Malayalam, thelingua franca of theIndian state ofKerala and the union territories ofLakshadweep andPuduchery, is one of the elevenclassical languages of India.^[1]Malayalam literature comprises those literary texts written inMalayalam, aSouth-Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state ofKerala. The first travelogue in any Indian language is the MalayalamVarthamanappusthakam, written byParemmakkal Thoma Kathanar in 1785.^[2][3] Malayalam literature has been presented with 6Jnanapith awards, the second-most for any Dravidian language and the third-highest for any Indian language.^[4][5]

TheSangam literature can be considered as the ancient predecessor of Malayalam.^[6] The origin ofMalayalam calendar dates back to year 825 CE.^[7][8][9] It is generally agreed that theQuilon Syrian copper plates of 849/850 CE is the available oldest inscription written inOld Malayalam. The earliest known literary works in Malayalam areRamacharitam (late 12th or early 13th century)^[10] andThirunizhalmala, twoepic poems written inOld Malayalam. In the subsequent centuries, besides a popularPattu ("song") literature, themanipravalam poetry also flourished.Manipravalam (translates "ruby coral") style consisted of poetry in an admixture of Malayalam andSanskrit.^[11] Then came works such aschampus andsandeshakavyas in which prose and poetry were interspersed. Later, poets likeCherusseri introduced poems on devotional themes.

Designated a "Classical Language in India" in 2013,^[12] Malayalam literature developed into the current form mainly by the influence of the poetsCherusseri Namboothiri,^[13][14]Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan,^[14] andPoonthanam Nambudiri,^[14][15] in the 15th and the 16th centuries ofCommon Era.^[14][16] Thunchathu Ezhuthachchan is also known asThe father of modern Malayalam literature.^[14]Kunchan Nambiar, a poet of 18th century CE, also has contributed much to Malayalam literature in its early form.^[14] TheBharathappuzha river, also known asRiver Ponnani, and its tributaries, have played a major role in the development of modern Malayalam Literature.^[17] There were also other important works, inArabi Malayalam likeMuhyadheen Mala, which was also produced in 16th-17th centuries of Common Era. The growth ofArabi Malayalam literature eventually lead toMappila Songs. The words used in many of theArabi Malayalam works those date back to 16th-17th centuries ofCommon Era are also very closer to the modern Malayalam language.^[14][18]Ezhuthachan, a strong proponent ofBhakti movement, is known as the father of Malayalam. His poems are classified under the genre ofkilippattu.^[19]

The prose literature, criticism, andMalayalam journalism began after the latter half of the 18th century CE. Contemporary Malayalam literature deals with social, political, and economic life context. Modern literary movements in Malayalam literature began in the late 19th century with the rise of the famous Modern Triumvirate consisting ofKumaran Asan,^[20]Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer^[21] andVallathol Narayana Menon.^[22] Kumaran Asan was temperamentally apessimist—adisposition reinforced by hismetaphysics—yet all his life was active in promoting his downtroddenHindu-Ezhava community. Ullor wrote in theclassical tradition, appealing foruniversal love, while Vallathol responded to the human significance ofsocial progress. Contemporary Malayalam poetry deals with social, political, and economic life context. The tendency of the modern poetry is often towardspolitical radicalism.^[23] In the second half of the 20th century,Jnanpith winning poets and writers likeG. Sankara Kurup,S. K. Pottekkatt,Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai,Edasseri Govindan Nair,M. T. Vasudevan Nair,O. N. V. Kurup, andAkkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, had made valuable contributions to the modern Malayalam literature.^{[24][25][26][27][28]} Later, writers likeO. V. Vijayan,Kamaladas,M. Mukundan,Arundhati Roy, andVaikom Muhammed Basheer, have gained international recognition.^{[29][30][31][32]} The modern Malayalam grammar is based on the bookKerala Panineeyam written byA. R. Raja Raja Varma in the late 19th century CE.^[33]

The western dialect ofOld Tamil spoken in the southwesternMalabar Coast ofIndia was known asMalanaattu Tamil/Malabar Tamil (Meaning theTamil of the hilly region/theTamil of Malabar) since the ancientSangam period (300 BCE - 300 CE).^[36] Due to the geographical separation of theMalabar Coast fromTamil Nadu, and the presence ofWestern Ghats mountain ranges in between these two geographical regions, the dialect ofTamil spoken in the territory of the westernMalabar Coast of the ancientChera kingdom was different from that spoken in theTamil-mainland.^[36] The generally held view is that Malayalam was the western coastal dialectMiddle Tamil^[37] and started separation from Proto-Tamil-Malayalam sometime in the 8th century CE.^[38][39] The renowned poets ofClassical Tamil such asParanar (1st century CE),Ilango Adigal (2nd-3rd century CE), andKulasekhara Alvar (9th century CE) wereKeralites.^[36] TheSangam literature can be considered as the ancient predecessor of Malayalam.^[6]

Some scholars however believe that bothTamil and Malayalam developed during the prehistoric period from a common ancestor, 'Proto-Tamil-Malayalam', and that the notion of Malayalam being a 'daughter' ofTamil is misplaced.^[40] This is based on the fact that Malayalam and severalDravidian languages on the western coast have common archaic features which are not found even in the oldest historical forms of literary Tamil. However they share few striking innovations with Middle Tamil thus making independent descent impossible.^[41]

Old Malayalam (Pazhaya Malayalam), an inscriptional language found inKerala fromc. 9th toc. 13th century CE,^[42] is the earliest attested form ofMalayalam.^[43][44] The start of the development ofOld Malayalam from a western coastal dialect ofcontemporary Tamil (Middle Tamil) can be dated to c. 7th - 8th century CE.^[45][46][47] It remained a west coast dialect until c. 9th century CE or a little later.^[48][45] The origin ofMalayalam calendar dates back to year 825 CE.^[7][8][9] The formation of the language is mainly attributed to geographical separation of Kerala from the Tamil country.^[48][43] It is generally agreed that the western coastal dialect of Tamil began to separate, diverge, and grow as a distinct language, mainly due to the heavy influence ofSanskrit andPrakrit, those became common prominent languages onMalabar Coast, when the caste system became strong in Kerala underNambudiriBrahmins.^[36]

TheOld Malayalam language was employed in several official records and transactions (at the level of theChera Perumal kings as well as on the village temples).^[43] Most of the inscriptions inOld Malayalam were found from thenorthern districts of Kerala, those lie adjacent toTulu Nadu.^[43]Old Malayalam was mostly written inVatteluttu script (withPallava/Southern Grantha characters).^[43]Old Malayalam had several features distinct from the contemporary Tamil, which include the Nasalisation of adjoining sounds, Substitution of palatal sounds for dental sounds, Contraction of vowels, and the Rejection of gender verbs.^[43][49][50]

TheOld Malayalam got gradually developed intoMiddle Malayalam (Madhyakaala Malayalam) by the 13th century CE.^[51] The Malayalam literature also completely got diverged fromTamil literature by this period.Kannassa Ramayanam andKannassa Bharatham byRama Panikkar of theNiranam poets who lived between 1350 and 1450, are representative of this language.^[52] TheChampu Kavyas written by Punam Nambudiri, one among thePathinettara Kavikal (Eighteen and a half poets) in the court of theZamorin of Calicut, also belong to Middle Malayalam.^[36][14] The literary works of this period were heavily influenced byManipravalam, which was a combination of contemporary Malayalam andSanskrit.^[36] The scripts ofKolezhuthu andMalayanma were also used to writeMiddle Malayalam, in addition toVatteluthu andGrantha script those were used to writeOld Malayalam.^[36]

TheMiddle Malayalam was succeeded by Modern Malayalam (Aadhunika Malayalam) by the 15th century CE.^[36] The poemKrishnagatha written byCherusseri Namboothiri, who was the court poet of the king Udaya Varman Kolathiri (1446 – 1475) ofKolathunadu, is written in modern Malayalam.^[14] The language used inKrishnagatha is the modern spoken form of Malayalam.^[14] During the 16th century CE,Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan from theKingdom of Tanur andPoonthanam Nambudiri from theKingdom of Valluvanad followed the new trend initiated by Cherussery in their poems. TheAdhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu andMahabharathamKilippattu written by Ezhuthachan andJnanappana written by Poonthanam are also included in the earliest form of Modern Malayalam.^[14]

It isThunchaththu Ezhuthachan who is also credited with the development ofMalayalam script into the current form through the intermixing and modification of the erstwhile scripts ofVatteluttu,Kolezhuthu, andGrantha script, which were used to write the inscriptions and literary works of Old and Middle Malayalam.^[14] He further eliminated excess and unnecessary letters from the modified script.^[14] Hence, Ezhuthachan is also known asThe Father of modern Malayalam.^[14] The development of modernMalayalam script was also heavily influenced by theTigalari script, which was used to write theTulu language.^[14] The currently adoptedMalayalam script is the only script in India that can be used to write any otherlanguage of India as it contain letters to denote both of theVoiced retroflex approximant (/ɻ/) (which is unique to Tamil and Malayalam in India) and the letters unique toSanskrit (those are not there in theTamil script). The language used in theArabi Malayalam works of 16th-17th century CE is a mixture of Modern Malayalam andArabic.^[14] They follow the syntax of modern Malayalam, though written in a modified form ofArabic script, which is known asArabi Malayalam script.^[14]

Kunchan Nambiar introduced a new literary form calledThullal, andUnnayi Variyar introduced reforms inAttakkatha literature.^[14] Modern literary movements in Malayalam literature began in the late 19th century with the rise of the famous Modern Triumvirate consisting ofKumaran Asan,^[20]Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer^[21] andVallathol Narayana Menon.^[22] The printing, prose literature, andMalayalam journalism, developed after the latter-half of the 18th century CE.^[14] In the second half of the 20th century,Jnanpith winning poets and writers likeG. Sankara Kurup,S. K. Pottekkatt,Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai,Edasseri Govindan Nair,M. T. Vasudevan Nair,O. N. V. Kurup, andAkkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, had made valuable contributions to the modern Malayalam literature.^{[24][25][26][27][28]} Later, writers likeO. V. Vijayan,Kamaladas,M. Mukundan,Arundhati Roy,Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, have gained international recognition.^[29][30][31] Malayalam has also borrowed a lot of its words from various foreign languages, mainly from theSemitic languages includingArabic, and theEuropean languages includingDutch andPortuguese, due to the long heritage ofIndian Ocean trade and the Portuguese-Dutch colonisation in theMalabar Coast.

Folk songs are the oldest literary form in Malayalam.^[33] They were just oral songs.^[33] Many of them were related to agricultural activities, includingPulayar Pattu,Pulluvan Pattu,Njattu Pattu,Koythu Pattu, etc.^[33] OtherBallads of Folk Song period include theVadakkan Pattukal (Northern songs) inNorth Malabar region and theThekkan Pattukal (Southern songs) inSouthern Travancore.^[33] Some of the earliestMappila songs (Muslim songs) were also folk songs.^[33]For the first 600 years of theMalayalam calendar, Malayalam literature remained in a preliminary stage. During this time, Malayalam literature consisted mainly of various genres of songs (Pattu). Prominent were songs praising the goddesses of the land, ballads of brave warriors, songs related to the work of a particular caste and songs intended just for entertainment.Bhadrakali pattu, thottam pattu, Mappila pattu, mavaratham pattu, sasthanga pattu, nizhalkoothu pattu, sarpa pattu, sastham pattu, thiyyattu pattu, pulluvar pattu, mannar pattu, panar pattu, krishi pattu, thamburan pattu, pada pattu, villadichan pattu, onappattu, kummi and lullaby were some of the major subgenres. These names were not used historically, but are used in modern times to describe the song genres of that time.^[53]

Ramacharitham is a collection of poems written at the end of the preliminary stage. It is the oldest Malayalam book available, with a possible exception ofThirunizhalmala. The collection has 1,814 poems in it.Ramacharitham mainly consists of stories from the Yuddha Kanda of theRamayana. It was written by a poet with the pen nameCheeramakavi who, according to poet Ulloor S Parameswara Iyer, was Sree Veerarama Varman, a king of southern Kerala from AD 1195 to 1208.^[54] However the claim that it was written in Southern Kerala is expired on the basis of new discoveries.^[55] Other experts, like Chirakkal T Balakrishnan Nair, Dr. K.M. George, M. M. Purushothaman Nair, and P.V. Krishnan Nair, state that the origin of the book is inKasaragod district inNorth Malabar region.^[55] They cite the use of certain words in the book and also the fact that the manuscript of the book was recovered fromNileshwaram inNorth Malabar.^[56] The influence ofRamacharitam is mostly seen in the contemporary literary works of Northern Kerala.^{[55][citation needed]} The words used inRamacharitam such asNade (Mumbe),Innum (Iniyum),Ninna (Ninne), Chaaduka (Eriyuka) are special features of the dialect spoken inNorth Malabar (Kasaragod-Kannur region).^[55] Furthermore, theThiruvananthapuram mentioned inRamacharitham is not the Thiruvananthapuram in Southern Kerala.^{[citation needed][55]} But it isAnanthapura Lake Temple ofKumbla in the northernmostKasaragod district of Kerala.^{[citation needed][55]} The wordThiru is used just by the meaningHonoured.^[55] Today it is widely accepted thatRamacharitham was written somewhere inNorth Malabar (most likely nearKasaragod).^[55]Ramacharitham is considered a book written during the formative years of Malayalam. According to Rev. Dr.Hermann Gundert, who compiled the first dictionary of the Malayalam language,Ramacharitham shows the ancient style of the Malayalam language.^[57]

While thePattu school flourished among certain sections of the society, the literature of the elite was composed in the curious mixture ofSanskrit and Malayalam which is referred to asManipravalam,mani meaning ruby (Malayalam) andpravalam meaning coral (Sanskrit).^[58]Lilathilakam, a work on grammar and rhetoric, written in the last quarter of the 14th century discusses the relationship betweenManipravalam andPattu as poetic forms.^[59] It lays special emphasis on the types of words that blend harmoniously. It points out that the rules of Sanskrit prosody should be followed inManipravalam poetry. This particular school of poetry was patronised by the upper classes, especially theNambudiris. Dramatic performances given inKoothambalams, known by the names ofKoothu andKoodiyattom, often used Sanskrit and Malayalam. InKoodiyattom, the clown (vidooshaka) is allowed to use Malayalam while the hero recitesslokas in Sanskrit.Tholan, a legendary court poet in the period of theKulasekhara kings, is believed to have started this practice.

The earliest of these works in theManipravalam school isVaisika Tantram written in the 13th century. It contains about 200 quatrains in Sanskrit metres and is in the form of professional advice given to a prostitute or courtesan by her mother. Each quatrain is composed with care and due weight is given to the rules of rhetoric. Several quatrains of this type are quoted inLilathilakam by way of illustration for the several rules of grammar and rhetoric.

The most representative of the earlyManipravalam works are the tales of courtesans (Achi Charitams) and the Message Poems (Sandesa Kavyas).Unniyachi Charitam,Unnichiruthevi Charitam andUnniyadi Charitam are examples of the former type which is known by the namechampu. ThePadya (verse) portion is in Sanskrit metres and theGadya (prose) portion is mostly in Dravidian metres. Authorship ofUnniyachi Charitam andUnnichiruthevi Charitam is not known and only a portion of the works is now available.Unniyadi Charitam, which also exists in a fragmented form, is supposed to be written by Damodara Chakkiar. TheSandesa Kavyas are an important poetic genre in Sanskrit, and on the model ofKalidasa'sMeghadūta and Lakshmidasa'sSukasandesa, a number of message poems came to be written first inManipravalam and later in pure Malayalam. The best known among thesesandesas is perhapsUnnuneeli Sandesam written in the 14th century. The poem is written under the pen-name Amruthanilakshi, and some believe that it was written in 1362 CE. The exact identity of the author remains a mystery, but it is widely believed that one of the members of theTravancore Royal Family wrote it.

The next work to be mentioned isRamakathapattu, as it is popularly known, though the author calls itRamayanakavyam. The author is Ayyappilli Asan who lived sometime about 1400 CE at Auvatutura nearKovalam and whom P. K. Narayana Pillai, who discovered the full text of the book in 1965, calls "theHomer of Malayalam."Ramakathapattu contains 3163 songs in 279Vrittas or parts.^[60]

While the Manipravala poetry flourished as a diversion from the mainstream, the tradition set up by Cheeraman ofRamacharitamand the more enlightened among the anonymous folk poets was resumed and replenished by three writers commonly referred to asNiranam poets, beingMadhava Panikkar,Sankara Panikkar andRama Panikkar. They were influenced by theBhakti movement. TheBhakti school was thus revived, and in the place of the excessive sensuality and eroticism of theManipravalam poets, the seriousness of the poetic vocation was reasserted by them. It is believed that they all belonged to the same Kannassa family and that Madhava Panikkar and Sankara Panikkar were the uncles of Rama Panikkar, the youngest of the three. Their most important work isKannasa Ramayanam which is an important link betweenRamacharitam,Ramakathapattu andEzhuthachan'sAdhyathmaramayanam.Ulloor has said that Rama Panikkar holds the same position in Malayalam literature thatEdmund Spenser has in English literature.^[53]

The 15th century CE saw two paralleled movements in Malayalam literature: one spearheaded by theManipravalam works, especially theChampus, and the other emanating from thePattu school and adumbrated inCherusseri's magnum opus,Krishnagatha (Song of Krishna). The language of the laterChampus reads more like modern Malayalam than that of the earlierChampus andSandesa Kavyas.Champus were mostly works of satire andhyperbole was a regular feature of it. The greatestChampus of the 15th century is Punam Nambudiri'sRamayanam which uses Puranic themes and episodes unlike the 14th centuryChampus which were tales of the courtesans. Punam was a court poet of theZamorin ofCalicut. Punam also wrote aBharatam Champoo. There are also many others, the authorship of which is ascribed to him. The laterChampus came to be used for dramatic oral narration by performing artists in theirKoothu andPatakam. Mahishamangalam (or Mazhamangalam) Narayanan Nambudiri who lived in the 16th century is the author of some of the bestChampus of all time. The most widely known of these isNaishadham followed byRajaratnavaliyam andKodia Viraham.Chandrotsavam, whose authorship is unknown, is a long narrative poem written inManipravalam.

The elitistManipravalaChampu school disappeared by the end of the 16th century. The average readers without much grounding in Sanskrit had their favourite poems and poets in the so-calledPattu school. With the writing ofKrishnagatha byCherusseri, the validity of the use of spoken Malayalam for literary purposes received its ultimate justification. Unlike the language ofRamacharitam and the works of theNiranam poets, the language ofKrishnagatha marks the culmination of a stage of evolution. There is some dispute about the author's name and his identity. Some scholars are of opinion that he was the same as the Punam Nambudiri of theChampus. It is widely believed that Cherusseri lived in the 15th century CE and was the court poet of Udayavarma ofKolathunadu.

TheArabi Malayalam (also called Mappila Malayalam^[61][62] and Moplah Malayalam) was the traditionalDravidian language^[63] of theMappila Muslim community inMalabar Coast. The poets likeMoyinkutty Vaidyar andPulikkottil Hyder have made notable contributions to theMappila songs, which is a genre of theArabi Malayalam literature.^[64][65] TheArabi Malayalam script, otherwise known as thePonnani script,^[66][67][68] is a writing system - a variant form of theArabic script with specialorthographic features - which was developed during the early medieval period and used to writeArabi Malayalam until the early 20th century CE.^[69][70] Though the script originated and developed inKerala, today it is predominantly used inMalaysia andSingapore by the migrantMuslim community.^[46][71]

TheMiddle Malayalam (Madhyakaala Malayalam) was succeeded by Modern Malayalam (Aadhunika Malayalam) by the 15th century CE.^[36] The poemKrishnagatha written byCherusseri Namboothiri, who was the court poet of the king Udaya Varman Kolathiri (1446 – 1475) ofKolathunadu, is written in modern Malayalam.^[14] The language used inKrishnagatha is the modern spoken form of Malayalam.^[14] During the 16th century CE, Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan from theKingdom of Tanur andPoonthanam Nambudiri from theKingdom of Valluvanad followed the new trend initiated by Cherussery in their poems. TheAdhyathmaramayanam Kilippattu andMahabharathamKilippattu written by Ezhuthachan andJnanappana written by Poonthanam are also included in the earliest form of Modern Malayalam.^[14]

It is Thunchaththu Ezhuthachan who is also credited with the development ofMalayalam script into the current form through the intermixing and modification of the erstwhile scripts ofVatteluttu,Kolezhuthu, andGrantha script, which were used to write the inscriptions and literary works of Old and Middle Malayalam.^[14] He further eliminated excess and unnecessary letters from the modified script.^[14] Hence, Ezhuthachan is also known asThe Father of modern Malayalam.^[14] The development of modernMalayalam script was also heavily influenced by theTigalari script, which was used to write theTulu language, due to the influence ofTuluva Brahmins in Kerala.^[14] The language used in theArabi Malayalam works of 16th-17th century CE is a mixture of Modern Malayalam andArabic.^[14] They follow the syntax of modern Malayalam, though written in a modified form ofArabic script, which is known asArabi Malayalam script.^[14]

P. Shangunny Menon ascribes the authorship of the medieval workKeralolpathi, which describes theParashurama legend and the departure of the finalCheraman Perumal king toMecca, to Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan.^[72] The currently adoptedMalayalam script, adopted by Ezhuthachan can be used to write any otherlanguage of India as it contain letters to denote both of theVoiced retroflex approximant (/ɻ/) (which is unique to Dravidian languages in India) and the letters unique toSanskrit (those are not there in theTamil script).

Malayalam literature passed through a tremendous process of development in the 15th and 16th centuries.Cherusseri'sKrishnagatha bore witness to the evolution of modern Malayalam language as a proper medium for serious poetic communication. Alongside this, there flourished numerous Sanskrit poets who were very active during this period. The greatest of them wasMelpathur Narayana Bhattathiri (1559–1665), the author ofNarayaniyam. The most significant development of the time took place in the field of Malayalam poetry.Thunchaththu Ramanujan Ezhuthachan wrote his two great epicsAdhyathmaramayanam andSrimahabharatam and two shorter pieces,Irupathinalu Vrittam andHarinama Kirtanam and thereby revolutionised Malayalam language and literature at once. Ezhuthachan refined the style of Malayalam language and it was during his period that Malayalam literature attained its individuality and Malayalam became a fully fledged independent language. Today he is known as the father of Malayalam language and its literature. TheKilippattu form he adopted inRamayanam andBharatam may be a pointer to his recognition of the importance of sound effect in poetry. Ezhuthachan is perhaps the greatest spokesman of theBhakti movement in Malayalam but he is more than a writer of devotional hymns.K. Ayyappa Paniker has noted that "the transition from Cherrusseri to Ezhuthachan marks the triumph of modernism over medievalism."^[53] Another important poet of this period wasPoonthanam Nambudiri (1547–1640). His chief poems areJnanappana (The Song of Divine Wisdom),Bhasha Karnamritam andKumaraharanam orSantanagopalam Pana.^[14]

The 16th century also saw the writing of some dramatic works inManipravalam and pure Malayalam,Bharatavakyam, often described as a choral narration, is a work inManipravalam which was used for stage performance. The main development in the cultural field in Kerala in the 17th century was the growth of a new form of visual art calledKathakali, which brought into being a new genre of poetry calledAttakkatha consisting of the libretto used for a Kathakali performance. The origins ofaattakatha literature dates back to the 12th century and it emerged as a literary genre in the 17th century. The earliest of theaattakathas is believed to be a cycle of eightRamayana stories (collectively known asRamanattam), composed by Kottarakkara Tampuran and about whose date there is an ongoing controversy. Next in importance are the works of Kottayathu Tampuran whose period is about the middle of the seventeenth century. Since the fouraattakathas he wroteBakavadham, Kalyanasaugandhikam,Kirmeeravadham andKalakeyavadham punctiliously conform to the strict rules of Kathakali, they are particularly favoured by orthodox artistes and their patrons. Another poet of this category isIrayimman Thampi (1783–1863).Unnayi Variyar'sNalacharitham Aattakatha is one of the most famous works in this genre.Margamkali was the form of ritual and entertainment among theSyrian Christians corresponding to theSanghakali of the Brahmins.Margamkalippattu is the song for this performance depicting the story ofThomas the Apostle. This was one of the numerous pieces of Christian literature that must have gained currency in the 16th and 17th centuries.^[14]

In the court ofTravancore kingMarthanda Varma (1706–1758) and his successorDharma Raja Kartika Tirunal Rama Varma, there flourished a number of poets distinguished in several ways.Ramapurathu Warrier (1703–1753), the author ofKuchela Vrittam Vanchippattu, was one of them. TheVanchippattu or Boat song is a poetic form of folk origin composed entirely in the Dravidian metrenathonnata.Kunchan Nambiar (1705–1770), the founder ofThullal and its rich literature, is often considered as the master of Malayalam satirist poetry. Born inKillikkurussimangalam, he spent his boyhood at Kudamalur and youth atAmbalappuzha. 1748 he moved to the court of Marthanda Varma and later to the court of his successor Dharma Raja. The word "Thullal" literally means "dance", but under this name Nambiar devised a new style of verse narration with a little background music and dance-like swinging movement to wean the people away from theChakkiyar Koothu, which was the art form popular till then. He used pure Malayalam as opposed to the stylised and Sanskritised Malayalam language of Chakkiyar Koothu. He also adopted many elements fromPadayani andKolam Thullal and certain local folk arts. There are three kinds of Tullal distinguished on the basis of the performer's costume and the style of rendering, viz.,Ottan, Sitankan andParayan. Dravidian metres are used throughout although there is a quatrain in a Sanskrit metre.^[14]

There was a great lull in the field of literary creation in Malayalam for nearly a century after the death of Kunchan Nambiar. There was however a consistent and steady development of prose at this time. The evolution of prose literature in the early centuries was a very slow process. In the wake ofBhashakautaliyam several translations began to appear in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. The prose ofAttaprakarams was meant to aid the Chakiyars in learning the art ofKoodiyattom.Doothavakyam (14th century CE) is one of the earliest of these works. 15th century Malayalam prose is represented byBrahmanda Puranam, a summary of the original in Sanskrit. A large number of prose works appeared during this period, most of which are either narrative based onpuranas and religious works in Sanskrit or commentaries on similar works. With the starting of the first printing presses in the 16th century by Christian missionaries, prose literature received a great boost. Several regional versions ofKeralolpathi, tracing the beginnings of Kerala history, began to appear in the 18th century. Paremmakkal Thoma Kathanar (1737–1799) wrote the first travelogue in Malayalam,Varthamanapustakam (Book of News). The works of Christian missionaries likeArnos Patiri (Johann Ernst Hanxleden), 1699–1732) and Paulinose Patiri (John Philip Wesdin, 1748–1806) also led to a widening of the range of topics and themes in Malayalam literature.^[14]

The third quarter of the nineteenth century bore witness to the rise of a new school of poets devoted to the observation of life around them and the use of pure Malayalam (Pachcha Malayalam). The major poets of the Venmani school wereVenmani Achhan Nambudiripad (1817–1891),Venmani Mahan Nambudiripad (1844–1893),Poonthottam Achhan Nambudiri (1821–1865),Poonthottam Mahan Nambudiri (1857–1896) and the members of theKodungallur Kovilakam (Royal Family) such asKodungallur Kunjikkuttan Thampuran. The style of these poets became quite popular for a while and influenced even others who were not members of the group likeVelutheri Kesavan Vaidyar (1839–1897) and Perunlli Krishnan Vaidyan (1863–1894). The Venmani school pioneered a style of poetry that was associated with common day themes, and the use of pure Malayalam rather than Sanskrit. The poetry was therefore easily understood by the common man. The works were known for its humour, wit, and lyrical metre.^[14]

Contemporary Malayalam poetry deals with social, political, and economic life context. The tendency of the modern poetry is often towardspolitical radicalism.^[23] Nineteenth century was not a very creative period for Malayalam literature (except towards the end) from the point of view of imaginative writing. The modern Malayalam grammar is based on the bookKerala Panineeyam written byA. R. Raja Raja Varma in the late 19th century CE.^[33] But the foundations for the great renaissance that began at the end of the century were laid during this period. The establishment of colleges for imparting English education, the translation of the Bible and other religious works, the compilation of dictionaries and grammars, the formation of the text book committee, the growth of printing presses, the starting of newspapers and periodicals, the introduction of science and technology, the beginning of industrialisation and the awakening of social and political consciousness: these constitute the giant strides towards modernisation. Like his predecessorsSwathi Thirunal andUthram Thirunal,Ayilyam Thirunal (1832–1880) andVisakham Thirunal (1837–1885) were great patrons of letters and were themselves talented writers. Christian missionariesBenjamin Bailey (1805–1871), Joseph Peet, Richard Collins and George Mathen (1819–1870) were responsible for many works on Malayalam language based on western models. Perhaps the most important of these missionaries wasHerman Gundert (1814–1893). Born inStuttgart inGermany and educated atTübingen andSwitzerland, Gundert came to India in 1836. He wrote over twenty books in Malayalam, the most important of which areA Malayalam-English Dictionary, A Grammar of Malayalam, Keralappazhama andPazhamcholmala. The first authoritative grammar of Malayalam was also Gundert's contribution (1851). This led to the production of a number of grammatical works in Malayalam. Vaikkam Patchu Moothathu (1814–1883) published hisGrammar of Malayalam in 1876,Kerala Kaumudi by Kovunni Nedungadi (1831–1889) came out in 1878. This was soon followed by the first history of the language by P. Govinda Pillai (1849–1897) published in 1881. The first work on rhetoric in Malayalam on the European model was brought out by Father Gerad under the titleAlankara Sastram in the same year. By the end of the 19th century two different traditions could be clearly distinguished in Malayalam literature: the western school and the oriental or traditionalist school. Writers such asKerala Varma Valiya Koyithampuran represent the confluence of these two major traditions. His major works includeMayurasandesam (Peacock Message) and the translations ofKalidasa'sAbhijñānaśākuntalam (which got him the title of Kerala Kalidasa), and of Von Limburg Brower'sAkbar. Meanwhile, many literary magazines were established to encourage all kinds of writers and writings, such as C. P. Achutha Menon'sVidyavinodini,Kandathil Varghese Mappillai'sBhashaposhini and Appan Thampuran'sRasikaranjini.^[14]

In the wake of Kerala Varma's translation ofAbhijñānaśākuntalam, several attempts were made to translate numerous plays from Sanskrit and English into Malayalam. These plays were seldom acted. The stage conditions of those days were crude and unfit to project a performance. As if irritated by this imitation plays of low quality, P. Rama Kurup wroteChakki Chankaram (1893). Kerala Varma's nephewA. R. Raja Raja Varma went a step further than his uncle in the promotion of a synthesis between the different trends current in the literature of his time. A professor in theHis Highness Maharaja's University College, Thiruvananthapuram, he had to modernise the process of teaching Malayalam language and literature; this made him write books on grammar and rhetoric (which earned him the title of KeralaPanini) and eventually prepare the ground for an enlightened renaissance in Malayalam poetry and literary criticism. A close associate of both Kerala Varma and Raja Raja Varma,K. C. Kesava Pillai wroteKesaviyam (amahakavya) and a number ofattakkathas.Azhakathu Padmanabha Kurup (1869–1932: author ofRamachandravilasam),Pandalam Kerala Varma (1879–1919: author ofRukmangatha Charitam), Kattakkayam Cherian Mappila (1859 – 1937: author ofSri Yesu Vijayam),Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer (1877–1949 : author ofUmakeralam) andVallathol Narayana Menon (1879–1958: author ofChitrayogam), all paid their obeisance to this neoclassicist trend.^[14]

The developments in prose at this time were very significant,Vengayil Kunhiraman Nayanar (1861–1895), more famous under his pseudonym Kesari, was one of the first to explore the essay form in Malayalam. He was closely associated with periodicals likeKerala Chandrika (started in 1879 atThiruvananthapuram),Kerala Patrika (started in 1884 by C. Kunhiraman Menon (1854–1936) andAppu Nedungadi (1866–1934) atKozhikode),Kerala Sanchari (after 1898 under the editorship of Murkoth Kumaran) and the English JournalMalabar Spectator. HisVasanavikriti is considered by historians and literary experts as the firstshort story in Malayalam literature. It was published inVidyavinodini in 1891. Along with Nayanar, the pioneers of short stories in Malayalam wereOduvil Kunhikrishna Menon,C. S. Gopala Panicker,Ambadi Narayana Poduval,Chenkulath Cheriya Kunhirama Menon (M. R. K. C.) andMoorkoth Kumaran.^[73]Fulmoni Ennum Koruna Ennum Peraya Randu Sthreekalude Katha (Phulmōni ennuṁ kōruṇa ennuṁ pērāya ranṭu strīkaḷuṭe katha), a translation ofHana Catherine Mullens's Bengali novelFulmoni O Korunar Biboron by Rev. Joseph Peet, is believed to be the first novel printed and released in Malayalam (1858).Ghathakawadham (Ghātakavadhaṁ, 1877) by Rev. Richard Collins was the first novel printed and published in Malayalam with a story based inKerala and aroundMalayalis.^[14]

The first novel conceived and published in Malayalam wasAppu Nedungadi'sKundalatha (1887).^[74] ThoughKundalatha is not considered a major novel, it gets the pride of place as the first work in the language having the basic characteristics of a novel.O. Chandhu Menon'sIndulekha was the first major novel in Malayalam language. It was a landmark in the history of Malayalam literature and initiated the novel as a new flourishing genre.^[75] The title refers to the main character in this novel, a beautiful, well educated Nair lady of 18 years.C. V. Raman Pillai'sMarthandavarma (1891) had many distinctions: it was the first historical novel in any South Indian languages, first novel fromTravancore, first Malayalam novel to be a part of a trilogy and the first Malayalam novel to have a masculine title.Marthandavarma was completed even beforeIndulekha but could not be published until 1891 owing to lack of finance. The novel recounted the history ofVenad (Travancore) during the final period ofRajah Rama Varma's reign and subsequently to the accession ofMarthanda Varma. The novel had afilm adaptation of the same name in 1933 and was the first Malayalam novel to be adapted into film. During the early 20th century, Malayalam received outstanding novels, either as translations or adaptations of Western literature. The post-independence period saw a fresh start in the history of longer fiction in Malayalam as in many other Indian languages, parallel to the evolution of post-world war fiction in other parts of the world. It was both a break and a continuation.P. Kesava Dev, who was a Communist in the thirties and forties turned away from diehard ideologies and wrote a symbolic novel calledArku Vendi? (For Whose Sake?) in 1950, challenging the philosophy of Stalinist liquidation of political enemies. It had a special significance in the context of the 'Calcutta thesis'. After portraying the class struggle of farm labourers inRandidangazhi (Two Measures) in 1949,Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai turned away from party politics and produced a moving romance inChemmeen (Shrimps) in 1956. ForS. K. Pottekkatt andVaikom Muhammad Basheer, who had not dabbled in politics, the continuity is marked in the former'sVishakanyaka (Poison Maid, 1948) and the latter'sNtuppuppakkoranendarnnu (My Grandpa had an Elephant, 1951). The non-political social or domestic novel was championed byP. C. Kuttikrishnan (Uroob) with hisUmmachu (1955) andSundarikalum Sundaranmarum (Men and Women of Charm, 1958). In 1957 Basheer'sPathummayude Aadu (Pathumma's Goat) brought in a new kind of prose tale, which perhaps only Basheer could handle with dexterity. The fifties thus mark the evolution of a new kind of fiction, which had its impact on the short stories as well. This was the auspicious moment for the entry ofM. T. Vasudevan Nair andT. Padmanabhan upon the scene. Front runners in the post-modern trend includeKakkanadan,O. V. Vijayan,E. Harikumar,M. Mukundan andAnand.^[14] The travelogues written byS. K. Pottekkatt were turning point in the travelogue literature.^[14] Prominent literary critics of twentieth century includeKuttikrishna Marar.^[14]

In the second half of the 20th century,Jnanpith winning poets and writers likeG. Sankara Kurup,S. K. Pottekkatt,Thakazhi Sivasankara Pillai,Edasseri Govindan Nair,M. T. Vasudevan Nair,O. N. V. Kurup, andAkkitham Achuthan Namboothiri, had made valuable contributions to the modern Malayalam literature.^{[24][25][26][27][28]} Later, writers likeO. V. Vijayan,Kamaladas,M. Mukundan,Arundhati Roy,Vaikom Muhammed Basheer, have gained international recognition.^[29][30][31]Kerala has thehighest media exposure in India with newspapers publishing in nine languages, mainlyEnglish andMalayalam.^[76][77]

List of early prose literature in the 19th century.^[78]

Writers likeEdasseri Govindan Nair,N. N. Pillai,Cherukad,Thoppil Bhasi,Kavalam Narayana Panicker have contributed much to Malayalam drama.^[33]

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