International Journal of Social Science Research (IJSSR)

Tribal Resistance and Anti-Colonial Struggles in Wayanad: A Subaltern Interpretation

This article examines the nature, forms and historical significance of tribal resistance to colonial expansion in the Wayanad region during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Moving beyond elite-centric narratives that privilege royal or nationalist leadership, it foregrounds the agency of indigenous communities such as the Kurichias and Kurumas, who actively resisted British intrusion into their socio-economic, political and ecological systems. By situating the Pazhassi revolts and related uprisings within the broader framework of subaltern studies and environmental history, the paper argues that tribal resistance in Wayanad was neither spontaneous nor merely reactive. Rather, it represented a structured political response rooted in customary rights, ecological knowledge and collective identity. By reassessing these movements, the article further highlights how colonial interventions in land, revenue and forest management destabilized indigenous life-worlds, provoking sustained resistance. Through a reinterpretation of these struggles, the study contributes to a more inclusive historiography of India’s anti-colonial movements.