The decoder of Coorg grammar

Miscellany

Coorg, as the British called Kodagu, was annexed by the East India Company in 1834, after dethroning the last Raja of Coorg, Veerarajendra. Coorg was administered as a separate province under a commissioner who was also in charge of Mysore. A British officer designated as superintendent was stationed in Madikeri and reported to the commissioner posted in Bangalore.

In March 1865, William Hobart Kerr, the superintendent of Coorg, fell ill and had to go on sick leave. In his place, a young army officer, Captain Robert Andrews Cole, was appointed as the
superintendent. Captain Robert was instantly attracted to the place, the climate, people and the invigorating environment. His duties involved meeting local people in remote villages, checking and updating land records, known as jamabandhi, which certified ownership and simplified revenue collection.

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Captain Cole was born in Madras in 1835, to an army doctor, Major General Robert Cole Sr. Having been educated in Madras, he was conversant with Tamil and Telugu.  He had familiarised himself with Kannada on being posted in Bangalore. One of the problems Captain Cole encountered in Coorg was communicating with the Coorgis who spoke a dialect, which had many common words with Kannada, Tamil and other South Indian languages.

Surprisingly, according to Captain Cole, the Kodavas who lived in remote villages could not understand Kannada. This prompted him to learn the Kodava language so that he could effectively communicate with the people. Captain Cole soon started learning Kodava language. His knowledge of other South Indian languages helped. He began documenting the words, grammar and pronunciation.  In order to help him communicate, he made extensive tables — known as Travel Talk — translating English sentences to Kannada (Canarese), Telugu, Tamil and Kodava language. 

However, by October the same year, William Kerr returned, and assumed charge as the superintendent of Coorg.  Captain Robert, who had taken a liking for Coorg, went back rather reluctantly to his posting in Bangalore. However, he continued his work on Kodava language. He learnt Kannada script for better conveyance of ‘peculiarities of pronunciation’, and started using this to transliterate Kodava language.

Captain Robert once again took charge from William Kerr, as superintendent of Coorg, in February 1866. He was happy to be back in this mountainous land and had come to enjoy the bracing weather. He particularly enjoyed his outings during the monsoon. This can be evidently seen in his book, Elementary Grammar of the Coorg Language, where he writes, “The thunderstorms during this season are often magnificent. The war of the elements is carried on here in a grander style than in the low country. Banks and mountains of clouds move against each other with the order of armies. The sound of heavy cannon is heard from a distance, solitary discharges of the electric fluid shoot through the gloom.”

Captain Cole served as the superintendent until December 1869. During this period, he compiled a comprehensive book on Kodava language. In 1867, with ample support from Lewin Bentham Bowring, who was the commissioner of Mysore and Coorg, he published his
136-page-book, Elementary Grammar of the Coorg Language. This was printed at the Wesleyan Mission Press. The book also contains a fragment of English-Coorg dictionary.

Captain Cole endeared himself to the people of Coorg. He also wrote another book titled A Manual of Coorg Civil Law.  In appreciation of his contributions, an emerging town at the time was named after him as — Colepet. However, over the years, Colepet got merged with present day Ammathi. On promotion as a Major, he was appointed superintendent, Inam Settlement, Mysore. As a Colonel, he was with the Madras Staff Corps. He rose to the rank of Major General by the time he retired and returned to England.

He died in 1907. Major General Robert Andrews Cole ranks amongst other Europeans, who contributed to South Indian languages, such as Rev Hermann Mogling and Rev Ferdinand Kittel.