Muhammed Riyasudheen O K
Muhammed Riyasudheen O. K. is an emerging historian from Kerala, currently pursuing a BA (Honours) in History at Sree Narayana Guru Open University. His research focuses on historical ecology, domestic material culture, and the intersections of culture and environment in everyday life. He has presented papers at NIT Calicut, Calicut University, and the Hidaya Palazhi Research Seminar. Riyasudheen is also the founder of History Peers, a digital platform connecting history students and researchers worldwide. Alongside his academic work, he is active in community leadership, serving as the Student President at Hidaya Palazhi and participating in the National Service Scheme. He works with Malayalam, English, and Arabic sources and aims to contribute innovative research to global historical scholarship.
Session
The historical ecology of the everyday remains a profoundly neglected field, yet it is precisely within the realm of mundane practices that sustained interactions between culture and nature. This paper examines traditional dishwashing practices as a critical lens for understanding the historical interplay between ecology, material culture, and sustainable living. Using Kerala during the pre-synthetic era as a primary case study and expanding the analysis through a comparative study of diverse Indian ecologies, this research argues that domestic technologies were profound expressions of ecological intelligence. The study demonstrates that domestic practices were not merely cultural artifacts but adaptive systems of environmental management. In Kerala, the use of coconut husk, banana leaves, wood ash, and other locally abundant materials exemplified a circular economy where waste was repurposed within a closed-loop system.
The comparative analysis reveals a consistent pattern across India. the choice of cleaning agents, from ash and soapnuts to sand and specific fibrous plants, were directly determined by local climatic conditions and resource availability. These practices embodied a pre-industrial sustainability ethos, where everyday domestic acts were seamlessly integrated with ecological cycles. The paper concludes by positioning this historical knowledge as a vital resource for contemporary sustainability discourse. It argues that reclaiming the principles embedded in these traditional practices offers a transformative model for reducing reliance on chemical products and fostering a more grounded, participatory approach to sustainable living in the modern domestic sphere.