Community reform

Although the stretch from Kanyakumari to Gokarnam is said to be Malayalam land, the main parts of it...

Read

September 19, 1910

From the Editor's Notebook

It has come to our notice that 'some refined persons' are writing editorials filled with barbed rema...

Read

April 08, 1910

Department of Indigenous Medicine

Although the ancient and sophisticated system of Ayurvedic treatment has faded a bit due to the popu...

Read

May 02, 1906

Travancore: Then and Now

There is no doubt that to the foreigners of today, who are distressed over the Brahmin aristocracy o...

Read

February 05, 1908

The Diwan and the Newspapers

In the last session of the Sri Mulam Assembly, a representative of the people had drawn the attentio...

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.