Biography : Ellis became a writer in the East India Company's service at Madras in 1796. He was promoted to the offices of assistant-under secretary, deputy-secretary and secretary to the board of revenue in 1798, 1801, and 1802 respectively. In 1806 he was appointed judge of the zillah of Machilipatnam, in 1809 the Collector of land customs in the Madras presidency, and in 1810 the Collector of Madras. He died at Ramnad of cholera on 10 March 1819. Dravidian language hypothesis: Ellis is most noted for being the first scholar to recognize the Dravidian languages as a separate language family. Robert Caldwell, who is often credited as the first scholar to propose a separate language family for South Indian languages, acknowledges Ellis's contribution in his preface to the first edition of "A Comparative Grammar of the Dravidian or South Indian Family of Languages." The first to break ground in the field was Mr. Ellis, a Madras civilian, whose was profoundly versed i...