Stolen first Tamil Bible traced to London

The first-ever printed Tamil Bible, which went missing from the famous Saraswathi Mahal Library in Thanjavur in 2005, has been traced to King’s Collection in London, the Tamil Nadu police’s Idol Wing said on Friday.

It also said efforts were on to bring the copy of the New Testament written in Tamil in 1715 to Tamil Nadu and restore it to its original place. In a press release, the Idol Wing said Bartholomaeus Ziegenbalg, and Heinrich Plueshau arrived in Tranquebar also known as Tharangambadi in Nagapattinam district in Tamil Nadu in 1706 as the protestant missionaries from Denmark.

Ziegenbalg set up a printing press and translated the New Testament into Tamil in 1715 and the church building he and his associates constructed in 1718 are still in use. “He died on February 23, 1719, at the age of 37 when he left a Tamil translation of the New Testament and Genesis through Ruth, many brief writings in Tamil, two church buildings, the seminary, and 250 baptized Christians,” the Idol Wing said.

Another missionary, Schwartz, became close friends with the advisor of Tulaji Rajah Serfoji of Thanjavur and it is speculated that the former handed over the copy of the Bible to the latter as a mark of their friendship. The antiquarian book was exhibited at the Saraswathi Mahal Museum for public viewing till it was stolen on October 7, 2005.

After 12 years, the Idol Wing registered a case and during investigations it was found that a few foreigners had visited the library on the day the Bible was stolen.

“After several days of browsing multiple websites of various museums abroad, the Idol Wing stumbled on the collection of George III which included thousands of printed books, manuscripts and pamphlets, most of which are rare,” the Idol Wing said.

Hidden amongst thousands of books was the bible that had the signature of Rajah Serfoji of Thanjavur. “The antiquarian Bible that was available on the website of the King's collection tallied with the picture of the stolen Bible,” an official with the Idol Wing said.