Thomas Stephens was the first Englishman to reach India, at least by sea route. He sailed for India on a Portuguese ship as a Jesuit missionary on 4th April 1579 and landed at Goa six months later, on 24th october.
The Moplah Rebellion (or Malabar Rebellion) was an armed uprising against British authority and Hindu landlords in Malabar, Kerala in 1921. But the the movement was severely suppressed by the British forces.