42 SOCIAL SCIENTIST of lower castes against upper caste domination became more and more evident; within the upper castes, newly emerging classes fought to overthrow the relations which hindered their free development; the impact of all-India nationalism drew the Malabar petty-bourgeoisie into the vortex of the anti-imperialist struggle. The fight against imperialism and the fight against precapitalist domination progressed simultaneously. The years of depression worsened the economic situation and further undermined the foundations of the old social alignments. Malabar was ripe for revolt and the ferment exploded in the Malabar Rebellion of 1921 which put the Moplah peasantry in the forefront of the anti-imperialist struggle. a> Report of the Malabar Tenancy Committee (M T C), 19K), p 17. 80 Mac Ewen, Resettlement Scheme Report/or the eight Plain Taluks of the Malabar District, p44. 81 Report of the Settlement of the Land Revenue of the districts of Madras Presidency for the respective years. 82 Ibid., for 1930-31, Vol 11, p 17. 38 E M S Namoodiripad, (pseud. S Parameswaran), The Peasant^ Question in Kerala., Bombay 1951, p 18. «. 84 Government of Madras, Revenue Department 1927, G 0 No 1389, dated 18 July, 1927, Trivandrum Secretariat. 85 M T C Report 1927-28, Vol 1, p 26. 86 T C Varghese, Agrarian Change and Economic Consequences : Land Tenures in Kerala 1^50-1960, Calcutta 1970, p 210. 87 Malabar District topped consistently in the volume of law suits filed in the courts of. the districts of Madras Presidency; See Madras Administration Reports, section on Civil Justice from 1924-25 to 1945-46. Malabar alone accounted for one-seventh of the total suits in the Presidency for 1934-35. . 88 The source for the two tables given in the text are: MTC Report 1927-28, Vol 1, p31: Govternment of Madras, Revenue Department 1947 : G 0 No 1835, 12 August 1917, Trivandrum Secretariat. 81 By a melcharth, thejenmi could lease out the land to a third party for a higher sum, or a submortgage, which led to the dispossession of the existing tenant. For statistics ofmelcharths quoted, see MTC Reports 1927-28, Vol 1, p 68. 4® W R S Satyanathan, Report on Agricultural Indebtedness, Government of Madras 1936. 41 William Logan, Malabar Land Tenure Report, Malabar Special Commission, pp 23,24. 42 Census of India 1921, Madras, Vol 13, Part 11, Table 18. 48 Mac Ewen, op. cit., p 35. 44 Ibid. 45 Quoted by Charles tnnes in Notes on the Malabar Tenancy Legislation, Government of Madras, Revenue Department, G 0 No 3021, dated 26 September 1917, p 26, Tamil Nadu Archives (TA). 46 Mac Ewen, op. cit., p 36' 47 W R S Satyanathan, op. cit., pp 38-39. 48 Marx pointed out: "The charateristic forms, however, in which usurer's capital exists in periods antedating capitalist production are of two kinds .... These two forms are : first, usury by lending money to extravagant members of the upper classes, particularly landowners; secondly, usury by lending money to small producers. . . .", Capital, Vol 3, Moscow 1959, p 531. 48 Mac Ewen, op. cit., p 36, 50 J Gray, Report of Special officer to report on the position of the agricultural classes . . ., Government of Madras, G 0 No 2941, Revenue, 12 August 1918.