MALAPPURAM, Kerala

Main Attraction: Tirur Thunchan Parambu

Located 32 kms from Malappuram at Tirur is the hallowed Thunchan Parambu, the birth place of Thunchath Ezhuthachan, the father of Modern Malayalam Language. This stretch of ground has been carefully preserved for posterity with items like the iron stylus used by the scholar and literary giant kept on display. The holy day of Vijayadasami witnesses children being brought here to be initiated into the world of education and knowledge The ancient Kanjira tree (Nux vomica) under which he is supposed to have imparted knowledge to his beloved disciples and composed his poems is one of the treasured exhibits here. The memorial also houses granite Saraswathi Mandapam along with a library of rare manuscripts.

Brief History

Malappuram district came into existence on June 16, 1969. Malappuram district is composed of portion of the erstwhile Palakkad and Kozhikode districts. It was carved out of Ernad taluk and portions of Tirur taluk of Kozhikode district and portions of Perinthalmannna and Ponnani taluks of Palakkad district. The ancient history of the places comprising of the district is obscure. However, there are some pre-historic relics found in some parts of the district, particularly Dolmens, Menhirs and Rock-cut caves. In Manjeri town and in Nilambur village, these relics are found. Rockcut caves are also seen in Trumbuli, Puliyakkode, Trikkulam, Urakam, Melmuri, Ponmala, Vallikunnu and Vengara. The ancient archeological relics include the fortified palace of the eastern branch of the Zamorin’s family known as Kizhakke Kovilakom. The Zamorins held sway over Malappuram and their chieftain Para Nambi, ruled the area in early days. There are some renowned old temples in the district, which have archeological and architectural values. Of them Thirunavaya Vishnu temple, Triparangode Siva temple, Hanumankavu, Chamravattathu Ayyappankavu, Trikkandiyur Siva temple, Keraladhiswaram Vishnu temple, Vennayur Vishnur temple and Karikkad Subramonia temple are important. During the Sangam period, the district formed part of the Chera Empire. No further details are available about the life and culture of the people either during the Sangam age or in the post-Sangam age. However, the inscriptional evidence found at the Triparangode temple indicates that Goda Ravi of the Chera empire had his sway over this region. 

Similarly details of the rulers of Ernad, who were the ancestors of later Zamorins, figure in the Jewish copper plates of Bhaskara Ravi Varman (1000 AD) and in the Kottayam copper plates of Veera Raghava Chakravarthy (1225 AD). The later history of the district is interwoven with the history of Zamorin’s rule. Zamorin or Samury or Samuthiri originally belonged to Nediyiruppu in Ernad taluk of Malappuram district before shifting his seat to Kozhikode. The conquests of Zamorin in the pre-Portuguese period deserve special mention, particularly his conquests over Parappanad and Vettathunadu (Tanur). The war with Valluvakkonathiri ended in establishing Zamorin’s superiority and gave him the honour of presiding over the Mamankam, as the ‘Rakshapurusha’ or protector of Mamankam. By 1400 AD Zamorin acquired hegemony over the entire district.

The Portuguese period commences with the arrival of VascoDa Gama on the Kerala coast in 1498. The Zamorin gave him all facilities for trade, However, the attitude of the Portuguese underwent radical changes resulting in conflicts with the Zamorin. Ponnani (which now forms part of the district) also was an important target of the Portuguese. In 1507 Almeida raided Ponnani and started building a fortress there in 1585. By the close of the 16th century, the Portuguese supremacy in the Malabar Coast started dwindling and it slowly declined giving political advantage to the Dutch.

Unmindful of Portuguese opposition, the Zamorin entered into a treaty with the Dutch East India Company on 11th November 1604. This was followed by another treaty in 1608, which confirmed the earlier treaty and the Dutch assured assistance to Zamorin in expelling the Portuguese. By the middle of the 17th century, the Dutch had monopoly of the foreign trade in the Kerala coast except for small English factories at Ponnani and Calicut. The arrival of Captain Keeling at Kozhikode in 1650 and the conclusion of a treaty with the Zamorin paved way for the British supremacy in the region. Though the British had to face stiff resistance in Malabar from the Portuguese, the Dutch and the French, the English in the earlier years mainly concentrated in fostering trade rather than involving themselves in military exercises.

The Mysorean invasions during the period had political overtones in Malabar. During his conquest between 1766-93, Haider Ali marched to Ponnani facing stiff resistance from the local Nairs. Haider Ali adopted severe and primitive means for punishing enemy troops. With headquarters at Manjeri, his troops spread all over the district capturing men, women and children. His draconian measures produced an outward calm in the district though it did not last for long. During 1768-73 Haider was busy with his campaigns against the Mahrattas, but at the end of 1773, he again invaded Malabar through the Thamarasseri pass. In 1778 a rebellion broke out against the authority of Mysorean ruler. The English East India Company encouraged the local rulers and they helped the local people to rise to shake off the Mysorean yoke. The British force under Col. Humberstone had to face the Mysorean army led by Makhdum Ali, which ended in the death of the latter in April 1782. The greater part of his army was also lost. At this juncture, Haider Ali sent his son Tippu Sultan to restore his authority over Malabar. But Tippu could not continue for long in Malabar as his father passed away and he had to inherit his father’s throne. In 1788 Tippu Sultan again invaded Kerala with a large army and without facing much resistance he could establish his suzerainty and establish Feroke as his capital. But the signing of the treaty at Serinagapatanam in 1792 resulted in the collapse of the Mysore throne and the large tract of Malabar, which was under the authority of Mysoreans, was ceded to the British. The British Commissioner’s effected a political settlement and thereby the rulers of Parappanad and Vettathunad were required to pay their revenues through the Zamorin, who was also temporarily vested the powers to administer justice over all these petty Rajahs. These arrangements also did not last long as the revenues of the district could not be paid by the Zamorin to the British promptly. Under the strict orders of the Governor of Bombay on 5th July 1796, the Commissioners took the direct management of the Zamorin’s estates, but on payment of dues they returned the territories to him.

However, the rebellion of Manjeri Attan Gurukkal again resulted in nonpayment of revenues by Zamorin and the Company taking this opportunity assumed the control of the districts governed by the Zamorin in October 1798. Thereafter the British Collectors ruled Malabar, which include the present Malappuram district. During the reign of the British also, the peace of the region was often disturbed due to Mappila riots. At the close of the 19th century the situation in the district was almost peaceful.

The Indian National Congress was founded in 1885 and many delegates from Kozhikode and Malabar attended the annual sessions of the Congress held at various places in the country. However, no organised political movement took place until the beginning of the 20th century. In 1908, the District Congress Committee was formed in Malabar and many people actively participated in its activities. The first political conference was held at Palakkad in 1916 followed by the conferences at Kozhikode in 1917, Tellicherry in 1918 and at Badagara in 1919. But the most important conference was the Manjeri Political Conference held on 28th April 1920, consequent on the announcement of the Montague Chelmsford Reforms of 1919 which was attended by about 1300 delegates from all parts of Malabar.

Sri K.P.RamanMenon on behalf of the extremists moved the main political resolution declaring that India was fit for full self-government and the Monague Chelmsford Reforms were quite unsatisfactory and disappointing. Dr.AnnieBeasant, who was also present at the conference, opposed the resolution but it was passed by a huge majority. Another noteworthy resolution passed at the conference was the demand for tenancy reforms. In a nutshell Manjeri Political Conference was a turning point in the history of the political movement in Kerala. The Non-cooperation and Khilaphat movement had also their repercussions in the district. The Khilaphat movement was started as a protest against the decision of the British government who deprived Turkey of her homelands, which they agreed during the Great War. The Khilaphat committees were set up all over Malabar particularly in the then Ernad and Valluvanad taluks. The arrest of the Secretary of the local Khilaphat committee of Pookkottur on the pretext that he had stolen a gun from the Pookkottur palace of Nilambur Thirumulpadu resulted in a series of outbreaks in Malabar. Several encounters took place between the Mappila rebels and the British troops.

These events, known as the Malabar Rebellion of 1921, spread to Tirurangadi, Malappuram, Manjeri, Perinthalmanna, Pandikkad, Tirur etc. The official history of the Congress states that upto 28th August 1921, the administration in Malappuram, Tirurangadi, Manjeri and Perinthalmanna was almost virtually ended, as these areas fell under the rebel leaders. At the same time, the congress workers were very active in preaching, nonviolence and rendering all help to various victims of the disturbances. It is an irony of fate that while the Mappila rebels were being rounded up and punished, the Congress leaders who were preaching non-violence were also arrested and sentenced to various terms of imprisonment. The Kozhikode district Gazetter states that, at the final phase of the rebellion the Mappilas became desperate and committed acts of forcible conversion, looting of Hindus, arson and murder besides looting and destroying public offices. The rebellion was crushed by hanging or deporting the rebels to the AnadmanIslands, besides imprisoning large number of persons. Sri K.P.Kesava Menon who had intimate personal knowledge of the men and women connected with the rebelllion has expressed the view quoted from Kozhikode District Gazetteer that “there is no doubt regarding the genesis of the rebellion on 1921. It was born out of police repression. Its chief cause was the excessive violence used by the authorities to suppress the Khilaphat movement, and not any Jenmi-Kudiyar conflict or dispute regarding mosque. When police atrocities became unbearable, they gave up the vow of non-violence and decided to meet violence with violence itself”. After the rebellion, the political activity in Malabar came to a standstill till the starting of the Civil Disobedience Movement. The Payyanur Conference in May 1928 was presided over by Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and it generated great enthusiasm among the masses and gave a fresh impetus to the activities to the activities of the Congress in Malabar. Volunteers from this district also participated in the famous Salt Satyagraha on 1930 and may courted arrest.

The withdrawal of the Civil Disobedience Movement led to a peculiar political situation in the country. The younger general of the Congress men decided to form a Congress Socialist Party in 1934. This leftist group who subscribed to the community ideology was under the leadership of P. Krishna Pillai and E.M.SNamboodiripad. The rift in the Congress became very serious at its meeting in Shornur in October 1934. In 1936, elections were held to the Madras Legislature base on the revisions of the Government of India Act, 1935 and all the Congress candidates from Malabar were retuned to the provincial legislature. The volunteers of this district also participated in the Quit India Movement of 1942 and many persons were put behind the bars. Of the major political set up in Malabar, the most important was the emergence of Kerala Muslim League as a political party in the district under the leadership of Syed Abdul Rahman Bafaki Thangal, K.M. Sethi Sahib and C.H.Mohammed Koya. It is worthwhile to say here that the population of this district consists mostly Muslims. The people are pious and the back ground of the people tells the story of an arduous life in the midst of hills, boulders and rocks.