Those who were punished with life Imprisonment during Moplah rebellion were being deported to Andaman Islands. The cellular jail there was notorious during the British days. The prisoners were subjected to inhuman torture there. Because of the adversities of climate and cruel torments many people including Malayali Moplahs who were involved in the rebellion had perished there. Those who were set free after the punishment inflicted by the British did not opt to return to Kerala. The British administration provided them with all facilities for a decent living. Thus they formed villages in Andaman Islands with Kerala names like Tirur, Kozhikode, Manjeri, Vandur, Mannarkkad, Nilambur etc. While seminars and prayer meetings are being held every year in honor of those killed in the mutiny even now, the subsequent generations of those who were imprisoned in cellular jail are spending their lives happily without even remembering anything about the Moplah rebellion. The courage and determination of Moplahs to achieve what they aimed at and even sacrifice their lives for it, is commendable. Even after they spent their precious years of life in jail, they did not forget their native land.
It will be more appropriate to write about the Malabar villages of Andaman and the lives of the present generation there, after briefly examining what was the state of affairs there centuries back when hardly any human inhabitation was there.
The practice of deporting offenders was prevalent among all nations of the world. Russia used to deport prisoners to snow covered Siberia. Political prisoners were also sent there. In Europe and Africa people were sent in exile to places where there was no human population. By the end of 18th century Indonesia used to extradite prisoners to Sumatra and Tennasaim Islands. It was the British who used to banish people to Andaman.
The Andaman Islands are situated in Bay of Bengal, at a distance of 1225 kilometers from Calcutta and 1191 kilometers from Chennai. Only 190 islands in the archipelago have names. The others are not only unnamed but inaccessible to men.The biggest island has a length of 352 kilometers. The total area of all Islands together comes to 6215 square kilometers. There is a volcano in Barren Island. The Malays used to call the Island “Humdaman”
The uninhibited island was used by seagoing vessels as an interim stop while on long voyages. It was because there were facilities for anchoring ships and supply of fresh water, seafarers used it as an interim stop. A traveller named Nicholocort had written that the island was a camp of sea pirates from Malaya and Sayam etc. and they used to catch the local inhabitants and sell them in other markets as slaves. The people from outside world are scared of the aboriginal tribes of the island. A general fear was that they were all cannibals. Even now there is a fear about inhabitants of Jeruba Island. But there are presently only two tribes who shun any contact with outside world. Mr. Brown, the famous anthropologist has compared the inhabitants of Andaman with the tribes of Arakkan range in Burma. Some others have linked them to Nigaho group and Somango tribe of Malaya. Comparisons have also been made with Veddavo of Srilanka and Tapiro of New Guinea.
It was the British East India Company which examined the possibilities of populating Andaman Islands. Lord Cornwallis consulted Captain Archibald Blaire who was an expert in oceanography and after detailed discussions formed a draft of Andaman Project in 1788. On 28th September 1789, Blaire reached Chatham Island of Andaman along with a few laborers. Soon after landing he positioned one cannon there announcing the arrival of Britain in the island. The workers were utilized to clear the forest and construct huts. A fresh water tank was also built. By 1790 he brought more workers from Calcutta and prepared lands for agriculture. He also conducted a few surveys and gave a detailed report to the company after coming back to Calcutta. The place was ideal for keeping convicts. Along with undergoing the punishment they can be utilized to clear the forests and build roads. They will also help in building houses. But it is to be ensured that only very healthy and robust people were sent there. Then only they can be put to tough work of making these difficult and unoccupied Islands fit for agriculture and human occupation.
This report was approved by Lord Cornwallis. In November 1794, though 50 prisoners were brought from Bengal none of whom survived more than a year. After this, it was decided that the project of Blaire will not work and was dropped.
On November 23rd of 1857 one Frederick was deputed to make a study of Andaman project. He recommended in his report that the project can be resumed and prisoners brought here. In 1858, though 800 prisoners were brought to the island, because of the hostile surroundings and horrible state of living many of them tried to escape through ships. Those who attempted escape were caught and executed by hanging on trees by the British. Almost 320 prisoners perished due to various deceases. At that time there were no buildings to house the prisoners and they were kept in the open with in a fenced area in Ras Island.
The prisoners were compelled to work very hard to clear the forests and prepare the land for cultivation. There were political prisoners as well as notorious criminals. The Patan and Baluchi jailors tortured them to the maximum extent. By May 1864 the number of prisoners became 6955. In 1872 a law was passed to restrict the period of imprisonment for life convicts to 20-25 years.
It was in 1879 that the project for construction of a pucca jail building in Andaman was initiated with seven rows having three floors with each row consisting of 100 cells. In the center there will be tower from which the one guard alone can watch all the 800 prisoners. In a corner there was the execution chamber too. The construction was completed in 1905. Each prisoner was subjected to inhuman torture and this notorious jail was known as Cellular jail. With the increase in number of convicts, an additional jail was constructed by its side known as Associate jail. This was capable of housing 500 prisoners.
Variyankunnan Moideenkutty Haji of Payyanand Nellikkunnu who participated in the Mannarkkad riot of 1894 and his uncle Punnakkadan Chekku Haji were put in the Cellular jail. Moideenkutty Haji is the father of Kunjahammad Haji. Both died while in Andaman jail in 1912 and 1913 respectively. It was since 1922 April that life convicts involved in Moplah rebellion were sent to Andaman since all the local jails had become full. Banishing to Andaman was considered equal to death during those periods.
The Moplahs from Malabar were being ferried to Port Blair from Madras in a ship called Maharaja. The families of those who were thus deported became destitute and landed themselves in perpetual misery. Aggrieved about their deported husbands, sons and fathers and without any hope of meeting them again in life, the women folk spent their days in endless grief.
There was no practice of using Malayalam language in Andaman jail. The convicts suffered a lot due to this also. It was in June 1922 that the jail manual was revised permitting the use of Malayalam also there. The other approved languages were English, Hindi, Persian, Bengali, Telugu, Guajarati, Burmese, Gurumukhi, Sinhalese and Tamil before that.
Though initially, the convicts were subjected to mental and physical inhuman torture by the jail officials, changes took place in their attitudes afterwards. Those who were undergoing jail term in Andaman were allowed to bring their families to the island. In 1924 September, a decision was made to provide land and accommodation to such families under a scheme called “Andaman Scheme”
This proposal from the British was accepted by the Moplah prisoners wholeheartedly. Considering the 258 applications received a group of 468 people consisting of the wives and children of these convicts were brought to Andaman. All the 258 people had completed their term and were already let out and were engaged in agriculture. Another 875 Moplahs were also released shortly after completion of their term. While they too had applied to bring their families to the Island complaints against the Andaman scheme surfaced. The complaint was neither for the convicts nor their family members. It was for leaders like Mohammad Abdu Rehman Sahib etc. His camp of followers accused that the plan was to slowly extradite all Moplahs from Malabar. In the face of such accusations, the government stopped the plan.
The role played by the Malabar Moplahs in the growth of Andaman Islands is indeed great. The same British government, who tortured the Moplah mutineers mentally and physically during and after the rebellion, reestablished them by providing land and accommodation. No prisoner had ever declined to accept these gifts from the British saying that they had fought for freedom from British tyranny and did not need any freebies from the imperialist forces.
Kottakkal Kunjipokkar,Ottapalam Parakkal Kutti Bava, Thiruvizhamkunnu thettatthil Kutti bava, Munniyur Chemban Alikkutty who was Ali Muslyars disciple, Manjeri Elamkoor Kuttissery Ahamad, Nellimanni brothers Kunju Moideen and Kunjeen, Vallapuzha Alikkal Kunjayamu, Melmuri pallyalil Kunjali, Alanallur variyath Kuunjali, Mattatthur Paryadath Kunjalan, Pattambi Muthuthala velakkaran Mammi, Edathanattukara Puthur Hamza, Thootha karalmanna Veetikkad desam Moosas sons of Mammad known as Mahali brothers,Mannarkkad Kumaramputhur Poovakkundil Veerankutty, Thootha Parakkalathl Moideen,Parakkalathil Kunjeedu, Karuvarakkundu Mattummal Marakkar, Attummal Ahamadkutty, etc were some of the Moplahs who settled in Andaman with the help from British government. None of those who participated in the mutiny is alive today. Their descendants are still living in Andaman. Many have got into the government services too in the Andaman.
The Cellular jail which was notorious for cruel tortures is now a museum. Many parts of the building built during the British period are now being protected and maintained. In the olden days there was only one ship sailing to Andaman. Presently there are 5 voyage ships namely, M V Swaraj Deep, M V Narcowary, M V Nicobar, M. V. Harshavardhan, and M. V Akbar.
The names of Eranadan villages in Andaman will appear too cute for the new generation in Malabar. The distance from Port Blair to Tirur is 36 kilometers. From Tirur there is a bus to Manjeri. There is a Calicut post office in Calicut and schools in Tirur. Coconut and Arecanut palms grow in plenty here like in Eranad. Vandoor in Malabar is not a well developed area. But the Vandoor in Andaman is a famous center proud of holding a national park called Mahatma Gandhi Marine National park. It is about 29 kilometers from Port Blair.
It may be said that the convicts of Moplah Rebellion 1921 who were extradited to Andaman caused the all round development of the much neglected but pristine natural beauty of the exotic island.
