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{{short description|Movement for the formation of the Indian state Kerala}}
{{Keralahistory}}
[[File:India-KERALA.svg|thumb|Location of Kerala in India]]
'''Aikya Kerala Movement''', the movement to establish a united Kerala was one of the political movements in present-day [[Kerala]] state of India. The term ''Aikya Kerala'' literally means 'United Kerala'. It has been a statewide peaceful movement for a united Kerala state for all Malayalam speaking people, which lasted for more than three decades. Following the movement, The [[Malayalam]]-speaking regions of the Travancore–Cochin merged with the [[Malabar District]] (excluding [[Laccadive Islands|Laccadive]] & [[Minicoy]] Islands) and the [[Kasaragod district|Kasaragod]] Taluk of [[South Canara]] district in [[Madras State]] to form the modern [[Kerala]] state on 1 November 1956, according to the [[States Reorganisation Act, 1956]] passed by the [[Government of India]].

==Movement during British rule==
During the [[British Raj|British]] period, the present day Kerala was part of 4 regions. [[Malabar district]] and [[Kasaragod]] taluk ([[South Canara]] district) in the [[Madras Presidency]] were under direct British rule while [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]] and [[Travancore]] remained as princely states were under the indirect rule of the British.

The [[Malayalam language]], with its rich literary heritage, has always been an important factor in the emotional and cultural integration of the people of the three regions of Malabar, Travancore and Kochi.<ref name="dc">{{cite book |title=Political History of Modern Kerala |publisher=[[DC Books]] |pages=87–91 |url=https://ebooks.dcbooks.com/assets/preview/political-history-of-modern-kerala.pdf |chapter=Aikya Kerala Movement |access-date=2022-05-31 |archive-date=2022-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122130530/https://ebooks.dcbooks.com/assets/preview/political-history-of-modern-kerala.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> The idea of a region for Malayalam speakers by uniting Travancore, Kochi and Malabar was formed at the beginning of the twentieth century. [[Swadeshabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai|Ramakrishna Pillai]], the editor of [[Swadeshabhimani (newspaper)|Swadeshabhimani]], had written in the early twentieth century about the formation of a united Kerala by combining these three regions.<ref name="mathrubhumi">{{Cite web |title=50 events that cannot be erased from the history of Kerala |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/special-pages/mathrubhumi-100-years/articles/50-events-that-cannot-be-erased-from-the-history-of-kerala-1.7343574 |access-date=2022-05-30 |website=Mathrubhumi |language=ml}}</ref>

===Role of Indian National Congress===
The Nagpur conference of the [[Indian National Congress]] in 1920 passed a resolution that the state congress committees should be organized on linguistic basis instead of territorial basis. This was an important step in the idea of forming linguistic states in India. Following this, in 1921, the Indian National Congress renamed its unit for Travancore, Kochi and Malabar regions as [[Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee]] (KPCC).<ref name="mathrubhumi"/>

Under the leadership of KPCC, the first All Kerala Political Conference was held at [[Ottapalam]] from April 23, 1921.<ref name="Hindu">{{cite news |last1=Shaji |first1=K. a |title=Congress rewinds to 1921 Ottappalam meet |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/kerala/congress-rewinds-to-1921-ottappalam-meet/article17782999.ece |work=The Hindu |date=4 April 2017 |language=en-IN}}</ref> It was inaugurated by the then [[All India Congress Committee]] President [[Tanguturi Prakasam]].<ref name="Hindu"/> The Aikya Kerala Committee formed at the Ottappalam conference demanded formation of new Kerala state comprising Malabar, Travancore, Cochin, Coorg, Nilgiris, Gudallur, South Canara, Mahi and Lakshadweep.

The ''Nattu Rajya Praja Sammelanam'' (State People's Conference) held at Ernakulam in 1928 under the presidency of [[Jawaharlal Nehru]], passed a resolution for Aikya Kerala (United Kerala).<ref name="swap">{{cite web |title=Kerala History from 18th Century |url=https://www.swapdial.com/public/knowledge-contents/industrial-data/kerala-history-from-18th-century/ |website=www.swapdial.com |access-date=2022-05-31 |archive-date=2022-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122130528/https://www.swapdial.com/public/knowledge-contents/industrial-data/kerala-history-from-18th-century/ |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=GK for Nurses, Medical & Paramedical Staff |date=2018 |publisher=JaypeeDigital |isbn=9789352700424 |language=en |chapter=Kerala History}}</ref> In 1938, a delegation from the Kerala State Congress Committee approached the Congress Working Committee and demanded the formation of a 'United Kerala' when India became independent.<ref name="aikya"/>

On May 26, 1946, a KPCC Working Committee meeting was convened at [[Cheruthuruthi]] under the chairmanship of [[K. P. Kesava Menon]] to work for a united Kerala.<ref name="mathrubhumi"/> A meeting was also held in Ernakulam in this connection but it was adjourned without a decision.<ref name="aikya"/> In September 1946, to implement United Kerala, the KPCC Working Committee formed a committee comprising K. Kelappan, U. Gopal Menon (Convener), A. K. Damodara Menon, Janab Moidu Moulavi, K. Madhava Menon, P. Kunhiraman, Kumari Kamalam, P. Madhavan and Janab Ibrahim, to form a Joint Committee consisting of various political parties in Malabar, Kochi and Travancore and their representatives.<ref name="aikya"/> Based on this, a meeting was held on October 26, 1946, at Cheruthuruthy under the chairmanship of K. P. Keshava Menon, and was decided to convene a United Kerala Conference.<ref name="aikya"/>

===Role of Maharaja Kerala Varma===
Kerala Varma, the Maharaja of Cochin, played a pivotal role in the unification of Kerala and the accession of the Kingdom of Cochin to the Indian Union.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pradeep |first=K. |date=2019-08-15 |title=How the Cochin Maharaja, Aikya Keralam Thampuran played a pivotal role in unification of Kerala and of Cochin State’s accession to the Indian Union |language=en-IN |work=The Hindu |url=https://www.thehindu.com/society/history-and-culture/how-the-cochin-maharaja-aikya-keralam-thampuran-played-a-pivotal-role-in-unification-of-kerala-and-of-cochin-states-accession-to-the-indian-union/article29099822.ece |access-date=2022-05-31 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> In his letter to the Kochi Legislative Assembly on July 29, 1946, Kerala Varma wrote to Malabar, Cochin and Travancore that a plan should be devised to establish a common government and that for the culture of Kerala to survive, it must be under a single administration.<ref name="Deshabhimani">{{cite web |title=കേരളത്തിന്റെ ജനാധിപത്യ പ്രക്രിയ ഐക്യകേരളം വരെ |url=https://www.deshabhimani.com/articles/the-democratic-transition-in-kerala/600152 |website=Deshabhimani |language=ml}}</ref> In April 1947, Kerala Varma inaugurated the Aikya Kerala Convention held in [[Thrissur]] under the chairmanship of [[K. Kelappan]].<ref name="aikya"/><ref name="mathrubhumi"/> The convention passed a resolution for the formation of a 'United Kerala'.<ref name="aikya"/> Since Kerala Varma stood for the unified Kerala (Aikya Keralam), he was known as [[Aikya Keralam Thampuran]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ഐക്യ കേരളം തമ്പുരാൻ |url=https://www.manoramaonline.com/district-news/ernakulam/2020/11/01/ernakulam-kerala-varma-thampuran.html |access-date=2022-05-31 |website=ManoramaOnline |language=ml}}</ref>

===Contributions of the Communist Party of India===
The [[Communist Party of India]] has also propagated the idea of a united Kerala by uniting the Malayalam-speaking regions.<ref name="Janayugom">{{cite news |title=ഐക്യ കേരളപ്പിറവിയും ഇന്ത്യന്‍ കമ്മ്യൂണിസ്റ്റ് പാര്‍ട്ടിയും |url=https://janayugomonline.com/kerala-piravi-and-the-communist-party-of-india-column-nammuk-chuttum/ |work=Janayugom Online |date=26 October 2020 |archive-date=20 March 2022 |access-date=1 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220320075450/https://janayugomonline.com/kerala-piravi-and-the-communist-party-of-india-column-nammuk-chuttum/ |url-status=dead }}</ref> [[E. M. S. Namboodiripad]] has written a book titled ''Keralam Malayalikalude Mathrubhumi'' (meaning:Kerala, the homeland of [[Malayali]]s) which comes with this idea.<ref name="Janayugom"/> From the 1930s onwards, trade unions based on communist ideas emerged in the Travancore, Kochi and Malabar Provinces in various fields of work. The All Kerala Workers' Conference organized by [[P. Krishnapillai]] was held at Kozhikode in May 1935.<ref name="Janayugom"/>

==After independence==
A high-level committee formed to consider the recommendations of the Dhar Commission, at the Jaipur Conference of the Indian National Congress in 1948, comprising Jawaharlal Nehru, [[Vallabhbhai Patel]] and [[Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya]], in its report (JVP Report) cautioned against going ahead with the proposal for linguistic reorganization of the states.<ref name="dc"/> After Indian independence, on July 1, 1949, the state of Travancore and Kochi merged to form the state of [[Travancore–Cochin]], as a Part B State of the Indian Union.<ref name="mathrubhumi" /> The Aikya Kerala Convention held at [[Aluva]] in 1948, appointed an Action Committee of 15 members with [[K. Kelappan]] as the President and [[K. A. Damodara Menon]] as the Secretary, to speedup actions for a united Kerala.<ref>{{Cite book |title=BA history study material |publisher=University of Calicut |pages=7 |language=English |url=http://sdeuoc.ac.in/sites/default/files/sde_videos/VI_SemContemporary_Kerala.pdf }}{{Dead link|date=August 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> The Aikya Kerala Conference held at [[Palakkad]] in November 1949, under the Aikya Kerala Committee passed a resolution to form a State of Kerala without [[Rajpramukh]].<ref name="dc"/>

The most important decision taken at the Communist Party Plenum on April 4, 5 and 6, 1952 in Thrissur was to carry out a massive agitation for a united Kerala.<ref name="Janayugom"/> The party also decided to hold various conventions for this purpose. In addition, large conventions were held in major cities in India, such as [[Bombay]], [[Madras]], and [[Delhi]].<ref name="Janayugom"/> More than 15,000 Malayalis participated in the Aikya Kerala Convention held in Bombay on October 18 and 19, 1952 under the leadership of the Communist Party.<ref name="Janayugom"/>

[[Travancore–Cochin]] or officially the ''United State of Travancore and Cochin'' formed by merging [[Travancore]] and [[Kingdom of Cochin|Cochin]] on 1 July 1949. It was renamed 'State of Travancore–Cochin in January 1950. The State Reorganization Commission headed by Syed Fazal Ali, which was formed to form linguistic states across India, recommended the formation of a State comprising Travancore, Kochi and Malabar regions.<ref name="mathrubhumi" /> The [[Malayalam]]-speaking regions of the Travancore–Cochin merged with the [[Malabar District]] (excluding [[Laccadive Islands|Laccadive]] & [[Minicoy]] Islands) and the [[Kasaragod district|Kasaragod]] Taluk of [[South Canara]] district in [[Madras State]] to form the modern [[Kerala]] state on 1 November 1956, according to the [[States Reorganisation Act, 1956]] passed by the [[Government of India]].<ref name="Kerala">{{Cite web|url=https://legislative.gov.in/sites/default/files/A1956-37.pdf|title=The States Reorganisation Act, 1956|website=legislative.gov.in|publisher=Government of India}}</ref><ref name="mathrubhumi" />

==Actions against the formation of the State of Kerala==
Diwan [[C. P. Ramaswami Iyer]], with the permission of the [[Travancore royal family]], carried out attempt to make a 'Immutable Executive' rule in Travancore and the subsequently to make Travancore an independent state (June 2, 1947).<ref name="aikya">{{Cite web |title=ഐക്യകേരള സമ്മേളനത്തിന് 75 വയസ്സ് |url=https://newspaper.mathrubhumi.com/features/edit-page/kerla-1.7466633 |access-date=2022-05-18 |website=Mathrubhumi |language=ml}}</ref> After Indian independence, the Congressmen from [[Malabar District|Malabar]] were in favor of a southern state (southern state) by annexing the Travancore-Cochin region to the [[Madras Presidency|Madras province]].<ref name="dc"/> The political conference held at Palakkad in April 1953 under the leadership of the Malabar Pradesh Congress Committee officially approved the above proposal.<ref name="dc"/> Although initially Congress workers from Malabar opposed the formation of a state of Kerala, a conference held in Kozhikode under the leadership of the Aikya Kerala Committee helped to influence public opinion in favor of the formation of a united Kerala in Malabar.<ref name="dc"/>

== See also ==
* [[History of Kerala]]
* [[Kerala reformation movement]]
* [[Kerala Day]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Kerala}}
{{Topics related to Kerala}}
{{History of India by State}}
{{Portal bar|India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aikya Kerala Movement}}
[[Category:Political history of Kerala]]

Aikya Kerala Movement - Revision history

Sergdxx at 17:33, 1 March 2026