Manu S. Pillai

Manu S. Pillai
Pillai in 2020
Pillai in 2020
Born1990 (age 33–34)
Mavelikkara, Kerala, India
OccupationWriter, historian
LanguageEnglish
Alma materFergusson College
King's College London
GenrePopular history
Website
manuspillai.com

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

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

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]

Manu S Pillai at BlrLitFest 2024

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, 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

  • 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

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b Cris (21 January 2016). "Travancore surprises". Deccan Chronicle. Archived from the original on 21 January 2016.
  3. ^ a b c Mallya, Vinutha (7 March 2019). "No easy answers". Pune Mirror. Archived from the original on 7 March 2019.
  4. ^ "Manu S Pillai and Dr Shashi Tharoor". Mid-Day. 5 January 2020. Archived from the original on 4 August 2021.
  5. ^ 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.
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ 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.
  9. ^ 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.
  10. ^ 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.
  11. ^ 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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