Punnaikayal

புன்னைக் காயல்,
Henriques that we have the first Tamil grammar of the spoken dialect; further, he it was, who compiled the first Tamil dictionary. Moreover he conducted a school of Tamil studies at Punnaikayal and persuaded the Portuguese to speak and write in Tamil and even to punish themselves in case they used Portuguese words by mistake instead of Tamil words. He collected funds for the first Tamil Press and printed Tamil books as early as 1578. It is due to him that Tamil is privileged to be the first non-European language to go to the press in its own characters.