MALABAR REBELLION (1921)

The Malabar Rebellion was an important episode in the history of freedom
movement in our country.It may be considered as a turning point in the history of Kerala
as all further developments in the national movement in Kerala bore the marks of the
Rebellion.As it seriously disturbed the relationship between the Hindus and Muslims in
Kerala and cast a shodow of gloom over the whole freedom movement, it has been viewed
as the most tragic episode in our freedom struggle. It is so-called as the Malabar rebellion
because the chief area of the disturbance was in Malabar.It is called as the Moplah
rebellion because most of the participants belonged to Mappila community. As it was an
outburst against the British imperialism it has been invested with the halo of a revolt or
rebellion. As it aimed at the expulsion of the British rule at least insome areas. It becomes
part of the freedom struggle.
The nature and character of the Malabar upheaval is a point of controversy among
historians.There are broadly three views about the origin and character of the
Rebellion.According to the nationalist school of historians; it was an anti-imperialist
struggle, a political uprising of the mappilas against police repression. According to the
Marxist school of thought, it was an agrarian outbreak, purely economic in nature. As the
Mappila tenants were oppressed by the Hindu Janmis and the British officials, the tenants
rose in revolt.The third school of thought regard the upsurge as a communal flare up or
rather an outburst of religious fanaticims.The atrocities were committed by the Muslims
and the victims were the Hindus.In fact the Rebellion was the result of the combined
operation of political, economic and communal factors.It was at once anti British, agrarian
and communal.

The underlying causes of the outbreak were political, social and ideological.The
policy of repression adopted by the British government against the non co-operators
including the Khilafatists was an important reason.The Moplahs reacted violently against
the police oppression.The social cohesion of the Moplahs as the community, their militant
tradition and organisational skill also caused the upheaval.The Hindu Muslim
misunderstanding and the ideological factors and political aspirations of the rebels also
resulted in the outburst.
The events that paved the way for the rebellion are mainly political. When the
Turkish Sultan was deprived of his authority as Caliph.Gandhiji started the Khilafat
movement in India in order to bring the Indian Muslims to the nationalist cause.In
Malabar, the Khilafatists had their stronger adherents in the Eranad and Valluvanad
Taluk.When the movement progressed to such an extent as to creat alarm in official
circles, the Government brought these Taluks under Sec. 144 of the criminal Procedure
Code.Meetings were banned and the police began to arrest Congress and Khilafat workers.
The police attempt to arrest one Vatakkeveettil Muhammad on a charge of having
stolen a pistol from the Nilampur palace was the immediate provocation of the
uprising.Muhammad happrned to be the local Khilafat secretary.The attempt to arrest him
by the police was foiled by a crowd of 2000 Moplahs who came out with spears and
swords, killing several policemen and driving the survivors away. The police who came in
search of the Khilafat rebels entered the Mumbaram Mosque at Tirurangadi as the rebels
had taken refuge there. In the meanwhile the news spread that the mosque was
desecrated.There upon the Moplahs converged on Tirurangadi and attacked the police
station, looted government treasuries and burnt government records. For a few weeks at
least, the writ of the British government did not run in the area.The original leaders of the
Khilafat movement whether Hindu or Muslim faded away from the scene.

In the meanwhile the nature of the rebellion changed from political to
communal.Communal terrorist leaders took up the leadership.Varian Kunnath
Kunjahammad Haji became the defact authority in Eranad and Valluvanad Taluks.Styling
himself as the Amir of the muslims, Raja of the Hindus and Colonel of the Khilafat army
he became virtually the king and began to levy taxes and issue pass ports.Seethikoya
Thangal another leader maintained law and order and issued circulars as
governor.However Ali Musaliyar the priest of the mosque although assumed the title king,
instructed his followers not to molest the Hindus or loot their property.Khilafat Raj had
become a reality.The British rule was eliminated and a rebel autocracy dominated the
region.The rebels achieved a large measure of success in extinguishing British rule.In the
later stages however the Hindus were persecuted on the ground that they allied with the
British.However, the Rebellion was crushed by the British with an iron hand.The
Government rushed British troops and Gurkha regiments.Martial law was declared.A
series of encounters had taken place, resulting in the loss of lives. By November 1921, the
Rebellion was almost crushed.The rebels were captured and shot; many were imprisoned
or deported.

A corollary to the Malabar Rebellion was the Wagon Tragedy.The arrested rebels
were dumped in to a closed railway wagon and deported to from Tirur to Bellary.On the
way from Tirur to Coimbatore (10th Nov, 1921) 61 out of 90 inmates suffered from heat
and hunger died of suffocation.This incident came to be known as the Wagon tragedy
highlighted the inhuman methods adopted by the British to suppress the Rebellion.
The Malabar Rebellion produced far reaching consequences. It gave a set back to
the freedom struggle in Malabar.After the Rebellion, the Congress lost much of its popular
appeal.For a long time after the Rebellion, no public activity was possible in Malabar.The
Hindus and the Muslims began to suspect each other lost their cordiality.It paved the way
for the growth of communalism. It also reflected in North Indian politics.