Irayi Kunnathidathil Kumaran Master (17 September 1903 –27 July 1999),was a freedom fighter from Mahe or Mayyazhi,Union territory of India,who fought for liberation from France,in 1954. He also unsuccessfully fought for the unification of Mayyazhi with Kerala. He is known as "Mahe Gandhi". Kumaran was the first Administrator of Mahe after Indian independence. [1]
Born in Kunnathodam,a fairly wealthy family in Mayyazhi,IK Kumaran's father Kunkan Janmi was a liquor shop owner. The mother sighed. After completing his studies at Basel Mission School and Calve Branch School in Mayyazhi,he passed the school final examination from Thalassery Basel Mission School. He then passed the Intermediate examination from Brennan College,Thalassery. [2]
He passed the exam to become a sub-inspector in British India but was denied a job because he was a French citizen. From 1928 he worked as a teacher at Choodikotta Madrasa and Ottapilakool Mappila School. It was during this period that IK Kumaran became involved in politics at the instigation of Muchikal Padmanabhan. IK Kumaran Master entered the social and political arena through the Youth League movement. He resigned in 1940 to become more active in politics. He later became the President of the Congress Committee in Vadakara. He actively campaigned for the reorganization of the Congress in Kottayam Taluk. He also served as the President of the Youth League for some time. Kumaran Master has made his mark not only in politics but also in various social activities such as untouchability,mixed eating,bhudanam,Harijan upliftment,khadi propaganda and prohibition of liquor. [2]
Mahatma Gandhi Government Arts College,Mahé,was established in the year 1970 by I K Kumaran. The MahéCo-operative College of Teacher Education was established in 2005 and is part of the MahéCo-operative Centre for Information Technology Ltd. [3] [4]
Gandhians like I. K. Kumaran led the struggle for union with India in Mahéafter Indian independence in 1947. The municipal office of the French administration was attacked. on 21 October 1948 at 9:00 PM. The French national flag was removed and the Indian national flag was hoisted on the municipal building (Mairie in French). On 26 October,a French navy ship anchored in Mahéand the French regained control of Mahé. The ship left Mahéon 31 October. Communists tried to capture Cherukallayi enclave in April 1954. Two Indians were killed during the struggle. The Indian flag was hoisted in the Naluthura enclave on 1 May. The freedom fighters conducted an embargo on Mahéfrom June that year. On 14 July 1954,the Mahajanasabha organized a march into Mahé,which was liberated on 16 July 1954. [5] [6]
Puducherry,also known as Pondicherry,is a union territory of India,consisting of four small geographically unconnected districts. It was formed out of four territories of former French India,namely Pondichéry,Karikal (Karaikal),Mahéand Yanaon,excluding Chandannagar (Chandernagore),and it is named after the largest district,Puducherry,which was also the capital of French India. Historically known as Pondicherry,the territory changed its official name to Puducherry on 1 October 2006.
Mahe also known as Mayyazhi,is a small town in the Mahe district of the Puducherry Union Territory. It is situated at the mouth of the Mahe River and is surrounded by the State of Kerala. The Kannur district surrounds Mahe on three sides and Kozhikode district from one side.
Thalassery,formerly Tellicherry,is a municipality and commercial city on the Malabar Coast in Kannur district in the state of Kerala,India,bordered by the districts of Mahe,Kozhikode,Wayanad,Kasaragod and Kodagu (Karnataka). Thalassery municipality has a population of just under 100,000 as of 2011 census. Thalassery Heritage City has an area of 23.98 square kilometres (9.26 sq mi). Thalassery has an altitude ranging from 2.5 to 30 metres above mean sea-level.
Hermann Gundert was a German missionary,scholar,and linguist,as well as the maternal grandfather of German novelist and Nobel laureate Hermann Hesse. Gundert is chiefly known for his contributions as an Indologist,and compiled a Malayalam grammar book,Malayalabhaasha Vyakaranam (1859),in which he developed and constricted the grammar spoken by the Malayalis,nowadays;a Malayalam-English dictionary (1872),and contributed to work on Bible translations into Malayalam. He worked primarily at Tellicherry on the Malabar coast,in present day Kerala,India. Gundert also contributed to the fields of history,geography and astronomy.
Kannur University is a multi-campus public university established in 1996 to provide development of higher education in Kasaragod,Kannur,Wayanad districts of Kerala,India. It serves the region of North Malabar. It was established after the passing of Act No. 22 of 1996 of the Kerala Legislative Assembly. A university by the name of "Malabar University" had come into existence even earlier by the passing of an ordinance by the Governor of Kerala,on 9 November 1995.
Nadapuram is a census town and a special grade Panchayath located in Kozhikode District of Kerala,coming under Nadapuram assembly constituency. It is in North Malabar region of Kerala,India;spread over an area of 20.44 km2
Panoor is a Municipality in the district of Kannur in the state of Kerala,India. The town is the main market place for the farmer communities in the surrounding regions. Panoor is one of the main suburbs of the City of Thalassery. Panoor got municipal status when the Government of Kerala decided to upgrade Panoor Grama Panchayat and added with other Panchayats,as Panoor Municipality in 2015.
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan was an Indian politician of the Communist Party of India (Marxist). He was the secretary of the CPI(M) Kerala State Committee from 2015 to 2022. He stepped down from the position of state secretary due to his failing health. He was the Chief Editor of the Malayalam newspaper Deshabhimani.
The Coup d'état of Yanaon (Yanam) was a tense but ultimately non-lethal political coup at Yanam,India,in 1954. It occurred as India and France held ongoing negotiations regarding the future of French settlements in India. Yanam,along with Pondicherry,Karikal,and Mahé,was one of four small French colonial enclaves remaining in India after its 1947 independence from Britain. Though widely separated along both of India's coasts,the towns were collectively known as Pondicherry,after the largest of the settlements.
The City of Puducherry on the southeast coast of India does not have a recorded history from antiquity. Puducherry has history recorded only after the advent of the colonial powers such as the Dutch,Portuguese,English and the French. Nearby places such as Arikanmedu,Kakayanthoppe,Villianur,and Bahur,which were annexed by the French East India Company over a period of time and became the Union Territory of Puducherry after Independence,have written histories that predate the colonial era.
Gandhi Seva Sadan is a Kathakali institution located in Perur village,some 12 kilometres east of Ottapalam in Palakkad district of north-central Kerala in southern India. It was founded in 1953 by the (late) Gandhian and freedom fighter K. Kumaran,equally known for his unflagging devotion to the promotion of the arts.
Nettur P. Damodaran was an Indian politician who was a member of the 1st Lok Sabha of from the constituency of Tellicherry,which was part of the erstwhile Madras state. He represented the now defunct Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party. He was elected to the Lok Sabha with 42.61% of the electorate voting in his favour. Nettur P,as he was popularly known,had established his own image as a good Parliamentarian,journalist,philanthropist,reformer and writer. He graduated in Physics from Madras Christian College and it was here that his public life started when he was elected as the first elected Student Union Chairman of the College council in 1935.
Rajan Gurukkal is a leading Indian social scientist,historian,professor and writer. He has written many books and articles on different topics. He has also received awards for his works.
Mayyazhippuzhayude Theerangalil is a Malayalam-language novel by M. Mukundan. The novel vividly and mystically describes the historic political and social background of the former French colony of Mahe (Mayyazhi). The novel was translated into Tamil,English and French.
God's Mischief is a 1989 Malayalam novel written by M. Mukundan. Like most of Mukundan's works,this novel too is based in Mayyazhi,better known once as Mahé,the French colony after it was decolonised. The story centres on a magician,Father Alfonso,his daughter,Elsee and an Ayurveda Vaidyar Kumaran and his two twin sons and how their life changes after the land is decolonised. The novel won the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award and the N. V. Prize. It was adapted into a film by noted director Lenin Rajendran in 1992.
Kannur,formerly known in English as Cannanore,Arabic as Kannanur,and Portuguese as Cananor,is a city and a Municipal Corporation in North Malabar region,state of Kerala,India. It is the largest city in North Malabar,which is the northernmost region of Kerala. It is sometimes identified Kolathunadu,which was ruled by the Kolathiris. In the 12th and 13th centuries there was trade with Persia and Arabia.
Thalassery was a trade hub where Chinese,Arab,and Jewish traders had considerable influence in the spice market;before that the Greeks and Romans were in the trade. It was the European invasion that brought significant change as they enforced the trade with their military.
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