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]
^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. ISBN978-0-14-303026-3.
^Imtiaz, Ahmad (2010). "Sectional President's Address: Cultural Interests and Contributions of the Mughal Nobility". Proceedings of the Indian History Congress. 71: 192–212.
