Posted
on July 2, 2016
Today's
famous birthday lived in Ceylon, which is now called Sri Lanka, and
he became a leading scholar on his people's language, Tamil.
Tamil
is spoken, not just in Sri Lanka, but also by some people in India
and other Southeast Asian nations.
 |
| Sri Lanka is a tear-drop-shaped island southeast of India. |
Kanapathipillai
was a university professor of Tamil at a time when there was no
epigraphist (a scientist who is trained to study ancient writing
systems and interpret ancient inscriptions) working on ancient Tamil
inscriptions. Kanapathipillai rolled up his sleeves, learned all he
could about epigraphy, and dove into the task of deciphering and
publishing the ancient writings.
Because
of Kanapathipillai's work, other scholars became interested in
ancient Tamil, and his students were inspired to carry on after the
professor retired.
 |
| Humans have lived in Sri Lanka for tens of thousands of years, and the first civilizations rose there many thousands of years ago... |
To
learn more about ancient Sri Lanka, check out this video –
the first in a three-part documentary. Or check out this webpage.
The British Museum's website has an offering about Ancient India.
If
you become an epigraphist, you might be the one to decipher one of these ancient languages – codes that, so far, have never
been cracked!
Also
on this date:
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