J. V. S. Taylor: Difference between revisions

Rev. '''Joseph van Someran Tylor''' ([[Bellary]], 3 July 1820 – [[Edinburgh]], 2 June 1881), known more commonly as '''J. V. S. Taylor''', was a Scottish Christian missionary and writer of [[Gujarati language]]. He made the earliest attempt among westerners at writing a grammar of Gujarati,<ref name="Lal1992">{{cite book|last=Lal|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C&pg=PA3967|year=1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=978-81-260-1221-3|page=3967}}</ref> and also translated the Bible into Gujarati.

J. V. S. Taylor was born on 3 July 1820, [[Bellary]] or [[Belgaon]],<ref name="Lal1992"/> [[Mysore]]. He studied at [[Bishop’s College, Calcutta]] until the age of 15, then he went to England in 1838 for further studies, where he developed a close relationship with the young [[David Livingstone]] (the friendship continued until Livingstone's death in Africa in 1873). In 1840, he attended [[Glasgow University]] and in 1843 he completed his [[B.A.]]. The same year the London Missionary Society accepted him as missionary and sent him to India to be based in [[Madras]].

Tylor arrived in [[Baroda]], Gujarat, in 1846<ref name="Lal1992"/> and went with [[William Clarkson (missionary)|William Clarkson]] to [[Mahi Kantha Agency|Mahi Kantha]]. He soon learnt the local language. His articles first appeared in a missionary periodical in 1850.<ref name="Lal1992"/> After Clarkson retired in 1854, the mission was transferred to the [[Irish Presbyterian Mission]] in 1858 where he continued his work in Gujarat due to his interest in the Gujarati language and people.<ref name="Lal1992"/><ref>Brenton Hamline Badley Indian missionary directory and memorial volume 1881 "The Irish Presbyterian Mission. As has already been seen, the London Missionary Society occupied Surat (Gujerat) in 1815, ... J V Taylor, who arrived in 1846, and who subsequently connected himself with the Irish missionaries. .."</ref> He was founder of [[Church of North India]] (CNI) churches in Gujarat like [[Borsad]] and [[Shahwadi]] ([[Ranipur, Bihar|Ranipur]]).

He died in [[Edinburgh]] on 2 June 1881<ref name="Lal1992"/> and buried at Newington Cemetery, Edinburgh.<ref name="newington-cemetery.org.uk"/> His son, Dr. [[George Pritchard Taylor]] remained in India and became the first principal of Stevenson Divinity College, [[Ahmedabad]], named after [[William Fleming Stevenson]] (1832–1886). G. P. Taylor also revised his father's first complete Gujarati grammar (1867), as well as publishing his own.<ref>Christian contribution to Indian languages and literatures Cū In̲n̲āci, Va Jayatēvan̲ - 1994 The most famous grammar written by a missionary was JVS Taylor's (1820-1881) Gujarati Bhashanu Vyakaran</ref>

He published ''Gujarati Bhashanu Vyakaran'' (The Grammar of Gujarati Language) in 1867 which earned him the title of "''Father of Gujarati Grammar"''. Though not the first, it was the earliest attempt to write Gujarati grammar in Gujarati to be used by natives.<ref group=note>The attempts to write grammar before him include ''Illustration of the Grammatical Parts of Guzarattee, Mahratta, and English Languages'' (1808) by Robert Drummond (The earliest printed book in Gujarati discovered so far), ''A Grammar of Goozrattee Language, with Exercises, Dialogues and Stories'' (1829) by W. Forbes, ''The Principles of Gujarati Grammar'' (1842) by H. N. Ramsay, ''A Grammar of the Gujarati Language'' (1847) by W. A. Clarson, ''Principle of Goojaratee Grammar'' (1857) by E. Lucky. These all works presented grammar of Gujarati language in English. They were meant for foreigners to study local language for administration and missionary work. [[Theodore Hope]] had published ''Gujarati Bhashanu Vyakaran'' (1858) which was in Gujarati but not exhaustive.</ref><ref name="Lust2000">{{cite book|author=Barbara Lust|title=Lexical Anaphors and Pronouns in Selected South Asian Languages: A Principled Typology|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRAWRpyqRusC&pg=PA394|year=2000|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-014388-1|page=394}}</ref> His work was more comprehensive and exhaustive. It was used in schools of the [[Bombay Presidency]] and went through many editions up to 1903. This was later superseded by the native-written ''Gujarati Bhashanu Brihad Vyakaran'' (1919) of [[Kamlashankar Trivedi]].<ref name="Lal1992"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Indian Church History Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=--HYAAAAMAAJ|year=1978|publisher=Church History Association of India.|page=58}}</ref>

He also compiled, with [[Vrajlal Shastri]], ''Dhatusangraha'' (1870), an etymological dictionary of Gujarati roots.<ref name="Jhaveri1956">{{cite book|author=Krishnalal Mohanlal Jhaveri|title=Further milestones in Gujarāti literature|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rqxHAAAAMAAJ|year=1956|publisher=N.M. Tripathi|page=18}}</ref> He had studied Gujarati prosody and his hymn collections ''Dharmagita'' (1851) and ''Kavyarpan'' (1863) are still popular in local churches. He is considered the father of Gujarati Christian poetry and his ''Bhajansangraha'' had 90 original and 18 translated songs. It includes popular some songs like ''Pita Tane Parakrame''  ''[પિતા તણે પરાક્રમે]'' (With the wish and might of my heavenly Father, hymn number 287), ''Maro Paalak Dev Chhe [મારો પાળક દેવ છે]'' (The Lord is my Shepherd, hymn number 18).{{citation needed|date=July 2016}} He translated and published some works such as [[Christian Gottlob Barth]]'s ''Church History'' in 1862, the ''[[Westminster Shorter Catechism]]'' as ''"લઘુ પ્રશ્નોતરાવળી"'' in 1878 and posthumously published the ''[[Westminster Confession of Faith]]'' as "''Westminster Vishwasnamu"'' in 1888.<ref name="Lal1992"/><ref name="Warfield1902">{{cite book|author=Benjamin Breckinridge Warfield|title=The Presbyterian and Reformed Review|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=33fUAAAAMAAJ|year=1902|publisher=A. D. F. Randolph & Company, Incorporated|page=273}}</ref> He also translated the John Bunyan's book ''"The Holy War"'' in Gujarati as ''"શુદ્ધ પ્રયુદ્ધ"'' with Mr. Manilal C. Shah which was also revised by Rev. J. I. Chauhan and published again as ''"પવિત્ર યુદ્ધ".''