PREFACE.
The English Government of Madras extends over various Hindu nations, each of which has its peculiar language. At the date of the Musulman invasion, eight centuries ago, while Canute ruled Britain, the Telugu, Karnataca (Carnatic), and Tamil countries were ruled by "Karnataca Razulu," Kings of the Carnatic, who took the title Tribhuvana Chacravarti (or Trailokya Malla), as "Lords of the Three Realms," in which these three languages were spoken. The last of these princes, named Betteda Raya, quitted the Jaina sect, and becoming a worshipper of Vishnu (in A.D. MCXI., about the time of Henry the First of England), took the title Betteda Vishnu Vardhana. He patronized the Bramhans, and in his days the first part of the Mahabharat (their sacred book) was translated from Sanscrit into Kannadi, Telugu, and Tamil metre. That work is to this day read in every village throughout the country. The earliest poems and philological treatises (now somewhat antiquated) are believed to have been written in the days of this raja. Actuated by a zeal for their hierarchy, the Bramhans of former ages translated this "Iliad of India," and also the Ramayan and Bhagavat, into every language.
About the time when, in England, Queen Elizabeth's reign began, the Telugus were ruled by Krishna Rayalu, who patronized literature; and the most eminent of the poets have sung his praises. But the Musulman power had gradually increased until about A.D. 1580, when the Telugus were finally conquered. From that time the languages of the three countries became more and more infested with foreign words; the literature was, as far as possible, crushed; and yet to this day every work of merit survives: these may be seen in a library which I collected, and presented to the Literary Society of Madras. It will, I hope, long remain in the College Library, although, while I write, the College has been dissolved.
C P. Brown's Telugu Grammar; Second Edition.
