XVIIth century use of devanaagarii script in Kerala by Gauda Sarasvata Brahmins

[Christophe Vielle]

Dear list,
I apologize for giving myself the answer to what could have been seen 
as something surprizing (at least to me). Thanks to a very 
interesting comment given off-list by Thennilapuram Mahadevan, we 
have indeed to assume that  "Ranga Botto, Vinaique Pandito & Apu 
Botto, omnes tres de Natione & Religione Bramanas & Gymnosophistae 
antiqui" were "Northern" Gauda Sarasvata Brahmins (about which see 
the discussion with Frank Conlon, Frits Staal etc. in the 
Indology-archives of the 24th of November 2004 and after), which 
gives an supplementary testimony of their historical links with the 
Portuguese power on the West Coast (and their still cultural 
prevalence thereafter under the Dutch dominion).
Best regards,
Christophe Vielle








>On the use of devanaagarii script in Southern context,
>
>I came across this interesting fact:
>
>in Hendrik Adriaan Van Reede tot Drakenstein (1636-1691)' s famous 
>12 vols of Hortus Malabaricus, of which a partial digital copy (vol. 
>1-6 + 12) made by the the University Louis Pasteur in Strasbourg is 
>available at 
>http://num-scd-ulp.u-strasbg.fr:8080/view/authors/Van_Reede_Tot_Drakestein,_Hendrik_Adriaan.html
>
>(there is now also a complete English translation published by the 
>University of Kerala in Thiruvananthapuram)
>
>In the beginning of volume 1 (1678)
>There are, in the successive prefaces,
>passages in Malayalam script and language (lingua Malabarica) by
>Manoel Carneiro (Traductor, who translated Malayalam in Portuguese, 
>itself translated in Latin)
>and Itti Achudem (Doctor Malabaricus),
>but also a passage in Devanaagarii script and Sanskrit language 
>(lingua Bramanum) introducing the self-presentation by "Ranga Botto, 
>Vinaique Pandito & Apu Botto, omnes tres de Natione & Religione 
>Bramanas & Gymnosophistae antiqui"
>
>That seems to me worth of noticing,
>
>Christophe Vielle
>