William Logan (author)
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William Logan (1841–1914) was a Scottish officer of the Madras Civil Service under the British Government. Before his appointment as Collector of Malabar, he had served in the area for about twenty years in the capacity of Magistrate and Judge. He was conversant in Malayalam, Tamil and Telugu. He is remembered for his 1887 guide to the Malabar District, popularly known as the Malabar Manual
Logan had a special liking for Kerala and its people. To commemorate this British official's work and life in Thalassery, the main road that cuts across the town is named after him as "Logan's Road".
Malabar Manual
Malabar by William Logan (popularly known as the Malabar Manual) is an 1887 publication commissioned by the Government of Madras, and originally published in two volumes. It is a guide to the Malabar District under the Presidency of Madras in British India, compiled during Logan's tenure as Collector of Malabar.[1] It is an exhaustive volume giving the details of the geography, people, their religion and castes, language and culture. It depicts the life and style of the vernacular people of Malabar District, with some interesting notes on the English Raj's life then. The work was later followed up by the Malabar Gazetteer of 1908, written by Charles Alexander Innes.
This work has garnered considerable criticism over glossing over the famines and droughts happening in Malabar for which he gave the credit to an efficient British government. Food economist, Dr. M Raghavan on the other hand says this as factually incorrect and calls it "deliberate attempt to conceal the truth".[2]
References
- ^ Narayanan, M.T. (2003). Agrarian relations in late medieval Malabar. New Delhi: Northern Book Centre. p. 31. ISBN 9788172111359. Retrieved 11 July 2016.
- ^ "Study reveals truth behind Malabar Manual - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 21 December 2017.
External links
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