Tirurangadi Taluk Office

History

Tirurangadi was the capital of Cheranad taluk under the British Raj, which was the epicenter of the Khilafat movement and Malabar Rebellion (Moplah revolt) in 1921. The building was known as the Hajur Kacheri (Huzur Office) under the British, and was one of the major administrative centers of the post-independence British-era Madras Presidency. The building also functioned as the headquarters of a short-lived Khilafat government during the rebellion.

According to historians, there was a fort of Tipu Sultan situated opposite the Hajur Kacheri. The land described in the records as 'Kottapparamba' does not have any trace of a fort today. In the 1780s and 1790s, the British defeated the Mysore Army at Tirurangadi and after the treaty of Srirangapatnam in 1791, and took control of Tirurangadi and demolished the fort. It is said that the bricks and stones from the demolished fort were used for building Hajur Kacheri. The police station, offices of deputy tehsildar and sub registrar, post office and travelers’ bungalow functioned at this building.

During the Khilafat Movement, the Mappila warriors, under the leadership of cleric Ali Musliyar and Variyam Kunnath Kunjahammed Haji (V K Haji), captured the taluks of Eranadu and Valluvanadu from the British and established their own rule and turned the building into their administrative headquarters where they had the court, administrative section and even the office for the issuance of passports.