Malabar History journal

Majority of the people who died were tenants or agricultural labourers who hailed from Kuruvambalam and Chemmalassery villages in Malappuram district. They were earlier arrested from Perinthalmanna upon protesting the arrest of their spiritual leader, Kunjuneen Musalyar by the British. A plaque has been erected with the names of all those who died from Kuruvambalam in the same village. From different sources, it can be collated that, amongst the people who died were 32 coolies, 19 agricultural workers, 4 koran readers, 2 shop keepers, 2 mosque attendants, 2 preachers, 2 petty merchants, 2 traders, 1 timber merchant and 1 goldsmith, 1 carpenter and 1 barber. 10 of the 70 were believed to be from well-off background.

It was one of the most shocking incidents recorded during the Malabar Rebellion. Even though the British had been resorting to brutal means to suppress the rebellion, the wagon massacre evoked the most amount of shock and empathy from the nationalist leaders of the time. The brutality of the massacre led to international outrage including coverage by international newspapers, like the New York Tribune. This put immense pressure on the British to address the issue in the Madras Assembly, during which they accepted that prisoners had been regularly transported in wagons. They later revealed that a total of 2549 prisoners were transported in wagons from Tirur. Often, prisoners were tied to horsebacks and bullock carts and made to run all the way till Tirur, from where they were transported to prisons in Coimbatore, Kannur, Madras, Bellary and so on.

According to the investigation undertaken by the railway Supervisor Brandiston, Inspector Reeves of the Railways was held responsible for granting permission for transporting prisoners in wagons. The British government had then declared Rs.300/- per person as compensation for death, which also led to uproar in the assembly then. Dr. P Shivadasan has stated that leaders like R K Shanmugham Chetty raised their outcry against the government during the Wagon Massacre.

Another Committee report was submitted to the assembly by A.R. Knapp who was also in charge of investigating the Malabar rebellion. In this investigation, it was admitted that a 100 people were transported in a wagon that could accommodate 60 people with sitting space and it was found that the ventilator grill was blocked with paint and dust.

References

• “100th Anniversary of Wagon Tragedy.” Manorama Online, 19 November 2021. https://www.manoramaonline.com/news/editorial/2021/11/19/100-th-anniversary-of-wagon-tragedy.html.
• Wagon Tragedy. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wagon_tragedy.
• Sivadasan, Dr. P. Wagon Tragedy: Kanalvazhiyille Koottakkuruthi. Sahithya Pravarthaka Co-operative Society, 2021.
• “The Tragedy in Wagon 1711 – Complete Story.” Historical Alleys, March 2014. https://historicalleys.blogspot.com/2014/03/the-tragedy-in-wagon-1711-complete.html.