KNAPPAN
Haneef
There are numerous words which we use in daily life conversations, which we don’t even know the meaning of. We use it hundreds of times in twenty four hours, in one context or other, but rarely do we introspect or think how such a word came into use, or what its real connotation is.
We are examining one of these words now. It is one of the regular cuss words used by the average Keralite, from Kasargod to Trivandrum, and from Dubai to Toronto.
Every malayalee reading this would know that. But let us have a look at what is the real meaning of this word, and how did it come into regular use.
Malabar has always had a glorious history of interaction with the foreign worlds, right from pre-medieval times, first the Romans, then Arabs, Chinese and later on the Europeans beginning with the Portuguese. If you walk through the villages of today’s Cannanore, you can see a lot of people using words, which may look very much Malayalee, but are actually loan words from foreign languages.
Let us rewind to the turbulent days of the rule of British Administration in Malabar, when it was part of the Madras Presidency. Malabar was a fidgety place, and the Mappila Riots of 1921 had just not happened yet.
There was a lot of subdued anger among the populace of the district, and this had not come to the fore yet. It was just two generations ago that the struggles of Pazhassi had ended, and the memories of the actions of the British East India Company and other belligerents had not yet been forgotten. The people were still having profound memories of the rules of their Rajas, and the rulers from the Civil Services were finding it difficult to read the pulse of the public.
It was at this time, that one gentleman from England, Sir Arthur Rowland Knapp was appointed the Assistant Collector and Magistrate at Malabar District.
Arthur Knapp was born at Woolston in 1870 to Lt Col. Charles Barrett Knapp. He was educated at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford.
Sir Arthur joined the civil service in 1891, just in his twenties and this was when he was posted to Malabar as the Assistant Collector and Magistrate.
In his first posting in Malabar at a young age of 21, Knapp set in motion various administrative, policy and police reforms that were at the best, quixotic in nature. His efforts were futile, garnering no benefits despite looking good on paper, were nothing but waste of time and energy for others.
It was at this time, that the local populace started using the words – “Doing things like Knapp Sayipp” for somebody who was trying to make things happen that with ideas that had the least probability of success. Slowly the lines got tailored into a synonym called Knappan, (ക്ണാപ്പന്) which till today, remains testimony to the futile administrative skills in Malabar of Sir Arthur Rowland Knapp.
Despite his perceived failure in Malabar, in 1899, Knapp "Sayipp" was appointed Under-secretary in the Board of Revenue rising to become Secretary. He was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 1919 and Knight Commander of the Order of the Indian Empire in the 1924 New Year Honours list. Also, in 1923, Knapp was nominated to the Madras Legislative Council of the Governor of Madras and served from 1923 to 1926.
Sir Arthur Rowland Knapp died on 22 May 1954 at the age of 83. But his memories linger on in Kerala, by design or accident of fate, where every day somebody or the other is called a Knappan by someone.
Look at this word in Malayalam – “Knappan!”
The word Knapp-'an' which describes a person who is incompetent and a failure in the local language Malayalam lives on to this day.
ക്ണാപ്പന്