The missionaries played a very significant role in the growth of press in India, in the following ways
(i) The printing press first came to Goa with Portuguese missionaries in the mid-16th century.
(ii) Jesuit priests learnt Konkani and printed several tracts. By 1674, about 50 books had been printed in the Konkani and in Kanara languages.
(iii) Catholic priests printed the first Tamil book in 1579 at Cochin and the first Malayalam book in 1713.
(iv) By 1710, Dutch Protestant missionaries also had printed 32 Tamil texts, many of these were
translations of older books.