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 English Language
Political History of Modern Kerala
Literary /History
by A. Sreedhara Menon

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First edition September 2010
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A. Sreedhara Menon

POLITICAL HISTORY OF MODERN KERALA

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 PREFACE

n my A Survey of Kerala History published in 1967 the political movements in modern

Kerala have been given only cursory treatment. It was felt that the subject should receive a
little more attention in view of its topical interest. This monograph is the outcome of my ef-
forts in this direction. As the inclusion of the revised material in A Survey of Kerala History
would have disturbed the symmetry of the original text, it was decided to publish the same
separately as a kind of supplement to the earlier book. I hope that the general reader and
the student would find this book useful.
A. Sreedhara Menon
CONTENTS
I. THE BACKDROP Introduction-Early Popular Agitations : Travancore-Cochin-Mala-
bar.
II. POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN TRAVANCORE The Era of Memorials---Swadesab-
himani Ramakrishna Pillai--Militant Nationalism---A Revolutionary---Reform of the Leg-
islature--Agitation for Civic Rights---Debut of the Indian National Congress--Vaikom and

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other Temple Satyagrahas-Nivarthana Movement--Rise of the Travancore State Congress
(1938)Agitation for Responsible Government---Rise of the Communist Party---Punnapra-
--Vayalar Outbreak (1946)---Accession of Travancore to the Indian Union---Introduction
of Responsible Government-Ministerial Instability---Socialist Parties---Travancore Tamil
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Nadu Congress.
III. POLITICAL DEVELOPMENT OF COCHIN Introduction---Establishment of
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the Cochin Legislature---Beginnings of Congress Activity Working Class Movements---

Electricity Agitation in Trichur---Introduction of Dyarchy---Working of Dyarchy---Rise of
the Cochin State Praja Mandal-Agitation for Responsible Government---Praja Mandal in
Office---Responsible Government in Cochin---Paliyam Satyagraha---Travancore---Cochin
Integration.
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IV. POLITICAL UPHEAVALS IN MALABAR Genesis of the National Movement-

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--The Constitutional Phase---Manjeri Political Conference (1920)--Non-Co-operation

and Khilaphat Move ment---Malabar Rebellion (1921)---Politics after the Rebellion---
Payyannur Political Conference (1928)---Salt Satyagraha--Guruvayur Satyagraha---Civil
Disobedience Movement---Right--Left Polarisation in the Congress---Congress Ministry---
Beginnings of the Communist Movement---Anti---Imperialist Struggle---Quit India Move-
ment---Political Developments after independence---The Muslim League.
V. AIKYA KERALA MOVEMENT Background---Congress and Linguistic States---De-
mand for Aikya Kerala---Formation of Kerala State (1956).
Chapter I
THE BACKDROP
Introduction

he political history of modern Kerala has been shaped by a series of movements involv-
ing a high degree of participation by the people at various levels. These movements are of
great interest to the historian and the political scientist, whether viewed from the national
or the regional angle. The popular movements that gathered momentum in British India
under the auspices of the Indian National Congress or other political parties since the last
decades of the 19th century had their profound impact on politics in the State and such of
those movements that took shape here under this impact have become part of the politi-
cal history of Modern India. However, there were other significant political movements in
Kerala which owed their origin to the interplay of local forces and in the process acquired
the character of purely local agitations with their focus on issues of local importance.
It may, however, be made clear at the outset that despite the impact of national movements
on the course of Kerala politics, the strong regional movements sponsored by the non-
Brahmin and anti-Brahmin Dravidian parties (Kazhakams) in the neighbouring Tamil re-
gion failed to have any worthwhile effect on the socio-political development of Kerala. The
composite culture that evolved itself in Kerala through the centuries and invested its people
with an outlook noted for its catholicity and tolerance offers a partial explanation for this
phenomenon. The fact that vast areas of the State were under the rule of highly respected
royal families with their strong ties with the indigenous Nambutiri Brahmin community
and that the Sanskritic culture and tradition was nourished here over the centuries by the
rulers and people alike, also perhaps accounts for the failure of the Dravidian movement in
the neighbouring Tamilnadu to make an impression on the public life of Kerala.

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Be that as it may, popular agitations aimed at achieving basic political and social objec-
tives have had a decisive role in shaping the socio-political landscape of modern Kerala. It
should not be assumed that such agitations were a phenomenon peculiar to the modern
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age in its history. Even in the medieval and early modern periods the people in the three
areas of Kerala (Travancore, Cochin and Malabar) exhibited a high degree of political and
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social consciousness and got themselves actively involved in mass agitations against royal
autocracy, bureaucratic misrule, caste tyranny and alien domination. Before we deal with
modern political movements, it would be instructive to have a look at some of the popular
movements or upheavals which affected the political development of Kerala in the earlier
period.
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Early Popular Agitations Travancore: Even in the medieval period Travancore was the
crucible of political agitations. The rulers of Venad (Travancore) were forced to grant vari-
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ous concessions or introduce significant social reforms under the pressure of popular agi-
tations. A few instances may be cited to illustrate this point. At the end of the 17th century
when Venad was subjected to the invasions of the Nayaks of Madurai and there was heavy
damage to crops and property, Ravi Varma (1684--1718), the ruler of Venad ordered remis-
sion of arrears of tax for a period of twenty years with a view to relieving the sufferings of
the people. The benevolent royal decree failed to produce any positive results as the op-
pressive officials ignored royal wishes and continued their unjust exactions. This precipi-
tated an unprecedented popular upheaval. A series of protest meetings were held on this is-
sue all over Nanjanad (1702). Resolutions were passed at these meetings protesting against
the oppression by the officials and expressing the determination of the people to sacrifice
everything for the vindication of their rights and privileges. There was even the threat to
start a non-co-operation movement, unless the king promised to redress their grievances
effectively. Even service under the king was declared an unpatriotic act. The incident bears
testimony to a high degree of political consciousness among the people. A similar popular
revolt took place in the reign of the Venad ruler Aditya Varma (1718---1721). In 1721 the
tenants of the Devaswom lands were prevented by the state officials from cultivating the
lands as part of their move to recover the dues payable to the Sri Padmanabhaswami tem-
ple. The aggrieved people organised a march to the Kalkulam palace of the king and having
failed to get the grievances redressed, proceeded to Trivandrum and laid their grievances
before the Yogakkar, after hoisting a red flag in front of the Western Gopuram. It is worth
mentioning here that in the same year, i.e., 1721 there was the famous Attingal Outbreak
in which about 140 Englishmen belonging to the Anjengo Factory of the English East India
Company were murdered by the local people in a determined effort to vindicate their cus-
tomary rights which were being trampled upon by the alien English factors.
With the beginning of British rule there were more such upheavals. The revolts organised
by Velu Tampi Dalawa in Travancore in the last decade of the 18th century deserve men-
tion in this context. Velu Tampi first mobilised thousands of people under his banner
against the misrule of a caucus of corrupt ministers and personally led a long march to
Trivandrum to place the grievances of the people before the ruler. It served to demon-
strate the organised strength of the masses and compelled the ruler to dismiss the corrupt
ministers and install the leader of the popular upheaval, Velu Tampi himself, in the seat
of power as Dalawa. Later, when Velu Tampi began to show lack of sensitivity to popular
aspirations and adopted oppressive policies, the very same people who put him in power
turned against him and the Dalawa had a hard time in suppressing the agitation. The clas-
sic instance of a mass movement in Travancore against alien domination was the revolt,

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organised by Velu Tampi against the British (1808-09). Though the revolt ultimately failed
to win its objective, it was nevertheless a resounding expression of popular resentment.
The agitation of the Shanar women of South Travancore which resulted in the Royal Proc-
lamation of July 1859 abolishing dress restrictions imposed on them is another instance of
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a successful popular agitation.
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An incident which took place in Trivandrum in 1882 symbolised the dawn of political con-
sciousness among the educated intelligentsia in modern Travancore. The Maharajas Col-
lege, Trivandrum, came into the political limelight in that year when three of its students,
namely, G. Parameswaran Pillai (Barrister G.P. Pillai of later days), N. Raman Pillai (son
of former Dewan Nanu Pillai) and R. Ranga Rao (son of the Dewan Peshkar Ranganatha
Rao) were removed from the rolls of the college for their alleged involvement in anti-gov-
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ernment activities. The charge levelled against these youngsters was that they contributed
articles to newspapers criticising the policy of the state administration in appointing non-
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Travancoreans to government jobs when local candidates with suitable qualifications were
available. In spite of pressure from the state government, the Principal of the College, John
Ross, an Englishman, was not inclined to take disciplinary action against these students
on his own. Hence, the Dewan Ramiengar took the special sanction of the Maharaja Sri
Visakham Tirunal and expelled the students from the college. In recognition of the part
played by G. Parameswaran Pillai in this episode, he has come to be called the father of
political movement in modern Travancore. Cochin: As in Travancore so in Cochin too, the
people showed a high degree of political consciousness and asserted their rights on crucial
occasions. The Paliath Achan, the Chief Minister of Cochin, had initially collaborated with
Velu Tampi Dalawa in the revolt against British domination (1808---09), though circum-
stances eventually made him a defector. A successful agitation of the people in 1834 against
the corrupt and inefficient administration of Dewan Edamana Sankara Menon forced the
ruler to dismiss him and initiate judicial proceedings. In 1839 a crowd of 10,000 people
surrounded the Bolghatti Residency and secured the virtual dismissal of another unpopular
Dewan Venkata Rao. Thus Cochin had its own tradition in respect of political agitations.
Malabar: The Malabar area had witnessed quite a few popular upheavals indicating an
equally high degree of political and social consciousness on the part of the people. During
the Mysore invasions in the last decades of the 18th century the people of the region were
subjected to the worst hardships by the despotic Sultans, Haider Ali and Tipu. There were
organised rebellions against Mysorean authority in different parts of Malabar in which
the Nairs played the most crucial role. A determined attempt was made to overthrow the
Mysorean domination. There were instances of resistance even by the Mappilas against
some of the despotic measures of Tipu Sultan.
When Malabar came under British rule, the resistance of the people to established author-
ity assumed new dimensions. The ruling princes of the Patinjare Kovilakam branch of the
Zamorins family organised a futile revolt against the British with the help of the people in
the last decade of the 18th century. During the period 1793-1805 the Pazhassi Raja mobil-
ised the peasantry and the tribal community of the Kurichiyas and offered mass resistance
to British rule. Though the resistance movement finally failed, it demonstrated the high
degree of patriotic fervour among the masses and helped to forge a united front for libera-
tion in which all classes of people, irrespective of caste and religion, had joined.
The Pazhassi revolts were followed in 1812 by the uprisings of the Kurumba and Kurichiya
tribes against the oppressive revenue policy of the British administration. There is also a
view that the violent disturbances known as the Mappila Riots which broke out during the

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period 1836---56 were also a protest against the wrong revenue policy of the British Gov-
ernment which made the Hindu Janmi the real lord of the soil and deprived the Mappila
riots of their rights on land. In the background of the political agitations in Kerala sketched
above, we may deal with the major political movements that, took shape in the three areas
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of the State (Travancore, Cochin, and Malabar) in the modern period.
Chapter II
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POLITICAL MOVEMENTS IN TRAVANCORE

The history of political movements in modern Travancore commencing from 1885, the
year of the accession of Sri Mulam Tirunal to the throne, can be broadly divided into three
phases: viz., (1) the constitutional agitations sponsored by the educated middle class (2) the
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struggle for democratic and civil rights waged by the lower castes in Hindu society and the
Christian and Muslim religious minorities and (3) the peoples movement for the achieve-
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ment of responsible government in the State.

The Era of Memorials The constitutional agitation which began with the presentation of
the Malayali and Ezhava Memorials in the last decade of the 19th century had its genesis in
the growing demand of the educated middle class for an increased share of jobs in public
services. The agitationists did not think in terms of resorting to direct action for achieving
their ends. Their methods were reminiscent of the technique of constitutional agitation
resorted to by the Moderates within the Indian National Congress in British India dur-
ing this period. It may be noted in this context that the policy of the Government of Tra-
vancore since the days of Martanda Varma (1729-1758) was to import Brahmins from the
neighbouring Tamil and Kannada areas to man the administrative services in its higher
echelons. This naturally meant that the newly educated youth within the State possessing
higher academic qualifications could not aspire to get jobs at the higher and even the inter-
mediate levels in State Government service. The resentment felt on this score by a highly
articulate section of the community found concrete expression in a movement aimed at
securing increased representation for educated natives in public services, especially in the
higher cadres.
On January 1, 1891 a petition signed by 10,028 persons belonging to all castes and creeds
was presented to Maharaja Sri Mulam Tirunal. It highlighted the denial to the natives
of a fair share in the administration of the State and particularly their systematic exclu-
sion from the higher grades in government service. The memorialists prayed that rules be
framed for giving appointments to the natives in preference to non-Travancoreans, to the
maximum possible extent. The decision to submit this petition which came to be known as
the Malayali Memorial was taken at a public meeting convened on the initiative of leaders
like Kandathil Varghese Mappila and G.P. Pillai at Kottayam. It was drafted by K.P. San-
kara Menon of the Madras Bar, G.P. Pillai and others. The Explanatory Memorial which
was later submitted to the Maharaja on July 3, 1891 was also finalised at a similar meeting
in Kottayam and it was formally presented by a six man delegation comprised of G.P. Pil-
lai, K.P. Padmanabha Menon, M.K. Padmanabha Pillai, Syriac Nidhiri, Kavalam Nilakanta
Pillai and Sivan Pillai.
The reply given by the Dewan Rama Rao to the Malayali Memorial was not encouraging.
While agreeing to give preference to the natives in the matter of appointments accord-
ing to the requirements of the public service and the circumstances of the country, it was
pointed out that there was a fallacy in the basic demand of the Memorialists in so far as the
number of Graduates who came out of the portals of the University was relatively small. In

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a pointed reference to the Ezhavas whose pathetic plight was specially highlighted in the
Memorial, the Dewan described them as people uneducated, preferring their own occupa-
tions... to going in for such education as would fit these for the public service and further
added that their social position was such as to render them ineligible for employment in
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public service where a certain amount of respect is to be commanded. Thus the attitude
of the Government to the demands embodied in the Malayali Memorial was not only un-
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helpful but highly reactionary.

Non-Travancoreans continued to be appointed to public services even after the presenta-
tion of the Memorials. Nevertheless, the Malayali Memorial agitation is a distinct landmark
in the political history of Kerala. It marked the emergence of the new educated middle class
as a force to be reckoned with in the public life of Travancore. The vigorous public cam-
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paigning which followed the submission of the Memorials symbolised the beginning of the
modern political movement in the State.
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In spite of the association of a few Christian leaders with the Malayali Memorial agitation
and the pointed reference made to the plight of the Ezhavas in the petition, it cannot be
denied that it was preeminently a Nair sponsored affair. As the Nair community had in its
ranks quite a few educated youths, it was evident that they would have been the major ben-
eficiaries, if the demand for the appointment of qualified natives were to be gradually met.
Consequently, the Ezhavas who were a backward community and were denied entry into
government service and even admission to public schools on grounds of caste, now stirred
themselves into action. The Travancore Ezhava Sabha was founded by Dr. Palpu, the first
Medical Graduate from the community who, having been denied appointment in Travan-
core, sought employment in the Mysore Medical Service. On its initiative a mass memorial
signed by 13,176 members of the Ezhava community was presented to the Maharaja On
September 3, 1896. This document known as the Ezhava Memorial of 1896 demanded that
the Ezhavas should be made beneficiaries of all those rights and privileges which were be-
ing enjoyed by their brethren who had become converts to Christianity.
It was specifically demanded that public schools should be thrown open to the Ezhavas in
compliance with the repeated proclamation of the rulers that all classes of people, without
distinction of caste or creed, may have access to public institutions and also that the Ezha-
vas should be given jobs in Government service so that the educated individuals among
them need not have to seek official career outside Travancore. The Governments reply
to the Ezhava Memorial too was equally frustrating and reactionary in tone and content.
Though it was generally agreed that new schools would be thrown open to the Ezhavas
wherever possible, the Government expressed the fear that any drastic change in the ex-
isting social order would jeopardise communal harmony and impede social progress.
While not approving the idea of having common schools for all classes, the Government
expressed the view that separate caste schools could be established. In regard to appoint-
ments in public service, it was mentioned that the Government had already made a depar-
ture in their favour which should satisfy their demand for the time being.
The Ezhavas who were disappointed by the Governments negative attitude took advantage
of the visit of Lord Curzon to Travancore in 1900 to present another Memorial to the Vice-
roy listing their manifold grievances and requesting him to initiate steps for their redress.
This is known as the Ezhava Memorial of 1900. Though the Viceroy made no secret of his
personal sympathy for the demands of the Memorialists in a speech he delivered at the
State Banquet, he took the formal stand that he could not interfere in minor details of
local administration, as Travancore was a native State under protection with whom the

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relations of the Paramount power were governed by time-honoured conventions. Thus the
Ezhava Memorials failed to produce any tangible results. However, they marked the begin-
ning of the long drawn out struggle to be waged by the backward classes within the Hindu
community in Travancore for securing social equality and justice.
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Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pillai The activities of Swadesabhimani Ramakrishna Pil-
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lai (1878-1916) deserve mention in any survey of political agitations in Travancore. He was
the symbol of the newly emerging educated middle class. Pillai who took to the profession
of journalism edited successively such papers as Kerala Darpanam, Kerala Panchika and
Malayali (1899-1905). The articles which he wrote under the pen name Keralan were highly
critical of the administration. In January 1906 Vakkom Abdul Khader Moulavi who owned
the Swadesabhimani, a popular Malayalam paper published from Trivandrum, secured the
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services of Pillai as its Editor.

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Ramakrishna Pillai severely attacked the autocratic policies of the Dewan P. Rajago-
palachari in the columns of this paper. As one who stood for purity in public life, he ex-
posed not only the vagaries of the administration but also acts of personal misconduct on
the part of the Dewan in the articles he wrote. He came to be hailed everywhere as a stout
champion of popular liberties. The bold stand he took against corruption, nepotism and
moral turpitude in high quarters made Ramakrishna Pillai a popular hero. He was elected
without contest to the Sri Mulam Popular Assembly from the Neyyatinkara constituency in
1910, but to save the Government from the embarrassment of the presence of such a hostile
critic in the house, the Dewan promulgated a new rule that members elected to the Assem-
bly should be residents of the constituencies which they represented and gave it retrospec-
tive effect. This prevented Pillai from taking his seat in the Legislature as his election was
rendered null and void.
Ramakrishna Pillai was subsequently deported from the State and his paper and the press
were confiscated to the Sirkar. In the absence of a specific law empowering the Govern-
ment to take this drastic step, it was a Royal Proclamation issued on September 26, 1910
that provided the necessary legal authority for the deportation. The action of the Govern-
ment which was unprecedented was disapproved by the politically conscious people of
the State. The Indian press in general also condemned the high-handed action of the Tra-
vancore Government. However, there were no visible signs of protest in public anywhere.
Ramakrishna Pillai lived the rest of his life as a political exile in Malabar and passed away
at Cannanore on April 26, 1916 after a prolonged illness.
Militant Nationalism Militant nationalism which raised its head in North India in the early
decades of this century found its echo in distant Travancore as well. A few South Indian
students in Calcutta and Bombay who came under the spell of secret societies like the
Anusilan Samiti and Abhinava Bharat took the initiative in spreading the cult of terrorism
in Kerala, particularly in Travancore by organising similar societies here. A secret organisa-
tion called Bharat Mata Association functioned in Shencotta for some time, but it became
defunct in 1910. In the meantime Nilakanta Brahmachari, a political preacher and an
anarchist leader who hailed from Tanjore in Tamilnadu visited such places as Alleppey,
Kollam, Punalur and Shencotta and founded in these centres the branches of a Secret
Society with a view to popularising the cult of terrorism. Vanchi Iyer, a young man from
Shencotta, who was an employee in the Forest Office at Punalur, came under the spell of
Nilakantan and he took upon himself the task of assassinating Mr. Ashe, I.C.S., the Collec-
tor of Tirunelveli. Vanchi Iyer successfully accomplished his mission on June 17, 1911 when
he shot Ashe to death at the Maniyachi Railway Station. However, immediately after the

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incident, he committed suicide by shooting himself.
The murder of Ashe was attributed to a conspiracy hatched by Nilakanta Brahmachari and
his associates. They were arrested and brought to trial before the Madras High Court on a
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charge of waging war against the King and sentenced to varying periods of imprisonment
(February 1912). Nilakantan, the leading spirit among the conspirators, was himself sen-
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tenced to rigorous imprisonment for seven years. Two of the accused who were sentenced
to imprisonment along with him were later acquitted on appeal, the judgement being deliv-
ered by Justice C. Sankaran Nair of the Madras High Court.
A Revolutionary The patriotic activities of Indian Revolutionaries living abroad form an
important chapter in the history of the Indian nationalist movement. The role of Kerala in
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this field deserves notice. An outstanding figure among such Revolutionaries was Chempa-
karaman Pillai of Travancore. Born in a lower middle class family in Trivandrum on Sep-
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tember 15, 1891, he had his schooling in the city of his birth. Chempakaraman left for Eu-
rope in 1908 for higher studies in Berlin. During his stay in the German capital he joined a
group of young Indian Revolutionaries who were engaged in activities in furtherance of the
cause of Indian freedom. It may be noted that to this group belonged such well known per-
sonages as Lala Hardayal, Virendranath Chattopadhyaya, V.D. Savarkar, A.C. Narayanan
Nambiar (North Malabar) et al.
On the eve of the outbreak of World War I Chempakaraman Pillai founded the Interna-
tional Pro-India Committee with headquarters at Zurich with the specific aim of educating
public opinion in Europe on issues relating to the Indian freedom struggle. Having been
convinced of the necessity of foreign assistance for achieving the freedom of India, Chemp-
akaraman established personal contacts with Kaiser William and other leaders in the top
echelons of the German Government and secured their support for the Indian cause. He
also visited South Africa and held talks with Gandhiji. On the outbreak of World War I
he formally joined the German navy. As an officer on board the German cruiser EMDEN
which entered the Indian waters and shelled military targets near Madras on September
22, 1914, he landed on the Indian coast and subsequently made a sensational escape back
to the ship and returned to Germany. During the war he also founded an organisation