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

Contents: 1. An acre of pepper princes and prosperity. 2. Securing the acre: a glimpse of Kerala in the early ages. 3. Security and prosperity: evolving equilibrium of the middle ages. 4. Sustaining the equilibrium: adopting and evolving Military prowess. 5. Testing the equilibrium: invaders and proselytizers from Portugal. 6. Tipping the equilibrium: merchant warriors from the Netherlands. 7. Endangering the equilibrium: the Mysore Sultans. 8. Accentuating the disequilibrium: the British in Kerala. Appendices. Index.

Colonial documents record that war was the natural state of Kerala. They also record that its people were the happiest. Quite incredible considering that 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 frontiers of Kerala were never redrawn and neither did it suffer massive social or cultural dislocations as in many cases in India and other parts of the world, where in entire populations and cultures were scattered, subjugated or even wiped out.