Drawing our attention to a largely unexplored, and incredibly vast, archive of Travancorean history, Dr. Vysakh A. S. presents a few intriguing snippets from Uma Maheshwari’s book on the eponymous archive, Mathilakom Records.
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Tag: history
Against Aachaaram: When is your cloth clean/pure/both?
Traditional elites harboured peculiar notions of purity and pollution in pre-modern Kerala, which were revised by the neo-savarna of twentieth-century. This article reflects on notions of personal hygiene, cleanliness and clothing, using two excerpts from early-modern Kerala.
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Translating Shakespeare in Kerala
Ever since his works began to be translated into Malayalam in the mid-nineteenth century, Shakespeare’s adaptations have appeared as books, plays, comics and films in Kerala. Thea Buckley writes about the history of Kerala’s engagement with Shakespearean literature.
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Moments of New Legalities in British Colonial Malabar
The British Raj encountered a complex legal ecosystem in Malabar. Santhosh Abraham writes about the ways in which the[…]
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Ancient Chera kingdom: Notes from the Sangam book Pathitruppathu
Pathitruppathu (പതിറ്റുപ്പത്ത്), a Sangam book dedicated to the Chera kingdom, has rich descriptions of the everyday life and practices of[…]
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Kappiri Shrines and Memories of Slavery in Kerala
“Kappiri” shrines in the coastal regions of Kerala and the local legends surrounding their worship can give us fresh insight[…]
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Travancore’s Pakistan Intrigues, 1946-47
A short glimpse into the tumultuous history of Travancore’s accession to the Indian Union and the eventful end to Sir[…]
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Reading a “Neettu” from Nineteenth-Century Kerala
Deepthi Murali For my dissertation research, I spent many months at the Kerala State Archives in Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam looking[…]
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Rock Arts of Kerala
Prof. A.T.Mohanraj Rock art from the Western Ghats in Kerala is generally comprised of three categories: sculpted figures, carvings (petroglyphs)[…]
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Monsoon Islam
Sebastian R. Prange The histories of Kerala and the wider Indian Ocean world are inseparable: they have shaped one another[…]
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