Manu S. Pillai
Manu S. Pillai | |
|---|---|
 Pillai in 2020 | |
| Born | 1990 (age 33–34) Mavelikkara, Kerala, India |
| Occupation | Writer, historian |
| Language | English |
| Alma mater | Fergusson College King's College London |
| Genre | Popular history |
| Website | |
| manuspillai | |
Manu S. Pillai (born 1990) is an Indian writer and popular historian.[1] He is known for his works covering the history of India from late medieval through colonial times, with his debut book, The Ivory Throne, focusing on the Travancore monarchy.
Early life
[edit]Manu S. Pillai was born in Mavelikkara, Kerala in 1990, and grew up in Pune.[2] He received a Bachelor's Degree in Economics from Fergusson College and a Master's Degree in International Relations from King's College London.[3]
Career
[edit]Following his education, he worked with the Parliamentary office of Shashi Tharoor in New Delhi and Lord Karan Bilimoria in London.[4] He also worked as a researcher on the BBC Radio 4 series, Incarnations with Sunil Khilnani, which tells the story of India through fifty great lives. In 2017, he became a full time historian and writer.[2][3] He holds a PhD in history from King's College London.[5]
Pillai's debut book The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore, about Rani Sethu Lakshmi Bhay's reign as the regent of Travancore, earned him the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar in 2017.[6][7][8] As of 2019,[update] the story was expected to be adapted into a web series by Arka Mediaworks.[9]
Rebel Sultans, Pillai's second work, narrates the story of the late medieval Deccan over four centuries.[3] The Courtesan, the Mahatma and the Italian Brahmin is a collection published in 2019 consisting of historical anecdotes originally published as columns in various Indian newspapers.[10]
Pillai's 2021 book False Allies concerns the rulers of princely states during the British Raj, focusing on five states whose rulers patronized and were painted by Raja Ravi Varma.[1] In Gods, Guns and Missionaries, first released in India in 2024, Pillai outlines the history of Hinduism during India's colonization by Christian European states.[11]
List of works
[edit]- The Ivory Throne: Chronicles of the House of Travancore. HarperCollins India, 2015. ISBN 9789351776420.
- Rebel Sultans: The Deccan from Khilji to Shivaji. Juggernaut, 2018. ISBN 9789386228734.
- The Courtesan, the Mahatma & the Italian Brahmin: Tales from Indian History. Illustrated by Priya Kuriyan. Context, 2019. ISBN 9789388689786.
- False Allies: India's Maharajahs in the Age of Ravi Varma. Juggernaut, 2021. ISBN 9789391165895.
- Gods, Guns and Missionaries: The Making of the Modern Hindu Identity. Penguin Allen Lane, 2024. ISBN 9780670093656.
References
[edit]- ^ a b Balakrishnan, Paran (28 October 2021). "Manu Pillai, the wonderkid among Indian historical writers". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 October 2021.
- ^ a b Cris (21 January 2016). "Travancore surprises". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016.
- ^ a b c Mallya, Vinutha (7 March 2019). "No easy answers". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019.
- ^ "Manu S Pillai and Dr Shashi Tharoor". Mid-Day. 5 January 2020. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021.
- ^ Pillai, Manu S. (1 February 2023). Rajahs, Ranis, Deity, and Company: Hindu Kingship in Travancore, c. 1750-1950 (PhD thesis). King's College London. OCLC 1372429233. Retrieved 22 June 2024.
- ^ "Manu S Pillai, Paro Anand among winners of Sahitya Akademi awards 2017". Hindustan Times. 23 June 2017. Archived from the original on 23 June 2017.
- ^ Sripathi, Apoorva (19 February 2016). "Manu Pillai's The Ivory Throne looks at the Travancore royal family". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 12 September 2017.
- ^ Thomas, Anjali (25 January 2020). "Kerala Literature Festival: historians warn against the selective reading of the past". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 25 January 2020.
- ^ Cris (20 March 2019). "'The Ivory Throne' is massive, had to be a web series: Producer Shobu Yarlagadda". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 22 June 2024.
- ^ Sahasrabudhe, Aishwarya (25 June 2019). "Manu S Pillai's latest book features episodes from India's history and the lives of its prolific figures". Firstpost. Archived from the original on 17 February 2020.
- ^ Vijaya Kumar, P. (27 November 2024). "A limited but brilliant chronicle of Hindu identity formation". Frontline. Archived from the original on 29 November 2024.
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