Abraham Eraly
Abraham Eraly
Abraham Eraly
Native name
അബ്രഹാം എരളി
Born(1934-08-15)15 August 1934[1]
Ayyampalli, Kerala
Died8 April 2015(2015-04-08) (aged 80)
Pondicherry
NationalityIndian
Alma materMadras Christian College[2]
GenresHistory, Fiction
SubjectIndian history
Notable worksThe Mughal Throne: The Saga of India's Great Emperors
SpouseSita Eraly[2]
ChildrenSatish Eraly[2]
Website
Penguin India

Abraham Eraly (15 August 1934 — 8 April 2015) was an Indian writer of history, a teacher, and the founder of Chennai-based magazine Aside.

Early life

Abraham Eraly was born in the village of Ayyampalli in Ernakulam district, Kerala on 15 August 1934.[1] He studied history at a college in Ernakulam and followed it up with a postgraduate degree in the same subject at Madras Christian College in Chennai.[1] He became a professor of history at MCC in 1971.[1]

Bored with the monotony of teaching,[3] Eraly resigned his professorship in 1977 and founded the Chennai-based magazine Aside, India's first English-language city magazine. Following financial difficulties, it closed in 1997.[4]

Literary career

Eraly's earliest publications were poems and short stories.[5]

Abraham Early in an interview with journalist and author, talks to Shreekumar Varma says:

History is about life. You can't invent even the minutest fact, but there is scope for visualising what had happened.[5]

His historical writing career started while at Madras Christian College.[1] Dissatisfied with the material he used to teach history, he began to write a series of books on Indian history.[5] The Gem in the Lotus covered its earliest period, while The Last Spring continued the narration to the end of the Mughal Empire. Eraly's style of historical story-telling made him particularly approachable for non-historians but could also be used as a reliable source on the Mughal period in India.[6]

Later life

In 2011, Eraly moved to Pondicherry, where he lived in Sarathambal Nagar.[1]

Abraham Eraly died at the JIPMER hospital on 8 April 2015, following a paralytic attack.[1]

Bibliography

Non-fiction

  • The Age of Wrath: A History of the Delhi Sultanate, 2014, Penguin UK, ISBN 935118658X
  • The First Spring: The Golden Age of India, 2011, Penguin Books India, ISBN 0670084786
  • Gem In The Lotus: The Seeding Of Indian Civilisation, 2002, Penguin UK, ISBN 935118014X
  • The Last Spring: The Lives and Times of Great Mughals, 2000, Penguin UK, ISBN 9351181286

Many of his books were divided and re-published under different names leading to multiple titles. The Last Spring: The Lives and Times of Great Mughals was re-published in two parts: The Last Spring Part I (alternatively known as The Mughal Throne and Emperors Of The Peacock Throne) and The Last Spring Part II (alternatively known as The Mughal World).

Fiction

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 S., Ramanathan (14 April 2015). "An Incomplete Spring: The Life and Death of Abraham Eraly". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 23 April 2021. Retrieved 17 April 2015.
  2. 1 2 3 "Abraham Eraly dead". The Hindu. 14 April 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2018.
  3. ↑ Muthiah, S. (20 April 2015). "An author who deserved better". The Hindu. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
  4. ↑ Venkatraman, Janaki (1 January 2004). "A Voice from Aside". In Lakshmi, C. S. (ed.). The Unhurried City: Writings on Chennai. Penguin Books India. p. 41. ISBN 978-0-14-303026-3.
  5. 1 2 3 Varma, Shreekumar (17 May 2001). "Pages from his story". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 17 April 2015.
  6. ↑ Imtiaz, Ahmad (2010). "Sectional President's Address: Cultural Interests and Contributions of the Mughal Nobility". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 71: 192–212.
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