Socio-cultural Processes and Livelihood Patterns at Tirurangadi - CDS

friend and fellow militant, Pookunhi Thangal. When Pookunhi Thangal was captured, he
spilled the information regarding the hideout of Kuttyhassan. Hassan was captured and
was executed. There were also cases of wrong identifications. People of palathinkal told
the story of a religious man, Marakkar Musaliar, who was arrested for having aided the
rebels. Although the British could not prove the charges against him, he was kept in jail
for some years and later released.
Popular memories signified a period of anarchy and lawlessness in the period
immediately following the rebellion. Women and children who were removed from the
area did not return for several months, even though, and probably because the area was
fully controlled by the British forces. Memories of the people testified to widespread
violence, and robbery. In the course of our walking, we visited several old houses that
were attacked and plundered, which included houses belonging to all religious groups.
Sword marks apparently left by the miscreants while attacking a house near Poorappuzha
are still visible. The plundering groups probably were Mappilas, but people preferred to
call them ‘robbers’ (kollakkar), rather than militants (lahalakkar). Some might have
started as rebels, and then degenerated into plunderers. Lavakkutty, the close confidant of
Ali Musaliar, was probably one who made the transition. Another person was
Abdullakkutty or Outhakkutty, who became some kind of a folk hero because of his
militant and plundering exploits.
Plunderers turned their attention to rich houses, and probably were inspired by communal
considerations. However, the term communalism; cannot be applied in the sense in which
it is applied today. It should be remembered that a vast majority of Mappilas who
participated in the rebellion were tenant cultivators, small merchants and middlemen, and
the majority of the powerful houses in the area, particularly in the paddy cultivating areas
belonged to the Nayars and other savarna groups. Antipathy to the nayars as karyasthas
as collectors of rent, accountant and custodians of law of both the lord and state was