27. D. CP Brown’s History by J.H. SASTRY

27. CP Brown’s History by J.H. SASTRY

The biography of CPB by Dr. J. Hanumat Sastry secretary of CP Brown Memorial Trust was published by the Telugu Academy, Hyderabad in 1992.

Sastry included a photo of a painting of Caldwell irrelevant to this book, he also printed a for good measure, a dilapidated building in Cuddapah, in which CPB lived for only 1-½ years in 1828-1830. The book abounds in misleading statements, un-spelt innuendos, and exaggerated views – most of which were created, and propagated by the British to denigrate and disintegrate the Indian composite culture and unity as we have seen already. Highly evocative Telugu words are used to create an aura round the cult figure of Brown, as a saviour of Telugu literature. An atmosphere – often derogatory and uncomplimentary to Telugus were created in the book. My comments are made with a view to removing the flawed impressions that the readers will be prone to and put the biography in proper perspective exposing the Lies and exaggerations. Sri. Sastry starts with a statement – “Also the Indian society in those days was unbalanced and rid of Caste / Religious animosities and blind beliefs”. By "those days" J.H. means obviously CPB's days i.e. 1821-1850. As we have seen in the Andhra of 1800-1900 the whole population was totally demoralised and trampled upon and was fighting for its very existence. How then can the author write such a ludicrous statement? Is there any evidence whatever of a "Caste ridden Society" or "a religious animosity?" or social strife. The whole population was fighting to exist. Thus we can, at the outset, see the "Imprinted" "Indoctrinated” mind of the writer in psychological bondage to the colonialist, in it as the SAVIOUR. That was not the real state of that time.

Caste Question It is time we discuss this issue. As these loose statements do untold harm to the living society. Swadharmo Nidhanam Shreyaha is what we always harped on. In the worst case, and giving the worst interpretation if we take it as advising the castes to pursue their Dharma, is it harmful in any way? If a Kapu, who is the protector of a land or a Reddy a leader of people or a Brahmin who is the keeper of the values and the Sastras do their Dharma will it not result in a more cohesive and less competitive society? Were they not all fighting together under Shivaji or Krishna Deva Raja or Baji Rao or even Narasimha Reddy?Historically there was no evidence of any inter-caste animosity or caste wars in Indian society till the advent of the British. Let a group of people of all hues sit and study the history of all the wars that took place all over the country from 1200 till 1800. A period of 600 years, during which millions died, and it will be crystal clear as to how the whole nation fought as one, and it is the Brahmins who were killed for Just being Brahmins. It is time we establish a forum for debate and research and clear the poison that is still being made use of by the politicians, and writers.The people resisted the British in three wars joining with the Marathas or with Tippu or with the Nizam, till all these powers unfortunately fell. It is not possible to fight wars of that nature if the society has no unity and is caste ridden. It is high time we study our history even at such local levels carefully before adding our own mean understanding and biases of today.So-called radical historians like Romilla Thapar make much of Harihara and Bukka as reconvirtees to Hindu fold as if that was a crime even if true! If it is a Truth is it not a great pointed to the desired possibility today when millions of Muslim can return to their roots? Is it not a reform to be recommended than looked down upon? Where are the radicals be Romilla?
Free School Business JHS, as do all others presents this event or starting school in Cuddapah as an epochal event for which CPB should be worshipped. Nothing can be farther from the Truth. These schools are the forerunners, the seeds sown to destroy Hindu Culture. We have seen CPB’s hatred for HINDUISM, the origin of Haileybury College and the Howell’s the missionaries who came to reap souls – what a phrase!!Starting a school is not starting a game on a whistle blow. Umpteen questions arise and it is the duty of a biographer to investigate the issues before words like magnanimity, altruism, and large heartedness is showered.
Where were the schools located? Where did the funds come from? Who were the teachers?What were the pay scales? Did he pay them?How and why did he think of schools within months of going to a place?What was the motivation? Who ran them? Does one start a school just for the heck of it?Who prompted him to start? When and why were they closed?Besides languages what else were they teaching? What are the books?Who ran them in his absence? After he left for Masulipatam?Why is there not a single letter by KR on Schools?Most of these questions arise because it is now confirmed that starting the schools was the first activity to spread Christianity. Even today we gullible Indians feel that the Missionary Schools, Convents, Hospitals started by funds from Bushes, are Great contribution without realising their undermining of our very cultural existence as a Nation / Urban / Rural unbridgeable divide being created without any cementing force of Culture and Language or Religion or even simple ceremonial ethos. What nitwits are created in the convent only JESUS SAHIB knows? Gandhiji wrote--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Even Dr. Ambedkar the arch iconoclast was for a unified Indian Culture not for this anti national ethos, which craves for a daily bread as if that is all that is needed for existence as a Human Being. Why are such questions not tackled, particularly by JH who happens to be in Cuddapa?CPB mentions that the schools had to be closed due to financial irregularities. What are the details? Committed by whom? And what action was taken? How can we authenticate a biography, which totally glosses over all such issues, and repeats his statement only of ‘I have started free schools”. JH had obviously NOT even bothered to know about how the British planned the destructive Engines at Haileybury.
Religious FeudsIn this very period - 1830 Sri. Narasimhareddy rose in a revolt as he and his father were made paupers overnight by taking away their Jagir fetching Rs.300000 per annum and giving a pension of 950Rsper annum. He fought the British with the help offered by Muslims. A major event like this shows a total absence of "Religious feuds". How then did JH add religious feuds? Similarly, a keen look into the Macdonald murder case also indicates a plot by Bishop Havell, or his followers to create a Muslim -Hindu feud by putting a pork piece in a masjid. It backfired, as the Muslims smelt the mischief and instead of gunning for the Hindus went after the missionaries. Does it show religious feuds?Thus even when there is not an iota of proof for caste or religious dissensions, authors make the innuendoes doing tremendous disservice to the society and the nation. TODAY’S society is more caste ridden due to politicians and careless writers like JH and the media. In 90% of villages today the caste is only seen in voting pattern and not in day-to-day living. In fact the Brahmin is the fugitive and there is hardly existing except in the school registers, which are actually perpetuating more to harass than help!
Blind belief (Mudha nammakam)This is another idea injected by JH. I wonder what he means by “blind belief” except throwing in words for a negative picture of the society. CPB boasts of his Sabbath. Was it not blind belief? This son of a Christian Missionary was in fear of being jailed and was giving alms to Fakirs to save himself from imprisonment. Is it not blind belief?Is a virgin birth not a blind belief?Is Immaculate Conception not a blind belief?That each one of us is a sinner is not a blind belief?We rise on a judgement day from the grave is a logical belief? All of us we are sinners at birth is a fine concept?How irresponsible of the author to throw such unthinking epithets at the society that was devastated and thrown into abject poverty by the British.
Ignorance everywhereJH makes a statement "Ignorance was everywhere" while he has NO evidence to say so except the scores of times that CPB stated. Is it not the duty of the writer to know that in 1821 in a survey by Collector's it was known that every village in Madras had a school? And everybody was going to a school for 5 years minimum? And that the British destroyed the entire education system by reducing the revenue accruing to the Villages to run Schools and by a land revenue system which was considered the most tyrannical in the entire world? Did JH know that there were books being written in 52 different subjects? That there were 8 libraries in that general area? What sort of ignorance is talked of? And on what authority? {Dr. Salwa Krishnamurty asked me to attach a list of the 52 subjects on which books were written. These are therefore given below in this edition-}
Slave trade This is another epithet that JH used that in the British ruled parts of India “Slave trade” was abounding. It is a most irresponsible statement in connection with the Indian society in Andhra. This misleads the reader of today giving him an idea of a highly degraded society. But JH is least bothered about the Truth. The Truth is it is the British in India who were engaged in this nefarious, shameful practice exploiting the poverty-ridden society having themselves generates the poverty. This slave trading of missions etc was indulged in by the British only and NOT in the rest. K.V. Rao mentioned that in CALCUTTA the British were indulging in the practice of buying or selling slaves openly through advertisements in papers!
There is also mention of children caught in villages and brought to Calcutta in boats to be sold. He also mentioned of each Briton keeping an illegitimate family – obviously bought women confined to the outhouse. There is a description, how these women leave the bedrooms in the morning etc. This is the heinous practice by the colonialists trading in human FLESH. There is also a further mention of illegitimate children. THIS is the slave trade with a capital S and Dr Sastry despite the fact that he bases his book on Dr Rao’s attributes this heinous trade to Andhras. He should make an open apology for this great distortion of fact. CPB’S Stature JH repeats Bangorey “in these days, Brown College might have been called a University!” What an abominable idea! The building in which CPB lived only a year, was hired out from 1830 onwards. There were not even 8 or 9 people including the mali working at any time. CPB never even visited the place after leaving it in Feb 1829 for TRICHINOPOLY. It was for sale but no buyers were found. All details are also known to JH. How then can he repeat this statement! Why does he insult our UNIVERSITIES, which sprawl in over 2-300 acres; with 3-4000 students and upward of 300 teachers?
Some awkward financial questionsJ H says that CPB’s colleagues were corrupt, money minded and immoral and CPB alone was honest, selfless, and service oriented like his father a philanthropist who died poor etc. Every word in this statement is wrong, and not substantiated by any evidence. Yet CPB was the one later suspended, and he was the one who contracted 60000Rs. debts, and bordered on being jailed. ! Why are the suspension orders being glossed over by the biographers? Sastry adds that, “Since from the beginning, he was straightforward”… How can such blatantly unfounded statements he made and on what authority? He was suspended and was never sent to Andhra.
PoemsFrom page 62 to 70 there are 25 poems. They are all in praise of Brown and show the writers’ cringing, crawling and grovelling behaviour. Most of them probably did not have any idea as to CPB’s rank or position since they call him a ‘king ‘a maharaja’ an emperor etc. It is unfortunately an indication of the level to which even reasonably intelligent people have fallen. It is not so much an indication of Brown’s greatness, but an indication of the fallen culture of Andhra poets of this “court”. These decadent Pundits who lost their self respect to be called Poets is an insult to the world of Poesy of Andhra which produced a Potana who scoffed at a kings patronage saying he will not sell his Kavya kanya to a Karnata Kirata; they are an insult to the name of a Srinatha who could say, even on death bed, that his arrival in heaven will make the Poet of the Gods worry. Similarly another lot of poems, 15 of them, collected by CPB, (some) show total lack of propriety, cheap in diction, and are lascivious and crude. DAVID BROWN – A Maha Pundit? A Social Worker?The books says, David Brown was a Pundit in Greek / Latin and was ingrained in Social Services from student days. This is a blatant lie. See DB’s life in brief; a son of a farmer, with no educational qualification, unemployed gets ordained, married maintains his wife with loans from friends to feed. The author skips over all these facts - Why?So WHERE AND WHEN DID HE get ingrained with motives of SOCIAL SERVICE? Why is it felt necessary by the biographer to extol D. B.? Who was one amongst thousands of such people with hardly any qualifications who came as to India, to mint money, to loot and scoot? Let us see some venerable priests, for ex: “one chaplain, Mr Blamshard, after a service of a little more than 20 years, carried home a fortune of 50000 pounds”. Another, “Mr Johnson, after 13 years of service, took with him from CALCUTTA 35000Pounds”and a third, Mr OWEN at the end of ten years, had amassed 25000Pounds.” Remember they all came to convert the natives, the idolaters, the sinners, and the uncultured Indians! So the social service motivation is sheer bunk and utter nonsense. It is a tragedy that our writers do not bother to analyse anything, before printing this rubbish. These facts are so thoroughly obfuscated, that I am certain not one Andhra knows that the loot by chaplains was in crores of Rupees. Could the Guntur Famine take place if all this wealth was not looted? Probably the Muslims were angels compared to this scum. The fact that none of his five children went to any school at any age is covered up by vague statements that they learnt at home etc. It is on death of Brown that they went to England. That CPB could not do well even at the age of 23years in the Madras College is proof of lack of early education, absolute mediocrity or even dullness, as spotted by Caldwell. The book abounds with unacceptable statements like”” David Brown died of ill health due to work without any rest”. Who said that? What for are these thrown in? What sort of overwork is meant, under what evidence? When he was removed from the job of a marshal he appeals for retaining the job without pay and yet he was not employed. That is overwork? All these misstatements are capped with’ his pay was spent on guests!!’ What sort of an image does the author want to generate? Build up a personality cult to show that later he was a pauper because of his generosity? Or is it to cover the fact that the family needed money to travel? Or that his job of 23 years is nothing much to write home about? Did they not know that for every marriage performed a chaplain gets money besides pay? JH writes that DB’s death caused a lot of pain to the people as he had got a lot of good will. What is the source and truth behind such statements? DB hardly had any such appointments that could generate goodwill of the people, his chaplain ship was stopped and he was removed from Marshal’s appointment. He left little money. Where then is the need to build up DB ‘s admirers etc?? As a father of a great guy CPB?? KONDUR CHIDAMBARAM of Mogallur donated one cartful of books to CPB Karnool Rangareddy – a great library. Raghavachari of Vallapadu – a big library. Gajeiella Reddy of Cuddapah – a big library. Chincholi Appanacharyulu – a big library. Cuddapah Gudipadu in Lakshmipati – good library.CPB purchased the libraries of several individuals at cheap rates:1830 Machilipatam Koti Venkanna's wife sold a whole library for 370/=1834 Yanam, Majeti Sarvesalinga library 150/=Peddapuram Avasarala Venkatrao 796/=Yet JH has the temerity to say that CPB spent a fortune on books. CPB was a hard-shell Christian observing Sabbath days strictly. He translated Bible – The Gospel of St. Luke etc. He never at any time expressed his regard for Hindu scriptures. Regarding Vemana also, he did not say anything regarding his Vedanta and said Vemana belonged to Jangam sect.Dr. Ratnakaram Balaraju, a note scholar of numerous books writes – “Having been subjected to foreign rule (ruled by Arabs, Muslims, Moguls and the English etc. for more than 700 years) Hindus lost their national identity and have become slavish minded. Even now they are not free from that (darkness – delusion) servile mentality. They are almost denationalised (Atma vismruti). They have abandoned the spiritual achievements of their forefathers and began to ape the English manners and their way of life”. Dr. Krishnadhan Ghose, Sri Aurobindo’s father may be taken as a typical example in this regard. He became an atheist and wanted to make his children Europeanized. He decided to give all his children a thoroughly English education and sent them to England. Sri. Aurobindo was only seven years of age when Dr. Ghose had given strict instructions to Mr. Drewett no to allow his sons to mix with Indians or to know anything about the Indian way of life. Such was the degeneration of Hindus and Indians then and they believed that English character was ideal. All the Europeans who came to India and professed loving service to India and her culture had actually spiteful tendencies in their heart of hearts. They wanted to convert India into a Christian country. They are still at it.Lord Macaulay in a letter dated 12th October 1836, Macaulay wrote: “Our English Schools are flourishing wonderfully. If our plans of Education are followed up there will not be a single idolater (Hindu) among the respectable classes in Bengal thirty years hence”. Western Education was introduced in India after Macaulay’s minutes on Education (1835) had come as a corollary to the policy of admitting Indians to the administration under the charter Act of 1833. Macaulay believed that English Education was sure to destroy the faith of young students in their past. He therefore strongly recommended the introduction of English Education. Macaulay’s imperialistic dreams were never fulfilled. In the same year 1836, the same Bengal Province produced Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa (1836-1886) who not only enlivened Hinduism in Bengal and India but also spread it in Macaulay’s west.Max Muller: Suggested that the followers of Pratap Chandra Mazumdar should call themselves Christians He wrote to Dr. Milan (1867 Feb 26) “India is ripe for Christianity’. He wrote to Duke of Argyll!! India must be conquered again by Education… Hinduism is doomed”.In that situation, JH says that CPB appears to have collected 36 Puranas / itihasas. As a responsible writer, working for resurrection of CPB is it not time to avoid vague inanities like’ ‘appears to have’. CPB got Vasucharitra printed in 1844 and Manuchartra in 1851, Harischandropakhyanam (1842), Vyjayantivalasa (1849), while they were ready about 15 years earlier in Kadapa! Where were they all these long years? By this time Printing Presses were quite active. Kalapurnodayam, Tara sasanka Vijayam, Vijaya vilasam; Kuchelopakhyanam (4) when were they published? Even today no one knows or speaks about them. Even Rao say, Bhagavatam seems to have been printed through him or words to that effect. Is it being responsible? Someone writes that “It is no exaggeration in saying that there is no old Kavyam in Telugu literature on which Brown’s stamp is note there.” This is a PREPOSTEROUS lie and sheer slavery to degrade our literature, which is so vast. It is an insult to the Vavillas, and a host of other publishers. JH says that CPB used to donate up to 500/Rs. This is a lie. At that point of time CPB’s monthly pay itself was around 600Rs. It misleads the public because that CPB gave to the beggars when he was scared of imprisonment at one stage and it was due to sheer superstition that the charity may help him that he gave alms to Fakirs. JH has put in the biggest lie in this book by saying in P. 42, that he took 60,000/= loans for collection of books and to look after the Pundits. This is an unacceptable, blatant lie, unsubstantiated any where by anyone else. This fib must and should be expunged from the book. The debt was contacted by CPB who was returning it at the rate of 2000 per month. He himself said in 1844 that his total expenditure on this hobby was 30000/at one place. (20000 / in his appeal against suspension) It was G N Reddy who increased the figure to 40000/ in an article in 1954. AND NOW SHASTRIJI makes it 60000/= Can the authors mislead the readers with impunity like this without making even elementary calculations? The least they should try to investigate is as to who gave so much loan and on what security. Remember HAIG delayed paying even 250/- for the Tent till he got from the EIC? JH also says that CPB was a Pundit in 24 languages, which is another blatant LIE. Considering all the material that we got so far his acquaintance with even 8 languages is difficult to prove. Remember CPB himself says he started learning Bengali at 30yrs of age! Sastry writes, - By 1826 his Salary was 525/= Plus allowances. He used to take loan from someone to return the loan of some other. The salary not being sufficient he used to borrow for literary work. These unproved lies cannot be accepted. By this time he had NO LITERARY activity whatever, Vemana and Grammar were on the cards, both published by the EIC. Can JH quote any one single text, any one writer prior to 1826 working for CPB in Cuddapa?JH says “in order not to have any hold up in literary work and to ensure it to proceed smoothly, he brought a Bungalow in Cuddapah. “In this Bungalow, is One corner Room a little literary Factory was working; Pundits with Palm leaf Mss in front of them, making better copies and writing Vyakhyanas …”. This is a ridiculously skewed image altogether there were only 7 people of Cuddapah and nearby working here. That too the activities were at a stand stile from 1830 within 11/2 yrs of purchase of this Karmagaram. HE also conveniently forgets that there were 6 more such bungalows and even getting some one to rent out was a problem as per KR’S letter in 1830.To sum up, I cannot but say that the book repeats all the lies in the original biography, and such irresponsible writings should be stopped and discouraged in the interest of our great literature.