No. 4.— 1848.] CATALOGUE OF TAMIL BOOKS. 



59 



A CATALOGUE OF BOOKS IN THE TAMIL 

 LANGUAGE, WITH THE NAMES OF THE AUTHORS, 

 THE SUBJECTS, AND THE DATES, AS FAR AS 

 THEY CAN BE ASCERTAINED. 



By Simon Casie Chetty, Esq., c.m.r.a.s. 

 (Read June 3, 1848, and February 24, 1849.,) 



SECTION 1.— Philology. 



1. Akattiyam. 



A Grammae, so called from Akattiyan or Ayastiya, the 

 reputed inventor of the Tamil Language. Who the author of 

 this work was is not certain ; some regard it as the genuine 

 composition of Agastya himself, whilst others maintain that 

 it was written by another person under his name, long after 

 his time. It is, however, not the less esteemed among the 

 literati of the south of India, and is generally consulted by 

 them as a standard work. 



2. Tolkdppiyam. 



Another grammar, the oldest now in existence. It is 

 divided into three parts, comprising 1,276 sutras, or 

 aphorisms, in verse ; but it is written in so abstruse and 

 difficult a style that few can understand it. The author is 

 called from the title of his work Tolkappiyan, but his real 

 name was Tiranatumdkkini, and he is said to have lived at 

 Tolkappiyakkudi, a village situated to the south of Madura. 

 A tradition states that he was a disciple of Agastya, and 

 having quarrelled with him composed the present work, with 

 a view of supplantiug the one written by his master. 



