'Nazrani (Syrian Christian) - History Inscribed on Palm Leaves' examines the socio-economic life of Syrian Christians in Kerala through an original analysis of palm-leaf records collected from various churches. In this book Syrian Christian church is treated   as a social and economic institution and shows how culture shaped their identity more than evangelical conviction. The Syrian Christian churches of Kerala were not merely places of worship, but were centres of authority, custodians of land, repositories of wealth, mediators in disputes and organisers of local society and functioned as intermediary institutions between ruler and people whose role in agrarian management, resource distribution and communal order was considerable. There is a comparison between church administration and the Hindu temple yōgam system. This book addresses the social customs and practices such as strīdhanam or dowry, inheritance, slavery, trade, agriculture, accounting and bookkeeping etc. existed among them. Likewise, the author demonstrates how the close study of small communities can illuminate wider developments in Travancore, Cochin and Kerala as a whole.

• Hardcover: 392 pages
• Publisher: White Falcon Publishing; 1 edition (October 2026)
• Author: Ignatius Payyappilly
• ISBN-13: 9789376314706
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 inch

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