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Charles Philip Brown (10 November 1798 – 12 December 1884) was a British official of the
East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company that was founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to Indian Ocean trade, trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (South A ...
. He worked in what is now
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
, and became an important scholarly figure in
Telugu language Telugu (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language native to the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, where it is also the official language. Spoken by about 96 million people (2022), Telugu is the most widely spoken member of ...
literature.


Background

Telugu literature was in a dormant phase in the 18th century, for a number of social and political reasons - a lack of creative Telugu poets, prevailing illiteracy and the decline of the
Vijayanagara Empire The Vijayanagara Empire, also known as the Karnata Kingdom, was a late medieval Hinduism, Hindu empire that ruled much of southern India. It was established in 1336 by the brothers Harihara I and Bukka Raya I of the Sangama dynasty, belongi ...
as patrons of Telugu literature. Brown, as official in the region, collected and edited works. He believed he had saved the heritage of the Telugu language. In his own words,
"Telugu literature was dying out; the flame was flickering in the socket. In 1825, I found Telugu literature dead. In 30 years I raised it to life".
Janamaddi Hanumath Sastri, who has researched Brown's life, established a library in Kadapa in his memory.


Biography

Charles Brown was born in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
on 10 November 1798. His father David Brown was a manager of an orphanage and a missionary and scholar in many languages including
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
. Charles Brown moved back to England in 1812 after his father's death, to obtain training from Haileybury College for a civil service position in
India India, officially the Republic of India, 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 by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...
. He returned to
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
on 4 August 1817 In 1820, Thomas Munro, governor of
Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...
had ordered that every official should learn a local language. Brown chose Telugu, under the guidance of Velagapudi Kodandarama Panthulu, and passed a Telugu examination as well as the civil service examination that year. He became deputy to John Hanbury, the collector of Kadapa. Hanbury was fluent in Telugu and Brown continued to study. He was transferred to Machilipatnam in 1822 and then to Rajahmundry in 1825. Moved to
Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...
at the beginning of the
famine A famine is a widespread scarcity of food caused by several possible factors, including, but not limited to war, natural disasters, crop failure, widespread poverty, an Financial crisis, economic catastrophe or government policies. This phenom ...
of 1832–3, he employed active methods, while dealing with sceptical superiors in Madras. Brown was relieved from his duties in 1834. He went back to London and stayed there from 1835 to 1838. Brown returned to Madras again in 1837 as a translator of Persian for the East India Company and joined as a member of the Madras College Board. He retired in 1854 because of health reasons and went back to London again. He worked at
London University The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degr ...
as Telugu Professor for some time.


Legacy

While Brown concentrated on Telugu,
, Excerpts from the 1906 edition of Linguistic Survey of India (Telugu).
he was a Multilingualism, polyglot. Other languages Brown is said to have known were Greek,
Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
, Persian and
Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
. He supported Telugu in three ways - he produced his own works, he recovered and discovered old works and he printed books in Telugu. He financed himself and sometimes borrowed to do so. He established two free schools in Cuddapah and two more in Machilipattanam. Brown's interests turned to Vemana's writings in 1824. He studied Telugu meter and grammar under the guidance of Venkatasivasastri Tippabhatla and Advaitabrahmasastri Vatthyam. He continued his study of Telugu literature in Rajahmundry from 1825. He collected rare manuscripts of Telugu ''kavyas'' (poems) and had them copied. He also collected essays, stories, and poems that existed as an oral literature. During his stay in London from 1835, he was employed by Horace Hayman Wilson in cataloguing South Indian language manuscripts from the East India House Library. Ultimately, many of those were sent back to Madras. Friedrich August Rosen encouraged his work on Telugu prosody, and had Brown's essay on it published in the '' Asiatic Journal''. There, Brown advocated a more incisive approach, less reliant on Indian traditions, and levelled some criticisms at the old school of Henry Colebrooke, Sir William Jones and William Yates. He published in the ''Madras Journal of Literature and Science'', on Colin Mackenzie's manuscript collection from 1838 to 1848.


Works

Brown wrote:Trubner's American and Oriental literary record; Volumes 1–4; 2 November 1866; Pages 359–360 * ''A Dictionary, Telugu and English'', ( ''Brownya Nighantuvu'') explaining the Colloquial Style used in Business, and the Poetical Dialect, with Explanations in English and in Telugu; explaining the English Idioms and Phrases in Telugu. with the Pronunciation of English Words. With a Dictionary of Mixed Telugu, also an Explanation of the Telugn Alphabet. By Charles Philip Brown. Three vols. Madras, 1852–54. * ''A Grammar of the Telugu Language'', By Charles Philip Brown, Second Edition, much enlarged and improved, Madras, 1857. * ''A Dictionary of the Mixed Dialects and Foreign Words used in Telugu''; with an Explanation of the Telugu Alphabet By C. P. Brown, Madras, 1854. * ''The Telugu Reader'', being a series of Letters, Private and on Business, Police and Revenue Matters, with an English Translation, Notes explaining the Grammar, and a little Lexicon. By Charles Philip Brown. Three Parts. Madras, 1852. * ''A Little Lexicon'', explaining such Words as occur in the first three Chapters of the Telugu Reader, and in the Telugu Dialogues. By C. P. Brown. Madras, 1862. * ''Dialogues in Telugu and English'', with a Grammatical Analysis. By C. P. Brown. Second Edition. Madras, 1853. * ''The Zillah Dictionary'', in the Roman Character; explaining the various Words used in Business in India. By C. P. Brown, Madras, 1852. * ''Disputations on Village Business''; the Original Telugu Record. Edited by C. P. Brown. Madras, 1855. * ''Andhra Geervana Chandamu'' (ఆంధ్ర గీర్వాణ చందము) (Prosody of Telugu and Sanskrit), College Press, Madras in 1827. * ''Vemana Satakam (వేమన శతకము) (verses of Vemana)'': Collection of 693 poems by Vemana along with English Translation and glossary in 1829. * ''Lokam Cheta Vrayabadina Subha Vartamanamu'' (లోకం చేత వ్రాయబడిన శుభ వర్తమానము), translation of bible stories in Telugu. * ''The Wars of the Rajas'' or ''Rajula Yuddhamulu'' (రాజుల యుద్ధములు), being the History of
Anantapur Anantapur, officially Anantapuramu, is a city in Anantapur district of the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the mandal headquarters of Anantapuru Tehsil, mandal and also the divisional headquarters of Anantapur revenue division. The city ...
. Written in Telugu; in or about the year 1750–1810. Translated into English by Charles Philip Brown. Madras, 1853. * Brown's grammar book of Telugu in 1840 * Telugu to English and English to Telugu dictionaries (తెలుగు-ఆంగ్ల నిఘంటువు, ఆంగ్ల-తెలుగు నిఘంటువు) in 1852 and 1854. * ''Vemana Satakam (వేమన శతకము) (verses of Vemana)'': Second collection of 1164 poems by Vemana along with English Translation and glossary in 1839.


Other publishings

He had prepared commentaries for all of the published works so that non-scholars can understand them. Some of the publishings sponsored by him are: * ''Tale of Nala'' by Raghava in 1841. * ''The Calamities of Harischandra'' by Gaurana Mantri in 1842. * Nannaya's Andhra Mahabharatam in 1843 * Ramarajabhushanudu's ''Vasu Charitra'' in 1844 * Peddana's ''Manu Charitra'' in 1851. * Potana's Andhra Mahabhagavatam in 1848 along with Puranam Hayagreeva Sastry. * Tikkana's Andhra Mahabharatam in 1848 along with Puvvada Venkata Rao. * Srinatha's ''Palanadu Veera Charitra'' in 1852. He also left many press ready copies like ''Basavapurana'', ''PanDitaaraadhya Charitra'', ''Ranganaatha Ramayanam'', ''Uttara Raamaayanam'', ''Vijaya Vilasam'', ''Sarangadhara Charitra'', ''Hari Vamsam'', ''Kasi Khandam'', ''Aniruddha Charitra'', ''Kuchelopakhyaanam'', ''Radhika Santvanam'', ''Vikramaarka charitra'' etc. They were published by different institutions in
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is the southernmost States and union territories of India, state of India. The List of states and union territories of India by area, tenth largest Indian state by area and the List of states and union territories of Indi ...
and
Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...
after his death. He also collected poems of '' Sumathi Satakam'' and Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy published it in 1973 acknowledging him. This is similar to ''Vemana Satakam'' that Brown published.


Style

He collected the stories and poems of common people and published them first. Though he was less interested in pedantic works, he also published many major Telugu works along with translations written by him or other copiers closely monitored by him. He prepared an index, a glossary and commentaries to all the works. Brown mentioned that the purpose of the commentary was to make the poems to be understood clearly without oral instructions. He also included many spoken words in his dictionary. There is no concrete evidence that Brown introduced any more than Sandhi breaks for the Telugu alphabet. The 1906 Linguistics Survey of India does not credit Brown for change in alphabets or making it easy for pronunciation.


Death

He died in 1884 on 12 December at the age of eighty-seven. He is buried in Kensal Green Cemetery (The General Cemetery of All Souls) in London.


Awards and titles

* He is respected as ''Andhrabhashoddhaaraka'', saviour of Telugu. * A library building was constructed at Cuddapah on the site of Brown's Bungalow known in those days as Brown's College.


See also

* Vemana * Tyāgarāja * Arthur Cotton, another beloved westerner by Telugu people, a civil engineer. * Daniel Negers, a French national who fell in love with Telugu culture. * Tenali Ramakrishna * Potana


Notes


References

*


External links


C. P. Brown backgroundBrown's Digital Online dictionary hosted at Univ. of Chicago, 2nd edition 1903C P Brown Academy, Hyderabad

Extended Brown's online dictionary

Brown's online dictionary
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Charles Philip 1798 births 1884 deaths Writers from Kolkata British East India Company civil servants 19th-century Indian writers British writers People from Kadapa Telugu writers Telugu–English translators