M. R. Raghava Varier

M. R. Raghava Varier (born 15 January 1936), also M. R. Raghava Warrier, is an Indian epigraphist and historian, formerly a Professor at the University of Calicut, from Kerala. He currently lives in Cheliya, Edakkulam-Koyilandi in Kerala. Varier is generally considered as left historian by political analysts.

Education Varier graduated from the University of Calicut in 1972 and was trained in epigraphy at the Office of the Chief Epigraphist to the Government of India, Mysore (1973). He holds a post-graduate degree in "Malayalam Language and Literature" from Calicut University (1976), M. Phil (1977–80) in History from Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi and doctoral degree (1986) on folk songs of northern Kerala from the University of Calicut. From 1997 to 1999, he served as Senior Fellow in the Cultural Department, Government of India (New Delhi).

Cultural History of Kerala (1999), written by Varier with Rajan Gurukkal, is a standard textbook for the history of Kerala. His work Jainamatham Keralathil received the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award in 2012 in the scholarly literature category. He also received the Abu Dhabi Sakthi Award for overall contribution (T. K. Ramakrishnan Award) in 2021. In 2023, he received the Kerala Sahitya Akademi Fellowship.

Publications +Year of publicationWorkReference1990 1988 2020 Varier, M. R. A Brief History of Ayurveda.