Malabar History journal

Biography

Pulikkottil Hyder was born in 1879 as the son of Aithu Adhikari and Mammadyaumma in Tiruvali near Punnapalak in Eranad taluk. He wrote in Arabic and Malayalam. He did not receive much formal education. His father’s friends, Mahakavi Moinkuti Vaidya and Kanjirala Kunjirain Sahib were regular visitors to his house. Their conversations and interactions had an impact on him. Pullara Pookoya Thangal and Kammutty Marakkar also gave him encouragement in the world of writing. Hyder, the son of a landowner, was initially unsympathetic to the independence movement. However, he became a supporter of the COngress Party after meeting KPCC President Muhammad Abdurrahiman Sahib. He left the Congress in 1937 due to political differences. When the Muslim League was formed in Kerala in 1937, he became a member. He held official positions in the League and worked with leaders like Poker Sahib and Siti Sahib. He became a strong advocate of the political revival of the Mappilas in Ernadu. In 1922, when the Kerala Muslim United Union (Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangam) was formed, Pulikottil Haider was a supporter of the organization. Later, when the Islahi movement was formed, he also became an activist of that renaissance movement.

Haider spent his last eighteen long years in bed. Even in this crisis period, he was working on many valuable works. Hyder died on June 23, 1975 at Pulikot, a locality called Thayamkot near Wandoor in Malappuram district. The foundation for a memorial for the poet was laid in his hometown Wandoor by former Chief Minister of Kerala C.H. Mohammed Koya in April 1979, but the work has remained incomplete ever since. In 1979, the Mappila Kala Sahithya Vedi published a compilation of his works titled “Pulikkottil Krithikal”. The Pulikkotil Hyder Smaraka Puraskaram, an award instituted by Mahakavi Moyinkutty Vaidyar Smaraka Committee is given to personalities who have contributed to the art of Mappilappattu.

Poetry

Mappila literature is a unique branch of Malayalam literature. Pulikottil Haider is an unforgettable literary figure who has contributed brilliant chapters to Mapila literature. He used poetry as a medium for attacking the evils of the society in colloquial language. Pulikkottil Hyder lived in the period when the Mappilapattu branch was at its most active. The first composition was a song written in 1910 mocking the decline in standards in Kolkali staged in his own region. Pulikottil’s writings were influenced by the insecurity, poverty, disease and suffering of women and children following the First World War in 1914-18. If the plot of the Mappilapattus were Islamic histories, religious themes or Persian stories, he was among the first to take the subjects of mappila women’s sufferings and sorrows for Mappilapatt. Duracharamala, Kaliyugam, Kathukuthu Mala, Sthri Mardita Mala,Vivaha Dosham, Maranmarude Thakararu, Badarmala, Uhd Shuhadakkal, Tipuvinte moonnam padayottam are some of his notable works. In Vellappokka Maala, he describes a heavy flood that affected all of Malabar, Mysore and Travancore. The sufferings of common men in the flood were depicted beautifully using only ordinary Malayalam vocabulary. Chaimakani (small tea shops) in the countryside, Kalaput, elections and floods; all found a place in his writings. During the period when he was a congress activist, he also composed songs for elections campaigns in 1935 when Abdus Rahiman Sahib contested elections. During the time when he was an active member of Muslim League, the workers sang songs composed by him for the league meetings in Eranad. Haider’s political songs from 1947 to 1961 are part of the rich history for their conceptual richness and narrative excellence. KM Siti Sahib had stated that “Two lines of Hyder Khan’s poem can infuse the sense of organization in the hearts of the people more than my two hours of speech”. CH Muhammad Koya Sahib described Hyder in Pulikot as Kunchan Nambiar of Mappilapat.

Haider’s songs in Pulikot were a powerful propaganda tool of the Kerala Muslim Aikya Sangam of which he was a supporter. It was during his days as a supporter of the Islahi movement that he composed the famous ‘Duracharamala’ which was a response to the song Parishkaramala composed by Alikoya Master from Calicut making fun of the community reform efforts. Pulikkottil Hyder wrote strongly against the practice of piercing the ears of girls with gold and against boasting about selling everything for the purpose of marriage. Kaliyugam, composed in 1931 is the most famous of his reformist songs. This song is a glimpse of the morality of Mappila life in Malabar at that time. ‘Kali Yugam’ has been included in the poetry collection of the century published by DC Books titled ‘100 Varsham 100 Kavitha’ (100 Years 100 Poems).

Hyder has composed several kessupatt that are interspersed with rhymes and inter-rhymes in malayalam. He severely criticized social evils through his kessupatt. He has given many new Ishals to Mappilapatt. Many of his ishals were later taken by famous poets T Ubaid and Mehr as ishals for their Mappilapats. He used to write letters to friends and family through songs. His song letters to his contemporaries like poets Nallalam Biran, PT Birankutty Maulavi and some friends like Mampad Adhikari are famous. The poem ‘Mariyakutty Kathu Patt’ or ‘A Letter Song to Ballari Jail’ (Bellari Jaililekk oru Kathupattu) has become a lesson in the Malayalam textbook of undergraduate classes at Calicut University. This poem, in two parts was composed in 1924. The first part is included in the curriculum. The background of Mariyakutty Kathupatt is the period after the Malabar struggle of 1921. Men in the affected areas were killed or imprisoned. In this background, this letter written by a young woman named Pandikkatte Mariyakutty to her husband who is in jail is full of emotions. Dr.Ayyappapaniker wrote a brilliant article on Haider’s kathupattu in two Ishal in 1979. MN Karassery has translated this Kathupatt into English and published it. Wandoor Mappila Kala Sahityavedi published ‘Pulikkottil Hyderinte Sampoorna Krithikal’ in 1979 during Pulikkotil Haider’s birth centenary celebrations at Wandoor.

Pulikottil Hyder’s composition has also been prominently included in the Braille version of Mappilapattu released by Mahakavi Moyinkutty Vaidyar Mappilakala Academy of Kondotty for the visually impaired. He was a unique talent who used his creativity and imagination for social reform and renaissance advances through Mappila literature.

References

Pulikkottil Hyder. Wikipedia. Last edited: 21 August 2022. Link.

Kakkad, Haroon. “Pulikkottil Hyder Thoolikayil Thee Niracha Mappila Kavi.” Shabab Weekly. Accessed on 17 September 2022. Link.