Why in the News?

This newscard is an excerpt from the original articles published in The Hindu.

About the Malabar Revolt:

Nature: Also known as the Moplah or Mappila Rebellion, it was a major uprising in the Malabar region of Kerala.
Causes:
- Exploitative land tenure policies and high rents on tenant farmers.
- Lack of tenure security and arbitrary evictions by Hindu Jenmi landlords.
- A tradition of smaller Moplah uprisings since the 19th century.
Immediate trigger: British attempts to arrest Khilafat leaders in Eranad and Valluvanad during the Khilafat and Non-Cooperation Movements.
Character: Combined anti-colonial resistance, agrarian unrest, and communal violence, making it one of the most complex uprisings of the freedom struggle.
Beginning: Revolt broke out on 20 August 1921, with attacks on police stations, British offices, and landlord property.
British Response: Martial law, mass troop deployment, brutal suppression by early 1922.
Leaders:
- Variyamkunnath Kunjahammed Haji: Set up a parallel Khilafat government in Nilambur.
- Ali Musaliar: Spiritual guide, revered locally, executed by British.
- Sayyid Alavi Tangal: religious inspiration for resistance.

Parallel Government: Rebels briefly established parallel administration in parts of Malabar.
Casualties: 2,337 rebels killed, over 45,000 imprisoned, nearly 10,000 missing.
Violence: Widespread communal killings, forced conversions, destruction of temples and homes.
Wagon Tragedy (Nov 1921): 67 Moplah prisoners suffocated to death in a railway wagon.
Impact: Large-scale displacement, ruined villages, families uprooted.
Political Shift: Indian National Congress initially supported the anti-British nature, but withdrew after communal excesses.

Bipan Chandra: Saw it primarily as a peasant/agrarian revolt.
Sumit Sarkar: Interpreted it as an anti-landlord revolt.
Colonial View: Framed as a communal rebellion to weaken anti-British legitimacy.
Recent Scholarship: Abbas Panakkal highlights it as part of Khilafat and Non-Cooperation, initially uniting Hindus and Muslims.
E.M.S. Namboodiripad, Saumyendranath Tagore: Called it a spontaneous peasant uprising against colonial oppression.
Recognition: Many rebels are honoured as freedom fighters by Kerala government, though debates continue whether to classify it as anti-colonial, agrarian, or communal.

[UPSC 2020] With reference to the history of India, “Ulgulan” or the Great Tumult is the description of which of the following events?

Options:

(a) The Revolt of 1857 (b) The Mappila Rebellion of 1921 (c) The Indigo Revolt of 1859 – 60 (d) Birsa Munda’s Revolt of 1899-1900*