Examining Malabar through the Lens of a ‘Geo-Body’

Malabar, a region in southwestern India, has a distinct cultural, linguistic and geographical identity shaped by its History, maritime trade networks and colonial experiences. Malabar has been identified with the present-day state of Kerala in India and has remained a significant entrepôt in the Indian Ocean spice trade world from time immemorial. Though it is the Arab travellers who referred to the southwestern coast of India flanking the Arabian Sea as ‘Malabar’ meaning the 'hills and coast', Malabar's border has shifted over time, with various dynasties, kingdoms and colonial powers vying for regional control. Malabar was a central colonial hub for the Portuguese, Dutch, British and French, influencing its political economy and culture. The textual traditions and Malabar's geographical extent have been diversely perceived from one period to another. Despite the region's well-established maritime historiography, this evolution hardly captured historians' interest. The present article examines the ‘geo-body’ of Malabar and its evolution as a historiographical region from its earliest textual reference to contemporary ones, navigating its politico-economic networks and cultural and intellectual landscape vis-à-vis the region’s strategic location as an Indian Ocean littoral

Colonial period · Colonialism · Historiography · Identity (music · Indian ocean · Meaning (existential · Politics · State (computer science · Colonial History and Postcolonial Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · Social and Economic Development in India