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{{short description|Indian historian (b. 1936)}}
{{BLP sources|date=February 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2019}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2019}}
{{Infobox person
| name = M . R. Raghava Varier
| image = MR_Raghava_variyar.jpg
| caption =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1936|01|15}}
| birth_place =
| occupation = Epigraphist<br>Academic
| known_for = Kerala History
| notable_works =
| alma_mater =
*University of Calicut (under-graduate degree, graduate and doctoral degree)
*Office of the Chief Epigraphist to the Government of India, Mysore
*Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi (M. Phil)
}}

'''M. R. Raghava Varier''' (born 15 January 1936), also '''M. R. Raghava Warrier''', is an Indian [[Epigraphy|epigraphist]] and historian, formerly a Professor at the [[University of Calicut]], from [[Kerala]]. He currently lives in Cheliya, Edakkulam-[[Koyilandy|Koyilandi]] in Kerala.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Delhi/academic-historians-express-anguish-at-prevailing-intolerance/article7817979.ece|title=Academic historians express serious anguish at prevailing conditions|author=Staff Reporter|date=2015-10-29|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-12-06|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/A-21st-century-find-spotlights-prehistoric-rock-art/article17183867.ece|title=A 21st century find spotlights prehistoric rock art|last=Shaji|first=K. a|date=2017-02-03|work=The Hindu|access-date=2018-12-06|language=en-IN|issn=0971-751X}}</ref><ref name="Profile2">[http://malayalamuniversity.edu.in/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/CV-ENG.pdf M. R. Raghava Varier (Profile)]{{Dead link|date=July 2025 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Varier is generally considered as left historian by political analysts.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/states/kerala/story/19981130-ichr-member-lashes-out-at-panel-of-editors-chosen-to-write-cultural-history-of-kerala-827455-1998-11-30|title=ICHR member lashes out at panel of editors chosen to write cultural history of Kerala|date=30 November 1998|first=M. G.|last=Radhakrishnan|website=India Today|language=en|access-date=2021-03-12}}</ref>

==Education==
Varier graduated from the University of Calicut in 1972 and was trained in epigraphy at the Office of the Chief Epigraphist to the Government of India, Mysore (1973). He holds a post-graduate degree in "Malayalam Language and Literature" from Calicut University (1976), M. Phil (1977–80) in History from [[Jawaharlal Nehru University]], New Delhi and doctoral degree (1986) on folk songs of northern Kerala from the University of Calicut. From 1997 to 1999, he served as Senior Fellow in the Cultural Department, Government of India (New Delhi).<ref name="Profile2"/>

==Awards and recognitions==
Varier has been invited to a number of institutions, including Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, [[Paris]] under the Indo-French Programme (2004), [[University of Exeter|Exeter University]] (funded by Art and Humanities Research Board, London), [[University of Tokyo]] (2010), [[De Montfort University]], London and the [[British Museum]] (2012). He served as the President - Epigraphy, Historical Archaeology and Numismatics in 1998 [[Indian History Congress]].<ref name="Profile2"/>

Varier is one of the few Indian scholars to examine medieval Malayalam manuscripts collected in ''Bibliotec Nazionale de Roma,'' Rome and ''Apostoloca Vaticana,'' Vatican. He is also a member of several federal bodies, committees, trusts, and university senates.<ref name="Profile2"/> He has been involved in a number of projects, including a Japanese project to explore the Chinese pottery in Kerala (1988), and a project on the Historical Atlas of South India (funded by the [[Ford Foundation]]) where he was a consultant. He is also associated with the Muziris Heritage Project as a "Consultant" since 2009.<ref name="Profile2"/> He translated ancient inscriptions to [[Malayalam]], it's published and highlighted in the [[South Indian Inscriptions]] Volume 43 released by [[Archaeological Survey of India]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Baiju |first1=KM |title=Now, read ancient inscriptions in Malayalam |url=https://english.mathrubhumi.com/books/books-news/now-read-ancient-inscriptions-in-malayalam-1.5392690 |publisher=english.mathrubhumi.com |date=28 Jan 2021 |access-date=29 September 2021 |archive-date=29 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210929212337/https://english.mathrubhumi.com/books/books-news/now-read-ancient-inscriptions-in-malayalam-1.5392690 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

''Cultural History of Kerala'' (1999), written by Varier with [[Rajan Gurukkal]], is a standard textbook for the history of Kerala.<ref>Syllabus - University of Delhi - M A History http://www.du.ac.in/du/uploads/PG-Syllabus/Pg_syll/121011_MA_History.pdf</ref> His work ''Jainamatham Keralathil'' received the [[Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award]] in 2012 in the scholarly literature category.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.mathrubhumi.com/books/article/news/2516/ |title=ലോനപ്പന്‍ നമ്പാടനും സുസ്‌മേഷ് ചന്ദ്രോത്തിനും അബുദാബി ശക്തി അവാര്‍ഡുകള്‍ |newspaper=Mathrubhumi |date=18 July 2013 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130718173704/http://www.mathrubhumi.com/books/article/news/2516/ |archive-date=18 July 2013 |access-date=3 January 2023 }}</ref> He also received the [[Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award]] for overall contribution (T. K. Ramakrishnan Award) in 2021.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.deshabhimani.com/amp/news/kerala/abudhabi-sakthi-award-2022/1049757 |title=അബുദാബി ശക്തി അവാർഡുകൾ പ്രഖ്യാപിച്ചു; ശക്തി ടി കെ രാമകൃഷ്‌ണൻ പുരസ്‌കാരം ഡോ. എം ആർ രാഘവ വാര്യർക്ക്‌ |newspaper=[[Deshabhimani]] |date=15 October 2022 |access-date=4 January 2023 |archive-date=4 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230104170107/https://www.deshabhimani.com/amp/news/kerala/abudhabi-sakthi-award-2022/1049757 |url-status=dead }}</ref> In 2023, he received the [[Kerala Sahitya Akademi Fellowship]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Kerala Sahitya Akademi fellowships announced |language= |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2024/Jul/26/kerala-sahitya-akademi-fellowships-announced |newspaper=[[The New Indian Express]] |date=26 July 2024 |access-date=14 August 2024}}</ref>

===Publications===
{| class="sortable wikitable"
|+
!Year of publication
!Work
!Reference
|-
|1990
|{{cite journal |last1=Varier |first1=M. R. |title=Trade Relations between Kerala and China 1200-1500 AD. |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=51 |pages=690–698}}
|<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Varier |first1=M. R. Raghava |title=Trade Relations between Kerala and China 1200-1500 AD |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1990 |volume=51 |pages=690–698 |jstor=44148316 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148316}}</ref>
|-
|1988
|{{cite journal |last1=Varier |first1=M. R. |title=Marine Technology in Ancient Tamilakam |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |volume=49 |pages=114–121}}
|<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Varier |first1=M. R. Raghava |title=Marine Technology in Ancient Tamilakam |journal=Proceedings of the Indian History Congress |date=1988 |volume=49 |pages=114–121 |jstor=44148360 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44148360}}</ref>
|-
|2020 || Varier, M. R. ''A Brief History of Ayurveda.'' || <ref>{{cite book |last1=Varier |first1=M. R. Raghava |title=A Brief History of Ayurveda |date=12 June 2020 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-099210-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DSvsDwAAQBAJ&dq=M.+R.+Raghava+Varier&pg=PT6 |language=en}}</ref>
|-

|}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Varier, M. R. Raghava}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Malayalam-language writers]]
[[Category:English-language Indian writers]]
[[Category:Writers from Kerala]]
[[Category:21st-century Indian historians]]
[[Category:Indian male essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian essayists]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian social scientists]]
[[Category:University of Calicut alumni]]
[[Category:Scholars from Kerala]]
[[Category:Historians of Kerala]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Award]]

M. R. Raghava Varier - Revision history

Shah am at 05:17, 13 March 2026