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Manu S. Pillai
Indian author and historian (born 28th February 1990) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Manu S. Pillai (born 28th February 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, winning the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar.
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Early life and education
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] He holds a PhD in history from King's College London.[4]
Career
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Following his education, he worked with the Parliamentary office of Shashi Tharoor in New Delhi and Lord Karan Bilimoria in London.[5] 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 author.[2][3]
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 released 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]
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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
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