Karl Graul (6 February 1814 – 10 November 1864) was a leader of

Leipzig Leipzig ( , ; Upper Saxon: ) is the most populous city in the German state of Saxony. Leipzig's population of 605,407 inhabitants (1.1 million in the larger urban zone) as of 2021 places the city as Germany's eighth most populous, as ...

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...

mission and a

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, na ...

scholar. He was born in a poor weaver family in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. He moved to

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area, the List of countries and dependencies by population, second-most populous ...

as the director of the Lutheran Leipzig Mission in 1849 and there he mastered Tamil. Graul was one of the foremost figures in

missiology Missiology is the academic study of the Christian mission history and methodology, which began to be developed as an academic discipline in the 19th century. History Missiology as an academic discipline appeared only in the 19th century. It was ...

. His approach towards

caste system Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural ...

was considered to be too lenient by his critics since he considered that caste system would fade on its own accord and Christian organizations need not interfere with local traditions. He also advocated the supremacy of

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

over other Christian denominations and found it hard to cooperate with

Anglicans Anglicanism is a Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia ...

in India.

Early life

Karl Graul was born in

Wörlitz is a town and a former municipality in the district of Wittenberg, in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Since 1 January 2011, it has been part of the town Oranienbaum-Wörlitz. It is situated on the left bank of the Elbe, east of Dessau. The historic p ...

, Duchy of Anhalt, into a poor weaver's family. In spite of his poor background he received good education in classical and

modern languages A modern language is any human language that is currently in use. The term is used in language education to distinguish between languages which are used for day-to-day communication (such as French and German) and dead classical languages such ...

as well as in theology. However, as for as mission and missiology is concerned he was entirely self-taught.Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions p. 257

Tamil scholar

Karl Graul was appointed the director of the Lutheran Leipzig Mission in 1844. The Lutheran mission had succeeded the Danish-Hale mission in

South India South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union terr ...

. During his stay in India, Graul mastered the Tamil language. After returning to Leipzig in 1853 he taught Tamil language and literature at the mission house. Later Graul wrote ''Bibilotheca Tamulica seu Opera Praecipua Tamuliensium'' (1854–1865). A work in 4 volumes, it contains in its third and fourth volumes the first complete translation of the

Tirukkural The ''Tirukkuṟaḷ'' ( ta, திருக்குறள், lit=sacred verses), or shortly the ''Kural'' ( ta, குறள்), is a classic Tamil language text consisting of 1,330 short couplets, or kurals, of seven words each. The tex ...

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, and the standard spoken Tamil with notes and glossaries. It was published by his student

Wilhelm Germann Wilhelm Germann (3 April 1840, in Gardelegen – 7 February 1902, in Meiningen) was a German Protestant theologian and missionary. He studied theology in Erlangen and in 1864 became a member of the Lutheran Leipzig Mission. In 1865 he was orda ...

the year after Graul's death in

Erlangen Erlangen (; East Franconian: ''Erlang'', Bavarian: ''Erlanga'') is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 116,062 inha ...

. Graul also wrote a ''Tamil Grammar'' in German (1855).

Missiology

Graul being one of the foremost figures in missiology, insisted that other missionaries should go through academic training both in mission as well in theology. He insisted that the knowledge of locals with contextual approach towards indigenous churches.

Views on caste system

Graul's views on

was considered by his critics as "too lenient". This was in light that ''Madras Missionary Conference'' resolved that no one should be admitted to

baptism Baptism (from grc-x-koine, βάπτισμα, váptisma) is a form of ritual purification—a characteristic of many religions throughout time and geography. In Christianity, it is a Christian sacrament of initiation and adoption, almost ...

until he had shed off the caste identity and breaks the caste by eating food prepared by a person from the lower caste. According to Stephen Neill all

Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

missionary societies agreed to these terms except for Graul's Leipzig Evangelical Lutheran Mission. This was since Graul, who took a “middle” standpoint and regarded the caste as “a natural kingdom lying between the divine and the demonic”, believed that caste system can be removed only as a slow process and making it mandatory is not needed.A History of Christianity in India p. 407 It was his view that missionaries should not interfere with indigenous social orders unless they are wholly incompatible with the

Gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

.Christianity and African Culture p.23

Supremacy of Lutheranism

Graul believed in supremacy of Lutheranism over other Christian denominations. Thus he found it hard on mutual cooperation with

in India especially on communion.A History of Christianity in India p. 396

Death

Graul in 1864 qualified himself as a university lecturer in missiology at

. However, he died the same year even before taking up the position.

Works

* Übersetzung von Dante Allghieri's ''Göttlicher Komödie''; 1843. (Elektronischer Text auf www.dantealighieri.dk) * ''Unterscheidungslehren der verschiedenen christlichen Bekenntnisse''; 1845 * ''Die Ev.-Luth. Mission an die ev-luth. Kirche aller Lande''; 1845 * ''Explanations concerning the principles of the Leipzig Society with regard to the Caste-Question''; Madras 1851 * ''Reise nach Ostindien'', 5 volumes; 1854–56 * ''Bibliotheca Tamulica sive Opera Praecipia Tamuliensium'', 4 volumes ** Volume 1: ''Tamulische Schriften zur Erläuterung des Vedanta-Systems oder der rechtgläubigen Philosophie der Hindus.'' Übersetzung und Erklärung von Karl Graul. Leipzig 1854.
Digitalisat
** Volume 2: ''Kaivaljanavanīta. A Vedanta Poem. The Tamil Text with a Translation and Glossary and Grammatical Notes.'' Leipzig/London 1855.
Digitalisat
** Volume 3: ''Der Kural des Tiruvalluver. Ein gnomisches Gedicht über die drei Strebeziele des Menschen.'' Übersetzung und Erklärung von Karl Graul. Leipzig 1856.
Digitalisat
** Volume 4: ''Kural of Tiruvalluver. High-Tamil Text with Translation into Common Tamil and Latin, Notes and Glossary.'' Leipzig 1865.
Digitalisat
* ''Outline of Tamil Grammar''; 1855 * ''Die christliche Kirche an der Schwelle des irenäischen Zeitalters''; 1860 * ''Die Stellung der evangelisch-lutherischen Mission in Leipzig zur ostindischen Kastenfrage''; 1861 * ''Über Stellung und Bedeutung der christlichen Missionen im Ganzen der Universitätswissentschaften''; 1864 * ''Indische Sinnpflanzen und Blumen zur Kennzeichnung des indischen, vornehmlich tamulischen Geistes''; 1864

Sources

* Werner Raupp (Ed.): Mission in Quellentexten. Geschichte der Deutschen Evangelischen Mission von der Reformation bis zur Weltmissionskonferenz Edinburgh 1910, Erlangen/Bad Liebenzell 1990 (ISBN 3-87214-238-0 / 3-88002-424-3), p. 336-343 (a) Stellung der evanglisch-lutherischen Mission in Leipzig zur ostindischen Kastenfrage, 1861, p. 1-22; b) Über Stellung und Bedeutung der christlichen Missionen im Ganzen der Universitätswissentschaften, 1864, p. 4-14).

Notes

References

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Graul, Karl 1814 births 1864 deaths People from Wörlitz People from the Duchy of Anhalt German Lutheran missionaries Lutheran missionaries in India German expatriates in India Tamil–German translators Tamil–Latin translators 19th-century linguists Translators of the Tirukkural into German Translators of the Tirukkural into Latin 19th-century translators Tirukkural translators 19th-century Lutherans Missionary linguists