The Ezhava Memorial or the Ezhava Memorial Petition was a great petition signed by 13,176 Ezhavas and submitted to the King of Travancore on 3 September 1896 under the leadership of Padmanabhan Palpu. [1]
A petition named Malayali Memorial was already submitted to the King of Travancore under the leadership of GP Pillai on 1 January 1891, for the natives to get a fair share in the government service. At that time Avarnas like Ezhavas were not appointed in Travancore posts with a monthly salary of more than 5 rupees. [2] When those who converted to Christianity got all the benefits, Ezhavas did not get any benefits. The same was the case for school admission. Through the Ezhava Memorial, the Ezhavas demanded that they too get these without changing their religion. [3]
GP Pillai had drawn the attention of the House of Commons and Congress meetings in England about the disadvantages of the Ezhavas, but to no avail. Having obtained an LMS degree, Dr. Palpu applied for a job under the Travancore government, but the application was rejected. [4]
Not amused by the presentation of the Malayali memorial, the Tamil Brahmin group soon submitted a counter-memorial to the King, refuting all its arguments. In effect, this created an atmosphere of competition between communities. [5] In May 1895 Dr Palpu himself submitted a petition to Diwan Shankarasubbayar in his own capacity. When the discussion with the Diwan did not yield any results, under his leadership, in September 1896, a petition signed by 13176 members of the Ezhava community was submitted to the King, which came to be known as the Ezhava Memorial. [6]
The Kingdom of Travancore, also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor or later as Travancore State, was kingdom that lasted from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At its zenith, the kingdom covered most of the south of modern-day Kerala and the southernmost part of modern-day Tamil Nadu with the Thachudaya Kaimal's enclave of Irinjalakuda Koodalmanikyam temple in the neighbouring Kingdom of Cochin. However Tangasseri area of Kollam city and Anchuthengu near Attingal in Thiruvananthapuram were parts of British India.
Sri Swathi Thirunal Rama Varma III was the Maharaja of the Kingdom of Travancore. He was a great musician and composer who has to his credit over 400 classical compositions in both Carnatic and Hindustani style.
Travancore–Cochin, officially the United State of Travancore and Cochin and later the State of Travancore–Cochin, was a short-lived state of India. It was formed through the merger of two former kingdoms, Travancore and Cochin on 1 July 1949. Its original capital was Thiruvananthapuram.
Govindan Parameswaran Pillai, also known as Barrister G. P. Pillai, was a freedom fighter, social reformer, barrister, journalist, and publisher. He established the first English language newspaper in South India, The Madras Standard. He drafted the Malayali Memorial in 1891. Pillai is the only Malayali whom Mahatma Gandhi has mentioned in his autobiography. He regularly wrote columns in various newspapers. Pillai stood against autocratic governance in Travancore and promoted civil rights and equal opportunity among all classes.
C. Kesavan was a politician, social reformer, statesman and the chief minister of Travancore-Cochin during 1950–1952. He led the Nivarthana agitation in Travancore to gain the democratic authority for the citizens to decide on the legislation and to attain opportunities regardless of caste or social and economical status.
Kumbalathuparambu Ayyappan, better identified as Sahodaran Ayyappan, was a social reformer, thinker, rationalist, journalist, and politician from Kerala, India. As a vocal follower of Sree Narayana Guru, he was associated with a number of events related to the Kerala reformation movement and was the organizer of Misra Bhojanam in Cherai in 1917. He founded Sahodara Sangam, and the journal Sahodaran and was the founder editor of the magazine Yukthivadi.
Padmanabhan Palpu was a physician from the Kingdom of Travancore who served as a chief medical officer of Mysore State.
Mar Emmanuel Nidhiri, also known as Nidhiry Mani Kathanar, was a significant figure in the history of the Syrian Malabar Nasrani church in Kerala. He led his community against the European hegemony over the Saint Thomas Christians and was accepted by the factions in the Kerala church. Nidhiri was the second Vicar General of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Church.
The Ezhavas, also known as Thiyya or Tiyyar in the Malabar region, are a community with origins in the region of India presently known as Kerala, where in the 2010s they constituted about 23% of the population and were reported to be the largest Hindu community. The Malabar Ezhava group has claimed a higher rank in the Hindu caste system than the other Ezhava groups but was considered to be of a similar rank by colonial and subsequent administrations.
T. K. Madhavan, also known as Deshabhimani Madhavan was an Indian social reformer, journalist and revolutionary, who was involved with the Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam. He hailed from Alappuzha, Kerala and led the struggle against Social discrimination which was known as Vaikom Satyagraha.
Cannankara Velayudhan Raman Pillai, also known as C. V., was one of the major Indian novelists and playwrights and a pioneering playwright and novelist of Malayalam literature. He was known for his historical novels such as Marthandavarma, Dharmaraja and Ramaraja Bahadur; the last mentioned considered by many as one of the greatest novels written in Malayalam.
The Sree Narayana Dharma Paripalana Yogam (S.N.D.P) is a social service organization that has been representing the Ezhava community from the Indian state of Kerala since 1903.
Thandaaneth Mathai Varghese (1886–1961) was an Indian freedom fighter, lawyer, statesman, former minister and politician from Kerala.
S. Shungrasoobyer (1836–1904), also known as Sankara Subha Iyer or Sankara Stibbaiyar, was an Indian administrator who served as the Diwan of Travancore State from 1892 to 1898.
Events in the year 1896 in India.
K. Ramakrishna Pillai (1878–1916) was an Indian nationalist writer, journalist, editor, and political activist. He edited Swadeshabhimani, the newspaper which became a potent weapon against the rule of the British and the erstwhile princely state of Travancore and a tool for social transformation. His criticism of the Diwan of Travancore, P. Rajagopalachari and the Maharajah led to the eventual confiscation of the newspaper. Ramakrishna Pillai was arrested and exiled from Travancore in 1910. Vrithantha Pathra Pravarthanam (1912) and Karl Marx (1912) are among his most noted works in Malayalam, Vrithantha Pathra pravarthanam being the first book on journalism in Malayalam and Karl Marx, the first ever biography of Karl Marx in any Indian language. But it has been alleged that he plagiarized the biography from an essay, "Karl Marx: A Modern Rishi", by Lala Hardayal, published in 1912 March issue of the Modern Review, published from Kolkata.
The population of Kerala, India is a heterogenous group that comprises many ethnic groups that originated in other parts of India as well as the world, with distinctive cultural and religious traditions. While the majority of Keralites speak the Malayalam language, various ethnic groups may speak other languages as well.
Vaikom Satyagraha, from 30 March 1924 to 23 November 1925, was a nonviolent agitation for access to the prohibited public environs of the Vaikom Temple in the Kingdom of Travancore. Kingdom of Travancore was known for its rigid and oppressive caste system. The campaign was conduct and led by Congress, leadersT. K. Madhavan, K. Kelappan, K. P. Kesava Menon. Other notable leaders who participated in the campaign include George Joseph, E. V. Ramasamy "Periyar" and it was noted for the active support and participation offered by different communities and a variety of activists.
The Travancore Legislative Council was the governing body of the Travancore princely state from 1888 to 1932. This legislature was the first opportunity in post-medieval India for non-royal natives to interfere, at least to some extent, with the sovereignty of princely states or imperial powers. Shri Moolam Tirunal Rama Varma, the Maharaja (King) of Travancore, is considered as the first Indian ruler to implement the concept of public participation in governance through the formation of this council. After passing through many stages of evolution, this assembly later became the basic framework of the Kerala Legislature and is considered to became the core of the legislative system of Kerala itself, which became a state in independent India.
The Malayali Memorial was a petition given on 1 January 1891, during the time of Sri Moolam Thirunal Maharaja in Travancore, with the demand that Malayalis should be given importance in high official positions in Travancore.