Question

According to extracts from Fra Paolino Da Bartolomeo's "Voyages to the East Indies", in malabar, when the pupils have made tolerable progress in writing, they are admitted into certain schools, are called -

• A. Granthavari
• B. Lakya
• C. Eutupalli
• D. Nuddeah

Hint:

When dealing with historical travelogues, be aware of phonetic spellings. European travelers often wrote down Indian names and terms as they sounded to them, leading to variations like 'Eutupalli' for 'Ezhuthupalli'.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
The question asks for the name of a type of school in Malabar (Kerala), as described by the 18th-century Austrian Carmelite missionary Fra Paolino Da Bartolomeo. The name needs to be identified from the given options.
Step 2: Detailed Explanation:
Fra Paolino's work provides valuable European accounts of life and customs in late 18th-century Kerala. The question refers to the indigenous system of education.
The traditional elementary schools in Kerala (and Tamil Nadu) were known as Ezhuthupalli. In Malayalam, 'Ezhuthu' means writing and 'Palli' means school or a place of learning. These schools were where young children learned the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.
The term Eutupalli in the options is a clear phonetic transliteration or a variant spelling of Ezhuthupalli, as a European might have heard and written it.
Let's analyze the other options:
1. Granthavari: Means 'chronicle' or 'archive' and refers to collections of palm-leaf manuscripts, not the school itself.
2. Lakya: This is not a recognized term for a school in this context.
4. Nuddeah (Nadia/Nabadwip): This was a famous and ancient center for higher learning (especially logic and philosophy) in Bengal, not Malabar.
Step 3: Final Answer:
Based on the linguistic and historical context, "Eutupalli" is the correct term for the schools described. Therefore, option (3) is the correct answer.