Malabar History journal

He married Shaikh Hasan Jifri’s daughter Fathima. They had two daughters. His first child Sharifa died at a very young age. Due to this, their second daughter was named the same, Sharifa kunju bi. After the death of his first wife, he married Fatima of Kovilkandy. To them, Sayyid Fazal Pookoya Thangal who later became a renowned scholar was born. After that, he also married Aysha from Ponmandam.

He lived till the age of 90. At the age of 94, he died due to an injury in the thigh from the Cheroor rebellion. He was buried at Mampuram.

Anti-Colonial struggles

Two of the famous anti-colonial struggles in the life of Mampuram thangal are the Muttichira rebellion and the Cheroor rebellion. He wrote a book titled ‘Saiful Bathaar’(The Sharp Sword) to propagate anti-British sentiments among the people. The book exhorted that every Indian needed to fight until British rule ended in India. He spread copies of the book in different Muslim mahals. The Britishers found the book and destroyed its copies.

Muttichira rebellion

Muttichira rebellion was one of the oldest anti-colonial struggles held in Malabar. Happened in 1843, it is also called the Munniyoor war. Eleven Mappilas and a few Britishers died in the struggle. The incident happened with the conversion of a few lower-caste Hindus to Islam under the direction of Mampuram thangal. Those who converted their faith started disobeying the caste rules they practised earlier as a part of the Hindu faith. Angered upper caste landlords began persecuting them while they went to the mosque. This created a commotion. Due to this, the British authorities held a meeting with the landlords. In the meeting, Achyuthan Panikkar, a prominent landlord of Muttichira argued that the ownership of the place where the mosque stood belonged to him. He also argued that the converted Hindus be stopped from going to the mosque. Rumours were spread among Mappilas that the Britishers had a plan to demolish the mosque. After a few days, Thottasseri Thachu Panicker filed a complaint that his land was illegally occupied by a tenant Moidu. The land was, in fact, bought by Moidu from Thachu Panicker. The British favoured Panicker. With an order from the Tahsildar, five village officers, Thachu Panicker, his deputy Nair, and others moved to Muttichira mosque. They dragged Moidu across the floor and pulled him out of the mosque. This incident, which happened in the holy month of Ramadan, triggered a lot of unrest amongst the Mappilas. As a retaliation for the act, a group of six people along with Moidu went to Thachu Panicker and his people. They attacked and killed both Thachu Panicker and his deputy Nair. After Eid, following this incident, a large group of Britishers circled Muttichira mosque and fired at the mosque. Eleven Mappilas came out of the mosque, and fought with the British but died on the spot. Four of the British army were also killed in the incident. The eleven people who died in the incident were lauded by Mampuram Thangal. Their bodies were buried west to the Muttichira Palli. This is known as the Muttichira tomb. At present Nerchas happen in the mosque known as Muttichira nercha.

Cheroor rebellion

Cheroor rebellion happened in 1843 in Cheroor of the present-day Malappuram district. It was one of the most important events that happened during the life of Mampuram thangal. It took place when a female servant named Chakki who came from a lower caste group known as Ezhava, converted to Islam. She was serving the landlord of Tirurangadi, Kaprat Krishna Panikkar at that time. After the conversion, Chakki changed her name to Aysha and also started wearing a blouse which was not permitted to lower caste women as per caste customs. Also, Chakki began to involve in acts which weren’t permissible for the lower castes. This break away from caste rules infuriated Krishna Panikkar and he ordered her to wear clothes according to the caste rules. The disobedience of Chakki led Panikkar to inflict injury upon her body. The woman ran to Mampuram Thangal. He inquired about the incident and talked about it to Panikkar. Thangal learned from Panikkar’s statements that he did not regret his actions and instead justified his position. Therefore, as a retaliation, a few Mappila men readied themselves for a fight. Recognizing the chances of a fight, Krishna Panikkar sought the help of the British. In 1843, on 18 October, one of Panicker’s associates died. On 19 October, a group of six Mappilas intruded the residence of Panikker and killed him. On 24 October, a group of 6o to 70 soldiers had an encounter with the Mappilas. The incidents resulted in the death of 6 Mappilas.

Major Contributions

He allocated positions for various mosques in Malabar. Among them are Tanur Vadakkepalli, Kodinji jumuath palli, Chappanangadi palli, Kanancheri palli, Moonnor odungaat chinakkil palli, velimukk palli, muttiyarakkal palli and ponmundam palli. He authored a book ‘Saiful Bathaar’ to inspire anti-British sentiments among the people.

References

Hussein, K. T. (2008). Kerala Muslimkal Adhinivesa Virudha Porattathinte Prathyeya Sasthram. Calicut: Islamic Publishing House.

Bahavuddin, K. M. (1995). Kerala Muslimkal Porattathinte Charithram. Calicut: Islamic Publishing House.

Ahmed Moulavi, C. N., Muhammad Abdulkareem, K. K. (1978). Mahathaya Mappila Sahithya Parambariam. Mappila Heritage Library.

Alavi Thangal. (2022, August 24). In Wikipedia.

Shamsudheen Saqafi Mukkam. (2021). മമ്പുറം തങ്ങൾ : പോരാളിയായ ആത്മീയ താരകം. Sunni Voice. Retrieved on 25.11.22 from Link

Shihabudheen, T. K. മമ്പുറം സയ്യിദ് അലവി തങ്ങള്‍. Retrieved on 25.11.22 from Link

മമ്പുറം സയ്യിദ് അലവി തങ്ങള്‍. Wikiwand. Retrieved on 25.11.22 from Link