A Worrisome Situation (From a Correspondent)

There can be no two opinions about the fact that the prosperity of the world depends on agriculture,...

Read

August 29, 1906

Council of Princely States

Although it is the British who rule over India, large chunks of Indians still live within the suzera...

Read

December 12, 1908

Travancore State Administration – 3

The Dewan's speech in the Popular Assembly indicates that the administration of the Registration Dep...

Read

September 29, 1909

Our unemployed youth - 1

On the occasion of the twelfth annual conference of Travancore Vidyabhivardini Mahasabha (Progressiv...

Read

June 30, 1909

Warped thoughts of "Malayala Manorama"

A respectable writer in 'Svadesabhimani' wrote a while ago that it is absurd for the newspaper to st...

Read

About the Collection

The Svadesabhimani was a weekly Malayalam language newspaper founded by the noted writer and journalist Vakkom Abdul Khader Moulavi (1873-1932), who was the owner and publisher and its managing editor. This digital collection contains the original Malayalam and their English translations.

Throughout its existence, it was funded through the personal funds of Vakkom Moulavi, who imported a modern press from Britain. The newspaper began publication in Anjengo, a small village in the princely state of Travancore, on 19 January 1905. Chirayinkeezhu C.P Govinda Pillai was the first editor for one year, after which Sri. K. Ramakrishna Pillai became the editor. The newspaper ceased publication on 26 September 1910, when it was banned by a Royal Proclamation, the editor Ramakrishna Pillai was exiled and the press was confiscated.

The Svadesabhimani served to inform the public in Travancore, as well as in the Malayalam speaking regions, about local, national and international issues. It stood apart from other Malayalam newspapers of the time in exposing corruption in the government, analysing and critiquing government policies, discussing important issues of social and religious reform and bringing news of the national anti-colonial movement and international developments. It is considered a trailblazer in Malayalam journalism, contributing to the development of a new political consciousness in the state.