Moplah Rebellion

Explanation :

• The Malabar Rebellion, also known as the MoplahRebellion, was an armed revolt staged by the Mappila Muslims of Kerala in 1921.
• The most prominent leaders of the rebellion were VariankunnathKunjahammad Haji, SithiKoyaThangal and Ali Musliyar.
• Three different political movements merged to trigger the rebellion —one, the tenancy movement, was rooted in local agrarian grievances (particularly in south Malabar); the other two were the Khilafat (Caliphate) movement and the Non-Cooperation movement, launched jointly by the All-India Khilafat Committee and the Indian National Congress.
• In August 1920, Gandhi along with Shaukat Ali (the leader of the KhilafatMovement in India) visited Calicut to spread the combined message of non-cooperation and Khilafat among the residents of Malabar.
• In response to Gandhi’s call, a Khilafat committee was formed in Malabar and the Mappilas, under their religious head MahadumTangal of Ponnani pledged support to the Non-cooperation Movement.
• The Moplah tenants agitated against the Hindu landlords (locally referred to as Janmi) and the British government.
• Most of their grievances were related to the security of tenure, high rents, renewal fees and other unfair exactions of the landlords.
• The British government responded with much aggression, bringing in Gurkha regiments to suppress it and imposing martial law.
• Wagon Tragedy: A noteworthy event of the British suppression was the wagon tragedy when approximately 60 Mappila prisoners on their way to prison, were suffocated to death in a closed railway goods wagon.