ARAKKAL ALI RAJA'S ATTACK OF MALDIVES

Ali Raja of Arakkal had Blinded the Sultan

There is a reference to the Raja of Arakkal, Kannur, in Kerala, Kunhi Amsa II, in the book, Kingdom of Hyder Ali and Tipu Sultan (Sultanat-e-Khudadad in Urdu) by Mahmood Khan Mahmood, translated by Anwar Haroon. I quote:

Ali Raja became the ruler of the coastal areas and he further developed his naval forces and attacked the islands close to Malabar, from where the people who were non-Muslims used to attack and oppress the Maplas. He captured their Raja and gouged both his eyes. After the capture of their Raja, all the people of the island surrendered to the Navy Commander Ali Raja and he returned to Mangalore along with the Raja of the islands. When Hyder Ali came to know that Ali Raja had gouged out the eyes of the Raja of the islands, he apologized to him and allotted him the land which could get him enough income for his living and punished Ali Raja by taking away his Commander ship (page 49).

This is called platitude. The Raja of the islands, captured by Ali Raja, was not a non-Muslim. It was the Sultan Hasan 'Izz ud Din(1759-1766) of the Maldives, whom Ali Raja blinded after capturing.

The incident was in 1763, after Hyder Ali captured Bednur, in Shimoga, in Karnataka, from the Ikkeri King.

Arakkal Flag, earlier

When Hyder Ali overthrew Krishnaraja Wodeyar in Mysore in 1757, Kunhi Amsa declared, "God is powerful and his fruit shall ripen", and entered Hyder's service as Naval Chief. After the capture of Bednur, he invited Hyder Ali to Attack the Chirakkal King or Kolathiri.

Kunhi Amsa established a large and well-armed fleet of 10 dhows and 3o larger sketches, in the Indian Ocean, in an attempt to conquer islands that had withstood the Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb. Ali Raja, Muhammad Ali II sent Mappila forces to help Aurangazeb, in the Child's War of 1686-1690. The Mappila force was sent in 1689, to be part of the strong Mughal fleet from Janji, commanded by Siddi Yaqub or Yaquat Khan, Mughal Admiral, from Murud Janjira, the Fort at Murud, Raigad, Maharashtra. (1) It was the only undefeated Fort on the Western Coast during all invasions. His fleet was manned by the Mappilas and Abyssinians.

English Surrender, 1690

The Child's War was fought between the English East India Company and the Mughal Empire. In 1682, the Company sent William Hedges to Shaista Khan, Mughal Governor of Bengal, to obtain firman to grant England regular trading privileges throughout the Empire. The Company's Governor in London, the economist, Josiah Child then interfered with Hedge's mission, causing Aurangzeb to break off negotiations. Child declared war with the Mughals and sent Vice Admiral Nicholson in 1685 with 10 ships carrying 12 to 70 guns each and 600 men, to be reinforced by 400 men from Madras. His instruction was to seize Chittagong. What happened to those ships is another story. 

In 1690, the English surrendered and pleaded pardon with Aurangzeb. The English had to prostrate before him and pay a huge indemnity. So, Arakkal had a tradition. Legend takes it to the time Cheraman Perumal-Perumal and Malik Bin Dinar reached Dharmadam, near Thalassery, where his sister Sreedevi was living and converted her son, Mahabali, who became Muhammad Ali. Ali, belonging to the Arayan kulangara Nair Family of Kolathiri chieftains, married a princess from the Kolathiri family, and the Arakkal branch began. In this legend, Perumal left for Mecca from the ancient Poynadu comprising, Edakkad, Ancharakkandi and Mavilayi, governed by Randuthara Achans. Arakkal followed the Matriarchal system of inheritance, in which, succession was only to the offspring of the females, a system followed by Nairs, for, the male members were dying early, fighting wars in the army. 

Muliagee Palace in Male built in 1906

The Arakkal Kingdom had little more than the Kannur town and the Lakshadweep Islands (Agatti, Kavaratti, Androth, Kalpeni and Minicoy), originally leased from the Chirakkal king. Two brothers from the Arakkal family, Mammali and Kunjikoyamu were in the Travancore Navy, during 1707-1720 (see my post, Three Malabar Pirates in Travancore).

Male Sultan's Palace,1885

The Sultanate of Maldives was established in 1153, overthrowing the Buddhist King, Dhovem, and the first Sultan was, Koimala. The embarking fleet of Kunhi Amsa from Lakshadweep and Kannur carried on board, in 1763, Sepoys and on its pennon, the colours of Hyder Ali. They captured the Maldives and enacted cruelties upon fellow Muslims there. The Sultan 'izz Ud din's eyes were gouged out. Kunhi Amsa returned to Bednur to pay homage to Hyder and present the Sultan before him. Hyder Ali was outraged to see the Sultan blind. Hyder ordered the insane Admiral Kunhi Amsa out of the Command of his fleet and begged forgiveness from the Sultan. The deeply afflicted Hyder arranged to escort the Sultan to the Maldives and sought solace by withdrawing from his palaces and living in simplicity.

Child

The Sultan, son of Huraa Mohammed Famukdeyri and Amina Dio, daughter of Mohammed Kateeb of Muli,  succeeded Amina of Maldives and established the Huraa dynasty.

Kunhi Amsa had also captured 'izz Ud din's predecessor, Sultan Muhammad ImaduddinIII(1750-1757)and held him captive in Kavaratty where he died in captivity. He was the second son of Sultan Muhammed Imaduddin II and Amina Dio of Fenfushi. His father, who was the Prime Minister to Sultan Ibrahim Mudzhiruddin, overthrew the Sultan, establishing the Dhuyamgili dynasty. Imaduddin III was captured by Kunhi Amsa in 1752, transported to Kavaratty and occupied Male until he died in captivity in 1757. The occupation was ended by Muleegey Dom Hussain Maniku, a direct descendant of the penultimate Christian King, Joao. After the death of Imaduddin III, Maldives was ruled by Regents-first by his sister, Sanifa Rerdi Kabafalanu and then by his daughter, Amina of Maldives. The de facto Regent was Maniku, and Amina succeeded after her father's death.

The estranged Kunhi Amsa was taken back as Admiral by Hyder Ali in 1766 when he attacked Malabar, and his brother, Sheikh Ali, was appointed, the Chief of Port Authority. Kunhi Amsa, his brother and their men seized the Chirakkal palace whereupon the king and family fled to Travancore, and relatives of the king took refuge in the Tiruvangad Temple, near Thalassery, and the Zamorin committed suicide at Kozhikode.

Shaista Khan

Kunhi Amsa and Junumabe II who succeeded him were staunch allies of Hyder and Tipu Sultan but didn't get any special treatment after the Srirangapattana treaty of 1792. She signed the agreement in 1796, with the British, but continued possession of Kannur and Lakshadweep, with no claim to sovereignty. Up to 1864, Arakkal Raja was entitled to a seven-gun salute. With the outbreak of the war between France with the British, Lakshadweep remained unnoticed, but the British occupation became permanent there in 1875. On December 15,1908, all claims of Arakkal ended, agreeing to an annual pension of Rs 23,000, the claim to Minicoy as private property was also rejected.

________________________

1. In 1686, the East India Company, which had unsuccessfully tried to obtain a firman that would grant them regular trading privileges throughout the Mughal Empire, initiated the Anglo-Mughal War. This war ended in disaster for the English after Aurangzeb in 1689 dispatched a large fleet from Janjira that blockaded Bombay. The ships, commanded by Sidi Yaqub, were manned by Indians and Mappilas.

-Faruki, Zahiruddin (1972) [First published 1935]. Aurangzeb & His Times. Bombay: Idarah-i Adabiyāt-i Delli. p. 442.

Reference:

1. Malabar Manual/Logan
2. Kerala Muslim History/P A Syed Mohammed 
3. A Survey of Kerala History/A Sreedhara Menon
4. A History of Bengal/Charles Stewart

See my Post, THREE MALABAR PIRATES IN TRAVANCORE