Peasants, according to Karl Marx, are a social category in which members are

isolated from one another. To him they are formed by simple addition of
homologous magnitude, such as potatoes in a sack form a sack of potatoes.
( Marx,1852)
In diverse sectors, peasants are described in a variety of ways. If we were to think
about it from an economic standpoint, they would be referred to as small
cultivators or agricultural laborers. They are viewed as illiterate and uneducated
in culture, yet they are viewed as underdogs in politics, born to be obedient and
suffer for the rest of their life.

Muslims in Kerala arrived in the 7th century AD from the west as traders via the
Arabian Sea.”Muhammadans had gained a footing in Malabar for commercial
purposes, and Cherman “.(Dewan Bahadur C. Gopalan Nalr,1923,Calicut) After
they were given permission and settled down most of them married the local
women and were called Moplahs. Moplahs basically means son in law in
Malayalam. There , the traditional land system was that the Jenmis were the
landlord and they would let out their lands to others for farming and the
hierarchical levels of ownership were divided into three levels where each of
them took a share of the produce. Moplahs were the cultivators and were of low
caste in this system and the Jenmis were the upper caste. During the invasion of
Hyder Ali , many hindu landlords fled to neighbouring areas and the Moplahs
were given ownership rights to the lands. Those who were left , during the
invasion of Tipu sultan, were all forced to eat beef and commit to Moplahs. The
hindus were in constant fear of the Moplahs. According to Mr. T. L. Strange who
was appointed as special commissioner in Malabar –“ The Hindus , in the parts
where the outbreaks have been most frequent, stand in such fear pf the Moplahs
as mostly not dare to press for their rights against them , and there is many a
Moplah tenant who does not pay his rent, and cannot, so imminent are the risks,
be evicted. Other injuries are also put up with, uncomplained of.”-(Mr. T. L.
Strange, 1852, Malabar manual). After Tipu sultan died in 1799, the Malabar fell
under the British authority as a part of Madras Presidency. They revoked the
rights to ownership of the Moplahs and gave it back to Jenmis . It was merely an
act to manipulate the Jenmis just to make them into their puppets . So they could
use them however they want and turned them against the Moplahs. The Moplahs
are now subjected as the peasants and face high rents and lack of security of
tenure. They were enraged and as they were illiterate they had no conscience
whatsoever. They thought of the hindus as mere kaffirs and went of a killing
spree. They were barbarous.Then came the Khilafat committee . This movement
started in1919. The meetings incited the rage in the Moplahs heart against the
British as well as the hindu landlords . The Moplahs outrage happened. Many
homes and temples were destroyed as a result.But by 1921, even though the
rebels had some parts of Malabar under their control, they were crushed by the
Malabar Special Force raised by the british. Around 67 Moplahs were imprisoned
and the riot came to an end.

In my assessment , what I have learned from this rebellion is that the Moplahs
were considered the peasants by both the British and the Hindus. So when they
tasted the sweetness of power they started to act arrogantly. this arrogance had
them lose their power to the Hindus. It could have been solved if both of them
were treated equally. But as society rules , the stronger always have to dominate
the weaker ones. Sometimes, the weak ones are not as weak as they may seem to
be. This is what created the conflict and the British authority used that chance to
manipulate one side . This is what we call- “Two birds with one stone”.