Timeline of Kannada Bible

I enjoyed reading a book by Hooper on Bible translations in India. This is the only book I came across that covered this topic so well.

 

YEAR	EVENT
1809	Serampore Missionaries translated the NT.
1810	John Hands of London Missionary Society arrived in Bellary. He compiled a grammar and a dictionary. Began translating Gospel Luke.
1811	Calcutta Bible Society requested the Roman Catholic Arch Bishop of Goa to sanction funds for translating into Kannada, but did not happen. Only selected portions were translated for the 20,000 Kannada speaking Christians (RC).
	Comment: Three separate initiatives for translation on successive years. The last one did not take off as full-fledged translation.
1812	Fire in Serampore Press destroyed the NT translation of the Serampore Missionaries.
1812	John Hands published the Synoptic Gospels.
1817	Calcutta Bible Society heard about John Hands’ version and granted Rs 1,000 for translation.
1820	With that money, Hands published the Gospels and Acts through Madras Auxiliary.
1822	Hands printed Ephesians and Philippians.
1823	Serampore Missionaries published the NT. This translation did not service its purpose.
1825	Hands reviewed the NT he translated.
1828	John Hands and William Reeve started translation of OT. Reeve translated Genesis to Esther.
1830	Hands published NT under Madras Auxiliary. Printed at Bellary Mission Press.
	Comment: Took 2 decades to complete NT. Calcutta Bible Society though could not do separate translation, partnered with Hands.
1831	Hands completed OT translation. It was cast in a new font brought from London.
1837	Hands and J. Reid revised the edition of Gospels and Acts, under the supervision of a committee under Madras Auxiliary.
1848	G.H. Weigle of Basel Mission started the revision of NT under the authority of Madras Auxiliary.
1850	Weigle’s revision appeared
1854	Weigle’s NT was further revised by a committee from German, London and Wesleyan societies, appointed by the Madras Auxiliary of Bible Society appeared. Weigle died.
1864	The committee completed the review of the whole Bible.
	Comment: Revision became a need about 10 years after NT was published. It took about 15 years to stabilize the revision.
1890	Missions in Kannada speaking areas felt the need for revision.
1891	A committee was constituted from three missions.
1901	NT appeared with Henry Haigh as the Chief Reviser.
1934	Whole edition with reference appeared. This translation is still in use.
	Comment: Took another 2 decades to consider another revision. Reference Bible was done 100 years after the first NT was published.
1996	BSI published New common language Bible.
2000	NIBV Bible by International Bible Society.
2005	Children's Bible by BSI.
1992	Easy to Read NT by WBTC.
2006	Easy to Read Bible by World Bible Translation Centre (WBTC).
	Comment: several new versions appeared in the last twenty years.

 

Source:

Hooper, J.S.M. 1963. Bible Translation in India, Pakistan and Ceylon (Revised by  W. J. Culshaw). London: Oxford University Press. Page 95 – 100.

Go Christian Helps for Kannada Bible.

Bible Society of India on Kannada Bible translations.