Mangat Achan – The Zamorin’s Commander in Chief
An important dignitary in the Zamorin’s court Even though most people familiar with the Zamorins know of the Manghatachan, very few know of any details other than some hazy mentions and a few myths. It...
View ArticleDiego Garcia – Indian connections
Diego Garcia - A remote island, in the middle of nowhereSouth of the Maldives, some 1,000 miles below Trivandrum, located at the center of the Indian Ocean, lies the small archipelago comprising the...
View ArticleBattle of Calicut - 1502
A Turning PointThe people who sailed and commanded the battleships for the Zamorin, used for fighting the Portuguese were a misunderstood lot. While the Portuguese and other Western scribes...
View ArticleWither goeth the Porlathiri?
The Bayanor of Cartinaad, or the Ballanore Burgarie… In a previous article, we covered the highlights of the Zamorin’s tussle with the Porlathiri and the annexation of Polanad, which locale by the way,...
View ArticleThe Pamban Channel at Rameswaram
The Portuguese at Pamban and connections to Malabar Some years ago, I mentioned the Pamban bridge, while writing about the Ceylon boat mail, a bridge that was an engineering marvel when it was...
View ArticleThe Panniyur Sukapuram conflict– The Kurmatsaram
A backdrop to the Zamorin’s Tirunavaya conquest The Zamorin annexed Tirunavaya, followed by the Valluvanad and Vettam territories, and with this the chasm between the two feuding dynasties of...
View ArticleHiranyagarbha – Elevation of the Royal caste
When royals were reborn from the golden womb The sacrifices like Hiranyagarbha which had lost relevance in Northern India, remained in vogue for a longer time in the South, if only to Brahmaṇize the...
View ArticleIbn Battuta, the Tangerine
Ibn Battuta’s Rihala – A product of oral history I have realized along the way, after some 35 years of global travel that – you can never understand an Arab sitting and studying books and power points...
View ArticleThe Devil of Calicut - A Misconception
Varthema in Calicut In Christian evangelical discussions concerning the advent of the devil, there is frequent mention of the so-called ‘Calicut Devil’, and when I recently came across it, I decided to...
View ArticleThe Konkani’s of Cochin
A look at the community’s history (with particular reference to the GSB) All of us have had some interaction with a GSB (Goud Saraswat Brahmin) Konkani, be it in college or at the workplace, and for...
View ArticleThe Zamorin’s seat at Ponnani
At the Thrikkavil KovilakomWhile most people associate the Zamorin mainly with Calicut, avid historians opine that Ponnani was a temporary military capital of the Zamorin during the medieval years, as...
View ArticleMackenzie Manuscripts – Malabar and Travancore collections – Part 1
Colin Mackenzie’s assistants involved with Malabar & Travancore In the previous article about Montrose’s heart and its connection to Napierian logarithms, we read that Colin Mackenzie had succeeded...
View ArticleThe heart of Montrose
Madurai’s peculiar connection to Scotland, Logarithms, Colin Mackenzie, and a hero’s heartMadurai has a great cultural history, and for a long time was Tamil Nadu’s cultural capital, and the ‘Toonga...
View ArticleThe Kalpathi furor
Untouchability, caste rigors, and a turbulent period at Palghat, Knapp & Sir CP Villages in Palghat followed caste-based rules as well as the prescribed segregation strictly during the...
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Conceição – Our new book
The Sad Story of the Conceição – Published by the Chagos Conservation Trust (CCT)Sometimes I wonder at the surprising turns that life takes. I was researching for material to add meat to the article...
View ArticleVolkart Brothers – The Swiss connection
Cochin & Tellicherry, through the eyes of AF AmmannKayalinarike…goes the old Mehaboob song written by Meppalli Balan, brought to life a decade ago by the sonorous Shahbaz Aman. The song takes you...
View ArticleThe Cholas, the Zamorin, and the Perumal’s
The Chola interregnum 1036-54 – A discussion One of the popular sources referred to when it comes to the history of the Zamorins of Calicut is the seminal work by KV Krishna Ayyar titled - Zamorins of...
View ArticleCalicut’s SM Street – and its everlasting allure
Its influence on the city’s inhabitants, writers, and a new book by Nadeem Naushad This little, but busy street in Calicut still has a tremendous influence on the inhabitants of Calicut. A street which...
View ArticleParsee families of Calicut
Some of the prominent families In the 19th century and until the 21st, there were several Parsi merchant families resident in Calicut. I had written about them briefly some years ago, but it needed...
View ArticleBrown of Mahe -The Rascally Adventurer
Murdoch Brown – The Valia Saheb of Anjarakandy History enthusiasts and the inhabitants of North Malabar though familiar with this name, may not know much about this Scotsman. Many myths and legends...
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