EVENTS

Imperial China’s historical maritime extension towards the Kerala coast, from the Song dynasty (960-1279) to its abrupt denouement during the early Ming era (mid-15th century CE), has largely escaped deep enquiry due to the ambiguity regarding the nature of the connection and the dearth of archival materials. The famed Ming dynasty eunuch Admiral Zheng He’s seven noted voyages to the Indian Ocean region are also highly contested. Debates bring diverse views on Ming maritime voyages as ‘proto-maritime colonialism’, ‘great harmony’ (daotong 大同) and ‘multi-dimensional’ endeavour. This presentation offers fresh insights into this brief episode in history through a deep delve into local Malayalam language or Manipravalam (an older version of Malayalam) from the Kerala coast and its corroboration with archival artefacts from historical sites,. Vadakkanpattukal (Ballads from the Northern Malabar), Champus and Sandeshakavyas (Messenger poems) are indispensable to this study, as they bring new narratives, chiefly about the presence of Chinese traders (Cheenar), the Chinese language and prominent commodities from China. In addition, the toponymy method is used to identify places that had historical connections with Imperial China (known as Cheena) and still retained the term Cheena in their names, chiefly as a prefix. The literary and archival findings from the Kerala coast also align with the Chinese historical records, especially Ma Huan’s travel account titled Ying-yai Sheng-lan (1433) and Kochi Steele (1416) of the Ming dynasty, which underline strong commercial-diplomatic relations with multi-dimensional networks and actors.

Speaker

Athira Anand is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at Jain (Deemed-to-be) University, Bengaluru. She received her PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology Madras in 2024 for her thesis on China’s maritime interactions with the Kerala coast between the 12th and mid-15th centuries. Her research interests span History, International Relations and Political Science. Her 2023 article, “China’s Maritime Links with Medieval Kerala: An Examination of the Vadakkanpāttukal and Recovered Chinese Artefacts,” published by Taylor & Francis, explores these historical connections through local literature and archaeological evidence.

Chair

Usha Chandran is Assistant Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University and Honorary Fellow, at the Institute of Chinese Studies, New Delhi. She holds a PhD in Chinese on Gender issues in China from JNU. Her major research interests include gender issues in China and comparison with India, interface between gender and language as well as popular culture, women’s subjectivity in literature, and exploring Sociological methodologies to study Chinese society. Her major publications include, Gender Discrimination at Work in Urban China (Routledge, 2025), an edited volume, Gender in Language and Expression (Routledge, forthcoming February 2027), and a co-edited volume, China’s Society and Culture: Studies and Reflections.

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