Kayamkulam Kochunni, the Robin Hood of Kerala

Rebels are always treated as antisocial when they were alive. This is common for all parts of the world irrespective of caste, religion, and creed. Fortunately, there were such rebels all the time who had thought in a different way than society thought. Their priority was to help the poor and to fight the evils of the affluent ruling class. Kerala too had a rebel in the past, whose glorious saga is still being sung by many people. His name is Kochunni and his area of functioning was Kayamkulam in the Alappuzha district of Kerala. Hence he became popular as “Kayamkulam Kochunni”.

His childhood was of great miseries. His father too was a thief, yet they had to lead a miserable life. He was not able to attend school. In his early ages, he left his house due to poverty and came to a place called Evoor. There he met a Brahmin and narrated his stories. Although Kochunni was an Islam, the Brahmin did not take that into consideration; instead, he was ready to help that poor boy. He took Kochunni to a nearby grain and provision store and asked the shop owner to give that boy a job there. The shop owner was keeping high regard about that old Brahmin and hence he could not neglect his appeal. Kochunni started working there as a sales boy. He was sincere in his job and hence gradually he became the manager of the shop.

On those days, the goods should come from the market in Alappuzha and the only mode of transport were through the water. One day, the shop owner and Kochunni went to Alappuzha to purchase goods from the wholesale market. When they were returning, there came a heavy storm and thunderbolt. The boat they were traveling was about to sink. The shop owner, prayed a lot to save their life. At that juncture, Kochunni asked the owner to keep calm and he took control of the boat. He rowed it through the trouble waters and reached the destination. Since then, he became the person to accompany the shop owner wherever he goes.

As the days passed, a Thangal, an Islamic Guru came to that village and started a Kalari (school for traditional martial arts). Knowing this, Kochunni too went there but rejected by the Thangal. The reason told by the Thangal was Kochunni’s father was a thief and naturally, he too will become a thief. He cannot train such a person who will become a nuisance to society.

Although sad by these words, Kochunni was not the person to give up. He regularly went there and watched entire things hiding behind a huge tree. He practiced everything he saw there in the night times. One day he caught hold by some students of Thangal. They brought him in front of Thangal. When Thangal asked him what all he learned, he replied that everything whatever taught in that Kalari. When Thangal tested him, he found to excel in all aspects and seemed to be more brilliant and talented than other students. Quite happy with this, he started teaching Kochunni. Apart from the martial art, he taught magic, sleight, etc too. Kochunni became an expert in all these forms of arts.

One day, the shop owner asked him to go to the house and get some grains as the entire stock got exhausted. When Kochunni reached home, he says the large and tall gate in front of the house is closed from inside. He did not hesitate. He stepped back a few steps and jumped over the gate, collected the grain, and jumped back again. The owner came to know about this incident from somebody else and when he questioned Kochunni, he told the truth. Happy with his approach the owner gave him more money than the salary but requested him to stop working there.

Kochunni went back to his house and got married. There he lived by stealing and robbery. However, he never attacked any poor or hapless people. His method was totally different. Whenever he needs some money, he used to approach rich people in that area. If they give money, he will return happily. If they are reluctant to give, the same day he will attack their houses and take whatever they have. He never utilized the entire amount he is taking from such houses; instead, he used to distribute the money among the poor. His needs were very less and he will take only that much money to meet his requirements.

There are many instances when he looted the house of rude and cruel landlords to feed the poor. He had a group of people with him who are always ready to carry out his orders. He never enters inside the house but used to wait outside and keep a vigil. Once they were looting a house, one of his group members fell on a huge vessel. Hearing the noise, the people inside the house woke up. They were about catch hold of the thief, then suddenly Kochunni entered the house and took a small kid sleeping there and throw him into the nearby paddy field. Hearing the cries of the kid, all the people went there and thus the thieves escaped.

His actions created a lot of troubles to the rich and the influential and based on their complaint, the King decided to catch him at any cost. He appointed a special officer for this task. When the officer inquired, he came to know about a village prostitute with whom Kochunni had an illicit relation. He allured the prostitute with many offers and she agreed that she will help.

Next time when Kochunni visited her, she gave him milk mixed with some powder. With the influence of it, he slept immediately. She informed the officer and he came with the police force and arrested him. However, when he became conscious the next day morning, he escaped from custody. He went directly to the house of the prostitute as he forgot his knife there. When he opened the door, he saw the prostitute with another young man. Kochunni took his knife and killed both of them. From that onwards, Kochunni never approached any other women.

The special officer appointed by the king tries his level best to catch him but Kochunni escaped each and every time miraculously. Finally, the officer became a success in creating infighting in his group. He took two of Kochunni’s close aides in confidence and using them, he caught him at last.