Inside the compound of Government Boys’ Higher Secondary School (HSS) at Manjeri in Malappuram district is a solo grave monument. It is supposedly the tomb of Ensign Wyse from the 43rd regiment of Madras Native Infantry (M. N. I.). The regiment was under Captain R. P. K. Watt and was brought from Calicut to defeat the Mappila outbreak of Manjeri in 1849. Wyse was killed by the Mappila insurgents across a paddy field adjacent to the Kunnath (Mathrukunnu) Bhagavathi Temple in Manjeri on 28th August, 1849 and was apparently buried near the site of his death.
A letter from the Assistant Magistrate, Charles Collett to H V Conolly, Magistrate of Malabar, written on the same day (28th August, 1849) has a first-hand report of the incident. The letter says: "Ensign Wyse preceded his men out of the paddy fields, some three or four men followed, the rest evidently hung back, and though there was a good deal of firing, strange to say, it did not appear to be with any effect; the first insurgent, though frequently fired at, was not hit, and in fact, was killed by Ensign Wyse, with his own hand. Others now came down upon Ensign Wyse, and I am informed that one of them seized him by the jacket, and he received a wound, when he appears to have fallen and was of course quickly put to death; but by this time, three of the insurgents had fallen, and now those men in the detachment who alone had emulated their officer, fell, one of them having first gallantly bayoneted the man who gave Mr. Wyse his death wound" (Correspondence on Moplah Outrages in Malabar, for the Years 1849-53, 1863, pp. 8-9). Two years later, another report in Allen's Indian Mail, dated, Saturday, November 1, 1851 (p. 653), has the following details: "About fifteen Moplahs rushed out from a mosque, in which they were posted, when nearly all the Sepoys, though outnumbering the fanatics four to one, fired at random, and, without waiting for a collision, fled, leaving Ensign Wyse and six gallant fellows who stood by him to be cut to pieces".
The grave has certainly undergone restoration as evident from the cement coatings and the inscriptions that are probably added afterwards. In fact, when William Logan recorded the grave in Malabar Manual (1887, vol. 2, p. 365), he found it had no inscription. Today, the grave bears two set of inscriptions, the one on the cemented top is very brief and has the writing:
"ENSION WYSE
28 AUG 1849";
whereas the inscription inserted in a black marble stone on the side of the tomb reads:
"HERE LIE
THE REMAINS OF
ENSIGN WYSE
OF THE 43RD REGIMENT M. N. I.
WHO WAS SLAIN NEAR THIS SPOT
ON THE 28TH AUGUST 1849".
If indeed this is the actual grave of Ensign Wyse, it's a miracle that the isolated monument remains intact even after 175 years. The tomb is situated near the western compound wall of the school on an elevated spot that can be reached after climbing 12 steps beside a palash tree (Butea monosperma).
Location of the tomb of Ensign Wyse inside the Manjeri Boys HSS compound. 
The yellow arrow marks the position of the tomb.
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