PROCESSES AND STRUCTURES : A HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL KERALA

PROCESSES AND STRUCTURES :
A HISTORY OF MEDIEVAL KERALA

TR Venugopalan

This book meets a long-felt need. It fills a gaping gap in historical literature on Kerala as it brings between the two covers a comprehensive survey of the history of medieval Kerala. It is concerned with the most formative phase in the history of Kerala for about seven hundred years beginning from the ninth century C.E. It was during this period that the identity of Kerala as a region got defined, that ideas and institutions typical of Kerala emerged authentically and that the language and literature of Malayalam announced their arrival. Based on a thorough, transparent and critical analysis of historical data-archaeological, epigraphic and literary-the author presents an extremely readable narrative of the historical processes and structures that emerged in the medieval centuries in Kerala. Indispensable for those who want to know how Kerala acquired its present self, this volume will be of immense help to students of the undergraduate and Master’s levels as well as the general reader.