1. P. Shankunni Menon (1838–1911) was one of the earliest native historians of Kerala and a formative figure in the development of modern regional historiography. His position in the Travancore administration granted him access to a wide range of archival sources, which enabled him to compose his seminal work A History of Travancore from the Earliest Times (1878). A distinctive feature of his historiographical method was his attempt to substantiate the narratives of the Purāṇas by correlating them with the inscriptional evidence available at the time, thereby seeking to anchor traditional accounts within a historical framework. Although his work reflects the intellectual milieu and limitations of nineteenth-century historiography, it marked the first systematic effort to craft a continuous narrative of Travancore’s past and laid the groundwork for subsequent, more rigorous studies.
2. P.Shungoonny Menon, History of Travancore, (1878), Asian Educational Services, New Delhi, 1998. p. 48.
3. William Logan (1841–1914) was a Scottish civil servant in the British Indian administration and an early, influential historian of Kerala. After entering the Madras Civil Service in 1865, he eventually rose to the position of Collector of Malabar, a post that provided him with direct access to the region’s socio-economic structures, political frameworks, and administrative mechanisms. His seminal publication, The Malabar (1887), the official manual of Malabar district, continues to be regarded as a foundational source for the study of Kerala’s history, society, agrarian relations, and revenue systems. Drawing upon an extensive range of materials—including colonial archival records, land revenue registers, oral traditions, and the earliest available epigraphic references—Logan produced one of the first systematic and comprehensive regional studies of Malabar.
4. William Logan, Malabar, Vol. I, Government of India, Madras, 1887. Pp. 221-275.
5. The Asiatic Society of Bengal, founded in 1784 in Calcutta by Sir William Jones, was one of the earliest and most influential scholarly institutions established under British rule in India. Conceived as a centre for the systematic study of Asian civilizations, the Society played a pioneering role in developing the disciplines of Indology, Linguistics, Philology, Archaeology, and Epigraphy. Throughout the nineteenth century, it served as a major forum for intellectual exchange, bringing together European scholars and Indian savants in the pursuit of research on the subcontinent’s History, Languages, Literature, and Material Culture. The publications of the Society—particularly the Asiatic Researches and later the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal—became authoritative platforms for announcing new discoveries, including inscriptions, coins, manuscripts, and archaeological findings.
6. William Jones, (Ed.), Asiatic Researches, Vol. I, (1788), Cosmo Publications, New Delhi, 1979.
7. Sir William Jones (1746–1794) was a pioneering Orientalist, philologist, and judge whose intellectual contributions laid the foundations for modern Indology. As a judge of the Supreme Court of Judicature in Calcutta, he founded the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1784, envisioning it as an institution dedicated to the systematic study of the history, languages, literature, and antiquities of Asia. As part of his research, he was the first to assert the kinship of the Indo-European languages.
8. Charles Wilkins (1749–1836) was one of the earliest British Orientalists and a foundational figure in the study of Indian languages and literature. As a member of the East India Company’s service, he mastered Sanskrit at a time when few Europeans had access to the language. His most celebrated achievement is the first English translation of the Bhagavad Gītā (1785), which marked a turning point in the Western understanding of Indian philosophical and literary traditions. As one of the founding members of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Wilkins contributed significantly to the establishment of institutional frameworks that later facilitated epigraphical and historical research in India.
9. Henry Thomas Colebrooke (1765–1837) was one of the most distinguished early Orientalists and a central figure in the institutional and intellectual development of Indology. A senior officer of the East India Company, he combined administrative responsibilities with rigorous scholarship in Sanskrit, Indian law, religion, mathematics, and philology. Colebrooke is best known for his authoritative works such as A Digest of Hindu Law (1798) and Essays on the Religion and Philosophy of the Hindus (1805–1827), which introduced systematic and textually grounded understandings of Indian legal and philosophical traditions to Western scholarship. His contributions, however, extended beyond textual studies. As a key member of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Colebrooke published several important articles on ancient inscriptions, coins, and Indian numeration systems, thereby laying early methodological foundations for the study of epigraphy and historical linguistics in India.
10. Henry Colerbrooke, “Translation of One of the Inscriptions on the Pillar at Dehlee, Called the Lāt of Feeroz Shah”, In Asiatic Researches, Vol. VII, (1801), Verner and Hood, London, 1803. pp. 175-182.
11. James Prinsep (1799–1840) was a British antiquarian, numismatist, and philologist whose pioneering contributions transformed the study of early Indian history. Serving as the assay master of the Calcutta Mint and later as secretary of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Prinsep combined scientific precision with historical curiosity, producing foundational work in epigraphy, numismatics, and Indian scripts.
12. James Prinsep, “Interpretation of the Most Ancient of the Inscriptions on the Pillar Called the Lát of Feroz Shāh, near Delhi, and of the Allahabad, Radhia and Matttah pillar, or Lāt, Inscriptions which agree therewith”, James Prinsep, (Ed.) Journal of the Asiatic Society, Vol. VI, Part II, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1837. pp. 566-609.
13. D.C.Sircar, “Inscriptions in Sanskritic and Dravidian Languages”, In Ancient India No. 9, Bulletin of Archaeological Survey of India, Special Jubilee Number, Archaeological Survey of India, November 1953. pp. 214-215.
14. The Annual Report on Indian Epigraphy (A.R.I.E.) refers to a series of annual reports first initiated in 1887 by the Public Department of the Government of Madras as the progress reports of the Government Epigraphist. From 1887 to 1921 (A.R.I.E. 1887–1888 to A.R.I.E. 1920–1921), these were issued as Government Orders (G.O.) of the Madras Presidency, designated as the official reports of the Government Epigraphist.
15. GO 1462, 1887-10-24 (21st November 1886 to 20th September 1887).
16. For the epigraphic records of South India, a separate series known as South Indian inscriptions has been running since 1890. The grouping of the inscriptions has, however, varied from time to time, being according to localities, dynasties or even the language of the inscriptions.
17. Rao Bahadur H. Krishna Sastri, (Ed.), South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. V, The Superintendent, Government Press, Madras, 1925.
18. K.V.Subramanya Aiyer, (Ed.), South Indian Inscriptions, Vol. VII, The Superintendent, Government Press, Madras, 1932.
19. Sahira M.K., “Epigraphical Studies by the Europeans in Keralam, 1847-1893”, In Proceedings of the South Indian History Congress 41, South Indian History Congress, GTN Arts College, Dindigul, 2023. http://journal.southindianhistorycongress.org/show_article.php?atl_id=MzA=
20. T. A. Gopinatha Rao (1872–1919) was born into a Marathi Brahmin family in 1872 and obtained his M.A. in Chemistry from Trichy College in 1899. He joined the Travancore Archaeological Department in 1902, marking the beginning of his distinguished career in archaeology and epigraphy.
21. T A Gopinatha Rao edited the first two volumes of TAS. KV Subramanya Aiyer was the editor of the next two volumes and the next three volumes were edited by A S Ramanatha Iyer.
22. The Kerala Society was established on September 26th, 1927, with its headquarters at Thiruvananthapuram. Regular meetings of the ‘Kerala Society’ were held with the participation of renowned academics. The research papers given at the meetings were later published in ‘Kerala Society Papers’, the society's publication. It was formed on the model of the ‘Journalof Royal Asiatic Society’.
23. The Rama Varma Research Institute Bulletin debuted in 1930 with its initial edition. Fifteen volumes in total were released, with the final one appearing in 1948. Scholars like K. R. Pisharody, A. Govinda Varrier, V. K. R. Menon, Anujan Achan, and others were among the distinguished contributors to the volumes of the Rama Varma Research Institute Bulletin.
24. Sahira M.K., “Epigraphical Studies in Kerala: Early Attempts”, In Proceedings of the South Indian History Congress 42, South Indian History Congress, University College, Thiruvananthapuram, 2024. http://journal.southindianhistorycongress.org/show_article.php?atl_id=NDY5
25. Eḷamkulam Kuñjan Piḷḷai (1904-1983) was one of the most influential historians of modern Kerala and a pioneering figure in the critical study of the region’s early and medieval past. Trained as a polyglot scholar with deep expertise in Malayalam, Sanskrit, and Tamil, he brought a rigorous philological and epigraphical approach to the reconstruction of Kerala’s history. His writings—characterized by analytical clarity, meticulous use of inscriptional evidence, and a commitment to linguistic precision—introduced a new methodological discipline into Kerala historiography.
26. Elamkulam .P.N Kunjan Pillai, Chera Samrajyam Onpathum Pathum Noottandukalil, (Mal), Kerala University, 1961.
27. V.R. Parameswaran Pillai, Aa Ezhupathu Varshangal, (Mal.) P. Kamalamma, Poojappura, Thiruvananthapuram, 1974. p. 56.
28. Ibid.
29. V.R. Parameswaran Pillai, Prajeenalighithangal, (Mal.), National Book Stall, Kottayam, 1963.
30. Śilālikhitā Vijñānīyam, (Mal.) Kerala Language Institute, Thiruvananthapuram, 1978.