News Round-Up

As it has been 50 years since Queen Victoria assumed the rule of India as the British sovereign and...

Read

November 18, 1908

Travancore State Administration – 1

Most of India is under British rule. While there are numerous princely states in India not directly...

Read

June 19, 1907

News round up – Kerala - Trivandrum

Trivandrum (Staff reporter) 4th of Midhunam (mid-June) Puisne Judge Mr. Govinda Pilla has been gr...

Read

May 23, 1908

Uproar in Bengal

On May 17th of last year, bombs were discovered at the door of St. Andrew's Church in Calcutta in an...

Read

June 07, 1909

Education in Travancore

The Government of Travancore has constituted a committee with the intention of improving the standar...

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.