Chapter 4

The Mappilas in Arms: The Early Resistance of the Muslims

of Malabar, 1792-1856

The rebellion of the Muslim community of Malabar, popularly known as

Mappilas1, in 1921-1922 is familiar to the scholars of Indian History and other Social

Sciences. Nowhere in India have foreign trading and commercial and religious

interests interacted within the indigenous socio-economic and political institutions

more intimately than they have in Malabar.2 Due to its historiographic predominance,

little attention was given to the Mappila uprisings in the 19th century. From the

beginning of the 19th century, there were a number of Mappila outbreaks and

disturbances in the interior of South Malabar against the English East India Company.

In all these early uprisings, the East India Company rendered its support and help to

the non-Muslim communities, particularly to the Namboodiris and Nairs of South

Malabar, especially in the Eranad and Walluvanad taluks because these movements

were anti-colonial insurrections directed against them.

The occupation of Malabar, by the English East India Company, by the treaty

of Seringapatam on the 18 March 17923, after the Third Anglo-Mysore war, created

                                                            
1
The term Mappila is a commonly used word to refer the Muslims of Malabar. Originally the term
was used to describe the Jewish-Christian and Muslim residents of Kerala. The Jews concentrated in
the erstwhile princely state of Cochin were known as Juta Mappilas and the Christians were called
as Nazarani Mappilas and the Muslims were known as Jonakan Mappilas. In course of time, the
term Mappilas was mainly used to refer only to the Muslims of Kerala, who share much of the
history and cultural traits of the people of Kerala.

2
D. N. Dhanagare, “Agrarian Conflict, Religion and Politics: The Moplah Rebellion in the Nineteenth
and Early Twentieth Centuries”, Past &Present, No.76, February, 1977, pp. 112-141.
3
C. D. Maclean, (Ed), Manual of the Administration of the Madras Presidency, Vol. 2, Delhi, 1989
(Reprint), p.106.
182
 
apprehension among the Muslim population of Malabar because under the reign of

Hyder Ali Khan and Tipu Sultan, they obtained unequal opportunities for advancing

their interests in diverse fields, at the cost of the Hindu janmis of Malabar. It led to a

state of permanent unrest in Malabar during the early half of the 19th century by the

Mappilas against the East India Company and its men.

The religion of Prophet Mohammed was familiar to the Malabar Coast from

early days of its inception. The initial Islamization of Malabar was through the Arabs,

who came as seaman, merchants, captains, port chiefs and traders. Many of the early

Arab traders, who settled in Malabar, married with the women of the country, mostly

Nair and Tiyyars (Tiyyas), built houses of their family and taught them the basic

practice of their religion. The descendents of such unions were raised and brought up

by their mothers and were called as Mappilas or Moplahs.4 Thereafter, the Mappila

population increased steadily. The question arises here is that why these Arab

merchants married to the local women? It is found that the Arab women seldom

followed their husbands out of their country. Their men, usually, married the local

women as the Arabs were great traders and traveled widely.5 Thus the Mappilas were

the descendents of the Arab traders, born out of their local wedlock. This process of

mixed marriage had not occurred in the Malabar Coast alone. It is found in the

Konkan Coast, where the Arabs intermarried with the local Konkans.6 The Arabs who

came to the Eastern Coast married the Tamil women on the Eastern Coast and settled

down there.7 Thus a diaspora of Arab population can be seen in different parts of

                                                            
4
C.A. Innes, Madras District Gazetteers: Malabar and Anjengo, Madras, 1915, p.26.

5
C.W.H. Sealy, Selections from the Records of Bombay Government, New Series, No. 212, Bombay
1887, p.41.

6
See for discussion, V. D’Souza, The Navoyats of Kanara, Dharwad, 1995.
183
 
India. The decline of the Roman Empire enabled the Arabs to dominate in the Indian

Ocean and Malabar became one of the main centers of their trading activities. The

Arab traders purchased large numbers of children from lower-caste Hindus and other

subordinate groups in order to man their navies, a practice not only permitted but

openly enjoined by the Zamorin Rajas of Calicut.8 Very often the Tiyya women, who

violated the rigid sexual taboos, were sold to the Mappilas.9 The Muslims considered

the proselyte as a welcome addition irrespective of the treatment of them as an

outcaste by the upper caste Hindus in the Malabar society. The fact that arises here is

that why the lower-caste people were converted to the fold of Islam? It is said that

conversion had provided them an avenue of social mobility for the lower-caste people

in Malabar, who were at the bottom of the caste ladder in the society and rashly

exploited by the upper-castes.

However, the earliest inscriptional evidence for the very presence of Muslim

population in Malabar Coast can be obtained from the Tarisappalli Copper Plate grant

of 849 A. D, where the details of grants given to the Syrian Christian merchants by

Sthanu Ravi Varma, the ruler of Quilon, was recorded10. The witnesses of these

grants were the Jews and Muslims.11 At the same, there are scholars, who argue that

                                                                                                                                                                          
7
See for a discussion, Susan Bailey, Saints, Goddesses and Kings, Cambridge, 1989.

8
One of the Zamorin Rajas had ordered as it seems, that one child from each Mukkuvan (fisherman)
family to convert to Islam and subsequently all the Mukkuvans of Malabar became Muslims. See for
details. K. V. Krishna Ayyar, The Zamorins of Calicut, Calicut, 1938, pp, 70-73.
9
Francis Buchanan, A Journey from Madras through the Countries of Mysore, Canara and Malabar,
Vol. 2, pp. 92-96.
10
The Kottayam Syrian Christian Copper plates, popularly known as the Tarisappalli Copper plates,
were deposited with the Portuguese at the beginning of 16th century by the Syrian Bishop of
Angamalee. With the surrender of Cochin by the Portuguese to the Dutch and later by the Dutch to
the English, they also changed hands. They were traced by Col. Macaulay, the British resident of
Travancore and handed over to Kottayam seminary of Syrian Christians. During the dispute
between the two sections of the Syrians only 4 out of 6 plates were produced in court.

11
For details see, M. G. S. Narayanan, Cultural Symbiosis in Kerala, Trivandrum, 1972, pp, 86-91.
Also see, Elamkulam Kunjan Pillai, Studies in Kerala History, Kottayam, 1970, p.370.
184
 
there was no Muslim population in the Malabar Coast till the 19 th century.12

Whatever be the arguments, we find that there existed a flourishing community of

Muslim population in the Malabar Coast from the early days onwards. The rulers of

Malabar liberally supported and patronized this community because the rulers of

Kerala were much indebted to the income derived from the mercantile activities of

these people.

By the time, when the Portuguese came to Kerala, several settlements,

concentrating along the Malabar Coast, can be seen and they dominated the

intercostals and overseas trade. The earliest settlements of the Muslims were at

Ezhimala, Kozhikode, Kollam, Chalyam, Parappanangadi, Tanur Hayli, Kakkanad,

13
Dharmapatnam, Ponnani, Thirurangadi and Kodungallur. The foreign travelers

who visited Kerala during this period had noticed that there was considerable Muslim

population in the Kerala coast. Durata Barbosa, who lived Malabar between 1500 and

1516 had noticed that the Muslims were so rooted in the soil throughout the Malabar,

that it seems to me, that they are a fifth part of its people spread over all its kingdom

and provinces.14 Thus by the time of the Portuguese arrival, the Muslims were a

major trading community in the Malabar region. The arrival of the Portuguese to the

                                                            
12
Some scholars like William Logan, argues that there was no Muslim population in Kerala before the
9th century. For a detailed discussion, see Ronald Miller, Mappila Muslims of Kerala: A Study in
Islamic Trends, Bombay, 1976, pp.42-46. See also P.A. Syed Muhammad, Kerala Muslim
Charitram, Thrissur, 1969, pp.46-73.

13
For a discussion on the early settlements of the Mappilas, see, Shayk Zainuddin, Tuhafat-al-
Mujahidin, translated by S. Muhammad Husayan Nainar, Calicut, 2007. Also see, Vealayudhan
Pannikassery, Keralam Pathinancham Pathinarum Nottandukalil, Kottayam, 1997, pp.67-68. This
work is an original translation of the famous title Tuhafat-al-Mujahidin written by Shayk
Zainuddin.

14
Quoted in Ronald Miller, [Link], [Link] Zainuddin, the author of Tuhfat-al-Mujahidin,
visited Kerala in the second half of the 16th century and had observed that the Mappila
population constituted ten percent of the total population in the Malabar Coast.
185
 
Malabar Coast endangered the political influence and the monopoly of trade in

Malabar. The Mappilas became mainly a rural community after the arrival of the

Portuguese.15 It may be because of intermarriage, conversion and the immigrations of

Mappilas from the urban centre to the rural areas. In the rural areas, they became

agriculturists, often tenants and led a life of poverty. The possible reason for this

immigration from the urban coast to the rural areas may be due to the increase in

population. But the absence of a detailed demographic data of those periods, the

explanation to this process was precluded. The emergence of these Portuguese as a

rival to the commercial interests of the Mappilas might have compelled them to move

to interior in search of new economic opportunities. Though it appears to be a better

reason for the migration of Muslim population to the hinterland, the increase in the

Muslim population, particularly due to the conversion of the lower-caste to Islam was

a more reasonable explanation to this migration of them to the interior of Malabar.

Again during the post 1500 period the Europeans, like the Dutch, English and the

French, dominated trade in the Malabar Coast. The Muslims who collaborated with

the Arabs in the trade in different ways were eliminated by the Europeans as they

were the allies of the Arabs and so naturally their enemies. The Europeans naturally

preferred the non-Muslims and this logically compelled the Muslim community to

migrate to the rural areas.16 The forcible conversion of the local people to Islam

during the interlude of the Mysore rulers was an obvious reason for their

augmentation of Muslim population in the southern part of Malabar. The peculiar

socio-economic circumstances prevailed in Malabar also enabled for the conversion

of lower caste communities to Islam and thereby the increase in the Muslim
                                                            
15
Stephen Frederic Dale,Islamic Society,. p. 22.

16
K.M. Panikkar, Malabar and the Portuguese, Bombay. 1929, p.181.
186
 
population in Malabar17. Whatever be the condition, during the first half of 19th

century there was a considerable increase in Muslim population in the Malabar

region.

Thus as evident from the table given below, the Muslims were a rapidly increasing

community. The total number of population of 1807 was 7, 07,556. Among these

population there were 4017 were Namboodiri Brahmins and 12250 were Patter

Brahmins. The number of the Nairs, Christians, Tiyyas, Mappilas, the slaves and the

fishermen were 1,64,626, 6044, 1,27,884, 1,70113, 94,786 and 12,361 respectively.18

Table 4:1

Mappila and Non-Mappila population in Malabar from 1807 to 1861

Year Mappilas Other Total Percentage

1807 1,70,113 5,37,4443 7,07,556 24
1831 2,69,624 8,43,873 11,13,497 24
1851 3,82,330 11,32,579 15,14,909 25
1861 4,37,492 12,71,589 17,09,081 26

Source: K. N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State, p.52

This growth of the Muslim population may be, to some extent due to the

natural causes, though they are not so prolific as Hindus, and to a large extent from

conversion from the lower classes of Hindus to escape the exceptional disabilities

imposed by the stricture of pollution.19 During the same period there was a precipitate

decline in the number of the Cherumars, the Hindu lower caste in Malabar. The

number of Cherumars in 1806-1807was estimated at 96,386and the number of them

was given officially in 1837-1838 as 144,371. In 1856, when the Government had

                                                            
17
   H. S. Graeme, The Report of the Revenue Administration of Malabar, 14 January, 1822, Calicut,
1898, Para, 21.  
18
Ibid. Para. 37.

19
W. Logan, Malabar Manuel, Vol.1, p.197.
187
 
taken detailed information regarding the traffic of the slaves, a careful enumeration

reported 187,758 Cherumars and thus confirmed an ascending trend in the population

of the Cherumars. But after 1856, a gradual decline of their population can be noted.

This is evident from the census report of 1871, where the number of the Cherumar

population was 99,009 and in 1881, it had fallen further to 64,725.20 What prompted

the conversion of the lower caste Hindus, particularly the Cherumars, to the fold of

Islam, especially after 1831? Conversion to Islam offered the Cherumars a chance to

free themselves from the oppression of the higher caste Hindu janmis. Moreover,

conversion to Muhammadanism raised their status distinctly in the social scale of the

caste-ridden Malabar society. He is no longer a degraded Pariah21 whose approach

disgusted and whose touch polluted the Hindu of caste, but belonging now to a

different scale of being, contact with him does not require the same ablutions to purify

it.22 Thus the Mappila religion raised an out-caste to a degree of respectability, which

he never enjoyed for independently of his being admitted to all the privileges of that

religion. The conversion naturally increased the collective strength of the Mappilas

and at the same time it paralyzed the cultivation of the farms of the Hindu janmis.

This naturally weakened the bargaining position of the janmis against the Mappila

lease holders. Whatever be the situation, the Mappilas of Malabar constituted a major

community in that region.

The Mappilas were unique in their religious and social behavior. The social

groups among them were emerged due to the intermarriage with various local

communities; migration to different regions; and also due to the conversion of locals
                                                            
20
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol. 1, pp. 119-120.
21
The Pariah was one of the lower caste communities in Malabar.

22
H.S. Graeme, The Report of the Revenue Administration of Malabar, Para. 21.
188
 
at various period of time. The Sayyids or the Thangals were common to the entire

Malabar Coast while Keyis and the Koyas were the dominant groups in the coastal

towns, particularly of Thalassery and Kozhikode.23 The Baramis and the Themims

were the Hadhrami groups exclusive to the Kozhikode region. The Pusalars and the

Ossans, who were the converts from the lower-caste, were common to the entire

Malabar Coast.24

The local rulers of Malabar assigned aristocratic lineage to, the Arrakkals of

Kannur, the Keyis of Thalassery and the Koyas of Kozhikode by granting land and

wholesale trading rights in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.25 The Arrakkals

were an aristocratic family in Kannur and later became a ruling to royal family of

Kannur region. The Keyis were wealthy merchants and traders. They posed extensive

properties in Thalassery. The Koyas were also an economically dominant class in

Malabar. The Sayyids, who were respectfully addressed as Thangals, were a category

of learned theologians of Muslim religion. As spiritual leaders they wielded their

influence all over Malabar and were present in Malabar from the eighth century

onwards.26 The Thanglas also functioned as the quadis (religious Judge) in the

mosques of Malabar in the earlier periods. The Thangls played a vital role in the

expansion of Islam to the interior of Malabar and for their unity and consolidation.

                                                            
23
L.R.S. Lakshmi, The Malabar Muslims: A Different Perspective, New Delhi, 2012, p.16.

24
Ibid.
25
For details, see Kathleen Gough. “Mappila: North Kerala”, in Schneider, D. M, and Gough, K.,
(Eds.) Matrilineal Kinship, Berkley, 1961.

26
L.R.S. Lakshmi, The Malabar Muslims, p.19.
189
 
The Baramis and the Themims were the migrants from Hadhramant to

Malabar, more particularly to Kozhikkode, during the eighth century27. The Baramis,

were traditional shipbuilders, and had carved out an economic niche in the

commercial port of Beypore. They also flourished as timber merchants in the Malabar

Coast.28 The Themims were small group whose hereditary occupation was to serve as

commission agents for the cargoes exported to the Persian Gulf.29 The Pusalars were

the fishermen, found along the Malabar Coast. The Ossans were a group of barbers

and their women were hired as singers for the social functions like the marriage. Both

the Pusalars and Ossans are endogamous groups.30 These two categories of people

were regarded as inferior among the Muslim community owing to their menial

occupations. In short, there was no homogeneity among the diverse sections of the

Muslim Community that existed in the Malabar Coast.

The economic life of the Mappilas was mainly dependent upon agriculture and

trade. In the Northern Malabar, particularly in Thalassery and Kannur, majority of the

Mappilas were engaged in commercial pursuits. Apart from these in the North and in

the South, there were the landholders and agriculturists. Forbes, when he wrote about

the Mappilas of Malabar in the nineteenth century, he described them as,

…..…the principal merchants both for foreign and home trade, many are

the proprietors of trading vessels navigated by Muhammadan commanders

                                                            
27
Ibid. p.26

28
Ibid.

29
Ibid.

30
Ibid.
190
 
and seamen, in which they make an annual voyage to Persian and Arabian

Gulfs……31

Francis Buchanan also observed a similar view about the Mappilas of Malabar and

testified that they were great merchants. He observed thus:

……..about fifty years ago, the Mappilas of this place were very rich and

possessed vessels that sailed to Surat, Mocha, Madras and Bengal…….32

If this was the economic condition of the Mappilas coastal towns, it was a

different story in the interior of Malabar. Most of the Muslim populations lived in the

Eranad and Walluvanad region of South Malabar, where wet land cultivation was

predominant. Most of the Muslims in this region were tenants, tenants-at-will or

agricultural labourers mostly by under the Hindu janmis. These classes of people were

often subject frequent eviction and rack renting. The janmis had the legal right for the

eviction of the tenants. Corruption was rife among the revenue officials and they

made common cause with the landlords and tampered with the deeds and contracts, so

as to serve the interests of the landlords. The newly established law courts enabled the

janmis to extort more renewal fees and rents from their lease holders and was always

threatened them with eviction. This legal eviction can be effected directly through the

court orders or by means of melcharth, a kind of second mortgage upon the leased

lands on Kanam. With the establishment of English legal systems in Malabar the

number of eviction suits filed in the courts increased. The following table will

demonstrate the quantum of evictions in Malabar for a period of ten years from 1842

to 1852.

                                                            
31
Quoted from L. R. S. Lakshmi, The Malabar Muslims. p. 28.

32
Francis Buchanan, A Journey from Madras, Vol.3, p.102.
191
 
Table 4:2
Eviction suits in Malabar 1842-1852(an yearly average of land litigation)
Evictions Evictions Suits
Tenants Suits Pending
Decreed Refused cancelled
Hindus against
232 81 5 127 19
Muslims
Hindu against
680 207 45 325 103
Hindus
Muslims against
73 24 5 32 12
Hindus
Muslims against
155 43 10 79 23
Muslims
Total per year 1,140 355 65 563 157

Source: William Logan, Report of the Malabar Special Commission, 1881-1882,

Vol.2, Appendix 11, p. 259.

From the eighteenth century onwards, the economic conditions of the Muslims

of South Malabar were different from the Muslims of North Malabar. In North

Malabar, with its greater concentration on dry crops reflected a predominance

mortgages and loans which were supported by the commercial economy while, in the

South Malabar, it was predominated by the paddy growing and so had a number of

simple leases. The north had wide stretches of waste and forest lands which allowed

further expansion in the region. But the south was more densely populated and

restricted the mobility of the population and it led to number of rigidities in the

tenures. The majority of the Muslims in South Malabar were cultivating tenants,

landless labourers, petty traders and fishermen. The numbers of Muslim janmis were

very few in the South Malabar particularly in the Eranad and Walluvanad taluks.

Thomas Warden, the Collector of Malabar, summoned 103 janmis for a discussion on

revenue matters and other details about the collection of it in 1803. Among these 103

janmis, there were only 8 Muslim janmis and all the others, except one Tiyya, were
192
 
higher caste Hindus.33 Similarly in 1881, there were only 12 Mappilas among the 829

janmis holding more than hundred pieces of land in an amsam..34 So the majority of

the Muslim in South Malabar led a deplorable life. It was this economic insecurity

among the Muslim peasants of South Malabar, due to the coercive social authority of

the landed janmis became the root cause of the continuous tension and conflicts in the

landlord tenant relationship.35 At the same time in the coastal regions of Kozhikode

and North Malabar, the Muslims flourished with a mercantile economy and as a

consequence, they possessed janmam lands.36 With their commercial enterprise they

were in a better off position in the towns. This led to the social and economic security

of the Muslims in the coastal region and in North Malabar; so there was not much

insurrections occurred in these regions. At the same time, in the coastal areas there

lived a Mappila population, who earned their living through fishing. Thus it was the

economic insecurity of the rural Mappila population in South Malabar area led to the

continuous outbreaks throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries and

culminating them in the twentieth century.

It was in the inland areas of the South Malabar, in Eranad and Walluvanad

taluks, the poorest sections of the Mappilas dwelled and they expanded rapidly.

Regarding the Mappilas of South Malabar, R.H. Hitchcock described them as having

become:

                                                            
33
TNA, No 20533,Board of Revenue Consultations, 1803, Vol.352, p.61.

34
William Logan, Report of the Malabar Special Commission. 1881-1882, Madras 1882, Vol.1, [Link].
Since Logan does not mention about the exact size or measurement of the holdings, it is assumed
that a piece of land indicates either a cultivating garden or wet land: But it shows the nature of land
ownership in Malabar in 1881. Amsam was the smallest revenue administrative unit in Malabar
during the colonial days.

35
Stephen Frederic Dale,Islamic Society. pp. 71-72.

36
Ibid.
193
 
……entirely separate from those of the rest of Malabar….The low state of

their intelligence, the subservience in which they had hitherto lived and

the absence of any men of learning to instruct them in their new religion,

even were they capable of understanding, all tended to provide a race

which would prove as easy to fanaticism and lawlessness.37

Thus the majority of the Muslims lived in a wretched condition and most of

them were uneducated. Even in 1911, the number of the Mappilas, who were literate

in English, was 486 in contrast to 5,895 Nair’s and 2,897 Tiyyas.38 Thus the

Muslims in South were economically poor and educationally back ward and was

prone towards any fanatic and rebellions ideas which naturally fed rebellious spirit in

them. The educational backwardness of the Muslim community in the South Malabar

served as an important cause for their fermentation against the British and the Hindu

janmis in the subsequent years.

Impact of Mysorean Conquest of Malabar

The revenue settlements in Malabar were complicated by the absence of an

identifiable pre-colonial state structure with a bureaucratic apparatus. The only known

revenue settlement in the region was that of the Mysorean invaders.39 Therefore, the

conquest of Malabar by Hyder Ali and his son and successor, Tipu Sultan, had a

significant impact upon the history of Malabar. It was due to the Mysorean invasion

that the agrarian structure of Malabar had been disturbed for the first time. The

Mysorean occupation of Malabar, affected the relationship of the Mappilas with the
                                                            
37
R.H. Hitchcock, A History of Malabar Rebellion, 1922, (confidential), Madras 1925, P.9.

38
The Census Report of Madras Presidency, 1911, pp. 81-82.

39
Joint Commissioner’s Report, Para.26.
194
 
majority Hindu castes. The Mysorean rule did not try to demolish the prevailing social

and economic status of the landed Hindus nor did it never attempted to establish the

dominance of the Muslims in Malabar. The rulers of Mysore did not endeavor to

meddle with the local usages which regulated the transfer of land. They did not grant

the cultivated land to which they pleased. They did not arbitrarily move the occupants

from their estate to another.40 The Mysorean rulers introduced a land tax, which

encroached on the customary shares of the janmis and the kanomdar,who used to

divide the pattam equally among them, and left the tenant, the verumpattadar, intact.

It was this revolutionary act of introducing the land revenue system in the Malabar

region led to the creation of new tensions in Malabar, as there was no systematic

revenue collection in Malabar prior to the Mysorean conquest. The Mysorean

assessment affected the relations between the Mappila tenants and Hindu janmis

because during the Mysorean period many Mappilas managed to shift the entire

burden of the newly introduced taxes to their janmis.41 In many areas, particularly

where the Mappilas had overwhelming majority, the Hindu janmis were even afraid to

appear before the revenue

Hindu janmis, particularly in 1788-1789, were compelled to relinquish

everything that they possessed, in order to take refuge in Travancore, where a

Kshatriya king maintained his independent rule.42 This led to the disturbance of the

existing customary land rights of the various classes in Malabar. Therefore, it is

                                                            
40
Thomas Warden to the Board of Revenue, Madras, 12 September, 1815, p.39.

41
Stephen Frederic Dale,Islamic Society. pp. 83-84

42
Ibid. Vol.11, Para,4.
195
 
probable that most of the Hindu janmis lost control of officers and their assessments

were fixed with the Kanakkars most of whom were Mappilas.43

The successive invasions of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan led to a social turmoil

in Malabar. The sporadic persecution of the Namboodiris and Nairs by Tipu Sultan

reduced their social and political status in the Malabar region. Due to this conquest

and persecution, the Malabar their tenants and estates, between 1788 and 1791, as

large number of Namboodiris and Nairs fled, in fear of death or forced conversion,

owing to Tipu’s conversion edict, to Travancore.44 The exodus of the Hindus had

augmented the Mappilas of their formerly circumscribed land holders in the interior of

South Malabar.45 Thus the Mysorean hegemony over Malabar had provided the

Mappilas with a unique opportunity to advance in their interests at the cost of the high

caste Hindus.

But the scholars like K. N. Panikkar argue that it is doubtful that the Mysorean

rule marked the end of Hindu landlordism and insulated in large scale transfer of

ownership of land to Mappila tenants.46 He argues that no substantial information is

available about the nature of the Hindu exodus to Travancore or about the

arrangements made after their flight. Therefore the advantage for those who came to

possess the land was very limited, because the rent they had formerly paid to the

                                                            
43
Joint Commissioner’s Report, Para. 174.

44
G. Arunima,There Comes Papa, pp.44-45.

45
Joint Commissioner’s Report, Para, 163.

46
K. N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State, p.55.
196
 
landlord was now extracted by the Government of the East India Company as land

revenue.47

It is found that only a few Mappilas48 who got the advantage of the Mysorean regime

in Malabar and the vast majority of them remained in the same condition as they were

before occupation of Malabar by the rulers of Mysore. In short the Mysorean interlude

in Malabar was not a period Mappila regime or Mappila hegemony in Malabar.

The occupation of Malabar by the English East India Company, after the

defeat Tipu Sultan in 1792, enabled the return of the fugitive Namboodiris and Nairs

to Malabar. The problem faced by the Company officials in settling an already

turbulent region were further compounded with the return of the fugitive Hindu

Namboodiris and Nairs from Travancore.49 It added an element of confrontation to the

tussle over the landed property between the Namboodiris and Nairs and the Mappilas

of South Malabar. They were very eager to reclaim their lost landed properties and

traditional prerogatives.50They even acquired new power of coercion and eviction

under the new rulers. The officials of the East India Company realized the Mappila

menace and tried for the restoration of the dispossessed Brahmin and Nair land

holders. The officials of the Company observed that the re-instatement would entail

resistance as well as disaffection and even to open rebellion on the part of the Mappila

Kanomdars in the interior of South Malabar because during the period of janmi
                                                            
47
Ibid.

48
It was Athan Moyan Kurukkal, Elambulassery Unni Mutha Muppan and Chemban Pokker were the
three Mappilas who made fortunes during the Mysorean interlude in Malabar.
See for a discussion K.N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State. .p. 55 ff. See also Stephen Frederic
Dale,Islamic Society. p. 86 ff.

49
G. Arunima, There Comes the Papa, p.45.

50
Stephen Frederic Dale, Islamic Society. p. 93.
197
 
dispossession and exile, the Mappila tenants habituated themselves to the idea of

independent tenure.51 They seized this opportunity to further their economic interests

and numerical strength. The new Government of the East India Company in Malabar

found it difficult to reconcile with the conflicting claims to land of the Nairs and

Mappilas. However the Company officials decided to restore the Hindu janmis to

their rights and privileges they possessed prior to the Mysorean occupation of

Malabar. The preservation of the landed class of people was vital to the British policy

of securing allies, although the professed aim of the policy of restoration was stated to

be the ‘the attainement of good Government and the future improvement of the

people’.52 Thus the Hindu aristocrats, who were reinstated by the East India

Company, aimed only at regaining of their landed possessions in the Mappila

dominated areas.53

Even though the Hindu janmis were restored to their earlier positions in

Malabar, the attitude of the East India Company towards the Mappilas was not of a

reactionary one. It was not due to the inherent aggressive nature of the Mappilas that

the Mappila outbreaks were attributed as often held by the authorities, but to the

exploitation and oppression of the landlords and the rigorous collections of revenue

from them by the Company. It was because of this attitude of the Company, they

issued regulations to protect the Mappilas from Nair overlords and even steps were

taken to protect their interests.54 Shortly after, the attitude of the British towards the

Mappilas changed. It was because of the difficulties encountered by the Company

                                                            
51
Joint Commissioner’s Report. Paras, 179-180.
52
D. N. Dhanagare, “Agrarian Conflict, Religion and Politics” p. 118.

53
Joint Commissioner’s Report. Para, 87.

54
Ibid. Vol.1, p.119.
198
 
officials in the collection of revenue and the difficulties in the establishment of law

and order in the province and resistance offered by some Mappila chieftains against

the Company.55 The exorbitant amount of revenue demanded by the Company and its

agents, especially in South Malabar, prompted the Mappilas, not to remit the payment

but compelled them even to protest against it. Thus it was the land revenue system

introduced by the English East India Company in Malabar provoked the Mappila

tenants to turn against them. It accounted for a number of Mappila uprisings in

Malabar, particularly in South Malabar before 1857. All these minor and localized

uprising culminated in the Mappila Revolt of 1921 in Malabar.

Uprisings of 1800-1802

The earliest instances of Mappila outbreaks can be traced back to the year

1800, when Elambulasserry Unni Mutha Muppan, Chemban Pokker and Athan

Gurukkal heralded the flag of resistance against the East India Company in South

Malabar. Under the Mysorean hegemony, these Mappilas exercised considerable

power and influence, particularly in the taluks of Eranad and Walluvanad in South

Malabar. These Mappilas tried to enhance their landholdings and influence in the

Mappila dominated regions of Malabar. Unni Mutha Muppan, who maintained one-

hundred armed personals under him, was employed under Tipu Sultan and had

participated in the war against the East India Company in 179156. Even after the

cession of Malabar by the East India Company in 1792, he maintained his armed

forces and collected taxes from the people. He even wrote to the officials of the

Company who tried to restrain his collection of taxes from Velatre.

                                                            
55
K. N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State. p. 56.
56
Joint Commissioner’s Report. Para, 264.
199
 
………For what reason, you, your Nairs, head of Chettis, other Chettis ( a

Hindu trading caste) and Custom people have put a stop to my Makama (a

tax),… (unless the status quo is restored) I will take good care of you and

your Chettis. Do not think I have much fear either of you, your Battalion

people of guards…..57

Athan Gurukkal was the darogah 58(police chief) in Cheranad and Chemban

Pokker was the darogah in Eranad. They had acquired a good deal of landed property

under the Mysorean rule, and later under the East India Company’s administration, by

exploiting their official influence and power.59 The attempt on the part of the East

India Company to establish law and order in Malabar after the treaty Seringapatam in

1792 impinged the prestige and independence of these Mappila Chiefs. Each of these

ring leaders had their own personal grievances against the East India Company. In

July 1799, the brother of Unni Mutha Muppan, who was charged off as an outlaw and

for other heinous crimes by the Company, was executed after sentenced by a criminal

court of the East India Company. In October 1799 he saw that his rice crop, arms and

other effects were seized by the Company for the long standing revenue arrears made

by him.60 Chemban Pokker, who was dismissed from service of the Company and

was imprisoned in the Palghat fortress, after complaints received from the people of

his oppressive behavior, including the plundering of their property, had escaped from

                                                            
57
TNA, No 20231,Translation of an ola from Elambulasserry Unni Mutha Muppan to Mr.
Melligechamp, the Officer for his personal conformation, received on 9 April 1798, Bombay
Revenue Proceedings, 16 October, 1798,Vol.61, p.1590.

58
The darogah was the officer in charge of a circle of police (thana), under the Government of the
East India Company in Malabar.

59
Conrad Wood, “The First Moplah Rebellion against British Rule in Malabar”, Modern Asian
Studies, 10, 4, 1976, p.551.
60
Ibid.
200
 
imprisonment.61 Athan Gurukkal turned against the Company because his brother-in-

law was executed by the English and was also apprehensive about the punitive action

against him by the East India Company. When their personal property and positions

were thus threatened, they turned against their enemy and raised the banner of revolt

against the Government of the Company, and called upon their co-religionists and

others to join them to protect the interests of their community, which was not safe and

secure under the regime of the English East India Company.62

The defeat of Tipu Sultan in 1799 and the attempt made by the East India

Company to assert their authority in the Mappila dominated regions naturally

provoked the already dissatisfied and rebellious ring-leaders. So the three rebel chiefs,

due to their personal grievances and also due to the policies of the East India

Company in Malabar, formed a loose confederation in South Malabar. By 1800, this

Mappila combination made an open defense against the British rule in Malabar and

attempted to loot the properties of the Company’s Government in Malabar.63 The

uprising lasted only for a brief period of two years. The rebels in this early uprising

adopted and pursued a strategy of guerilla warfare.64They adopted the guerilla

strategy because the followers of these ring-leaders were limited and the terrain was

more suited for such warfare. Moreover the strength and power of the Company was

unknown to the rebels and so they wished to avoid any direct confrontation with the

East India Company.

                                                            
61
Ibid.

62
K.N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State, p. 57.

63
William Logan, Malabar Manuel, Vol.1, pp. 529-530.

64
TNA, No 21471, Madras Revenue Proceedings, 9 July 1802, Vol.423, p. 2365.
201
 
Even though the English were following a policy of neutrality and

appeasement in Malabar, after 1792, the recalcitrant attitude and the periodical

resistances made by the Mappilas of South Malabar, the Company could not overlook

them. The Company, at this point of time was concerned about consolidating their

position in Malabar and so they appointed a Joint Commission to inquire into the

affairs of Malabar. But the continuous rebellious nature of the Mappilas in South

Malabar compelled the Company to look into the matters and they began to develop a

sort of animosity towards the Mappilas, as it is revealed from the statement made by

the Collector of Velatre, Cheranad, Betutnad and Parappanad:

…throughout the Southern Division of Malabar the Namboodiris and

Nairs and Thiyyar (a Hindu caste)… are the best and quietest subjects. I

have never found any difficulty in managing these people; they are

obedient and pay the dues to the Government without any trouble, which

on the contrary the Mappilas are turbulent, prone to robbery and the

revenue always more difficult to recover wherever they prevail.65

A similar statement was made by Alexander Walker, the army officer of the

English East India Company in Malabar and a member of the Malabar Commission:

….. If you wish to keep it peaceable and quiet, prohibit that diabolical

caste (Mappilas) from coming into it and by indirect means oblige those

that may be there to leave it. This can easily be done by taxing them very

heavily. Above all never give a public employment to any one of the caste.

If permitted to settle in Canara, you will soon find them become numerous

                                                            
65
TNA, No 20612,Madras Revenue Proceedings, 20 February 1801, Vol. 381,pp. 176-177.
202
 
and then stealing children, robberies and murders will follow. This caste

of men is the curse of the regions of Velatre and Eranad.66

Thus the English had changed their outlook over the Mappilas of Malabar and

decided to squash the insurrections. This led to an open resistance against the

Company’s Government by the Mappila confederacy. So, as a first step, the Company

tried to rearrange the police establishments in riot worn areas. In the interior of South

Malabar, the Mappilas had a dominant position in the police as the darogahs and they

utilized this opportunity to inflict corporal punishments to the disobedient ones.67 The

Company employed the Nair corps under the English Commanders, to crush the

insurgents and thus the movement was put down by the Company in 1802.

The East India Company suppressed the revolt of Athan Gurukkal, Unni

Mutha Muppan and Chemban Pokker by 1802 itself. The Company immediately

introduced certain administrative changes and reforms in the Mappila dominated

regions of Malabar. It included a change in the policy of the recruitment to the

subordinate posts in the revenue, judicial and police departments. The Mappilas had

adequate representation in these positions before the revolt of 1800-1802. But now the

Company doubted the loyalty of the Mappilas and the so it preferred the Hindus to

these positions than the Mappilas in Malabar. After 1800 most of the appointments in

the posts of adhikaris (the village headmen) and menons (the village accountants)

were recruited from the Hindu land owning classes.68 Though the officials of the

Company recommended for the posting of Muslims to these positions, the Company
                                                            
66
Conrad Wood, “The First Moplah Rebellion against British Rule in Malabar”, Modern Asian
Studies, 10, 4, 1976, p. 553.

67
TNA, No 20612,Madras Revenue Proceedings, 20 February 1801, Vol.381,pp. 184-185.

68
K. N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State, p 58.
203
 
never preferred or implemented it.69 Even in 1842 there was only 20 Mappilas

among the 81 adhikaris, only 20 Mappilas out of 142 village peons and no Mappila

village accountants in the Mappila dominated taluks of Eranad and Walluvanad .70

The rearrangement made by the Company in the police administration of Malabar

enabled it to secure the foundation of Company’s authority in the Mappila dominated

region of Malabar.

The immediate significance of this revolt was that it revealed the attitude of

the Mappilas towards the defeat of the Tipu Sultan and the establishment of British

power in Malabar. The British also realized that the Mappilas were a distinct

community whose interests were severely injured by the defeat of Tipu Sultan, and

due to the gradual reinstatement of the dominant Hindu castes and the imposition of

British rule in Malabar after this insurrection. Again it is interesting to note that the

three leaders of this revolt did not appeal to the Mappilas as Muslims to rise in

defense of their religion nor did they try to establish a Muslim State in Malabar. Yet

the prolongation of the revolt reveals that they had the tacit support of the community

at large. After the revolt the leaders of the uprising were killed and their properties

were confiscated by the authorities of the Company. The revolt further encouraged the

Company officials to reinstate Namboodiris and Nair aristocrats in the Malabar

region. All these did not reduce the rebellious spirit of the Mappilas in South Malabar.

Even though, the Mappilas were condensed to the worst possible conditions in the

rural Malabar,after the uprising of 1802 and their antagonism towards the English and

                                                            
69
A Report on the Revision of the Judicial System in the Province of Malabar by Thomas Munro, 4
July 1817, pp. 13-14.

70
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on the Mappila Outrages, Vol.1,
pp. 212-215.
204
 
the Company continued and this was evident from the subsequent uprisings that

occurred in Malabar in the later years.

The period from 1802 to 1836 there were only a few Mappila out breaks in the

region, but evidences shows that the period was a comparatively peaceful period.

There is no evidence to show that these early incidents featured the elaborate

preparatory rituals and climatic suicidal attacks which shared the same nature and

character of the earlier and later outbreaks in Malabar.71 But as T.L. Strange traces,

the beginning of the Mappila outbreaks to 1836, when a Hindu astrologer was stabbed

to death and three others were wounded at Pandalur.72

Uprising Between 1836 and 1840

The period between 1836 and 1840 Malabar witnessed five Mappila uprisings.

But there were no detailed official records or any local records available regarding

these insurrections in the Malabar during this period. On 26 November, 1836

Kallingal Kunyolan of Pandalur desam of Eranad Taluk stabbed to death one Chakku

Panikkar of the Kanisan (astrologer) caste. He also wounded three others and fled to

Nenmini amsam in Walluvanad taluk. The police pursued him from place to place and

finally shot him to death on 28 November, 1836.73 Another incident took place in

Kalpeta desam of Eranad taluk on 15 April, 1837. Here one Ali Kutti, inflicted

numerous severe wounds to a Brahmin janmi, Chirukaranimana Narayana Moozad

and himself took a firm stand in his own shop. He was chased and attacked by the

                                                            
71
Stephen Dale, Islamic Society, p.126.

72
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on the Mappila Outrages, Vol. 1, p.
400.

73
Ibid. pp. 398-402.
205
 
tahsildar and the peons of the taluk office and was shot down by the police on 16

April, 1837.74

Another event of insurgency took place on 5 April, 1839 at Pallipuram amsam

of Walluvanad taluk. Here the rebel Thorayampolakal Athan and one of his followers

killed Kelil Caman. After the murder, he set fire to a Hindu temple and took his

position in another temple. The tahsildar and his peons assaulted the rebels and

finally they were shot to death.75 Again on 6 April, 1839 Mambadtodi Kuttiathan

severely wounded the Kotakat Paru Tarakan. The Police captured him. He was tried

by the Court of the English India Company and sentenced him to transportation for

life.76 On 19 April 1840 in the Irumbuli amsam of Eranad taluk, Paratodiyil Ali Kutti

severely wounded one Odyath Kunhunni Nair and another Hindu of the locality. He

then set fire to the temple at Kidangali and took position in his house. When he was

attacked by the police, he rushed out and was shot dead on 20 April, 1840.77

In these five uprisings between 1836 and 1840 only few insurgents were

involved and the numbers of Hindus who were either wounded or killed were only

six. Among these six, two of them were janmis, one was a village peon (a government

employee), one was a Kanisan (astrologer) and the remaining two were Nairs. In all

these five outbreaks, the rebels attacked or killed the Hindu and set fire to their

temples. In the insurrections that took place during this period all the rebels were

killed by the men or forces of the Company. But the question that arises here is that

                                                            
74
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, p.554.

75
Ibid.

76
Ibid. pp. 554-555.

77
Ibid. p.555.
206
 
what was the motive behind these out breaks against the Company by these people

and what prompted them to do so? It is very difficult to establish or identify the

motive that guided them. It was not the religious sentiments that provoked them to

turn against the English and their agents in this region, but the political or economical

policies that the Company pursued in Malabar was an alluring reason for them to

rebel against the Company. Also the desire of the undefeated Mappilas to become

sahids cannot be neglected when we look into the motive and provocation behind

these uprising and attacks.78 It is to be noted that when the janmi, backed by the

police, the law courts and the revenue officials, stiffened their control on the lower

classes, the Mappila peasantry in its turn initiated rebellion against its coercion in the

Malabar region during this period. The socio-economic displacement of the Mappilas

owing to the occupation of Malabar by the east India Company played a key factor for

the outbreaks during this period.

Uprising of 1841

The various uprisings that took place till 1841 were limited in nature and

character and the number of people who participated in it. But after 1841, the nature

and character of these uprising changed and they took the massive character. The

events occurred in the Pallipuram village of Walluvanad taluk on 5 April, 1841 and in

the Mannur village of Eranad taluk on 14 November, 1841 clearly demonstrates it. On

the 5 April, 1841, Tumba Mannil Kunholan, assisted by his two sons and six other

Mappilas of his neighborhood, attacked and killed his landlord Perumbali

Namboodiri.79 The reason for this outbreak was comparatively trivial and ignorable.

                                                            
78
For a discussion see, K. Madhvan Nair, Malabar Kalapam, Kozhikkode, 2007, pp.31-35.
207
 
The landlord who received a sum of rupees 16 from Kunholan, and was deprived of

his land for cultivation through melcharth (over lease). The landlord refused to return

the amount and so Kunholan became revengeful to the Namboodiri landlord.80 The

exasperated Kunholan induced others to accompany him on the assurance that they

would become martyrs and would be entitled to paradise, if they fell in consequence

of an act which they represented, would be pleasing to God.81 The rebels set fire to

the residence of the victim and four other houses that belonged to the dependents of

the victim, and the owners of these houses died due to the injuries received during the

insurgency.82 The Mappilas then took their position in the house of the Namboodiri

and they defied the Government authorities and its regulations openly. The forces of

the Company attacked them and killed them on the 9 April, 1841.83 The question

arises here is that what was the force behind the six neighbours of Kunholan to move

against the land lord and kill him? Since the records keep silence on these aspects we

do not know anything about their motive. But it is clear that the agrarian issues and

the land tenure policy prevailed in the region was the provocative factor for them to

turn against their oppressive and corrupted overlords.

After the Pallippuram outbreak, another event occurred in the Mannur village

in Eranad taluk on the 14 November 1841. Here the rebels under Kaidotti Padi

Moidin Kutti killed Thottacherry Kelu Panikkar and a peon.84 The reason for the

                                                                                                                                                                          
79
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1. p. 555.

80
TNA, No 2310, Judicial Consultations, 11 May, 1841, p.7.

81
Ibid.

82
William Logan. Malabar Manual Vol.1, p. 555.

83
K. Madhavan Nair, Malabar Kalapam,. p. 37.

84
William Logan, Malabar Manual, p. 556.
208
 
outbreak was on the issue of constructing a mud wall around the mosque at the

Mannur village.85 The rebels had written a warola (a written note), at the gate of the

disputed mosque in the Mannur village, on 14 November, 1841 addressed to the

tahasildar of Eranad. Pathyl Valia Kunholan, one of the eleven insurgents who

participated in this uprising described the developments of the events as following:

…..……In the year 994 M. E.(1818-1819) the Kundachenekkal Parambu86

was taken on kanam from Thottacherry Kelu Panikkar. In 997M. E. (1820-

1821) a kolam (water tank) and a shop was erected in the said parambu

there on and sirkar nigudhee (tax to the Government) due to the

Government was paid. In 1821-22 a well was also dug in the said

parambu. In 998M. E. (1822-1823) the janmam right was purchased from

the said Panikkar. In 1008 M. E. (1832-1833) a mosque was constructed in

the above said parambu and in Thulam 1017 M. E. (1841) when a mud

wall was raised around the mosque, Thottacherry Panikkar went and made

a false representation at the taluk cutchery. You (the tehsildar) then

without any consideration of the state of things sent a choodan (peon) with

four or five others with the direction to seize and drag the nine of us

(insurgents) to the taluk cutchery. Accordingly the said choodan came to

the mosque at half a nazhika before the sunset of the 28 day of our fast,

abused us and called us out of the mosque. We requested him that we

would go with him after we shall have broken the fast and taken our kanji

(rice gruel), on which the said kolkar (peon) and the Panikkar laid hold of

                                                            

85
K. Madhvan Nair, Malabar Kalapam, pp. 37-38

86
It is the name of the disputed coconut plantation in the Mannur village in Eranad taluk.
209
 
the right hand of the Moideen Ikkakkaa, the owner of the mosque, and

dragged him near to the well and when himself and the Panikkar were

tying him up, the remaining eight of us assaulted the Panikkar, with the

weapon kept already for him, on his return from the taluk cutchery, did

what had been done……87

Thus, after killing the Panikkar and the peon, the rebels took post in the

mosque for three days in defiance of the police and other authorities. A party of 40

sepoys under Lieutenant Shakespeare arrived at the scene and suppressed the rebels.

On the 17 November, Mappilas numbering around 2,000 set at in defiance of the

police party on guard over the spot where the eleven rebels had been buried, and

forcibly carried off their bodies and interred them with honors at a mosque.88 Though

the rebellion was easily put down by the Company, the vigor and spirit of the

Mappilas were not set aside at all. Thus the repressive measures taken by the

Government, instead of preventing the recurrence of such events, only inflamed the

ferociousness of the Mappilas further.

Uprising of 1843

The enthusiasm of the Mappila rebels was further revealed in the outburst at

Tirurangadi village in the Eranad taluk on 19 October, 1843. In this event Kunnacheri

Ali Athan and five other Mappilas attacked and killed Kaprat Krishna Panikkar, the

adhikari of Tirurangadi.89 The cause for the outbreak of this rebellion was that the

adhikari had thrown great dishonor upon them by forcing a Hindu women of a lower

                                                            
87
TNA, No 2310, Judicial Consultations, December, 1841, p 15, Enclosure A.

88
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol. 1, p. 556.

89
TNA, 2311, Judicial Consultations, January 1844, pp. 142-146
210
 
caste to apostatize from Islam.90 The rebels after killing the adhikari of the

Thirurangadi village, they proceeded to the house of a Nair in Cherur and posted

themselves in that house. Once they were posted safely in that house, they announced

publically about the murder of Kaprat Krishna Panikkar and declared their

determination to fight until death. The Company despatched a detachment of sixty

sepoys under Captain Leader to the spot where the insurgents were camping. As the

soldiers attacked the Mappilas, they rushed out of the house and turned towards forces

of the Company and the panic stricken sepoys took to flight.91 This retaliation of the

infuriated insurgents resulted in the death of one subedar and three sepoys; and they

inflicted severe injuries to five sepoys, seven peons and Captain Leader in the

engagement between them.92 However the fanatic rebels were put down by the peons

and seven of the insurgents were killed. These courageous acts of the Mappilas were a

stimulus to other Mappilas of the region to follow their example. It was this attitude of

the rebels and their followers really engineered the outrages in the succeeding years.

In all the uprising of 1843, it is noted that only a limited number of Mappilas

participated in the outbreaks. In the uprising of Pallippuram it was only eight

Mappilas who took part in the revolt and in the uprising at Mannur, there were only

eleven rebels. In the rebellion at Tirurangadi there were only seven rebels who

participated in it. In all these uprisings we find that most of the rebels were drawn

from the poorer sections of Mappila community. Most of them were peasants, who

lost their land which they had tilled so far. Again it is found that in all these rebellions

their target was the British officials and the landlords and their dependents, who

                                                            
90
Ibid.
91
Ibid.

92
K. Madhavan Nair, Malabar Kalapam, p. 38.
211
 
naturally exploited them. Religion and religious spirit also played an important role in

the rebellions occurred during this period. They attempted to destroy the temples of

the region and many of them were set to fire by the rebels. These peculiar

characteristics of the rebels were common throughout the period of uprisings in

Malabar. But the problem with these outbreaks was that they were sporadic, scattered

and numerous. The reports about them were brief and so not much informative and

they are merely the narratives of the incidents. And even if any report survives, they

were of partial and incomplete. It provides only a distorted picture of the event.

Since the outbreaks in Malabar by the Mappilas became a continuous and

steady one, it became an administrative concern for the East India Company in

Malabar. So the authorities of the Company began to inquire into the causes of these

uprisings and a detailed report of the uprisings occurred after 1849 was made.

However, it is difficult to identify what were the real intentions and motives of these

outbreaks from these reports of the Company. All these incidents involved a

complexity of events and characteristics and hence it is difficult to locate them.

Uprising of 1849

One of the important Mappila uprising that occurred before the Revolt of 1857

was the uprising at Manjeri in August 1849. It was the second largest Mappila

outbreaks in the nineteenth century and was unique in that it included a Mappila

assailant’s own interpretation about the events of the outrages.93 The insurrection was

ignited by the agrarian grievances of the Mappila tenants of Majreri. The leaders of

this uprising were Athan Moyan Gurukkal and Kunhi Koya Thangal, the son of

Sayyid Hassan Thangal of Mamburam. Athan Gurukkal a descendant of the collateral

                                                            
93
Frederick Stephen Dale, Islamic Society, pp. 137-138.
212
 
branch of Mappila family had a long tradition of revolt against the ruling authority.

They had revolted against Tipu Sultan in 1784-1785 and against the English East

India Company in 1800-1802. They also battled against the Manjeri Karnopad, the

Raja of Manjeri, in 1785.94 Traditionally the occupation of the family was imparting

instructions in ballistics and Athan Gurukkal also continued the same profession.95

In his capacity of an instructor of ballistics, he travelled throughout the district, with a

band of armed followers often defending the Mappila interests with the threat of force

and supporting them by running a protection racket. He acted as an arbiter of disputes,

posed as a savior, almost in Robin Hood fashion, of the rural poor who were unjustly

treated by the Government officials and janmis.96 Athan Gurukkal was thus, very

popular among the labourers and peasants. But the Government regarded the activities

of Athan Gurukkal as an open challenge to its authority and it decided to curb his

powers. In May 1849, the local authorities issued an order forbidding him from

maintaining and moving with his armed attendants.97 Though it had curtailed his

source of livelihood, he complied to the orders of the local authorities with a reluctant

mind.98 He now understood that he would be convicted to more humiliations and so

decided to defy the Company’s authority. Yet, he was not sure of himself. It was at

this juncture, he was joined by Kunhi Koya Thangal. Kunhi Koya was an unusually

devout individual, who supported himself on alms, as he moved throughout the

                                                            
94
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on Mappila Outrages. Vol.1, p.
101.

95
K. N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State, p. 72.

96
Ibid.

97
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on Mappila Outrages, Vol.1, p. 65.

98
Ibid. p. 52.
213
 
district, teaching and performing religious ceremonies. He had visited the Athan

Gurukkal frequently and very often stayed with him for days.

By August 1849 itself Gurukkal initiated a miniature form of the revolt. He

sent out his agents to recruit the Mappila supporters and recruited fifteen Mappilas to

his band.99 On 25 August 1849, Tarangal Unniyan killed one Ezhava called Paditodi

Teyunni, who had been falsely accused of some four years back on Unniyan of

theft.100 The next day the rebels moved to Manjeri through Pandikkad. They moved

through Pandikkad because they have targeted one of the Namboodiri at Pandikkad,

the illam of Marat Namboodiri, a wealthy landlord and moneylender of the region. A

member of the rebel group, Nelangara Ali, had certain land tenurial issues with the

Namboodiri of Marat. Nellangara Ali’s, father failed to remit the kanam tenures to the

Namboodiri and so he filed an eviction suit in the court. Later an agreement was

reached upon between them, by which the Namboodiri permitted Ali’s father to

possess the land as a tenant-at-will, with fifty per cent enhancement of rent. Being a

tenant-at-will, Ali had to renew the rent every year and there was every possibility for

increasing the rent at every annual renewal.101 It was this insecurity of tenure and the

threat of eviction from the land where he was cultivating, like any other Mappila

tenants, prompted Neelangara Ali to attack the Marat Namboodiri and his illam. The

Namboodiri who anticipated such a move from the part of the Mappilas, left his illam

much before the arrival of the rebels. No other member of family was hurt except a

servant who had offered resistance to the rebels.102 On their way to Pandikkad they

                                                            
99
Ibid. pp. 114-117.

100
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, p.566.

101
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on Mappila Outrages, Vol.1, p. 76.
214
 
also killed a Nair cultivator who accidently encountered the rebels on the road. They

killed the Nair because one of the Mappila rebel was in bad terms with him.103

Following the attack on the illam of Marat Namboodiri, the rebels moved from

Pandikkad to Manjeri to seize the temple of the Manjeri Karnopad Raja. Athan

Gurukkal had some personal grievances against the Manjeri Raja. In 1785, one of the

ancestors of Gurukkal fought against the Raja and defeated him with the support of

Tipu Sultan. He was taken into custody and was sent to Seringapatam, where he died

in imprisonment.104 The Raja also appropriated the paddy fields attached to the

family mosque of the Gurukkal.105 The Raja resorted to collect a year’s rent from the

tenants of Manjeri towards the construction of a temple.106 The Raja had 311Mappila

tenants and 244 Hindu tenants under him.107 The exaction of rent from the Mappilas,

at the point of eviction, was not only an economic burden, but also an irreligious act

for the religious Mappilas to contribute funds for the reconstruction of a Hindu

temple. The rebels reached Manjeri on 27 August and marched to the temple that was

intended for reconstruction. At this time the Raja along with one-hundred Brahmins,

were offering prayers in the temple. The rebels had fired in the air and asked

everybody to decamp the temple without further trouble.108 All of them were allowed

                                                                                                                                                                          
102
Ibid. pp. 25-26.

103
Ibid, p. 75.

104
Ibid. p.101.

105
Ibid. p.50.

106
Ibid. p.51.

107
Ibid. pp. 75-76.

108
Ibid. p. 77.
215
 
to escape peacefully. The only causality was to a deaf Namboodiri, who out of the

confusion, hesitated to move out of the temple and the rebels killed him.109

The rebels camped in the temple for eight days and by this time fresh recruits

of rebels joined with them. The rebels defeated the two companies of East India

Company sepoys. By now the number of the insurgents raised to sixty five and they

evacuated the temple of Manjeri and moved to Bhagavati Kavu temple near

Angadipuram, some twelve miles away from Manjeri.110 It is a perplexing question

why the rebels moved to the temple of Angadipura from Manjeri? It was due to the

reinforcement of fresh batches of soldiers of the East India Company from Kannur

and Palaghat had arrived at Manjeri. So their position at Manjeri was threatened.

Again the rebels found that Manjeri was not an apt location for fighting against the

more powerful opponents. Moreover, the provisions kept for the use of Brahmins at

Manjeri temple were exhausted and they learned that the temple at Angadipuram had

well stored provisions. Anyhow after two days march the forces of the Company met

with the rebels. By 4 September 1849, all the sixty four Mappilas of this rebellion

were shot dead during the engagement and only one boy survived. With the death of

the whole insurgents, revolt of 1849 at Manjeri came to an end

Thus, this revolt was an explicit example to show that how the socio-economic

subordination and depredation faced by the Mappilas in the rural areas of South

Malabar provoked the people like Athan Gurukkal and Kunhi Koya Thangal to lead a

revolt against the Company. Along with this, the personal motives and interests of the

rebel leaders also prompted them to turn against the English. Thus in this uprising of

                                                            
109
Ibid.

110
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, pp.560-561.
216
 
1849, we notice the coincidence of social, economic and religious motives combined

together to lead an agitation against the English East India Company. Also a mixture

of excitement and the appeal of heroic martyrdom contributed the primary motive for

this outbreak.

In this uprising it is found that the sixty four rebels were shot dead. It is

interesting to note about the social origins of the rebels who were killed in this

incident. Forty five of the rebels who were killed were below the age of twenty four,

mostly unmarried, and were either unemployed or working as agricultural labourers

on a seasonal basis.111 The rich or well-to-do Mappila Kanomdars were never

reported as having participated in the rebellious outbreaks or supported it. Most of the

rebels who had partaken in this rebellion had some sort of family ties with their leader

Athan Gurukkal. It was the agrarian discontent of the Mappilas and the several

eviction decrees sought by the Hindu landlords had deprived the Mappila peasants of

their livelihood and most them were on the verge of eviction. Therefore, it was the

economic displacement along with the deprivation of their livelihood constituted the

root for these underpinnings in Malabar. The rich and well- to-do Mappilas remained

silent about these incidents and it was poor sections of this community joined the

ranks of rebellion.

Uprising of 1851

One of the important uprising before the Revolt of 1857 in Malabar was the

Kulathur uprising in August [Link] 22 August 1851 six Mappilas killed the

Kottuparambath Komu Menon and his servant on the high road between Manjeri and

Angadipuram, while they were returning from the Mangada Kovilakam of the
                                                            
111
D. N. Dhanagare, “Agrarian Conflict, Religion and Politics, p. 119.
217
 
Walluvanad Raja.112 Komu Menon was the karyasthan (principal servant) of the

Walluvanad Raja. He was a rich land lord and had considerable influence and power

in the society. He used his position and authority to amalgamate more wealth by

evicting the tenants or acquisition of land against the loans advanced or through over

leases.113 Many tenants had lost their land and were afraid that they will become mere

labourers without any land. Added to this he always misbehaved to the tenants

particularly, towards the Mappilas.114 So Komu Menon was notorious among his

tenants and they were waiting for an opportunity to avenge their grievances. The

rebels after killing Komu Menon, proceeded to his house, where they found that one

of his brother was waiting for the rebels with a gun and a war knife and so realizing

the danger involved in it, they left the place immediately.

Then the rebels proceeded to the house of Komu Menon’s brother, Ittunni

Rama Menon, an adhikari of Mankada village. He was very rich and had considerable

wealth. But he too like his brother was very unpopular among the people and was

hated by the general public, particularly by the Mappilas of the Mankada village. He

was extremely avaricious and lent money and grain to a large extent and often on

most usurious interest rate and it was expected that his death will release many people

of their caste from the heavy responsibility of repaying the loan amount to Ittunni

Rama Menon.115

                                                            
112
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, p. 562.

113
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on Mappila Outrages, Vol. 1,
pp.180-181.

114
Ibid. p.187.

115
Ibid. p. 189.
218
 
When the Mappilas reached the Rama Menon’s house, the rebels found

Kadakkottil Namboodiri, a land lord, who had just arrived there from the Mankada

palace, on his way back to his illam, was sitting on the porch of the Rama Menon, the

rebels attacked and killed him.116 Then the rebels turned to Rama Menon who was

taking bath in the nearby tank. He tried to escape by running across the paddy field,

but was overtaken by the rebels and got hold of him and severed him down.117 The

assassins then proceeded to his house, looted all the property and possessions and set

fire to it. Their next victim was Mundangara Rarichan Nair, a friend and companion

of Komu Menon, who was also equally detested and despised by the Mappilas.118 On

their further proceeding towards a safe and secure place, they also set fire to the house

of Chengara Warier, who was a corrupted and obnoxious moneylender of that

locality.119

By now, the rebels realized that their immediate task was over and so they

wanted to safeguard themselves in a place to stay in and procure more weapons and

ammunitions to retaliate the forces of the Company. So on the morning of 23 August

1851, the rebels marched to the Kuruva village, some eight miles away from the

house of Rama Menon.120 By now the number of the rebels rose to seventeen and

they proceeded to Kulathur, with the target of attacking a very rich Warier at

Kulathur. The Warier of Kulathur was detrimental with his Mappila tenants and he

                                                            
116
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, p. 562.

117
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on Mappila Outrages, Vol.1, p.177

118
Ibid. p. 145.

119
Ibid. p. 190

120
William Logan. Malabar Manual, Vol. 1, p.563.
219
 
was disparate with the erection of a mosque in that village.121 They then killed the

two servants of the Warier and rushed into his house and killed the 79 year old Warier

who alone remained in the house and destroyed all the property deeds and

documents.122 After committing all these depredations they took their position in the

house of the Warier itself. In the initial engagements the forces of the English faced a

set back from the part of the rebel Mappilas. Then fresh reinforcements arrived for the

rescue of the militia of the Company from Calicut under the command of Captain

Rhodes and in the ensuing fighting that followed all the insurgent Mappilas were

killed and thus the rebellion came to an end on 27 August,1851.123

It is found that in the Kulathur rebellion there was no organized leadership as

we find in the Manjeri revolt of 1849. It was not an organized movement as it is

evident from the fact they did not know what to do after the murder of Mundangara

Rarichan Nair. In fact they were in a confusion and dilemma. So they moved to

Kulathur for two purposes; first to gather weapons for waging war against the troops

of the Company and secondly, to find a safe place to engage with the forces of the

East India Company. Also in this rebellion the rebels never sought the blessings of a

Thangal or Maulavi, as in the case of other out breaks, where the insurgents required

the blessings of the Thangal or Maulavi before starting their course of action.124 It is

also found that the rich Mappilas attempted to manipulate the rebellion to make

advantages from the destructions, as it is evident from the murder of Kadakkottil

Namboodiri, who happened to be in the house Ittunni Rama Menon, on his way back
                                                            
121
Ibid.

122
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on Mappila Outrages, Vol.1, p.169

123
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, pp. 563-564.

124
K. N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State, p. 78.
220
 
to his illam and the murder of Kulathur Warier. The Murder of Kulathur Warier took

place only after completing all their original objectives and tasks were

accomplished.125It is evident from the Kulathur uprising of 1851, that leadership was

not a necessity for the rebels to turn against the company and its supporters. The

rebels detested all the exploitations and ruthless extractions by the English East India

Company, its adherents and supporters, mostly the landlords and their men. The

murder of the rich landlords of the Kulathur region depicts it clearly. It was this

antagonism and rivalry emerged out of the exploitation and land tenurial relationships

provoked the Mappilas to turn against them.

Uprising of 1852

When the South Malabar was busily engaged with the early Mappila uprisings,

there prevailed a comparative peace in North Malabar during early half of nineteenth

century. It is found that all the Mappila uprising had occurred in South Malabar, and

more particularly in the Eranad and Walluvanad taluks. The only one instance of

Mappila insurgency that took place in North Malabar was at Mattannur in Kottayam

taluk. The outbreak that occurred at Mattannur was an example of a well planned and

well organized uprising by the Mappilas. It was the outcome of a feud between two

families, Kallattil Kesavan, a wealthy and influential Hindu janmi of Mattannur and

the Kattale family, a leading Mappila family of Mattannur.126 Kesavan was the

principal janmi, pepper merchant and money lender of Mattannur, with about thirty

Mappila tenants under him.127 He was very severe and unpopular among the tenants

                                                            
125
Ibid. pp. 78-79.

126
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, p. 564.

127
K.N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State, p. 80.
221
 
and was of exploitative in nature. Therefore two of his tenants from the Chooryoot

family and Thayyil family, who was heavily indebted to him was threatened with

eviction, and it served as the immediate provocation for the uprising against him in

January 1852.128

The possession of landed property by the Hindu janmis was a source of

contention for the wealthy Mappilas, especially to those of the Kattale family. The

aspiration of the Kattale family to enhance their landed property was curbed by the

Kallatil family through judicial proceedings.129 Since the Kattale family was the most

influential Mappila family in Mattannur, most of the Mappila peasants looked upon

this family as their savior to redeem them from the domineering and despoiled Hindu

landlords of Mattannur. The Kattale family, which was waiting for an opportunity to

revenge the family feud, made use of this occasion and exploited this situation, and

emerged themselves at Mattannur.

The nine discontented Mappila tenants, who were looking for an opportunity

to take revenge on the life of Kallattil Kesavan, went for a pilgrimage to the

Mamburam mosque and the expenses of this pilgrimage was met by the Kattale

family.130 The pilgrimage was undertaken for the mental and spiritual preparation of

the rebels and to secure the blessings of the Mamburan [Link] pilgrimage of the

rebels to Mamburam, some ninety miles away from Mattannur indicates that there

was a definite planning behind the uprising. Once the pilgrims returned to Mattannur

intense preparation for the revolt was started. They travelled widely and propagated
                                                            
128
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on Mappila Outrages, Vol.1, p.
304.

129
Ibid. p. 334.

130
Ibid. p. 306.
222
 
the rebellious ideas among the Mappilas and tried to recruit new members to their

fold. After making an elaborate preparation for the insurgency and attack of Kesavan,

the rebels went for the feast at the Pallot mosque on 4 January 1852, and after the

prayers at the mosque, they proceeded to the house of Kallattil Kesavan.131 The

rebels, fifteen in number, supported by a large mob estimated to be at 200 in number,

demolished the compound wall and attacked the house of Kallattil Kesavan. The

rebels ambushed into his house and butchered all the family members and all the

servants resided in the house.132 In all, it is found that the rebels murdered eighteen

Hindus in this outbreak. They even destroyed all the documents, papers and burned

the house itself.

The rebels now proceeded further and killed the Kanambatt Brahmin, another

rich landlord in Mattannur. He had some litigation with his Mappila tenants and this

prompted the insurgents to turn against him. They murdered him and burned his

house. After this the rebels moved to Pazhassi to take a safe and strong stand against

the armed troops of the Company. On their way to Pazhassi, they defiled and

damaged a Hindu temple.133Meanwhile, the aggressive rebels were persuaded by

Vallapilagath Hassan Kutty, a wealthy Mappila landlord of Irikkur village, to turn

against Kuliat Anandan Nambiar, an influential and rich landlord of the same

village.134 The personal vedanta of Hassam Kutty against the Nambiar, encouraged

him to turn against the Nambiar and influenced the rebels against the Nambiar. Taken
                                                            
131
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, p. 565.

132
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondence on Mappila Outrages, Vol.1, pp.
309-310.

133
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, p.565.

134
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondences on Mappila Outrages, Vol.1, pp.
309-310.
223
 
by the instigation of Hassan Kutty the rebels attacked the house of the Nambiar on 8

January, 1852. The house which was safeguarded by three-hundred armed retainers of

the Nambiar defended it and killed all the rebels.135 Thus it was the only incident

where the Hindu defenders could over power the Mappila rebels and root them. Once

the insurgents were killed, the uprising also ended naturally.

After the uprising of January 1852, the Government adopted very strong and

repressive measures to put down the outbreaks. This led to the prevalence of a

comparative peace in Malabar between 1853 and 1856. The only major incident that

took place during this period was the murder of Mr. H. V. Connolly, the Collector of

Malabar on 11 September 1855.136 He was murdered by the four convicts, Valasseri

Emalu, Puliyakunat Tenu, Chemban Moidin Kutti and Vellattadayatta Parambil

Moidin. The murder was to avenge the banishment of the famous Thangal of

Tirurangadi, Sayid Fazal alias Pokoya, to Arabia on 18 August 1852, by Mr.

137
Connolly, the Collector of Malabar. The assassins were captured and was

publically hanged, burned their bodies and the ashes were collected and buried in the

compound of the jail at Calicut.138

In general, analysis of the early Mappila outbreaks in Malabar before the

Revolt of 1857, demonstrates a uniform pattern of insurrection. Almost in all

rebellions, it involved invariably a group of Mappila youths attacking a Namboodiri

janmi, or a Nair official or the servants of the janmi. Very often, most these outbreaks

                                                            
135
Ibid. pp. 279-280.

136
William Logan, Malabar Manual, Vol.1, pp.573-574.

137
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondence on Mappila Outrage s, vol. 1, pp.
279-280
138
Ibid. pp. 127-128.
224
 
involved the burning or the defilement of the temples and occasionally looting and

burning the landlord’s houses. These rebels, in almost in all rebellions took refuge in a

mosque or seized a Hindu temple for their final stand against the men and forces of

the East India Company and who in the end would shoot them down. Thus almost all

the insurgents who participated in these early uprising had lost their life. In all these

early uprisings, the number of people who participated in the rebellion was very

limited and most of the participants were illiterate Mappila tenants.

From the above analysis it is found that even after the revolt of Pazhassi Raja,

Malabar continued its vigor and enthusiasm against the English till the Revolt of

1857, and it prolonged even after the Revolt. It is very much evident from the various

Mappila uprising that took place in Malabar in the post Revolt period and shows that

the tradition of uprising in Malabar continued in Malabar during the entire colonial

period. The study found that all the Mappila uprising before 1857 occurred in South

Malabar and more particularly in Eranad and Walluvanad taluks, except the

Mattannur uprising of 1852. Even though all these uprising were limited in its scope

and extent, the natural question arises here is that why all these uprisings occurred

mostly in Eranad and Walluvanad taluks of South Malabar alone? It was basically

because of the social structure prevsiled in the South Malabar society.

Demographically the Mappilas predominated in the Eranad and Wallunad taluks.

These two taluks jointly housed 37 per cent of the Mappila population of the Malabar

District. In Eranad 60 per cent and in Walluvanad 35 per cent of the population were

Mappilas.139 The literacy rate of these two taluks, even in 1921 was the lowest in the

Malabar District with 7.5 per cent in Eranad taluk and 11.4 per cent in Walluvanad

                                                            
139
K. N. Panikkar, Against Lord and State, p. 65.
225
 
taluk.140 The lack of literacy was a setback for their employment opportunities in the

Government services and this compelled them to turn towards land and its appended

occupations. The Mappilas who were engaged in agricultural occupations was 62 per

cent in Malabar as a whole and in South Malabar it was still higher. Over 18 per cent

of the total Mappila population was traders and merchants.141 It was this social and

economic backwardness of the Mappilas led them to these out breaks in South

Malabar. Most of the people who participated in these uprisings were poor and

illiterate Mappilas. The role of literacy was a contributory factor for these uprisings.

The vast majority who remained illiterate even in the twentieth century and this

educational backwardness made them hostile to the English as well as the Hindu

janmis of Malabar. They were poverty stricken labourers or tenants. Owing to the

repressive exactions by the janmis and the revenue payment due by the Government

regulations, the tenants in general found it difficult to keep themselves and their

families from starvation. Their clothing’s were scanty and the habitations were menial

and so the people were becoming poor and poorer.

In the study of the early Mappila uprisings in Malabar an attempt was made to

see the role of religion in these revolts. These insurgencies were a mere response of

the Mappilas to the changing socio-economic and political situations in Malabar. The

Mappilas during this period identified a new role to the mosques and Thangals

(Mappila priests). It is interesting to note that prior to 1830 very little was heard about

the Thangals, but thereafter, they suddenly gained in prominence.142 In 1831, there

were 637 mosques in Malabar; by 1851 the number of the mosques had increased to
                                                            
140
Quoted from K. N. Panikkar, Ibid. pp. 66-67.

141
D. N. Dhanagare, “Agrarian Conflict, Religion and Politics”, pp. 129-130.
142
Ibid. p. 121.
226
 
1058.143 The Thangals in the changed circumstances of Malabar combined with

themselves the ecclesiastical functions with the secular activities, especially in

safeguarding the worldly interests of the community. They began to act as a quasi-

political organization in the altered state of affairs in Malabar. The mosque was an

ideal place for both mass meetings and religious congregations, and the distinction

between the two tended to become more and more blurred as the source of livelihood

of the Mappila tenant was increasingly threatened by the legal evictions of the English

legal systems in Malabar. The various reports on land litigation and on the Mappila

outbreaks in Malabar, particularly after 1830, demonstrate that several Mappila

leaseholders surreptitiously erected mosques on the lands of their Hindu landlords. It

was a defensive tactics adopted by them to prevent their eviction. In many cases these

mosques were only shanty constructions. Once they had ‘defiled’ the sacred land of

the janmis, the landlords required greater courage to institute legal proceedings for

eviction, for such attempts were resisted by the entire Mappila community.144 Thus

the new role of the Thangals and the mosques, though symbolic it may be, reinforced

the religious identity, unity and morale of the Mappila population of Malabar.

The analysis further shows that it was the general agrarian discount prevailed

in Malabar led to the continuous turmoil in the district, which continued even to the

twentieth century. In Malabar, we find that the traditional customary law of kana-

janma-maryada system was in practice and it functioned in its way without any social

or economic inhibitions. But After the occupation of Malabar by the British, the janmi

was constituted as the lord of the soil, and as such he began to exercise the power of

                                                            
143
T. L. Strange, Special Commissioner, Report on the Moplah Outrages in Malabar, 25 September,
1852, pp. 444-445
144
Malabar Collectorate Records, KRA, M 31A, Correspondence on Mappila Outrages,vol. 1, pp.
167-169.
227
 
evicting the tenants through the courts of justice. The tenants lost their permanency of

the possession of land and were liable to be ejected at any time by their landlords.

Moreover, their landlords attempted to extract the maximum from their tenants,

leading them to pursue a life of poverty and starvation. Again in Eranad and

Walluvanad taluks, the landed property was mostly owned by the Namboodiri

landlords and was the most tyrannical among the Malabar janmis. Thus the tenants,

always faced with the terror of eviction from the land they cultivated, led a life of

discontent and frustration, often leading to a number of major or minor outbreaks in

the region. These out breaks at many times ended with the assault and murder of the

janmis and their dependents.

Whatever, be the reason behind all these popular insurgencies of the Mappilas,

the early Mappila outbreaks were anti-colonial movements against the British in

Malabar. The occupation of Malabar by the English, the defeat of Tipu Sultan and the

restoration of the Hindu janmis under the protection of the East India Company

provoked the Mappilas to turn against them. The insecurity of the tenure and the

threat of eviction, the Company’s policy of pauperizing the peasantry through

exorbitant revenue demands and the stagnation of wet land economy due to the high

demand for cash crops were the instigating factors for the Mappilas to turn against

British in Malabar. Moreover, the Mappilas as a trading class lost their predominance

in trade and commerce under the East India Company. All these made the Mappilas to

turn against the Company and its organs in Malabar. Yet, one can observe that it had

the elements of anti-feudalism and anti-religious sentiments. The land lords, majority

of them were Hindu Namboodiris and Nairs, were regarded as the agents of the East

India Company by the rebels as they were guarded and protected by the Company’s

official machinery.
228
 
The restoration of the fled janmis to their old possessions by the Company,

after the occupation of Malabar in 1792, was a visible evidence for the Mappila

population of Malabar that the Company was supporting the janmis and so an ardent

reason to rebel against the English. Since most of the land lords in Malabar were

Hindus, it became a communal movement. Even then the rebels targeted only the rich

Hindu landlords and Government officials. They spared the poor Hindu tenants and

labourers and even the members of the family of the landlords, as evidenced from the

Manjeri and Kulathur uprisings. So the early Mappila uprising was not turned against

the Hindus and it was not an anti-Hindu movement. In these uprisings fanaticism,

thus, was not the motive force behind it. Even though they sought the blessings of the

Thangal or the Maulavi, or participated in religious ceremonies in the mosque, they

were not fanatic. But these religious activities and their religiosity had a definite

influence in these uprisings. It helped them to unite the Mappilas against their

common enemy, the English wherever it was required. The eschatological ideologies

offered by the rebels enabled more people to participate in the uprising

enthusiastically and voluntarily. These eschatological dreams and aspirations were

further intensified by the ballads and folk songs sung during these periods.145 These

ballads and folk songs romanticized the picture of the rebellion later and it played a

vital role among the Mappila community to unite them and develop an anti-British,

anti-janmi consciousness among them and it led to the rise of a militant tradition

among them. Thus the early Mappila outbreaks were an anti- colonial movement

against British in Malabar.

                                                            
145
For details of the ballads and folk songs of the Mappilas, see, William Logan, Malabar Manual, pp.
102-104.