A personal history about the south of India

THE COROMANDEL COAST stretches along the east side of India between the Krishna River in the north and the southern tip of the subcontinent. So, when I began reading “Coromandel” by Charles Allen (1940-2020), I was expecting to read a history of this coast and its hinterland.

The book’s subtitle is “A Personal History of South India”, and that is what it is. Although the Coromandel Coast is mentioned within the text, the book is primarily a very fascinating, well-researched and reasoned history of southern India, and how that history was influenced by events that happened north of the Narmada River, which the author took as an approximate dividing line between the northern and southern parts of the subcontinent.

I am very glad I read the book even though at first I was hoping that the author was going to concentrate on the east coast of India, rather than the whole of the south of the country. In fact, there is a great deal about the west coast of southern India, which. fascinating as it is, is not the Coromandel Coast. Despite my disappointment that Charles Allen strayed from the Coromandel Coast, about which I was hoping to read, this is an excellently written book.

2 thoughts on “A personal history about the south of India

  1. Princely State of Gabat was one of the many minor princely territories that existed under British rule in India. Though small in size and political influence, Gabat represented an important part of the administrative and social structure of colonial Gujarat. Classified as a Seventh-Class princely state under the Mahi Kantha division and administered through the Baroda Agency, the state functioned under the indirect control of the British Empire while retaining limited autonomy in local governance. https://www.indianetzone.com/princely_state_gabat

  2. “Gadyakarnamrita” remains an invaluable literary and historical document of medieval South India. Its detailed portrayal of political events, combined with its literary excellence, makes it a unique source for understanding the history and culture of the Tamil-Karnataka regions. As both a courtly literary masterpiece and a dependable historical record, the text continues to hold immense significance for historians, scholars, and students of Indian history and literature. https://www.indianetzone.com/gadyakarnamrita_a_historical_work_sanskrit

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