Āli Musliyār
Āli Musliyār
Āli Musliyār in 1922, at Coimbatore Central Jail
Born
Erikkunnan Pālattu Mūlayil Āli

1861
Nellikuth desom, Eranād taluk, Malabar district, British India
Died17 February 1922
Coimbatore Central Jail, Madras Presidency, British India
(now in Tamil Nadu, India)
Cause of deathCaught and executed hanging by Thiyyar Regiment of British Indian Army
NationalityBritish Indian
MovementKhilafat Movement[1]

Āli Musliyār (born Erikkunnan Pālattu Mūlayil Āli; 1861–1922) was the leader of Malabar Rebellion, and a freedom fighter.[2] Musliyār was the Imam of Tirurangadi Masjid from 1907 until his eventual execution at Coimbatore Prison for the allegation against him for calling to fight against British rule. He was an active orator of the Khilafat Movement in Malabar region.[3][1][4]

Early life

Āli Musliyar was born in Nellikkunattu desom, Eranad taluk, Malabar district to Kunhimoitīn Molla and Kōtakkal Āmina. Kōtakkal Āmina was a member of the infamous Maqdoom family of Ponnani, known for their radical islamist sect of religious law.[5] Musliyar's grandfather, Mūsa, was one of several "Malappuram Martyrs". Ali Musliyar began his education studying the Qur'an, tajwīd and the Malayālam language with Kakkadammal Kunnukammu Molla. He was sent to Ponnani Darse for further studies in religion and philosophy, under the tutelage of Sheikh Zainuddin Maqdum I (Akhir), which he successfully completed after 10 years.

He then went to Haram, Mecca for further education. Throughout this period, he was guided by several famous scholars, including Sayyid Ahmed Sahni Dahlan, Shiekh Muhammed Hisbullahi Makki, and Sayyid Husain Habshi. After spending seven years in Mecca, he went on to serve as the Chief Qasi in Kavaratti, Laccadive Islands.

Musliyar in Malabar

In 1907 he was appointed as the Chief Musliyar of the mosque at Tirurangadi, Eranad taluk.

He became a Khilafat or Islamic Caliphate leader,[6] on the introduction of the Khilafat movement, was installed as Caliph Emir on 22 August 1921 at the Jamat Mosque and issued edicts proclaiming his assumption, of office and directing that in future market fees, ferry and toll revenue from Jizya taxes on non-muslims belong to the Islamic Khilafat Government.

He posed as a leader of the people. Islamic caliphate Khilafat meetings were held regularly under Ali Musaliar, and "these constant preachings for jihad, combined with the resolution passed in the All-India Khilafat Conference at Karachi last July, led the Moplahs to believe that the end of British rule in India was near. Ali Musaliar and his lieutenants were making secret preparations for active jihad and direct hostility against the colonial government.[7] Khilafat or Islamic Caliphate volunteers for holy jihad were recruited and made to swear on the Holy Koran that they would be ready to Martyr for the cause of the Khilafat in a holy war. Ali Musaliar also made his volunteer corps of Jihadis parade throughout the locality, armed and in their uniforms, and such demonstrations added to the strength of this mischievous movement." (Public Prosecutor's speech, West Coast Spectator, 6 October 1920).[8]

The beginnings of the future Khilafat army of jihad were in the 'making, and, at an anti-non-co-operation Meeting held at Ponnani on 24 July to counteract the effects of the Khilafat agitation, Ali Musaliar, "turned up with his volunteer jihadi force of about 50 to 100 volunteers armed with big Khilafat knives and clad in Khilafat uniform, marching under a red flag, with shouts of Allah-Ho-Akbar. The volunteers rushed the Police in the bazaar." (Judgement in Case No. 7/21).[8]

The agrarian discontent, but it would appear that there was some trouble – what it was, it is not possible to say – between the Pookotur Moplahs and the Manager Tirumulpad of the Pookotur Estate. This lack of cordiality was aggravated by the police search instituted at the instance of the Manager, and V. Mohammad exploited the Khilafat movement and the radical islamist ideology of his co-religionists to wreak vengeance. and in this jungly, remote and fanatical hamlet of Pookotur, the civil administration practically ceased to function from 2 August 1921.[8]

The revolt of 1921–22 began following the police attempt to arrest three Islamist leaders, of which Ali Musaliar was one, on 20 August 1921. Rumors were spread by Moplahs that the colonial government troops had destroyed the Mampuram Mosque, and the Moplah jihadi gangs were brought out in huge numbers, estimated to be between 15,000 and 30,000. This led to a large scale massacre of colonial troops, ethnic cleansing of native Hindu families including women and children and severe damage to the colonial government infrastructure including buildings, rail bridges, roads, etc. throughout South Malabar.[9]


Although the colonial troops were quick to take the upper hand in many towns, a number of jihadi rebels initiated guerilla operations, forcing the colonial government to deploy additional military units and introduce "aggressive" patrolling. The revolt came to an end in February 1922. Ali Musliyar was among a dozen jihadi leaders who were tried and sentenced to death. He was subsequently hanged at the Coimbatore Prison on 17 February 1922.[9]

    In Dictionary of Martyrs

    His name is listed in the fifth volume of ‘The Dictionary of Martyrs, India’s Freedom Struggle from 1857 to 1947’[10]

    However, [11][12][13][14] the Indian Council of Historical Research considered removing the names of Ali Musliyar and 386 others from the Dictionary of Martyrs of India's Freedom Struggle for the ethnic cleansing of Hindus and being associated with the Khilafat Movement.[15] But it has not been removed since.[10]

    References

    1. 1 2 Conrad Wood. The Moplah Rebellion And Its Genesis. People's Publishing House. p. 164. Retrieved 27 June 2020.
    2. ↑ EncyclopaediaDictionaryIslamMuslimWorld Volume 6. 1988. p. 460. Contemporary evaluation within India tends to the view that the Malabar Rebellion was an ethnic cleansing of Hindus in the Malabar region, but still in 1971 the Kerala Government granted the remaining active participants in the revolt the accolade of Ayagi
    3. ↑ "The Mapilla Rebellion : 1921-1922". p. 45. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
    4. ↑ DICTIONARY OF MARTYRS INDIA'S FREEDOM STRUGGLE (1857-1947) Volume 5 (PDF). MINISTRY OF CULTURE, GOVERNMENT OF IDNIA AND INDIAN COUNCIL OF HISTORICAL RESEARCH. 2018. p. 7. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 August 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2021.
    5. ↑ Histories of the Non-Co-operation and Khilafat Movements, PC Bamford, Deep Publications, 1925
    6. ↑ Salahudheen, O P. Anti_European/Hindu struggle by the mappilas of Malabar 1498_1921 AD (PDF). p. 8. Archived from the original (PDF) on 10 June 2020. Retrieved 10 November 2019.
    7. ↑ Muhammed Rafeeq, T. Development of Islamic movement in Kerala in modern times (PDF). Abstract. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 7 April 2020. Retrieved 14 November 2019.
    8. 1 2 3 Gopalan Nair, Diwan Bahadur (1926). Moplah Rebellion, 1921. Norman Printing Bureau. pp. Many.
    9. 1 2 Spencer C. Tucker Encyclopedia of Insurgency and Counterinsurgency: A New Era of Modern Warfare: A New Era of Modern Warfare ABC-CLIO, 2013
    10. 1 2 Dictionary of Martyrs: India's Freedom Struggle (1857-1947) Vol. 5 (PDF).
    11. ↑ "Centre plans to revise content of book on freedom fighters that mentions Variyamkunnath". The News Minute. Paragraph 2 "Amid strong protests from Sangh Parivar organisations against the inclusion of the names of the Malabar rebellion leaders in the book, the PDF copy of the book was withdrawn from the Ministry of Culture website on Friday night.". 6 September 2020. Retrieved 9 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
    12. ↑ Kayyalakkath, Shaheen Abdulla,Aslah. "Row in India over gov't move to erase colonial-era 'martyrs'". www.aljazeera.com. Paragraph 26 : "After Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s BJP came to power on a Hindu nationalist agenda in 2014, the ICHR has been accused of trying to revise and “saffronise” its syncretic history." Paragraphs 26-31. Retrieved 9 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
    13. ↑ "The pseudo alternative". The Indian Express. 25 July 2016. Retrieved 9 March 2022.
    14. ↑ "Decoding the Sangh Parivar's Selective, Biased Reading of Anti-Caste History". The Wire. Paragraph 1 : "As its political affiliate, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is in power with an undisturbed majority, the parivar is being forced to deal with the dilemma in a much more organic way.". Retrieved 9 March 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
    15. ↑ "ICHR Panel Seeks Removal of Names of 387 'Moplah Martyrs' from Dictionary of Martyrs of India's Freedom Struggle". News18.
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