By Sweat and Sword: Trade, Diplomacy and War in Kerala Through the Ages

Going well beyond the usual narratives on Kerala history, this study discusses the unique history of a state described in colonial documents as being perpetually at war but, remarkably, whose people have been historically happy. Ever since its discovery, Kerala’s political climate was characterized by a variety of Chinese, Arab, European, and local powers fighting each other for economic and military ascendancy. And yet, despite centuries of foreign contact and conflict, it continued to thrive and retain its independence. The influences Kerala absorbed were of its own choosing. This book hypothesizes that this remarkable achievement was a direct consequence of Kerala’s unique military, diplomatic, social, and economic culture. A society by no means perfect, but fairly close, causing British administrators to record that society in Kerala had arrived close to fulfilling the utilitarian dictum of "the largest possible happiness of the largest numbers."