A Hand Book of Kerala: An Old and Rare Book (Set of 2 Volumes)

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The International School of Dravidian Linguistics (ISDL), in its series of handbooks on the States of India. has already issued one on Tamil Nadu, and a two-volume work on West Bengal. This, the third, is on Kerala. It will be in two volumes, and like its predecessors, will encompass available information as close to the date of its issue as possible The compilations are not intended to be like Government gazetteers, but much less structured. Far from uncritically presenting the achievements of the Government, several of our articles are critical of policy and practice

There is a large and growing volume of literature about Kerala. We have tried to bring these together, but reserved the right to draw our own conclusions. Our objective has been to make available to researchers, of arid above the graduate standard, materials and viewpoints on which they can develop their own conclusions. It has been an article of faith in the ISDL to make available to the readers of its publications, a "balanced view of the subjects presented, but when controversial aspects have to be covered, to ensure that all viewpoints have been represented. We believe that we have achieved this balance in this publication too

This, the first volume, covers the geomorphology and geography of Kerala, history, the major religions to which its people subscribe (or have, through history, subscribed), and economy. The articles in the series on geomorphology and geography include materials on the water wealth and ecology of Kerala. We hasten to acknowledge our debt of gratitude to the Centre for Earth Science Studies (CESS), Thiruvananthapuram, and the Centre for Water Resources Development and Management, Kozhikode, whose directors and scientists opened to us their libraries and their expertise, supplied us materials and information, and spared time to educate us on these matters. An important point that emerged was that, as Dr. Basak pointed out during discussions and in his contribution, which we feature, rather than gross totals of annual precipitation and run-off, what is important and relevant is per capita availability of water. Judged thus, the belief that Kerala has "abundant water resources turns out to be only a myth. Our 41 west-flowing 'rivers' are of minor significance judged according to all-India standards, the combined discharge of all of them is only a small fraction when measured against that of a single South Indian river like the Godavari. The Director of CESS presented us with some valuable publications including the Resource Atlas of Kerala; these have enriched our Ilibrary.

We have devoted a lot of space to articles on the forests of Kerala. Dr. Chandrasekharan (the author of the definitive Forest Resources of Kerala) and Sri. Madhavan Pillal are our contributors in this section, and we thank them sincerely. We have articles on the wildlife and flora of the State; we felt justified in detalling them because many of them are threatened by thoughtless misuse by a highly avaricious human population. Even if we may not be able to influence a change from this suicidal behaviour, we hope that we may leave behind a record of the biotic wealth available in our forests, as at the end of the 20th century.

History, as has been wisely observed, is a "dangerous subject". We had convened a seminar in the ISDL at which some of the leading historians of Kerala were present. We are indebted to all of them for their valuable inputs but have to specifically mention Prof. M.G.S. Narayanan who advised us to stick to facts and let theory take care of itself. This advice we have tried to follow. Where we outline the theories, we have taken care to acknowledge their authorship and present the opposite views also to restore the balance. We had the advantages of the Tamil scholarship available in the ISDL for leaning heavily on classical Tamil works which have rightly been so much called into use for tracing early history. For the better-documented history after the Portuguese advent, we have contributions from several acknowledged authorities.

The Handbook series projected by the International School of Dravidian Linguistics (ISDL) have received encouraging response from the world of scholarship. A Handbook of Tamil Nadu (1996) and A Handbook of West Bengal, Volume I (1998) and Volume II (1999), were found to be useful to administrators, students of languages, and those who desired to know about the States concemed.

The first volume of A Handbook of Kerala, now seeing light of day, covers several aspects of Kerala fully. The portions on geology, geography, history, religion and economy, were competently covered by its editor. T. Madhava Menon. Working groups on history, religion and economy, met in the ISDL for 2 days each, and identified specialists in the field who could contribute articles for the handbook. Their expertise has enhanced the standard of articles included in the handbook. Whenever articles were delayed or not sent by experts, Madhava Menon wrote them, so that the publication of the volume would not be delayed.

The exhaustive lists of birds, trees, fishes, etc., in Kerala, Indicate Madhava Menon's desire to be comprehensive. The full use of Tamil sources for the early history of Kerala is another area where all available Information has been brought out. Whenever and wherever there are different opinions on an issue, the arguments on both sides have been brought out. Instead of a general statement of obvious facts, the handbook is a compendium of all available information on the topics covered. More the information, less will be the omission.

Madhava Menon has been quick in covering several areas of knowledge and shaping the information into write-ups without delay. Where he is uncertain, he is not hesitant to consult experts in the field. Pages of the handbook bear witness to his scholarship and ability to shape fragments of information into a cohesive whole Rightly, the ISDL has conferred a life-fellowship to him.

M.E. Manickavasagom did the proof-reading carefully. The final proof was read by VI. Subramoniam. The diacritics of native words have been given in brackets. A policy of giving diacritical forms at the end as an appendix, so that a rapid reader may not be restrained by bracketed items when reading the write-ups, is to be adopted in future publications of the ISDL

Harikumar Basi and his assistant, Sreeveena, of the Computer Unit, cheerfully computerized all articles patiently, adding and subtracting portions which Madhava Menon would give to them, to make the write-up up-to-date

Soon, the second volume of the handbook will also see light of day, to complete the set for the three States-Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kerala, which are intimately associated in funding the ISDL

To Hon. Sri. EK Nayanar, Chlef Minister of Kerala, to Hon. P.J. Joseph, the earnest Minister for Education, Government of Kerala, to Sri. K. Mohankumar, I.AS., Chief Secretary, to Sri. N. Chandrasekharan Nair, IA.S., Principal Secretary, Department of Higher Education, and to Ms. Lida Jacob, LAS., Director of Public Instruction, and to the Kerala State Planning Board, we are grateful for their continued support for the academic activities of the ISDL

To M/s Dawn Press. Thiruvananthapuram, who have undertaken the printing of publications of the ISDL, a word of appreciation needs to be recorded.

The first volume of the handbook is now before the world of scholarship for critical acceptance.

**Contents and Sample Pages**