The Mappilas were the Muslim tenants inhabiting the Malabar region where most of the landlords were Hindus.
The Mappilas had grievances that centred around lack of security of tenure, high rents, renewal fees and other oppressive exactions.
Soon, the Mappila movement merged with the ongoing Khilafat agitation.
The leaders of the Khilafat-Non-Cooperation Movement like Gandhiji, Shaukat Ali and Maulana Azad addressed Mappila meetings.
In August 1921 when the arrest of a respected priest leader, Ali Musaliar, sparked off large-scale riots against the British. The British forces responded harshly declaring martial law.
At this time Hindus were seen by the Mappilas to be helping the British authorities. This gave communal overtones to the movement.
What began as an anti-government and anti-landlord affair acquired communal overtones.
The communalisation of the rebellion completed the isolation of the Mappilas from the Khilafat-Non- Cooperation Movement.
By December 1921, all resistance had come to a stop.
