Rebellions of 19th Century

In the early 19th century, British faces rebellions against Malabar. Kerala Varma the Raja of Pazhassi, led a rebellion that shook the very foundation of British Rule during 1800-1805. However , the rebellion was put down and the Pazassi Raja was killed. Beginning 1836, several Mappila outbreaks were reported till the end of the century, in which Mappila tenants killed the Hindu landlords. Strong measures were taken to suppress the Mappila unrest. In 1855, four Mappilas killed H.V. Conolly, the District Magistrate of Malabar at Calicut. One of the grievances of Mappiilas was said to the lack of sites for Mosques and burial grounds. William Logan was appointed as the special Commissioner to enquire into the land tenures and tenant rights in Malabar and highlighted the agrarian discontent and poverty among the Mappilas as the causes of the unrest. The Malabar compensation for Tenants Improvements Act was enacted in 1887. According to Prof. Sreedhara Menon, the Mappila outbreaks were due to three main causes, viz., religious fanaticism, agrarian discontent and poverty.

National Movement

During the freedom struggle, the Malabar rebellion in 1921 was an important landmark in the history of Kerala. The Khilafat issue assumed importance due to the sizable population of Muslims in Malabar. Police tried to suppress the movement and this led to the Malabar rebellion, which lasted for about six months. One incident that need to be mentioned is the Wagon Tragedy. Police arrested Mappila rebels and transported them in a closed railway goods wagon. When the wagon was opened the inmates died of suffocation. The Wagon Tragedy is an illustration of the British barbarity in suppressing the Malabar rebellion. The rebellion was peaceful initially but the Mappilas resorted to forcible conversion and looting of Hindus later on. There was a period of lull in political activity in Malabar due to the congress decision to discontinue the Noncooperation movement. However, in 1928, the All Kerala Provincial Congress met at Payyannur under the presidency of Pandit Nehru and generated great enthusiasm among the masses. In 1930, Salt Satyagraha was held under the leadership of K. Kelappan. The satyagrahys marched from Calicut to Payyannur.

IN 1935, The Kerala Provincial Congress Committee met at Calicut and demanded the formation of a United Kerala State In 1936 elections to the Madras Provincial Legislature, Malabar elected congress candidates and one of its leaders Kongattil Raman Menon joined the Rajagopalachari Ministry. People of Malabar took active part in the Quit India Movement. A secret journal called "Swatantra Bharatam" was published regularly.

After Independence, Kerala was formed in 1956 as a separate state for Malayalees and Calicut became an important city in the northern region. The district of Malabar was divided into Calicut, Palghat and Cannanore. In 1969, Malappuram district was curved out of Calicut and Palghat. In 1980, Wayanad district was formed combining some taluks of Cannanore and Calicut. Kasargode district became operational in the 90s. Thus the earlier Malabar district has been divided into six districts at present. Calicut continues to be the most important place in the Malabar region. The name of the city has been restored to its original name - Kozhikode recently.