Mappila Leader In Exile: A Political Biography Of Syed Fazl Tangal

by K.K.Muhammad Abdul Sathar

In a prose infused with drama, yet authenticated by citations from firsthand and recent sources, Dr KK Muhammad Abdul Sathar traces the political outlook and disposition of Mamburam Syed Fazl Tangal (1824-1900) from his roots among Ba Alawis in Yemen to the blood-soaked Malabar of the 19th century. There are references to Syed Fazl as a religious scholar, reformer and spiritual guide, all these roles buttressing his political stance against the British and their ye-men, the landlords of the erstwhile Malabar. Syed played a pivotal role in enhancing the spirit of revolution among Mappilas so much that the British had to deport him to Arabia. He went to Turkey and served as a plenipotentiary of the Ottoman Caliphate. During the struggle for India’s independence, he turned out to be a leader in exile, inspiring national leaders like Muhammad Abdul Rahman Sahib from afar.
Roland Miller, the famed Mappila historian, writes in the foreword of the book: ‘As the son of the distinguished Mappila writer, Muhammad Abdul Kareem, who in a 1970 Malayalam work introduced us to Syed Alawi, the father of Syed Fazl, Dr Sathar is following his own scholarly chain.’

208 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 2012

Reviews

[J]

Interesting read. Veers into the hagiographical in places, and definitely needed a proper proofreading, but for me at least a very beneficial account of Ba'Alawi Hadhrami sayyid migration to India and roles in resistance movements, the lives of Syed Alawi Tangal and his son Syed Fazl, accounts of the Mappila uprisings of the 1840s-50s, Fazl Thangal's deportation and life in exile and efforts in 1920s and 1930s to secure his children's return to Malabar. 3.5