Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai | |
|---|---|
_(cropped).jpg) A portrait of Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai | |
| Born | P. N. Kunjan Pillai 8 November 1904 Elamkulam, Travancore |
| Died | 4 March 1973 (aged 68) |
| Alma mater | Annamalai University (Undergraduate Degree) |
| Occupation(s) | Historian Academic |
| Parent(s) | Krishna Kurup (father) Puthen Purackal Nanukutty Amma (mother) |
Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai (8 November 1904 – 4 March 1973), known as Elamkulam, was an Indian historian, linguist and academic from southern Kerala, India.[1] He was a pioneering scholar of southern Indian history, Kerala history, in particular. Although only holding academic degrees in Sanskrit and Malayalam, and having no formal training as a historian, Elamkulam is considered one of the pioneers of modern Kerala historiography.[2][3]
He was one of the major proponents of the unitary/imperial state model in medieval Kerala history.[4] The Elamkulam model of a highly centralised "empire" (unitary/Imperial state model) in medieval Kerala is now considered not acceptable by south Indian historians. Majority of Elamkulam's works are written in Malayalam, with a few in Tamil and English.[4]
He was well versed in Kannada, Tulu (largest nonliterary South Dravidian language) and Pali (language of the Theravada Buddhist canon) also.[2] He was also considered one of the top authorities in Vattezhuthu script and Old/Early Malayalam language.[3]
Elamkulam associated himself for some time with Mortimer Wheeler in the excavation works at Harappa, Chandravally, and Brahmagiri.[2] He is also known for informally guiding M. G. S. Narayanan, a research scholar in University of Kerala in early 1970s.[5][3]
- ^ Official Website of Kerala Government - Kollam Archived 2009-04-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c "Kerala State Gazetteer". Archived from the original on 20 August 2007. Retrieved 27 April 2009.
- ^ a b c A masterpiece in reprint. [1]. The Hindu 15 July 2013
- ^ a b Cite error: The named reference
:15was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ MGS Narayanan (Profile) University of Calicut [2]