Elamkulam Pillai was a historian and scholar from Kerala

Kerala

or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....

, India

India

India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...

, who through his works enriched the field of historical research of Kerala

Early life and career

Born in Elamkulam village near Kalluvathukkal

Kalluvathukkal

Kalluvathukkal is a village in Kollam district in the state of Kerala, in India. India census, Kalluvathukkal had a population of 23452 with 11284 males and 12168 females....

 in Kollam district

Kollam district

-Climate:Kollam's temperature is almost steady throughout the year. The average temperature ranges from 25 to 32 degrees Celsius. Summer usually runs from March until May; the monsoon begins by June and ends by September. Kollam receives an annual average rainfall of around...

, Pillai had his school education at Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram

Thiruvananthapuram , formerly known as Trivandrum, is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala and the headquarters of the Thiruvananthapuram District. It is located on the west coast of India near the extreme south of the mainland...

 and Kollam

Kollam

Kollam , often anglicized as ', is a city in the Indian state of Kerala. The city lies on the banks of Ashtamudi Lake on the Arabian sea coast and is situated about north of the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram...

. After taking his Honours

Honors student

An honors student is a person recognized for achieving high grades or high marks in their course work.Honors students may refer to# Students recognized for their academic achievement on lists published periodically throughout the school year, known as honor rolls, varying from school to school, and...

 degree in Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 language from Annamalai University

Annamalai University

Annamalai University is a Public University located in Annamalai Nagar, Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India. The university offers courses of higher education in arts, sciences and engineering.The university also provides around 380 courses under distance mode...

, he started his career as a school teacher and later became lecturer in Malayalam at Govt. Arts College, Thiruvananthapuram. Pillai retired as the Head of the Department of Malayalam, University College, Trivandrum.

From language and literature his interests turned first to the history of languages and culture and then to social history. To help his research he mastered Tamil

Tamil language

Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...

, Kannada

Kannada language

Kannada or , is a language spoken in India predominantly in the state of Karnataka. Kannada, whose native speakers are called Kannadigas and number roughly 50 million, is one of the 30 most spoken languages in the world...

, Tulu

Tulu language

The Tulu language |?]]]) is a Dravidian language spoken by 1.95 million native speakers mainly in the southwest part of Indian state Karnataka known as Tulu Nadu. In India, 1.72 million people speak it as their mother tongue , increased by 10 percent over the 1991 census...

, and Paali

Páli

- External links :* *...

 languages and associated himself for sometime with Sir Mortimer Wheeler

Mortimer Wheeler

Brigadier Sir Robert Eric Mortimer Wheeler CH, CIE, MC, FBA, FSA , was one of the best-known British archaeologists of the twentieth century.-Education and career:...

 in the excavation works at Harappa

Harappa

Harappa is an archaeological site in Punjab, northeast Pakistan, about west of Sahiwal. The site takes its name from a modern village located near the former course of the Ravi River. The current village of Harappa is from the ancient site. Although modern Harappa has a train station left from...

, Chandravally, and Brahmagiri

Brahmagiri

Brahmagiri , ' is a mountain range in the Western Ghats of south India. It is situated on the border between Kodagu district in Karnataka state in the north and Wayanad district of Kerala state on the south . Brahmagiri Hill, at 1608 m height, is a scenic tourist attraction...

. He published his research findings only in his later years but they were received eagerly by the general public as well as by the academic community probably because the historical writing on Kerala till then was rather a jumble of hearsays and subjective accounts lacking any academic methodology. Pillai added a new dimension to historiography in Kerala. He considered Kerala as an integral constituent of a Tamilakam

Ancient Tamil country

The Sangam period is the classical period in the history of Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other parts of South India, spanning about the 3rd century BCE to the 3rd century CE...

 in the Sangam age. This is in contrast with the considered view of earlier scholars of Kerala as a well-defined entity in itself in matters of religion, society, language, creed, and race.

He published more than 20 books including one in Tamil and two in English. Though some of his theories regarding early Kerala history have been challenged by later researchers in the light of new evidence, his place as a pioneer in the field who approached the study of history as a social science is indisputable. He passed away on March 4, 1973.

Kanjiracode Valiaveettil Bhargavi Amma was his wife. The couple had five children.

In Malayalam

• Unnuneeli sandesam
• Koka sandesam
• Leelathlakam
• Chandrolsavam
• Unnuneeli sandesam Charithradrishtiyilkoodi
• Nalachritham Attakkatha
• Gandhidevan
• Keralabhashayude Vikasaparinamangal
• Bhashayum Sahityavum Noottandukalil
• Sahityamalika
• Sahityacharithrasamgraham
• Keralacharithrathile Iruldanja Edukal
• Annathe Keralam
• Chila Kerala Charithra Prasnangal (Part I, II, & III)
• Janmi samprdayam Keralathil
• Keralam Anchum Arum Noottandukalil
• Cherasamrajyam Ompathum Pathum Noottandukalil
• Samskarathinte Nazhikakkallukal