Telugu Books in the Library of the British Museum (1912), col. 98 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  6. Report on Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency for 1872–73 (1874), p. 90 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  7. Report on Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency for 1892–93, pp. 94–95, in the bound volume for 1891–95 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  8. Grierson, “Early Publications of the Serampore Missionaries”, Indian Antiquary XXXII (1903), p. 243 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  9. William Carey, A Grammar of the Telinga Language (Serampore: Mission Press, 1814), title page (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  10. Grierson, “Early Publications of the Serampore Missionaries”, Indian Antiquary XXXII (1903), p. 244 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  11. Grierson, “Early Publications of the Serampore Missionaries”, Indian Antiquary XXXII (1903), p. 246 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  12. C. P. Brown, A Grammar of the Telugu Language, 2nd ed. (1857), p. 189 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  13. Maclean (ed.), Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (1885), p. 551 and notes (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8

  14. Barnett, Catalogue of the Telugu Books (1912), cols. 269–270 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  15. William Taylor, A Catalogue Raisonnée of Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of the (late) College, Fort Saint George, Vol. I (1857), p. xxiv (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  16. Report on Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency for 1895–96, p. 97, in the bound volume for 1895–99 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  17. Basavaraju Venkata Appa Rao, Andhra Kavitva Charitramu (Madras: Vavilla Ramaswamy Sastrulu and Sons, 1921), title page (in Telugu) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  18. C. P. Brown (tr.), The Verses of Vemana (Madras: V. Ramaswamy Sastrulu and Sons, 1911), title page (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  19. Venkata Appa Rao, Andhra Kavitva Charitramu (1921), imprint on the back of the title page (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩

  20. K. Sitaramaiya, A Hand Book of Telugu Literature (1943), p. 82 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  21. Sitaramaiya, A Hand Book of Telugu Literature (1943), p. 83 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  22. Sitaramaiya, A Hand Book of Telugu Literature (1943), p. 84 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  23. “Jayanti Ramayya Pantulu: Life and Work”, JAHRS X (1936–37), p. xviii (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

  24. “Jayanti Ramayya Pantulu: Life and Work”, JAHRS X (1936–37), p. xx (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2

  25. Report on the Administration of H.E.H. the Nizam’s Dominions for 1342 Fasli (1932–33) (1935), p. 116 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  26. G. Venkataramarao, Telangana Charitra (2014), p. 144 (in Telugu) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  27. Venkataramarao, Telangana Charitra (2014), p. 145 (in Telugu) (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  28. Statistical Abstract, Andhra Pradesh, 1961 (1963), p. 341, table 26.7 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). ↩ ↩2

  29. Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (1988), p. 38 (archive.org (opens in a new tab)). Cite-only; paraphrased. ↩

Institutions

Vignana Chandrika Mandali

1906 CE

A Telugu publishing society founded by Komarraju Lakshmana Rao with the help of the Raja of Munagala. It began in Hyderabad, where Regani dates it to 1906, and moved to Madras in 1908 when the Nizam's government grew suspicious of it. It published novels, histories and the first Telugu books on several sciences, began a Telugu encyclopaedia and held examinations in Telugu.

Andhra Sahitya Parishat

1911 CE

A Telugu literary society founded at Madras in April 1911, with the Maharajas of Pithapuram and Venkatagiri as founders and Jayanti Ramayya Pantulu as the head of its executive committee. It defended the old literary style of Telugu against the spoken-Telugu movement, collected and printed old works, published a journal, and began the large Suryaraya Telugu dictionary. Later it was based at Kakinada.

References

Sources (18)
  1. C. D. Maclean (ed.), Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. I (Digital Library of India scan) (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1885, pp. 550–551. [Public domain]
  2. R. C. Temple (ed.), The Indian Antiquary, Vol. XXXII (1903) (opens in a new tab), Education Society's Press, Bombay, 1903, pp. 241, 243–244, 246. G. A. Grierson, 'The Early Publications of the Serampore Missionaries'. [Public domain]
  3. William Carey, A Grammar of the Telinga Language (opens in a new tab), Mission Press, Serampore, 1814, title page. [Public domain]
  4. Charles Philip Brown, A Grammar of the Telugu Language (2nd ed.) (opens in a new tab), Christian Knowledge Society's Press, Madras, 1857, pp. 189. [Public domain]
  5. L. D. Barnett, A Catalogue of the Telugu Books in the Library of the British Museum (opens in a new tab), British Museum, London, 1912, cols. 98, 269. [Public domain]
  6. William Taylor, A Catalogue Raisonnée of Oriental Manuscripts in the Library of the (late) College, Fort Saint George, Vol. I (opens in a new tab), H. Smith, Madras, 1857, xxiv. [Public domain]
  7. Madras. Department of Public Instruction, Report on Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency for 1872-73 (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1874, pp. 90. [Public domain]
  8. Madras. Department of Public Instruction, Report on Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency, 1891-92 to 1894-95 (bound volume) (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1892, pp. 1892–93 report, pp. 94–95; 1894–95 report, p. 84. [Public domain]
  9. Madras. Department of Public Instruction, Report on Public Instruction in the Madras Presidency, 1895-96 to 1898-99 (bound volume) (opens in a new tab), Government Press, Madras, 1896, pp. 1895–96 report, p. 97. [Public domain]
  10. Basavaraju Venkata Appa Rao, Andhra Kavitva Charitramu (ఆంధ్ర కవిత్వ చరిత్రము) (opens in a new tab), Vavilla Ramaswamy Sastrulu and Sons, Madras, 1921, title page and imprint (PDF pp. 2–3). [Public domain]
  11. Charles Philip Brown (tr.), The Verses of Vemana: Moral, Religious and Satirical (opens in a new tab), V. Ramaswamy Sastrulu & Sons, Madras, 1911, title page; p. 192. [Public domain]
  12. K. Sitaramaiya, A Hand Book of Telugu Literature (opens in a new tab), Hyderabad Telugu Academy, Hyderabad (Deccan), 1943, pp. 82–84. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  13. Andhra Historical Research Society, Journal of the Andhra Historical Research Society, Vol. X (1936–37): Jayanti Ramayya Pantulu 75th Birthday Commemoration Volume, incl. 'Mr. Jayanti Ramayya Pantulu: His Life and Work, a Sketch', pp. xvi–xx (opens in a new tab), Andhra Historical Research Society, Rajahmundry, 1937, xviii, xx. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  14. P. Chenchiah and Raja M. Bhujanga Rao, A History of Telugu Literature (The Heritage of India Series) (opens in a new tab), Association Press (Y.M.C.A.), Calcutta / Oxford University Press, London, 1928, pp. 119. [Public domain]
  15. H.E.H. the Nizam's Government, Report on the Administration of H.E.H. the Nizam's Dominions for the Year 1342 Fasli (1932-33) (opens in a new tab), Government Central Press, Hyderabad, 1935, pp. 116. [Public domain]
  16. G. Venkataramarao; C. Narayana Reddy (chief ed.) and J. Chennayya (ed.), Telangana Charitra (తెలంగాణ చరిత్ర) (opens in a new tab), Andhra Saraswata Parishat, Hyderabad, 2014, pp. 144–145. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  17. Devulapalli Venkateswara Rao, Telangana Prajala Sayudha Porata Charitra (History of the Telangana people's armed struggle) (opens in a new tab), 1988, pp. 38. Cite-only; paraphrased. [All rights reserved (cited, not reproduced)]
  18. Bureau of Economics and Statistics, Andhra Pradesh, Statistical Abstract, Andhra Pradesh, 1961 (opens in a new tab), Government of Andhra Pradesh, Hyderabad, 1963, pp. 341. Public domain in India; figures only. [Public domain in India]

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