K. M. Panikkar
Kavalam Madhava Panikkar (3 June 1895 – 10 December 1963), popularly known as Sardar K. M. Panikkar, was an Indian diplomat, writer, historian, professor and journalist. Born in Travancore (now part of Kerala), he studied at CMS College, St. Paul’s in Madras, Madras Christian College, and later at Christ Church, University of Oxford. He also studied law at the Middle Temple in London.
Panikkar began his career as a professor at Aligarh Muslim University and the University of Calcutta, and in 1925 he became editor of the Hindustan Times. He then worked with the princely states, serving as secretary to the Chancellor of the Chamber of Princes, foreign minister of Patiala and later foreign minister and dewan (prime minister) of Bikaner.
After India’s independence, he represented the country at the 1947 UN General Assembly. He served as India's ambassador to China from 1950 to 1952, marking India’s recognition of the People’s Republic of China. He was later ambassador to Egypt (1952–1953) and to France (1956–1959). He also sat in the Rajya Sabha from 1959 to 1961.
In academia, Panikkar was Vice-Chancellor of Jammu and Kashmir University (1961–1963) and of Mysore University (1963–1964).
Panikkar was a prolific writer of history and politics. His notable works include Asia and Western Dominance (1953) and In Two Chinas (1955), as well as studies on Malabar’s ties with Portugal and the Dutch (Malabar and the Portuguese, 1929; Malabar and the Dutch, 1931). He was the first president of the Kerala Sahitya Academy and translated several Greek plays into Malayalam verse. He was the maternal uncle of poet Kavalam Narayana Panicker and published more than 50 books.
Panikkar died in Mysore in 1963 at the age of 68.
This page was last edited on 3 February 2026, at 16:51 (CET).