Kerala History Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Dear Teachers,
KUTO is pleased to release its 18-page news letter for this month. Feedback is most welcome. Here is the content list.:
RTI- Scope for Improvement - P 2
Salary Challenge: Unfortunate Step from Authorities - P 3,4
CMDRF: Collection from Students: P 5
Collection of Relief Material: P 5 (pls read campus as Camps)
Smoke and Fire from MSW: P 5
PG Admissions: Need for a White Paper: P 5
KUTO delegation meets the Chancellor: P 6
Fellowship for MPhil Scholars: Well done!: P 6
Congratulations to Achievers: P 7
Creative Corner (poem by Dr Vijayalakshmi): P7
Sarvakalasala Sarkar Vakuppalla: P8
Office Space for KUTO: A demand since 1995" P8
Personality Clashes between Teachers.: P9
Approved Journals: UGC is ‘back to square one’: P10
SBI Advices Action in case of Bank fraud: P10
JNU-Madapally College Dwandangal - by AShraf Kadakkal: P11
Facebook Post by Jon Samuel on Salary Challenge: P 12-15
Vanity Awards - The Hindu Report: P 16
Welcome to Freshers : p17
About KUTO : P18

Kerala (Malayalam) is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-westIndia. It was formed on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganization Act by combining various Malayalam-speaking regions. The state has an area of 38,863 km 2 (15,005 sq mi) and is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast , Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Arabian Sea to the west. Thiruvananthapuram is the state capital; other major cities are Kochi (the financial and industrial hub) and Kozhikode. According to a survey by economics research firm Indicus Analytics, five of the ten most liveable cities in India are in Kerala. Kerala has the highest Human Development Index of all Indian states; its literacy rate of 93.91% is the highest of any Indian state, and a survey in 2005 by Transparency International ranked it as the least corrupt state. It is also ranked as India's cleanest state. Kerala has witnessed significant migration of its people, especially to the Persian Gulf countries during the Kerala Gulf boom, and its economy depends significantly on remittances from a large Malayali expatriate community. Kerala is an important international and internal tourist destination; the backwaters, beaches, Ayurvedic tourism, and tropical greenery are among its major attractions. National Geographic's Traveller magazine named Kerala as one of the "ten paradises of the world" and "50 must-see destinations of a lifetime"; Travel + Leisure listed it as "one of the 100 great trips for the 21st century".

- by Jignesh vidani
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- Kerala History, Kerala, Education in Kerala, Kerala University

This Malayalam article which appeared in Ezhuthu masika takes a historical-anthropological view of dowry and domestic violence in Kerala from the take-off point of increased incidents of domestic violence and dowry deaths during the covid pandemic. The article also examines the 'gender paradox' in Kerala and how education has not broken traditional patriarchal structures. Specific suggestions to remedy the situation are given at the end.

- by Linda Luiz
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- Gender Studies, Women's Studies, Domestic Violence, Gender

1. T M Krishna sings for harmony & KUTO’s fund-raising
2. A poem in support of T M Krishna’s stance: Krishna, Keep on Singing…
3. Allied/Relevant Subjects for Recruitment of Teachers
4. Message of the “പരിപത്രം”
5. Good Bye 'Urkund', Welcome ‘Turnitin’?
6. Publications
7. Hard Deadline - KUTO writes to authorities
8. Waiting, Waiting, Waiting...
9. UNI-STAR പ്രസിഡന്റ് എഴുതുന്നു: മൈത്രി സംഗീത സന്ധ്യയിലെ കൂട്ടായ്‌മ
10. A painting born in a night by Dr. Sreeranjini
11. Senate Elections: KUTO begins #Jayiche_Theeroo# Campaign: Renewed appeal to fellow teachers
12. A welcome step from authorities: Sabbatical Leave Comes into Practice
13. Failure to intimate Exam Postponement: Face saving steps for CSS Vice-Chairman
14. Media Scan

This paper posits that the varied legacies of colonial rule and decolonization can explain interstate variation in the institutionalization of corruption in post-independence India. It concludes that the relative freedom from state capture after independence depended on two conditions: 1.) the institutionalization of bureaucratic autonomy prior to independence; and 2.) the survival of the disruption of decolonization by an autonomous bureaucracy to be utilized by new representative governments following independence. These conditions were generally not met across India with the exception of the southern state of Kerala.

The Mohiniyattam that we see now is a highly re-constructed version of the dance form than what was practiced before. Practitioners and Nationalists have helped recreate a dance form sans ‘vulgar’ content, i.e. cleansed it like other Indian dance forms during that period. It was recreated with the idea of womanhood and femininity that supported the nation building process. Later, movements inspired from the environment was embodied into the dance form.

- by Swaroopa Unni
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- Anthropology Of Dance, Embodiment, Dance History, Dance ethnography

Political violence and democracy, Violence and the assertion of political sovereignty in India

- by NISSIM MANNATHUKKAREN
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- Development Studies, International Development, Communism, Socialism

This paper is an attempt to construct the cultural biographies of material objects enmeshed in the irregular terrains of a historic past. While tracing the lineages of their living life, this paper enquires whether these past co-exist and co-create meanings within permeable boundaries. Material objects in this study belong to the historical contexts of Buddhism in Kerala's past. However, over the years, these objects have undergone series of identity transformations in relation with their time and space. Hence they have lost their distinctive etches in the annals of history. As there is no Buddhist present in Kerala to give their versions of past, their past should also be lost . But a few memories , stories , etc, miraculously persisted. This study is about these tales and legends and why they alone have survived ? By exploring the mythologies of living things , this study wishes to throw light on how Buddhism was practiced or experienced within specific local and cultural settings of these regions in Kerala. Unlike, what we thought in the past, material objects assume a historical agency in present and they also shape living legends today.

- by Abey Thomas
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- History of Religion, Kerala History, Buddhism In Kerala

The transformation of rural society and culture cannot be understood from a local perspective alone. Rural areas have nowadays come up as places for entertainment, leisure activities, and second homes and are seen as an alternative to urban residential areas. They reflect a cultural interest in rurality and locality in the larger society, which encourages new customs, practices and social demands. In examining the processes of transformation and redefinition of local identity, we will consider the heritage feature – more specifically food and gastronomy– as an element of tourist development at local level. Palm wine is an alcoholic beverage created from the sap of various species of palm tree such as the Palmyra, date palms, and coconut palms. It is known by various names in different regions and is common in various parts of Asia, Africa, Caribbean Islands and America. Palm wine production by small holders and individual farmers may become a source of regular household income that may economically be worth more than the value of timber sold. Kallu or toddy is a cheaply priced common man’s alcoholic drink. The aim of this paper is to find the potential of toddy to attract tourists in the rural areas of Kerala by finding out Mean, Frequency and Percentage using SPSS 25.0 and graphs are drawn from Excel 2010. Primary data collected through structured questionnaire from the domestic tourists in Kerala. Convenience sampling method was adapted by the researchers to select respondents. The researchers have used percentage and cross tabulation to analyze the data collected. Researchers have reached the conclusion that, toddy and its accompaniments are having potential to attract tourists in rural areas of Kerala.

- by Aashish Gupta
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- Tourism Studies, Food Science, Food and Nutrition, Wine Tourism

Over the past century and more, tribal lands have been bought by non-tribals at throwaway prices. There has been legislation to check this trend and also to restore alienated lands to tribals. But the will to implement these laws on the part of the government has been missing. Kerala has recently passed a bill, purportedly to protect the interests of the tribals, which makes restoration of land to tribals almost impossible.

- by C. R. Bijoy
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- Indigenous Peoples, Kerala History, Land Rights, Scheduled Tribes

The book is a critical exposure and analysis of the Buddhist foundations of Kerala culture. The cultures of literacy, universal education, healthcare, martial arts, arts, architecture, music and performance, sculpture and painting along with a lot of folklore and popular cultural practices are contextualized in the long Buddhist period of Kerala that was part of the ancient Tamilakam from Asokan times to the middle ages. The global linkages of Kerala and the greater Sangam or Changam legacy of Kerala are also explored in the light of new Dhamma script discoveries from Pattanam and Keezhadi. Photographs and exclusive details are provided with an index of keywords and more than twenty detailed chapters of various facets of Kerala culture and history. It is also a pioneering work in trans disciplinary and multi disciplinary studies in Kerala culture and history. It is also part of a multi cultural and democratic new cultural historiography in Kerala coming up from the bottom.

- by Ajay Sekher
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- Buddhism, Cultural History, Cultural Studies, Kerala History

അറബി ഭാഷ ഇന്ത്യയിൽ എന്ന വിഷയത്തിൽ കണ്ണൂർ സർവകലാശാലയിലെ എച്ച്.ആർ.ഡി.സി. യിൽ അവതരിപ്പിച്ച പേപ്പറിൻറെ ഒരു സംക്ഷിപ്‌ത രൂപമാണ് ഇവിടെ ചേർക്കുന്നത്.
1. അറബി ഒരു അന്താരഷ്‌ട്ര ഭാഷ
2. അറബി ഭാഷയുടെ പ്രത്യേകതകള്‍
3. അറബി സാഹിത്യത്തിൻറെ വളര്‍ച്ച
4. അറബി ഭാഷ ഇന്ത്യയിൽ
5. ഇന്ത്യയിലെ അറബ് പത്രപ്രവർത്തനം
6. അറബി ഭാഷ കേരളത്തിൽ
7. കേരളത്തിലെ അറബി പത്ര പ്രസിദ്ധീകരണങ്ങള്‍
എന്നീ വിഷയങ്ങളിൽ ആണ് ചർച്ച നടന്നത്.

This is a small write-up on collaborative work currently under progress on Mundambra’s Arabic Malayalam poem "Vellappokkam", guided by Dr. Abin Sha and the eminent linguist Prof. T. B. Venugopala Panicker, and initiated by me with two Malayali students at the University of Glasgow, Haritha Venu (Geography) and Shihab Kallupalam (Social Sciences). We intend to translate the text into English and explore its implications on environmental humanities and cultural geography.

A STUDY ON “CONTRIBUTIONS OF ALI MUSLIYAR WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO MALABAR REBELLION”
Musliyār was a Masjid al-Haram educated Islamic scholar and religious leader who served as the Imam of Tirurangadi Mosque from 1907 until his eventual execution at Coimbatore Prison. He was also the leader of a prominent landless peasant-laborer organization and an active orator of the Khilafat Movement.

- by Abdul Vahid K Vazhakkad
- •
- Islamic History, Kerala History, Malabar

The paper critically re-evaluates the polyphonic and multicultural legacies of Kerala renaissance with reference to the democratic thought and social actions by the pioneers of Kerala modernity like the guru, Sahodaran, Poykayil Appachan and John Dharma Teerthar a disciple of the guru. The key accent of Kerala renaissance modernity is a powerful and radical rejection of the Ramraj where Sambuka is killed. Another democratic dimension is the rejection of Varnasrama and the upholding of freedom of opinion and religion in particular. These multicultural foundations of Kerala could be used as a site of resistance against the current hegemonic tendencies of homogenization and the totalitarian project in India at the second coming of Hindutva and its elitist cultural Nationalism.

- by Ajay Sekher
- •
- Cultural Studies, Multiculturalism, Fascism, Cultural Nationalism

This paper investigates whether Jews were present in Kerala in the Ist century to be converted by St. Thomas. It further probes whether Jews came to Kerala during Babylonian Diaspora and later after the destruction of the Temple by Romans... more

- by Abraham Yeshuratnam
- •
- Kerala History

a brief introduction about traditional kerala architecture elements...and interiors....

- by Boney Philip
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- Interior Design, Architectural Education, Architectural Theory, Kerala History

I try to move through three different eras in the history of Kathakali in this article. Though, not privileging the linear, historically Kathakali has been presented as an art form that transcends time. Through the first section, I hint that Kathakali was at the time of its inception, a source of recording (and hence, revisiting) a particular site of Aryan invasion. The following section tries to suggest that post-Malabar rebellion that concluded around the 1920s, there was an increasing tendency to foster links between upper castes of Kerala. The shared resource that they could find in the Kathakali then became a site for varied imaginations itself, forming political solidarities amongst Nairs in a way larger than ever. The ease with which they were able to align similar movements with the pan-Indian nationalist one was part of maintaining dominance in these regions. The final section is an ambitious attempt to look at how studies on Kathakali, in academia, have often taken the history as granted and then moved forward. This has then led to a 'secularisation' of the aesthetics that the dance-drama entails. The modern day Malayali imaginative then goes through a process where the present is devoid of any history and the present is seen as unproblematic through various sorts of consumption (tourism, popular culture).

- by Safwan Amir
- •
- Aesthetics, Performance Studies, Indian Art, Kerala History
- by Suresh M
- •
- Religion, Hinduism, South Asian Studies, Modernity

This is the first study to examine Nayar matriliny as a historical phenomenon. Kerala is the only place in the world where a kinship system was outlawed. The book analyses the reasons for the abolition by the colonial state and lays bare the differences between early twentieth, late twentieth and mid-nineteenth century forms of matriliny. This is the first historical work in India on matriliny.

- by Arunima G
- •
- Gender Studies, Property Law, Family history, Kerala History
- by P K Yasser Arafath
- •
- Violence, Gender History, Indian studies, South Asian Studies

Empowerment simply means strengthening of women. Travancore, an erstwhile princely state of modern Kerala was considered as a land of enlightened rulers. In the realm of women, condition of Travancore was not an exception. Women were considered as a weaker section and were brutally tortured.Patriarchy was the rule of the land. Many agitations occurred in Travancore for the upliftment of women. The most important among them was the Channar revolt, which revolves around women's right to wear dress. The present paper analyses the significance of Channar Revolt in the then Kerala society.

- by Keerthana Santhosh
- •
- Women's Studies, Kerala History, Indian History, Dalit history
- by Arunima G
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- Aesthetics, Art History, Public Sphere, Kerala History
- by K. S. Hakim
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- Gender and Sexuality, Gender, Kerala History, Kerala

Kerala State Civil Supplies Corporation, otherwise known as Supplyco, is a popular household name across Kerala. Supplyco was formed in 1974 with the primary objective of controlling the rise in prices of essential commodities. However, very few know about this objective of Supplyco since its common perception is as a retail chain selling commodities at lower prices. Due to this, Supplyco is perceived as a welfare organization and consumers believe it to be benefitting them. After 44 years of operations and expanding itself into retailing with a strength of 1406 outlets across Kerala, it is necessary to evaluate whether the Supplyco model of government intervention is capable of transferring maximum benefits to the consumer. The study examines the effectiveness of Supplyco model in achieving the objective of controlling the rise in prices of essential commodities.

The Strange Case of CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA
Part I of a 4 part serie

- by Dr. Uday Dokras
- •
- Christianity, Kerala History, Goal Setting

Hey..here I am glad to present my work named as educational contributions of St Chavara Kuriakose Elias. This study mainly focused on the field of his early life, congregation formation and ultimately his contributions in the field of... more

- by Sebin Michael
- •
- Education, Kerala History, Kuriakose Elias Chavara
- by Shabeer TK
- •
- Cultural History, Art History, Languages and Linguistics, Architecture

This article presents the ethno‐archaeological work carried out by the author at ten pottery workshops in Ernakulam District, Central Kerala, South India. The production processes in these workshops were carefully documented and interviews were conducted with twenty potters as part of the study. One of the primary focuses of this study is the manufacturing process of ceramics. The paper describes different production methods such as wheel, mould and hand modeling which are still practiced in the various workshops of Central Kerala. It tries to explicate the link between vessel forms and their functions based on the examination of production process adopted at the workshops. The paper also seeks to understand how changing habits generate demands which are in turn reflected in the pottery assemblage produced at the workshops.

- by Jaseera C M
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- Ethnoarchaeology, Pottery (Archaeology), Kerala History

The waves of the freedom movement , which swept all over colonial India in the first half of the twentieth century made its presence in Kerala also, resulting in a renaissance of far reaching changes in the creativity and thought process of the land. It is interesting to note that the impact of independence movement was most acutely felt in the arena of poetry in comparison with other literary genres. It changed the very nature of the then neo-classic Malayalam poetry in form and spirit as a result of which literature ceased to be a mere pastime and became a catalyst for social and political change. Language shed its thick shell of scholasticism and became lucid and down to earth. The engagement with the past became more meaningful and critical to superstitions and caste oppressions. A sense of brotherhood of the citizens of India cutting across language, religion and culture and an egalitarian spirit pervaded the entire poetic discourse of the time; rosy dreams of the not yet realized freedom permeated the imagination of the poets. The inferiority complex viciously created and nurtured by the alien masters on their subjects came to be challenged in a spirited manner by the projection of the glories of ancient Indian civilization. Malayalam poetry became at once influenced by the political realities of the times and the vehicle of transformation and dynamic action to resist colonialism. The poets of Kerala joined their counterparts elsewhere in the country in the unprecedented struggle of an ancient and proud nation against the insensitiveness and exploitations of an alien rule. The poets whose enlightened compositions celebrating liberty and decrying slavery sensitized and inspired people are far too numerous to be recounted in a paper like this and included the major poets of Malayalam. Those whose lines have inspired generations include Asan,

- by Rajendran Chettiarthodi
- •
- Indian Literature, Malayalam Literature, Kerala History, Indian History

Traditional Kerala architecture is a kind of architectural style that is mostly found in the Indian state of Kerala and all these architectural wonders of Kerala holds the ultimate testimonials from the ancient vishwakarma sthapathis of... more

- by Anand Krishnan
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- Kerala History, Traditional Architecture, Kerala, Traditional Kerala Architecture
- by Suresh Kumar
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- Ancient History, Indian studies, Kerala History

Taking up Neelakkuyil (d. P Bhaskaran and Ramu Kariat, 1954) as one of the early interventions of the Left in Malayalam popular cinema, this paper analyses the film to explore a few significant questions: What precisely was the nature of the cultural vision that the Left proposed for the region in the wake of linguistic reorganization of the states in South India in 1956? How did this vision determine the attempts to imagine a just social order in Kerala during and around the 1950s? How do we historically understand the interventions of Left-affiliated artists in cinema, and what exactly was the cultural politics of the aesthetic of 'social realism'? Taking up these questions for discussion, the paper argues that the history of Malayalam cinema needs to be understood as part of the regional history of South Indian cinema — an approach that would take us closer towards an historical understanding of the generic elements and the narrative components that the Left's 'social realist' cinema borrowed and reformulated from the cinematic traditions in the region and across the subcontinent.

- by Jenson Joseph
- •
- Popular Culture, Kerala History, Realism, South Indian Cinema