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Middle Malayalam
Middle Malayalam is the period of the Malayalam language spanning from 13th century to 15th century AD. The works including ''Unniyachi Charitham'', ''Unnichiruthevi Charitham'', and ''Unniyadi Charitham'', are written in Middle Malayalam, those date back to 13th and 14th centuries of Common Era. The ''Sandesha Kavya''s of 14th century CE written in Manipravalam language include ''Unnuneeli Sandesam''. The word ''Manipravalam'' literally means ''Diamond-Coral'' or ''Ruby-Coral''. The 14th-century ''Lilatilakam'' text states Manipravalam to be a ''Bhashya'' (language) where "Malayalam and Sanskrit should combine together like ruby and coral, without the least trace of any discord". ''Kannassa Ramayanam'' and ''Kannassa Bharatam'' by Rama Panikkar of the Niranam poets who lived between 1350 and 1450 are representative of this language. The ''Champu Kavyas'' written by Punam Nambudiri, one among the ''Pathinettara Kavikal'' (Eighteen and a half poets) in the court of the Zamorin of C ...
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Kerala
Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South Canara, and Thiruvithamkoor. Spread over , Kerala is the 21st largest Indian state by area. It is bordered by Karnataka to the north and northeast, Tamil Nadu to the east and south, and the Lakshadweep Sea to the west. With 33 million inhabitants as per the 2011 census, Kerala is the 13th-largest Indian state by population. It is divided into 14 districts with the capital being Thiruvananthapuram. Malayalam is the most widely spoken language and is also the official language of the state. The Chera dynasty was the first prominent kingdom based in Kerala. The Ay kingdom in the deep south and the Ezhimala kingdom in the north formed the other kingdoms in the early years of the Common Era (CE). The region had been a prominent spic ...
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Lilatilakam
''Lilatilakam'' (IAST: ''Līlā-tilakam'', "diadem of poetry") is a 14th century Sanskrit-language treatise on the grammar and poetics of the Manipravalam language form, a precursor of the modern Malayalam language spoken in the Kerala state of India. Date and authorship ''Lilatilakam'' is an anonymous work, and is generally dated to the late 14th century. It is attested by two (possibly three) manuscripts, and is not referred to by any other surviving pre-modern source. Contents ''Lilatilakam'' (literally "diadem of poetry") calls itself the only disciplinary treatise (''shastra'') on Manipravalam Manipravalam (Malayalam: മണിപ്രവാളം, Tamil: மணிப்பிரவாளம்) is a macaronic language found in some manuscripts of South India. It is a hybrid language, typically written in the Grantha script, which comb ..., which it describes as the "union" of Sanskrit and Kerala-bhasha (the regional language spoken in Kerala). The text is written ...
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Prakrit
The Prakrits (; sa, prākṛta; psu, 𑀧𑀸𑀉𑀤, ; pka, ) are a group of vernacular Middle Indo-Aryan languages that were used in the Indian subcontinent from around the 3rd century BCE to the 8th century CE. The term Prakrit is usually applied to the middle period of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, excluding earlier inscriptions and the later Pali. ''Prākṛta'' literally means "natural", as opposed to '' saṃskṛta'', which literally means "constructed" or "refined". Prakrits were considered the regional spoken (informal) languages of people, and Sanskrit was considered the standardized (formal) language used for literary, official and religious purposes across Indian kingdoms of the subcontinent. Literary registers of Prakrits were also used contemporaneously (predominantly by śramaṇa traditions) alongside Classical Sanskrit of higher social classes. Etymology The dictionary of Monier Monier-Williams (1819–1899), and other modern authors however, interpr ...
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Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rig Veda, a colle ...
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Tamil Literature
Tamil literature has a rich and long literary tradition spanning more than two thousand years. The oldest extant works show signs of maturity indicating an even longer period of evolution. Contributors to the Tamil literature are mainly from Tamil people from South India, including the land now comprising Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Eelam Tamils from Sri Lanka, as well as the Tamil diaspora. The history of Tamil literature follows the history of Tamil Nadu, closely following the social, economical, political and cultural trends of various periods. The early Sangam literature, dated before 300 BCE, contain anthologies of various poets dealing with many aspects of life, including love, war, social values and religion.Akananuru (1, 15, 31, 55, 61, 65, 91, 97, 101, 115, 127, 187, 197, 201, 211, 233, 251, 265, 281, 311, 325, 331, 347, 349, 359, 393, 281, 295), Kurunthogai (11), and Natrinai (14, 75) are dated before 300 BCE. This was followed by the early epics and moral literature, auth ...
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Malayalam Literature
Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puduchery, is one of the six Classical languages of India. Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written in Malayalam, a South-Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala. The first travelogue in any Indian language is the Malayalam '' Varthamanappusthakam'', written by Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785. Malayalam literature has been presented with 6 Jnanapith awards, the second-most for any Dravidian language and the third-highest for any Indian language. The Sangam literature can be considered as the ancient predecessor of Malayalam. The origin of Malayalam calendar dates back to year 825 CE. It is generally agreed that the Quilon Syrian copper plates of 849/850 CE is the available oldest inscription written in Old Malayalam. The earliest known literary works in Malayalam are ''Ramacharitam'' and ''Thirunizhalmala'', two epic poems written ...
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Thirunizhalmala
Thirunizhalmala ("Garland of the Sacred Shade" or "Grace") is a c. 13th century " pattu" genre poem in Malayalam language. Along with "Ramacharitham", it is one of the earliest extant poems in Malayalam. It is generally considered as a work associated with the Vaishnavite bhakti movement in south India. It is sometimes called "the first religious work in the Malayalam". "Thirunizhalmala" was discovered by scholar M. M. Purushothaman Nair in 1980. "Thirunizhalmala" is composed, most probably by a high caste poet (from certain "Kurumur Palli"), in local meters and with Dravidian orthography. It is assumed that the work predates the famous "Ramacharitham" by around a century. The manuscript of the poem was discovered from northern Kerala. Central topic of the poem is the description of the ritual life of Aranmula Temple in Pathanamthitta. The main rites described are the ancient rituals of the Malayar or Malayan community (performed to remove the various impurities of the gods). It ...
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Ramacharitam
The ''Ramacharitam'' is a Sanskrit epic poem written in ''Arya metre'' by Sandhyakar Nandi (c. 1084 - 1155 CE) during Pala Empire. This work simultaneously narrates the story of the Ramayana and the Pala king Ramapala. Manuscripts A palm-leaf manuscript was discovered by Haraprasad Shastri from Nepal and published in 1910 by the Asiatic Society, Kolkata. Translations in English and Bangla were published in 1939 and 1953, respectively. Author Sandhyakar Nandi was patronaged by Madanapala and his biographical details are retrieved from the ''Kaviprashasti'' (of 20 couplets) appended at the end. Nandi hailed from Brihadbatu, a village close to Pundravardhana, and was the son of Prajapati Nandi, who was the ''Sandhi-Vigrahika'' (minister of peace and war) of Ramapala. Content The poem, in four cantos, details the historical events in Bengal from the assassination of the Pala emperor Mahipala II by Divya, a rebel Kaivarta samanta up to the reign of Madanapala in 215 verses, emp ...
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Nambudiri
The Nambudiri (), also transliterated as Nampoothiri, Nambūdiri, Namboodiri, Nampoothiri, and Nampūtiri, are a Malayali Brahmin caste, native to what is now the state of Kerala, India, where they constituted part of the traditional feudal elite, owning a large portion of the land in the region of Malabar until the Kerala Land Reforms starting in 1957, and intermarrying with the Nair monarchs and aristocracy through sambandham. They have historically been distinguished by rare practices such as the adherence to Śrauta ritualism, the Pūrva-Mīmāṁsā school of Hindu philosophy, and orthodox tradition, as well as many idiosyncratic customs unique among Brahmins, including primogeniture. Cyriac Pullapilly mentions that the dominating influence of the Nambudiris was to be found in all matters: religion, politics, society, economics and culture of Kerala. History Origin Nambudiri mythology associates their immigration to Kerala from the banks of Narmada, Krishna, Kav ...
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Caste
Caste is a form of social stratification characterised by endogamy, hereditary transmission of a style of life which often includes an occupation, ritual status in a hierarchy, and customary social interaction and exclusion based on cultural notions of purity and pollution. * Quote: "caste ort., casta=basket ranked groups based on heredity within rigid systems of social stratification, especially those that constitute Hindu India. Some scholars, in fact, deny that true caste systems are found outside India. The caste is a closed group whose members are severely restricted in their choice of occupation and degree of social participation. Marriage outside the caste is prohibited. Social status is determined by the caste of one's birth and may only rarely be transcended." * Quote: "caste, any of the ranked, hereditary, endogamous social groups, often linked with occupation, that together constitute traditional societies in South Asia, particularly among Hindus in India. Althou ...
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Chera/Perumals Of Makotai
Chera Perumals of Makotai, also known as the Perumal dynasty of KeralaThapar, Romila'', The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.'' Penguin Books, 2002. 331-32., or Cheraman Perumal dynasty of MahodayapuramNoburu Karashmia (ed.), A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 143-44., (''fl.'' ''c.'' 9th–12th century CE) were a ruling dynasty in present-day Kerala, south India.Thapar, Romila'', The Penguin History of Early India: From the Origins to AD 1300.'' Penguin Books, 2002. 326-27. Makotai, or Mahodayapuram, the seat of the Cheraman Perumals, is identified with present-day Karur in central Tamil Nadu.Noburu Karashmia (ed.), ''A Concise History of South India: Issues and Interpretations.'' New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2014. 143-44.Veluthat, Kesavan. 2004. 'Mahodayapuram-Kodungallur', in ''South-Indian Horizons'', eds Jean-Luc Chevillard, Eva Wilden, and A. Murugaiyan, pp. 471–85. Éco ...
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Zamorin Of Calicut
The Samoothiri (Anglicised as Zamorin; Malayalam: , Arabic: ''Sāmuri'', Portuguese: ''Samorim'', Dutch: ''Samorijn'', Chinese: ''Shamitihsi''Ma Huan's Ying-yai Sheng-lan: 'The Overall Survey of the Ocean's Shores' 433 Translated and Edited by J. V. G. Mills. Cambridge University Press for the Hakluyt Society (1970).) was the hereditary Nair monarch and ruler of the Kingdom of Kozhikode (Calicut) in the South Malabar region of India. Calicut was one of the most important trading ports on the southwest coast of India. At the peak of their reign, they ruled over a region extending from Kozhikode Kollam ( Kollam) to the borders of Panthalayini Kollam (Koyilandy).Varier, M. R. Raghava. "Documents of Investiture Ceremonies" in K. K. N. Kurup, Edit., "India's Naval Traditions". Northern Book Centre, New Delhi, 1997K. V. Krishna Iyer, ''Zamorins of Calicut: From the earliest times to AD 1806''. Calicut: Norman Printing Bureau, 1938. The Zamorins belonged to the Eradi caste of the ...
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