Elamkulam P. N. Kunjan Pillai | |
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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]
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