Indological studies on South India have suffered greatly from the dearth of adequate recorded dat... more Indological studies on South India have suffered greatly from the dearth of adequate recorded data. Early Indological studies often presented Kerala's history through an Orientalist lens, emphasizing its connections to Vedic culture and neglecting the indigenous Dravidian heritage, including the contributions of Buddhism, Jainism, and folk traditions. Many Indological studies on Kerala, particularly during the British colonial period, were shaped by the biases and frameworks of colonial scholars. This often resulted in a skewed understanding of Kerala's history, focusing more on caste, Brahmanical traditions, and Vedic influences while neglecting the region's non-Vedic, Dravidian, and local religious practices. This article explores the potential of onomastics in filling this gap by focusing on how the historical events shaped the identities and aspirations of the common people. By analysing the remarkably diverse socio-cultural shifts in this land through the changes in naming patterns over time, we argue that onomastics offers an important yet underutilized perspective on the history of this land. This article discusses the evolution of naming patterns from the Sangam age, through colonial interventions, to the current naming patterns and how they reflect social mobility and aspirations at each time period.
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OFrojar MULTIDISCIPLINARY EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, 2024
Onomastics, the branch of linguistics that focuses on the study of names and naming practices, pl... more Onomastics, the branch of linguistics that focuses on the study of names and naming practices, plays a pivotal role in understanding the origin, etymology, and evolution of names. By analysing names, onomastics sheds light on the prehistory of societies, exploring cultural significance and the diffusion of cultural practices through time. This paper seeks to examine the cultural evolution of personal names within the Ezhava community, the largest social group in Kerala. By tracing the transformation of Ezhava names from Dravidian to Sanskrit-based forms, we aim to understand the cultural and religious influences that shaped this change. Specifically, the gradual shift from Dravidian to Sanskrit-based names reflects the diffusion of Hindu religious practices, propagated through Sanskrit, into Dravidian culture. The analysis of Ezhava names serves as a lens to explore the larger sociocultural transitions within the community, revealing the impact of Aryanization on naming conventions and the broader cultural landscape of Kerala. This study highlights how linguistic changes in personal names mirror deeper shifts in cultural identity and religious affiliation.
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Papers by Molly Varghese