Devils and Some Daredevilry in Beneath the Devil Tree Malabar 1921
During the past seven days, it was as if I had been transported in a time capsule to Malabar in 1921 witnessing the Moplah rebellion sweep across the land like the Chaliar River in spate uprooting everything in its path including the Anangapara, the huge rock standing tall midstream that centuries of floods failed to move an inch.
Yes, Anjana Varma's novel, ' Beneath the Devil Tree Malabar 1921,' proved to be quite a rollercoaster ride in the company of some interesting characters, moments of absolute panic and last-minute escapes.
Women's Power to the Fore
Of all the characters in this novel, the women stand out. Mathu, the matriarch of Nilambur Kovilakam, t her granddaughter Sethu along with her friend Priyamvada to the resourceful tribal girl Cheenkanni not to forget Benazir Biwi, Razia and Kunhaishumma, the Pathiri seller, all play key roles at various points.
For those of us familiar with living in a matrilineal joint family in Kerala, Mathu would seem to be our own grandmother, overseeing everything from daily puja to kitchen affairs and authoritatively settling disputes to being the repository of unlimited stories for the old and young alike. Similarly, Sethu or Prya closely resemble some of our cousins. They stay with us even after finishing the book.
Among the men, we meet Mithran, the Sixth Thirumulpad of Nilambur who manages the vast estates of the Kovilakam with high-handed arrogance towards the tenants. However, he has a soft corner for his vivacious wife. He is a 'Pucca Brown Sahib" with a billiards room in his mansion, a pipe smoker with an enviable collection of the finest briar pipes and handguns.
Then there is the hot-headed Mammad, ever ready to spring into action for causes he believes in and also carries a grudge against Mithran for summarily dismissing him as the rent collector. Ali Jaan, who grew up in an orphanage and after spending a few years in north India, returned home as a rich businessman with dreams of setting up a Caliphate in Malabar.
Style and Substance
This book is ideal reading for a long lazy afternoon or cosy bedtime consumption. The author provides a balanced account of the happenings without being judgemental. The riots affected not only the landed gentry, mostly Hindus but also the Muslim peasants, the rich and the poor alike. The usually prolific writers in Malayalam have steered clear of this volatile topic that violently tore apart the social fabric a hundred years ago.
Interestingly, Kerala, the verdant strip of land lying between the Arabian Sea and the formidable Western Ghat mountain ranges, had seldom witnessed any communal riots in its long history from the time of the ancient Tamil Chera kingdom to the three main princely states of the Samuthiri (Zamorin) in Malabar, Kochi and Travancore despite having a sizable presence of Muslims and Christians.
These two communities had appeared as traders from the Arabian peninsula and later from Europe. The rulers welcomed the newcomers and allowed them to construct places of worship and integrate with the local communities as merchants and traders. At one point, the Zamorin recruited Muslims in his navy to meet the threat from the Portuguese.
Malabar suffered traumatic events during the invasions of Hyder Ali of Mysore and later by his son Tipu Sultan who destroyed temples and indulged in forcible conversion of Hindus to Islam. The Khilafat movement in Malabar started only as a protest against the overthrow of the Ottoman Empire but later turned communal.
The paperback book is priced at Rs 495 on Amazon.
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