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K V Krishna Ayyar – The doyen of Malabar history
I will always remember this historian with a bit of fondness, for not only did he kindle my interest in history, but also had a hand in some of our family affairs at Palghat. He was a friend of my...
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The Calicut Song
Interestingly, in the late medieval times, there used to be a song sung by the lascars of Goa and Malabar. The song was apparently known as the Calicut song. The first time it was documented in English...
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Unni Moosa of Elambulassery
And the Jungle Moplahs of MalabarMany of you would remember this name from the stories of Pazhassi raja and the blockbuster Mamooty movie where Moosa’s role was taken up by Captain Raju (Sankaradi in...
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The Ceylon Boat Mail
Somebody might recall this boat mail from the Ashe murder case, which I had written about, for that was the train Ashe and his wife boarded at Maniyachi, after which they were shot by Vanchi Iyer in...
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The story of Chinali
and revisiting Dom Pedro’s exploitsWe talked about the Kunhali Marakars, we discussed about the Chinese presence in Calicut and the nearby ports, we talked about their relationship with the Zamorin’s,...
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Mammali Marakkar – Regent of the seas (Regedor do Mar)
And his connections to the MaldivesThe balanced trade networks between the Red Sea and the Far East had Malabar and Gujerat as the fulcrums with the Arabs controlling the west and the Chinese...
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The Peirce Leslie Saga
Many scholars and sociologists have concluded that Kerala stands out among the other states in India and mention about the peculiar statistics concerning women, how they are balanced or even more in...
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The Venganad Nambitis of Kollengode
The Kollengode RajasToday there is not much left of that small dynasty but for a lovely palace built purportedly for a recalcitrant princess, an opulent building serving these days as a popular...
View ArticleThe 1938 Kadakkal riot
Franco Rule - A nation is proclaimed, within the domains of TravancoreIt was a curious incident, not oft mentioned in the annals of history. During the ironclad reign of Sir CP, a few individuals took...
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The Chekavars of Malabar
Chekavars and their Tiyya origins I had written an article exploring the origins of the Tiyyas of Malabar some years ago and many comments came in, some asking new questions, some adding new insights,...
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The Welser’s and the Malabar spice trade
Perhaps we give too much credit to the Portuguese when it came to the Malabar trade. In a manner, it is right as they possessed the might and the control of the sea route to make it all happen. But...
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William Logan (1841-1914)
The author of The Malabar Manual and a friend of MalabarThere are many Scotsmen, Irish and Englishmen who have spent long tenures in India, and some have spent their entire adult lifetimes in India but...
View ArticleOn Kiriyathil Nairs and Nair Aristocracy
The position of Nairs in the caste and ruling structures of medieval Kerala is a very peculiar one, and this resulted in so many anthropological studies into it. Volumes have been written by people who...
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The Temple states of Medieval Kerala
Sanketams of MalabarStarting from the time when the Chera Empire and its powers declined, new forms of governance came up as lands split into multiple Swaroopams, Nadus, Desams and so on. Local...
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Velu Thampi and the Zamorin
The intrigues of 1808-09Some readers may recall a bit of the story behind the overtures made by Travancore to the Calicut Zamorin for support on final ploys against the British, and I had made a brief...
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The Munro years – Travancore
The stories of Kerala Varma and Ummini Thampi The events which clouded the placid skyline of 19thcentury Travancore actually started during the reign of Avittam Tirunal Balarama Varma. It was in 1798...
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The ICS Collectors of Malabar
British Governance - CalicutThere is a furor at Calicut these days resulting from the transfer of a benevolent collector popularly known as ‘collector bro’ and it appears that this resulted from the...
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The Conolly’s in British India
And their tragic livesMany have asked me questions about the Conolly family and over the years I had been trying to gather as much of detail as I could find. While I came across a reasonable amount of...
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The Khilafat Movement, Turkey and Ataturk
Having lived in Turkey for a few years and having admired Mustafa Kemal Ataturk‘s rebuilding of that war torn nation into a modern Turkey, I was always curious as to what Mustafa Kemal had to say about...
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Conolly and the Calicut Canal
The Canoli Canal of CalicutThe story of this Canal is quite engaging. Most people believe that the Elattur - Kallai canal as it was formally known was the brainchild of the man who lent his name to the...
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