For a Few Barrels of Oil: Politics and Diplomacy in the Gulf

by K.M. Panikkar

168 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 1991

About the author

Kavalam Madhava Panikkar, popularly known as Sardar K. M. Panikkar , was an Indian scholar, journalist, historian, administrator and diplomat. He was born in the Kingdom of Travancore, then a princely state in the British Indian Empire and was educated in Madras and Oxford.
After a period as a Professor at Aligarh Muslim University and later at University of Calcutta, he became editor of Hindustan Times in 1925. Later, he went to Patiala State as Foreign Minister and then to Bikaner State later becoming its Prime Minister. When India achieved freedom, Panikkar represented the country at the 1947 session of the UN General Assembly. In 1948, he was appointed India's ambassador to China. After a successful tenure there, he went as envoy to Egypt in 1952. He was appointed as chairman of States Reorganisation Commission set up in 1953. He was also India's ambassador to France and a member of Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament. He also served as Vice chancellor of University of Kashmir and University of Mysore.