QuyenStobie2 at 08:31, 5 March 2026

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{{short description|1941 communist uprising in British India}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2024}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2024}}
{{Infobox military conflict
| conflict = Kayyur Incident
| partof = Communist-led peasant uprisings in British India
| image =
| caption =
| date = March 28, 1941
|coordinates = {{coord|12.262641|N|75.188907|E|display=inline,title}}
| place = [[Kayyur]], [[Kasaragod]], [[Madras Presidency]] (present-day [[Kerala]], [[India]])
| result = Suppression of protest; execution of four communist activists
| combatant1 = {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[British Raj]]
| combatant2 = Peasants of Kayyur<br />{{flagicon image|CPI-banner.svg}} [[Communist Party of India]]
| commander1 = British colonial police authorities<br />Malabar Special Police
| commander2 = [[Madathil Appu]], [[Podora Kunjambu Nair]], [[Koithattil Chirukandan]], [[Pallikkal Abu Bakr]]
| strength1 = Unknown
| strength2 = Hundreds of local peasants
| casualties1 = 1 police constable drowned
| casualties2 = 4 executed, many arrested and tortured
| campaignbox =
}}
'''Kayyur incident''' also known as '''Kayyur uprising''' or '''Kayyur Revolt''' is a series of incidents that occurred in [[Kayyur]] village of present-day [[Kasaragod district]] during British rule in India. The peaceful farmers protest on 1941 March 28 turned violent and the mob accidentally killed a policeman. 61 were trialed for this violent deed and 4 persons were sentenced to death.

==Background==
[[Karnataka]] and Kasaragod district (which was part of [[South Canara]] earlier) were ruled by the [[Nayakas of Keladi|Ikkeri Nayakas]] and the subsequent [[Kingdom of Mysore]].<ref name="enmalayalam">{{cite web |script-title=ml:കയ്യൂര്‍ സമരം (ഒന്നാം ഭാഗം) |language=ml |website=EnMalayalam |url=http://www.enmalayalam.com/site/malayalam/topic/general/category/academic-papers/2011/09/2840-article |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130424031124/http://www.enmalayalam.com/site/malayalam/topic/general/category/academic-papers/2011/09/2840-article |archive-date=2013-04-24 |date=24 April 2013}}</ref> These areas came under the control of the British after the defeat of [[Tipu Sultan]] in the [[Siege of Seringapatam (1799)|Battle of Srirangapatna]] in 1799.<ref name="enmalayalam"/> With the enactment of the Permanent Settlement Act by the British, the landlord-tenant system came into existence, which made a section of the landlords dependent on the British and began to exploit the common people.<ref name="enmalayalam"/>

As the Kasaragod region was part of the [[Dakshina Kannada|South Canara district]], the tenancy law which was compulsory in [[Malabar District|Malabar]] did not come into force in this area.<ref name="EMS">{{cite book |last1=Namboodiripad |first1=E. M. S. |title=History, Society, and Land Relations: Selected Essays |date=2010 |publisher=LeftWord Books |isbn=978-81-87496-92-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8yfF2EawlA8C&dq=kayyur+incident&pg=PA210 |language=en}}</ref> As a result, the tax levied here was higher than that imposed in the [[Malabar District|Malabar]] region.<ref name="enmalayalam"/> Since these areas were under the rule of the Nileshwaram dynasty, it was the Nileshwaram dynasty that collected taxes from the farmers and paid them to the British.<ref name="enmalayalam"/>

Socialist leaders like [[P. Krishna Pillai|P. Krishnapillai]], [[A. K. Gopalan|A.K.G.]] and Congress leader [[T. Subrahmanian Thirumump|T. S. Thirumumpu]] were at the forefront of organizing the farmers in the Kayyur region.<ref name=":0" /> The ''Karshaka Sangam'' (farmers' group) decided to protest against the tax collection like 'Vechu Kanal', 'Noori', 'Mukkal', 'Sheelakash' etc. imposed by the landlords on the farmers.<ref name="enmalayalam"/> One of the main demands of the farmers was that the Malabar Tenancy Act be enacted in [[Hosdurg taluk|Hosdurg]] as well.<ref name="EMS"/> As the first stage of the struggle, they decided to bring farmers from different parts in a procession and decided to file a petition against the collections to Nileswaram Raja, the landlord of the area, on 30 March 1941.<ref name="enmalayalam"/>

Those who decided to defeat the peasant struggle reported to the British authorities that the peasantry activists were going to 'set fire to the Nileswaram Kovilakam'.<ref name="enmalayalam"/> On 25 March 1941, during a march of agricultural workers in Kayyur, Nileshwaram Sub-Inspector Nicholas arrested peasant activists T. V. Kunjambhu and T. V. Kunhiraman.<ref name="enmalayalam"/> The district magistrate issued arrest warrants against K. P. Vellunga, Choorikkadan Krishnan Nair, Koithattil Chirukandan and Valappil Raman under the Defense of India Rule for anti-war activities.<ref name="enmalayalam"/>

The activities of communist leaders like [[E. K. Nayanar]], [[Subramanya Shenoy]] and [[A. V. Kunhambu]], who were secretly working in Kayyur region after the Morazha incident also helped in protests against landlords in the Kayyur region.<ref name="Mathrubhumi">{{Cite web|last=കെ.ബാലകൃഷ്ണന്‍|script-title=ml:കയ്യൂര്‍ സംഭവത്തിന് 75 വയസ്സ്|url=https://archives.mathrubhumi.com/kannur/kazhcha/1.956878|date=2016-03-28|website=Mathrubhumi|language=ml|access-date=6 June 2022|archive-date=3 June 2025|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250603174123/https://archives.mathrubhumi.com/kannur/kazhcha/1.956878|url-status=live}}</ref> A demonstration was held on 12 March 1941, in Kayyur demanding the release of the accused in the Morazha case.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> Police took action following this. The policeman who came with the arrest warrant was assaulted and as a revenge police attacked villagers on 27 March.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> Several people, including Madathil Appu, were injured.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

==Incident on 1941 March 28==
The march started from various parts of Kayyur on the afternoon of the 28th against the police brutality on the 27th.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> Subbarayan, a specially deployed police officer in Kayyur, who led the attack the previous day, accidentally came to the front of a march.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> When people in the march planned to attack Subbarayan, the elders in the procession denied the attack and made him carry the flag and march in front.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/> When Subbarayan started walking with the flag, he hit someone with a stick tied to the flag and tried to run away. But he saw another march ahead and he jumped into the Karyamcode (Thejaswini) river and drowned.<ref name="Mathrubhumi"/>

==Aftermath==
Consequently, 61 including E. K. Nayanar and A. V. Kunhambu were tried for this violent deed and 5 persons were sentenced to death.<ref name="Deshabhimani">{{cite news |script-title=ml:കയ്യൂർ അനശ്വരതയുടെ കനൽമുദ്ര - പി കരുണാകരൻ എഴുതുന്നു |url=https://www.deshabhimani.com/articles/kayyur-martyrs/933787 |work=Deshabhimani |language=ml |archive-date=15 May 2021 |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210515171045/https://www.deshabhimani.com/articles/kayyur-martyrs/933787 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nayanar was the third accused in the FIR though he was not present at the scene.<ref name="MacroScan">{{cite web |title=The Birth of Our Freedom |url=https://www.macroscan.org/cur/oct10/cur121010Freedom.htm |author=[[Prabhat Patnaik]] |date=2010-10-12 |website=www.macroscan.org |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-date=3 June 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250603174108/https://www.macroscan.org/cur/oct10/cur121010Freedom.htm |url-status=live }}</ref> Historian A Sreedharan Menon opined that the police had implicated E. K. Nayanar in the case.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |script-title=ml:തൂക്കുമരത്തിലും തോൽക്കാതെ... |url=https://www.mathrubhumi.com/special-pages/mathrubhumi-100-years/articles/kayyur-karivellur-morazha-kavumbazhi-protests-1.7345829 |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=Mathrubhumi |date=15 March 2022 |language=en |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407192351/https://www.mathrubhumi.com/special-pages/mathrubhumi-100-years/articles/kayyur-karivellur-morazha-kavumbazhi-protests-1.7345829 |url-status=live }}</ref> Nayanar later escaped from the trial as he could not be apprehended by the police.<ref name="MacroScan"/>

Although there was no evidence that any of the victims assaulted the police officer, the court ruled that all those present could be considered to have "intention to kill".<ref name="MacroScan"/> Since Choorikkadan Krishnan Nair was a minor, his death sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment.<ref name="Deshabhimani"/> The four comrades, Madathil Appu, Koithattil Chirukandan, Podora Kunjambu Nair, Pallikkal Aboobacker were hanged to death in Kannur central prison on 29 March 1943.<ref name="Deshabhimani"/>

===Those who were hanged===
Madathil Appu was born in 1917, the son of Ambati Anthithirian and Chirutha. Appu, who received only a basic education, entered active politics through organizations such as the [[Abhinav Bharat Society|Abhinav Bharat]], Yuvak sangh, [[Indian National Congress]] and the Karshakasangham (peasants union).<ref name="kunhambu">{{cite book|script-title=ml:കയ്യൂർ സമരചരിത്രം|last=V. V.|first=Kunhambu|language=ml|isbn=978-81-928126-1-8|year=2013}}</ref> On 26 March 1941, during a police search of a riverside tea shop, he was caught fighting with police while rescuing friends.<ref name="kunhambu"/>

Koithattil Chirukandan, born in 1922, was the 31st accused in the Kayyur case.<ref name="kunhambu"/> He was a member of the Congress movement, the Karshaka Sangh and the working committee of the Yuvak Sangh.<ref name="kunhambu"/> On 12 March 1941, Chirukandan led a procession of Congress volunteers asking where Comrade [[P. Krishna Pillai|Krishna Pillai]] was.<ref name="kunhambu"/> Chirukandan, who was arrested that day, was sentenced to two years in jail under the National Security Rule.<ref name="kunhambu"/>

Potora Kunjambu Nair was born in 1911 to Kuruvadan Chandan Nair and Podora Chiruthai Amma. After his primary education, he helped his father in his work. He entered politics in 1937 through the Indian National Congress.<ref name="kunhambu"/> He was a member of the Eleri Village Congress Committee, Abhinav Bharat Yuvak Sangham and Karshaka Sangham.<ref name="kunhambu"/> Kunjambu Nair was the 13th accused in the Kayyur case.<ref name="kunhambu"/>

Pallikkal Aboobacker was born in 1918 in [[Nileshwar]] in Kasaragod taluk.<ref name="kunhambu"/> He has been a farmer activist since 1938.<ref name="kunhambu"/> He joined the [[Communist Party of India]] in 1939.<ref name="kunhambu"/> He was the 51st accused in the Kayyur case.<ref name="kunhambu"/>

==Legacy==
Indian government has included Kayyur martyrs in the 5th volume of ''Dictionary of Martyrs, India's Freedom Struggle (1857-1947)'' published by the Indian ministry of culture and Indian Council of Historical Research.<ref>{{cite book |title=Dictionart of Martyrs, India's Freedom Struggle (1857-1947) |url=https://www.indiaculture.nic.in/sites/default/files/pdf/Martyrs_Vol_5_06_03_2019.pdf |publisher=Indian ministry of culture and Indian Council of Historical Research |archive-date=22 August 2021 |access-date=6 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822215007/http://www.indiaculture.nic.in/sites/default/files/pdf/Martyrs_Vol_5_06_03_2019.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Controversies==
The role of Communist leader and former Kerala chief minister E. K. Nayanar in the Kayyur incident is a matter of controversy for a long. It is believed that Nayanar was the third accused in the FIR though he was not present at the scene, and he escaped the trial as he could not be apprehended by the police.<ref name="MacroScan"/> Historian A Sreedharan Menon opined that the police had implicated E. K. Nayanar in the case. The authors of the book ''Nayanar: Kayyoorinte kapadamukham'' (meaning: Nayanar: Kayyur's Hypocrisy) say that they searched the history of the Kayyur struggle for over a year and that Nayanar's name is not even in any document or book about the incident, including the actual verdict of the Sessions Court in [[Mangalore]].<ref>{{Cite magazine |date=9 March 1998 |title=E.K. Nayanar's defence in Kayyur uprising controversy proves weak |url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/indiascope/story/19980309-e.k.-nayanars-defence-in-kayyur-uprising-controversy-proves-weak-825920-1998-03-09 |access-date=2022-06-06 |magazine=India Today |language=en}}</ref>

In 2021, following the government's order to organize competitions of [[Independence Day (India)|Independence Day]] celebrations based on local history, the subject given in Kasargod district was the Kayyur incident.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |script-title=ml:വിവാദം |url=https://keralakaumudi.com/web-news/2021/08/NKNR0126168/1.html |access-date=2022-06-06 |website=Keralakaumudi |language=ml}}</ref> The KPSTA, a pro - Congress teachers' union, alleged that politics was behind the choice of the subject as there are many other freedom struggles in the district other than this peasant struggle.<ref name=":1" /> The authorities replied that the Kayyur incident, in which four people were hanged, was an unforgettable chapter in the [[Indian independence movement|national freedom struggle]] and that the issue was chosen because there was no greater sacrifice in the district than this.<ref name=":1" />

==Works on Kayyur incident==
[[Kannada]] writer [[Niranjana (writer)|Niranjana's]] ''Chirasmarane'' was based on the Kayyur incident.<ref>{{cite news |last1=S |first1=Bageshree |title=Niranjana's works will soon be available online |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/bangalore/niranjanas-works-will-soon-be-available-online/article6564583.ece |work=The Hindu |date=5 November 2014 |language=en-IN}}</ref> Malayalam film director [[Lenin Rajendran]]'s 1986 movie ''[[Meenamasathile Sooryan]]'' was also based on the incident.<ref>{{cite news |title=Malayalam director Lenin Rajendran successfully straddled parallel, commercial cinema |url=https://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2019/jan/15/avante-garde-auteur-who-successfully-straddled-parallel-and-commercial-cinema-1925163.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190203092110/http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/kerala/2019/jan/15/avante-garde-auteur-who-successfully-straddled-parallel-and-commercial-cinema-1925163.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=3 February 2019 |work=The New Indian Express}}</ref> [[P. V. K. Panayal]]'s novel ''Khanijam'' is also written in the context of Kayyur incident.<ref name="Keralaliterature">{{cite web |script-title=ml:പനയാല്‍. പി.വി.കെ |url=http://keralaliterature.com/malayalam-writers-%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%B2%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B3%E0%B4%82-%E0%B4%8E%E0%B4%B4%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D/%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B2%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D-%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%BF-%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF-%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%86/ |website=Kerala Literature |date=14 October 2017 |access-date=6 January 2022 |archive-date=6 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220106122551/http://keralaliterature.com/malayalam-writers-%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%B2%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B3%E0%B4%82-%E0%B4%8E%E0%B4%B4%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%8D%E0%B4%A4%E0%B5%81%E0%B4%95%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B0%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D/%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%A8%E0%B4%AF%E0%B4%BE%E0%B4%B2%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D-%E0%B4%AA%E0%B4%BF-%E0%B4%B5%E0%B4%BF-%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%86/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Violence in India]]
[[Category:Communist Party of India]]
[[Category:Communist rebellions]]
[[Category:1941 in British India]]
[[Category:Malabar District]]
[[Category:Social movements in India]]
[[Category:Political uprisings in India]]
[[Category:Conflicts in 1941]]
[[Category:Peasant revolts in India]]

Kayyur incident - Revision history

QuyenStobie2 at 08:31, 5 March 2026