Malabar & Istanbul – Late 19th Century Two things made me pick up this topic for study. One - the fact that Sayyid Fadl spent his last years in Istanbul, a city I love, and two -the remark ...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2024/04/power-brokers-and-saints-case-of-sayyid.html
The princess among hill stations and the many stories it hides. I will always remember the hill station and the few times I have visited the place. At that time, I did not know any of these stori...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2024/02/kodaikanal-amidst-palani-hills.html
Calicut and the two battles of 1503 and 1790, Dr Noone’s new book Some years ago, I wrote about the famous sea battle of Calicut fought during the early months of 1503, preparations having been...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/12/situating-histories.html
The White and the Black Jews of Cochin Several books and papers feature the white and the Black Jewish community which lived in Cochin. Many of the descendants have since taken up their Aliyah an...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/12/t-h-baber-and-cochin-jews.html
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 leg...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/11/brown-of-mahe-rascally-adventurer.html
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 need...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/11/parsee-families-of-calicut.html
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 stre...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/10/calicuts-sm-street-and-its-everlasting.html
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 - Zamo...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/09/the-cholas-zamorin-and-perumals.html
Cochin & Tellicherry, through the eyes of AF Ammann Kayalinarike…goes the old Mehaboob song written by Meppalli Balan, brought to life a decade ago by the sonorous Shahbaz Aman. The song ta...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/06/volkart-brothers-swiss-connection.html
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 t...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/06/conceicao-our-new-book.html
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 pre-in...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/05/the-kalpathi-furor.html
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, ...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/04/the-heart-of-montrose.html
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 Mackenzi...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/04/mackenzie-manuscripts-malabar-and.html
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 year...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/02/the-zamorins-seat-at-ponnani.html
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, an...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2023/01/the-konkanis-of-cochin.html
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 ...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/12/the-devil-of-calicut-misconception.html
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 p...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/12/ibn-battuta-tangerine.html
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 Brahmaṇiz...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/11/hiranyagarbha-elevation-of-royal-caste.html
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 dyn...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/09/the-panniyur-sukapuram-conflict.html
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 ...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/08/the-pamban-channel-at-rameswaram.html
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 b...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/07/wither-goeth-porlathiri.html
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 colle...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/06/battle-of-calicut-1502.html
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 ...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/03/diego-garcia-indian-connections.html
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 m...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/02/mangat-achan-zamorins-commander-in-chief.html
Tatcholi Othenan – As narrated in the Ballads of the North The Northern ballads (Vadakkan pattukal) are a series of folk songs sung by working women in the paddy fields, to fend away boredom an...
https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2022/01/othenan-supreme-warrior-of-kadathanad.html