Variyan Kunnathu Kunjahammed Haji (died 20 January 1922) was a Mappila rebel leader in the 1921 anti-British uprising in the Malabar region, South India.[1][2] He ran a parallel government in defiance of the British government.Variyankunnath was a valiant fighter and a ruler par excellence. He is a forgotten name in the annals of Indian history because Indian historians just unabashedly parroted the versions put forth by their British peers who dismissed him as a 'religious fanatic'. His brilliant shadow fights against the British army were recorded by historians like K. N. Panikkar.
He ran a parallel government, in open defiance of British rulers, for more than six months in most parts of the then Eranadu and Valluvanadu taluks. The shadow fights spearheaded by his followers annoyed the British rulers who decided to finish him off.
Under the guise of a conciliatory talks, he was approached by the British men and he was caught and put to trial. He was sentenced to death. He was asked his last wish, to which he said: "I heard that you people kill prisoners from behind after blindfolding them. I want you to shot me from the front without blindfolding me!" He was shot dead by the British police at Kottakunnu in Malappuram and his body was burnt along with several hundred pages of British records on him and his parallel rule.