Aikya Kerala Movement, the movement to establish a united Kerala was one of the political movements in present-day

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

state of India. The term ''Aikya Kerala'' literally means 'United Kerala'. It has been a statewide peaceful movement for a united Kerala state for all Malayalam speaking people, which lasted for more than three decades. Following the movement, The

Malayalam Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

-speaking regions of the Travancore–Cochin merged with the

Malabar District Malabar District, also known as Malayalam District, was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792-1800) and Madras Presidency (1800-1947) in British India, and independent India's Madras State (19 ...

(excluding

Laccadive Lakshadweep (), also known as Laccadives (), is a union territory of India. It is an archipelago of 36 islands in the Arabian sea, located off the Malabar Coast. The name ''Lakshadweep'' means "one lakh islands" in Sanskrit, though the Lac ...

Minicoy Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on ''Maliku atoll'', the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian union territory of ...

Islands) and the

Kasaragod Kasaragod () is a municipal town and administrative headquarters of Kasaragod district in the state of Kerala, India. Established in 1966, Kasaragod was the first municipal town in the district. It is the northernmost district of Kerala and ...

Taluk of

South Canara South Canara was a district of the Madras Presidency of British India, located at . It comprised the towns of Kassergode and Udipi and adjacent villages, with the capital in Mangalore city. South Canara was one of the most heterogeneous areas o ...

district in

Madras State Madras State was a state of India during the mid-20th century. At the time of its formation in 1950, it included the whole of present-day Tamil Nadu (except Kanyakumari district), Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema, the Malabar region of North and c ...

to form the modern

state on 1 November 1956, according to the

States Reorganisation Act, 1956 The States Reorganisation act, 1956 was a major reform of the boundaries of India's states and territories, organising them along linguistic lines. Although additional changes to India's state boundaries have been made since 1956, the States ...

passed by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, c ...

Movement during British rule

During the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

period, the present day Kerala was part of 4 regions.

Malabar district Malabar District, also known as Malayalam District, was an administrative district on the southwestern Malabar Coast of Bombay Presidency (1792-1800) and Madras Presidency (1800-1947) in British India, and independent India's Madras State (19 ...

and

taluk (

district) in the

Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

were under direct British rule while

Cochin Kochi (), also known as Cochin ( ) ( the official name until 1996) is a major port city on the Malabar Coast of India bordering the Laccadive Sea, which is a part of the Arabian Sea. It is part of the district of Ernakulam in the state of K ...

and

Travancore The Kingdom of Travancore ( /ˈtrævənkɔːr/), also known as the Kingdom of Thiruvithamkoor, was an Indian kingdom from c. 1729 until 1949. It was ruled by the Travancore Royal Family from Padmanabhapuram, and later Thiruvananthapuram. At ...

remained as princely states were under the indirect rule of the British. The

Malayalam language Malayalam (; , ) is a Dravidian language spoken in the Indian state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry (Mahé district) by the Malayali people. It is one of 22 scheduled languages of India. Malayalam was des ...

, with its rich literary heritage, has always been an important factor in the emotional and cultural integration of the people of the three regions of Malabar, Travancore and Kochi. The idea of a region for Malayalam speakers by uniting Travancore, Kochi and Malabar was formed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Ramakrishna Pillai, the editor of Swadeshabhimani, had written in the early twentieth century about the formation of a united Kerala by combining these three regions.

Role of Indian National Congress

The Nagpur conference of the

Indian National Congress The Indian National Congress (INC), colloquially the Congress Party but often simply the Congress, is a political party in India with widespread roots. Founded in 1885, it was the first modern nationalist movement to emerge in the British Em ...

in 1920 passed a resolution that the state congress committees should be organized on linguistic basis instead of territorial basis. This was an important step in the idea of forming linguistic states in India. Following this, in 1921, the Indian National Congress renamed its unit for Travancore, Kochi and Malabar regions as

Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (abbreviated as Kerala P. C. C. or the K. P. C. C.) is the state unit of the Indian National Congress in Kerala. The Indian National Congress currently leads the United Democratic Front alliance, the Oppositi ...

(KPCC). Under the leadership of KPCC, the first All Kerala Political Conference was held at

Ottapalam Ottapalam, (also spelled Ottappalam) is a town, taluk and municipality in the Palakkad district, Palakkad District, Kerala, India. It is the administrative headquarters of the Ottapalam taluk. Ottapalam is located about 36 km from district head ...

from April 23, 1921. It was inaugurated by the then

All India Congress Committee The All India Congress Committee (AICC) is the presidium or the central decision-making assembly of the Indian National Congress. It is composed of members elected from state-level Pradesh Congress Committees and can have as many as a thousan ...

President

Tanguturi Prakasam Tanguturi Prakasam Panthulu (23 August 1872 – 20 May 1957) was an Indian jurist, political leader, social reformer, and anti-colonial nationalist who served as the chief minister of the Madras Presidency. Tanguturi subsequently became the fi ...

. The Aikya Kerala Committee formed at the Ottappalam conference demanded formation of new Kerala state comprising Malabar, Travancore, Cochin, Coorg, Nilgiris, Gudallur, South Canara, Mahi and Lakshadweep. The ''Nattu Rajya Praja Sammelanam'' (State People's Conference) held at Ernakulam in 1928 under the presidency of

Jawaharlal Nehru Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru (; ; ; 14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat— * * * * and author who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20t ...

, passed a resolution for Aikya Kerala (United Kerala). In 1938, a delegation from the Kerala State Congress Committee approached the Congress Working Committee and demanded the formation of a 'United Kerala' when India became independent. On May 26, 1946, a KPCC Working Committee meeting was convened at

Cheruthuruthi Cheruthuruthy also known as Vallathol Nagar is a small town in India near Wadakkanchery, Thrissur on the banks of the Nila (Bharathapuzha) river. Administration Falls in Talappilly taluk (Wadakkanchery) of the revenue district of Thrissur. Thr ...

under the chairmanship of

K. P. Kesava Menon Kizhakke Potta Kesava Menon (1 September 1886 – 9 November 1978) was a patriot, idealist and Indian independence activist. Menon was the founder of ''Mathrubhumi'', a popular daily newspaper which earned the second place in circulation in ...

to work for a united Kerala. A meeting was also held in Ernakulam in this connection but it was adjourned without a decision. In September 1946, to implement United Kerala, the KPCC Working Committee formed a committee comprising K. Kelappan, U. Gopal Menon (Convener), A. K. Damodara Menon, Janab Moidu Moulavi, K. Madhava Menon, P. Kunhiraman, Kumari Kamalam, P. Madhavan and Janab Ibrahim, to form a Joint Committee consisting of various political parties in Malabar, Kochi and Travancore and their representatives. Based on this, a meeting was held on October 26, 1946, at Cheruthuruthy under the chairmanship of K. P. Keshava Menon, and was decided to convene a United Kerala Conference.

Role of Maharaja Kerala Varma

Kerala Varma, the Maharaja of Cochin, played a pivotal role in the unification of Kerala and the accession of the Kingdom of Cochin to the Indian Union. In his letter to the Kochi Legislative Assembly on July 29, 1946, Kerala Varma wrote to Malabar, Cochin and Travancore that a plan should be devised to establish a common government and that for the culture of Kerala to survive, it must be under a single administration. In April 1947, Kerala Varma inaugurated the Aikya Kerala Convention held in

Thrissur Thrissur (), formerly Trichur, also known by its historical name Thrissivaperur, is a city and the headquarters of the Thrissur district in Kerala, India. It is the third largest urban agglomeration in Kerala after Kochi and Kozhikode, and t ...

under the chairmanship of

K. Kelappan Koyapalli Kelappan (24 August 1889 – 7 October 1971) was an Indian politician, independence activist, educationist and journalist. During the Indian independence movement, he was the lead figure of Indian National Congress in Kerala and was p ...

. The convention passed a resolution for the formation of a 'United Kerala'. Since Kerala Varma stood for the unified Kerala (Aikya Keralam), he was known as

Aikya Keralam Thampuran Kerala Varma Thampuran (1870 – July 1948) popularly known as ''Aikya Keralam Thampuran'' or ''Kerala Varma VII'' was the Maharaja (king) of Cochin who ruled between 1946 and 1949. He mooted the idea of a unified Kerala state in India for the ...

Contributions of the Communist Party of India

The

Communist Party of India Communist Party of India (CPI) is the oldest Marxist–Leninist communist party in India and one of the nine national parties in the country. The CPI was founded in modern-day Kanpur (formerly known as Cawnpore) on 26 December 1925. H ...

has also propagated the idea of a united Kerala by uniting the Malayalam-speaking regions.

E. M. S. Namboodiripad Elamkulam Manakkal Sankaran Namboodiripad (13 June 1909 – 19 March 1998), popularly known as EMS, was an Indian communist politician and theorist, who served as the first Chief Minister of Kerala in 1957–1959 and then again in 1967–1969. A ...

has written a book titled ''Keralam Malayalikalude Mathrubhumi'' (meaning:Kerala, the homeland of

Malayali The Malayali people () (also spelt Malayalee and also known by the demonym Keralite) are a Dravidian peoples, Dravidian ethnolinguistic group originating from the present-day state of Kerala in India, occupying its southwestern Malabar coast. ...

s) which comes with this idea. From the 1930s onwards, trade unions based on communist ideas emerged in the Travancore, Kochi and Malabar Provinces in various fields of work. The All Kerala Workers' Conference organized by P. Krishnapillai was held at Kozhikode in May 1935.

After independence

A high-level committee formed to consider the recommendations of the Dhar Commission, at the Jaipur Conference of the Indian National Congress in 1948, comprising Jawaharlal Nehru,

Vallabhbhai Patel Vallabhbhai Jhaverbhai Patel (; ; 31 October 1875 – 15 December 1950), commonly known as Sardar, was an Indian lawyer, influential political leader, barrister and statesman who served as the first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister of I ...

and

Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya Bhogaraju Pattabhi Sitaramayya (24 November 1880 – 17 December 1959) was an Indian independence activist and political leader in the state of Andhra Pradesh. He was also the first governor (1 November 1956 – 13 June 1957) of Madhya Pradesh. ...

, in its report (JVP Report) cautioned against going ahead with the proposal for linguistic reorganization of the states. After Indian independence, on July 1, 1949, the state of Travancore and Kochi merged to form the state of

Travancore–Cochin Travancore–Cochin, or Thiru–Kochi, was a short-lived state of India (1949–1956). It was originally called United State of Travancore and Cochin following the merger of two former kingdoms, Travancore and Cochin on 1 July 1949. Its origina ...

, as a Part B State of the Indian Union. The Aikya Kerala Convention held at

Aluva Aluva (; also known by its former name Alwaye) is a town in the Ernakulam District in Kerala, India. It is a part of the Kochi metropolitan area and is situated around from the city center on the banks of Periyar River. A major transpor ...

in 1948, appointed an Action Committee of 15 members with

as the President and K. A. Damodara Menon as the Secretary, to speedup actions for a united Kerala. The Aikya Kerala Conference held at

Palakkad Palakkad (), formerly known as Palghat, historically known as Palakkattussery is a city and municipality in the Indian state of Kerala. It is the administrative headquarters of the Palakkad District. Palakkad is most densely populated municipal ...

in November 1949, under the Aikya Kerala Committee passed a resolution to form a State of Kerala without

Rajpramukh Rajpramukh was an administrative title in India which existed from India's independence in 1947 until 1956. Rajpramukhs were the appointed governors of certain Indian provinces and states. Background The British Indian Empire, which includ ...

. The most important decision taken at the Communist Party Plenum on April 4, 5 and 6, 1952 in Thrissur was to carry out a massive agitation for a united Kerala. The party also decided to hold various conventions for this purpose. In addition, large conventions were held in major cities in India, such as

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, and

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

. More than 15,000 Malayalis participated in the Aikya Kerala Convention held in Bombay on October 18 and 19, 1952 under the leadership of the Communist Party.

or officially the ''United State of Travancore and Cochin'' formed by merging

and

on 1 July 1949. It was renamed 'State of Travancore–Cochin in January 1950. The State Reorganization Commission headed by Syed Fazal Ali, which was formed to form linguistic states across India, recommended the formation of a State comprising Travancore, Kochi and Malabar regions. The

-speaking regions of the Travancore–Cochin merged with the

(excluding

Islands) and the

Taluk of

district in

to form the modern

state on 1 November 1956, according to the

passed by the

Actions against the formation of the State of Kerala

Diwan

C. P. Ramaswami Iyer Sir Chetput Pattabhiraman Ramaswami Iyer (12 November 1879 – 26 September 1966), popularly known as Sir C. P., was an Indian lawyer, administrator and politician who served as the Advocate-General of Madras Presidency from 1920 to 1923, Law ...

, with the permission of the Travancore royal family, carried out attempt to make a 'Immutable Executive' rule in Travancore and the subsequently to make Travancore an independent state (June 2, 1947). After Indian independence, the Congressmen from

Malabar Malabar may refer to the following: People * Malabars, people originating from the Malabar region of India * Malbars or Malabars, people of Tamil origin in Réunion Places * Malabar Coast, or Malabar, a region of the southwestern shoreline o ...

were in favor of a southern state (southern state) by annexing the Travancore-Cochin region to the

Madras province The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...

. The political conference held at Palakkad in April 1953 under the leadership of the Malabar Pradesh Congress Committee officially approved the above proposal. Although initially Congress workers from Malabar opposed the formation of a state of Kerala, a conference held in Kozhikode under the leadership of the Aikya Kerala Committee helped to influence public opinion in favor of the formation of a united Kerala in Malabar.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Aikya Kerala Movement