https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/api.php?action=feedcontributions&feedformat=atom&user=2001%3A4490%3A4E59%3AF118%3A8D9A%3AF0A8%3A2B8A%3A5049Bharatpedia - User contributions [en]2026-09-08T06:23:37ZUser contributionsMediaWiki 1.43.6https://en.bharatpedia.org/w/index.php?title=Middle_Malayalam&diff=445249Middle Malayalam2025-07-23T13:05:12Z<p>2001:4490:4E59:F118:8D9A:F0A8:2B8A:5049: minor changes</p>
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<div>{{Short description|Period of the Malayalam language}}<br />
{{Infobox language<br />
|name= Middle Malayalam<br />
|nativename= മധ്യകാലമലയാളം<br />
|pronunciation= Madhyakālamalayāḷam <br />
|region= [[Kerala]]<br />
|era=Developed into [[Malayalam|Modern Malayalam]] by the 15th century<br />
|familycolor=Dravidian<br />
|fam2 = [[Southern Dravidian languages|Southern]]<br />
|fam3 = [[Tamil–Kannada languages|Tamil–Kannada]]<br />
|fam4 = [[Tamil–Kodagu languages|Tamil–Kodagu]]<br />
|fam5 = [[Tamil-Malayalam]]<br />
|ancestor = [[Old Malayalam]]<br />
|script = [[Vatteluttu]], then [[Kolezhuthu]], [[Malayanma]], [[Grantha script|Grantha]]<br />
|isoexception=historical<br />
|glotto=none<br />
}}<br />
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'''Middle Malayalam''' is the period of the [[Malayalam language]] spanning from 13th century to 15th century AD.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R9GbBVfrm4gC&q=%22middle+malayalam%22&pg=PA14|title=A Primer of Malayalam Literature|first=T. K. Krishna|last=Menon|date=1939|publisher=Asian Educational Services|isbn=9788120606036|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KnPoYxrRfc0C|title=Encyclopaedia of Indian Literature: Sasay to Zorgot|first=Mohan|last=Lal|date=June 6, 1992|publisher=Sahitya Akademi|isbn=9788126012213|via=Google Books}}</ref><br />
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The works including ''[[Unniyachi Charitham]]'', ''[[Unnichiruthevi Charitham]]'', and ''Unniyadi Charitham'', are written in Middle Malayalam, those date back to 13th and 14th centuries of [[Common Era]].<ref name="mlm">{{cite book |title=A Short History of Malayalam Literature |author=Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker |url=https://archive.org/details/ASHORTHISTORYOFMALAYALAMLITERATURE |year=2006 |location=Thiruvananthapuram |publisher=Department of Information and Public Relations, Kerala}}</ref><ref name="Malabar">{{cite book |last1=Sreedhara Menon |first1=A. |title=''Kerala Charitram'' |year=2007 |publisher=DC Books |location=Kottayam |isbn=978-8126415885 |edition=2007 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FAlXPgAACAAJ&q=%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%87%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%B3+%E0%B4%9A%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%BF%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%B0%E0%B4%82}}</ref> The ''Sandesha Kavya''s of 14th century CE written in [[Manipravalam]] language include ''[[Unnuneeli Sandesam]]''.<ref name="mlm"/><ref name="Malabar"/> The word ''Manipravalam'' literally means ''Diamond-Coral'' or ''Ruby-Coral''. The 14th-century ''[[Lilatilakam]]'' text states Manipravalam to be a ''Bhashya'' (language) where "Malayalam and Sanskrit should combine together like ruby and coral, without the least trace of any discord".<ref name="PollockPollock2003">{{cite book|author1=Sheldon Pollock|author2=Arvind Raghunathan|title=Literary Cultures in History: Reconstructions from South Asia|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ak9csfpY2WoC |date=19 May 2003|publisher=University of California Press|isbn=978-0-520-22821-4|pages=449, 455–472}}</ref><ref>Ke Rāmacandr̲an Nāyar (1971). ''Early Manipravalam: a study.'' Anjali. Foreign Language Study. pp. 78</ref> ''Kannassa Ramayanam'' and ''Kannassa Bharatam'' by '''Rama Panikkar''' of the [[Niranam poets]] who lived between 1350 and 1450 are representative of this language.<ref name="ptn">{{Citation|last=Kerala (India)|first=Dept. of Public Relations|title=District Handbooks of Kerala: Pathanamthitta (Volume 7 of District Handbooks of Kerala, Kerala (India). Dept. of Public Relations|year=2003}}</ref> The ''[[Champu]] Kavyas'' written by Punam Nambudiri, one among the ''Pathinettara Kavikal'' (Eighteen and a half poets) in the court of the [[Zamorin of Calicut]], also belong to Middle Malayalam.<ref name="Malabar"/><ref name="mlm"/><br />
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The [[Old Malayalam]] language ( 1stcentury BCE – 13th century CE) was employed in several official records and transactions (at the level of the [[Chera Perumals of Makotai|Chera Perumal]] kings as well as the [[Caste|upper-caste]] ([[Nambudiri]]) villages).<ref name=":830">{{Cite book|last=Narayanan|first=M. G. S.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0YDCngEACAAJ&q=Perumals+of+Kerala|title=Perumals of Kerala|publisher=CosmoBooks|year=2013|isbn=9788188765072|location=Thrissur|pages=380–82}}</ref> It was an inscriptional language and there was not any literary work of its own, with possible exceptions of ''[[Ramacharitam]]'' and ''[[Thirunizhalmala]]''.<ref>{{cite book|last=Ayyar|first=L. V. Ramaswami|url=https://archive.org/stream/TheEvolutionOfMalayalamMorphology/The-Evolution-of-Malayalam-Morphology|title=The Evolution of Malayalam Morphology|publisher=Rama Varma Research Institute|year=1936|isbn=|edition=1st|location=Trichur|pages=3}}</ref> However the [[Malayalam literature]] completely diverged from the contemporary [[Tamil literature]] by the period of Middle Malayalam.<ref name="ptn"/> The Middle Malayalam period marked the commencement of the unique traits of [[Malayalam literature]].<ref name="mlm"/><ref name="Malabar"/> The literary works written in Middle Malayalam were heavily influenced by [[Sanskrit]] and [[Prakrit]], while comparing them with the modern [[Malayalam literature]].<ref name="mlm"/><ref name="Malabar"/><br />
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==Notes==<br />
{{Reflist}}<br />
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==Further reading==<br />
* {{cite book |title=A Short History of Malayalam Literature |author=Dr. K. Ayyappa Panicker |url=https://archive.org/details/ASHORTHISTORYOFMALAYALAMLITERATURE |year=2006 |location=Thiruvananthapuram |publisher=Department of Information and Public Relations, Kerala}}<br />
* {{cite book|author=Menon, A. Sreedhara |title=A Survey of Kerala History|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FVsw35oEBv4C|year=2007|publisher=DC Books|isbn=9788126415786}}<br />
* {{Cite book|title=Mathrubhumi Yearbook Plus - 2019|publisher=P. V. Chandran, Managing Editor, Mathrubhumi Printing & Publishing Company Limited, Kozhikode|year=2018|location=Kozhikode |edition=Malayalam }}<br />
{{Malayalam Literature|state=collapsed}}<br />
{{Languages of India}}<br />
{{Languages of South Asia}}<br />
{{Dravidian languages}}<br />
{{Languages spoken in Kerala}}<br />
{{Kerala topics}}<br />
{{Authority control}}<br />
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[[Category:Medieval languages]]<br />
[[Category:Malayalam language]]<br />
[[Category:Dravidian languages]]</div>2001:4490:4E59:F118:8D9A:F0A8:2B8A:5049