M. R. Raghava Varier (born 15 January 1936), also M. R. Raghava Warrier, is an Indian

epigraphist Epigraphy () is the study of inscriptions, or epigraphs, as writing; it is the science of identifying graphemes, clarifying their meanings, classifying their uses according to dates and cultural contexts, and drawing conclusions about the wr ...

and historian, formerly a Professor at the

University of Calicut The University of Calicut, also known as Calicut University, is a State ownership, state-run public university headquartered at Tenhipalam in Malappuram district of the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1968, it is the first university to ...

, from

Kerala Kerala ( , ) is a States and union territories of India, 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 ...

. He currently lives in Cheliya, Edakkulam-

Koyilandi Koyilandy (;A Survey of Kerala History, A. Shreedhara Menon)is a major town municipality and a taluk in Kozhikode district, Kerala on the Malabar Coast. The historical town is located right in the middle of the coast of Kozhikode district, bet ...

in Kerala.M. R. Raghava Varier (Profile)
/ref> Varier is generally considered as left historian by political analysts.

Education

Varier graduated from the University of Calicut in 1972 and was trained in epigraphy at the Office of the Chief Epigraphist to the Government of India, Mysore (1973). He holds a post-graduate degree in "Malayalam Language and Literature" from Calicut University (1976), M. Phil (1977–80) in History from

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

, New Delhi and doctoral degree (1986) on folk songs of northern Kerala from the University of Calicut. From 1997 to 1999, he served as Senior Fellow in the Cultural Department, Government of India (New Delhi).

Awards and recognitions

Varier has been invited to a number of institutions, including Maison des Sciences de l'Homme,

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

under the Indo-French Programme (2004),

Exeter University The University of Exeter is a research university in the West Country of England, with its main campus in Exeter, Devon. Its predecessor institutions, St Luke's College, Exeter School of Science, Exeter School of Art, and the Camborne School o ...

(funded by Art and Humanities Research Board, London),

University of Tokyo The University of Tokyo (, abbreviated as in Japanese and UTokyo in English) is a public research university in Bunkyō, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in 1877 as the nation's first modern university by the merger of several pre-westernisation era ins ...

(2010),

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

, London and the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

(2012). He served as the President - Epigraphy, Historical Archaeology and Numismatics in 1998

Indian History Congress Indian History Congress is the largest professional and academic body of Indian historians with over 35,000 members. It was established in 1935. The name of any new applicant for membership needs to be proposed and seconded by existing Ordinary or ...

. Varier is one of the few Indian scholars to examine medieval Malayalam manuscripts collected in ''Bibliotec Nazionale de Roma,'' Rome and ''Apostoloca Vaticana,'' Vatican. He is also a member of several federal bodies, committees, trusts, and university senates. He has been involved in a number of projects, including a Japanese project to explore the Chinese pottery in Kerala (1988), and a project on the Historical Atlas of South India (funded by the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

) where he was a consultant. He is also associated with the Muziris Heritage Project as a "Consultant" since 2009. He translated ancient inscriptions to

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian languages, Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (union territory), Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of ...

, it's published and highlighted in the

South Indian Inscriptions ''South Indian Inscriptions'' is an epigraphical series that has been published by the Archaeological Survey of India in 34 volumes from 1890 through the present. The texts are supplemented with summaries and an overview of the texts, both in Eng ...

Volume 43 released by

Archaeological Survey of India The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) is an Indian government agency that is responsible for archaeological research and the conservation and preservation of cultural historical monuments in the country. It was founded in 1861 by Alexander ...

. ''Cultural History of Kerala'' (1999), written by Varier with Rajan Gurukkal, is a standard textbook for the history of Kerala. His work ''Jainamatham Keralathil'' received the

Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award is a literary award instituted by UAE-based Abu Dhabi Sakthi Theatres and awarded to writers in Malayalam literature Malayalam, the lingua franca of the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep an ...

in 2012 in the scholarly literature category. He also received the

for overall contribution (T. K. Ramakrishnan Award) in 2021. In 2023, he received the

Kerala Sahitya Akademi Fellowship Kerala Sahitya Akademi Fellowship is an honour of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi (Kerala Literary Academy), given to writers of Malayalam literature by inducting them as the distinguished members of the Akademi. References External links

...

Publications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varier, M. R. Raghava Living people 1936 births 20th-century Indian historians Malayalam-language writers English-language writers from India Writers from Kerala 21st-century Indian historians Indian male essayists 20th-century Indian essayists 20th-century Indian social scientists University of Calicut alumni Scholars from Kerala Historians of Kerala Recipients of the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award