prathaapa mudaliaar charithram ("the life of prathaapa mudaliaar"), written in 1857 and published in 1879, was the first novel in the tamil language. the novel does not involve historical characters or events but is set in royal times. penned by maayuram vedanaayakam pillai, it was a landmark in tamil literature, which had hitherto seen writings only in poetry. the book gave birth to a new literary genre and tamil prose began to be recognized as an increasingly important part of the language. one can see the style of any tamil author in this novel.