The Kalikavu incident - 1915
Posted by Labels: 1915 Moplah, Innes attempt, Kalikavu, Moplah rebellion
An attempt on Collector
CA Innes’s life
Some articles ago, we studied the impact of the Turkish
Khalifa, the Khilafat movement and its effects on the Malabar populace,
culminating in the violence of 1921 and a terrible aftermath. We also studied
about the discontentment amongst the Malabar Mappilas and the attempts of
earlier British administration, especially HV Conolly in countering what was
termed as the Mappila outrages resulting in the attempt at disarming the
disaffected Mappila. As all these were progressing from phase to phase, many a foreign
cleric entered the area to whip up the emotions of the relatively illiterate
Eranad Mappilas. These have been well studied and recorded by various
historians, forming three categories of texts, one by left leaning scribes
attributing everything to land tenures and as the outburst of have nots, the
British stories calling them revolts against the crown, to be dealt with a firm hand and thirdly the events as seen by
the Hindu aristocracy of Malabar. Two lesser known events from the earlier days
are not quite well reported in any of these collections, one being an attempt
to kill a British collector and secondly the British attempt at mainstreaming
the Mappila’s desire to fight. I will detail the first now and then in a later
article provide information on the second.