British India

Ali Musliyar (1861-1922), a scholar trained at Ponnani and Mecca, served as chief musaliar of the Tirurangadi mosque in south Malabar from 1907 and became the central religious authority of the Malabar Rebellion of 1921-22, before his capture and execution.

Aligarh Muslim University grew out of the school founded by Syed Ahmad Khan in 1875, which became the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College in 1877 and a university by Act of the Indian legislature in 1920. It was the central institution of the Aligarh Movement.

Hyder Ali (1720-1782), the self-made military genius who rose from a minor officer to become the effective ruler of Mysore, transforming it into the most powerful state in southern India and mounting the first serious indigenous military challenge to British colonial expansion.

Sir Syed Ahmed Khan (1817-1898) was an Indian Muslim reformer and educator who founded the Muhammadan Anglo-Oriental College at Aligarh in 1875, which became Aligarh Muslim University. His Aligarh Movement sought to reconcile Islamic faith with Western scientific education.

Tipu Sultan (1750-1799), the Tiger of Mysore, was a military innovator, administrative reformer, and one of the most formidable opponents of British colonial expansion in India, whose resistance and death at Srirangapatna made him an enduring symbol of defiance.

Variyankunnath Kunjahammad Haji (c. 1875-1922) directed the Malabar Rebellion of 1921-22 in eastern Ernad after Ali Musliyar's capture, organising a parallel administration before his own capture and execution.