Letter from jail sheds light on Malabar revolt

MALAPPURAM: A recently unearthed letter from Edathola Bhavanam, an ancient Muslim house near Kondotty, may attract the attention of historians since it was written in 1925 by one of the Malabar Revolt prisoners from Salem jail.Written by Areecan Moideen to Edathola Kunjali, who was the ‘Adhikari’ of Kondotty region, the letter gives an account of the prisoners of the Malabar Rebellion in South Indian jails run by the British.“There were 23 revolt prisoners in the Salem jail, all of whom belonged to Ernad, Valluvanad, Ponnani and Kozhikode,” says the letter referring to the erstwhile revenue jurisdictions in Malabar. Based on his conversations with other prisoners who were transferred from one prison to the other, Moideen said in the letter that the British had locked up the revolters in 13 major jails in South India including Andaman, Madras, Bellary Camp Jail, Rajahmundry, Korappatta, Salem, Thrissinappilli, Kadaloor, Tanjore, Coimbatore, Vellore and Cannanore. Not even small children were spared by the British while suppressing the uprising. The children were apprehended in Palayamkodu and Singalpettath prisons, says the letter. Twenty revolters were hanged to death during the period the author spent there. “On the day of the hanging, Muslims in Salem came with decorated horse carts,” the letter says.Besides the historical details, the language used in the letter gives a clear picture of the social equations prevailed in that period.The way the writer addresses the Adhikari -- a long-winding sentence -- shows his submissive position. “It shows the hierarchical social order existed in the period,” said Dr K K Mohammed Abdul Sathar, Department of History, PSMO College Tirurangadi, who was in the forefront to recover and interpret the letter.The letter is presently kept by Edathola Gafoor, the present occupant of the Edathola house, as one of the most valuable historical documents at Edathola.