Philip Balde

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Philip Balde or Baldaeus, of Delft, was eight years chaplain of the states-general on the island of Ceylon, and has left behind him 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 Indian 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).

[edit] References

Rose, Hugh James [1853] (1857). A New General Biographical Dictionary, London: B. Fellowes et al.