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Contents
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Malabar In Early Twentieth Century

The Nationalist Movement In Malabar
Excitement, Expectations And Tension
Agitation And Repression
The Pukkottur Affair
The Raid And The Retreat
The Risings
The Turmoil
The Rebels
Conclusion: Causes And Character
Bibliography
Appendix
Introduction
The Malabar Rebellion of 1921-’22 has been a topic of
lively interest, and, at times, even of bitter controversy, ever
since it broke out in August 1921 at Tirurangadi, a small
town on the banks of the Kadalundi river in the erstwhile
British district of Malabar, now in the Malappuram district
of the Kerala State, India. From the beginning every attempt
to examine and explain the rebellion has had to face the fact
that it was not a simple act of revolt for easily discernible
reasons. The complexity was soon confounded by a host of
contradictory statements and declarations on the rebellion
that made everything about the upheaval seem complicated
and confused. The situation was so hopeless that in 1924
Mahatma Gandhi asked the public to conclude with him
“That it is impossible to arrive at the exact truth (about the
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rebellion)” - Young India, 29 May 1924.
The rebellion was an occurrence of considerable impor-
tance in the history of the Indian National Movement. The
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violent uprising started at a time and, ironically, as part of
the non-violent non-co-operation campaign of the Indian
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National Congress against the British regime in India. It

was an embarrassment to the nationalist leaders not only
because it was violent but also because it seriously threat-
ened to disturb the relationship between the Hindu and
Muslim communities in Malabar, and by implication, in
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the whole sub-continent, when one of the basic aims of the

nationalist campaign was Hindu-Muslim unity. It cast a
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shadow of gloom over the whole national movement, and

in spite of the best efforts of Gandhiji and other leaders of
the movement to dispel the gloom by throwing more light
on the incidents of Malabar in 1921-’22, the ambiguity re-
garding many aspects of the rebellion continued to confuse
all enquiries and discussions about it. All further develop-
ments in the national movement in Kerala, and to an extent
in other parts of India, bore the marks of the violent events
in Malabar resulting in tension between Hindu and Muslim
communities.
A proper academic study of the rebellion was impos-
sible till all the official records, including the secret and
confidential papers, became available for research after
fifty years of the event, i.e., till 1971-72. Since then some
at that stage. He hoped that in course of time the rigour of
the system will slacken leading finally to its disappearance.
He was at the same time all praise for “the progress that
has been made” under the English government. But he also
wanted Indians “to make every legitimate effort to raise our
position higher and higher.” It was in this atmosphere of
the aspirations of the middle class for ‘rising higher and
higher’ that the nationalist movement took shape in Mala-
bar in the second decade of the 20th century.
By the early years of the 20th century the Muslims of Ma-
labar, generally called Mappilas, were living in all taluks of
the district without any territorial segregation from other
communities. The Muslim (Mappila) community in Mala-
bar outpaced all other religious communities in growth rate
during the period of a little more than a century:
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Particulars 1807 1921 % of growth
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GeneralPopulation 7,07,556 30,98,871

337.9
Hindus 5,31,399 20,39,333 283.7
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Muslims 1,70,113 10,04,327 490.4

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Christians 6,044 54,650 80.9

This trend has been steadily kept up in the later decades

also.Such increase of the Mappila population has been at-
tributed to two factors: “natural increase because of the
practice of early marriages combined with the happy or fa-
talistic acceptance of large families, and increase by conver-
sion.”
A Muslim community had been formed on the west coast
“through the Arab merchants who came and settled down
in important trade centres and carried on extensive trade
Further, the purpose of the assailants did not appear to be
any specific change in the existing conditions of living or
of land relations, though a general hostility towards the
Hindu landholders, their assistants and their British pro-
tectors was indicated. It was this ambiguity about the na-
ture of the ‘outbreaks’ that led to the appointment of Judge
T.L.Strange as Special Commissioner in February 1852 “to
report on the question of Mappila disturbances generally”,
to suggest remedies, and to make a special enquiry into the
question of agrarian disputes.
Even before the appointment of Special Commissioner
the British officers had contemplated action against Sayed
Alavi and his son Sayed Fazl, when it was suspected that the
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revolting Mappila chieftains of the early years of British rule
in Malabar had some connection with these Sayeds (popu-
larly known as Tangals) of Tirurangadi (Mambram). Later,
after a serious ‘outbreak’ by Mappilas in Munnur near Tiru-
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rangadi in 1841 resulting in the ‘martyrdom’ of eleven Map-
pilas, Sayed Alavi had written a short book in Arabic titled
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Saiful Battar which reasoned for the need to fight against

the British ‘till the end.’ The book is said to have been circu-
lated among Muslim mahals and later searched for and de-
stroyed by the British.These incidents indicate vaguely the
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continuation in the Tangals of Mambram and in the ‘out-

breaks’, suspected by British officers to be ‘blessed’ by the
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Tangals, the political intentions of revolting Mappila chief-

tains of the early years of British occupation. The suspicion
of British officers in this regard may be considered to have
led them to expel Sayed Fazl from Malabar in March 1852,
soon after the appointment of the Special Commission.Even
before the Kottayam (Mattanur)‘outbreak’ of January 1852
the District Collector, H.V.Conolly, had reported to Madras
that Sayed Fazl of Mambram was regarded by Mappilas “as
imbued with a portion of divinity… his blessing is supremely
prized”, and that ‘his wish was regarded as a command, and
no consideration of economy was allowed to stand in the
way of its being gratified.’81 The Collector even thought that
the Tangal enjoyed the position of an imperium in imperi-
um. A police functionary had reported, referring to certain
being advanced.
8. Kaividuga Otti: Usufructuary mortgage with relin-
quishment of the power of transfer.
9. Ottikkumpuram: Where a sum is advanced beyond
Otti amount.
10. Nirmuthal: Where a sum is advanced on an Otti
mortgage in addition to the Ottikkumpuram.
11. Janmam Panayam: Mortgage of the proprietary
right.
12. Janmam or Attipper: Outright sale of the proprie-
tary right.
13. Peruvartham: Usufructuary mortgage, the land be-
ing redeemable at its value in the market at the time of re-
demption.
14. Adima or Kudima Janmam: A permanent but in-
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alienable right granted for favour or performance of certain
services.
15. Anubham or Anubhavam: Relinquishment of land
for enjoyment by the tenant in perpetuity.
16. Karankary or Janma Kolu: Sale or transfer in per-
petuity of the right of cultivation.
17. Karayma: Right of perpetual enjoyment.
18. Kudiyiruppadu or Nelmura: Assignment of rent/
produce to creditor as interest on money borrowed.
19. Undaruti Panayam: Mortgage with possession, the
surplus produce not being paid to the landlord but carried
to his credit.

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20. Kutti Kanam: Mortgage of forest, the mortgage fell-
ing the timber for trade and paying a fee on each stump of
tree to the landlord.
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(From the document containing “clear definition of
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each of the prevailing tenures, with a succint description

of the conditions attending them”, prepared by the Court
of Sadr Adalat in 1856, in Correspondence Regarding the
Relations of Landlord and Tenant in Malabar, 1855-56,
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Calicut, 1881, p.42, Regional Archives, Calicu.)

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15. Innes and Evans, n.1, pp.320-22.

16. The total land revenue collected from the district of
Malabar in 1854-55 amounted to Rs. 16,29,293-, while from
all other sources together in the same financial year the col-
lection was only Rs.7,77,410-. In 1855-56 the respective fig-
ures were 18,28,266- and Rs.8,34,157-. District Collector,
Malabar, to the Secretary to the Board of Revenue, letter
No.45 dated 13 May 856, Revenue Administration Report,
Regional Archives, Calicut.The yearly average of evictions
decreed during the decade 1842-52 was 355.
17. Innes & Evans, n.1, p.92.
been formed just four years before the writing of Indulekha.
The fairly lengthy discussion in the novel about the aims of
the Congress and the role that the educated people could
play in its activities shows how at least a few among those
who received English education in Malabar were conscious
of the aspirations that shaped the Congress in those early
years, and were influenced by them. The discussion reflects
the liberal and nationalist sentiments of the educated young
men of those days. It also reveals their ambition in the con-
text of the new movement. Madhavan declares: “The aim of
the Congress is to induce the English Government to asso-
ciate with it, in the administration of affairs, natives whom
education and knowledge have raised to the level of Eng-
lishmen, to take counsel with them and to give heed to their
advice.” 2

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The number of young men receiving English education
had increased considerably during the second half of the
19th century, and the possibility of entering the government
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services through education was a great incentive, especial-
ly among the middle class Nairs, and the Tamil Brahmins
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settled mostly in the Palghat taluk. As already mentioned

the Nambudiris, the Brahmins of Malabar, did not take to
western education, unlike the Brahmins in most other parts
of India, and this created conditions favourable to the entry
of other sections of society just below the Nambudiris in the
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caste hierarchy into the field of modern education. Higher

education fostered desire for higher official positions, and
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the demand of the Congress for more of Indian participa-

tion in administration naturally attracted the educated
young men of Malabar.
2. The Early Nationalists of Malabar
Delegates from Malabar began attending the annual ses-
sions of the Indian National Congress even from its early
years. Seventeen delegates who could be identified as be-
longing to Malabar attended the third Conference of the
Congress held at Madras in December 1887. Two of them
were delegates from the Madras city (C.Sankaran Nair and
K.P. Sankara Menon), and the others were from Palghat,
Calicut and North Malabar. Eleven out of seventeen were
members of the legal profession (Pleaders and Vakils).
But finally the majority, rejecting the amendment, passed
the original resolution. Mrs.Besant and her supporters left
the Conference even before the resolution and the amend-
ment were put to vote, sensing the mood of the delegates to
be hostile to them. A compromise attempt made by Manka-
da Udayavarma Rajah failed to satisfy the delegates.61
Another resolution that came up for consideration was
about the rights of the tenants. It sought to declare as the
view of the Conference that it was high time to afford leg-
islative protection to the tenants of Malabar. K.P.Raman
Menon introducing the resolution spoke at length on the
sufferings of the tenants caused by the jenmis and their

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karyasthans (managers), and suggested legislation as the
only remedy for their woes. P.A.Krishna Menon support-
ing the resolution pointed out how such a resolution was
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thwarted in an earlier Conference, and pleaded for an en-
quiry into the jenmi-kudian relationship in Malabar and
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legislative action on the basis of the findings. Some jenmis

attending the Conference opposed the resolution, and 21 of
them submitted a letter to the President expressing their
unanimous and strong protest. However, the resolution
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was passed by a huge majority. Resolutions demanding bet-

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ter wages and working conditions for labourers in factories

and plantations, improvement of medical, educational, and
transport facilities of the district, abrogation of the ‘Map-
pila Acts’, etc., were also passed unanimously by the Con-
ference.62
Khilafat and Tenancy Movements
The Manjeri Conference of the Congress for the first time
linked the nationalist movement of the district with the
issues of Khilafat and tenancy which were agitating large
sections of the people in the district. As already noted, the
 20. Ibid. p.391.
21. Innes and Evans, n.10, p.84-5.
22. A poem composed by Vallathol Narayana Menon,
the well-known Malayalam poet, in 1915 entitled ‘A Nair
Woman and a Muhammadan’ depicts the ‘Muhammadan’
as a horror inspiring figure ‘capable of shocking even Yama
(the God of death).” Poetic works of Vallathol, Kottayam,
1975, Vol.II, pp.31-9.
23. K.P.Kesava Menon said in an interview that Pon-
madath Moideen Koya of Calicut was the only Muslim in
the nationalist movement in Malabar prior to the Khila-

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fat movement. ‘Some Aspects of the Nationalist Move-
ment in Malabar’, Kesava Menon 90, Calicut, 1977, p.45.
P.K.Kunhammed worked as Assistant Secretary of Malabar
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Home Rule League and the District Congress Committee
for two years in pre-Khilafat days. A.K.Pillai, n.6, p.378.
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Moidu Moulavi, the Congress leader who joined the nation-

alist movement as a Khilafatist, mentioned in an interview
the names of a few Muslims of Malabar who were national-
ists in spirit even before the Khilafat movement started in
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Malabar. See Appendix II (Interview with Moidu Moulavi).

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The fact remains that nationalists in Malabar were mostly

Hindus in the pre-Khilafat years.
24. A public meeting held under of the auspices of the
Home Rule League at Calicut in 1917 even wanted to start
a branch of the Muslim League in Calicut. A.K.Pillai, n.6,
p.393.
25. It was felt by the Board that such legislation would
alienate the jenmis from the Government without obtain-
ing from the tenants “anything in the way of gratitude to
replace it.” See decision cited in Chapter I above, Section on
‘The Land Settlement - The Jenmi System.’ It is significant
be obtained. A procession reported to be mostly of Muslim
students passed through some of the streets. The Govern-
ment School of Commerce and the Native High School re-
mained closed due to absence of students. The Zamorins
College was also practically closed, although a few of the
classes worked with a very limited number of students.
Most of the lawyers abstained from attending the court, and
great sensation prevailed in the town.28
The soldiers patrolled the town in two lorries. The Dis-
trict Magistrate issued orders prohibiting meetings in the
town and five miles outside it for a period of two months.
In the afternoon Yakub Hassan and the three other arrested
leaders were taken to Cannanore jail, without acceding to
their request to retain them at Calicut “to be in communi-
cation with their legal advisers.” The large crowd that col-
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lected at the Calicut railway station to see the leaders being
taken to Cannanore was tricked by a ‘ruse’ of the District
Superintendent of Police. The prisoners were taken by a cir-
cuitous route to be entrained from a small station up the
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railway line. At about 5 P.M. a “monstrous procession” of
about 10,000 started and paraded the town. It was allowed
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to be taken out because the authorities felt that “it would

have been very difficult to stop it with the force available.”
In the procession “there were apparently no men of posi-
tion” and it appeared “to consist of working classes.” The
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District Magistrate at first thought that there were “organiz-

ers” behind the procession, and suspected that their object
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was to “demonstrate that maintenance of peace depended

... on the eloquence being heard of Yakub Hassan.” But
Hitchcock, the District Superintendent of Police, who had
better knowledge of the situation, told him that the “proces-
sion was spontaneous.” 29 The procession grew as it moved,
and was about 20,000 strong when it reached the beach.
There it was stopped by a cordon formed by the armed po-
lice and dispersed by the careful manoeuvres of the soldiers
and the police with fixed bayonets “without firing a shot, by
about 7.30 P.M..” Except for an attempt to assail the District
Magistrate’s party “by a few stones”, there was no violence
on the part of the people during the whole operation. How-
ever, the Magistrate thought that the “crowd was in an ugly
mood.”30