Mopala Rebellion | MOPLAH VIDROH |
Who were the Moplah Muslims?
The Moplah were Malayali speaking Muslims who inhabited the Malabar Coast in northern Kerala.
Moplah Muslims constituted 32% of Malabar’s one million population in 1921, living in the region of South Malabar.
After the arrival of the Portuguese in India, the Moplah Muslims started migrating to the interior parts of India in search of economic prospect, which led to their religious conflicts with other religions such as the Hindus.
Moplah Rebellion
It has been 100 years since the Moplah rebellion in August 1921. This rebellion remains in the headlines again because 100 years of its completion has again heated up the issue of whether it was a national revolt or a communal riot.
A recent political figure called the Moplah insurgency one of the first manifestations of the Taliban mentality in India.
When did the Moplah revolt begin?
When the Non-Cooperation Movement was going on in the country under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, at the same time in Kerala, a revolt started in the name of opposition to political power.
But soon after, it took a communal form. The Moplah riots took place during the Non-Cooperation Movement and the Khilafat Movement.
Causes of Moplah Rebellion
Most of the landlords in the region were Brahmins while most of the labourers or cultivators were Moplah Muslims.
These Moplah Muslims were in contact with fundamentalist clerics. These Maulanas used to encourage these cultivator Muslims to agitate fiercely by fiery speeches. These Muslim cultivators started this revolt against the landlords. According to some historians, this revolt was against the tenant laws against the landlords.
Moplah Rebellion Communal Riots –
Many historians believe that the Moplah revolt began as a struggle against political power.It later took the colour of communal riots.
More than 10,000 Hindus were massacred in the riots. Women were brutally raped, nearly 300 temples were also destroyed or damaged. In this revolt, crores of rupees were looted in the houses of Hindu landlords and their houses were burnt.
In the initial phase of the movement, nationalist leaders supported the revolt but withdrew their support when it took a communal colour.
End of rebellion –
The British crushed this rebellion at the end of 1921. To stop this rebellion, the British formed a battalion Malabar Seychelle Force.