Since first week of September 1921, there were no further reports of any untoward incidents from Malabar. However the government got information that the present tranquility was just a breather before another series of violence. Only Ali Musalyar and a few of his followers had been arrested. The rest of rioters were safely roaming around in rebellion affected areas. Those who led the mutiny were still continuing their Islamic reign in various places. The government wanted to ensure that none of those rioters were left alive.They had the responsibility to ensure peace and respect for law in Malabar. Before commencement of the military action there were instructions not to target non culprits and create problems for them. In case of another offensive by the army it was not possible to say who will be hit and who will not be. Chances are there that non guilty also might be affected in the action. There won’t be any respite to distinguish guilty and not – guilty during an offensive. The government had been contemplating on these lines during the period. The areas were put under military rule from 1st September 1921 onwards. Major general Barnett Stuart took charge as the first Military Commander in Malabar.
The army proclaimed another Order as a second sub clause to Order no: 5 of Ordinance no: 11 of 1921.
“Those who stay in Kozhikode Municipality and villages around it including those who ordinarily stay in Eranad, Valluvanad and Ponnani Taluks, should not extend any help to those engaged in the Moplah rebellion. This order is proclaimed by virtue of the powers vested in me as Military Commander of area put under military rule. In case any Moplahs belonging to Eranad, Valluvanad or Ponnani taluks approach you for stay or shelter, the matter should be immediately reported to the nearest Police station. This is an order to all householders. Those who disregard the above commands will be punished under respective regulations of martial law.”
- F. Thomas. (District Magistrtate)
The number 1 clause under the above order was as under.
“No Muslim should travel by train without a pass allotted by a Magistrate or a police officer not below rank of a Sub Inspector, in areas brought under martial law, i.e. Eranad, Valluvanad, and Ponnani Taluks, or enter or leave these places without such pass. This order is issued by me as approved by the Military commander in charge of these places”. (E. F. Thomas, District Magistrate)
Once martial law was imposed leaders of the insurgency like Variankunnath Kunjahammad Haji and his associates, escaped to remote forests and went into hiding. It is also said that Kunjahamad Haji went into hiding immediately after the arrest of Ali Musalyar. Moplahs were being rounded up in large numbers. Many who had no role in the insurgency were also picked up. In some cases army shot them dead without arrests even.
Within 27 days of Major General Stuart taking over charge as commander in Malabar almost 2000 Moplahs were arrested and put behind bars. Another 1000 were shot dead. On September 27th, the Major General in his letter addressed to the Commander in Chief of Southern India admitted that still there were more insurgents active on the field, than their number five weeks back. He also demanded for more force to be sent to the affected areas. Consequently a battalion of Chin Katchins from Assam – Burma border –(Mountain tribe of Assam) and a Gurkha battalion were also dispatched to Malappuram. In addition to this a special police force of 700 members also reached the place. The army conducted close searches in areas affected by the turmoil. The military arrested those who supported the Khilafat movement like M.P.Narayana Menon, Parambot Achuthan Kutty, Mozhikkunnath Brahmadattan Nambudiri, etc. They also arrested those Congress leaders who had earlier supported but later opposed the unjustifiable atrocities committed in the name of Khilafat and severed all connections with the movement like, K.Kelappan, K.V.Balakrishna Menon etc. Moidu Moulavi who went around giving fiery speeches supporting the Moplah rebellion was also picked up. The Hindus who were all along scared of the belligerent Muslims found great relief only after the arrival of British army. The Hindus could not do anything against the Muslims who indiscriminately engaged in murder, forced conversion and rape of Hindu women and spoiled an atmosphere of peaceful life. They were not united due to the strong cast system prevalent then. When army started arresting trouble mongers and maintaining peace, the Hindus felt greatly relieved.
Keraladheeswarapuram is in between Tirur and Thanur. There were many Moplahs who actively participated in the mutiny concentrated there. They were engaged in extensive looting. Their Khilafat agitation consisted of only threatening and stealing gold and money. The Moplahs who entered the Mangat Mana in Keraladheeswarapuram, tied the Nambudiri, who was eldest member of the family and quite old, to a chair and poured kerosene over his head. Then they demanded gold and money and threatened to set him on fire unless he obliged them. The Nambudiri paid the ransom and saved his life. Then they destroyed the very old Kalad Vamana Murthy temple nearby. The Hundi, brass lamps, and utensils were all stolen. This temple was attacked once during the time of Hyder and Tipu. Those who were then converted had occupied major portion of all landed property which belonged to the temple. The temple is near the beach. Many people used to assemble there to perform “Vavu Bali”(Annual offerings to the deceased souls) This has since been abandoned due to the extensive forced conversions that followed the Hyder/Tipu attacks and subsequent Moplah rebellions. The residents of Keraldheeswarapuram had to put up with several such outrages committed by Moplahs in their area.
Knowing that army has come to Keraladheeswarapuram, the Moplahs went into hiding. Some hid themselves in own houses without getting noticed. The Chaliyas (Weavers) of Puthantheru came out of their homes seeing the army. They were anxious to know what the army was going to do. The army searched houses and arrested 24 Moplahs and took them away. Some of the hiding Moplahs who escaped arrests came out and attacked the Chaliayans accusing them of espionage. They attempted to kill five of them. These people sustained very serious injuries. On October 6th the armed Moplahs again attacked the lane where the Chaliyas were living. The firsthand experience of this incident narrated by Peranchery Krishnan Nair and Mele peediyakkal Moideen are appended elsewhere in this book. Moideen had narrowly escaped from the police firing.
The rebellion commenced again once the army moved to Pandikkad. The Hindus ran away towards Palakkad. Variyankunnath Kunjahamad Haji who was in exile returned and started his Islamic reign once again. The Namboodiri bank at Manjeri was looted. Some books say that the pledged ornaments were returned to their owners. But the truth is that those Muslims who actively participated in the insurgency, killing Hindus and looting their property were found suddenly getting rich overnight. Variyankunnath Kunjahamad Haji’s house is situated in Nellikkuth near Pandikkad, Manjeri. His attempt was to re-establish Islamic rule by forming a parallel government based at Nilambur. He proclaimed as under.
“None should be seen outside after noon. Government officers should not be given any accommodation. Without my recognized pass none can leave the place where my authority is supreme. In my country there is no “Kanam” (leasing of land). Those who possess land will be hereafter, all Jenmis (owners). No one need pay any taxes this year. Next year taxes will be judiciously refixed which should be remitted.”
These were the rules of law implemented by Kunjahamad Haji. The gist of it being that next year all tax should be remitted to him only. He also appointed persons to official positions of Collector, Governor, Viceroy and King. He implemented Shariyat law (Islamic Law) imitating a British style. Kumaramputhur Seethikoya Thangal also formed a government like this.
After an interval the Moplah insurgency raised its ugly head again at various places. Once Gorkha and Chin Kachin forces started suppressing the mutiny, the Muslim rioters started moving through narrow footpaths of rural areas. The army was patrolling the main roads only. While the army patrolled the main roads, the insurgents were simultaneously actively engaged in killing and looting in the rural areas.
To expose the recklessness of the Moplah army led by Variyankunnath Ahamad Haji one incident that happened at Pandikkad needs to be cited. The Moplah army once raided the Gorkha camp and killed 15 soldiers. In retaliation, the Gorkhas exterminated the entire Muslim force.
To protect the areas under his reign Kunjahamad Haji detailed his Moplah force extensively. To pay their salaries, he looted treasuries and banks. Those who have written nice things about him claim that even Hindus used to go to him seeking justice. Same time newspaper reports about his forced conversions murders and plundering had infuriated him. He suspected that if such reports were read by British officials, their anger towards him will increase. To show that in his reign there is equality and he enjoys the support of every one, he wrote a letter to the “Hindu” newspaper. He also threatened the editor in a personal letter with dire consequences if the letter was not published. The Hindu published it as a letter sent from Pandalam.
The Hindu, October 18, 1921.
Pandalam
09-10-1921
Dear Editor,
I request you to publish this letter in your newspaper.
Newspapers report that Hindu Muslim unity has totally been destroyed in Malabar. The report that my people are forcefully converting Hindus is utterly wrong. The truth is that secret agents of Police do such heinous things and try to create bad name for me. My men would have hurt some Hindus who support the government. The Nilambur Raja of sixth lineage and the Namboodiri mentioned in your paper are the root cause behind the rebellion. It is not surprising that they had to suffer some difficulties. The army commander is forcibly evicting poor Hindus from their homes and sending them to army camps. Innocent women and children are not being allowed to keep away from war zones. Hindus are being compelled to join army. To escape from it they have taken refuge on my hill. Many Muslims are also there. The government could not do anything so far except torturing innocent people. They are hunting the poor people of Malabar for the past four-five months. Let this be known to everyone in the world. Let Mahatma Gandhi know of this. Let Moulana know of this.
If this letter is not published I will be asking for explanation from you.
(Variyankunnath Kunjahamad Haji)
When the army started arresting Muslims extensively, they decided to surrender en mass and this greatly upset the Mappilah kings. Everywhere there were groups of Hindus who had left their houses and were wandering about out of fear for Muslim rioters. A committee named “Malabar Agathi Samrakshana Samithi” was formed to provide them with help and security. The committee was formed under the leadership of Collector E.F. Thomas. At the request of Collector, the Zamorin of Kozhikode took over as the President of the Samithi on 8th October 1921.
A few lines from the notice published by the Malabar Relief committee are appended.
Gentlemen,
It is clear from the following that all possible help should be extended to the victims who come from areas affected by the insurgency, to Kozhikode and other places intended as relief centers. It need not be stated that the rich as well as the poor have suffered heavily both physically, mentally and financially from the Moplah rebellion. But to protect them till the rebellion is crushed, is our duty. In addition to this it is also necessary to provide them with essential things according to their social status till they are able to live independently as before. In this connection realizing that protecting destitute Moplah women and children is also our duty, necessary arrangements have been made at Quilandy for them too. Financial help for this purpose is sought from every one which may be sent to Imperial Bank Kozhikode favoring Malabar Relief Committee and intimate it to Rao Bahadur T.M.Appu Nedungadi. I hope that you will encourage your friends also to donate money to this fund.
Yous…..(S/d)
The office of the Malabar Relief Committee was functioning in Dutt’s building at Kozhikode.
The camps were at Perintalmanna, Mankada, Iringallur, Mayanad, Chavakkad, Kottakkal, Manjeri, Kavalappara, Pattambi, Ottapalam, and Quilandy. There were two camps at Quilandy– one for Hindus and the other for Muslims. (Those Muslims who opposed the atrocities committed in the name of Khilafat and had to run away from their homes were the inmates of the camp.) Camps were also setup in Palakkad, Edavanna, Malappuram, Vadakara and Angadippuram. A total of 21808 inmates were in these camps. One man’s food expenses per day in the camp were two annas and three pais. (About 15 paise) Many refugees were accommodated in the Zamorin’s palaces also. The leader of Kavalappara relief camp was Col. Appukkuttanunni Mooppil Nair of Kavalappara Kottaram. Appukkuttanunni Mooppil Nair had taken special care to ensure that the Moplah insurgency did not spread to areas under his control. The Kavalappara Mooppil Nair had the powers to ensure law and order if necessary by resorting to instant slaying of culprits.
Once during the insurgency Moplah culprits who tried to rape two Hindu women were caught and dumped alive into a dark underground rock chamber to ensure them with a slow pain full death. The rock chambers were of eight feet square and eight feet depth. The mounted troops of Mooppil Nair while taking rounds through Mundakkottukursi heard the wails of women from a house. When the soldiers broke open the doors of the house, they saw four Moplahs trying to rape two women. Once they saw the soldiers of Mooppil Nair, the Moplahs tried to escape but were caught. They were severely caned and then dumped into the rock chamber. It is seen from the history of Kavalppara that the leader of the Muslim gang who committed murders in Nilambur kovilakam were also brought here and dumped into the rock chamber after severing his limbs.
Those Moplahs arrested by the army were brought to Tirur and were later transported to Bellari in railway goods wagon. Many had been deported to Andaman Islands also. Immediately after the arrests the martial court used to pronounce imprisonment to the accused. The prisoners had to be shifted to Bellari since there was no space to keep them in Kannur jail. A wagon marked MSMLV 1711 belonging to South Maratha Company had taken several trips towards south transporting prisoners from Tirur railway station. The tragedy this wagon caused on November 20th 1921 was equal to the Thuvvur massacre.
After dumping 122 prisoners in this wagon, the doors were closed and securely bolted from outside. When the train reached Poddanur station and the door of the wagon was opened to take out the prisoners, what the station master saw was frightening and caused blood in his veins to freeze. 64 people were dead due to choking and asphyxia. Many others were lying half dead. Those who were alive were allowed to get down but the dead bodies were not allowed to be taken out by the station master. As a result the wagon had to be returned to Tirur with the dead bodies.44 bodies were buried in Korangath mosque and 8 bodies in Kot Jumaat mosque. The bodies of 6 Hindus were buried in a laterite stone quarry at Muthurkunnu.
The first person experience of Konnola Ahamed Haji who survived from the ill-fated wagon tragedy is given in the next chapter.
A Committee consisting of Sarvashri Abbas Ali, Retired Presidency Magistrate, Madras, Kalladi Moidutty of Mannarghat, Manjeri Sundarayyar, Advocate and Mr. N Nap as Chairman was constituted to enquire about the wagon tragedy. The Committee took evidence from railway officials, Police officers, Coimbatore medical officer etc. Medical officer Ram gave evidence that the Moplahs died due to asphyxia. Since the British authorities influenced the witnesses, many were not prepared to give the correct evidence. The Railway officials stated that since the wagon was newly painted the breathing holes were temporarily blocked by the paint and this caused choking. (It is to be noted that the same wagon was used to transport prisoners several times in the past when no such untoward incident happened.)The committee got information that 122 people were dumped in the wagon. About 2000 prisoners had been transported like this 32 times in the past.
Though the investigations were over no follow up action was taken. On the basis of the report the government declared a compensation of Rs. 300 each to the survivors of the deceased.
Divan Bahadur Krishnan Nair raised ten questions regarding the wagon tragedy in the Madras Legislative Council. These questions were not approved by the council.
The army action, surrender of the insurgents and their trial and punishment were all going on in full swing simultaneously. On 20th January 1922, Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji was shot dead by the army at Kottakkunnu, Malappuram and that marked the end of Moplah rebellion.
