Father Philippus Baldaeus, Baelde or Philip Balde (October 1632, Delft – 1672, Geervliet) was a Dutch minister. He went to Jaffna, Ceylon with an invading Dutch force during 17th Century. As the first European he documented the life, language and culture of Tamil people, living in the north of the island. It is a great historical record, similar to Mahawamsa, and it was immediately published in Dutch and German (with several beautiful pictures).
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Baldaeus had a Flemish origin. His ancestors had left Ypres in 1584. Baldaeus lost both his parents, when he was four years old. His uncle Robertus Junius was a missionary on Dutch Formosa. After studying Oriental languages in Groningen (1649) and theology in Leiden (1650), and discussions with Arnoldus Montanus, he preached from 1655 at Batavia, Dutch East Indies, Jaffanapatnam and Point de Galle, either in Dutch or Portuguese (language). From 1657 he served under Rijklof van Goens, occupying the Coromandel and Negapatnam in 1658. Cornelis Speelman became its first governor. By 1660 the Dutch controlled the whole island except the kingdom of Kandy. When the Dutch occupied the coast of Malabar in 1661, Baldaeus took part. Around 1662 he returned to Ceylon and Baldaeus learned Sanskrit and studied Hinduism.
The company objected to Baldaeus' suggestions for improving religious education and converting the natives, and ruled that funds should be raised from fines levied in the enforcements of school rules. Philippus Baldaeus refused to conform and was nearly accused by the Governor of dishonest financial dealings. He could not continue his linguistic studies because the Church, bound by the state, thought it a waste of time.[1]
In 1666 he returned to the Dutch Republic and preached in Geervliet from 1669 until his death at the age of 39 or 40. He left behind a full and faithful account of the civil, religious, and domestic condition of the countries through which he travelled. In this, he introduced also an interesting account of the Hindu mythology, and some specimens of the Tamil language, including the translation of the Lord's Prayer: defective enough it is true, but remarkable as the first treatise, printed in Europe, on any Indian language. The title of the whole work is Description of the East Indian Countries of Malabar, Coromandel, Ceylon, etc. (in Dutch, 1671) The book is dedicated to the bailiff Cornelis de Witt.
The Tamils and the Kandyan Kingdom collaborated and conspired with the Dutch rulers of Batavia (today's Jakarta in Indonesia). The Dutch invasion brought religious freedom for Tamils and Muslims.
The Dutch and the later colonial English ruler reigned approximately three centuries in length with each ruling for approximately 150 years. The Jaffna Tamil has several Portuguese and Dutch words still in usage.
The islands of Palk Strait are renamed during Dutch rule in Leiden, nowadays Kayts and other cities of the Netherlands, like Delft. Still at the Point Pedro Market Square a granite stone inscription marks the place where Rev. Baldeus has preached to the Tamils under a big tamarind tree. This tamarind tree was uprooted during the cyclone of 1963.
Rose, Hugh James (1857). A New General Biographical Dictionary, London: B. Fellowes et al.
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