THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Eminent historian and founder chairman of the Kerala Council for Historical Research, K.N. Panikkar (89), passed away on Monday at Pattom S.U.T. Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram.Panikkar, who followed a Marxist approach to historical writing, was one of India’s leading historians.Born in 1936 in Guruvayur, Thykkat, Kandiyur, to Krishnan Nair and Ichukutty Amma, he was educated at Chavakkad Board High School, Palakkad Government Victoria College, and Rajasthan University.He became a professor of history at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, where he served as head of the department, dean of the School of Social Sciences, and chairman of the Archives of Contemporary History.Panikkar also served as a visiting professor at several foreign universities. He was Vice-Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya Sanskrit University, Kalady, and at the time of his passing, he was serving as Chairman of the Kerala Higher Education Council.