ദന്തസിംഹാസനം: തിരുവിതാംകൂര്‍ രാജവംശത്തിന്റെ അതിശയകരമായ നാള്‍വഴികള്‍

by Manu S. Pillai, Prasanna K. Varma (Translator)

In 1498, when Vasco da Gama set foot in Kerala looking for Christians and spices, he unleashed a wave of political fury that would topple local powers like a house of cards. The cosmopolitan fabric of a vibrant trading society—with its Jewish and Arab merchants, Chinese pirate heroes and masterful Hindu Zamorins— was ripped apart, heralding an age of violence and bloodshed. One prince, however, emerged triumphant from this descent into chaos. Shrewdly marrying Western arms to Eastern strategy, Martanda Varma consecrated the dominion of Travancore, destined to become one of the most dutiful pillars of the British Raj. What followed was two centuries of internecine conflict in one of India’s premier princely states, culminating in a dynastic feud between two sisters battling to steer the fortunes of their house on the eve of Independence.
Manu S. Pillai’s retelling of this sprawling saga focuses on the remarkable life and work of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the last, and forgotten, queen of the House of Travancore. The supporting cast includes the flamboyant painter Raja Ravi Varma and his wrathful wife, scheming matriarchs of ‘violent, profligate and sordid’ character, wife swapping court favourites, vigilant English agents, quarrelling consorts and lustful kings. Extensively researched and vividly rendered, The Ivory Throne conjures up a dramatic world of political intrigues and factions, black magic and conspiracies, crafty ceremonies and splendorous temple treasures, all harnessed in a tragic contest for power and authority in the age of empire.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, India, Indian Literature, Historical, Biography, Unfinished

862 pages, Paperback

First published January 22, 2016

About the author

Manu S. Pillai was born in Kerala in 1990 and educated at Fergusson College, Pune, and at King's College London. Following the completion of his master's degree, where he presented his thesis on the emergence of religious nationalism in nineteenth-century India, in 2011-12, he managed the parliamentary office of Dr Shashi Tharoor in New Delhi and was then aide to Lord Bilimoria CBE DL, a crossbencher at the House of Lords in London in 2012-13. That same year he was commissioned by the BBC as a researcher to work with Prof. Sunil Khilnani on the 'Incarnations' history series, which tells the story of India through fifty great lives. The Ivory Throne is Manu's first book.

Reviews

[Manu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Absolutely fantastic, and the strange thing is, if you had asked me when I was even at about page 400 (out of 555) I probably would have used milder adjectives. I also wouldn't have thought (at that point) that I was likely to change my opinion later because knowing the direction, I didn't think the last 100 or so pages would even be interesting to me. But while they're not really the focus of the book, and more an inevitable ending, it (to me) is what delivered the texture that mattered most.
But let's begin at the beginning. The focus of the book is definitely Maharani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, who was the Regent of Travancore from 1924-31, but the author spends the first section of the book in setting the context. The canvas is vaster than Travancore itself and everything from the fall of the Zamorin and the entry of Europeans to the evolution of the intricacies that decide the ruler of the land and the prevalent socio cultural setting sets the stage for the reign of the Senior Maharani.
A large section of the book is spent on the rule of the Maharani, and her (now) invisible hand in the transformation of a society. The work she did served as the foundation for the much vaunted socio economic indices that Kerala displays now. This portion of the book is also home to palace intrigues that portray the junior Maharani (a cousin, and the mother of the last Maharajah of Travancore) as the 'villain of the piece'.
From a historical perspective, I found the facts around Sir CP and Chithira Thirunal (the last Maharajah) very interesting, since my only exposure to them thus far has been in popular Malayalam cinema! (yes!) The perspectives on the temple treasure saga that appear late in the book, and which happened as recently as this decade, were also an eye opener.
I think what affected me in those last hundred pages was the poignancy in the closing of the circle of the Maharani's life - the relative obscurity before her adoption to the royal household at a young age, to her spending her final days in a small room in Bangalore, without the trappings of royalty, in a relatively obscure existence. As the author began writing about her daughters and the next generation, I felt a faint sense of grudge/irritation for the seemingly casual way in which they treated their legacy (material and otherwise). But the last few pages put them in a different light, and I found myself empathising with them.
The author's admiration of Lakshmi Bayi is more than evident, and probably deservedly so. While one might feel there is some loss of objectivity here, he does take pains to also chronicle credit for even those who can be seen as her enemies. Indeed, he deserves a lot of credit on multiple counts - the research and scrutiny that has gone into the book, the excellent way of providing the context for events and behaviour, the writing style that makes sure history is accessible and not presented dryly, and most importantly the sensitivity that he has shown in chronicling lives. In 555 pages, there is legend, then history and then contemporary stories one can identify with. That journey is fascinating.

[Ahtims · Rating 5 out of 5]

Am in awe of this magnum opus book and it's young, erudite author. A niggling doubt whether he's related to the Ivory throne family 🤔
The Kerala I was born in and the Kerala I knew has a vivid history with varying chieftains and kings fighting against each other. I was born in the Zamorin's territory but had heard of Marthanda Varma and Sri Chithirarhirunal.
Having learnt in a state syllabus school history of Kerala should have been taught more, but whatever knowledge I had came through non curricular books.
This book filled a huge void in my knowledge of the history of the state which I was born in.
Found this very educative and interesting , though a bit dragging in very few places.

Hadn't known about Sethu Laxmi Bai and was astonished that she could be swept out of the pages of history .
And though her descendents are prominently mentioned ..what about Junior Maharanis descendents ? They merit only a few pages...
Is it because they didn't agree to be talked about ? Or they just led inconspicuous lives in the disintegrating Kowdiar palace ?
Still a few questions unanswered , and a few new queries and doubts after reading this book.


Overall rating still remains 5, because positives far far outweigh negatives.

Am in an Ivory throne hangover.

[Shweta Ganesh Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

One of the first things I do when I come home to Kerala on vacations is book shopping. Specifically, books by Indian authors. This time, I found this gem by Manu Pillai. "The Ivory Throne" is the history of the royal house of Travancore but it is also in many ways the history of Kerala's evolution to its current avatar. Meticulously researched non-fiction penned like fiction making it unputdownable. I highly recommend this to anyone who has an interest in Kerala and feminist queens.
My only grouse with the book is that it could have done with a bit of editing post 400 pages. The author seems to have been too close to the massive research he has done for this tome, choosing to share every minute detail, even those which are not really relevant to moving the book ahead. He also seems to be a tad of an apologist for Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, seemingly too close to her and her work, choosing to gloss over even unjustifiable parts of her reign, few as they may be.
Despite that, I still think this is a fantastic book worthy of your time. #FeministRead

[Alfa Hisham · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is 700 pages of bliss. Especially to one who is unaware of Kerala history, this book is an eye opener! Thoroughly researched and cleverly written, it becomes one of the must have books in your shelf. Manu has become the Indian Dalrymple, keeping the reader clued in to history from the beginning till the end. The sandwiched photographs of the royals and the palaces is an absolute delight. And I strongly believe this is the way, history needs to be taught in schools.

[Vivek · Rating 2 out of 5]

Manu S. Pillai's book, The Ivory Throne tells the history of the royal family of Travancore. This book was of special interest to me as my family was from the kingdom of Travancore. I have heard my father tell some of the stories in the book and seen the palaces in Trivandrum first-hand. The book focuses mainly on the Queen Sethu Lakshmi Bayi who ruled for a short while from 1924 to 1933 and was quite a remarkable ruler. Travancore had the fortune to have enlightened rulers who tried to ensure the welfare of the state and did not waste state resources on frivolous expenses like some of the other princes of India. The current status of Kerala as the most literate and best performing Indian state on social indices can be traced to the forward thinking policies of the princely rulers of the state. But, this book is quite boring in many parts. It suffers from excessive detail. At 630 pages, it includes irrelevant minutiae from the lives of the family that could easily have been excluded. There are tedious pages devoted to the antics of the children and grand-children of the Queen, their lives as socialites and the pranks they played on their teachers and domestic staff. Though the notes are copious, the narrative lacks colour, probably because the sources are not diverse enough. The writing style is also quite wordy, borrowing the Victorian style of his subjects' correspondence. Read this if you wish to study the history of Kerala but then skip the irrelevant chapters to save time.

[Anjana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very well written book. Just could not keep it down.
The story of thr unknown maharani of travancore. Written from the perspective, her feelings her fears, her happiness her sorrows. By the end started to admire her personality. People of kerala deserves to know about her. A must read for all keralites.

[Hiran Venugopalan]

A well written documentation about Travancore. Interesting, worth reading.

[Ajay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Quite a boring book. Felt like book was commissioned by the Rani Lakhshmi Sethu Bai. This book is not even about Travancore family as the book title mentioned. Rather than the history of Travancore family, the book is biased towards and concentrates too much on Sethu Lakshmi Bai. And at times it felt like writer try to whitewash unjustifiable parts of her reign. Too much attention on palace politics such as court intrigues, jealousy, royal secrets and power battles. The book does throw insights into the social and economic situation. And references is heavily based on manuscripts written by royal family of British. It is quite a lengthy 700 pages. Author could have reduced the book by 100 or 200 pages. It was quite a dullish and dry read.

[Girish · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Being a member of the royal family was like being a favourite bird in a golden cage. You were watched and humoured and spoilt and loved. It was only when you were alone with yourself that you remembered the cage"

I realised that history can be utterly fascinating when narrated by a good storyteller and The Ivory Throne by Manu Pillai is a perfect example. This history of the Travancore dynasty towards the turn of the 20th century and that of the forgotten queen is also an aid to make sense of the current socio-political evolution of the Kerala state.

The book starts with the unknown side of the painter Ravivarma and goes into the ruthless politics of the kingdoms of the day. Through the matrilineal system two cousins from the Attingal household are adopted to the Travancore dynasty - Sethu lakshmi bayi and Sethu Parvathi bhai. The former goes on to become the Maharani and a great administrator who as the official Regent of Travancore altered the course of history. The latter becomes the mother of the next maharaja who sends the former to an inglorious obscurity.

Manu S Pillai through the lens of the Maharani actually covers various critical socio economic aspects of the kingdom that prevailed and the changes made under the Maharani's 7 years rule. This includes the anti Brahmanical phase, the national movement for temple/road admission for all, the fall of the Nair community and the empowerment of Chrisitian and Iravars under the Hindu ruler. In all this glory, the junior Rani is a simmering presence in the background - till her son wrests power with the help of his mother and her possible affair. And the new rule which coincided with the end of the colonial era and annexation of princely states.

The book also goes on to trace every family member's journey till now and you can empathize with their adjustment to the changing world. In that sense this book was also a fantastic piece of social commentary.

In any history book, the "why" behind of the course of actions is just a theory. In case of a super researched book like this - it is probably a logical narrative backed by facts. The author does not hesitate to jump timelines and cover a topic across the years and shows a boldness in writing style that is authoritative. For someone whose recent visit spiked an interest in the Kerala history - this book is awesome!

Highly recommended.

[Sadhana · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting premise but the book is very long and needs better editing.

[Sajith Kumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kerala had in force a peculiar form of matrilineal system to transfer inheritance from one generation to the next. While everywhere in India the buck passed from father to his son, it was from the maternal uncle to his nephew in Kerala. The master of the house was technically a woman, whose brother managed the affairs of her estate with practically no curbs on his power. However, he could not alienate property and had to hand over the rein to his sister's son at retirement or death, usually the latter. Availability of girls in the hereditary line is a crucial requirement of such a system. The Travancore royal family also practiced matriliny and they adopted two girls as heiresses from a branch of the Kolathiri dynasty residing at Mavelikara. They were cousins and got absorbed into the ruling house as Sethu Lakshmi Bayi (the Senior Maharani) and Sethu Parvati Bayi (the Junior Maharani). Unfortunately, the Senior Rani didn't have any children in the early years while a boy was born to the Junior Rani. Succession was thus ensured for the Junior’s clan, but when the ruling Maharaja Moolam Tirunal suddenly died, the heir was only a child. In the circumstances, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi assumed power as Regent and went on to rule Travancore in an unusually benign and progressive manner. The Junior Maharani’s clan tried every weapon in their arsenal to thwart the regency and assume power for her son, who became Maharaja Chithira Tirunal. After the transfer of power when Chithira Tirunal came of age, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi was unceremoniously side-lined from all avenues of statecraft. Disgusted at the vengefulness of the ruling family and irresponsible labour-unionism among the palace staff, Sethu Lakshmi Bayi left Travancore for good and settled in Bengaluru for the rest of her life. This book tells the story of that great Queen of Travancore who was an enlightened despot who offered the people many material rewards of modernity and standards of living. Manu S Pillai is a young historian who once managed the parliamentary office of Shashi Tharoor and this is his debut work.

Pillai has included a glimpse of Kerala history and a somewhat detailed snapshot of the violent advent of Anizham Tirunal Marthanda Varma to the ivory throne, which was the traditional seat of the royal family. Conspiracies and intrigues were commonplace in the palace till its very end. The author makes a subtle hint that the three miscarriages of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi which denied her the opportunity to give birth to a crown prince was the result of some (as yet unknown) foul play. Mutual trust was unheard of. When the Junior Maharani’s relatives came to visit the Senior, they came prepared with cooked food to eat in fear of poisoning. Rules of precedence were strictly observed and the Senior Maharani’s consort, who hailed from a noble family though not of the royal clan, had had to remain standing in the presence of the Junior. This book elevates Sethu Lakshmi Bayi with an impeccable stature and uncomplaining dignity. She did not care for fashion and was never seen except in the ascetic, almost virginal, white robes. With her prodigious administrative acumen and exceptional ability, she spent all the time in ceremonious religiosity or at work. The unassuming, simple yet commanding Maharani became an ideal monarch in the conception of her times and to those whose opinions mattered. As an icon of grace and moral virtue enjoying a material sway over her people, she could do away with a lot of social ills the previous rulers did not dare to remove, such as obscene recitations at temples called Purappattu and animal sacrifices in some temples. However, the reign was not all carrots. She wielded the stick occasionally by enacting laws restricting press freedom to ward off criticism against her government and members of the royal family.

This book presents a survey of the reform measures that transformed Travancore into a modern society. It was the first princely state in India to envision adult franchise at the village level and power was devolved to local bodies. Getting matriliny out of the society was a challenging prospect in a highly conservative state like Travancore. In 1912, the state gave its first boost to nuclear families by allowing men to bequeath part of their self-acquired property or money to wives and children instead of the ancestral house called Tarawad. Thirteen years later, in April 1925, matriliny itself was terminated, permitting partition of property, legalizing all Sambandhams (temporary marriages). Malabar followed suit in 1933 and Kochi only in 1938. The reform was eagerly awaited for long and within five years of its enactment, 23,000 tarawads in Travancore were partitioned. Matriliny no doubt invested women with much power, but it is decried as immoral and barbarian. However, the author and most feminists reminisce about it with a touch of nostalgia and sense of loss.

Those who study the fault lines of Kerala society would immediately perceive its highly communal character. The major caste groups among Hindus are divided into warring factions while the minorities have rolled themselves into an impermeable ball of orthodoxy. This shameful thinking on communal lines is a legacy of the royal era when the bureaucracy was opened up from the clutches of expatriate Brahmins to the local aspirants. Each community organised themselves into pressure groups to protest against Brahmin hegemony and to share the spoils when the government loosened its hiring policy. In 1916, the students of the Maharajas College in Thiruvananthapuram were not allowed to vote for the most outstanding pupil of the year as ‘caste prejudice played a great part in the elections and merit was ignored’. When M E Watts was appointed as the State’s first Christian Diwan in 1925, he followed it up by appointing a fellow Christian as the Chief Secretary. Even the press acted on communal lines by promoting tensions between communities. Officers from one community could have their reputation maligned by the newspapers owned by a rival group.

The role of Sir C P Ramaswamy Iyer in the last two decades of Travancore’s existence is profound. Many books have been written on the subject. Pillai dedicates considerable space to paint him black as a villain on account of his invaluable help done to the Maharaja and Junior Rani’s party in prompting the British to end the regency before it was due. As a reward, Sir CP was made the legal and constitutional advisor of the newly installed Maharaja at a hefty salary of Rs. 72,000 per annum, comparable in magnitude to the outgoing regent Sethu Lakshmi Bayi’s package of Rs. 75,000. The superior salary gave him precedence over the incumbent Diwan. Both Thomas Austin and M Habibullah relinquished their positions as the Diwan owing to Sir CP’s interference, who had a marked anti-Christian bias. However, the author’s surmise that the Temple Entry Proclamation – which allowed entry of all lower castes inside temples in 1936 – was ‘a desperate attempt to fracture the alliance between the Christians and Ezhavas who might have formed a united front against the government’ is too farfetched. Maharaja Chithira Tirunal and Sir CP actively promoted temple entry of lower castes while Sethu Lakshmi Bayi was wholeheartedly against it. She never again visited Sri Padmanabhaswamy or any other temple after the entry of downtrodden castes was allowed in these places. In the nine temples she controlled as the Attingal Rani, low castes were not allowed entry. In 1938, the administration forced her to extend the proclamation to these too, by forcibly attaching Sreepadam Estate to the Maharaja. Pillai’s eulogies of the Rani have been successful in exalting her to the pinnacle of glory in readers’ minds till this very point. After that, her ultra-conservatism on this issue turns the horrified readers away from the queen at this lack of empathy to the fate of the lower castes, who were not even treated as humans.

This book faithfully reproduces the legend of a village girl who was elevated as Her Highness Sri Padmanabha Sevini Vanchi Dharma Vardhini Rajarajeshwari Maharani Pooradam Tirunal Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and later back to the common fold as Mrs. Sethu Lakshmi Bayi residing at Bengaluru. The narrative is heavily biased against the Junior Maharani and her family in that all the machinations and conspiracies are solely attributed to them and a clean chit is given to the Senior. He lays shocking allegations of black magic with a prospective human sacrifice at their door. Even the moral character of the Junior Rani is tarnished by seemingly innocuous retelling of unsubstantiated palace rumours. This one-sided narrative damages the credibility of Manu Pillai’s objectivity and judgement and the utility of this book. He even suggests that the royal clan of Chithira Tirunal might have appropriated valuable gems and jewels from the treasure trove kept at Sri Padmanabhaswamy Temple for their personal enrichment. This huge book with 555 pages of narrative and 106 of notes looks like a craftily designed ploy to highlight the absence of eligible female heirs in the discredited Junior Maharani’s clan and to drop clever hints that many eligible ladies are available in the Senior’s family even now. This is especially important as the current heir would play a major role in the administration of the Sri Padmanabhaswamy temple even in in these times of democracy.

In spite of these drawbacks, this book is a definitive descriptor of the era in the English language as Robin Jeffrey’s The Decline of Nair Dominance was of the late-nineteenth century. The Senior Rani and her family’s exodus out of Travancore and their heroic efforts to re-invent their career and destiny without any royal pretensions and as members of the common public all over the world is nicely described. The total subordination of Travancore to the British and the emasculation of its military are clearly spelt out in the book. Pillai explains it with an amusing example. The Nair brigade, who acted as the army, was assigned the responsibility of chopping and cooking vegetables for the Maharani’s birthday feast. What was astonishing is that this was taken as an honour rather than an affront. The book is a pleasure to read with the author’s free-flowing diction.

The book is highly recommended.

[Jyotsna · Rating 5 out of 5]

They were certainly fathers of Maharajahs, but in the matrilineal system it did not matter who your father was, as much as who your mother and uncle were. To those more accustomed to the patriarchal tradition, all this seemed rather outlandish and perhaps even unnatural.

The Ivory Throne is a book about the House of Travancore and their glorious years. The narrative starts with a brief background of Kerala with the arrival of Europeans, dwelling into the the nature of the political history in the state (to note, Kerala was not always Kerala, but divided into the states of Malabar, Cochin and Travancore) and the manner in which the British and the Dutch got into the internal political happenings of the different kingdoms.

It explains the matrilineal system in great detail and talks about the lack of girl children in the family. What follows is a deep-dive into the reign of the Attingal Rani and from there on, it moves to British Raj's Attingal Rani and reign of a feminist queen owing to dire circumstances.

One day, a little girl playing in her own backyard, the next day a princess and a queen, and then back to being an ordinary person. Throughout it all, she conducted herself the very same way, with the same qualities of approachability, integrity, and dignity. Perhaps the biggest lesson that I have learnt is that a person must stay the same whatever life throws at you. I hope that I am living a life now that she would be proud of and upholding the values that made her the person she was..a great soul living in our midst.

The book follows the life of Rani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, the forgotten Queen (Rani) of Travancore in great detail while talking about the eclipse of the kingdom and how everything is covered with dust without the mention of this feminist queen.

I highly recommend this book for those who love reading Indian history, and especially, if you are from Kerala, then this is THE book to read. It took six years for Manu S. Pillai to write this book and his dedication in writing and completing the same shines through.

Highly recommended!

[Smisha B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mind blowing !!!!!!

[Ganesh Sanal · Rating 5 out of 5]

"We are not interested in people from south Kerala". This is one of the most common comment seen in matrimonial profiles across Kerala. Although this requirement is applicable to both genders, the main reason for this preference is a fear of the southern women. They say that the women from south are uncontrollable, proud and not easily submissive to the notions of masculinity. Let that sink in... The most educated state in India is discriminating their woman on qualities that should actually be celebrated.

I want every malayali to read this book: The northerner, to understand the roots of our shared culture which promoted gender equality as much as it respected its religious diversity.

'When the Italian, Pietro Della Valle, visited the court of the Zamorin [supreme ruler of north Kerala] in 1623, for instance, he observed many ladies in attendance there and two princesses even came up and studied him with a casual, self-assured confidence, as the following description confirms :
"Suddenly two girls, about twelve years of age, entered the court... Upon their entrance all the courtiers paid them great reverence; and Della Valle and his companions rose from their seats, and saluted them … The girls talked together respecting the strangers; and one of them approached Della Valle and touched the sleeve of his coat with her hand, and expressed wonder at his attire. Indeed they were as surprised at the dress of the strangers, as the strangers were at the strange appearance of the girls …. There were higher cloisters round the court filled with women, who had come to behold the strangers."'

And the fellow southerners, to understand the historical source of their audacity, the Attingal Ranis.

"The Ranis of Travancore were formally addressed as the rulers of Attingal. This was a territory within the state, which until the eighteenth century had been independent of the Maharajah’s authority, directly ruled by the senior female member of the royal family... Attingal Ranis were the scions of a riveting legacy that had lent Kerala its identity as pennu-malayalam, the kingdom of women... [Their] legends preserved in lore and song."

This book tells the story of the Kingdom of Travancore through the life of the last Attingal Rani, Sethu Lakshmi Bai. Of all the many unsung heroes of ancient Kerala, she is one of the greatest and her numerous achievements during her short term as Maharani was worthy of even the Mahatma's applause.

However, as you may notice, the stakes are not as much as one would expect for a 700 page book but that's what I admire the author even more for. He has both an old school discipline for research and a new age skill for a gripping narrative. The heavy reliance on references could qualify this as a PhD thesis, yet he finishes most chapters on intense cliff hangers. Moreover, the author, in his late twenties, is just about my age and by this time he has managed the parliamentary office of Dr Shashi Tharoor and aided two more eminent elites in London before releasing this insanely researched work while most of us are watching kitten videos in Facebook.

[Vivek Srinivasan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a work of fiction masquerading as a recounting of history.

Everybody loves a good tragedy and this book follows the life of the last Maharani of Travancore and portrays it as the greatest injustices known to man. The entire time the book takes sides and tried to project one side as being overly victimised.

It is the story of a state that had resigned control to the British. Paid them their full dues, in exchange for retaining the monarchy and a semblance of control over their internal affairs. The author goes into great depths about disagreements over a few thousand rupees once there is a transfer of power in the state. The transgressions of one are brushed away while that of the other are hyped up.

More than all this what troubles me is the fabrication of facts. As the Sr. Rani leaves her palace and makes her way to Madras, she does not even turn around and look once. Then she gets into the train and she sheds one tear and then picks up a book and start reading. This is a personal moment where no other but the queen and her consort were present and his best research can come from their grandchildren who are themselves quite old.

The writing makes it look like a movie happening in front of his eyes. And for this, I will give him great credit! But there is no way that he could have actually got those details.

If you want the short of it, just read the Wikipedia article on Sethu Lakshmi Bayi and related people. You will save yourself a lot of time.

[Sooraj · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ivory Throne is a highly entertaining read. Major theme of the book is the rivalry between the two Maharanis of Travancore, Sethu Lakshmi Bai and Sethu parvathi bai. It gives a clear inside view of Royal family of Travancore. But the best part about the book is how it blend the history of Kerala through anecdotes and flashbacks with the narrative.
In the down side it’s largely biased towards Sethu Lakshmi Bai. The justification given for her draconian Press regulation act and aversion to temple entry proclamation shows writers prejudices. The effort of the writer to give some credit of Temple entry proclamation to sethu Lakshmi bai who strongly opposed it even after its introduction is frankly laughable.
But if you want to know the politics and power struggle of a ruling royalty in the British India, Ivory throne is highly recommended. Also at the age of 25 to come up with this kind of a book is no mean feat and for that two cheers to Manu S Pillai!

[Nagarajan Madeswaran · Rating 2 out of 5]

The title is purely misleading. This book is not a chronicle of the House of Travancore but propaganda literature to whitewash and glorify Sethu Lakshmi Bayi at the expense of showing her cousin the Maharaja distasteful.
The book stoops so low to the level of even comment on the appearance of Sethu Parvathi Bayi. Pages upon pages are dedicated in justifying the acts of Sethu Lakshmi Bayi that have drawn criticism; while momentous achievements of the Maharaja are mentioned in passing and again pages are devoted to claim ownership by Sethu Lakshmi Bayi to these reformations.

[Matthew Warchal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Both too dense in terms of family stories and far too dry in terms of the history. The more interesting history could've been a reader-friendly description of the conflict between Hindu culture/caste system/religion with that of the matrilineal aspects of Travancore. Instead, the interesting parts got drowned in palace gossip that could've been written in a much more interesting way.

[Jay Koonampilli · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think the author has made a good research over the Travancore kings and queens. However the book is too lengthy and could have shortened to, at any rate, 70 to 80% . Also author is prejudiced over one side - Senior maharani

[Samuel Premkumar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent detailing of the Travancore Royal family. The book is too big to read with 600 pages. It could have been easily half the size to make it a pleasure to read.

[Mini Tp · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought I knew a lot about Kerala history. That was until I read this book. The history lessons you learnt in high school tells you basic facts without exploring the socioeconomic context which brought about that change. But Manu Pillai's book lays out the prevailing caste/dynastic politics out there in front of you and then tells you what happened in the aftermath.

I loved those the tiny snippets of information that is spread throughout the book like how Vasco da Gama was disappointed to find that the Christian brethren he was looking for in Kerala never approved of Pope as their leader, the history of this tiny island off Cochin which came to be known as Willingdon island and how Veluthambi Dalava brought Travancore to the grips of British as opposed to my childhood belief that he actually helped save the tiny kingdom (to name just a few).

If there is something that disappointed me about the book, that was Manu Pillai's attempt to show the Queen as an unorthodox and progressive matriarch. Her actions suggested otherwise, but Manu desperately tries to portray her as a modernist. He should have understood that it is perfectly okay for his protagonist to not conform to the author's own views. The readers are also fine with such a protagonist who has her share of flaws which makes the book all the more realistic.

All in all, a must read for anyone interested in the history of Kerala and specifically Travancore.

[Harshvardhan Singh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine a household of women , run by and for women where the man's role is limited to the conjugal responsibility and staying out of the way. Seems like the description of a beehive or a tribe of the Amazon, but - according to this book, for I have no other source, that is how the matrilineal societies in Kerala functioned before white man came with his "civilizing" influence.
This and other bits of information about the history of Kerela, and in particular that of the Travencore royal family make this book an interesting and informative read. The more fascinating bits are about the shock of the Portuguese missionaries on discovery of the Christians here who were practicing Christianity even before it reached Europe or the vibrant newspaper scene that existed in Kerala 100 years back. Then there is the regular bit about the "divide and rule" that the British practiced.
However large sections of the ( rather hefty) book have been devoted to the personal lives and squabbles of Rani Sethu Lakshmi Bayi, her younger sister Rani Sethu Parvathi Bayi and their historically less important progeny. The sibling rivalry resembles "The Crown" to begin with and the later descriptions seem rather one sided. The prolonged personal soap opera makes the book a bit of a drag and what could have been an excellent 300 page book turns out to be a fairly good 600 page book.

[Chandrasekhar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good to understand the lost history of Travancore. But reference to the historic events is based only on manuscripts from london musuem written by the kings to the British, which is like only one side of the story.

[Radhika · Rating 3 out of 5]

Finished reading The Ivory Throne by Manu Pillai.

There is much that I didn't know, didn't have the remotest idea of.
The discussion of caste, I have heard similar stories from my semi-royalty grandmother. She belonged to the zamindar family of Uttarpara in bengal. Growing up, it was easy to relegate these stories to the back of consciousness because it might as well have happened a million years ago.
Today I realise that 90 years is not a long time.

When I was in medical college, I had a batchmate who's surname was Nayyar. Once I had misspelt her name as Nair. I couldn't understand why she was so offended because I promptly corrected it. She told me later "That's how a 'shameless' caste in the south (everything is indeed madrasi for the northies I grew up with), who marry their own uncles, spells their surname like that(Nair, vs my friend's 'respectable' Nayyar)

I later read up a little bit about the matrilineal system in Kerala and I'm not surprised it had to be maligned by the patriarchal north.
The book discusses the succession rules under the matrilineal system very well. It touches in some detail about how destruction of this system was a regressive step in history. I would have loved a more comprehensive discussion on how exactly this system worked fabulously for centuries in one state alone.

The book seems heavily biased in favour of Sethu Laxmi Bayi, the Regent and Senior Maharani who's rule of 7 years was remarkable for good governance and development of industry, commerce and social welfare. Despite this, the Rani couldn't have been accused of being a revolutionary by any stretch of imagination. Rather she was a great traditionalist, true to the ruling class ethos of aligning quickest with the powers that be at any given moment in time. They were forever paying tributes to the British government and selling off the state piecemeal in return for fake princely/royal symbolism of 21 gun salutes or order of British empire medals.

Palace intrigues that the author has described in exhaustive detail, is a pain in the neck. It was utterly degenerating into an Ekta Kapoor serial in parts with instances like black magic being done to control people. Post retirement lifestyle details of the Senior Maharani with page after page dedicated to her and her consort's good taste in interiors was mind numbingly boring to read. Some things are best forgotten by history, I realised.

[Bharathan Raghupathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A comprehensive history of Travancore after the advent of the colonial powers on the malabar coast.

A long and detailed analysis of the attingal ranis of Travancore. Kerala has always stood out from the rest of India with its starkly different traditions and strange demographics. We can hope to get a bit more understanding as to why from the ivory throne.

It also gives us a benevolent look of the our British masters and how not everything they did was to show us their racial superiority . We see intricate set up of government and judiciary during the pre-independence time making us capable of surviving on our own. We see a mutual understanding between the British and the princely states which are not characterised by corruption, greed and envy. This gives us a new look at what was on the table for the kings and queens we write off in a line as saying stupid enough to let the British take control of their homeland.

When there is royalty, there are always scandals and we see the royal's side to the story in this book. A highly glamorised lifestyle according to movies is contrasted by this realistic existance they lead now as depicted by this book which I appreciate.

Only downside was the incredible attention to detail led to an equally incredibly slow pacing which had me shouting at the author to get on with it.

If you love history and want a piece of ignored history devoid of heroic last stands to the British or over glamorised wars, then take a look at this woman at the top centric pre-independence administrative account of Travancores royalty.

[Ajith Ashokkumar (LordOfBooks) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sethulekshmi Bhai, one of the least known leaders of India, every Indian at least Keralites should read this book, about this lady - Her Highness Rani Sethulakshmi Bhai Thampuran. Her vision, ideas gave birth to so many great systems that we are currently enjoying in Thiruvananthapuram. As a Travancorean proud to know there is a well worth history behind the State which each Travancoreans should be proud of. This book is an unsung song of the early South Indian Monarchy. To be frank there is no such leader with great visionaries in the current political period who give importance to education rather than religion and party.

[Bhadra K V · Rating 3 out of 5]

There aren't many shoutouts to the royalty in kerala unlike their glamorous regional counterparts.Manu has brought to imagination the tumultuous transitional era of kerala and in a small measure that of India through the standpoint of a female ruler.(albeit his clear tilt towards one queen) For someone who enjoys a light read the book is replete with court intrigues, jealousy,royal secrets and power battles. On a serious note it is a wonderful reminder of how and why traditional moorings of the past still shape the malayali worldview.

[Harsha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fascinating! The bits on changes brought about in traditional Nair society was very interesting. But somehow the ending left me a bit disappointed. The lack of participation of persons involved in one side of the story was quite glaring.
But I'm definetely looking to reading more from the author and more about princely states of India.

[Anand Ganapathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant ! Historical writing at its best !