CHENNAI: Sitting besides an array of historians, book lovers, and heritage enthusiasts at the Madras Literary Society (MLS) on a bright Saturday morning, I was about to discover how a college triggered the birth of libraries in colonial Madras. Well-known historian Sriram V started his hour-long history tour by taking the audience back to 1800s when the English colonisers wanted to set up the Fort St George College to teach English to native civil servants and encourage their men to learn local languages for easy governance.
Tracing the roots of the college, which functioned from 1812 to 1854 in the present day Directorate of Public Instructions (DPI) Complex, Nungambakkam, the historian said, “The study of south Indian languages flourished after the college was set up. Tamil, Telugu, and Persian were extensively taught and research activities on these languages encouraged.”
The importance of this college can be understood from a popular belief among heritage enthusiasts that the then Governors of Madras used to visit the college for awarding degrees during the convocation ceremony. Since there was no bridge to cross the Cooum river, they used to take a boat to reach the college.
Seeds for a library in Madras were sown when literary resources from across the globe started arriving at the college. So, when the idea of setting up the Madras Literary Society came up, its founders didn’t have to think twice about a location.
The college used to receive books, antiques, and other items of historical importance through Englishmen from faraway places. The first floor of the college was dedicated to house the antiques. “Right from a pair of horns to a 40 kg meteorite were received at the informal museum at the college,” said Sriram.
Over the years, the building could house no more materials due to its structural instability. This led to the idea of setting up another building to house them. Thus Connemara museum and library at Egmore was born. Soon, books and antiques started flowing to Connemara from the college. Rest is history. Today, Connemara stands tall as the largest library and museum in Chennai.
MLS would have got buried in history pages if a building was not exclusively constructed for it. This helped the return of books, which were earlier sent to Connemara. Currently the MLS houses as many as 80,000 books. A Tamil section was inaugurated at the library on April 21.
Andrew Foster, a British national who attended the event, was surprised to know the impact of the college, especially on south Indian languages, and the legacy of MLS.
Describing how the MLS deserves to be commemorated for its contributions to the society, MLS committee member Jaya said, “We organise events on every second Saturday with an aim to attract more people to the library. The events are free for the members while non-members have to pay a fee of `100.”
On the sidelines of the event, eminent historian S Muthiah, who is known for having decoded the city historically, culturally, and politically, said the MLS buildings needed immediate restoration.
An important location
A popular belief among heritage enthusiasts that the then Governors of Madras used to visit the Fort St George College for awarding degrees during the convocation ceremony. Since there was no bridge to cross the Cooum river, they used to take a boat to reach the college.