Why doesn’t the former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister ‘Edappadi’ Palaniswamy call himself ‘‘Idaippadi’ Palaniswamy’, since it is the real name of his hometown?
When Angamuthu alias ‘Idaipadi’ Amuthan, an author from Edapadi, a town near Salem, wanted to write the history of his hometown, his pursuit of collecting information on its history helped him discover much information on the English rule in Salem. When he came to know the fact that Sir Thomas Munro lived in the Kongu region for about seven years before he became the Governor of Madras, Amuthan changed his idea to write a book on Munro, which came out with the title Konginattil Thomas Munro (Thomas Munro in Kongunadu)
“Munro, who is considered as the Father of Ryotwari system, learnt much of the land revenue system from Alexander Reed, the then English collector of Salem. He worked as a lieutenant in Reed’s intelligence wing and became the Assistant Collector of Salem. Later on, when he became the Governor of Madras, he introduced the Ryotwari system to the entire presidency” informs Idaipadi Amuthan.
A retired Deputy General Manager (Finance) in the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Amuthan had a passion for writing even while he was a student at the Board High School in his native town and won a prize in an essay competition conducted by the yesteryear famous English weekly The Illustrated Weekly of India. Also, an author of several books now, Amuthan saw his writing in print for the first time, when his article appeared in Swadesamitran in 1965, which is one of the earliest Tamil newspapers.
“Due to the love I had for Kalki’s writing, I enjoyed reading his voluminous historical novel Ponniyin Selvan in my school days” recalls the 75- year old author.
Amuthan’s flair for reading historical novels also helped him discover interesting aspects of the chieftain rule in the Kongu region that he earlier penned a historical novel on Ezhukarai Suriya Kangeyan, a Kongu chieftain, who ruled Morur, a region between Sankiri and Thiruchengode in 13th century A.D.
“Though there were many historical novels in Tamil, I wondered why there were hardly any on the chieftains of Kongunadu. Hence I thought of writing one on the great Kongu chieftain Ezhukarai Suriya Kangeyan” avers Amuthan.
Amudhan says that he came across the popularity of the Kongu chieftain Ezhukarai Suriya Kangeyan among the people of Kannivadi near Dharapuram.
“The descendants of Ezhukarai Suriya Kangeyan, who ruled the Kongu region till 17th century A.D, were great supporters to Madurai Naicker kings and participated in their wars against the Mysore rulers” he informs.
Amuthan’s flair for writing books on Kongu history is due to the love he has for his native town Edapadi, a part of the ancient Kongu region. Interpreting the etymology of his town’s name, Amuthan says:
“Edapadi is a corruption of ‘Idayar Paadi’ which means a village of Idayars or cowherds”
“Munro, who is considered as the Father of Ryotwari system, learnt much of the land revenue system from Alexander Reed, the then English collector of Salem. He worked as a lieutenant in Reed’s intelligence wing and became the Assistant Collector of Salem. Later on, when he became the Governor of Madras, he introduced the Ryotwari system to the entire presidency” informs Idaipadi Amuthan.
A retired Deputy General Manager (Finance) in the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Amuthan had a passion for writing even while he was a student at the Board High School in his native town and won a prize in an essay competition conducted by the yesteryear famous English weekly The Illustrated Weekly of India. Also, an author of several books now, Amuthan saw his writing in print for the first time, when his article appeared in Swadesamitran in 1965, which is one of the earliest Tamil newspapers.
“Due to the love I had for Kalki’s writing, I enjoyed reading his voluminous historical novel Ponniyin Selvan in my school days” recalls the 75- year old author.
Amuthan’s flair for reading historical novels also helped him discover interesting aspects of the chieftain rule in the Kongu region that he earlier penned a historical novel on Ezhukarai Suriya Kangeyan, a Kongu chieftain, who ruled Morur, a region between Sankiri and Thiruchengode in 13th century A.D.
“Though there were many historical novels in Tamil, I wondered why there were hardly any on the chieftains of Kongunadu. Hence I thought of writing one on the great Kongu chieftain Ezhukarai Suriya Kangeyan” avers Amuthan.
Amudhan says that he came across the popularity of the Kongu chieftain Ezhukarai Suriya Kangeyan among the people of Kannivadi near Dharapuram.
“The descendants of Ezhukarai Suriya Kangeyan, who ruled the Kongu region till 17th century A.D, were great supporters to Madurai Naicker kings and participated in their wars against the Mysore rulers” he informs.
Amuthan’s flair for writing books on Kongu history is due to the love he has for his native town Edapadi, a part of the ancient Kongu region. Interpreting the etymology of his town’s name, Amuthan says:
“Edapadi is a corruption of ‘Idayar Paadi’ which means a village of Idayars or cowherds”