Laymen in Medieval Kerala: Insights from European Travelogues

Abstract

History’s fad on textual source is almost like an obsession. Though textual sources seem to be important, the texts should undergo proper hermeneutical process. This is more so in the case of medieval travelogues in relation to the construction of Kerala History. Many European and non-European travelers visited Kerala in the medieval Period and they had left their travel experiences and insights about medieval Kerala society. On line with the observations of the European travelers, historians reconstructed the medieval Kerala society on the pattern followed by the travelers. Therefore, whatever subjectivities and prejudices by which European travelers looked at the native people of Kerala, it crept into the mainstream history. The present paper examines critically some of the observations that European travelers made; and incorporated into the history of medieval Kerala society.