How did he get to India and carry on with his mission? It all started in 1699 for the 18 year old Hanxleden, after his completion of philosophical studies. Fr William Weber was at that time touring Germany to find the right candidates for the new Jesuit mission planned at Calicut.  Weber was impressed with the earnest man, justly named Earnest and took him for further tests at Augsburg where he was provisionally accepted into the Society of Jesus. Little were the missionaries to know how difficult the days ahead were going to be. They set out for India in Oct 1699 by ship to Turkey, then by land through Persia and by sea from Bandar Abbas to India, all of which took a full year. His mentor Weber and a companion Fr Mayer died during this voyage and Kaspar Schillinger a barber was the only one left with Earnest when they reached Surat in Dec 1700. Hanxleden moved to Goa shortly thereafter and we come to know of many of these events from the diaries of Schillinger.

At Goa, Hanxleden joined the St Paul’s college for Jesuits and after completing his novitiate (period of training and preparation that a member of a religious institute has to undergo prior to taking vows, in order to discern whether he is indeed called to the religious life) proceeded to Kerala, the place he was destined to serve at. Proceeding to Ambazhakaad, he got formally ordained and started out with religious teaching of his subjects. But his real interest was language and literature and he soon moved to Pazhur, with an intention to learn Sanskrit.

During that period there existed a famous Sanskrit college in Trissur. That he learned Sanskrit at Trichur is clear and it was a center for such studies at that time. The Chovvannoor "Sabha Madam" was the seat for such studies, but Ernst had no admission there as a non-Brahmin. Somehow a couple of Brahmins were enticed with presents and brought to Pazhur and from them Hanxleden learnt Sanskrit and Malayalam off and on for a long period of 10 years. The Brahmins were perhaps named Kunjan and Krishnan according to PJ Thomas.

Hanxleden was a short and sickly person, and apparently inarticulate in speech, but was a master with his pen. We know a little bit of his life actually from Fr Paulinus’s (the famous Carmelite scholar) writings.By1708 he had associated with Archbishop Ribeiro of Cranganore and started his missionary work in the Trissur area and Calicut and by 1712 he had retired to Veilur. Around 1729 he moved back to Ambazhakad and Pazhur and in 1732, he breathed his last at Pazhur. Riberiro himself had a lot of problems establishing himself in Cranganore, for that was in Dutch hands at that time and so he had to operate from the Zamorin controlled Puthenchira area.

Various factions were then in existence and the St Thomas Christians were in the grip of the Padroado Propaganda rivalry. Interestingly the Propaganda supporter Ernest was still accepted by thePadroado Portuguese at Goa! At that point in time, the Jesuits under the Padroado and the Carmelites under the Propaganda were vying with each other for the control of the Christians of Kerala. Hanxleden naturally took the side of the Jesuit Archbishop of Cranganore and worked as his secretary. Hanxelden’s task was to wean the Malayalee Christians to the Ribeiro Catholic fold. To make matters worse, an East Syrian - Mar Gabriel landed on the scene. But let us get to the rivalry so as to understand it better.

When the Portuguese were the principal European colonizers in India their King accepted the burden of supporting missions in the East and received a Padroado monopoly or the patronage of these missions. As time passed and the power of the Portuguese in India was shaken, this arrangement became no longer suitable and the Dutch refused to tolerate a Portuguese priest within the Dutch territories and their various spheres of influence in India. The papal Propaganda was therefore compelled to send to India, missionaries of nationalities other than Portuguese. The Portuguese resented this and even disputed the power of the Pope. This dispute lasted for more than two hundred years and as historians detail, did much harm to Christian missions in India.

Visscher, in his Letters from Malabar, says:— "At present there are two Bishops, Mar Gabriel, and Mar Thomas, who do not agree well together, as each of them, especially the latter, claims authority over the other. Mar Gabriel, a white man and sent hither from Bagdad, is aged and venerable in appearance, and dresses nearly in the same fashion as the Jewish priests of old, wearing a cap fashioned like a turban and a long white beard. He is courteous and God-fearing and not at all addicted to extravagant pomp. Bound his neck he wears a golden crucifix. He lives with the utmost sobriety, abstaining from animal food. He holds the Nestorian doctrine respecting the union of the two natures in our Saviour's person. Mar Thomas, the other bishop is a Native of Malabar. He is dull and slow of understanding. He lives in great state; and when he came into the city to visit the Commandeur, he was attended by a number of soldiers bearing swords and shields, in imitation of the Princes of Malabar. He wears on his head a silken cowle, embroidered with crosses, in form much resembling that of the Carmelites. He is a weak minded rhodomontader and boasted greatly to us of being a Eutychian in his creed, accusing the rival bishop of heresy. According to his own account, he has forty-five churches under his authority the remainder adhering to Bishop Gabriel."

It appears Hanxelden was not too successful in his evangelization efforts. He moved on to Chetuva, Muthedath, then to Calicut finally returned to Velur where he built a chapel and took up residence and eventually started writing. Hanxleden, then became the vicar of St. Francis Forane Church Velur, which, according to many, was established by him. As per the legends it was while here that some hostile fellow Christians tried to assassinate Hanxleden. He was believed to have been tipped-off by a woman in the area about the plot to kill him. Ernst made a dummy of himself and positioned it on his cot with the priestly gown on. The assailants hacked the dummy and fled thinking that they had actually killed Arnos Padre, who was in fact clandestinely watching the whole scene. He, however, decided to leave Velur that night itself and spent his remaining years of life at a church in Pazhuvil. His cot can still be found at the church there as reported in the Hindu.

tropical location such as Mount Rinjani, Indonesia, El Chichón, Mexico; or Quilotoa, Ecuador. Observed effects of the eruption include the following anecdotal accounts: dry fog in France; lunar eclipses in England; severe winter in Europe; a "harsh" spring in Northern Iceland; famine in England, Western Germany, France, and Northern Italy; and pestilence in London, parts of France, Austria, Iraq, Syria, and South-East Turkey. This event is still being studied and the previous locations as well as locations in Saudi Arabia were finally discounted and the present focus is at the Rinjani Volcano of Indonesia.The eruption was so big that it injected somewhere between 190-270 megatons of ash and other material into the atmosphere (or 300 and 600 megatons of sulfuric acid). This was one of the possible triggers to the little ice age.
History of Medieval Kerala – VKR Menon

The complete account of the little ‘French Loge’ at Calicut and its impact on the mighty British establishment is a lengthy topic which I will not cover in detail here. Nevertheless, one can conclude that the Calicut loge was a thorn in the British flesh. This small area of Calicut created many an administrative issue for the British bureaucracy (I guess it was the French idea of fun, during their mundane stay at Malabar, sans wine, women and gaiety) some quite silly and it was only later and closer to Indian independence that affirmative action was finally taken, to close the loge once and for all. This 6-7 acre plot thus lasted as French property for all of 246 years after its establishment in 1701.

Before all that, in that fishing area where the French loge was situated, the perimeter contained a small factory and some private houses as you can see from the French maps posted here.  The name of Loge was given to ‘factories or isolated establishments comprehending one house with the adjacent grounds where some commercial activity was undertaken’, especially storage and processing of pepper for shipping to Westerly locations. Not many are too sure about when it was established and some of the earliest comments about it, oft repeated by others, were provided by our esteemed collector Logan, in his manual. He states, with that English tilt stamped purposefully, thus….

The French have a Loge -Occupée par un gardien (Loge or Comptoir is an isolated factory or establishment where France had the right to fly its flag and to form factories)in Calicut. The loge consists of 6 acres on the sea shore about a half mile north of the light house and adjoins the old district Jail site. The exact facts connected with the foundation of the French factory are involved in doubt. It was apparently obtained by the French from the Zamorin, but there is nothing to lead to the supposition that the Zamorin had ever conceded to them anything more than mere commercial privileges within the limits of the Loge. The Zamorin appeared to have exercised fiscal and judicial authority within its limits – an authority which neither Hyder Ali nor Tipu Sultan ever bestowed on the French after the Zamorin’s power ceased.

Beyond the fact that the landed property and the house are untaxed, there is nothing to distinguish the Loge from the rest of Calicut. It is doubtful what rights the French government has in it. As it has been altogether omitted from the treaty of Versailles, dated the 3^rd Sept 1783, it has been held that the French has no sovereign rights in it. The Loge was restored to the French on 1^stFeb 1819. In the first capitulation of Mahe made by Monsieur Louet, Commander in Chief of the Garrison at Mahe, and signed on 10^th Feb 1761, it was agreed in Article 9 that ‘the French factory at Calicut shall be suffered quietly to enjoy the privileges of neutrality observed there’.

MO Koshy (Dutch power in Kerala p144) points out that the Loge was first built in 1701. By 1722, the French had moved major operations to Mahe. Anyway it went on to do its business, albeit quietly in a small scale until their newfound friends the Mysore Sultans decided to venture south. That was when the French equations with the English in Malabar started to change.

The Calcutta Review (1903) article on Imperial Calicut provides the next tidbit as follows - Meanwhile, we find that in 169S the French also had managed to establish a factory in the place (Calicut), though at this time they were apparently not doing much, for Hamilton tells us they neither had money nor credit and were "not in a condition to carry on trade. The French quarter or loge, as it is called, still exists as one of the foreign dependencies of the Republic, but it yields absolutely no material return to France, and the wonder is that France should cling to it so tenaciously when she might any day obtain a fairly good price for the land from the British Government.” W Francis in his South India gazetteer also opines that it was started in 1698. He states that it went to British hands thrice during the wars and was reinstated to the French in 1819 and was located south of the pier. So we can perhaps infer that a pier (perhaps the Calicut landing) existed well before the British built one in the mid1800’s. Murkot Ramunny in his book Ezhimala states that the French Calicut factory of 1698 was started after their unsuccessful experiments at Tellicherry. However Shantini in her doctoral thesis re- confirms that 1701 was the year when it was established.

Following the transfer back to French hands, the Loge was a source of continuous irritation to the British and many an argument rested on Abkari or spirit sale rights as well as commerce undertaken from the French premises. The British had a spirit monopoly in Calicut and when the French opened shop, it was an affront to both the meager profits from Calicut but also to their sovereignty. They took offence and a number of missives were launched at each other. Let us take a look at some of those amusing episodes, but note here that the Calicut Loge was administered from Mahe and the Adhikari or man responsible for the outfit at Calicut was referred in French terms as the concierge. By mutual agreement no taxes were collected by the French or the English.

The most alarming was when the French planned to open a French port in front of the loge in 1865. Even though it was not a real possibility, the British were overly worried of competition, with the threat of the French sponsored opening of the Suez Canal as a backdrop (already the biggest global challenge to British supremacy over the ocean trade). This was when the British decided that from then on, sovereign rights would not be accorded to the Loge’s. The British argument was that the British inherited the rights from the Mysore sultans and the Zamorin and that the French only had commercial rights.

But by and far, the incident that provides most amusement is the one recounted by Akhila in her absorbing paper titled L’Inde retrouvee, Loss and sovereignty in French Calicut 1867-1868. I will provide an overview with all acknowledgements to her and many thanks for telling us the story.

As you can see, this takes us to French Loge in Calicut during 1867 with people of all types involved. There is D’Souza and D’Mello of Portuguese heritage, a Saldanha also of Portuguese extract, a Mr Bass of unknown (perhaps Portuguese) heritage, the Volkart brothers a Swiss company, the English bureaucracy and the residents of Calicut. As the story goes, Mr Bass lent some money to Mr R D’Souza, his brother in law. In lieu of the money, D’Souza gave Bass a horse, a carriage and some furniture as a payoff. These were sizeable objects and Bass did not have a place to put them in, nor as it appears, did he want to sell it. Let us not try to get to their motives (to me they were ulterior as you will soon agree), but Bass parked the carriage in the compound of a house belonging to one D’Mello and the furniture and horse in the house of one Saldanha (both these people being residents in the premises of the French Loge at Calicut). The horse ate its grass in a new location, munching away happily I suppose, the carriage rusted in the sea air in D’Mello’s shed and the furniture gathered dust. But events otherwise kicked into the next gear quickly.

Now comes along the Volkart brothers (agents and exporters), who if you will recall had a warehouse along the beach, perhaps adjoining the French. They were owed money by this D’Souza (It looks like he made a habit of borrowing money and not returning it) and as Volkart did not get it back, filed suit. D’Souza rushed to Cochin and Madras to argue and settle the case during this messy period.

The court decided that what Ansell did was wrong and stated that the property attachment was illegal as they were located in French boundaries where British law was not exercisable. However even though Bass was able to provide evidence that he acquired this property from D’Souza legally, he was sentenced to 6 months simple imprisonment. Soon D’Souza returned and he was also caught and dumped in the nearby jail on similar charges. D’Mello and his father however, had to be released soon, as they were residents within French boundaries.

D’Mello was indignant as he was being tried by the British and repeatedly asked the authorities in Mahe & Pondicherry to intervene and provide proof that the Loge residents indeed had French rights. It does not appear he got any real support. But he also quietly tried to use the declining situation to his own advantage. He told the people in Mahe that the problems were due to a weak and powerless Adhikari the French had appointed to oversee French rights and that he D’Mello, would be a better candidate instead, for the future, perhaps in an elevated role as a resident.

Bontemps in Pondicherry then took up the case in Madras as another instance of British disregard for international treaties. He also specifically complained about the British disregard for proprietorship in the case of Calicut.

Anyway as the authorities argued on, we come to the end of this interesting event, so what would have happened to D’Mello case? After the sentence was passed, the horse and the carriage were returned to him. D’Mello knew what odds were stacked against him. He refused to take them back and insisted that since the British had unlawfully seized them, they themselves had to return it to him.  Think about it, the property was still up for seizure in British territory, but not from French territory.  The court was in British territory, and so if D’Mello sat on the carriage himself, he would set himself up for re-arrest. The magistrate refused to deliver them back to him and D’Mello had no choice but to take possession of the horse and the carriage. As soon as he did it, the police seized the carriage and this time promptly sold it off. What happened to the horse is not known; perhaps it languished in eth Zamorin’s stable sin Kuthiravattom. Nothing more is known about the people involved. Maybe they or their descendants eventually moved on to Goa ort Bombay….

What is interesting is that D’Souza and Bass got sentenced rightfully, for knowingly relocating their property after facing imminent seizure, to the French loge. Perhaps D’Mello’s got financially compensated for renting their space out, but Saldanha quietly colluded with the British when faced with trouble. The D’Mello’s saw opportunity in the face of justice at courts and tried to further their personal advancement.

The problems continued…….

Next to be reported was the continuation of the above dispute in 1906, this time reported in the Straits Times of 18th July. The French finally got fed up and granted a native of Mahe permission to open a Beer shop on the French Loge premises. The other beer sellers of Calicut protested to the British Collector and the AC of Salt & Abkari. The British maintained that the French did not have Sovereign rights, but only Landlord rights (but if that were so, commercial rights were then admissible and wanting to sell beer is a commercial right). The Madras mail first reporting this story opined that it would be best if the French sold off the land to the British and stopped this never ending cause of friction between the two countries.

In 1933, we had the Matticolly issue, nicely written about by P Anima in the Hindu issue of Dec 28, 2012. The French Government ordered in November 1932 from Pondicherry “forbidding the use in French waters on the Malabar coast of a fishing instrument called ‘matticolly’.” The English had no idea what the French were talking about and frantically went about trying to find out what a matticolly was. They alerted the Malabar district magistrate and informed him that the French also were insisting  that the Loge was their western boundary in India, so a careful eye had to be kept of the French goings on in Calicut. After a while the French governor himself is asked by the British to provide a description of the said matticolly with an illustration, which he does. “A matticolly consists of small mesh nets from 25 to 30 meters long, made of cotton or hemp threads…with nets of cord.” The practice of sardine fishing involves using the matticolly net (maybe mathi vala) and making a lot of noise to get the scared fish rush into the said nets. This noise scared away other fish and so the other affected fishermen were complaining as their revenues declined. Whether the practice was stopped or the fishermen went elsewhere, I do not know… but the matter appears to have reached an amicable solution and was closed.

Later, there were attempts by the Madras authorities to demarcate the seaward boundary of the French loge as the high water mark together with  a number of other complaints about improper taxation and nonpayment of taxes. Records where the Madras authorities had levied distress warrants against residents of the Calicut loge for nonpayment of municipal taxes can also be encountered. Petty cases of fines against tea sellers in the French compound were also recorded in 1939.

The declaration read - The French Government sincerely wishing to tighten the bonds of friendship already existing between India and France, have decided, as a token of their will to settle all questions pending between the two countries in the most friendly and comprehensive manner, to hand over to India the existing French "loges"

Volkart who became Carrier AC agents, went on to create Voltas together with the Tatas. The British left in 1947 and the Calicut AIR radio station started its broadcast from where the French once traded, broadcasting in MW in May 1950. The French Loge together with all the intrigues was soon gone, and the only remnant is the French bakery at its periphery, which now serves nothing French to my knowledge. I do not know how long it will last, and I still remember how they would deliver mutton cutlets and coffee to your car window – the only place of its kind in the Calicut of the 70’s and 80’s.

References

Pondicherry Progress Dec 24^th 1893 – retold in Jan 27, 1894 Colonies and India news

Straits times 18^th July 1906, Page 9, French India

HinduArticle P Anima
French maps – From and this
Anglo-French sovereignty disputes in India, 1918-1947: Attempts at peaceful settlement - Geoffrey Marston

France's Lost Empires: Fragmentation, Nostalgia, and la Fracture Coloniale -  edited by Kate Marsh, Nicola Frith, (L’Inde retrouvee -  Article by Akhila Yechuri)

Kozhikodinte Paithrukam – TB Seluraj (Meenkari Kothayum Antharashtra Athirthiyum)

The history of Ayder Ali Khan, Nabob-Bahader:  By Maistre de La Tour (M.)

The administrative declaration by the Government of India

Pedro. There are also instances of many others in following years taking the title of Kunjali after making the usual submissions to the Zamorins, perhaps they were the progenies of the Irringal Nair woman we talked about earlier. Furtado got a lot of gifts for his efforts, captainship of either the fort of Safola or Ormuz for three years, then the fort of Malacca and an expedition to China.

The Malabaris of the Kalapani

The TSS Maharaja, a ship built in 1879 was on a slightly different route this time. It went south to Madras, with it usual load of Bengali and Punjabi convicts, together with inanimate provisions and mail loaded from the EIC and the P&T in Calcutta. At Madras, it loaded a motley group of confused souls, clothed in no more than dirty single dhotis and small bundles of belongings. They were mainly the Moplah convicts being moved out of Bellary. These convicts were consigned to the hot lower decks and the onboard jails, where they lounged for a day as the ship cut through the serene blue waters of the Bay of Bengal. The Moplahs were not sure where they were going, rumors were wild, some said Botany bay, some said Singapore, some felt it was Mauritius, many others were sure it was to the black waters – the Kala Pani, a place that had such a sinister reputation as a place of no return. Some of their lot were put in the prisoner cages, while others were asked to sit and lie on the floors or empty bunks. The Maharaja chugged along, the weather held good, heading to the destination - the port between the 92nd and 94th meridian E, and between 6th and 14th North – the penal colony of Port Blair - Andaman and Nicobar islands. Yes, they were headed to the Kala Pani.



TSS Maharaja




Lower deck accomodations

 We are now at Andaman & Nicobar Islands, where in ancient epics, it is mentioned Hanumanji took a breather during his leap across to Lanka from the abode of Sugriva and his tribe. In fact the name Andaman, is associated with Handuman or hanuman… the Andamans – is a series of scenic tropical islands mentioned by early travelers and writers such as Sulaiman, Buzurg and Ptolemy, later by Marco Polo, an abode to naked man eaters in their mind, now a vast archipelago of 572 islands in the Bay of Bengal. It is a popular tourist destination these days, but once upon a time, it was also a home for political prisoners, for rebels and a place abhorred by the occupants, where many were wasted by disease. That was kalapani..a place from where there was no return…A penal colony established by the British late in the 18th century, briefly occupied by the Japanese, where Bose made a visit to unfurl an INA flag, before finally forming part of the Indian union. It hides many stories and mysteries, and is also home to a Moplah community who were displaced from Ernad and replaced there. These were the people who elected to remain in the Kalapani, people who still talk in the old Moplah dialect of Malayalam, somewhat frozen in time…



Moplah prisoners - Malabar

 The story of the movement of people to Andaman is a sad and cruel one; especially the initial century of its existence, as Andaman was to serve as the English Penal colony for Indians who acted against them. The English had chosen isolation to be a part of incarceration and in early days many a white convict was transported to Australia. As far as the Indians were concerned, the Andaman islands and the Hijli camp (near Kharagpur) were particularly infamous and followed the earlier days when they were sent to Singapore and a few other places like Botany bay in Australia, where they were tasked with clean up as well as hard labor (some even say that ‘klings’ is a derogatory usage for Indians that came from that period due to the sound of the chains that Indian convicts wore). Interestingly, the aspect of isolation was arrived at as people abhorred the prospect of back breaking labor in faraway places from which there was no return (for lifers), especially in the case of Hindu middle class caste conscious political prisoners not used to work or doing things like crossing the black waters or Kala Pani, against the tenets of early religious texts (see my article on ocean crossing taboo).

The transfer of settlers started after the British established a colony to secure the eastern seaways in 1789, but due to the difficulties in maintaining it and curbing disease and death, it was closed in 1796. For the next 60 years, it was back to where it was - an isolated island. In 1857, after the sepoy mutiny, it was reopened due to the large numbers of political prisoners and jail overcrowding. After 1858, the events took a swift course, and a penal colony was built with prisoners being dealt with on a 3rd class category or lower and as self sufficient as possible without any drain on the state. Capt Walker and his successors set a stiff pace, which wore down even the strongest of convicts when it came to clearing land and forests and driving the Andamanese out of their meager settlements. But it was not too bad after the initial work, some of the reformed were promoted to 2nd class and allowed to settle outdoors as well, and news trickled back home that it was not too bad. When prisoners now started to opt to go to the Andamans, the administration got alarmed and decided to tighten things up and make it a tougher place to live. That was why the cellular jail was built for the non self supporters, for the worst criminals.

The star fish shaped cellular Jail at Port Blair when completed in 1910 included 698 cells designed based on the madras close prisons, for solitary confinement; each cell measured 4.5 m (15 ft) by 2.7 m (9 ft) with a single ventilation window 3 metres (10 ft) above the floor. The prisoners referred to the Island and its prison as "Kala Pani" (Black waters) mainly due to the remote possibility of return and because of the difficulties in survival. Even those who made it back were wasted by malaria and various other diseases and trauma of isolation and confinement. The tenure included 6 months of solitary confinement, next 4 ½ years of gang labor, five years of paid labor, and the last 10-15 years as a self supporter, setting up his own home (assisted by the state) after which he could return. Women convicts had a three year sentence, after which they could marry locally or return after 15 years or when their husband’s term was completed. The early years were tough for the convicts, mainly political prisoners, they were treated badly by a sadistic overseer named David Barry and their lives were pretty miserable, many regretted that they were born even.

All the convicts were made to carry out hard labor, mainly related to cleaning up the islands and creating new facilities. As you will note, a large number died in this effort, supposedly in the thousands, due to harsh treatment and diseases. It is said that the name, "cellular jail", was derived from solitary cells which prevented any prisoner from communicating with each other as they were all interred in solitary confinement. The lives of the prisoners were manly reconstructed from the letters they sent home, written by themselves or by scribes. I have not been able to access the Moplah letters, though Murali’s blog mentions details of their existence, but I have to make do for now without them.

By 1912, news got out into the newspapers of the inhuman treatment and the prisoners decided to revolt, by going on hunger strikes. Jail reformation started quickly and things started to look a little better. Many women prisoners were brought back, and clothing as well as permission to cook one’s own food was given by 1914-16. It was at this juncture that the Moplah rebellion started and by 1921 many thousands were interred at jails North of Malabar. Again overcrowding of jails meant that many had to be transported, where to but Andaman?

The Moplah rebellion or outbreaks is a long story but I had given a short summary earlier. So let us continue from the Conolly death which I wrote about in detail, and with a time stamp of Sept 15th 1955.


Maharaja - Lower deck prison cells

 The British reaction was forceful and with a firm intent to stop the Moplah problem. Collector Clarke was clear about taking strong handed action. The emergency act was applied and many prisoners were taken, many died, many were sent to other prison camps like Cannanore and Bellary. Some were released, some languished and a few were transported to Andamans and places like Botany Bay – Australia. Heavy fines were imposed on them and their villages as well. Slowly the land tried a return to the pre Mysorean situation. Finally things boiled over, post Khilafat movement in 1921 (a subject that is better explained in many books on the subject) and major outbreaks, also classified as rebellions, took place in Malabar. The British retaliation was severe. Some 252 were executed; many lost their lives in the rioting and close to 4500 were imprisoned at Bellary. But there were facilities for only 1500 in that camp and as a result, a decision was taken (Hitchcock seems to have promoted the idea) to transfer a good number to Andamans. In addition a final solution or the Mappila scheme was planned to transport even more Moplahs to Andaman, but due to fierce resistance by the Indian national congress, the plan was dropped in 1925.

The TSS Maharajah docked at Port Blair and discharged the passengers. It was April 1922. At first sight, it was no different from the weather of Malabar, hot humid and full of greenery. The convicts were not taken aback, but they were yet to see the Cellular jail. Initially the cellular jail housed many convicts from the North and a few Moplahs from earlier Moplah outbreaks as they are termed, but the larger Moplah transfer started after the 1921 riots in Malabar. The stories from the cellular jail are many, but we will concentrate on the people from Malabar who ended up in Andaman and their life thereafter. This article mainly concerns the Moplah convicts sent to Andamans and not really about the others, who have been covered in detail in a few books.

This was a period when a few different types of rebels were transferred to Andaman, there were the Wahabi movement convicts, those convicted of the Rumpa revolt of Andhra and those from the Tharawady rebellion of Burma. The first batch of prisoners consisting of 160 convicts disembarked at Port Blair on 22 April 1922. A very interesting fact is that the very first batch of Moplah prisoners included a Nambudri and four Nairs as well!!

Richards replying Simpson in the British parliament during 1924 stated thus - In July last there were in all 1,235 Moplahs in the Andamans—all in Port Blair. Seventy-two were in the cellular jail, 12 in the adolescent gang, 40 agriculturists and self-supporters, and the rest in convict barracks. There were no special arrangements for segrating Moplahs from association with other convicts. They were treated like others, except that the initial period of cellular confinement was frequently shortened. The Government are willing to settle any who desire to stay, with or without their families; with this object agricultural and other tickets are issued freely, and the families of all who ask for them are sent to the islands at Government expense. Up to July, one family—a wife and four children—had been settled, and the settlement of three more was expected shortly.

In reality, except for the first few lots of Malabar prisoners who had to spend little time at the cellular jail, the others were luckier and had shorter solitary terms. In all about 1133 prisoners were transported from Malabar to Port Blair. By 1926 out of 1,133 Moplah convicts in the Andamans, 379 had been given the status of self- supporters. The British government had meanwhile abolished the penal colony and renamed it as a voluntary settlement. Wives and relatives were provided fares to travel; self supporters were allowed not to wear uniforms. They were also allowed to celebrate festivals, build places for worship etc.

In the first official report, there were 1302 out of which 90 had died, 79 had returned to the mainland, resulting in the 1133 out of which 754 were laboring convicts and 379 self supporters. The figures of Moplahs transported were thus 1133, which increased to 1885 by 1932.

Another report summarized the situation in 1932, thus - The Moplah were a group of 1885 Muslims from Kerala, who had fought in the Malabar rebellion against the colonial regime and Hindu landlords (Dhingra, 2005:161). They were brought to the Andamans for rehabilitation between 1921-6 and settled on agricultural land (Mukhopadhyay, C., 2002: 29). Under the circumstances of their settlement, they were given the possibility to practice their religion and to reconstruct a certain part of cultural traits from their homelands. They still speak a dialect of Malayalam, which, according to some interlocutors, is clearly reminiscent of their region in the 1920s. The Moplah are today the biggest Muslim community in the islands. The deportation began in February 1922 and continued till 1926. According to the census of 1931, there were 1885 Moplahs, of whom 1171 were males and 714 female. According to varying reports, around 2500 persons were deported here. Moplahs, who started as prisoners, planned to stay back even after the expiry of their sentences and brought their families from Kerala. They built villages and contributed their might for the development of these Islands.

The Mappila convicts on the whole are contended and most of them have resigned themselves to their fate, but I think they preferred life in Andamans considering the situation in Malabar then. A prisoner’s letters to his mother reveals that on June 20 1925 twenty-five Moplahs had been sent to Malabar to search for convicts' families which resulted in some 300 family members traveling to Andamans. After all, they were given land and buffaloes to start a new life with as well as occupancy rights, fish and meat rations, and tax relief. Two months later he was writing again to say that four hundred convicts from Bellary, north of Bangalore, had actually applied to be transferred to the Andamans with their families. Thus they settled in villages west of Mount Harrit, creating place names that we started to look at during the start of this article.

Abrahams visit to Port Blair and its impact on Moplah resettlement - Mr EH Abrahams who was appointed as a colonization officer was tasked in 1922 to submit a report on the situation of the Moplahs which he did after his return in Jan 1923. The details of his report can be read in Zubair’s article cited under references. It explains how he managed to get them work under the forest department and how allowances and promotions were arranged for hard workers. I have not been able to access the full report myself.

By 1926, over 468 had become self settlers, but the conditions were not really conducive for their well being and subsidies were not sufficifinet for growth. A fact finding mission as sent in 1925 to investigate. The first three were in agreement with the original assessment. However the second comprised a leading doctor from Calicut, the Parsi doctor KK Mugaseth. He was in favor of the system as existing and his contention was accepted by the British. However more Moplah convicts from the mainland jails did not move to Andaman in search of better living prospects

The southern part of the South Andaman was thus colonized, mainly by settling self-supporting convicts there. Soon many more Moplah convicts were directly classified into the 2nd class category and termed self supporters. However things took a turn for the worse in the cellular jails where strikes were resorted to, but things stabilized by 1939. But the whole structure and situation changed with the start of the 2nd world war and the entry of Japan by 1941 into it. Port Blair was bombed in 1942 and the British evacuated themselves in March 1942. By now there were a total of 6,000 convicts and about 12,000 local born population. The Japanese were good at the start, releasing all prisoners and stating that nobody had anything to fear. Things changed during the next few years and many Indians were tortured and butchered by the Japanese (to reduce headcount and maintain food reserves for themselves), a story that I will cover in a later day, for Operation Baldhead is an interesting story. In 1943 NSC Bose came to Port Blair, went to the cellular jail, but did not meet the local populace. Despite all that the killing of Indians suspected of supporting the British continued in large numbers.

Nevertheless, over time, the Moplahs settled down and form a major part of the Andaman populace, some remembering their legacy, others choosing not to. Perhaps they are right for it was a chapter to forget, a time when religion and agrarian struggles came together to foment a revolt, a rebellion of sorts that killed a lot of innocent people and resulted in the loss of homes for many, and their transfer to new homes so far away…


Strictly speaking Andamans is still talked about as a penal settlement extending the anti imperialistic struggles of the Indians, but as Strange puts it, those were only about 500 such political convicts. Many of them returned to India subsequently. The many thousand ordinary convicts which included the Moplah convicts were later settlers, and they were those who toiled through difficult conditions to later created these beautiful islands we know today. They have all been forgotten in the nationalistic fervor and are hardly mentioned except in passing, in history texts.

References

Isolation: Places and Practices of Exclusion - C. Strange
Mappila mulsims of Lkerala – Roland E Miller
Kalapani – LP Mathur
The Andaman & Nicobar Islands Gazateer – Kiran Dhingra

Further reading – Zubair Ahmed’s articles

A man frozen in time
Moplahs in 1922
The complete story - For those who want to know it all

The TSS Maharaja

The story of the TSS Maharaja that took the convicts is equally interesting. Studying the records of the owners Asiatic Steam navigation, it states that in 1925 the company returned to its pre war strength when they took delivery of other ships and two years later another Maharaja -II relieved her namesake on the Andaman mail run, the original ship was first renamed Maharani in 1926, then was sold to Japanese owners Machidi Shokai in 1927, renamed as Zuisho Maru, later the ship again changed hands, passing through Macao and Hong Kong owners, before being owned by the Japanese government and was eventually sunk by a US submarine USS Ray SS271 in August 1944 off the Borneo Ryuku Islands.

Ironic isn’t it?

Pics - from the net, many thanks to the uploaders.....TSS maharaja pics from merchant navy officers site - Source: Acknowledgement: W. Laxon & World Ship Society

place close to 1695 when some of those lords were executed and others had to ransom their own lives. This was what started to bring matters to a head. In 1681, the British abandoned a project to settle in Attingal due to the problems they faced with the local pillas. As time went by they had lots of problems with the Vanjmoota pillai and the Kochu madan pillai who would not allow them to build a fort, but eventually they built it at Anjengo. The two pillas then had a tussle after which the Cuddamon sided with the rani against the Vanjamutta who got Travancore support. It is here that we find that Vanjamutta was also backed by the Madampis of Travancore. We also note in the Attingal deliberations that the pillaas were the ones who decided on the election of a queen. As we go along with Leena’s account we observe the rising power of the Pillas and the declining power of the Attingal Rani, a testament of the times.
English east India Company and the rulers of Travancore – Leena More

Varma, signaling the opening of a new frontier in opposition to the Yuvaraja. The opposition was quickly snuffed, the Quilon rajah displaced and his kingdom taken over by a show of force, thereafter alarming the neighboring Kayamkulam king. He quickly sought assistance from the Cochin raja and their combined forces fought the Travancore army stationed at Quilon. MV rushed reinforcements from his capital, but the Quilon-Kayamkulam forces were in the meantime fortified with Dutch support and this stopped the Travancore king in his tracks, but only for a while. The Quilon king, now emboldened took over Mavelikkara, a property of the Travancore king, enraging the latter. With arms supplied by the British, the Travancore army led by Ramayyan went into attack mode again. The Cochin Raja quietly withdrew from the main fray, providing only support from the background, but the courage of the Kayamkulam forces ensured a protracted battle which was not going too well for the Travancoreans. It was Ramayyan who now came up with the idea of bringing in his Maraven and Tamil Palayakkar mercenaries, after promising ample compensation and titles. He also assumed the title of chief commander of the Travancore forces. Soon, decisive battles headed by Ramayyan met with success leaving Quilon and Kayamkulam still independent. Following this Ramayyan was promoted to the Dalawa post in 1737.

Portuguese and Malabar Pepper

Until Pero Da Covilha (See my article linked) reached the shores of Calicut, a full eight years before the Vasco De Gama and his ships reached Calicut to change history, the Portuguese did not really have firsthand information on the wealth of spices in Calicut. What they knew was bits and pieces from earlier traders and travelers to the Indies and the Orient. Perhaps, it was Covilha who laid the very keel for the ships journey; however like most spies, for he was one, Covilha received no public credit for his work. Pero Da Covilha and Alfonso de Paiva, great friends themselves, were dispatched by King John II, to record the routes and happenings at various places in the Malabar area and primarily to find the mythical land of Prestor John. As Peter Koch notes - Calicut at that time was one of the richest ports of the world. It was the commercial hub for Arab Muslim and Asian traders. Fleets of junks from China and the Indies sailed to its crowded ports, and once docked, unloaded their abundant cargoes of precious gems, silks and spices that were to be sold at destined local markets. Anxiously awaiting their arrival were numerous Arab traders willing to pay a handsome price for just about any goods shipped from the orient. Once purchased, these were shipped through the Persian Gulf or Gulf of Aden, and from there, they were distributed to markets in Africa, Middle East and Europe. Pêro da Covilhã, while in Africa, noted and informed Paul II that if the extreme south tip were rounded by Portuguese mariners they could easily reach Calicut from Sofala or Malindi and take possession of the spice trade. In ten years’ time, this observation by Pêro da Covilhã would convince Vasco da Gama to sail from the east coast of Africa directly to Calicut. Covilha concludes his report to Dom John 2 thus - “The majority of the spices leave Calicut for Cairo, crossing the Red Sea. From Cairo they go on to Venice. If one day we want to take on this trade for ourselves, we simply have to block the Moorish ships’ access to the Red Sea.”

Then came Vasco Da Gama and his policy of using violence and force to usurp the trade from the Muslim Arab traders. It was not a question of peaceful coexistence or fair trade which Calicut was famed for, but forcefully obtaining a monopoly. The Zamorin refused and the Portuguese were never to create an amicable settlement with the Zamorin, though some periods of peace can be found during studies. He was followed by an even crueler Cabral and later the slightly better statesman viceroy Albuquerque. The initial period was full of battles between the Zamorin and the Portuguese with the latter asserting their might with heavy guns on their ships and with the cavalry they carried. The rivalry between the Zamorin and the Cochin King was cleverly manipulated by the Portuguese with the latter providing resources and facilities for the Portuguese to settle down in Cochin (also partly in Northern Kolathunadu) and conduct their trades. However even these periods are characterized by continued battles between them and other kings (as well as the Zamorin) in an effort to consolidate their hold on the resources that the people of Malabar possessed, that being spices, especially pepper. After they had conquered Goa, the Portuguese entrenched themselves there, but laid an iron fence on the western seas with their Cartaz – permit system and fighting vessels, disallowing any private ocean trade between the Malabar shores and the red sea ports, which trade which had been in vogue since time immemorial. Using force to effectively control the trade and the sea trade routes also helped the Portuguese determine and fix the purchase prices for the pepper and other articles. Their naval armadas were of course disrupted with some regularity by the Kunjali marakkar led paros (unfairly termed corsairs by the west) who were supported by the Zamorin, but in the large picture, they were nothing more than a nuisance to the Portuguese.

As the spice trade progressed, the colonies of Portugal increased and became richer commercially. As is evident, by 1511, the Portuguese had wrested away control of the spice trade of the Malabar Coast from the Muslims and Arabs and as it continued, on until the end of the 16th century, the Portuguese monopoly on the spice trade to India was exceptionally profitable for them. Did Malabar prosper? No it continued to be what it was, though not suffering from poverty and while the social structure remained mostly in place, with each war that transpired, the suzerain’s debts increased and finally the feuding Malabar North, Center and South parts including Cochin, fell prey to the Mysore Sultans when the social fabric and economic strength were ripped apart and thrown into utter disarray. Those shreds never came together, ever again. Was it so destined, would it have happened even otherwise? I do not know – perhaps…

The rest is history. Let us now turn those pages ….

When threatened from the sea, the rulers of Malabar had no idea how to confront it, nor did they recognize the far reaching consequences. In all of previous history threats had come only by land and wars were fought honorably. This was a different enemy and only the Moplahs and Arabs recognized the threat. It took a while for them to convince their Hindu counterparts, but by then it was too late, not that they had a solution anyway. By 1550 Cochin had surpassed Calicut in terms of port trade. The Chinese had stopped coming to Calicut, and the Arab ships had no more opportunities to play their trade. Cochin on the other hand was flourishing. The city was bustling with many a trader, Portuguese married casados as well as mixed blood mesticos. Private traders were trying to get into the Portuguese state monopolized trade networks and their Portuguese parentage as well as a two decade experience with the locals was coming of use. With the Portuguese forming their base in Goa, Cochin or Cochim De Baxio became a center for Casado commerce. These Portuguese descendants had started direct trade after taking care of the spice sourcing themselves and paying a small rate of duty (3 ½ -6 %) to the Cochin Raja as compared to that levied by the Eastado da India. The Zamorin tried to retaliate and bring a balance by fighting Cochin for supremacy, but the Portuguese came to the support of Cochin many a time, with small forces but superior firepower. Also by then the method of blocking Calicut with flotillas enforcing the need for cartazes was starting to work. As days went by, the Kunhali supported guerrilla warfare in the seas became effective and Arab ships started to filter in and out, but a larger effort to marshal Turkish and Egyptian support to rout out the Portuguese failed, with the result that the position of Calicut at the fore of ocean trade finally declined with rapidity. Cochin was to follow quickly for they were then just a feeble royal power propped up by the Portuguese and surrounded by enemies.

The sourcing - Ma Huan was the first to document a system in which ‘big pepper-collectors’ toured the countryside to purchase the spice and gather it into interior Nair storehouses. The foreign merchant’s resident in Malabar’s port cities mostly purchased the pepper from these middlemen. This system continued on till the sixteenth century, despite Portuguese efforts to establish direct trade relations with the cultivators. These pepper collectors perhaps moplahs, gathered to themselves all the pepper and ginger from the Nayres and husbandmen, and ofttimes they purchased/contracted the new crops beforehand in exchange for rice, barterable material such as clothes which they stored at the go downs near the sea.

One of the interesting inputs we get to look at is that the Portuguese income in 1506 was about 350,000 ducats out of which 300,000 were spent on internal expenses. That left about 50,000 for the eastern explorations. The cost per ship was about 12,000 and considering about 10 ships per annum, it works out to 120,000. Thus the annual outlay was 170,000-200,000 ducats out of which a fourth was advanced from the royal treasury while the rest came from Florentine or German financiers.

But what were the average annual volumes? Kieniewicz ‘s paper provides a good summary. Starting at 1.5million kilograms or 1500 tons, it averages to 2,000 tons per annum until 1600. Out of this about a third reached Lisbon and the rest to other ports. By 1515 Lisbon was getting close to 1400 tons. Malabar production was fluctuating around 5000 tons, and Lisbon’s consumption was thus only a third of what was produced, with the other parts going to China, the east coast and various other inland destinations, bypassing the Portuguese controls.

By 1607, as the Portuguese grip weakened, the Malabar costs had gone upto 7-9 cruzados per quintal. Some 5,000-10,000 people migrated from Portugal per annum to Indian shores in the years 1500 -1700, and each profited personally as well, with at least two thirds returning back. Nevertheless, the net profits declined due to increasing costs and corruption. From 250,000 or more cruzados per annum of royal profit, it declined to under 90,000 cruzados towards the end of the 16^th century. However the national incomes rose and the Portuguese creditworthiness in the markets remained high. In hindsight, one could argue that their profits would have improved had they practiced a more peaceful coexistence in Malabar and Goa and this might have resulted in reduced costs of infrastructure. As it happened, the expatriate Portuguese in Goa whiled away most of that money, but that story of decadence is best narrated another day.

Interestingly, around 1500, India's economic output was around 40% and larger than all of Western Europe and 100 times larger than the economic output of Portugal. But by 1600, the gap with Western Europe was only around 10% and the gap with Portugal was still huge. An interesting though approximated and empirical graph created from a research letter by JP Morgan’s Michael Cembalest (with due acknowledgements and thanks) and shows contextual GDP growth since the time of Jesus. Take a look at the passage of time and India’s fortunes.

It was as if fate decreed it in return for the plunder of Malabar for 250 years. A deeply religious Lisbon, locked in rituals like the inquisition, then Europe’s 4th largest city, was planning a merry start of the All Saints day on Saturday 1st, Nov 1755. As the sleepy city woke up, a massive earthquake (9.0R) shook Lisbon for all of 10 minutes, bringing it down to dust and then proceeded to light it with fires which burned for a whole week destroying much of what she had made with the trade money. The city which was defined thus – “He who has not seen Lisbon has seen nothing”, was not visible any more. Many tens of thousands of people were killed and their fortunes destroyed, bringing the once proud country rapidly to its knees with a thud, for perhaps it was the wrath of God!

References

The political Economy of Commerce Southern India – 1560-1650 - Sanjay Subrahmanyam

Malabar and the Portuguese- KM Panikkar

The pepper wreck – Filipe Vieira de Castro

Twilight on the pepper empire – AR Disney

Foundations of the Portuguese empire – Baily W Diffie & George D Winius

Profits from Power- Frederic Chapin Lane

The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice - Michael Krondl

Calicut panam = 26 reis, Cochin panam 22 reis

Parados or Xerafim = 300 reis, Cruzado 360-400 reis

Cruzado = 0.86 ducat – 11 gm gold = 15 panam

Merchants and Rulers in Gujarat: By Michael Naylor Pearson

The final act at Calicut – 1790 - Hussein Ali’s defeat at British hands

Not much is written about the events that transpired in Calicut in 1790. Much misery afflicted the people of Calicut and Malabar in general during that time. If you recall, the Mysore Sultans were on their padayottam (troop movements) phase in Malabar and were now aiming for Travancore. On one hand they needed money to finance their operations against the British; on the other hand, cash hordes were not easy to come by even after steamrolling through Malabar. Travancore was still resisting and Tipu was vexed. The British were proving impossible to beat and the French were being fickle in their support. Events that followed exactly 30 years in the Tirur area after they set foot in Malabar, eventually forced them out, once and for all.

Looking back one can say that the Mysore rule brought some order to the state, but what it also did was upset the delicate social balance in the region. Their departure resulted in bringing to a boil the frustrations and ire of the landlords and the nobility versus the Moplah populace. Violence was to follow, sporadically and later in an organized fashion, as we saw in previous articles.

I will not get deep into this topic and a paper has been readied by our esteemed Dr Noone, a founding member of the Calicut heritage forum. He has spent years of research on this very topic, so I will eagerly wait to read his paper. However I will provide some details if only to establish a perspective and to get to the story of a very interesting person, who was a member of the British forces at that time. I can only wonder, if we will ever have such people these days and if we did at the sheer dedication of those people living and fighting for the King in such far away lands.

I had set the scene in my article about the Ravi Varma princes of the Padinjare Kovilakom.
1790 - Tipu takes the last misstep and invades Travancore by himself. The British, whose successes have so far been mainly owing to the ground support received in the wars from the Varmas, now play the end game to perfection when Lord Cornwallis invites the Varma princes for discussions, agreeing to restore the Zamorin all his lands and commercial powers should the rebels render long term cooperation to them. Accordingly Ravi Varma meets Gen Meadows at Trichy and conducts negotiations. A Cowlnama is drawn up between Kishen Varma and the British. With the help of the Varma’s and their Nairs, the Mysore armies are routed by the British in Malabar. In 1791, the Cochin king after having been at first under the Portuguese and later the Dutch, agree to the suzerainty of the British and to pay an annual tribute. With Mysore under simultaneous attack by the British, Tipu sues for peace in 1792 and cedes Malabar to the British in compensation. The Varma princes were in the meantime busy restoring order in Malabar and fighting and taming the Muslim leaders who were persecuting them under Tipu’s reign. It was to prove a mistake. What followed was a mixture of misused opportunity and undue faith in the legality of the 1790 cowl nama. A meeting called by Cornwallis was not attended by the Malabar princes. The old Zamorin, more interested in celebrating his ‘ariyittuvazcha’ or coronation in Chavakkad possibly missed the significance of the British call for a meeting in Cannanore to discuss the rights. The British decided against reinstating the Zamorin and other Malabar princes, with all their powers using the argument that they would continue wars with the Moplahs who had been against them in the Hyder - Tipu reign and that the British will have to spend time, money and maintain an army to keep peace.

Reference is also made to the Travancore lines story posted earlier, which provides another backdrop to this event.

The Battle of Calicut (a.k.a Battle of Tervanagary or Thiroorangadi) took place between 7 and 12 December, during the Third Anglo-Mysore War. A force of three regiments from the British East India Company, comprising some 1,500 men, led by Lieutenant Colonel James Hartley, defeated a 9,000 man Mysorean army, killing or wounding about 1,000, and taking a large number of prisoners, including their commander, Hussein Ali Khan Sahib of Mysore. Hartley himself had been soldiering on in India since 1764 and did very well in his engagements. During a campaign in 1779, he excelled in his work and had been promoted as Lt Colonel. However the promotion was cancelled due to complaints from some seniors who were superseded by the younger Hartley. He promptly resigned from his services and fought his case all the way to the King George III, who finally reinstated his promotion.

To summarize the battle of Calicut, on the 1790 outbreak of war (3rd Mysore war) with Tipu Sultan of Mysore, Hartley received command of a detachment sent to the coast of Cochin to aid the EIC’s ally, the Rajah of Travancore. In May Hartley received orders to take the Palghat fort. By the time he got near, it had already surrendered. He, however, continued his march, and occupied himself partly in collecting supplies for the main army, and partly in watching any movement of Tippoo's troops to the south-west. On 10 Dec. he inflicted a crushing defeat on vastly superior forces under Hussein Ali, Tippu's general, at Calicut. The remnants of the beaten army were pursued to Feroke, where it surrendered, and that fortress was later occupied by the British. Martab Khan fled on elephants via the Tamarassery pass taking much of the amassed treasure to Mysore. Hartley died much later, at Cannanore in 1799. But then this story is not about Hartley.

I was actually studying the movements of Arthur Wellesly and had come across Messer’s Hartley and Stuart in his dispatches. I was also compiling information on the Ferokhabad based Tipu administration, in more detail. It was around then that a gentleman living in Canada, a direct descendant of a Colonel involved in this battle, contacted me asking for information about Tervanagary. While checking out the details of the person and his curious injury, I got further and deeper into the story of the battle that took place in 1790. Coincidentally, I saw a mention of the presentation that Dr Noone did at the School of Management in Calicut on the very subject. Perhaps it is time, I guess, for it is close to December and hence the time to talk about the events of a December week some 222 years ago, events that finally released Calicut from Mysore Bondage and delivered it to another power, albeit milder.

Quoting from ‘Life of a regiment’ – Another summary of the battle provides some perspective - Early in 1790, the 75th, commanded by Colonel Hartley, who had also two battalions of Bombay Sepoys under his orders, proceeded to assist our ally, the Rajah of Travancore, whose country was at that time invaded by Tippoo, the Sultan of Mysore. The quarrel was about two towns on the Malabar Coast, which Travancore had purchased from the Dutch, but which Tippoo affirmed belonged to his tributary the Kwajah of Cochin. The 75th was at Travancore from April to September, when, along with the Bombay troops, they were ordered, under Colonel Hartley, to the relief of some Madras battalions at Pallyghautcherry; on the march Hartley found the enemy in possession of the Fort of Chowghat, which he instantly attacked and carried. He afterwards, with his brigade, marched to the Malabar Coast, from which Tippoo intended to cut off the British communications. As he approached Calicut, Hartley received information on the 10th December that 14,000 of the enemy under Martab Khan and Hussein Ali Khan were strongly posted in a jungle at Tervangherry, ten miles distant. He at once advanced, with the 75th and two native battalions, towards the enemy, who, trusting to superior numbers, did not decline the battle. After a warm engagement, they were driven to the village of Teronkibeel, where they made an obstinate defence, but were compelled to fly to Trincalore (Trikulam) Fort, which the Bombay Grenadiers entered with the fugitives. Hussein Ali Khan was taken, but Mahab Khan escaped with his cavalry. The victory was gained without much loss; I find no complete list of casualties, but among the wounded were Captains Lawson and Blackford, and Lieutenants Powell and Stewart of the 75th.

Look at some related reports - As Buchanan puts it, in 1790, a British force of 2,000 men under Colonel Hartley landed in South Malabar to deal with Mysore army of 9,000 Sepoys and 4,000 Moplays. He forgot the local support. Ravi Varma rushed to aid with 5,000 of his best Nairs (termed Nair irregulars by Abercrombie) and that helped to turn tide in favor of British. Most history books fail to mention Varma and his 5,000 men support, but just state that the smaller Hartley force defeated the bigger Mysore army. Historian Dale also mentions it to be the most important of the battles and he says - It is worth mentioning, though, that after the British became militarily involved in Kerala in 1781 two of the most important battles in which they defeated Mysorean armies, including the climactic one of 1790, occurred at Tirurangadi. LD Campbell’s book even mentions the Nair irregulars were supplied to Hartley by the King of Travancore.

It is interesting to note that the Moplahs sided with Tipu. About 4,000 of them fought with Tipu while the British were aided by the Nairs, showing the religious divide at that time. To continue, the fort of Ferokabad was soon evacuated; 1,500 men laid down their arms. Beypore, and all the vessels in the harbour, submitted, as did 6,000 inhabitants. As is summarized in history - Shortly after the above, advices were received that Maj.Gen. Abercrombie had arrived at Cannanore; that the fort bad surrendered at discretion; and that all the troops in the neighborhood had laid down their arms; by which means, and in consequence of the brilliant success of Col. Hartley, the Ponnani River had been opened, and the Malabar coast; completely cleared. They got the guns Tipu had captured from the Travancore lines.

Now I will quote from The East India Military Calendar…

Introducing MAJOR-GENERAL William henry BLACHFORD (Bombay Establishment)

This officer arrived in Bombay in Aug. 1777; the 7th March 1779 he was appointed a cadet in the engineers, Bombay establishment; the 1st Jan. 1780 he was promoted to an ensigncy, and served at the siege of Bassien, with the army commanded by Gen. Goddard. After the storm of that fortress, he was one of the sub-engineers employed to survey that territory, and to establish a chain of field-works for the security of the environs against Mahratta horse. On the 20th Feb. 1783 he was promoted to lieut. He served in the memorable campaign commanded by the unfortunate Gen. Matthews, from the first landing of the army on taking of Rajamundroog on the Canara coast, to the conclusion of peace that followed in 1785. During this long and trying campaign, Lieut. B. served at the siege and storm of Onore. He was entrusted with repairing the breaches, and making other improvements in that fortress; and ultimately he had the honour of being the only engineer officer belonging to that garrison during the successful defence it made under the command of Maj. Torriano. The siege and blockade of Onore lasted eight months under the most pressing events, arising from famine, sickness, and desertion; the garrisons were at length relieved by a peace, which returned them to Bombay, reduced from their original strength of 1200 to about 250, for embarkation to the Presidency. The want of provisions was at one time so seriously felt, that a number of horses were killed and salted as a last resource rather than surrender to Tippoo's forces- After this service Lieut. B. was appointed senior engineer to the garrison of Surat.


Now consider the situation. Tipu’s forces perhaps used the Bukmar flintlock blunderbuss musket. Hyder had decided on the flintlock against the matchlock muskets earlier (much later matchlocks were again made by Tipu). Strangely they got the muskets from the British sources as well as French and many were made in Mysore factories. The inscriptions include, on the barrel 'asad allah al-ghalib' (The victorious lion of God), a reference to 'Ali, the son-in-low of the Prophet and the first Shiite Imam.

The simplicity of the musket design allowed it to fire a variety of ammunition. While various old accounts list the blunderbuss as being loaded with scrap iron, rocks, or wood this would result in damage to the bore of the gun; it was typically loaded with a number of lead balls smaller than the bore diameter. The choice ammunition for musket was the round ball, which was literally just a round ball of lead. Round balls were loaded loose into the barrel even after the barrel had been fouled by previous shots. This loose fitting ammunition, and the poor aerodynamics of the round ball led to the musket's inaccuracy beyond 46 to 69 m distance. The package of gunpowder and ammunition was intrpoduced into the barrel using a cartridge.

Quotin from “Military medicine from the 18th century” - It is generally thought that at up to a range of 30 yards the ball would go straight through a man. At a greater range it would still be enough to cause very significant injuries. The primary problem was infection. Almost all gunshot wounds became infected either due to the injury itself (clothing, dirt, and other contamination was often forced into the wound by the musket ball), or from unsanitary conditions following injury, for example with the surgeon probing for the musket ball or shrapnel with his unwashed fingers, or even from being deliberately introduced by the surgeon in an effort to promote healing. Death from infection rather than from the injury itself was the primary danger to the soldier on the battlefield. The blunt-force trauma generated by musket balls produced shattered bones, resulting in the need to amputate the injured limb. Amputation often resulted in death from shock or infection.

But was not an option in the case of Capt B, you can’t cut off his head, right?

In Jan. 1791 Gen. Hartley's detachment formed a junction with the Bombay army assembled at Cananore, under Sir Robert Abercromby. Capt. B- joined it, and was attached to the van with some pioneers to clear the road for its march up the Ghauts. In the execution of this fatiguing duty, with an impaired state of health (his wound not having healed,) he was attacked on reaching the head of the Ghauts, with a violent fever and delirium that threatened his existence. In this despairing condition he remained a long time too ill to be moved: the surgeon at length laid open his wound, conceiving some splintry adhesion of the skull prevented its healing, when a piece of Capt. B-'s hat was found buried in it. This discovery effected a favourable change for removing him to Tellichery, where he arrived with total loss of memory; and from thence embarked, and arrived in Bombay in May 1791. On recovering from that illness, he rejoined the army at Cananore in Oct- 1791, and resumed his duties in the field during that service, and siege of Seringapatam by Lord Cornwallis, which campaign terminated in a peace with Tippoo. From this period (20th May 1792) he returned to the ordinary duties of his department at the presidency, and was employed on a particular survey of the town of Bombay, to ascertain the superficial measurement each house occupied within the garrison.

In 1794-5 he succeeded to the appointment of superintending engineer at Bombay, which he held until he was compelled to seek a furlough to Europe for the benefit of his health. Capt. B. quitted India 17th Jan. 1796, and arrived in England 4th Aug. following. He returned to India 17th Feb. 1798, and arrived in Bombay-4th June following. He was then ordered to Cananore, as superintending engineer to the works carrying on to a great extent. About this period the Bombay army, under Gen. James Stuart, assembled at Cananore, to proceed a third time up the Ghauts, to co-operate against Tippoo's capital. On the army quitting Cananore, Capt. B. was appointed to the command of the garrison. The duties of it became important to exercise, as the place formed a centrical dept for forwarding and receiving supplies for the armies besieging Seringapatam. He held the command of Cananore until the conclusion of that campaign, and then returned to Bombay.

He was promoted to the rank of maj. 11th Dec. 1801, and resumed the duties of superintending engineer at the presidency, which he continued to discharge until Sept- 1803; when finding the state of his health on the decline, he yielded to the necessity of proceeding to Europe on furlough. He quitted India 14th Sept. 1803, and arrived in England 2nd Feb. 1804. He succeeded to the rank of lieut-col. 1st May 1804; and on the 6th March 1805 he obtained, by succession, the rank of full col. of engineers.

Previous to M.-Gen. Blachford's leaving Bombay he had passed more than twenty-two years in actual service in India, independent of his furlough. He addressed the court of directors, representing the impaired state of his health, arising from a bad wound, and various trying duties he had undergone in India, requesting their permission to remain in England as a full colonel, with the advantage of sharing in the offreckoning fund as chief engineer of Bombay; which request they were pleased to accede to.

He passed away on July 8th 1841 aged 82 at Ham, Surrey. His family took up a Blachford coat of arms…..

I was looking at the picture of Hartley’s soldiers and wondering how they would have managed in the heat and humidity of Malabar. Anyway these events took place after the monsoon season when it would have been somewhat bearable!!

Ironically Tipu himself died from a musket ball…in April 1799

References
The East India military calendar: containing the services of general and field officers of the Indian Army, Volume 1 By John Philippart
The Scots Magazine, Volume 53- By James Boswell
Historical records of the 8th Regiment, Bombay Infantry - By John Robert Sandwith
The life of a regiment: the history of the Gordon Highlanders... By Charles Greenhill Gardyne
The military history of the Madras engineers and pioneers, from 1743 up to the present time - Volume 1
Malabar manual Logan page 473
The Gentleman's Magazine, Volume 69 - By John Nichols

Pics – courtesy

Scottish soldier - from page 224 – The life of a regiment

Blunderbass pic http://www.thomasdelmar.com/Catalogues/as071211/lot0116-0.jpg

Tipu’s soldier – Charles Gold – Printing inscription provides some detail .The dress of the regular infantry is generally of purple woolen stuff, with white diamond formed spots on it, which is called the tyger jacket. On the head is worn a muslin turban, of a red colour, and round the waist a cumberband, or sash, of the same. Their legs and feet are entirely naked, excepting a kind of sandal slipper, worn to protect their soles from the roughness of the march. They are accoutred with black leather cross belts, and commonly armed with musquets of French manufacture; though some are made in their own country; over the lock is a leather covering, to defend it from dampness

Locations – Calicut, Palghat (Palghautcherry, Palighaut), Around Tirurangadi (Tervannengurry, Taravangerry), Feroke (Ferokebad, Firakabad), Tricalore (Tirukkallur - Thrikkulam) is where the battle actually took place.

with due acknowledgements and thanks to all image owners and providers

My previous jottings on this subject were, upon looking back, quite unsatisfactory in my own opinion and only served to whet one’s appetite, for more. The various accounts that have been published so far in the media are looked far from factual and complete. As I am now in possession of a good amount of information on the subject, I thought I would post an updated version for those interested.

It was an ill-fated journey for the # 77 Calicut - Madras Passenger train on 19^th Nov 1921. On this particular evening, a luggage wagon was attached to its rear from Tirur. That was MS and SM wagon 1711 and sadly, it was not loaded with luggage, but with a hundred convicted prisoners mostly from the Karuvambalam and Pulamanthol area - 97 Muslims and 3 Hindus. The additional wagon was demanded to carry prisoners from Tirur to Bellary. As it transpired, the South Indian Railway authorities at Calicut station sent the goods wagon No. 1711, attached to Train No. 77. It arrived at Tirur from Calicut at 6.45 p.m. The van was unloaded, cleaned out and disinfected.

Madhavan Nair concurs that open wagons were used in the past, but Mr. Hitchcock in his hearing had explained that he thought it not a good idea this time. He was of the opinion that the rioters would be seen by the public, and in view of the turbulent situation, they could rise up to their rescue. The earlier transportation wagons used were those meant for transporting cattle. Then came the enclosed goods wagon which was more secure from Hitchcock’s point of view. ‘New Outlook’ By Alfred Emanuel Smith mentions in page 698 that the wagon was freshly painted and hence even the small ventilation holes were blocked!! (In fact the British faced a previous disaster where a number of English soldiers were killed while transportation in a similar way in a Karachi troop train!!).

The train steamed out at 7 p.m. The train halted at Shoranur half an hour and fifteen minutes at Olavakot. The police on escort duty, who had stepped to the next platform, could of course hear the prisoners cry. They could have opened the door to let air in and give water in order to save the life of the howling prisoners. The agonizing and desperate cries were heard at all stops by many persons, but no action was taken and it was made clear that the doors would be opened only at Podanur. The rail distance between Tirur and Podanur was approximately one hundred and eleven miles. During a subsequent inquisition, the sergeant also stated that while at Cheruvannur, he had heard prisoners screaming for water. But as there was no time, the request was disregarded. A number of witnesses stated to having heard screams at Olavakkot & other stations. They opined that these prisoners went crazy & berserk in their quest for air and water.

The train arrived at 1230 AM. At Podanur an eminent passenger raised a hue and cry stating that he had heard cries from the wagon, the rear wagon. So the doors were finally opened for inspection. What the authorities saw was a disaster, the passengers were all on the floor and many were dead. Fifty six (including three Hindus) had already died, six died on the way to the hospitals, two died on arrivals, four that afternoon and two more on the 26^th. That brought the total of dead to seventy.

If I read right, the Hindu Correspondent filed the first report from Coimbatore. It was early in the morning of Nov 22nd that the tragedy thus came to light. Moyarath mentions that Manjeri Rama Iyer of Calicut was the prominent person who got the wagon door finally opened, at Podanur. The doctor who treated the survivors at Coimbatore was K Raman Nair.

The book MP Narayana Menon by MPS Menon and Conrad Wood’s book on the rebellion provides general information of the 70 dead as follows - 32 were coolies, 19 agricultural laborers, 4 Koran readers, 2 tea shop keepers, 2 mosque attendants, 2 preachers, 2 petty merchants, 2 traders, 1 timber merchant, 1 goldsmith, 1 carpenter and one barber (67 Moplahs and 3 Hindus). 10 of the 70 were relatively well to do land owners.

The Government of Madras appointed an enquiry committee on the Wagon tragedy under A. R. Knapp. Moreover it ordered for the prosecution of Sergeant Andrews and the police constables who were on escort duty for their offence under Section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code and Section 128 of the Indian Railways Act IX of 1890. The Madras government took it lightly at first, stating that the disaster was ‘a result of circumstances’ and that nobody could be held responsible. The Coimbatore medical officer confirmed death by suffocation even though authorities tried to pass it off as death due to other causes. The news reached the press and public only because Coimbatore was not under martial law.

Accordingly a trial was conducted and H. L. Braidwood, the District Magistrate of Coimbatore, presided over the same. Leading barristers from Madras argued on behalf of Sergeant Andrews and other accused. They argued that Sergeant Andrews escorted prisoners on nine previous occasions in goods vans. Nothing unusual had happened till this Malabar Train Tragedy. A Eurasian boiler maker witness stated that as he stood on the platform at Shoranur, when the wagon arrived there, he had heard cries of ‘Vellam, Vellam' meaning ‘water, water' from the van. Another witness said that he heard the utterances of “we are choking".

Even though this mishap was the result of the gross negligence of the officials, all the accused were eventually acquitted. Lord Willington instituted a commission report in Aug 1922 listed the guilty and recommended actions against them. The formal outcome of the commission was as follows

The Government concur in the view of the committee that the use of luggage vans for the conveyance of prisoners in such an emergency was not in itself objectionable, or inhuman. Though not intended for passengers the vans were not closed trucks, but ventilated vehicles and where the venetians were not obstructed; there was sufficient perforation to enable a considerable number of prisoners to be carried in them in safety.

The Government of India appreciate the-admirable services rendered during the rebellion by Mr. Evans and Mr. Hitchcock and they recognize the arduous character of the work which devolved upon them. They cannot but greatly regret that neither of these officers took steps to bring the practice of conveying prisoners in these luggage vans under proper regulation. Had it been laid down that a responsible civil officer should in consultation with the railway authorities satisfy himself that the ventilation of each van was adequate for the number of prisoners despatched in it, it is almost certain that no loss of life would have occurred.

They cannot however, agree with the Committee that Sergeant Andrews cannot be blamed for using this particular van. As the Police Officer in charge, he should not have limited his inspection of the van to the question of security, but should have satisfied himself that the accommodation was suitable for the conveyance of the prisoners.

They do not wish to dispute the views of the Committee that Sergeant Andrews was not guilty of deliberate inhumanity, but they consider that in disregarding the cries and failing to investigate for himself the reasons for what must, in the words of the Committee, have been a very unusual clamour, both in extent and nature the Sergeant displayed culpable negligence. They also agree with the committee that the Head-constable and constables who failed to convey to Sergeant Andrews a clearer understanding of the position which their better knowledge of the language must have given them, must share in this condemnation.

Sergeant Andrews and the Policemen were accordingly prosecuted but discharged. The Madras Government have sanctioned a compassionate allowance of Rs. 300 to the families of each of the 70 deceased prisoners. (Order No. 290 dated 1^st April '22).

The Tirur wagon itself measured 18’x9’x7.5’. Comparing this to the holocaust trains used by the Nazis to transport Jews to Auschwitz, the Nazis’ usually had 50 people in one wagon, and only towards the later days packed a maximum of 100.

Hardgrave summarizes - In the course of the rebellion, official figures recorded that 2,339 rebels had been killed, 1,652 wounded, and 5,955 captured. An additional 39,348 rebels surrendered voluntarily during the later stages of the rebellion. Government losses were minimal: 43 killed (including 5 British officers), 126 wounded. General J. T. Burnett-Stuart who estimated rebel deaths at between three and four thousand, wrote in his 'Final Report on the Operations in Malabar' that 'though I regret the heavy loss of life, I am satisfied that the punishment has fallen on the guilty and that no lesser chastisement would have sufficed to bring the misguided and fanatical rebel community to their senses. 'The terrible Moplah outbreak,' according to the official report on the moral and material progress of India for the year 1922, 'brought home to many people the ultimate dependence of law and order upon the military arm.'

The Moplah Rebellion 1921 – C Gopalan Nair

Khilafat Smaranakal- Brahmadattan Nambudiri

Jividhakatha –Moyarath Sankaran Nambiar

Malabar Kalapam – Madhavan nair

MP Narayana Menon – MPS Menon

Peasant revolt in Malabar: a history of the Malabar rebellion, 1921– RH Hitchcock

WagonTragedy
List of thedead and other details (In Malayalam)
P Anima’s story on the East hill Bungalow

Previous transportation cases - To carry the prisoners from Malabar to the jails the British officials used goods wagons. In September 1921 a goods wagon was used to take twenty prisoners, including Ali Mussaliar, the prominent rebel leader, from Tirur to Coimbatore. In total 2,600 prisoners were transported on 32 trips in such a fashion.

However it should also be noted that Sgt Andrews had previous experience in this kind of transportation and had transported 112 people once in a luggage wagon without problems. In this case the air vents were painted over and that was the reason for the deaths.

In the 20’s, after a troubled period with cries of Khilafat, freedom, Gandhi and so on, a large number of misguided attacks took place on both (religious) sides of a divided Malabar. During this phase, a person held the unenviable position of being the most hated and feared Englishman in power. That was Richard Howard Hitchcock, the district superintendent of police, Malabar. While his confidential accounts covering those troubled days are reference material for today’s historian dealing with the Moplah revolts, his life and times are hardly known to the lay Malayali. In fact other contemporary writers like Gangadhara Menon, Brahmadattan Nambudiri, Gopalan Nair, Tottenham, AR Knapp etc mention him briefly with references to his role in the matter, but hardly as an individual of flesh and blood.  The only place where he is described without rancor is the Malabar Special Police website, that too in the briefest terms.

Richard Howard Hitchcock - that was his full name. He hailed from the East Midlands area of Britain, bordering South Yorkshire. The fella was born on 12 March 1884 at Basford - Nottinghamshire, but grew up in Fordwich in Kent. His father Richard happened to be a Rector of Fordwich for many years and as the auction notice indicates, there is a window commemorating the father’s memory in the parish church. RH was educated at King's School Canterbury, 1894-1903, had been termed academically bright, and he sat for the competitive examination to join the Imperial Indian Police coming ‘first’ in the results. As an indication of the times, a position in British India was coveted and competition was severe. Compared to Sandhurst where 200 places were annually available, only 15-20 places were available per year for entry into the Indian Police. Hitchcock got into the Indian police in 1903 and was posted to Bengal. But he was to soon find himself in the balmy, hot and rainy land of spices, Malabar. Well, his staid life was soon spiced up, as we know….

We then see that he was involved in recruiting officers for the English army from Malabar, around 1915. RH employed Malayali officers to recruit a huge number of high quality men for the British army, topping the presidency polls and was able to repeat the feat even during the rebellion, with people from both the Hindu and Muslim sides. In the final year of the Great War, Hitchcock was seconded to the Army and granted the temporary rank of Captain. The LG March 1918 states that as of Oct 17th he was awarded the rank of captain but without the pay and allowances of that rank. He then helped raise the 2/73 Malabar Battalion at Cannanore for which he was awarded the M.B.E. in 1919.

The Khilafat movement in Malabar (we will detail this another day) was the next trigger in 1921, when all kinds of wild rumors that Afghans were on the way (offshoot of a comment by Gandhi about foreign invasion being welcomed) to liberate their wretched lives and help them get land, started a frenzy.

Soon he was to be involved in what was according to the historian Charles Townshend, ‘the most serious insurrection since the mutiny of 1857 or the Malabar Rebellion, a.k.a. Moplah revolt.

Hitchcock sneered at all this - It was 'pure mockery,' Hitchcock wrote, to deck the excitable Mappilla 'in the garb of a soldier and yet tell him that he should attain his aims by spinning!!

This was to become a source of all kinds of problems. Hitchcock focused time and again on this problem, the mosque as a source of news and motivation. It was to play havoc in the minds of the Moplah, who was led to believe that their religion was under attack, while Hitchcock was trying to stop the flow of orders to revolt and jihad and bring about peace.

Accordingly Thomas reported to the Governor of Madras that the Moplahs were organizing a resistance using force and that it will not be possible for the police to quell the unrest. He requested a battalion of infantry for support together with two companies of British troops. ET Humphreys of the Leinsters regiment came in August and was soon joined by other officers such as CG Tottenham and AR Knapp. They decided to act at Tirurangadi and arrest 24 or so identified persons in connection with the unrest. By this time, Mohammed Haji was proclaimed the Caliph of the Moplah Khilafat and flags of Islamic Caliphate were raised and Khilafat kingdoms declared. Martial law was not introduced until three weeks after the rising began, and then in such a diluted form that the civil authorities retained much of the responsibility for its suppression and the restoration of government control. The commander of the Madras Military District, General Burnett-Stuart, had under his command a British cavalry regiment, a brigade of Field Artillery, two British battalions, including 2nd Dorsets and seven Indian battalions (including a battalion of Pioneers), and a company of the Madras Sappers and Miners. Malabar.

His moves against mosques and the Khilafat flag have been cited as the very reasons for subsequent armed revolt, whatever be the underlying reasons agrarian or religious motivation by Syed fazil’s exhortations. Nevertheless we do find evidence in the many documents that first Thomas and later Evans vacillated often and this resulted in large losses of life and a bloody revolt. But we will study this separately when we get to the analysis of the revolt itself and its many after effects. Hitchcock was the British instrument, the person involved in collecting field and inside information as the head of the CID and also partially responsible to suppress counter insurgency, which he did effectively, looking at it from the British angle, for within 6 months, law and order had been implemented and a sullen peace was restored.

Hitchcock organized a new Police force on the model of the British Army and this came into existence on 30th September 1921 as Malabar Special Police-2. Hitchcock himself was the first Commandant of M.S.P. In 1932 the strength of the force was increased to 16 companies. Thus 300 extra police were added, 12 Indian officers, and 30 NCO’s. By October all had been trained, armed and ready for field operations. The force then comprised fully of Hindus and Christians from the Ernad and Valluvanad areas, some from Calicut. Hitchcock also makes it clear that this firmly dispelled the notion that Hindus would stay away from such action and were cowardly in hostile situations. Soon enough this was increased to 600 following William Vincent’s visit and they were owing to Tottenham’s efforts - in place by Jan 1922. The M.S.P. was equipped with magazine Lee-Enfields because the single-shot Martini Henry rifles of the Malappuram Specials had been disastrously ineffective against the Moplahs. Towards the end of the rising each company was supplied with two Lewis guns to increase its fire power. Recruitment of the first three M.S.P. companies (almost entirely from recently demobilized Malayali sepoys) was very rapid and by November I92I they were in action) following behind army thrusts into Moplah territory and tracking down isolated guerrilla bands.

If you were to dispassionately read the reports of Hitcock, you will realize the seriousness in which they were written, and though many say this was very biased, does remain an account recorded with little malice or partiality. He holds the people he dealt with, both Muslims and Hindus in the right level of respect though often viewing them from a higher plane, wearing glasses with a British tint. He has done a serious amount of introspection and analysis and I would at no time call him a fanatical suppressor of the people involved and one who acted with utter contempt of the masses, like Gen Dyer at Jalianwala Bagh. In fact I found him as a man who did his job, ruthlessly, clinically and well, perhaps with a “Himmler bent”. But it is a matter widely known that the smooth working of martial law was largely due to Messrs Evans and Hitchcock.

But then those were turbulent times and it is not really possible to be impartial in a period of Martial law. Everybody had cross purposes. Today when we see the revolt through words, it is not possible to realize the pain, suffering, fear, revulsion and so on that the witnesses and participants went through. So from that angle, Hitchcock was at the inflicting end and the only one seen by the masses, leading the armed constabulary. And that resulted in him getting the brunt of the blame.

However it should also be noted that Sgt Andrews had previous experience in this kind of transportation and had transported 112 people once in a luggage wagon without problems. In this case the air vents were painted over and that was the reason for the deaths. Nevertheless the escorts should have taken care of the prisoners and their wellbeing, in general terms. That one event destroyed his name, in posterity.

We have considered whether some part of the indirect responsibility would fall on Mr. Hitchcock, It is not certain that he was present at the first selection of a van, but we have it on his own statement that he did witness and take part in the despatch of prisoners on September 3 and saw no reason to object to the arrangements made. The actual care of prisoners during their journey and responsibility for their safe delivery at their destination lay upon the Police and to this extent at least it was for Mr. Hitchcock to see that the arrangements made for their transport wore safe and satisfactory. But the obscurity arising from the Martial Law arrangements is again found here, for Mr. Hitchcock and his force were themselves under the orders of the Military Commander, We shall not, however, labour this technical point. Mr. Hitchcock having been continuously employed from the beginning of September with the troops in active warfare with the rebels, it would be unreasonable to expect that he would have had time or opportunity to give personal attention to the local arrangements at Tirur.

It looks like he moved to Salem in Coimbatore district as DIG. Not much more is known about him as a person and no accounts can be seen of a family with him or outliving him. We note that he was a keen hockey player at Calicut and played for the ‘Early closers’. We also note that during the latter half of July, at a very critical juncture, Mr Hitchcock was not in the Calicut district, but at Coonoor undergoing treatment for dog-bite.

After the rebellion, the Malabar Special Police was not allowed to rest on its laurels. Its fame as experts in guerilla warfare spread. When a similar rebellion broke out in the Gudem Hills in the Vizagapatam Agency, the local reserves could not make any headway and the Government wisely thought of utilizing the Malabar Special to put down the insurrection in preference to a martial-law administration.

Mappila Muslims of Kerala – Roland E Miller

The Moplah rebellion and its genesis – Conrad Wood

The Mappilla Rebellion, 1921: Peasant Revolt in Malabar: Robert L. Hardgrave, Jr.

The Mappilla Outbreaks: Ideology and Social Conflict in Nineteenth-Century Kerala Stephen F. Dale

The Moplah Rebellion 1921 – C Gopalan Nair

Khilafat Smaranakal- Brahmadattan Nambudiri

Jividhakatha –Moyarath Sankaran Nambiar

Malabar Kalapam – Madhavan nair

MP Narayana Menon – MPS Menon

Peasant revolt in Malabar: a history of the Malabar rebellion, 1921– RH Hitchcock

See Historic alleys – Wagon tragedy articles 1& 2

1809 Pulo Penang – Kampong Malabar - The stooping man who walked about the Georgetown - Fort Cornwallis area, looked nothing like the proud warrior he once was and one who roamed the forests of Waynad. The sinewy muscles had been replaced by sagging skin, the tone of his skin had darkened to a leathery hue, more like that of a water buffalo and his face wizened and filled with sorrow, showing eyes full of defeat. In fact he was not old at all, he must have been just 40 or so, but looked well past 60! He was a tired man and sat often with his head between his hands, near the Kapitan Kling mosque, making aimless conversation with a few of his country folk who came to pray. Often he sat at the pond steps looking at the pond or kolam. Sometimes he was seen near the Chowrusta lines, where other convicts from India were housed, on other days the old man could be seen looking for any new compatriots who had been transported from Malabar. The Pole or mata mata as the police were known, troubled him no longer nor did he bother with them. Sometimes he was seen helping with public works activities as other convicts did, but then again he was a political prisoner and not a convict bound in chains or imprisoned, he was a transportee. What a horrible word that was and what a terrible experience it was, for only the one who underwent it could understand it. Of the worst kind, if you ask the old man, being cut away from family, his land, and his people and its customs, to forget them forever. Banishment or exile of the worst sort!

Some years ago, John Leyden (remember my article about him and his ode?) too had moved to Penang to teach Hindoostanee and wrote with the same agony that our convict faced - for his heart was sad too, and his spirits depressed,

Where are you from this bosom fled?

A lonely man I linger here,

Like one that has been long time dead.

For whom the pallid grave-flowers blow,

I hasten on my destined doom,

And sternly mock at joy or woe!

Tipu had accompanied his father Hyder during the 1766 Mysore invasion of Malabar. Various events occurred since then and it was finally in 1789 that Tipu lost to the Travancore forces at Nedumkotta and retired to Seringapatnam. After the 1792 battles with the British, he ceded Malabar to the EIC. However based on the premise ‘my enemy and your enemy is our enemy’ he carried on many intrigues with Malabar Nair lords who were dispossessed of their power or territories by the EIC. Some of these included the lesser princes of Calicut, the Kottayam raja and so on. The situation was exacerbated when it was rumored that Napoleon was setting his sights on India. We talked previously about the events concerning Ripaud and how Wellesley then laid a siege on Seringapatnam resulting in the killing of Tipu Sultan.

With this background, let us ascend to the hills of Wynad where the next events took place starting with the 1797 time frame. Dhondia Waugh, another Kannada rebel also played a link role in these affairs but his death ensured rebel disarray in front of the well-organized British. In many ways it was an ineffectual alliance, with vast distances and bad terrains separating the various groups. The Pazhassi Raja himself first settled for peace with the EIC after his house and treasure were restored by them, but fell out again when the EIC insisted that Wynad belonged to them as part of Tipu’s territories, following the sultan’s death. Pazhassi of course contented that Wynad was part of Kottayam and the continuing struggles between the two were primarily based on this difference of opinion. The common man too cast his support to the rebels as they too were suffering heavily from heavy taxation (3 gold fanams per pepper vine, ½ a gold fanam per coconut tree, ¼ fanam per arecanut tree) amounting at times to double that of the produce!!

In 1796 the EIC took the first misstep of raiding the Pazhassi palace and looting the kovilakom and money worth Rs 17,000 therein, and the raja fled to the jungles. The Bombay government decided to let him back but did not return all the money. When the people threw their lot with the king and refused to pay any taxes, the EIC took heed. However there was no respite for 2 years which followed. We start with the relations between the Pazhassi raja and Tipu Sultan, 1797 as reported by the Coorg raja. It appears that Emmen Nair was deputed to Seringapatnam to meet and discuss potential alliances on behalf of the raja. The Sultan gifted him a Palankeen, a pair of gold bangles a necklace and a shawl. It appears that Emman promised some of the tax collection to Tipu but did not carry out the promise. We also see from the files that the people discussing anti-British activities with Tipu are the Raja, Yaman nair and the Padinjare kovilakom rajas. It is mentioned that Emman nair was the Kariakkar of the Kottayam raja. We also see that meetings are arranged and messages sent, Ranga Pandit being an emissary from Tipu’s side and Emman Nair from the Malabar side. Between 1796 and 1798, a number of skirmishes take place and finally the EIC concluded a treaty with the Raja in 1797 after restoring the house and treasure of the Raja.

Anyway by May, Emman is accorded formal protection and an allowance of Rs 200 per month. At the same time, Seringapatnam has been taken and Tipu finally killed. So Tipu has no more role in this story and the Raja is now on his own. He cannot use Tipu’s name to play against the EIC. However as the EIC prepares to consolidate once and for all, it is seen that the Pazhassi raja now forms a coalition with the Dhondia Waugh, other Nambiars and Unnimoota. And Yeman Nayar, a key player aligned to the EIC surfaces often in the Wellesley dispatches. Wellessley has been deputed to quell the rebellion in Malabar and cleanse the area after his successes against Tipu in Mysore.

Wellesley is by now considered Yeman Nair’s friend and considering that Wellesly is already in high standing after his successes in Mysore and his relation to the Marquis Wellesley (brother), Yeman Nair gets his way often. However the prospect of a Napoleonic invasion is feared by Wellesley. Later in the year he requests the presence of Yeman Nair in Seringapatnam so they can formalize the relationship and have a detailed face to face discussion which happens. It has been decided to keep Wynad under the Malabar administration. He has big plans for he states – “It is proposed to leave to the decision of this Council all the future arrangements in Wynaad, whether regarding the settlement with Yeman Nair and other chiefs of the same description, or the employment of the Nairs in general in the service”. Yeman Nayar then meets the iron Duke and suggests various courses of action against the Raja, though it is not clear if Wellesley used them. I believe he also gets the title of a Tahsildar of the EIC by then and Major Macleod, the principal Collector, took charge of the district of Malabar on October 1, 1801

Following this, a sense of normalcy was seen in North Malabar, but it was not to remain so. Collector Major MacLeod ordered a total disarmament of Malabar and threatened death penalty for those who carried arms. Taxation issues also created discontent. The rebels retaliate at the Panamarathu kotta in Oct 1802 where EIC soldiers are killed, and for the first time, a British report mentions that Yeman Nair has changed sides. Wellesley reports - It is said that the Rajah himself, with Coongan and Yeman Nair, were present; but this can only be mere conjecture, as every inhabitant in the vicinity of Pancoorta Cottah had deserted their houses. On Dec 6^th 1802, Yeman Nayar’s duplicity is seemingly brought to light by the EIC and Yeman Nair is now seen as an enemy rebel.

In 1803, Wellesley left for Europe, after three years of inconclusive war with the Pazhassi Raja, becomes the Duke of Wellington, and goes on to defeat Napoleon at Waterloo. Emman Nair, his friend is still in the jungles, now supposedly involved in the Calicut Sub Jail attack - One thing I am not sure if Eman was really involved in the jail attack at Calicut in March 1803 though some articles state so. KKN Kurup who provides some details of the attack in his Modern Kerala book does not name Eman as a leader. As it appears, rebels marched through Thamarasseri towards Calicut and overran the Sub-Jail. They tried to free the prisoners, through a hole in the wall. In the melee, 40 of them were killed, some 130 escaped and 38 were retaken by the British. This prompted a resignation by the then Collector of Malabar, Major McLeod but historian KKN Kurup is clear in stating that the leadership could not be ascertained. Perhaps it was Emen, for the Calicut leadership was very severe in the case of Emman‘s petition later

In 1804 a reward is posted by Col Macleod where Pallur Eman (Col Wellesley’s friend) carries a bounty of 1000 pagodas. We also note that Pallur Eman has an elder brother Pallur Rayarappan who carried a 300 pagoda bounty for his head. And that is about the time frame when TH Baber has entered the scene and is in pursuit of the rebels.

Baber states - As these people were exclusively under the influence of Palora Jamen, it is not difficult to explain whence this unfortunate notion originated: it is only those who have had a personal opportunity of knowing the extensive abilities and artifices of this man who can justly calculate upon the mischief and dire consequence that must ensue where such qualifications are employed against us. This was unfortunately instanced in the Kooramars, who, from the time of Palora Jamen’s defection, had become in a manner desperate; they had been foremost amongst the rebel ranks, and there is no crime, no species of cruelty and outrage, which they have not committed.

Later, we see the last mention of Emman Nayar in Wynad, in the report of final decisive foray by Baber during 1805 against the rebels. With many agents, I could not fail of success in some one of them. On the 30th ultimo, three of them at last brought me intelligence of the Pyche (Palassi) Raja and all the rebel leaders, with the exception of Palora Jamen (Pallur Eman) being then in the opposite side of the Kangara river, a short distance in Mysore, and this so unequivocally that I determined to act upon it.………..Previous to this I had deemed it expedient to make a feint to divert the attention of the rebels (who I thought it probable might have their spies in camp) by detaching 70 of my kolkars, under the Sheristadar, under the pretext of going in pursuit of Palora Jamen who was reported to be in the Komanpany Mala in the South-eastern direction, while they had secret instructions after marching half-way to this mountain to strike off eastward to the Kallir Mountain and there lie in ambush near to paths to cut off the retreat of any fugitives who would, in most probability, go off in that direction in the event of our party coming up with the rebels.

Accordingly the five were transported to Penang in 1807 where a number of Polygar prisoners captured in South India had already been dispatched. Some of these people were apparently known to Emman Nayar and they were involved in some amount of coordination on rebellious matters. Wellesley, who heard about this, expressed some alarm that Penang was not entirely a wise location to send them to, for Penang was frequented by south Indian Muslim traders who could try to bring them back to India. But his doubts were soon to prove farfetched.

It was different in those days, for the journey of the banished to Penang took 50-80 days by sea!! These convicts were not kept behind bars in Penang, but were allowed to roam about and even paid a small stipend and live amongst the other Polygar prisoners. It is said that at least some of the Polygar prisoners knew Eman or of him, as he had been one of those who coordinated with them on the matters concerning rebellion. They were provided 1 seer of rice per day, 1 ½ seers of ghee per month and a piece of cloth per annum.

So after 7 years, Emman Nair appealed for relief in March 1814. Some appeals were collective, some individual like in the case of Emman Nair. Krishna Iyer, his accomplice was allowed to return to Malabar. Emman Nair’s appeal was disallowed. We are not sure about the other four Malabar accomplices.

The Polygar convicts were finally sent back to India in 1819 following deliberations in Britain as they felt that the situation was somewhat unjust. Finally only five remained and then four out of the five were repatriated to Madras, but only one remained for fear of national security.

Now who could that magistrate be, the person who hastened the death of Emman Nair? It was the very same James Vaughan who was mentioned by Walsh (if you recall Walsh also wrote about Karunakara Menon’s house etc). Vaughan was also the person who believed that the practice of slavery in Malabar should continue (Baber was against it) and one who had to contend with the beginnings of the Moplah disturbances.

Wynad – It is a beautiful place and people go there these days to spend a few days in solitude. But in the 1796-1804 time frame, it was full of action, soldiers, cannons and guns, bows and arrows, spies, bravery, valor, cowardice, Frenchmen, Englishmen, locals, tribals, kings, princesses and what not. Their stories are consigned to what they call ‘forgotten history’.

South Indian Rebellion: the First War of Independence, 1800-1801 - K. Rajayyan

From Contact to Conquest: Transition to British Rule – M Frenz

“Bandits and Kings: Moral Authority and Resistance in Early Colonial India,” The Journal of Asian Studies 66, 4(2007):881-96 - Anand yang

“Indian Convict Workers in Southeast Asia in the Late Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries,” Journal of World History, 14, 2 (2003):179-208 - Anand yang

Indians in Malaya: Some Aspects of Their Immigration and Settlement (1786-1957) - Kernial Singh Sandhu

Various dispatches by Col Wellesley

Malabar manual – W Logan

Authors note – Emman Nayar was perhaps one of the most complex characters in the rebellion and perhaps the most important rebels of all, even rivaling Pazhassi Raja, in my opinion. If anybody knows more at Pallur Emman Nayar or Krishan Ayyar or any of their descendants, please do let me know.

They were men of an uncommon stature, robust, and of noble men, and bore their lot with dignity and resignation: part of the great cabin was screened off for their use, here they shifted for themselves as well as circumstances would permit. They cooked their own plain rice meal; fortunately their simple habits required but little, and they had provided their own stock of water, and a few other necessaries. Nothing remarkable occurred during the remainder of the passage to China, the coast of which, after a few days' stay at Penang, where we took in a cargo of rattans, we reached in little more than a fortnight from Madras, and proceeded to the usual anchorage of the East India fleets off the village of Whampoa, in the river of Canton, where we remained between three and four months to take in a cargo of tea.

Kolla varsham- that is what we call the Malayalam calendar. The interesting aspect is that here again we have two versions, the Malabar version and the Travancore version, the former centered on Pantalayani Kollam near Calicut and the latter around Kurkeni Kollam or todays Quilon. In some old records they are mentioned by experts like Kielhorn and Sundarama Pillai as the Trivandrum calendar and the Calicut calendar. The two calendars are separated by a month with the year starting in August in Calicut and September in Quilon. But getting to the well accepted Kurkeni Kollam calendar, how would one explain the origins of this calendar, so different from some of the others of the region, like the Tamil calendar? Let’s take a look at the various legends, theories and stories. None may provide a clinching answer, and as usual, various communities and groups are satisfied by the one they empathise with!

One of the popular stories mentioned in oral accounts is that of the departure of the Cheraman Perumal to Mecca. If you for a moment assume that to be the case, then the question comes up about the one month difference between the two calendars. Does it signify the time he took to sail from Quilon to North Malabar from where he eventually veered westwards to the Red Sea? But why would he go to Quilon to sail off when he was possibly based in Kodungallur which was an active and popular port where many vessels bound towards the Arab ports embarked? Then again why would a predominantly Hindu Malabar celebrate an event such as his conversion to Islam? That too after an event which in addition disintegrated the Chera country into petty warring kingdoms! Why would these Hindu kingdoms celebrate such an event? Not quite a justifiable explanation.
The next legend is connected to the Sankaracharya who died around 820 AD. Now you can see that he died a full 4 years before the Calendar started. Why would one celebrate his death? So it could not have been his death. Keralolpatti mentions that Sankaracharya established the Kerala anacharam or irregular customs on Aug 25th, 825 AD or the new Kollavarsham at both Kollams’s. To lend weight to this is the chronogram A car ya va ga bhed ya (which literally means that the acharya’s word is unalterable) which stands for 0 6 1 4 3 4 1, to be read backwards. If you do that it becomes the Sept 25, 824 which is the first day of Malabar’s Kollam era in the Kali era. Sankaracharya perhaps died in 820 or some time earlier, so we see a 4-5 year difference. The details of the anacharams are mentioned in the Sankarasmriti and this itself was written only after the 12th century or perhaps even later (as it lays down rules for the Portuguese, Dutch, French and the English!). And then again, after considering the 11 day Gregorian calendar adjustment by the British, the Kollam era in reality, started on July 25th 825 AD.And then again, after considering the 10/11 day Gregorian calendar adjustment by the British in 1752, the Kollam era in reality, started on August 15th 825 AD. But why start a new calendar because new rules are being laid?

Consider for a moment that the Nambuthiris and nairs came from somewhere in North India as legends put it. Would the Kollam year have anything to do with the older era current in places like Jammu and Kashmir, i.e. the Saptarshi era or the Sastra Samvatsara? This was the era where the first two digits had been removed from a 4 digit running calendar, i.e. 4292 would become 92 in writings. But then what happened after 99? Sundaram Pillai explains that the two calendars were the same until the year 99 of the Saptarshi calendar. But even that does not run to a conclusion for the Saptarshi calendar starts in Mesah and the Kollam era started in Simha. Then again the Saptarshi era was Luni-solar while the Kollam calendar is solar. Was the difference a correction to make the former to a solar calendar (Then again the Saptarshi calendar runs with a 25 year difference with the kali yuga)? How would one calculate and drop out a few months? Did the mathematicians of Malabar and Travancore differ about the formula which explains the one month anomaly Simha and Kanya?

Pillai goes on to state that this also sounds a little obscure for it was perhaps better to use the Saptarshi year in that case, rather than create a new calendar. But then again, the Kollam era seems to have been devised by somebody who understood the difficulties of adjustments in lunar calendars.

Herman Gundart however was of the opinion that the “Kolla Varsham” started with the erection of a ‘Siva’ temple at Kollam. But this does not make sense as there is no such temple and the establishment of a temple cannot be the reason to create a new calendar. Others mention that its origination was strictly local and religious, and “Kolla Varsham” was not accepted by the people living in other regions, but, when Kollam or Quilon became a major trade center trading with the east and the West, the traders and the people of other countries began to follow “Kolla Varsham”. But then how do you explain the Northern Quilon? Now could it be to commemorate the establishment of both Pantalayani and Kurkeni Kollam port towns? Unlikely since both of them were popular centuries before the Kollam calendar was formed. But a usage Kollam Tontri allows us to conclude literally that it was after the establishment of a port of Kollam, or perhaps more correctly after the establishment of the Kollam era. Sanskrit texts incidentally mention the Kollam era as the Kolamba era. Tamil texts name the area around Quilon as Kolamaba so it was perhaps associated with Quilon in the South.

M.G.S.Narayan in his paper on Cera Pandya conflict in the 8th – 9th centuries which led to the birth of Venad writes, “It is not surprising that the Chera king who was contemplating the development of the new harbor town at Kurakeni Kollam welcomed the foreigner and permitted him to settle down at the new harbor site. This was the period when the Cera-Pandya conflict was developing in the south. Subsequently Vilinjam was retained in the Pandyan sphere of influence while the Vel country with new headquarters at Kurakkeni Kollam became a division of Cera kingdom. The foundation of Kollam in 825A.D. must have coincided with this victory of Cera in the Vel province. Therefore it is easy to understand the anxiety of the Chera king to please foreign merchants and settle them at Kollam so that the harbor might grow quickly and compete effectively with Vilinjam further south which had passed under the control of the Pandya. This incident reveals the practical wisdom of the rulers and throws light on the economic –political motivations of men who promoted ideas of religion and culture. The Syrian Christian merchants who took advantage of the situation were equally clever and resourceful .In the absence of materials for a detailed history, it is difficult to ascertain whether Mar Sapir Iso was a merchant or a (priest) missionary. Perhaps he was both at the same time and there was no inherent contradiction between the two roles.

Others like Col Warren connected it wrongly to the Parasurama cycles. The era of Parasurama or Parasurama Sacam is a cycle of 1000 years, which is said to have begun in B.C. 1175 ¾ complete, or 1176 B.C. current. It is also mentioned that the Nambuthiris travelling southwards brought it with them and made the necessary adjustments to start the third thousands of the Saptarshi eara which originally started in 1176BC.

Other theories hover around the lost Jewish tribes, with the Namboothiris being actually the Nampthali Jews and so on, but all of them fall on the wayside. Prof Jayaprakash’s theory, the newest is perhaps the closest to reality and has some grounding, but requires more study to reach conclusions. According to him, the Buddhist culture appeared in Cheranad or Cheralam during 3 B.C. and it had an influence on all religions which were later introduced in this land. According to him, after the brutal annihilation of the Buddhist culture by the Brahmins from the North, Cheralam was christened Keralam. Through the annihilation, many of the important Buddhist shrines were converted into Hindu temples. He opined that the biggest influence Buddhism had in the Subcontinent was in Kerala and it was Kollam which was the citadel of Buddhism and that it was after destroying the Buddhist culture that the Brahmin enforced caste system got established in Kerala. Kollam was earlier called Kolam, and when it came under the rule of Jayashimhan Perumal, the land came to be called Deshinganad. He also had specific comments about the establishment of the Kollavarsham.

In conclusion, one can assume that the rather unique solar, current calendar was developed by the immigrants moving in from the North, perhaps the Namboothiri’s who settled down in Malabar and later in Quilon, and then the calendar got a little bit adjusted to what we know as the Kollam calendar. This has some traction due to the fact the calendar was first established in Malabar and a month later in Quilon, though it does not explain it satisfactorily. Nevertheless, due to the fact that it is also called Kolamba era, it is somehow more associated with Kurakkeni Kollam. But these are all assumptions based on obscure documents and you can perhaps imagine that with more research on the Buddhist – Jainist past of Kerala more facts will slowly come to light including the Sankaracharya aspects and you may even see the conclusions of Dr Jayaprakash gaining more credence.

Dates of the Kollam or Kolamba era – Kielhorn

Miscellaneous Travancore inscriptions – P Sundaram Pillai

Kollam era - KV Sarma

Survey of Kerala History – Sreedhara Menon

HinduArticle
Cera- Pandya conflict in the 8th – 9th centuries which led to the birth of Venad- Narayan,MGS,

As some of you may know, my life is quite entwined with electricity and as an electrical engineer, I have been involved with power transmission, distribution and power system protection for so many decades thus far. Automating power plants, substations and so on provide the funds which run my life and so it was in the natural course of things that I ventured back in time to find out when electricity was heralded to that once bustling and glorious town of Calicut.

Until about 1927 or perhaps 1930’s, there were only lamp posts here and there with kerosene lamps, and an old timer Mr ARS Iyer explains succinctly in his autobiography – “In those days the lanes and bye lanes were not lit well after dark and we normally make it home before it gets too dark. The lanes which we normally take as short cuts to reach home were dotted with lamp posts with only kerosene lamps encased in a glass container as electric street lights were a rarity in those days. A municipal worker carrying a tin of kerosene, a few wicks and a cleaning cloth and a ladder on his shoulders would stop at each of these posts to fill in kerosene in the lamps, change the wick if necessary and wipe clean the glass case of the lamp. He would lit the lamp by sunset every evening, which would burn throughout the night giving light to people to walk safely. I have often watched these men at work fascinated by the clockwork regularity with which they provide the lights to the common man.”

Krishnan Nair explains – Originally, license for generating and distributing electric current to the town of Calicut was granted to Mr. K. C. Menon. That was in 1927. One of the provisions in that license states "that –the municipality is at liberty to purchase the licensee's right after the expiry of fifty years after the grant of that license, that is, after the expiry 50 years from 1927. It may be noted that the municipality which knew about the grant of this license did not raise any protest against or objection to this period of 50 years which was fixed in the original license. Then, after this license was granted on the usual conditions that find a place in the electric licenses, Mr. K. C Menon borrowed two lakhs from a bank known as the Chalapuram Bank· The Government was therefore satisfied that he was in a position to carry on the work and as a matter of fact, within the stipulated time, he completed the compulsory works and before the expiry of time fixed for it, he began to distribute energy to the people of Calicut. Subsequently, complaints reached Government repeatedly. It was stated that he was not in a position to discharge his financial obligations and it was also stated that the supply of energy within the Calicut municipality was not efficient. When the Government received these complaints; Government naturally made enquiries. The Government were satisfied that everything was not in a satisfactory condition, and the Government sent repeated instructions and orders to the licensee, to the effect that, if he did not attend to these things, the license would be cancelled.