The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : New insights into ancient history

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Nov 26, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

New insights into ancient history

Bageshree S.

S. Settar

Bangalore: Not many know that historian S. Settar wrote short stories and limericks in Kannada before he plunged into research which left him little time for all else.

He seems to have come a full circle with his latest work, “Sangam Tamilagam mattu Kannada Naadu-Nudi”, which explores early Dravidian relationships with literary sources forming the principle source of arguments.

Prof. Settar has tried his hand at translation too and the last section of the book offers a sample of Sangam poems in Kannada. “I realised while translating that the creative writer in me has not completely evaporated,” he says.

Though “Sangam Tamilagam…” – the 100th publication of the publication group, Abhinava, is Prof. Settar’s first full-fledged work in Kannada, sources from Kannada have always been part of research work. The book is a model of interdisciplinary scholarship as the author subjects ancient and medieval Dravidian literature to the rigours of historical methodology.

“Sangam Tamilagam…” looks at the history of scripts in south India, the fluidity of language borders, and the linkages within a broadly defined Dravidian culture.

His analysis is dispassionate and recognises the strengths and weaknesses of every cultural heritage.

“Sangam Tamilgam…” is now being translated into Tamil. Prof. Settar’s next step in exploration is the mammoth task of compiling a dictionary of usages for the first millennium of Kannada’s literary history. “It is the kind of work institutions should do. But I want to make a start and create at least a model in my lifetime,” he says.

Prof. S. Settar’s book will be released at the Central College at 6 p.m. on Tuesday.

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