MGS had served as the General Secretary and President of the Indian History Congress, and was the Member Secretary of the ICHR and later its Chairman from 2001 to 2003.
Published Apr 26, 2025 | 12:38 PM ⚊ Updated Apr 26, 2025 | 2:07 PM
MGS Narayanan (20 August 1923 - 26 April 2025) (Wikimedia Commons)
Synopsis: MGS was proficient in Vattezhuthu, the syllabic alphabet of South India and Sri Lanka and Kolezhuthu, Kerala’s syllabic alphabet used in Malayalam. He was well-versed in Sanskrit as well.
Eminent historian, academic and political commentator MGS Narayanan passed away at his residence at Malaparamba in Kerala’s Kozhikode district on Saturday, 26 April, morning. He was 92.
Born to Dr KP Govinda Menon and Narayani Amma in Ponnani, Malappuram, on 20 August 1932, Muttayil Govinda Menon Shankara Narayanan — better known as MGS Narayanan or just MGS — published his thesis, Perumals of Kerala, in 1996. The exhaustive work explored the complex political and social dynamics of Kerala from 800 to 1124 CE.
Historian and Indologist Arthur Llewellyn Basham praised Perumals of India as “one of the ablest and most thorough Indian theses I have examined”.
His other notable works included Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala, Calicut: The City of Truth Revisited, India Charitra Parichayam, Sahitya Aparadhangal, Kerala Charitrathinte Atisthanasilakal, and Janadhipatyavum Communissavum.
Remembered for his clarity and intellectual honesty, Narayanan often said, “There is no last word in history; we must rely on evidence and avoid personal bias.”
MGS had his early education at Parappanangadi, Ponnani, Kozhikode and Thrissur. He took his post-graduate degree from Madras Christian College, and PhD from the University of Kerala.
MGS was proficient in Vattezhuthu, the syllabic alphabet of South India and Sri Lanka and Kolezhuthu, Kerala’s syllabic alphabet used in Malayalam. He was well-versed in Sanskrit as well.
He headed Calicut University’s Department of History from 1976 to 1990, and a Visiting Professor at universities in Moscow, Leningrad, Tokyo and Mexico.
MGS had served as the General Secretary and President of the Indian History Congress, and was the Member Secretary of the ICHR and later its Chairman from 2001 to 2003.
Though he followed the BJP’s ideology and believed in Hindutva, he was not known to be a hardliner.
MGS is survived by wife Premalatha and two children, Vijayakumar and Vinaya. The cremation is at the Mavoor Road crematorium at 4 pm.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan hailed Narayanan for charting a new course in historical research.
“What set him apart was his narrative style of searching for documents, analyzing them scientifically, and interpreting them truthfully,” Vijayan said.
He acknowledged Narayanan’s significant role in reshaping Indian historiography and credited him with raising Calicut University’s history department to one of the most noted in South India.
Vijayan also recalled Narayanan’s firm stand against the communal rewriting of history and his vocal opposition to growing intolerance in the country.
Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar expressed his condolences, remembering Narayanan as a scholar who “left a deep imprint on the field of Indian historiography.”
He noted that as former Chairman of the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), Narayanan’s “commendable contributions will always be remembered.”
Leader of the Opposition VD Satheesan called Narayanan “the opposite of the rigid belief that history should be made according to political interests.”
He praised the historian as someone who fought distortions in historical narratives and described his passing as the loss of one of the country’s most authoritative researchers.
BJP state president Rajeev Chandrasekhar, too, paid tribute, calling Narayanan one of India’s greatest historians.
He lauded his courage in opposing distortions by left-leaning historians and remembered him for his honesty, deep knowledge, and fearless scholarship.
