Eminent historian, academic and public intellectual K.N. Panikkar, widely regarded as one of India’s foremost scholars of modern history, passed away in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, on Monday (March 9, 2026). He was 89.
Panikkar breathed his last at a private hospital after age-related ailments.
Nationalism can’t be linked to culture: Prof. K.N. Panikkar
A distinguished historian of modern India and a prominent defender of secular and critical historiography, Panikkar leaves behind a legacy that shaped generations of students, scholars and public discourse on history, culture and politics.
Panikkar was widely known for his rigorous, evidence-based historical writing and his consistent critique of communal interpretations of Indian history. Through decades of scholarship, he argued that history must be written with intellectual integrity and free from ideological distortions.
